Daily Ritual

Peering into a mirror and shaving is a daily ritual for most men. Growing a beard is the best way out of this ritual. The first shave is an important 'rite of passage' for all boys whose voice has deepened and noticed hair growing on the face. And lo it came to pass for A1.

Thanks to a donation from a nice couple who do not live in Europe, I had the funds to buy A1 an electric razor. His father had told me that some of the other boys in his class made fun of his growing 'hirsute' appearance. Time for action. Step 1 was get a razor.

Step 2 was organise a little ritual to mark the event. I went to the Refugee Home where A1 lives with his family in one room. The 'boys' gathered in a wooded area outside the home.  We then started another ritual which generated lots of smiles and laughs.

I told A1 to stand on a stone to make him higher. He then had to hold out his hands. The rest formed a semi-circle and then we bowed to him. Lots of laughter. We bowed three times as A1 started to really like the attention. 'Vadda' then stepped forward and offered son No.1 a present. Son No.2 helped his brother to open the packet. Lots of Ooooohs and Aaaaaahs as the family saw it was an electric razor.

I then told A1 that all men make faces when they shave so he had to practice. He enjoyed that and I got some nice shots. Later they came to my place and I gave the boys a hair trim before A1 switched on the razor and gave himself his first shave. He beamed like a sun as he guided the machine over his cheeks. I took a photo of before and after. The difference is clear.

Little brother A2 looked at me sadly and asked if he could have a razor. I said he had to wait another year. Let's see how long it takes before his beard grows and we repeat the handing over ritual!

All that glitters

All that glitters is not gold! I was reminded of the saying by Daniel for he likes the glitter of silver. We somehow got into conversation about metals for he collects coins and silver objects. I mentioned I had some silver and other things in the cellar and had not seen them for years.

This immediately roused his curiosity and he asked to see them. On a couple of his visits I had forgotten to look in the cellar but last Friday I took the time. I found things covered in newspapers dated 1994/5 in plastic bags. I brought them upstairs and left them for Daniel to unpack.

This he duly did and you can see what was inside. I was very surprised for I had forgotten about most of the things. They represent a much earlier period in my life and when I lived in a house in the UK much larger than my current flat.  I do remember driving to the UK a number of times so I must have packed them into the boot of the car and brought them here.

My problem is a lack of space to display them. They represent India, Turkey and a couple of other countries and I am not sure they will fit in with other objects in my flat. Daniel liked them all and promised to ask his father to repair a broken candlestick when he returns to Berlin.

Now all I have to do is clean them, or just pack then up again and return to the cellar!

Bumming Around

The day after the smoked fish adventure, a postcard dropped into my mailbox. It had taken a couple of weeks to travel from London. Normally you allow 5 days maximum but sometimes I get cards posted even up to 3/4 weeks before delivery. I sometimes wonder if the postal service has gone back to using horses to move mail.

It was from Holger and Gabi - from Bremen area. They went to London for a break and to see their son who is having a 'Gap Year' (it's modern American jargon!) before starting university. I helped his parents to find a very nice family to stay with while he has his 'Gap' and discovers life in London. He is staying with a couple I know from uni days and they have two sons, both of whom are studying. 

I liked the humor of the postcard so decided to share the smile with you. As you can read the card is titled, 'Just Bumming Around in London'. This is a word play on the words ' to bum around'.

It also made me smile for the ladies are running towards The Houses of Parliament wearing nothing but high heels! It reminded me of the culture and values of 1968 when things began to change in Brit-Land. Thanks both for I still smile and have happy memories when I look at it.

Smoked fish

In my last post, I told you I was going to Honow to take Oldie H out for a walk. Yes, we went for a walk but not before a new adventure. We telephoned before my visit and he said he wanted to cook Sunday lunch. I agreed and that I would arrive at 1.00 pm.

All went as planned and I settled into his flat on time. I noted the flowers growing in his garden and the sun shone between hiding behind dark clouds. We returned to his living room and chatted. I could hear the sound of something cooking in the kitchen. Then I saw white smoke coming out of the top of the kitchen door. He didn't.

