Faded myths - Cowboys

Has anybody noticed that cowboys have disappeared from our lifes?

• No kid wants to disguise as a cowboy at Carnival
• The Playmobil cowboy is still there, but he is hidden in the category "other", like the indians as well. Sales figures have decreased drastically. Policemen, farmers, pirates, ambulance men, builders seem to be en vogue.
• Nobody but George W. Bush, some other guys from Texas and Madonna wear cowboy hats and cowboy boots.
• Are there any Western movies anymore, except for something of Clint Eastwood, which I can hardly remember?
• Nobody knows Lucky Luke anymore

When I was young cowboys were supposed to be cool. We played cowboys and indians and disguised this way at carnival.
We read Winnetou and Old Shatterhand books and watched the movies. At least cowboy boots were hip.
The cowboy was the top-selling figure of Playmobil.

What has happened here?

Did the physiology of the cowboy cease to exist, when the antagonist, the indian, was put to the reservations?
Digression. Version of Woody Guthries "This land is your land": This land is your land, it once was my land, before we sold you Manhattan Island. You put our nations to the reservations. This land was stole by you from me.
Did the American dream vanish from our thoughts? Maybe after September 11th?
It's the edge of the world and all of western civilization. The sun may rise in the East, at least it settles in the final location. It's understood that Hollywood sells Californication.
Hollywood is about the Western American frontier. But did it forget the cowboys?
Why was the Marlboro advertisement banned? Because cowboys are not posh enough? Maybe they can use Bob the builder instead.

Things I like about Germany- part II

Fairy tales - Märchen:

Who doesn't know the famous fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, like:

Bluebeard , The Bremen Town Musicians, The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Frog Prince, The Golden Goose, Hansel and Grethel, Little Red Riding Hood, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Rumpelstiltskin, Rapunzel.

You find a summary of the fairy tales in the link of Wikipedia above.
Besides the Brothers Grimm are the authors of a German dictionary of 33 volumes, weighing 84 kg!

There are also the fairy tales of Wilhelm Hauff, like:

The story of Little Muck, The cold heart, The dwarf Nose, Kalif Storch, The inn in the Spessart

I grew up with a lot of these fairy tales and they have inspired my imagination and my dreams. I can now pass these on to little Emma. I have already started to buy some books, which I loved in my childhood for her. Some of them I only found in second-hand bookshops. Which reminded me of our short-lived book market. I hope Emma will love books like Tina and me.

Soccer - or the miracle of Bern 1954:

German people are wild about soccer, and so am I. I was raised with sports as an important part of life. Motion is life, I'm getting nervous when I can't workout for a few days. I had an injury which stopped me for four weeks a short time ago and I was definitely in a bad mood.
I still play soccer almost every week and I enjoy it.

Our father told us about the soccer world championship in Switzerland 1954, where Germany has won 3:2 against Hungary in the final game. This is a myth in Germany and the beginning of being self-confident after the fatal World War II. I have read the book of Fritz Walter the captain of the team and I loved it. Meanwhile Germany is three time world championship winner. See you in Germany 2006!

Carnival:

Well, Germany is not Brazil or Rio de Janeiro respectively. But I think the German Carnival is also on top of the list. My sister Katharina lives in Cologne and I'm always there when Carnival starts, during the last seven or eight years. You have to be disguised and people are very inventive about it.
The whole city is on it's feet, aside from some people who flee, because they hate Carnival: Oh, nit für Kooche , Lück, bliev ich Karneval he. That's a song of BAP, a Cologne band.
This reminds me of the Carnival songs in Cologne. I know some of them by heart, although this is difficult because of the strong dialect.

Martin Luther:

I think he will be good for my list of famous Germans. I had confirmation in the year of his 500th birthday in 1983.

Made in Germany:

An indication of origin and a quality term. The marking of goods "Made in Germany" applies to numerous industries as proof of particularly high product quality for decades. It emerged in a British law, the Merchandise Marks act of 1887. Purpose of this law was to protect British consumers against deceptions about the origin of German goods. In the course of time however the originally negatively occupied term „Made in Germany changed itself into it's opposite and developed to a special quality character.
For this reason „Made is in Germany“ today is a geographical origin and quality marking for the goods manufactured in Germany. It is protected nationally and internationally.

Nuremberg:

That's my hometown and of course I am prejudiced against the city I live in and I love. Nuremberg is the second largest city in Bavaria with about 500.000 inhabitants. It has a long and sometimes sad history.

