Month: November 2015

Ein Grosser Aufbruch (German TV Movie)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5082268/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

Peter and I have just been watching the above movie. It was available online.
I found the dialogue in this movie excellent. It reminded very much of a play.
It deals with the issue of whether someone, who has a terminal illness, may be in a position
to decide whether to take his own life, and what is involved when he comes to this decision.

The following is written by anonymous:

After a full life whose end he wants to determine himself, patriarch Holm Hardenberg invites his family and close associates to his picturesque country house on the Chiemsee lake in Bavaria in order to take his leave. Here, Hardenberg’s daughters Marie and Charlotte, his ex-wife Ella and his best friends Adrian and Katharina meet. But the original idea of a harmonious concourse turns into a ruthless settling of scores.
– Written by anonymous

Ein großer Aufbruch (2015 TV Movie)
Full Cast & Crew
Directed by
Matti Geschonneck Writing Credits (in alphabetical order)
Magnus Vattrodt Cast (in credits order)
Matthias Habich Matthias Habich …
Holm Hardenberg
Ina Weisse Ina Weisse …
Marie
Hannelore Elsner Hannelore Elsner …
Ella
Katharina Lorenz Katharina Lorenz …
Charlotte
Edgar Selge Edgar Selge …
Adrian
Ulrike Kriener Ulrike Kriener …
Katharina
Matthias Brandt Matthias Brandt
Create a character page for: Create » ?
Produced by
Wolfgang Cimera … producer
Silke Schulze-Erdel … producer Music by
Marco Meister
Robert Meister Cinematography by
Martin Langer Film Editing by
Eva Schnare Production Design by
Thomas Freudenthal Sound Department
Richard Borowski … sound re-recording mixer
Felix Roggel … sound designer
See also

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/medien/tv-kritik/tv-kritik-zum-film-im-zdf-ein-grosser-aufbruch-13914073.html

A Letter from the GetUp team: Mourning Paris, Beirut and all victims of mass violence‏

The following is a letter (email) from the GetUp team:

Mourning Paris, Beirut and all victims of mass violence
The GetUp team – GetUp! 10:10 PM Keep this message at the top of your inbox Newsletters

info@getup.org.au
“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilisation.”
Mahatma Gandhi, “Young India”, Jan. 8, 1925.

Dear GetUp community,

This weekend our hearts and minds are with all those impacted by terrible violence, both on our front pages and outside the spotlight of our media.

We know in coming days, we will hear from voices calling us to division, not unity. These voices will call on us to close our minds and shut our hearts.

It’s our job not to let them.

It is up to us to make our voices of compassion, of love and of generosity, defiantly drown out those who would have us turn to fear. From the airwaves to the kitchen table, each of us will play a role.

Together, we must help hope triumph.

The GetUp team

PS – We’ll be in contact in the coming days. But if you want to share your message of hope or compassion now, you can join the conversation in the comments here or write to us at info@getup.org.au.
GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you’d like to contribute to help fund GetUp’s work, please donate now! To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here.
Our team acknowledges that we meet and work on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We wish to pay respect to their Elders – past, present and future – and acknowledge the important role all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within Australia and the GetUp community.

Authorised by Paul Oosting, Level 14, 338 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000.

The Wife Drought by Annabel Crabb

The Wife Drought
by Annabel Crabb1
Why women need wives, and men need livesSubject: Social & cultural . . .

The Wife Drought, Annabel Crabb
High Res Cover Image
‘I need a wife’

It’s a common joke among women juggling work and family. But it’s not actually a joke. Having a spouse who takes care of things at home is a Godsend on the domestic front. It’s a potent economic asset on the work front. And it’s an advantage enjoyed – even in our modern society – by vastly more men than women.

Working women are in an advanced, sustained, and chronically under-reported state of wife drought, and there is no sign of rain.

But why is the work-and-family debate always about women? Why don’t men get the same flexibility that women do? In our fixation on the barriers that face women on the way into the workplace, do we forget about the barriers that – for men – still block the exits?