I told him something was not right in his kitchen. He went in and I heard him say a common swear word in German. I asked what was wrong as I noticed the smoke turn to black and start to fill the living room as well as the kitchen. He said the frying pan was on fire. More black smoke poured in so I opened the door to the garden and went out.

I looked through the kitchen window to see him holding the frying pan. This time there were flames as well as black smoke coming out of the pan. I shouted that he should come into the garden immediately and with the pan. He did just that. Black smoke went into his neighbour's area and I wondered if his/their fire alarm would go off.

It/they didn't as the fat burnt itself out. We waited in the garden for the smoke to leave the rooms. After some time we entered the kitchen with the pan. To my surprise he just poured more oil into the pan, added a couple of pieces of fish and cooked them. The top of the cooker was black as was the kitchen wall.

I did not eat the fish he fried. It was black from the old burnt oil but he clearly didn't notice that. During all this he was not wearing his glasses! I settled for a couple of potatoes with a cucumber salad. That was enough and without the remnant of black, burnt oil in a frying pan.

We later went for a walk and I took a few photos of Spring struggling to burst out. At least we had clean air to breath after the black smoke from his kitchen. Did you eat smoked fish last Sunday?

From above

I'm having a very lazy day and really enjoying it. This morning I cleaned my palace, did all the lesson preparation for next week followed by an hour of Spanish homework. It is for Maria because the class is not meeting next Tuesday afternoon.

On Tuesday afternoon I'm meeting my SPD Oldies for a visit to the Post Museum. I have been there before but it is many years ago. I always enjoy visits to places with this group. Next week is a 'normal' one for me with nothing special - but then this could always change!

On Friday afternoon I met my Photoshop Gang as usual. Over coffee and cakes we got a report from one of the gang about his recent US - Caribbean ships cruise. It was very interesting, but I am still not sure I would like to be stuck on a ship with X thousand Oldies. Sister P. likes it for she goes on such a cruise twice a year with her husband. Perhaps I should try it sometime.

After that we moved into the computer room and started work on changing some photographs. I changed six but decided to show only three in this report. The topic was 'Berlin From Above' and based on photos taken earlier by Stefan. We tried a new programme and I had a lot of fun discovering what it could do.

You can see I played at being the creator of the universe. I decided to add lots of bubbles to the sky over Berlin, the moved to adding a fire explosion to the sky. After playing around with more themes I decided to add light peering into the city from the clouds. Great fun.

Off to Hönow tomorrow to take Oldie H. out for a walk. He needs the movement and it won't do me any harm!

Amtsdeutsch

Das Amtsdeutsch means officalese in English. Its rather negative in both languages. I'm both fighting against it and learning from it. This is a result of trying the help The Family to get a flat. Last Friday a gentleman called Rainer from my Friday Fitness Gang and his wife came to visit. Family Papa was also there.

We found 22 flats online and I registered for all in my name. Rainer helped and then phoned the state owned flat company for an appointment. That was today at 2.00 pm in the north of Marzahn. All a waste of time. The lady in the office was pleasant but it soon became clear that the family did not have the correct document to start the long and winding road to get a flat.

From the main refugee office they got die Aufenthaltsgestatttung but needed der Aufenthaltstitel to start the chase for a flat. All new blah blah to me. I later discovered the former means temporary residence permit and the latter means residence permit. Papa is going back to the responsible office tomorrow to try to get this sorted out. This office gave him all the documents needed to get a flat but not the right kind of permit!

I've had a good week apart from this bureaucratic blah blah. Last night Jan called and we shared news and told each other what was happening in the next stage of a European football match! It was on the box as we talked but we were watching different games.

Alan and Lynne shared a holiday at Butlin's in Skegness via a postcard. See photo. That really brought back memories of my one and only Butlin's holiday with cousin Jean and family about 50 years ago. I had a great time with them. I really like the 1950's imagery. Perhaps I could send The Family there to live :-))

Schoppen

This is a new(ish) word in Dinglish. I don't like it but then some academics say that there are now 11,000 Dinglish words. It starts from the English word shopping and is 'Dinglified' by adding 'c' to sh and then -en instead of -ing because this is the ending of all German verbs. Yuk!

