Not really: the German word is 'Kessel', which obviously has a close etymological relation to the English word. So when I read 'kettle', I think 'Kessel' and have a picture of an iron-thingy in my mind. True, you can add prefixes to distinguish different kinds of kettles (including cauldrons ), but the electric kettle isn't one of them: that thing is called 'Wasserkocher' (which literally translates to 'water boiler').

oder Teekessel... Nein?

Recovering...

This is me earlier today, after having serviced the wife's scooter (which she is finally intending to sell), and about to conduct a final road test:
.

Not pictured is me pushing the bloody thing several miles home after the clutch variator exploded while flat-out over a local bypass. It's not that I mind being old, unhealthy and knackered after the effort, or even that I'll need to replace the transmission as a result. It's that the damn thing is still going to be cluttering up my garage for some while yet...

Arse.

Nein, absolutely not. Go to Google.de, choose 'Bilder', type in "Teekessel" and behold... However, it might be an interesting experiment to tell someone "Ich habe einen neuen elektrischen Teekessel!"

Doesn't sound like a particularly fun way to spend your Sunday, endemoniada! Although, quite frankly, I didn't understand the technical details - it would have been hard enough in German... But I can perfectly imagine how this unnecessary waste of garage-space can be terribly annoying.

Some are absolutely beautiful, that is style!

No argument there! One day when I have more money than I can use, I'm gonna decorate my kitchen with such a thing. In fact, there are even electric kettles which are designed like proper kettles in the German sense, but they cost a fortune.

I think I have three or four of these (the old-fashioned non-electrical, mind you) lying around somewhere. Unfortunately nobody uses them. When I make myself some tea, I usually do it with an iron kettle. You know, iron kettle for iron women.

endemoniada_88: Looking tough and grim on that bike! I expect you looked even grimmer on your way back.

Very possibly...exercise and me don't really get along that well...!

Giving a complete overhaul to an age-old 19+ minute Doom opus of mine so I can finally listen to it with all the elements in place (and hopefully in slightly better sound, too). Unfortunately, in order to really make it work, I'll first have to find another vocalist for the clean bits.

Recording growls.

Testing whether the forum still works after updating it...

And it does!

I'm trying to arrive at a final decision as to which new pair of headphones to buy. I'm also trying not to fall asleep. Multitasking!

I'm exhausted after having spent the last two hours baking.

What have you been baking?

I'm exhausted, too: in addition to work, writing reviews, cleaning my place and doing all other sorts of things that needed sorting out, I've been busy trying to find a suitable new pair of headphones for home listening. It's quite an investment, so I want to be sure, but it's still unavoidable to take some risks and order a model or two which I may have to return. After hundreds of reviews and a lot of discussion on a HiFi board, I ordered a pair last week which arrived on Saturday, and, in accordance with my general luck, I was (and still am) somewhat disappointed, especially considering the price. After further discussion and review reading, I ended up ordering an alternative model today and will have to return at least one of them. I really hope the other one was a good choice now; I don't want to embark on a month-long, ultra-expensive odyssey. I've even been losing sleep with all those pros and cons and the names and specs of different models swirling through my head like in a feedback loop...

...Sennheiser...

Yes, I'm a Sennheiser fan myself and have been using closed studio headphones until now (HD 280 Pro), but for the specifications I'm looking for, the HD 650 seems most suitable - a model that's clearly too expensive.

The 650s do look nice - although the 600s don't seem much of a step down, but they're £100 cheaper!
Open's much better than closed, at almost any price bracket...but no doubt that's one of the many facts and figures swirling about already!

In fact, that's one of the basics I sorted out first: I definitely want some open (or half-open) headphones this time. The HD 280 were really just meant for recordings where you'd definitely need the good isolation, but for lack of money and so on, I ended up using them for pretty much everything for years. Needless to say they apply way too much pressure to the head and ears for longer listening sessions to be sufficiently comfortable.

I've looked at the HD 600, too, but to be honest, I absolutely hate the design! The even cheaper 598 would be more appealing. This may not be the main argument, but it does count if you want to make a long-term investment. Anyway, the Beyerdynamic DT 880 I'd ordered will most likely be returned anyway. An alternative model* should arrive today or tomorrow; I'm very nervous about receiving it and afraid I may put it on and think "Fuck, that's even worse".

*Philips Fidelio X1. I'm not a Philips fan by any means and I was really sceptical, but taking all my specifications and preferences as well as my reaction to the Beyer into account, the Fidelio was recommended to me more than once, and with a lot of emphasis. Reading through a number of reviews showed that it has managed to positively surprise (and ultimately convince) other Philips sceptics. If that's not it, the only alternatives I see at the moment are Beyerdynamic DT 770 vs. DT 990 and, preferably, the Sennheiser HD 650 (which I might be able to score for about 200€ at eBay). The Beyer models don't really seem to be a good match with the form of my head anyway, and they all seem to be almost identical in shape.

you mean, like a goblin?

mine are those :


they have a good sound, and they even collect your earwax! handy!