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 Congrats Spain On 2008-06-30 22:08 I have to say they were the most regular team of this European championship and deserved their victory. Would have preferred Germany but hey, can't win everytime...  No comments yetMonsanto & Co On 2008-03-18 08:25 I used to think people like José Bové who were uprooting transgenic corn from various fields around France were a bit stupid. That they could try to follow the law, etc... But I've seen a documentary on Arte last week about Monsanto (who produces transgenic corn & other vegetables seeds) and honestly it is very scary. Apparently what they do is submit a patent for their seeds that says that if you want to use them, you need to buy them every year. You cannot use what they produce to re-plant the same kind of product. If you fail to pay them every year they sue you and it most oftenly leads to bankrupt. So what they do in various countries around the world is submit the patent and as soon as it is accepted, they buy the largest seeds company (ies) in that country so that farmers don't realy have the choice anymore. They sell their seeds way more expensive than regular seeds and it looks like their facts about producing more and using less chemicals is a big fat lie. The other interresting point is that that modified gene seems to be very easy to transmit so people who don't even plant transgenic corn, might end up growing them, and if companies like Monsanto find them, they would, according to their patent, be able to ask them to pay for the seeds that they didn't plant. So I don't know what is true in this and what is exagerated but it is very scary and looks like Monsanto & co are trying to control the world using patents and their transgenic/virus food. In France, we just suspended the use of this kind of corn until we find out if it is dangerous or not (I haven't talked about health problems here, this is just on top of all of this) but a few associations supported by a firm named...... Monsanto are going to court to ask the government to suspend the suspension... Result should be today... I hope we don't go one step backwards. No comments yetIch bin ein Berliner On 2008-01-23 12:52 A few words about our weekend trip to Berlin which was fun even though it rained the whole time. We arrived on Saturday around 11 am but it tooks us about 1 hour and a half to reach the hotel from Schonefeld airport with the S-Bahn and U-Bahn. We met Helga there and then walked to Checkpoint Charly which was one of the famous frontier posts during the cold war. Then we walked to the famous Unter den linden street that leads to Brandenburg gate and also saw the Reichstag and the Holocaust Memorial. We then went to the the other side of Unter den linden to see the Berliner Dom and finally decided to go to Postdamer Platz to see Sony center and have dinner there. It was a nice day and we saw a lot in just a few hours. On Sunday, we went to Tiergarten and then went to the Wall Museum and Egyptian museum where we saw the famous nefertiti sculpture. Another very nice city break :) No comments yetTeam Fortress 2 On 2008-01-17 17:20 This is the new game we are playing online. It is still a FPS (First Person Shooter) but I have to admit it is really fun, especially since there are different type of characters. You can play the Pyro who has a flamethrower and can transform the enemy in fried chicken. You can also be a sniper and stay away from action. You can be a medic and heal your partners during the fight, a scout used mainly to capture enemy bases. You can play a spy and get invisible or disguise as a member of the other team to backstab them when they look somewhere else, you can even be an engineer and build sentry guns or teleporting devices. I was kind of bored with Tactical Ops lately but I have to admit this one is fun to play, mainly with friends. I don't think I can play any of these games seriously anymore, more fun to burn a friend hihi :) No comments yetSales On 2008-01-16 10:34 I liked this year's winter sales although I was a bit disappointed as Easyjet and their 25% rebate only. Last year they had really good deals but this time it really sucks. I also feel like most of the tickets' prices have been raised. Going to London for example is not as cheap as it used to be. They should be careful because if BA or Air France proposes the same price or about the same price, nobody will fly with them anymore... Anyway sales in general were good, I ordered the complete James Bond collection (18 or so movies) for 40 Euros. Doh. Only Casino Royale is missing (both editions). I also found a couple of other DVDs but didn't spend much at all. I wish sales could be that good every year !. No comments yetTrips this year On 2008-01-15 15:45 I think I am pretty