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Impressum
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06/24/2009,Wednesday,22:11, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia,Germany
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Awww! Part II
Good news: Lana is fine again! Yay!
On her behalf we thank you for all your Get-well-soon-wishes! We delivered all your hugs, kisses and all other extra signs of love you sent us!
And after two nights of holding her in shifts, a portion of carrot cookies we baked for her (first dog cookies we baked so far - we tried them, they tasted ok - and she really seemed to like them better than cheese), and lots of camomile tea (which she just wanted to drink out of our hands, what explains that we had one yellow hand each for several days) she hops around now again and is very happy. So are we!
P.S.: Maybe she was just polite enough to pretend that she liked the cookies because she wanted to appreciate our effort. Probably the next cookies will be better. She has a very effective motivation strategy!
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06/14/2009, Sunday, 16:14, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Awww!
Pooooor Lana has hurt her dewclaw... So we went to the veterinarian and he(prepare yourself for an internal scream) grabbed a gripper and pulled the whole claw out. Ahhh...hh...!
She got a compression bandage - in princess pink of course - and he fixed it with some sticky tape on her fur because this way she doesn’t try to get rid of it... For the rest of the day and night (!) she didn’t want to lay down, probably because additional to the claw pain the tape pulls out the hair if she tries. So the poor one just leaned on us or laid her head on our knees and tried to sleep while staying - and waked up when started falling down. Actually she just slept when one of us was holding her in our arms and comforting her. Finally, when the sun came up, three of us were falling asleep on the sofa.
Now she is a bit better but still very unhappy. And today we have to (prepare yourself for another scream) change the bandage including getting the tape off the fur...
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06/07/2009, Sunday, 20:52, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Love story or So you tell me that this is not an alien?! Part V
or
Today’s Elections in the European Union
Yes, I’m a supporter of democracy! I just like to live in states where people have the right to decide who is going to represent them!
And because sometimes to have rights mean to have duties as well we participated in the Elections in the European Union today.
Because my election invitation got lost somehow on the way to me two official ladies from a somewhat office came with it for a visit to check if I am really “me and here”. (What brings us to the philosophical question: Am I? Really?).
At least I am officially registered here, because there is a German law to do so if you stay longer than three weeks somewhere and I obey laws -even some physical laws- for several reasons. And I even got a stamp... So I didn’t expect any challenges according my election, especially because Andreas went through the exact same procedure and got his invitation several weeks ago.
Well, the ladies took my election invitation along back to their office to check even more if I am still inhabitant of Europe or something. And we never heard of them again...
Maybe it easier for me to elect on the sixth moon of the planet Jupiter! (I should check that out someday.)
That’s why I went today to do my duty as a believer in democracy - even without my invitation.
And after some “That has not have happened before...!” (how comes that I hear that so often?!) and “How do we handle that?!” from some very official people I finally got my election documents. And so I disappeared with a ballot paper which was literally longer than a half of me and definitely longer than the polling booth (yes, I tested that - I guess I confused some people even more (again)!) and finally did my duty!
polling booths
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06/04/2009, Thursday, 20:21, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Think both headline is fit very well - so you get both...:
There is beauty everywhere..., Part III
and
Love story or So you tell me that this is not an alien?! Part IV
Andreas made a ... um ... slimy declaration of love for me. Isn’t that ... um ... romantic...?!
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05/27/2009,Wednesday,22:19, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Love story or So you tell me that this is not an alien?! Part III
We have been at a strange-but-somehow-familiar-creatures-exhibition (the official name was somewhat different) and made some new friends.
The Love story part...
And my favourite: the Gongylus gongylodes, also known as the wandering violin mantis
Unfortunately we couldn’t attend a scheduled guided tour because it “was forbidden to have a tour with less than five people” and only the two of us were interested...
Oh, Canadian spirit, where are thou?! Well, yes, probably in Canada...
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05/23/2009, Saturday, 20:54, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Love story or So you tell me that this is not an alien?! Part II
And love is really blind... well, at least sometimes headless...
