- M - "the war zone" photographer ;)
29/04/2007
How it looks at the moment, a bit different than it used to
As I was in town then took a little tour also with the camera... most of the pictures can be found one way or another from our newspapers online anyway :)
- M - "the war zone" photographer ;)
- M - "the war zone" photographer ;)
28/04/2007
Estonia at the moment... ehm?!
Well, this is hard to be politically correct towards everyone... I know that there are Russians and Russians. But well, if I am yelled at in Russian early in the morning, because I did not answer to the lady asking me the time IN RUSSIAN, then excuse me, lady... you have had 60 years to learn numbers in Estonian one to ten, cause the time at that point was 10.05 am. Then people, don't think that I will bother ever to learn your damn language. You live here and there might be sth you also should try to make an effort for. And of course I get that sending your grandkids out at night to tear down the town is making an effort to some, but opinions can differ.
And the fact that some 15-year-old kids yell into camera, that Estonians should look into the history books, then once again - huh? - occupation is occupation, it wouldn't have mattered for us if it would have been from West or from East. So no one saved us, although yes, they gave us basically one-way tickets to Siberia, which can nowadays be called as a bonus. But again, let us have our oppinion.
And lastly, if you don't like our government, no one keeps you here... east is the direction Narva out of town. But don't tell that you do not have any rights, all can go to the same kindergartens, same schools, same universities, can get work, can retire. Everyone could learn a little bit of Estonian, if they just bothered to. Could care what happens here and don't complain to Russia, the border goes a bit different than you might remember.
What's the point in distroying the town where you live...
-Estonian police have used tear gas to disperse crowds protesting against the proposed move of a Red Army war memorial in Tallinn to a cemetery.
The monument and the graves of 14 Soviet soldiers buried nearby were cordoned off early on Thursday morning.
The Russian government says moving the memorial would be an insult to the soldiers who died during World War II.
But Estonia says it poses a risk as it has been the scene of clashes between Estonians and Russian nationalists.
Many Estonians see the bronze statue of a Soviet soldier, erected in 1947 in the centre of Tallinn, as a reminder of nearly 50 years of Soviet occupation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6597497.stm
-Russia has condemned as blasphemous the removal by Estonian authorities of a contentious Red Army war memorial.
Estonia was mocking the dead, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. However, many Estonians saw the statue as a reminder of Soviet rule.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6599937.stm
-More than 600 people were detained and about 100 hurt after a second night of riots in Estonia's capital Tallinn.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets after new clashes with mainly ethnic Russian protesters erupted over the removal of a Soviet war memorial.
Estonia says the memorial symbolised Soviet occupation. Supporters say it celebrated heroes who fought the Nazis.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6602171.stm
-Russia to Estonia: Don't move our statue
Human rights group Amnesty International also said in a recent report Estonia needs to do more to protect the rights of minorities, adding fuel to Russia's argument.
http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSL2378719620070125
This is all just mighty sad to see... all that was wanted that the statue stands somewhere else, not in the centre of town. Just couldn't keep it civilizised it here. And now our police was too harsh, well, what happens over the border when sth is not like the government approves ;) Plus, what do they do there with their memorial statues? Just don't look for excuses to complain all the time?! Get a life, preferrably 300 km-s east :)
- M - is this the beginning of sth big?
And the fact that some 15-year-old kids yell into camera, that Estonians should look into the history books, then once again - huh? - occupation is occupation, it wouldn't have mattered for us if it would have been from West or from East. So no one saved us, although yes, they gave us basically one-way tickets to Siberia, which can nowadays be called as a bonus. But again, let us have our oppinion.
And lastly, if you don't like our government, no one keeps you here... east is the direction Narva out of town. But don't tell that you do not have any rights, all can go to the same kindergartens, same schools, same universities, can get work, can retire. Everyone could learn a little bit of Estonian, if they just bothered to. Could care what happens here and don't complain to Russia, the border goes a bit different than you might remember.
What's the point in distroying the town where you live...
-Estonian police have used tear gas to disperse crowds protesting against the proposed move of a Red Army war memorial in Tallinn to a cemetery.
The monument and the graves of 14 Soviet soldiers buried nearby were cordoned off early on Thursday morning.
The Russian government says moving the memorial would be an insult to the soldiers who died during World War II.
But Estonia says it poses a risk as it has been the scene of clashes between Estonians and Russian nationalists.
