The Romanian village of Glod (pictures here) is suing in New York, Florida and Germany, according to Salon last week.

Lawyers representing the villagers of Glod, Romania, say they’ll be filing three lawsuits against the makers of “Borat” in New York, Florida and Germany, asking not just for damages — they’re seeking over $30 million for the way they were portrayed in the film — but also that the film be edited to cast them in a better light.

One of the lawyers is Ed Fagan.

Where is Glod? Some Google Earth Community links suggest it is not far from Braşov / Kronstadt. I wonder if it’s a Transylvanian village now largely inhabited by Roma?

(Via RA-Blog)

Here and here

Time for something legal again.

All the partners in Ashurst’s London office (that’s over 120) apparently received the following email on Tuesday November 28:

From: Partners Kitchen
Subject: Steamed Treacle Sponge Pudding
Dear all,
This is to convey our sincere apologies for no steamed treacle sponge pudding today; I know you were looking forward to it… I’m afraid it just hadn’t cooked through properly and we couldn’t serve it. I promise to have it as an extra tomorrow along with the starter & main course.

Treacle pudding is described by Collins as im Dampfbad gekochter, mit Sirup angereicherter Teig. It’s a bit like a Germknödel.

(Via RollOnFriday)

Greenhaddock is an Englishman living in Germany, whose blog is new to me. Here is his advent calendar:

Those are very German figures on there.

Via PapaScott

And here’s a Swiss advent calendar. The entry for December 1st starts with an unacknowledged translation from Hamlet.

These ceramic figures of Volker Heißmann and Martin Rassau, the local comedians, will be sold on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, the closer you get, the less lifelike they are. Maybe they were inspired by Otmar Hörl’s hares and owls. The local rag got better photos.

This is a Sandgrasnelke which I photographed last Sunday. I don’t know what it is, except that it is a kind of pink or carnation and its leaves and stems are covered with wax to withstand a dry climate. I don’t think it should be flowering in November, somehow.

LATER NOTE: it’s armeria elongata, not a carnation at all. Armeria maritima is thrift, and is similar – this is a subspecies.