Caballito del diablo

Olympics Vancouver 2010

2010-02-28T22:49:00.002+01:00

I'm sitting here watching the Hockey finals. Canada vs. USA. And man, I want Canade to win. My favourite sister-in-law Catrin lives in this beautiful country. It is the better America. I have been there with my wife in 2003 and it was our first vacation together. We still love the Rockies so much and Vancouver and Vancouver Island have definitely been special to us. They will be in my hear forever.
And these Olympic Games and real and not fake like Bejing 2008. Man that sucked. Canada I have a drink on you. I want to come and see you soon. That's a promise. Good night and good luck. At the moment Canada is leading 2:1.

In the middle of the night.....

2008-05-30T14:57:00.002+02:00

when the time is right..........you start thinking about a lot of things. This blog has been dead for a long time. I don't know if I will manage to reanimate it.
A lot of things have changed in my life. A new baby (Paul-Robert was born on November, 26 last year) keeps us on the go. He is very cute and handsome though. We all love him very much.
I've started looking for a new job. I had an opportunity but it didn't work because of less income than before. Let's see what happens next.
I've have changed from product management to sales which was a big step and I still hope in the right direction. Now I'm working at home, sitting in my office on the second floor of our house.
Pretty hot in here because outside it looks like Italy or Spain or something.
I have turned 39 last week so I'm heading straight on to 40 next year. Damn. Is this the beginning of a midlife crisis? My knee hurts for months now, I'm a wreck.
Presumaby hardly anyone will read this post. It's my fault, I know. Let's see what happens. You were always on my mind.

Still waiting

2007-11-21T18:33:00.000+01:00

Paul-Robert is still not out of his Mum's belly. But we are awaiting him every day now. We are very curious how he will look like. My guess is more like Tina, but who knows anyway?

We had to go through some "problems" the last weeks concerning only one part of the regular measurement throughout the pregnancy. But it seems like everything is a tempest in a teapot. Paul-Robert remained calm and did everything perfectly what was expected of him. Brave little boy. He also passed a test that simulated pains, he didn't mind. I'm proud!
Little boy we await you so much. Your big sister, too. She is talking a lot about you! Be sure to have a good birth, I will be there.....

Konrad returns

2007-10-09T16:07:00.000+02:00

I know, I've been away for a long time. I don't know exactly why this has happened but anyway.

Some things have gone crazy at work. We are having a very good year at work concerning sales figures and profits but this seems to be not good enough. I can't help but laughing about the pressure that is put on us. It's beyond any reasonable measure. Furthermore our allowance for using the internet has been cut down enourmously. I don't know if I am willing to accept this. I'm not the slave of my company, the compensation for pain and suffering is too little.

At home Tina is getting into the final stage of pregnancy. Emma is running wild because we think that she realizes some of the changes that will take place. She has also started Kindergarden and will turn three in December. A lot of things to handle with for her. She is so smart but also so strong minded. That's not at all easy for the parents.

Our house in the middle of the street. We have settled very comfortable there. We love it very much and would never trade it with anything else. It stands firm as a rock for our little family.
I'm glad that we dared to take this big step into the future.

My social life has suffered a lot the last year but I didn't find the time to get around everywhere I wanted to. The important friends stay, everybody else......well that's difficult. Sometimes you have to life with a guilty conscience. And yes you can survive without running with the hare and hunting with the hounds. Although this is difficult for a gemini I have to admit.
I suffer from a knee injury. Man that's hard for a soccer junkie like me. I have already started again of course although I don't know if I should have. Hopeless case I think.

Yes of course we are looking forward to Paul-Robert!!!!!!

About a boy II - Now we have a name

2007-08-23T17:30:00.000+02:00

It's going to be a Paul-Robert. We have discussed for a long time and now made a decision. Tina liked Paul and I liked Robert. So both of us have a part of the name we like. I think that's a Solomonic decision, isn't it?

Tina is doing fine and that's the most important thing. The belly is growing to a notable size. We can feel the movements and kicks of the little boy. That's amazing. Emma likes the name we have selected, too. It funny how she talks about her upcoming brother. She believes it will be twins, I don't know why. Probably because she likes to read Lennart Nilsson's "A child is born".

Now in German - I'm sitting here in the boring room...

2007-07-20T21:53:00.000+02:00

Mein wahrscheinlich erster Eintrag in Deutsch. Da es schon 22 Uhr ist bin ich zu faul, jetzt gedanklich noch einmal in eine fremde Sprache umzuschalten.
Trotzdem ein seltsames Gefühl, einmal in der eigenen Sprache hier zu Gange zu sein.
Sitze hier alleine, Emma schläft und Tina ist auf der Abschlussfeier ihrer Absolventenklasse.
Ich war nicht sehr fleißig, was Posts in der letzten Zeit betrifft. Dies hatte mehrere Gründe.
Zu viel zu tun in der Arbeit, wo einmal mehr enormer Druck aufgebaut wurde. In den wenigen Stunden am Abend bleibt manchmal wenig Zeit für Muse. Emma fordert ihr Recht, wenn ich heimkomme und diese Zeit mit ihr genieße ich auch.
Der Bub in Tinas Bauch wächst und mittlerweile haben wir die Halbzeit der Schwangerschaft bereits überschritten. Verrückt, wie schnell das alles geht. Ich bin sehr gespannt, wie unsere Familie zu viert sich bewährt. Für Emma die kleine Prinzessin wird es bestimmt erst einmal schwierig, da sie bisher die unbestrittene Nummer eins war. Tina hat heute ein Buch gekauft, welches auf ein Geschwisterchen einstimmen soll. Zumindest war sie sehr interessiert und wollte es gleich zweimal vorgelesen haben.
Sie ist brav ins Bett gegangen und hat gesagt, dass nur ausgeschlafene Kinder in den Zoo gehen können. Sie hat nämlich beschlossen, dass sie unbedingt einmal wieder mit Mama und Papa in den Zoo gehen möchte. Unser Einverständnis wird - selbstverständlich- vorausgesetzt.
Wohl dem, der eine solche Tochter hat, die Freizeitplanung wird uns bereits abgenommen.
Bei ihrer Begeisterung für Tiere aber auch kein Wunder. Ohne ihren Eisbären geht sie jedenfalls nicht ins Bett. Vermutlich müssen wir demnächst nach Alaska fliegen, ohnehin ein Urlaubswunsch von Tina und mir. Neben z.B. Barcelona, New York, Polen, Sibirien, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate u.s.w.u.s.f.
Werde nun auch noch ein bisschen lesen, zur Zeit hat mich "Im Schatten des Windes" von Carlos Ruiz Zafon im festen Griff. Good night and good luck.

About a boy

2007-07-18T11:58:00.000+02:00

Now it's a fact: We are going to have a boy. What a surprise. Everybody was talking about a second girl. Well except me.
Tina's gynaecologist talked about 70% probability for a girl. Stupid her. Why didn't she stop whispering this idea into Tina's ear? Now she will need some time to get used to the idea of a boy. I told her that a boy will love his mom very much and finally she agreed. Isn't it good to have both sexes when you have two kids?

I will have to buy a football right away, well just kidding, but I'm looking forward to our little male strengthening in our family. Otherwise three girls would have oppressed me hopelessly.
We are not very sure whether we will ever find a name for a boy. But maybe muse will kiss us.
I made a million of suggestions yesterday but Tina was not ready to start a discussion.
Right now the most likely basis for agreement would be Quentin. Following in order: Konstantin and Ben(jamin). But this is still the beginning of the process.

My sister-in-law Catrin will be godmother, but now we can't name him after her. Or does a name Catrino exist? Maybe we take Friedrich, the name of Tina's and Catrin's grandpa for a second name. I'm so excited.

Tell the girls that I am back in town

2007-06-19T16:46:00.000+02:00

Who knows this song?

Actually I'm already back for a long time. Not everything went well in Italy. The group dynamics went in the wrong direction and turned against two folks including me. Three of five guys turned hysterical because of the weather forecast and decided to flee from the camping (!) site. Hey, why would I go for camping when I'm afraid of the weather?
I would have stayed but they decided to tear down our tents in the run of seconds and what would have been the choice then? So we left after five of seven days originally planned. For a ride of about 600 miles one way. Man that sucked hell of a lot. They didn't even face a discussion which I tried to start - at least. They preferred to remain silent. Isn't that cowardly?
Well I have already decided not to take part next year. Not only because of this actions but also because of becoming daddy for the second time. And let's see what will happen in two years. A lot of water will run down Nuremberg's river Pegnitz until then....

Now the good news. It will be a boy. No, I don't know but I have to admit that I would like to have one for sure. Another baby girl would of course be super as well (think of Emma) but a boy for a dad, wouldn't that be good?
I think we will know this in a few weeks I am absolutely excited about it. The main problem would be the name for a boy probably. Nobody replied to my suggestions some posts ago. Only two names seem to be suitable for consensus: Konstantin and Benjamin (or Ben). Well maybe Peter but this is more from my side. But there will something on our mind when it comes to the point.
Tina had a checkup today and everything was just fine.

Heading from North to South - Viva Italia!

2007-05-31T09:42:00.000+02:00

Today I'll be flying to the German North, to Bremen. I have to organize a visit of customers to a plant of my company.
Tomorrow I'm going home and we are leaving to Italy by car in the evening. To our beloved Tuscany I have written about it the last years.

Our "academic circle" is on the agenda. Holiday coverage will be on my mind.

I'm in a good mood:

No responsibilities there, well besides fetching beer sometimes
Good weather forecast
The "Club" 1.FC Nürnberg has won the German league cup. A myth is back from 40 years of sleep. I have to take off my hat! And I will write about it more. I promise.
Only five GOOD people starting tomorrow, we will have enough space in our two cars. The BAD people will arrive on Tuesday by plane to Rome with small luggage (gay handbags?). Noblesse oblige.

A little reflection would be not that bad - at the G8 summit in Germany

2007-05-24T10:41:00.000+02:00

In the Süddeutsche Zeitung Jens Bisky writes that he has been mixing with anti-globalisation activists to find out more about their preparations for the G8 summit.

"The majority of the left-wing anti-globalisation movement does not want to and will not take up the sword. At the very most they might practise a little 'civil disobedience' as it is called today. And this is what they are rehearsing now. Last Saturday in Berlin Kreuzberg, a group of mostly young people met for blockade training. There was plenty of useful stuff to learn. How to communicate under stress. Which make-up is tear-gas proof. How best to be carried off by the police."

Why do they have to build this fence? If they ever think total security is possible this is not true. What kind of life is this to live for a politician?

Stop showing fear as common political reflex. Isn't this what they wanted?
I would like this on the agenda of discussion.

To Everything There Is A Season: Konrad is turning 38

2007-05-22T10:15:00.000+02:00

I'm turning 38 today, 40 is getting near but not too close yet.

To everything there is a season. What's on my mind:

To enlarge our family
To enjoy our house and garden
To cultivate friendships
To improve my guitar abilities
To build character
To learn, learn, learn and never stop
To work less and earn more, wouldn't it be good?
To stay in shape
To laugh as much as possible, well sometimes crying is not that bad, too
To not get oversexed and underfucked, hehehehe
To prepare to become 40 soon

Have a drink on me! I don't care about tomorrow but today I'll be there.

Everything you could ever want to know- about me

2007-05-16T15:50:00.000+02:00

Now I have decided it. Friends, family and assorted....

Now you will have the chance. For reality. I swear I will try to be honest. I have a new linked part of my blog (Question and Answer) where I will answer all kind of questions you want to ask me. Private questions, interests, opinions, weird stuff, sins, shoe size whatsoever......

Just send me a comment whenever you feel like there is anything you would like to know.

Or you can write me an E-Mail to:

caballito-del-diablo@freenet.de

I hope there will be something on your mind!

Famous Germans: Dirk Nowitzki (NBA MVP 2007)

2007-05-16T11:36:00.000+02:00

And so he did it: Dirk Nowitzki has won the MVP throphy of the regular NBA Season 2006/2007.

He has won with 1.183 points including 83(!) first place votes, from a panel of 129 sports writers and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for third, three for fourth and one for each fifth-place vote received.

Dirk Nowitzki is the first European Player and the fourth international player to be awarded with the so called Maurice Podoloff Trophy.

He led the Dallas Mavericks to the best-record (67-15, .817) in the NBA, tying for the sixth-best single-season winning percentage in NBA history. Nowitzki averaged team highs of 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and a career-best 3.4 assists while setting career-highs in field goal percentage (.502), three-point field goal percentage (.416) and free throw percentage (.904). No other player could keep up with this figures.

Dirk said that he is overwhelmed with the honor of the MVP award. Typical for him in his modest and likeable way. He never demanded to be elected. He proved the right on the play ground.

Now he and his best friend Steve Nash have won all of the MVP trophies of the last three years. Inconceivable what would have happened if the had remained and improved in the same team! Probably a winning streak of NBA titles. Maybe fate will bring them together again.....

It would be a great Canadian-German-axis. No axis of evil by the way.

