On both sides of the Wall, people simultaneously flooded the streets. Hammers, spanners, other tools were in their hands. Some appeared to hold nothing, but in their hearts and hands they held the determination and fortitude that petrified the guards, officers and soldiers on both the East and West sides of the Wall. The Soviet guards weakly let their rifles fall limp by their sides as the Berliners - East and West - displayed how indomitable the power of the people can be.

The might of a single sledgehammer was exhibited as a solitary strike to the seemingly formidably robust concrete broke the divide that split a nation's capital. The Iron Curtain stood firmly no more.

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit was what the people stood for, and once they brought down that graffiti- laden barrier, that unequivocal representation of the shameful attempt to rip apart the heart of a nation, they embraced this Wiedervereinigung, brüderlich mit Herz und Hand. Repetitively going through the motion of walking across the borders that once demarcated the perimeters of each half of the city, friendship knew no boundaries.

Read more about the Wiedervereinigung at Die Zeit's portal here.

P. and I are Western Germans, grown up and socialized in the Federal Republic of Germany and a few years after the wall came down, both of us (seperately, we didn't know each other at that time) decided to move to Eastern Germany to study there. Both of us started studying in the amazing city of Leipzig. When I moved there, I enjoyed my life in a big city. Before that, I didn't know much about the former German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. I learned a lot during my years in Leipzig. But Leipzig is not only a town on the teritory of the former GDR, it's also a town in the centre of the free state of Saxony (Sachsen). The people who life here, have a lot of local and regional traditions, which I all had to discover and am still discovering. One of the first things I learned, was that people call certain things differently from what I was used to. Some foods had different names and I was introduced to meals I had never heard of. Let's take the pancake as an example.

Where P. and I grew up pancakes were pancakes and donuts were donuts. When I moved to saxony, a pancake suddenly was a donut. Let me explain. To me, a pancake is a "cake" that is fried in a pan, but it is flat. German pancakes are bigger and flatter than the American version. They look more like crepes, just slighly thicker. They are often served with sugar and jam or applesauce.

To a person from Saxony, Berlin, Thuringia or other parts of Eastern Germany a pancake is a deep-fried, jelly-filled doughnut. It is made from yeast dough, filled with jelly and fried in oil. Here, what I would call a pancake, is either a  "Eierkuchen" (eggcakes) or a  "Plinse" (Blintzes).

Where I come from, a deep-fried, jelly-filled doughnut is called a "Berliner", so I had a good laugh when I first heard about Kennedy's Berlin speach, where he announced "I am a doughnut" ("Ich bin ein Berliner").

Today, I want to present to you the Eggless Reunification Pancake. Basically, this is a thick American style pancake, which is smaller than a regular German pancake /eggcake. It has the size of a "Berliner/Pfannkuchen" (jelly-filled doughnut), but it is fried rather than deep fried, and of course it is not as thick as a doughnut and not filled with jam. Well, use your imagination when I present to you the Eggless Reunification Pancake (in the colours of our flag, black, red, and golden):

...celebrating the peaceful revolution.

The pancakes are adapted from the fantastic pancake recipe from roo's island. I added two tablespoons of cocoa powder. For the red apple compote I cut up one apple, added some water and food colouring and cooked the apple until soft. On top you can see some "golden" sea-buckthorn applesauce.

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German Version / Deutsche Version

Heute, am Tag der Wiedervereinigung, gibt es Eierlose Wiedervereinigungspfannkuchen, in schwarz-rot-gold. P. und ich leben als Westdeutsche in Ostdeutschland und eines der Dinge, an die wir uns gewöhnen mussten, waren Berliner, die Pfannkuchen heißen und Pfannkuchen, die Eierkuchen heißen. Heute, zum Tag der Wiedervereinigung, gab es bei uns daher Wiedervereinigungspfannkuchen, eine Mischung aus Pfannkuchen und Berliner:

Das Rezept für die Pfannkuchen gibt es hier, ich habe dem Teig noch zwei Esslöffel Kakao hinzugefügt. Das Apfelkompott habe ich aus einem Apfel, etwas Wasser und einem großen Spritzer roter Lebensmittelfarbe gemacht. Obendrauf "goldenes" Sanddorn-Apfelmus.

