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December 3rd, 2008
06:16 pm - Balloons Nightglow
I almost forgot to make the second entry about my recent encounter with large, identified flying objects. After I missed the event two years ago I was determined to attend the Nightglow this year. To avoid having to look for a parking space we took the bus to the other side of the city.
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October 23rd, 2008
05:49 pm - Everywhere you look balloons.
Hard to believe but it's already been two years since the last Hot-Air Balloons competition took place in my hometown. So on the last weekend in September for the tenth time about three dozen balloons took part in the German Cup for Hot-Air Balloons. This time I didn't get up early in the morning to follow the start of the balloons up-close but stayed at home during the competitions. The event takes place Friday to Sunday with up to two races scheduled on each day, usually one in the early morning and one in the evening around 5 PM.
When I say race I don't mean it in the sense of who's the first balloon to reach a destination but which balloon is able to get closest to a particular chosen point. Though I think how long it takes to reach the place may also play a role.
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August 26th, 2008
12:46 pm - Music and Theatre Festival Part 2
The second (and last) entry about the festival that took place in my hometown a couple of weeks ago. It's about the Spanish performance group Deambulants who performed one of their programs called "ALT", a show I liked a lot. Hopefully, the following pictures and clips will give you an idea how it felt like to watch them.
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August 12th, 2008
12:57 pm - Music and Theatre Festival Part 1
Two weeks ago there was the Music and Theatre Festival that takes place every two years in my hometown. It mostly consists of street performers which has the advantage that a lot of the events are free.
First up were these guys, the Straßentheater Irrwisch (Street Theatre Irrwisch) from Austria.
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May 29th, 2008
07:04 pm - Blue Man Group
It was a fateful evening about ten years ago. Back then, depending on the announced guests, I was sometimes watching the US late-night shows with Jay Leno and Conan O'Brian since our cable provider kindly added a channel that broadcast their shows. On one of the Jay Leno shows Robin Williams was used as a human paintbrush by three men who had painted their skin blue. During the performance they played some drum heavy music with a driving beat that I instantly liked since I'm a big fan of rhythm-heavy music. The group was aptly named Blue Man Group.
I first thought that it was a rock group that used a lot of drums and percussions and only later did I find out that they were more of a performance group though the self-made instruments play a big part of their act (please remember that that was during a time when you didn't immediately went on google or wikipedia to find more information). And they did release a music CD of which I was probably one of the first owners in Germany.
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October 2nd, 2007
01:07 pm - Duck Race and Classic Cars.
Last weekend a big race involving animals was scheduled to take place on the river in the inner city. You were even allowed to pick your contestant and place money on him. It's fair to say that it sounded all a bit dodgy. But curious as I am, I also placed a bet.
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August 22nd, 2007
12:16 pm - Dirk Nowitzki in Mannheim
I'm a basketball fan. Not a very big one but when there was the chance to see the current Most Valuable Player of the NBA, Dirk Nowitzki in person I didn't hesitate. So last Sunday I attended the game of the German national team against China. It was a preparation game for the upcoming European Championship in Spain. Nowitzki was already in good shape and seems to take matters seriously since a successful tournament would mean the team is automatically qualified for the Olympic Games in Peking next year which is an event he often has said he wants to go to.
I made the one hour trip to Mannheim with a friend. When we left the parking lot it quickly became clear why most people attended.
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May 15th, 2007
01:36 pm - Golden City Magic
Last Saturday my hometown celebrated the 240th anniversary of making jewellery. In 1767 the Grand Duke of Baden Charles Frederick granted the city the right to open a watch manufactory which was the beginning of the tradition of being a centre for jewellery and watch making. It's also the reason why the city calls itself 'Golden City'.
The whole event was called 'Goldstadtzauber' or 'Golden City Magic' and there were events throughout the city, starting in late afternoon. There were performers in the streets, bands played, shops were open until midnight (especially ice cream parlours doing very brisk business until after midnight). But the main event took place once it got dark. Throughout the inner city were illuminated objects in various shapes and sizes and some of the main buildings were illuminated in rainbow colours.
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September 27th, 2006
11:54 am - Up, up and away.
Two weeks ago, the 9. International German Cup for Hot-Air Balloons took place in my hometown. For three days 30 to 40 balloons took part in five competitions between Friday and Sunday. I'm not entirely sure why, but since its inception all events took place here. The most plausible reason I can think of is that the conditions for the event are quite good here and after all those years the organisation is a well oiled machine and everybody's satisfied with the people involved. I also don't think it's a very prestigious happening with real competition. It's more like a fun get-together in which balloonists from around the country meet-up for a friendly competition.
While I get up at around seven in the morning almost every day, it was the first time in quite some time that I actually left the house that early. It turned out to be a good decision to go early Friday morning since it was the first day of the competition and it seemed everyone was only slowly getting started closing off the meadow for the expected spectators over the weekend.
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July 3rd, 2006
02:46 pm - World Cup 2006 semi-finals poll and impressions from Germany.
It weren't the most attractive games during the quarter-finals but there sure were some nail-biting matches with two only decided by penalty shoot-out. And it ended with a bang when the old men from France showed the Brazilians that being called the favourite by everyone isn't enough to advance to the semis, you have play good football once in a while too.
That means for the first time since 1982 no team from South America made it to the semi-finals and the World Cup suddenly becomes another European Championship.
Here are a few bits of information that should help you make an informed decision (or maybe not):
The vital, never-lying statistics: Germany has never won in a World Cup match against Italy (two losses, two draws). But at the same time Germany has never lost a game when playing in the stadium of Dortmund. I guess one streak has to end.
Portugal placing second in the last European championship two years ago, finally want to win a prestigious international trophy. France eliminating the title holder and on a mission to make good for their abysmal appearance four years ago.
In other words, every team is destined to reach the final. So tell me what you think.
Poll #761243 World Cup 2006 semi-finals
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 39Game 1 Game 2 Clicky box, so nobody is left out from the fun.
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June 21st, 2006
12:13 pm - World Cup fever strikes.
As some of you have probably noticed, Germany at the moment is host to one of the biggest sports events in the world, the 2006 Football World Cup.
Ever since it was decided that we will be the host it was clear that it will be a huge event with a lot of hype. About a year ago the first weekly magazines started countdowns, a hundred days before the start most of the dailies followed suit. Dozens of TV shows with football-related content and every TV commercial tried to use the World Cup as a theme and much, much more. Despite what they want us to believe, it's not just about the sport.
So for quite some time I seriously considered leaving the country, at least for the first two weeks of the event. I didn't, but I tried to ignore all the noise before the event even started as best as I could.
But, of course, I'm interested in football, I'm German after all. If I weren't then my parents would've given me back for a refund a long time ago. For many years I played football every day after school with some friends on a small court in the neighbourhood. No need to talk about where and when, you just were there every day.
The country itself has always been football crazy. Maybe not as much as Brazil or Italy, but the fact that the event takes place here at home definitely makes a difference. The opening match between Germany and Costa Rica watched about 20 Mio. people here in Germany. While that isn't too much in relation to the total population, it was nevertheless more than 75% of all people who were watching TV at the time.
As is the case in other countries where matches take place during the day, increased outbreaks of World Cup flu among those with a regular job are widespread. But even though it affects much more people than the avian flu, it's usually cured the day after.
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23 (60.5%)