i'm the producer - get me out of there!!!

oh dear - it seems that our worst fears ARE becoming a reality (show) as a swift look onto darling pamelchen's facebook page revealed her new photo, which can only mean that the super tough job as executive producer (if i get this right) for germany's version of 'i'm a celebrity', which is running for a few more days and apparently broke all viewing records, is simply getting to her. get her out before it's too late! pam, halt durch - wir kommen!!!

the rest is noise

we spent an interesting afternoon at the southbank centre, first to hear a lecture by james macmillan, whose work we will now explore a little further, followed by a film production on young musicians and how they see music in their lives, and where of course our little darling had participated, to give her account of musical influences at home and abroad... i first sat a little nervously - what could possibly be her first memory of music - mum's untalented go at lullabies? or, worse?? but in the end her answers were rather interesting, and the same can be said about all the kids, as the film provides a little window into their relationship with music. installed at the southbank foyer, the film will run for the whole year as part of "the rest is noise" festival, and will also be uploaded on the website, we were told, from monday onwards. will keep you posted..

diets are boring

this we've been told was one of the several grand meals my darling brother made for his family over the holidays and we are truly impressed. i seem to remember a time when dear conny found boiling an egg a challenge, but then that must be some time ago, right? we had a bit of a grin on our faces though when we heard that at least one fancy duck-with-all-the-trimmings-meal was replaced by bangers and mash as the duck was still sitting in the freezer when conny started cooking. but - hey - it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. 

this also reminds me of my own egg sceleton in the closet. in the good old days of parties and fun we would frequently come home in the wee hours and beg/bag through the window some fresh broetchen from the bakery around the corner where the shift started at 4am, and have a boiled egg to go with them. or so. "i found several little bricks of coal in a pot this morning" my flatmate merten would tell me. "couldn't really figure out what you meant to do with them, but i took the pot off the heat, just in case." oh, the eggs. yes, thanks, merten. thank you...

and, just to close this story on a positive note, to let you know that christine and i were some of the first guests to try out one of the new restaurants across the street from my college, cucina assellina, and we actually had a great time in a place that seems a little flashy for my taste, but does good food, and - ahem - great wine. never mind the coal.... 

rike and ruby

new year's resolutions

here are ours, in order of priority:

• keep up with the blog again (thank you for those friends and family to complain about the sluggish maintenance - it's great to know it's not just me looking at it!)
• lose all that fluff around the hips that i seem to manage to put on every year
• get back on the bike again. since we picked up swimming last summer i have not had the energy to go straight from the pool onto the road. let's see...
• and god knows all those little bits and bobs that are too personal to state here, but they are a plenty
• but, as chilli the cat proves on the pic above, not to lose a taste for the good things in life, either. have your cake and eat it!

Happy 2013!

with several bottles of great champagne from mr. lawrence it was actually not difficult to see the old year out and a bright and bolshy 2013 in. although we had a lovely invitation to a party we were all too lazy and just watched the fireworks on bbc and made plans for the year to come. and of course on new years day our famous/infamous party, with 24 adults and 14 children this time. great, great cassoulet from deac, fish soup and a creme caramel to kill for from rike. 2013 - here we come!!!

(rike and friends during the party, hiding in the basement, i think...)