National Socialist rally

On Saturday, there was going to be a Nazi rally in Tübingen, and I went to get some photographs.


This is what I saw upon exiting the train. It looked like the whole German army was there. There were bomb sniffing dogs along the tracks and police vehicles everywhere.


I happened to run across the mayor of Tübingen at the rally, and people were asking him why he allowed the Nazis to have a demonstration. Apparently he had tried to stop it, but since they are technically a political party, there was nothing he could do to ban the group. However, when it became apparent that the demonstration would happen, he declared a spontaneous city festival downtown, and thus forced the demonstrators into the outskirts of the city, at the main train station.
Lots of these guys marching around and looking intimidating.There were also thousands of protesters against the Nazis.


"Man is worth more than his 'Value Added'"

After this whole circus, the Nazis didn't end up marching. I heard over the loudspeakers that were set up that they formed a spontaneous rally in a nearby city when they found out about the massive number of resistance to their march.
So I got an ice cream and took a walk. Okay, so this picture is from the previous day, but still, I did go for a walk.

and a few more...

I've been trying to take some portraits recently, and here are a couple that looked pretty good.
My friend Maria before she left for Russia
Paul from TübingenBodil's portrait of me in the world's narrowest street. (I just noticed that the way my shirt is folded, it says "Bikepoo")

Self Portrait
My bike

some recent photos

Here are some photos that I've taken recently at partys, out and about, etc.Bodil and Anna at Anna's party in Nurtingen. I like the expressions of the guys behind them.
Bodil and Gary before going to Anna's party. I don't think Bodil wants to be seen with the sheep hat on.
My friend Gautam, one of the two guys who taught me how to cook indian food. He looks very serious here talking with Ali, but really he's a nice guy
Kari and her boy Matt on a recent bike ride to Tübingen. We rode along the Neckar river, and through some paths and eventually came across a small lake that is for nudists. There were naked guys just walking around everywhere. We were all laughing so hard, and we took off pretty quick.
Pigeon that I saw yesterday in Tübingen. I really like the picture, despite the grim subject. This $100 lens is really sharp and the image quality is great for the price. I like how you can see the exact plane of focus on the step in this photo. Even blown up to full size, the image is sharp. I'm working on that a lot, getting the focus right and keeping the images sharp. I normally shoot the lens pretty wide open, so I keep the auto focus set to center focus. I'll focus on the subject, and then compose the image. This works in low light, because the auto-focus on this lens isn't so great but it can usually hit the center focus easily.

One day, I am gonna grow wings,
a chemical reaction,
hysterical and useless
hysterical and

let down and hanging around,
crushed like a bug in the ground.
Let down and hanging around.

I'm officially finished with my second semester here in Germany, and it has gone by SO fast it's almost unreal. To celebrate, I'm watching radiohead videos on youtube and I have a weekend chock full of parties to attend. My camera is finally back in my possession, and it looks as good as new. The warm weather is supposed to finally come this weekend, after 2 months of clouds and rain.

My current favorite song

The band is Interpol, the song is C'mere, and I can't believe these guys sound so good live. I really should buy their new album, I hear it's amazing

Parisian bicycle initiative

Read a story today about the city of Paris launching a massive bicycle rental program around the city, with a major push towards more bicycle traffic and less cars. There is a similar program in Munich, but I'm not sure that it's as developed as the one that the frenchies are starting. Anyway, interesting article and I'm interested in how successful the program will be.

The year abroad is almost over

I took 2 exams in the last 2 days, yesterday was Principles of Management II, and today was Principles of Corporate Finance. I felt pretty comfortable with both, and I think did well especially on the finance test. Now I have nothing to do until next Friday, when I take my german test, and then I'm finished! My camera should be finally repaired by the beginning of next week, and I can't wait.

I went ride today, on a nice bike path through what is called the Schwabisch Alb, which is basically a series of big hills near where I live. The weather was drizzly, and I actually wore my tweed cardigan in July! I was happily thinking about how I wasn't in the 100+ degree weather back in California. Good times.

Checked out cyclofiend's current classics today, and saw a beauty of a bike here. Exactly what i'm planning to do when I get back, except maybe with a quickbeam. Beautiful, and elegant bicycle and I like the off-white color more than I thought I would. Looks very classy with the silver components. I could see a bike similar to that with a generator hub and a lugged stem, we shall have to wait and see. For now, the Atlantis is still working out wonderfully.

I've been drinking a lot of coffee lately, and I alternate between using a french press and a stovetop espresso maker. Every time I drink coffee from the french press, I just wish that I had made a nice strong cup of espresso instead. I love the caffeine rush while I'm sitting at the scrabble board arranging the tiles.

I'll be getting on the plane for California in 20 days, and I'm sure I'll miss living in Europe, but I'm excited to start working again. It sucks being a poor student with no money. It's going to be great to graduate and start working, so I can be independent!