much set with my trips for 2008. Don't have too much money at the moment with all the things I had to pay for so I can't picture myself going anywhere else than these few trips. First one will be on Saturday and Sunday when I'll be in Berlin with my parents for their 30th anniversary. Then probably San Francisco and Hawaii in May for Neela's graduation and a visit to Martijn, Saskia and little Verheus. Just before I will have a family reunion near Nantes (that's in France ^^) in a place called "La Baule". It should be nice like every year. The last planned trip for this year is Ireland again with my parents as their christmas present this time. A whole week there, I'm really looking forward to it. I just looked at the Japan weblog again and removed all crappy fake comments, and I have to say I reaaaaally want to go again. I hope the dudes want to go again someday so we can all visit our friends there and eat some more cod testicles, fallopian tubes, and other deadly fishes. I miss Japan. No comments yetSmoke free country On 2008-01-15 15:39 It really started, people are actually not smoking in pubs and bars anymore. A couple of bar owners are trying to resist but I think so many people are happy about this that even the smoking people don't complain much. I need to go to a bar to see what it feels like :p No comments yetIf you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'. On 2007-11-22 09:45 Went to see Chuck's concert yesterday. Honestly I was a bit worried by the result before going since the guy is now 81 years old and people on the internet say he should stop after going to his concert. At first I was a bit disapointed since he was obviously trying to do too much. Let's be clear, he is old now and can't play all the notes and sometimes it sounded wrong but most of the time he adapted his playing to his age and it sounded really ok. On top of that, Chuck had so much energy for someone his age that you are really willing to forgive him. He looked very happy on stage and when a legend like him gives you everything he has, and even though it is not so much, you are so glad to forgive the few wrong notes here and there. I really enjoyed it. It was amazing to see him go around the crowd with the security people following him cause they were scared he'd fall or something. The people in the 'Salle 3000' were all very excited and they were literally helping him. Very cool. And so good to hear "Sweet little sixteen", "My ding-a-ling", or "Johnny be good", 50 years after he sang them for the first time. Oh and he did the duck-walk !!!. Fantastic. No comments yetMiss Moneypenny exits stage On 2007-10-01 16:58 On screen, Lois Maxwell played the woman James Bond never seduced, Miss Moneypenny. In real life, she was more than his match -- an adventurous traveller, an entertainer, and a flirt to the end.
Her death on Saturday at Fremantle Hospital, in Western Australia, from a combination of lung and vascular disease, followed several weeks of treatment there. She was 80.
1 commentsFor love of the game ^^ On 2007-09-13 11:01 A German football club is planning to set up a cemetery for fans who want to take their love for the game to the grave. Hamburg SV chairman Christian Reichert said the cemetery would be built opposite the stadium and have room for more than 150 graves. "It won't be full of colourful headstones and we don't want to turn the graveyard into a bazaar for fan merchandise, but it will be a place for true fans to find their final resting place," said Reichert. He added that memorial stones to some of the club's greatest players would be erected in the cemetery - and a display of the club's emblem made from flower beds. No comments yetMadrid On 2007-09-10 14:10 Just got back from Madrid. The weekend there by myself was pretty cool. It started on a wrong impression; I think I was a bit tired on the first day when I got there and therefore couldn't really appreciate what I saw. Had the feeling there was not so much to see. I ended up in an irish pub watching the opening game of the world cup of rugby between France and Argentina. Bar was packed with fans from both countries. The next day was tough, especially the morning after the beers from the night before. I went to have a look at Santiago Bernabeu and the Arenas and then went to the Park del Retiro which was veeeery nice. I spent a lot of time there and then went to the Museum of the Queen Sofia. Modern art, not really my taste but I got to see Picasso's Guernica. I then went to my irish pub for some rugby/football again. On Sunday I walked to the Prado, saw the Museum Thyssen-Bornemysza and then went to the Palacio Real before finishing with the Prado Museum. I ended up in my pub again and had a nice dinner at a restaurant in Plazza Mayor. I'd say the weekend was very pleasant but I got lucky it was during the rugby world cup because watching the games kept be busy after 5 pm when I was getting tired. Would have been kind of bored in the evening by myself. But I didn't get bored and had a very good time so it is all for the best. Pictures soon on fotopic. 