Creator and the Church

Art is my friend who used to smoke and drink a lot and then decided to give it up because he didn´t see the point in it anymore.

He must be in his 50s though I guess he is younger than he looks because he had a rough life. His statue is slim and his face covered in millions of wrinkles with an unshaven beard and sunken cheeks. His eyes are intense light blue and kind. He does not live in the streets but he spends his days on the beach. He is familiar with a lot of so-called “characters” in Brighton and we meet from time to time just to talk about life. I am always looking forward to those talks because I know they will be uplifting and insightful.

Usually I meet him after work and we sit together on the beach to watch the sunset.
It´s nice to talk about other things than the weather and have some talks on different issues. It always amazes me how much there is still to learn.


Yesterday we spoke about existence. Where do we come from´? Where are we going? What´s it all about?

His theory is that there is no such thing/being called creator. Everything that is has always been and always will be. There is no creator that made humans and animals and plants. In the beginning there were Neutrons, Electrons and Protons. Which leads to the question: Where did these come from? Even Scientists believe they came out of nowhere. Art says that it is because of our limited understanding of everything and our obsession to explain everything we feel uncomfortable with the thought that everything just is.

I find this theory very interesting. It is true, our mind needs to analyze everything. It needs to explain, to look for answers and who knows maybe it is after all just the mind that keeps us from finding the truth. I am not different. I want to find anwers too. But I can´t accept that there is one being who is responsible for everything.

Maybe we have to stop overthinking. Maybe we should just accept the fact that some things are unexplainable.

Today I am going to see my friend Y. She is a Christian. In her world God has created everything and God can and will destroy everything when He is angry. In the twinkling of an eye. Just like that. Therefore we must obey the 10 commandments and not do any wrong according to His understanding of right and wrong.

I accept her religious views as much as I accept and tolerate everyone else´s, whatever their belief.

The latest sex abuse scandals though show that not everything and everyone is as holy as they pretend to be.




As if child abuse wasn´t one of the worst crimes already, this happening in a place where people go to seek answers to their questions and look for comfort in times of despair is probably beyond people´s understanding. My mum told me last week that she had to sit on the vicar´s lap when she was small and confessed her sins. That is pretty disturbing...And that happened 60 years ago so I guess abuse has been going on for centuries. What makes me suspicious though is why these reports are coming out now when this has been going on for decades. I suspect there is something much bigger going on here. What it is I don´t know but it just doesn´t smell right.

The Vulcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC)...

...is an institution most Brits have probably not even heard of until last week. A flood warning center, fair enough. Even a tornado forecaster. But why on earth do we need the VAAC when there are no active volcanoes on this Island?

Well, the answer lies 1.809 kilometere (that´s 1.124.06 miles for anti-metrics) further north-west: Iceland. An evil island. It has everything you don´t want in your back garden. Glaciers, geyseres, powerfull waterfalls and over two dozen active (!) volcanoes.
Unsurprisingly one of those volcanoes wants to erupt from time to time.

This might be good news for Icelanders (a treat for the eye) but unfortunately it is not so good news for most Europeans and especially not for Britains. It basically means that noone is coming noone is going. And that´s not all. The newspapers are full of volcano-related stories. What a welcome change to the usual rubbish we have to put up with every day.

Trapped for two weeks is a good one, Fresh goods for supermarkets rot in Kenya as volcano grounds flights sounds unbelievable but it is true and the number one tabloid in the UK even talks about total diseruption! It can´t get much better than this.

But then, if it´s so dangerous, why does Britannia not lay in ashes? Why is the sun shining and why is the sky blue when it should be dark?

Alun Phillips asks: If this Volcanic ash cloud is covering northern england , why can't I see it? What is going on that they don't want anyone leaving or entering the UK between 12.00 to 18.00 (very convenient timings for a cloud)?




Apparently it is too high up in the sky to see. Which would explain why planes can´t fly.

Well, it would be nice to be able to see it but at the same time it would probably not be very healthy to breath it in.

So let´s enjoy it from a safe distance and have a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Rule China Rule !

Today I went to the Chinese Herbal center. I have been planning to go there for a very long time (2 years) but kept on putting it off. Today was the day! Actually yesterday (Saturday) but I had my first appointment today.

Why did I go there and what did I want from them? Well, I was wondering if they could give me some herbal remedies for poor blood circulation. I´m always cold and it´s not fun to be always cold. I have had some pretty bad experiences with the NHS doctors in the past so I figured it´s maybe better to invest some money in something that looks deeper into the cause and not just treating the symptoms, as Western medicine does.

There were two people at the Center: Doctor Zu and his assistent (who was also interpreter) Chan.