I will give a little history to CWP, why I started it and why I continue with it still, particularly on the internet. Regular readers know that I wanted to create a movie with a Big Bollywood song about the joys of Milk, a Pizza Delivery guy proficient in Kung-Fu and a Kiss on a Rooftop overlooking the gleaming metropolis known as London.

But there is also another challenge I set myself. I wanted to do a movie with no swearing, no gratuitous sex and no overt violence. Something that kids would love and that adults could enjoy. As I have already mentioned, the majority of material that I produce is actually pretty sadistic. Check here to confirm the state of my mind.

But I love The Paint, it's fun and surprisingly it has been my most successful project to date, despite the fact that it has often received the least backing and resources.

---

So Webisode 100. And yes, this has been a toughie. The reason for being on the internet is simple - it is an accident. Not having HD equipment pretty much excludes me from the cinematic club (until this winter) and so to keep the idea of CWP alive I shot for the net. It has slowly grown online and while not yet cult, we're getting there...

So what was number 100 going to be? Well, I do not want to hype it up and unfortunately for El M it is a cut and paste job rather than new footage (that should be coming out mid-October) - hey, this is the credit crunch, I got to recycle! But, I decided (to the best of my ability) to base it on one of the best films in the last ten years, Run Lola Run!

For the information of my readers, German CInema is highly underrated! Germany is probably one of the most creative countries in Europe and the host of original ideas that come from this powerhouse of culture is astounding!

But for now, a little bit of London life with Run Kay Run! - CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Ich hab mir gestern "Stadtaffe" von Peter Fox gekauft. Ja richtig gelesen! Gekauft! Kommt selten vor, gibts aber auch noch. So ne "geile" Mucke muss man unterstützen!

"Alles Neu" und "Fieber" sind ja schon länger Realised, ein "Haus am See" ist auch raus. Aber das Album hat mehr zu bieten.

Es sind zwar nur 12 Songs, aber die hams in sich! Was soll ich sagen...Beatmäßig unübertreffbar, Rhymes bzw Lyrics wie auch schon bei Seeed hundert Mal besser als bei jedem Rapper. Kein "ich fick dich Schlampe" oder "ich bin der King" sondern tiefgründige und anspruchsvolle Texte, die man sich auch zwei bzw. zwanzig Mal anhören kann. Hammer Drums sind wie immer auch dabei, wie man ja in jedem Musikvideo sehen kann. Affen überall :)

18€ hab ich bezahlt, für 12 Songs. Und es hat sich gelohnt! 5/5 Sterne von mir.

Mir wurde der Befehl erteilt, die Menschen solange zu bekämpfen, bis sie die Worte sprechen: la ilaha illal-lah (kein Gott ist da außer Allah). (Mohammed, Sahih Muslim, 29)

Vorgestern feierten die Deutschen den Tag der Deutschen Einheit, einer der bedeutendsten Feiertage Deutschlands. Am selben Tag nahmen die Muslime den Nationalfeiertag erneut in Geiseln, in dem sie den Tag der Offenen Moschee zum zwölften Mal in Folge veranstalteten.

Die Bundesrepublik Deutschland hat nur zwei säkulare Feiertage, den 1. Mai (leider von der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft eingeführt worden) und den Nationalfeiertag. Der sollte alle Deutschen/Einwohner - egal ob sie eine Religion haben oder keine, egal woher sie kommen, an diesem Tag vereinen (wie in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, Independence Day). Die Deutschen waren - allein auf Grund ihrer Lage im Herzen Europas - schon immer ein Mischvolk. Als Symbol ihrer Herrschaft haben ihn die Muslime nun usurpiert.

"Der Islam herrscht, er wird nicht beherrscht!" hinterließ der "Prophet" Mohammed seinen Anhängern. Damit zeigen sie Europa, daß sie sich nicht integrieren wollen, sondern wir uns in die Umma (i.e die religiöse Gemeinschaft aller Muslime) integrieren müssen. Wie der Orientalist Dr. Hans-Peter Raddatz und seine Familie seit Jahren von Islamisten bedroht werden, kann man hier nachlesen.

