Gang Wars

This little town decided to have a little more excitement the last few days. Monday night I went asleep to the sound of helicopters buzzing above my head. Being tired I didn't think much of it and it in fact felt a little soothing, reminding me my days in the avenues with Lifeflight constantly going back and forth. In the morning it clicked how unusual this was, especially for Münster. After a picnic in the park I started to really wonder because the choppers were still there. Just sitting there. Two of them hovering, occasionally making rounds, over the city center. So, today, I finally did some research.


In December or so there was a bloody gang war in Ibbenbüren (very small town outside Münster). And we are not talking about some punk ass teenage kids who think it's cool to stir up trouble, we are talking about full grown, facial hair, leather clad men riding around on their Harley's thinking it's cool to stir up trouble. As far as I can gather the trial was held here in Münster on Tuesday meaning we were flooded with members of both Hell's Angels and the Bandidos in addition to 1000 or so police. Funny, aside from the helicopters I didn't even notice. Ryan lives just around the corner from the hearings and he noticed nothing. Still, a fun story. Right?



(all photos from Westfälische Nachrichten)

First Match

Saturday evening kicked off the Euro Cup 2008 being hosted by Austria and Switzerland. I remember two years ago, while Germany was hosting the World Cup, reading about and seeing the absolute craziness of football fans here. I am totally excited that this year I get to witness such hysteria in person. This is the worlds third largest sporting event behind the Olympics and World Cup. So, last night was Germany's first match and they were pitted against Poland. Going into this they are ranked #5 in the world currently. Ryan and I were invited over to a viewing party. On our ride over the we passed restraunts and bars at over full capacity to watch the game on patios, and at times it seemed that the stadium was in the near distance as I heard commentary spilling out of windows all over the city.

Unfortunately we missed the excitement of the first goal made by Germany, apparently answering the door isn't as important as the game. So we headed over to the, surprisingly empty, bar next door until the half. Watching the game was fun enough, but in the presence of excited fans it was so much better. In the end Germany won the game 2-0, both goals being made by the Polish born Lukas Podolski.


The ride home was as entertaining as the game itself. Bikes ringing their bells, songs blaring from stereos. When I came to the "Death Circle" (a roundabout and main traffic artery in and out of the city) it was completely blocked by celebrating pedestrians with the police nearby supporting the spectacle. These will be some very fun weeks....

A few things worth mentioning

These may or may not be related, but you should know anyhow.

1. See the photo above? This is my new city. Wow.

And they just happen to offer this service to women (from the website):

Ladies’ night taxi:
Bus drivers can order the ladies' night taxi for female passengers aged 14 years and above, who wish to travel home in the evenings by taxi after completing their bus journeys. The "Stadtwerke“ cover the costs of the taxi’s outward journey. This service is available from April to September from 8 pm and from October to March from 6 pm.

2. Euro 2008 kicks off tonight for all you football fans. Read about it also here.

3. For those of you that miss me and just want to hear my voice *smirks and giggles to self* then you should, if you don't already, get Skype. It is a way to make calls FREE over the internet. That's right, I said free. Even internationally. Even if you don't want to talk with me you surely have someone faraway you would like to keep in touch with. Check out their site for more.

4. I got a bank to put money in so it would be a little less accessible than my wallet. Today I went to retrieve a bit of that money and it isn't accessible at all. I can't get the damn thing open. Hmph.

I hope your weekend is so Gay

This is the first year I have missed pride weekend since I was 19. I feel sad. Last year I got to perform on the big stage with the Dance-o-Lettes for the dance and had a blast. In fact, I think my feet finally healed from it a month ago. DJ Nick James is gonna make you wanna shake your thang tonight at the dance and I have some great friends, Mary and Leraine, who are both tearin' it up on the main stage at the festival tomorrow. So go out this weekend and have a gay time for me....

A Song for You: !!!

I recently used this to make a video collage then shared it with my friend Karen and then realized that, oh yeah, I love this song. This song, and the entire album, it so danceable and, if I had a car, I would be jammin' out with the windows down. And what do you call them? The most common is "chk chk chk" but really any sound three times will do. For example: boom, boom, boom; caw, caw, caw; or floop, floop, floop would do. The possibilities are endless. As always, find it in the sidebar until you no longer can.

Dancing and movies...

I have just discovered the fun that is iMovie. I have looked at the program once or twice but never really tried anything, until now. You will notice the music and text overlay on the thunderstorm video in the previous post. That, my friends, is just the beginning. Ryan and I are talking now (as in this very moment I am toggling between blogger and skype) about creatively collaborating in the movie making realm. I feel very excited. Below is a mish-mash of an improvisation I did at my ALC Graduation last October.

