Disappointment over the iPad

People with passion can change the world

Steve Jobs in shorts:

New Facebook Page

Check it out:

BavarianCastle on Facebook

Tech is amazing

Yes, I finally went out to the movies with two good old friends last night. That wouldn't be so spectacular if it weren't for the fact that - apart from seeing a kids' film with the family around Christmas - I hadn't been to the movies at all for about 5 years. And for the fact that the movie we saw was AVATAR which I'm sure all of my readers have seen by now. Not having been to the movies for such a long time really underscored how awesome the new technology used in James Cameron's Avatar is. After watching it in RealD-3D I almost don't want to see another movie without this feature. Amazing.

Of course I'm easily awed, especially since I was thrilled to just get out of the house with my friends for a movie and some beers.

All is well

I'm waiting for the updates to my iPhone apps to download which means I have no (other) net connectivity. So I can pause to think about what it is I am actually doing.

January. Wonderfully quiet month. Well, not really. But a heck of a lot more quiet than the rest of the year. 4 couples came to check out our digs today for their wedding parties this year. Other than that: office work remains...

I've been busy working on the website for North America (trying squarespace.com for that) and other marketing projects. It's good to actually sit back and THINK about stuff for a change as opposed to just reacting (crisis management, which prevails throughout the rest of the year). Of course GTD has really helped reduce the need for crisis management a lot (and I mean: A LOT).

Kati is out swimming with a friend while I am listening to our children cough occasionally in their beds (and: yes, we got that looked into. No, it's not serious). All is well...

Peace

That's what my daughters always say: "peace!" gesturing with those small fingers, a peace sign (having grown up in Scotland: certainly not the wrong way around). I suppose that's what their ex-Army-officer father taught them. Embrace peace. It may not last.

I've been busy reconnecting with old friends and making new ones, both of which is really nice considering that here in rural Germany we seem to live in Po-dunk Missouri much more so than when I lived in Leesville, Louisiana (I never thought I'd actually miss that place, but - in a way - I sometimes do).

The U.S.-centric website is gaining content. I've been working from home. There is a lot more to do. What else is there to say? I appreciate reconnecting with old friends and certainly making new friends, both here in Germany and back in the U.S.

Peace.

Tired

It's been a great day off (I actually got a lot of work done, which is typical of my days off). Not typical work, though. I launched a new website with a free squarespace.com trial account: http://bavariancastle.squarespace.com/

Okay, I know it needs a lot more work (and content, content, content). I'll be migrating some of that from the old English language offshoot of my German website but - more importantly - I'll be creating some unique content just for this site. I hope. At least that's the plan.

What else have I been up to today? Meeting of espargo.de - a group of asparagus growers, wine makers and restaurant owners whose site(s) I manage. That went pretty well. None of the usual bickering. Which is a very good sign...

Now? Tired. Perfect way to end a day off.

Jumping Cat

If it looks like Charly is in mid air it's because he *is*. At least the ground is more or less in focus.

Naked Toe Cheese

Or: How I found a voice from the past

Back when I was stationed at Fort Polk in Leesville, Louisiana as a young Army Officer in the 1990s, we used to drive up to Natchitoches on the weekends (pronounced Nack-a-dish but usually lovingly referred to as "Naked Toe Cheese" by us non-Louisianans).

I remember listening to two young college girls who played guitar and sang harmony in the street. They'd sell cassette tapes of their music on the street for a few bucks. Everything about the tapes was handmade and they were lovingly decorated with little drawings.

Those girls were really good! I always knew they would make it, really big. Does anybody know what happened to Wendy & Hannah?

Actually, I think I may have been able to find Wendy here and especially here. It certainly sounds like her. It's funny how you can retain the sound of voice over years like that. And guess what: it *is* her!

It looks like Wendy made it pretty big. I'll have to dig out that cassette and somehow get the songs on it digitized. The songs were really good, especially one I would listen to over and over again while driving along those Louisiana roads in my Jeep.

Wendy's 2007 Album "Old New Borrowed & Blue" even has one or more of those original "Wendy & Hannah" songs on it. The title "Hey" is certainly one of them (though I prefer the youthful version from Natchitoches from 1996 or so).

And... confirmation: Wendy Lorraine Colonna replied to an email almost instantly and shared:

---

Hi Alex!
Yes, it is I, Wendy from Wendy & Hannah.
Short story is that we got signed to a label in Louisiana and parted ways after we recorded it and did 2 separate albums.

Hannah changed her name to "child" and named her album "wide eyed and blind" I don't believe she ever recorded another after that. Last I heard she was married and has moved a few times. I haven't seen her in years.

