"When Obama comes to town...."

In all honesty this blog is dedicated to Ms. Courtney Young, Esquire.....

She has made it no secret whatsoever that she hearts Obama A LOT! So here you go Court, this one's for you ;) ...............


I heard Obama was coming to town and I wasn't sure if I'd go, but took my camera along just in case......As it so happened, I was in the area at the right time ;)

Here is the Siegessaule (Victory Column) where Obama (we say that so much I am starting to think that is his first name ;) was to try to follow in Kennedy and Reagan's footsteps....

Glad that there were enough coppers around (don't worry Courtney, your Obama was safe) - all of those are Polizei vans...



The masses gather.....(to the tune of AC/DC's 'Thunder') 'OBAMA!' 'OBAMA!' No, not really ;) But they did have a guy singing that sounded a lot like Bono.... (that almost sounds like those 'Holiday Inn' commercials ;)









This is the June 17th Street, named in honor of the uprising of East German workers against the GDR in 1953. Berlin closes it down every now and then and turns it into a carnival location whenever they want to have a party - and this was, in a way....the rock star was coming to visit US! US!! ;) (That was the feeling anyway....)

Off in the distance is the Brandenburg Gate where Reagan spoke, 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!'. Obama wanted to speak there, but German political-correctness got in the way (only PRESIDENTS, not candidates (and for that matter, he isn't even THE Democratic candidate ;) get to speak at the Brandenburg Gate) and he was relegated to speak at the Siegessaule.

The Siegessaule (Victory Column) used to stand in front of the Reichstag (until Hitler moved it to its present location) and was made to celebrate Prussian/German victories over Denmark, France, etc. in the late 1800's.

Again, German political-correctness (given their past, they REALLY DO NOT LIKE WAR - celebrating them, etc.) was evident with some wondering 'should Obama speak in front of a memorial that celebrates war?' ;) Every country's got their 'sore spots'....




After seeing the Siegessaule so much, it was interesting to see it with an American flag nearby....this was an American flag hanging off of a sausage stand ;)

It was definitely a 'party' atmosphere, but more subdued...beer, sausages were in abundance and A LOAD OF PEOPLE! Security was SLOW and SLOW, but I was admitted to the mosh pit, I mean....inner sanctum ;)











Well, finally that 'magic moment' arrived and Obama spoke to 'the people'. He is just off to the left of the guy with the noggin in the middle.












The people listen....in....English....amazingly enough though, apparently a lot of people understood.

I don't know...Europeans have a 'joke' they like: what do you call someone who only speaks one language? AN AMERICAN!!' Haha....hee....ewww....

Point is, when the former LDS president would travel to another country, he'd at least get a translator, he didn't just assume that 'everyone' spoke English. Anyway....I just didn't like it....it strengthened the 'arrogant' stereotype of Americans that Europeans already have....oh well.....

I don't think the opposite situation would have gone down very well in the States, i.e. foreign leader giving complete speech in non-native language....I honestly think Americans would be like 'ya come to the US, speak English!' Wait...it seems like I've heard that elsewhere....



So, yes! There he is! Isn't it hilarious! That was, from much further back, more or less my view of the rock star - a 'teleprompter' 'head' with a body in a suit! Haha....if only I wanted to make some comments, but I won't - I don't know Mr. Obama well enough yet.











Haha...interesting....















'And then there were none...'


I don't like the human/German habit of throwing their trash all over! Interesting how much they clapped at his 'take care of the environment' comments, but then when the 'practice' comes into play....GRRR....


NEWS FLASH EVERYBODY! As soon as we all, me included, stop being hypocrites, then there will be massive changes in the world!
But for now....'be the change that you want to see in the world" - Gandhi.




I went around the Siegessaule to get one more glimpse....













And the crowds disperse....


My Mom asked me what I thought of what he said. I wrote her:

"peace, peace, Berlin Airlift, overcome communism, keep on going in Afghanistan, hand over Iraq to the Iraqis, peace, love, freedom.... in other words, not much and even though they clapped, they (the Germans) didn't (think much of it) either.....they were like 'he didn't say anything specific!' I also mentioned the 'speech in English' thing and how that just proves that it wasn't for Germans/Europeans, it was 'look at me! I have so much 'international' experience now! Don't worry, I can be your president, US of A!'

Which of course I find pathetic, almost just as much as I find McCain's sell-out left and right! (In 2000 I actually liked McCain, but he wants the 'prize' BAD, and thus he has been willing to do wrong things/give up on things he once believed in!) Obama...you can't go 'visit' Iraq, Jordan, Berlin, Paris, etc. in a WEEK and wipe away the 'I have NO international experience'!! (I agree that living abroad is very helpful, HOWEVER, living in Indonesia as a child doesn't count as 'high-level' international experience!)

Okay, okay....enough, enough.....

But here you go....here's to hope! Again, I don't know what and how he'll do it (he wants a world without nuclear weapons - GOOD LUCK!!), but here's to hope!

Just Randomness...

So I finally decided to do something about my TMJ'd jaw ('Jabber, Jabber, Jabber....Jabber, Jabber, Jabber Jaw!). As I was waiting in my doctor's office I looked through yonder window and saw....

And yep, the song started to play in my head ;)

This is on Ku'damm (fancy/richo street where my doctor's office is) inside of an old mall that was 'the pride' of capitalist West Berlin called 'Europa Center'.