***Last years ALCers***
I made another short video that is totally fun of our talent show. If you were there then you know all about the sorts of things that went down and why I can't post them here. ;) If you are interested in seeing it then contact me and I can see about getting it to you.

Rain!

The last few days here have been humid and hazy. The light is strange making for some eerie moments. Last night, however, while at the big festival, Ryan and I noticed that the clouds were suddenly going to break and that our window for getting home dryly was small. We ran back to his place where I grabbed my rain jacket and bike then I raced home making it in the door in just the nick of time. My door closed and the clouds opened. This was one HUGE dump. Sitting on my bed I enjoyed the light show for at least half an hour...the sky was a strobe and the street temporarily became a river. What was the most amusing, however, was that whenever there was a slightly quiet moment I would hear music coming from the stages in the city center and the people cheering. I couldn't believe they were out in the middle of it.


Around one a.m. the doorbell rang and it was a neighbor wanting to go down and check out the basement where each flat has a storage unit. It was flooded. Of course, while everyone else was muttering, "Scheisse, scheisse," I was down there taking pictures and enjoying the spectacle. Sleep didn't come until hours later after the excitement and worry wore off. The whole neighborhood was out and about. Today I realized that my sleeping bag was down there and had been underwater all night and I got worried about it, but it ended up being fine. Johanna and Alvaro were, I am afraid, not so lucky. We spent part of the day draining the basement, clearing things out and chucking things to the curb along with the rest of the neighborhood. Mmmm...wet soggy cardboard.

Allwetter Zoo

Went to the Zoo today for "work". More photos here.

EuroCityFest 2008

Last week was HafenFest and this week we get EuroCity Fest. Another excuse to party for three days, eat food, drink beer, listen to music....this time spread out over downtown, mainly on church plazas and the prinzipal markt. The last photo is of my favorite discovery at the festival, the Sangria booth. Yep. I went with black and white because with the impending storm (more on that very soon) the lighting was all sorts of funky.

Senden

Here are a few pictures from the ride Ryan and I took today. In Utah I would never even consider going the distance I did today, regardless of where I ended up because the route would, more than likely, not be enjoyable. Either because of traffic or terrain (I am a big wimp when it comes to hills). Our trip was somewhere around 50-55 km roundtrip, not too shabby. The route took us along the Dortmund-Ems Canal on a foot and bike path. Following the water was lovely as we passed by fields, farms, forests and industrial areas. Occasionally we would see a yacht or barge pass by. At one point we crossed over to the other side and lost the trail therefore bushwhacking our way through. Ryan payed the price later with an awful and painful rash (below). When arriving to the small town of Senden we had to find a drugstore and hook him up just so he could actually enjoy his time.

After taking a break for hydrocortizone and some lunch we made our way to the Wasserschloß (Moated Castle) just on the outskirt of the town. Just as I stopped to ask a couple how to get there they pointed and said, more or less, that's it. We were looking at the back of it. Hmm. It should be noted that the area surrounding Münster, called Münsterland (magical eh?), is known also as the land of 100 Moated Castles. This makes me quite happy because it means there can be many more of these excursions out of the city throughout the summer. Hooray.
Initially I was disappointed. I had seen pictures and thought that it was kept up and open to the public. Wrong. Currently it is empty and on the market which means the closest we could get was the bridge crossing the moat. In the end it was nice that there were really no other people around. The weather, too, was a bit overcast and gray. Very good abandoned castle weather if you ask me.

Of course Ryan, being the rule breaker he is went into the courtyard! PAST THE SIGN! Naughty Ryan.

In the end it was my ass that got tired before my legs. After all that riding we were in for a treat when we got back in the city. Two scoops lemon for Ryan and an iced coffee for me (more like and iced coffee float with chocolate covered coffee beans and coffee syrup to top it all off). Yum.

For more photos and a few other comments visit here.

get local with Etsy

For those of you that don't know my love of Etsy or even know what it is then shame on you. You probably haven't paid enough attention. I &hearts this online marketplace for all things handmade. And when I paid a visit today I saw that one Kali was the featured seller! An it just so happens that this particular Kali is a Salt Lake artist and I happen to own a belt buckle of hers much like the one photographed above. All her buckles and pendants are made with found and recycled objects like shattered mirrors or rusty nails. Very exciting. Check out her shop and the rest of the Etsy site for some browsing fun. That is, if you can stick just to browsing.