End of Festival Fireworks Tonight

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I went to the end of festival fireworks tonight. Watched the whole lot of it (45 minutes), from one eighth up Salisbury Crags at the edge of Holyrood Park. It was a fucking nightmare getting up, but once there quite pleasant. Gorgeous view, though the fireworks when they did start were a fair bit in the distance

So, that’s another summer over. Not been a too bad one either. A bit on the quiet side, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing

Ross’ voice has broken; Edinburgh map

Just a couple of ‘news’ items from lenina’s Edinburgh life.

1. Today’s The Guardian had a free black&white Edinburgh map from an ordnance survey in 1857 (revised in 1901, with a later update of railways in 1914). Very brilliant and I’m going to get it framed and put it up in my flat (where does one get custom-made frames? Athena ? There’s one in Ocean Terminal so I’ll have a look next week. Better take the print’s measurements).

2. Ross (wee neighbour boy who’s now moved) knocked on the door today and asked me how to keep the hard drive of his old laptop (i.e. the contents accessible) for a new computer he’s bought. I told him to get a harddrive caddy. He literally just came to ask that and off he went (I’m still THE person to go to for any serious computer questions. Remember I used to fix his computer and cleanse it off millions of viruses etc. when he used to live in the house next door). Anyhow – his voice has now broken. It’s very funny when he talks and he also seemed to be very self-conscious when he spoke, as if fearing that I would make a reference to his voice

Ross used to be a child – the pic in About 2.0 has him in it – wearing a white t-shirt and turning back to look at me. I was probably shouting at him at the time . So kids grow up. I wonder what way he’ll go. He’s a bit of a bullshitter and always used to tell lies, but he is decent underneath.

Watching Nekromantik Tonight

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Tonight I’ll be watching Joerg Buttgereit’s Nekromantik, which I first saw about 12 years ago. I really liked it at the time – there again, at the time I was fucked up

Basically it’s a film about necrophilia, with some graphic scenes e.g. shagging a corpse. Back then, I went to a screening of Schramm (also by Buttgereit) , and Buttgereit himself was there for a Q&A (if I remember correctly, this was in the SCHULZ near Chlodwigplatz, but I may be wrong). There was an exhibition too with some of the props from the films, and I took a picture of my mate D. sitting next to a severed leg.

I wonder how the film has aged – or how I have aged. I guess from my response and like/dislike of the film I’ll be able to learn something about myself.

I think I’ll still like it

Der Sommer geht zu Ende

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und lenina muss einen Post auf deutsch schreiben. Doch selbst auf deutsch kann sie nicht wirklich schreiben, was passiert ist, wie gehabt – diverse Subjekte, die ggf diesen Blog lesen, sollten erstmal nix verstehen.

Dann muss ich also nicht nur deutsch sondern auch kryptisch schreiben. Vielleicht sollte ich es ueberhaupt nicht schreiben. Ich habe eine [deleted] und zwar dem aehnlichen Muster von anaj nach, naja du weisst was ich meine, ich hatte dich vor ein paar Wochen per email etwas gefragt. Ist alles ziemlich [deleted] glaube ich, sonst wuerde ich ja gar nix sagen. Sehr komisch hehe und ich peile es gerade nicht, aber das Subjekt ist ein unglaubliches [deleted] zu meinem [deleted].

Und all das geschieht nur, weil lenina aktiv und produktiv ist, und nicht passiv am Leben leidet.

Scotland is NOT England!

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A wee rant about the semantic conception of ‘England’ in Germany. It happens quite frequently that Germans refer to Scotland as ‘England’. For many Germans, ‘England’ = ‘the island containing the countries England, Wales, and Scotland’, i.e. the UK minus Northern Ireland (or: Great Britain). ‘Ireland’, on the other hand, = ‘the island containing the countries the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland’.

My mum for instance to this day sometimes asks me,

So how are things in England?

And I say

Scotland, SCOTLAND!

Same with some friends who visited me in June. Today I came across the same thing at work and it made me mad (it always does). I was reading this piece of research and it had as one answer (in a list of countries) in a questionnaire:

England/Ireland

The research was done by a German company and it had the guy’s contact details on the cover. So I phoned him straight away and asked that it be corrected in the future

He defended his using it, stating that for Germans, England means ‘the island’, and that it didn’t matter since semantically, it’s the same thing for Germans. He also said he wasn’t sure whether or not he would change it, and that he would think about it.

The problem is that by using ‘England’ synonymously with ‘UK minus Northern Ireland’ he perpetuates the misunderstanding of our countries in Germany. Furthermore, anyone consulting this piece of ‘research’ who is *not* German (the research is in English and for an international market) will potentially misinterpret the data.

@ everyone in the world: Scotland is NOT England!

I need a new Avatar; Banging Women

I’d like to have a nice avatar to use on my Twitter. I’m happy with the lenina one for this blog (thanks MB x); however, in other online environments (where I’m not lenina) I’d like to use something else. Ideally the passpic that I’m currently using being turned into a pretty comic or geeky thing. I’m sure that there are sites out there that can do it – I feed them my passpic, and they spit out a pic.

