Poor Jesus

My back got better and I even went training this morning. Feel much better. Also talked to Neil and Ian. Both have birthdays now, as does Stefan Sch., but I forgot to mention him in my monthly report. Sorry, Stefan. 

When you train your mind goes everywhere. There is nothing much to do except listen to the stupid English pop songs on/in the radio. Why do Germans listen to pop songs in English with idiotic words and voices from young people who can't sing/ are tone deaf? Answers on a postcard to............

I usually have my earphones on and listen to my selection of classical music. And so it was today. My mind mused over all the 'hick-hack', stress and running around to buy things most of us don't need. I thought about what Christmas has become. The word comes from Jesus Christ and a mass/messe. I wonder what Jesus would have said about it if he had been training with me this morning. Interesting thought!

Of course there is no evidence at all that this man existed. Some claim he was a fantasy created by Paul to modernise Judaism. Others deny this and make other claims. Take your pick or just ignore it all. I try to but it is not easy. Just turn your radio on tomorrow to hear that another man has murdered people in the name of religion. Not easy to ignore is it?  I wonder what Jesus would say about it all! 

Two images I recently received present this very well. One is an almost Pre-Raphuelite image of Jesus knocking on a door. Reassuring to note he has the mandatory halo. The message is - "Jesus is coming. Look Busy." Anyone who can remember his/her first job will remember being told to 'look busy' when the Boss came by. Thanks Ian and Birgit for this reminder :-)

The second is an image of Herr Christus with arms out urging us to consume more - but in a negative way. I got it as an E-mail attachment. It is self-explanatory, but a very sad comment on what Christmas now means. I expect to go to my local supermarket on 2 January and be met by displays of Easter Eggs and other Easter products - so I have plenty of time to buy things I don't need. Happy Easter all!

Tidy Up

To tidy up in German means aufräumen. What you do is the same no matter what you call it.

This morning I planned to go to the Training Centre to burn off some calories. I woke with a terrible pain in my lower back. I have had this before, but have no idea why I suddenly had the problem again. I decided not to go for if the trainer noticed I would be in 'hot water'. You are not allowed to train with a back problem.

I decided to pass the non-training time by 'Tidying Up'. I started on my bookcase. I ended up with three plastic bags of books which I had not opened in the last year. Mainly books about teacher training. I shall probably re-cycle them. All are in my cellar awaiting my decision. Look at my bookcase now. It hasn't been so tidy since I moved into the flat.

Then I moved onto updating pictures. The first was to find a better frame for my 'famous' wasps in the garden picture. You can have it for €3 million  = a snippet. It now graces part of the wall in my living room.

I then removed the calender from my kitchen wall and added a new one. It was a present from Mathias and Sylvana - thanks both! Apparently I was somewhere with them and saw the original and liked it. I had forgotten about this but they hadn't. It is perfect for a kitchen wall and I notice I start smiling as soon as I enter and see it. It is called the 'Beleidigte Leberwurst' and was painted by Ernst Kahl.

Finally I got out my German books and did half my homework. I'll do the rest tomorrow. Also hope to go training tomorrow if the back is okay. Have you begun the end of year 'Tidy Up' yet? It's a great feeling after you have done it,  so start as soon as possible!

Merry Sauerbraten

I hope you all had a happy and merry Christmas holiday. I spent Christmas Eve with Marga. You know about her from previous posts. We met a short time ago and one topic was what to do over the holiday weekend.

Marga said she wanted to prepare 'Rheinischer Sauerbraten' How to translate this? It is braised beef marinated for five days in red wine with raisins, almonds, cranberries and herbs/spices served with  cranberry/thick gravy, cooked red cabbage and potato dumplings - or plain boiled potatoes. Mmmmh...delicious!

 I had tasted this dish before, but not cooked in this Rhineland way. Marga comes from there, She learnt to cook it using her mother and grandmother's recipe. She later refined it with her own mix of herbs and spices. I was so full I could not eat the mince pies she had prepared. Here is a photo of the meal with our starter of Champagne. Zum Wohl!

