Johannes Schult

This is sort of a political song. About eight years ago I got the impression that Hillary Clinton would be the Democrats’ presidential candidate in the upcoming election. Sure, the system provided ample opportunities for other contenders to chime in. None of their names meant anything to me whereas Clinton was a household name. I fully expected her to win that race. Enter Obama. In June 2008, shortly after Hillary Clinton withdrew her candidacy, I bought an “Obama for President” baseball cap. The rest is history.

Just a few weeks ago I had the impression that Hillary Clinton would be the Democrats’ presidential candidate in the upcoming election. Yet, just like eight years ago, a “new” face has appeared. Like Obama, he’s not actually “new” to U.S. politics. More importantly, like Obama, he offers a refreshing alternative to Clinton’s “moderately conservative” direction. His name is Bernie Sanders. I have yet to acquire a “Sanders for President” baseball cape, but I’ve read various articles on him and statements by him over the past few weeks, finding little to nothing I don’t agree with – and now I wholeheartedly wish for him to become Obama’s successor. ISideWith.com (America’s Wahl-o-mat) confirmed this impression, yielding a 94% match for me.

Yes, I’m a German. I have no say in the U.S. presidential election. Then again, these are my songs, I can sing about whatever I want. So this week I used the opportunity to show my appreciation for this politician.

Stay brave!

#27 Bernie Sanders Appreciation Song

I know I’m not a citizen of the USA
I know my little songs have little impact, anyway
But here I am singing to make you understand
There’s a good man who should become the next president
Bernie Sanders is good – I really like his agenda
Bernie Sanders is good – He’s a civil rights efender
Bernie Sanders is good – He’s not one of those Wall Street second-handers
Bernie Sanders is good – Please vote for Bernie Sanders

(words and music by Johannes Schult 2015 Creative Commons by 4.0)

The German psychological association (DGPS) is holding its biannual conference next week. I will be there, giving a talk on Wednesday. This means that earlier this year I submitted an abstract, looked for funding, and registered. As always, it has been a long process with many gaps in between. Here is a – possibly incomplete – list of my preparations a few days before the actual event.

• Compile the actual talk, practice the talk on my own (10 minutes), give the talk to members of our department (9 minutes 40 seconds).
• Send slides to the organizers, back-up slides on two USB sticks as well as in my email account.
• Be annoyed that slides are seemingly mandatory.
• Buy train ticket.
• Read the program, select interesting talks, compile a preliminary list of sessions to attend.
• Get an impression of the conference site by looking at maps, if necessary print maps.
• Check the local public transport system, print out timetables, if necessary obtain taxi phone numbers.
• Check the weather forecast.
• Make a packing list, take as little with me as possible, bring my conference ticket.
• Print out the trivia like the city’s Wikipedia page for on board entertainment if travelling in a group.

Reading through this list I realize two things.

1. This doesn’t look like a lot of preparation to me. Yet, I’ve often found myself being better prepared than most others.
2. Maybe I should print out a set of my slides just in case.

Disclaimer: I didn’t film all my food. For example, I had a mushroom cheesesteak in Bethlehem that tasted quite good. I also had an undocumented slice of pizza during the first weekend. Anyway, here’s a video recap of my recent trip to the United States.

…when we listened to albums, not to playlists?

…when we were impressed when a friend received an email?

…when we got up early on Monday morning to watch last night’s taping of Headbanger’s Ball?

…when shows and movie on TV were announced by real humans?

…when only every other phone call to Berlin got through?

…when during vacations the only connection to home was a long-distance call to Grandma?

…when we actually memorized our friends’ phone numbers?

…when we could still chosse between SDR3 and SWF3?

…when every other Saturday we had to go to school?

…when we thought that Schmidteinander and RTL Samstag Nacht were the funniest shows ever on German television, not knowing that we were right?

…when the Neckarstadion was still called Neckarstadion?

Have a look at BreathingEarth.net – if that isn’t frightening, I don’t know what is. As Hank Green (who pointed out the previous link) put it: “There is not enough land on the earth by a long shot for everyone to eat the way that Americans eat.”

Es amüsiert mich immer, wenn Fußballer, nachdem sie ein Tor geschossen haben, sich bekreuzigen und ein Dankeschön an Gott gen Himmel schicken. Ein paar schieben vor Spielbeginn auch ein (An-)Stoßgebet ein. Das wirkt im ersten Moment alles putzig, wird bei näherem Betrachten aber grotesk, spätestens wenn sich zwei Spieler gegenüberstehen, die an den selben Gott glauben und für einen Sieg beten. Da müsste ein gerechter Gott doch ein Unentschieden bewirken. Oder würde es von der Stärke des Glaubens abhängen? Könnte man am Ende sogar Fußballergebnisse als Gottmessgerät betrachten?

Da auf dem Platz gewöhnliche jede Menge Ander- und Ungläubige stehen, ergibt sich leider keine so klare Gleichung. Es gäbe hier allerdings eine einfache Lösung: Man lässt den Vatikan in die FIFA und bei der Weltmeisterschaft mitmachen.

Es soll auch Leute geben, die meinen, dass sportlicher Erfolg das Resultat von Übung, Talent und einer Prise Glück ist. Schließlich existiert auch eine weltliche Erklärung für die Hand Gottes. Wer dagegen meint, der Glaube wäre mitentscheidend für das Spielergebnis, macht aus dem Ballsport quasi einen heiligen Krieg. Was für eine Rolle dabei dann der Schiedsrichter spielt, ist mir noch nicht ganz klar.

Jutze cooks (and eats) the infamous macaroni/cheese/yoghurt dish. Yummy?

Despite the upcoming soccer mania, there are several promising concerts announced for 2010. I just saw that The Hooters will be playing in my hometown (Waiblingen) on Friday, May 7th. Great news!

I’m also looking forward to produce some of my own music next year. Manticess are going to release a single and I’m currently trying to decide whether or not to promise to put out solo music on a regular basis, probably weekly. I’d welcome the challenge, but I’m also thinking of writing more often. I’ve started two novels, one back in Belgium, and one this November (for NaNoWriMo). I like both outsets, but only the latter seems to be suited for a prediodical release format on this very homepage. I mean, I wouldn’t start publishing parts until I’m almost through, but it might be an alternative to the song-a-week-madness outlined above.

In different news, look what my mom made me for Christmas (with a little help from Carissa’s patterns):

Geschafft, aber glücklich nach einigen Stunden Tanzerei brauche ich heute zum Glück keinen langen Eintrag mehr schreiben. Ich will nur kurz auf diesen enorm lesenswerten Text vom Mann mit dem Saxophon verweisen. Da kann ich jedes Wort unterstreichen.

Wer altmodischen Progressive Rock mit schönen Melodien mag, dürfte Gefallen an “The Old Road” von Martin Orford (Vampster-Review) finden.

Don’t worry, I won’t turn this into a fashion blog. Today’s lunch conversation was about vegetarianism. And I totally forgot to point out my shoes. You see, a couple of months ago I was in Amsterdam and bought a pair of awesome vegetarian shoes. They are made without leather and in an eco-friendly way. I wish I could delve into details, but Star Wars is on TV. And you don’t really care about my shoes, do you?