I've made 4 albums since and am about to release my 5th. It's really amazing.

I believe I have a few copies of Bunniterds at my mom's house in Louisiana. I really think I should try to record it to digital format, eh?

Thank you so much for connecting!
if you want to hear more of the tunes, they're on a jukebox on my website and facebook pages.
www.wendycolonna.com
www.facebook.com/wendycolonnamusic

Wendy

---

Thanks, Wendy, for responding. And yes, I'd almost forgotten the tape was called "Bunniterds". Awesome stuff. Please check her music out on iTunes, her site, her facebook page etc.

I haven't found Hannah Vincent aka "child" yet but her album "Wide Eyed and Blind" is on Amazon. It says there: "At the age of 20, Child's vocal and songwriting talents far outstrip her years. Child was introduced to music as a young girl traveling with her family to small town revival meetings in the marshes of Louisiana. Her first musical influences came from her traveling evangelist, guitar-playing father and her vocalist mother. From this foundation her songwriting talents exploded. When Child was 13 her family settled in Lake Charles, La. about midwaist through a belt of cities with rich musical traditions that begin in New Orleans and stretch to Austin, Texas. Produced by: Michael Hutchinson and Perry R. Sanders, Jr."

Wendy and I proceeded to communicate by chat just hours after connecting via email. I *love* the web!

Too stoked. Imagine: here I sit in a tiny German village since 1998. Almost no (real) connection to the outside world. Just my memories. And I've been googling "Wendy & Hannah" off and on for years. And today I find Wendy, find out she's a successful musician (of course) and proceed to correspond with her be email and chat. awesome. The world is truly opening up to real communication. Thank you, www.

Now it's time to check out those new tunes Wendy was talking about...

Update: there is an update in the comments. Small world...

Sunday in Germany

The kids have been up a while and I have accomplished one of my lesser-liked chores: shoveling snow. Now I'm taking a break from typing texts for an upcoming publication and exhibition of the village history group. Listening to a baroque music channel on internet radio which is great (except for the few commercials in between, you know, the American type where they yell at you and repeat the phone number numerous times).

That is one of the few things about the U.S. I do *not* miss here in Germany: radio commercials. Of course they have them here, too, but they tend not to yell at you as much. Although that is gradually changing. I guess it's because Germans tend to think everything American is good (at least in marketing). And now that Obama is president, Germans have a more positive attitude toward the United States in general.

I'm not sure yet what we'll do to keep the kids occupied for the rest of the day. Sundays are really kind of lame here in Germany as really everything is closed. Boring. I suppose we'll go for a long walk and Kati may go sledding with the kids (I'll go if I have to... I hate the cold and snow...).

Spaced Out - Distraction-Free

Ambience, baby. It's all cool.

That was my first reaction as soon as I opened ommwriter for the very first time. Just now.

It is late at night, partly because I've been sitting here waiting for the program to download (they didn't tell me in the confirmation email that the download would be 52 MB of data - definitely quite a chunk for our German village connection.

What is it?

I've written here about writeroom before. ommwriter is pretty much the same thing: A program that enables distraction-free writing. Only that instead of the techy minimalistic black screen with green text ommwriter gives you a spacy landscape to write on and ambient music to get you in the mood (for writing, I hope).

I love the minimalism of the program. I'm not sure what the spaciness and ambience is going to do to my writing style. You be the judge.

It's still in beta and it is mac only. Get yours at www.ommwriter.com You'll need to give them an email address to get the download link, though.

No Strings Attached

Our daughter (4) is growing up with German and Hungarian as her mother tongues. It's never too early for the kids to learn their daddy's other language, too. So Kati is taking her to Würzburg tomorrow for her first class (not that we're expecting any wonders from weekly lessons at her age). There's a blizzard coming, though (for German standards) so I'm wondering whether they'll even get to go. We shall see.

C+M+B or Epiphany

The Sternsinger will be going around the village today dressed as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar marking houses (photo from last year below) and collecting money for charity. I especially like Balthasar because he is depicted as a Moor which means the poor kid who gets to play him has to rub black shoe shine in his face.



Photo: Door in Zeilitzheim, Germany, marked with the year and "C+M+B", the initials of the Magi, also interpreted as "Christus mansionem benedicat" (Christ bless this house)

A Rite of Passage

Katharina gave up the last of her pacifiers today! Hung them on a tree... and they're gone. The fairy brought her a special gift she's been wanting and took the pacifiers to give them to other, smaller children.

And guess what: she is soundly asleep!



Photo: A Rite of Passage (by: yours truly)