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Jazz on the 5th, Nr. 1
2008-06-05 07:10:00
Just before I am off: I am tickled, I am pleased. I finally discovered the wealth of "YouTube". And in future (in honor of today's date, day of my discovery) on the 5th of every month, I will put a nice piece of jazz music. Here is Count Basie and his orchestra with "One O'Clock Jump", recorded in 1943, the year of my birth.
More About: Jazz

Just something, part 2 and end
2008-06-04 07:58:00
I am getting ready to go back to Sudan again, in 4 days. I have to go to the doctor still for a check up and will be busy with many things before I go. I will have no time to post but I will check your blogs. So, to sign off until next week, let me finish with the biography by Scott Yanow of Woody Herman.***Next up for Woody Herman was the Third Herd, which was similar to the Second except that it generally played at danceable tempos and was a bit more conservative. Herman kept that band together during much of 1950-1956, even having his own Mars label for a period; Conte Candoli, Al Cohn, Dave McKenna, Phil Urso, Don Fagerquist, Carl Fontana, Dick Hafer, Bill Perkins, Nat Pierce, Dick Collins, and Richie Kamuca were among the many sidemen. After some short-lived small groups (including a sextet with Nat Adderley and Charlie Byrd), Herman's New Thundering Herd was a hit at the 1959 Monterey Jazz Festival. He was able to lead a big band successfully throughout the 1960s, featuring s...
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Courage, greatness
2008-06-03 07:23:00
I am not going to say much. Pumuckl (Sharing Means Caring) put this on "facebook". Please take your time and watch it. I am deeply moved by this. Will I ever have such a courage?

I am keeping my promise
2008-06-02 04:48:00
Yes, I am not grumbling about Switzerland, I promised. I just report on things happening in my country. And then I am a nice person.That is why I am showing a pleasant picture of this man. Christoph Blocher, our former Minister of Justice. From the SVP (The Swiss People's Party). Who did not get reelected in last December by the Parliament. Remember, I wrote about it. They prefered a lady.Elisabeth Widmer-Schlumpf, the new Minister of Justice, from the same party. She was not a candidate but behind the scene other parties where proposing her and she was flamboyantly elected. This put another man into troubles:Samuel Schmid, our Minister of Defense, Protection of the Population and Sports. He is also from the same party. The old "crocodiles" from the SVP got so angry that "their" Christoph did not get the job anymore and they decided and declared that they don't have two Ministers in the Goverment anymore. Which means they do not support the two anymore and don't stand behind them...
More About: Promise

Just something
2008-05-31 05:54:00
You know that I like all kinds of music. But in particular big band jazz. My favorite is Woody Herman, as I said before. He has accompagnied me throughout my life, since 40 years. I had a collection of about 30 vinyl long play records of him. I lost them on a move from one country to another. Luckily, the CD's came and today I own about 70 of Woody's music. I thought it would be nice to share something about Woody with you. He was very important in America's jazz history.I have no merit in what follows. I am simply posting this biography I discovered on "All Music Guide". It is written by Scott Yanow and it is beautiful. As it is a bit long, I will make two posts.***A fine swing clarinetist, an altoist whose sound was influenced by Johnny Hodges, a good soprano saxophonist, and a spirited blues vocalist, Woody Herman's greatest significance to jazz was as the leader of a long line of big bands. He always encouraged young talent and, more than practically any bandleader from the ...

Memoirs 3: From boy to man (?)
2008-05-28 04:07:00
After finishing school in 1960, I started the same year a commercial apprenticeship. At that time this was the system in Switzerland when you went into Business Administration. A company hired you for 3 years, you worked 3 days per week and you went 2 days per week to commercial school. I enjoyed the working part as one went to stay in each department of the company. About the school, well....! Anyway, in 1963 I passed my examination and received the "Federal Certificate of Professional Capacity". With a grade of 2.4. This was a disappointment for my parents. Because my cousin, the year before, got a grade 1.1 and if you have grades from 1 to 1.2, your name is published in the newspaper. The fault, of course, was not mine but the school's. Which I did attend only sporadically.So, at the age of 19, I was all set for the professional life. And I was looking forward to it. There was just one small disturbance. The Army.Today, things have changed. You can "escape" from your obligation ...
More About: Memoirs

