iPad2 DodoCase for my Birthday <- clicken Sie here ...

Wohoo! My best son in the world Mathias gave me a DodoCase for my iPad for my birthday. It just arrived and it is awesome!

Australia

After a little more than four months here a first impression of our new home Australia. I think it is fair to say that Mathias and I are lucky bastards: Melbourne in many ways is a hidden treasure tucked far away on the other side of the world, too far to reach for many, but paradise for those who do make it here. That is certaily just a rosy first impression I have, and in time I will probably find a more realistic description, but for now that's how I have experienced it.

We have managed to hit the ground running because life is easy here: I found a decent job and a nice place to live within three weeks. Everybody is very helpful and has made us feel welcome here.

We found a great school for Mathias, that didn't mind at all that Mathias was out of school for 6 months. He was integrated right from the start, and made many friends already. Mathias actually likes school now, and managed to get satisfactory grades on almost all subjects, some of which he even excells in.

School was one reason I wanted to come to Australia for, and so far I have not been disappointed. Imagine this: Even though the kids get graded there is no failing a class or a grade. Grades only start counting in 11th and 12th grade, where the kids take exams to assess their qualification for university or vocational training.

Besides everything being awesome there are also a few issues that need resolution. I still don't have the full picture of how much the cost of living here is. Every month a some new payment comes up that I didn't expect, and that throws our budget off. Yesterday I got a bill from school over $650 to cover the expenses for next semester. That's a lot of money that I had planned in for other things. Nobody can be blamed, but it is frustrating, because currently we cannot save much money for important Items such as a car.

The other issue on my mind right now is work. I am in one of the most progressive project I ever could have imagined: We are using bleeding edge technology and management techniques. While this is interesting I cannot use much of my hard-earned Know-How from the past 10 years, but have to learn many things anew. I hope the weeks to come things will settle down, and I will not be overwhelmed by all the new things to be learned.

Considering that we just moved half way across the world into a country that we never sat foot in before I think we are doing great. I am looking forward to the months ahead!

Student loans in the US

Wow! That makes student loans sound very evil! I guess I am glad that I only had about $1500 in student loans open when I was finished with university.
This is a student loan offer from Sally Mae Bank that a mother annotated. Her son got this letter two days before he wanted to leave for college. He decided not to attend university.

Found at http://four.livejournal.com/

Been there ... done that! <- clicken Sie here ...

That sounds strangely familiar ...

Company hierarchy <- clicken Sie here ...

Oh my God: Enlightenment has struck me on the head with her magic wand! I am sitting here at the kitchen table, drinking my coffee, pondering about my new life and future career, and there I stumble upon this article about The Gervais Principle, Or The Office According to “The Office”. Now everything is so clear!

Street Art <- clicken Sie here ...

Mathias and I were really excited when the Banksy movie "Exit Through The Gift Shop" came out, as we both like street art, and wanted to do our own stuff.

Since then I have been reflecting quite a lot on street art. I am not convinced, that it is such a great thing anymore.  The credo of the movement has been "taking art out of the museum and bringing it onto the street." Great idea. But when I read that in Australia this I punishable by law with up to 2 years in prison and up to $24,000 in fines, I began to question if street art is all about bringing art to the street. It is also about angering people who don´t want whatever somebody considers art on their street or their property. That's why making street art is so heavily fined.

Street art is a continuation of the graffiti scene that stared in the 70ies. This graffiti scene has since evolved into mass movement, until nowadays everybody and their brother thinks it to be cool to tag his name on some wall in the city. And not everybody and not everybody´s brother is particularly creative about it. Graffiti has become more a nuisance than an art movement. Hence people who own the walls get annoyed and ask legislature to do something about this nuisance. In the end graffiti "artists" get severely punished.

Now we have street artists, who currently seem to be much more creative than just scribbling their own name on a wall. But who is to say that creative things put on walls with permission have more right to stay there. At the pace street art is going won´t stay particularly creative, either, as everybody and their brother will think it to be cool to do street art. One can imagine what that leads to.