So I met my adopted family at 10.30 am to go 'schoppen' in a 'schoppen' centre south of where I live and to which the family had not been. There is a new complex in construction and a couple of companies had opened shops. One was a sports shop. We headed there.

As we walked there an unexpected thing happened. A family approached us, local for they were speaking 'Berlinisch'. As they approached us they stopped talking and stared. There was a boy of about 10/11 in the family. As he approached the younger brother (A2) of my family, he pulled a plastic gun from his belt, aimed it at A2 and fired. In German he said the equivalent of 'Gotcher', swore at him then caught up with his family.

I just stared in disbelief too shocked to say or do anything. How can a boy of that age do such a thing? What has he learnt in his 10/11 years and from whom? Parents, family, school friends?  This really is the other side to those tolerant Germans who give clothes and time to support refugees.

We went into the new sports shop and the children loved it. They ran around looking at all kinds of things for sporting activities until we took them to the sport-football corner.  Big brother (A1) needed sport shorts for school sports. I had previously got him sport shoes and T-shirt. We found a pair he liked. He asked me to take a photo so he could send it to his friends who do not live in Germany. I agreed and you can see he really looks like a young football player.

We then went into the main shopping centre. There we bought the boys sports socks and then I discovered that they only had two pairs of underpants. Yes, one in the wash and the other worn until the washed one was dry. I could not believe this and so insisted we bought them more. The boys were happy as they chose different styles and colours. This was a bonus for them. Why hadn't the parents told me about this before?

The money I had collected was already spent so I financed this and other needed purchases via my bankcard. I am confident others will donate in the future and make up the deficit. Meanwhile, we have a happier family and two boys who can wear clean underpants each day when they go to school!

Dracula Eyes

I started with Dracula Eyes about a week ago. It gets worse each day. So far I have spent the day hiding in my mini-palace with all the windows closed. It doesn't work. The pollen somehow gets into the flat. Late morning I dusted in my living room and the cloth was full of dust and pollen.

In my garden there are lots of trees on my Allergy List. Now is the time when they are pumping out pollen and my body reacts. In this case with Dracula Eyes. They burn as if there was acid in them and turn red. Here is a pic of the main tree and my eye-drops.

I have now put my dark glasses into my bag so that I can put them on when I am travelling on public transport. If I sit in the U/S-Bahn with Dracula Eyes all the kids start screaming and mothers look at me as if I had just come out of a horror film. So I wear dark glasses to disguise my reaction to this pollen.

Refugee family Papa came to visit a short time ago. We are having interesting problems trying to find them a flat. When we find a 5 room flat and register, then get permission to contact the provider, I always get lots of different ways of saying 'No'. Be it the documents the family have allowing them to stay, or the number of rooms, or that they cannot read the contract in German, the list of excuses grows each day.

All this is new to me and unfortunately I detect some anti-foreigner sentiment in the tone and vocabulary of some who answer my calls. In a couple of hours I am going to a political meeting about Care of Refugees and Providing for them. Should be interesting to compare what the speakers say with my daily experience of trying to get them a flat!!

Relaxen

Relaxen is the German verb for the English verb 'to relax'. I did it a short time ago on my balcony. Yesterday I cleaned my plastic garden/balcony seat and my white plastic table. Both live on my balcony and had gathered six months of dust.

They emerged shiny and white once the dust was removed. This morning we had nearly 20°C in Berlin and the sun shone through hazy clouds. I settled into my seat for the first time this year. I did some Spanish homework and then found this in my book.

It said the following was a Spanish song and I should learn it by heart. Perhaps you know it -
"Besame, besame mucho/ como si fuera esta noche la ultima vez./ Besame, besame mucho/ que tengo miedo perderte/ perderte otra vez."   

For non-Spanish speakers it means:  "Kiss me, kiss me with all your heart/ as if this night would be the last/ Kiss me, kiss me with all your heart/ for I am afraid to lose you/ to lose you again."   Now isn't that nice :-))

I then read another chapter in my History of Germany book. This time it was about Bismarck, including his relationship with Kaiser Wilhelm I. It covers the time from 1850 to 1890. A very important period in shaping 'modern' Germany. Hope you are enjoying a 'relaxender' day.