The Wife Drought is about women, men, family and work. Written in Annabel Crabb’s inimitable style, it’s full of candid and funny stories from the author’s work in and around politics and the media, historical nuggets about the role of ‘The Wife’ in Australia, and intriguing research about the attitudes that pulse beneath the surface of egalitarian Australia.

Crabb’s call is for a ceasefire in the gender wars. Rather than a shout of rage, The Wife Drought is the thoughtful, engaging catalyst for a conversation that’s long overdue.

Awards
2015 Russell Prize for Humour Writing – (Shortlisted);
2015 General Non-fiction Book of the Year – (Shortlisted);
– See more at: http://www.randomhouse.com.au/books/annabel-crabb/the-wife-drought-9780857984289.aspx#sthash.lpn7MHpL.dpuf

Another Trailer of Bridge of Spies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-2x3r1m2I4

http://fanboynation.com/bridge-of-spies-clips/

It’s been three years since a Steven Spielberg film last graced the silver screen, and, dagnabbit, our long wait is nearly over. The legendary filmmaker is reuniting with Tom Hanks for the Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies. The political films of Spielberg, in my ever-so humble opinion, are a mixed bag — Lincoln was well-acted but felt too procedural and Munich‘s tension was sometimes undercut by some heavy-handed choices — but I’m still amped up for the Cold War paranoia that Bridge of Spies is teasing, and we have two new clips from the film that focus on Hanks’ character James Donovan and the moral quandary of having to defend an accused Soviet spy in open court. There’s also an ace in the hole for Bridge of Spies, and that’s the fact that the screenplay is co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, alongside Matt Charman. Think about that for a second — the Coen Brothers and Spielberg working together on the same movie. It almost sounds too good to be true.

Co-starring with Hanks in Bridge of Spies is Mark Rylance, Scott Shepherd, Amy Ryan, Sebastian Koch, and Alan Alda. The film opens in theaters on October 16th. Be looking over your shoulder when you enter the theater because you don’t know who’s watching you watch Bridge of Spies.

American Justice

Free a Traitor

The official synopsis for Bridge of Spies:

In the 1950s during the early stages of the Cold War, tensions are rife between the U.S. and USSR, so when the FBI arrests Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), a Soviet agent living in New York, the fear and paranoia only escalate. Charged with sending coded messages back to Russia, Abel is questioned by the FBI but refuses to cooperate, declining their offer to turn on his country, and is detained in federal prison pending trial.

The government, in need of an independent attorney to take on Abel’s defense, approaches James Donovan (Tom Hanks), an insurance lawyer from Brooklyn. But Donovan, a former prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials and highly regarded within the legal community for his profound skills as a negotiator, has little experience with allegations of this magnitude and isn’t eager to get involved. Advocating such a deeply unpopular defense would make him a public figure and could subject his family to scrutiny, disdain and even, potentially, danger.

Something to look forward to

I have never been to Frankfurt/Oder. We found out now that there is a beautiful Cafe in Slubice in Poland which can be reached from Frankfurt by crossing the bridge over the river Oder. From Berlin to Frankfurt/Oder is only a short trip. When we are in Berlin next year we may have the opportunity to go into Poland to the little town of Slubice and pay the Szczerbisky cafe a visit. Apparently they have yummy dumplings and cakes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsro1EXURSo

Welcome to the Confectionery Szczerbińscy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
See also: Słubice, Masovian Voivodeship
Słubice

Website http://www.slubice.pld
Słubice [swuˈbʲit͡sɛ] (German Dammvorstadt) is a border town in the Lubusz Voivodeship of western Poland. Located on the Oder river, directly opposite the city of Frankfurt (Oder) in Germany, of which it was a part until 1945 (as Dammvorstadt). At the 2011 census, the town had a total population of 18,000 (urban agglomeration Słubice-Frankfurt 85,000).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_(Oder)

