Parade der Kulturen: China II

And then there was this group, playing traditional instruments like this one. I had seen that once before when I was accompanying a friend who was performing as a dancer at a New Year's function in a Chinese restaurant. There were these two other girls, one singing and the other one playing this. Too bad I forgot what it is called - maybe someone can enlighten me? Rain?

Parade der Kulturen: China I

There was a whole Kung Fu group and this young guy was one of them, looking all important:

Parade der Kulturen: Russia

On Saturday, the big Parade der Kulturen took place in downtown Frankfurt. It was very colourful, very lively and very musical. I am going to present you one country per day for about a week now, in the order of their appearance in the parade.

PS: Very sunny, warm day and I caught a sunstroke - totally worth it :-)

Next step: quarter finale!

We did it again - 4:1 against England today. The next step is the quarter finale this Saturday, and however far we get, we know for certain that we are one of the world's 8 best teams!
Oh yes, this photo was taken at the Parade der Kulturen yesterday, and there is more to come.

Btw., Anonymouses, how are your respective teams doing in this World Cup? :-)

Beautiful Things...

... come in small packages :-) This bracelet was given to me by my student at the end of the term. She remembered that I like little jewellery things, that I had admired a similar bracelet on her and noticed that blue is my favourite colour! Isn't that lovely?!


PS: Since I didn't get around to posting a picture yesterday, you get two for the price of one today ;-).

Human Kangaroo

This picture was taken three years ago, at the first skyscraper festival I "witnessed".

After the match

Last night, we watched the last group match for our team, in full gear - black-red-gold garland and a flag on the forehead included. 70 minutes of nail biting and worrying till Mesut Özil, our "new star" finally scored. Needless to say, "we" won :-)

Still standing

With all the crisises, it's reassuring that the Euro is still standing...

Child of the wind

Time for another photo of my lovely godchild. And while I know that there is some blur in this picture, I still posted it because I love how her jollity reflects in the expression of her face. Besides, there are very few pictures where she is really laughing, hence I am quite proud of this shot.

Glowing Glass

On a stage, there are always two things, even before the artist appears: glasses/bottles and interesting but difficult lighting. Here a combination of both:


The PP I did here was brightening the photo in several little steps, slightly increasing contrast, cleaning with NeatImage (I had to use ISO 1600 since flash was not an option) and finally sharpening for the net.

Kieran Goss

Kieran Goss, a Northern Irish singer and songwriter, was the supporting act of the concert I went to last Friday. He was extremely entertaining, spoke very good German (he had been living in Cologne 20 years ago) and his voice is very strong and full. He may not be a beauty but what a personality:




PS: I didn't know his music before but now one of my favourites is Reasons To Leave.

Nocturnal butterfly*

Yesterday when I was leaving the house, I saw this huuuge (I mean, it is filling the ceiling corner!) moth in the staircase. Torn between disgust and fascination, I just had to take a picture, even though the distance was long, the flash hence not very powerful and I didn't carry a tripod.

Ewww:

*Nocturnal butterfly is the literal translation of their German name Nachtfalter which in my opinion describes them much better than the simple moth.

Celtic Babe

Celtic Babe is what I have been called on my first day on an Indian chat site when I told the inquirer where I am from. So to bring out my heritage, here a triskel-like celtic knot on my palm:

Just in case

I was hiking with friends on the close by Feldberg and suddenly discovered this umbrella in the middle of nowhere. And today, when it started raining unexpectedly again, I could really have used it...

Zebra Sky

When I was getting something from the kitchen, I glanced outside and saw this evening sky. So I rushed back for my camera, knocked a bottle off my desk, pushed my chair aside and almost tripped just to catch the sunset. That's just me - can't do things slowly...

Auto pilot

Now in summer when the windows are open, the occasional bee or wasp comes in. And time and again I'm surprised about their stupidity: they struggle to get out again even if they are just a few centimetres away from freedom. So when I'm around, I mostly "save" them by gently guiding them outside. That's what I did with this specimen as well - after quickly taking some photos of her.

Note to self: Insects inside have to (!!!) be shot using a tripod!

Germany - Australia 4:0

Yesterday was my team's first game, against Australia that is not exactly a soccer nation. But the players were really a treat to watch, everything worked and the final score - no complaints :-)

I went public to watch the game and "shadowed" my eyes like this:

In full bloom

The poppy you have seen before was budding, now here is its buddy ( ;-) ) in full bloom:

ECBunnies

On my way from one of my workplaces to the bus stop, I pass by the European Central Bank building. And when it is morning, I always see dozens of bunnies in most different sizes, happily grazing away on the lawn right next to the bank.

Premiere

The World Cup 2010 is the first one ever to take place in Africa! And the host South Africa had the special honour to make the very first goal in an African World Cup! Even though the final score was 1:1 which is not bad at all, playing Mexico.

So today's photo is dedicated to all South African players, fans and friends of mine :-)

Banking Break

Obviously even bankers are just people and occasionally need a break...

Röslein auf der Heiden

Roses don't have to be red to be beautiful, on the contrary - I think red roses are so clichée and importunate.

I sit therefore I am

A statue, seen and shot in Cologne, converted to b/w - not that it was particularly colourful before ...

Sea of poppies

When I was a village child, we had poppies in our garden, small ones and not the kind that you'd make opium from of course. And now in the big city, I came across these huge poppies!

PS: Sea of poppies is a book I'm reading, by Amitav Ghosh.

Ducking out

In the park near my place, there is a dirty old river, it looks grey, it has a weird chemical smell and there is no way I would ever go in there. But still, there are ducks swimming about...

Hunted I

The other day - the first real summer day after a long row of rainy days - I went insect hunting in the park. But the damn beasties won't hold still even for a second. Bumblebees - active as can be, flies - downright nervous and bees - busy, busy. So the picture of this wasp was more a lucky accident than anything else.
And oh, did I mention that I love my macro lens ;-)

Conspiracy

Have you ever had the feeling that two plants were talking about you? Or about another plant behind its back?
Here is the proof that they really do:

Bad Moon Rising

After a long while here another time lapse video that I made several months ago in Apolda. I had taken hundreds of pictures for two previous videos and so in the making of the last one, the moon, my camera's battery let me down - hence a very short little film.

Fresh Talent

This is one of the up and coming stars of Frankfurt's football club SG Rotweiss Frankfurt, caught hanging with his buddy, the ball ;-)

Purple Rain

Definitely the best thing about rain... I love my macro lens :-)


PS: Happy children's day everybody!