April 2016 Things

I got a call from Vater this morning to say he had received an E-mail from the property agency we contacted earlier about a flat for his family. He didn't understand it so I told him to send to me.

This he duly did and I translated and returned to him. He is allowed to contact the owners of the property personally. Now to step 2.

March was a pleasant month with lots of things I enjoyed doing. April has many of the same appointments and activities, but I have a feeling of seasonal change as the weather improves and we have more blue sky and sunshine.

I'm looking forward to bicycle tours and getting into the countryside. The month ends with a bicycle tour with my Muggelsee Gang. Looking forward to that!

And now you can pick up your 'smart-phone'  - see the photo! I hear they can only speak one sentence in English by adding 'like' ten times to other..like..er..like...words...like..er.. Is it really getting so bad?

Who has a birthday in April? Actually, more than in March. Horst from Kerstin's Keep Fitters will celebrate his 82nd birthday on 4th April with his wife and family. Now that is a good age to celebrate. Uli from my Mug-Gang will be 69 on the 6th. His wife Petra has her birthday on the 8th and Daniel B. in Australia will celebrate his 37th a day later. Dennis in California will celebrate his 61st with his family on 11th followed by book author and lecturer Neil D for his 59th on the 13th who will enjoy a few beers with his lady in Essen. My great-nephew Henri will be 6 on the 18th and Mathias, my business partner and executor of my will, can enjoy his 52nd on the 19th. Peter L. in Altlandsburg will celebrate his 53rd with Andre on the 22nd. Birgit F. will be 52 on the 24th and I am sure I shall be there to enjoy a glass of Sekt. And that ends birthdays for this month.
Happy Birthday to each and all, and many more of them. Cheers -  Prost!
UPDATE: Diane in Keighley told me I had forgotten her grandson Matthew's 18th birthday on  14th April. Sorry Matthew! Have a great day and I'll see you and family in July. 

Blueboy heart melter

I've had a very interesting few days since I was robbed on Tuesday. Thanks to all who contacted me. I had a particularly pleasant time yesterday and today. Yesterday I bought the younger son (lets call him A2) a rucksack. I picked one in blue for I noted he liked this colour.

This morning Papa and big brother (lets call him A1) came to my Palace. I gave them a collection of things given to me by a number of Oldies and then I gave A2 his rucksack. The room suddenly radiated bright light from his happy smile! I think you can see this in the photo I took. That smile would melt the hardest of hearts!! I bought the brothers bicycle locks and gave them more Easter chocolates courtesy of my Keep-Fit-Oldies.

While Papa sat with me at the computer and telephone to apply for a flat, the boys stayed in the kitchen and did the German and English homework I had prepared. They did all the work I had set them as Papa and I eventually found a flat large enough for the family in north-east Berlin. They then left to meet Mutti and sister for lunch at the refugee centre.

We had arranged to meet later and we 'boys' took the Tram to the Vietnamese Shopping Centre in the middle of our district. We wanted sports clothes for the boys but unfortunately we did not find them on offer. Instead we found a rucksack for Papa, an electric kettle for Mutti and shoes for the boys. I found it interesting watching how they selected things and talked about their selection in Farsi. When they talked to me I noted they used more English than German. That will change over time.

All the money donated by a number of kind people was spent so we decided to take the tram home. During the journey, Papa kept telling me how happy the boys were. I only had to look at their faces to see he was right.    UPDATE: Blueboy voted Photo of the Month

Armless

I was robbed this morning on my way to the AWO building. I was in the U-Bahn heading to Frankfurter Allee station. I took my wallet out of my rucksack, removed €10 to pay for some food for lunch and put the wallet back. Someone else had seen all this.

I left the train, bought lunch, paid and put the change in my pocket. I walked up the steps and a couple of minutes later I was in the teaching room in the AWO building. As I put my rucksack on the table, I noticed the outer pocket was open. This is where I always place my wallet.