Nuremberg was first mentioned in an imperial document in 1050. The Staufer Emperors extended the castle which had been built on a sandstone hill ("Nuorenberc" = rocky hill) into an imperial place. With their support Nuremberg flourished as a centre of trade in the Middle Ages and was granted the status of a Free Imperial City. By the 15th century Nuremberg was extremely wealthy and provided an ideal climate for the arts and sciences. Following the Thirty Years War, however, the city fell into decline.
In 1806 it became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria and flourished once again, this time as an industrial centre.
The darkest chapter in Nuremberg's history was ushered in when the Nazi chose it as the site of their Party Rallies and in the 1930's it became a symbol of National Socialism. The old town centre was reduced to rubble in 1945 as a result of Allied air raids. Thanks to careful rebuilding, however, today's vistitors are again able to sense the atmosphere of historic Nuremberg.

I like living in a modern city with all the possibilities for spare time activities. Like museums, galleries, parks, sports grounds, pubs, shopping centres, concerts et cetera. Nuremberg is also surrounded by lakes (e.g. the Fränkische Seenland), nature (e.g. the Fränkische Schweiz, see links, oh how I love it), you can hop on trains and airplanes, you can go skiing in the Alpes, which are not far away...................

I also like the people and the special Franconian dialect in town:
"Allmächt Reiner, an Farbfernseher von Metz mechert i aa".

So, come on in and find out!

To be continued.

Linkspartei - A new party in Germany

We will have an advanced election in Germany on September 18th.

This is the result of the lost vote of no confidence of the social democrat chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

He wanted to lose though, because he felt that he had lost the possibility to act and to control in the main political projects in Germany. This understanding occured after the social democrats lost the regional election in North-Rhine Westfalia against the conservatives. This led to a huge majority of the conservatives in the Bundesrat, the parliament of the German states. They are able to block important laws and ordinances that come from the Bundestag, the elected parliament of the German people.
A conciliation committee is formed in this cases, but that's a tough and nerve-racking way.

So the new election will come. And what happens first? Oskar Lafontaine, former social democrat and minister of finance appears on the scene and praises himself as the "Deus ex machina". He criticizes the social democrats strongly and has founded the Wahlalternative (election alternative) WASG, a left wing party.
The next maneuver was the fusion with the socialistic party PDS and the foundation of the Linkspartei. The PDS is the successor of the eastern German state party SED. She is still successful in the eastern part of Germany. WASG and PDS as Linkspartei want to reach out for 10% of the votes all over Germany. Which will be gained from former social democrat voters and protest voters probably.

This could lead to an interesting constellation. On one hand there are the right wing parties conservatives (CDU) and liberals (FDP), who are leading in the opinion polls (which would lead to Angela Merkel as next chancellor). On the other hand there are the left wing parties social democrats (SPD), green party (Grüne/Bündnis 90) and the socialists (Linkspartei). But the ratio is only 50 : 46 percent at the moment (see picture). So we are looking forward to a thrilling election. None of the left wing parties is talking about an alliance at the moment. But wait till the decision gets narrow on September 18th. The fight is not over yet. Black-Yellow vs. Red-Red-Green. The front is set.

Famous Germans - Friedrich von Schiller

Germany celebrates the 200th year of Friedrich Schiller's death. A short introduction in his honour.

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (November 10, 1759 – May 9, 1805), usually known as Friedrich Schiller, was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and dramatist.

He was born in Marbach, Württemberg (located in Southern Germany's Stuttgart Region), the son of the military doctor, J. C. Schiller. His childhood and youth were spent in relative poverty, although he attended both village and Latin schools, and coming to the attention of Karl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg, entered the Karlsschule Stuttgart (an elite military academy founded by Duke Karl Eugen) in 1773, where he eventually studied medicine.

While at the arduous school, he read Rousseau and Goethe and discussed Classical ideals with his classmates. At school, he wrote his first play, The Robbers, about a group of naïve revolutionaries and their tragic failure.
In 1780 he obtained a post as regimental doctor in Stuttgart.

Following the performance of "Die Räuber" (The Robbers) in Mannheim in 1781 he was arrested and forbidden to publish any further works. He fled Stuttgart in 1783 coming via Leipzig and Dresden to Weimar in 1787. In 1789 he was appointed professor of History and Philosophy in Jena, where he wrote only historical works. He returned to Weimar in 1799, where Goethe convinced him to return to playwriting. He and Goethe founded the Weimar Theater which became the leading theater in Germany, leading to a dramatic renaissance. He remained in Weimar, Saxe-Weimar until his death at 45 from tuberculosis.

