3 days in Stockholm (part 2)

Despite the lack of light I still took a suprising amount of photos - well, more to show to you now :-)

...in case you have missed part 1

The Silkworm

author: Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling)
published: 2014

plot: When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home. But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced...

what I liked: Everything! The detailed descriptions created vivid images in my head, I constantly felt as if I'm following Cormoran Strike around through a slightly sinister but always realistic London.

what I didn't like: OK, towards the climax (that is a little bit anti-climatic) I sometimes struggled a little bit to keep up with every characters action and motivation.

verdict: Another unusual statement for someone who doesn't normally read crime novels at all - I loved it as much as Strike's first case! Knowing pretty much every corner of London that gets described in the book I was hooked after the first few pages.

PS: On the day I read the bit where Strike discovers a badly mutilated body in a house in Hammersmith I happenend to walk around Hammersmith...alone...in dusk...and scared myself with wondering what lies behind each and every wall I was passing...I'm not made for tougher crime novels I think ;-)

question time 8

Where do you find inspiration?
In everything that I consider beautiful (and fortunately many things seem beautiful to me). Feeling inspired comes probably closest to true happiness.

Can you describe your life in a six word sentence?
No.
(After trying for a while now while counting on my fingers)

If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?
Because the learning process is usually long, painful, exhausting and discouraging.

What impact do you want to leave on the world?
I have no idea .

What is the most defining moment of your life thus far?

Visiting  the Engelbert Humperdinck's opera "Hänsel und Gretel" on stage in Wiesbaden on the 1. January 1994.

In the haste of your daily life, what are you not seeing?

My life is not hasty.

If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?

Lack of courage I suppose. Or simply because humans sometimes just act irrational as processed here.

3 days in Stockholm

Growing up with Astrid Lindgren's wonderful books and films, Sweden always has been on my "to-travel-list".
Now this wish has become true, we spent three days in the Swedish capital of Stockholm and were amazed:
beautiful architecture, the strongest coffee I have ever drunk on every corner, friendly people and the prices on a very average level (well, coming from London this is). Thinking about moving now ;-)
Here is the first batch of photos (unfortunately the Northern November light made everything looking pretty drained)

The Imitation Game

director: Morten Tyldum
year: 2014
with: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Allen Leech, Matthew Goode, etc.

plot: Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

what I liked: Cumberbatch plays the troubled and vulnerable Alan Turing as brilliantly as he always does when it comes to socially awkward characters - sometimes you just want to hug and protect him. The line-up of handsome actors doesn't hurt as well...

what I didn't like: ...so not even Keira Knightley can spoil it with her equine smile. As the film focuses so much on Turing the historical dimensions of the Enigma code and WWII get shoved to the side too much. His biography gets reduced to flashbacks displaying his relationship to his schoolfriend Christopher, more we don' t know get to know. Itis a bit half-hearted as it hovers between a historical film and a biopic.

verdict: More the tragic life of one exceptional man than an historical film. This narrow focus lets Cumberbatch shine but cuts out so much that I left cinema a little bit disenthraled..
A bit too conventional for my taste, felt reminded of "A beautiful mind".

everyday (part 44)

one first time each and every day - a new taste, a new experience, a new route, a new song, a new whatever. 

29. October - 5. November

29.10. saw "Lilli/HEINER (Intra Muros)" in Mainz
30.10. had lovely visitors over from Karlsruhe again and tried out the Baristaz Coffee shop in Mainz which since has become my favourite
1.11. while here in Hesse it was an ordinary Saturday, Rhineland-Palatinate aka Mainz had a bank holiday - I went over to enjoy a quiet day exploring the huge and exciting central cemetery there (and seen "Newwelinge" in real, and seen the police race past with smoking tires to catch a criminal, and seen "Die Dreigroschenoper" on stage - quite an exciting day really!)
2.11. seen "My private Odysee" on stage in Mainz which confused me
3.11. flew to England and found out that British Airways serves gin tonics on board
4.11. paid some overdue fees in Staines library and was pleasantly surprised how low they are compared to my local library in Germany
5.11. had a wonderful afternoon seeing "King Charles III" in London together with an very interesting to talk with Australian actor ;-)

Ich bin, was ich bin. Mein Leben.

Autor: Uwe Kröger, Claudio Honsal
veröffentlicht: 2014

Inhalt:
Uwe Kröger ist der Inbegriff des Musicaldarstellers: Er begeisterte als Originalbesetzung in 4 Weltpremieren: "Elisabeth", "Mozart!", "Rebecca", "Der Besuch der alten Dame", in 6 deutschsprachigen Erstaufführungen: "Miss Saigon", "Sunset Boulevard", "The Wild Party", "3 Musketiere", "Rudolf", "The Addams Family". Er war 1988 erster deutscher Rusty im Bochumer "Starlight Express", 1997 das Biest in der deutschen Erstaufführung von "Die Schöne und das Biest", 2000 Titelfigur in "Napoleon" am Londoner Westend und 2007 Professor van Helsing bei der österreichischen Uraufführung von "Dracula". Als gefeierter Charakterdarsteller bleibt er unvergessen in Musicalwelthits wie "Les Miserables", "Hairspray", "Sound Of Music" oder "La Cage Aux Folles". Er urteilte als Juror in der ZDF-Show "Musical Showstar 2008" und überzeugte 2011 im ORF als "Dancing Star". Doch es gibt auch einen anderen Uwe Kröger abseits der großen Showbühne. Den nachdenklichen Menschen, den schüchternen Romantiker, den guten Freund, den ambitionierten Modeexperten oder den liebenden Lebensgefährten, der bislang kaum hinter private Kulissen blicken ließ. Anlässlich seines 50. Geburtstags resümiert er seine wichtigsten Lebensstationen, ergänzt von Familie, Kollegen und Freunden wie Pia Douwes, Michael Kunze, Sylvester Levay oder Peter Weck. "Ich bin, was ich bin" gewährt Einblick in das Phänomen Uwe Kröger und zeichnet das berührende Lebensbild eines großen Künstlers.


