Sunday

Along the Rhine. Sunday. Morning service on Day 6 of the 7 Day Exercise. Present were the Jackrabbit, Adler Booster, Sturm Booster, Neonanomakro. The report continues...

Ora et labora

Day 5 of the 7 Day Exercise. Decided it was time to visit PS and EB. Been a long time since I'd met up with them in the city of Mainz. An early morning drive was of the order. It's a good way to avoid the jams (and on the A61, there is a high propensity for it to get into that sort of a mess). We met round 1000 hours. Breakfast was fine. The view was even better.

Save for the fact that the weather was a tad bit foggy, it still afforded one a fairly fab view.

Spent most of the day trekking through the vineyards and woods surrounding that region. Occassionally, you spot an odd outpost.

Else, you spend the other bits of the day marvelling at the sights and sounds that flood your senses.

Kloster Eberbach. Home to some very fine wines, as well as the venue where they filmed Name of the Rose almost 2 decades ago.

97 km

97 km and nothing important happened today. The JackRabbit, The Tap and yours truly, the Greasemonkey himself, travelled 97 km north of the Rhine and embarked on a mission to get a ceramic mug. Shop closed at 2000 hours. Turns out we got stuck in traffic along the A4, cruising at an average of 0 km/h....it wasn't likely we were going to make it. But we finally did, and in... 2 hours and 20 minutes (which is an absurd amount of time to negotiate 97 km of flatlands). Time of purchase: 2000 hours. Objective complete.

Seven Day Exercise

Today marks Day 1 in a Seven Day Exercise. What is the Seven Day Exerciese? It's one of those motivational things really. There are some simple exercises such as fitting shapes into their corresponding slots, you know, like those things babies play with (read hollow sphere with stars, squares, crosses and all sorts of different shapes for a corresponding plug form to fit into).
It's quite an experience really. It involves some careful planning, sorting, boxing, taping and labelling. Sounds simple, but it's quite the opposite. There is a time limit too. I have to complete it in Seven Days.
Tonight, we'll catch the Brothers Grimm...at the local Cinemaxx. Then I continue with the Seven Day Exercise, which will end sometime next week. They say the results will be announced late next week, so I am quite eager to see how it turns out. Oh, and there will be photos too.

Leaf

It's amazing the multitude of thoughts that arise from something as simple as a leaf settling on your windscreen. The textural analogs between the natural and the synthetic, the transient nature of life etc. But rather than indulging in too much retrospect, I'd rather enjoy that very moment I realise I am actually afforded the luxury to do so if I wanted to. Life's simple pleasures can often really be right before us.

Day Trip

There is a certain magnetic appeal about Autumn that just cries out for it to be photographed, no matter where you are. A day trip to Düsseldorf proved to be a most rewarding endeavour. The weather was magnificent to say the least. The pictures attest to the idyllic pace of life in what is one of the region's most affluent cities.

The family of bridges along the Rhine river make for an interesting study in symmetry:



One might expect it to be another big city overrun with gargantuan shopping arcades, drab and industrialised, and a skyline screaming of rapid development gone amok,

but the truth might actually be quite contrary to that assumption.

Herbst

This Autumn looks promising...whatever "promising" is supposed to mean. But the city itself is lit during the evening in a nice, warm glow. Looking skyward, the evening hues linger on for quite a while, which gives one plenty of photo opportunities. A lone church clock tower presides over the town of Au, giving it a focal point for the town folk as migratory birds fly overhead in tight formation. It's quite a sight.

Then we come to the topic of pumpkins. They come in all shapes and sizes, and have a certain texture about them that just want to make you "feel" them. Just make sure it ain't a mouldy one.

Did a quick check on the mileage on the trusty old steed...it's a whopper. I love the number 7.

Single Malt

We (RS, JS and I) decided to drink to the success of The Massive Op (amongst many other things). And what better way to toast to the tune of a 10 year old Single Malt Scotch Whisky. This was what we sampled:

Founder's Reserve it said. Single Malt it was. And this was how it appeared to me after well, a bit:

It was a heady mix, I assure you.

Massive Op

Operation P.U.A.S.O. It ain't no auntie calling or the likes, but it's probably one of the biggest projects that the three folks up here along the Rhine are going to be preoccupied with for the next few weeks. The end result? Time will tell. For now, Operation PUASO is a go. Green for go.
Time to Blog has been scarce these days...even for random posts.

Autumn Leaves

It's that time of the year, finally here. The streets get filled with red and gold, and before the onset of Winter, it is actually nice.

Jacques Prévert, Joseph Kosma and Johnny Mercer sure knew what they were doing when they wrote the Autumn Leaves (or Les Feuilles Mortes for the purists)...and Nat King Cole's rendition of it still ranks amongst the best.

Tag der Deutschen Einheit

And so it marks the days leading up to the East-West divide coming to an end, and thereafter, the Wall crumbling down, a good 15 years ago. And the Red Timberwolf aptly sends her greetings with a calorie-cous pile em' high-with-sugar-licous mudcake from halfway round the globe in the land where the a giant rock can change colours. There, you get plenty of sand, you can plenty of desert, but there's only one place you find them all vultures, desert, mud and dessert all under one roof.

Hang Out

Autumn's finally here, not that I was waiting for it. It's nice, for the initial part at least. Where are the leaves turn orange and brighten up the area with that warm orange glow, it's nice. But when Winter kicks in and one gets a lesson on the different shades of grey, then you get the feeling you are in some sort of a cold, industrial part of town...in a way, it reminds me of Manchester somewhat...but we all know how the summers from that part of the world is like, don't we?

Fremantle Foliage

A while ago, the vivacious Red Timberwolf uncovered one of the Jackrabbit's covert operations down under...his carrot enterprise. This time round, she has opted for a more mellow endeavour, choosing instead to express her artistic flair through the lens. Truth be told, she's really good at this.