Deutschland hat übrigens diese Muslime nicht gerufen, es handelte sich um "Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte", wie Dr. Heike Knortz in ihrem Buch Diplomatische Tauschgeschäfte: Gastarbeiter in der westdeutschen Diplomatie und Beschäftigungspolitik 1953-1973 nachweist.

Wie die Bertelsmann Stiftung versucht, uns den Islam schmackhaft zu machen, erläutert Dr. Gudrun Eussner hier.

Wie Muslime seit Jahren den deutschen Nationalfeiertag zur bundesweiten religiösen PR-Veranstaltung missbrauchen, erklärt Politically Incorrect (PI) hier.

Zusammenfassend lässt sich sagen, dass dieser Tag der Offenen Moschee, der dient, den Islam als friedliche Religion nach außen zu präsentieren, eine gelungene Tarnung ist. In bestimmten Situationen dürfen Muslime ihre Religion gar verleugnen: Wer Allah verleugnet, nachdem er an Ihn geglaubt hatte – es sei denn, er sei dazu gezwungen und sein Herz sei weiterhin fest im Glauben (Sure 16,106). Im Islam gibt es das Gebot "taqiyya", was wörtlich übersetzt sich schützen bedeutet. Der Muslim hat die Pflicht seinen Glauben und seine Absichten zu verleugnen, wenn sonst seinem Leben, Gut oder seinem Glauben Gefahr droht. Da der Islam im Westen (noch) zu schwach ist, werden mit Hilfe dieser List die wahren Absichten des Islam verleugnet.

Gute Nacht, Europa!

Und wir wurden nicht enttäuscht!

Alles wie erwartet: Ein Gottschalk der Redet, damit irgendetwas gesagt ist. Wetten die man schon Gefühlte 10 mal gesehn hat (mit Ausnahmen) und eine Couch voller Stars die sich annhören mussten was der Moderator zu ihren Oberweiten sagt. Der einzige der den Witz, nachdem das Niveau schlagartig durch Lagerfeld und Vettel in die Höhe schoss, zurück in die Sendung brachte war Bully Herbig. Durch seine sehr witzigen Stand-Up Comedy-Einlagen (im eigendlichen Sinn) wurde die 'Unlustigkeit' in Person fast kompensiert. Dass sich Carla Bruni auch endlich mal in Deutschland sehen ließ und das ausgerechnet bei "Wetten dass" tat, ein weiterer Punkt in der (viel zu langen) Sendung, bei dem man dachte: "Armes Deutschland, hast du keine besseren Moderatoren?". Da kommt das Angebot von Bully (auch wenns leider ein Spaß war), die Sendung übernehmen zu wollen, gerade richtig oder eigendlich schon viel zu spät. 

Naja besser zu spät als nie!

Man fragt sich jetzt, was ist mit dem armen Junge? Die berechtigtere Frage ist meiner Meinung aber: Was wird aus dem Junge? Und was ist passiert das er so Mordlüstern ist?

Die Eltern sind die eigendlich Kriminellen, da muss in der Erziehung was extrem schief gelaufen sein. In 5 Jahren ist er dann Massenmörder und bereit zum Massaker, wenn seine Eltern so weiter machen.

Vielleicht wollte er aber auch nur das Krokodil füttern!

Vizitatorii îndemânatici se pot înscrie la diverse concursuri destinate barmanilor, bucătarilor, dar și gurmanzilor - cel mai rapid mâncător de mici sau hot dog. De asemenea, dacă dorești să iei parte la degustările de vin sau la cursurile de gătit din cadrul festivalului, nu trebuie decât să te înscrii în avans. Alte atracții includ demonstrații ale maeștrilor artei culinare, concerte și recorduri gastronomice - bucătarii vor pregăti cel mai lung tort!

