EVIL PIGEON

So I'm eating a 'Doner' - lamb or chicken with onions, tomato, salad and yogurt sauce stuffed in a thick pita bread - on Mariahilferstrasse and I notice this pigeon standing at my feet. It's cocking its head around to look at me eating; it's waiting for crumbs; it has no fear. I feed it a couple crumbs. The pigeon reminds me of a dog begging at the table, and I'm starting to consider if a pigeon can be as smart as a dog - it sure is acting smart. A couple more crumbs.

And then the thing leaps at me! Alright, it kind of flaps it's wings and hovers in front of my face, or more exactly in front of my Doner. I swat at it and it hovers away, and then right back in front of my face. I see an evil red glow in this buggers eyes. He is persistant. Go away!! Get back on the ground like a good dog! Swat, Swat. He doesn't leave.

I end up moving on down the street.

Anika Liest Deutsch

Whereas Pascal got a huge kick out of the swordfights at the Ritter museum, Anika likes to read. She actually brought along a book for our museum night, and fittingly enough sat down in the Bibliotech and took a read. She read Deutsch too. She's so sweet.

P.S. Anika liked the swordfighting too, although she was a little scared of the knights armor.

Dangerous Dude

About a month ago we went out for the "Nacht des Museums", where all the museums are free and open until 11pm. We visited the Bibliotech, the Albertina, and the Ritter museum. There was a huge collection of knights armor. Many had strange, scary bird like helmets. Some were custom made for an obviously huge pot belly. One had a huge bulge in the nether regions. Anything to be scary.

While we were visiting the Ritter museum we watched a live display of swordsmanship. Pretty cool stuff, we learned about all the different types of swords and how they were designed for different kinds of fighting. The head swordsman (in red) was also pretty funny and merrily wallowed in the guts and gore of the sword fight.

Pascal was very impressed. Soon after we came home, Pascal got out a pair of Anika's boots, picked some kitchen knives from the drawer, and made ready for battle. The video is probably the last time we're going to let Pascal go at it like this - the little dude is DANGEROUS! I think we're going to have to get him a set of sturdy wooden swords, although the clink and clank of the metal knives clashing together does have its appeal.

LEAF PILE!!

Today, Sunday, with nothing much to do after Halloween, we went to the Park. Actually we wanted to go to the "Technische Museum" but it was closed. The leaves are really falling now from the big oak trees. Sabine decided to make a leaf pile to jump in. Anika and Pascal had loads of fun building the leaf pile, burying Mama, and throwing leaves around. A couple of people stopped to look at us crazies diving through the leaves. One Grand-pa and grandson started their own leaf pile. I helped with the leaves but didn't jump in, 'cause you know, leaves are dirt basically - I mean they will be dirt soon, so..... they must have some portion of dirt in them already. And because of my grass allergies, something about rolling around in vegetation just "rubs" me the wrong way. What a kill-joy. Thank God for Mama!

The regal Wienerin and the talkative Filipino

One day riding in the U-bahn with Anika, a regal, aristocratic fifty-something year old lady walked into our car. She held her head high, wore fashionable clothes and make-up. She wore her hair in a pony tail which reached down to her knees! Really, her knees! She wore eight black hairbands, her hair was that long. And funny thing, she didn't dye her hair at all, there was grey all mixed into her black hair. The long hair together with her regal composure, reminded us of some princess in a fairy tale.

Another women noticed us noticing the regal woman's hair. She, a Filipino, spoke in english to us encouraging Ani to get up out of her seat to take a good look at the regal woman's hair. The Filipino spoke to us right behind the regal woman's back, as if she, the Filipino were invisible. It was all pretty funny. We talked and pointed behind the regal woman's back, and she, with her head held up so high, didn't seem to notice at all.

California Dreaming

As part of Anika's "cultural immersion program ;)" I have been volunteered to speak to her class in English. The first time I did this, searching for something to talk about, I decided to explain Thanksgiving to Anika's fellow students. I explained how Thanksgiving comes from the pilgrams giving thanks to the indians for saving their silly europeans butts. I said that Thanksgiving is now a family holiday where everyone comes together and shares a traditional meal. To quiz the students I asked to whom the pilgrams were giving thanks. One student said: to God. O.k. that's an alright answer but let's be a little more specific, what about those helpful indians eh? After the talk I showed the kids how to make a turkey drawing by tracing the outline of your hand (thumb is the head, other fingers the tail feathers, draw the feet in from the base of the palm). Everyone thought that was way cool.

