Yum!

After making sure the temp agency hadn’t forgotten about me (they haven’t and I’m hoping for new developments in the next couple of days) I did something rather unusual for me: I baked, without any other reason than that I felt like it. Made the brownies Sibylle and I had done for the dinner with Sara the other week, and they turned out yummy (despite me using brown sugar and semi-white flour)!

Brownies
For about 20 pieces.

6 eggs
180g butter
220g chocolate (half milk/half dark)
200g sugar
60g flour

Separate eggs. Melt the butter at very low heat, then add the chocolate in pieces. Take off stove and add sugar, egg yolks and flour one after the other.

Beat egg whites until stiff and carefully lift them under the chocolate mass.

Pre-heat oven to 180°C. Butter up a rectangular form and pour dough into it. Bake in oven for 35 minutes.

Leave brownies to cool off and then remove them from the form by turning it upside down. Cut them into pieces.

Yay, brownies!


Quiet days…

Not a lot to do here. Had an interview with a temp agency but so far haven’t heard anything specific regarding a job. Keeping my fingers crossed… My iPhone has of course been my favorite new toy this week – I’m going to have to create a resources post at some point, as I’ve jailbroken it and it’s now twice as shiny! 🙂

Among other things I found a much better camera software, so when I went for a walk with my mom today, in the fields above the village, I took some photos that came out quite pretty:

Walk with my mom Walk with my mom Walk with my mom Walk with my mom Walk with my mom Walk with my mom

Another thing that’s been making me happy is Fall Out Boy’s new video for “I Don’t Care” – I’ve watched it approximately 30 times by now and it still makes me giggle. Not to speak of the fact that I’ve got the song stuck in my head on permanent repeat. *g*

.mp4: www.megaupload.com/?d=9H19IZ5B
.avi: www.megaupload.com/?d=PMYVMDD8



Scam warning

Thought it might be a good idea to share this here, to make sure as many people as possible know about it…

On Tuesday I received a call from someone claiming to be ‘Ben Bradford’, a promotions agent from a travel agent called Best USA Vacations, and that I had won a trip to Florida and the Bahamas as part of a promotion for people who used their credit cards to pay for traveling.

I was very suspicious, but a part of me kept hoping that maybe, just maybe it might be true – and after I checked out their very real looking website and was assured multiple times that, after all, one could cancel any illegal payments made with a credit card, I let my hope overrule my better judgement and gave him my credit card number. Then ‘Ben’ described my ‘price’ in many details, before turning me over to his ‘supervisor’ Michael, who congratulated me before transferring me to their ‘security department’. After being kept on hold for several minutes, my brain finally managed to overrule that stubborn bit of hope and I hung up and immediately called MasterCard.

And voilà – someone had just tried to get a payment of $500 approved! Luckily the request had been recognized by MasterCard’s early warning system and had been rejected – because, as I was told now, since October 05, MasterCard refuses liability for payments made after giving up one’s credit card number over the phone. I was told to cut my credit card in half and that I’d be sent a replacement for free.

So all in all I was left feeling foolish but without any real damage done. I mean, the website looked so real – and even the US phone number they give you is answered by a ‘travel agent’, as I found out when I called it to give them a piece of my mind – I needed the catharsis, so it was worth the overseas call… 🙂

A friend sent me the link to this blog post, which shows that apparently that sort of scam has been going on for a long time, under different names, first in the US and now (since probably Americans have been put on their guard) in Europe. So be careful – those guys are very good at what they do!


Chocolate cake

Tomorrow my second cousin with his wife and daughter are coming for a visit. Our two families get along very well, so I’m looking forward to seeing them again. For the occasion my mom made me bake – a very messy activity when done by me *g* – and since I translated the recipe for a friend anyway, I thought I’d share:

My Grandmother’s Chocolate Cake:

200g butter
250g sugar (we actually take less)
8 eggs – separate white and yolk, whip the white
240g chocolate (mix of cooking and milk chocolate) – grind it
150g ground almonds
100g zwieback (rusk?) – grind it

Whisk the butter until it’s foamy, add egg yolk and sugar and stir for five minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, egg snow last by moving it gently under the rest. Pour it into the buttered baking-tin.

Pre-heat oven 10 minutes to 200°C.
Bake for 45 minutes on 180°C, then test it.

When the cake’s cooled off, add chocolate glazing.