On a different note – today on WordPress, I read a ‘featured post’ where someone (single male) talked about ‘quality girls’. His tip was for men to go for 6.5-7.5 girls, and on investigating I found out that these lonely fucks have a ‘rating system’ for women (where 1 is ugly, and 10 is stunning). These blokes’ very simple idea is that (what they consider) beautiful girls, i.e. 8 and above, are not quality as they think that their beauty is enough and thus don’t have a ‘worthy’ personality or whatever. I won’t link to that post (it’s quite interesting, seeing that it gives an insight into how some males are thinking. I.e. = reason to turn gay).

I then googled this 1-10 scale and found an article explaining it, by a guy who wrote a book about picking up and fucking women (the book is called ‘Bang’).

Men: Did you know you’re superfluous? So the less shite you come out with, the better.

Pick-up ‘artists’: I bet you’re all rubbish in bed. I bet you don’t care though!

First Day Back At Work – Yay!

I was happy to be back at work today. I very much enjoyed the week off, but I do get a buzz from work for some reason (Great team! Great job! People appreciate me!). It’s great loving your job, because it means no matter what other shit does or doesn’t happen in your life, you can put up with it.

I remember when I moved back to London in 2000 and I literally had nothing to my name (other than one degree, a BA). I stayed at my friend K. for a few months and, while there were many moments that I enjoyed, there was always an underlying existential fear of what to do with my life/where would I end up, and a general state of feeling uncertain and insecure (I had also left my friends behind in Cologne and basically moved to London where I knew only one person!).

I think I kept a diary at the time, albeit sporadically. Maybe not. If not, I definitely wrote some stories then, so going back to those would help me cast back my mind. Not that I want to:P

Anyhow, it’s so good to enjoy work – seeing that you spend the majority of your time there. I couldn’t imagine right now working anywhere else – though for those of you who are interested and speak German – I did come across a position at the Deutsches Generalkonsulat in Edinburgh today. Not tempted though

MA Translation – Start in September

I keep dreading this MA Translation that I’m meant to start in September. Because I don’t actually want to do it any more. Hehe.

Casting back our minds, I was offered a place for the MA in Translation in March 07. I then had to postpone it due to moving to London and starting my new job. I had hoped that by the next year (i.e. now), my life would have settled into the new job so I could then do this MA on the side (like I did with my PhD – working full-time AND studying).

However, I just can’t be arsed to do that any more. Also, in my current job, we work with various translators and an agency, and theirs is an ungrateful, boring job. Having to translate shite for a living, and not even earning that much, isn’t my idea of fun. One reason why I wanted to do it was so that I would be able to work from home. I don’t even want to do that any more! At least not at the moment. I enjoy going out to work and being in an office, believe it or not.

So, I need to tell these guys sooner rather than later that I don’t want my place any more, and they don’t have to keep it either. I’m never going to be a translator.

Green Gym – Helping Yourself and Nature

In this Saturday’s The Guardian, there was a supplement about outdoor activities called ‘Outdoor Gym’. Most of the articles weren’t really what I was after (mountainbiking etc.), but there is one scheme called BTCV Community network and they are a charity that combine outdoor activities (‘gym’) with conservation schemes.

I’ve seen a group doing stuff before I think – when walking past Holyrood Park a few weeks back, I noticed a group that was ascending and picking up rubbish / cutting back shrubs (?).

There are a fair few community groups in the Edinburgh area. One of them even has its own website – Green Team. They do Sunday projects, where, for £10 (for transport and tea&biscuits), you can help with various projects such as:

August 24th Craigleith Island *

Ahoy there me hearties, join us on this Island adventure to help remove the invasive tree mallow to make room for the puffins.

* Poor weather alternative will be rhododendron clearance at Binning wood, East Lothian.

Sept 7th Almondell & Calderwood Country Park

Discover this amazing woodland park. Help improve the paths and create new areas for wildlife.

Sept 28th Hopetoun House Estate, South Queensferry

A variety of tasks to tackle, including footpath improvements and woodland management, in the grounds of this very grand estate.

I quite fancy the 7th September, improving paths and creating new areas for wildlife

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• Top 10 Edinburgh day trips

Scotland as a Tourist when it’s Raining

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Yesterday and today I did a couple of touristy things in Edinburgh and Fife, seeing that I’m off work etc. and meant to be on holiday.

Yesterday I went with a friend to Scotland’s Secret Bunker in Fife. It was quite absurd, surpassed in its absurdity by a conversation about Veronica Moser and 2G1C while sitting on a rock in Crail (= pretty fishing village in Fife) harbour. Crail was quite amazingly beautiful – the fly in the ointment being the fucking signs everywhere ‘Neighbourhood Watch Zone’ and ‘Don’t let your dog shit on OUR pavement or we’ll fine you and send you to prison’.

Other than that, it was beautiful. Very quaint. We were quite lucky with the weather too

Today I went to the Palace of Holyrood House, finally. I’ve always wanted to go and it strikes me as a good indoors attraction. The weather wasn’t too bad either – I walked there and back. The only criticism I’d have is that it’s quite dear and the tour doesn’t last very long (I think just over an hour). On the plus side, you get a free audio guide so really you do learn a lot. It’s very interesting. Though I still don’t understand what happened with Mary Queen of Scots and why