Some of the best science demos reveal something to the viewer -- making the previously unseen become visible.
In this case, a Ruben's tube is used to visualize how sound (mechanical waves) influences air pressure in a tube. Standing waves are the easiest to visualize, but the musical dynamics and complexity are interesting too. Plus it uses fire and rick & roll, which always makes such projects more exciting!
By the way, after the Dave Brubeck jazz, did you see the flame gap with the rock music? I wonder if that has anything to do with how it is equalized when mastered...
Mechanical waves can create energy patterns in solids as well. This is a clever use of salt on a vibrating table to show more complex harmonics. The shape and composition of the table are also important here -- this table is "clean" enough to get distinct constructive and destructive effects that result in salt "mounds" and clear spaces:
Yet another part of the "East Asian Ensemble" in Munich's Westpark is a Nepalese pagoda.
This was built in 1983 in Nepal by 300 handworkers over 7 months. It was the first time in about 200 years since a complete pagoda had been made using traditional methods!
The pagoda was shipped to Munich in sections from Nepal and re-assembled in the park. The carving details around the building are fascinating... but it is locked so you can't enter and look around inside.
There was, however, a poster on a window of an upcoming Thai festival that goes on the list of to-dos!
The Thai, Chinese, and Nepalese sections of the "East Asian Ensemble" are quite impressive for a public park. The Westpark deserves a lot more attention from locals and tourists alike.
On the second weekend of Oktoberfest, not only did Frau A's friends L & M visit, but my friend J from Buffalo! We had tickets to the Schottenhamel beer tent - it's the oldest one, and where the Mayor taps the first keg.
Before arriving at the tent, we noticed a stage being set up for a television concert in front of the Bavaria statue:
A closer inspection shows Swiss alpine horns, and lots of men in lederhosen with brass instruments:
To open the concert, the alpine horns were played... but they forgot to turn on the speakers. They did turn them on after 23 seconds though! I captured a short video below:
Then they did another short performance:
Then a conductor got the entire band going...
...and tried to get the crowd to sing along too.
Here's a video of the brass band in concert:
The next act was a schlager singer - move video for those interested below:
From there we went to into the Schottenhamel beer tent. Our table was reserved from 11am to 4pm. To start, they provided brotzeit ("bread time"), which is a mix of traditional Bavarian finger food. This includes sliced radish, obatzda (a cheese spread), bread with cream cheese & chives, and bread with pork fat & bacon.
Frau M thought it was funy that she was drinking her first mass faster than Herr L...
...but Herr L was saving room for the schweinehaxe (pork knuckle) - it's really quite good, but huge.
Frau A & I were tired but happy - she returned from a 2-week trip to New York, and I've been workin' late.
Frau M borrowed one of Frau A's dirndls and looked great, then tried a hat to go with it. That's what happens when you're working on mass #2. (The brewery is Spaten for those interested.)
Merchandisers swarm the tents selling hats, t-shirts, pins, and anything else you can think of.
This guy's t-shirt is homemade, and really funny. Captures the spirit of Carnival more than Oktoberfest, though.
We had to wait until almost 12:30 until the band started playing. This guy was impatient, already standing:
Eventually the band got going, we ordered a seconds mass, and taught our friends the Oktoberfest songs.
At 16:00 we left the tent to explore the rides and games. Below is Frau A trying the soccer/kicking game.
It's cheesy, but one of our favorite games is where you try to launch a frog onto a flower with a hammer. Below, Herr J has set his frog on the launch pad, and will strike the other side of the lever with the hammer...
...and the next shot is of Herr L who has just smashed the lever and sent the frog flying. We won a few here!
On the way out we noticed a new show: Monster Truck. Yup, behind the screen is a small dirt pit. We didn't try it, but were surprised because it's non-traditional. What's Oktoberfest coming to?
Again, thank Herr L, Frau M, and Herr J for visiting. Hope to get more friends next year!
When Frau A left her last job, her kind colleagues gave her a gift certificate to a local restaurant, as well as some great spices, serving items, and a cool cookbook on small bites. (They knew she enjoys experimenting in the kitchen!)
The restaurant was a perfect choice for someone who enjoys kitchen adventures, as it's a place that experiments on its diners and offers cooking courses. It's called Shane's Kitchen and is located in the Glockenbachviertl.
When you arrive (after an aperitif, of course), you select the number of courses and discuss with the waitstaff any food allergies or dislikes you may have. Then you sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
The options range from 3 to 8 courses. Of course we chose 8!
Always on table: homemade bread with mint pesto (for sauce clean-up, and mint as palate cleanser?)
1st course: roasted pepper terrine with tuna tartare and wild greens
2nd course: pan seared fish filet over root vegetables
3rd course: "dim sum" scallop dumpling with asparagus
4th course: fish dumpling with blood sausage atop curried lentils
5th course: ravioli
6th course: roasted ox filet with mashed potatoes
7th course: veal filet
[we took a break and went for some air in the courtyard, then forgot to photograph the main course. It was a lovely and melt-in-your-mouth tender]
8th course (dessert): sorbert and poached plums
At the end of a very hectic week, it was a treat to just sit, relax, and be taken care of with no decisions to make. The food was excellent - all meats perfectly cooked and all sauces delicately balanced. For me, sauces are one of the hardest things to cook well, so are a real measure of a chef's cooking prowess. We're sure there must be a dedicate saucier, as each dish had some kind of sauce or dressing that was flavorful, yet subtle. We tasted hints of so many different flavors (many with Asian influence), but they all blended well together. The service also was top notch, as it needs to be for a place featuring tasting menus, but the venue relatively casual for a higher-end restaurant.