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05/15/2009, Friday, 14:15, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Love story or So you tell me that this is not an alien?!
We took some hours off and went frog watching...
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05/13/2009,Wednesday,21:36, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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There is beauty everywhere..., Part II
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05/12/2009, Tuesday, 21:35, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Squeaking...? Squeaking...!
Squeaking. There was definitely a loud squeaking when I opened the door to the basement today. And since it was a very loud and ongoing squeaking soon I found the origin of it a bucket in a lightwell in form of three shrews! They were definitely loud - and very cute!
Andreas and I did some internet research again and learned that they are probably old enough to survive on their own. So after a quick photo session we released them into the garden.
I hope they let our May beetle (05/08/2009) be...!
Shrews squeaking in the bucket...
The first squeaking shrew toddled off...
And the remaining two spent some time with ... um, yes, squeaking...
Did you know that:
Along with the bats and toothed whales, some species of shrew use echolocation. Shrews hold nearly 10% of their mass in their brain! Unlike most mammals, some species of shrew are venomous. Shrew venom is not conducted into the wound by fangs, but grooves in the teeth. Some species of screws are listed as critically endangered. Shrews must eat 80-90% of their own body weight in food daily. The word shrew is used to describe a woman with a violent, scolding, selfish or nagging temperament, as in Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew as well as to connote a nurturing and endearing emotion towards a spouse.
Well, I didn’t - now I do. Just love the internet...
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05/08/2009, Friday, 23:44, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Welcome to my world...! Part 2
Got a present today I never got before...
This morning someone we didn’t even know presented us...
... with a May beetle! Well, that (both) was a little bit strange...
... but pretty endearing! Even so we decided to release the beetle into the wild.
And off it went into a hopefully happy future!
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05/06/2009,Wednesday,15:20, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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 Welcome to my world...!
Thanks for the feedback I got on my tick entry! It seems that I made some people think - what is always a good result. I love metaphors...!
And what I can say is: This is the world I live in... And some of you seem to join me thinking about solving little problems keeping a bigger background at the back of our heads.
It is not just about a tick - it is about the fine line between right and wrong.
It is about how much suffering or even death of an individual or a group justifies death or suffering of another individual or group.
I think about it when I read the news. I think about it when I get mail from people living in challenging situations around the globe asking for advise what to do.
So what would you suggest them to do?
How much suffering or death of an individual or a group justifies death or suffering of another individual or group?
And how do you rate someone else’s suffering? How do you compare someone’s physical harm with hurt feelings, consideration of religious beliefs compared with someone else’s death?
Where is the fine line between right and wrong?
Welcome to my world...! It is yours, too!
P.S.:
Oh, and two people wrote they have removed a tick and it has survived. Since my tick felt into the grass and I didn’t recover it for examination there is a chance that I did not kill it! Probably it didn’t like the procedure anyway. But thanks so much for the comfort!
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05/04/2009, Monday, 18:54, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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I have killed an animal...
Today I killed an animal and I feel really bad about it!
No, not this one.
This poor fellow we found on the other one last night.
After quite some late night internet research we had to go downtown today and bought a tool to remove it. Otherwise it could have caused some bad infections...
Poor tick...
Lana is probably happy now she got rid of the tick. She didn’t make a single sound, even when we put some disinfectants on her.
Andreas is telling me probably true things about evolution and such - and I still feel pretty much guilty killing it - even doing it intentionally!
When I have gone to wash my hands afterwards the bulb in the bathroom lamp exploded. And I don’t mean, it made a little sound and didn’t work any more. I mean it made a impressing noise and literally exploded. Is there a deeper meaning in this?
At least we discovered the answer on the age old question of ”How fast can Meike leave a bathroom...?”.
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04/30/2009, Thursday, 18:23, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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There is beauty everywhere..., Part I
I have found a beautiful Peacock butterfly and it was so kind to smile at my camera for a while.
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04/28/2009, Tuesday, 17:01, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Cherry blossom celebration
Finally I have time post some pictures of last weekend’s Cherry blossom celebration in Enger.