International relations
Frankfurt (Oder), being located on the border to Poland, plays a special role in connection with German-Polish relations and European integration. The European University Viadrina has one of its buildings in Poland, in the neighbouring town of Słubice. The university also has a number of projects and initiatives dedicated to bringing Poland and Germany together, and offers its students pro bono Polish courses. Another project that contributes to German-Polish integration in Frankfurt (Oder) is the fforst house, a German-Polish student project, which has been granted support by the town’s administration[7] and by the Viadrina,[8] having been described by the former president of the university, Gesine Schwan, as the place where “Europe begins”.[9]
Twin towns and sister cities[edit]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany
Frankfurt (Oder) is twinned with:
Poland Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland, since 1975
Poland Słubice, Poland, since 1975
France Nîmes, France, since 1976
Finland Vantaa, Finland, since 1987
Germany Heilbronn, Germany, since 1988
Belarus Vitebsk, Belarus, since 1991
Israel Kadima, Israel, since 1997
United States Yuma, United States, since 1997
Italy Scandicci, Italy
Bulgaria Vratsa, Bulgaria, since 2009

Cake, balloons and fireworks One of the many surprises we have prepared Slubice to celebrate the 750 birthday of Frankfurt, was a huge cake, which on Saturday July 12, during the fair partner cities, residents distributed Mayor Richard Bodziacki.

Advent and Christmas Eve

https://auntyuta.com/2014/12/03/christmas-songs-and-some-german-christmas-customs/

Last year I published this blog with some texts of Christmas songs that we used to sing on the four Sundays before Christmas. We have 2015 now and this year we have the first Sunday of advent on the 29th of November, which is only a couple of weeks away. Here now is what I published last year for advent:

The Christmas songs, that I remember from my childhood, have a special meaning for me. Some songs were very joyful, others more reflective, that is ‘besinnlich’. Besinnlich meant we became deeply and seriously thoughtful while singing these songs . This kind of singing appealed to me. Advent was the only time of the year when my family would sing some songs together. And it went on for four Sunday afternoons in a row. After the fourth Sunday of Advent some serious preparations for Christmas Eve started. We children were not included in these preparations. As children we therefore became highly impatient while we were waiting for Christmas Eve – “Heiligabend” .

“Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,” and “O du fröhliche” were very popular songs during my childhood. (I was born in 1934.)

German

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Alles schläft; einsam wacht
Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.
Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Hirten erst kundgemacht
Durch der Engel Halleluja,
Tönt es laut von fern und nah:
Christ, der Retter ist da!
Christ, der Retter ist da!

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,
Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht
Lieb’ aus deinem göttlichen Mund
, Da uns schlägt die rettende Stund’.
Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Christ, in deiner Geburt!

Words: Joseph Mohr, 1816
Music: Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818

English

Silent night, holy night
All is calm all is bright
‘Round yon virgin Mother and Child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heav’nly hosts sing Alleluia;
Christ the Savior is born
Christ the Savior is born

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

http://german.about.com/od/christmas/a/StilleNacht.htm

O du fröhliche
This very popular German Christmas carol has Italian origins. In 1788 the German philosopher, theologian, and poet Johann Gottfried von Herder(1744-1803) brought the melody to Germany after a trip to Italy. Originally a Sicilian fisherman’s song, the melody was used for the Latin hymn “O Sanctissima.” Around 1816 Johannes Daniel Falk (1768-1826) wrote the German lyrics for what soon became one of the most popular GermanWeihnachtslieder. The English version is known as “O How Joyfully.”

http://german.about.com/library/blmus_dufroehlich.htm

RIMG0025

O du fröhliche
O You Merry (Christmastide)

MELODIE: Sizilianisches Fischerlied – Johann Gottfried von Herder (1788)
TEXT: Johannes Daniel Falk (1816)

DEUTSCH
Johannes Daniel Falk, 1816O du fröhliche, o du selige,
Gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!
Welt ging verloren,
Christ ist geboren,
Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!O du fröhliche, o du selige,
Gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!
Christ ist erschienen,
Uns zu versöhnen,
Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!

O du fröhliche, o du selige,
Gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!
Himmlische Heere
Jauchzen dir Ehre,
Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!

 ENGLISH (lit. prose)
See poetic version belowO you merry, o you blessed,
Merciful Christmastide!
The world was lost,
Christ was born,
Rejoice, rejoice o Christendom!O you merry, o you blessed,
Merciful Christmastide!
Christ appeared,
To reconcile us,
Rejoice, rejoice o Christendom!