He has written a lot of famous plays, such as:

• The Robbers (Die Räuber)
• Intrigue and Love (Kabale und Liebe)
• Don Carlos
• Wallenstein
• Maid of Orleans
• Mary Stuart (Maria Stuart)
• William Tell (Wilhelm Tell)

Some of his poems are world famous:

• The bell (Die Glocke)
• Ode to joy (An die Freude) - which became the basis for the fourth movement of Beethoven's ninth symphony
• The artists (Die Künstler)
• Cranes of Ibykus (Die Kraniche des Ibykus)
• Columbus
• Hope (Hoffnung)

You can visit the official homepage of the Schiller-year 2005 here. It was created of the Deutsche Schillergesellschaft e.V.
You can participate at a Schiller blog there as well.

There a still a lot of things to discover about Friedrich Schiller. I hope I will have my share this year, too. My reading list during the vacation in Sylt will contain something of his work.

I will close with a quotation of William Tell. In this work we find his reference to a "band of brothers". Here we find the idea of the "band of brothers" expanded not merely to a small group of men fighting together, but all men of the nation fighting for freedom. Nowadays this could be seen as fighting against terrorism as well:

By this fair light which greeteth us, before
Those other nations, that, beneath us far,
In noisome cities pent, draw painful breath,
Swear we the oath of our confederacy!
A band of brothers true we swear to be,
Never to part in danger or in death! [They repeat his words with three fingers raised.]
We swear we will be free as were our sires,
And sooner die than live in slavery! [All repeat as before.]
We swear, to put our trust in God Most High,
And not to quail before the might of man!

Ticker to Tina's and my first wedding anniversary

Things I like about Germany

Beer:

Near every church tower (and we have a lot of them) is a brewery, at least here in Bavaria and especially in the "Fränkische Schweiz" close to Nuremberg where I live. And I'm talking about good beer. Who has tried it knows it. Don't tell me it's beer that you have in America. Realized that Budweiser is from Budweis in the Czech Republic? Heineken is from the Netherlands. And Miller probably was a Mr. Müller from somewhere in Germany. He must have forgotten his roots.

Bread:

Germany has the best bread in the world. I always realize that, when I'm on vacation. I miss it the latest when I'm more than two weeks away from home. I get so sick of all the whitish, gluey, tasteless bread they offer you in different regions of the world. Okay, I'll count Austria and Switzerland as acceptable but that is almost Germany, you know?

Landscape:

Germany has a lot of things to offer: Mountains, lakes, oceans (North Sea and Baltic Sea), castles, beautiful old cities (like Nuremberg), forrests. A wide range of things you can discover and enjoy. Not for nothing most German people go on vacation in Germany. Curious?

Public Transport Service:

Well, that is a common thing througout Europe. I enjoy it, especially compared with the States, mainly the Western part. I've been to Los Angeles two times and I found it amazing that a public transport service does not exist there. Everybody goes by car, no wonder they have highways with eight lanes and huge problems with smog. Who sows streets will harvest traffic. And sure you will not ratify the Kyoto protocol. Thank you George W.

Old-world quality:

Althought we were blamed for this:
Germany is thousands of years old. You can breath the old times, whereever you'll go. This is an impression of having a long lasting history and having had the chance to develop from mistakes and successes.
Old things have a soul and a style in itself. Not everything that is new is better. Look at all the mainstream we have nowadays.

Cars:

Yes, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi, BMW and Volkswagen are German cars. A lot of people overseas don't know that. That's amazing, isn't it?

To be continued.

Kiss my nose

I'm lazy today, so I'm just posting a picture a friend of mine has sent me today. It's funny though. Sometimes you have to be creative to get your share of "cuddling".

By the way this song comes to my mind:
I thought there's no use getting into heavy petting,
it only leads to trouble and........seat wetting.

Gemini

I'm a Gemini and sometimes you ask yourself, if this has an influence on your life.

If you belief in astrologic science, the distinguishing marks of Geminis are:

Imagination:

Geminis stand for variable imagination. This means they can easlily go into situations of other people. I think this is true for myself. I'm a good listener and realize quickly what other people feel in different situations. My senses are sensitive in this way.

