Wildlife Park Kecskemet
While browsing for subjects on Kiskunsag National Park’s homepage, I came upon an entry about the national park having donated bales of hay to the local zoo. That place is the corner of my heart (the way the Hungarian would say it) so I hereby dedicate another blog to it.
This safe haven for nature is literally
a tiny island between a two-lane street and a busy railroad...
The old Sekler’s visit to Hell
The old Sekler dies, but they have misplaced his records, so while they sort things out up above, he gets a VIP tour of Hell. Satan himself is his tour guide, and he proudly walks Old John along the dark, sulfury alleys and fire- and brimstone-lined halls....
Musings Over Tim Cope’s Reception in Opusztaszer
He’s been on my mind for over three weeks now, since I first heard about
his arrival to Hungary, and Googled him, and browsed around on
his website to learn who he is. Later a Hungarian article called him a swashbuckler, and the negative connotations of the term seemed offensive to me…. Why? Who is Tim Cope? And why does he matter?
Formula One Formula
I’m a declared Hamilton fan; so one of my friends takes great joy in being the first to give me any and all bad news about McLaren. Last night I was toiling away behind the computer, when the chat window pops up...
Our Best Kept Secret
Puszta.com is work AND a hobby for many of us, but it’s not “just” that. It is also a showcase of our team’s talents and capabilities, a sampler of the
online and offline services we can offer:
from writing and translation/localization to illustration and spotlighting, and from online articles to print ads and sales materials.
Patrick, Anita, and the place to be this summer
Anita and Patrick have traveled the world from South Africa to Latin America and Eastern Europe, to find the ideal place to welcome guests in a relaxed atmosphere. They found that place in Tiszaderzs, Hungary.
July in Retrospect
At the end of June, we set up separate statistics for the three languages of Puszta.com. One thing that became obvious right away is that a significant number of visitors to the English pages come from Budapest...
Good to Be Alive
More farm animals followed, and we were about to turn off a side-path, when my friend started laughing. “Check out that goat on the ladder”, he said. And indeed, there was a goat on the top of a ladder, and he was looking at us as if saying,
“And where do you think you are going?”
So I Actually Am a Tree-Hugger…
At first I was only annoyed by the noise and the exhaust gas.
…Until I realized what they were up to.
Author Unknown, Protagonist Yes
Normally I don't wake up at 5 in the morning and say, And today, I shall forward chain letters. ...Much less post them in my company blog. But this is your (un?)lucky day: here comes one.
Om
I’ll say Goodbye for the weekend, and I am leaving you with a call to
pamper yourselves, and a thought from Daniel Quinn’s
Ishmael...
The Not So Obvious
Besides this week’s Cool Blue of the
Start page (notice how it soars, btw?), I’ve been adding little touches to quite a few of the articles. See for example ‘
Goulash a la Jonah’ in Internet Explorer. Point your mouse over each picture, and read the-story-within-the-story...
Heart and Mind
...The day’s highlight was the private tour we received of
the Cathedral, the
Cathedral’s Library,
the Treasury of the Archbishopric, and the
Paprika Museum. …And of course, partaking of the wisdom, knowledge, and soul of our guide while we grazed our eyes on the magnificent beauty of these places, and gained even more appreciation for the people who brought them to life.
Third Is the Charm
Although last night a storm interrupted the idyllic circumstances on
the Square, the audience is bound to be back for a concert by the local folk group,
Csik, followed by Zsolt Richly’s “John the Boaster” (or Janos Hary, the chronic liar of the Hungarian folklore) on the big screen.
Brilliance of the Dark Ages
Kalocsa's diocese is one of the ten
established by St. Stephen around 1000 AD. Its library has a
replica of St. Stephen's crown on display, along with a number of
illuminated manuscripts and other books of high value.
Eosine and Pyrogranite
Let’s repeat that one more time: Eosine and Pyrogranite. What in the world are those?
I’ll be honest here: until 5.30 this morning, I didn’t have a clue.
An Actor Out on Loan
For today’s title I borrowed this line from “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors, because of two things.
The obvious: the most recent article I posted on Puszta.com is an invitation to the
“Riders on the Storm” concert on July 7, 2007, on Budapest’s Margaret Island.
Image source:
USA Today -- The Weather Guys
With Your Safety in Mind
This has been one of those days again, when we were working on things that you don’t readily see on your screen. Yet I still managed to squeeze in something visible AND useful: a few words on making phone calls while you are visiting Hungary, and some of the numbers you should have handy...
Second Bump-in With Auto Racing
…And the end result:
I’ve been converted to F1!
Go Lewis Hamilton! :-)
Image:
gpticketshop
Inspired by Music
Watching
Shrek inspired me to take on the translation of our article about
the Kodaly Concept.