Anyway, it's a 'Water Clock'....or as Wikipedia says:

"The "Clock of Flowing Time" (Uhr der fließenden Zeit) in the western courtyard portrays the passing of hours and minutes in twelve-hour cycles. Globules of coloured water flow up and down a tower through a system of communicating tubes in such a way as to display the current time. The system is emptied every day at 1am and 1pm and the cycle begins again."

You can see on the 'left' the larger 'hour' (let's call them globes- I don't like the word globules ;) globes and then the smaller '2-minute' globes to the right.

Can you tell what time it is? Count the larger globes for the hour....and then count the globes to the right for the minutes....

YEP! It's almost 5 o' clock! And what's cool is when it hits 5 o' clock, then the colored water in the 'minute' globes drains down and water is then pushed into the 'hour' globe and fills it up. It's interesting to watch it when they all drain/get filled up.

Some randomness for you all....enjoy!

Thanks for the Memories!

So Jill and I wanted to see each other sooner rather than later and a miracle shall we say occurred! lastminute.com had a GREAT deal!

So I hopped across the 'Pond' and arrived in P-hone-ix.

David had just moved there - poor guy! It was 115 outside! 115! It felt like you were a chicken in a convection oven! Needless to say David, Jill and I loved going to the Diamondbacks game! We were sitting right under the AC! Oh the sweetness of coolingness from above! ;)


Jill and I hung out with David for a few days and then we set off for SLC to meet her family.

I really enjoyed the drive! I LOVE red rock and have for a long time...

These are some pix from the Navajo Reservation. Beautiful red earth all around....






There were shopping spots along the way where the Navajo sell jewelry, etc. There was one that was REALLY funny....they had signs that said 'Nice Indians!' 'You can turn back!' 'No, really, it's ok!' ;)










After meeting Jill's parents (who are VERY, VERY nice people! Hi Carolyn! Hi Stephen! ;)
....we set off for the wonderful world of IKEA where my nieces, Mel, Susan and Suzanne were waiting.

This is a pic of the girls 'playing' in a bed....who knows if that is legal, but oh well, whose going to arrest cuties like these, eh?





Here is a pic of Jill and I 'skipping' with the girls. We also played hide n' seek with them....I don't think IKEA approves of this behavior - but we did have a great time!











So, ONCE AGAIN! Any of you who are fans of dis blog, will surely know of my 'issues' regarding Jill and her 'affinity for frog culture' ;) Once again, here I am standing RIGHT THERE...and she finds a stuffed frog to kiss! So far it's been bronze, chocolate and now stuffed.....what next?!













Jill and I hung out with her family doing a variety of activities. We then hopped down to SF to hang out with Mel, Susan and the girls before they, too, left for AZ. Here is one of those 'priceless' 'cute' photos that they'll hate when they're older.....

Pig tails, messy-chocolate face, lickin' away....













And then suddenly!! I don't know....I put this one up....because it kind of 'scared' me ;) The 'ecstasy' of chocolatey-goodness, became more of a freaky-Gremlinlike state of 'HAAHA! I HAVE YOU!!'

What a gal....so emphatic in her conquering of the cake-mixer-dingy ;)













But just to show you what a proper, little lady A-babe can be, here she is modelling off hat/bag ensembles I brought back for them from Germany.

H-babe...interesting how her 'entertaining' moments of dance and song, often look like 'fiery preaching' to me - I witnessed this once again in a mall in AZ ;)

Love you lots, A & H-babes!

Grrr........need I say more? ;)

So Stephen/Carolyn and Jill proffered up their loot from their last bank robbery (don't ask, it's a long story - let's just say the Young's are 'the Wild Ones' ;) and gave me my first Lagoon trip ever! We went with Jill's nephews and their dad. Andre. It was LOTS of fun. Anyone who knows me, knows that I get queasy with rides/cars/the rotation of the Earth, etc. ;) So of course we all decided to begin the day with the ride called 'Wicked'. Umm.....I read beforehand how it uses magnets, etc., etc....needless to say that it went SO FAST that I have very few memories of the ride. All I know is that at the end, I felt like the right thing to do was to fold my hands into a 'prayer' style and my leg was twitching on its own....

I watched for a lot of the rest of the day....but it was fine....I enjoyed the time, especially the water and the fountain (I was the lone adult playing in the fountain with the 8-10 year olds....hmm....I'll grow up some day....hopefully ;)

One of the activities that we did with Jill's family was go up Mill Creek canyon. Jill's dad Stephen had this cute idea of taking empty water bottles, tying them with some string and then the kids could go 'fishing'....cool idea - kept the kids busy for a long time and they enjoyed it!

I liked being in a canyon again....the water felt nice on my feet.... maybe I'm BIG FISH!

We had a great time in SLC seeing Jill and my family. I'd have to say my favorite part was when Jill forced me to hike Ensign Peak. I'd never done it before and I was VERY full from a Brazilian restaurant. But little by little, she got me to the top and....BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL! BEAUTIFUL! That sight is still in my brain.....

Jill and I drove back to AZ and hung out a bit with my cuties again....

I call this one 'Mel as Momma'....to me it just shows different moods of children - H-babe, the actress/wanting attention; A-babe being comforted/getting loved; and I-babe just 'chllin', but rolling over for more 'feed me' time....

Loverly....you're great Mel!

Oh Jillian, Oh Jillian...I've seen transporters on TV, why can't I use them?! We'll work something out....till then, adios and have fun in your 115 degree 'paradise' ;)

Just wanted to take the chance and say thanks to the Young's, Bartlome's and Jacobson's for feeding us, taking care of us, talking to us, having fun with us, us us us....and usus.....

;)

GRAZIE MILLE!!