Fantasy:

I used to have a lively fantasy, when I was a kid. I loved to read adventure books and invented other adventures in my head. I sometimes revealed them to my parents and they were surprised. It's hard to retain fantasy when you grow up, but I still try to keep a part of the children alive, I once was. Maybe that's why I always liked children, and I was often the entertainer for them on other peoples' parties. Now I'm a father and I'm amazed at our daughter, who is able to be astonished at so many things

Ideas:

I have a lot of ideas and they can change very quickly. I have no stuck opinions and sometimes I just float in streams of thoughts and information. I'm open for everything that is new and thrilling. I want to know and to be good at a lot of things. This can obviously lead to superficiality, but when something grips me this can last forever.

Communication:

I love to communicate. I'm interested in mankind. I'm a philanthropist. The more friends bundled up for talking, laughing, the better. I always try to cultivate friendships as good as possible. That means not deep friendship with all of them, but on a mutual balanced level. And I think I'm able to feel on the other hand when other people lose interest in this friendship.

Split personality:

The Gemini is the expression of opposites. Two hearts beat in my chest. Maybe this means that Geminis are sometimes torn between the possibilities that life has to offer. They want to dance at every wedding, if it's possible simultaneously. That can lead to discontent, naturally.

Summary:

Summing up, I think curiosity is the most important character of Geminis and thus me. That leads to joy of life, because you cannot stand still and you will carry on. Sometimes you may jump the gun and sometimes you may drop the ball. But you have tasted life.

Top ten of nerds from Germany

1. Angela Merkel - politics

Probably our next chancellor. If no miracle will happen! From an articel in the Globe & Mail:
"She is everything that German politicians these days are not: a conservative, a former East German, an outspoken fan of George W. Bush, unmarried, unstylish, inflexible, female, boring...he[Schroeder] will be fighting an aggressive campaign led by Ms. Merkel to turn Germany's economy into a U.S.-style environment of low taxes and low benefits..........". See also.

2. Boris Becker - sports

Has won Wimbledon. Has been best German tennis player. Then he started to lose. He lost Wimbledon (even against Michael Stich, the everlasting number 2). He lost his wife. He lost his sperm, in the mouth of a woman who then became pregnant (famous for sperm robbery - Samenraub). He lost control of his articulation - ehhhh, ehhh, ehhhh.

3. Jan Ullrich - sports


Well, that's similar. He has won the Tour de France in 1997. He's still trying to repeat his victory. But he will lose the seventh time against Lance Armstrong. But he never gave up:

• Eating too much round Christmas time
• Not changing his cycling style
• Having the wrong friends (he had a doping affair (when he consumed amphetamine) he drove drunk, he left his family).

4. Josef Ackermann - manager

He's not even German, but Swiss. I'll count him anyway because he is CEO of the Deutsche Bank, the largest German Bank. Earns about 12 Million Euros per year (this is 32876 Euros per day). He announced in 2005 that the Deutsche Bank has gained a record profit and on the other hand will lay off thousands of employees. This led to discussion about capitalism in Germany. He also became famous for his victory sign after he won in the Mannesmann (former D2, predecessor of the Vodafone mobile network in Germany) process, where he and five other manager were accused of disloyalty (see picture).

5. Ralf Schumacher - sports

The picture is of Michael Schumacher, the all-time number one in Formula 1 racing. His brother Ralf (he looks the same, so no other picture is necessary) is also there, but all he sees are the exhaust fumes of his elder brother. A complex for life. His wife confessed plastic surgery on her breasts. She said a blind person would see, that they are not real. Hurrah for boobies!!

6. Verona Feldbusch - bitch

Pretends to be stupid. Successfully. Personifies the image of the dumb woman, who is coveted by men. A kind of German Kelly Bundy. After school, she made an apprenticeship as taylor. In 1993 she became Miss Germany and in 1995 Miss American Dream! She also famous for her short marriage to Dieter Bohlen, the musician (Modern Talking!!), producer, composer (see picture and number 7). After her second marriage her name is Verona Pooth (Verona who?)

7. Dieter Bohlen - music multi "talent"

• Musician (Modern Talking, Blue System: Two of the worst German bands ever, but have sold more than 120 million records).
  Producer (of all the horrible newcomers from DSDS - Deutschland sucht den Superstar (Germany is looking for the superstar).
  Composer (Although it is said, that he can't read notes).
  Husband and cheater (of the boulevard press favourites Verona Feldbusch (see above), Nadja Abd el Farrag (Naddel) and Estefania Küster

8. Martin Schneider - comedy

A picture can say more than a thousand words.