With background music performed by members of the local music school,
governing mayor Klaus Rieke helps to crown
the new Cherry blossom fairy Milena Fleer.
The very first Ferris wheel in Enger
These were the only cars here today - celebrating in the underground parking.
If you manage to angle 15 duckies you could choose any of the prices.
And one of the scariest attractions...
And, yes I asked, according to the carer nobody broke his neck so far.
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04/26/2009, Sunday, 22:48, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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WGS support event:
Oh, what a night...!
The Avatar Orchestra Metaverse (AOM) performed a live concert in charity for the World's Greatest Smile Peace Project yesterday evening (or today morning, here it was both)!
In the name of the World's Greatest Smile I like to thank the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse for its entertaining performance! We have heard some great music and have seen some impressing visual effects, have met many wonderful people, and have learned a lot again.
Especially we like thank Leif Inge aka Gumnosophistai Nurmi, Börn Eriksson aka Miulew Takahe and Andreas Mueller aka Bingo Onomatopoeia for their support!
Thanks everyone for coming around! And thank you a lot for your donations for the World's Greatest Smile Peace Project - especially Paco Mariani, Luce Laval and Roxelo Babenco!
We hope to see you all soon again and are looking forward to the next great WGS event!
At AOM’s concerts as a listener you hear the music according to where you place yourself with respect to the performers. You hear the performer close to you better than you do the performer further away. So it is a constant moving forwards and backwards, and you can even stay on the stage if you like to.
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04/24/2009, Friday, 17:55, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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WGS support event:
The World's Greatest Smile proudly presents
the Avatar Orchestra Metaverse!
The Avatar Orchestra Metaverse will be performing a live concert in charity for the World's Greatest Smile Peace Project!
The Avatar Orchestra Metaverse is a global collaboration of artists from Sweden, Japan, Canada, Italy, Germany, the United States, Norway and France that approaches Second Life® as an instrument itself. The average distance of the artists to each other while playing a concert is 6.800 kilometres!
The Orchestra build its own virtual instruments, making it possible for each individual performer in the Orchestra to trigger sounds independent from one another and to play together in real time. These instruments feature sound, visuals, and animations. A performance of a jumping, hovering, floating, dancing, and twirling Avatar Orchestra Metaverse is a truly spectacular event.
The Avatar Orchestra Metaverse will play live “Fragula” by Börn Eriksson aka Miulew Takahe and “Aleacitry” by Andreas Mueller aka Bingo Onomatopoeia!
Admission is free!
Venue will be the WGS-School.
So come around on Saturday, 04 / 25 / 09, 4:00 PM, San Francisco time, bring your friends and enjoy yourself!
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04/22/2009,Wednesday,19:37, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Castle sponsored by turtles...!
We had something to organize in Bielefeld and took off an hour to tour Bielefeld’s Sparrenberg Castle yesterday.
We are visiting Germany, so we have to visit a castle. Isn’t there a law in this regard? And the restoration of this particular one is even sponsored by 2002-2005 turtles! I wonder what happened to the undetermined 3, or have they just been hard to count?
two of the many, many stones with the names of sponsors
(Schildkröten = turtles)
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04/19/2009, Sunday, 17:22, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Open house at the Nordhof
Today we visited the scenic Nordhof, a tree nursery in the neighbourhood.
the entrance
some friendly pigs
charming interior
Find the paw.
Well done, here it is.
“Portraiture at the Nordhof” - Done!
“Please pee at the next car, thanks!” (Not done!)
and another adorable visitor
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04/17/2009, Friday, 16:04, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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A windmill...
Andreas is still trying to enthuse me for his old hometown and is showing me around as much as possible as long as we are here. And, yay, it has a windmill...
