The Orange Campaign is taking a strange and almost magical turn . Yesterday I was given two lovely gifts in this colour .Small , bright and practical . Then today as I rode along on my bicycle two balloons tied together , drifted from the sunny skies right in front of me . One was yellow the other , yes , orange .I tied them to the basket and later gave to a small child . This afternoon there was a demonstration at the Chinese Embassy . Well attended , it was peaceful .The good news is leaders of four countries have said no to the opening ceremony .

Germany , Estonia , Poland and Czech Republic. Well done I say . At least a handful aren't afraid of bully boy China . What a pity Britain lacks backbone . Mr Brown you are becoming a Tony clone ... careful ........All the armbands are distributed but my Tibetan contact in exile is sending more .Hope you find the video interesting . Made using my mobile phone .

It's A Lovely Day Today .

Enjoying every little thing ensures the above is true . My day began with the news that a friend had won the lottery . Ok €8,10 but hey , a win . Then off to sport with another friend . I have to admit a) the breakfast part was the best ,followed by b) the mixed facilities with typical German nudity being the 'amusement '. On then to Ka De We and a purchase of my favourite tipple . Some new ones to try . Namely 'Satan' and 'Judas' . Anything goes here so I was at liberty to arrange the bottles on a table at the Le Notre food hall and photograph . This led to my meeting a wonderful Swedish family . Guess what they wanted after our discussion ? .. orange armbands, to show their feelings re China and it's abuse of human rights .

If You Dont Believe Me Check Out Google.

I'm getting rather tired of hearing cowardly, money minded politicians stating how ineffectual a boycott of the Olympics in China would be. We can learn from history so I ask you :-
Please go to Google search and type in the words :-
South African apartheid sport .
There you'll see numerous entries which illustrate how long a sports boycott [including zero Olympic participation] was enforced . Plus praise for the contribution this made in ending a diabolical situation .
So why the double standards now ? Greed , fear , big business ,to name but three. Note, Gordon Brown recently launched a project to increase trade and investment with China . No wonder he's now nervous about meeting the Dalai Lama in May . Then we have foreign secretary Miliband. Britain's man of understatement .His feeble contribution being :-
"I don't believe a boycott of the Olympics is the right thing to do ... A wrecked Olympics is actually not going to do anything for human rights in China."
Err and what about Tibet Mr Miliband ?
Finally the Foreign Office tops it all by informing us that the situation re human rights in China remains ' poor.' Clearly they had the same English teacher as Understatement Miliband.
How many will have the courage to at least boycott the opening ceremony remains to be seen. Few I imagine .
Here are the dates for the torch ... If you are near to any ,you can show your contempt . Take pictures too .Send to Contact@TheColorOrange.net
This is history in the making . Are you active or apathetic ?
The Olympic torch is going to a lot of places around the world: Almaty April 2., Istanbul April 3., St. Petersburg April 5., London April 6., Paris april 7., San Francisco April 9., Buenos Aires April 11., Dar es Salaam April 13., Muscat April 14., Islamabad April 16., and New Delhi April 17.
Let's end with more words from HH the Dalai Lama,
"Each individual has the ability to make a difference "

Happy Easter

It's a true Easter Sunday and the sun is shining . Where ever you are let's hope you're enjoying it. This little Miss Vixen nearly didn't make it .
Yesterday was marvellous ,but oh, was there snow .[hence the wellies] A visit to the Fantome Brewery proved amazing . This beer is unique . Here you see the man who started it . To this day he's a one man show and I do recommend a visit . At the risk of upsetting any Irish ..... Fantome beats Guinness. Look up http://www.fantome.be/
Lot's more was seen and savoured ,including a Trappist Monestery. a meal of Belgium chips plus other goodies .Nobody does them better. Then at 8pm an Easter service with fire , a baptism and yes ,good feelings . Off back to Achouffe but a wrong turning resulted in the car getting stuck in very deep snow . A nightmare,it needed a team effort of driving , pushing , digging for what seemed an age ! Success though, so off to celebrate at a place where the beer was Belgian , the music live and yes I danced the night away wearing what else but sexy wellies !

Is it Easter or Christmas.

I'm in Belgium and yesterday experienced five sorts of weather . However the winner was -----
Yes snow , snow and more snow . Driving was a no no .So it was on foot to the fabulous eatery attached to and even more superb brewery . More of the same today ..So bottoms , up , forget the eggs and a Very Happy Easter to all ....

And look what I got as a present ! THE most beautiful snowstorm in the world . Apt therefore that I ended up in one.

Where Were You ?