1 commentsRugby On 2007-09-05 11:45 A couple of days before the world cup of rugby start, President Bush visited his Australian co-WARers in Sydney but the prime minister wasn't there... "PRIME Minister John Howard did not greet the most powerful man in the world when he arrived in Sydney last night, instead deciding to attend the Dally M National Rugby League Player of the Year awards. US President George W. Bush was greeted by Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile and NSW Premier Morris Iemma when he emerged from Air Force One at 10.30pm for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit. His arrival demanded the tighest security Australia has ever seen for a world leader. Mr Howard jokingly told the audience at the Dally M awards that he was getting his priorities straight." No comments yetCongratulations Neela ! On 2007-09-04 10:39 Neela's first paper as a first author has just been e-published by the American Journal or Epidemiology (AJE). Pubmed ID is : 17761691. Congratulations ! 2 commentsWine is good for you On 2007-09-04 10:37 Wine contains a number of biologically active compounds with beneficial effects on human health. The antibacterial action of commercial red and white wines against oral streptococci responsible for caries development and against S. pyogenes responsible for pharyngitis was studied. Its postcontact effect against S. mutans was also studied. Both wines displayed activity. The compounds responsible for such activities were succinic, malic, lactic, tartaric, citric, and acetic acid. The synthetic mixtures of the organic acids tested at the concentrations found in wine had greater antibacterial activity than the beverages, indicating that in wine they are inhibited by other components. Wine polyphenols displayed no activity against oral streptococci or S. pyogenes. Findings show that wine is active against oral streptococci and S. pyogenes and suggest that it enhances oral health. Pubmed ID: 17547418 No comments yetNew Brave Warrior On 2007-09-04 10:34 I forgot to announce the good news here ! Vishwa and Eiko are now the parents of a little Reina. Congratulations to the happy parents and now let's wait for the second one :D 2 commentsJFK On 2007-08-29 16:59 If Hamburg was the capital city of Germany, do you think Kennedy would have said "Ich bin ein Hamburger" ?..... No comments yetBack to work On 2007-08-29 14:07 After two little breaks in the South of France and North of Germany, it is time to go back to work. First break was only for a weekend. I went to Toulouse with my parents to watch a football game (that OL lost thanks to the referee, who by the way got suspended after this game), then we drove to Carcassonne, then Beziers, Sete, Aigues-Mortes, Nimes and saw Le Pont du Gard before heading back to Lyon. We made a one day stop on the way in Montelimar to swim in my cousin's pool. Fun. Second break was a little less fun as we went to Germany to deal with all the paperwork for my aunt succession after she passed away earlier this year. We had time to walk around and it was very relaxing as the paperwork was very low. Next trip will be to Madrid in a week and a half then Barcelona with Neela in November. Pictures from the trip in the south are on Fotopic. No comments yetAugust 16, 1977, the (other) day the music died... On 2007-08-16 17:10 “The first time that I appeared on stage, it scared me to death. I really didn’t know what all the yelling was about. I didn’t realize that my body was moving. It’s a natural thing to me. So to the manager backstage I said ‘What’d I do? What’d I do?’ And he said “Whatever it is, go back and do it again’.” Elvis Aaron Presley (08/01/1935-16/08/1977). No comments yetQuote of the day On 2007-08-10 10:13 There will one day spring from the brain of science a machine or force so fearful in its potentialities, so absolutely terrifying, that even man, the fighter, who will dare torture and death in order to inflict torture and death, will be appalled, and so abandon war forever.
Thomas A. Edison