I'm so happy for him. The award will help him to forget the desaster of the first playoff round against the Warriors. I hope he will come back even stronger next year. And if he will never win a title and championship ring, so what? There have been others with great great names in basketball history like: Karl "Mailman" Malone, Kevin "The kid" Garnett, Allen "The Answer" Iverson, Charles "Sir Charles or the round mound of rebound" Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Grant Hill or Anfernee Hardaway.

The dream of a championship will stay alive! MVP, MVP, MVP! Dirkules!

History repeating - Canada is ice hockey World Champion 2007

2007-05-14T11:20:00.000+02:00

Give three cheers for Canada! The Canadian ice hockey stars have wiped out the Olympic disgrace of Turino 2006 (they have lost in the quarter finals there) and won their 24th World Championship in Moscow of all cities!

The Maple Leafs beat Finland 4:2 (2:0, 1:0, 1:2) with two goals of tournament MVP Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets and without many of the great NHL stars. Coach Andy Murray did a good job.
Finland lost its 5th final game after their World Championship 1995: At the world championships 1998, 1999 and 2001 and at the Olympic Games 2006. Poor Suomi!

That NHL stars do not mean a team and a guranteed World Champion, well that is the story of the Russian Team. They swept through all the games before the semi finals with a young hungry team where they were stopped by the Finnish Team. The curse of all hosts of World Championships since 1986 did not come to an end: None of them could win the title at home!

Canada will have the next chance next year! If not then, then when?

Caballito del diablo - Year Two

2007-05-09T21:29:00.000+02:00

It is the second anniversary of my blog today. Two years have passed since my very first post appeared here on Caballito del diablo, May 9th 2005.

A lot of things have changed since then.
I was 35, now I'm 37. I'm still working at the same company, May 1 st I had my 10th anniversary there. My daughter has grown rapidly and is heading to kindergarden. Our second baby is on its way. We have bought and renovated a house and moved in last Christmas.

I thought again I'd guide you through some of my favorite moments and highlights from the second year of CDD because I'm complacent and high-handed like that.

Data of the last two years

246 posts
10974 unique visitors (average 438 visitors per month, 104 per week and 15 per day). The numbers have almost doubled compared with the first year.
Coming mainly from:

Germany

6636

60.47%

United States

1477

13.46%

Canada

562

5.12%

United Kingdom

374

3.41%

Switzerland

287

2.62%

Austria

186

1.69%

Spain

139

1.27%

Philippines

132

1.20%

Australia

0.82%

Mexico

0.77%

France

0.72%

Hungary

0.65%

Japan

0.42%

Netherlands

0.39%

Singapore

0.38%

Belgium

0.36%

Italy

0.35%

India

0.34%

Sweden

0.29%

Poland

0.25%

Argentina

0.24%

Norway

0.23%

New Zealand

0.22%

Europe

0.20%

Malaysia

0.19%

Ireland

0.18%

Colombia

0.17%

Turkey

0.17%

Finland

0.15%

Venezuela

0.15%

Peru

0.15%

Chile

0.15%

Israel

0.14%

Brazil

0.13%

Denmark

0.12%

Russian Federation

0.11%

Vietnam

0.11%

Korea, Republic of

0.11%

Portugal

0.09%

China

0.09%

Romania

0.09%

Still not many people from China!

Red Letter Day

The noted German satirical magazine Titanic linked to my blog on July 11th, 2006 and referred to my post with a translation of some of Robert Gernhardt's poems.

This lead to more than 1.250 (!) visitors of my blog on that day, about 25% of the total number of visitors since the coming into existence of my blog.
Amazing enough for me. The Blogger system must have been close before a breakdown.

Unfortunately nobody left a comment, but that seems to be a trend of my readers anyway.
Anyway, a special day for me. All my statistics have exploded. The Gaussian distribution was overridden that day. Caballio del diablo flew through choppy seas and dodged the iceberg.

Is there anybody out there?

Hardly anybody leaves a comment anymore. Heys buddies what's going on? Please let me know if my blog is of any interest still, okay?

It ain't over till it's over

The Mavericks have lost in the first round of the Playoffs 2007. What a huge upset. And Dirk Nowitzki is probably going to me MVP. What an irony of fate.

Soccer Worldchampionship 2006 in Germany

It feels like this is so long ago but it is not yet one year. We had a great time!!

It's my life

My blogging world hasn't changed very much. So feel welcome to join us.
Canada is still on my mind. Well my sister-in-law Catrin lives there (we miss you!) and some other fellow bloggers: Steve, Erika and Samantha.
Other bloggers come from all over the world: Lonnie, Hippy Monkey, Tuna Girl, Joe, Cindy-Lou and Sara-Beth from the U.S.
But also Jo from Singapore, Pillepalle from Hungary, Patroclus from the U.K., Jayred of Switzerland and Kathy from Germany.

Finally

I would like to thank all my "non-virtual" friends as well, who read the blog enthusiastically and often and then still mess me up by knowing all kinds of weird, intimate stuff about my life.

What is it good for? Absolutely nothing

Staying Alive - Dallas Mavericks edge Golden State Warriors in Game 5

2007-05-02T13:14:00.000+02:00

Dirk Nowitzki finally showed his MVP qualities, came alive, and he did so just in time to save the Mavericks' season.
After Dallas gave back a 21-point lead and found itself trailing the Warriors by nine points with just over three minutes to play, Nowitzki ignited his team by scoring 12 points on a game-ending 15-0 run that capped a 118-112 victory on Tuesday.
Nowitzki finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds and hit both of his 3-pointers during the pivotal fourth-quarter charge. Josh Howard supplied 23 points and eight boards in support.
Golden State, which still leads the series 3-2, put forth a valiant effort. Baron Davis scored 27 points and dished nine assists before fouling out with 22 seconds left in the game. Jason Richardson sank five 3-balls on his way to 23 points.
The Mavs will again try to stave off elimination when the series swings back to Oakland on Thursday.

Three and one is four, let us reach a new shore

2007-04-24T13:08:00.000+02:00

We are getting a new baby! It's still the beginning of Tina's pregnancy but we are very glad.
The schedule says 4th of December for the birth so this would mean another winter baby. But we are prepared with all the clothes of little Emma.
We are becoming a real family isn't this perfect?
And we are having enough space in our house. For the rest only time will tell. I would like a boy, Tina would like a girl and Emma does not mind. So nothing can go wrong I presume.
We are looking for names but this is not at all easy.Our favourites so far:

Girl: Rosalie, Helena or Pauline
Boy: Konstantin or Peter (names for boys seem to be more difficult)

Comments are very welcome.

Heading home

2007-04-20T15:06:00.000+02:00

We are going home today and we are looking forward to it. There is a lot of stress at work and at home. So we hope to enjoy the weekend.
We will have a cultural event tonight at the Kulturhammer, I have written about it recently. There will be the band "Liederjan".
Then sleep into tomorrow, have nice mum's food, entertainment for Emma and nothing to do but playing guitar, relaxing, shopping........

That how I like it, have a nice weekend!

Only one who knows longing knows what I suffer : Europapokal

2007-04-13T10:33:00.000+02:00

The Club will play against Frankfurt next tuesday in the German socccer cup DFB-Pokal.
If they will win the chance for international appearance next year is high. They would advance to the final game in Berlin.
The fans are already singing: Europapokal, Europapokal, Europapokal Europapokal, Europapokal. So long did we have to wait. I will sing with them cause I will be there.

Only one who knows longing
Knows what I suffer!
Alone and cut off
From all joy,
I look into the firmament
In that direction.

Ach! he who loves and knows me
Is far away.
I am reeling,
My entrails are burning.
Only one who knows longing
Knows what I suffer!

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Open letter to Germany

2007-04-10T14:35:00.000+02:00

Dear Germany,

if I think of Germany in the night, I am jolted from my sleep. I can no longer close my eyes, and my hot tears flow. Do you know who has written this poem?
I don't feel like crying but I am worried about some things going on in the state of Germany (not Denmark, but see under 1.)

1. Dear Mrs. Schavan (German minister for education and research): I have seen a report about Scandinavian schools on T.V. with my wife (who is a teacher on a Realschule). We could have cried but became angry instead. The situation there is so much better. When will Germany start to wake up and change the school system. We have already fallen behind and there are a lot of role models. Why don't we start to change. At least the separation after the 4 th grade or latest after the 6th grade into Hauptschule, Realschule and Gymnasium is no longer tolerable. We leave behind a lot of pupils who have deserved better. Above all children with migrational background and children with difficult situations in their families. We should pick the up even before school (the sooner the better) and teach them with well educated teachers, who should have studied themselves. And take the best of them there. Only to mention some recommendations.

2. Dear fellow citizens. Maybe global warming has too much become a scenario of scare tactics and a mouthpiece for some dubious scientists.
I don't like to be panicked and paralized by journalists who are only in search of the latest catastrophies to increase their print run.
But on the other hand I am annoyed when people deny that every single person can do something against global warming. Because everybody can. I have learned that while renovation our house. It's even fun and will save us money in future times. So let's start thinking before acting and also: writing.

3. Yes, "Made in Germany" still doesn't sound that bad. We are still export champion but a lot of things are going wrong in our industry. I know this because I am working there. We have lost respect of human beings in their companies. Only numbers are interesting. You get a number in the industry as well. A telephone number in my company. If someone is fired or leaves the company the next hired employee "inherits" the number. Isn't that fine? Nobody has to remember a name but only a number. Hey 4711 are you still there? .............

4. Dear Bayern München. Maybe you are the damn best soccer club in Germany. But Germany isn't by far the hub of the soccer world. Look to Spain and Great Britain with humbleness, Mr. Hoeneß! So you have won the Champions League in 2001? Who else of the German clubs in the last two decades? Okay Dortmund in 1997, but that club is close to bankruptcy. And if you do not look out our the "Club" (1. FC Nürnberg) will outstrip you. In Bavaria!! But I will see your game tonight and maybe you can convince me that the best is yet to come for German soccer.

5. Dear Weather. Stay as you are.

6. God bless the German cars. The Chinese nickname of Dirk Nowitzki is German fastcar. You will see what you get when he is going to overrun his opponents in the NBA finals. After becoming the first German MVP.

7. Journalists. Turn around and stop your negative coverage of almost everything. We need courage and self confidence more than ever. We need children. We need a future and I think there is still a chance that we will have one. I'm not talking about the tabloid Bild-Zeitung. That does not count at all.

Megacities: Tehran

2007-04-10T14:16:00.000+02:00

In the ongoing series on megacities of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Iranian author Amir Hassan Cheheltan writes about Tehran:
"Perhaps you could describe Tehran this way: it's violent, but totally under the control of smog and noise. It's full of junk and kitsch, petty crime, paradoxical frivolity and political folly. The city is void of memory. It has hardly any old buildings, and yet it infects its inhabitants with the virus of nostalgia! Tehran has a million buildings, and yet the aesthetes and psychologists still haven't figured out whether they were put up in conformity with or in opposition to the mindset of its inhabitants."

I'm not living in a megacity and compared with this article my Nuremberg sounds quite normal and mediocre. But I think I prefer living in Nuremberg. But maybe Tehran could be another brick in the wall of my love to travel. At least it should be more save than Bagdad at the moment though I would love to follow the footsteps of Sindbad, too.

Four more years! Four more years! Part 2

2007-03-21T10:59:00.000+01:00

Look for the punctuation marks to realize the difference to my last post.

Tina and I we celebrated our fourth anniversary last Thursday (March 15th). We went to the Würzhaus, a nice previously opened little restaurant in Nuremberg. A play on words by the way, restaurant is "Wirtshaus" in German, and "Würzhaus" would mean spice house.

A colleague of Tina has said a few weeks ago that we have lighted a turbo in our relation:

March 15, 2003: Got together
March 1, 2004: Moved in together
About April 1, 2004: (exact date unknown): Fathered Emma
August 19, 2004: Marriage
December 16, 2004: Tina gave birth to Emma
February 24, 2006: Bought our house
December 15, 2006: Moved into our house

If we keep this pace I wonder what happens next? Any predictions are welcome.

Four more years! Four more years?

2007-03-20T10:16:00.000+01:00

Today is the 4th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraque war. Not at all a day to celebrate. But a day to look back in, well mainly anger.

What has happened? What have been the reasons for starting the war:

To expel the despotic Iraque regime of Saddam Hussein: Success
To destroy the weapons of mass destruction: Never found
To repacify the land and the region: Failure
To satisfy the urge for revenge for September 11: Phyrric victory
To form an "Axis of Good" against the "Axis of Evil": Disintegrating
Overall victory: Failure

Altogether a desaster for the U.S. They failed all along the line.
Thousands of dead people on both sides. Assaults almost every day. Destroyed culture, robbed museums and archaeological sites.
Scorched earth policy.

Perspectives? Vague and not encouraging. Can some thousand soldiers more be a solution?

At least Donald Rumsfeld and his unbearable rhetoric have disappeared. The gap that George W. will left behind will substitute him entirely.
I do not envy the next American president. No, not at all.

