i drove to klagenfurt to get the “approved” version of my thesis back but i was out of luck: the secretary’s office was closed this afternoon. darn, bummer! oh well, that’s life… anyway, i enjoyed a terrific winter day with low traffic on the highway and gorgeous sunshine. however, it was a bit cold. (for all those of you wondering, yes i took some pictures from my “road trip” and will be putting them up on my flickr account soon.)
so there i am all alone in klagenfurt with nothing to do. i could have driven straight home but i dropped by a retail store to check if they have the german version of World of Warcraft yet. just out of curiousity because if finally make up my mind and decide to get it, i am going to order the uk (english) version… but again, no luck here either… no World of Warcraft on the shelves… should i take this as a “sign”?
np: Fatboy Slim - The Joker
road trip
February 9th, 2005very good news!
February 8th, 2005good - no wait! - excellent news at last! i just got word from my prof that i can finally have my thesis printed and “published”. that means i am going to take the final exam (called “Rigorosum” in german) between april 18 and april 29, 2005.
abschied von azeroth
February 6th, 2005well, i decided it’s time to say goodbye to azeroth for the time being. World of Warcraft is scheduled to be released this friday (february 11). so i stopped playing the beta because all servers are going to be wiped anyway and i do not want to invest more time into my chars. however, i have not made up my mind if and when i am going to get the retail and play it “for real”. it is one of the best MMORPGs out there, no doubt about that. but i still have to finish my phd and i have no idea when i can actually take the final exam. it all depends on my supervisor and her busy timetable… talk about getting one’s priorities straight.
mr. bean
February 5th, 2005i have just watched the movie “Bean” on television. it has been a long time since i took the time to watch actually a film (dubbed) in german and i really enjoyed it. usually, i prefer the original version (even with subtitles) because so much gets lost in the translation and dubbing process. but it was nice just to relax and have some fun…
the right track
February 3rd, 2005i guess i am on the right track now as far as my phd thesis is concerned. i received a short note from my prof telling me that she read the first chapter and it’s looking good. so i am in a good spirit that this whole thing will be over soon. actually, it has to be. i still need to confirm the details, but i think i have to take the final exam by the end of april at latest in order to avoid having to pay tuition fees for another semester…
lieber ‘arald
February 1st, 2005i finally managed to get a copy of Harald Schmidt’s latest “book” called “Avenue Montaigne. Roman, très nouveau“. i have been a fan of him since the early 90s when he did “Verstehen Sie Spass?” and “Schmidteinander”, two more (the first) or less (the latter) famous shows in German television. after he started doing his daily late night show i sort of lost track of him, but never completely. i read all his books and watched his late show from time to time, where he demonstrated his unrestrained “love” for the French people. i am not kidding you, he even did an entire show in french which was simply hilarious and unprecedented in the history of German television. i greatly admire him, his sense of humour is marvelous and very sophisticated. i am glad he’s back on the screen. lieber ‘arald, kannst du mir nischt etwas von dir schicken…?
the phenomenon MMORPG
January 30th, 2005MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role playing games) have been around for some years now, so you can hardly talk about a new “phenomenon”. still, it continues to amaze me how players are fascinated by such games and virtually (pun intended) drawn into the fictional worlds. due to my case study of Neocron i arrived at a plausible, psychoanalytical explanation and i really want to share this “revelation” with you. the game is not interactive but what Zizek would call “interpassive”: you as the player have to be active (doing quests, slaying creeps and so on) so that the game can be “passive”. that means that although you think you are “enjoying” the game you are actually not enjoying it: the game does that for you. Zizek often quotes the example with the “canned laughter” in sitcoms: it’s the television set that is “laughing” for you so that you don’t have to. however, you still feel sort of “relieved” afterwards because someone else (the television set, the game) is doing something (laughing, enjoying) for you. i guess here lies the “lure” of MMORPGs: just by playing the game you don’t have to enjoy it but still feel some kind of gratification…
tgi friday
January 28th, 2005
well, here’s a picture of the “Koralpe” (altitude 2140 m) taken from outside of my house. as you can tell, most of the snow here in the valley has already melted away. dommage!
now i am off to the bank and after that to the vets’ because meryl is getting her annual leukemia shot today. this is always great fun (i’m kidding of course) due to meryl’s uncooperative behaviour when it comes to vets and shots…
snow! finally!
January 26th, 2005finally the snow storms that have been raging all over europe reached the south of Austria. it’s been snowing on and off today with an ice-cold stormy wind blowing constantly. i am glad that i don’t have to leave the house or even drive to Klagenfurt because the conditions on the road are no fun right now. (i do of course have winter tires and all but from my past experience i can tell that it usually takes ages for the road to be cleared when winter suddenly arrives…) i wanted to take some pictures but the battery of the cam was low and when it was recharged it was already dark. should there be still some snow around tomorrow, i’ll post a picture of a “typical” austrian winter landscape…
bad day
January 24th, 2005Take away the sensation inside
Bittersweet migraine in my head
It’s like a throbbing toothache of the mind
I can’t take this feeling anymore
(Green Day - Give Me Novocaine)
yet another day where i woke up with a splitting headache. what makes matters worse is that i am still waiting for feedback. i am so sick and tired of waiting! no wait, i am really pissed off. i feel like wasting my time with this darn wait… i should have been done with long time ago…