Zwei oder drei Wochen.

Nothing much going on here for the next two to three weeks.

(This should have gone up on May 2, but it only went up in draft).

The Spanish version of the Star-Spangled Banner (once referred to by a student of mine in an oral exam as the Star-Strangled Banner) has been much discussed lately.

Darrel Plant has found a German version.

The skill of reading Fraktur is obviously on the wane:

bq. O! sagt, könnt ihr seh’n in des Morgenroth’s Strahl,
Was so stolz wir im scheidenden Ubendroth grüßten?
Die Sterne, die Streifen, die Wehnend von Wall,
Im tödlichen Kampf uns den Unblick verfüßten?
Hoch flattere die Fahne in herrlicher Bracht,
Beim Leuchten der Bomben durch dunkle Racht.
O! sagt, ob das Banner, mit Sternen befä’t,
Ueber’m Lande der Freien und Braven noch weht?

That’s Abendroth, wehend, Anblick, versüßten, Pracht, Nacht, besä’t. I love Land der Freien und Braven. How about Freien und Kühnen?

Here’s the song sheet.

Comments will be shut down soon in preparation for a break.

Thanks to Ed.

It was no surprise to anyone when the Berlin Landgericht decided this week that it is permissible for a website to name and link another site and to name someone who takes part in public exchange of opinions. The German American Law Journal Weblog reports:

bq. The outcome is well-earned and the grounds are well-founded in the copyright law and the law of names. Any surprise is limited to plaintiff’s belief to have had a case which became known as the Mein Parteibuch dispute.

But just a moment – it was a surprise to some people in the USA, as this email I received shows (from one ‘Ed.’ – Edward, I presume):

bq. Hello Margaret,
This is good news for German bloggers, indeed. Whew!
http://www.recht.us/amlaw/2006/04/25#0425links
Hopefully, that is all the legal authority you need to link to Blawg
Review under “Weblog collections” in the sidebar of Transblawg. :-)
C’mon Margaret, pleeese. Our project is blawgworthy. Thanks, if you’d
be so kind as to include Blawg Review in your blogroll.
We’re looking to encourage more global participation in Blawg Review,
and would appreciate your support.
www.blawgreview.com

Actually, I did originally list the blawg review, which was a blawg reviewing law reviews, but that is no longer updated. This is another Blawg Review, a very bouncy and cheerful sort of thing, reviewing blawgs.

Does anyone know what this building with the golden pustule on top is going to be? It is going up next to the Arena in Munich, so I presume it has something to do with the World Cup (Fußball WM 2006 – there, I said it, now at least a German court has permitted it.):

LATER NOTE: I know a commenter has already told me what this is, but I haven’t added that here. Now (April 2009), I gather it is a Faulturm (digester tower or digestion tower). Here’s one in Fürth.

Meanwhile, something else to do with the World Cup:

This will be recognized in Britain as a Müller corner, although I don’t know if they have a Corner of the Month there.

As usual, I gather from the comments that some who do not wish to have their own weblog nevertheless feel there is something missing here.

You can get lots of further obituaries via Google. For Lord Ackner’s swimming (see comment to earlier entry), The Telegraph is the source:

bq. Slim, with a dark complexion, Ackner loved the open air and insisted on swimming in his pool in the most inclement weather. He also sailed his own yacht, gardened, enjoyed the theatre and collected antiques.

The Guardian adds:

bq. Ackner’s father was Dr Conrad Ackner, a Viennese Jewish dentist who came to Britain before the first world war, treated members of the British royal family and Queen Maud of Norway, and collected elephants’ tusks.

I can’t find a reference to him talking to Holborn Law College though.

Edmund Stoiber (früherer Eintrag) jetzt mit erklärenden Videoclips.

Stoiber’s speech (see earlier entry), now with moving pictures to help you understand it.

Stoibers Welt
Stoibers Welt Teil 2

Many thanks to those who find time to send me this information!