photoshoot: rowing with jorma, daniel, eduard, and ulrich

i finally finished processing all the photos from this shoot (after more than 2 years). I guess that still isn't so bad, considering i've got even older photos that i have yet to process


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rowing team photo series

i've had this series of rowing photos in my hard drive for a while and has already amassed tons of dust that i've decided i should put them all out before the year ends. unfortunately all the indoor shots, including the one above, can't be used as royalty-free because i wasn't able to obtain a property release for the boathouse.


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frei aber froh

no, my german has not improved at all.  it's got something to do with the music accompanying this letter (you'll have to play the music above).  johannes brahm's musical motto for this symphony Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90  (3rd movement, poco allegreto) consisted of the notes F-A(flat)-F, the first letters of frei aber froh.  and no, i have not suddenly become a music expert either, i just read it somewhere else.  why frei "aber" froh (free "but" happy), you might ask, not frei "und" froh (free "and" happy)?  supposedly it's in response to the composer's friend's motto of frei aber einsam (free but lonely).

what about this music then?   not sure.  i think this is supposed to be meadows and creeks and flowers of spring, but somehow it gives me all sorts of feelings - at times confused and indecisive, bouts of resolve and brief periods of peace, sometimes hopeful but nothing more. it stops short of a conclusion, as if happiness or whatever resolution there is to be had lies after the last note.  i was listening to this when i was thinking of my last year in berlin and somehow it just fits and i couldn't get it out of my head.

i read somewhere that real happiness is that moment when you are faced with the promise of being happy.  i'm hoping the same is true about not being happy - that the worst one can feel is when one fears the possibility of not being happy - because if it's true, then the worst is over.

anyway, i should hear from my lawyer anytime soon. today is the court hearing for my divorce.


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Coordinated

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take 2 - i don't know what happened this time, the photo got posted but not the text that i wrote with it.

we met up with the jonescheits tonight and it was the cutest thing that they showed up clothes coordinated - jeans and white shirt and khaki jacket and summer coat. zoë also had a hairpin on her barely-there hair :) the photo, again was taken by the iphone. i'd have taken a proper photo too, only it was already getting dark when we met up that i didn't even bother bringing a proper camera.


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Luisenpark

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Luisenpark is in mannheim. We're here until friday, then off to
stuttgart to attend frieder's wedding.
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another useless info

© Joselito Briones

Did you know that in moviehouses in Germany (in the commercials part of the screening in the beginning), the last ad would always be for an ice cream, immediately after which all the lights would be turned on, and from some corner, an usher would yell, "anybody want some ice cream?" (in, German of course), carrying with him a box of the goodies for sale?

Photo above also from the recent trip to Miami.

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Teeth needed cleaning

© Joselito Briones

Busy busy. Went to Frankenlabor to pick up test strips and bring color films for processing. Went to dentist for "professional" teeth cleaning. Then back home. Uploaded some photos including one, above. Frankenlabor again to pick up the films and to bring disc for printing. Marktplatz to buy some herbs. Asian grocery to buy some vegies. Upload some more.


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And Mandy's out

© Joselito Briones

Heidi Klum finally said bye bye to Mandy last night in "Germany's Next Top Model". Yes, she with the long face is auf-wiedersehened last night. Did you see her do the pret-a-porter in the catwalk? She can definitely work at Hooters. And the paparazzi photos! Disaster. It was also obvious she was the least physically able among them. Couldn't run on the beach, couldn't do the superhero shoot, etc. Fiona on the other hand... first to finish the beach lap, and instead of stepping on the casting agent like Mandy did for the photoshoot, she carried him! I am so loving Fiona now. Too bad all the drama was done by Barbara (she's looking better and better! Her catwalk walk was so off though, like she's avoiding dog shit on the floor she was walking on). Next week maybe. At the end of last night's show, it was cut off just before Heidi talked to Fiona and Anni (she with the bad skin), and I assumed it was to auf-widersehen one of them, even after Mandy has been ousted. Nobody got eliminated last week, see, so they were supposed to do away with two models last night. I'm also taking Hana off of my predicted winners... not only is she the least thin among them, she's also the shortest. She's got really beautiful face, but her teeth are just off. So I guess now it's up to Fiona and Barbara...


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Summer in the city

© Joselito Briones

Not quite, but almost. These people are obviously eager though. The photo is of the man-made beach along the river surrounding the Museum Island in Berlin, one beautiful, sunny day. The building in the background is the newly re-opened Bode Museum.


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The Brandenburg Kiss

© Joselito Briones

And today's theme: cheese! Can you get any more cheesy than this photo? I doubt it.

I've been to the Berlin three times the past year, and every time I make it a point to go to Brandenburg Tor to take pictures, but it was always raining the past couple of times that I was there. This time around finally there was sun! And what did I get? Not a photo of the gate, but of these lovebirds. Oh well.

Btw, do you know the couple? If you do, you can ask them for me if they object to having their photo here. I'll take it off if they do. Or if they want a high resolution copy, I can also send them one (the faces are actually recognizable in the high-res version).


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Knut Impressed

© Joselito Briones

Berlin's current biggest attraction, no doubt, is Knut the Eisbär. The baby polar bear born December, 2006 in the Berlin zoo is a superstar. He even has a website. His official showtime is limited only to 2 scheduled hour-long playtime with his caretakers. Nevertheless, people (and kids) from everywhere stood in long lines just to see him. People visit Berlin just to see him.

