Summer Sun and More Festivals


Once more we are reminded that summer does not necessarily mean sun. With rainstorms appearing multiple times each day, and the flooding that's already started in Yorkshire in the UK, I tend to revert to my memories of playing in Bushy Park as a kid with not a cloud in the sky. Well, we can forget that ever happening again, I'm already investing in tornado-proof housing...

Who said there's lots of celebrations in Germany? Well, whoever it was was right. This last weekend saw the celebration of the Johannisnacht. Important events include the baptism of printers...need I say more...

Well, despite having managed to escape the bad weather for a short walk along the river to see the artisan stands on sunday, the drissle doesn't look like it will allow anything longer than 30 mins without making you swim the rest of the way. And I thought we were nearly in July...

Stay dry!

Babies, Earthquakes, and EOL

No more waiting on Aline's behalf, she gave birth to Eric on 8th June. So congratulations go out to her.

Ever wanted to know where the last earthquake or tremor happened or how big it was? Now you can with live info from the Seismic Monitor

How many different animal species can you name? Five maybe? 20? 100? Well, the Encyclopaedia of Life (EOL for short) has set out to put all 1.8 million species into one central place on the web. Of course it will take some time, but go check out their site now and bookmark it, it looks set to be a definitive reference guide.

So, that's it for now, the seeds are sown, the earth watered and the sun is strong (36 degrees at 8pm again last week...) so let's see how long til there's food on the plate :)

Mmmm, food...

Changes Afoot


Where did May go you may ask? Well, don't ask me I'm still trying to figure out where March and April went too...

So what's being on then? You might have noticed that there have been a couple of changes on the design of this site. I'm currently in the process of updating the site and so will be making more changes in the near future as well.
The current additions are the google adbanner at the top of this page. Not that I expect loads of people to be clicking on it, but sometimes it does come up with some relevant links relating to the content of this site.
The other change is the link to the lonely planet guide to Colombia. As I've mentioned a few times in previous posts, I find the Lonely Planet guides are most useful and more relevant than the other guides. Anyways, there is currently a link there for you to buy this book (from Amazon UK). If any other versions are required, for instance from another country, then let me know and I'll see what I can do.


So now maybe some news? Well for those of you planning to buy chinese toothpaste in Panama (you know who you are) maybe you should first of all read the ingredients list before you buy (and not use it if the potentially-fatal diethylene glycol is on the list).

Now one for Helen (so listen up). Ever wanted to make sure you hamster doesn't suffer from jetlag? Well, feed him Viagra and he'll be back on that running wheel before you can say "hide him from the children". Of course, if there happens to be a female in the cage as well, the wheel might not end up seeing so much use as expected...

And from Singapore comes the news that they no longer have the problem of finding Nemo. They can locate him every time as they have chipped the fish in their aquarium (not the potato kind, the electronic kind, like used in supermarkets). Of course the link to recipes and best wine to have with the meal will be taken off of the information list before any visitors get any ideas...

So you think you know enough about mythology, the greek and roman gods, even some of those lesser known gods? Well I bet you didn't know about this one. Yes, the husband to the Queen is in fact an island deity. So next time you're travelling to a far off jungle, maybe you should make sure you pack a few royal family pictures as well - you never know, they might save you...

Well, now it's time to get back to organising the place. After the extreme weather changes here it's been hard to know what to wear. But now the temperatures of 36 degrees at 8pm seem to have gone after the huge storm we had yesterday, it's become a lot cooler outside (although I'm still going to be wearing my shorts).

So it just leaves me to wish Javi a great time up in Berlin still, as the photos of my visit will be up here soon :)

Watch this space !