I opened my presents and cards on the 25th, as usual, and you can see the many cards I received with some nice presents. Thanks to all who remembered me and sent them :-) I spent Christmas Day with friends = more eating and drinking.

In the evening I met Jan for a relaxing chat. It was great to see him looking so well and to hearing his news, He also showed me photos of the ship on which he had recently worked. Fascinating, and I was able to follow it all.  I went to bed very late - but very happy!

Fitness Party

Just got back from the Christmas Party at my Fitness Centre. You will probably know that I go there each Friday morning for some movement and stretching. It is led by Kerstin and I like meeting my 'Keep-Fit Oldies'. They also know how to party!

I arrived to see everything ready. All I had to do was sit down. The next thing was open my mouth to enjoy all the homemade food. We started with a toast of Sekt - it is like champagne and often drunk at parties to celebrate a birthday, or any other family event.

Delicious food, intelligent conversation and nice companions. Can't wait for the summer to arrive so I can party with them again!

Goose Leg

Today I ate my first goose leg since this time a year ago. Yes, I do not eat goose very often. The event and place was at the Oldie Centre where I have my Friday Photoshop course.

I joined the Christmas Lunch again. I liked it a year ago so decided to repeat the experience. It was just as nice today! I sat between some friendly Turkish ladies and German couples. Some of us sipped a tasty Spanish red wine as we chewed on our goose legs.

Stefan sat next to me and kindly took a few photos as I enjoyed the meal. You can see a couple here. Tomorrow I am going to a Christmas lunch at my Fitness Centre/Gym headed by Kerstin. Should be fun. I had a great time with them in summer and posted a report and photos to my blog then.

Marco

Last Friday was the last of my Photoshop Gang meetings this year. Has a year really passed so quickly?

We had a number of photos to work on. Most were provided by members of the group from their summer holidays, and that was the problem for me at the start. Too many images, and I had a problem to decide on a concept.

I finally decided on a nice green late summer background. I added other images, and colours that you would never know what the originals were.

Finally I added an image of Marco striding across the scene. He is Stefan's co-worker and had posed for  some photos to work on. Thanks Marco and Merry Christmas to you and your family. See you in January!

Before and After

In my last post I showed a child's toy figure dancing with one of the statues on the River Spree in Berlin. Silke contacted me to give more information.

The toy is called 'Dr. Mabuse' and is only four years old, so he is not one of her son's toys. Silke bought him because he is elastic, and you can move his arms and legs.

On the left, you can see a photo of the room/table where we met to practice using the cameras. On the right you can see the same shot in which Silke added Dr. Mabuse. Nice, you would never image that he was not there when the shot was taken!

Don't believe everything you see in the newspapers!

Silke

You may be wondering who Silke is, and what she looks like, after reading my recent posts. I met her at a local camera club. I noted here talents compared to other members of the club!

Over time we got to know each other better. I learnt that she is a semi-professional photographer with many years experience using different kinds of cameras. She started as a child at school and progressed to developing her own films. She told me she used the family bathroom as a 'dark room' to begin with. I like that!

She now has a considerable collection of cameras, some of which you can see here in the photo on the right. She really learnt her art with cameras made by Praktika.  This was a famous East German company, which unfortunately was closed after reunification.  They were very popular in Britain in the 1960s/70s. My first camera was a Praktika.

I took some photos of her, including one of her posing with her Praktika, which you can see here. She had recently found a camera from the early 1950s, and you can see it in her collection. Thanks for your help, Silke!

Me again

Thanks for your comment Jan. Now I do not feel so bad about showing a couple of photos of me in front of the camera!


The background is that Silke and I met yesterday for a 'Get to know your Camera' session. Of course, it meant taking photos. We used a plastic Christmas tree on the table as the object for practice. Any object will do!

Then Silke took some of me using different lens formats. Here are the results. I like the one on the left best.

The one on the right was taken using a different format and you can see this in the almost un-natural 'golden' colour of the photo.  What do you think?