No comments yetAnd the winners are..... On 2007-07-31 14:31 .... us of course. Who else ? For the 6th time on a row, Lyon won Trophée des champions which is like the charity chield in England. This game features the champion of the previous season against the winner of the french cup. This year it was Lyon against Sochaux and once more, we won the game. I wouldn't say easily but the win was deserved. Team looks good even though it might be hard in European cup as many players and unexperimented. On Sunday the league starts again with a home game against Auxerre. It is nice to go to the stadium again before leaving for some well deserved holidays :) No comments yetTour de France On 2007-07-26 08:55 What a mess ! It looks like a joke now... There was Vinokourov who mixed his blood with someone else's and thought that nobody would notice during the doping control. He knew he would win the stage and as the blood of the first 3 racers is always tested, there was no way he could escape it. What the hell are they thinking ??. His team was designed around him for the pride of Kazakhstan and now they are just ridiculous. A Cycling official there said that it was targeted by french officials who didn't want him to win the race. Come on guys, the guy implicitely meant in an interview before the tour that he was not against some doping products. Of course the officials didn't want him to win... 2 days ago, Eric Boyer the manager of Cofidis, a french team, said "Vinokourov" dirtied the Tour and was very aggressive towards the Kazakh. Yesterday, Moreni a racer from Cofidis was found guilty of doping as well and Eric Boyer to say "Moreni assumes his responsibility, he is a good guy who was weak and did the wrong thing. He feels sorry". So it looks like doping is REALLY forbidden as long as it is other teams' racers that use these products, when it is your own team then it is just a sad mistake. Anyway, both team are now out, taking away all chances for german Kloden who was my favorite to win the tour this year (but maybe was he doped as well?). Yesterday, new episode. People found out that Rasmussen, who was incredibly strong even in time trial where he usually sucks big time, lied about the place he was to prepare the Tour. Everybody knew he didn't give his schedule to the cyclist union, preventing them to perform any doping control on him during his preparation, but that was not considered bad enough to be kicked out of the tour, but he apparently said he was in Mexico while he was in Italy. There is no reason to lie about something like that but as he was already under suspicion, his team decided to kick him out. They will decide today if the whole team resigns or if they keep racing. Now the final word goes to Lance Amstrong who declared he was happy to see that doping controls work. Ironic huh ? No comments yetUna cerveza por favor On 2007-07-24 17:07 Easyjet is closing down their routes to Rome and Madrid at the end of October. They are going to be replaced by new routes to Berlin and Barcelona so I guess these will be my/our future destinations which sounds pretty cool. Any way I decided to take the opportunity to go to Madrid before the route disappears so I will be going between September 7th and September 10th. If anybody is interrested in joining me, it is only 60 Euros from Lyon. I have to learn some spanish words but fortunately, I already know the most important ones "Una cerveza por favor". Can't wait. 2 commentsCamembert Président On 2007-07-24 16:11 Our président Nicolas Sarkozy is so great, he saved all the bulgarian nurses who were going to be executed in Lybia. This is at least how we are supposed to see things here. After months and months of negociations from the European Union with Lybia, Sarko just goes to Lybia as soon as it feels like the nurses will be freed soon. He also sends his wife twice and just like magic they are freed. And the dummy french beret-wearing papi is thinking "Our président saved them". Well to me this looks like a simple tentative to get all the credit for the liberation of the nurses. Stinky manners I think, just like an old camembert. No comments yetSupersize me again On 2007-07-23 15:52 Looks like the supersize coke is available in the US again. After the quite good "Supersize me" documentary by Morgan Spurlock, McDonalds decided to remove the supersize versions of drinks from their menu. It didn't last very long as it is apparently back with a funky name "HUGO" which should have been named "HUGE-U" or something like that. 42 ounces of coke, which means 1.2 litres to drink containing 410 calories. That's 15% of the calories I have every day ! In just one drink ^^. I guess people won't get slimmer in the US but I guess if people buy it why not selling it ? The other day I was watching that charity show on tv and I thought if McDonalds was offering reduced portion (like 20% less) for the same price (doesn't have to be mandatory), and give the 20% they save up to the poor people, McDonalds fans might buy it, therefore eat less and give money to the poor. McDonalds could also use this for their publicity but would people in the US be ready to pay the same amount to get less food ? Maybe in California, New York or other strongholds but in rural america... might not be a so good idea there. 