Back and finding pleasant surprises
2008-05-26 06:33:00
My days in Khartoum, before departure were quite busy. And then came the pleasant moment on Lufthansa where I was getting my whisky on the rocks. After a bad flight (we had a lot of turbulances all the way), I reached home. Hugs and kisses from wife and daughter. A lot of stories from their side, a lot of stories from my side.After a good night's sleep, I started to look at some of the letters received. Nothing special, except the usual reminder from my income tax inpsector. And a brochure from Moevenpick, the internationally reknowned Swiss company of fine foods. They are celebrating their 60th anniversary. And the brochure was about wine. I saw this:A "Château Lafite Rothschild". A rare and exquisite wine. They sell it at 1'300 dollars, a bottle! To celebrate their anniversary, they are offering 60 bottles at 60 dollars. Of course, I want to own a bottle like this and considered ordering one. But they said that, in case they will have more then 60 orders (which of course they wi...
More About: Back

Morning Mood
2008-05-19 20:35:00
The sun is rising slowly and soon our beautiful Russian MI8 helicopters flown by beautiful Bulgarian pilots (I spoke about it when I started to blog 2 years ago) will start their daily ballet.I don't know how many hours I have been flying in those "machines" in the last 3 years. It must be hundreds. And it was always exciting and great. I will not see them for the next three weeks. Tomorrow I fly to Khartoum where I have a few days of "strategic" work to do. And on Saturday I fly home to my family for a two week's break.So, for a week, I will not be around very much, I might not have access and/or time to post. But at least, I will try to visit you and perhaps leave a comment. A propos comment:I have put a new widget I call "Mood y". In there I will make my "announcements". It replaces the "Messages for you". I use this now for something different. I have noted that, often, when you leave a comment, you ask a question. Now, you will find there the answers (if I have any) to your qu...
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Some Countries, Some People
2008-05-16 09:49:00
We are about 250 working here. Good colleagues and even friends. Here are some of them.Medina (Sudan) is one of our office helpers (here surrounded by some of our colleagues, programme assistants, logistics assistants, watchmen). She is a hard worker and always smiling. Except when we have a "send off" party when one of us leaves for good. Then she always weeps.Azeb (Ethiopia) is our boss, in the midst of some more colleagues. A lady with a heart of gold (pure gold). She works since many years with WFP. And she will leave soon for another assignment. The man with the white cap in the background is our head of logistics, Khalid (Yemen).On the left, Virginie (France), our head of human ressources. Besides her is Peggy (Australia), one of our Field Security Officers. Is Mohammed El Mekki (Sudan), also a Field Security Officer, with them because they need to be protected?The dream team: Samir (India) is our head of programme. He is also one of my friends. In front of him is Carolina (Co...
More About: People , Countries

My son
2008-05-13 05:05:00
A few hours ago, he left. Whilst I am writing this, he is heading to Dubai. We had a long talk (and swisscom will let me know on my bill). I admonished him, very gently, and gave him some fatherly advise. Or rather, friendly advise. Because (as it was with my father) the relation father/son, over the years, has become a relation friend/friend. It was not always like this. When he was between 15 and 19 years old, there were moments when it was a bit "tight" between the two of us. Which is normal, perhaps, when a young man wants to discover the things and an old man tells him that he (the old man) has experience. Anyway, we sorted it out somehow. One of the issues was that I wanted him to do an apprenticeship, before he goes into something "higher". Just to have a "foundation" if anything goes wrong.Now, a small backflash. I wanted to become a pilot, a bush pilot (I think I talked about this before). I made my private pilot's license on this airplane:I loved flying this Piper (Cherok...

