September Oktoberfest

Robb kind of solved our Frankfurt lodging dilemma, but we had to settle for a hotel. The good news is that it's right in the heart of the city, so we can walk to almost everything. It will be interesting to tour what used to be considered the main drag: Kaiserstrasse. Last time we were there, it was basically the heart of the red-light district. Since that was only a few years ago, probably nothing has changed. We shall see. When I was stationed in Frankfurt back in the fifties, Kaiserstrasse was the main street to which we all went. It was lined with beer stubes with oompah bands and crowded with people who obviously had downed a stein or two. Too bad we're going to be too early for Oktoberfest. Since we'll be there until 3 September, and since Oktoberfest is really in September, we might get to experience it for a couple days. I wonder why it's called "Oktoberfest" and not Septemberfest?

Thursday was, apparently, Earth Day. Our ex-neighbor, but still friend, Alan started a free public transportation service called Green Hopper. Green Hopper has two objectives; 1 - lower the number of fume spewing vehicles on the city streets and 2 - lower the number of drunk drivers on the city streets. Since its inception a year or so ago, it has been embraced by the community and it's not uncommon to see a Green Hopper driving by. Each year, on Earth Day, they have a little party at the Green Hopper headquarters. This year, since we're both healthy for a change, we went. I was quite surprised by the number of people who showed up for this event. I was thinking, "Maybe a handful." But there was a huge crowd. Furthermore, I seem to be on a winning roll for the moment. You know I won the free trip to Paris. Well, today I not only won a door prize (a bottle of champagne, no less), but after years and years of watching others get their picture in the local gay newspapers, today was my turn. Robb and I are in the South Florida Gay News. Now if the good luck streak would just extend to the Powerball.....

Is there any better proof that legislation is needed to protect gay men and women? You should be firing off letters and emails of indignation just from reading the headline: Sonoma County CA separates elderly gay couple and sells all of their worldly possessions.

If you think we're being ripped off by the TV, telephone, and internet ISPs, you need to read this: "the U.S. is the only industrialized nation that taxes its overseas citizens, subjecting them to taxation in both their country of citizenship and country of residence." Why More U.S. Expatriates Are Turning In Their Passports. Speaking of telephones, once again Europe moves ahead of the US in technology. Orange (ex France Telecom) is currently installing new public phones in the street They're doing that in some specific, touristic areas as an experiment. Why? Because these telephone booths have nothing to do with the good old pay phones of "the past"! This new model allows you to call, of course, but also to surf the web or find a restaurant/shop/theater nearby.

More telephone news. This just blows me away: Quad Band Bluetooth Touch Screen FM Watch Cell Phone. I had absolutely no idea there was such a thing.

Lousy DNA Reveals When People First Wore Clothes.

Here's an interesting theory: Self-starter: Life got going all on its own.

Of course, we will never see it in our lifetimes: Quantum broadband becomes reality.

RIP Xena. Last but not least, the first pig cloned from fetal pigskin cells in Japan, Xena, has been euthanized after difficulty standing due to natural causes, reports Kyodo News. Xena was nine years and eight months at the time of her death, the oldest cloned pig in the world.

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No , this is how I dress when I go to work.

TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?
HAROLD: A teacher

À la prochaine, mes amis