O you merry, o you blessed,
Merciful Christmastide!
Heavenly hosts,
Exult your honor,
Rejoice, rejoice o Christendom!

LISTEN > Melody for “O du fröhliche” (midi version)

English poetic version, author unknown
O How Joyfully (O du fröhliche)

O how joyfully, o how blessedly,
Comes the glory of Christmastime!
To a world so lost in sin,
Christ the Savior, enters in:
Praise Him, praise Him Christians, evermore!

O how joyfully, o how blessedly,
Comes the glory of Christmastime!
Jesus, born in lowly stall,
With His grace redeems us all:
Praise Him, praise Him Christians, evermore!

O how joyfully, o how blessedly,
Comes the glory of Christmastime!
Hosts of angels from on high,
Sing, rejoicing, in the sky:
Praise Him, praise Him Christians, evermore!

One Christmas Eve, the one in 1946, is stuck in my memory as a very bad Christmas Eve. It was the Christmas Eve when my father was not allowed to see us children. I wrote about it the way I remember it with some imaginary conversations added to it:

https://auntyuta.com/2012/02/26/christmas-eve-1946/

TV Program: Kitchen Cabinet

I like watching Kitchen Cabinet with Annabel Crabb. To find out more about Annabel Crabb I looked up what was published in The Conversation in November 2014:

 

https://theconversation.com/i-want-a-wife-the-wife-drought-1970s-feminism-still-rings-true-34246

I Want a Wife, The Wife Drought – 1970s feminism still rings true

November 17, 2014 1.04am GMT

 

Three years ago Annabel Crabb argued on ABC’s The Drum that a lack of wives is what really holds back women in the Australian workforce. She jokingly suggested that what was needed was a “wife quota”.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/kitchen-cabinet/

 

I am glad that a new series of Kitchen Cabinet is to be seen now. Now, what does Annabel’s joke about a “wife quota” actually mean? She is a woman with three children and has come up with lots of difficulties to juggle work and motherhood. Most men do have a wife at home to look after things when they have to work. Most women do not have a “wife” and find it difficult to find necessary help at all times. Does anyone have an idea how a professional woman can combine work and motherhood successfully?

 

Bridge of Spies

Today we saw this movie by Steven Spielberg with Tom Hanks.

Summary in Google:

“During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers’ only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan (Tom Hanks), recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man’s freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance), the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.”

In Wikipedia is explained why the Glienicke Bridge is called the Bridge of Spies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glienicke_Bridge

“Because the Glienicke Bridge was a restricted border crossing between the Eastern Bloc (namely Potsdam in East Germany) and territory affiliated with the Western powers (namely the American sector of West Berlin), the Americans and Soviets used it for the exchange of captured spies during the Cold War. Reporters began calling it the “Bridge of Spies.”
The first prisoner exchange took place on 10 February 1962. The Americans released Soviet spy Colonel Rudolf Abel in exchange for American spy-plane pilot Francis Gary Powers captured by the USSR following the U-2 Crisis of 1960.
The next swap took place on April 1964, when Konon Molody was exchanged for Greville Wynne.
On 12 June 1985, there was a swap of 23 American agents held in Eastern Europe for Polish agent Marian Zacharski and another three Soviet agents arrested in the West. The exchange culminated after three years of negotiation.
The final exchange was also the most public. On 11 February 1986 the human rights campaigner (refusenik) and political prisoner Anatoly Shcharansky (now known as Natan Sharansky) and three Western agents were exchanged for Karl Koecher and four other Eastern agents.”

The above movie refers only to the first prisoner exchange. Spielberg’s movie eerily brings back to me what it was like to live during the “Cold War”. These Cold War years seem to be very much in the past. However, I think it is of great value to relive a bit what they were like. As far as I know there’s no talk right now that we have cold war years again. I wonder, what sort of war is going on instead?
With so many refugees all over the world we cannot honestly say that we live in times of peace, can we?

