DC Heron Family

20th Anniversary of the Berlin Wall's Fall

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:36:00 +0000

Twenty years ago, the Berlin Wall fell this was surely a watershed moment for mankind. Amongst other things this means that there is at least one generation of people alive today that have no recollection of a divided Germany and the Berlin Wall. How do you explain to them what had happened and how Germany was divided? The Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany recently tried to do just this as part of the Children's University 2009 Program in the topic "Eine Mauer in Deutschland- order: Eins plus eins ist eins!" (A Wall in Germany- One plus one is one!, in English)

I've attended two of the Kiddie Uni programs so far and have been quite please and plan on attending other in the future. Parents need to see if they think that the children are old enough to attend and if they'd be interested in the topics covered but they do a good job and it can be a fun an educational experience for your kids. They set up one lecture hall where the kids sit to take part in the topic while parents wishing to stay can view the lecture (and keep an eye on their kids) from another room as the event is televised and they pan to the kids from time to time (to ease the minds of the parents) and to get the reaction of the kids. It should be noted that the programs are in German

There was some explanation of how Germany was divided at the end of World War II, without a lot of detail about the war itself. Uncle Sam and Uncle Ivan played the parts of America and the U.S.S.R during the lesson. The kids were told about the freedoms that people had in West Germany and how the party decided what was best for the people in East Germany. They even made their own wall between the kids and dived them into East and West.

Uncle Sam passed out Gummi bears (something most all kids in Germany know and love) to the kids in West Germany, while the kids in the DDR didn't get any. You can imagine that this got a reaction out of the kids and some were ready to "defect" to get their Gummi Bears. There was genuine concern among their parents about if their kids were in the DDR or in the West, and you could see them looking intently to determine if their kids were in the DDR or not.

A little later on there were calls to tear down the wall and Uncle Ivan disappeared, while they told the kids about President Reagan's call to "Mr Gorbechev, tear down this wall..." the wall came down and all the kids got to have Gummi Bears. Gummi Bears for all.

In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, I'm playing Pink Floyd's "The Wall" on Blip.fm. I recently wrote an article about 19 Years of German Reunification And the Fall of the Berlin Wall 20 Years Later, if you'd like to read more about this topic.

Photo Credit: "American Sector" courtesy of Lietmotiv.

Rothenburg OBT And Leyk Lighthouses

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:57:00 +0000

I recently made a trip to Rothenburg OBT, Germany and the nearby Leyk Lighthouse outlet in nearby Woernitz. Rothenburg is one of the most famous walled medieval cities still exiting today and There is a good chance that might have seen a Leyk Lighthouse and not realized it. If you happen to be in the area it is worth the visit.

Leyk Lighthouses

Leyk Lighthouses arranged in a tribute to Rothenburg ODT

Leyk Lighthouses are hand-made ceramic houses that are fashioned after the famous German Fachwerkhaus (half-timbered house) that many people think of when they think of Germany. The Leyk Lighthouses are referred to as "Lighthouses" because you can put a tea-light in them (probably not the lighthouse that first came to your mind I'm sure. Some of these houses are modeled after famous building in Germany, while others are inspired by actual buildings, but they all have a certain charm about them. We've been collecting them for a few years now, so we were excited to see the outlet where they actually do produce some of them. Before heading up to the shop, we peaked into a room where several houses were in various states of production, some were drying, waiting to have color added to them, while others had varying degree of color painted on them. In the shop there was a huge table displaying the houses as one big city. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture the impressiveness of the spawling city, but I did take several pictures of the Leyk Lighthouses and I've posted them to a folder at Flickr.

Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber

A view of part of the city's wall from outside.

Rothenburg ODT (Ob Der Tauber), Germany is a very memorable place. In fact I've heard it described as a place that time forgot. The name of the city can be translated at Rothenburg above the Tauber (Wikipedia). This walled medieval overlooks the Tauber river. Rot is German for red, with burg being "a fortress, in which the villagers from the surrounding area seek refuge in case of an attack. It's a military structure, either located on top of a hill or surrounded by a moat (or both), with thick walls and tiny arrow slits..." (Leo.org/forum). Many of the roofs on the houses in Rothenburg are red and the process of retting flax for linen production is rotten in German. Rothenburg was once very prosperous as a result of the textile industry.

Notice the cobble-stone street (one of many in the town)

This place is special to me because shortly after I got married, we took several members of the wedding party there. I was charmed by the city back then and have fond memories of the charming older gentleman that the drove our group's carriage through the cobble-stone streets making a pass at one of the women in our group, while nature was taking its course and the horse relieved itself. He told us lot of stories of the various buildings and the the town's history. We were their on a Sunday and the Christmas store was closed so I made a personal vow that I would one day go back to at least see the Christmas store. I was excited to hear that my wife and a friend were planning a trip to visit the nearby Leyk outlet.

The Marien Apothek (Pharmacy) shown here is a popular Leyk Lighthouse

One of the things that makes Rothenburg so unique is that it remains on a very few walled cities in the world. When you look around the city there are various entrances through the walls but their aren't so many, so you can imagine how this could have protected the town from invaders in the past. We took the Nightwatchman's tour, which is normally offered nightly from April to December with one tour in English and another in German. A very entertaining and informative man is dressed as a night watchman might have been back in the day and he talks about some of the town's history and what it mush have been like to live in the city. He told us that one of the reasons the city is so well preserved is that time kind of passed it by at one point only for it to later be re-discovered by tourists with millions of visitors since. He also told the story about how the city was saved from being totally destroyed during World War II, even though their had been orders given to do so.

A gift bus parked in front of the Christmas Store

I mentioned earlier that I wanted to go the Christmas store, well I finally did it and I was not disappointed! Käthe Wohlfahrt is the name of the famous Christmas store in Rothenburg. Having been to a few famous Christmas store before (Bronners in Frankenmuth, Michigan and the Canterbury Village in Michigan) and having a general fondness for Christmas and Christmas decorations, I was excited to finally be able to go in. Visitors aren't permitted to take pictures inside, so unfortunately I don't have any but it is hard to describe the wonders that you see inside, so I leave this up to your imagination. The assortment of all things Christmas is amazing and worth seeing.

A view from the Market Place in Rothenburg ODT

I really enjoyed our overnight stay in Rothenburg. I had hoped to be able to climb around and see the wall from inside and to climb one of the town's taller towers to see the magnificent view but I guess those are all more reasons to return there again. Rothenburg is full of Bavarian charm and this German Disneyland if worth checking out.

Here are some links related to Rothenburg and Leyk that you might want to check out...

Photo Credits: All the pictures displayed above are located in the Leyk and Rothenburg folders at Flickr.

German Reunification- Fall of the Berlin Wall 20 Years Later

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Today is the 19th Anniversary of German Reunification. November 9, 2009 will mark the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Events started in the Summer of 1989 that led to the wall that separated the FRG (Federal Republic of Germany) and GDR (German Democratic Republic) or East Germany (referred to as the DDR or Deutsche Demokratische Republik by Germans) being torn down and "officially" accepted travel between the two former German nations and the Reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990.

President Kennedy says "Ich Bin ein Berliner"

President Reagan Says "Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down this Wall"

ABC coverage with Peter Jennings

The Excitement And Atmosphere Of the Fall of The Berlin Wall

Andreas Ramos says in an article about his experience during the Fall of the Berlin Wall, "We walked through the border. On both sides the guard towers were empty and the barbed wire was shoved aside in great piles. Large signs told us that we needed sets of car documents. The East German guard asked if we had documents. I handed him my Danish cat's vaccination documents, in Danish. He waved us through." The account of Andreas shows the chaos, excitement, and hope that was experienced in the days that the Wall fell. I wasn't in Berlin or Germany when this historic event happened but I remember the sense of excitement that existed in my classes at the time. There was a feeling that if this happened, then anything was truly possible.

Unification Was The Only Way

Hans-Dietrich Genscher (Foreign minister of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1974 to 1992) was asked in an interview that appeared in honor of the 15th Anniversary of German Unification at Deutsche Welle if looking back that reunifying Germany so quickly was a good idea, his response was "There was no other way. It was a window of opportunity in history that opened and we used it to peacefully implement German unification. It was absolutely right."In the same interview he described how he thought at the time that while there were still two division between the German states that production should have been encouraged more the former East Germany, so that there would have been more value added when they were joined, but this plan didn't make it past his coalition partners. This idea reemerges from time to time.

My Experiences In A Reunited Germany

I've lived in the Frankfurt, Germany area for eight years now, coming over before September Eleventh. I was amazed to think that Angela Merkel was elected Chancellor of a united Germany and included that thought in my article on the 17th Anniversary of German Reunification. Who would of thought such a thing were possible even twenty-five years ago! Recently, Germany held elections and Angela Merkel re-elected as German Chancellor. In my time here I've been able to see a little bit of Germany but it wasn't until this past August that I was able to visit East Germany. I was really excited about going on the trip and enjoyed visiting

Erfurt, Dresden, Meissen, and Weimar. Although back in 2002 I took a short trip to Prague, I hadn't really been to East Germany till that trip. In everyday life you don't think about there being two German states that often, but every now and again it hits me that twenty-five years ago taking a trip like this would have been a lot different. As an American, I tend to often believe that anything is possible, but I wonder how different my own beliefs would have been had I been part of a family torn between East and West, if I had grown up in East Germany?

Twenty Years Later Germans, East And West Do Feel The Promise Has Been Achieved

Much of Eastern Europe wasn't really ready for the march to market economies that came next, nor most of the Western World for that matter. When the Wall fell, East Germans were euphoric about the possibilities and the expectation that life would be so much better. Families and friends could now see each other again without having to plan as though they were characters in espionage stories. Die Welt ran a story in early 2009 about a poll that Forsa did with 1,000 Germans about Reunification. "Only 46 percent of Germans in the former communist east said their personal situation had improved. That number was as high as 71 percent in 1989." The survey indicated that "every fourth person in eastern Germany believes that life is worse now in the eastern states than it was under communism until 1989. Only 39 percent believe they have profited from reunification." And "in western Germany where 40 percent said their lives had improved since the end of Communism; in 1989 that number was 52 percent." While the eastern Germans think they got a bad deal and have been exploited, Forsa chief Manfred Guellner said, "western Germans have the feeling that they have simply footed the bill for eastern Germany." In fact at the time of publication Die Welt reported that one trillion dollars had been transferred from the west to the east since reunification. During the Communist years of East Germany, not nearly enough money was spent on infrastructure, which has meant the need for lots on investment in new and repairing old infrastructure. The outlook is further amplified by the movement of jobs to cheaper emerging markets within Eastern Europe and outside of Europe so that the good jobs aren't there or are disappearing.

The Fall of The Berlin Wall Caught The World By Surprise

I believe that the Fall of the Berlin Wall and the decline of Communism caught most of the world off guard and they weren't really prepared for what followed. Although President Reagan told Gorbachev to tear down the Wall, there doesn't really seem to have been any real plan and preparation by world leaders for a Post Cold War World. So much of structure, institutions, and policies of many world governments are a direct or indirect result of the Cold War. Military transformation alone is a monumental task that hasn't truly happened yet. World leaders still haven't really found an effective way to function in the Post Cold War. How should they deal with each other and how should they deal with "rogue" states? Who would have thought during the Cold War that shortly after it ended we would have another prolonged "War on Terrorism" that doesn't really look like it will be ending anytime soon.

Twenty Years Is A Short Time

20 years is a long time in terms of many of the people that are alive today, but in terms of the length of the Cold War or even in terms of German history or the history of mankind, the Fall of the Berlin wall is still relatively recent and one of those historical events that will be talked about for generations (providing of course that mankind lives for generations). I wonder how long it will be until the majority of people in Germany will look at their country and themselves as one country and that a separate Communist East Germany will be only a footnote or a vague recollection of an old family member or acquaintance?