Many Estonians see the bronze statue of a Soviet soldier, erected in 1947 in the centre of Tallinn, as a reminder of nearly 50 years of Soviet occupation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6597497.stm
-Russia has condemned as blasphemous the removal by Estonian authorities of a contentious Red Army war memorial.
Estonia was mocking the dead, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. However, many Estonians saw the statue as a reminder of Soviet rule.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6599937.stm
-More than 600 people were detained and about 100 hurt after a second night of riots in Estonia's capital Tallinn.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets after new clashes with mainly ethnic Russian protesters erupted over the removal of a Soviet war memorial.
Estonia says the memorial symbolised Soviet occupation. Supporters say it celebrated heroes who fought the Nazis.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6602171.stm
-Russia to Estonia: Don't move our statue
Human rights group Amnesty International also said in a recent report Estonia needs to do more to protect the rights of minorities, adding fuel to Russia's argument.
http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSL2378719620070125
This is all just mighty sad to see... all that was wanted that the statue stands somewhere else, not in the centre of town. Just couldn't keep it civilizised it here. And now our police was too harsh, well, what happens over the border when sth is not like the government approves ;) Plus, what do they do there with their memorial statues? Just don't look for excuses to complain all the time?! Get a life, preferrably 300 km-s east :)
- M - is this the beginning of sth big?
20/04/2007
The early bird catches the worm
Isn't it a paradox? Each workday I struggle to get out of bed at around 6:30 so that I would eventually catch my train in time. And now when the weekend has come at last I get up at 4 o'clock - voluntarily and with a smile! :) But sometimes it just pays off to be up and outside when the rest of the world is well asleep... the picture proves it:
But now I'll finally get my well-deserved rest *yawn* ;)
- Jörg
But now I'll finally get my well-deserved rest *yawn* ;)
- Jörg
17/04/2007
First camera test ;)
I just love when I am told there's deers posing and here they were again :) Gotta love this new cam though, skipped the crawling this time... but yes, still a bit too late for any light, cannot have everything ;)
And then there was another animal to be seen... I love this countryside of mine :) Mind that the storke kept a low profile in the background :D
- M, with the new cam -
And then there was another animal to be seen... I love this countryside of mine :) Mind that the storke kept a low profile in the background :D
- M, with the new cam -
And the winner is...
Yesterday Monika wrote me a mail which I checked at work, and it included a link. What was to be seen is on the following screenshot:
Mhm, she won a Canon Powershot S3 IS digital camera. What a surprise that was :) So now we are well-equipped and can go on photo safaris together ;)
- Jörg
Mhm, she won a Canon Powershot S3 IS digital camera. What a surprise that was :) So now we are well-equipped and can go on photo safaris together ;)
- Jörg
15/04/2007
Birds - lots of them
Today I made a visit to a bird park, a bit South of Freiburg, near the Swiss border. I went there with Tobias and Elke, my workmates, as we are the ones who have to make plans for a daytrip for our department this year. We are to find a destination for the trip and have to organize transportation and food and all. So the destination we now have :)
I gotta say that it was a wonderful Sunday today, and at the time when Tobias and I arrived in Steinen to have a coffee before Elke's train arrived, it was already 35 degrees... on an April morning at 9 o'clock, mind you :D So it was a lovely spring day, as you can evidently see from the picture:
So we walked around a bit and the park was really worth a visit, with lots of birds living there. There were a whole lot of storks, too, who breed there and have their nests there.
They also have a nice show, with birds of prey flying free while the visitors sit in a little arena. A falconer feeds them while they fly by and he tells lots of interesting stories about the birds and about his work with them. So there were hawks and eagles and owls and all those kind of birds to see :) Some of them flew a bit further, to the edge of the forest, but they always returned :) See the pictures of an eagle here:
So that was a lovely time spent there, and we even made it home in time to see the second half of the F1 race in Bahrain ;) The only thing that was not so nice is this: the entrance fee was 12 Euros... but I guess such a small park needs quite a lot of money to survive :)
- Jörg
I gotta say that it was a wonderful Sunday today, and at the time when Tobias and I arrived in Steinen to have a coffee before Elke's train arrived, it was already 35 degrees... on an April morning at 9 o'clock, mind you :D So it was a lovely spring day, as you can evidently see from the picture:
So we walked around a bit and the park was really worth a visit, with lots of birds living there. There were a whole lot of storks, too, who breed there and have their nests there.
