The greatest understatement of the century!

"I must admit that I also use this special word SOMETIMES” – Bernhard, between you and me, you have been using this word more than all other words together! Since I’ve started studying at Campus02 I’ve never heard another word so often than your ‘bla’. Whatever you might have communicated to us, there has been always a ‘bla’ in your sentence. At the beginning, in the middle, at the end of a sentence - you haven’t cared about this since I have met you – and often we could hear a ‘bla’ without anything else. However, it’s Ok for me, because it’s your way to express your lack of understanding, your unsureness, your discomfort, your disability of finding arguments. In some cases you are even showing your childlike dissatisfaction by a very angry usage of your typical ‘bla’. I have to admit that the ‘bla’ has become a very impressive part of your personality, worth to protect it. The searching for an academic background of this short phrase honors you exquisitely and shows me the importance and necessity for your live.
At the beginning I thought that the using of ‘bla’ was one of your spleens such as other people like to play with their fingers to make them cracking. After a while I have realized that there is much more behind this inimitable ‘bla’. Since the beginning of our studies I have discovered many, many different expressions of your ‘bla’s which have been telling me whether you are angry, uninterested, astonished or you are feeling boring. The very often used ‘bla’ with a question mark shows me that I have to repeat my question or to explain my wishes in another way. It is extremely easy. On the one hand it’s really simple because you do not need large explanations for complex situations on the other hand we should ask if the exclusive practice of ‘bla’ wouldn’t lead to a very poor and destitute language.
Unfortunately, I have been recognizing trends and efforts which have been tending to dispute the uniqueness und authenticity of your beautiful ‘bla’. More and more people - I do not give names – are trying to use your ‘bla’ in a very inappropriate way. From my point of view these people are not aware of the consequences of such behavior. Frankly speaking, they rob you of the most important part of your identity. If I were you I wouldn’t accept this like you are doing it, with a bright smile following by a ‘jo dann’. Be aware that all attempts of stealing even the smallest fragment of your character is an attack on your whole person. Do not allow them to change your personality to a ‘0815’ one by disentitle you. Fight for this ‘bla’, fight for your ‘bla’, fight for your unique and matchless identity.

Bla - I'm so happy to know now

First and foremost I've to correct Bernhard. There were no clouds containing "bla bla bla" in Simpsons, at least not till season 12 (it's a pity but I hardly know episodes from season 12-18). He hears circus music, you see images what he's really thinking or you see that he understands something totally different, but there's no "bla bla". Santa’s little helper, his dog, always understood "bla" when Bart tried to teach him some tricks but even that sounded more like the teacher of Charlie Brown. So it was more like “blouw blouw" in a strange voice than "bla bla".

But back to the blog: Bla, a town or a metasyntactic variable? That's great, it reminds me of jeopardy:
Unnecessary knowledge for 300. - What's a metasyntactic variable or a town? - Bla? - and the audience applauses...
I'm really happy to know that now, like I'm happy to know that who shot the most goals outside the penalty area in 1994 FIFA World Cup (Hagi) or that elephants can't jump. For other such greats facts please refer to “Brockhaus!” ISBN: 978-3765315510.

Ok Bernhard, even after visiting "www.veryunnecessary.com" I don't know what else to write. "bla" - I mean everybody has his obsessions, one of your's is that word. Congratulations, at least it is socially acceptable.

Best regards,
  Karl, team member of Bla-laststoffe.

By the way, another interesting fact: today is the 25th of March and this is a special day, as it is Annunciation Day ("Maria Verkündigung"), where Maria was visited by an angel who told her that she's pregnant. Oh, such a happy day…

Hey, there's a gospel song called so:
  Oh happy day, oh happy day.
  Oh happy day, oh happy day.
  When Jesus washed, don't you know he washed  
  oh ,when Jesus washed, he washed my sins away.
  ....

end.

"Bla" - only a flowery phrase?

"Bla" is a word which is in everyone's vocabulary. Some use it very rarely and some use it more often. But what is the meaning of "Bla"? Well, a lot of people are using the phrase respectively the word "bla" if they want to say something to a subject but they can not say something with a serious content. I must admit that I also use this special word sometimes. The big question is where this incredibly meaningful word has its origin. To find an answer for this question a scientific investigation is necessary.

To be honest - I am not sure since when I am using this word and I also don't know why this word has become popular for me. I for myself connect memories with "The Simpsons" especially with Homer Simpson with "Bla". So there it happens quite often that his children are talking about a topic. This topic hasn't to be very scientific, but Homer often isn't able to follow the conversation with his mind. In this relation usually mind clouds are appearing and the only thing Homer is understanding is "Bla bla bla...". Frankly speaking the more I think about this the more I entertain some doubt if this "Bla bla bla" stuff really was to see in the mind of Homer Simpson in an Simpsons episode. Whencesoever my first contact with "Bla" comes, I want to see if maybe "Bla" can also have an other meaning than simply nothing. I can not eliminate the possibility that behind the word "Bla" for some people a serious background is hidden.

First I searched at Google for getting answers for serious questions about this. Although I don't have expected that I will get links for many theses or dissertations about "Bla", the result was a big disappointment. Nothing, I got absolutely no explanation concerning "Bla". So my second and also nearly last hope to get answers was Wikipedia. And there it was - the article referring to the search term "Bla". And now we know it. "Bla" isn't described as a common used phrase. If you enter "Bla" you will be directly linked to the result that Bla is a small town in the south of Mali with a population of about 15.000 people. Very interesting, isn't it?