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9. Jürgen Hingsen- sports

That story is old, but not forgotten. He was a decathlete in the 80s. In this time he held the world record three times. Then came the Olympics 1998 in Seoul. In the first discipline the 100m sprint he was disqualified because of three false starts. And therefore he became the laughing stock of the year in Germany.

10. Stefan Raab- comedy

He is a brilliant musician and composer (mainly of nonsense songs). I'll never forget his pseudonym Alf Igel, when he wrote the song "Guildo hat euch lieb" for Guildo Horn to attend the European song contest. Most of the other songs were written by the unspeakably bad producer (R)alf (S)i(e)gel. That's where the synonym came for. But now his show "TV total" is on TV four times a week. And after while you get bored and the jokes fade from good to bad. And sometimes worse. Come on Stefan, compose a "Raabigramm" for Britney Spears again.

To the citizens of Consolia

They keep them imprisoned
and beat them to death,
in digital scenarios,
sharp tongues say that they do this,
because of minimal genitals.
New opium is necessary for the people,
religion has lost as tranquilizer,
they can enthusiasticly drown their fears and doubts
in achieving a new highscore.
They gamble and gamble, level after level,
tied up in their chair, to battle friends in Tekken.
Want to be the best of the best, forget to rest,
have no interests, but the competition to test.

They are: Citizens of Consolia!

German youth literature award

The German youth literature award was founded in 1956 of the ministry of families, senior citizens and youth and is awarded every year in the following categories:

• picture book
• children's book
• book for young people and
• nonfiction book.

A special prize of a youth jury is awarded as well.

The award will take place in the context of the Frankfurt book convention in october this year.

I have read many of the prize winners and was delighted (and enlightened) many times, e.g.:

Per Nilsson, So lonely
Mats Wahl, Winterbucht
Ted Van Lieshout, Brothers
Richard Van Camp, The lesser blessed

Disappointments happened only rarely. I have often used the books as presents, for my friends and family. Every year I'm looking forward to the award, because it is a constant inspiration and for me a guide through the jungle of books. Although I'm not that young anymore. But I couldn't care less.

Watch our for the prize winners in october, I will introduce them in my blog. Then we can start thinking about christmas presents.

Questions of life

When you become a father (of Emma, the swimming beauty in the picture) you begin to ask questions, what life is all about. In Germany they say, that a man has to do three things in his life:
1.) Father a child
2.) Build a house
3.) Plant a tree
So far I succeeded to do the first thing at least. It's easier to fulfill number three after you did number two, so this has to wait a little bit longer. We think about it.

What further questions come to mind, with no answer so far:

Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart?
Who holds the stars up in the sky?
Did the captain of the Titanic cry?
Does anybody know the way to Atlantis?
Who has chosen the colours of the rainbow?
Is true love just once in a lifetime?
Why aren't you here with me tonight?
Why has Schickedanz of Quelle such a large hand?
Why do eyes burn when you cry?
Are dreams farts of our soul?
Why can't you see the Moritzberg anymore?
Are blue eyes deeper than any other?
If swimming keeps you slim, what did blue whales do wrong?
What do sheep count, when they want to fall asleep?
Do you need an appointment at a clairvoyant?
Is there another word for synonym?
Why do noses run, while feet smell?
Why doesn't all-purpose adhesive stick to it's tube?
Are there coffee-breaks in tea companies?
When nothing sticks to teflon, how does teflon stick to the pan?

News from poetry part II

Another poem by my grandpa. This time I tried harder and produced rhymes in the English version. Originally this poem was written in German of course.
The moon has effects on everybody's life. It is the reason for the tides, some people somnambulate at full moon, surgery should be done at waning moon. Just to mention some examples.
For me, I'm going to the hairdresser's shop only at Leo or Virgo days of the 28 days lasting circuit of the moon. It works, at least in my imagination.
This is to my mom as well, who taught me the belief in the power of the moon.

The moon

The moon is hanging old and shy,
like a red poppy in the sky.
The game lasts too long for him,
as tender nightly creature dim.
He's waning in a cautious way,
gets smaller there day by day.
And throws his last peace of light,
on whom it may then fall with might.
Then finally he has his peace,
rests gently in his boat's ease.
No reveler drinks the rest to him,
no dog barks at him loud and grim.
He shows how to do it every month,
but we don't understand at a glance.
The walk through the dark gate,
the glide into the light from shade.