There was no wallet. I went into the office and called the police. They told my to contact BVG = local transport company. I did just that after waiting 10 minutes to get through. The BVG lady told me to go the BVG centre in Alexander Platz. I was about to set off when my mobile rang.

It was a BVG security officer responsible for the local station. My wallet had been found in a rubbish bin on the platform. Two minutes later I was there accompanied by Maria to act as my witness. The officer explained that a man who collects empty bottles from rubbish bins to get the deposit money had found my wallet and given it to the officer.

All the money was gone but all my papers and monthly travel permit were in the wallet. My wallet contained €50 donated to buy sports clothes/shoes for the refugee family children plus €30 of my money. Guess what I would do to the thief? I would begin by sawing off his arms. Yes, I know I am getting more liberal in my old age!!! I shall go to the bank tomorrow and make up the children's money. I am meeting father and sons on Thursday to buy what they need.

And now to watch TV. The German team is playing Italy in another friendly. Germany is still getting over the shock of the last game against England. I believe the trainer has made 5 player changes. I think Italy will win. Daniel does not agree. He told me earlier this evening that Germany will win. Let's see.  UPDATE: Daniel was right. Result was Germany 4 - Italy 1, but then it was not the same bunch of third raters who played against England.

Now where did I put my mobile saw??

Finding Eggs

I've just returned from meeting my 'adopted' family at the refugee home. Really nice Spring weather today with warm sun and blue skies. Just heard about the storms that have been sweeping the south of England. How different it is here. I wonder if it is a climate reaction to the England - Germany football match result :-((

I met Papa and the children outside the home. Security staff stop anyone from entering who is not registered. I then hid chocolate eggs and a chocolate 'bunny' with a bell around its neck. The children really enjoyed searching for the eggs and eventually found them. I took a few photos for you to enjoy.

Johanna recently gave me a rucksack and coat to give to them and others gave me money for the kids need sports clothes for school. The elder boy really enjoyed getting a rucksack. Father and I are meeting on Thursday to call lots of offices to register for a flat. The family is still living in one room!

I gave father some money to get a bicycle for the younger boy. There is a project at the home where old bikes are repaired and you can buy one very cheaply, or hire one for a day. The boys need to get mobile and burn some energy off by cycling. They can also cycle to school and save the tram fare.

On Thursday afternoon the boys are meeting us. We are going to a shopping centre for sports clothes. Father then said the elder son needed shoes. He only has one pair and the top of one shoe has split exposing his toes. Hope the money I have collected is enough for what they need.

They are all now learning German and spoke to me in German when we met. I need to find some cheap dictionaries and even an old laptop. At least the family is safe even if there are many things they need.

Down Under

Birgit and Ian are touring the Blue Mountains 'Down Under'. Exactly a year ago I was there enjoying a tour into, and around, the Blue Mountains courtesy of Colin and his car.

They sent me Easter greetings just before they started via this nun. Have a look at what is hanging from her belt :-))  I've just opened a message and found another image. This one Birgit called 'Cockatoos in the mist'.

Really nice image and congratulations to you Birgit for snapping the birds. They were perching on the balcony of their B&B where they had apples for breakfast. Or perhaps 'they' is not  Ian and Birgit, but the cockatoos in which case Birgit and Ian were feeding apples to the cockatoos! Hope they enjoyed their breakfast.

Nice to see how other people are relaxing and enjoying the Easter holiday. I don't think any Silsdeners are feeding cockatoos!

Breakfeast

I've just created a new word. See above. Yes, I was invited to an Easter breakfast which turned out to be a feast. Just look at this photo of what was on the tablecloth. I was invited to Gerald and Jutta's flat for breakfast. As usual I arrived late, but then that was expected. They know me.

We caught up on news as we munched our way through the feast. Holiday plans, health, the latest on my old/new families, and teaching Oldies were a few of the topics we covered. We talked about Colin and the gang in Ozland for Johanna is spending summer there.

We then posed for a photo to send to the Ozland family and friends. Nice poses. I recently picked up news that Ian and Birgit had headed for the Blue Mountains to enjoy their Easter. Oh, happy memories of my travels there a year ago. Hope you are all enjoying the Easter break wherever you are.

