Knut - We went to the Berlin Zoo to see Cute Knut!

Here are some pictures we took at our visit to the Berlin Zoo.
YES, WE WENT TO SEE KNUT!








When they all said goodbye they just got up and walked off...
Knut followed like a puppy.
Bye Knut!


This is the group of reporters...
On a Thursday afternoon.


These are the "BIG" polar bears at the Zoo.
Knut's Mom and Dad are in this group. (sorry, I have no idea which ones)




This one had a lovely pose for me.


This elephant kept reaching out for the little girl in her Mother's arms.


What can I say... PENGUINS!!

Music on the Subway

"The Washington Post convinced Joshua Bell, one of the current great violinists, whom people pay hundreds of dollars per ticket to see perform, to take his $3.5 million Stradivarius into the Washington subway and play unannounced. Some 11,000 people passed him by without so much as a pause. One lone woman did recognize him, and listened to him play before putting a $20 bill into his case. In all, he made $32. Now, I really like that kind of odd story, because it does generate some discussion about why that is, and to place it in some sort of context. For example, world class music is great, but a subway is full of people trying to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. So that adds something to the discussion."
-- Wichita Newsbrief

WOW!
I see street musicians almost every day. Some of them are gypsies, some of them are just looking for their next drink money... and some of them have real talent.

N gives me a bad time, but I give money to the ones that seem to have some talent, or at make an effort to entertain. I rarely give more than 50 cents, I think the most was two Euros to a guy that came onto the train and proceeded to play the guitar and sing to three songs... all of which were popular at one time. What was cool was that he put his own spin on them... played extended solos and seemed to have a good time. He was there for five stops at least… longer than 90% of the buskers I see. I've never seen him again.

The ones I don't like are the ones that are obviously not enjoying it… like I said, they are there trying to get some drink money, or maybe a gypsy family just sent their kids in with an accordion hoping that a nice-looking young man and a cute little girl will get more money. What I listen for too is to hear the "Danke" or Thank-you when the money of other travellers hits the jar. If I hear or see others giving out money and I see that the person won't even look at them or offer a simple thank you… I will put my change away. I also really dislike it when they just shove the jar in front of you and almost insist you put money in it. This is mostly done by the gypsies.

Sometimes the buskers travel in groups. I'm sure this is easier, and at least you won't feel so alone as you are ignored by 30 people in a train car. Occasionally the TV's in the train aren't working… and I've noticed that they seem to make more money at these times. I suppose it is because people are more bored with no stimulus, and the music isn't so easily tuned out.

There are train stations which have particularly good acoustics. It is almost a guarantee to see someone in these grand spots every time you go through there. How cool to step off of your train and be serenaded by a saxophone, violin, accordion, or even a synthesized piano as the beautiful music echoes against the lonely walls.

Here in Berlin we have a station named Stadtmitte. It connects two subway lines with a long walk in between and allows the musician to stay in one place; it is better for the ones that need to carry lots of equipment, or even have an amplifier for accompaniment. As the train doors open you are hit with the work from the musician of the day… the one that got there first, because it is obviously a much-loved location. The music seems to travel forever, as you walk closer to it, you can almost feel resonating through you. One of my favorites was a violinist who had lots of talent, and was smart enough to know that a fast-paced song selection would be the best choice for people on a 6 minute walk between trains. Their money collections are almost always filled with coins, which proves that getting out of bed early to be the first in the spot was a correct choice. Of course it doesn't hurt that it is located in the tourist area, with more people who aren't in "auto-mode" just on their way from point A to point B.

Personally I hope that buskers don't hear about the story from Washington. Hopefully they continue to brighten my day with a light-hearted song. All I can offer them is that there is one person on that train that puts down her book and takes the time to enjoy the music.

New Baby Horse in the Family

My sister's horse and the "surprise" baby that came with the nice filly after a few months.







... and her much-loved, but noisy peacock.

Visit to the Britzer Garden

This weekend we had PERFECT weather!
70's F/low 20's C.

On Sunday morning we visited a local botanical garden.
Here are the resulting pictures.

A Big Sigh of Relief From a Soldier's Mother

Message from my sister with news of my nephew.

Dear Family and Friends,

Just a BIG sigh of relief to pass on to you all…

Jason has returned and is safely in Hawaii getting back to normal things like drinking Starbucks coffee, taking a shower, walking around without all his protective gear on, being able to wash his clothes and dry them without holes being shot through them, walking somewhere without having rounds shot at him…just normal stuff like that!

We take a lot for granted over here in our safe haven.

Thank God for the men and women who put their lives on the front line to protect those who can not protect themselves and protect our freedom we enjoy so much.

THANK YOU ALL who kept Jason in prayer.

According to the stories he told me last night on the phone, God once again over and over watched over him.

He saw some horrendous sights, having friends losing their legs and half of their bodies…..YES, we take our safety for granted.

Thank you!!
I love you all.

God Bless you and keep you safe.
Cathy

Both of Cathy's sons are active-duty Marines. The U.S. Military won't put them both in war zones at the same time... so soon it's his brother's turn.

They're just good-ole Texas boys that saw the military as a way out. Both joined up right out of high school, one right before the war, the other right after it began. Jason has served three tours of duty in hell. The first one was in Afghanistan (the picture above), then he went into Iraq. That tour he took some lead in the arm which was headed for his heart but got deflected by his body armor. This last tour was in Iraq as well, and he's sent back many stories of buddies getting wounded, snipers trying to pick soldiers off, and daily fear of attack.

His brother Brandon also did two tours in Iraq, but he's missed most of the insurgency as he hasn't been there for over a year and a half.

I won't get into my feelings on the war, or what I think about why we are there... Right now I'm just going to be happy that he's made it back from another tour none the worse for wear.