Where were you this date five years ago ? Well I for one was in bed crying ! Why ?
March 20th , my late father's birthday had been chosen as Day X ... the day to invade Iraq..
On trumped up 'evidence' the US and UK went in to kill. With three thousand bombs per night [only an imbecile could believe they were to hit Saddam Hussein ].
Thousands have died ..Mayhem ,instability and misery on a grand scale , are the norm, yet still George W Bush plus his henchman Cheyney claim success.!
For them the spoils of 'war' being increased oil prices and profits ! As even louder they sing :-
Long Live Haliburton.

Words From The Dalai Lama.

"Genuine peace between nations will come from mutual respect ,not from weapons or force ."

Muck, Brass, Chinese Olympics .

This weekend the International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge had the following to say when asked about a possible boycott of the Chinese based Olympics :-
"We believe that the boycott doesn't solve anything. On the contrary. It is penalizing innocent athletes and it is stopping the organization from something that definitely is worthwhile organizing."

Excuse me whilst I laugh , cry or choke . What I wonder does Mr Rogge have to say about innocent Tibetans , displaced , abused and rendered stateless. Are they not penalized ?
But we aren't talking morality here are we Mr Rogge ? With the Olympics we are talking mega money ( referred to in the north of England as brass ) These northern parts are renowned for being direct . Indeed they say, " Where there's muck there's brass ".
muck is dirt , corruption etc . Oh yes Mr Rogge the Olympics has a lot of this doesn't it ? ..
Doping ,doping , the same each time . Why ?...so these innocent athletes can win contracts worth a fortune and big business gets to produce even more expensive sports gear made in slave labour sweat shops .. Guess where ... why China ...
With so much money up for grabs small wonder Mr Rogge believes that it is definitely worth organizing .

From Now Until Whenever ..Truths

The news from Tibet is not good . Suffering is being heaped upon suffering with even more suppression and abuse of human rights . This in 2008 !
I read the following in the press .."Having some problems crop up is nothing to make a big deal out of. We just need to deal with them in an appropriate manner," said senior army General Zhang Wentai. "It won't affect the Olympics, or the country's overall security."
Hmm with Tiananmen Square as an example ,'appropriate manner' can be understood .
From now until the end of the Olympic Games in China , I plan to post words from the Dalai Lama . There is so much truth in them along with compassion and peace. So here goes for today ......

"The very purpose of our lives is happiness and joyfulness. That is very clear "

Ps) Try his official website . http://www.dalailama.com/
It's like sunshine and fresh air breaking through into an all too often sad world.

Orange, Orange,Who Wants An Orange ?

Last summer I was upset when I lost my little Tibetan armband which meant a lot to me . However, if you read this blog you'll know that a replacement was sent as a gift from Norbulingka Institute. The sender and I have kept contact . Now fast forward to this year and Orange Campaign, also [ link, Art in defence of humanism ] .I had the idea of little armbands in orange . On writing to my 'Tibetan sister' she thought so too and made me a hundred as gift . In today's post arrived a lovely little cloth bag . Like a pillow ,carefully sewn , and secured with sealing wax ,it was almost too wonderful to open .Here you see them on a swatch . I also received an email from her with this information :-

'The Freedom Bracelet was first made by Tibetan political prisoners near Lhasa to symbolise freedom. These bracelets were originally woven from whatever bits of thread available in the prisons. These bracelets are worn in solidarity as an expression of endurance and defiance against the Communist Chinese oppression.'

If you are interested in having one to show your support , contact me here.

A Cock Eyed Optimist

The BVG strike goes on . With little progress being made regarding a settlement , but what's noticeable is how well the public are adapting . More bicycles are in evidence which, in conjunction with the S Bahn make long journeys possible [ an ideal combi in poor weather]. Car and taxi usage has increased with people sharing costs.
I read that a group of BVG workers are keen to get back working. The union spokes person however is having no such talk. Also he is pushing to extend throughout Easter .To read his rhetoric is deja vu . Dare I say it 'transports' me to Britain , years ago. Let's hope the outcome here is somewhat better !
Today, with winds of up to 24 km/h it had to be SBahn plus bike . Using an iPod kept my ears warm and, riding down the Kudamm singing 'Cock Eyed Optimist' seemed most appropriate.

Two New Items In Leather.

This little green, leather jacket was bought in France . Quilted on the inside , its warm as well. With a price tag of just 30 euro who could say no ?

My belt [yet another passion ] may not be every ones taste but I love it .The staff at Mode und Sparen know me so well and had put this aside just in case . It was way too long but experts at Schuh Konzept soon fixed that for me and, at no cost !

*By the way my ipod dilemma was sorted by ' ratcatcher '. As spot on as with the tip on Belgian Beer. Many thanks and guess who began her Sunday with Dju Dju Belgian Beer on her cornflakes ? Ratcatcher you sure know your stuff !