Wiesenfest Blues or "friends will be friends"

Today I am back from the festival Wiesenfest in my old hometown Selb. It was very nice to hang out with good old friends on friday and saturday night. When I go back to work and every day life I fall into the Wiesenfest Blues. Which means a little sigh and regret that it's over again.

But it was very nice again. When you meet some friends only once a year and it is like you have never been gone, that is what friendship stands for. Not to have to explain or excuse. But just to be glad to meet again, talk nonsense or sense, drink, laugh, smile. To be happy for other people for having babies, new jobs, anything.

I had to stop every 50 meters because another buddy showed up for saying hello. That's why I like to come back. Also to visit my parents of course, who are still there. We visit the famous Cortina cafe, with my favourite jogurt drink and good icecream. We stroll over the small market. We enjoy the garden of my parents which is more like a jungle. Enjoyable for Emma, who was very curious.

We had a good time and we will be back next year.

News from poetry

A poem of my grandpa Heinrich, who lived as a notary in Erlangen and fathered my dad and five brothers and sisters for him. He liked to write poems and my dad and his brothers and sisters edited them for my grandma when he died in 1985. I know some of them by heart and here comes one of them. It deals with the death, and one day after London terrorism this is always on my mind. What a bunch of dicks, I hate these terrorists. Heads up, London citizens. The poem was originally in German, I try to translate it.

During the years I became
a dry leave on the tree of life.
But still I have the strengh
for a loose hang on my branch.
It eases me when in the earliness
the morning sun rises and warms.
The last swallow encircles me
ready for the fly to the south.
A gust of wind an my fall
to dust.

Who reads this stuff?

Because I do not get any comments anymore. Eat this!

Bildblog

The Bildblog has won the noted Grimme Online Award, a German award for outstanding internet pages.
The blog is written by four journalists, who have the necessity to record the big and small inconsistencies of the most widespread German tabloid, the "Bild"-Zeitung.
They investigate questionable articles of the "Bild"-Zeitung, reveal faults, bring together critical reports about "Bild" and record issues to discuss about. Readers are welcome to deliver any relevant information. Journalism at it's best!!
Some people think that the opinion-leadership in Germany has devolved from the "Spiegel" to the "Bild"-Zeitung. I hope that this will never come true, because the "Bild"-Zeitung is a nightmare of huge bold headlines, factoids, lurid articles and naked pin-ups. People can't be that stupid after all. Even if Axel Springer, the founder of "Bild" thinks so (see picture).

Nightswimming

deserves a quiet night....
Well, I wasn't nightswimming today but I went babyswimming with Emma and Tina today. I took half a day off.
I took Emma to the water and we had fun. She didn't smile very much, but she was very concentrated and enjoyed splashing and kicking.
Next week they are going to dive. Let's see what Emma thinks about this.

Yesterday she was the star because I had my little thank-you party at work. Emma and Tina were also there, the first time for both of them.
Of course both were admired! Tina said it was a little bit stiff, compared with the school where she works. Well I can imagine that, my company is conservative and people are not very outgoing. That's why I sometimes think I do not fit in here in this reckless international (that's how Catrin, my sister-in-law called it).

Music was my first love

I am the owner of a Martin D-16 GT guitar, a Selmer Super Action 80 saxophone and a Keilwerth clarinet.
I played saxophone and clarinet in a band for seven years. I started when I was twelve years old. It was a great time, with travelling around (for example two times to France), lots of concerts. I made some money as well, which was great for me as a teenager. My parents couldn't control everything, so I had the chance to go to discos and clubs (after our band schedule) earlier than my brothers and sisters.
My grandma bought the instruments and I still have them. My saxophone was restored last year and I still didn't forget playing it totally.
But right now I'm more into playing the guitar. I started last year and I like it very much. I love singing and therefore this instrument is perfect. It's not that hard to learn it as an autodidact. I only had three lessons and did the rest myself. My father plays for thirty years now, I follow in his footsteps.
A friend of mine told me, that he can say that every minute of his life was worth it, when he played music. I agree with that. It is so much fun and energy and pleasure. I don't want to miss it in my life.

Déjà vu

I found this picture in my e-mail account today and it hit me directly. The one guy on the bench tells the other guy that they are going to be unemployed for 42 hours instead of 40 hours if things are going from bad to worse.
Of course this reminded me, that my company has increased our working hours from 40 to 42 hours! So if things are going from bad to worse I could be unemployed for 42 hours.
Kind of funny, but the laugther can get stuck in your throught.
I have decided to be sarcastic and to take it with a grim sense of humor.


42 hours