Classical Music Rocks…

… if you listen to it on a boat, anyway. Tonight, I went to the “musicbarge”, an old boat that serves as a concert room right at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge in the East River. It’s a very nice venue, not only because of the romantic setting with a brilliant view of the downtown skyline through the windows behind the stage, but also because the 89-year-old lady in charge of it is heartbreakingly sweet and runs such a nice (and modern!) program that it’s always a pleasure to be there. Last year, I even saw her perform herself for her birthday. Today’s performance was by a very young and international String Quartet (two Americans, one Austrian, and one German musician) and they did a marvelous job playing Haydn, Britten and Mendelssohn. It was really nice to listen to the fabulous concert while the boat was rocking softly in the waves… Here are some pictures of the evening:

The view of the downtown New York skyline from Brooklyn (April 2007)

 

The watertaxi arriving right by Brooklyn Bridge (April 2007)

 

Inside the music barge (April 2007)

 

The skyline of New York after the concert (April 2007)

 

Our neighbor’s backyard

When I first moved to Brooklyn approximately 1.5 years ago, I thought that our neighbors took gardening and keeping their backyard in order extremely seriously. I still think that. However, something I spotted a few days ago made me realize that they do so with a sense of humor. See for yourself:

Our neighbors backyard in Brooklyn (April 2007)

 

An enlarged clipping of the same photo (April 2007)

 

Musical weekend

This weekend was a very musical one. Not only have I had my second saxophone lesson with my new teacher (it is so much fun to be playing again!!), I also saw two great concerts: E.S.T. and Bobby McFerrin. E.S.T. is the Esbjoern Svensson Trio, and I’ve been wanting to see them live for a long time now. And I know now that I definitely want to see them play live again sometime. Big thumbs up, definitely go see them if you get a chance. Even if you’re not a huge jazz afficionado - even though they’re a “jazz trio”, they’re not that jazzy. Well, and Bobby McFerrin, don’t worry be happy guy (you knew that…): He really is amazing. I was a little saddened by the fact that he didn’t sing much solo, but the concert still was a blast.

E.S.T. live in NYC (April 2007)

 

Bobby McFerrin live in Purchase, NY (April 2007)

 

Bobby McFerrin and his Voicestra live (April 2007)

 

At night

… this is the view from my window. I kinda like it, so I thought I’d share it with you.

View from my window at night (April 2007)

 

NAFAC

I didn’t think of “NAFAC” as a word before last week, but after spending 3 days at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis (for the “Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference, short: NAFAC), it is pretty engrained in my vocabulary now. It was an interesting experience, lots of discussions on Asia and politics, and a number of interesting speeches (e.g. by Dr. Henry Kissinger, who won the Nobel Peace prize in 1973 or, due to the topic being “Asia at the Crossroads”, high-ranking Navy-officials such as Admiral Roughead, Commander of the US Pacific Fleet). One afternoon, the Naval Academy students took us out sailing. Whenever we went to a restaurant or a bar, the hat racks looked pretty funny. See for yourself:

A bunch of navy hats in the entrance area to the restaurant (April 2007)

 

Sailing in the Chesapeake Bay was a lot of fun (April 2007)

 

… more sailing … (April 2007)

 

We were the only boat to set the spinnaker (April 2007)

 

Jersey Skies

Last weekend, I went to Jersey to visit some friends. Not only was it a pretty ride back to the city on the train (the sky looked so beautiful…), but also, I got to see my godcat “Brutus” and his companion “Aki”, a very sweet dog (the name is a derivative of “Teriaki” - because of the color of her fur!). I will be taking care of them for a week in May, when my friends go on vacation. They are so cute, I can’t wait! Here are the pictures:

The view from the train going back from New Jersey to NYC (April 2007)

 

View of NYC coming back from New Jersey (April 2007)

 

Brutus, my “godcat” (April 2007)

 

Brutus playing Easter bunny (April 2007)

 

Brutus a bit skeptical of my camera (April 2007)

 

Aki (April 2007)

 

Ooops,

… I did it again. Sorry, but last week, I just didn’t get around to posting the most recent pictures. So I’ll do it now - if nothing else, it’ll at least bring back the nice memories from Easter. Having said that, here are some pictures from this and last year’s Easter in Brooklyn (the rest of the new pictures will be in the first posts under “travel” - check it out!):

Easter eggs made in Brooklyn (April 2006)

 

More Easter eggs made in Brooklyn (April 2006)

 

This year’s Easter eggs made in Brooklyn (April 2007)

 

It’s been a while…

…since I’ve stayed in bed for a few days straight. That just occurred to me that I don’t even remember when I really actually stayed at home because I was sick for the last time. I simply haven’t had a really bad cold in the recent past, so I don’t remember how that felt like. Well, the past 5 days reminded me - and did a pretty good job at it. So since I spent most of the time just at home with a bad headache, stuffy nose, sore throat and tummy ache. Whenever I could, I pretty much just slept. So there’s not much new in my life. That’s why I decided to post some more pictures from my vacation in Oman today. That way, at least you’ll have some nice pictures to look at in the meantime… and don’t worry, soon, I’ll be back on track and able to take more pictures from here to keep you posted on what’s going on in my life. So long…

Muscat, Oman (February 2007)

 

Oman Countryside (February 2007)

 

Papayatree, Oman (February 2007)

 

Rock with Mussels, Oman (February 2007)

 

Sur, Oman (February 2007)

 

Turtle in Ras Al-Hadd, Oman (February 2007)

 

One of the many Forts in Oman (February 2007)

 

…and another picture of the Fort… (February 2007)

 

…and another one… (February 2007)

 

…and a last one of the Fort… (February 2007)

 

Finally, one of my favorites: A 3-day old camel in Wahiba Sands, Oman (February 2007)

 

 

Thinking of Konstanz…

After receiving so many nice emails from all of you today, I figured, I should also post some pictures from home (i.e. Germany) once in a while. So today, I’ll put up some of my favorite pictures from Konstanz. I took them before I left for NY in February. Hope you like them! :)

Sometime this weekend, I’ll post some more picture from here, also. Some of my bike rides across the Brooklyn and Manhatten bridges, and some of the ones my Dad took while he was here to visit this past week.

Oh, also - for those of you who are only starting to read blogs: There’s a great way of monitoring several blogs very easily: a program called bloglines. You can simply set up an account and be notified, whenever there are updates in your favorite blogs. Ok, take care for now…

Seestrasse Konstanz (February 2007)

 

View from the Rheinbridge in Konstanz (February 2007)

 

Lake Constance (February 2007)

 

Panoramic view of the alps, Konstanz (February 2007)

 

Konstanz, Germany (February 2007)

 

Downtown

The other day, I went to see a friend in downtown Manhatten, and took a few pictures. Just thought I’d share them with you :)

Downtown Manhatten (March 2007)

 

Another one: Downtown Manhatten (March 2007)