Again, and since long, some (critical) statistics
2008-05-09 06:01:00
I am about to reach 30'000 visitors on my blog. Exactly a year ago, I had 5'000 visitors. As I am blogging since two year, this means that in the first year I made 5'000 "hits" and in the second 25'000 "hits". What a progression!! Gee, am I proud!!But: Can these beautiful figures really make me proud? I doubt it. Because I doubt the statistics. You see, with statistics you can turn around things and express things anyway you want. Three hairs on your head is little, but three hairs in your soup is a lot.Anyhow, I spent this night (it was a sleepless one like I have once or twice a year) some hours analysing the results of the different "measuring" widgets on my blog. "Neocounter" tells me that I have 29'884 visitors, "Sitemeter" indicates 24'186 visitors and "Blogtopsites" says there are 15'673 visitor. When I saw these discrepancies, I abandoned checking the other widgets. I would understand some small differences. Perhaps I should write to these people and find out how they...
More About: Statistics , Long , Critical

Is it difficult for expatriates to live in the bush?
2008-05-04 15:29:00
Basically it is. But then it depends on how you look at things and what your personal needs and desires are. And then how do we define "bush"? To some it is simply that, bush. Somewhere in Africa, or in the Terra del Fuego in South America. Or around the polar circle. Perhaps a hidden, far away valley in Afghanistan? Let's settle for a place which simply is not easily accessible. A place where one has to go through a lot privations and where things are not very available. And believe me, about 30 years ago many capital cities were bush also.I have no problem to be in the bush. I am used to it. I have lived in the bush for many years. But it was not always like this. My first experience was actually quite disturbing. When I left Switzerland to go to Rwanda I was all excited. But the excitement did not last very long. When you are young, living in a country where you get everything and three days later you are in a country where you get nothing, the shock is big. It was for me. Thoug...
More About: Bush , Live , The Bush

Magazine Frontpages
2008-04-30 21:47:00
Many people want fame. I don't care about fame. The problem is that a few weeks ago I met a journalist. When we talked and he found out about my age, he felt that I must be having certain assets. He said to me that his magazine wants to make a cover story on me. I agreed and we went on with the project.He showed me the layout and the magazine was going to be printed. In the last moment however they requested me to present certified bank statements. When they saw them, they were very disappointed and the things was called off. This disappointed me and the journalist said he knows a lady from some wedding magazine and she might interested doing a story on me.I meet her and again everything was set up and we were a week from publishing.Then they asked to see an extract from my civil registry. When they saw that I was married and had two children, the deal was called off again. But the lady, feeling sorry for me, said that an educated man like me (Her words: "You look so educated") sho...
More About: Magazine

Shock and Horror
2008-04-29 06:09:00
A father locks up his daughter for 24 years, abuses her and has 7 children with her. And has 7 children with his wife. She knows nothing about his double life. Nobody knows nothing about it. In a town, in a busy street. Are neighbours blind? Did they really not notice something weird happening?And this happens in a civilized country: Austria, in the town of Amstetten,120 kilometers from Vienna.Simply shock, simply horror!
More About: Horror , Shock

It is difficult
2008-04-26 07:29:00
"The beauty of Sudan". This should have been the title of my post. Sudan, the biggest country of Africa, with troubled times, is also a country that has beauty to offer. If in the news we hear about the problems that are ongoing in Darfur and how the progress of the peace agreement between the North and the South is slow, I thought it would be interesting to see a different aspect. It is difficult. I searched the net for hours to find pictures. There are many sites were one can find pictures. And yet the result is poor. Either you have to pay a horrendous price to download the picture. Or you see only pictures of armed men of all sorts. National Geographic and MSN Encarta had meager results also when I made a search on Sudan. Finally, I came across "Dreamstime" where there is a big selection of photos. Credits are needed to download a photo, but the price is decent. Jebel Marra mountain massif in Darfur is a beautiful spot. I had the chance to go there several times by air. Its peak...

Memoirs 2: Youth
2008-04-23 20:17:00
In my introductory chapter last month, I wrote about the city we lived and where I grew up: Olten. We moved there in 1944 and we stayed there until 1956. I had, already as a boy, dreams of other, bigger cities. I remember the Peter Stuyvesant Cigarette add: "The taste of the wide world". I already seemed to have the desire of the wide world in me. Why did we not live in a glamourous place like Zurich? Why did we live in this small, meaningless, foggy town of Olten?We did live there because my father was working as head of publicity in a department store chain called USEGO (Just for fun, this stands for: Union Schweizerischer Einkaufs Genossenschaften Olten). As many Swiss companies of reknown, it has since disappeared. We were a middle class well to do family and we were two sons. We lived in a small two storey house at the outskirts of the town. Now, this does not mean that we were far from the center of town. About 10 minutes to walk, the town was small at that time and it is stil...
More About: Youth , Memoirs

