Bank Robbers? Slackers? Men of the World?

Check out The Adventures of Pete and Rob. My favorites are "Drinking" and "Pete and Rob versus Snowman." Also, read an interview with their creator, from Toytown Munich.

Friday Night

Yay for Friday night! I have the Indigo Girls on the stereo, a husband checking his e-mail on the couch, and a chicken pot pie in the oven. That's what I call a good Friday night! Later maybe we'll play a game or watch a movie. But first, chicken pot pie. Yum! I bet we're the only people in Munich having that for dinner tonight.

Today I discovered that one of the songs we're singing for our chorus competition was originally a French song sung by Edith Piaf. It's called Hymne à l'Amour, or Hymn to Love, and if you can find it you should listen to it. Her version is fabulous.

But now it's the remastered versions of "Rites of Passage" and "Nomads Indians Saints" by the Indigo Girls. Their new album, "All That We Let In," came out last week, but I don't have my copy yet (it's coming from the US). Maria was nice enough to transfer the song files to me -- I've already bought the album, after all, I just don't have it yet, so I didn't feel guilty! -- and I listened to them a few times, but I really kind of want to wait until I have my album in my hands. I hope it's here before our trip to Dortmund next week!

And I hope they tour in Europe!

Fat Tuesday!

All over town people are wearing funny wigs and crazy makeup today...

You can't see the details, but on the Viktualienmarkt Webcam you can at least see the crowds!

Munich is hopping today!

What's Up?

Today the sky is very red. I don't know what it means. But I took the picture above at about 1:30 pm, in full daylight.

EDIT: It was caused by a sandstorm over North Africa blowing red sand into the atmosphere above Europe. Thanks to (one of) the Munchkins for the answer!

We are having a lazy Saturday. This morning we used our new soft boiled egg accoutrements for breakfast. We got some little egg cups in Vienna, and here in Munich I found egg spoons (so tiny!) and an Eierköpfer (or an egg-decapitator -- it neatly removes the top of the egg). Now we're just trying not to pass out from the excitement!

Not really surprising...

On this Dixie or Yankee? quiz, I scored 87% Dixie.

Now I need to get Dixie (my sister) to go and take it.

When Marty got home from work yesterday, he informed me that his integration into German culture was complete:



Yes, the end of Fasching approaches! From the Toytown Munich web page:

The Thursday before Ash Wednesday, which this year is Thursday 19th February, is known as "Weiberfastnacht," or "Women's carnival night." On this day tradition dictates that women are allowed to cut off the tie of any man within reach. So guys, don't wear your favourite tie to work that day! The women are also allowed to kiss any man they like.

Oops!

Make sure you check out the Viktualienmarkt webcam next Tuesday so you can see all the festivities in downtown Munich!

Greetings from London!

Well, actually I'm back from London already. But it was a fun trip!

Marty was on a business trip in England all last week, so I met him in London on Friday for Valentine's day weekend. I wasn't there very long -- noon on Friday until about 5pm on Sunday -- but we packed in a lot of fun!

Friday we had fish and chips (and mushy peas!) at a pub for lunch, and then visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street. It's really a museum about Sherlock Holmes himself, not Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was a house done up in late-Victorian style, complete with fires in the grates and "Dr. Watson" (or a man dressed up like him) in the parlor. He was encouraging guests to put on a deerstalker and sit in "Holmes' chair" so friends could take a picture. "Put on the hat," he'd say, and the tourists would giggle and smile for the camera. However, Marty warned me before we went into the room that he didn't want to sit in the chair. So I lied to Dr. Watson (LIED! to Dr. WATSON!) and told him I didn't have a camera.

I'm sure he knew the truth, though.

Friday night we went to the Haymarket Theater (designed by John Nash, the same architect who designed Buckingham Palace) to see the new production of When Harry Met Sally starring Luke Perry and Alyson Hannigan. Since we both love the movie, we thought it would be fun to see it onstage. I was very curious beforehand about how they'd adapt it to the stage, and I thought it was done pretty well. They kept the "documentary" couples (although they were new couples, not the ones in the movie). But seeing the play made it clear just how much the setting is a part of the movie. I really missed New York in the stage production.

The play was fun, though, and Luke Perry did a good job of making Harry into a new character. Alyson Hanigan played Sally much like Meg Ryan (in the movie) did in some places, although in others I thought she brought something new to the character. The play is only in preview right now, so there aren't any official reviews yet. Opening night is the 20th (this Friday).

Saturday morning started with a big English breakfast, then we headed out to the Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill. I've been to Petticoat Lane before and some of the other London street markets, but I think this is my favorite of all the ones I've seen so far. Lots of antiques and tons of other stuff. I'm afraid I didn't take any pictures besides this one of a food stand (at left; click to see the whole picture). This "German Food" stand was doing big business, serving "Bratwurst, Bavarian Spicy Sausage, Schnitzel, Boneless Leg of Chicken, Frikadellen, and Frankfurters." I have to admit that even though I live in Bavaria, the "Bavarian spicy sausage" has somehow eluded me here... unless they mean Münchner Weisswurst, and if that's the case, then England may be the only place in the world where that particular sausage could be considered "spicy." But I guess it's all relative.

Also, "boneless leg of chicken"? Excuse me?

After the market, we left Notting Hill by tube and then walked through Covent Garden, which Marty hadn't seen the last time we were in London. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant near there, Paradiso e Inferno. We spent the afternoon at the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth, which I'll probably write more about later. For Valentine's dinner we went to Soho Spice, a nice Indian restaurant in Soho, where they presented us with a bottle of chocolate body paint (and a paintbrush) after dinner. (!!!) The food was great.