We'd definitely recommend it for a special night out (though 8 courses might be too much!) and we plan to go back to their bar sometime. Frau A spotted the roast beef focaccia coming out from the kitchen (it's on the reasonably priced bar menu) and wants to try it.
After our first radler round, tasting four Warsteiner beer mixes, we decided to test out 4 of the Beck's offerings. Beck's is notable in the flavored beer category, not only because it seems to have more varieties widely available than anyone else, but also because its Green Lemon is one of the most popular beer mixes. Many good Bavarians will turn up their noses at the idea of a fruity beer mixed drink, but Beck's Green Lemon seems to be one of the firt and one of the more accepted ones out there.
In addition to its normal Pils beer assortment (we tasted Beck's and Beck's Gold in the Schnitzelbahn Beer Tournament), Beck's offers several flavored beers. Beck's Green Lemon was introduced in 2005, followed the next year by Chilled Orange and Level 7 (Guarana and lemongrass alcoholic energy drink). Then in 2008 came Beck's Ice, a mint and lime beverage that Beck's describes as having "filtered out the coloring of beer leaving the typical Beck's taste."
We'll taste it in another round, but this year they're producing a "limited edition" Black Currant.
All of these are categorized as beer mixed drinks (Biermixgetränken), with 2.5% alcohol content. They also make a Beck's Lime, which at 4.9% alcohol content is described as "Real Beck's with a shot of lime."
So, for this round we started with the Green Lemon, Lime, Ice, and Chilled Orange. Our biggest question before the tasting was "what's the difference between Green Lemon and Lime?" We did all the research after the tasting, so we could go into it without any prejudice. Therefore, we were unprepared for how different Green Lemon and Lime were. The Green Lemon tastes like beer, though a light one with a lime flavor. It's light, crisp, and sparkly and really enjoyable. A good mix, that isn't too sweet but retains the taste of beer.
The Lime tasted exactly as described - a real full beer, with a shot of lime... a very small hint of lime. While it's definitely a German pils, it reminds me of a Corona with lime. The lime softens the pils hoppiness and I think this would be a great beer with Mexican food. While we were pleasantly surprised by both, we preferred the smooth, light Green Lemon. The Lime was good, but had a slight sour finish. Had we paired it with food, it might have beat its lighter brother. But for summer beer drinking, we'd choose the Green Lemon.
Then we had Beck's Ice Lime & Mint vs Beck's Chilled Orange. After the creamsicle-y Warsteiner Orange, we weren't sure what to expect. And we had no idea what to expect with the Lime & Mint. Well, Beck's Ice basically is Smirnoff Ice with less alcohol. There's no beer taste whatsoever. I'd wouldn't be suprised if this one does well. Caipirinhas are quite popular here, and this is kind of a caipirinha-flavored drink. It's very smooth and easy to drink.
The Chilled Orange was also good, and had much more of a natural mandarin orange flavor, rather than the orange creamsicle sweetness of Warsteiner. We didn't love either of them, but we found the Chilled Orange to be more drinkable. The Ice probably is more popular, but it would be hard to drink much of it.
Not surprisingly, the Green Lemon then beat the Chilled Orange in the final of this preliminary round. We found the Green Lemon to be more in the spirit of a radler and the Orange has a slight artificial taste. Not bad, but we just prefered the smooth, not too sweet Green Lemon.
Below is a quick photo while walking through downtown Munich one weekend.
Someone has books they'd like to sell. But of course there are few "garages" (it's all apartments, maybe with a large underground garage), and he/she probably didn't want to sit around all day for such a small volume.
So... why not simply set out the boxes of books, sign the prices, and leave a small piggybank for the proceeds? Then come back at the end of the day, bring the remainder (plus money) back upstairs! (Cute piggybank, huh?)
The sign says: "Each book... into the little pig... thanks!" (left are 50 cents, right are 1 euro).
We're continually impressed with the behaviour standards in Germany when it comes to "trust" things like this. It can be nice to live in such a law-abiding place - would this ever happen in the U.S.?
This is a classic science demo for classrooms. Using soap, create bubbles from methane gas (e.g., in cigarette lighters). The methane, less dense than air, makes the bubbles rise and they are flammable with cool effect:
(Note: due to the difference between temperature and heat, plus the fact that methane is less dense than air and rises, the instructor/teacher can have the bubbles lit in her hand without being burned.)
Television has caught on and entertains with bubble sculpting and even larger flames...
Sublimatingdry ice (solid carbon dioxide) to make soap bubbles produces an entirely different (but neat) result:
And for those that don't want to light your house in fire with methane, simple Ivory soap can be fun too:
Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 0:00 
