WrocLOVE - or beautiful Breslau

As last year was full of travel, this year I had spent all my time in Ireland or Germany so far. Only two countries in one year? I could not stand it – so when my good friend from university, and now colleague, Joachim offered me to visit him and my team lead told me I could work from the Wroclaw (or in German: Breslau) office for a few days, I did not hesitate to book a flight (thank you Ryanair).

I did not know what to expect. My only association with Wroclaw is my grandma, who was born there and spent her childhood in the city. I had always imagined it to be a fairytale small, sleepy town with old houses and good, savoury food. Well the houses were there, the food as well, but it was not as small and sleepy as I had expected.

I learned that the first night on the taxi drive. Ok, the airport is small and not really state of the art, but as soon as you arrive in town, you see the history in every building and as I was welcomed with a bottle of vodka by Joachim and some other colleagues, I already had a good understanding of the savoir-vivre in this vibrant place.

If going to work the first day was hard and I was surprised how productive I was, the second day should hold even more in store for me. After work we headed downtown to the Thursday night karaoke with my dear Wroclaw-colleagues (internally: Wrooglers). At midnight we were already thinking about going home, but then somebody had the idea to head to Wroclaw’s well-known party-place “Manana”. Being used to going out in Dublin, where basically the “clubs” and “bars” are mostly pubs with a dancefloors – sorry to say this, I still like it – I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere in this student bar of choice. The dancefloor is small, the drinks are cheap, the girls are stunningly beautiful. In short: night one was awesome (stay with me on the “How I met your mother”-references).

Surprisingly, work on Friday was pretty productive as well, and soon, the next night had arrived. Actually, Joachim and I wanted to spend the evening with a DVD and some beers at home. That was until we were there, had had some food and did not feel like staying in on a Friday night. So we headed to the Rynek (central place in Wroclaw) and to a club named Tabasco – yet another nice nightclub with a fun atmosphere and a built-in guarantee for a long night. In one word…we were on the way, where Saturday night should top it off: Legen… wait for it…dary!

After this, I had to catch up on the sightseeing part. My grandma’s good old times-stories had painted a picture of Breslau that was yet to be filled with reality. So on a stroll around the old town and a view from the cathedral, I gained my own impression – which was topped off by the picturesque view of the nice Christmas market (reminiscent of the “Nürnberger Christkindlsmarkt”, but much smaller) in front of the Ratusz. A mulled wine to warm us up and traditional grilled goat cheese from the Tatra mountains (Oszypek) made the winter feeling complete. Joachim and I had already sung “Last Christmas” at karaoke – mind you , I hate this song – so now Christmas can come. But first things first: What to do on a Saturday night in a hip Polish city? Yes, we went to another club. And as we had our dear Polish colleague Magda and Dominik, one of my Dublin coworkers and a good Polish-speaker, with us, it should get even more intense.

When we arrived at Joachim’s place, the birds already started to sing – and I am not only talking about his pets. I fell in my bed and had to gain strengths for the last chapter on Sunday: A relaxed stroll around town, good food at a traditional restaurant and an adrenaline rush to top my Wroclaw-experience off: A night at the casino. I am not a huge gambler, so I usually invest some money that I am willing to lose (and think about the free drink you usually get in those temples of amusement) and start playing roulette without too much hope. This night, it should be a little different. I had a lucky day, and after I had doubled my 100 Sloty (around 25 Euro), I took my investment out and started playing like a mad man with the rest. I usually stick with betting on red or black or some combinations, but this time I went the full risk – in the end, I had guessed the right number eight times (what are the odds?) and quadrupled my money. Right time to go and call it a night – so I could even get some nice presents for my grandma “for free” the next day.

In summary this was the best weekend I have had this year and I can not wait to see this great city again – yes, I fell in love with WrocLOVE!

The town house and the Christmas market



View over Wroclaw 1




View over Wroclaw 2



The cathedral



Google in Wroclaw



My host and the old twon

Booze - OR - This week in overview

Sundays are great, Sundays are relaxing, Sundays are cleansing. Especially after parties on Friday (Pub Golf - don't ask) and Saturday (Turkish birthday and Neon Party). So this Sunday I took a long walk to Dun Laoghaire, even if it was raining, just to get some fresh air and a freed-up mind.

