Adidas and Puma to End 60-year Feud

Posted by Miss Cellania in Everything Else on September 18, 2009 at 10:34 am

The two sportswear companies Puma and Adidas, based in Herzogenaurach, Germany were founded by Adi and Rudolf Dassler. The two brothers made shoes together beginning in the 1920s but split apart during World War II, probably over politics. Sixty years later, the two companies on either side of the river will officially end the feud on September 21st.

When the brothers set up their separate companies in 1948 the town was also split, with residents loyal to one or other of the only major employers.

In a joint release, the two companies said they were making up to support the Peace One Day organisation, which has its annual non-violence day on Monday.

They say that the events will be the first joint activities held by the two companies since the brothers left their shared firm in 1948.

Adi and Rudolf Dassler went to their graves without settling their differences, and their descendants do not control either of the public companies. Link -via the Presurfer

 
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Beer-Proof Lederhosen for Oktoberfest

Posted by Miss Cellania in Fashion, Travel & Places on September 17, 2009 at 11:35 pm

Traditional lederhosen can cost up to €700 a pair, and one good beer spill can ruin them. So what are you going to wear to Oktoberfest? Austrian restaurant owner Peter Kolb has an alternative: swim trunks he designed that look like lederhosen will be on sale during Oktoberfest in Munich.

“You wouldn’t even need to wash the beer off, it’s a fabric that dries immediately,” he told SPIEGEL ONLINE. The shorts look remarkably like the real thing, with elaborately embroidered deer heads, a front bib and traditional side stitching. They retail at €79, a fraction of the cost of the leather alternative.Alpine traditionalists who last year complained about the growing trend towards cheap lederhosen imported from Asia may cry heresy at the sight of Kolb’s lederhosen. After all, they’re manufactured in China and don’t contain a scrap of leather.

But Kolb insists he is helping to introduce Alpine traditions to younger generations, and is even exporting the region’s folk culture to a global audience.

Link -via Metafilter

 
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Flying Drunk

Posted by Miss Cellania in Crime & Law on September 1, 2009 at 11:42 am

A 65-year-old amateur pilot was arrested for flying drunk after a rescue helicopter had to guide him to the airfield in Schoengleida, Germany. He had drunk wine and beer before taking off, and continued to drink while flying.

”Come on, I know you’re down there,” he radioed. ”Where the bloody hell have you hidden yourself?”

Control tower staff say he also sang a few songs, cracked a mother-in-law joke and told them to ”pull their fingers out as I’ve got a party to go to”.

Fearing instrument failure, the tower scrambled a rescue helicopter, which homed in on the man in clear-blue skies west of the airport, and gave instructions for the pilot to follow it back.

The unnamed man was able to land the Cessna, and “wobbled” to his car. Airfield authorities called police, who arrested the man on his way home. He tested over four times the legal limit for driving. Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: Flickr user jon gos)

 
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Flak Towers: The Continuing Legacy of the Luftwaffe

Posted by Queuebot in Architecture, Weapons & War on August 16, 2009 at 1:26 am

In 1940, Hitler, incensed by the successful bombing of Berlin by the RAF. ordered the construction of three enormous flak towers to protect the city. Soon afterwards, this idea quickly spread around Germany. 

Considered invulnerable at the time – and they pretty much were – many of these colossal structures still stand today, albeit serving much more "civilian" purposes:

The L Tower in Vienna is now, well, you take a guess. If your German is any good then its current name – Haus des Meeres is a complete giveaway. If not, then you may be surprised to discover that it is an aquarium. Instead of weapons of war and people huddling from falling bombs it now houses over three and a half thousand animals, with huge fish tanks containing sharks, turtles and piranhas (in different tanks one assumes). There is even a new tropical house with free flying birds and free-running monkeys.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.

 
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The Car-free Community

Posted by Miss Cellania in Architecture, Travel & Places on May 13, 2009 at 8:50 am

A suburb without cars? It’s happening in Vauban, Germany, an experimental community near Freiburg where there are no garages, street parking, or driveways. If you have a car and move to Vauban, you purchase a space in a parking building at the edge of town when you buy your home. Most residents do not own a car.

Henk Schulz, a scientist who on one afternoon last month was watching his three young children wander around Vauban, remembers his excitement at buying his first car. Now, he said, he is glad to be raising his children away from cars; he does not worry much about their safety in the street.

In the past few years, Vauban has become a well-known niche community, even if it has spawned few imitators in Germany. But whether the concept will work in California is an open question.

A few experimental car-free communities are trying to get off the ground in the US, but not many people live in them so far.

Besides, convincing people to give up their cars is often an uphill run. “People in the U.S. are incredibly suspicious of any idea where people are not going to own cars, or are going to own fewer,” said David Ceaser, co-founder of CarFree City USA, who said no car-free suburban project the size of Vauban had been successful in the United States.

Link -via Digg

(image credit: Martin Specht for The New York Times)

 
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Jumbo Air Landing

Posted by Ali S. in Animal, Video Clips on April 1, 2009 at 6:28 pm


[YouTube - Link]

Here is a really neat PSA from the “International Fund for Animal Welfare” from Germany concerning the trafficking and buying of products made from protected and endangered animals such as the Elephant. Air Dumbo now landing!

 
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Car Crashes Into Church Roof

Posted by Queuebot in Car & Vehicle on January 27, 2009 at 1:42 am

In Germany, a speeding car missed a turn, and flew an amazing distance to crash into the roof of a nearby church.

The bank acted like a springboard, propelling the black Skoda about 35 meters (115 ft) forward and straight into the church’s roof frame, where it remained wedged 7 meters off the ground, police said in a statement.

Link

From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by Johnny Cat.

 
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Disneyland for Dudes

Posted by Miss Cellania in Travel & Places on December 27, 2008 at 8:42 am


Männerspielplatz is a 17-acre theme park in Germany with a real theme. The name translates to “men’s playground”.

For 219 euros (about $280), patrons can spend the day operating 29-ton Liebherr backhoes and 32-ton Komatsu front-end loaders, off-roading through the woods in a Mercedes-built Unimog, peeling out in a Suzuki SUV, and slinging some mud on quad bikes.

The park began as a one-time promotion that became permanent when more and more patrons wanted to have some fun. The biggest customers are women, however, who buy tickets as gifts for men. Link

 
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A Soccer Fashion/Dance Video?

Posted by Ali S. in Fashion, Funny, Sports, Video Clips on December 20, 2008 at 12:05 am


[YouTube - Link]

Here’s a bizarre and strange video where the presenters want you to see the latest and most fashionable Soccer uniforms and gear for the German clubs through dance! Mind you this is obviously weird because it’s from the 1970s and it’s from Germany. Those crazy crazy Germans. ;)

via – BoingBoing

 
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World's Strongest Artificially Generated Tornado

Posted by Robert Birming in Car & Vehicle on October 29, 2007 at 12:39 pm

The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records for creating the “strongest artificially generated tornado in the world”. The 34.4 meter high (37.2 yards) vortex has been designed to channel smoke out of the building in the event of a fire.

Head over to Autoblog for images and a video clip.

Link – via Gizmodo UK

 
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