Pentru a evita blocajele în trafic, organizatorii recomandă deplasarea către "spectacolul culinar ce dezvăluie universul gastronomic" cu mijloacele de transport în comun. Prețul unui bilet la Bucharest Food Festival este de 10 lei.

suddenly i've lost some respect for the germans. this lametard decides that even after testing the electric fence with his finger that it would be a fantastic idea to see if his pee would conduct electricity as well. 

epic fail

Germany's government and top banks were injecting billions of euros Monday (29 September) into a troubled mortgage lender, Hypo Real Estate (HRE), as it teetered on the brink of collapse. HRE said in Munich that a consortium of banks had come to its rescue as it faced a refinancing squeeze, extending credit to tide over the problems. Hypo did not name the banks or disclose how much credit it needed. But sources in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government said the government was involved and the package might total as much as 35 billion euros (50 billion US-Dollars), making the HRE case Germany's worst hit by far in the worldwide financial crisis.

The sources said German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck briefed senior political party leaders on the crisis. HRE had earlier been in urgent talks with German banking regulator BaFin and the Finance Ministry seeking a solution. Germany's second-biggest commercial-property lender, a blue chip on the DAX scale of 30 top companies, had fallen victim to speculation by its German-Irish unit Depfa.

Depfa had pursued long-term projects with heavy loans and generally ensured refinancing only at the last minute.

HRE said it had entered into talks with the banks "in response to the extremely challenging conditions on the international money markets following the Lehman collapse and other market disruptions."

Since she didn't have my email address, and my sister and bro-in-law don't know it by heart (I email them once a year, if that!), I told her that I'd send her a wee email so she had it, and asked her to reply. Thing is, she understandably knows fuck all, and while they've bought her a couple of books they are too complicated for her (fair enough). Also she knows that I'm completely self-taught when it comes to computers, and she reckons she's brainy enough to learn by herself, albeit slowly (I'm like her/she's like me, only I'm younger and doing all the things she could never do due to being preggers at 17 etc. blah blah).

Thus I sent her a wee email, even attaching a pic (challenge!!), with the following:

Hi Mama,
hier wie versprochen die Email! Also bitte die Tage antworten, wenn es
funktioniert!
Ich haenge auch noch ein Bild an von Peters 50. Geburtstag... jetzt
kannst du rausfinden, wie du dieses Bild auf deinem Computer speichern
kannst!

Schoene Gruesse,

lenina

She got back to me a day later with the following:

hallo lenina,habe deine e-mail erhalten.ich musste aber noch frank [son-in-law] anrufen,weil ich wieder nichts geschnallt hatte.ich hoffe,dass es beim nächsten mal auf anhieb klappt.grüsse von mama und peter

She's so sweet! I find that the older I get, the more I love and appreciate my mum. From pure hatred as teenager due to her oppressing me with her shit worldview and narrow fucking mind (which she still has - she thinks gay people = sinners and that it's not 'right' and reads the BILD ZEITUNG), to appreciating her for being a role model (divorcing my cunt of a father and working her ass off to raise us).

Like with everything in life, my mum's a mixed bag. I'm now mature enough however to understand that all her different bits are ok, and I don't have to agree with everything. I just focus on the good stuff, of which there is plenty, and live my life regardless of whether she thinks it's right or not :)

Dard Divorce is a film which starts off innocently enough, even soap opera-ish, where it's explained that Nathalie is divorcing Tim and stripping him of everything he's worked for.

Unfortunately, we're 'treated' to about twenty minutes of Nathalie telling us what is going on. Not discussing it with some other character, but telling us the details in a voice over that is almost like a cheesy Detective flick. Oh, and her acting is God awful, even in just talking!

After being introduced to her kids we see Nathalie feeling sorry for  what she's done to poor Tim. Next thing we're thrown in to an orgy of violence and gore. First it's Tim lying there dying then it's Nathalie being tortured, her kids being tortured (wrapped in cling film! Why? I've no idea) then various gangsters getting heads blown off by shotgun (below) and limbs decapitated (bottom).

The one down side of Dard Divorce is the acting. None of the people in this movie can act! Not one! The director (Olaf Ittenbach) is obviously a very talented guy, he wrote, produced, directed and did some of the special effects in the movie! But seriously, get yourself some decent actors!

