Element of crime - Kiss & Ridezone

The printer Theo Klahre shows a new designed "road sign" to a young woman at the central station in Halle (Saale). The new sign will be located in front of the central station and shall give travellers who get a ride to it the chance for a short goodbye (with a sense of humor).
After Lüneburg Halle is the second city with a sign of this kind.

Isn't that scandalous? We legitimate kissing in public. That wouldn't have been possible in former more decent times. We would have opened the door for the lady and maybe a kiss on the hand would have been admissible.
But smooching in the face, no!

News from poetry part IX - Girls' song

Mädchenlied (Von Andreas Okopenko)

Nachts, wenn die Schiffe heulen am Hafen
(nein, das geht nicht, das war schon sehr da),
kann ich nicht schlafen, außer mit Grafen
oder dem Ignaz
dem blonden Ignaz von Korsika.

Nachts, wenn die Wüste strotzt von Hyänen
(nein, das geht nicht, die sind mir zu wild),
kann ich nicht schlafen, außer mit Dänen,
Tivoli-Dänen,
oder dem Türken vom Wirtshausschild.

Nachts, wenn die Mörder Vollmondschein schlürfen
(nein, das geht nicht, die trinken nur Gin),
kann ich nicht schlafen, außer mit Maulwürfen,
und auch den Igeln,
den zärtlichen Igeln geb ich mich hin.

My translation:

Girls' song (Of Andreas Okopenko)

At night, when ships are howling in the harbor round
(no that doesn't work, that has been there very),
I can't sleep, except with a count
or with Ignaz
the blond Ignaz of Canterbury.

At night, when the desert teems with hyenas
(no that doesn't work, they are not fine),
I can't sleep, except with Dames
Tivoli-Dames
or the Turk from the pub's sign.

At night, when the murderers sip of fullmoon's bowls
(no that doesn't work, they only drink gin),
I can't sleep, except with moles
and hedgehogs, too
can be worth a sin.

Fear of sinking - AOSIS

The coral red island Masif in the South-West Pacific Ocean is 2,7 km long and maximum 800 m broad. The height is measured in centimeters. The inhabitants of Masig suffered from extraordinary strong floods in recent times, strong winds drove the floods over the island, which lies in the Torresstreet between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
The ice in Greenland and the Antarctic melts very fast because of global warming. The sea level will rise estimately so far in this century that most of the islands in the Torresstreet simply will sink. Threatened are also islands in the South Pacific like Tuvalu, Niue, the Marshall Islands or Kiribati.
The state leader of Kiribati Anote Tong appealed to Australia on the Pacific Islands Forum on the Fiji Islands on Tuesday to accept climate refugees in future times. "We need a place to flee to" Tong annouced.
Many of the islands are organized in the AOSIS coalition the Alliance Of Small Island States.
AOSIS is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. It functions primarily as an ad hoc lobby and negotiating voice for small island developing States (SIDS) within the United Nations system.
Haindling has written a very nice song about AOSIS on his album "Weiß".

200th post

Post scriptum. This was my 200th post since May 5, 2005!

The return of Dirkules or the German Wunderkind

The Dallas Mavericks got Dirk Nowitzki back in their lineup, and just like that, all is well. He returns and they down the Milwaukee Bucks.

Nowitzki scored eight points in his first preseason game and Greg Buckner added 19 as the Mavericks posted an 88-71 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. It was their first victory in the preseason, 11 days before the start of the regular season.

Another chance for Dirk and the Mavericks to gain a championship ring which they missed unluckily against the Miami Heat last season. I have covered this issue.
Maybe the last chance to become immortal because without championship you will be forgotten quite soon. Who remembers Dan Marino besides gaining notoriety?

The winner takes it all!

You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.

You say that I treat you like a book on a shelf.
I don't take you out quite often 'cause I know that I completed you
and that's why you are here.
That's the reason you stay here.
How awful that must feel.

You said you could be my dream.
I could have you every night.
And if by morning, I'd forgotten you,
well no big deal, that'll be all right.
'Cause you're the reoccurring kind.
You are the reoccurring kind.
You never really leave my mind.

Are you the love of my lifetime?
Cause there have been times I've had my doubts.
We were just kids when I first kissed you
in the attic of my parents house,
and I wish we were there now.
It took so long to figure out.
What this book has been about.

Now I write when I'm away,
letters that you'll never read.
You said go explore those other women,
the geography of their bodies,
but there's just one map you'll need.
You're a boomerang you'll see.
You will return to me.

You will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. You, you will.

'Cause if you don't, then this book is all lies
If you don't, then my plans would all be ruined
If you don't, I'll start drinking like the way I drank before
Oh, and I, I just won't have a future anymore.

