Geeky Germans

Most people think that Germans are anything else but geeky, or funny or crazy. I realized that once more when I watched this week’s episode of Community, in which Jeff and the study group fought against the “evil Germans”. I have to say I laughed a lot about this, because mostly it is true. But Germans can be funny, they just often hide it. I can’t really say why. There are comedians in Germany and some are very funny, like Anke Engelke. She is smart, can act, sing and is simply hilarious. She’s also the German voice of Marge Simpsons. There might not be many funny Germans on TV, there are no German sitcoms, at least I don’t know one, and only one guy called Stefan Raab who’s having a late night talk show. The “heute show” is a funny news show, which can be a slightly bit compared to SNL. It’s just all about the news and politics, but very well made and very funny.

But Stefan Raab is the man of German Comedy. Whatever he does, it becomes a success. Many guys tried to do a late night show, but all of them failed. He does his show named “TV total” since 1999, which can be compared to Craig Ferguson, Jimmy Fallon or Conan O’Brien. But Raab also has many other shows right now, like the Poker Nights, in which he plays poker with 4 other guys, or he combines boxing matches with trivia. After each round of boxing, there comes a round of trivia, so it’s not only about a man’s strength. In the show “Schlag den Raab” (Beat the Raab) people can apply on the internet to be contestants of the show and fight against Stefan Raab. If they compete against him and get more points than him, which means they win more rounds, they win money. The largest amount someone took home was 3.5 Mio € (about 4.5 Mio $). The games can be any kind of sports like hockey or basketball, some games of skill like stacking cups, or answering trivia questions.

But the first thing he did beside “TV total” was the WOK WM. Since 2003 this championship (= Weltmeisterschaft in German, or short "WM") is a big TV event and every year it gets bigger. I guess you know that a WOK is an Asian pan. But Raab doesn’t cook with it, so it might sound that is a cooking competition, but it is not. He sits in the WOK and uses it as a sleigh. If that’s not geeky, I don’t know what is, or at least it’s some kinda crazy. But it works. People from 11 different countries start this year. There’s a single and a team competition, every team consists of 4 people. So they sit in their WOKs, and glide down the ice track which is normally for real sleighs. Stefan Raab proves very well that Germans can be funny, too, if only they want to.

I’m gonna watch the WOK WM tonight, it’s always fun to watch, and in my mind the best event of the year on German TV. That you can understand better what I am talking about, I found a video on youtube showing a man who works for a German radio station and did such a "WOK ride": 

Do you like sleigh riding, and have you ever considered using a WOK to do that? Would you like to sit in one and do a “WOK ride”?

Sand Fantasy

"You are not alone. You've got a friend, who will help you through your pains and sorrow and will always be at your side..."

-Ilana Yahav

What do you think of when you hear or read the word 'painting'? Probably you think about a paper and pencils, or any other sort of colors. But there's a way to draw something without any colors, but with sand. When I firstly saw the videos of Ilana Yahav I was pretty amazed. This is real art. She creates such wonderful pictures. And I guess there are not many guys out there who use sand to do something like that. Here is one of her videos that I found on youtube.

For more on Ilana Yahav click on her website 

What do you think of it? Have you also found some art on youtube that you really liked? Please comment and share your fave videos!

The android next door

'I feel that I feel, but compared to how deeply humans feel, it seems very superficial to me and that makes me sad sometimes.'

Bina48

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2175721/Rise-Machines-Meet-Bina48-robot-tell-jokes-recite-poetry-mimics-mankind-startling-ease.html#ixzz271JbgZOh

Yesterday I saw a TV contribution about Bina48. Have you already heard of her? She is an android, but decides on her own what she says and she looks and acts mostly like a real human being. Bina is a copy of a real existing woman, you can talk to her by speaking into a microphone, and you get a response that fits to your question. She just 'thinks' and choose what to say. She choose the words real humans put into her head, but she finds what's suitable and then she talks and talks and talks and doesn't like to stop. Real woman like, isn't it?

Bruce Duncan works with her for two years now, and 'she' still surprises him. He is sure that one day everyone can have such a human looking robot, which is therefore called humanoid. Currently she costs about $ 125,000. A lot of money, and it's really a great thing that robots become more and more human. But in the other hand, wouldn't it be strange when you, one day, maybe in about 50 years, can't be sure if it's an robot you are talking to, or an actual person?

Imagine you live next door with an android. You greet it, you see it as a 'normal' person. Maybe one day everyone has a robot to do everything for them - but what will be left for us? Do we sit in a chair and get served all the time? Of course this sounds great, and for sure the humanoid robots are a brilliant invention and shows that the technical knowledge developed very well in the past few years, but it wouldn't it be boring for us one day if the robots will do all our jobs? Or will we then have other things to do? Will we start building more robots, than bringing actual babies to life?

I don't wanna complain, as I said I love the robot, and I also love the amazing work of these brilliant minds like Mr Duncan's, but I'm just thinking. I mean, it can be scared in some way, right? And imagine someone can create an android who looks exactly like you. It's great that if your family lives far away and then you can have a copy from your parents all the time with you and the best thing is they can't die, but wouldn't it be also strange to know that another you is out there somewhere? And that some guys who love all that one actor or singer, all want to have such a robot and then the film industry don't know anymore who of them is the real actor?

The Daily Mail (UK) wrote this great article about Bina48. You can read it here.