Our new Stainless Steel Oven

On Friday, the 23rd of October our new oven was delivered. A very friendly guy rang in the morning and told me he could come along at 11 o’clock. He was right on time. Delivered the new oven, took our old oven out to his van, then connected the new oven and explained to me all about it. By 12 o’clock he was ready to leave. He had said it would take one hour.

There had been an extra charge of 149 Dollars for delivery, installment and removal of old stove. We were very happy with this service. Peter had to go to Sydney unexpectedly for some emergency dental treatment on that Friday. Saving his tooth was quite expensive. Peter jokingly always points out that his tooth had cost him as much as the new stove had cost!

When we had a look at what stoves were for sale we could find among dozens of stoves only two that were produced in Australia. The stove that we chose to buy was one of these two stoves produced in Australia. And we are very happy with this purchase.

We had heaps of rain recently. And our Buddha seemed to like it!

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My first Week in November 2015

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The above picture of our kitchen window is one of 75 that I took over the course of one week. Daughter Caroline is totally right in pointing out to me that I am somewhat overdoing it. I think last week I went out for only three short walks in the morning. Each time I took about 25 pictures. I love looking at these pictures for they remind me of what I have been noticing on my walks. If I did not have these photos to look at, I certainly would not be able to remember in detail what I saw while strolling along in the neighbourhood. So, the question is now,  what to do with that many photos.  –  –  –

Yesterday, I tried to tidy up a few drawers. I found a few things that could – with Peter’s consent – be thrown out straight away.  Other things trigger the memory about what happened in our lives many years ago. I am always reluctant to throw out anything that reminds me about certain stages in my life. On the other hand,  I have to ask myself why keep all this stuff? Most likely it is going to be thrown out anyway after Peter and I passed away.

I am determined to set myself some limits. This is why I publish now only about one third of the pictures that I took last week. I start with telling what we did eat for lunch at the beginning of the week. I cooked 500 g fresh green beans with some small cut potatoes, as well as sweet potatoes and carrots. I added a few herbs, small cut garlic and onions and also a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and a vegetable stock cube. Peter had bought a packet of Kransky (sausages), a fatty sausage.

Here is what I googled about Kransky: “Kranjska klobasa is known as Kransky in Australia, to where it was introduced by post-war immigrants from Slovenia in the late 1940s and the 1950s. The Kransky is very popular in Australia and New Zealand. The Waiters Club in Melbourne, Australia, is renowned worldwide for its wide range of Kransky dishes”

Peter likes to flavour his dishes with some fatty sausage. I had all the ingredients in a large pot to make this vegetarian soup. I said to Peter I would be frying small pieces of the Kransky in a little frying pan, and he could then add the pieces to the soup on his plate. I also put pepper and salt on the table.

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I took the above picture after we had had our meal. Peter did not use all of the Kransky pieces. There was some soup left over. The soup-pot is seen here standing on our new stainless steel oven.

This is the left over soup.
This is the left over soup,  enough for another meal!

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I think Peter did finish his soup already, whereas I quickly got the camera to take a picture before I finished my soup. There is apple cider vinegar on the table that we added to our glasses of water. I notice the parsley is on the table too for we added some pieces of parsley to our soup. –  The TIME magazine is on the table. The cover picture shows two pieces of fried bacon. There’s an article in the magazine warning people not to eat too much processed meat. I eat very little of that stuff anyway.

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Another meal or rather two meals we had last week was kale (Grünkohl). Peter had still some Kransky to go with this. I preferred to have an egg fried in butter on the side. Sorry, no picture of the kale. We cooked the kale for a long time. We have a cutter that can also be used for cutting spinach. This cutter Peter used for cutting the kale into very tiny pieces. The kale tasted delicious with a few herbs added to it. We served it with carrots, sweet potatoes and boiled potatoes on the side. I said two meals, for again it was  a big bunch of fresh kale that we cooked and it lasted us for two days.

This is a walkway not far from where we live.
This is a walkway not far from where we live.
It was a drizzly morning. I picked some of the flowers to take home.
It was a drizzly morning. I picked some of the flowers to take home.
These are the flowers I picked . . .
These are the flowers I picked.
The flowers are in our kitchen window.
The flowers are in our kitchen window.