Two weeks later I did another presentation, this time about waves and surfing. I explained how waves on the beach come from ocean storms thousands of miles away; how waves finally break on the beach because the water becomes increasingly shallow forcing the wave, or rather swell, to grow taller until it topples over, or breaks. I showed them a couple scenes from some surf videos I have. I showed them footage of the big wave spot "Mavericks" close to where we used to live. I showed a picture of Anika on the beach at Mavericks. I briefly explained how you catch a wave; how seals pop their heads out of the water to look at you in the water; how pelicans fly right above the waves; how dolphins surf inside a wave. And of course I showed them the hand sign and explained the expression "Hang Loose," auf Deutsch "Sei Locker."

After organizing and presenting all that info about sunny california, the surf, the sand, I was really salivating for the state. I started to figure, "If we can move all the way over here, would we move right back to the same place in California? Where could we live in California? How about San Diego? It's got sun and surf, a foriegn country right next door and a decent biotech industry. What about that? I even looked up some rentals: 3 bedroom, $2500 per month and about 6 blocks from the beach (ya, the photos below are of that beach, JUST 6 BLOCKS AWAY). Awwh, it's just a projection born out of a cold winter in a big city, it's just California Dreaming.

SWEET! HUH?

First Snow!!

Today (October 15) was the first day of snow in Wien. O.K. it was only a little flurry mixed in with the rain, but it was echtes Schnee! That would have made the day, but as chance would have it, the heating in our apartment also failed. The coldest day since the end of summer (3 degrees Celcius, or about 38 degrees Freakin cold!) and our heating won't work. Great! No, it felt worse than that.... I thought we were in fact cursed by uncaring gods. I couldn't believe it. I imagined a very cold night. I was not pleased. I was pissed. I was at the end of my rope. I was... helpless. I hate that feeling.

By the end of the day someone arrived to fix our heater (turned out to be a routine problem which now I know how to fix myself), and all was well, again. Wheww. I had 3 beers that evening and went early to bed.

Possibilities

Put together Pascal rambling on about "possibilities" and other things, with an old night walk we took in the innen stadt and set it to "Jigsaw" by Radiohead.

Pascalian Logic

So Pascal likes to be carried around on my shoulders when we are walking through the city. We call it "Hop-Hop". But Pascal is getting older and heavier and really he should walk on his own two feet. Of course Pascal resists and continues to prefer the shoulder high ride. Every time we go about the city I have to fight with him about if he should or shouldn't get "hop-hop". It's exhausting.

Yesterday Pascal's whining about "hop-hop" led him to completely forget that we were standing on a sidewalk next to a busy street. Complaining about "hop-hop" Pascal jumped in front of me and into the street full of traffic. I was really angry with him about this and I told him that today, and forever more he would no longer get "hop-hop".

Tonight after a day of no "hop-hop" Pascal told me, "I was bad yesterday, whined for "hop-hop", jumped in the street, etc. so that today I wouldn't get "hop-hop" and then you would be happy." "I was bad yesterday, so I could be good today." Hmmmm. There's something missing here. Seems like some pretty tricky revisionist history going on here. But you know what, I'll take it. I just hope Pascal won't actively start looking for bad things to do today, so that tomorrow will look better. I hope instead, his explanation is just his way of putting a story around things. Nonetheless I know Pascal will ask for "hop-hop" tomorrow, and we'll be back to square one again.

Mozart Konzerte

This is from a while ago, but Sabine and I went to see/hear a Mozart Konzerte when Oma and Opa were visiting and could babysit Ani and Pascal. The concert is performed in a smallish hall about the size of a high school basketball gymnasium. The performers wear period costumes, so all the men look like George Washington (so it follows then, that the women all looked like Betsy Ross if she ever dressed up for a night on the town). The performance include highlights from Mozart's symphonic works, operas as well as music from other composers of the period, like Haydn. There is no amplification because the room is that small. Sabine and I were sitting in the thin balcony that surrounds the room. It was really quite a pleasure to sit in the opulent room and hear the orchestra churn away below. Very relaxing. (A Japanese man sitting in front of us got so carried away he fell asleep. In the meantime his wife made some pretty good pencil sketches of the singers in her notebook.)

The room is totally ornate, gold this and that all over, bare-breasted women along the walls, adonis like dudes painted on the ceilings, the requisite fat little cherubs playing in the clouds. At some point while gazing around the room I got the impression I was in some sort of playboy mansion from the 18th century, but I think the bare-breasted women and adonis like men were less about sex directly and more about the general idea of fecundity and the pleasure of our senses. Nonetheless judging from the endless ornamentation, and lack of any really serious theme I get the impression that the people of the 18th century (at least the nobility) spent a lot of time thinking about pleasure, and the various ways to be swept away by it. Obviously these people were skating on thin ice (think the french revolution, and the american revolution) but it seems like they were all having a really swell time until reality crashed the party. Although in this neck of the european woods, the Habsburg monarchy seemed to have survived the sweeping changes of history a bit more intact than did their other european cousins.