Thursday was our team event. We went to a cocktail mixing school and had a little competition. It was great fun and my team turned out to be very creative when it comes to new cocktail creations and especially names. The "Apple Whoosh" won the tasting, but the "Tropical Gaelic Exterminator" wins my personal price for the most creative name. Once again, I realized how creative and fun my team is. I really like working with those guys and also going out with them.

After drinking in working hours (this is getting worse and worse :) Dominik and I went to another concert at the O2 - Arctic Monkeys. Judging by the fact that I had just traded those tickets as a favor for a friend and I am not a huge fan, they played a solid indie rock setlist and exceeded my expectations.

And to top the working week of - there is another alcohol-related topic - mostly for my dad. We had a really interesting guest speaker at work - Fergal Murray - master brewer of Guiness. After we have all experienced Arthur's Day this year, it was really intersting to have a brand ambassador speak and we also had the opportunity to pour our own pint. And for my dad: A picture of his son - looking a little surprised - with the master brewer himself. :)

Have a great weekend, guys!

I can't wait for Chrome OS

No promotion on my blog so far? Well, I just can't hide my excitement at the moment. I am really, really looking forward to Chrome OS. Booting my PC in 10 seconds. LEGEN...wait for it...now it might already have booted...DARY!!! Everything in the cloud? Why not, and if I still don't want to store certain information online, I can use a SD-Card or external hard drives. My eeePC isn't running at the moment - problems with Windows - again! So as soon as I can get a beta of Chrome OS, it is going to be on there.

But see for yourself what it's all about in the video below.

Or read about the press conference given at Google's Headquarters in Mountain View, CA today at Tech Crunch.



And a live demo:

Rejection? Deal with it

I realize I am blogging like a maniac lately, still, I just HAVE to share this short video with you. It is about rejection and dealing with being rejected. I admit - not one of my particular strengths ;). Maybe that's why I found this video quite amusing. How do you deal with rejection? Any hints for the poor surfer dude in the video or the whole world? Happy to hear them...

Enjoy!

About immigration and integration

THIS BLOGPOST IS A REACTION TO MY COLLEAGUE CHRISTOPH'S POST. Sorry for writing in German, but this is about integration in German speaking countries. Feel free to use Google Translate in case you are interested.

Sehr guter Blogpost, Christoph!

Ich gebe dir mit nahezu allem Recht. In einem Punkt muss ich dir allerdings widersprechen und würde hierzu meine eigene Erfahrung beisteuern.

Die Integration der türkischen Minderheit in Deutschland und Österreich (und in noch extremeren Maße in der Schweiz) ist leider schon vor Jahrzehnten aus dem Ruder gelaufen. Ich spreche nahezu fließend Türkisch und habe einige Zeit in Istanbul gelebt. Deine These der Integration durch Sprache und gemeinsame Aktivitäten ist richtig und nobel - sie hat aber einen Haken: Sie trifft nur dann, wenn dein Gegenüber nicht die Hoffnung und sogar den Wunsch nach Integration längst aufgegeben hat.

Diejenigen Türken, die Akademiker wie du und ich meistens kennen, sind ohnehin die besser integrierten. Dazu gehören selbstverständlich Kollegen aus Studium und Praktikum, aber auch in vielen Fällen der Dönermann aus der Fußgängerzone mit dem passablen Deutsch. (Noch extremer würde das Diktum ausfallen, wenn du "richtige" Türken, wie einen gemeinsamen Freund von uns mit den Minderheiten in unseren Heimatländern vergleichen würdest).