But after I opened this article again and again I finally found a small hidden link to another article about Bla. In this Wikipedia description "Bla" is a metasyntactic variable which is used in German - and in English "blah" with an "h" at the end is often used as a placeholder term. (So it looks like that I made spelling mistakes all the time when I was using "Bla".) What the hell is a metasyntactic variable? Bla(h)...
Well, I think it is time to stop doing further scientific investigation about "Bla". Everyone should find his own meaning of "Bla".

Last but not least I want to point out that the blog content above is absolutely tongue-in-cheek. I hope you believe that and no one is angry with me because of having to reply to my topic. :-)

Living my dreams

First of all I want to thank Karl for his brilliant topic once again and now I have the problem that I don't know what I shall say about his post.
Well, it's true I thought about an alternative (without any kind of technology) to my IT job more than one time, especially at the time when one of my PCs crashed - At that time I like to thank Billy for his 100 per cent reliable operating system :-). Anyway I haven't found anything I would prefer to or that would satisfy me more than my current activities. I always try to find work in a company, where a good working atmosphere exists and the tasks I have to do give me pleasure on the whole. That's the reason why I am satisfied with my current working life in general and so I am not really motivated to think about any other kind of work. I am just happy about how it is at the moment and should this situation change I will try to find something else, so that I get back my fulfilled life again.


Maybe it will be different in the future - Possibly I will live in a small bungalow somewhere near the sea with my partner and our dog, where we will enjoy the sunset every evening …


Sorry, I have forgotten that's real life, so then I will be retired and will surely not think about work any longer.

The Moloke Bar? Or business ideas the human race is currently not yet prepared for

First of all - Karl, what should I say - expectedly you gave us a topic on which everyone has to agonise. Slowly but surely your theories and ideas (starting with your elephant theory) are starting to change my world view.
But to go back to your current idea - well, why such a moloke bar shouldn't be a succesful business idea?
The offer of different milk based drinks in connection with the well dressed waitresses could be very interesting for a lot of people - also the artificial cow could be a good attraction. Only the point that you self want to serve drinks dressed in tight clothes should definitely be cancelled in your considerations! Furthermore you should serve at least few drinks also with alcohol (e.g. with rum - milk with rum would be very delicious in my opinion).

To get back to your other question concerning our ideas of doing something without any IT stuff - to be honest - I have no idea! To be more honest, maybe the current time could be a reason why I can't give a serious answer to that question.

Well let's start thinking... I want so start brainstorming to get to the ultimate idea - but there is only a weak breeze in my mind currently... bla... (sorry for that word :-) ).
Well, wouldn't it be possilble to start a extraordinary triumphant business by dealing with hammock's on the Caribbean Isles?
What about starting as a lei-binder at the Hawaiian Islands? (lei = typical flower garland)

Frankly speaking, this absolutely useless ideas maybe base on my current holiday imaginations. Maybe this is not the right time to create auspicious business startup ideas beside the whole IT area.

The Moloke Bar

My first intention was to write about the microwave-refrigerator-effect or the torch-that-vacuums-darkness-principle. Also ‘Poopsie, the little hamster’, a story inspired by Mario, was something I thought about, but then I remembered that my team members might not be too happy about those topics and I decided to choose a more conservative one.

Last English lesson we were asked what we would like to do or maybe dream about instead of developing software. That question reminds me of an idea I discussed with my cousin long time ago.

He owns an old and already closed discotheque and we fantasized to make a milk-bar out of it, called “Moloke”. Two things for all who haven’t seen the movie Clockwork Orange:

1. you should go watch it
   
2. is Moloke a synonym for milk there
   

So the basic idea is to open a bar where you can get all kinds of non-alcoholic drinks based on milk to provide one of the rare places you can go to without meeting drunken and violent people.

• So we offer
  
• Milk (hot/cold/with honey/sugared/soy/without lactose/…)
  
• Flavoured Milk
  
• Milkshakes
  
• Yoghurts
  
• Ice cream
  
• Cacao/Chocolate drinks (brown, black, white, flavoured)
  
• …

We know this is not enough and would not be the "mega-seller", but we plan also some other things to make people talk about our bar. The security guards will have to wear a pink dresses, there will be a synthetic cow you can milk by yourself (each udder has another flavour) and of course our fabulous waiters and waitresses. Sexy dressed they will serve you whatever you want and with a little luck you may see even me dressed in really tight clothes serving drinks….
Furthermore you can rent the bar for a whole evening. In that case we also could organize a “milk-wrestling” or “wet-milkshirt”-contests for you (with women or also men). Isn’t that great?

---

Now - one coffee later - I know that it isn’t great, moreover it is disgusting. Maybe this business idea would be more successful in Japan or China if they wouldn’t be so intolerant against lactose there...
Nevertheless I still like the idea in general.

So what’s your opinion on that bar or what would you do not related to IT-business? Opening an refrigerator-shop in the Sahara? Become a chilli-farmer in Mexico, or maybe a taxi driver in Barcelona? Catching sandworms in Hawaii or hunting Nessie at Loch Ness?
Ohhh, so many things to do…