One fabulous song of my favourite singer/songwriter. Who knows the name?

People - German gossip

Ingrid Steeger, 59, actress, has bought a tombstone. The stone is shaped like a snail, reports the magazine "Die Aktuelle". "I have stopped planning. Because everything I have planned in my life came to pass different" Steeger is cited in the magazine.

Why has she planned her ending then?

News from poetry part VIII - That was the day

Das war der Tag (Von Rainer Maria Rilke)

Das war der Tag der weißen Chrysanthemen,
mir bangte fast vor seiner schweren Pracht.
Und dann, dann kamst du mir die Seele nehmen
tief in der Nacht.

Mir war so bang, und du kamst lieb und leise,
ich hatte grad im Traum an dich gedacht.
Du kamst, und leis wie eine Märchenweise
erklang die Nacht .

My translation:

That was the day (Of Rainer Maria Rilke)

That was the day of white chrysantemums,
I was almost afraid of its heavy splendor.
And then, then you came to take my soul
deep in the night.

I was so frightened, and you appeared so dear and still,
I had thought of you in my dreams right before.
You came and silent like a fairy tale
sounded the night.

Cry baby!

A picture of Jill Greenberg who took photos of crying little children (a series called "End Times" and caused a heavy controverse between opponents and supporters.
The only thing she had done is to give sweets to the kids and take them away rights afterwards.
Some people called her a sick woman and she was compared with Michael Jackson and Adolf Hitler (!) because of abusing the children, whom she tortured for her success.
Have they ever heard of liberty of arts? Of course children often cry when you take things away of them. I can tell you stories about Emma. Children are born actors and dramatists. Crying because of alleged meannesses is daily business.
Jill Greenberg accented that none of the children was harmed. Her photo series was politically motivated. She wanted to express her own powerlessness against the political and social situation in the U.S. The government would act like End Times would be close in which the safety of future times plays no role anymore.

Life is elsewhere

When I'm at work in the evening I sometimes get the strange feeling that I'm all alone in the whole world.
It is scarily quiet and I only hear the humming of the air conditioning. No telefons ringing, no talking colleagues, no radios (we haven't any at work).
I'm looking into my computer screen and get dazed. After many hours of work my eyes want to stop focussing. My only connection to the world seems to be the internet. So I am blogging and hopefully somebody will my read my thoughts.
No I received a call of our plant. Somebody is still alive! Lost in time and lost in space, and meaning..........
But I will return to life after work when I will see my little Emma and my comparatively "little" Tina. I love the evenings even if they are short.
I will drive to our house first and see what happened during the day. We have a colour on the walls now, something inbetween yellow and orange. We like it very much. I have to take some pictures again.
See you tomorrow!

Faded myths - Capri Sonne

This one comes from my mind. Mainly our drink at home was water or water with some artificial (I presume) lemon flavor. It was like holiday, when we have got lemonade or apple juice with mineral water (Apfelschorle in German), to say nothing of coke.

Sometimes it was even Capri Sonne. An "inferior" drink made of water, sugar (lots of sugar), little orange juice (7%!), some other things and (important) aroma. Oh how we loved this forbidden and low-graded (in the opinion of our parents) drink. Softer than the softest soft drinks. Brewed since 1968 (one year older than I am).

There were (and are) the flavors orange, apple and cherry. But now there are also multi vitamin, orange maracuja, apple cassis, fan drink, power team (!), mystic dragon, cola mix, safari fruits and starfruits.
What would be the ingredients of mystic dragon: Fire and brimstone? Dragon shell? Poison? Lances or swords?
No, it's banana (how weak), strawberry (even weaker), apple, grape and dragon fruit............tatatata. Besides sugar etc.......................
Nightmares included. Maybe on Elm street, but it could be Lem street as well (if you know the computer game Lemmings, smile if you love lemmings).

Have a drink on me. Not necessarily with Capri Sonne but you could give it a try.

In today's feuilletons - Frankfurt Book Fair

Dirk Knipphals of "Die Tageszeitung" considers something that has rarely been subject to consideration: the "official opening event of the Frankfurt Book Fair."
He was struck by the speech made by foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier. "Having praised the country of focus, India, as the largest democracy of the world – as the situation demanded – the foreign minister took up the theme of the importance of culture. And while one has the impression from the previous red-green government that everything that can be labelled culture is great, Steinmeier mentions that culture in Germany can also be used as a means of exclusion. A simple, historically irrefutable thought. And yet, much is changed once articulated.
For example, it is then no longer possible to bandy about the terms cultural nation and cultural identity, as was the case under the former cultural minister of state Christina Weiss... The speech can be understood thus: there is no readily identifiable 'German' culture."