Game of the Year? Phoenix Suns edge Dallas Mavericks

2007-03-15T08:47:00.000+01:00

The Suns and Mavs staged an epic battle Wednesday night. But there can be only one winner. This time the Suns brought a little bit more to bear. Sad for me as a Mavericks fan but a sportsman should be a good loser.

Amare Stoudemire had 41 points and 10 rebounds, and Steve Nash scored 10 points in the final minute of regulation, capped by a tying 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left. He finished with 32 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds.

As for the Mavericks Jerry Stackhouse scored 33 points, his most in three seasons with Dallas, and Dirk Nowitzki added 30 points, 16 rebounds and six assists. He had eight points and seven rebounds in the third quarter, when the Mavs turned what had been a 16-point deficit into a 15-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Again close to a triple double, a good performance but not good enough this time.

Phoenix rallied by opening the fourth by making eight straight shots and 10-of-12. While that set up Nash's great finish, four missed free throws by Dallas - including two by Nowitzki - were equally important.
The Mavericks remained shaky at the start of overtime, then Jason Terry scored five points in the final 48 seconds, including a long 3 over Nash with 4.5 seconds to go that the second overtime.
Stoudemire helped Phoenix take it from there, although it still took a missed 8-footer by Nowitzki as time expired to end Dallas' 23-game home winning streak and tighten the race for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The next classic will take place on Sunday when the Detroit Pistons host the Dallas Mavericks. The best teams of the Eastern and the Western Conference will cross the blades. Another chance for a brick in the wall to become MVP for Dirk.

Rhombus poem - Spring

2007-03-14T17:54:00.001+01:00

Spring
Spring feelings
Spring feelings grow
Spring feelings grow tremendously
Spring feelings pass by
Spring board
Summer

First are the bees or dying without a trace

2007-03-14T08:45:00.000+01:00

They are gone. They have left the beeyard alone, didn't care about the young offspring. They never appeared again the older, adult bees. Didn't leave dead bees behind. Millions and millions of bees disappeared in North America in the last few months. More and more American beekeepers who open their beeyards for the first time after winter in these first warm weeks report the same: One beeyard after the other is empty. No bees are at home. Shocking!

At the west coast almost 60% of the bee colonies have collapsed, at the East coast and in Texas almost 70%. More than one half of the American states is struck and parts of Canada. The same happens in Spain and Poland. First reports come from Swizzerland and from Germany as well - but nowhere it's as bad as in the U.S.

It is a strange, creepy phenomenon that haunts the bee colonies. Science has given it those name, which it has reserved for something that can't be described yet, or maybe ever: disorder. They speak of "Colony Collapse Disorder". Scientists know much about the symptoms but very little about the reasons.......
But the know that it would be a catastrophy when the bees would disappear. A catastrophy for mankind, too. It could be a writing on the wall, a warning that something has gone out of balance.

About one third of the human food is dependend on bees directly or indirectly: Between 80 and 90% of apples, pears, plums and many other fruit are pollenized by bees . Also melons, almonds, peppers, pumpkins, raspberries and about 90 other fruit and vegetable species- but also animal food like clover and the widespread -especially in the U.S.- alfalfa. There are no real alternatives to bees.
Researchers say that stress has become too much for the colonies. They say that it is a wonder that nothing has happened sooner. A bee colony is a complex super organism that has adapted to the most difficult circumstances in millions of years. But in the last 10 years the bees have become weak. Maybe there is really only one reason that will be found but there could be many that have overwhelmed the bees: Consolidation of farmland that left very few boundary ridges, mono cultures and a too perfect forestry that didn't leave a single hollow tree trunk in the woods. Cities and suburbs that overgrow the earth. Pesticides that poison the bees. Illnesses and parasites that attacked the bees, introduced in the course of transcontinental dispatch of breeding bees.
One sentence is cited oftenly at the moment. A sentence of Albert Einstein: "If the bees disappear, then mankind will live only four more years; no bees any more, no pollination any more, no plants anymore, no animals anymore, no human beings anymore....".

Veiling or unveiling - that is the question. Or: Egypt?

2007-03-06T14:44:00.000+01:00

Al-Ahram reports that Canadian Hadeel Al-Shalchi (blog), who decided to live as a veiled woman ten years ago, gets a culture shock when she arrives in Cairo.
Almost everyone is wearing one there, the choice is fantastic. "Coming from a country lacking in scarves, I spent time in scarf shops like a person at an oasis in a desert. I would stand wide-eyed in a shop and think to myself, "Oh my God - I want them all!'"
As time goes by however she starts to suspect that a herd mentality is the driving-force of much Egyptian hijab-wearing. "Many women seem to wear the veil without thinking. They use phrases like 'I don't want to go to hell', or 'it's something I have to do', 'my parents told me', "it's what everyone does"... Stickers decorate metro stations warning girls to wear the hijab before meeting their God on the Day of Judgement -- do you feel guilty for not wearing it? Do you want to be seen in this immoral state? ... And if a girl chooses not to wear the veil, then she is either ready to be catcalled or harassed by men on the street, or she's a Copt."

She has written an open letter to Egypt as well. It's very interesting.

The end of blogging

2007-03-05T15:49:00.000+01:00

In the year of 2007 besides other cathastrophes of mankind (the dying out Tiger Slug, German EU-precidency), the end of blogging will take place surprisingly. First the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported. Then the news spreaded like wildfire. First in the Süddeutsche blog then in the anti Süddeutsche blog blog. Pie-Burglar, LOLZ-Master and !Aphroditos were next. Cathy-Carefree 88 and AngryMetalBlogger then reported the whole shebang to "their buddies": "It is over! Never again blogging fun for us :-( ". These short post in AngryMetalBlogger caused 288 comments; many readers showed their dismay: "Holy shit, is it over? My world is perishing!" wrote TorfRock. "But isn't it good"? polemized NoNonsenseZZZ. A heavy controversy between both started with bad insults. DoctorsWhoDoNotPlayGolfBlog.org and the MetaMetaBlog (the blog which questions the critical blog coverage critically) reported about the fight. !Aphroditos tried to moderate; his hint that the article of the Süddeutsche Zeitung deals with a different issue was not heard: Many blogs post "Help me I'm dying!" and "How much longer?". Meanwhile JellyfishPorn.gov investigates the reason of collective blog dying: It is Hildegard "Hildi" Treitschke, a 84 years old retired woman from Hamm (Westfalen), the only person who has no blog in the whole world. Allegedly she does not need "that stuff" a friend of her reported at Hildi'sCuriousNeighbours.de smugly. Lawblog.us now thinks about legal measures.

News from poetry part XIV

2007-03-01T17:18:00.000+01:00

Folgen der Trunksucht (von Robert Gernhardt)

Seht ihn an den Texter.
Trinkt er nicht, dann wächst er.
Misst nur einen halben Meter -
weshalb, das erklär ich später.

Seht ihn an, den Schreiner.
Trinkt er, wird er kleiner.
Schaut, wie flink und frettchenhaft
er an seinem Brettchen schafft.

Seht sie an, die Meise.
Trinkt sie, baut sie Scheiße.
Da! Grad rauscht ihr drittes Ei
wieder voll am Nest vorbei.

Seht ihn an, den Hummer.
Trinkt er wird er dummer.
Hört, wie er durchs Nordmeer keift,
ob ihm wer die Scheren schleift.

Seht ihn an, den Dichter.
Trinkt er, wird er schlichter.
Ach, schon fällt ihm gar kein Reim
auf das Reimwort 'Reim' mehr eim.

I tried a translation but I think this is not possible. I pass but if anybody can help me, go ahead!

Culture in the village - Kulturhammer

2007-02-27T18:59:00.000+01:00

In the club "Kulturhammer" people have gathered whom the advancement of culture - just in the village - is close to their hearts.
Besides the fun to "make" culture with own productions, a stage is given to all kind of talents.
The spectrum of the program reaches from down-to-earth to cabaret, from music to dance and even to classical music.
Amateurs also get the chance besides professional artists.

The club wants to reach a wide range of audience and wants to contribute
that "village" becomes a cultural meeting place again.

I am a member of the club and I have seen many outstanding performances there. I will always remember:

The performances take place in a beautiful little hall the "Tanzsaal" in the little village Kaiserhammer. Gorgeously renovated by the family Tietz who also have their appartement above the hall. They have a production and shop of bee products as well like candles, candies: The Bienenschwarm.
You can also find them on the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt.

Oscar for Germany: The Lives of Others

2007-02-26T10:35:00.000+01:00

German moviemaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has won an Academy Award with his Stasi drama "Das Leben der Anderen ("The Lives of Others").
After innumerous national and international awards (e.g. Deutscher Filmpreis (German film award), Europäischer Filmpreis (European film award)) the movie won the most important award of the international movie branch in the category "Foreign Language Film" last night.

Favourite of the bookmakers has been Pan's Labyrinth, a Mexican fantasy film before. But like many times before the Academy was good for a surprise and elected an outsider.

That's what director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck had to say:

"Oh my God! I was already crying after Tornatore's film. I thank you Academy members from the bottom of my heart for this honor. And I thank Michael and Tom from Sony Classics for choosing The Lives of Others and bringing it to you. I thank Germany and Bavaria for making this film possible. My great department heads for making this film with me.
Schwarzenegger for teaching me that the words "I can't" should be stricken from my vocabulary. And my entire crew. I thank my producers, commissioning editors, distributors, financiers. I thank my brother Sebastian for helping with this script and for "Baumba" for believing in me. But most of all I thank my actors, especially Ulrich and Sebastian, you're the greatest artists and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Finally, my wife Christiane. No, I have to say that one more thing. Just that one more thing: Christiane, I love you."

It is the third German movie to win an Oscar after:

The Tin Drum (1979)
Nowhere in Africa (2002)

FILM SYNOPSIS:

In East Berlin in 1984, the secret police organization, Stasi, conducts extensive surveillance operations against any East German citizen suspected of opposing the Communist regime.
When Captain Gerd Weisler (Ulrich Mühe) begins monitoring the daily life of the playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) and his girlfriend the theater star Christa-Maria Sieland (Martina Gedeck), he finds himself increasingly unwilling to betray his subject's private moments to his superiors.
A dangerous game begins, which will tear the love of Dreyman and Sieland to pieces and destroy Weisler's previous existence. Until the wall falls all of them have to pay a high price. Then a new world starts again.

Modern physiologies - The boxer

2007-02-23T09:59:00.000+01:00

When Sylvester Stallone bravely decided to grace us with a final chapter to his career-defining Rocky saga, he knew three big things from the get-go: the enterprise was going to have to survive a tsunami of cynicism from critics and Rocky fans alike; he would be unable to pretend to be in the fighting shape he was in the 1976 original; and calling the film Rocky VI would have spelt instant death.

For the film to work it had to have a life of its own, and to his great credit Stallone has accomplished that with consummate, subtle skill. Without awkward narrative lurches or clumsy spurts of character exposition he masterfully reconciles the audience expectations that accompany a successful movie franchise with something genuinely fresh.

In raising Rocky from the ashes of sequel-itis and into the harsh glow of the present, Stallone has done himself, and us, a great favour by injecting the last leg of the Rocky story with a big dose of social realism.

Rocky is much the same as he has always been - a big, lovable, self-deprecating lunkhead who likes a good joke. The difference now, of course, is that his legend has soaked deep into the culture of his town.
He is a man in a state of acceptance. He has no tickets on himself, runs a small, successful restaurant and happily lives off his former glory. People still love him, want his autograph and a picture with his fist on their chin. He seems content.

It's a mythos old as the hills, that the film "Rocky Balboa" puts on the stage anew - you remember that all the great super heroes like Superman and Batman appear strangely aged in their comebacks and if you can trust the preliminary reports it will be the same with the upcoming Spiderman.

Stallone turned 60 last year but the society seems to have aged much more than people who live in it.
You live backward, his brother-in-law Paulie accuses Rocky when they visit the old skating rink, where Rocky and Adrian found their luck - it's torn down at the moment.
In the revolt of the old man anger and protest become manifest against the tilt of the Bush society, the economic desaster, the social misery, the coolness of the government against people, the hollowness of patriotic phrases and political discussion.
When he speaks pro America then for the land of the exploited and underdogs, against the establishment. A debris movie, the mixture of decayed , torched, funny-colored renovated houses signal the unenlivened society, their permanent instability.

Rocky has retrieved deeply to an inner retirement in this society. With his hat he seems to be an existentialist vagabond of the Fifties, between Becket and Fellini, a Vladimir and Zampano. The fighter as practising autist.

But something still works in this body that has to come out. It can not be put in words, when Rocky tries to explain it mumbling.
With a deep patience he attends to his duty as national legend, photos with the fans and telling the old fight stories again and again with tired gestures.
Training and fight real phantasy? "Nothings hits harder than life", murmurs Rocky. "The question is not how hard you can hit but about how hard you can get hit".

My fine is $ 431.50

2007-02-20T13:20:00.000+01:00

You should try out this game. I have found it today. I don't know if my fine is worth to mention.

