Ballyduff in Berlin .

If you ever go across the sea to Ireland and believe me it's worth it,there's a little spot called Ballyduff in Waterford.[not just crystal you see] Ballyduff has a brilliant drama group and last week , thanks to the tireless efforts of Geraldine Canning they visited Berlin where as well as appearing in German schools they gave a performance at the Galli theatre of a superb piece entitled UNDER BARE BEN BULBEN. Geraldine Canning ,who you can see at the end of the short video clip,also works in Education and how she fits all this together remains a mystery to me .Full marks.
The youngest actor was 12 --- the eldest mid twenties.
For Ballyduff Drama group read :-enthusiasm, engagement , commitment plus professionalism. It's my belief that,if only more funding were found for the arts our world would be a much better place . Consider the irony :-
We reward bankers ,politicians etc [they of the fat salary,expense accounts]for lies. Those involved with the arts work for a pittance , bring us pleasure not to mention a lot of joy. What a strange world this has become ,or was it always so ?

Berlin's First Snow Winter 2010

The weather forecasters got it 99% right .
Low temperatures ...correct , snow flurries ... correct , at night ...wrong, it was this morning.
A day to stay indoors if possible and enjoy home comforts and pleasant pursuits.
Today's good news being these flakes didn't 'stick around'.
My wish ..let's hope we don't have a repeat of last Winter .

GalliTheatre Berlin

Having lived in Berlin for 23 years means nothing . One is constantly discovering another 'jewel' hidden away within this most fantastic of cities .

Tonight it was the Galli Theatre at Oranienburgerstrasse 32 , 10117 Berlin/Mitte

http://www.galli-berlin.de/ The expression ,'small is beautiful' being oh so apt .

Tonight's piece was a comedy entitled ,MÄNNER SCHLUSS VERKAUF . Not only did it have the audience in stitches but joining in with the music .

Two brilliant actresses gave their all , plus much more, as they portrayed one Gisela Mang , a lady desperate to find her Mr Right and a psychologist Frau Möbenbach who , with her very special methods attempted to show Gisela the futility of her quest as no matter how far one went back in history , the Mr Rights were all too often Mr Wrongs !

The lightening change of costumes and props were brilliantly executed and every xx in the audience nodded as she brought to mind a past xy . Not only does Galli theatre have a wonderful programme ,it also uses the stage for and with the public . Each week one can go and learn acting methods and body language skills . Marion Martinez is sending me some photographs which I will be adding to this post ASAP . For now you have two shots showing the outside in what is a delightful courtyard and inside with a stage built for action.

NB) even if you don't speak German , a visit here is fun not to mention further proof that Germany is a country with humour.

Berlin ... A City Of Angels

Along with Los Angeles , Bangkok and Angels Camp in California, I nominate Berlin as a City Of Angels . You may wonder why, since the name Berlin has no correlation with Angels . It is however home to many who watch out for one another and in so doing make life that much nicer , whilst at the same time illustrating that all the media hype about the evils of mankind is not exactly true . Control of society is most effectively achieved via fear and the press and politicians come close to doing achieving it .Yet along the way there are angels who prove otherwise . Above is the lady who found that very black bag and all it's contents and handed it in after trying to deliver it to me in person . Today it was wonderful to meet her and say my very special thank you . She was/ is my angel . I it seems am the angel of the amazing lady from yesterday .

It's said that "good news doesn't sell copy" .What a shame for if it did there would be less depression ,anxiety and mistrust . So here's my small contribution to this weeks good news .

An Ill Wind That Blows Nobody Any Good ???