3 commentsDirty Harry On 2007-07-20 14:05 So..... H-10 before the last volume of the harry potter series is released and apparently some libraries in the US couldn't wait to make money. Many different spoilers are available on the web. Some say that Harry will die together with Voldemort, some say that Hermione dies, some say that half a dozen characters die,.... I'd say too many spoilers kill the spoilers. Maybe some of these spoilers are actually published by the editors thinking that if people find 4 different ones on the internet, they will think they're all fake... I looked online, and I still don't know who is dying so I guess they did their job well :p 1 commentsSpecial guest of Hard-Fi On 2007-07-17 15:37 Check this video, you might recognize who was the guest star of this video clip. Interresting part is around 2:30 - 2:50 mins. Enjoy ;) 6 commentsIntroducing new changes On 2007-07-17 14:58 I was tired of the previous design of the website so I made it way more simple. Due to the huge amount of automatic messages posted on this website and all the other keitaro.net domain sites like japan05.keitaro.net, I had to introduce a few changes. First of all, an account will be required to post shouts or comments. Getting an account is very simple, just fill the form in on the registration page. On this page you will have to give the name of the randomly selected simpson character that will appear on screen. This is again to protect the system against some of the automatic bots. They know how to read numbers but don't know yet how to recognize a bart from a homer. Once the account is created, you can simply login and then you will have access to the forms allowing you to shout or send comments about news. Amongst new stuff, there is also the return of pictures. The pictures page will be improved a little later but the section is back !. This will probably require some more changes to get something that works properly but it can already be used. The last change I am working on is a function that will send the people who want it, an email when a news is posted. This is not yet working though. Hope you like it. 2 commentsAbused by a bottle of Vodka On 2007-06-11 16:29 1 commentsLufthansa's first class customer service On 2007-05-10 13:28 I hate them. Yesterday I email them to ask what happened to the miles I should have received for my last trip to the States. Of course I checked the website before to make sure they were not credited. Their answer was: "To consult your mileage credit, please visit our website and click on that link and that link." The typical copy and paste from a customer service agent who didn't read my question. So I write them again and tell them that I don't like how not serious they are blah blah blah, and they reply to me: "The miles are credited on your account, you could have at least checked the website". These bastards credited the miles after my second email and then told me I could AT LEAST check the website before complaining.... It took all my energy and good will not to reply or write them a compain letter. 3 commentsQuote of the day On 2007-04-18 09:47 "To find out the gun came from my shop is just terrible," Markell said. From the owner of the store where the student who killed 33 people on Virginia Tech campus bought the gun. Dude you're selling guns, what do you expect people to do with them ? 2 commentsPirates of the Carribean 2 On 2007-03-22 16:06 Saw it yesterday.... Really liked the first one but didn't like this one at all. I guess the original one is always the best. At least I'll save some money by not buying the dvd :) No comments yetAds again On 2007-03-22 13:33 Man these automatic messages are getting annoying. They are not even posting links, just randomly spamming boards... That suxxxxx. I have to think about it about my visit to the states and the exams. No comments yetVegas Baby On 2007-03-15 10:13 Going to the States next week for about 10 days. Will stay in Vegas then drive around Grand Canyon, hopefully see Monument Valley and other nice things on the way. Should be fuuuuun. VEGAS BABY ! 