It was the perfect place and time to observe kids. I was particularly struck by the display of determination of the boy, who couldn't have been more than 10 years old, who was in line just before me. Discouraged by the long line for Knut (this was the second line, the first long line was outside, just to enter the zoo), the father tried all the tricks in the book to persuade him to leave the line and to just go with him, the younger brother, and the mom, to see something else (penguins!). When the father failed (to his credit, he was very patient with the boy, even as it was obvious he was also concerned about the younger son missing the other attractions), the mom tried too. Didn't work. She ended up handing the boy a cell phone, so they can walk around the zoo without him. What's most striking was, the boy stood his ground without being a brat about it. No tantrums. Whenever the parents tried to offer something new, he just nodded his head no. In his eyes you could see that he was being saddened everytime he had to say no, but he was firm about seeing Knut. Half an hour later, when it was already obvious that we were gonna make it after all to the last few minutes of Knut's appearance that day, the mom, impressed, rejoined the boy in the line. Then the younger brother did. The boy was obviously proud and excited, and just before we entered the gate to Knut's viewing gallery, he tried hard to persuade his father to join them to see the baby bear. Unfortunately it was the dad's turn to be proud, who stayed behind and watched from just outside the gallery.


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P.S. No, pictured, top, is not the same kid described above.

Sony Center, Berlin

© Joselito Briones

This is as touristy and disneyfied as any place can get, the Sony Center in Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, and this particular roof structure has been photographed gazillion times before, but since I was just another tourist that day, here it is. The rest of the photos I took in this recent Berlin trip are about the same, tourist traps and all, so don't expect anything profound the next few days.


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Spring in Erlangen

© Joselito Briones

I just got back from Berlin tonight, so for the next few days I'll probably be showing you photos I took there. For now, here's another one of old Erlangen, by the Kirchenplatz.


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Heart shut tight

© Joselito Briones

This is from the series of photos I took around Erlangen. It's a window shutter detail.


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Bling

© Joselito Briones

A photo from the recent visit to Munich. It's some sort of a window display, I can't even remember which shop.


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Doppelgangers Anonymous

© Joselito Briones

I chanced upon Germany's version of America's Next Top Model on TV tonight, called what else but "Germany's Next Top Model (by Heidi Klum)". And what do you know? Heidi Klum is a lot more fierce in German! When she's dismissing someone in "Project Runway", in English, it seems so orchestrated, like her expression was designed specifically to project a certain meanness, like a good-looking version of Simon Cowell. In German though, it works really well. It's obvious she's in her element. And she really looks scary!

Anyway, the models. It's no surprise that übermodels from Germany are top-notch. Claudia Schiffer, anyone? This batch alone (now with only 5 left) looks like a Doppelgangers Anonymous gathering. Only, instead of the usual "uglier version of (state name of famous person here)", they actually look great. Face-wise, there are two that stand out. One is a cross-over between Scarlett Johansson (lips, breast, buck teeth with a slight gap and all, but without the fat!!! well ok, the other contestants have negative amount of fat, so this one still looks the most voluptuous among them) and Jacqueline Bisset (her name's Hana, and the downside is that she slumps a little), the other is a much younger, much more refined face version of Catherine Zeta Jones (her name's Fiona, she's got the most classy face among the contestants, she looks great in different styles, she needs to work on stabilizing her head while working the catwalk, and she gets all the drama in the series ). The one who got booted out tonight, Anja, is a younger, taller, thinner Linda Evangelista. Her big mistake was actually getting a hairstyle very much like Linda's. The comparison became much more obvious, and let's face it, there's no other Linda like Linda. Mandy is the typical blond-blue and a crossover between Bridget Fonda and Hilary Duff (no, I don't like her face), her nose is too big her mouth too low, and she is actually from Luxembourg. The two other contestants are Barbara, who's Julianne Moore-ish (okay, not really, but she's the only redhead that I can think of), and is obviously the one who carries herself best, and Anni (I don't know whom she looks like, I just know she's got bad skin).


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Holding Up

© Joselito Briones

I thought I should just put up an "under construction sign", because frankly it's not easy to write about what's going on in this head of mine right now. But then I thought, hey, I can at least put something up everyday, no matter how boring, if only to let you know that I'm still here.


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More fillers

© Joselito Briones

I was hoping I could show you something new, or say something exciting, this being the weekend and all, unfortunately, it didn't go that way. I stayed in the whole day and watched TV. Cooked something, too. So yeah, instead of something new I'm showing you something old... part of the images of Erlangen series that I started last week. This one's also a church, but I never see it open, so I don't know if it still functions as one. This one's by the train station.


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Workshop (Die Möbelschreiner)

© Joselito Briones

This is a furniture workshop, somewhere in old Erlangen (yes, they actually give a distinction for this area, the Kirchenplatz is part of this). The only person working on wooden furniture when I took this photo was a woman who seemed to own the place. She smiled when she saw me taking the photo, but disappeared again to her work before I could include her in the picture.


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Kirchenplatz restaurants

© Joselito Briones
These photos of restaurants were taken in Kirchenplatz, across the Basilikum Restaurant.


© Joselito Briones




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