Meet o
2008-04-20 22:15:00
This is the title of the first post a blog I had the good fortune to discover a few days ago. Here is the profile of the owner, a young lady: o started this blog in an effort to maintain her sanity and regain her happiness. She lives a good life, with little to no reason for suffering, and has many blessings. She enjoys reading obscure books, listening to obscure music, and drawing stars on her homework. She is very outspoken, but not in the least big outgoing, and is quite possibly among the most stubborn people you may ever meet, but prefers discussing to debating. She loves early autumn, after summer ends and before school starts. Her dreams are to get married and work somewhere that she can help support a family and help people. She secretly loves to dress up.Little "o" left a comment on my post "With this you might know me better". By doing the meme as a commment. This intrigued me and I visited her blog. It is barely 3 weeks old. I loved what I read and I feel this is a blog w...
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Grumble, grumble
2008-04-16 05:26:00
I know that with this post I will not catch the sympathy of many people. And I will completely understand it. A fact: I am a smoker, a heavy smoker. Before I continue, a statement: The majority of the people do not smoke. They should (must) not be incommodated by the smokers. They should be protected from passive smoking. I FULLY AGREE WITH THIS. It is a fundamental right that has to be respected.But there are smokers. I am not going to write about whether we should smoke or not but about how we can live our bad habit. Perhaps I am a slave of the cigarette. But then I have moments where I can be without for an extended period of time. Just as long as I have the possibility to look forward to see "my" little smoke climb up.When I fly from Europe to Africa I know that I will not be able to smoke for several hours because I am locked in an airplane. This doesn't worry me. When I am at home, I go to the balcony to smoke. Sometimes, my son takes me to Geneva Airport. It would never come...

I am back
2008-04-13 04:33:00
I have reached Nyala Saturday morning early. It took us less then the usual two and a half hours because we are now having a jet. A Dornier 328 leased from a Mexican company. With a Mexican crew. Now the journey from Khartoum takes only 90 minutes.Everybody was happy to see me back, had a lot of stories to tell and informed me that the rent I have to pay for my container has increased by some 100%. Because we have now the cost recovery system. This is not a problem for me, my agency covers that cost. I was also happy to see my colleagues. I think I said it before, we are a good team and though being together almost 24 hours, I think our living and work conditions make that we are welded together.I wanted to post earlier, but on Sunday my notebook had a breakdown. With my IT colleagues we tried to recover but we were unfruitful. The hard disk had to be formatted and everything needed to be installed again. A lot of software and, in particular, drivers had to be downloaded from the ne...
More About: Back

Flyin' Home
2008-04-08 08:57:00
Flight Lufthansa LH 590 is waiting for me. From Frankfurt to Khartoum. I am flying home. Home ? Is my home in Switzerland or is it in Sudan? It is actually a question I asked myself many times. Where is home, my home?"Shtëpia ësthë atje ku e ke zemrën". This is an Albanian saying and simply means "Home is where your heart is". My heart has been many places and so I guess my home is everywhere.I am ready to go "home". I am flying home. Lionel Hampton made this song famous. Glenn Miller played it also. Here, and to accompagny me on my journey, you will hear a version played by Teddy Wilson, a great piano player who reached fame when he played in Benny Goodman's trios and quartets.See you soon again. And take care. Artist: "Teddy Wilson". Title: "Flyin' Home". Album: "Teddy Wilson". Buy it at amazon.com

Lost and found
2008-04-06 06:05:00
No need to talk about the progress of humanity in the last 100 years. Whether it is in health matters, work, education, nutrition, behaviour, transport, communication, liberties, social issues and behavior, we have made huge leaps, some even "quantum leaps". Certainly, some things have brought changes for the bad but I think most of them for the good.Besides dozens or hundreds of other things, Internet definitely has changed our behavior. I am on it since it is commercially available in Switzerland. That (I don't rembember exactly) was some 15 years ago. I remember when I used to by CD's at "CD Now". They don't exist anymore, I think they were bought by Amazon.Amazon has become an important supplier for me. Many years ago, you could only buy books. Since then, as you know, they almost have become a department store. Sometimes I buy CD's and DVD's from them, but mainly books are ordered. You all know the facilities internet offers. For me an important one, moving around all the ...
More About: Lost , Lost and Found