The special effects range from the ['I'm-pretending-to-throw-a-knife' (cut) knife-in-the-head] stuff, through to some nice head explosions and limb choppings. One nice (in theory) scene is of a body being dismembered in a bath, unfortunately the man doing the dismember is showing his member, by being stark naked. I can see why he'd be naked (no blood on his clothes) but do you have to keep including his groin in most shots??!

If you can overlook the bad acting and like a bit of torture/gore then it's an OK film, story is a bit twisty turny, but it could have been a lot worse...

*Dimentica le apparenze

The problem is that I speak a fairly accent-neutral grammatically correct German. Stop sniggering at the back there! This of course, is a dead give away. Real Germans just don't talk like this.

The trick is to find something other than Hochdeutsch to have as your accent.

This blog already suggested that famous dialect: Imbißdeutsch as a way of passing off as a local.

To complement this, I'd like to suggest another form of German which will allow us to blend in - this time with a group which we really wouldn't want to spot us as being foreign. The neo nazis.

The kids are doing great.  Melissa has started to pull herself up.   I walked in to their room and she was sitting up and trying to pull her self up by the crib railing.  Time to lower the crib mattress.  Daniel had a little mishap on Wednesday night while I was at work.  He bonked his mouth off a toy piano and cut his gum and was bleeding.  He is doing just fine, but you could hear the panic in the hubby's voice when he called to tell me.  The kids continue to crawl about in the jail but have now taken to fighting over the toys and bottles.  It is kind of funny (I know, what a horrible thing to say), but Melissa is going to be a bruiser.

On the donated embryo front, the couple we selected will be most likely taking possesion of the embies soon and will be doing their FET in January.  They have elected to reimburse us for all of our cryopreservation fees.  That was unexpected to say the least.  I was hoping, for their sake, that they would get a cycle in this fall, but there were some health issues that forced them to postpone.

The hubby and I had two days worth of all out fighting.  It was horrible.  The "D" word came up alot.  It is just a week that I won't really look back on fondly.  We are talking.  Its a start.  But it is working.  He wanted to take me out on a date tonight ( a very small family run Mexican taquiera in Hatboro) but we haven't heard back from the sitter so we will probably end up not doing anything but watching the Phillies kick some butt tonight.  He is working all weekend but we are going to try to take the kids over to Freddy Hill to pick pumpkins, go on a hayride and ride their ponies.  It should be quite the photo opportunity.  And depending on what time he gets done tomorrow, the local Lutheran church is having an Oktoberfest.  I know that Hubby really wanted some good German beer and food.  He lived in Germany for 12 years when he was in the Army.  He has me hooked on the food too....

I have some errands to run this morning.  Must get more socks for the kids.  They keep taking them off and then poof they are gone!  The dryer must eat them.

But we are surviving in our little corner of the world.  Still no news on the hubby's heart.  I hate the wait.

Descripción del vídeo:

[" Este es un vídeo de la televisión de Sabadell, como está en catalán he puesto la traducción aquí debajo por si alguien no lo entiende:

"Germán, un tío entrañable, entregado, divertido, diferente, único.

En la casa de GH hay un vacío. La décima edición del reality de los realitys se ha terminado en el primero de los programas.

Con él han pasado un montón de momentos divertidos, desenfadados y llenos de locura.

Es nuestro presentador preferido y queremos que vuelva.

Ayúdanos y vota en la encuesta de www.telecinco.es para devolver a Germán a la casa de Guadalix.

En España no saben lo que se pierden."] (Añadido el 25/09/08)

de:GranHermanoDiez en youtube.com

La verdad esta MUY bueno el aporte, porque es Español - Alemán y la pronunciación es perfecta

Espero poderles conseguir el libro (http://www.agapea.com/ALEMAN-DE-CADA-DIA-CD-n67411i.htm)

Download | 93 MB | Mediafire

Si bajan mis aportes mínimo pongan "gracias" no sean culeros, ya que uno no se anima a cooperar y seguir con la causa...