Here’s how it works: You don’t have to confess your answers, just the amount of your fine. (Not per incident!) Tally up your score and post it on your blog with the title… ”My Fine Is…

”Smoked pot — $10
Did acid — $5
Ever had sex at church — $25
Woke up in the morning and did not know the person who was next to you — $40
Had sex with someone on MySpace — $25
Had sex for money — $100
Vandalized something — $20
Had sex on your parents’ bed — $10
Beat up someone — $20
Been jumped — $10
Crossed dressed — $10
Given money to stripper — $25
Been in love with a stripper — $20Kissed some one who’s name you didn’t know — $0.10
Hit on some one of the same sex while at work — $15
Ever drive drunk — $20
Ever got drunk at work, or went to work while still drunk — $50
Used toys while having sex — $30
Got drunk, passed out and don’t remember the night before — $20
Went skinny dipping — $5
Had sex in a pool — $20
Kissed someone of the same sex — $10
Had sex with someone of the same sex — $20
Cheated on your significant other — $10
Masturbated — $10
Cheated on your significant other with their relative or close friend — $20
Done oral — $5
Got oral — $5
Done/got oral in a car while it was moving — $25
Stole something — $10
Had sex with someone in jail — $25
Made a nasty home video — $15
Had a threesome — $50
Had sex in the wild — $20
Been in the same room while someone was having sex — $25
Stole something worth over more than a hundred dollars — $20
Had sex with someone 10 years older — $20
Had sex with someone under 21 and you are over 27 — $25
Been in love with two people or more at the same time — $50
Said you love someone but didn’t mean it — $25
Went streaking — $5
Went streaking in broad daylight — $15
Been arrested — $5
Spent time in jail — $15
Peed in the pool — $0.50
Played spin the bottle — $5
Done something you regret — $20
Had sex with your best friend — $20
Had sex with someone you work with at work — $25
Had anal sex — $80
Lied to your mate — $5
Lied to your mate about the sex being good — $25

Interesting, how the fines are spread.

I believe I can fly - Dirk Nowitzki for MVP 2007

2007-02-20T10:46:00.000+01:00

Dirk Nowitzki leads the Race to the MVP 2007. He has been third for two years in a row. This years he is hopefully going to win.

This season he is leading his Dallas Mavericks to the - by far - best results in the NBA. 44 games won and 9 lost! The next best team the Phoenix Suns has won 39 games and lost 12.

He is leader in efficiency per 48 minutes, a ranking that takes into account all important statistical data like points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals etc.

On Thursday the Mavericks will host the Miami Heat, their opponent in the Finals 2006. There has been a lot of rumour in the press about bad words between Dirk and Dwyane Wade of the Heat. Wade is cited with the words that Dirk is no leader that he pretends to be. Dirk wants to give the answer on the playing ground. You should dress warm on Thursday Dwyane, maybe some extra underwear?

More coverage on Friday.

De Zuch kütt

2007-02-19T14:06:00.000+01:00

Right now the Rosenmontagszug in Cologne is on its way. It is the parade on Rose Monday. No doubt the highlight of street carnival. With over 10.000 participants, one third of them female, 440 horses, 97 floats and 123 bands (numbers of 2006).

The 2007 motto: Cologne is all of us (Mir all sin Kölle)!

It takes place since 1823 with changing mottos every year. The motto is like a thread for the parade. Popular and up to date topics of politics, sports, economy but also society and urban life are skitted.
Indispensable are the traditional corps and carnival societies taking part with pedestrian groups, horsemen, coaches and most important: floats.

The highlight of the parade is when in the end the Prinz (prince), Bauer (farmer) and Jungfrau (maiden) are cheering to the clownish people and are throwing caramel candies and bunches of flowers.

More than 1 million people are gathering in the streets to watch the parade.

Hello to Cologne. I'm sad that I had to leave it again. I'll be back soon.

Love to travel - Viva Barcelona

2007-02-18T11:35:00.000+01:00

I don't know why but I had to think of Barcelona yesterday. This happens from time to time and this can bring me to tears sometimes.
Barcelona is still my favourite city and sometimes I get the feeling I have to go there again soon.
When I hear the song "Barcelona" of Freddie Mercury it gives me goose bumps. He and Montserrat Caballé are singing the song of the Olympic Games 1992 in Barcelona.
Yesterday an (annoying by the way) guy behind me was talking about Barcelona when we had to wait in front of a pub. Then the remembrance hit me like a lightning.
I had such a good time there, when I have been there to learn Spanish. I spent altogether about 7 weeks there and I loved it so much. I loved the air, the people, the culture, the sun, the sea, the language, everything.
If you are willing to have a good time, meet people and learn Spanish (or at least Catalan) you should take the occasion and go there.
Visit the famous sites of Gaudi like Park Güell, Casa Milà and Sagrada Familia for some things.
Go to the Ramblas to see vibrating life and walk down to the harbour where Christopher Columbus watches over the city.
See the famous museums of Picasso and Joan Miro.
And never never forget to go to the Barri Gòtic the most beautiful part of the town. And old part where you can still breath history besides all the new and fast changing modern architecture.
Viva Barcelona!!

Carnival in Cologne

2007-02-16T11:34:00.000+01:00

I'm in Cologne to visit my dear sister Katharina and to celebrate Carnival. I'm here for the 9th time to do this.
I started in Düsseldorf in 1998, I shouldn't say this too loud here. The people of Cologne and Düsseldorf do not like each other....it's like Nuremberg and Fürth in my home region.
I like Carnival as a special time in the year. I'm here to forget all the sorrows and problems of everyday life. I'm dunking into this artificical but funny kind of Carnival life.
Your are disguised, you have to be disguised here. I'm a Cowboy this year. A living fades mythos. That feels good.
I have been a hippie for years but that kind of bored me now. Although I like this costume. It reminded me of a very nice Hippie Flower Power Party we had at home in 2004. Tina was pregnant and nobody knew before. But she didn't drink all evening and so the brilliant disguise leaked out......
Yesterday was Weiberfastnacht, the main day of the Cologne (and everywhere in the Carnival regions of Germany) Carnival. It stars on 11.11 a.m and ends well nobody knows.
I'm feeling good today, no hangover. Thanks to some water besides Kölsch, the local beer. A terrible head ache beer regularly. Also the taste is okay, well you cannot compare it to Franconian beer. Sorry Cologne.
Today I'm going to a thermea. Must be a remnant of the ancient Romans, they have quite a lot here. But this is absolutely relaxing and balm for the soul. I recommend the Neptun bath.

Bye bye and come to Cologne! It's worth a try not only at Carnival

Observations from the Berlinade Festival

2007-02-12T18:08:00.000+01:00

Discussing her work in Robert de Niro's new film "The Good Shepherd", premiering at the Berlinale this week, actress Martina Gedeck comes over all philosophical: "I always get obsessed with the dissolution of space and time on set. In a day of filming we'll accomplish one, maybe two minutes of film, and in the evening you have the feeling of only having lived one or two minutes.
You are always playing with time, starting again from the beginning, repeating what's in the past. Time dissolves. Added to which, you are working in an environment where the past has been reconstructed right down to the smallest detail, where one new reality exists next to the other."

Faded myths - Dieter Waltke vs. Famous Germans - Heiner Brand

2007-02-05T17:22:00.000+01:00

Germany has become World Champion in handball yesterday. History repeating after 29 (!) years.
In 1978 Germany won the final game against Russia with Heiner Brand as a player, now he is the coach for already 10 years.
The World Championship 2007 took place in Germany. Even with the home field advantage there were only few happy omens. The team had to suffer from a lot of injuries in the run-up to the games.
Only few people were courageous enough to talk about a title.

Heiner Brand

The coach promised nothing. Many people expected him to promise the championship. He was clever enough not to do so. He preferred to work painstakinly. He knew about the strength of his players and the weaknesses of the opponent teams.
He knew how to form a team with the available players. Maybe other teams had better single players but Germany was "la Mannschaft" ("la Team"). When the going got tough, the tough got going.
Germany lost only one game in the preliminary round against Poland.
Against the team they beat in the final game!
Heiner Brand produced new stars by magic. In the first row Michael Kraus who was elected in the All Star team whom hardly anybody in the public knew before. And also Henning Fritz the goal keeper who regained his shape after hard times in the German Bundesliga where he was only the third keeper of THW Kiel for a certain time.
Heiner Brand is also famous for his mustache. His players wore artificial mustaches like his after the game yesterday.

Dieter Waltke

I read his story today and it was the story of the final game 1978. Dieter Waltke hadn't played a single minute in the whole tournament before the final game. He didn't play in the final game before the coach Vlado Stenzel replaced Arno Ehret for tactical instructions.
Dieter Waltke came, saw and conquered. He threw three goals in a row and led the German team to the winning road in a difficult situation. But he was replaced again after a few minutes and never played again till the end. Nobody understood.........
Dieter Waltke nowadays believes that Vlado Stenzel had not realized his performance at all because he talked to Arno Ehret. The secret will never be never be unravelled.

Element of decency - Flight safety in Germany

2007-01-29T18:12:00.000+01:00

Home secretary Wolfgang Schäuble wants to obligate the Federal Armed Forces of Germany to shoot down planes captured by terrorists if it's necessary to prevent a even bigger catastrophy.

As your air carrier now if they have taken precaution measures! Will they provide your safety? The questionnaire will help you:

For Harry Potter fans: Snow curse

2007-01-24T12:13:00.000+01:00

Look out Harry Potter fans! This offer is not for muggles, but only for wizards!

This is actually a sale offer for a tractor.

Accessories:
Snow curse (German: Schneefluch); meant was snow-plow (German: Schneepflug)
Sweeping räll (German: Kährwalze); meant was sweeping roll (German: Kehrwalze).

Found in Nuremberg! I'm ashamed.......

Element of crime: Storm

2007-01-22T17:21:00.000+01:00

The storm "Kyrill" has blown away a lot of things:

Politicians
Houses (see picture, translation "With a storm like this I'll stay at home")
Parts of the Central Station of Berlin (see comment below)
Remains of snow (the famous ski downhill race in Kitzbühel ("Streif") was cancelled)
Trees
Trust in weather

News from Berlin Central Station:

A little wind and already the Million Dollar building sin is shaking

But: The worst is yet to come.

February: Little Nadine drops her doll accidentally while deboarding the Intercity train. The steel bars of the station moan under the heavy load when the "bullet" penetrates the ceilings of three floors like butter and isn't stopped until hitting the concrete skull of Hartmut Mehdorn (CEO of the German Railway Company "Deutsche Bahn". The station is closed for 14 days.

March: Despite strong safety precautions and complete observation a passenger suffers a hysterical coughing fit because of the rise of fares. This time the station does not get off that lightly. Parts of the roof construction are spun around and are found later in Königs Wusterhausen. The railroad company absorbes the costs of the cleanup efforts skillfully with a new rise of fairs.

The laugh is always on the loser!

German politics: Edmund Stoiber's Swan Song

2007-01-19T15:02:00.000+01:00

Once more Germany has been fascinated, relieved and, at the same time, a little disgusted to watch one of its most prominent political leaders dissemble and be sent, as it were, to the underworld.

I'm talking about Edmund Stoiber the prime minister of Bavaria, one of the largest regions in Germany and party leader of the conservative CSU. He caused a big riot in the pary after he announced his plans to run for prime minister once more (his third time). That would have meant a period of another five years (until 2013). Stoiber is 65 years old. That was not acceptable for the party. Not after his withdrawal from Berlin in 2005 where he was the designated minister of economic affairs. He came back to Bavaria where his succession was almost home and dry.

It was a misconception of Stoiber that he was still the sovereign leader of the party and Bavaria.As the fight for power dragged on over the past days and weeks, devoted kowtowing was the rule in Stoiber's circle.

While nearly everyone carried a dagger in his clothes, no one dared to say out loud who the knife was meant for.

Finally the attack of a small district chief executive was the last straw. Only this courageous woman Gabriele Pauli (political officeholder) in Fürth (close to Nuremberg) had the nerve to say that Stoiber's time was up.

The tabloid Bild mounted a campaign against his potential opponent Horst Seehofer (German minister of agriculture) about an affair with a member of his staff and an alleged illegitimate child.The satirical magazine Titanic counterattacked (see picture, it says: "Is this his child?").

Edmund Stoiber tried to fight but he had to resign soon. The polls for the party fell below 50%, a catastrophe for a party that holds the absolute majority in Bavaria since 1962 (!) Yesterday he declared to give up all poilitical offices in September this year. He is gone with the wind, matching the storm Kyrill yesterday.

Stoiber's departure is a lesson on the limits of power and on the decision-making process in a democracy. His party, the conservative CSU received a huge black eye. Actually it needs quite a lot of fresh blood. If this can be a candidate like Günther Beckstein with his 63 years can be doubted.

Faded myths - Winter

2007-01-16T14:09:00.000+01:00

It's winter time. At least when I look at my calendar. I grew up in the Northern part of Bavaria and I visited my parents last weekend. Normally we had deep snow at this time of the year. We went skiing, sledge riding and played ice-hockey. The snow piled up high from November to March or April. We were freezing and freezing. What is left? Well, that's not much.