Ok, seriously, it is nice here, people are friendly and say “Guten Tag!” (“Good day!”) whenever you meet someone - sounds like the Icelandic greeting sometimes - so it is not that different. I just miss the ocean so very much...
the Liesberg-Mühle
more of the Liesberg-Mühle
Andreas showing the Liesberg-Mühle
me taking a picture of the Liesberg-Mühle
and even more Liesberg-Mühle
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04/12/2009, Sunday, 12:41, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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The round and the angular
Part I
Part II
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04/06/2009, Tuesday, 18:46, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Um, another strange German rite...?
Or... have we imported some creative Icelandic trolls by fluke? Our luggage was surprisingly heavy...!
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04/03/2009, Friday, 18:44, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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If Lana says “It’s summer now!”... then it is summer right now!
Spring in Enger seems to be like everybody told is it would be in Halifax and Dartmouth: They just skip it. Last week it was freezing cold and today Lana officially declared the arrival of summer.
So it seems that when we go for a walk now - we do that a lot to discuss and enhance some projects - we are two vegetarians with a (thirsty) hot dog...
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Isn’t this the sweetest nose tongue combination you have ever seen?
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04/02/2009, Thursday, 19:57, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Well, maybe it isn’t the most important news of the world...
But our temporary neighbourhood sheep got a little charming offspring yesterday! To spring is a bit challenging so far... but it can already stay, drink and look sooo cute.
proud hairy dad
yes, barbed wire... and worth it
Aww, isn’t that adorable...?!
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03/29/2009, Sunday, 19:46, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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My yesterday’s Hasi-Day: Had a firm's day out
Yesterday we had to talk us through some future projects and took the chance to do that on a walk along the almost world famous Brandbach (the Yellow River of Enger) and a took a stroll through the nature protection area "Bustedter Wiesen".
I’m always a bit afraid of getting shot from a hyperactive hunter who is sitting inactively on a raised hide when we enter a more natural area here. So I do stay on the walkways and try not to look too much as a deer! You couldn’t only loose your life but money, too, cause there is a fine for hopping through the woods...
Anyway it was nice and we had lots of very cool, fun, important, wonderful and great ideas! So it was worth it!
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03/23/2009, Monday, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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23:51
Ok, three or four updates for a two-sentences-blog-entry...
Thank you for the hint!
We have obviously ornithologists among our readers. Ornithologists are fast (at least some are). In autumn you can not meet thousands of herons at the Rehdener Geestmoor (at least not so far) but cranes...! Probably that is nice, too.
Did I mention that I like squirrels, bears, hedgehogs, elks, crickets and racoons as well?
15:42
Rehdener Geestmoor
We have gone for an excursion to the Rehdener Geestmoor, a scenic bog in Lower Saxony.
In autumn you can meet thousands of herons here - must be very impressing!
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03/19/2009, Thursday, 21:47, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Another strange rite to unscramble
We found another sign of an enigmatic rite: ‘Hang blue-white and white-blue socks on a string over a hedgerow’.
Maybe a try to placate the gods of cold feet to protect vegetable property lines? Invitation for blue skies and white fluffy clouds or the sea with spume to your garden? German way of hanging Christmas socks on the fireplace - just in another colour, at another place and another time of the year? Or, which would be a very common rite here, a form of an oblation, a solemn offering of the great element water to the big being called air for ceremonially presenting or for introducing one element to the other?
Germans seem to be somewhat different - lots of undiscovered mysteries for Andreas and me over here...
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03/16/2009, Monday, 15:42, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Dear deer
We have caught sight of a deer! Actually there were even five but the others hopped away before they realized that they would become world famous if they would just hang around and smile at my camera. Maybe next time.
Andreas and Lana (my beloved dog-in-law)
watching me sneaking up a deer in a huge red jacket
(an extra “unspecified reference index” for the advanced communication fans among you
- and the pictures in your head are worth it, right?)
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03/08/2009, Sunday, 12:23, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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15 months abroad and they have already changed German vocabularies...?!
Um, what was the meaning of the word “sofort” again? Did they change something while we were abroad?
Well, since a week we are in Germany for a visit - and maybe more important for long term assuring the financing of the World’s Greatest Smile Peace Project and especially the World’s Greatest Smile Peace School.