They also have a nice show, with birds of prey flying free while the visitors sit in a little arena. A falconer feeds them while they fly by and he tells lots of interesting stories about the birds and about his work with them. So there were hawks and eagles and owls and all those kind of birds to see :) Some of them flew a bit further, to the edge of the forest, but they always returned :) See the pictures of an eagle here:
So that was a lovely time spent there, and we even made it home in time to see the second half of the F1 race in Bahrain ;) The only thing that was not so nice is this: the entrance fee was 12 Euros... but I guess such a small park needs quite a lot of money to survive :)
- Jörg
14/04/2007
When spring comes...
Today was one of the very first nice spring days, with warm sun and no strong wind. So what else to do with this day to go to town and try to find sth from the shops. Well, there you go... spring does not only bring warm weather but also ship- and planeloads of tourists, calculating the prices to euros with their mobiles, not making any room for the other people. But ja, there are tourists from everywhere basically. Tourists together with birds who fly back here at the moment - surely is a sign that summer is not far away :) And this surely is a nice thought :)
Other than that, I think we were quite good, as we managed to get a pair of shoes for me and mom almost found a jacket ;) So once again, rather productive day :)
Other than that, I think we were quite good, as we managed to get a pair of shoes for me and mom almost found a jacket ;) So once again, rather productive day :)
11/04/2007
Heia for faster internet!
Sooo... I also have faster internet from today on ;) Yes, big thing here, basically out of nowhere we also can be "connected" :) Lets see now if this changes my daily routines somehow :D
See you around then, most likely online...
- M -
See you around then, most likely online...
- M -
09/04/2007
A day in France
Today I've been to France, with my parents and my sister. We were with a bigger group of people who always go to France on Easter Monday to have a little hike and then a big lunch :)
So my parents fetched me at around 9:15 and we met the others at a parking lot before the border and then we went to some little village. There we left our car and up we went into the mountains, through lovely forests and also open spaces where we could enjoy the gorgeous view. I have to say that it was a nice spring day in France, with blossoms on the tress and the sun was shining. Sunshine in spring is nice... but well, I thought that it might be not so warm up there in 900 metres and I thought that I could be extra-wise and wear long and warm underwear and of course I also packed my scarf and jacket and hat and gloves. Needless to say that I needed neither of those ;) At least I was wise enough to leave the big camera backpack at home, as it would've been a pain to carry the heavy camera gear up the mountain just to find out that nothing really makes a good picture :)
I mean I would've taken a small camera, of course, but it would've been plain doofus to take all the equipment up there. I also saw no willife up there which would've made the use of telephoto lenses necessary, so I was fine with this decision to leave the camera stuff at home :)
Up there we had good food - some sort of pie with mushroom filling, lamb meat with mashed potatoes and beans, plus a cake for dessert - and it was really stuffing. While eating we also had one or two glasses of wine (or were they three or four? who knows...) and as a result of that it was fun to get out of the restaurant and back into the sun :) I still have a slight headache now, hehe :)
But going down went very well, didn't take all too long and even though it was a nice day I am also glad that I am back home now :) But there's always next year :)
- Jörg
So my parents fetched me at around 9:15 and we met the others at a parking lot before the border and then we went to some little village. There we left our car and up we went into the mountains, through lovely forests and also open spaces where we could enjoy the gorgeous view. I have to say that it was a nice spring day in France, with blossoms on the tress and the sun was shining. Sunshine in spring is nice... but well, I thought that it might be not so warm up there in 900 metres and I thought that I could be extra-wise and wear long and warm underwear and of course I also packed my scarf and jacket and hat and gloves. Needless to say that I needed neither of those ;) At least I was wise enough to leave the big camera backpack at home, as it would've been a pain to carry the heavy camera gear up the mountain just to find out that nothing really makes a good picture :)
I mean I would've taken a small camera, of course, but it would've been plain doofus to take all the equipment up there. I also saw no willife up there which would've made the use of telephoto lenses necessary, so I was fine with this decision to leave the camera stuff at home :)
Up there we had good food - some sort of pie with mushroom filling, lamb meat with mashed potatoes and beans, plus a cake for dessert - and it was really stuffing. While eating we also had one or two glasses of wine (or were they three or four? who knows...) and as a result of that it was fun to get out of the restaurant and back into the sun :) I still have a slight headache now, hehe :)