Das Problem - vor allem in deutschen Großstädten, wie Berlin - aber auch in Österreich - und das darf selbst ich als Piefke sagen - ist, dass eine ganze Subkultur entstanden ist, die Integration aus Sicht der Türken zwar weiterhin möglich, nicht aber nötig erscheinen lässt. Gehe ich durch Berlin Kreuzberg (und in abgeschwächter Form sicherlich auch durch das ein oder andere Wiener Viertel), so fühle ich mich, als Türkei-Liebhaber "zuhause". Die Reklamen sind dieselben wie in Istanbul und auch die Läden sind ähnlich. Was anders ist? Geht man nicht gerade durch die konservativen Viertel Istanbuls, wie etwa Fatih, so sind Frauen im Kopftuch eher eine Minderheit. Die europäische Mode überwiegt. In Kreuzberg hingegen zählen Tradition und islamische Werte (die übrigens ebensoviel "christliche" Nächstenliebe enthalten, wie andere Religionen auch) - viele der Einwanderer der ersten und zweiten Generation kamen aus armen, sehr religiösen Gegenden der Türkei. Für Sie war Istanbul genauso weit weg wie Europa und sie sahen die Chance in den großen Städten. Die Welt um Sie herum veränderte sich in den letzten 30-40 Jahren drastisch. Sie selbst waren weniger willkommen, der Islam wurde unbeliebter, die Chancen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt kleiner. Und die Crux dieser türkischstämmigen Gesellschaft war, dass sie in der Türkei schnell als die unbeliebten, mit ausländischem Geldum sich werfenden, Angeber verschrien waren. Heimatlos also auch in der Heimat.

Was blieb als Rückzug? Die Gemeinschaft, die Subkultur, die Klein-Istanbuls dieser Welt und die Moschee. Die Integrationsversuche 2009 hätten 1979 vielleicht fruchtbaren Boden gefunden, ob sie es heute tun ist fraglich.

Daher stimme ich allen deinen Punkten zu. Vor allem glaube auch ich, dass der Integrationsgrad (also inwiefern jemand die Sprache beherrscht, einen Job und Freundeskreis hat) ausschlaggebend sein sollte. Meine Großeltern haben einen Gasthof, in dem für Jahre ein vietnamesischer Küchenhelfer arbeitete. Er kam bereits als Jugendlicher und gehörte fast schon zur Familie. Nach einigen Jahren wurde er binnen drei Wochen abgeschoben und musste in den Vietnam zurück. Er war von dort als Kind geflohen, hatte keine Familie und Freunde und sprach Deutsch besser als seine "Muttersprche". Alle Einsprüche auch die meiner Großeltern, die sich für ihn verbürgt hätten, halfen nichts. Er musste gehen und durfte nicht wieder nach Deutschland einreisen.

Solche Fälle sind es, die vermieden werden müssen. Ich danke dir, von Wirtschaftsflüchtling zu Wirtschaftsflüchtling, für diesen Denkanstoß. Ich hoffe selbst, dass - vielleicht auch mit der Hilfe türkischstämmiger Politiker und auch Sportler (Ümit Korkmaz für Österreich, Eren Derdiyok für die Schweiz, Mesut Özil und Serdar Tasci für Deutschland) - in Zukunft eine tiefere Integration der "älteren" Immigranten erreicht werden kann. Persönlich glaube ich aber, dass die IMMIGRATIONSpolitik selbst ein wichtiger Punkt ist, die INTEGRATIONSpolitik jedoch noch wichtiger.

... and Weezer gone lame

So one of my beloved bands did not let me down. Another one definitely did. What happened to you, Weezer? There were some songs on the "Red Album" which made me think: "Ok, maybe that is just filling material" - I still don't understand why you don't let Rivers Cuomo sing all the songs. But at least that album had killer songs like "The greatest man that ever lived", even if it did not come anywhere close my all-time-number one "Blue Album"...but WTF (and sorry for being so explicit) did you think when you recorded "Raditude"? I mean, fine - take some drugs to be creative but please, please, please listen to the songs you have recorded once you are clean before you let them loose on mankind. I used to be one of your biggest fans, but there are three reasons why I just have to hate this album (and stop just buying every new release without listening):

a)You rap in those songs - again. Maybe I only speak for myself, but the majority of people, who enjoy your style, DISGUST Hip Hop. I thought it was a one-off last time, but why do you keep doing it. Yeah, crossover was cool for a short while, but when have you heard of Linkin' Park or Crazy Town in the last few years???

b) Your lyrics are so lame, I can't believe you did not produce them by using random rhymes from a machine you found online. What went through you, when you wrote these lines?