So during the last week we spent quiet some time in this regard in agencies and at the end the good news was that we would get a special and hopefully helpful consulting appointment “sofort”.
When we left “sofort” meant “prompt”, “at once” or “right away”. We got that information on Tuesday. And yesterday we received a letter which made us believe that they changed the meaning of “sofort” into “two and a half months”...!!!
Do we have to explore a mysterious German rite of ‘Changing The Meaning Of Words Randomly’ taking place every 37 1/2 years? Or does it have to do with the upcoming Pi-Day? The daylight-saving time? Or the fog...?
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03/02/2009, Monday, 09:41, Meike, Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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Reykjavik - final thoughts for now
(instead of my traditional personal, very incomplete, but completely undemocratic and absolutely undiplomatic comparison of the cities we have lived in)
This series of pictures shows astonishing well my very the development of my personal impression of Reykjavik - even if it was not supposed to do it (I never said it would be easy to take pictures from me...).
First thought: Wow, that won’t be very much fun!
Used to Canadian behaviour, weather, architecture, style and water (!), Reykjavik was a bit of a challenge for several reasons at the beginning.
Second thought: There has to be the beauty somewhere!
When we systematically started to discover Reykjavik and its surrounding we found lots of great, adorable details!
We explored a lot - in and around Reykjavik...!
Third thought: Like it!
Especially when we started to make short excursions in the surrounding I really started to love Reykjavik...
The classic tourist picture:
Sólfarið - The Sun Voyager, a Viking ship sculpture...
... a question of the right angle of view - as so many things in Reykjavik...
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention “That’s Iceland - Part V”: Reykjavik’s Nauthólsvík, a heated, artificial beach!
It is not very big or very hot, but a nice place to collect mussel shells, watch the boats - or the planes on the nearby airport.
And finally two of by favourite pictures, which symbolize Reykjavik in my eyes very good: pretty rough, kind of strange - and very beautiful...
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02/27/2009, Friday, 20:18, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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That’s Iceland - Part IV
We spent our last day in Reykjavik at the Perlan... Its a perfect place for a last day because you have such a great overview over the surrounding!
Lots of “Oh, look we have been there!”, “And it has been so nice over there!”, “On that hill we were surprised by that sudden meeean and unexpected snowstorm!”, “On that one as well...”...
Perlan, outside:
...Perlan, inside, canned #1:
...Perlan, inside, canned #2:
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02/26/2009, Thursday, 22:41, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Whaling = bad idea
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) released its report on the Future of the International Whaling Commission this month.
Summary of my opinion:
killing whales for commercial purpose = terrible bad idea killing whales for scientific research = acceptable in very few, very selected cases and very much controlled, and as long as it is not just a disguise for commercial purpose killing whales for aboriginal-subsistence = acceptable in very few, very selected cases and very much controlled, and as long as it is not just a disguise for commercial purpose.
And sometimes it is a good idea to change traditions now because of new knowledge. whale watching = if it is performed in a responsible manner, it can be a great way to spark the love for these fantastic animals in whale watchers. I had the chance to do it some years ago and it was one of the most impressing experiences of my life!
International Whaling Commission
The IWC is an international body set up by the terms of the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW), which was signed in Washington on 2 December 1946 to "provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry".
Iceland and the IWC
In 2002 Iceland was allowed to rejoin IWC with a reservation to the moratorium (Iceland withdrew from IWC in 1992), but this reservation is not recognized as a valid objection by many IWC members. In addition, Italy, Mexico and New Zealand do not consider the ICRW to be in force between their countries and Iceland. None of these countries, however, has mounted any legal challenge to Iceland's membership of the IWC.
As the moratorium applies only to commercial whaling, whaling under the scientific-research and aboriginal-subsistence provisions of the ICRW is still allowed. Since 1994, Norway, has been whaling commercially and Iceland began hunting commercially in September 2006.
Report on the Small Working Group (SWG) on the Future of the International Whaling Commission
whaling vessels in Reykjavik’s harbour
whale skeleton on a whale watching boat right next to them
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02/25/2009, Wednesday, 23:56, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Socks for me!