I do hope the cooking talk translates… especially seeing that I’m definitely not an expert, even in German. *g*


Charity links

In case anyone does not yet know about these sites: With one simple click a day you support all sorts of good causes. Also, they all offer these bracelets that are so fashionable these days. 🙂

The Hunger SiteThe Breast Cancer SiteThe Literacy SiteThe Rainforest SiteThe Child Health SiteThe Animal Rescue Site


Discovering Podcasts

Currently I’m procrastinating badly on my paper. Not because I don’t want to write it — it’s definitely the most interesting (and close-to-my-heart) topic — but because I’m overwhelmed at how much information I want to include, which doesn’t get along with the 25 page limit I have. I mean, I’m already over 1/4 done, although I’ve not even started the main chapters. That just kind of paralysis me, I’m afraid.

But while I’m letting myself be distracted, I discovered a new fun plaything – podcasts. I came across it because of my love for the short-lived sci-fi show Firefly (created by Buffy‘s Joss Whedon), which has now been turned into a movie called Serenity. Some fans created a podcast for it, called The Signal, and out of curiosity I downloaded it using iTunes and started listening to it while working on my paper.

In the meantime I have discovered that there are podcasts about all sorts of things. Basically it’s like radio shows — although I rarely listen to music podcasts (seeing that I already have several thousands mp3s on my external harddrive) — but you can simply download and listen to them at your own leisure, on your iPod (which is where the name comes from) or your computer. And by subscribing to a podcast you’ll automatically get the new episodes as they are published. Now I have to be careful not to get hooked on too many podcasts, because they just please my geeky little heart… *g*

Anyway, some links I’m using:
Resources
iTunes Music Store: Podcast Directory
PodcastPickle
Podcast Alley

Podcasts
The Signal (by Firefly fans, with interviews, etc.)
Doctor Who: Podshock (by Dr. Who fans)
Battlestar Galactica: DVD commentary (by Ron Moore, producer of BSG)
Bored-Again Christian (Christian indie music)
Lord of the Rings Radio (by LotR fans)

And just because I’m being so geeky, I feel I have to mention that we now have wireless internet access in our flat. That led to me sitting on the balcony working on my paper and looking up words in my favorite German-English dictionary. Geek heaven, indeed! 🙂



A new project

While sitting in class today, bored out of my skull, my mind started to meld thoughts of writing for Zündstoff and my love for travel. And suddenly, on a whim, I decided to start a little travel writing project, called Fernweh (‘longing for travel’), for which I’m looking for more participants. So if you’ve ever dreamed about traveling or have some good experiences to share, in the form of fiction, essays or artwork, please do consider signing up!

Fernweh

I set the deadline to October 31, mostly so that when winter comes, we will have a beautiful collection of ‘Fernweh’ inducing texts and art… Really hoping that people will participate, because this could be something really nice, I feel!


Makes me wish I was in the UK :)

Curtesy of my brother who obviously knows my interests quite well… 😀


& national tour highlights go UK-wide: April – September 2005

24 February 2005

The British Film Institute is delighted to present the 19th London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival which will open on 30th March with a gala opening screening of Prey for Rock & Roll, a delicious biopic starring Gina Gershon (courtesy of Parasol Peccadillo). Our Closing Night gala on 13th April will be Gregg Araki’s Mysterious Skin (courtesy of Tartan Films), a bold and beautiful adaptation of Scott Heim’s novel of childhood trauma. Both screenings take place at the Odeon West End. The rest of the festival will take place at the National Film Theatre and for the first time we will be collaborating on a series of gay artists’ films at Tate Modern.

The London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival is presented by the British Film Institute and programmed by Jonathan Keane, Selina Robertson, Inge Blackman and Brian Robinson. The Festival enjoys the support of a wide range of sponsors including Mayfair Cellars, Renault UK, media partners Time Out, AXM, G3 and Impact distribution. We are also grateful for the support of Soho House, Heaven, Southopia, the Candy Bar, Midnite Express, Konditor & Cook, The Berners Hotel, Canada House, the Goethe Institute, and the Finnish Institute.

This year the LLGFF Patrons’ Scheme includes a highly distinguished group: Clare Balding, Stephen Fry, David Furnish, Paul Gambaccini, Sir Elton John, Isaac Julien, Byrony Lavery, Sir Ian McKellen, Phyllis Nagy, Pratibha Parmar, Patricia Rozema and Sarah Waters.

Source: www.image.net newsletter

Website: LLGFF 2005