Life in the African bush

Incredible picture of a Lion stalking a Giraffe.

Michael's arrived.

My other brother, Michael, has arrived from Germany also via Stuttgart. He tried putting his Zippo in his luggage that was going to be dumped in the hold after mine got gutted.

It didn't help. They x-rayed his luggage before he got to hand it in and made him take it out. Luckily my father was there to take it home for him. I'm not sure how my father plans to get it across the border when he goes home though.

Apparently it's not a problem if it hasn't been used. It's only if it smells like Zippo fluid that they get upset... perhaps it freaks the dogs out.

Back in London

Well, I'm back.

I asked about the wifi and it isn't available on the short flights. (The battery on my laptop was empty anyway.)

I did get a bit of grief from security at Stuttgart airport on my way out... They removed the insides of my Zippo and had it destroyed by the bomb squad (ok, I can't back that up... all I know is that they took the insides out and kept them). Then I was escorted to a room with a surgical table which looked like it belonged in a vet (I was worried that I was going to get probed) but all they wanted me to do was open my Laptop case and laptop which they then wiped down with a swab which they then analyzed for explosives. (I think they just wanted a closer look at my laptop.)

I'm a bit annoyed about the Zippo though... I got it in Germany in December and didn't have any problems taking it with me through Frankfurt airport... Then I didn't have any problems taking it through Heathrow on the way too Stuttgart but I got blocked on the way out.

Fröhlings Fest

I went Bass shopping with Michael and my father in Stuttgart today. I haven't walked as far as I walked today in ages.

We had lunch in a beer tent that's been set up for the spring feast which I think is running for the rest of the month. Liter beer mugs rock.

Pub Crawl

Last night was "Kegel Abend" and we tagged along. I didn't do too badly and even won one of the games (lucky? Perhaps.)

Afterwards Michael and myself went on a pub crawl through Sindelfingen as they had nine bands playing at different venues throughout the town. We only started at about eleven but managed to visit about five venues before 2am when they stopped.

Unfortunately all of the bands that we got to see were cover bands and the one band that was playing their own music finished early because of lack of punters... (they were at the venue that was furthest from the rest.) They did range from Hard rock/Metal covers through to 80's glam rock and Jazz. A good night all in all.

Deutchland

w00t! Internet cafes that server beer... I think I would go out more often if pubs had internet access in London.

Lufthansa & WiFi

Hah! Found it. I'm going to have to ask what the deal is on the way back... I guess they don't explicitly say that it is available on their short flights... it was only a CJ100/200.

Germany... again

Yay! I'm back in the land of good food and even better beer.


I wrote a blog on the plane which I will post later... I was under the impression that Lufthansa had wifi on all their flights but I was obviously wrong. That was the main reason I flew with them though... I'm going to have to find out where I got that bit of misinformation from.

I did make it here in time for lunch though which made getting up at 5:00am all worth while... now I have to hurry back so that I don't miss coffee!

Mile High Blog

Lies, lies, lies. I read that all of Lufthansa's flights had wifi access... Unless I'm doing something wrong (which is always a possibility) this one doesn't...

Granted, it's a tiny plane and I'm not in bushiness class (if that makes a difference). I'm sure that if there was a hotspot here then I would have picked it up.

Hmmm... I''l refresh the list every now and then in case they switch it on later.

I should have brought some DVD's and my headphones... I was looking at them this morning wondering if it was worth the effort of trying to squeeze them into my bag and then got sidetracked and didn't bother.

Refresh...
Refresh...

I suppose the flight is only an hour and a half or something. It's not as if I'm going to have enough time to get bored. Refresh... The main reason I chose Lufthansa was the alleged wifi though... Bah... I can't even get online to check my facts.

Refresh...
Refresh...
Refresh...

Hmmm...

I think I'll try the Chunnel next time... They probably have wifi onboard.

OK, other than the wifi thing, flying in the smaller Boeings is way better than those airbuses which cram loads of people onboard... (Unless of course the big ones have wifi but I don't want to get into that.. Refresh...)

OK, that does it. I'm going to give up trying to get onto the internet and do a bit of work or something instead.

Early morning tomorrow...

Ok, I'm sure there was a good reason that I booked a 8:30am flight for tomorrow but I can't think of it now... especially since it means that I have to be out of the house at 5:30am tomorrow morning.

Replacing children with robots? About time.

Replacing Child Camel Jockeys with Robots

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates, under pressure to stamp out the use of children as camel jockeys, plans to introduce robot riders this year, newspapers said on Sunday.

"The mechanical jockey is light in weight and receives orders from the instructor via a remote control system fixed on the back of the camel," the daily Gulf News said, quoting an official statement.

It said President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan was behind the initiative. The Gulf Arab state last month enacted new laws to crack down on the trafficking of under-16 camel jockeys, a practice internationally condemned as a form of slavery.

The paper said the first prototype mechanical jockey was tested Saturday and the first batch would go into service in August in the lucrative sport, popular among Bedouin Arabs.

Full article...

Ok, so it's not all children, but it's a start.

You know you're taking games too seriously when....

Onliner gamer stabbed over 'stolen' cybersword
By Lester Haines
Published Wednesday 30th March 2005 12:30 GMT

A Shanghai man stabbed to death a fellow online gamer who sold a virtual sword they had jointly won while playing "Legend of Mir 3", Reuters reports.

Qiu Chengwei, 41, repeatedly stabbed Zhu Caoyuan after discovering that Zhu had sold the "dragon sabre" for 7,200 yuan (£464). Qiu had lent his friend the cybersabre last February, later reporting it as "stolen" when he learned of the transaction. Police, however, told him that - as the disputed weapon was virtual property - he had no recourse to law.

Full article...

Vespa Ad

I spotted this ad in the Metro this morning.

I guess they have a strange market.