We found these packs of socks with 3 (three!) socks per pack. And they don’t even match! Wonderful! Made for me, yes, made for me!
Oh, and we had a very good view on magical stratovolcano Snæfellsjökull (the rise on the horizon) again (see 01/18/2009).
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02/24/2009, Tuesday, 21:28, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Get prepared for your next vacation in Iceland
New language resource: Icelandic
Even if it seems that each Icelander speaks a pretty good English I translated the most of our list of the most important vocabularies into Icelandic for you.
 Languages Icelandic
Oh, and here are two of my favourite pictures I took in Iceland... If you visit Iceland in wintertime, bring your warmest boots! And have fun!
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02/23/2009, Monday, 23:59, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Seltjarnarnes Baejarfelag
Today we decided wisely to take the afternoon off - even it was chilling cold - to make an excursion to Seltjarnarnes Baejarfelag which on the map seemed to be a very nice spot. And it definitely is!
a hot spring - I could have used it later the day...
the grotto
The tide was too high to walk there, and so we strolled along the shore.
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The official labelling of this is “nasty slimy stuff” as I found out when I examined it with my perfectly warm and clean hands.
The result of the examination was that it is very nasty and extraordinary slimy. And the interesting fact was that you don’t get rid of the slime - not even rubbing in lava grit helped. Out of my sleeves my hands got pretty cold and things got very entertaining when I tried to wash my hands in the ocean without getting wet feet this time. That took quite a while because the stuff turned out to be remarkable clingy. At least Andreas had a good time watching me hopping back and forward rubbing my my hands on the lava in the icy (!) water and trying to keep the rest of me as far away from it as possible... At some point he found out that my hands really started to hurt somewhat uncomfortable and turned into an gentleman again and generously put his gloves over my stiff hands.
(I gave up wearing my own gloves long ago because I have to examine everything... I even lost my socks while wearing shoes somehow - so, how long would I own gloves?!)
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owner of nasty, slimy and wet gloves...
The Seltjarnarnes Baejarfelag is such a gorgeous place! We could have stayed there for hours watching the sunset, listening to the waves and sponging up all the beauty around!
exhausted, cold - and very much touched by Seltjarnarnes Baejarfelag
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02/22/2009, Sunday, 19:45, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Art - inside and outside
We visited the Hafnarhúsið, one of Reykjavik’s typical art museums.
And had a wonderful view on our way home. Ok, we made a little detour to visit Reykjavik’s scenic Fuel Terminal (well, the view is more scenic than the terminal itself) and it was definitely worth it!
See the two little stones on the right? Kind of romantic, isn’t it?
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02/21/2009, Saturday, 21:17, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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New smiling friend
Andreas made a new friend in a pylon...
...and when I provided some enlightening, the smile became even brighter:
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02/20/2009, Friday, 12:09, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Why are the trees singing...?
Ok, not all of them. But sometimes, if you pass a group of trees, there is definitely a singing. So I tried to to figure out what causes this melodious sound.
Why are trees singing?
Because they want to be hugged? Probably not, as I mentioned the physical distance of people in Reykjavik is very little, and even so I haven’t seen anyone hugging a tree. People don’t even seem to notice the auditive beauty.
To entertain themselves? Could be, especially because they sing in groups.
Does the singing maybe have something to do with the trolls around? Well, I’ll ask the next troll I meet if he knows anything about it.
To become warm-hearted not to freeze too much in the snow? Might be, I just don’t want to kill a tree to find out if it had a warm heart. And even if so - it would be cold then anyway...
To make me happy? Could that be? Trees singing just to cheer me up? They would have definitely reached their aim then! I just love it! It made my day more than once!
entertained listener of a singing tree,
(I didn’t find a tree songbook so far but it might have been the “Turdus iliacus” song)
trees taking a break of singing, will maybe sing again tomorrow
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02/17/2009, Tuesday, 20:56, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Dark, dark history of Iceland or
We have been in the National Museum of Iceland.
