Kung Hei Fat Choi!

And so we start the 4703rd year of the chinese calendar. Yes, as of today, we are living in the year of the dog (woof!). What else does one do to celebrate the new year? Check out this link.

And to celebrate such occasion, we have accordingly brought in a special pet. "Welcome back to Mainz" goes out to Paolo (el sardo, el cerdo...) !!
He is currently awaiting his bus from Hahn airport, and assuming the bus driver decides to stop there this time (not like my trip last year), he should be arriving here within the next hour.

For those of you still believing that the quality of food here in Germany is still one of the best, have a look at the following site (in german) about all the problems with sale of out-of-date meat, that you probably hadn't even heard about (they do well about keeping all this news with the realms of the national border).

And now for something completely different.
A well known preservative maker carried out their annual survey on the subject of S (make sure the children are outside) E (close the curtains and stop the neighbours peeking in) X (lay down the rug in front of the warm fire). And the 2005 year's results show...
...well you'll just have to check the site out here and find out for yourself :)

And last but not least, if you're feeling like stargazing over the following week, and the weather is just not being kind, don't dispair. NASA has created a great diversion, in that they've sent a spacesuit out into space relaying a message every 30 seconds. You can listen in to it as from Feb 3rd, tuning in to 145.990 MHz FM (may need a special radio to pick up such a frequency). They even offer certificates to people who here the message, and prizes if you decipher the picture. So get your antennas pointing skywards now !

Well, the snow's stopped falling, the ground's still frozen, and the sun even comes out for a bit (although now it's nightime anyway). So, wrap up well, and tune in again, same time (plus or minus a few days), same place (virtually).

Bye for now