Raikkonen wins 2007 F1 crown

It was all but certain that new sensation Lewis Hamilton (GBR) would win the 2007 F1 World Championships, but in the end it was Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) who won the final race and the title. Go Ferrari.

Vacation soon

Amy and I are going on a little vacation soon. Oh boy.

The 2007 ARTpARTy

Friday night Amy and I hosted another ARTpARTy and the turnout was great again despite the fact that some good friends could not attend. We had some very unique pieces of art and at the end of the night everyone went home with someone else's creation.

Here are some of the artists and their work:

Tim and Berry made this metal wine rack



Michelle and Jordan decided to each do a piece of art



Betsy with her work of art



Sharon and Eric with a a nice piece of pottery



Rick and Mary created these sunflower paintings



John and Terry with cool photography from Europe



Janelle and Martin created an artsy Jack-o-Lantern



Emma showed that she has a passion for art and cycling



Peter and Erin created these artworks, but only Peter could come



Karen and David always surprise with a different genre of art



Monty brought this beautiful painting



This was my contribution to the ARTpARTy



Kelly and Justin made these very cool bookends, and Amy and I were lucky enough to get them at the end. :-)

All talk, no go?

Does Yuri featured in this funny Nike spot really represent a good amount of "athletes" out there? All talk, no go?

My younger brother finally off the couch

My younger brother Manfred was a standout soccer player in our region but has not done much recently in terms of workouts. A few weeks back though he truly came off the couch to run in a big half marathon in Karlsruhe, Germany and managed to run it in sub 2 hours. He even had time to wave to the cameras. Nice.

Prosumer camera

I have wanted a digital SLR camera for quite some time now and I think I have found what I am looking for. The new Canon EOS 40D should give me all and more what I as a wannabe photographer / news editor could possibly want.

iPhone Extreme

There are rumors abound about a pending iPhone Extreme and I would hope that is true as I am waiting for the next generation. Please Steve Jobs, help me out here.

Vegas, baby

We are off to Vegas ;-)

Funny stuff

Most people would find it a bit odd how my brother Manfred, his wife Bettina and daughter Sara Nina dress for a night out. But it would make a bit more sense if the fact is known that this pic was taken during carnival.

Ozapft is

"Ozapft is" is bavarian slang for "it is tapped" and this phrase is heard quite frequently during the Oktober Fest in Munich, Germany which started today. Yes I know, it is only September, but the October fest in Munich always starts in September.

Here are a few images of the 2007 Oktober Fest.

Interesting placement

I have seen interesting placement of ads next to certain news stories, but rarely such news stories next to each other. Thanks Emma.

Make some noise

Ads for a concert benefiting Amnesty International

Wine over water

Yesterday I went to the annual "Wine over Water" event in Chattanooga and the weather could not have been nicer. Although I don't drink, I enjoy going there every year as it is a very nice social event. It appeared to me that it is a better event since the ticket fees have gone up. More quality and less quantity. There was actually a very nice crowd there but it was not packed, nor did folks seem really wasted. Plus it seems that in previous years they ran out of wine by 6pm, and last night people were still sampling at 7:45pm when I left.

Treo 680 customer service nightmare

After barely a month with my Treo 680 and despite never having dropped it, I recently found 2 cracks in the top right corner of the "bezel" surrounding the touch screen. I talked to my provider AT&T about it and was told that hardware is not covered. They actually gave me a huge runaround about it and were not very helpful despite me pointing out that it is apparently not an isolated incident with the Treo 680.





I finally talked to the folks at Palm and was very disappointed by their response too. After explaining over and over again that I did not drop it and that it was not the actual screen that has cracked, they initially tried to send me back to AT&T. After endless back and forth of explaining that AT&T told me that they only handle software issues not hardware issues, I got put on hold forever while it was discussed with a supervisor. I was then told that I could send it in and they would fix it for a nominal fee of just under $200. I explained again that I did nothing wrong and that in my opinion they had sold me a faulty product, plus that I did not want the screen replaced, just the bezel. It was all the same to them and it made no difference what needed to be fixed and or who was at fault. I then tried in vain to get a supervisor/manager on the phone but I guess customer service is not in the vocabulary of Palm. Maybe they really have too much business and don't need repeat customers.