Here are some tips for your next visit of the National Museum of Iceland:
Don’t take pictures of the exhibition! After I took some (there was no sign that you are not allowed to do so) a staff member came and unmistakably cleared this fact up for us. Well, now I have some brilliant pictures which would arise the strongest desire in all of you to visit this museum right away, but...
Find and push the buttons to enlighten the showcases! They are there - they are just a bit hard to find because it is so dark...!
Don’t push the buttons with the red ears next to them. They have obviously no function for you. Not if you pull them, push just the middle or the ring, turn them around, or just stare at them either.
If you dare to get in one of the little caves be aware that you might find some scary things in it.
If you want to get the attention of one of the motion sensors to turn on the light of one of the bigger display cases, don’t move like a Canadian as we did. Say yourself “I am in a museum - I want enlightening right now!” and move like that! Or just wave your arms as I did after a while.
The washrooms were clean.
And if you prefer not to see lots and lots of human skeletons (in the exhibition, not in the washrooms), just visit another museum!
The Asmundarsafn Reykjavik Art Museum was very nice for example! (See pics from 12/22/2008) Or go and play in the snow...
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I assume this is not a mop-exhibition, so I was allowed to take this picture, right?
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02/16/2009, Monday, 20:52, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Found another magical place here in Reykjavik...
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02/15/2009, Sunday, 19:43, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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That’s Iceland - Part III
Ever wanted to have a heated sports field in wintertime? Here we go...
Icelander seem to be very sportive in general. You can see them run everywhere no matter how mean the weather is. Actually they run on slippery streets I fight to walk on, just like Halifaxians. There are sport centres everywhere and the impressing Icelandic Olympic training centre in the park nearby.
I have read that Icelander tried to be in a perfect physical shape because they wanted to look good sitting in a geothermal pool. I’m sure they do!
(Here the snow still tries to resist the heating, but is has no chance... Comparing the snow
on the field with the snow next to it I would say the heating wins the game 4:1)
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02/14/2009, Saturday, 12:35, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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02/13/2009, Friday, 13:46, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Relax, everything is ok, everything is fine...
We found an advertising sticker on the floor of one of Reykjavik’s shopping malls - I don’t name it not to provide some extra advertising:
Maybe I have had to care about situations like this too often in 3D to find it appropriate in 2D.
People should get used to care about others who lie on the floor! And creating bad model behaviour - as passing by a person in need without caring - in the back of the heads of people is just so wrong in many ways!
Btw, ever noticed the little green bag I carry around at my belt? It contains a foldable respiratory mask and I have it with me wherever I go! You can get it in a drugstore, it is cheap, tiny - and it can save life! Your life too!
Get a respiratory mask today and use it if you have to!
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02/12/2009, Thursday, 19:09, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Chess is art - so true
We have been at the Kjarvalsstadir, one of Reykjavik’s Art Museums. They have besides paintings by Jóhannes S. Kjarval the current exhibit of a very interesting collection of chess games. Some were very creative!
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02/11/2009, Wednesday, 12:31, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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Yesterday we got a very lovely mail from The Honourable Rodney Joseph MacDonald!
Rodney Joseph MacDonald, MLA, is politician, musician, educator and the current Premier of Nova Scotia, Canada.
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Rodney Joseph MacDonald
picture from Wikipedia
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He wrote us:
“Congratulations on your unique initiative. I hope you encouraged a lot of goodwill on the 25th day of January.
I believe that big things can begin through the smallest of gestures. Your efforts to promote peace and understanding through something as simple as a smile, can only foster positive feelings everywhere.
Good luck as you continue to generate interest in this annual event.
...”
This made me have a look back at our wonderful Halifax / Dartmouth - time again! I still read Nova Scotia news almost every day and have to come back as soon as possible! I felt so much at home and welcome there from the very first day!
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02/09/2009, Monday, 19:26, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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We have found a complete new kind of snow again!