The interpreter translated Doctor Zu´s questions which I truthfully answered. Then he checked my pulse and my tongue which, I was told, is normal in Chinese medicine.

Turns out my Ying and Yang are not in harmony and the Zang-fu (Zhi) are causing the problems that I have.

"Aha..."

In plain English: my kidneys are blocking the flow of my fluids and are causing the problems. Oh yes, and my body is highly toxicated! Which is probably not surprising considering the gallons of alcohol I have consumed over the last 2 weeks or so. But then I ate healthy and I thought that would equilibrate it somehow...

Who would have thought!

Anyway, there is help at hand. Chinese medicine is very old and I do believe in its powers.

Everything that mother Earth has provided for us exists for a reason. Nature doesn´t play dice. Everything is carefully planned and why should pharmaceutical pills be better than natural remedies?
The treatment will last for 3 months (!). It includes accupuncture, massages, fire cupping, detoxication and a strict non-meat, non-sweet, non-alcohol, non-cigarettes, non-fried food and non-nuts diet. Just what I need now the weather gets finally warmer!

Accupuncture is pretty straightforward. They sterilize the specific areas (in my case hands, head, legs, arms and feet) and stick needles into your body. It sounds more painful than it actually is. It doesn´t hurt at all, just gives a twitch in the leg, especially in places where the skin is very thin.



After all the needles are carefully placed you can relax (it´s easy - just don´t think of the needles!). This relaxation lasts for about half an hour. It can be boring but I was lucky enough to listen to some Chinese music being played in the background - that kind of music you hear in Chinese restaurants. Needless to say my stomach started to rumble after a while. Unfortunately my bag with the emergency rations was out of reach and I didn´t dare to move. Doctor Zu was kind enough to leave the heating on though. He even placed a warm lamp over my legs so I wouldn´t get cold. That was very thoughtful because 30 Minutes can quickly turn into eternity when you are cold...

When I was just about to fall asleep Doctor Zu came back and removed all the needles. I thought that would be it and wanted to say my goodbyes, but more was to come...

Massage! A wonderful Tuina massage with peppermint oil. I cannot remember the last time I had a massage but the thought of having a wonderful massage like this once a week for the next 3 months makes me happy beyond belief! He wore some gloves while he was massaging specific areas and he released a lot of tension in my muscles.

After it was over I wanted to say my goodbyes for a second time. Doctor Zu however had other plans. Next on the agenda was fire cupping. Fire cupping involves placing cups containing reduced air pressure (suction) on the skin. It feels weird, as if someone is trying to rip your skin off. It doesn´t hurt though. I ´d say it´s neither pleasant nor unpleasant. It is just weird. The cups stay on your back for 20 minutes or so and are then removed which causes a strange sound and leaves your skin full of red marks.

But that´s just one part of the treatment. Doctor Zu´s assistent prepared a special tea for me - or let´s say the ingredients for it. Tailormade, not to be shared with anyone else. I feel so special :). Noone else is allowed to drink it. I could not identify the ingredients but it looked like a big pile of dried bits and pieces you would normally find in your local forest. Oh yes, there was a bath sponge as well.

Back at home I followed the preparation instructions carefully and am now, while writing this, enjoying my first cup of home-brewed poor bloodcirculation defeater! It looks worse than it actually tastes. It looks like sewage and tastes like a very badly brewed beer.

So, is it worth it? I don´t know, it´s too early to say. It is insanely expensive but considering what I get I don´t think it is too bad. I am just not sure at this point how to survive without Alcohol, cigarettes, chocolate and nuts for so long. I can easily live without meat (maybe after 2 failed attempts of trying to become a vegetarian the meat-free area has finally arrived - 3d time lucky....?) though.

Well, as Nietzsche used to say: was uns nicht umbringt macht uns stärker...

German inventors - Melitta Bentz (E)

I have decided to dedicate some entries to German inventors. After all I am German, that´s my heritage (though it´s partly Belgian too...) and some Germans have invented things that make our life so much easier and deserve to be talked about.

For example, did you know that the washing machine was invented by a German? Or that x-rays were discovered by my ancestors? Those are just 2 in an impressively long list of German inventions.

Though it looks like most famous Germans are men there are some amazing women too who must not be forgotten about. This is why I will dedicate my first entry to a most remarkable woman who plays probably the most important part in my daily life. There is not a day my subconscious doesn´t think of her. It´s a love affair I have had since I first got my hands on it and it is something I can not live without. We are of course talking about...coffee!