"I thought tonight would suck like every other night
I'd party with my friends
But when I saw you grooving on the dance floor
Normal came to an end

We started talking and man, it was so clear to me
There's no one else like you
You got the brains, the body, and the beauty
To top it off, you're cool"

(From: "I'm your daddy")

Well, I suppose even the Blue Album was not without it's flaws, but this is just the mindless babbling teeny bands or hip hoppers call their lyrics.

c) Do not bring out an album every year. I have waited for ages for some of your records. I bought them all. The Red Album was not great, but I still liked it. But if you don't have better ideas than those you show on "Raditude" leave it be until 2011...

I know Weezer won't care about what I think, but maybe I can prevent you from buying their worst album so far. So enjoy some quality music and buy the Blue Album instead. :)

MUSE at the O2...

Ok, as I actually wanted to wait with my next Blogpost until I got some nice pictures from the Dublin Octoberfest and our great Octoberfest TGIF, I haven't blogged in a while.

Even if this will totally destroy the time-space-continuum - well, or at least mess up the chronological order of my posts - I will now share my experience at the MUSE Concert at the O2 in Dublin with you.

In short: It was an amazing show. The stage setting was just mind-blowing and they were playing on a whole level of their own - quite as introvert as the Kings of Leon, so not many jokes there - but a fine piece of Indie Rock. "Unintended" and "Feeling good" in a row made me sing "...and I'm feeeling gooooood!" and I even developed a taste in some songs from their newest album. My favorite still was "Time is running out" as well as one of the songs I can never get enough of: "New born". So listen for your self below and see some pictures.

Feels like home

I am not homesick - I am rather Istanbul-sick after my mum and grandma visited me and kept talking about the time I lived in my favorite city. They made me decide to definitely go to Istanbul in 2010 - who is in? I can be the guide.

Still, after all those weeks of faux-Oktoberfests and Germanic clichées, I have decided to remember my roots and share them with you. A homage to Istanbul would take to long and would make me book a flight right now - so I decided to go for my hometown.

So welcome to a virtual tour of Bayreuth:

They are not stars (yet!)... (Part 2)

If the last blogpost was not promotion enough:

See it for yourself:

False False



Change

They are not stars (yet!)...

...they are just f***ing planets. Yes, I admit "We are the planet" is not one of the most creative band names and sounds a little like an old Michael Jackson song (and no, they are NOT a tribute band), but my old band - they used to be known as "The Missing Link" - have started some nice little things since they don't have to bear me as a lead singer anymore.

They totally stopped covering and have now created a set of songs that consists of finest Indie Rock. Apart from songs that we used to perform together, like "Madam, honestly", "Something" and "Lethal Poetry", they have added some really good pieces of music. My favorite being "Hail reality" and also the more aggressive "Morning pages" or the ballad "The void stares back" - which I hope to hear on their Myspace-page soon, make them much more versatile. One song - sorry guys, I can't recall the title right now, but help me out and I will add it - even sounds a lot like one of my favorite bands "Bloc Party" - which is definitely a huge compliment.

And now being headliners of a regional band festival, they definitely played the best show in their career. Yes, we had a bigger audience at my goodbye-concert - but you played this totally cool and one did not see any difference between you guys and the much older, more experienced bands that were allowed to be your "support acts" ;).

And if all this is not enough for you guys, I will tell you that I sang every song I could with you. I have got one of the best jobs in the world, but when I was standing in the front row, I knew I would give up all I have for being on the stage with you! If you are waiting for a good newspaper article tomorrow - you will get it - but I hope that these lines - that come from my heart - will mean just as much to you guys. I know you are way better without me, I know you all don't really know what to do with your lives yet, I know that you might never be corporate guys, teachers or anything else - for me, you will always be Rock Stars! I miss you a lot. Don't forget me and when you finally play the big festivals - I will be in the front row, as your manager or your biggest fan - and will tell people that I used to play with these great, creative Indie-guys! And maybe you will let me sing one last song with you, to make me feel the way you will do then, even if it is only for a few minutes.

"I'm gonna trade this life for fortune and fame
I'd even cut my hair and change my name"

Keep on rocking!

Yes, Nico...you rock - not only as a song writer - your voice is getting better and better!