Time For Celebration

In America, Independence Day (the Forth of July) is a big celebration. In Germany there will be celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and this the 19th Anniversary of German Reunification, but it is not burned into the "national" psyche in nearly the same manner. For a lot of people it is just another day, but for me it is a triumph of mankind and something to be celebrated. While it doesn't hold universally true in all cases, but in American on the Forth of July, you can often feel a sense of pride amongst Americans, even those that might not ordinarily see eye to eye on this day, there is sense of unity (even if ever so slight, its there). Maybe Germans have seen too much in their lifetimes and throughout their history to see this event as I do, but I do hope that they can take some time to think about what today means and realize that they have reason to be proud.

I do hope that peoples of the world won't need to be separated from their family and friends because their nation is divided (as we have with Korea today). Hopefully, one day there will be one Korea too. My hope is that we never go through anything like this again but will we be able to learn from history and that we aren't doomed to repeat this kind of activity yet again! I hope that the world leaders are able to figure out how to lead in a Post Cold War World and I do hope that we can get past the current infatuation with "maximizing" shareholder value and executive bonuses because I don't think that those men and women that have lost their lives during the Cold War (and during the wars previous to that) did it for the "Corporatism" that seems to have usurped "Capitalism". Happy "Tag der Deutschen Einheit" or Day of German Reunification, everyone.

Some links that might be of interest to you....

Berlin Wall Online Lots of great stuff here

Berlin Wall at Wikipedia

German Reunification at Wikipedia

East Germany at Wikipedia

Germany at Wikipedia

Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989- There are lots of links to check out here

A Personal Account of The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The 11th and 12th of November, 1989- Personal account of a Dane that visited Berlin at the time

Fall of the Berlin Wall Video

Items Related to the fall of the Berlin Wall

Autumn of Change from CNN- series of reports about the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe

A City Divided- CNN- Part of the CNN series My City My Life. "Paul Van Dyk takes us on a tour of Berlin and talks about his memories of the Wall divided city."

Images of the Berlin Wall and its history set to Bob Dylan's "Masters of War"

Germans Disappointed by Reunification, New Poll Shows

Angela Merkel Re-Elected As Geman Chancellor

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:02:00 +0000

Angela Merkel emerged as German Chancellor (Kanzlerin) yesterday. She'll now lead a coalition of her CDU-CSU (Christan Democratic Union-Christian Social Union) party with the FDP (Free Democratic Party, Freie Demokratische Partei). This "officially" ends the Grand Coalition that put Merkel in power back in 2005 between the CDU-CSU and SPD (Social Democratic Party, Sozialdemokratische Partei).

SPD Chancellor Candidate- Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Merkel and her CDU/CSU party alliance received 33.7% "unofficially" according the Associated Press account linked to below, that along with a coalition of the FDP will give her a majority of seats in the German Parliament (Bundestag) without the Grand Coalition that has existed since 2005 with the SPD. Needless to say this is big for Merkel and the CDU/CSU. The results are likely to be analyzed every way under the sun but they no doubt will show the German voters' unhappiness with the Grand Coalition that has existed since 2005.

Many traditional SPD voters felt that the party had moved too much to the right as part of the Grand Coalition with Merkel and the CDU/CSU. Much of the SPD's power base has eroded over the last few years. Gerhard Schröder (SPD) beat Edmund Stoiber (CDU/CSU) in 2002 and had enough votes in the German parliament by forming a coalition with the Green Party (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen). Oskar Lafontaine (a former prominent and storied SPD memember) decided in 2005 that the SPD didn't fit him any longer and joined the WASG (Labour and Social Justice Electoral Alternative). The PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism) and successor of SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the ruling party of East Germany till 1989) gained popularity with German voters in 2005. In the 2005 election the PDS and WASG both drew traditional voters away from the SPD. Since there wasn't enough seats in the Budestag based on historical alliances (the SPD and the Greens and the CDU/CSU and the FDP) talks started between the SPD and CDU/CSU. Resulting in Merkel becoming the first women German Chancellor.

The election results are encouraging for the FDP, often referred to as being "liberal" and "pro business", as they're likely to get more cabinet positions and have more influence on the emerging government. They're seen to be backing more radical tax cuts and pro market reforms.

The election results are also encouraging for the Die Linke (the Left), which today is a coalition of PDS and WASG that joined forces in 2007, got 12% of the vote (again unofficial). This is something that has to really bother SPD leadership as they plan for the future. Frank-Walter Steinmeier conceeded fairly early yesterday, indicating that he would now wear the mantle of opposition leader.

Being an American observer in the German elections, I can't help but look at things through my American experiences and background. I tend to look at the CDU/CSU as being more like the American Republican Party, while the SPD is more like the American Democratic Party. While all the parties will state that they're different than the others, I find that the major parties are too similar and maybe don't really reflect the "average" voter (whatever that might be now a days) that well. I have said to some of my German friends before that if you voted for say the Greens, wouldn't you be disappointed that they then form a coalition with the SPD? The response was a pragmatic that by voting for the Greens, you give them more seats in the Budestag and they can have more influence on policy and votes coming out of the government, which is a lot different than the all or nothing view of the American system.

If there wasn't such widespread belief that the SPD have left its members behind, you would think that they would have been able to capitalize on the financial crisis and take control of the government in Berlin. There is a lesson to be learned by politicians and government leaders everywhere, the framing of that lesson will be colored in kinds of ways, no doubt. It'll be interesting to see the official numbers and see how the candidates did in the different areas. Only time will tell what the parties learn from this election (if they learn anything at all).

Links You Might Want to Check Out...

Photo credits: Angela Merkel (2008)-2.jpg courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and
Frank-Walter Steinmeier 0918.jpg courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

September 11th- Eight Years Later

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:35:00 +0000

As time goes by we find that eight years have now passed since September Eleventh and although it is still often talked about and not something that will be forgotten anytime soon, the memories fad and the events of that day get buried behind other tragedies and world events. I’d like to that the time to honor the memory of some of the victims. Project 2996 celebrates the memory of the victims. Last year was the first time that I participated in this worthy event writing about David Laychak. I discovered Project 2996 when I was writing a post for the Sixth Anniversary of September Eleventh and decided that I wanted to participate.

This year I decided that I wanted to write about fire fighters Keith Roma, Christopher Santora, Joseph P. Henry, Karl Henri Joseph, and Dana Hannon who all died while saving lives at the World Trade Center as well as honouring the memory of David Laychak. This year my journey has really been a journey. I wanted to write about fire fighters this year and starting looking to see who I would write about. All the fire fighters mentioned above kind of jumped out at me for one reason or another, so I thought that I’d like to write about them all this year.

Keith Roma

Keith Roma was 27 and with Fire Patrol. When I first saw his picture with him holding a baby I was drawn to him. His daughter (Samantha) was seven at the time of his death, so I had an immediate connection. Of everyone that I researched this year, I spent the most amount of time reading about him. There had been some controversy about including him in the list of FDNY victims of September 11^th list, because the New York Fire Patrol was a fire fighting assistance organization run by the New York Board of Fire Underwriters that typically responds to commercial fires trying to salvage stuff. When at fires, the Patrol was required to follow the orders of the fire department management at the site. Keith was called to the World Trade Center and fell under orders of the FDNY then. There is little doubt that Keith was a hero, as there were witnessed accounts of him saving people that day and he died along with nine people that he was trying to save.

New York City Mayor Rudi Giuliani said at Keith’s memorial service “I kept wondering, where do we find people like this – that can walk into a fire and take people out?” “I figured it out after all these memorial and funeral services. We find them because of their families and the way that they were brought up.” (quote from AN FDNY HERO’s LAST GIFT) The was one of the last of his funerals as mayor.

Keith’s parents were presented with a plaque from National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) President Michael Pickens and New York State Superintendent of Insurance Gregory V. Serio in recognition for the service of their son. "Keith Roma is a true hero and embodies the spirit of the New York fire patrolman," said Serio. "As a firefighter, I have seen firsthand what these men and women go through each and everyday and I thank each and everyone of them for their service to this great city over the past two centuries." (quote from NAIC HONORS NEW YORK WTC HERO KEITH ROMA)

Keith has a street in Richmondtown name after him. Keith gave flowers to a woman he ran into that was crying over the anniversary of her mother’s death one day. She had pink roses for the family when they visited the Fire Patrol.

Fire Patrol’s website has a tribute to Keith Roma along with other fire fighters. There is a nice remix of Arms of the Angels - Sara McLoughlin played on this page as well as access to other parts of the. I saw a report that the Fire Patrol was being disbanded, which would be really sad considering their long storied history and Keith Roma’s heroic efforts on September 11^th. Breaking the 9-11 myth describes efforts to get Keith Roma listed among the office FDNY September 11^th victims list. There is a lot to read about Keith at the Voices of September 11^th website.

Christopher Santora

Christopher Santora was 23 and part of Engine Company 54. I was immediately struck by his age. I’ve read that he was the youngest fire fighter to have died of the September 11^th victims, but it he wasn’t the youngest he was one of them. After graduating from Queens College, he was a substitute teacher he even turned down a permanent job at Junior High School 10, to follow in his father’s footsteps as a fire fighter. He father had been a deputy chief. Growing up he played “stickball” as it was called in his neighborhood. Christopher wasn’t a Mets or Yankees fan as you might expect but rooted for the Toronto Blue Jays. He seemed to enjoy holding different opinions. Richard Grech, his oldest friend said "If you said something stupid, he was all over you." (quote from the New York Times). He had just finished a shift when his father got a call asking him to go to the fire at the World Trade Center.

A scholarship fund has been established in Christopher’s name “This scholarship celebrates that student who can engage the judges in a topic taken from today's political or historical forums. Oftentimes our winners are not the top of their class. Sometimes they're the ones who more blend in than stand out for their academic accomplishments. But somehow they show us passion and skill when we ask our annual question. They show us a spark, a flame. They make an emotional connection with us through their words and ideas. These are the students we seek to encourage, the flames we seek to kindle.” (from the Christopher Santora Website)

Although a rather odd name, “P.S. Q222 - Fire Fighter Christopher A. Santora School”, was named after Christopher. His sister decided to enrol her son there, even though she didn’t live nearby. You would have thought that the heroic fire fighter’s nephew would be able to get in without any problems, but that wasn’t the case, but ultimately the nephew was accepted.

"It [will] be a great honor to have my son attend the school that's named after my brother," said Jennifer Echevarria, 34. "Even though he never met [his uncle], he has a sense of knowing him. He's aware that it's named after his uncle," she said (Jennifer’s quotes from a story at NY Daily News) . The school is listed on a New York City Schools portal, but I didn’t find an actual website specifically for the school.

There are a lot of tributes to him at the Voices of September 11th website.

Joseph P. Henry

Joseph P. Henry was 25 and with Ladder 21 out of Manhattan. I was immediately drawn to him when I read “I was trapped in building one for an hour. I would not be alive if it weren't for the firemen who unlocked and broke down the doors to the stairwells. I want Joseph's family to know that when the time comes and I get married and have a family, I will name my first born boy after him. He was an amazing person and I will forever keep him and his family in my prayers.” Vanessa Sierra, college classmate (from the CNN Tribute to September 11th).

Julia Corrales (his girlfriend) wrote “Joe Henry worked as a Fireman for only 11 months before he was taken from us on September 11, 2001. He was a great boyfriend, friend, brother, and son. He is missed by everyone. He went to the WTC with his fellow brothers from Ladder 21 but none of them got to walk out and go home.