Or watch that video, of 'that guy with the robot', Bruce Duncan, who presented Bina48 to the TEDxHarlem audience. It's really impressive:

My first interview

This time I'll keep it very short. It's probably the most personal thing I've ever done. You might know that I study Media Management and that it's part of my studies to write articles for magazines, to design them and also to do interviews, photos and so on. So as my studies will continue in 2 weeks, I thought why not doing an interview with me? It was a good practice for me and another chance to write what's on my mind. I struggled a bit but in the end, but then I thought why not putting it on my blog?

The interview is about when I started to write, how I came back after some years of not writing at all, when I realized what I missed all the time, how much it helped me, what inspires me, what I like about TV shows, plays and movies, and why the internet is so important these days. So if you want to, feel free to click here to open the PDF and read my first interview.

Anxiety of Misfortune

This is my new short story. I hope you'll like it ;)

Deep inside she felt it. Knew it was wrong. But she couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't change the fact. She knew that she had to do it. She wanted it more than anything else. For such a long time. She couldn't exactly remember when this started, when and how it began. But she was sure that she didn't want to go back. She didn't want to lose her memory. Because it changed her in a way she couldn't describe. She didn't have the words, she couldn't tell anyone about it. No one would ever believe her. They might say that she's living a dream, that she tried to convince herself that this is real. It's only her imagination. But was it really like that? Was this only in her mind? Something she just created in her head? No, this could not be possible. No doubt. This had to be the reality. It couldn't be explained any differently. She hadn't started this. It was not her fault that it all happened like this. It wasn't her intention that this man came into her life. She had never seen him before, not even heard his name. How would she have known that it once would be like this? She couldn't predict the future. This couldn't be her fault. No way. Why did people try to convince her that it's just her imagination that let her see the things like that? Even when they're different? What is real and what's a stupid lie? She had to figure out the truth. What is hidden behind? Could she find it? Was there a possible, logical way to find out? She tried to remember the beginning of all this. Of the things that occurred to her in the last year. She had to find out if it was some sort of dream. Had the people really tried to tell her she believes in a lie or was that only her imagination? She couldn't say that, not yet.

I don't want this blog post to be very long, that's why I made a whole site for the whole story. So if you wanna go on reading, please click here....

Nothing’s more adorable than kids

Kids are really cute. They have such an imagination, simple incredible. When my aunt called me a few days ago and told me about her foster daughter Isa, I didn’t just had a lil smile on my face. My aunt told me that she was driving on the interstate with her hubby and the kids as the radio announcer talked something about a ghost driver. Isa heard that and asked: since when can ghosts drive cars? In that moment my aunt told me this, I felt like I needed to hug Isa for that. Have I also been so cute at that age?

Her brother Max is at least as cute as Isa. He is one of those 7-year old boys who can’t imagine playing with something non-technological. The last time he visited me, he asked me to use my smartphone, my computer, or my Nintendo DS. We had a conversation like this:

Me: You won’t like the games I have. 

Max: I don’t think so. I like them. 

Me: But you don’t know which games I have. 

Max: I don’t mind. I’ll like them anyway. 

Me: What makes you so sure about that? 

Max: I can play my games all the time, I wanna play something else.

I tried to convince him to play hide and seek or something like that with his sister, but he didn’t want to. Honestly I am not such a fan of giving such young guys already a computer or smartphone. A DS okay, but not all the time. When I remember back when I was a child, which is only about 15 years ago, I only had a simple Game boy, and that’s it. But I don’t wanna complain, because I really loved my dolls the most, and spent the most time with them and meeting my bestie.

But why I think that Max is at least as cute as his sister, is because of all these gadgets. This lets him think differently about things. We can’t think about them like that, because we know how life was like without it. When he once asked me a question, with which I finish this blog entry, I was totally confused. This shows how much the technology is already in the mind of kids. They take it for granted, it’s normal and they can’t imagine life without it. I couldn’t have thought about such a question. And even though it’s a bit sad, it’s also funny and creative.

When you had no computer, how have you used the internet?

The real usage of your feet

You always have thought that you can use your feet only for walking? But they can do so much more, like acting. You can’t believe that? Well, watch this video and you will be amazed. There is a german girl called Anne Klinge who uses her feet and hands to make a play. Dress your feet and try to make your own play. It’s funny - not just to watch - do it yourself. You know so many actors out there, but do you know ‘feet-actor’? I don’t think so - so let’s try something new.


Watch here the 'real' usage of your feet

What makes a commercial actually good?

Okay we all watch TV daily and we all see commercials every day as well. But do we love them? Most of all not. Because they aren’t made very well. We want to be entertained, we want to see something funny or something that let us think about something. That is not average or look like it is only done for money making. Okay, you’re right, that is the main intension of a commercial. But it also should be smart and creative to be kept in mind, shouldn’t it?

Commercials that I like are for example this one for a Sony smartphone in which a little boy ponders about its functionality. (Video on top, below the link if it doesn't work)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMnlfPvd5AI 

Another one I like is a very old one - so you also can see how the way of a commercial has changed in the past years which is really interesting. Now we have much more possibilities with all the technology. But anyway, I like this commercial for a german newspaper. (Video below, link if it doesn't work)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5XHqCW3ow8 

What do you think about these commercials? What are your faves? What do you like about them or don’t you watch any commercial? Do you think the new ones are the better ones? Please leave a comment.