Hello there,

The battery is still in the mail. I made a race out of it by ordering “Atlas Shrugged” from a bookstore. After whatever item arrives first, I'll travel on. The netbook I don't have made me delay the blogging, because my perfection wanted it to be, well, perfect. Screw that attitude, here's what I did the last days:

I found the first novel of some author, bought it for five bucks and read it and it was great. Even better than the movie they made out of it. If I had my kindle here, which I regret not bringing with me, I'd read the other books of that guy, too, for his first one was entitled “Fight Club”.

I am currently at Mt Maunganui, at a hostel with an HDD full of movies and series. I watched the movie again and it was still great except for two things: They changed the ending (seems to be a tradition in Hollywood, the book ending is way better), and they changed the way the main characters met. The beach scene from the book is better than just meeting on a plane.

Speaking of the HDD, some guys at the hostel watch a surf related movie every day, it looks to me they are reensuring themselves of the cool lifestyle. I haven't seen them surf for once, but they tell the most awesome stories about it. But then, who am I to judge, for I was quite fond of the equally bad college-flics “S.H.I.T.” (trope: fun with acronyms) and “Van Wilder”. If the Anglophilic Cineast's Social Club has nothing else to watch, they can be viewed back to back. This is not a recommendation, they are not that good as movies.

Speaking of movies: I watched the Aardman style movie Pirates! In 3d. Hilarious, and the posters in the cinema reminded me that in one week I can feast my eyes on the Avengers. I don't know the german release, but since it takes time to ruin that movie for german audiences, I suppose I am ahead of you.

This writes itself: Speaking of ruining movies, at the hostel, I also watched “Tomorrow never dies”. A great example for three reasons:

1. The witty dialogue. Example: Monypenny on the phone with Bond, who is enjoying a lesson with his swedish teacher.

Monypenny: You have always been a cunning linguist, James.

*hangs up, turns around. M is behind her, with a priceless expression on her face.

Monypenny: Don't ask.

M: Don't tell.

How could one possibly translate that? That was a rhetorical question, I see no benefit in knowing how they did translate that.

2. A part of the movie takes place in Germany, and Bond/Brosnan is speaking german! A cringe moment that is lost in translation (pun intended).

3. The german henchman have heavy german accents, which I am quite fond of. German dubs replace any accent, wether it is an important story hint or just a nice touch, with perfect Hochdeutsch.

German accents in movies lead me to the next topic: Iron Sky is due this year. I don't know wether they made it in german, english or swedish, but since noone makes english dubs, the worst thing that can happen to me here are subtitles. I can live with that.

You are now thinking that I am spending my days in front of the tv and my nights at the cinema. To proove you wrong: Just an hour ago, I was walking along the beach. After the storm of the last days, the waves were perfect. Not for surfing, but instead of a constant swoosh sound, one wave approaches in silence, then breaks with a long, smooth, soft rush, leaving silence behind for the next wave to approach. The storm itself produced waves that formed spectacular sea sprays on the rocky peninsula, which you can find on Google earth, just south of the mountain itself. Search for "Mt Maunganui" then follow the beach.

Greetings,

Patrick.

ps. Some day I'll fill in the first weeks of the diary and post a tastefully edited (=censored) version of it.