..., One Cup

My doctor is of the opinion that I drink WAY to much coffee, and that I should restrict myself to just one cup of coffee a day.

So treated myself to a new cup for Xmas ;-)

AFK.

Comments (3)
Hattie (Hawaii) wrote " That should cover your needs! We grow pretty good coffee here. We harvested some for a friend not so long ago. But what do we do? We have a Nespresso machine! Dumb isn't it. Happy New Year from the 4th Reich". HNY2U2 :-)
John (USA) wrote " That's a fine cup! Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!" HNY2UnUrs2 :-)
Doug (Canada) wrote " Well that cup will do for a nightcap but too small for my breakfast cuppa :)" So take a triple expressi thereof.

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on December 22, 2016 permalink Comments Email

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Fake News

Fake News is (are?) not a new phenomenon. It even goes back before Goebbels. For example, many people believe that Santa Claus was invented by Coca Cola back in the 1930s. Not true.

Based on St. Nikolaus, the chubby, cheery, present-bringing, red and white clothed symbol was indeed used by Coca Cola for advertising purposes in the 1930s, but he was first drawn by a German immigrant - Thomas Nast - in 1862. Thomas Nast drew the figure weekly in Harper's Weekly magazine, initially in a short light brown coat. Over a period of 30 years Nast changed the clothing to the red and white we know today and his figure was picked up by Coca Cola.

As part of the positive image, St. Nikolaus' Austrian apprentice, Krampus, represented as a beast-like creature generally demonic in appearance, was excluded. Krampus punished children during the Yule season who had misbehaved, and used to capture particularly naughty children in his sack and carry them away to his lair. Pedophile maybe? Or just the OTC (One True Church) trying to enforce obedience amongst juveniles (why, we wonder? ;-)

So we can even claim that Santa Claus was a Nasty invention ;-)

Apropos Nasty : OT : And Trumpus (rhymes with Krampus) is an honourable man; so are they all, all honourable men...

Comments (4)
Cop Car wrote "That's a new one on me. I had not heard the "news" that Santa was invented by Coca Cola. Obviously, I've not kept well-informed." Then you should read this Irish version of the story here.
Cop Car replied " Thanks for the link, Stu. Unfortunately, all I can get to come up is the headline + raucous sound track." I've mailed you a screenshot :-)
Doug (Canada) has his own Secret Santa fake news ;-)
Hattie (Hawaii) remarks wryly "And in other fake news: America welcomes its new overlords!" I'm bigly shocked; this is unpresidented! :-(

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on December 18, 2016 permalink Comments Email

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Better Photos

As Barbara pointed out in a previous comment, I take snapshots rather than good photos. I let the camera do all the work. But when I wanted good photos of our ageing dogs, I got friend Alex to come over and take them. She has a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) - I think it's a Canon - and she really knows how to exploit it, doing all the settings (focal length, aperture, shutter times etc) manually.

Just look at her excellent control of depth of focus in the two photos above! Dogs are pinhead-sharp and the carefully chosen background blurry.

Now look at the timing on this one. Fast shutter speed to stop the motion as Kosmo launches himself at her. Six pix a second in sport mode and choose the best shot. Midfield (Kosmo) sharply in focus, fore- and back-ground blurry. Alex really knows how to use her camera to best advantage!

Now THAT is what I call a photographer with talent! Thanks, Alex :-)

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on December 11, 2016 permalink Comments Email

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Cold Snaps

Winter is arriving. At the beginning of november we had the first autumn/fall frosts which caused our walnut tree to shed all its leaves. On december 3rd Kansas blogger Cop Car reported in her blog that a cold snap had caused her ginko tree to shed all its leaves overnight. Now we have a cold snap here too, reaching down to -10°C, which even caused our winter-apple tree to lose half its crop. What a pity for us, but the birds benefit as I leave the apples on the lawn for their winter sustenance :-(

Sunday was quite cold so we headed into town to the Advent-market and tried out the three different varieties of hot mulled wine (hic!) :-

This morning was double-digit cold again, so I had to drive carefully, because some of the roads are just a sheet of ice, even if it is decorative ice :-(

Needless to say that my motorcycle & oldtimer have been put in the garage.

Have a safe winter, you blogreaders of the northern hemisphere!