Stayin Alive
2008-04-03 08:56:00
That is what I am doing. Running around and doing shopping before I go back. Digital cameras, watches, coffee makers, sun protection creams and many other things for my colleagues "down there". And for the ladies, as usual, chocolates and for the men, as usual also, a few bottles of something stronger than water.A small week left here. To prepare the annual general assembly of my historic railway company. And to spend the last few days mainly with my wife. Also to see my son off. Because when I come back next time, he will not be around anymore as he will have moved to Dubai to take up his new job with "Emirates".Besides that, not much is happening around here. Except that the famous "Swiss People's Party" is making troubles again. Not worthwhile to talk about. More interesting is that yesterday came to the cinema's a new movie from France, called "Disco". A kind of a remake of "Saturday Night Fever", I believe.I was in my "flashing" years when this movie came out. And I saw it ma...
More About: Alive

From one lake to another lake
2008-04-01 07:08:00
Our yearly meeting in Zurich went well. I met a lot of my friends and colleagues, as expected. Where are you now? In Angola. And you? I am leaving next week for Peru. What about you? I just came back from Afghanistan and will now move to Sri Lanka. And this could go on for ever and ever.We had several presentations. Good ones and touching ones. The theme of the day was: "Swiss Humanitarian Aid - in the past - at present - in the future". It seems that my agency will be more present in the field in the short term. We had a break in the afternoon. One of my former desk officer (for Kosovo) approached me. He asked me how long I was going to be in Sudan. I said until October, when I retire. He said "But you don't think of retiring really, do you?". Because we wants to send me to Vladikavkaz to run the office there. I don't think I can go. Because my wife will certainly object. She would not be pleased for me to go to the Kaukasus. And I understand her, it is a rough, wild place.Eventu...
More About: Lake

Dr. John, this is great
2008-03-28 05:29:00
The meme is really a success. From "my" side Titania did it, Old Fart did it, Pumuckl did it and Hafez did it. And Fabulous Girly Girl did it in the comments. Unfortunately, I have not "found" her yet as her profile is locked. But I will search for her as soon as I have some time. And I will also check if some more have done it. In 2 or 3 days as I am leaving my home this morning to go for a "big" journey to the other side of Switzerland.I will have to "cross" the border from the French part to the German part. This happens when you cross the "Lake of Schiffenen" on the big viaduct (not seen on this picture). And there will be not much of a change. On both sides the grass has the same green color. At least, if it is not covered with snow, I might see if it is so.I am going to Zurich to attend the annual "SKH-Tag", the day of the Swiss Humanitarian Aid of my agency. I will meet colleagues who have been on mission with me, we will have a lot of stories to tell and we will be happy to...
More About: Great , John

With this you might know me better
2008-03-25 08:21:00
Sometimes (and I did already many times) I like to "take" things from other blogs. I got this meme from Dr. John's blog. I like it. And by looking at it, you will discover more or "new" things about me. What about you?1. What time did you get up this morning? 4:30 AM2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds3. Last movie you saw in the theater? Forrest Gump4. What is/are your favorite TV shows? Friends5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Black coffee6. What is your middle name? I don?t have one7. What food do you dislike? Raw tomatoes8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? World Class of Woody Herman9. What kind of car do you drive? Citroen Xantia Break10. Favorite sandwich? Ham and cheese on rye bread11. What characteristics do you despise? Stubbornness12. Favorite item of clothing? Jeans and T-shirts13. If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? Norway14. What color is your bathroom? Creams15. Favorite brand of clothing? Jean-Jacques Benson16. Where w...