My personal guitar hero, Rob!



The show...



...and the work before (soon, you will have rowdies) :)



Backstage.



Now it's "Rockin' Bayreuhth" soon it might be "Rock im Park" :)

Oktoberfest - Part 1: The real thing

It's the end of September, I am at my lovely home in Franconia (Northern Bavaria) and Munich is not to far away. And with a few free beers and food - courtesy of Paulaner - those were enough incentives to visit the biggest fairground in the world.

So we went there - me being the designated driver. This turned out to be a good decision, especially because Stev, the friend I had spent my last Christmas with in New Zealand, was really, really drunk by 6 p.m.

First of all, we had some great food and our first beer in the Winzerer Fähndl tent - for free. Networking is everything nowadays. :) We then went on to check out the fun rides and a few more tents, namely Hofbräu, Hippodrom and Armbrustschützen. Lucky me not being forced to drink 5-6 liters of beer. I had two Radler (shandies) and was able to enjoy the show. Thus, I still contributed to the one million euro profit (yes, earnings, not revenue!) every owner of a tent at Oktoberfest makes every year. And it turned out to be a good one (see pictures) - I won't link you on those in Facebook, Stev, don't worry. :) But this is to good not to share.

The first beer of the day.



In this stand I spent a summer when I was sixteen - my first summer job.



Munich atmosphere.



Barrel on a faux-traditional horse-drawn carriage.



Fancy a big bite?



Fun in the tent - at around 2 p.m.



My well deserved "Radler". Prost!



In the Hippodrom - I like the decoration, but not the in-crowd.



No, he didn't pee himself, it is only beer. We made him clap so we wouldn't loose him. ;)



Way home - please don't vomit in my Mum's car.

The truth about girls

There are certain things men have to know. There are certain things that make me laugh. And there are certain things you just have to share with your friends. Enjoy! :)

A cook and a sailor

This Wednesday was really something out of the ordinary. If I had expected a normal workday with sitting on my desk and communicating with my customers, I was proven wrong. Tuesday night, a colleague told me that she would not be able to do her "kitchen internship" on the next day, because she is ill. As I had been on the waiting list, I would spend half day in the kitchen. And it was going to be a great time.

After breakfast I joined our Italian-Polish-Brazilian-Spanish kitchen crew to find out first hand how it is to cook for 1400 employees. Well, in fairness you have to say that there are two restaurants, so usually it is not quite as much. Still I was chopping vegetables for 500 servings of fajitas and cooked rice for 600 people. I was lucky, because it was "Mexican Day" and everybody loves Mexican food. And if any of my co-workers are reading this: If you did not like the fajitas - it was me who seasoned them - so you know why "a little more curcuma" might have been missing.

I have to say that if I were a cook (and I have worked in other kitchens before) I would definitely want to work in this kitchen. Our cooks work from 8 am to 3 pm and they get the weekends of. What is even more important: They don't have to clean up after themselves. This was particularly shocking to me, because as I have got three cooks in my family and also some friends with that profession, I know there is one particular weakness every cook has: Your kitchen will look like a mess after they created some culinary treats. So if you take the responsibility for doing the dishes from them, they will go crazy and use even more pans, pots and cutlery. :)

In the afternoon, we went on a team event: Sailing in Dun Laoghaire with my team. I love team building and it was great fun - apart from the fact that we would have been happy if there had been some more wind.

If only every workday would be like that...

Swedish delight

There are some things that you never would have thought you might miss. Many of which I have learned about in my last few months in Ireland. I am not talking about the German sun, Klöße (potato balls), Franconian beer for 2,50 a pint or pretzels. I am talking about something more Nordic, yet deeply woven into the everyday-life of most European's my age. People who pretend not to have heard of Billy and Lack and the delicious Köttbullar are mostly hypocrites. So finally, after a long period of postponed start dates - IKEA has made it to Dublin.

On Tuesday night, I have finally been there after work. On the second day after the grand opening it was not too stressful and I was finally able to add some sparks of cosiness to my fully furnished apartment to distinguish it from the hundreds of other apartments in different buildings that have been furnished by the same company. And yes, it seems that furniture is a lot cheaper if you buy it in bulk.