Spree Tanzen

Silke allowed my to post her picture on this blog. We met yesterday and had a really interesting photo session exploring my camera and seeing what it could do.


She had sent me an image of the dancing figures which you can find on the River Spree near to Ostkreuz and SB-Station Treptow. I reported on this recently and posted some pictures to this blog. You may remember that Silke was with me and took some photographs.

She re-worked one in her Photoshop programme by replacing one of the dancing figures with an image of a stuffed animal. I think it belonged to her son many years ago. The result is remarkable. I have to admit that I am not sure I could do the same using Photoshop, although I think I know how she did it.


There is a lot of time and skill in doing this to this standard. On the left of this text I have placed an image of the figures I took. On the right you can see the one Silke created. Just look at the reflection of the stuffed animal in the water. It looks real - but it is not. She created it and it takes time!

Shoppen

I have been 'shoppen' again. This is modern Deutsch in which the English word 'shopping' has been sucked into modern German. I don't like this trend. Standard German is 'Einkaufen gehen' and I  see no reason why it should be replaced by 'shoppen'!

I went to my local Aldi and found a Medion Loudspeaker system staring at me and whispering. "Buy me!" So I did. I dropped my other loudspeakers on the floor some time ago. They only work when you shake them and somehow get the connections lined up. I thought it was time for an early Christmas present to myself.

They also reminded me of the smaller ones I bought for Ian and Birgit in Beijing. Medion is now part of the Chinese Lenova Group, so that was another connection forcing me to deposit all of €8.99 to get the boxes. The worked instantly and produced a clear round sound = essential for listening to classical music!

Xmas Party

Last night I went to the GLS College. It was time for the ELTABB Christmas Party in their restaurant. As you know, I co-founded this teachers association seventeen years ago.

A mixture of older and newer members attended, and I really enjoyed the evening. Lots of talking and catching up with news. You know all about this so you don't need me to tell you!




I took my 'old' Nikon 2200 and snapped a few pics. I attach a number here so you can see what nice people were there. Good camera, but even I am now beginning to see its limitations.

 Jan, I hope you are happy to see me behind the camera again, rather than in front of it! And did you read Silke's response to your post in the Comments section of the Hot Sausage post?

Ende der Erde

Many thanks for your comment Jan. You are right, but more people seem to want to photograph me :-)

And now to another piece of art I have just produced in the Photoshop Gang. It is available for purchase at the low price of  €300,000. A bargain! It is the' end of the earth' which I created in a photograph of an old gallery. I think you can clearly see CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere, behind which you can see the earth choking on the stuff and changing.

I am shortly leaving for the eltabb Christmas Dinner. Mmmmh --- I have an appetite and it will be nice to see old friends again. I plan a weekend of sports, activities and relaxing to prepare for another busy week. Enjoy your weekend!

Hot sausage

I got a hot sausage just after I walked into my camera club room yesterday evening! I also got some 'Bautzen Senf' (mustard) and potato salad to eat with it = traditional mix. Silke took some photos and here are a couple of the results. Thanks for the photos Silke!

The food was excellent and there were some interesting discussions about how Christmas is celebrated in Germany and England. Most comments were about food and drink - no surprise there!

I am not sure I shall continue in this small group. I need more advice about how to use my new camera which is not the case in the group. Fortunately, Silke has volunteered to help me. We are meeting next Tuesday to experiment with the camera and see what it can do.

Meanwhile, tomorrow evening I am going to the English teacher association Christmas Dinner and looking forward to seeing old friends again. It marks the start of a two week session of meetings based on food and drink. How about that Andrea?

Tripod

 I bought a tripod this afternoon. I had never bought one before. Something new in my life.
The background is that an area on the main road near the S-Bahn has been re-developed. It is now a complex of shops and offices including a public area. A supermarket chain called Penny opened a store there a few days ago.

 This afternoon I wandered around the store to see what was different from other supermarket chains. I notice that nothing was different appart from the colours and marketing blurbs. Then I noticed a tripod on offer.It is sold under the German Hama brand but I noticed the legand 'Made in China' in very small print on the box! I bought it and will learn how to use it with my new(ish) camera.