If you live in Europe, don't forget to turn on your TV this evening. I can hear you asking why. Because Germany is playing England at football. The game is in Berlin and it is what is called a 'friendly'. That means new, younger players can get some experience playing at national level. The German team will, of course, win :-)))  UPDATE: England won 3:2. Long faces in the German team!

Visiting beards

Last week two beards of differing length and thickness came to visit me. The first was Daniel who arrived for an English lesson on Saturday morning. He brought some chocolate cakes made by his aunt. She has a bakery in Moldova and sent an Easter present. Nice of Daniel to share with me, and the cakes were delicious.

We checked his homework, chatted and then I took a coupe of photos of him to send to his family back in Moldova, particularly his grandparents. I like this photo taken slightly from the side and showing different light and darkness shades. Here you can see his beard and it is all of one week old!

Later that day my phone rang. It was Marcel. He asked if I would be home that weekend and I replied in the positive. Shortly after, he arrived with a very bushy 'underchin'. It was nice to see him after such a long time. He has now settled into his new student style flat, still has an evening job and studies at the uni every day.

Both of them study hard in their respective fields and their German is also expanding rapidly. They only speak English with me for they say it the only chance they have. Marcel was hungry so he prepared a pizza with salad. Lots of chatting and jokes then time for 'sleepies'

I hit the 'land of nod' immediately but not him. He slept late and staggered out of bed at 10.30 am saying he was hungry - again!  He cooked a rather substantial breakfast for himself. I could not resist taking this snap. I really like the 'just-got-out-of-bed' look, and yes he did eat all that for breakfast. I really enjoyed his visit and look forward to the next. Must buy some more eggs!!

Irish Anniversary

Easter Friday weather here is miserable. Hope it is better in Silsden and particularly in Dublin. Many people there are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Easter Uprising tomorrow. It failed with many lives lost, but the wish for independence continued and succeeded a few years ago.

If I were in Dublin I would certainly be in the centre, perhaps in O'Connell  Street in Dublin, which played an important part in the uprising. There you will find the General Post Office, from which the Declaration of Independence was read out, and lots of statues.

Talking of which, I have booked my flight to Dublin to celebrate my birthday. More later.  Here some Spring flowers to mark the special day for all my Irish friends.

Johannes Mahal

What does Taj Mahal mean? Most people on this planet have heard of it, and many have been to see it - including Jan and Arancha.  Stop scratching your head and muttering that you used to know the answer. I'll tell you! Taj is the English shortcut of Taz which is a reduction of Mumtaz.

Still scratching your head? She was the wife of the Moghul Emperor of India in the mid.1600s, name of Shah Jahan. Her name was Mumtaz. She died while carrying their 11th child. Shah Jahan was heartbroken. He ordered that two memorials be built opposite Lal Kila (Red Fort) in Agra from where he ruled.

They were to be built on a bend of the Jumna River opposite Lal Kila so he could see construction of the Mahals. Mahal means memorial. The one to Mumtaz was to be built of white marble on the south bank. The one to him was to be built on the north bank and in black marble. They were to be identical in design and size.

Why have we only got one? Before this black marble 'Jahan Mahal' could be built, his son led a coup against him. End of construction. Shah Jahan was imprisoned in rooms looking directly onto the Taj Mahal. When he died, his body was placed next to Mumtaz in her Mahal. I always find this a touching story and one that reminds us of the power of love.

Here is a picture from a postcard sent to me by Heike. She was recently on a cruise which took in a gallop to famous places in India. Thanks liebe Heike. The other photo is of 'guess who with a beard' and taken many years ago. When was it taken? Wake up Daniel, this a question for you  and Sherlock Holmes to find the answer, and by next Tuesday!

An Anniversary

Today is the 70th anniversary of the first broadcast of what later became Letter from America. The writer and presenter was Alistair Cooke (1908 - 2004).  Here is what I found on the internet:

"The first American Letter was broadcast on 24 March 1946 . Cooke said this was at the request of Lindsey Wellington, the BBC's New York Controller. The series was initially commissioned for only 13 instalments, but came to an end 58 years (2,869 instalments) later, in March 2004. Along the way it picked up a new name, changing from American Letter to Letter from America in 1950, and an enormous audience. It was broadcast not only in Britain and in many other Commonwealth countries, but throughout the world by the BBC World Service."