As you can tell, my sweet sister believes strongly in God. It's not really my bag, but if He has helped bring those boys home safely every time, then I'm all for it.

Manta Ray on Night Dive

OMG!
This looks soooo cool!
Evidently these divers were in Hawaii and the manta stayed with them doing figure eights and playing with them for about 40 minutes!
BTW, for those uninitiated... the sounds recorded by the video camera are exactly what you hear underwater... it is so hard to explain that you just hear your own breathing and maybe even your own heartbeat.
Enjoy.

Man I Miss Heavy Pork

This is kind of a "best of" video from Heavy Pork – The Video Show.

I used to work with these guys at the radio station in Kansas, Mark Good and Brent the Mule. Any time either one of them was around, life was gonna get crazy.

The video show plays heavy metal videos, but what I watched for was what came in between the videos. They would interview people, do crazy stunts, just generally have a great time… and Rhodie would film it all.

They've won a bunch of awards as you will see in the beginning, and last I heard, they were being syndicated

Most of this stuff is filmed in and around Wichita, Kansas… and much of it is just pure craziness.

Man I miss the Pork.

Check out Heavy Pork on MySpace.

Kurt Vonnegut - Dead at 84

One of my favorite writers has died...
It's rather sad because I'm reading one of his works right now.
Vonnegut once said that, of all the ways to die, he would prefer to go out in an airplane crash on the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro.
He often joked about the difficulties of old age, saying in an interview with the Associated Press in 2005 that "when Hemingway killed himself he put a period at the end of his life; old age is more like a semicolon."

... and anyone that read Vonnegut KNOWS that he hates semicolons.
Good bye kind Kurt.

Visit a previous blog to watch a video that breaks down his latest book, "Man Without A Country".

Taking a Walk

Feeling good simply taking a walk down a busy street…

Yesterday I decided to take the bus home instead of the subway. It takes about ten minutes longer to get home, but sometimes it is really worth the extra time and effort. I ended up going for a walk down the Ku'damm (Kurfürstendamm - the Berliners have a nickname for everything!) before taking the final bus home. This is a street known as the shopping/tourist center of the old west Berlin, and also happens to be the street on which I work. It was so interesting to see all of the tourists… they mill around with their eyes wide open, surveying everything around them.

Many times an innocent bystander can catch snippets of conversation… You can hear different dialects of German, Spanish, Italian, funky British English, and of course the Orientals are running around making the occasional twing-twang while snapping thousands of pictures with their expensive cameras.

The funny thing for me is to see a couple that are fighting. Usually it is the woman giving the man hell, many times about them being lost or late or something similar. Sometimes it isn't the best thing to be traveling together… all that time with only each other, and little or no breaks… it wears on even the best of relationships.

Another funny thing is to see the intrepid explorers ambling down the street with their head buried in a travel book. HEY! You're HERE! Open your eyes and enjoy… stop trying to learn about all of the minute details… experience the city!

Then of course you have the map readers… They are trying to find something, and it is obvious they are hopelessly lost. I have pity for them, I've totally been there. Normally I will listen for a moment and try to hear what they are searching for. If it is a language I can understand, and I know how to tell them where to go, I will ask them if I can help.

The ones I really feel sorry for are the ones that have the "I'm lost" face and still have their luggage in tow… they are completely new, still carrying around all of their belongings, and have NO idea where they are. Usually I can at least get them going in the right direction, even if we don't speak the same language. My Mother always taught me that it was impolite to point… gotta tell you, much of my non-English communication wouldn't be possible without being able to point at a map, then point in a direction.

I've met some of the nicest people while providing this service. They are always so happy and show incredible amounts of gratitude for such a simple gesture. Many of them immediately hear the American accent and comment on it. When I do this for a German they show the greatest surprise, but are always quite patient with my crappy language abilities.

Really I think I have the wrong job. Perhaps I should work in the travel industry. It would give me great pleasure to help people understand and learn about this great city. Hmm… maybe it wouldn't be limited to this city, probably just anywhere… but maybe a good place to start would be the city I enjoy so much… Berlin, Germany.

"Here is the Wiki about the Ku'damm".
"This is a 360 of the main corner... where I started yesterday's walk".

Italian Time-Keeping

OMG!
Who expected that!?!

The Hard Truth

A selection of quotes from Frank McKinney Hubbard (1968 - 1930), an American cartoonist, humorist, and journalist better known by his pen name "Kin" Hubbard:

• A good listener is usually thinking about something else.

• Nobody can be as agreeable as an uninvited guest.

• We'd all like to vote for the best man, but he's never a candidate

• When a fellow says, "It isn't the money but the principle of the thing," it's the money.

• Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men.

• Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people.

• No one can feel as helpless as the owner of a sick goldfish.

• Nothing is as irritating as the fellow who chats pleasantly while he's overcharging you.

• So far I haven't heard of anybody who wants to stop living on account of the cost.

• There's no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn't tell you about it?

Cute Knut - Berlin's Ice Bear

Knut loves to play in the mud... not a very good photo op, Knut!


I don't think you can get much cuter than a baby ice bear.


Knut waves to his fans.


Bad Stick


Meet Knut's trainer, Thomas.


They can play together now, but with a few months growth, that will be a different story!


Look at those feet!


All of this play is hard work...
I'm tired...
Night, Night

"Thanks again to Spiegel International for the pics".

The Original Human Space Invaders

Oh MAN!
I'm not sure how many people will get this... but long before XBox and Playstations there was Space Invaders. I dropped lots of quarters into the Space Invader machine...So much so that my Mom always wondered what I did with my lunch money...

Ya gotta have sound to get the whole effect.