But going down went very well, didn't take all too long and even though it was a nice day I am also glad that I am back home now :) But there's always next year :)
- Jörg
08/04/2007
On photographing wildlife
Now this is a funny story: in winter, at the beginning of January, I sat outside with my - let's call it semi-pro - camera gear in around minus ten degrees, hiding very well in the Estonian forest, at the very hours of dusk, hoping that I can shoot some pictures of deer :) Well-prepared as I was, I didn't manage a single deer shot this way. The only ones I got was when Monika's mum told me to get out of the house quickly, as there are deer around to see :) It was also getting dark already on that day, and I tried sneaking up on them deer but soon they ran away and this one here was the best shot I came up with:
Now today Monika sent me a mail, telling me that she made pictures of deer. In the middle of the day, with blue sky and just a few happy clouds and sunshine, of course. She also told that she could get closer to them than I ever could in winter and that the deer did not really bother for her sneaking around and taking pictures of them. And mind you, she didn't have to sit in some cold wintry forest and freeze her arse off, hehe :) Those are her pictures of today:
- Jörg
Now today Monika sent me a mail, telling me that she made pictures of deer. In the middle of the day, with blue sky and just a few happy clouds and sunshine, of course. She also told that she could get closer to them than I ever could in winter and that the deer did not really bother for her sneaking around and taking pictures of them. And mind you, she didn't have to sit in some cold wintry forest and freeze her arse off, hehe :) Those are her pictures of today:
- Jörg
Happy Easter!
Today is Easter and everyone of us two has eggs to show, of course :) Here are Monika's eggs:
And those are mine - I added a few chocolate ones so that it looks more impressive ;)
- Jörg
And those are mine - I added a few chocolate ones so that it looks more impressive ;)
- Jörg
06/04/2007
While he was working...
... then she was enjoying the evening in spa :) It was very nice and wow as always.
Everything our own spa-related actions was very good and it's nice to see that the same nice personnel is kept. But the weather... hehe, well, nice that we stayed inside most of the time. It is mighty stormy, not raining nor snowing, but wind blows and the sun is behind coulds. So can imagine how cold it is at the seaside... brrr.
Oh, another thing... we surely think twice next time when we go to a museum in a small town. Never would have thought that it can take an hour to see 3 small rooms, but when the very talkactive tourguide (who we didn't ask for even) tells a story about each and every detail... I know, shouldn't be complaining about getting more for my money, but honestly, this was a biiiiiit too much information ;)
So I surely can recommend - people, when it feels like a lowpoint, then take some time and go to spa, it will so pay off :)
- M -
Everything our own spa-related actions was very good and it's nice to see that the same nice personnel is kept. But the weather... hehe, well, nice that we stayed inside most of the time. It is mighty stormy, not raining nor snowing, but wind blows and the sun is behind coulds. So can imagine how cold it is at the seaside... brrr.
Oh, another thing... we surely think twice next time when we go to a museum in a small town. Never would have thought that it can take an hour to see 3 small rooms, but when the very talkactive tourguide (who we didn't ask for even) tells a story about each and every detail... I know, shouldn't be complaining about getting more for my money, but honestly, this was a biiiiiit too much information ;)
So I surely can recommend - people, when it feels like a lowpoint, then take some time and go to spa, it will so pay off :)
- M -
05/04/2007
A hard-earned easter weekend!
What a day that was! Got up at six twenty and went to work. Nothing special so far. The morning also went well, but for the afternoon we had scheduled some server maintenance - and it took waaay longer than we expected ;)
Instead of going home at around four - that was the plan! - I got to the 19:35 train home. When I was then finally home it was almost nine and I am glad that our local supermarket is open until ten o'clock since a few weeks. And as I had nothing to eat since lunch except for a Snickers I went straight to MacDonald's after food shopping :-D
So now I am home, writing this blog entry and look forward to 4 days without work :) Life can be great :)
J.
Instead of going home at around four - that was the plan! - I got to the 19:35 train home. When I was then finally home it was almost nine and I am glad that our local supermarket is open until ten o'clock since a few weeks. And as I had nothing to eat since lunch except for a Snickers I went straight to MacDonald's after food shopping :-D
So now I am home, writing this blog entry and look forward to 4 days without work :) Life can be great :)
J.
03/04/2007
Stuffing kebab...
Boy, does a kebab stuff me. I had one at noon... and skipped supper now at 19 o'clock as I still am not hungry :-)
- Jörg
- Jörg
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