Joe always told me to be strong and enjoy life. He always reassured me about how much he loved me and how strong our love together was. I can truly feel that now. I can look at his pictures and remember all the love that we shared. I know my Joe is ok and with God. As are all his brothers from the FDNY. They will all be missed. OCt. 19, 2001 was to be our first vacation together as a couple. We were going to Ireland. We never got to take that trip. Someday Ihope to go and see it for the both of us.“ (posted at the Irish Tribute website)

“Firefighter Joseph Patrick Henry Lane” in Brooklyn was named after Joe. (Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signs bill naming 81 streets after heros of 9/11). He was one of 81 September 11^th victims to have a street named after him.

Jenn did a very nice tribute to Joseph as part of Project 2996 that is worth checking out. I wonder if Vanesa will have have that son? I wonder how many other victims were engaged and will never be able to marry their loved ones just as with Julia?

Karl Henri Joseph

Fire fighter Karl Henri Joseph was 25 and working from Brooklyn. He was an EMT. I’m not sure when, but Karl and his family came to the U.S. from Hati.

Lucy Bouciquot, a family friend said "He liked Haiti," she said, "but America was his home." (from his entry at Legacy).

"Karl had a way of shrugging off the ribbing. He had a great smile and a great laugh," Mr. Beehler said. "As far as the job, he was top-notch." from his entry at Legacy). Mr. Beehler is a fire fighter that went through the academy with Karl. Tuxedo Cat Grandma wrote a nice tribute 2996: Karl Henri Joseph in 2006 worth checking out.

Karl is another shinning example of an immigrant working hard for a better life in America.

Dana Hannon

Dana Hannon, 29 at the time of his death was the first of the group of fire fighters that I came across. At 29 he was the oldest of the fire fighters that I selected. I was struck almost immediately by the following quote about Dana…

“Although I did not know Dana all that well, I had the honor of attending his celebration of life. Dana was not only a NYC Firefighter, but a true and gracious friend who was always there to help others. I am sorry that I did not have the chance to know him better. He will be truly missed by his family, his fiancee, his co-workers and his friends and most of all me - a person he barely knew. Dana, thank you for all the lives that you touched throughout your life. You will always be here in spirit.”D.K (From his entry at the CNN Tibute to September 11th)

Before being a professional fire fighter he was a volunteer fire fighter, rising through the ranks to become Captain. He was a fire fighter in Bridgeport, Connecticut where he was awarded a medal of valour for a rescue there. He was an avid hunter interested in hunting deer, ducks, and geese.

Dana proposed to Allison Dansen from the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia, talk about a memorable marriage proposal! They married the fall after that. "He was the best brother anybody could ask for," said his sister, Kyle. "Just the right mix of friend and tormentor." (from his tribute at Legacy)

Danielle at Stupid Trivia wrote A TRIBUTE TO DANA HANNON a nice article that I assume was a Project 2996 tribute in 2006.

David W Laychak

I wrote about David W Laychak last year and just wanted to mention him again this year. David worked as a civilian at the Pentagon. His brother was largely responsible for the memorial at the Pentagon which opened last year. I’m sure that David’s family and friends are glad to know that the memorial opened up! I also wanted to thank his sister (Molly Laychak Walen) for the information that she provided to me last year. David, you have to know that your family and friends are thinking about you on this and many other days!

Since I want to publish this on September 11th this year, I’m going to need to close. To everyone that lost a family member, loved one, friend, or just feels connected to this sad day, I hope that we’ll take a few moments to remember the lives of those that we lost back on that day in 2001. Maybe you can go over to Project 2996 and look for some other tributes that you can read. Why take time to let those that are close to you know that you appreciate them or honor of those September 11th victims that we can't reach out to. Thank you for taking the time to read my tributes. If you like this blog, why not think about adding us to your RSS feed, subscribing by email (button located on top right-hand corner of the blog). Feel free to add/friend/follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or any of the other various sites listed in the upper-right hand corner of the blog. Be sure to check out my Systems-Overload blog. To family and friends of the victims that I wtote about I”d love to hear from you and would be glad to include any additional information that you might want to share with my tribute next year or in subsequent follow up articles, feel free to leave comments or email me at systems.overload.time at googlemail.com. I’ve accumulated a lot of September 11th websites and hope to share some of these links in the near future. Till we meet again.

Darryl

Photo credit: "honor the fallen" courtesy of notmyown

Dresden 2009

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:11:00 +0000

August 15th-17th my wife and I took a road trip to Dresden along with Hobbit. This was my first visit to the former East Germany (sometimes referred to as the DDR), so I was pretty excited about going. This was my wife's first trip to East Germany since Germany was reunited.

Erfurt

Our first "official" stop was in Erfurt. Erfurt is located in German federal state of Thüringen (also known as Thuringia). I live in the German federal state of Hessen, which borders Thüringen. Erfurt is home of the German kiddie television network Kika, that I became familiar with through my kids. I didn't get see their studio, but I did drive by it and saw some statues of some of their characters around town. I took a lot of pictures in Erfurt and have placed many of them in a folder Erfurt 2009 pictures @ Flickr. I climbed the wodden stairs in the tower at the Methodist church in the Klaemer Bridge (you'll notice the United Methodist Banner hanging on one of its entrances below along with a few other pictures that I took from the tower and of the famous bridge) and had a really awesome view of Erfurt. If you look in the picture of the Kraemer Bridge you might notice a horse hanging above a shop window, the sign reminded me of the "Prancing Pony" in Lord of the Rings. At various restuarants and little fast food stands throughout Germany you can buy a bratwurst, it will often be referred to as "the original Thüringen" so I had one at lunch along with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes at a nice outdoor cafe that was somewhat secluded from the main traffic of the city (picture of my lunch located further down in this post). I was really impressed by what is sometimes billed as the "only inhabited bridge North of the Alps".

Kraemerbruecke

A View from the tower in the Kraemerbruecke

Another View from the tower in the Kraemerbruecke

A view the Kraemerbruecke from the ground level

My Lunch (a specialty of the region)

Dresden Day One

Balloons over the Elbe

After checking into our hotel we drove to the outskirts of the city and had dinner at a brauhaus overlooking the Elbe river. I enjoyed drinking one of the beers that was brewed there and we enjoyed our view. There was also some kind of hot air balloon event and we saw seven different balloons go by. It turns out that we drove by this brewery on a tour that we took the next day.

Dresden Day Two

Market place view of the Dresden's famous Frauenkirche

It wasn't long after arriving at in Dresden that we realized that they were having their annual city festival and that the downtown area would be packed. We took the strassenbahn near out hotel into the downtown area and immediately saw all the stands that were waiting for the big festival later on that day. It was nice to walk the bank of the Elbe and see all the empty little food stands that would be bustling with people eating later in the day waiting for their day to begin. We walked to the Frauenkirche before it opened and returned after it opened to go inside.

A piece of the remains of the Frauenkirche after the bombing

Inside the Frauenkirche

The Frauenkirche (translated loosely as the Womens' church) is one of the most famous landmarks of Dresden. It was bombed almost to oblivion during World War II and there was a huge campaign to try to restore it to it's former glory. I read in "THE DRESDEN FRAUENKIRCHE: The original building - The destruction The reconstruction" (Schoning Verlag), which I bought at the church gift shop that there was apparently some controversy about the restoration and some surviving pieces of the church were used in the church that stands there today. There was a huge rock that stands outside of the Frauenkirche which survived the bombing and was placed outside of the church as a memorial. The church looks quite a bit different than most that I've seen and I was amazed at how light it was inside, as I've seen so many churches that are very dark inside. The inside also reminded me of the way that fancy opera houses are often portrayed with deluxe luxury boxes for the patrons. Because we didn't believe that we could bring Hobbit into the church we took turns going inside the church with the other enjoying a nice piece of cake at the Coselpalais Grand Cafe & Restuarant, which is close to the Frauenkirche and has a great view of the church. The cafe has quite a story to it (like many of the buildings in Dresden, I imagine). My wife had seen a story about the cafe on a television show she had watched that showed all the nice cakes they served and so on. She was amazed to find the waitress interviewed in the story was working there and she got to talk to her for a few minutes. There was also some kind of event that day where a hundred people or so were dressed up as Aristocracy (I was able to get a few pictures before the crowd got too big for me to move around) and they hung out at the cafe before there event kicked off. Seeing all those people dressed up made you think that we were time travelers or something.

Coselpalais Grand Cafe & Restaurant- Wouldn't you like to have cake and coffee here?

Time to get all dressed up

We walked around the Zwinger Place, which reminded me somewhat of the Louvre and Versailles. The grounds had a manicured look with a lot of green grass and lots of statues. We also walked by the Semperoper, another famous landmark of Dresden. The historic opera once opened operas from Strauss and Wagner and is still in use today. The opera is featured in many commercials and advertisements of Radeberger Pilsner. There are various tour companies conducting tours of the Dresden, we took one and saw the city on a double-decker bus. Our tour was an hour and a half long and we boarded just outside of the Zwinger Place. We could have hopped on and off at various points throughout the tour but we stay on to be able to see the whole tour in one go. At several points during the tour I was totally amazed at the scenery and wished that I'd have the opportunity to come back at look at this or that at my own pace but our visit didn't allow this. I know that this bus tours are very "touristic" but it does give you a chance to see many things that we might not otherwise have seen and they tend to offer various language selections (if your German isn't up to snuff). I took a lot of picture and have place them in the following folder Dresden 2009 pictures @ Flickr. Dresden is a wonderful city, definitely worth checking out if you get the chance.

A view of Dresden on the banks of the Elbe from the bus

The sight-seeing tour company we used

Meissen (Famous European porcelain China and more)

Meissen around the center of the village

Meissen around the center of the village

Meissen, Germany is known for the porcelain china company bearing the same name. We didn't even try to tour the museum because we didn't believe that Hobbit would be welcome on such a tour. There is a castle that is shown in various tour books but we weren't able to park near it due to treacherous mountainous and one-way streets that conspired to keep us away! After driving around for a while trying to reach the castle, we decided to go to the village center. Since we were hungry, we looked for a restaurant and were surprised to see most of the few that we could find open were all offering basically the same mushroom dish. We did finally decide on a place but weren't too impressed with the food or the service. I tend to be more forgiving about restaurant service, since I did a stint waiting tables, but as I sometimes say in these situations, we don't know what situation was like for the people working at the restaurant. I didn't take so many pictures of Meissen because we weren't there that long and it was dark after we had dinner but I did put a few pictures in the following folder Erfurt 2009 pictures @ Flickr. I'd like to have seen the museum and castle, maybe some other time.

Weimar

Goethe and Schiller, two of Weimar's famous residents

Weimar was recommended to us by a family doctor as a place that we should visit, so I was glad to see that we could easily accommodate a visit to this city on our trip. I noticed that many of the buildings were painted yellow (both Schiller and Goethe had houses there painted in yellow), I'm not exactly sure why. Friedrich Nietzsche lived the last few years of his life there under the care of his sister according to "Weimar Centre of European culture" (Schoning Verlag) that I bought there. When we were walking around Hobbit wanted to have a look at the Pushkin statue (I have a picture of him standing by the statue). Since Weimar was a stop for us on the way home, we only had a few hours to look around but we saw enough to be impressed and enjoy a nice lunch at the Ratskeller. On our way out we walked through Goethe's garden. I took several pictures of Wiemar and have put them in the following folder Erfurt 2009 pictures @ Flickr

View from the Weimar market

Another view from the Weimar market

After leaving Weimar we hit construction right away and ran into some traffic problems. I believe at one point that we had one traffic jam of over 12 kilometers! Times like that make me wish that I had an automatic transmission in our cars!

All in all we had a wonderful and memorable trip to Dresden, Erfurt, Meissen, and Weimar. I'm glad to have finally gotten a chance to venture into the former East Germany. Erfurt appears to be about two to two and half hours by car for us (depending upon traffic and construction of course), so it doesn't seem as far away as we had once thought.

