This week the husband installed the new card for the satellite receiver, to enable us to continue receiving the subscription channels with the English-language programming. Of course, in an effort to hook us on more expensive services, the company gave us 2 weeks of all their programming, free.
S. was exploring the new offerings and the packages available - just as American cable companies bundle certain channels together. One caught his attention - the 'family package'.
Now, in the U.S., a family package usually refers to programming which is suitable and attractive to the whole family - a mix of movies, kid's programming, and sports, usually. In Germany, however, or at least for this particular company, 'family' apparently means that there are channels for everyone in the family, even that creepy uncle around whom no one is really comfortable. For part of this package is the 'Beate-Uhse' channel, inspired by a famous chain of sex-toy shops.
Yes, the family package includes a porn channel.
Of course, the broadcasts don't begin until after the small kids are in bed, and therr is apparently a 4-digit security code you can invoke, so it's obviously meant just for the adults. Maybe it's just considered a part of a normal adult lifestyle here.
Or maybe it's all part of an effort to increase the birth rate in this country - as this 'Germany Needs More Babies' commercial seems to suggest.
Ok, there will be a comment accusing me of watching the porn channel. I wasn't impressed. It involved a chimney sweep and his encounters with the ladies on his route. Lots of bad jokes about how he was a 'bringer of good luck', nudge-nudge, wink-wink, and a lot of shots of him, literally, cleaning chimneys. Maybe the hard core stuff is on after 10 pm.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Environment Zones
The new trend among local municipalities is to institute "Environment Zones".
You have to understand that here in Moers we live just about adjacent to the Rhine and Ruhr rivers. Along the Rhine are large cities like Düsseldorf and Kologne; alone the Ruhr is the famous (in Europe) Ruhr Region, Germany's own Rust Belt. As a result, our state, North-Rhein Westphalia, has not only the largest and most dense population in Germany, but also some of the worst traffic in Europe.
Diesel cars are far more popular here in Germany than in the U.S. Diesels, however, put out a lot more particulates, than gasoline powered autos. (I have read that particulate output is actually more closely controlled in the U.S. than in Germany; the required filter to take care of the fine particulates is one reason diesel cars are more expensive in America).
So now cities are delineating areas into which only the cleanest cars can go. Luckily both our cars earned a green 4; my in-laws, with a diesel red 2, can no longer drive into the downtowns of several cities in the area. To do so (and to be caught) would mean a fine as well as points on the license.
I find this trend interesting because it's one of the few areas I've noticed where local levels of government are moving to regulate something like this. Usually, it seems to me, most of these directives come from the federal level.
You have to understand that here in Moers we live just about adjacent to the Rhine and Ruhr rivers. Along the Rhine are large cities like Düsseldorf and Kologne; alone the Ruhr is the famous (in Europe) Ruhr Region, Germany's own Rust Belt. As a result, our state, North-Rhein Westphalia, has not only the largest and most dense population in Germany, but also some of the worst traffic in Europe.
Diesel cars are far more popular here in Germany than in the U.S. Diesels, however, put out a lot more particulates, than gasoline powered autos. (I have read that particulate output is actually more closely controlled in the U.S. than in Germany; the required filter to take care of the fine particulates is one reason diesel cars are more expensive in America).
So now cities are delineating areas into which only the cleanest cars can go. Luckily both our cars earned a green 4; my in-laws, with a diesel red 2, can no longer drive into the downtowns of several cities in the area. To do so (and to be caught) would mean a fine as well as points on the license.
I find this trend interesting because it's one of the few areas I've noticed where local levels of government are moving to regulate something like this. Usually, it seems to me, most of these directives come from the federal level.
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