Category: Uncategorized

If you are currently located in Austria, you can’t escape the election campain for the federal president. The austrian federal president is often seen as a surrogate emperor. Although the federal president is formal the head of the state, he has nearly no political power in the constitution.
With this background both candidates were selected by their parties because they don’t have a strong opinion and “somehow” can be elected by everyone.
This makes it difficult to run a campain, because it is nearly impossible to talk about goals and the candidates opinion on a specific topics is relevant only for catching voters. Benita Ferrero Waldner writes a ridiculous weblog and Heinz Fischer tries to impress the young voters with cheesy parties like “Dancing for Democracy”
I often wonder how politicians with no own opinion can survive, as being politician implies that they have to make descions especially if they are holding an office. Both candidates of this election have made questionable decisions that did show that they are not able to run their office (“Causa Wiesenthal”, “Volxtheaterkarawane”), and i think that if they have been politicians in a larger country (like e.g. Germany) they would have been forced to retire years ago.
However I can’t really compare Germany and Austria, as in Germany the president is elected by the parliamentarians and not by the population, so the german president elections are not that ridiculous, as there is no need to launch guranteed content-free pseudo election campaigns.
Weblink: Hinter dem Laecheln, why you should not vote for BFW.

It has been raining the whole day. I don’t want to go outside. It is cold. Nothing interesting happened — I should add a “weather” category to my blog.

As predicted on March 13, the spring has started. 16�C and sunshine. I spent an hour sitting in the sun, using Internet from an open WLAN on Mozartplatz. The iBook display is quite readable in the sun.

Since this week most of the snow melted, and the spring starts next week, here are four pictures from last weekends excursion to Salzburg.

Continue reading “Last winter pics”

Today is the first cominatorics course. I am already having a headache from solving my exercises. One is still missing, hopefully I can solve it until 13.00.

My girlfriend used to wake up with the “ö3 Wecker” and Harry Reithofer. Everytime I hear him, I immediately feel the need to scream. I usually prefer FM4, because it plays better music, but in the morning they have a “Shower contest”, where people have to phone in and sing popsongs with shower background. *AAAAAAAAh*, if i want to listen to people unable to sing, I can switch to ö3 or “Radio Wien” instead. So why are they doing this? It is _not_ funny. Do I now have to get up before 6 o’clock, so that I can avoid all those morning shows on the radio?

For the first time the socialdemocrats got the majority. The “Red Gabi” wil now become the first “Landeshauptfrau”. I have been visiting Salzburg today, and I did not expect his result.

Continue reading “Salzburg has voted”

If you are living near Vienna, and unlike me have a lot of time during the week, visit the Porgy & Bess tomorrow evening. There is the Uchiage Festival, Japanese Improvisation Music. Among others one of my favorites: Otomo Yoshihide.

Today Apple subscribed me to a mailinglist called “new music tuesdays”.
Another entry in my .procmailrc.
Why do they think I want to read such a mailinglist?
How could I believe that Apple was smarter than other companies?