I've created two different slide shows from the trip. Both of them have music and because I don't wish to have the music removed or that they get yanked, I haven't placed them on Youtube. All of the pictures from the slideshows are posted in the two folders mentioned earlier in this post. I plan to Blip all the songs, so that you can try to recreate these on your own (if you'd like) in the next few days. Feel free to check out my Blip profile to see what songs I used, or I will also put up something here indicating that I have blipped the songs.

Here are some links to further information that I thought might be of interest to you.

Erfurt, Germany

Dresden, Germany

Meissen, Germany

Weimar, Germany

Sugestions Needed...

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:16:00 +0000

In honor of the eight anniversary of September Eleventh, I was planning to write about another one of the victims and am currently trying to decide who to write about. I was hoping that some of you might have some suggestions for me.

Project 2,996 has been running for a few years now. Every year on September 11th people take the time to remember the victims of September 11th. Project 2,996 say on is about page "we’ve heard the names of the killers, and all about the victim’s deaths. This is a chance to learn about and celebrate those who died. Forget the murderers, they don’t deserve to be remembered. But some people who died that day deserve to be remembered––2,996 people." I participated for the first time last year writing about David Laychak and planned to write again this year. Since I don't have any family members that died as part of the attack, I'm open to suggestions as to whom to write about. My mother died of cancer between the two plane attacks on the World Trade Center, so I have a personal connection and always think of my mother when I hear any combination of September 11th. This is kind of my way of doing something for her as well.

If you lost a loved one, family member, or friend in the attacks and you'd like to have something written about them, please feel free to put a comment below and I'll consider writing about them for this year's event. I was thinking that it might be nice to write about one of the fire fighters that lost their lives, but am open to other suggestions. The one requirement that I will make is that there is material available that I can use to write about them. I would prefer to have some memories and stories about the victims something that can be used to celebrate their lives.

Feel free to participate in this year's event as well by going over to the Project 2,996 site to read more about it. You can write about one of the victims at your website or blog or you an write a tribute at the Friends of Project 2,996 site. I'm currently open to suggestions and will allow till August 22nd before I make up my mind, to allow time to put together a nice tribute. I hope that you'll have some good suggestions for me and that some of you will participate in this year's event. I think that it would be great if all 2,996 victims could be remembered this September Eleventh!

40th Anniverary Of The Moon Landing

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:00:00 +0000

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." President John F. Kennedy
"The Eagle has landed." Neil Armstrong
"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Neil Armstrong
"Space, the final frontier" Star Trek

You might have heard one or more of the quotes above in connection with the moon landing of the Apollo 11. July 20, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of this historic event. President Kennedy ignited a drive to put a man on the moon within the decade and the U.S. did it. There have been some big moments few are bigger are more remembered than Neil Armstrong taking that one small step.

For as long as I can remember I've always had an interest in space and space travel. There is something exciting about using your imagination to think about how things might and could be. I've often thought that colonizing space would give us the chance to try different things and maybe get past some of the differences that we hold here on Earth. How exciting it would be to be able to travel faster than the speed of light, and to make use of some of those far out science fiction inventions. Isn't it funny how our mobile phones of today resemble the communicators of Star Trek? You also have to ask if we're not along in our universe.

I have to wonder how many people were inspired by that moon landing to do things that they might not have thought possible before that day 40 years ago? How many people will be inspired in the future? The moon landing proves, if nothing else, that anything is possible when we get enough of the right people involved. If we can get a big enough goal that inspires us we can do it, no matter how crazy it might seem.

The clip below is restored footage of Apollo 11 provided at YouTube by the Associated Press.

Some more information about Apollo 11 and the moon landing...

Apollo 40th Anniversary from NASA

-NASA has restored several videos of the Apollo 11 mission that are available here and on YouTube

A chance for you to connect with this historic event and talk about your memories

It is time to celebrate this achievement and I hope that we're now inspired to take the space program to new heights and realize that we do have a future in space. I do truly hope that the moon walk was only one small step for man.

Photocredit: "July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap For Mankind" courtesy of NASA.

Good Bye to Walter Cronkite

Walter Cronkite passed away the other day, shortly before the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. "He had a passion for human space exploration, an enthusiasm that was contagious, and the trust of his audience. He will be missed," astronaut Neil Armstrong said. How right Neil is. Walter Cronkite covered the moon landing and so many other historic events.

"Our job is only to hold up the mirror - to tell and show the public what has happened." Walter Cronkite

"I think it is absolutely essential in a democracy to have competition in the media, a lot of competition, and we seem to be moving away from that." Walter Cronkite

And to use that famous tagline of Walter Cronkite one more time...

And That's The Way It Is

Goodbye Michael - Time To Make A Change

noreply@blogger.com (Systems Overload) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 03:59:00 +0000

Unless you've been living under a rock or stranded on a desert island, you've probably heard that Michael Jackson recently died. I just wanted to say a few words about our loss.

I arrived home on July 7th to see my wife watching coverage of the funeral on CNN and I caught the end of the song "We Are The World" being performed. I had just arrived from work and didn't realize that the memorial was being covered at that time. It didn't take long to realize what a big event this was. People pass away all the time and while I'm saddened to see that most anyone has died, some deaths have more of an impact than others. The event reminded me of when John Lennon had died. I had just turned 14 and shortly after waking up, the first thing that I heard was my father telling me that John Lennon had been shot and killed. I wonder, after enough time has passed, how many people will be able to look back and say that they became musicians because of Michael Jackson or John Lennon or how many people will have been influenced by either death in some way.

Driving home the other day I heard that Rep. Nancy Pelosi decided to block efforts to get a resolution in congress passed that would honor Michael Jackson because of the controversy and debate that it would likely cause. I instantly realized that she was right and was saddened to think that something so harmless as a resolution recognizing Michael Jackson in congress wouldn't happen because of such likely controversy! As a society we have become so intolerant of people that are different from ourselves and we're so quick to pass judgment (regardless of if we're asked to do so or not). There are a lot of people claiming to be religious that aren't very tolerant of people different than themselves that would likely have spoke up and the action might have passed but not before a lot of intolerance showed its ugly face.

I have to admit that I've found Michael Jackson rather odd at times but it doesn't take long to realize that a lot of people have found hope in his music and he has touched a lot of lives. None of us have lived the life that he has so it is easy for us to criticize him. Beside all the music that he has made in his life, he did a lot of nice things for other people that didn't get a lot of coverage by the media. Hopefully more of those stories will surface in the coming days. I don't really know what his total involvement was in U.S.A. For Africa, which produced the song "We Are The World" and was the American musician response to Band Aide, but he did lend his image (and accompanying publicity) to the recording and later on in 1985 the world witnessed Live Aid. Band Aide, U.S.A. For Africa, and Live Aide all put a spotlight on starvation in Africa like it had never seen before and the exposure brought it to the top of the the topics in the news, even if it was only for a short while.

"Man in the Mirror" is one song from Michael Jackson that really stands out for me. It is a call for us all to take a look at our lives and make some changes.

"'I'm starting with the man in the mirror
I'm asking him to change his ways
And no message could have
Been any clearer
If you wanna make the world
A better place...
Take a look at yourself, and
Then make a change" (thanks to Lyricsfreak for the text)

I'd like to see us all see what changes we can make, how can we make the world a better place and how can our planet be better because we were here. There are so many problems in the world it is hard to figure out where you can start. People often get discouraged and think that that they're only one person what difference can they make? But one person can make a difference! Our world has had many changes over the years and things that seemed like they'd go on forever have changed or ended. If you think about it, slavery existed in America until the Civil War ended it and that was only in the 19th Century, so changes can be made.

"What can I do?" You might be asking yourself.

You can start be treating other the way that you'd like to be treated. If more people really did this, there'd already be some profound change
Before striking out at someone in actions and/words, give some thought to what your actions might do and maybe you shouldn't do it. Remember how your mom always told you not to do things in anger and to count to 10 before doing something when angry
Think about what you buy, do you really need what you're thinking about buying, what benefit will it really bring you and could you possibly better spend your money by buying something else or do something better with your money
Demand responsibility from our global corporations. There are too many companies today that don't feel any responsibility to the communities where they're located and to their employees, that are too focused on executive pay, "maximizing shareholder value", and short-term profit. How can it be allowed that CEOs can earn $42 million plus in a year that they announce that they'll cut thousands of jobs from the company's workforce (actually moving the jobs off-shore in most cases)? Become aware of companies that are doing this and let them know that you won't buy their goods or services until they become the responsible global citizens that they should be. Let them know that you'll start or become involved in boycotts
Let your leaders know that they shouldn't do business with irresponsible companies
Let your leaders know that you want them to look after the average citizen and not just those with lobby power. Unfortunately, the average taxpayer doesn't have to much lobby clout
Be more tolerant of others with opinions different than yours. Being judge and jury all the time takes a lot of effort and can be drain your energy
Look for things that you can do to help others. If you don't have money to give, you can give your time
Be a mentor and share your knowledge and experience
Smile and laugh and help someone else to smile and laugh
Be creative

In remembrance of Michael Jackson, I challenge you all to take a look in the mirror and see what changes you can make. There are a whole host of things that one person can do. I write about some of them from time to time at Systems Overload and in this blog why not subscribe to them both. In honor of Michael Jackson, I played several of his songs earlier this week at Blip.fm, they have a lot of music from him and a lot of other great music you can listen to (I previously wrote about Blip.fm here). Goodbye Michael, thank you for the music!

Photo Credit: Michael Jackson's Thriller album cover picture found here.

Sarah's Last Day of Kindergarten

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:01:00 +0000

Today is one of those days that parents are bound to remember with bittersweet memories. Today is Sarah's last day of kindergarten.

She's going to bring some treats so that she can celebrate with the other kids. Sarah could continue to go to kindergarten up until she starts first grade in August but we decided that we'd take her out since Anna was starting Summer Vacation after today as well. Some of the kids that will be going to school with her will still be going longer, but those kids' families didn't have children close enough in age to decide to pull them out at this time.

Christine and I have talked about this day a few times and while I'd always point out that it was the end of an era, she'd always say with all the activities in their daily lives that she was ready for Sarah to be in school. I'm wondering now if this will be a big tear jerking moment for her? I know that time marches on but it seems sad to think that we won't have another kid in kindergarten, that this time is coming to an end for us. With Anna, we were all excited about her going to school. I was sad to see this time come to an end for her, but I knew that Sarah was still in kindergarten and now this is coming to an end.

For Sarah, kindergarten started on a snowy day in Geinsheim, Germany shortly after she turned three. When asked about it, Sarah doesn't remember living in Geinsheim. As we moved and she started kindergarten here in January 2007, she's spent most of her kindergarten life here, so here kindergarten memories are of here.

I remember Christine telling me about how nice the kindergarten was after she'd had a chance to check it out before the girls started. I was impressed when I first saw it and thought that it must be nice to be a kid and go there.

Last Friday, all the kids that were going off to school had a sleep over at the kindergarten. There was a nice program for the parents, where we saw the results of the projects done by the kids going off to school and the kids sang a nice song about being strong and brave and "We can do it". I walked around soaking it up and thinking about all the last times.

Sarah finally found out earlier this week who her first grade teacher will be. She had met both of the teachers at her new school and now she's got the teacher that she prefered of the two. She was so excited to get the news and she could hardly wait to start.

When I have a moment or two today, I'll think about Sarah being off in Kindergarten saying good bye to the teachers there and thinking that this will be the last time she goes there as a kindergarten kid. Ok, maybe she won't think that maybe I'm just being a mushy parent. Sarah, I'm proud of you and wish you all the best in your school years.