The best thing about Irish IKEA is that it is just as inexpensive as everywhere. Well, in the future you will have to pay three Euro for parking, but still: The food is cheap and cheerful and there is free refill on soft drinks. I had a nice IKEA hot dog (unfortunately no onions) and bought some Köttbullar, almond tart and Daim for home. What a happy evening.

See - there is always joy in the small things! Thank you Ingvar Kamprad from Elmtaryd in Agunnaryd.

New hobbies to spend a Sunday

The festival feeling has worn off, reality has got me back and I do not like the weather outside. So what to do with a Sunday like this?

First of all: Listen to my old bands new song for the umpteenth time is an option. It is called "Hail Reality" and I like the lyrics. Furthermore you can hear in the demo that Rob is singing the background voice, which adds a little variety compared to the last demos which were better live. But check out for yourself on Myspace and support those guys!

And because I do not want to live without music myself, I have decided to learn how to play the guitar. I know, I am going to suck, but at least I will try. So far I have managed to learn how to tune it, around 8 chords and to change a string.

And as my index finger is already aching again, I might waste some time on YouTube. If you would like to have a good laugh, check out some literal versions of songs. Here is my personal favourite. I wonder what was the intention behind some music videos and this parody brings it right to the point.

OXEGEN Festival - Keep on rockin'

A few months ago, a colleague and I had a difficult decision to make: See one of the biggest rock festivals in Europe with an amazing line-up or keep the incredible amount of almost 250 Euro, which would be enough for two other festivals. In the end, we decided to buy the tickets, buy a tent, buy a decent supply of food, get a third person - our favourite intern ;) - to come with us and just do it. So enjoy my personal festival report, some videos made by me on YouTube and some pictures.

So Thursday night we packed a car with all those things - excluding the intern, who would come on Friday - and went to the festivalground on Punchestown Racecourse, around half an hour from Dublin. After having pitched the tent and making friends with our neighbours - within an hour everyone in a 200m-radius knew, we were "Ze Germans" and had tried their German skills on us - we realized how unbelievably big this was going to be. The campground was huge, including a supermarket, a tremendous number of food stands and camping shops. Apart from this there were two fairgrounds with amazing, yet expensive attractions. And the festival ground was even more impressive.

Friday morning the sun was shining and the first night in the tent had been more or less comfortable. After some German Bratwurst from the small barbecue we had brought, we felt ready to rock and went to the festivalground. Which was about the time it started raining for the first time. This did not keep us from seeing some great performances, starting with Therapy? and Lily Allen. Then we decided to go to the pit and have a better view for The Script (which none of my German friends might know, but let's say they are like the Irish "Wir sind Helden" or "Sportfreunde Stller" - and a real chick flick). Snow Patrol, who were on afterwards and were my personal favourite on Friday had a great show including some cool videos, which we were enjoying from the fifth row, with an amazing view back over thousands of people.



The headliners on Friday were Blur, who were a disappointment to me. Damon Albarn was so stoned, he was unable to remember his setlist, which is not an assumption, but a fact, because he admitted it between two songs. Still, I went crazy for "Song 2", for which we had to wait until the very end of course, although the band seemed pretty bored. Which is somehow understandable if you are always associated with one song, even if you are not a one-hit wonder.



Saturday my two fellow festivalgoers could not be bothered to get out of the tent and trade their afternoon nap against some decent rock music, so I prepared myself a festival bag (a 1,5 litre Tetra Pak with Vodka Orange, turned into a nice handbag by using duck tape) and went off to see The Blizzards on my own. The hardest decision was yet to come, because I was standing in the second row when James Morrison started playing and the next act on the Main Stage were the Yeah Yeah Yeahs - so would I trade my perfect position and the nice female company I had met in the pit for Maximo Park, who were playing at a smaller stage at the same time, or just stay in the pit. I chose the pit, got soaked like crazy as the strongest downpour of the weekend started and also saw Elbow before finally my personal favourite was on: Bloc Party.



