German tv

So I managed to catch one of the many colds that are floating around the school. I just hope I get over it quickly so that I can cook thanksgiving dinner for the kids at school without worrying about infecting them all. The teacher that was going to help me cook has pneumonia. So I really have to be there. And then there are all the choir rehearsals and concerts coming up. So I am taking it as easy as possible this weekend, so I can get better ASAP.

Which means I have been watching quite a bit of German TV, and it struck me that really, a fair amount of this might be interesting to someone back home.

I get about 30 channels on my TV here, but the CNN doesn't work. So if I want to hear some english, I have to wait for a show on MTV that they have subtitled, or watch Bob Ross paint happy little trees on bavarian PBS. Both of which are strangely comforting here, even if I never watch them at home. But I watch plenty of the German stuff, too. Today's highlights were...

A documentary about all the families that still live in their castles. And really more in the tone of how it's not that easy being "the other half" of society, that there are lots of problems really with living in a castle. Like you can't dance in the ballroom anymore, since the whole building shakes. well, it is sitting on 80 oak pillars in the middle of a pond, after all. And the boys help out with maintaining the park around the castle, but they have trouble sometimes, too. For example, when they're small, and the family goes on vacation, the kids can't tell the difference between the hotel and a house, and live in the hotel like they live at home. But yeah. People here get a lot more excited about royalty here than in the states. Btw, Monaco now officially has a new Prince. Albert has taken over for his father who died last april.

Yesterday was "Domino Day 2005", which was officially the world's biggest Domino chain reaction event ever. over 4 million stones were tipped over live on tv, for 3 hours. there were pendulums that were set off at various points to allow for commercial breaks. All the dominos made pictures telling various fairy tales. Yep, a new world record was set this year. There are some people in China who are just as fanatic about all this, and for seven years the world title keeps being sent back and forth, as each continent, Europe vs Asia, keeps one upping each other. The dominos were set up by teenagers from all over europe over a time span of about 2 months, if i remember right. During the event they had some parts where some of these staffers had to build the missing domino links before the chain reaction got there. The final one had never worked in any trial. it was a two person attempt, one had to hold a beam of wood steady in a gap between the dominos, at about shoulder height. The second person had to line up dominos on the beam in time so that the chain reaction would keep going. And they managed to do it on TV. you really had to get caught up in it all. I wish Christopher Guest would choose it as his next mockumentary. that would be amazing.

Gerhard Schröder officially stepped down as Kanzler today, and was honored with a military musical salute called a "Zapfstreich". Started in the 16th century, when officers in the army would go through the pubs and bang on the beer taps to let the soldiers know it was time to go back on duty, this one included the german national anthem (naturally) and " I did it my way". The army band was surrounded by soldiers with torches. it was a little odd.

Finally I caught the end of a program that I really can't explain. At the point I started watching, the focus of the documentary was showing the host all the reflective spinning steel balls he had installed all over his bavarian hillside. they apparently represent the wholeness of the whole. This man is 88 years old and looks mostly like albert einstein. no moustache, but with the big white hair. He then invited everyone from the show for drinks, which was wine from a golden goblet, and he insisted that the camera person partake too, which made the camera sort of tilt. In his garden he has busts of plato, his father, and himself. the bust of plato had a quote, that he read, and it was in german, and I didn't understand any of it. It was after watching this program for about 10 minutes I decided a little tribute to German tv might be blog worthy. Hope this has entertained, and that you are all doing well.