Comments (6)
Doug (Canada) reports It's about to get very cold over here.
Barbara (UK) asks "Does 'Cold snaps' mean short periods of subzero temperatures or photos taken in the cold?" Both. You're the first to notice the pun, and that includes me. Have a cold schnaps :-)
Nils (D) notes "OT : RIP John Glenn" :-( And Buzz Aldrin is ill in NZ, his doctor is called David Bowie, how's that for a Space Oddity :-)
Marion (D) outed herself in the pub last friday as a lurker here by commenting "...just the small same set of commenters" ;-) That's because I don't allow spontaneous comments, I read them first before putting (most of) them online. Folks, if you want more comments, try sending some! :-)
Jenny (Ibiza) asks "OT: Is your blogroll shrinking?" Yes, some chicken US bloggers have quit after Trump was elected :-(
Hattie (Hawaii) wrote " Don't worry that I'm going away! I'm not afraid of the Trumpster! Those shots of your dogs (above) are really nice. But I like your pix too. " Thankyou.

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on December 7, 2016 permalink Comments Email

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Romani ite domum!

Two political choices in Europe yesterday, but only one turned out good. The good news relates to the election of the president of Austria. The Austrians wisely rejected the far-right candidate; Americans could learn from them. The bad news is from the referendum in Italy which is potentially dangerous for European stability and that of the Euro. Their anti-reform choice got me thinking Romani ite domum!, Latin for "Romans go home!", a classic skit from Monty Python's "Life of Brian" :-)

Italian ministerpresident Renzi had proposed modifying the constitution to make Italy (more) governable (is that a word?). The Italians rejected it, so Renzi will resign today. So the italian banks may collapse and have to be rescued by the EU. Problematic! The Euro has fallen to its lowest since 20 months :-( German economist Hans Werner Sinn thinks Italy may even leave the Euro, being unable to cope with mounting debt. Italexit after Brexit? Certainly Italy can expect a new election.

Romani ite domum! ? Itali ite domum!

Comments (2)
John (UK) remarks "Great video; John Cleese is always funny ;-)" Yes, he also played the rebel leader Reg in the Life of Brian.
Ed (USA) objects "Don't blog in latin, nobody will understand you!". Probably true, but people with no Latin miss some great jokes. Example : within the Trump appointees there will be an economic policy subgroup set up called the American National Interest group, acronym ANI. What they fail to realise is that ANI is Latin for "Assholes" ;-)

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on December 5, 2016 permalink Comments Email

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Mr. Goldenballs

For over a thousand years the Merchants of Venice controlled the trade routes across the Mediterranean. The Serene Republic of Venice was founded in 697 AD and was taken over by Austria in 1797 AD. That's 1100 years! Venice controlled the Adriatic coast, Crete and Cyprus and monopolised the trade from the Orient into Europe. A profitable business.

The republic was ruled by a group of self-defined noble families (aka Oligarchy) who practiced an internal "democracy". The Doge - the titular head of state from 726 AD on - was "elected" by the aforesaid oligarchy. Over those 1100 years, over 150 men were elected as Doge until they died, some after only 1 year (coincidence?), one ruled even for 34 years.

This was how "elections" were done:- Senior members of the leading families chose a small number of lectors by lot. These lectors then chose additional buddies to "help" them as lectors in the first stage. These lectors then chose a smaller number, etc etc for perhaps several stages. The final stage of lectors then chose the new Doge from amongst themselves.

In the early republic, the lectors were chosen by lot, to make it an apparently fair election. Wax balls were prepared, some including a slip of paper bearing the word "Lector", some were empty. For example, in 1268 AD, Doge Rainieri Zeno died. The 2^nd stage had 30 lectors, so 30 wax balls were prepared, 9 with paper slips in them. A small boy then handed out the balls from an opaque bag, so choosing the nine lectors for the final stage.

By the 17^th century, silver and golden balls of the same size were used for the final stage(s). And so the new Doge earned the dubious title of Mr. Goldenballs, a title only mentioned cautiously in private lest the Doge got upset about it ;-)

So this was the first Electoral College; draw your own parallels to 2016 ;-)

Comments (4)
Ed (USA) grins "Goldenballs - great title for a new Bond movie" Surely! :-)
Hattie (Hawaii) suggests " How about Mr. Gold-plated Balls for Mr. Trump? " Yes, he does seem to goldplate everything in his apartment doesn't he. ;-)
Barbara (UK) wrote "I just love your history lessons!" Thankyou :-)
Cop Car refers to my line " - Senior members of the leading families..." and asks " I assume that "men" could be substituted for "members"? " So do I, but my history teacher didn't say that explicitly back then, feminism wasn't a thing in the fifties, women's voting rights notwithstanding. Johann Bachofen refers to early oriental matriarchies in Venice too, but he came much later (1861). So I think you are right, after all, all the Doge were men. BTW, the electoral rules as I described above date from 1268.

Copyright ^© Ole Phat Stu on December 1, 2016 permalink Comments Email

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