Mafifa

Some nice Banksy-style artwork outside my office....

Stop the madness!

Unsafe cranes in Zurich airport!

"The lift, an Omme, is clearly well equipped with stowage points for the outrigger mats and even a set of cones, just sad that the user has not bothered with them."

Why hasn't this story received more prominence in the Swiss media???

Good interview!

Interesting article on Donna Summer in Blick am Abend last week.

She talks about the destructive influence of drugs in the 1970s and her own drug use.

Later in the article she says that people in Zurich are very friendly and helpful.

Let this be a lesson to you kids - drug use can seriously impair your brain function - even decades later!!!

Halloween - Swiss style

A couple of rugrats called to my door on Sunday.

Children: "Süßes oder Saueres?"

Me: "How I drink my diluted white wine is no concern of yours. Could you please fuck off now?"

Are you between a Rock and a Hard Place?

View Larger Map

Then you are somewhere on the purple line on this map.

Could the 2 stories possibly be connected in some way???

Cover of 20 Minuten, 14 September 2010.

Top of the front page - police are looking for the pensioner who owns a lot of guns and is roaming free as a sniper having already shot at them in Biel.

Rest of the front page - 13 year old boy is a better marksman than the other approx. 4,800 young children who took part in the state sanctioned shooting competition which is marked by a half day off in Zurich.

Think hard about it Swiss people...the link is staring you right in the face...

"Even Swiss people, on a Saturday night, are capable of losing their minds."

Bono, Letzigrund Zurich, September 11, 2010.

Not like you to ever be wrong Bono, right?

Fish...

Like most people, I always thought that there were so many fish in the lake in Zurich due to the cleanliness of the water.

Turns out 60,000,000 fish are hatched out in Stäfa every year and then released into the wild.

Why don't they just put them in a barrel and we can shoot them with our government issued guns?

Would make life a lot easier...

Street walkers

Am I the only one who thinks this "Yeah, you'll stop for me, won't you?" poster you can see all around Zurich looks a little like an advertisement for the beloved Swiss practice of child prostitution?

Filling a vacancy....Swiss style!

There is a jobless guy who sells Surprise magazine at the top of the stairs in Stadelhofen station. The kiosk opposite have a notice in the window looking for someone to work there.

What they were thinking when they hung the sign in the window?

"I wonder if there is anyone available locally to fill this job? Someone with skills in selling periodicals who could start straight away...nope, can't think of anyone."

A business model you can believe in...

Walked through the Niederdorf the other night.

The restaurants Weisser Wind and Zentrum Karl der Grosse are closed. A fire? Shut down by health inspectors? No. They are on their summer holidays.

Of course, I mean, everyone knows that Zurich is dead during July and August. No chance that someone might want to go out to eat during those balmy summer months. And anyway, it's not like there's any passing trade in the Niederdorf in summer...

Nice of neither of them to mention on their websites either that they are shut. They were probably too busy packing to think of adding this rather useful piece of information...

What cool hair....

49 Francs to look like the guy on the bottom right - what a bargain!

The worst thing is, this is actually the main selling point in the window of a city center Zurich hairdresser's!!!

Zürifaescht

what a weekend!

3 days

2 million visitors

300,000 liters of beer!

Actually wait. Do the math, even allowing for the fact that 50% of visitors were maybe children (not likely seeing as Switzerland hates children)!

Works out at about a beer per adult per day.

Party on Zurich!

Tax time!

It's the end of March so it's time to get your tax returns into the authorities.

The picture shows part of the form given out in Canton Zurich. More specifically, it shows the section where you are supposed to write in how many heads of cattle you own! (Click on the pic to enlarge it).

Personally, I've got all my cows offshore...

General grumpiness in Zurich explained.

Aha, you see it's not because they're miserable bastards but due to the vowel sounds they have to make!

Yeah right.

UEFA

One thing I do like in Switzerland is the fake advertising you sometimes see put up as part of the Swiss Project Mayhem.

I spotted this sticker on a door in the city center recently.