Pride Comes Before A Fall-

Ok I didn't fall ,as the bed was there , and better laughter than tears . [no point in messing the mascara] But wow, did I feel as if my head would fall off ! Reason ?

As an iPod greenhorn I really believed I'd cracked it . Having cancelled a jaunt to Leipzig I decided to rip lots of new Cd's . Only to discover right at the end that somehow ,the entire contents of my iTunes library has reversed itself . By this I mean that track one of any CD is now played last . Get the horror picture ? How this has happened I simply don't know .What to do next ------ wait for someone who really knows how to untangle my techno string .[ mind you having said that I do have a nasty feeling this is something to do with an hour + of Apple support ]

Still, mess or not ,it was fun surrounded by 2 laptops , 2 phones , 2 cameras , external drives , Cd's and when not talking on air ,listening to the rte lyric fm concert . Hmm maybe they have an ipod download .... On second thoughts NO .

No Master's degree for this geekette . Merely ,Miss Vixen's in chaos.

Negatives and Positives .

Whilst in France ,my laptop had problems with wlan. Back in Berlin most was sorted, but, still left hot spot functionality to test . Hence today's visit to Helva Cafe Bar . Savigny Platz 589, Berlin. http://www.helva-bar.de/ This place is brilliant . Built under the bridge and rail arches the decor is beautiful. Comfort and service are keywords. Plus free wifi connection with sockets for your adaptors, so no fears of battery capacity failing . The menu is small yet excellent. My laptop 'negative' had resulted in my finding this place .. A positive .

Some may say , careful ,you'll get chubby frequenting such places . No worries . The BVG strike [ another negative] continues . Cycling is the solution , so let them strike . It's turning into one heck of a work out .Another postive .

By the way this is a sort of trinity hot spot .Helva Cafe ,Civan hairdresser ,and Amorph Fashion Store are linked, due to the use of the inherited bridge architecture . Thus one can shop, go for a hair cut and finally have a meal and drink. All with one walk through . Unlike a ghastly shopping mall , here there is day light at all times .

If you are Berlin based and unaware of Helva .. try it . Should you be planning a trip to Berlin make Savigny Platz a must do .All the eateries around here are fabulous and Helva a real must do.

* Helva is upholding the no smoking rule. Yet another star rating .

I Don't Believe It !

No this is not a take on that TV character Victor Meldrew.
After a weekend of very high winds and pelting rain, only yesterday gave some respite ,today has capped it all. It began with a bitterly cold whirlwind and then came snow flakes in all directions. Within two minutes of the first flakes, the above picture was taken from my bedroom window .So once again , no bicycle, out with the fur coat and yes the boots . [My big regret is leaving a fabulous pair of riding boot wellies back in France.] Imagine therefore my joy when out came the sun , and the pavements were partially cleared . Off to the bus stop , side roads not being a very safe option for the bike. Then after 20 minutes an extremely cold Miss V realized something was amiss .. BVG STRIKE . Set to last until March 14 this will mean very few buses and no UBahns . Sitting was the only way I could begin to defrost my feet. Then home for a coffee and total defrost.After which ,it's out with the bicycle come what may .

Hmmmm to those who love wind , snow and rain I say enjoy . Cold is no problem . There are after all , so many interesting ways of keeping warm .

Footwear For A Pixie Geekette.

Those who know me , be it in person or via this blog will know my passion for boots and shoes. The former in particular . Indeed it's difficult ,off the top of my head, to say just how many pairs I own .

One reason boots are a favourite is because of my feet. Extremely slender and quite small this results in nightmare difficulties when buying shoes . Leather must be very soft . Length is fine but the width of 85% of all shoes on my pixie tootsies is such that footwear simply slips off when I walk . One reason why boots are ideal, as they stay put around one's leg and sometimes knee ! However there are times one needs a simple and practical shoe. Thus it was with delight I found this pair of truly geekettish yet pixie shoes . Sensually soft, they stay put , fulfill a criteria, yet still flatter the foot.

It's actually quite nice being a pixie Vixen. As they say,' small is beautiful '.

Collectables .

I'd planned to make a video but decided against . So here's a little picture of a very happy yours truly with the latest additions to my snowstorm collection.

From left to right we have :-

Two French doves . Bought in Mont Lucon .Then Luxembourg , this was a gift .

You then see a Paris snow storm. Finally a very unusual one found in Claremont Ferrand . Home of Michelin . It contains the Michelin man. All set upon what else, but a tyre . Now you may wonder what is the silver ,circular item I'm pointing at .

Not a snow storm and sure as heck no space ship . Any ideas ?