4 commentsHow to get rid of ads On 2007-03-14 14:26 I don't have time to work on this too much so posting links in comments is now forbidden. I hope it works. Better go back to work now ^^ No comments yetFête des lumières On 2006-12-08 19:54 Since I was a kid, I put candles in glasses on my balcony every 8th of December. When I was a little boy, I used to like going out with my parents, we'd never go farther than monplaisir and have fun with all the people on the main street. Stores were open (though not selling anything) and had animations for kids. I remember that guy who was there every year and who engraved glasses with the first name of the kids for almost nothing (like maybe 1 euro now). It was a fun evening out that would never end very late anyway. Now 8th of December became a commercial feast like Christmas or Halloween. Tons of tourists are coming to Lyon, hotels are full, they have super big light shows on all churches and big buildings of Lyon. Crazy. Although all these things are nice for the city, I don't think it looks like what I used to like years ago. This year it is raining, cold and windy. I went downtown yesterday but it was not that nice (probably because it was not the real 8th of December yet). Today I was planning on going to Monplaisir but the weather is keeping me away from that. Sad. They had a Bollywood parade. I've put my candles on the balcony and looked at other people's windows. Not as many people as before put candles but I still like to see them here and there, cause I feel like I share something with these people. We are lyonnais. Me feels nostalgic tonight.... 2 commentsR.I.P. Steve Irwin On 2006-09-16 09:13 Hit in the chest by a stingray barb. These things kill like 2 persons a year, less than coconut falls. Really sucks after the dangerous life he had. :( 1 commentsGreat.... On 2006-09-08 09:02 There are an estimated 800 million undernourished people and more than a billion considered overweight worldwide. 9 commentsQuote of the day On 2006-08-21 18:24 "There must be consequences if people thumb their nose at the United Nations Security Council. We will work with people on the Security Council to achieve that objective". Said US president G.W. Bush. Am I the only one to think this is pretty funny ? 6 commentsThe fastest way to send a message... On 2006-08-16 14:27 ...seems to be by boat. As my 4th week without internet access at home is soon ending, I am amazed not to be more annoyed by this lack of interest in me from my internet service provider: Numericable. Even after one of their technicians visited me for about an hour, nothing is fixed yet and that was about 2 weeks ago. I am more annoyed by my telephone bill for the incomming month which is already above 100 Euros because of my repetitive calls to their helpdesk. Anyway... My last 4 days have been spent in Hamburg, Germany with my aunt and parents. It was not so fun but good to see my aunt after she was diagnosed with lung cancer a few months ago. Always sad to see people and wonder if it will be the last time. She didn't look bad at all though. Next two weeks should be kind of interresting with my last holidays of this year and the selection committee which should meet soon for the position I am applying for. We'll see... 2 commentsRosette et Beaujolais On 2006-08-02 13:55 This is the name of my new Hattrick team (ID: 592576). Hattrick is some kind of internet-based football team management game. I registered mainly because it doesn't require too much attention per week. The team is playing in the Quenelle Arena. My first game last week was a complete disaster as we lost this home game 7-0. Now the fans aren't very happy.... As hattrick is giving team that have been abandonned by previous owners, I inherited a team in the 7th division but they are last of the league and as it was the last game of the year, we will be relegated to 8th (and last) division of France with an amazing final record of 14 matchs played, 14 losses, 4 goals scored and 68 goals against us. I think the team really needed a good coach like me. I am waiting for a bit and I'll challenge Jon's team for a friendly match, even though we all know there is no friendly match with british teams ahaha :) No comments yetBack to business On 2006-08-02 13:34 I have been negligating this site for a while. Various reasons led to this lack of news. First one was the world cup. When you have 3 games to watch a day, you don't have so much free time for anything else. Second one is my ISP. I have no internet at home for about a week and a half and I feel desperate. I wasn't used to spent my evening in front of the computer but it kept me busy surfing the web, playing hyperiums, or chatting with people. It should be back on Friday hopefully as a technician is coming (finally) to check the outlet and everything else. I will try to find some time to answer my late emails. I apologize to the people who didn't receive answers to their recent mails. I didn't have any problems before with Numericable (my Cable TV and Internet Provider) but I realized this time that they were pretty much like any ISP in France. As long as it works, then it is great, but when you have a problem it is a pain in the ass to have someone helping you. If my problem is their responsability, I will probably write a letter of complaint and ask for a month free or something cause I spent lots of money on the phone talking to their helpdesk. We'll see... 246 comments |