Or for an even better video of my favourite Bloc Party-song go to MTV. If you look hard, you can even see me in their footage. In this moment I had been in the pit for six hours without anything to drink or a toilet and no chance to get back to my place if I gave in to my basic needs. So I just went crazy and forgot about my thirst, my bursting bladder and the fact that I was soaked despite my raincoat. And if you are in the pit with a girl who wants to see Kings of Leon and without having heard from you friends in hours (the mobile network had a time lag there) you will stay there and shout "Sex on Fire". After over eight hours in the pit, I still had to skip their encore, because the girl I was with had fainted and I was gentleman enough to accompany her to the first aid tent - also because I might have been close to fainting from pure exhaustion myself.

So my first decision for Sunday was: No pit for me! The second decision was that we were all dying for a shower and a decent bed and so we carried our tent and supplies to the car before we went to the festival. The fist band we saw were the White Lies and then came the biggest surprise of the weekend. After we had gotten a glimpse of Lady Gaga's crazy performance of kneeling on a bench and playing an acoustic version of "Pokerface" on a piano while holding her nearly naked booty into the cameras, we enjoyed a show I would never have thought to be good - so my price for the hottest and most talented female goes to: Katy Perry! Her show was awesome and the crowd went crazy after she had covered Queens "Don't stop me now" and then played "I kissed a girl".





After seeing The Ting Tings, we went off to the main stage to finish our festival experience with Razorlight and The Killers. I have to say though, I liked The Killers better last year on a small German festival called Highfield. They played on Friday night and it was great. Still, I think a festival needs some decent rock to finish off with and not a cool rock band that turned mainstream (no offense guys, I still like you and was to one to shouted his lungs out for "Mr. Brightside"). So think about inviting The Beatsteaks to Oxegen next year! :) All in all the whole festival was fun and I managed to stay pretty clean until the very end when people went crazy in the mud. So let me cite my friend and colleague Florian: "Who needs a mosh pit when you can have a mud pit?"



Snow Patrol



My soaking friends



It is insulting, but at least the owners are German and Bratwurst IS selling



Prepared to rock!



My favourite festival picture



The fellowship of Oxegen



Did I mention the rain?



Decent German beer made our day.



Blur in action 1



Blur in action 2



Shadow play during The Killers



The mud pit...



...and me being a little less enthusiastic about it.



Rain shelters can be found everywhere



Katy Perry and her...umm...little present she got from her fans

FREE Audio-Book by Chris Anderson

Well as autumn comes nearer and nearer - maybe not to you on the sunny continent, but still it is coming as I could feel yesterday when I was caught by an Irish downpour - it is time to read books again. And as I know that many of you have given up on paperbacks and switched to audio-books, I would like to recommend one to you.

The best thing about it: Not only my recommendation is for free...the audio-book itself is free as well. And this is what it ultimately is about! The title - you might guess - is "Free" and the author of the book is Chris Anderson, editor in chief of the American "Wired"-Magazine and a visionary when it comes to the economics of the 21st century. Maybe you have read his last book "The Long Tail".

You might say: "Why is this book for free then?" - and this is exactly what is behind the idea. The normal paper version of the book will set you back around 25 Euro, the audio-version is available for download.

And already, you have learned an essential lesson from Anderson's book: Companies will earn their money "around their products", not by charging for their use. See Google's Search Engine that is essentially free to use and pays for itself by online advertisement. So listen to the book, understand the concept and maybe become the next internet-millionaire.

Here you can download the book for free.

And for those of you who would like to read about the book in German first, here is a link to an article on Spiegel Online.

Hope you enjoy it and happy money making for free. :)

Guns n' Bruises

If there is something on the order, that recently got forbidden in my home country, guess who is in? This Saturday I decided to play paintball for the first time in my life. I was never that interested in violent games - I sucked at Counterstrike when I played it once - and always preferred something more strategic. Apart from that I have not been in the military and my ligaments, that had been torn multiple times, were not the only reason why I might not have been a good fit for the German Bundeswehr.

Still, as a colleague of mine had the idea, I did not hesitate to say I would come. So there we were, on a rainy Saturday in the middle of a forest with a bunch of other people, willing to shoot you with yellow plastic balls filled with paint. First thing you get is a safety instruction - at least for the most important rules. Second, you get dressed up in nice black overalls and a helmet that makes you look like a predator for two reasons: First to be protected and second - and I guess more importantly - to scare your opponents off by looking more fierce and dangerous.