Pascal Talk Deutsch

Pascal is speaking more and more German. At the beginning he hated it when we talked to him in German, he would protest "No, talk...TALK!!!" meaning speak English not Deutsch. Now Pascal is mixing up the Talk mit der Deutsch. Here are some examples:

Telling him we have to stop watching a movie and get ready for bed: "Nein. Nicht fertig. Ich love das (the movie)"

Playing board games: "Du bist dran." "Ich bin's." "Wieder mal."

Basic pre-school phrases: "Ich bin Erste." "Bitte, bitte, bitte..."

I'm sure there's mehr, and I'll have more again soon to add to the list.

Waldsteine

Just finished a canvas (~4x3 foot). This one is new for me. It's very loosely based on reality. On one of our hikes through the Austrian woods I knew I wanted to paint a forest picture, all mysterious, trees, branches, roots, rocks all jumbled together. I thought about how in earlier times the people believed the woods were filled with strange secret things (now we've classified all the plants and animals, fenced in the wild beasts, and tagged the trees with signs and numbers).

For me a new idea was to add the shapes of letters, not to hide any secret message but because we recognize letters as special, and therefore we can see them in a jumble of lines and shades, kind of like how we see faces on certain rocks, or how some discover the image of Jesus on the bark of a tree. What actually do you "see" when you see a letter?

There are also several deliberate perceptual anomalies I was able to get away with. They were easier to work into the painting since reality (or photo's of reality) wasn't lecturing me about what I should and shouldn't paint.

The painting was a fun experiment and it gave me lots of ideas about how to paint other paintings. And that's what a satisfactory painting is supposed to do.... make you want to explore again and paint the next painting. I'm also beginning to conclude that I have a serious obsession about rocks. I really find those boring chunks of matter interesting.

I took some pictures during the painting process to see how things changed evolved. There weren't any radical changes, except that I ended up painting the rocks completely differently than I had at the beginning intended. The top photo was taken at the beginning of September, the middle from the middle, and the last photo is the completed painting (I hope) from 21 September.

Foreign Contaminations

O.K. a list of some minor annoyances I've had here. Most of them seem to have something to do with being a foreigner or being perceived as one. Or maybe I just don't like perfect strangers telling me what I should and should not do.

Other people on the subway telling me my kids can't put their feet on the seat, even briefly. You know what? MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS - it's a subway with a million people going in and out everyday, it's NOT YOUR LIVINGROOM.

This annoyance should be offset by the women several seats away from me who observed me searching for a tissue for Pascal's nose, and got up out of her seat and asked me if I would like to use one of her tissues. Very kind, very thoughtful.

Other people telling me what I can and cannot throw away, and then they proceed to chuck their paper waste in with the regular garbage. Really, this old lady told me I couldn't put a rubber tire (cleaning out our cellar) in the regular trash, all the while she's shoving her paper waste in the regular trash with the paper waste dumpster three steps behind her. Later her friend asked me where I was from, and since CA is so nice, why am I here? I told her that yes CA is nice, and so is Vienna that's why I'm here. Why are you asking, is there some reason I shouldn't be here? Welcome to you to.

The above incident perfectly illustrates how foreigners, or outsiders of any sort, are held accountable to a higher standard then the in crowd. Typical, it starts in school and never really goes away. I gotta remember to hold my criticism of "others" in check sometimes too.

POLICE. Need I say more. Today a cop standing on the sidewalk with a radar gun admonished me and Pascal for crossing the street when the crossing light was red. She yelled across the street once I had crossed "Ja, nice role model for your son!" There wasn't a car within 500 yards of us, and we crossed a small one way street, with perfect sight lines of oncoming traffic. Thanks for the info Polizei!! I'm sure you're like a role model perfect parent yourself. The police job seems to attract people who like to tell other people what to do, my least favorite flavor of people.

LOCALISM. Some california examples, like surfers in Santa Cruz. They think all the wave should rightly be theirs because they live in Santa Cruz. Well how long have you lived in Santa Cruz? I lived my entire life in the Bay Area, does that mean they're mine by seniority? Also, I didn't especially like the way the Bay Area was choking on traffic, displays of newfound wealth, and an over crowded housing market during the internet startup boom, but what are you going to do? Tell all the new "foreigners" to go back home?

NATIONALISM. It's bad, usually always a recipe for disaster. Thank god the Bush years are over.

Tractor Boy!