Ok, the location was not very idyllic - but we had fun anyway! And everybody passing by had a big smile on his face and Andreas got some very nice comments about his new house...
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02/08/2009, Sunday, 18:24, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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WGS-School-Event:
Let’s colour the world! Wow!
Ok, we expected yesterday’s (for us it was today’s) WGS-School-Event to be very popular... Well, and then the feedback was even much, much more than we thought it would be! It was amazing!
We passed more than 350 markers out and there were participants from at least 8 countries coming together. We are sure that there were even more countries because some participants were so enthusiastically painting that they forgot to tell us where they are from. It was so much fun-fun!
The event was scheduled for 30 minutes and even after one and a half hour some of the artists still wanted to continue! Some stood for hours!
And thanks so much to all wonderful WGS volunteers and donators for your help! You are highly appreciated!
There are more great WGS-School-Events coming up - so remember to check our schedule regularly!
lots of people in marker-outfits and some still choosing their colour
some of the participants on the red sheet
Painting even in 3D! The marker were made by Andreas.
People from around the globe painting together - so much fun!
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02/06/2009, Friday, 19:10, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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For everyone...
...who wondered what I mean with “beautiful blue-pink Reykjavik”...
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02/05/2009, Thursday, 14:19, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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WGS-School support activities:
More than 70 new products!
Andreas has been pretty busy and there are more than 70 new products in our World's Greatest Smile shop next to the WGS-School now!
Fancy avatars, exotic plants, from cute to scary shoulder animals, kinetic shoulder art and imaginative sculptures! So come by and have a look around!
Oh and yes, 100% of the gains are given to the World's Greatest Smile Peace Project!
If you ever wanted a 10m high sculpture called “Elevenses”, here it is!
And if you prefer to look like a cute “kind of bird”, you can do so with avatars like this one.
Or you try this 6m long flying snake outfit comfortably hovering under three propeller.
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02/04/2009, Wednesday, 23:05, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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One of these blue Reykjavik days again - beautiful!
When we came back from a little walk in a nearby park, we found this current weather conditions information on a gadget on our PC screen:
We have spent a whole winter in Canada and have never seen an igloo as weather condition info so far! Probably because we got the gadget too late.
So what does an igloo-weather mean? Stay inside? Attend a survival-class? Be aware of falling or growing icy dwellings?
Ok, it was indeed a bit chilling outside today and we have even seen a little igloo on the park playground, but how did they know?
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02/02/2009, Monday, 20:08, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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WGS-School-Event:
Let’s colour the world!
Artists of the world – come around! And if yo are not an artist but like to have some fun, come around, too!
Because...
We’ll have a painting event next Saturday, 4:00 PM, San Francisco time! Yay!
Click for location!
 Everyone will get one of Yoa Ogee’s awesome marker avatars and then we’ll create together a beautiful, precious, lovely, fun, world famous, ... um ... strange picture!
You know people from all over the world? Great! Bring them along!
Artists from how many countries do we get together to paint together one piece of art?
Let’s get creative! Let your imagination run away with you!
The more friends you bring the more colourful it’ll be!
And bring your camera! We could publish the pics on the website of the World’s Greatest Smile!
On your mark, ready, go!
See you then!
Love
Yeti Bing
(Yes, that’s me.)
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02/01/2009, Sunday, 21:12, Meike, Reykjavik, Iceland
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This is new...
Ok, serious, have you ever seen this kind of snow? Actually I haven’t - and now it’s all over Reykjavik! It feels like a very cold terry towel washed without fabric softener. This is extra cool!
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News Archives:
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Reykjavik,
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Reykjavik,
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Ottawa,
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Germany
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News Archives:
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Reykjavik,
Iceland
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Reykjavik,
Iceland
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Ottawa,
Ontario,
Canada
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Toronto,
Ontario,
Canada
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St Stephen,
New Brunswick,
Canada
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Dartmouth,
Nova Scotia,
Canada
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Halifax,
Nova Scotia,
Canada
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Hamburg,
Hamburg,
Germany
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World’s Greatest Smile