One Year Since The Fire

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:25:00 +0000

It was the Tuesday after Pentecost last year that our backyard shed was destroyed by a fire. So with a year behind us I thought that I'd take a look back.

Because Easter was earlier last year, it has actually been more than a year but because the event is so tied to the Pentecost holiday, it seems more like a year. The fire is one of those events that is hard to put a time on. On the one hand, it doesn't seem like it has been a year but on the other hand it seems farther away.

While I can's say that this is the single worst event in my life (losing my mother to cancer on The September 11th and losing my grandfather are certainly up there is well) it is certainly up there near the top. Looking out my bedroom window I could see the flames blazing out of our shed, stories tall, and I could feel the adrenalin flow. Immediately I was relieved that my family (including oma, who was staying with us for the holiday) was all together and I could see that everyone was safe. We all waited what seemed like an eternity for the fire department to arrive and put out the fire. The fire never reached our actual house and we were lucky that it only destroyed the shed, fence, and the other damage it caused but as it was burning I didn't really know how far it would get especially since our backyard is not so big that you could look at it as just a little fire in our shed. I have a newer appreciation for those people that have watched their homes destroyed before them, unable to stop it. I won't pretend to fully understand how such victims truly feel, because that would be unfair to them, but I did feel fear and a sense of helplessness like I'd never felt before. Since my wife was woke by the sound of the blazing fire and woke me up around 3:30 am and it was pre-dawn, the fire had the element of darkness that you can't really see what is going on and how bad it is, that magnified the intensity some how.

As daylight came and I was able to have that initial view of the damage, I was shocked to see it all. As time went by you start to realize more and more the things that were in the shed that either need to be replaced or that you have to live without. Looking at the damage it was more a sense of absorbing the magnitude of it all and feeling the associated emotions. Looking around of course you notice the charred and burned wood of the shed and surrounding wood fence and melted metal and melted rubber of all the things that were in the shed.

When you think about a fire, you realize that there will be work afterwards, but you don't realize how much there really is to do. For months after the fire I had all kinds of work. Getting rid of all the debris took several days and trips to the local dump and something that would have been a lot harder if my neighbor Gerhardt hadn't helped me so much and let me use his trailer to haul some much away. After cleaning away the debris, I started working on putting up a fence. We briefly thought about putting up a metal one but it didn't take long to realize how expensive that would have been, so we decided upon a wood fence. I felt a lot of pride and accomplishment as the fence went up and I painted it. Gerhardt helped me design the fence and was an immense help in putting it up. After getting the fence up, it didn't take long to realize that Hobbit would be able to slip through the rows, so first we tried to put up this bamboo type material, only to find out that it was strong enough and wouldn't work. Later on I added two more rows across the fence (and of course had to paint that all too!). The new shed was finally put up in August. Clearing and digging out the area where it was to be built was a lot of work. Gerhardt and my neighbor Frank, helped me put the cement sills in that would support the shed as well as putting cement around the sills. Around the time that the work crew was scheduled to put our shed together, it was discovered that more support was needed under the shed. This meant further delays as I needed to put wood beams 90 degrees to the cement sills and now we had to wait for an opening in the schedule of the work crew. After the shed was stood up I painted it with the same stain and sealant that I had put on the new fence. Putting a couple of coats on took a few days.

There is still work that I need to do. I still need to put grass in the yard in the area where the old shed had been and am currently planning to do that later this Summer or fall. I'm also going to add another couple of coats of stain to the fence and shed. I hope that by using only stain that the color will be closer to that of the rest of the neighbors. I put several pictures from the fire and the work done for the shed in an album at Myspace.

DSDS Final Tonight

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Sat, 09 May 2009 10:07:00 +0000

Tonight is the final of D.S.D.S (Deutschland Such Dem Superstar, the German version of Idol) sixth season between Daniel Schuhmacher and Sarah Kreuz. I'm really looking forward to it.

I was first lured to the show in the first season. I didn't really watch so many of the shows but the single "We Have a Dream" (a song sung by the top 10 finalists) released during the show's run received a lot of radio play and I have a fond memory of listening to the song on the radio at the hospital just after my youngest daughter was born. I watched the final of the first season along with an estimated 12 million people. Alexander Klaws (here is his Wikipedia bio and website) beat Juliette Schoppman (here is her Wikipedia bio and website) singing Take Me Tonight. Alexander seemed like a very nice guy, whom Dieter Bohlen (a jury member of every season) said seemed like the kind of guy that you'd want to date your daughter (or something to that extent).

I didn't see any of the shows during the second season until the Final. This was primarily due to working in the Netherlands and the time. Elli Erl (her Wikipedia bio and website) was the winner that season.

Season three is probably my favorite of all that have aired so far. There were four singers that I really liked that season. Nevio Passaro (his Wikipedia bio and website) was of Italian heritage and Dieter convinced him to sing a song in Italian, which was very good. He finished 4th that season. Not too long ago he released a cd called Nevio, which contained songs in English, German, and Italian, I bought it and listen to it from time to time. A relationship blossomed between Vanessa Jean Dedmon (her Wikipedia bio) and Mike Leon Grosch (his Wikipedia bio and website) apparently going back to a duet that the two of them sang at the beginning of the show in Berlin. Lady Vanessa, as the jury referred to her, sang songs from Whitney Houston very well. I was hoping that she'd have a career but I haven't heard about her landing any recording deal or anything. Mike had a very soulful voice and sang Seal and Joe Cocker very well. Tobias Regner (his Wikipedia bio and website) was the winner and the first his Straight cd was I Still Burn. Tobby was the first "rocker" to win the show and he seemed to be able to sing almost anything from Metallica to Frank Sinatra. Tobby and Mike went on tour and I went to see the two of them. I believe that this is the only concert I've been too since monving to Germany. Because Tobby's style is so much different than Dieter Bohlen, it seems that he didn't get a lot of promotion after winning.

Mark Medlock (his Wikipedia bio and website) won season four and has no doubt been the most successful of all the Superstars so far. His story is inspiring when you consider he was unemployed before the show and on welfare (Hartz IV) with not much of a bright future and now he has released several well selling cds. Mark faced off against Martin Stosch (his Wikipedia bio and website) in the final. Lisa Bund comes from Wiebaden, and sang like Kelly Clarkson, she did release a cd last year or so. The rest of the top 10 from that seaon included the Enns brothers (Thomas and Jonathan), Francisca Urio, Max Buskohl, Lauren Talbot, Laura Martin, and Julia Falke

Thomas Godoj (his Wikpedia bio and website) beat Fady Maalouf in the finals of season five. Thomas was another rocker to do well in the show. It was said that he had "no plan B" that he had pinned all his hopes on winning the show. He did great versions of songs "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" from U2, "Behind Blue Eyes" from the Who, and a very memorable version of "Let It Be" from the Beatles. The remaining Top 10 included Benjamin Herd, Collins Owusu, Jermaine Alford, Linda Teodosiu, Monika Ivkic, Rania Zeriri (her Wikipedia bio and website), Sahra Drohne, and Stella Salato.

Season six has had quite a bit of controversy. Annemarie Eilfeld has managed to get her picture in the Bild (the German tabloid newspaper) what seems like every week. In last week's show she sang her final number with a snake around her neck. Vanessa Neigert was a cute young girl that sang popular older German songs that people liked (espeically those of people that aren't teenagers anylonger) but weren't exactly what you'd consider Top 40 of today. Holger Göpfert was dubbed Chaptain Entertainment and it was amuzing to watch him dance around but there were definitely better singers that were kicked off before he was finally kicked off. Cornelia Patzlsberger was kicked off relatively early. She played the harp and had a great voice, but it seems that she became too identified with the harp and therefore when she was playing it, it apparently didn't seem right to the jury and audience. Benny Kieckhäben was entertaining, maybe to the point that it distracted people from his singing and he might have seem too flamboyant for many people's taste.
Dominik Büchele sang like an awful lot like James Blunt. The jury commented on that point very often, to the point that it was hard to hear him sing without hearing James Blunt. He always sang his songs well, but his performances didn't have the intensity that the jury seemed to be looking for. For the longest time I had expected that Daniel and Dominik would be in the Final of this season. Sarah Kreuz has a great voice and there was one show where they had someone work with her on being more of a diva. Daniel Schuhmacher has a very unique voice that you can tell immediately is his, he recently sang a famous Joe Cocker song and didn't try to sing it like Joe, but he did his own version and made it his own.

For the last weeks I've been playing the songs sung on DSDS on Blip.fm,where possible I would play the original version of the song or one that might have inspired what was sung on DSDS. If you like to read more about DSDS there is a lot of information on Wikipedia and of course there is the RTL offical DSDS website. I wrote a post last year in preparation for the finals as well. While I don't know who will win, I'm sure that it will be a good show.

Photo credit: retro singing girl courtesy of stefa.

30 Years of Star Wars In Germany

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:46:00 +0000

Easter weekend last year I attended the Jedicon in Duesseldorf, celebrating 30 years of Star Wars in Germany. I recently posted some pictures at Flickr, so I thought that I write a post about it here.

First off you might think that the movie came out in 1977, so it should have been 31 years, but apparently the counting of years goes back to 1978, when it played in Germany. I was told by a friend that the convention was typically held every other year, I had never attended a Star Wars convention and l decided that the 30 year celebration was a good reason to attend.

Star Wars came out when I was 10 and at an impressionable age. It quickly became one of my favorite movies. My devotion never reached the fabled heights of some fans (i.e. a rumored fan that saw the movie 17 times that first summer, must have liked the popcorn I used to joke). Like many other fans I was excited to hear that Episodes I-III were going to be made.

I was only there on the Saturday, but I did get to hear Robert Watts, Jeremy Bulloch, and Daniel Logan talk about their experiences with Star Wars. Robert Watts was involved in the production of the first three movies and one or two Indiana Jones movies, so he had some interesting stories to tell. Jeremy Bulloch was Boba Fett in the orginal films, while Daniel Logan played Boba Fett in the newer movies. Saturday night was a variety show and of course there was all kinds of stuff that you could buy.

It is nice to do something like this to meet other fans, to meet people involved, and to learn more about things behind the scenes. It is hard to believe that Star Wars has been around for over 30 years (sure makes you feel old sometimes). So heres to 30 plus years, "May the Force Be With You."

Stormtroopers in full force

Stormtrooper ready for Easter

Boba Fett

Yoda in Carbonite

Droids on display

Darth Vader under the helmut

80's Party

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:48:00 +0000

Leg warmers, Rubik's cube, Reagan and Gorbachev, the VCR and CD catch on, music videos and MTV (the played music), Band Aid and Live Aid, all those new wave hair styles and Heavy Metal hair bands, do these things have you thinking about the 1980's? If you remember, a friend of mine had an 80's themed birthday a few weeks ago and in honor of the occasion I decided to blip 80's songs the weekend of his party and in fact I blipped 80's songs all week (February 22-28). You can find all the songs I blipped if you go to my profile and click on "blips", since I've blipped more songs since then they won't be at the top you probably need to go back several pages.

Since I graduated high school in 1985, the 80's were a very prominent period in my life and I have a lot of memories from that time. For many people the high school years are memorable and it is a natural progression that music from that time will have a certain sentimental aspect to it. Music plays such a big role in our lives and so many songs are tied to memories that I have from this time (as with many of you I'd imagine). I remember driver's training and the songs that always seemed to be on the radio. There was our class song, most all graduating high schools classes had one, they were usually something with a positive title (ours was more rebellious). I remember my first concert and a bunch of concerts that I went to in 1984.

I started blipping some songs that I thought of when I thought of the 80's then I decided to blip some songs that were Top 40 songs for each year of the 80's and then I played some songs that weren't in the Top 40 but were memorable none the less.