Melitta Bentz



Melitta Bentz invented the coffee filter in 1908. As a housewife, Bentz found that percolators were prone to over-brewing the coffee, espresso-type machines at the time tended to leave grounds in the drink, and linen bag filters were tiresome to clean. She experimented with various means, but ended up using blotting paper from the school exercise-book of her son Willi and a brass pot perforated using a nail.

The Kaiserliche Patentamt (Imperial Patent Office) granted her a patent on June 20, 1908, and on December 15, the company was entered into the commercial register with 73 Pfennig as "M. Bentz." After contracting a tinsmith to manufacture the devices, they sold 1,200 coffee filters at the 1909 Leipzig fair.

Her husband Hugo and their sons Horst and Willi were the first employees of the emerging company. In 1910, the company won a gold medal at the International Health Exhibition and a silver medal at the Saxon Innkeepers' Association.

When the Great War erupted, metals were requisitioned for use in zeppelin construction, her husband was conscripted to Romania, paper was rationed, and eventually coffee bean imports were banned, disrupting the normal business. During this time she supported herself by selling cartons.

Continuing expansion caused them to move their business several times in Dresden. By 1927 the demand for the products was so high that the 80 workers had to work in a double-shift system. Because in Dresden no production facilities were found adequate, the fast-growing company moved in 1929 to Minden in the east of Westphalia. By that time 100,000 filters had been produced.

Horst took over the company, now "Bentz & Sohn," in 1930. She transferred the majority stake in Melitta-Werke Aktiengesellschaft to Horst and Willy in 1932, but kept a hand in the business, ensuring that the employees were cared for, offering Christmas bonuses, increasing vacation days from 6 to 15 days per year, and reducing the working week to 5 days. Bentz fostered the company's “Melitta Aid” system, a social fund for company employees.

After the outbreak of World War II, production stopped and the company was ordered to produce goods to aid the war effort. At the conclusion of war, the workers relocated for a time to old factories, barracks, even pubs, because the surviving portions of the main factory had been requisitioned as a provisional administration for the Allied troops, a condition that held for twelve years. By 1948, production of filters and paper had resumed, and at the time of her death at Holzhausen at Porta Westfalica in 1950, the company had reached 4.7 million Deutsche marks.

There is probably no household in Germany which doesn´t use the Melitta Filter. Brits however (still) seem to prefer the so-called cafetiere. Probably because cafetiere sounds better than filter. The problem with the cafetiere is that you have to be really careful when pressing the filter down. If you overfill the press or press the plunger too aggressively, water can splash out and scald you. Not to mention the mess it can cause...

There is even a wikiHow entry dedicted to the proper usage of a cafetiere. In 12 (!) steps it demonstrates what you should or shouldn´t do in order to get a proper cup of coffee. If that´s not complicated enough watch out and pay attention to the Warnings. If you don´t use it properly it can hurt you badly.

Needless to say that this is the last thing one needs first thing in the morning - even before the famous first cup of coffee which gets your braincells going. Isn´t it funny - you need a coffee before you can even figure out how to use the cafetiere but then you have to make the coffee first... :)

Life is so much easier with the sweet Melitta Filter. The Melitta filter doesn´t need any instructions because it´s pretty straightforward and coffee can be made in 3 easy steps:

1. Add paperfilter to plastic filter
2. Place coffee grounds in filter
3. Pour boiling water over it and wait

No need for fancy measurements (cafetiere: 5 tablespoons to 1.4 L - 48 oz or 6 cups - WTF!) - (Melitta: 1 tablespoon per cup on a normal day, 2 when you´ve got a hangover...). Even the cleaning is easy as a pie: just take the paper filter out when you´re done and throw it in the bin. It doesn´t block the sink and both the filter and the coffee grounds are environment friendly (imagine the amount of water you need just to clean the cafetiere). And let´s not forget the money you have to pay for the plumber who has to unblock your sink...

I have spent weeks trying to find the pictured filter in Brighton. Eventually my mum had mercy and sent me one of hers. Actually she sent me 2 in different sizes. The large version is safely stored away in my kitchen and heavily guarded (my flatmate seems to show interest...) - the smaller one is at work so I can have that proper cup of coffee before I start my day in the office.

Most of my colleagues have (until recently) used the cafetiere. There seem to have been some issues with it (needless to say it amused me) and an expensive coffee filter machine was bought. So far so good. The coffee machine was tricky though - adding too much water caused a Monday morning disaster (tiwce!) and slowly but surely people come to realize that Melitta is still the best, the fastest and the easiest to use. So far I have managed to convert 3 of my colleagues to Melittaism. It makes me smile every day I see them using it. The stubborn ones will follow soon...you know who you are!

Thank you Melitta Bentz!

John Street, Brighton, Google Streetview. No comment...