Five Things and a Video

I'm short of time again, so we'll play the now world-famous Five Things You Don't Know About Me meme. (The original specified that the things should be "interesting," well I can't promise that.)

1. I wash myself in the shower in an absolute and unvarying sequence, starting at the left armpit: upper torso, left arm, right arm, neck and shoulders, left leg, right leg, gonads, lower back, upper back, shampoo, face.

2. I hate shoes. I hate the way they look, I hate the way they feel, I hate the way my feet sweat in them in summer and freeze in them in winter; but more than that I hate buying them. When I find a pair of shoes that neither hurt my feet nor make small children cry and dogs bark, I wear them until they are worn through - and then buy another identical pair. My current favourites are Clarks, really dull and boring; I'm on my third fourth pair.

2a. I think that monotony ("really dull and boring") is grossly undervalued as an organizing principle. I strive for monotony in my database work: things should look like what they do, and two things that do the same task should have the same appearance.

3. I sometimes wonder whether my liking such a wide variety of music and literature isn't a sign of lack of taste (an inability to discriminate).

4. I deliberately don't do many things at home that I enjoy out-of-house. I shall never buy an espresso-maker, for instance, because that would spoil the special-event-ness of getting dressed and leaving the house to have a cappuccino; although I love Bratkartoffeln, I've never tried to make them.

5. I sometimes feel that I'm the biggest fraud on earth, and am about to be justly exposed to the world's ridicule.

And now, the video One of the oddest German traditions at New Year is watching a particular short film on TV. It's a classic, every good German knows every word of it by heart; every station broadcasts it at least once today, and every good German will watch it at least once today.

What's odd about that, you might ask? Well, two things. First, the film is in English and is broadcast without dubbing or subtitles, but even people who don't speak English (e.g. G's parents) love the film and watch it every year. Secondly, although the film was made from an English script and features English actors, no English person of my acquaintance has ever heard of it!

Without further ado, "The 90th birthday party, or Dinner for one."

Happy New Year, my dears.