I thought that I'd post links to some of the songs that I blipped. You're welcome to go listen to them if you'd like. You might just start at the last 80's song I blipped (Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & the Waves) hit play and Blip.fm will play them all from newest to oldest blipped (was an 80's mix with AC/DC, Van Halen, Joan Jett, and more). All and all, 14 pages of blips! Here are some of the highlights...

Do you remember "Don't You Forget About Me"? from Simple Minds (prominently featured in the Breakfast Club movie
"One Thing Leads To Another" from the Fixx
"I Ran (So Far Away)" from A Flock of Seagulls
"Rebel Yell", "White Wedding", "Mony Mony", "Eyes Without A Face" from Billy Idol
"Video Killed the Radio Stars" from the Buggles
"Karma Camellion" and "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" from Culture Club
"Hungry Like The Wolf", "The Reflex", and "View To A Kill" from Duran Duran
"Some Like It Hot" from Power Station
"Smokin' In The Boys Room" from Motley Crue
"I Want A New Drug", "Back In Time", "The Power of Love", "Hip To Be Square", "Working For A Living", and others from Huey Lewis and the News
"Please Don't Go" from KC & the Sunshine Band
"Pop Muzik" from M
"Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It Or Not)" from Joey Scarbury
"The Tide Is High" from Blondie
"I Love Rock And Roll" from Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
"Ebony And Ivory" from Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
"Centerfold" from the J.Geils Band
"Abracadabra" from the Steve Miller Band
"Always On My Mind" and "West End Girls" from the Pet Shop Boys
"Who Can It Be Now" and "Down Under" from Met at Work
"Every Breathe You Take" from the Police
"Come On Eileen" from Dexys Midnight Runners
"Let's Dance" from David Bowie
"Jeporady" and "The Breakup Song" from the Greg Khin Band
"Mr. Roboto" from Styx
"Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy" from Prince
"Der Kommisar" from After the Fire
"I Wear My Sunglasses At Night" from Corey Hart
"Take On Me" from A-Ha

Thank you to those that played and listened a long. Feel free to listen to any of the songs that I blipped and reblip them if you'd like. Also if there is a song from those years that you'd like to point out you can do so in the comments here or you could play it on Blip.fm. If you add "@darrylheron" in the text you write there when you blip, I'll be sure to see it. So as Huey Lewis sang as part of the theme song in "Back to the Future"

"Tell me Doctor, where are we going this time?
Is this the fifties? Or Nineteen ninety-nine?
...So take me away, I don't mind
You just better promise me I'll be back in time"

Photo Credit: Musique courtesy of spartsam.

Goodbye to Jade Goody

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:19:00 +0000

As much of the world has heard by now, Jade Goody lost her battle to cancer yesterday. Jade first got the public's attention for being part of Big Brother but more recently for living much of her final days in the public's eye to raise the profile of cervical cancer and to also raise money so that her sons could be provided for after she died. Jade had a much publicized wedding last month, where the brides maids all wore bald caps (covering most of their hair) to show their support and solidarity to Jade Goody, who was bald at the time.

Jade was 27 and her husband is 21 and she leaves behind two sons. I can't imagine the grief that Jade's husband must be dealing with. Sure, you could say that he new what he was getting into when he got married but when you lose a loved one, you might consciously have an idea of what you're getting into, but I think that it doesn't really prepare you for your eventual loss. I really can't imagine going through that loss at such a young age. For the boys I'm sure that this has been and will continue to be a hard time. Losing a parent at any age is really an easy thing. It seems all that more of a crime to lose a parent before you're even an adult yourself.

I didn't ever see any of the Big Brother episodes that Jade Goody was in nor did I really follow all of her exploits in the media. I first became aware of her when Sky was doing some pre-wedding coverage last month. I'm not really a fan of the Big Brother franchises nor many of the other reality television series that it has spawned. Having said that, I became interested in her efforts to give exposure to cervical cancer. While living out the battle with cancer in the public's eye might have been the only way she knew how to live or maybe the thought of keeping all of it private never crossed her mind, but I have to give her credit for doing it the way that she did. From the bits of coverage that I saw on Sky, it seemed that he wedding was going to be a real nice event and one of her short life's happiest I'm sure.

Since I've lost my mother and grandmother to cancer, I'm for almost anything that can raise awareness and funding for the fight against it. I heard yesterday in Sky coverage of Jade's death the screenings for Cervical cancer are up in the U.K. and England might look at matching screening coverage of Scotland as a result of Jade's campaign. I do hope that the various health insurance providers will seriously looking at screening for the various forms of cancer, with many forms of cancer the key to survival is early detection and routine checkups.

In honor of Jade Goody, why not schedule a checkup and have some screenings done and/or encourage your family and friends to do so. You can also look at making a donation to any of the several cancer organizations around the globe. Jade Goody, you'll be missed, thank you for sharing your plight with the world.

Photo credit: Goody provided via a Creative Commons license at Keira76 @ Wikimedia Commons.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day 2009

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 08:43:00 +0000

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day 2009 I thought that I'd post some pictures from our trip to Ireland (from a few years back). We were in Ireland in March 2006 and in Dublin for the St. Patrick's Parade. Ireland was beautiful and very green but it was very cold and we didn't see a whole lot of sun during our visit. All in all we spent a week there and did a lot of sight seeing. We rented a nice cottage in the Killarney area

A real Irish bar!

Some people enjoying the big parade (boy was it cold that day!)

We made the long drive to Dublin for the St. Patrick's Day parade. Ireland has a lot of beautiful scenery but there roads aren't that great (at least the ones that we were on) and it doesn't seem as thought there are a whole lot of highways that you can take that allow you to drive any great distance quickly. We didn't factor in enough travel time, so we didn't really have enough time to find a good place to watch the parade and moved around trying to find a good place to watch the parade (we had to consider that we needed a place where two small kids could watch as well). We eventually gave up and looked around the city in search of a place to have lunch. We ended up eating at a Johnny Rockets, it had been a while since I had a decent burger, so I enjoyed it.

A real Irish cemetery

There was an Abbey and old cemetery nearby. The cemetery was very interesting, complete with sayings on the tombstones that the Irish are world renown for. The sunset over the lake by the cemetery was breathtaking.

The sun going down over a lake by an Irish cemetery

The Cliffs of Mohr

The Cliffs of Mohr are amazing and pictures can't do it justice. With a strong wind blowing off the ocean, it was very cold, chilling to the bone in fact.

The Cliffs of Mohr

A castle at the Cliffs of Mohr

We had a great trip to Ireland and hope that we can go back again sometime in the future. You can see more pictures from our trip to Ireland taken in March 2006 @Flickr. Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

What Are Your Ultimate 80's Songs?

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 03:40:00 +0000

A friend of mine is celebrating his 40th birthday this weekend and having an 80's themed party. While the 80's weren't that long ago, it is far enough back now that some of us can look back with nostalgia, maybe some of us can call it the good ole days (maybe some of us already do?). I gave me friend some ideas for his playlist, but I thought why not expand this out to all of you in cyberspace and give you all a chance to play DJ?

I've been having fun on Blip.fm and started playing some 80's music yesterday. In honor of my friend's birthday I'll be playing some 80's music on Blip all week. If you're already a member at Blip.fm, feel free to join me or look at what I've blipped. If you're not a member yet, here is an invite for you to join. Feel free to blip songs that you think should be in the 80's playlist. Be sure to include "@darrylheron" & something about the 80's so that I know that you'd like your selection considered for our ultimate 80's party.

Music is such a big part of our lives. Many of the songs that we listen to have their own stories behind them. There might have been one song you listened to when you were sad and needed a pick me up. There was probably that song that you loved to hear when you wanted to jam out. Before Guitar Hero and karaoke there was air guitar and singing to your hair brush or other makeshift microphones, what songs did you play when you were a guitar god, or pop singer? What music did you listen to when you were crusin' or hanging out with your friends. What music did you listen to when you were feeling rebellious? Do you have any songs that you'd like nominate for the 80's playlist, please feel free to write them up along with some comments as to why you wish to nominate your song(s).

Feel free to suggest songs here and/or join me on Blip.fm and later this week I'll write about "our 80's playlist". This should be fun. Rock on.

Photo credit: Vintage Radio courtesy of CraigPJ.

Problems With YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:17:00 +0000

I wanted to do a post about Carnival and show a couple of videos that I had uploaded to Google, but when trying to log in I got a message that "Your account has been permanently disabled." I've submitted a request to get my account re-activated but it seems that the fine print indicates that "Note: In the event that your account is restored, your account information such as videos and comments will NOT be restored." I really hope that isn't true as I had a lot of videos there! I hope that this can be sorted out. I didn't ever get any notices about there being any problems with my account, so I was a little surprised. I think that many of the services that Google offers are truly amazing but getting help when you have a problem can be very frustrating. I know that there is a world of knowledge in the various forums but I never seem to find the answer to my questions without spending hours! I"ll keep you posted.

Still Feeling Valentinish

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 03:03:00 +0000

I hope that you all had a nice Valentine's Day. I know that a few days have passed since then but I'm still in a bit of a Valentine's Day mood.

While sometimes many of us guys have looked at the day as a created only to sell flowers, candy, and cards, it is nice to have a "reason" to let your loved one know them and what they mean to you. If we're honest, we shouldn't need a reason to do this and we could extend decide to personally extend the holiday if we wished.

I have to confess that I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic. I enjoy hearing an interesting story about how couples met and interesting weddings. Some people can be very creative in the way that they got engaged. I've written about how my wife and I met and our wedding in the past, if you'd like to read about them. Do any of you have an interesting stories to tell about how you met your loved one, how you became engaged, and your wedding day?

Weddings vary from location to location with different laws and customs involved. While many people are familiar with the "church" wedding, in Germany this is not the legal wedding, there is a desperate "civil" wedding that is the legal one, and in fact, about half of the couples getting married only have the "civil" wedding. I've sometimes wondered how many people have been married by an Elvis impersonator or how many people will admit to getting married in Las Vegas? Do you know anyone that has had a wedding in a special church? Do you know anyone that has had their wedding in a special location? I'd love to hear your stories, maybe we can extend the spirit of Valentine's Day (at least a few days this year).

Photo credit: Walking on the beach courtesy of Protect.

Happy Birthday Hobbit

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Yesterday was Hobbit's first birthday. It is hard to believe that our "little" puppy is now a year old. In honor of the occasion I made the above collage. You can see that he certainly isn't so little anymore but he is still our puppy at heart (and in deeds).

Because it had been about 8 years since I had a dog, I was very excited when we bought the house and decided that we could finally have a dog again. We had found a breeder that we liked and had even thought about buying a puppy a year earlier. While the family was excited about Hobbit's litter being born, I think that I was the most excited. It was so great to see and touch the puppies for the first time. Kids' excitement is contagious, so it was really neat to see how happy the kids were to see the puppies for the first time and to see that they were thinking that one of these puppies is going to be ours.

As time went by our enthusiasm built and we all couldn't wait to bring Hobbit home and then the day finally arrived and we did finally bring him home. As with having children, the world is new to them and you start to see the world through their eyes, so there were a whole new world of Hobbit firsts for us. He got to know his new home and family and became a celebrity in our neighborhood.

I don't know that there is any average puppy life to compare, but Hobbit certainly seemed to have his share of misfortune. He wasn't even six months old yet, when he got something stuck in one of his ears and he had to have it removed on a Saturday evening under full anesthisia. Another time I was out of town on a business trip and he had to be put under again to have surgery on an infection had developed. In November, Hobbit had his first cold/virus. It seemed that there had been a local epidemic. The vet suggested putting a scare on him and we were totally amazed that he kept it on. He usually tries to take off anything that you put on him. We live near a field that is often nice to walk dogs (and Hobbit has been walked there a lot!) but in the Summer we had several times where we had to remove ticks (not a whole lot of fun).

