Update (long overdue)

G'day,

You might remember me, I used to write this blog...and even though I had the intention to continue writing I got stuck and didn't feel like it and this and that and blah blah but today I give you a short update on some of the many things that happened during the last three month.

Josara got even more pregnant, now it's less than six weeks to go and Otto does what I can't do on a daily base: kicking a pregnant woman in the guts! That's my son!

We had our first class for parents to be yesterday evening and all ten couples had to introduce themselves and tell the class the pet name for their baby as apparently it's not done to announce the actual name of the unborn child. So while the males sat sheepishly next to their women more or less creative pet names were announced until Josara introduced us including Otto who is actually called Otto. Josara and me both wondered why parents don't publish the actual name for the child until it's born and came up with several theories but some research on the internet showed that the reason is even more ridiculous than we have guessed.

It's either to protect the name so people don't "steal" it, which made us laugh quite hard...I mean honestly, if someone got told that our son will be called Otto and this person thinks "what a great name" and names his new kitten/fish/baby/car Otto, too...does that mean the name Otto is burned? Or do these parents live in the delusion that their idea for a name is unique and they need to protect the copyright on this? I'm still laughing when I imagine those parents sitting together and enjoying the secret knowledge that their baby will go by the unique and creative name of Kevin or Sheila...

The other main reason is even more ridiculous: the parents fear that their choice of name will not meet general approval and in order to prevent the criticism before the child is named they keep the name secret until they name the baby officially in the knowledge that people are less likely to criticise the name choice when facts have been established. I think if people can't even manage to face critique over the name, how the fuck will they stand up to any decision they will make?

It's funny what kind of stuff you read in books and on the net how you have to do this and how you must not do that and so on and I guess that all first time parent have no real idea what's wrong and what's right and I guess that's the reason why the baby industry seems to make the second biggest revenue right after the oil/military/pharma complex. The whole idea banks on the insecurity of first time parents.

I'm very lucky that all of my friends who have raised children proved beyond doubt that you neither need to have lots of money to buy all those fancy baby/child thingies nor do you have to study the latest findings in education or erect a protective bubble to keep the evil of the world out. All those children are freaking awesome and I'd like to use the opportunity to say "Happy 12th birthday" to one of them: Jan, rock on! (Ah, and when we visit Europe next time we need to take a picture with both Ottos and Jans, hehe)

Ok, in other news: we have a new car
our old car, 25 years old
our new car, 2 years old and enough space for a baby and two dogs

And something educational: How to built a raised garden bed?
Get wood (hahaha) or as I did get eWood, recycled printer cartridges, link here
cut to right size...I build a garden bed, 240cm x 120cm x 60cm
choose right spot and screw sides together
I used a layer of cardboard and hessian as base to prevent the Australian power grass to grow into the garden bed
Then fill the thing with layers of straw, compost, cow shit, soil and finish with a layer of mulch to prevent drying-out of the soil, probably more important in Australian summers than back home in Europe...

Then get some seeds...
chilli for instance...and the rest should be easy...

Last thing for the blog today: the importance of testing the stuff you get for your baby. I mean you should know if and how a baby carrier thing works before the baby arrives...if you have a cat who just loves attention then you have an ideal test candidate
Baby carrier thing test in progress....

Well, that's all for today, let's see if I manage to get the next blog entry done before another three month are over...have fun, take care and see yous later

An evening at the races

G'day,

Today some pictures of Dorje's birthday race...
Participants get registered
Important safety advise: don't wear a scarf while go-carting
The carts...up to 75 km/h...that's decent
Zero alcohol tolerance...that means what?

Everybody gets breathalyzed before being allowed to drive... one last obstacle to overcome...could be a hard one, I mean an Irishman sober on his 40st birthday?
Dorje giving a blow job...
Me blowing...
John doing the same and so on and so forth...out of twelve people seven were sober...even the Irish guys and that's official...well someone with 0.58 won the first challenge of the day...
We survivors were about to see the best safety video ever...
getting into gear...
a sober Irishman
extreme helmeting
finding the assigned vehicle
hey ho...let's go...
Go-carting is awesome fun...but with those fast carts it was a challenge not to do 360 degree turns...I managed even 540 degree turns...
Qualifying
Getting ready for the race...
I ran into John during the race which cost me quite some time...
Awards...finished third...
The real winners were the ones who didn't even race...

It was fun, I guess we will need to do that again soon...that all for today, have a great one and take care...cya

My niece Johanna Pauline

G'day,

Please meet Johanna Pauline, my sister's first daughter, born 14.07.2010, 51 cm and 3780g. Mother and baby are alive and well.
great hairstyle by the way

Jochen as a proud father

Congratulaions!

While I'm at it I can also use the opportunity to voice my slight dissatisfaction with the result of the world cup. Main target has been met though, Italy had to leave after the group stage, everything else was not a priority.