The link to me is that many years ago I went to a workshop about how to set up a blog. Shortly after, I heard an interview with Alistair Cooke. He was asked about the name and concept. He said it was simple: He thought of his sister in Lancashire and what he would say about life in the USA if he were writing her a letter. Bong!!! --- then I had my concept and starting writing about life in Berlin for sister Frances and cousin Barbara in Silsden. The rest is history.

Here are some nice flowers with a big THANK YOU  to Alistair Cooke on this anniversary.

Gold Güstav

Last Friday afternoon I went to meet Stefan and my Photoshop Gang. Lots of catching up on news, sipping of coffee, and munching on cakes and biscuits at the start of our meeting. Then into the computer room.

There we learnt/learned how to change any colour in any part of a photo. We decided on Gold. First you have to open a page and select the colour you want as a background. You then open another one with an image.

Cut out the image and save. Open your background colour and add to your image. Continue at will changing as many as you want. I selected an image called Güstav and changed him into a gold image. His value immediately increased! Have fun doing the same thing.

I told you a few posts ago that one of our number had died suddenly. He was the most creative in our group. He also drew cartoons and added comic figures to English grammar rules. His widow had given me a copy of one of his cartoons as a momento. Here it is. Enjoy the countdown to the holiday weekend.

Irish Day

Irish people by nationality, or those by descent like me, traditionally celebrate being Irish on St. Patrick's Day.

The name shows its historical links to the catholic church, which are increasingly meaningless. Perhaps we should just call it Irish Day.

I recently opened my e-mails and found a simple message from I&B in Sydney. Thanks to both. Australia is one of the countries with a large Irish descended community.

Mix that with Oz dry humour and we get such jokes as this one. I think it is great and would give the writer at least an extra pint of beer!

Back to Berlin and the weather has returned to grey, cold and wet. I did my Oldie fitness training with Kerstin this morning, then left to meet my Photoshop Gang. We did some work by adding gold to images, which I shall share with you later.

Back at home, my academic arrived to look at all the corrections I had made to the Introduction to his doctoral thesis. He accepted my corrections, and we discussed changes he needs to make. That is his homework for the weekend. We are meeting on Monday evening to check the changes. Have a nice weekend.

Spring Day

It's wonderful! Blue sky, no clouds, no wind, just sun and 15°C in the garden. One neighbour is sitting in the garden staring into his 'smart phone'. I wonder if the phone is smarter than he is! Perhaps he has forgotten to lift his eyes from the screen and enjoy the colours of the day.

I left you yesterday as I was about to watch a football match. The result was Bayern 4 and Juventas 2. The result does not reflect the play. Juventas scored in the 6th minute and dominated the game until nearly the end. Bayern was able to get 2 goals just by the 90th minute and so went into extra time. Then they went into the lead. I enjoyed the game and sipping a beer as I settled into the game.

I've had a day for me. It goes with the weather. Actually I finished proof reading the introduction to a doctoral thesis written in English by a German academic. On asking why in English, he told me it is a requirement and means there is a larger academic reading public. The topic is about yeast cell reproduction, or simply how yeast have sex. Yes, they do! The next time we meet ask me about it. I can bore you for ages on this fascinating topic. Think about it the next time you eat a slice of bread or drink a glass of beer :-))

As I was planning to update my blog I listened to a proramme on Radio 4 from London. It is called, 'Incarnations: India in 50 lives'. Listen via the internet if you can. Today it was about V.K.Krishna Menon 1896 - 1974. He came from a wealthy, aristocratic family in Kerala and studied politics and law in London for many years.

He was a famous diplomat, founder of the non-aligned movement, Defence Minister, UN Ambassador and member of the lower and upper chambers of the Indian Parliament. He was also a co-founder of Penguin Books in 1935, member of the Labour Party and councillor for St. Pancras in London, and Secretary of the India League in London from 1929 to 1947. He was considered the 2nd most powerful man in India after Nehru.  When I was preparing for my first India project in 1976, I had to learn about him. The more I read about him the more respect I had. This background knowledge helped me later in many projects.