Hobbit is very people oriented. I know that many dogs are but when we take him for a walk or people come to visit us, he is always genuinely excited to see people. Going outside for him is a chance to see what people are out there and what dogs he can play with, a true adventure. Sometimes he gets a little too excited and I know that some people think, "oh no, here comes that crazy Hobbit" but he is a very loving dog and when you see how unfriendly and boring many other dogs are, it certainly wounldn't hurt anything if more dogs were like Hobbit.

Hobbit likes to play fetch, albeit, a little different than most dogs play it. On the weekends, he realizes that he can convince me to take him out and play some ball with him. Although I"m not always motivated to play ball with him, I quickly see how much fun he is having and can't help but be in a good mood.

Yesterday Hobbit had a visit from his sister Kira. The two of them play so well together, I think that she might even be his best friend from the dog world, although there are a couple of other younger dogs in the area that he plays nicely with. Kira brought him a nice toy alligator and we gave him a nice long raw-hide bone.

I've done several posts about Hobbit at this blog (feel free to browse through the archive at the very bottom of the site), I've also posted several pictures of him at Facebook, MySpace, and Flickr, so feel free to have a look. I have an album at Facebook of Hobbit pictures that should be view without joining. I believe that the album at MySpace is viewable without having to joing as well.

All in all Hobbits first year has been a wonderful experience for us. I'm looking forward to all the other coming years. Happy Birthday, Hobbit.

For The Love of the Game

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 03:47:00 +0000

As we approach the Super Bowl, I've been thinking alot about a girls high school basketball game played in Texas that some of you might have heard about and sport being played for the love of the game.

You might have seen a couple of news items about a girls high school basketball team in Dallas, Texas that beat another school 100-0. The winning school sought to forfeit the game at one point, in a statement made in the wake of all the publicity that was generated by the huge discrepancy in the game's score, Kyle Queal, the head of the Covenant School, said "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened," he also said that the forfeit was requested because "a victory without honor is a great loss." Dallas Academy, the "losing" school, only has 20 students in total, so class sizes are small and the specialize in teaching students with "learning differences," like short attention spans or dyslexia. Edd Burleson, the director of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools said "On a personal note, I told the coach of the losing team how much I admire their girls for continuing to compete against all odds,"."They showed much more character than the coach that allowed that score to get out of hand. It's up to the coach to control the outcome." I was really amazed to see some of the comments posted after the stories.

Sports can be such a positive influence in life. Playing on a team can teach us so much about teamwork, while the sports that focus more on the individual can teach us a lot about striving for our goals in life. The team sports can teach us about leadership. The successful teams have a wide variety of leaders, coaches, managers, trainers, and so on. They go to show that there is more than one leadership style that leads to success. If you're lucky you might have been influenced by one of those such coaches. Maybe you were just influenced by a coach that didn't even win the big games but that taught you character traits that you wanted to emulate and incorporate into your own life.

There are those coaches and teams that live by the creed of winning at any cost and those coaches that have been hot heads acting like spoiled children that didn't get their ways, forgetting that thousands, maybe millions of people were watching them. I have to believe that those coaches and teams might prevail in the short term for a season, a year, maybe a few years but it is solid teams with good leadership and inspire true teamwork motivating players to often give more of themselves than they thought possible, that stay successful and will be thought of as dynasties in the annals of sports history and fans memories long after they've left the field.

It is exciting to see kids playing sports because the want to. How great it is to see a kid discover that they're good at something (maybe for the first time in their young lives). Your heart warms to see a kid's pride in a great play. On the other end, how your stomach can sour watching parents trying to force their athletic dreams on their kids and the bad sportsmanship that some of them show in little league baseball or soccer games.

Many professional athletes have felt that they weren't role models and it didn't matter what they did off the field, they were only paid to play the sport. Kids are very impressionable and they do emulate what their favorite athletes do, often wanting to be just like them, so while we're all human and it can be very hard living in the fishbowl that is professional sports today, the athletes need to remember that those stupid things they do will be watched by many kids the world over. Without fans and their dreams there wouldn't be a paycheck to be earned by the professional athletes. So at the very least they could think twice (or maybe even just once) before they open their mouths or do that crazy thing that they'll regret in the morning.

College sports has become too much of a business, often a farm system for the pros. It used to be that athletes went to college to play sports and get an education. While it would be naive to think that everyone got a good education (because some clearly were only passed because they were needed by their athletic programs because they were so good at their sport and were so critical to the success of the program), at least players got degrees and had something to fall back on if their dreams of playing in the pros didn't happen or was cut short by career-ending injuries. Then it seemed to start with basketball, that players went pro before graduating, first some went back later and then it got to the point that most didn't go back to finish their degrees. Later going pro early moved into football. There has certainly been a lot of scanal over the years about various schools breaking the rules about recruiting, out of control alumni recruiting kids to play at their former schools with cars, money, and other favors that are against the rules of college sports. From time to time there are calls to pay players because of the time and effort that they put into playing sports, that this is time that they can't study or hold a "real" job to pay for their expenses. There are the debate between the academics and the athletic departments about the influence of the sports programs on the schools and the credibility the school. There is little doubt that a winning sports program draws money to colleges and universities and can have a hallow effect on the school.

How many of us have suffered the embarassment of being the last one selected to play dodgeball, with neither of the selecting captains wanting to select you. It is probably this memory that sparks our love for the underdog. We love to see the group of misfits come together and beat the Goliathic. We love to see a team organize a comeback when they're down and out, that effort to score in the last moments of the game, winning as the buzzer sounds. How many of us have dreamed of hitting the game winning homerun in the seventh game of the world series or being the winning quarterback in the Super Bow? Somehow our sense of just is vilified, when we see a level playing field where anything is possible and anyone can win.

I don't remember the first that I heard of the Special Olympics but they recently celebrate their 4oth anniversary. Over the years they've had a vision "to bring sports training and competition to people with intellectual disabilities, so that they might break free of society’s expectations and have fun, earn respect and be accepted in their communities". They've been able to bring pride and a sense of accomplishment to so many deserving people over the years. You can see the sense of pride of these athletes when they're competing and win they finish their event, regardless of is they cross that finish line first or last.

Competition is a hallmark of sports. The competition elevates us to another level. The better the people or team that we're competing against the better we perform and we can do things that would not have been possible if we didn't have competition. The competition also causes us to think of strategies, game plans, and opens up our minds to the forces of creativity. Some legends of the sports world have been fuled by famous competitions with rivals. Some of the rivalries have been heated and mean-spirited while others have been more respectful with the rivals on the field becoming best of friends off the field.

I have a lot of respect for the various coaches that doing it because the love the sport and want to help others. So many of the coaches of kids sports and in the various recreational leagues aren't paid or aren't anywhere near what their time is worth. These coaches take pride in watching kids and adults learn to play their sport and in watching the develope as athletes and as people. Many of our high school coaches might have been paid a little more to coach, but most certainly didn't get rich and did for many reasons other than the paycheck.

As long as I can remember I've been a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. This probably stems from my love for my grandfather, who in turn loved his Cowboys coached by Tom Landry. Landry was one of the most successful coaches in professional football and won 2 Super Bowls. He coached a ton of players over the years and some of his assistants (i.e. Mike Ditka and Dan Reeves) give him credit for their
success as coaches. Mike Ditka has said "Everything I believe in as a head coach, I learned from Coach Landry". Bob Lilly was quoted talking about a lowpoint for Landry and the Cowboys coming after a loss to Pittsburgh in October 1965, Lilly said. "He really felt low after we lost at Pittsburgh (22-13). It had been predicted we would be pretty good for the first time that season, but that was our fifth straight loss after winning the first two...He cleared the locker room of everybody except the players, then told us how proud he was of our effort. But he was disappointed with the results (the Cowboys were 20-51-4 after 5 1/2 years under Landry). 'I may not be here next year,' he said, 'but I want you guys to know I think the world of you.' Then, he broke down and started crying. That really touched all of us. We knew we had to play harder...That day at Pittsburgh was the turning point for the Cowboys...That made us start playing like winners. We still had doubters, though, until we won that Super Bowl in New Orleans (beating Miami, 24-3). "Anybody who ever coached against him understands that you don't win as much as he did by accident," Forrest Gregg said. "He worked and lived an example." When George Allen met with the players on his first day as the Washington Redskins' coach in '71, he boldly said "'We're going to beat Dallas.' I knew that if we couldn't beat Dallas, there wasn't any sense in issuing new equipment." Dick Vermeil, a former coach of the Philadelphia Eagles said, "We based our whole program on beating Tom Landry... It was respect for him that motivated us. I always felt that the Cowboys were the best-disciplined team on game day, especially on defense."

Many sports fans really appreciate those players that do it for the love of the game. Those athletes that would do what they do even if they didn't get paid and there were no fans in the stands. There is a certain purity in those that play for the love of the game. Back in December I watched Leatherheads, where George Clooney played a professional football player back when playing professonal football was more of a hobby as the players didn't make enough money to live off of their football salaries and they definately did it more for the love of the game than for the financial reward.

So heres to all the kids playing baseball in the sand lots, playing hoops in the school yards and playgrounds, and playing soccer everywhere and to those coaches inspiring and teaching the kids. I hope that your interest in sports doesn't get corrupted and jaded and that you can always play for the love of the game. Did you have a memorable coach? Did you have a dream season? Do you have any other comments our questions, feel free to make your voice heard in the comments.

For more information about Tom Landry you might want check out...

Answers.com
Sporting News tribute
The Dallas Morning News tribute- this is a great collection of stories about Tom Landry with input from players, former assistants, coaches that competed against him, sports writers that covered him, and more

Photo Credit: Buffalo Bills football 5 courtesy of nick12

17 Endings for ER

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:48:00 +0000

I've been watching ER for years. Reports that George Clooney might appear in the series final got me wondering what the end would really be like. This got me thinking about a bit from Wayne's World, where they played around with different endings, so why don't we do that here?

