Saaga

Not very bright, but definitely early tomorrow morning we are heading off to London for a 4 day break! Our flight leaves Düsseldorf so early that we arrive in Stansted at 6.55am! At least it means we have the whole day to hang out and enjoy London (or nap). I’m really looking forward to having a nice short break without any language worries. Also because we’ve been to London quite a few times already, there’s not a real sense of urgency and we can just cruise around and see the things we like and not worry that we’ve missed the big attractions or wasted our time.

We’re also going to see Spamalot which I’m sure is going to be a lot of silliness and a lot of fun. We’ll let you know.

So if we don’t post or answer our emails for a few days, you’ll know it’s because we’re relaxing and enjoying the high-life in good ol’ London town!

Oh - and a special prize (i.e. Saaga cred) for the first person who can correctly name the TV show which this post’s title is a reference to.

The Germans don’t believe in Valentines day. Not in the same way a religious fundamentalist doesn’t believe in rational behaviour or how a politically conservative person doesn’t believe in the rights of minorities. No, the Germans understand that Valentines day exists, they just don’t practice it. This stems from the fact that it is easier and therefore more efficient to love your partner 0.27% more each day, rather than do a massive 100% blast of love on February the 14th.

Currently the whole of the Rheinland is gripped by Carnival fever. Traditionally this was a pagan festival to chase off winter (or some such) and usher in Spring. However, like all good pagan festivals it was taken over by the Church centuries ago and is now the lead up to Lent.
It makes sense really. You are about to give stuff up for an obscure reason, that stems from a form of social control that was invented a long time ago, to stop the poor from rising up against the wealthy. So why not go crazy and eat and drink as much as you can in the short time before that.
Some of the traditions I don’t quite understand, like the cutting of men’s ties. On the Thursday before the main carnival weekend, women from all over the region go around cutting the ties of the men around them in half. It can be colleagues or loved ones or strangers, it doesn’t seem to mater who the target is, but after the cutting, the woman then kisses her victim, whether he likes it or not.
Maybe this tradition dates back to when Mary Magdalene cut Jesus’ tie while he was learning to juggle chainsaws. Apparently he was going to make this a part of his act, but unfortunately the Romans put paid to that. Bloody Romans!

I didn’t see a parade last year and still haven’t seen one this time. I am beginning to believe that the Germans may have the world’s only carnival that lacks a formal parade. This could be because it is less work (and therefore more efficient) to everyone dress up instead. This is not to say that the Germans couldn’t have a parade. In fact, if you ever need a parade organised, the Germans would be the people to ask for organisational help.*

*Any comments in poor taste about the war are not endorsed by me…unless they are really funny

It managed a proper snow storm here yesterday for three hours. By 1 pm we had about 4 cm of snow and the kids were going absolutely crazy to get out in it. Unfortunately it is a warm 5 degrees now and most of the snow is gone. One hour away in the Netherlands it snowed for a day and a half and they still have snow everywhere.

I think that snow is just too disorganized for Rheinlanders to put up with for very long. They find it interesting for the first hour, but anymore than that and they know it will just make the pavement slippery and delay the trains so they wish it away. Schade.

I have also managed to secure myself a Schalke ticket for their game against Berlin tomorrow and I am really looking forward to seeing some live football again. Schalke is top of the Bundesliga at the moment and are looking like they might be able to stay there, having just beaten Werder Bremen who had (until that game) been equal at the top with them.

I have a further two tickets for football this season as well, which I am looking forward to. On the 1st of March we got to Fortuna our local team. Fortuna are only three points off the lead and are a real chance for promotion to the second league. I also have a ticket for the Dortmund vs. Cottbus game the next day, rounding out an excellent weekend of football.

I made the mistake of reading one of Samantha Brett’s blog articles on the Sydney Morning Herald website this evening; what a load of shit she peddles. I imagine her target audience is neurotic single women and creepy single men. The women are desperate to discover why they still haven’t married a doctor or a lawyer and the men are just looking for tips on ways to score.
On the burning topic of love versus sex Samantha writes:
During an episode of The Queen Latifah Show a while back, psychologist Dr Grace Cornish admitted that love and sex make for a tricky combination, especially when the love bit is missing from the equation.

“There’s an old adage that women give sex just to feel love and men will say ‘I love you’ just to have the sex,” she noted. “But, that’s changed a lot in the last seven years[*]. Men and women are both getting more spiritually grounded, not so much religious, but a mind/body connection.”

What the hell does this last sentence mean? I actually think it means nothing and was never intended to do anything other than to baffle, because the likes of the Queen Latifah show are aimed at suppressing the violent urges of the masses (by titillating them with promises of a bit of T and A while stupefying them with complete shite) so that they don’t rise up to smash the system after realising that their lives are pointless.

Back on the original topic, most of Samantha Brett’s articles seem to be about why modern, demanding, critical, superficial women can’t find a lasting, satisfying relationship. The blog posts are delivered in a style also that will attract this same group, keeping them warm with the ideas that their woes are not of their own doing. Unfortunately though, I don’t think this writer is ever going to give them the answers they crave, because as soon as they discover that they are their own worst enemies and that a slight attitude adjustment might sort out all their problems, then neuroses mongerers like this would be all out of jobs.

Why am I so worked up about this? Because I clicked the link, not knowing how disturbing it would be to see how the other half of the other half lives.

* Seven years as a reference period seems kind of odd or random…or made up to me.