Before my shopping expedition, I did lots of photocopying of a range of documents I need for next Monday. I am going to Marga's on Thursday, after teaching, so she can help me fill out the eight page form. I think we shall have time for a bite to eat and a nice glass of wine!

Greek Party

After our Photoshop session, we went into the main room for a Greek Party.

I really enjoyed it. It started with coffee/tea and lots of cakes/biscuits and lots of talking.


As we waited for the choir to get ready, I asked Stefan to take a few seasonal shots of me. One is of me posing with the Christmas tree, and the other is of me doing a take on 'Play it again, Sam'. I played a C minor chord which surprised Stefan. He didn't know I had piano lessons until I was 15!


If you know this music/film you are showing your age!

Then the choir arrived and we all settled down for a pleasant musical session. I took a few pics of the choir and the appreciative audience - here is one.

A very nice way to end a Friday afternoon and launch you into the evening.

The choir is called 'Polyphonia Berlin: Deutsch-griechischer Chor e.V.' All are amateur but excellent!

Me the model

Had an interesting week ending with a meeting with my Friday photoshop gang this afternoon. Stefan greeted me with a print-out of a picture he had created.

It is of me in a Trabbi driving through Potsdamer Platz with cranes in the background. Of course, it is not true but a clever mixture of photos. Thanks Stefan!

During out meeting, Herr Schröder decided to create a new work of art. He put me into a horse and coach and put all into a park. Very nice and thanks to you Herr Schröder!

I worked on my own creation and took a summer background and added images. The idea was to practice how to cut out objects. I did that and added to the background.  You can see the result here.

  Unfortunately, when reducing pictures for this blog I loose a lot of detail. This is very clear in the message on the head of the snowman. Translated from German it means - The Easter bunnies are already here!

It is a sarcastic comment about the commercial practice of supermarkets filling up their shelves with products for the next season just as the current one is over.
I think it means we have to suffer 3/4 months of Easter products before we get to Easter! I don't like it - what about you?

December 2011

It's that time again = my monthly report. When you see my friend the monkey, you know it is that time of the month :-) As I began to write, my radio station started to play Beethoven's String Quartet in A Minor, Opus 132. If I could only take one piece of music with me to a desert island it would be this composition. For me it contains all of life's experiences

It is in five parts. Each is a gem - but just listen to the third. It is the slow movement called Molto Adagio. On your copy, you may have the German subtext he wrote "Heiliger Dankgesang eines Genesenen an die Gottheit, in der Lydischen Tonart".  It makes my toes, fingers and other parts of my body curl up on hearing it, and I have to stop whatever I am doing to listen.

He wrote it at the end of his life, just after he had recovered from a serious illness. It was his thank-you to God that he had recovered, and that is the main point in the German text above. Sadly he died shortly after. Some music historians think he knew he was about to die, others say this is rubbish. It does not matter what they say, the music speaks for itself. He was also deaf when he wrote it. Not a bad achievement!

I digress from my monthly report. I've had an interesting month - as you may note from my reports. December is filling out with appointments. My usual activities are in my diaries plus Christmas meetings and parties. As you know I am not religious, far from it, but I go along with joining others as they celebrate things important to them.  We can all enjoy a happy time with family and friends without being religious.  Have a great time!

Now who has a birthday in December? Michael Nixdorf hits 48 on the 5th December, Stefan the Boss of my Photoshop Gang will celebrate his 51st birthday on the 7th ( we shall celebrate with him on the 9th :-)) My Fav-Bro-in-Law Geoff has his big day on the 13th December. His granddaughter  Evie will be 5 years old on the 18th, Jördis will be 32 on the 19th, Julie Bolton hits 37 on the 20th and Neil Dickinson will enter the official retirement club on the 28th December (Nice one Neil!) and Ian ends the month with his 52nd birthday on the 30th December and will celebrate it with Birgit in Sydney, Australia. A big cheers and best wishes to each and all!