There is the obvious ending. This would be the one where the budget is cut so bad that County General Hospital is shut down, never to open again. This could somehow be tied to the bad economy with various social commentary.
They could do the Dallas Bobby Ewing move. Dr. Green (Anthony Edwards) gets out of the shower only to realize that all of the episodes since his death were just a dream. This would also be a way to bring the actor back who's character died of cancer several years ago.
They could also try the Newhart ending. One of Bob Newhart's shows ended with him in bed with his wife on a previous series and the series that was just ending was a dream. I'm not sure how this cold work out but I'm sure there is a way.
Maybe the could do a Michael Crichton tribute. The famous author that created the series and is known for Jurassic Park and other books, who died late last year, could be put into the story some how. They could find images and do some kind of CG sequence with him creating the series, they could also do a documentary style episode that showed things behind the scenes and showed some history of the show.
Lets not forget the Butterfly Effect. Some far flung event could draw many of the ER staffers away, forcing the closure of the hospital. Dr. Carter might make a desperate plea for help in Darfur or somewhere else.
How about the Terminator ending? Abbey and Luka's son comes back from the future because someone is saved in the ER that changes the course of human kind and they must be allowed to live.
How about the Star Trek ending? There is a shortage of qualified medical personal in the Federation, so the staff is beamed away. The show ends leaving us the possibility that they could come back.
They could do the Jurassic Park ending. We see a bunch of dinosaurs stomping around. The camera pans in on one sleeping. The dinosaur is dreaming of a hospital in the future.
Maybe the could apply the Michael Jordon ending- A promotion involving the Chicago Bulls and it world famous former star brings M.J. to County. He notices some of the crew playing hoops and decides to form his own Harlem Globetrotters maybe with a reality television twist starting with the folks at County. President Obama could even stop in for a game of one on one.
How about the Presidential ending? George H.W. Bush is giving a speech in Chicago and a stroke brings him to County general. Of course he will be visited by George W. Bush, other past presidents and dignitaries, maybe even President Obama. Bottom line is that all the secret service and security precautions close the ER and the hospital to the public.
The could do the "Must See TV" ending. NBC reminisces about a time when they had Seinfeld, Friends, and ER in their Thursday night primetime slots. The Friends cast is having a reunion in Chicago watching Seinfeld performing and due to some poisoning at the venue, they all need to be rushed to the ER. To make things more interesting they do things backwards (via that Seinfeld episode where they all went to India for a wedding).
ER goes American Idol. Morris decides that he has to give American Idol a try. This inspires the crew to go Hollywood and chase their wildest dreams.
The Dr. Carter returns. Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle) comes back to County and reminisces about all his days in the ER. Since he was on the show for most of its run, they could use flashbacks and so on to bring back some of the other actors that have left. In reminiscing, someone could ask whatever happened to this and that character.
There could be the HMO nightmare. One of the gigantic corporations that owns and operates hospitals buys County. There could be the usual commentary and dialog about patient care suffering and the staff decides to leave in protest.
The X-Files effect- Mulder and Scully come to County because an alien is being treated there. Strange things happen all around and the F.B.I. closes the hospital to the public.
The Ending Ending- We see a film crew going around the hospital and the staff being interviewed. We find out that ER has been the chronicle of life in a major American metroplitan emergancy room looking at treatment of patients and the lives of the doctors and nurses there. In the closing shot we see a camera on another camera filming a scene and we here the director shout "cut", the light goes out on the camera we have just been watching, the camera man walks away and then the camer filming this goes out, fade to black.
The unexpected ending- ER has been a ground breaking series and they have done a lot of things that hadn't beed done on other television series. Chances are very good that they'll come up with something totally unexpected.

I've really enjoyed the series over the years. Since moving to Germany a few years ago, the episode are always aired several months behind the U.S. because they all get dubbed into German, so I'll need to wait a few months after the American viewer to see what really happens. I'm curious to see the end but will be sad to see it leave. So, how will it end? Do you have any ideas, why not tell us about them in the comments. Fade to black (just for now).

Photo Credit: Hospital courtesy of Woopidoo2

Said By Presidents...

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:19:00 +0000

Getting ready for the inauguration yesterday, I found some interesting quotes from past American Presidents and posted them on Twitter. 43 American Presidents have had a lot to say, some of it has been inspiring and others have been funny. Here is look at some of the more memorable Presidential quotes.

George Washington (1789-1797), the first president and often referred to as the father of our nation said...

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."

"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."

John Adams (1797–1801) said...

"I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessing on this house (the White House) and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof!"

"A pen is certainly an excellent instrument to fix a man's attention and to inflame his ambition."

Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) said...

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

James Madison (1809–1817) said...

"The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted."

"The problem to be solved is, not what form of government is perfect, but which of the forms is least imperfect."

James Monroe (1817–1825) said...

"A little flattery will support a man through great fatigue."

John Quincy Adams (1825–1829) said...

"May our country be always successful, but whether successful or otherwise, always right."

Andrew Jackson (1829–1837) said...

"I know what I am fit for. I can command a body of men in a rough way; but I am not fit to be President."

Martin Van Buren (1837–1841) said...

"It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't."

"As to the Presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it."

William Henry Harrison (1841) said...

"A decent and manly examination of the acts of the Government should be not only tolerated, but encouraged."

John Tyler (1841–1845) said...

"Here lies the body of my good horse, 'The General.' For twenty years he bore me around the circuit of my practice, and in all that time he never made a blunder. Would that his master could say the same!"

James Polk (1845–1849) said...

"I am heartily rejoiced that my term is so near its close. I will soon cease to be a servant and will become a sovereign."

Zachary Taylor (1849–1850 ) said...

"The idea that I should become President seems to me too visionary to require a serious answer. It has never entered my head, nor is it likely to enter the head of any other person."

Millard Fillmore (1850–1853) said...

"An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory."

"The man who can look upon a crisis without being willing to offer himself upon the altar of his country is not for public trust."

Franklin Pierce (1853–1857) said...

"The storm of frenzy and faction must inevitably dash itself in vain against the unshaken rock of the Constitution."

"The revenue of the country, levied almost insensibly to the taxpayer, goes on from year to year, increasing beyond either the interests or the prospective wants of the Government."

Jame Buchanan (1857–1861) said...

"The ballot box is the surest arbiter of disputes among freemen."

"There is nothing stable but Heaven and the Constitution."

Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865), a man that is legendary among presidents, Americans, and mankind in general, said...

"You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

"If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong."

"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"(sounds like something that Gandhi might have said, doesn't it)

Andrew Johnson (1865–1869) said...

"If the rabble were lopped off at one end and the aristocrat at the other, all would be well with the country."

"Honest conviction is my courage; the Constitution is my guide."

"The goal to strive for is a poor government but a rich people."

Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877) famous Northern general of the Civil War said..

"The Southern rebellion was largely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions. We got our punishment in the most sanguinary and expensive war of modern times."

"My failures have been errors of judgment, not of intent."

"I have never advocated war except as a means of peace."

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881) said...

"He serves his party best who serves the country best."

"Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office seeking."

James Garfield (1881) said...

"I have had many troubles in my life, but the worst of them never came."

"Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce."

"We can not overestimate the fervent love of liberty, the intelligent courage, and the sum of common sense with which our fathers made the great experiment of self-government."

Chester Arthur (1881–1885) said...

"If it were not for the reporters, I would tell you the truth."

Grover Cleveland (1885–1889) said...

"It is the responsibility of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support its citizens."

"A man is known by the company he keeps, and also by the company from which he is kept out."

"Above all, tell the truth."

Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893) said...

"The disfranchisement of a single legal elector by fraud or intimidation is a crime too grave to be regarded lightly."

"Lincoln had faith in time, and time has justified his faith."

"We Americans have no commission from God to police the world."

William McKinley (1897–1901) said...

"In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest."

"That's all a man can hope for during his lifetime—to set an example—and when he is dead, to be an inspiration for history."

"Unlike any other nation, here the people rule, and their will is the supreme law. It is sometimes sneeringly said by those who do not like free government, that here we count heads. True, heads are counted, but brains also . . ."

Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909) said...

"The only man who makes no mistake is the man who does nothing."

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

William H. Taft (1909–1913) said...

"The intoxication of power rapidly sobers off in the knowledge of its restrictions and under the prompt reminder of an ever-present and not always considerate press, as well as the kindly suggestions that not infrequently come from Congress."

Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) said...

"If you want to make enemies, try to change something."

"Some people call me an idealist. Well, that is the way I know am an American. America is the only idealistic nation in the world."

"We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers."

Warren G. Harding (1921–1923)said...

"Ambition is a commendable attribute without which no man succeeds. Only inconsiderate ambition imperils."

"Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much of government, and at the same time do for it too little."

"My God, this is a hell of a job! I have no trouble with my enemies . . . but my damn friends, they're the ones that keep me walking the floor nights."

Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929) said...

"I have never been hurt by anything I didn't say."

"The business of America is business."

Herbert Hoover (1929–1933) said...

"Absolute freedom of the press to discuss public questions is a foundation stone of American liberty."

"Peace is not made at the Council table or by treaties, but in the hearts of men."

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) said...

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) said...

"A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties."

"You can not stop the spread of an idea by passing a law against it."

"We need not fear the expression of ideas—we do need to fear their suppression."

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) said...

"There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure."

"I never saw a pessimistic general win a battle."

John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) said...

"If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity."

"The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly."

"And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) said...

"If government is to serve any purpose it is to do for others what they are unable to do for themselves."

"A president's hardest task is not to do what is right, but to know what is right."

"You ain't learnin' nothin' when you're talkin'." (what does this say about many politicians?)

Richard M. Nixon (1969–1974) said...

"I like the job I have, but if I had to live my life over again, I would like to have ended up a sports writer."

"A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life's mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself."

"Always give your best, never get discouraged, never be petty; always remember, others may hate you. Those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you destroy yourself."

Gerald Ford (1974–1977) said...

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."

"We . . . declared our independence 200 years ago, and we are not about to lose it now to paper shufflers and computers."

"Truth is the glue that holds governments together. Compromise is the oil that makes governments go."

Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) said...

"We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles."

"The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation."

Ronald W. Reagan (1981–1989) said...

"We are a nation that has a government—not the other way around. And that makes us special among the nations of the earth."

"America is too great for small dreams."

George H.W. Bush (1989–1993) said...

"If anyone tells you that America's best days are behind her, they're looking the wrong way."

Bill Clinton (1993–2001) said...

"If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person. It's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit."

"There is nothing wrong in America that can't be fixed with what is right in America."

George W. Bush (2001-2009) said...

"Recognizing and confronting our history is important. Transcending our history is essential. We are not limited by what we have done, or what we have left undone. We are limited only by what we are willing to do."

Barack Obama (2009-?)

Well, I guess that we"ll need to see what he has to say!

If you're interested in more quotes from the presidents here are a few places that you might look...

Maybe you're inspired now or have had a good laugh. History is often times just as intriguing and stranger than fiction. I hope that you enjoyed your visit.

Photo credit: Abraham Lincoln Memorial courtesy of tomlara.

Hessen Votes Today

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 05:32:00 +0000

Today is a big vote in the German federal state of Hessen. The biggest thing at stake is who will be the Minister President for Hessen.

Roland Koch, who is the current Minister President is from the CDU (Christian Democratic Union) and he failed to get enough votes to keep the position nor was he able to wrangle enough votes to keep the position via a coalition. Andrea Ypsilanti from the SPD (Social Democratic Party) is his main competitor for the position. In the primary election, Ypsilanti ended up with 36.7%, 1% less than Koch. She promised that she would not form a colition with die Linke party (the Left party), but as the saga dragged on she attempted to do just that. When a vote was held about forming the colition, she came up short, notably Dagmar Metzger kept a promise not to line up with die Linke.

The Hessen Parliment is located in Wiesbaden and the largest city is Frankfurt. The outcome of the Minister President for Hessen will influence the direction that Hessen takes and it could branch out effecting national politics as well.

As an American citizen, I don't believe that I'm able to vote but I'm certainly interested in the outcome. There are a lot of discussions about the future that the educational system and this will effect the choices that we can make for our kids in Hessen.

I found a good synapsis setting up the first election (held January 27, 2008) at All Things German (this is one of the better things that I have found written in English). The Frankfurter Allgemeine has quite a section with several articles about the Hessen vote, (in German).

I hope that the results from today are clear and that the process doesn't continue to drag on!

Photo credit: This is a picture that I took of the Frankfurt skyline from the balcony of a friend or ours in September 2008.

Beardie Walk for January 2009

noreply@blogger.com (dcheronfamily) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 04:09:00 +0000

Our breader had her first Beardie walk of 2009 on January 3rd. We've attended a few of these now and this one had the most Beardies so far. There were at least a dozen Beardies and their owners. There were several sibblings of Hobbit and a young brown and white puppy named Ian. It is hard to believe that Hobbit was once this little! There were several other Beardies that weren't from Hobbit's litter as well as one dog that wasn't a Beardie at all! Hobbit was preoccupied with his sister Toffy, he played with her most of the time and he hardly seemed to notice all the other dogs. Since all these Beardies together were so active, I wasn't able to take to many pictures. Maybe I can post some of that later (if I ever figure out how to edit the format of our video camera!). The top photo is of Ian. The next picture is of Hobbit with his sister Kira taken on a visit taken on December 28th.