We went to a Baurenfest in the innenstadt. Not really that great but, being a farmfest there were a couple of cool tractors. Pascal made the best of making it into a jungle gym (see picture).

There was also a little exhibit of a beehive where you could see the bees crawling around in the hive behind a sheet of glass. Pascal was looking at the beehive with a magnifying glass, and he had the magnifying glass pressed right against his nose. Pretty funny. Then this lady comes up and asks if they can photograph Mr. P. She points to a guy with a big shoulder held video camera behind us. Alright, I say. Then she comes back with a big red microphone with the letters "ORF" (that's one of the TV stations in Austria). She sticks the mic out in front of Pascal's face, and asks him about the bees. He actually repeats some stuff we had been talking about earlier, that the bees cluster into a tight ball to survive the winter and the queen bee is in the center. Very cute. No idea if Pascal made the cut for the evening news.

Wohnung Furnished

From top to bottom: Living room, Kitchen with laptop, The junk table in the hall, Livingroom TV with bedroom through open door, Anika's reading corner, Desk at the window, Livingroom couch

Our Mistake!!

Oui!!! Today (Sunday) we planned to go to the zoo, but on the way out I couldn't lock the deadbolt to the front door. I also couldn't unlock the door and get back inside. Scheisse!!!! We're locked out! No cellphone too. Damn.

We walked up to the corner grocery store and the clerk loaned us his cellphone. We called the locksmith. The locksmith said I couldn't look while he opened the door. I kind of stood behind a corner on the stairwell with full intentions of sneaking a peak. But the locksmith was finished in like 30 seconds. It's that easy to open a lock, and we have a pretty solid front door lock. The locksmith said it would have been just a little harder if the deadbolt was also locked.

Then the bill - 200 euros!!! Like we were in any position to bargain. Live and learn.

Small California Paintings

I've had time to do a couple of small paintings. They remind me of California. I have a collection of rocks, shells, and one starfish we brought from CA (Anika found the starfish on a beach and I dried it out in the oven). I enjoyed painting the mussels, the starfish was a challenge, and the rocks are just pure fun. The little rocks are actually pretty interesting, there are all sorts of colors and patterns and lines in them if you look closely. How to translate the little rocks into paint is amusing, because there are so many ways to do it. You'd think rocks would be boring, but I like my little california rocks and shells.

P.S. I'm starting to collect Austrian rocks too, but so far they'll have to wait their turn.

Sound and Silence

Zell am See Vacation!!

Finally a vacation! We went for 3 nights to Zell am See, about 1 1/2 hour by train south from Salzburg. It was nice to get out of the hot city and into the green cool mountains. We had a nice room overlooking the lake with the mountains behind. The first day we hiked the Schmitten Hohe. We took the cable tram up the mountain and hiked downhill. Along the way Sabine spotted blueberry bushes and showed Ani and Pascal how to pick the berries. The two of them picked and ate like little bears. If you look closely in some of the photos you can see that Ani and Pascal's lips turned blue from all the berries they ate. Funny thing....about 45minutes down the blueberry trail Sabine finds a sign showing the difference between blueberries you can eat, and their close cousin blueberries that will give you a stomach ache. We were picking the right ones!!

The following days we took less adventurous hikes because our (my) calves were sooo sore from our 4 hour downhill hike the first day. We visited a huge waterfall an hours busride from Zell am See, and the day after that a narrow canyon, or Schlucht, or Shoot, with raging water below. All in all it was nice to leave the city for awhile and enjoy the cool mountain airs.

Pictures from top to bottom: 1. from Schmitten Hohe with the Glacier in the distance 2. Ani with a handfull of blueberries 3. Ani scratching a drawing into a rock 4. View from top of Schmitten Hohe looking toward the Tauern region 5. Pascal playing in the sparkly glacier sand 6. Pascal, Sabine and Ani half way through the first days hike 7. Ani in the boulders 8. Pascal in the boulders 9. Sabine swinging Pascal down the hill 10. A view of the Tauern mountains 11. Coffee and Water, MMMmmmm 12. Ani and Pascal the little blueberry pickin bear cubs 13. Ani with pre-blue lips 14. The top of Schmitten Hohe looking at the glacier 15. Looking down from Schmitten Hohe at Zell am See 16. The view from our balcony

Schonbrunn and Parkour

Video of our carriage ride through Schonbrunn Schloss Park. It was very relaxing, watching the trees go by, listening to the horses hooves pressing the gravel, and church bells ringing in the background. Anika felt good. We waved the royal wave to the passersby.

Pascal suddenly showed us some Parkour moves during a nighttime walk through the innen stadt, then later on a sculpture/planter by the Glorietta at the top of Schonbrunn. Looks promising. Perfecto!!