I remember or Memoirs 1
2008-03-22 08:08:00
I was born in this city in 1943. Berne, the Swiss capital.But my parents left Berne a few days after my birth. We would come back to live in Berne again, many years later. The first few weeks of my life, we lived in Biel, a city that was coming to be important in my life. Biel was in those days called "Zukunftstadt": The city of future. The today still very modern "Volkshaus"was built in the 1920's and is sided by the wide "Avenue de la Gare", also with modern buildings from the same period, leading to the railway station which you see at the end of the avenue. This is in contrast with the old part of the city, called the "Ring", with its beautiful century old buildings. Every year, on August 1,our national day, performances are presented to a great number of spectators. The history of Switzerland is told with a stage play taking place in and around the buildings and often "including" the audience into the action.After a few weeks after my birth, my parents moved to Olten, an impor...
More About: Memoirs

Just relaxed
2008-03-19 07:11:00
I am not doing anything special. My favorite activity is "hanging around" or "whiling away". Of course, a lot of letters to go through. And before I leave, I will have to do a "favorite" activity: File my income tax return. This, of course, will strenghten my relationship with the income tax inspector. Who will kindly (yes, this is true) ask me when they could expect a payment. I will give him an answer, a satisfactory one. For him, not for me.Some of the letters I have opened sofar indicate that my retirement towards the end of the year might not quite be as I have imagined. Some of my projects might be delayed. Indeed, I got an request or an offer from ILO who would like me to make some assessments in French speaking Africa and in South Eastern Europe. I will have to discuss this with them.Next week also I will start the big family trip to my mother and my brother in the German part of Switzerland. It fits me well because I have to go to Zurich to attend the yearly "Annual day of ...

Home and memories
2008-03-17 06:42:00
I made it. Since Saturday I am at home. Kisses and hugs from my wife. Kisses and hugs from my daughter. And a handshake from my son. Because in Switzerland men do not kiss men. Which of course, in France and other countries is a common practise to do.I have caught up with my sleep and know I am busy checking the post mail and other things. And starting from tomorrow I will check-up all your updates. And then slowly post again. I will be for 3 weeks at home.Memories came to my mind as I was talking with my family. People have memories and some do write them down. Then it is called "Memoirs". Two years ago, I made some posts with the title "My Life". And then I stopped it. Now as I am growing older and older (and hope to have many, many more years left) I thought that it would be about time to start my "memoirs". I will start this soon. There will be a chapter once a month. As I do not remember roughly the 5 first year of my life, there should be around 60 chapter. So this will keep m...
More About: Home

Thursday Thirteen, Nr. 18, countries I have been to. The Final
2008-03-13 02:38:00
Thirteen Things from ME:1. Senegal. Several times 1975 to 1979. From Mauritania we went often for a weekend in St. Louis. A nice city with islands.2. Serbia. Many times during 2000 to 2003. We had to go for meetings in Belgrade and always profited to walk along the Danube river. 3. South Africa. 1968 to 1969. I made my private pilots license there. And was surprised to get the authorization from the Air Force. Saying that in case of war I would be given South African citizenship instantly and be integrated into the Air Force. I made trips all over and found it to be the most beautiful country. 4. Spain. December 1987. With my wife and kids we spent Christmas and New Year on Mallorca. During that time of the year, almost no tourists. We had a great time and we still talk about it today, from time to time.5. Sudan. Since 2004 I am working here. An extraordinary country, with a lot of history. The link between the Arab and the African world. The White and the Blue Nile meeting in Khart...
More About: Final , Thirteen , Countries , Thursday

I am leaving too (tomorrow)
2008-03-12 04:15:00
I still have many things to do before I go. Like waiting for the flight manifest to come out this afternoon to see the time of departure tomorrow. And the route. Perhaps the flight will be straight from Nyala to Khartoum. Then I will be there in 2 hours. But perhaps I will have what we call the "bonus" flight: Nyala - El Geneina - El Fasher - Khartoum. Then I will be in Khartoum in 6 hours. The schedule and the route vary according to the need of people to be transported.I enjoy these flights. Sudan is a beautiful country and, with its huge size, has so many different landscapes to offer. And most of the time the weather is clear and one can see far. And if you are 10 kilometers above the ground you see really very far. And though I am flying frequently since almost 4 years between Nyala and Khartoum, I still discover new things on the ground on every flight. I might make one day a picture post about the beauty of Sudan.Today I am winding up and I will write my hand-over note with t...
More About: Tomorrow , Leaving