That's it for now, I'm writing a longer blog entry about Australian politics right now but it's still not finished. Have a good one, take care and cya laters...

more soccer...

G'day,

Now while the chicken is slowly roasting in the oven I find the time to complete the soccer blogging. The quarterfinals started with a promising game Brazil vs Holland and even though I was for Holland I had my doubts they could win that thing as well, Brazil is one of the biggest names in soccer and their performance during this world cup so far has not been too bad. We all know how it ended and I must say that the Dutch put up a great fight and deserved to win that game.

I went to bed then to find out the next morning that I should have watched the second game. In the aftermath of that game the discussions on FIFA rules reached the point where I couldn't understand it any more. Yes, I agree that there were pretty heavy referee mistakes this world cup and yes, the new ball has it's funny little ways and yes, maybe it's time for FIFA to view their referee policy in a different light but counting a goal that has not been scored? That's bullshit!

What happened was that in the last minute of the extra time one Uruguayan player prevented a goal by Ghana using his hand. The result: penalty for Ghana, red card for the Uruguayan player, all according to the rules. The penalty shot went on the crossbar and so both teams had to do the penalty shoot-out which Uruguay won. Such is life as well as soccer.

The next day people started to complain that this rules were not fair, that there are other sports like basketball in which a sure score that is prevented by an action against the rules will be counted never the less and that FIFA should consider this.

I don't agree completely with FIFA's position on technical aids when it comes to determine if a goal was a goal, that this would take the drama out of soccer but I think a goal that has been prevented by unfair measures should not been counted as a goal because that would take the drama out of the game. I mean, everyone who watched Uruguay vs Ghana will remember this exciting game for the rest of their life. If the goal would just have been counted, what a lame thing. And let's face it, if the same situation had happened in the first minute of a game Uruguay would have had to play the entire game with 10 people so I guess it's a fair rule.

Also who wants soccer to be more like basketball anyway? There is a reason I watch soccer and not basketball. That's a pussy game anyway nearly as bad as netball...

I was nervous all Saturday as I was convinced that Germany vs Argentina could go either way. I decided to watch the game at the German club in Windsor and picked up Dorje and his cousin around 11 to be in time for the game. When we arrived at the German club around 11.30 we were told that they won't show it due to "legal issue". I have no idea what kind of issues they were but we decided to watch at Steve's place in Brunswick. On the way there it became obvious that we'll be a little late and we were joking that if we come Steve would tell us the score is already 2:1 or so but when we arrived at 12.05 we learned that it was already 1:0 and I was quite happy to learn that it was for Germany. Watching the game was awesome. I have to say it again: this is the best German team I ever saw at a world cup, we can win this thing.

The late game was also quite funny, if Spain plays like that on Wednesday they won't stand a chance. The two penalties were extremely entertaining but I was quite glad that Spain scored the 1:0 so I finally could go to bed at 6.30 in the morning.

I am very much looking forward to watching the semi finals...well that's all for today...have fun, take care and cya laters

The importance of Australian politics

G'day,

Those of you who have a facebook page have probably noticed that facebook sometimes suggests people you may know, products you may be interested in or pages you may like. The results are often far-fetched, funny or inappropriate. For example my facebook suggests on a regular base that I should like the Australian army. Why would I like the army, if anything I like the navy, lot more homosexual activities going on there but anyway.

Saturday night my facebook came up with this:
*explanation for people who don't follow the news or are uninterested in either politics or cooking shows: Master chef Australia is a stupid cooking show following the concept of American/Australian/German idol, or "You think you can dance" with less singing/dancing but more cooking. Julia Gillard is the new Prime Minister of Australia.

I reckon this brief snapshot of popularity among the online community sends one message. If Julia wants to win the next election she should start appearing on stupid cooking show more often.

That's all for now...I'll write another entry on Saturday night later today...have fun. take care and cya laters

Old picture dump...(I am no Hippie even though I might be dressed similar!!!)

G'day,

Today I scanned have some old pictures...You'll probably laugh at most of them but please let me make one point: even though I wore strange garments, I never was a Hippie, I am no Hippie and I will never be a Hippie!!! I have even been kicked out of a Hippie festival for being politcally incorrect and I'm proud of that. Long hair and strange clothing are only proof of my lack of taste not my political, ethical or otherwise opinions! I hope that's clear...
Me age 19 in my first student home in Muenster (1991) my first electric guitar behind me
My flatmate Olli and me and the handkerchief of doom (approx 1993)
Gaby and me (1994)
dental hygiene in Lithuania (New Year's eve 1994)
New Year's eve 1996 in Holland
At Wiebke's and Yvonne's kitchen probably 1997
No idea where or when this pic was taken..
In my parent's garden 1997
The Holy Chao live at "g" in Stralsund summer 1997
The Holy Chao live at Sputnikhalle, Muenster
Another live shot, probably C.U.B.A. or Bennohaus...can't tell for sure
Practicing...1996 at Gleis 22
Danny D. and me during the recordings for "Use your confusion" 1997
Promo pics 1997
Promo pic 1997

New Year's eve 2003 in Finland

That's all for today...I hope you had a good laugh...take care, have fun cya later...