Two things can be observed:

• The quality of street art will decline as the pace of the movement will pick up even more
• The punishment of of street artist will rise as the annoyance of wall owners rises

I therefore propose he following: Find people who want their walls covered with art. You will solve both problems at once:

• The quality of street art cannot drop below a minimal level, as wall owners won´t let prospective street artists just stencil their name on a wall
• The street artists sanctioned by wall owners will stay free of punishment

A very important drawback off illegal street art is also solved: Illegal street art is often removed quickly, while legal street art is there to stay! What good is it if a street artist has to employ a videographer to document your art because it might be gone before anyone can lay an eye on it?

Will Smith is a whitie with a black face

Will is definitely not ma nigger, but I like this one ...

The Great Adventure <- clicken Sie here ...

We are on the road to Australia, currently in Pakistan, and let me tell you: It is an adventure! We are having a great time with lots of excitement. Strangely everything is going to plan, typical German. The car is running fine, the papers are all in place, and Mathias and I are getting along great. What is an adventure are these gret countries like Iran and Pakistan. Everything is whacky here! I´m loving it. I created a blog just for this trip, just to keep it separate from this blog. In case you don´t know: http://travelingsideways.tumblr.com

Australia

It all started as a crazy idea in the beginning of 2008 - one Mathias actually came up with - and now it is becoming reality: Next month Mathias and I are off to Australia. I can´t tell you how excited I am!

The last two years I have spent getting Australian residency and work permit: After all I want to work there as a freelance software developer, just like I do here. And the end of this trip: open. We might never come back from Australia. That´s the plan.

It is one of those things too crazy to be true, and that´s why it is totally in line with my life. God has led me onto big adventures before:

• Went to the US alone at age 16; stayed there for six years
• Had a kid at a young age, while I was still at university
• Became my own boss right out of university, and was successful with it
• Drove to Africa and through the Sahara with a beat-up old Volkswagen
• ...

It comes as no surprise - at least to me - that I am off on a new adventure. And this time Mathias is joining me: Father-son power. We both have never been to Australia, but I decided to save the money spent on a vacation: Everybody says it is a lovely country. Sounds like enough info to me.

But I have moved to countries that I hadn´t even visited before. It works. Nothing new there. So to make this a real adventure we will not fly over there: We will drive. Six months. Fifteen countries. Through Iran and Pakistan. With an 20-year old Volkswagen campervan. Does this sound like adventure?

I think Mark Twain would be proud of us. He supposedly said

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

I am a bit worried that I am going too far, though. After all I am taking my favorite son Mathias with me, and sure don´t want anything bad happen to him. But it just sounds too good to miss out on this. Sure will give a nice story to tell, So stay tuned ...

Stages of a photographer <- clicken Sie here ...

I found this beautiful diagram of a photographer´s life on Robert Benson´s Blog. It is very funny but also very true.

That "dammit I suck" dip is awesome. I first got aware of this magical moment in the development of any skill - photography or otherwise - when I read "Pragmatic Thinking and Learning", a book aimed at professional software developers. One chapter is about the the five stages in the journey from novice to expert, and how to recognize which stage you are in. The model described there is also universal, not just for professional software developers. Interesting enough it mirrors the graph shown above.

One clear sign that you are in stage 2 - advanced beginner - is that you think you are an expert in your field. Once you figure out "dammit I suck": Congratulations!  You are not an advanced beginner anymore. Beware, though:  The journey to expert is still long.

The book states that most people never leave the advanced beginner stage in their profession, or any other skill for that matter. Makes sense: To them the journey is over because they already are experts! I just love that insight. Been there ...

Beware: Just saying "I suck" just to feel you are in the next stage does not count. It has to be a revelation!

My 40th birthday BBQ

This weekend I had a BBQ party for my 40th birthday. Excellent party! I am very happy for all the nice people who came a celebrated with me: I had a great time.

Thanks for everyone for coming, and thanks for your contributions for our trip: They went straight to our savings account for Australia!!

5. Aachener Kickercup

You are invited!

Where Cursors Come From <- clicken Sie here ...

Aaaaww, how cute!! Check out the guy who came up with that: Nathan W. Pyle

Trouble with the blog

Because Blogger does not allow publishing blog on your own server anymore, I had to move this blog to another server. This leads to temporary trouble with the images. This should be solved soon. Hang in there!