7 facts to realize it is winter:

Hedgehogs, badgers and squirrels have dark circles around the eyes
The visitors of swimming pools wear ice-skates
Summer sale lasts a bit too long
Birds with migration background are deported singly
Italian ice cream parlors sell Pizza Straciatella
The nudists in the Munich floodplains of the Isar river wear bobble caps and gloves
The icebears in the zoo try to commit suicide

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..............................

My Christmas Poem: What happened 2006?

2007-01-15T08:57:00.000+01:00

It's already 2007 but I would like to post my Christmas poem to my family and friends anyway. Here it comes:

Ein Jahr - 2006

Was ist in diesem Jahr passiert?
Die Russen sind nicht einmarschiert.
Tina, Emma und der Konrad
wussten zum Glück meistens schon Rat.

Für die Probleme, die kleinen,
die Gemeinheiten, die feinen.
Die Berge, die sich auftürmten
an denen wir vorbeistürmten.

So haben wir ein Haus gebaut,
wir haben nicht lang’ zugeschaut.
Und den Makler gleich überzeugt
beim Notar noch ganz ungebeugt.

Unterschrift mit zitternder Hand,
haben die Arbeit nicht gekannt.
Die nun daraus für uns erwuchs
daran gemahnt kein Bausparfuchs.

Den Urlaub schon auf der Baustelle,
Wochenende vergeht schnelle.
Mit dem Baumarkt auf Du und Du,
das liebe Geld zerfließt im Nu.

Doch nun ist die Fron gemeistert,
vom Ergebnis auch begeistert.
Feiern wir den Tag zum zweiten
Mal als Emma begann zu schreiten.

In das Leben mit Sauseschritt
läuft die Zeit, wir laufen mit.
Die Frau gestresste Lehrerin,
der Mann mit kaufmännischem Sinn.

Zu rechnen eins und eins gleich zwei
zu schön wär’s, käm’ der Storch vorbei.
Das wird ein Wunsch fürs neue Jahr
das alte ist nun auch bald gar.

Wir sagen danke und viel Glück,
an Freunde, Familie und ein Stück
vom Kuchen werden wir bekommen
ob süß, ob bitter: unbenommen.

A year - 2006

What happened this year?
The Russians didn't appear.
Tina, Emma and Konrad
usually knew what to do.

For the problems small
the meannesses tall.
The piling up hills
which we passed with skills.

So we built our house,
me and my spouse.
The agent persuaded
the sorrows they faded.

Signature with trembling hands
didn't know the working plans.
What can happen in this time
doesn't fit in a single rhyme.

Holidays on building site
weekends passing in a flight.
DIY center knew me well,
started earning money like hell.

But now we did the job
our hearts still throb.
And we celebrated two
years of Emma, how she grew.

Into life with a quick pace
time is running like a chase.
Wife a stressed teacher
husband a math creature.

To calculate one and one is two
wasn't that a stork which flew?
That's a wish for the new year
the old one will now disappear.

We say thank you and good luck,
to friends, family and a tuck
will be there for all of us
sweet or bitter - no great fuss.

The rebel of the family

2007-01-11T17:08:00.000+01:00

Little Emma is getting more and more rebellious. Especially in the evenings she is answering "No" to almost any kind of question. When she is sleepy it's best not to tangle with her.

When I ask her: "Do you want to drink?", she replies "I have already drunk."
When I tell her: "Let's wash your hands", she replies "I have already washed my hands."
No matter if this is true or not.

Some days ago when she started to go wild I asked her: "What kind of manners are these?"
She replied like a shot: "Baby manners!"
I was speechless for some seconds then I started laughing. Just to remind you she has turned two in December.

From Ziggy Stardust to an icon of style - David Bowie turns 60

2007-01-08T10:53:00.000+01:00

David Bowie, the chameleon of pop business turns 60 today. Hard to believe he was the spearhead of a youth movement. But that is what remains in my head.
I will always remember the movie "Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo" with the music and the presence of David Bowie.

After some unsuccessful singles David Bowie had his first top 10 appearance in the American charts in 1969 (I was born in that year!) - with his album "Space Oddity".
It was a breakthrough for him who attracted attention with ongoing spectacular appearances - as extraterrestrial hermaphrodite Ziggy Stardust, as pale-faced Thin White Duke or as Young American with Frank Sinatra look.
His early years are under the influence of drugs. In the late seventies Bowie spends some years in Berlin to get rid of the scourge Heroin. In Berlin he records his probably best album "Heroes" on which he sings abouts his drug experiences. The title song is recorded in German and French as well and is the title song of "Christiane F." (see above).

In the Eighties his fame fades somehow, critics want to have discovered that Bowie is burned out.
Nevertheless he has his greatest commercial success in this time, with the titles "China Girl" and "Let's Dance".
In the meantime David Bowie gets into the Internet, the medium that is suitable for the play with virtual identities like hardly any other. In autumn 1999 he publishes his new album "hours" first in the internet and also appears as Internet provider.

He remains wild at heart with his albums "Heathen" and "Reality". He lives mainly in New York at the moment.

The Frankfurte Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) titles today "The wise peacock - David Bowie turns 60" and writes:
"Bowie's most memorable musical and acting gestures evoke an cunning vain, haggard bone-dry eros and reject with all determination the virile Rock'n Roll vitalism, which worships unique specimens with back hair and liquor in the beard."

Couldn't say it better.

Happy Birthday David Bowie!

Lost in time and lost in space......

2007-01-04T15:17:00.000+01:00

and meaning.

Hello to everybody out there! A Happy New Year 2007 to all of you my fellow readers.

I hope I haven't annoyed you because of my absence in the last let's say three month. Or have it been more?
It seems like we have gone through a black hole in time. Everything culminated in December, I have written about some things that have happened.
Well we moved into our house eventually. You could say this took place on December 15th. That was when we slept there first. Exhausted on one hand but lucky on the other hand.
We have no garden (at least what could count as European or even English garden) but will have enough space to create one.
Our garage is close to decay, the door is hanging on one hinge.
Our entrance is still like it has been before. Beautiful but leaky.
Our fence is rotten.
But our house shines and looks like being (almost) new. I will post a picture soon and you can compare it with the original look.
I will never forget the renovation time. Many sorrows and some regrets but also I have learned a lot of things and words I have never heard before.
Like Fasche, Abziehklinge, Exzenterschleifer, Beitel, Donaukies, französischer Balkon, Bitumen. Don't ask me about the English names.
I haven't become sick in all this stress, no wonder I didn't have the time. But even afterwards I'm still fine, knock on wood!
Tina was sick on the day of our removal, but she managed to get through the day. My brave wife!
Emma didn't want to move into the building site (that was her name for our house) first but that lasted only two days or so.
She can still visit our old appartment because her day mother has moved in there. It would be funny to know what she thinks about this.
We also enjoyed the absence on christmas when we visited our parents. But there is still a lot to do in our house of course.
I'm back to work since Tuesday. We have a new organisational structure. But this is another story and will be told another time.

Which leads us to the starting point of my post again.

I hope I will find the time to blog a lot more during the next months. I think there will be something on my mind.

Christmas at Berlin, Alexanderplatz

2006-12-18T11:00:00.000+01:00

Christmas at the Alexanderplatz (Of Tanja Dückers)

One two three Punks come
towards me on the escalator
the tallest a lanky
guy with blond straggly hair
and nose ring looks at me
for a moment with his light
red-veined eyes
I love you he suddenly bawls
I love you too I shout so
airily over the shoulder
Really? I can hear just about
when I'm vanishing in the suburban train
and he downwards.

10000 readers - or so much to do and so little time

2006-11-30T16:58:00.000+01:00

First of all I'd like to thank my fellow readers for the fact that I have reached the number of 10.000 visits of my blog.
Of course I know that there are blog who get this number every day but I'm not that important. It took me about 1 1/2 years to get there, but I think this is not bad at all.
A lot of things have happened since my last entry as you can possibly imagine:

Our house is almost finished. Well, almost is an elastic word.
We got used to spend money like water but we do not care anymore. Astonishingly we are not out of balance so much. Although I have no explanation for this. Besides I haven't spent a cent for me in months and Tina as well.
We are stressed like hell. The fact that my mother-in-law had a severe heart-attack last week led to a peak that is hard to bear.
But little Emma had the next checkup at her doctor and a litte "baby exam" by the way. No surprise, she did very very well. She is our little smartie, that's clear. I'm very proud of her. You should only hear her sing. She sang "Happy Birthday" (just to remember you, she is German) perfectly for her friend Sophia last week. Everybody melted.
I'm still at work with crazy problems occuring although I do not know how I can handle the situation at all. But I do not think about it. That helps. It seems they still need me here. Isn't that funny?
Nevertheless I will go and play soccer tonight. And I will score like nobody else like always. I'm a killer. Ehehehe!

A little poem will close this little story:

Was ich unter anderem noch schreiben will (Von Rainer Malkowski)

Einen schimmernden Vers
über einen Frauenschenkel.

Meinen Dank an einen Rock,
der wusste,
wann er sich zurückziehen muss.

Ein Spottlied
über alternde Männer,
die sich zum Narren machen.

Eine Verteidigungsrede
für jede Narrheit,
die das Leben ist.

My translation:

What I still want to write among other things (Of Rainer Malkowski)

A shimmering verse
about a woman's thigh.

My thanks to a skirt,
which knew,
when it had to withdraw.

A mocking song
about aging men,
who make a fool of themselves.

A defending speech
for every folly,
which is life.

Isn't that a beautiful poem?

News from poetry part XIII - That would be nice

2006-11-16T17:52:00.000+01:00

Das wäre schön (von Heinz Erhardt)

Ich glaube, manche junge Frau,
die würd vor Glück zerspringen,
würd ihr der Klapperstorch zum Kind
auch gleich den Vater bringen.

My translation:

That would be nice (of Heinz Erhardt)

I think, many a young girl,
would shatter of luck,
if the stork would with the child
deliver the father of the puck.

Not that you think this poem has something to do with my past!

News from poetry part XII - Love song

2006-11-10T09:40:00.000+01:00

I'm into poetry at the moment. So here we go:

Liebeslied (Von Alfred Lichtenstein)

Helle Länder sind deine Augen.

Vögelchen sind deine Blicke,
zierliche Winke aus Tüchern beim Abschied.
In deinem Lächeln ruh ich wie in spielenden Booten.
Deine kleinen Geschichten sind aus Seide.

Ich muss dich immer ansehen.

My translation:

Love song (of Alfred Lichtenstein)

Light countries are your eyes.

Birdies are your looks,
dainty waves of cloths for farewell.
In your smile I rest like in playing boats.
Your little stories are made of silk.

I have to look at you all the time.

Borat causes problems to Wikipedia, Kazakhstan and to the U.S. and A.

2006-11-07T18:32:00.000+01:00

Borat, 35, popular buffoon because of his film causes problems to the internet encyclopedia Wikipedia.
The Wikipedia persons in charge have blocked the English entry for Kazakhstan for changes.
The reasons were some jokers who announced the British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays a Kazakh reporter in the film, to the head of state!
The Borat fans also changed the lyrics of the the Kazakh national anthem. Temporarily there was written: "Kazakhstan greatest land of the world. All other countries ruled by little girls."
Other jokers added the wrong information that women in Kazakhstan were not allowed to drive in buses until 1978.
I have seen the film and had to laugh out loud even at the most political uncorrect scenes. This is America holding a mirror before itself. A deep look in the deep black American soul. As I heard Borat caused an aisle of journalistic rumour on his way through U.S. and A. (That's how he pronounced the name). He was on TV, on the radio, in the newspapers. And he tried to force Pamela Anderson (!) to marry him. With putting a sack over her head, when she showed unwillingness.
I wonder what kind of reception this movies has in the States. Can anybody tell me?
Kazakhstan also tried to avoid getting to close to the picture Borat draws of it.

News from poetry part XI - Autumn's day

2006-11-06T14:57:00.000+01:00

Herbsttag (Of Rainer Maria Rilke)

Herr: es ist Zeit. Der Sommer war sehr groß.
Leg deinen Schatten auf die Sonnenuhren,
und auf den Fluren laß die Winde los.

Befiehl den letzten Früchten voll zu sein;
gib ihnen noch zwei südlichere Tage,
dränge sie zur Vollendung hin und jage
die letzte Süße in den schweren Wein.

Wer jetzt kein Haus hat, baut sich keines mehr.
Wer jetzt allein ist, wird es lange bleiben,
wird wachen, lesen, lange Briefe schreiben
und wird in den Alleen hin und her
unruhig wandern, wenn die Blätter treiben.

My translation:

Autumn's day (Of Rainer Maria Rilke)

Lord: it is time. The summer was very big.
Put your shadow on the sundials,
and let the winds loose in the rig.

Command the latest fruits to be just fine;
give them still two more southern days,
urge them to perfection and chase
the last sweetness in the heavy wine.

Who yet no house has, constructs himself not anymore.
Who is lonely now, will remain this for a period long,
will waken, read and write letters strong
and will in the avenues to and fro
wander uneasily, when the leaves drift along.