Soccer, Soccer, Soccer

G'day,

Well I did blog over the last weeks but the entries were either not complete or too weird so I deleted them. This is a mix from stuff I wrote over th last couple of weeks and some updates:

World cup group phase match 1

The soccer world cup is upon us and I am loving it. The soccer world cup in Australia is very different compared to Germany. The typical Australian knows that soccer exists but the game doesn't have the same significance as Aussie rules football or cricket. I remember the last cup in Germany when every second car was displaying the German flag and public life came to a hold during the Germany matches. Here public life is on hold anyway because the games are at night and I even saw two cars with the Australian flag...

Soccer is the domain of the immigrants here. Melbourne is the biggest Greek city outside Greece and we have a lot of English, Irish, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Ex-Yugoslavian, Russian and other European immigrants who brought their love for soccer with them. But for the true blue Aussie soccer is a pussy sport.

Well, as little as soccer plays a part in the public life it is nevertheless quite big in the media. And before the first Australian world cup game the media and public opinion here was kind of "the bigger the opponent, the harder they fall". Most Australian soccer fans I talked to before the game actually believe that Australia has a decent chance to get past the group stage or even win the group. I always replied that in my opinion it'll be a hard group and as I really like the socceroos I was quite sad when FIFA announced the group they have to play.

I watched Germany vs Australia with approx 25 Aussies and after 25 minutes the crowd was silent. All I have to say after I watched the German performance is: thank you Kevin-Prince Boateng for taking out Michael Ballack! This German team was the best I have seen in a long time. It might be due to the fact that Australia was not a strong opponent but still. After the first round I can say that from all the so called favorite teams only Germany played like a favorite. Spain lost, Portugal vs Ivory Coast was a lame kick, France and Italy were bad and Brasil wasn't good either. The Dutch won but it was not a very convincing victory.


World cup group phase match 2

Now that the second round is done I have to adjust my opinion a little. The dutch were still ok but the German loss against Serbia was shit. But Italy...hahaha...my dream might come through, please let them go home after the group stage. I went and watched Australia vs Ghana in the city.
Melbourne public viewing was kind of good but I have to say that summer is actually the better season for public viewing. Even though winter here is what we call autumn or spring back home but nevertheless 20+ degrees are better for watching soccer. After the first goal for Australia people were quite optimistic but when the game was over it as clear that that was that for the socceroos. It's a bit unfortunate as the Australian soccer would have benefited from a better performance at the world cup but this is also the problem. If it comes to soccer Australia is a third-world country. They are able to compete and beat other soccer third-world countries like Oman or China but if they have to play against teams from the first soccer world they don't stand a chance. It's not surprising if you watch the A-League here, any half decent team in the third league in Gemany could beat any team in the Australian A-league. The season is extremely short compared to Europe and the style of play here reminds of last millennium. Sorry my Australian friends but it's the truth.


World cup group phase match 3

Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! The fucking Italians are flying home. The highlight of this world cup. For me it is more important that the fucking Italians went home after the group stage than who actually wins the tournament. Fuck YES!!! The arrogant bastards actually thought they would win the cup and they got sent home as last of their group. Paraguay, Slovakia and even New Zealand were better. Hell, yeah! Fuck you Italian soccer, this world cup showed you were you belong! One word to my Kiwi friends: awesome! New Zealand unbeaten, that's a great efford and I hope we'll see you again next time around. Germany won against Ghana but it wasn't a great game and for 20 minutes it kind of looked as if the miracle could happen and Australia could reach the round of 16 but it was not meant to be.


World cup round of 16

One day afer Germany's last group game my jersey arrived.
I was ready to face England. What a classic and all my English friends and funny enough most of the Australians supported England. Well fair enough in the case of the English but regarding the Australian soccer fans I didn't get it. The Australians love facing England in sport (Cricket, Rugby etc) and they are ALWAYS against England which is understandable because as a former penal colony it's still great to show the former warders who's boss. But this time they supported their hated motherland. Well, what good did it do? I loved that game it was like witnessing history in the making. The highest German win against England ever and the equaliser for the Wembley goal in 1966. Of course some hopeless diehards still go on about that the referees stole Englands victory but that's just pathetic. Period.

I also had to pay the prize of having married a dutch woman
Only one person gave me a hard time but as he is a Bayern Munich supporter I could ignore his "expertise".

So now the exciting games are Holland vs Brazil (Fr) and Germany vs Argentina (Sa) and I am dreaming of a final Holland vs Germany which would also be a classic...which Germany could win...

That's all for today...enjoy the next two days without soccer, take care and cya later