Strong winds are not the norm for Berlin but on Friday the 12th November "they blew into town " . Riding my bicycle in such was hard work and a dilemma when a bag containing my camera , books and many very important documents was torn from the pannier. Imagine my emotions when early Tuesday morning a police woman rang to say all had been handed in [check this blog Thursday night] and was awaiting collection at a Police Station on the Kudamm. In pouring rain I set off and sure enough there it all was. After signing and collecting, coffee was a must have . A fellow coffee drinker took my picture to mark the reunification of Miss Vixen with her Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ10. It so happens that this lady also had cause for celebration so , using her camera I took pictures ,followed by more with mine .Then we discovered we are both bloggers. Now let's see what's the saying :-

"It's an ill wind that blows nobody good "

Sure was an awful wind but one resulting in a very happy day and pleasant encounter .If you read German ,her blog is http://www.berlin-woman.de/

Pick Yourself Up Dust Yourself Down .

Last week closed on a low . Whilst riding my bike in high winds a bag was blown off the back and even though I lost no time turning round to get it , it was gone and searching drew blanks .

The bag contained 1 Panasonic Lumix Camera ( mine ) ,2 new books from Amazon .Co .UK( mine ) , post and bank details ( mine ) ,personal data ( mine )

Has it been handed in ? Sadly ,no . In monetary terms I've lost approx 500 euro .The data is another matter .Police have all details as do the banks . Fair to say this incident has knocked me for six and left me feeling somewhat vulnerable .

So today I forced myself to go out and went to Yorckschlösschen where Acki Hoffmann and Friends were playing . A lovely snow dome from Ephesus was given to me by Acki ( top left )

The rest of the band you see around .My snow dome is also to be seen as is photo of myself taken prior to leaving my place .As my wonderful Lumix has been found and kept I had to use my very old , very cheap camera ... No videos worthy of the word .Monday am off to purchase another Lumix . Music was a great medicine as was the thoughtfulness of Acki Hoffmann .

Perfect timing which enabled me to pick myself up, dust myself down , ready to start all over again .

CanCan The Offenbach Way The Only Way.

Today I experienced an amazing "chain reaction" .NB The word CAN is embedded within CHAIN. Think Cancan .
RTE Lyric fm Ireland played this piece of music by Offenbach. Not only is it wonderful,but for me ,very special in as much as it brings back memories of dancing to it just for sheer fun. In flooding over me ,guess what, I had found my motivator. Following an unfortunate accident in August , knee surgery is no longer an option, it's a must to be faced. My resolve is to face the knife , then the music and DANCE . It will be sometime next year folks but I make a promise that as soon as one foxylady is able she'll be filmed dancing to this very piece. Shame I gave my can can boots away but when the time is ready a new pair will be a must buy .On this note I say to all :-
"I could cancan , I will cancan ,I can cancan "
Special thanks to Lyric RTE fm , 'jamirocuay' of YouTube who posted this little video and allowed embedding , but most of all Jacques Offenbach !

WASP ALERT .

WASP = WARNING AGGRESSIVE STINGING PEST

It may be November and yes, we've changed the clocks ..but Indian Summers are a part of life here as well as other countries. This is my wasp alert to all .
Berlin has had lots of sun this last week .Ideal for drying washing on the balcony .
WASPS however found an ideal use for my laundry . It was their 'hotel'. Thus when I went to pick it all up and bring indoors I never saw them but oh did I feel !
Two very large wasps attacked my right hand main finger. Like squatters they were angry at the threatened 'eviction' .
Stings are extremely painful, potentially dangerous and can cause infection depending on where else the insect has been .
After emergency treatment I'm still on cortisone and antibiotics . The swelling , redness and pain are nasty and extreme.
So here's my advice .. if you too have good weather and go to bring washing in, do wear thick gloves and shake all items very well . Make sure you have some antihistamine tablets for emergency cover until you see a Doctor .

Sunday Sunshine With Acki Hoffmann and Friends at Yorckschloesschen.

Sunday was the day we all enjoyed an extra hour in bed as clocks changed to mark the end of Summer time .However nothing is so cut and dried and not only did Berlin enjoy sunny weather but it as ever provided the right music and venues to enjoy life . The Yorkchloesschen for example .A place where €4-60 will buy a small breakfast ! Please look at the collage to get some idea of how big small is . After this I didn't eat for the rest of the day. Acki Hoffmann and Friends were our musical sunshine and requests made many very happy .Well worth getting out of bed .