The first round was actually really boring. We started off with our team of eight and played a short 4-versus-4 in which most of the time everybody hid behind barrels. Then we had to buy more ammunition and I was wondering if this was worth it. When I read on the box that those balls were "Helal" and thus save for our Muslim friends, I wondered who would think of eating those. I got taught in the second round, while I had to defend a fortress against the other team. I got shot on the mouthpiece of my helmet and swallowed some paint. Does not taste that good, so even if it is safe, I would not recommend eating paintballs. And I was happy that head shots do not count.

Apart from this, the second game was really fun and also very challenging as every team had to be the attacking team once and then the defending team afterwards. The third and - for us - last game was interesting as well. The teams had to conquer and defend houses against the other team. This really gave you an adrenalin rush and as we were playing with some fierce looking Moldavian tourists some of whom did not understand a single word of English, also made me a little uncomfortable. Violent orders in Russian being shouted next to your ear and yellow paintballs hitting your butt from less than the three meters safety range (Thanks for that, nameless girl on my (!!!) team) taught me two things. First: Yes, there is a certain fun in playing gotcha. Second: The German military did not miss on a great soldier and I would definitely be one of the first to be shot in a real combat.

So I am happy to live a peaceful life and having gotten away with only three bruises - one particularly big one on my back - and close this post with the words of a wise dead musician (shot by the way):

"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace..."

It's my life!

Hey guys,

well, as I have found this on the internet by googling my name. ;) I thought I might as well share it with you all.

I like the quiet part better than the rock part, but hear for yourself. I don't know where the random pictures come from, but some of them are nice (some of them tacky though).

And leave some comments if you want us to record more songs. Maybe even suggest something you would like to hear.

Enjoy!

What do you really want in your life?

I know that some of you might already know the video I would like to show you today. It is called "Validation" and is a short film about what we all need in our life.

So I will start off with it: Because you read my blog you are a friend of mine, intelligent and a person I like to hang out with. Oh yes, especially you, Joe, because you have sent me the link to this video quite a while ago...

Enjoy, my friends, and leave some comments if you like it!

Weekend Trip to the Ring of Kerry

Imagine a beach, imagine sun - and a little rain - imagine walking barefoot through the sand and lying in the dunes. Imagine you still are in Ireland. Welcome to my last weekend.

But first things first. On Friday, three of my colleagues and I took a German car with a steering wheel on the left side and headed for the Ring of Kerry in Southwest Ireland. Driving past Limerick, we arrived at Killarney, where we slept at a nice Bed & Breakfast and started our trip around the ring early Saturday morning.

First things we have seen were Ross Castle and Muckross House which were both very nice. I especially enjoyed walking around in the garden and enjoying the sun. Still, there was the occasional Irish raincloud, but we were pretty lucky, because most of the time, it was sunny and very nice. So driving past beautiful lakes up to the nice Ladies' View an making our way past Kenmare and Sneeme, we were lucky because the rain stopped as soon as we arrived at a nice little beach for a stopover so that we were able to enjoy the sun. In Waterville a picturesque bay with the rough sea and green meadows fulfilled every cliché one might have when thinking about the Green Island.

The second night at Caherciveen we slept at a really nice Bed & Breakfast. The elderly Irish couple who ran the B&B were so friendly and nice that we all felt like we were visiting our grandparents. Especially the full Irish breakfast was the perfect start into a Sunday morning. Here is my recommendation (as Jeff Jarvis would call it "Googlejuice") for future visits: The B&B is called Strand's End House. And this Sunday was one of the best I have had in Ireland so far. Visiting Rosbeigh Beach was my personal highlight. I loved walking barefoot on the beach and lying around in the dunes. If the water would not have been so cold, I definitely might have considered a swim. The last stop on our tour was the Gap of Dunloe where once again we were rewarded for a little walking tour by the beautiful scenery.

And as I realize that words are not quite enough to share my weekend with you and I am not as creative as usual after a hard working day, I will let my pictures speak. Find a collection of the best ones here and a link to the Picasa album for those of you who want even more.

Take care!









Find even more pictures here.