Now a couple of photos to show that  I am still playing about with another old camera and have a visitor on my balcony. More blue skies and sun please!

Cheers and Prost

The two words mean the same. Here is a photo recently sent by liebe Andrea. I was surprised to receive it and have since been trying to work out where and when it was taken.

I think it must have been on her big day. I really like the fusion between the clarity of me in the photo, and that of others who the camera did not focus on. I wonder who took the photo.

I know she has a very good Nikon SLR camera, for  I advised her about buying it, but she didn't run around with it on her big day. I wonder if they had a professional photographer and he/she snapped this.

I went to Hönow on Sunday and will post about it in more detail later. Monday was a busy day and Tuesday even more so with a visit to the Berlin Government building housing people responsible for the development of the city. I was with my SPD Oldies and we saw some amazing models of the city, and how it will look in the next 10, 20, 30 years.

Today I had a haircut, went shopping, bought a mouse connecter cable for Oldie H's Samsung Tablet. He keeps hitting it rather than swiping it and so it is only a matter of time before he breaks it. Now he can 'mouse' it :-)

Then I went to my Oldie Kamera-Klub. I then listened to others talking about the photos they had taken and in some cases altered via computer programmes.

In a short time I shall turn on my TV to watch a football match in clear HD. FC Bayern München is playing Juventus Turin for a place in the Champions League. Many of the players are in the German National Team so that is why I watch them play. I think I shall sip a cool beer as I watch them play - and hopefully win! Is that okay Jan?

PS: I recently got this joke. It says more than a lot!! Any comments?

The People Vote

It's late and I have been watching different TV News programmes about votes in three states in the German Republic. I'm watching a special programme as I write these words. It is called 'maybrit illner spezial on ZDF. Representatives of the main parties in Germany are in the studio and commenting on the results of the elections today.

There was a vote in three states. Nearly 13 million people could vote and about 56% took the trouble to move their bottoms out of bed/chair/pub and stick a X on a piece of paper in a voting booth.  The theme that dominated the election was that of accepting refugees. A new(ish) party called AfD is against the current policy so all were interested to see how the people had voted.

It was a bad result for the CDU and SPD and a good one for the AfD. This party is identified with right wing populist policies and has attracted many known neo-Nazis to meetings and to support it. In one state this party polled nearly 25% of the vote and came second. This has created a shock and the current TV programme is discussing the results.

The leader of the AfD is in this programme. No, not a man but a women and her deputy is also a women. The deputy recently made a name for herself by calling for soldiers to control the borders and if necessary to shoot at those who illegally cross -- even if they are women and children! You can imagine how many eyebrows were raised on hearing that!

I wonder what my local SPD members will say about this result when I meet the Oldies on Tuesday afternoon. The vote is clearly a smack in the face for the current central government policy. I wonder how they will react.  The picture of the group in a studio above is not that of those in the current programme.

Camera for Oldies

I did some cleaning and sorting out midweek and found an old friend. Yes, my Olympus Trip 35 proudly claiming 'Made in Japan' on the back of the camera. It was in a cloth bag with Prinz Jupiter 177, also 'Made in Japan' Some of you may know this to be a flash powered by two AA batteries.

Holding it really is like entering another age. I put it in my rucksack and took some photos as I travelled around. Yes, there was a roll of film inside. I'm going to Hönow tomorrow for lunch with Oldie H so shall take a few photos of the countryside there. I'm interested in seeing the photos when developed.

I took it with me yesterday when I went to my Oldie Photoshop Gang. They were all amused to see such an antique and talked about their first cameras and adventures leaning to use a similar model. Stefan took this photo of me. He used the camera in his smartphone. This clearly demonstrated the advances in camera technology over a relatively short period.

Another very busy week and a similar one waits for me from Monday. Had an interesting Skype chat with Ian in Sydney this morning. Covered many topics and caught up on events there.  I still can't believe how Daniel could answer the mystery photo questions a couple of posts ago. I was sitting on a beach if you remember! How did he know all that?