Sunday morning we rode on the London Eye ferris wheel (that's where the picture above is from; you can see the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Thames in the background). It was great, even though the weather was pretty drab and gray. I didn't expect much better from London in February, to be honest. But we really enjoyed the ferris wheel and we'll do it again, sometime when we're there on a clear day. Sunday afternoon we went back to the Imperial War Museum (it's not far from the London Eye), and we still didn't finish seeing everything there that we wanted to. We'll definitely go back there again next time.

I have some pictures to put up in the postcards section, so I'll try to do that later today. Most of them are from the London Eye, or of London train stations and tube stations. I guess I just need to admit it -- I have a thing about train stations. Here's a preview -- three London tube stations (Piccadilly Circus, North Lambeth Road, and Marble Arch).

Nothing says "I Love You" like a marzipan nipple cake.

Well, the bakery down the street didn't do their display window for Valentine's day the same way they did last year, so I think I'll repost these pictures from last February instead.

Sometimes it's the little things that highlight the differences between Europe and the US. Little things like cakes depicting bare breasts, or cakes wearing thong underwear or fishnet tights, being sold in a normal neighborhood bakery with a big display in the window.

Click on the pictures for a larger view:


Happy (early) Valentine's day, y'all.

Something New

I'd like to present a new section of the site: Raspberry World Memory. It's an online version of one of my favorite games, using pictures I've taken and posted on Raspberry World over the last few years. And a few I don't think I ever got around to posting (including the one above, of Marty in the Augustiner tent at Oktoberfest last year).

Once you've matched up the pictures in the game, you can click on the small ones for a bigger view, and a short explanation. Then you can play it again, and get different pictures. I love this game!

Huge thanks go out to the Munchkins for all of their friendly assistance.

I've also linked to it from the menu at the left, so you can come back and play it again later. Be sure to comment and tell me how you do.

Enjoy!

Raspberry World Memory

When Mary holds your hand, it feels so grand,
Your heart starts beating like a big brass band!

I do love Mary Poppins! Julie Andrews at her most winsome, and those songs!

Last night I dreamed all night auf Deutsch. That's the first time that has happened to me. I woke up feeling like I'd been thinking all night. Also, when I woke up, I was singing our up-tune from chorus. Not a very restful night, I have to admit.

This past weekend was Chorwochenende ("chorus weekend," not to be confused with "chore weekend"). My chorus practiced both days, and we did lots of preparation for our upcoming competition. Singing and dancing galore!

After the German dream and a German class today my brain is very tired! So tonight I'm taking it easy, and getting ready for a trip to London. I watched When Harry Met Sally (which we'll be seeing on stage while we're there) and Mary Poppins (because of course it's set in London).

I read that later this year, Mary Poppins is also coming to the London stage. I hope it's as delightful as the movie, which manages to charm me every time I see it, despite all the stereotypes it perpetuates about suffragettes, chimney sweeps, and servants. I love it! Those penguins!

Does anyone besides me think Bert is Mary's beau?

There is such a thing as thinking too hard.

Ingredients one should never find in a recipe for banana nut muffins:

olive oil
maple syrup
honey
millet
yeast
Bisquick
banana cake mix
5 packets Equal
oatmeal
raspberries
cocoa or Baker's chocolate
peanut butter
Crisco
any mention of a sifter or a mixer

It's called "quick bread" for a reason. Yes, I know that's mostly because you don't use yeast and you don't have to let it rise. But anything that requires the sifter and the mixer has just left the realm of "quick" for me.

Worlds collide!

And guess who's going to see it! :-)

States I've Visited.

I guess I knew this, but seeing it on a map is another thing. The red ones are the ones I've visited or lived in -- I'm from the south, and I've lived in the northeast. Hope I get a chance to check out the ones in the middle someday.



create your own visited states map

Chinese Tower (Chinesischer Turm)
English Garden, Munich

Aaack! I totally forgot!

Sunday was Raspberry World's sixth anniversary. I started the site on February 1, 1998. I can't believe it's still here, six years later!

I am off to German class this morning, so no time for a real update. Let me just point out that Laura (ehemalige Manchester Slasher) is back from vacation, and updating again!

Every Münchner loves to sled. Even the four-legged ones! This fella in the red jacket has two passengers on his sled -- a little kid (in a blue hood, which you can just barely see) and a little wiener-dog (whose head is visible over the man's left arm). So süß! We were shocked when he scooped the dog up and added him to the sled, but apparently it wasn't the pup's first time -- he took it in stride.

Today is Groundhog Day, and we will celebrate with a ceremonial viewing of the Bill Murray classic "Groundhog Day" (despite the presence of Satan's Actress), and something vaguely groundhog-esque for dinner. Or maybe I'll just make a pizza.

Mail call was quite a haul for me today. Conversation hearts and Reese's peanut butter cups from home, sent by Marty's mom and mine. Yum!

And because it bears repeating:

Munich from the English Garden
January 31, 2004

We've had a lovely, sunny weekend. Yesterday Marty and I walked in the English Garden with a friend who was visiting from Linz, and I took this picture of snowy Munich from the Monopteros.

Today it warmed up a lot, and now it's very muddy and wet in the garden. You might even need something like this:


"Must have" boots in a Schwabing shop

Although I hope they wouldn't cost €119.

Tomorrow is groundhog day! Does Phil's prognostication count in Westeuropäische Normalzeit? Hmm. Probably not...