was mir gefallen hat: Falls man immer schon einmal eine genaue Auflistung aller gespielten Rollen und Stationen im Leben von Uwe Kröger gesucht hat, hier findet man sie, gespickt mit einigen Privat- und Bühnenfotos. Niemand wird schlecht gemacht, es finden sich keine offenen Anfeindungen im Text was gerade in dieser Branche sehr positiv zu bermerken ist.

was mir nicht gefallen hat: Wo soll ich beginnen? Die Einteilung in thematische Bereiche anstelle einer zeitlichen Chronologie ist nicht schlecht, liest sich jedoch "unrund". Der Schreibstil und die Sprache (den man wohl eher dem Autor Claudio Honsal statt Kröger zuzuschreiben hat) ist sehr österreichisch jedoch ohne jegliche Eleganz und Charme. Ich war nie ergriffen, habe nie gelacht und hatte erst recht nie das Gefühl unbedingt weiterlesen zu müssen. Wichtige Momente im Leben werden kurz abgehandelt, stattdessen gibt es "witzige" Momente wie z.B. der als Tom Hanks in einem Restaurant den Tisch nebenan reserviert hatte. Aaahja, in meinen Augen ein völlig unsinniges namedropping.
Humorlos, holprig, selbst-verliebt und langweilig - nach 50 doch so ereignisreichen Jahren und einem im Grunde doch sympathischen (wenn auch oft arrogant wirkenden) Mann eine vertane Chance.

Drei Fehler sind mir auch ins Auge gesprungen:
1. Er berichtet von seiner Schwester, die in Bad Schwalbach in der Eifel lebt - also als ich das letzte Mal mit Bad Schwalbach zu tun hatte, lag es definitiv noch im Taunus.
2. Auf einem Foto von ihm als Joe Gillis in "Sunset Boulevard" ist nicht wie beschrieben Helen Schneider sondern Daniela Ziegler als Norma Desmond zu sehen
3. Seine Haare werden als "blond und spicy" bezeichnet - ich denke mal das "spiky" gemeint war...

Fazit: Selten ist mir eine kurze Review so schwer gefallen wie dieses Mal.
Ich mag und schätze Uwe Kröger und verdanke ihm eine wundervolle Fanzeit in den 1990ern die einerseits mein Interesse am Musical entfachte und andererseits ein klopfendes Herz, eine Fanclub-Mitgliedschaft und Ordner voller Zeitungsausschnitte bescherte. Dies möchte ich nicht missen, Uwe war sozusagen mein Backstreetboy.
Trotzdem fand ich das Buch schlecht lektoriert, langweilig, selbst-beweihräuchernd und überteuert. Mein Eindruck ist, dass noch schnell vor dem runden Geburtstag und passend fuer's Weihnachtsgeschäft dieses Buch rausgehauen werden musste ohne Rücksicht auf Verluste.
Die "echten" Fans werden es lieben und kein Quentchen Kritik daran zulassen aber ich bin doch sehr enttäuscht. Schade.

thousand

1000 posts published on this blog

Thank you for reading and commenting and remaining loyal for the at least next 1000 posts

(there won't be a prize draw but if you happen to be in London or the Rhine-Main area of Germany let me know and I will buy you a drink :-))

I want to ride my bicycle

Fee from "Fee ist mein Name" has written a lovely post about her obsession with taking photos of bicycles whenever she spots a picturesque one. The funny thing is that her relationship with two-wheelers is a slightly traumatic one after she came off her bike as a child which lead to a badly scratched half face and made her look like the phantom of the opera for a while.

Her post inspired me - I suddenly realized that I have a fairly large number of bike photos on my hard drive too!
Here is a random collection retrieved from my data vaults today, I'm sure there is much more if I would look harder.

And now comes the punchline: My relationship with bikes is not exactly a troubled one, no, I cannot even ride a bike!
I best start thinking about secret wishes, fears and desires, compensations, my id, ego and super-ego now...;-)

on the road 13

Wednesday afternoon, westbound Piccadilly Line.

A stocky Irishman in his sixties, wearing a suit and carrying a suitcase, is making various phone calls.
"Yes, he was alright last night, well, not alright, you know...yes, I'm trying to arrange a funeral director...will see you in Donegal...no, no problem...peacefully, yes...call you back"

Next to him two American ladies sit, stereotypically chewing gum.
"I think I'm gonna make a cheesecake...what do you think?...pecan pie?...I don't really like the princess cake...no, think I'm making a cheesecake"

Good times and bad times on the tube...

newly-weds

The wedding season is over and here are some photos I have taken at the second out of three this year, with about 150 guests the biggest one so far which was terrifying to start with but worked out nicely in the end...

PS: And if you are getting married in 2015 or know someone who does and still is in need of a photographer...:-)