Modern physiologies - Israel hater / Arab sympathizer

2006-11-03T13:46:00.000+01:00

We could sing a song of protest about the growing animosity towards Israel in Germany, where for a change the "average German" and the "Elite Pack" are agreed.
There is much under-the-breath muttering, growling and whining of that old chorus: The Jews are to blame for everything! And when faced with reflex accusations of anti-Semitism, today's Jew-haters reply coolly: "Surely one can criticise one's friends!"
The Germans have a steely eye on the Jews in Israel, and a moist eye on the Arabs in Palestine. But the German romantic sympathy for the Islamists in the Middle East conflict has its reasons. To the German mind, the Arabs are maniacs, immature third-class citizens, quite beyond the reaches of humane Enlightenment.
This German sympathy is a sort of patronising contempt. The gushing respect for foreigners is nothing but self-satisfied arrogance. You can see the multi-cultural rhapsodising of people as the flip-side of the sinister racism of yesteryear.

News from poetry part X - Kiss

2006-11-02T12:23:00.000+01:00

Kuss (Von Franz Grillparzer)

Auf die Hände küsst die Achtung,
Freundschaft auf die offne Stirne,
Auf die Wange Wohlgefallen,
Selge Liebe auf den Mund;
Aufs geschlossne Aug die Sehnsucht,
In die hohle Hand Verlangen,
Arm und Nacken die Begierde,
Überall sonst hin Raserei.

My translastion:

Kiss (Of Frank Grillparzer)

On the hands kisses the esteem,
Friendship on the open forehead,
On the cheek the pleasure,
Blissful love on the mouth;
On closed eyes the longing,
In the hollow of a hand craving,
Arm and neck the desire,
On any other spot frenzy.

Element of crime - Kiss & Ridezone

2006-10-27T10:09:00.000+02:00

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

2006-10-26T13:52:00.000+02:00

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

2006-10-25T17:21:00.000+02:00

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

2006-10-20T15:44:00.000+02:00

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

The return of Dirkules or the German Wunderkind

2006-10-20T15:27:00.000+02:00

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.

2006-10-19T11:47:00.000+02:00

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

2006-10-17T15:57:00.000+02:00

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

2006-10-17T10:32:00.000+02:00

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!

2006-10-12T16:36:00.000+02:00

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

2006-10-10T17:38:00.000+02:00

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

2006-10-09T12:14:00.000+02:00

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

2006-10-05T13:50:00.000+02:00

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."

What Tupperware was created for

2006-09-29T15:59:00.000+02:00

Translation: Finally also Heinz recognized the benefits of Tupperware.

Brewed with passion in Germany

2006-09-29T11:19:00.000+02:00

Germany is famous for its beer. For me as a passionate beer drinker the short distance to the "Fränkische Schweiz" is perfect.

The Franconian Switzerland is the region with the highest brewery density in the world. Several hundred breweries altogether, nearly every small village has one or more own breweries. So beer plays an important role on every festivity like the traditional "Kärwas", originally a service to reconsecrate the village church, but today occasion for merriment and festivities, beer included.

The "Franconian Switzerland", a region in Northern Bavaria, is one of the oldest and most popular holiday areas of Germany. The creative artists of the Romantic movement once discovered this region and baptized it.
There is hardly any other countryside that holds as many contrasts within such a small area: soaring towers atop rocky cliffs, winding valleys, blossoming orchards, mysterious and enchanting caves. Unspoilt nature, sometimes from its endearing side, sometimes rather harsh, and worth a journey of discovery at any time of the year!

I met Tina in the heart of this countryside in Ebermannstadt. We still like to go there and we celebrated our wedding and the baptism of Emma in Franconian Switzerland. Our dream is to rent an appartement there for the weekends. But at the moment we are broke and this has to wait. But we enjoy daily trips at the weekends, for example to the Wildpark Hundshaupten (a beautiful wildlife park).

News from poetry part VII - Idyll

2006-09-28T15:30:00.000+02:00

Idylle (of Volker von Toerne)

Im Gras zirpt eine Grille
Im Dorfe bellt ein Hund
Wie ist die Nacht so stille
Leg dich zu mir, Sybille
Und reich mir deinen Mund

Der Wind riecht nach Kamille
Nach Rosen und nach Raps
Leg dich zu mir, Sybille
Dein Mund hat mehr Promille
als scharfer Zwetschgenschnaps.

Streif ab die letzte Hülle
Die dich von mir noch trennt
Ich teil mit dir, Sybille
Des Sommers dunkle Fülle
Was man so Liebe nennt

Leg dich zu mir, Sybille
Warum bist du so scheu?
Wozu gibt es die Pille?
Im Gras zirpt eine Grille
Leg dich zu mir ins Heu.

So ist es Gottes Wille
Er schuf ja auch das Heu
Er schuf im Gras die Grille
Und mich und dich, Sybille
Und auch die Nacht: Ahoi.

Europe draws first blood and gains a three-peat - Ryder Cup 2006

2006-09-27T14:20:00.000+02:00

The story unfolded, as it has done in so many Ryder Cups, with Colin Montgomerie (Monty). Sent out by captain Woosnam at the top of the order and charged with the task of setting an example for those to follow, the Scotsman made a nerve-racking up-and-down birdie from a bunker at the 18th to close out a one hole win over David Toms, and in the process extend his amazing unbeaten run to eight singles matches.

It was first blood to Europe and from there they never looked back.

That was the start of the single matches. The foursomes and four-balls also went to Europe. Another record victory of 18 1/2 points to 9 1/2.
They said it couldn’t be done. Not again. Especially not on a course that was designed by an American and suited the style of their players. But to the backdrop of arguably the most emotionally-charged scenes ever witnessed at a golf tournament, Europe won The 2006 Ryder Cup at The K Club by exactly the margin of two years ago!

2004 it was the story of Bernhard Langer, the top German golfer. He was captain then and he managed to form an outstanding European team. And even played his best golf at the age of 47.
2006 it was the story of pumped-up Sergio Garcia who inspired Europe to lead in the foursome and four-ball matches, playing with Olazabal (with whom else? Ole, the Spanish!) and Donald.

That means the winner is Europe for the third time in a row (2002-2004-2006). Go and repeat the three-peat, Europe!

Canadian Politics - Gerard Kennedy or: the Liberal golden boy plays it cool

2006-09-25T15:14:00.000+02:00

Okay, Steve you got me. No I will try and see, how many hits I will get from various blog-search sites from people who are apparently constantly scanning the blogosphere to make sure nobody's saying anything negative about Gerard Kennedy.
I didn't even know this guy before, but now I have found out some facts.

He is a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. Formerly, he was a provincial politician who represented the riding of Parkdale-Highparks in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1996 to 2006 as a Member of Provincial Parliament for the Ontario Liberal Party and formerly was Ontario's Minister of Education (2003-2006).
I have found an interesting article about him in the "Eye Weekly" of April 30, 1998 titled:

As Queen's Park gets back to business, the Liberal golden boy plays it cool.

A cite: "In spite of his boring party chores, Kennedy, now 37, apparently still has time to enjoy the "peace dividend" that came after he lost the leadership race. Out of the media glare, Kennedy says he's been renovating his house and considering starting a family with his wife -- the kind of ordinary, banal stuff you can do when you're not spending every moment plotting to become premier. Regarding the latter, Kennedy insists he has no regrets it won't be him taking over Mike Harris' old job if the Liberals' current lead in the polls holds for the next election."

Now he is going for Canada. What will he do, if he loses again?
Rent a flat above a shop? Cut his hair and get a job? Smoke some fags and play some pool? Pretend he never went to school?
I think his house has not yet to be renovated again and the time is up for more kids probably.
He could carry on to write this blog.
He could be vice or domestic to Stéphane Dion, Ken Dryden, Michael Ignatieff or and Bob Rae, if one of these other candidates will win.

As the Blast Furnace Canada Blog (I have to change this name to color red) puts it:

He is a long time social activist, having once run Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank (remark: another job possibility)
He's bilingual (remark: who would list this in Germany?), and having spent time in Québec he has a handle on the rather finicky electorate there (as well as its even wackier politics) that the other candidates are lacking.
More than the other candidates, he's also in it for the short and long term and can easily adapt the party to either a one or two election strategy -- depending on whether Harper can stop stumbling.

So, who could stop Gerard Kennedy?

Could it be that all is not lost after all?

2006-09-25T09:01:00.000+02:00

You could call it a good mood. When the Popkomm trade fair starts today in Berlin, this mood should be a good deal better than it has been in recent years.
Not only because Popkomm's new concept seems to be paying off. Since the fair moved to Berlin from Cologne three years ago (which was sad fpr me, because I had visited it quite often, because my sister lives there), the number of exhibitors has been on the rise and even the major record companies – conspicuous by their absence in recent years – are all here with stands.
After years of steady decline, shrinking sales figures and what looked like certain death, hope has returned to the music industry. Could it be that all is not lost after all?
The crisis in the music industry was never a crisis in music. It was a crisis in music production. And this is exactly where things are taking off once again. For years, if you wanted to talk about something that makes money you had to talk about mobile phone ring tones (!). But now a new buzzword has entered the field: Web 2.0. A chic new term from America roughly translates as: the Internet is changing. It's becoming more interactive, receivers are becoming broadcasters, and in the course of it all, new communities are taking shape.
And there's a good deal of truth to this picture. Just as the Napster music exchange platform played a key role in increasing the popularity of Web 1.0 in the late 1990s, music is also a major force in popularising Web 2.0. A good part of the dynamic that pages like myspace.com and youtube.com have unleashed comes from their music content. The communities that emerge on myspace often share musical interests. And one major reason for youtube being so attractive is that it shows music videos no longer being broadcast on MTV.

We are building character

2006-09-22T09:48:00.000+02:00

Actually we are building our house. But this kind of builds your character as well.
We are having a strenuous time, with a lot of decisions to be made, a lot of the discussions with craftsmen and the architect, a lot of material to find and buy (have you heard of steeknails with riffle and wheel head or isosceles anglesteel?)
But I think when we have gone through all of this, our little family will be welded together even more than before.
Right now the outside of our house looks perfect, with a new roof, new windows and a new facade.
But let us not talk about the inside. It sends shivers down my spine when I see this. I'm dreaming of sacks of plaster: Cement, lime-cement, plaster, loam..........a science of its own.
And I think I have lost the manual.

As we have a wood-pellet heating, I hope we will not have a lot of coal in our stocking.
And by the way, of course blogging builds character as well.

And it's cool if you keep quiet - but I like singing

2006-09-20T14:05:00.000+02:00

Of course I like singing, I love singing. And Emma seems to have inherited this compassion.
She either wants to get stories told or to sing songs with us. She does not care for heavy demands, accuracy, pitch or certainty of lyrics.
Sometimes we are just joking around and I am inventing nonsense songs. Then she keeps repeating: One more time, daddy. One more time, daddy.
When she is tired she keeps repeating songs very fast and inarticulate, like a prayer wheel.

Some of her latest favourite songs are:

Polonaise Blankenese by Gottlieb Wendhals! (a carnival song)
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi (a lullaby, learned by her grandma)
Auf de schwäb´sche Eisenbahne (with special German dialect)

When I asked her if she would be my little sweet pumpkin muffin pie (or something similar in German) some days ago she replied:

No! Emma S.

Happy World Children's Day, Emma!

Scent of a woman - the movie "Perfume"

2006-09-15T15:04:00.000+02:00

The film version of Patrick Süskind's "Perfume" came out in Germany yesterday.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung publishes an interview with director Tom Tykwer, as well as author Franz Josef Görtz' recollections of reading the preprint of the book in the paper's Feuilleton in 1984.
Michael Althen, for his part, enthuses over the film's "breathtaking images" and defends it against its critics: "In an unprecedented skirmish for top critical spot, the film was reproached for weeks before its release of continually showing the protagonist's nose.
That's like accusing a porn film of constantly showing sexual organs. That's what it's all about.
Of course Frank Griebe's nimble, lyrical camera is going to keep coming back to Ben Whishaw's nose. Moreover, it is downright sucked in by it, before being wafted away just like fragrances in the wind. And of course it's a feast for the eyes to see how odours are set in shining, colourful images, like lavender blooming in the fields and the golden brilliance of mirabelles."

I heard that music plays a main part in creating imaginations in the movie.
There seem to be only little and half-hearted attempts to visualize scents with computer animation.
But anyway I'm looking forward to watching the movie soon. I loved the book of Patrick Süskind. I think I have to read it again before I go to the movies.

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille does not smell.

News from poetry part VI - For one

2006-09-14T08:02:00.000+02:00

A very nice poem of Mascha Kaleko which I discovered today:

Für Einen

Die Andern sind das weite Meer.
Du aber bist der Hafen.
So glaube mir: kannst ruhig schlafen,
Ich steure immer wieder her.

Denn all die Stürme, die mich trafen,
Sie ließen meine Segel leer.
Die Andern sind das bunte Meer,
Du aber bist der Hafen.