I can sincerely recommend it even if you are not a devout folk or classical music lover.
Feeling Like a Queen – A Restaurant Review
You’ll look at this building and the garden, and you’ll have a sense of Home Sweet Home, and you’ll scurry through the gates to
lose yourself in a 4-hour lunch break, just like we did.
Crunching Numbers
We technically launched Puszta.com on March 19. Between April 5 and May 5 we had 804 visitors and 2,760 pageviews. Between May 6 and June 6
those numbers grew to 4,898 visitors and 10,777 pageviews...
THIS JUST IN! Fantastic turn in the Transcontinental race. You have to see it to believe it!
Worms of the World, Unite!
I picked this worm as my mascot for today, because he’s cute and colorful. …And he’s pretty skillful, ingenious, and persistent. And I need to keep all that in mind these days. ... I’m in dire need of clones.
I want one of them magic hammocks Homer Simpson had in “
Send in the Clones”...
Non Sequitur
As I was browsing through our
Photo Gallery, I came across this one, “the Hungarian Sahara”, and it reminded me of an article I read about a week ago.
By September 2007 the ASO will make a decision whether to start off the 2009 or 2010 Dakar Rally in Budapest...
Don’t Hate Mondays
I hope ya’ll’s week got off to a good start. Mine sure did: I added
a number of new guesthouses to the Accommodations list and a
new article about the long-wool Racka sheep.
Photo:
Zold Pazsit (Green Grass) Guesthouse
Az ígéret szép szó, ha megtartják úgy jó.
Well, I sort of kept my promise to take the day off, but I still have a couple of things to point out...
Photo:
izsori
Serendipity
Another day spent on working behind the scenes, but I think that all the English articles are now ready for the new database. Woo-hoo!
...Believe it or not,
Calgary and
Regina may just win
the Transcontinental race!
Photo:
delvideki
A Word of Warning
If there is something I would like you to keep in mind from all that I’ve told you in the past few weeks is this: if you ever decide to create a multilingual portal, never ever, EVVER, build the various languages on the same structure!
Photo:
lacitot
Clean Desk Policy
...A few hours later I found myself sitting at a local pizza parlor, chowing down my food, and having an over lunch conversation:
“…Well, in a sense, it is good that I don’t have an Internet connection for the second day now. See, I finally found time to clean my desk. For the first time in two months!”
My friend didn’t bat an eye, just swallowed his bite, and asked me in a nonchalant tone,
“Oh yeah? And where did you put all the stuff?”
When It Rains It Pours …But luckily there’s always the proverbial silver lining. :)
I woke up this morning, and noticed that my Internet is GONE! The optimistic person that I am, I went trough the old routine of resetting the rooter, restarting the computer, even letting it all rest for a while, but nothing. In my utter desperation I said, Okay, then I’ll do something else, and by the time I finish with that, my Internet connection will come back on its own. Right?
Photo:
stefi
So Who’s It Gonna Be?
Last night we left off saying that a race is on. Well, let me tell you, it’s getting pretty tight over here at the top of the hill. The U.S. traveled good all along, and is working on closing up on the whole front, yet Southern Canada may just get there faster with its concentrated efforts. …But watch out, folks! South America kicked on!...
This Grape Is High, But It Sure Ain't Sour
I sat down behind the computer for a minute, before breakfast….
…Over eight hours later, around 3 PM, when I finally DID HAVE my “breakfast”, I was thinking, “Wow, what was that? And how did it happen?”...
...But it's all worthwhile:
from
Steinkjer and
Novosibirsk on the North to
Santiago,
Jakarta and
Melbourne on the South,
Tokyo and
Osaka on the East, to
Prince George and
San Francisco on the West, you come and visit our site from all over the world.
In fact,
there is a new Transcontinental moment in the air!...
Photo:
zsuzs
A Little Piece of Heaven
I had the great joy of meeting some of my Hungarian-American friends today. ...AND they brought me a care package from Wal-Mart...
Developer's Blog
Originally, our goal was to build a Channel Tunnel between Hungary and the US. ...Ya know,
pick and shovel, keyboard and mouse…
Then we figured, Well, why not a tunnel under all seven seas?
Come take a peek.
Spitting my guts out???
Still feel great about hitting 8,000 pageviews. ...Just need a breather, I guess: hard work and success can be rather dizzying. :-)
Extra-Extra, Read All About It!
The keyboards have been burning under the computer programmers' and content developers' fingers, and when we really needed a break, we were out there taking pictures, and collecting stories and adventures to write about.
Wildlife Park Kecskemet
A Little Piece of Heaven