A conversation with my buddy Eric

Here is a little collage of images from my recent skype chat with my buddy Eric in Miami.

Frantic Frog Triathlon

Yesterday I raced the Frantic Frog Triathlon in Scottsboro, AL in and had a blast. The venue was quite nice and the organizers did a great job with the whole setup. Post race food included jambalaya and pizza.
I actually felt like crap on my bike just a few days earlier, but I felt well during the race and won my age group and was second master overall. :-)

results

Stella Artois

I have been invited to check out the new Stella Artois cinematic website a few days before the official launch on September 18. I guess that means I have finally arrived in the blogosphere. :-)

Oh no

I accidentally flew across the country with 5 nukes in my baggage. I completely forgot that I had them with me and that I am not really supposed to fly with them. :-)
Is that what the military is saying here?

Put a fork in it

A little inside joke regarding an anonymous comment on my "wow, wow, wow" post.

:-)

Wow, wow, wow

Very powerful antigun video.

The hypocrisy

Another republican senator gets busted for inappropriate conduct. What strikes me funny and sad is that since the Bill Clinton/Monica Levinsky incident there have been now 5 Republican sex scandals. Senator Larry Craig from Idaho now is another fine example of the hypocritical morally correct Republican attitude. He of course denies any such activity, but funny thing is he was "fingered" in a congressional page sex scandal as far back as 1982. Check out the youtube clip.



Yikes the hypocrisy.

108 wow

108 degrees Fahrenheit (42 degrees Celsius) was the high temperature in Chattanooga yesterday, wow. Plus as you can see on the charts below, the weather has not been much kinder the previous 6 days.

Chattanooga, TN weather in Fahrenheit



Chattanooga, TN weather in Celsius (metric)

James Dean PSA

This PSA with James Dean was done very shortly before he died in 1955 and it is almost unreal that it is about "driving careful." James Dean is in a Cowboy outfit as this PSA was done as he was in a break during the movie Giant.

A little reminder

Not that I really need a reminder for that amazing occasion. :-)

W Hotel Atlanta

Amy and I went to Atlanta friday night to celebrate our anniversary and had a very nice dinner at Nickiemoto's in midtown. We then spent the night at the W Hotel Atlanta and really found it to be a very impressive hotel in terms of design and style.

Pics won't do it justice but here are a few anyway.

One year anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of Amy and I. She makes me very happy indeed.

Elvis

Today is the 30 year anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley and I wanted to post a few images of him as a small homage.

Elvis as most people know him.



Elvis spent 2 years in the military in Germany south of Frankfurt.



Elvis's cheat sheet for a German children's song with phonetic notes that he later recorded as the song "Wooden heart."

Oh yes

During Sunday's Sportsbarn Sprint triathlon I had the fastest bike split overall and I even won my age group. :-)

Results here.

2 races in 2 days

This weekend I'll be racing 2 triathlons, basically one each day.
So today I'll do the Mountain Lakes triathlon in Guntersville, AL and tomorrow I'll race the Sportsbarn Sprint triathlon in Chattanooga, TN.
Both races should be great, but tomorrow's race has a very special meaning in terms of my relationship with Amy. :-)

Smokefree in TN

I have been envious of people living in California mostly because of the smokefree legislation. It is finally happening here and by October 1 all work places and restaurants in Tennessee have to be smokefree.

The law was actually passed a few months ago, but very few folks seem to know it.
So here is a big and enthusiastic thumbs up to the TN Lawmakers.

Recognition feels great

:-)

Big wedding, small wedding

This weekend Amy and I attended a big wedding and while it was very nice, I am very happy that Amy and I see eye to eye in terms of us just having a very small wedding.

7 is not always lucky

This very cute little sheep was born with 7 legs in New Zealand. :-(