Du bist der Leuchtturm. Letztes Ziel.
Kannst, Liebster, ruhig schlafen.
Die Andern ... das ist Wellen-Spiel,
Du aber bist der Hafen.

I will try a translation:

For One

Others are the open sea,
but you are the harbor.
So believe me: You can sleep still,
I'll always navigate to you.

Cause all the storms that hit me,
left my sails all empty.
Others are the colored sea,
but you are my harbor.

You are the lighthouse. Final destination.
My dear, you can sleep still.
Others....they are a game of waves,
but you are my harbor.

RIAS Berlin - Radio in the American sector Berlin

2006-09-13T16:02:00.000+02:00

When I have written about radio some days ago, one of my favourite radio station in my youth came to my mind.
RIAS = Radio in the American sector
It was located in Berlin and not easy to receive where I grew up. But we listened to it carefully as the perfect alternative to mainly mainstream and commercial conventional radio stations.

Founded by the United States of America, DIAS (Wire Broadcasting in the American Sector), later to be known as RIAS (Radio in the American Sector), started broadcasting on February 7, 1946.
From the Blockade of 1948/49 to June 17, 1953, from the Khrushchev ultimatum to the erection of the Wall, from the Kennedy visit to the first Agreement on Permits, up to November 9, 1989, when the Wall finally came down: RIAS BERLIN was the Berlin radio station reporting live from the scene.

RIAS BERLIN, under American administration was special for us. It was the radio station in the famous divided city, and it remained committed to the tradition of rational, critical American journalism. Thus, it was credibility that distinguished this station. Besides the music!
Reunification and the abolition of Berlin’s special status made it necessary to incorporate the station into the German radio landscape.

RIAS BERLIN, “Deutschlandfunk” and “DS-Kultur” were charged with setting up a legally responsible public body as a joint institution of ARD and ZDF to create two nation-wide radio programs.
This aim fulfilled with the foundation of the DeutschlandRadio with the two radion stations Deutschlandfunk (DLF) and Deutschlandradio Kultur.
And then this sad date occured on the schedule:
December 31, 1993, 24:00 hrs: Good-bye RIAS BERLIN!

Nevertheless, the name RIAS continued to exist! This was already provided for by the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America in 1992 in their agreement on the establishment of the RIAS BERLIN COMMISSION. The Commission is to continue the tradition of German-American cooperation in the field of broadcasting and is to promote a new tradition in transatlantic media dialogue in the form of new encounters and relationships between broadcast journalists on both sides of the Atlantic.
Among other things the commision provides an award for excellence in reporting on German-American issues.

There is a community for fans as well, where old broadcasts and highlights can be downloaded or looked at.

We are Pope

2006-09-11T18:11:00.000+02:00

At least pope Benedikt XVI is German........
He is visiting Germany these days. Well, he visits Bavaria to be precise. Munich, Freising, Altötting, Marktl, Regensburg are his destinations. He will be there until next Wednesday.
I heard his speech when he arrived in Munich and it was interesting and not without humour. He compared himself with the bear of the Saint Korbinian, as a beast of burden. The bear was relieved from its load in Rome, he wasn't. He had the smiles on his side for this phrase.
I think "Papa Razzi" (one of his nicknames) will not have the chance to change a lot of things in the catholic church. Therefore he is too old and maybe to conservative. He will be a pope of transition, unless we all underestimate him. Like Pope Johannes XXIII who started the Second Vatican Council at the age of 81!
But there are no signs for this so far. Friendly preserver seems to be his role. Let's see who will manage to reconcile tradition and modern age.

Out of the dark and into the light

2006-09-08T07:33:00.000+02:00

Maybe you have heard about it already. Natascha Kampusch (from Austria) took the chance and escaped after eight years of kidnapping and captivity in a small, underground, soundproof cellar room without windows.
A huge sensation, hardly anybody had believed that she is still alive. The kidnapper commited suicide shortly after he had recognized the flight of his victim.
A big riot started in the mass medias. It is said that huge sums were offered for exclusive stories. But Natascha decided to start a foundation with the money she would get to help maltreated women. Only a small amount should help her to start a "normal" living and to get an education.
I saw the first interview in the Austrian chanell ORF and wednesday and was deeply touched.
Sure she was nervous and looked very fragile but she seems to be a self-confident, eloquent and intelligent young woman. She said that she was stronger than the kidnapper. He couldn't break her although she had to suffer from hunger, attacks of claustrophobia, fear of never be found again. She said that she would have got insane if she hadn't had the chance to leave her "prison" room for a short time almost every day. The first half year she had to stay in the room all the time!
Now she has plans to get an education, maybe study, travel with her family. One of her childhood dreams was to become an actress. But she doesn't like Hollywood.
I hope that she will have the chance to lead a normal life.

Element of decency - Radio (Gaga)

2006-09-07T12:14:00.000+02:00

How I love this old Queen song: Radio Gaga

I'd sit alone and watch your light
My only friend through teenage nights
And everything I had to knowI heard it on my radio
You gave them all those old time stars
Through wars of worlds - invaded by Mars
You made 'em laugh - you made 'em cry
You made us feel like we could fly
Radio
So don't become some background noise
A backdrop for the girls and boys
Who just don't know or just don't care
And just complain when you're not there
You had your time, you had the power
You've yet to have your finest hour
Radio

I'm a passionate Radio listener ever since I grew up. First it was music, my first love. I listened to the charts on Bayern 3 (Hitparade in German) every Friday evening and recorded the songs on a (cassette) tape recorder! How I hated when the beginning or the end was missing, because my finger was too slow or too fast.
We recorded mix tapes for our girls in favour, especially when we had bought our first record player.
We listened to the radio when we driving in our parent's car oftenly. We forced them to listen to "our" music and radio stations some of our bands even remained in their hearts. For example they got addicted to Hubert von Goisern and Haindling, Austrian and German bands respectively.
We listened to Bayern 3 mainly. The private radio station Antenne Bayern appeared in 1988 and changed a lot of things. Katrin Müller-Hohenstein appeared, charmed us all over and even managed to become a sports journalist on TV later (in the famous "Aktuelle Sportstudio").
Nowadays my taste and interest changed to information. Not only about music but politics, science, culture, economics. I found Bayern 2 as the perfect match for my interests.
I have written about it before. But I will continue to promote it because it has deserved it. The perfect mix of country and people, culture and scene, knowlegde and education. There is a live stream as well you can try it out. And let me know what you think.

I met a dragonfly today - nice to meet you caballito del diablo

2006-09-05T13:29:00.000+02:00

I met a patron saint for my blog today. I often go for a walk during the break at noon. Sometimes I go to a little pond in the forest as I did today. I sat down and enjoyed the sunshine.
I realized some nice dragonflies flying around. Suddenly one of them landed on the bench where I was sitting. It seemed to watch me and after a while it started again and landed on my knee. I nearly stopped breathing in order not to drive it away.
The dragonfly was beautiful, with a deep red color and a shimmering body like in the picture above.
I never came closer to a dragonfly in my life and I decided that I had chosen the right name for my blog.
These animals are gorgeous but on the other hand they are awesome. Dragonflies in particular are the raptors of the insect world (even cannibalism takes place!) and absolute masters of maneuverings in flight.

Modern physiologies - B. Becker

2006-09-04T15:02:00.000+02:00

What a story. B. Becker and A. Agassi. Some historicals matches between these both outstanding players. And now the final curtain: B. Becker wins and A. Agassi leaves the stage.
The only thing that's wrong in this story: B. does not stand for Boris but for Benjamin! But both are from Germany.
Benjamin Becker, the world number 112 who is playing just his second grand slam event, sent the 36-year-old Agassi into retirement with a 7-5 6-7 6-4 7-5 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Agassi cried afterwards. "You have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams, dreams I could never have reached without you," the American told the crowd after sobbing for several minutes.
John McEnroe had joked with Agassi about playing against B. Becker before the game. Agassi said that he has a lot of experience in playing this player. A misjudgement.
Bye bye Andre and say hello to Steffi. The will always be the one with 12 more grand slam titles in your family. But 28 titles together this will be hard to overcome.

One year after Katrina - Now it's Nuremberg?

2006-08-29T08:27:00.000+02:00

The Katrina desaster of New Orleans happened one year ago.
But what happened in Nuremberg last night?
A thunderstorm with heavy rain and a whirlwind has caused severe damage in the quarters of Nuremberg Gartenstadt and Falkenheim on Monday evening.
The fire brigade reported of several untiled roofs, damaged extensions and uprooted trees. More than 350 fire fighters were busy with cleanup efforts and pumping out of flooded cellars. The damage adds up to several million Euros.
Fortunately nobody was hurt. Fortunately Nuremberg cannot be compared with Katrina. I hope so much that New Orleans will recover. I heard an interview with a German citizen of New Orleans (a pastor for sailors!) today. He said that there a still looters. Parts of his house which is renovated at the moment were tore down for example.
The national guard is back in town because the local police is overstrained. Many citizens still didn't come back. There are fears of a new hurricane as well.

Faded myths - 1. FC Nürnberg

2006-08-28T17:43:00.000+02:00

A little miracle has happened. After three games the 1. FC Nürnberg (nickname: Der Club) leads the German soccer league Bundesliga. 2 victories, one tied game, no goal against so far.
This has happened last in 1967/1968, the year of the last (of nine) championships!
Der Club, often mocked as "elevator" team, because of oscillating between the first and second German league.
Der Club, of which a saying exists: "Der Club is a Depp" (Der Club is a fool)
Der Club, those team which seemed so incapable to the coach Peter Neururer in November 2005, that he refused an offer via SMS and preferred an engagement at Hannover 96. He presumed better perspecitves there. Well at this time the Club was 18th (and last). But now: Hannover 96 is 18th and last with three losses and Neururer stands close before dismissal. It needs no personal malice against Neururer anymore, fate itself has procured the fun for the Club fans.
Der Club with the most enthusiastic fans in Germany. Capable of suffering and sorely tried. The home page Clubberer tells of it and offers a lot of details.
Der Club with a special fan song: Ich bin a Clubberer und ich wärs a immer bleim. Ogmalt hab ich schwarz und rot mei Fensterscheibn. Mei Nachbarn sochn ich kör in a Therapie. Und an jeds Münchner Auto bruns ma aweng hie. Translation to follow........

I will decide at the end of this season whether the Club will turn from faded mythos to mythos again. I will cross fingers for my Club of course.

Let he who has not sinned throw the first stone - The discussion about Günter Grass

2006-08-25T13:11:00.000+02:00

After Günter Grass confessed that he was a member of Waffen SS at 17, Germany erupted

The admission of German Nobel Prize-winning author Günter Grass that he was a member of the Waffen-SS during World War II has provoked everything from rage to empathy in the German press.

Until now, biographies of the writer, who was born in 1927, have asserted that Grass was conscripted as anti-aircraft personnel in 1944 and then served as a soldier. After being injured on April 20, 1945, he was taken into war captivity by the Americans.

On August 12, Grass explained in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (excerpt in German) that he was not in the armed forces but in fact in the Waffen SS, in the 10th SS tank division "Frundsberg". He said he was called up in the late summer of 1944 when he was just about 17. The following autumn and winter he was trained as member of a tank crew and he was involved in rearguard action of the German army in Lausitz in March and April 1945, until he was wounded on April 20. He ended up in an American war prison soon afterwards.

A huge discussion emerged after the confession. The where different reactions like disappointment, anger, understanding, incomprehension but never indifference.
Germany's most celebrated living writer, the Nobel Prize winner, the conscience of the nation, the writer of legends, was a member of the Waffen-SS...
A cheap joke of history? Or a truth whose bitterness cannot yet be fully measured?
I tend to think the first way. Grass was still a boy when he was called up. He hasn't become an element of war crime. The action lasted only a few months. And even later, he never portrayed himself as a resistance fighter
Sure one can ask and criticize why he hasn't revealed this secret earlier. Would the reception of his work been different? Would he have been suggested for the Nobel Prize?
But on the other hand, he has disclosed. He wasn't forced to. How many people didn't disclose their failures and became esteemed member of German society? Nobody knows.
This is a courageous act of Günter Grass and hopefully it is not meant as an advertising campaign for a publicity addict who has written a new book. Why he did not speak much earlier about his own entanglement, nobody will now except him.

Like the historian Michael Wolffsohn said: "You too, GG... ? You too are going to ooze the truth!

Glad to be in the office again- now the recovery from the holiday begins for Konrad the builder

2006-08-23T17:58:00.000+02:00

So I'm back. I need a recovery from the holiday. Three weeks of physical work have ended and now I'm staring into the PC again. The only things I move are my fingers on the keyboard.
It feels a little strange because it's so totally different. Not that I would want to work on a building site for the rest of my life, no! It's hard, hard work.
But it was nice to see our house changing and lend a helping hand as well. I have done something and that will stay.
Friends of ours are building a new house and complain about not having the chance to do so. I can understand this now.
No the craftsmen are at work mainly. But there will be still a lot of things to do for us, especially at the weekends.