The right decision

I think it was the right decision to remove George Bush from power...

Barcelona Marathon

This year will be my 40th birthday. I´d like to think that I have never been fitter than this year. That´s why I decided to run two marathons this year, the first one being Barcelona on March 7.
Did it! My time was 4:42:58, which is an improvement over the Paris marathon last year, albeit not that much. My preparations were off, because the marathon was so early in the year. Go figure.
Now I gotta motivate myself for a second marathon ... to tell you the truth I am not that excited. We´ll see ...

Playing with the Camera

The pic is out of focus, but besides that I like it.

Rock Star

I had a wonderful foto session with DAS MATHIASTM. He is such a great artist.

Golf

Golf afficionado Mathias getting ready for the driving range.

Fashionistas

Last weekend Mathias and I went on a Fashion spree to the hip Cologne. Because we didn´t want to spend any money we just ended up trying all kinds of cool clothes (hence the price tags in the pics ;-)

My new baby

Sexy bitch, huh?

4th Aachen Foosball Championship <- clicken Sie here ...

Did it again, and had great fun! This time the Moonwalkers - Simon and Alex - won the cup, and even performed a moon walk in honour of the late Michaael Jackson, who had inspired the two to play foosball together in the first place. Click on the champions to have a look at the pics ...

Thanks for pointing this out <- clicken Sie here ...

Priceless

One black/white picture poster	EU 20,00
Nine liters of wallpaper paste	EU 4,99
One stolen ladder	EU 0,00
Two hot banditos in a bathtub	Priceless!!

Bad Town Boys done it again

Revelation <- clicken Sie here ...

My good photographer friend Frank created a very inspiring series of pictures with the title EPIPHANY. Mathias and I were awestruck by the idea and decided to create our own hommage to the series called REVELATION. Kudos to Frank, you are the best!!

P.S.: Anyone interested in collaborating in REVELATION please contact me.

Bad Town Boys

Dried Lemons

Flickr stuff from Cookie Rebel

Color Flash

US vs Canada

[Via ~teehee~]

Floating through the hands of God - Schweben in Aachen

Cultural enlightenment in Paris

While in Paris Mathias and I soaked up some culture in the Louvre.

Paris Marathon

Three years ago I ran my first 10 km race, two years ago my first half-marathon, and now I finished my first marathon!! I ran with Carrie and Iain from Florida, and we crossed the finishline together at 4:56.

I have heard that we now belong to the select group of 2% of the world´s population who has ever finished a marathon. Great, but I have the feeling that the other 98% of the population think it is stupid to run that far in the first place.

3. Aachener Kickerturnier - Yes we can! <- clicken Sie here ...

The 3rd round of the Aachen Foosball championship - drawn out in Mathias room - was a great success: 14 highly motivated and well-trained teams from Germany and Great Britain competed to win the Aachen Kickercup. It was loads of fun and some hot competition, and in the end team Dadson - Mathias and I - just said to each other "yes we can", and won the tournament for the first time.

Have a look at the pictures!

Malta

This weekend I was able to take a short trip to the island of Malta, located in the Mediterranean sea just between Sicily and Tunesia. Very nice, especially the current capital Valetta, and the old captial Mdina. Many beautiful buildings and lots of history. The public transportation busses are also quite a looker. Perfect for a short vacation. The whole reason I came is to run the Malta half-marathon. This is one of the few running events in Europe where you don´t freeze your ass off this time of year. It took me 2:04.39 to run the 21.1 km right across the island. Good enough for me :-)

My first Leica

Buying this Leica camera was all emotions, no prudence at all: The camera is much more expensive than comparable models, but Leica is style, Leica is sexy, and Leica makes arguably some of the best cameras in the world.

Now I am the proud owner of a Leica D-Lux 4. My first Leica! I just had to have her, even at the enormous price, but let me tell you: She is all worth it. You can take a picture of the sidewalk, and that goddam boring sidewalk will look mysterious, warm, and gorgeous all at the same time with this camera.

Here are some of the pictures I have taken with my D-Lux in the last few days:

BTW: I didn´t post-process any of these pics: no cropping, no color enhancement, nothing.