Room with a view

2006-08-16T17:41:00.000+02:00

One of the first photos of our house. I'm working like a dog, but man it's fun as well. You can clearly see, it's a building site. The roofers are working. The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire......I remember this song now....

Wo man singt, da laß Dich ruhig nieder - böse Menschen haben keine Lieder. Or: Emma, our little singer.

2006-08-10T22:11:00.000+02:00

Emma has started to sing whole songs. That's amazing for a little girl, who is not yet 20 months old.

Her favourite songs so far, that she can sing by heart are:

Alle meine Entchen.
La Le Lu, nur der Mann im Mond schaut zu.
Backe, backe Kuchen.
Es tanzt ein Bi Ba Butzemann in unserem Haus herum.
Hänsel und Gretel.
Der Elefant kommt gerannt.

Besides some poems for little kids and games like "Hoppe hoppe Reiter".

We wonder what happens when she keeps improving her language like this. Probably she will have a greater vocabulary as I have, latest when she turns three.......

Right now she is sleeping like an angel, probably dreaming of all her family members and friends, of whom she is thinking and telling all the time.

So these greetings go to them:

Grandma Karin and Grandpa Eberhard
Grandma Marianne and Grandpa Werner
Aunt Kathi and Jonathan, Julius and Titus (for whom she brushes her teeth first every evening) Aunt Claudia, Hans and Sam (Wau Wau)
Aunt Catrin and Steve (Canada she says, when telling of them)
Uncle Leonhard, her favourite
Uncle Kilian, Anna and Leander, Valentin and Clara
"Aunt" Anni (Tina's aunt)
Anna her child minder, Alicia (her best friend), Julian, Baba and Dziadzio
Kerstin, Till and Fiona
Monika, Marlon and Nicolas (America she says, when telling of them)
Christian
Sophia and Sandra
Hanna and Simone
Paula and Petra
Max and Barbara

And many more.

Good night and good luck to all of you.

Sore muscles but sweet thougts

2006-08-04T13:55:00.000+02:00

The building site has started on Monday this week. We are glad that we can start working now. For months it was in our thoughts but kind of vague and obscure. Not we can pump up the volume of the radio and tear down.
Because that is what we do right now. Mainly wallpaper. We have up to 5 layers, that's amazing. And such beautiful wallpaper: Flowers, cork design, geometric design, various colours. Gorgeous. I hope I will never see wallpaper again in my whole life.
We had to cut down 2 small maple leaf trees (sigh!), sorry Canada. We tore down eternit (asbestos) flags, a balcony balustrade and two canopies. A lot of garbage has piled up. But we see progress.
At night wee sleep without dreaming.
Emma is having fun as well, she is talking of the house frequently. And she likes to run around there and screams "Baustelle, Baustelle". And she loves tools as well as toys.

Men at work - our house will rise like a Phoenix (hopefully)

2006-07-28T10:13:00.000+02:00

Now it's a fact. We we are the owners of our house, the keys are in our hands.
We can start next week to renovate, that's exciting.
We are looking forward to it, but of course it will not be easy.
Please cross fingers for us! I will have off the next three weeks and tear down walls, hopefully I can publish some pictures and stories from our building site.
Let's see what the colour of my hair will be in November. Bets are welcome!

Wind of change- Remembrance of German reunification 1989/1990

2006-07-26T10:52:00.000+02:00

I'm going to Erfurt today to visit a customer. This means I'm passing the former iron curtain north of Hof. Now it is only imaginary.
But 17 years ago it would have been very difficult. I only was in East Berlin once but I will always remember the grey and sad atmosphere and the strict customs check.
On of my friends from Vietnam flew from the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia) by train. He was hidden under a lid in the ceiling of the train. How thrilling and frightening this must have been. Imgaine he would have been caught.
Now he is the owner of a Restaurant and an Asian diner with a wife (who also flew the same way!) and two kids.
I remember the crowded highways (especially to and fro Berlin) after the reunification. I had to drive the highway number 9 (A9) frequently and it changed from empty to overcrowded over night. There were thousand of Trabants (nickname Trabbis) on the road. They had a small two-stroke engine with two cylinders and the were stinking like hell. But they are a myth or a least a faded myth. But this is another story to be told.

Heading to 10.000 with Delaware on my mind and vacation ahead

2006-07-25T10:16:00.000+02:00

My visitor counter is increasing enourmously. I'm glad about this. Now I'm heading to 10.000.
I'm also heading to holiday. I'll be off for three weeks from next Monday on.
It won't be that much pleasure though, we will start renovating our house. But at least the project is starting and we are looking forward to moving in in late autumn / early winter.
Money is flowing in and mainly out of our account, that's amazing. I have cancelled the subscription of my finance magazine Finanztest. There won't be any money left to save. So who cares about interest rates at all?
Today I am grass widower, Tina and Emma are at Tina's parents. Maybe I'll go to the movies, I have forgot how that feels.
My music of the month: Sufjan Stevens' "Come on feel the Illinoise". Like the self-proclaimed "Spiderman" who climbed Chicago's Sears Tower with no harness, Sufjan Stevens scales dusty prairies, steel factories, and two hundred years of history in the second installment of his 50 State Project, "ILLINOIS", a 22-track anthematic tone poem to The Prairie State.
I hope for the 48 albums remaining. Sufjan is fabulous. At school we had to give a lecture on American states. Mine was Delaware, one of the smallest states. I wonder when Delaware will be on Sufjan's mind.
His first album was about Michigan. I'm dreaming of visiting the Great Lakes one day.
Maybe because of the weather. It is unbearably hot in Germany, I'm longing for water and rain.

In today's feuilletons - Declaration of war? Israel vs. Lebanon

2006-07-21T15:48:00.000+02:00

Israeli writer Meir Shalev finds the Israeli reaction to Hizbullah's attacks justified, "but too many questions remain, raising suspicion and doubt.

There are too many attacks against civilians, there is no definition of the war objectives, and there is no definition of what would constitute a victory – that is, the end of the operation.
Is the point to secure the return of the captive soldiers?
Or the withdrawal of Hizbullah from Southern Lebanon?
And if yes – how far back do they have to pull back?
Or is the point to kill Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah?
Or the complete dissolution of Hizbullah?
Or is this really all about the fight against worldwide terror and the struggle against Syria and Iran?"

What kind of war is this to wage?
Is this the successor of the Iraque war, where nobody knew the reasons as well (besides the alleged weapons of mass destruction, used as an excuse)?
Is this the new policy of war? Just start it and look for legitimation later if at all. Make facts before anybody can rise his hand.
I think this is highly dangerous, considering the results. This means breeding new enemies in future times. Especially in religiously loaded territories.
Poor people in this region. They can choose between pest and cholera.
On one hand poor islamic fundamentalists (not accepted by the world public) and on the other hand jewish fundamentalists (who lost their head) hated by their neighbours.

Element of crime: Tour de France

2006-07-20T16:02:00.000+02:00

I'm starting a new series today:

Element Of Crime vs. Element Of Decency.

That's the story about good or bad, black or white, devil or angel.
Zwei Herzen schlagen, ach, in meiner Brust. Two hearts are beating in my breast.
The story of good or bad is one of the neverending stories of mankind. Both sides can be interesting and thrilling. What drives people, animals or things to turn to one or the other side? I will think about it and write about it from time to time.

Element of crime: Tour de France

I'm following the stage of today on a live ticker at the moment. The American driver Floyd Landis is leading with about 8 minutes.
The same Floyd Landis that had a breakdown yesterday, when he has lost about 10 minutes and was left to rank 11th. He had led the Tour the day before........and will come back today?
So come on and tell me, that this is all because of water, pasta and vegetables.
Almost all favourites were eliminated before the Tour de France because of overwhelming doping suspects. That included the top favourites Ivan Basso and the German Jan Ullrich.
Floyd Landis came from the Discovery Channel team of Lance Armstrong to his present team Phonak. Yes, Lance Armstrong sevenfold winner and all time leader of victories of the Tour de France (1999-2005). But also burdened with massive allegations of drug use.

Professional cycling is inhuman and supernatural simultaneously. There are reasons to believe that it is impossible to win important races without doping.
But what a life is this to live? You have to ruin your health to become successfull?
But maybe that's the quintessence of professional sports as a whole. I know that is disenchanting. You are one step from prison................Element of crime!

Famous Dutchmen (Germans) / Gone but not forgotten - Rudi Carell

2006-07-18T17:24:00.000+02:00

Rudi Carell, one of Germany's most famous comedians is dead.

He was omnipresent on German T.V. so this is hard to believe. He came from the Netherlands (where he was born) to Germany, in the middle of the sixties.
He was adopted of his fans very fast and lived in Germany (near Bremen) since then.
He even favoured the German soccer team against the Dutch, when they played against each other. Otherwise he favoured the Dutch team.
He never gave up his Dutch nationality.

He was famous for:

Smoking (no wonder he died of lung cancer)
His Dutch accent he never lost (or wanted to lose)
His meticulous working style, he never left anything to chance. It is said that his humour was seldom spontaneously.
Being difficult and not always diplomatic
His never changing haircut.

He was the king of the T.V. weekend in the late seventies and early eighties, when he had big success with the formats "Am laufenden Band" (1974 - 1979) and later "Rudis Tagesshow" (1981 - 1987). It was the high time of the great Saturday evening entertainment, when the whole family gathered round the T.V. screen and the T.V. program determined the following conversation topics.
Not every project of the creative artist was successfull.
Let's not talk about his movies, and only one song remains in memory: "Wann wird's mal wieder richtig Sommer?" (1975).
Some of his shows are forgotten rightly, like "Die Post geht ab" (1993) or "Rudis Suchmaschine".
But all in all he was a T.V. visionary, an imaginative and successfull developer of formats.
We will never forget the fabulous single show "Herzblatt" (1987-1993), which remained on T.V. until this year. Six moderators followed him, but never reached him. And after the Saturday evening genre had almost died out (besides "Wetten, dass.....?"), he created a new forum with the satiric week retrospect "7 Tage 7 Köpfe", which he attended as moderator until 2002 and later as producer.

I saw him last on T.V. in February, a moving last show of strength, when he was awarded the "Goldene Kamera" for his lifework. With a weak voice he commented self-deprecating his cancer sickness and thanked the pharma industry for giving him the chance to be there.

Quo vadis Israel?

2006-07-17T15:48:00.000+02:00

The current outbreak of violence demonstrates an extremely problematic similarity to the position of the Lebanese government and the Palestinian authority with respect to Israel. Both have two heads which contradict each other; one acts in a 'stately' way, meaning in a political framework and relatively moderately, the other considers itself free to act as it wishes. It is willing to use terror against civilians, engages a racist rhetoric and openly demands the elimination of Israel. This double game is one of the reasons it's so hard to reach a tenable agreement between Israel and its neighbours.

Is there still an influence of the moderate Arabic world? Can Europe have any influence? What about the U.S.? Mainly silence at the moment, when we neglect the statement of the G8 states and some diplomatic actions. Are we heading to war?
It is very questionable if violence can be reasonably answered with counterviolence. On the other no state wants to be open to blackmail. But who has to take the first step towards the opponent? Normally the aggressor. In my opinion this would be Lebanon.
But with the ongoing spiral of force Israel will not gain many friends in the Arabic world. It could lose sight of a goal worth fighting for. The situation is complex enough. Maybe ceasefire and start thinking wouldn't be the worst at the moment.

Oh what a week!

2006-07-17T08:41:00.000+02:00

Amazing week it was last week. My blog seemed to rise out of a Sleeping Beauty Sleep. It was kissed by an iceberg. A cool breath I guess. Hopefully some of the reeders will remain. I would be very glad. So all of you out there, welcome to the pleasuredome! Stay tuned and hopefully you will not regret it. I will head for the 10.000th visitor. Bets are wellcome when this sound barrier will be broken................

Over, over, the game is over - Germany is .........third

2006-07-13T14:41:00.000+02:00

It's all over now baby blue. Now that it's over I wonder if we are in the Soccer World Championship 2006 blues.

Life seems to be unreal:

Still cars are driving around with their Germany flags
German fans showed huge emotions and celebrated like hell, noboby had expected this before
I turn on my T.V. in the evening but there is no soccer, I wonder why
Germany has become third and emerged to the ninth place of the world ranking (nineteenth place before)
But our coach Jürgen Klinsmann quitted his job and now we have a Bundes-Jogi (nickname of the new coach Joachim Löw, former assistant coach)
Klinsmann said the is longing for more privacy and that he is burned out, probably he is still angry about unfair coverage before the championship
Zinedine Zidane was awarded for best player of the championship, the same player that knocked down Materazzi of Italy (see picture) with his head some minutes before penalty shooting in the final game; France lost, no wonder. Zidane would have been the best penalty shooter. Well has been, he retired
After the quarter finals it was a European Championship; Germany, Italy, France and Portugal remained
Miroslaw Klose (pretty "German" name) was awarded for best goalgetter (5 goals)
Only one African team overcame the first round. But Ghana lost the next game against Brazil (later defeated by France [sic], Zidane)
The next Soccer World Championship will take place in South Africa 2010