Grúas...

Esta foto la hice justo antes de que empezara a lloviznar. Creo que me gusta porque en el subconsciente las grúas me recuerdan a Madrid...


I took this one just before it started drizzling. I think I like it because the cranes remind me of Madrid...

Copia de seguridad...

Casi casi llego ya al centenar de entradas, quién lo iba a decir. Esto me ha hecho pensar en un par de cosas, lo primero que ha sido un gustazo hacerlas y lo segundo que, por lo mismo, me daría pena perder todo esto. Así que este fin de semana he hecho una copia de seguridad de todas las entradas, por si acaso al servidor de google le da hipo un día de estos.

Las he puesto todas en un fichero y estaba pensando en como hacer un índice. Por ahora lo que más me convence es el formato calendario como en la foto de esta entrada.

I´m about to reach the one hundred posts mark, quite amazingly. This made me think about a couple of issues, first that it´s been a pleasure to do this and second, that I´d really regret losing the posts, so I used some time during the weekend to make a backup, not that the google server has some sort of hiccup one of these days and they go all missing.

I put them all in one file and I was wondering how to best make an index. So far I am inclined to use the calendar format for it as shown in the picture above.

La noche de los trípodes...

En realidad se llama Festival of Light porque han iluminado muchos edificios en el centro de la ciudad. Pero había tropecientos mil fotógrafos con trípodes por todas partes (yo incluído), tomando fotos a diestro y siniestro.

Por lo pronto anoche aprendí que para hacer buenas fotos me hacen falta unos buenos guantes y unos calcetines gordos. Que frío que hacía...

Un set de Picasa con fotos se puede ver aquí. Me gustaría saber cual os gusta más.

It´s actually called Festival of Light because there are many buildings illuminated for a couple of weeks. But there were loads of photographers with tripods (me included), literally everywhere taking photos like mad.

I learned quite a few things yesterday night. The main one is that if I ever want to take good shots I urgently need gloves and thick socks. It was damn cold!

You can see a Picasa set with photos here. I´d like to know which one you like best.

Slightly foxed

Leo Slightly Foxed desde que su autora dejó un comentario en una de mis primeras entradas. Me encanta como se expresa. Supongo que antes tenía mucho mérito porque era una española escribiendo en inglés. Ahora la autora es americana, así que no sé si tendrá incluso más mérito :-)

Como suele decirse, de prueba un botón: esta entrada me parece antológica. Que lo disfrutéis. La he añadido a mi lista de enlaces.

I´ve been reading Slightly Foxed since the author left a comment on one of my early posts. I really love the way she writes. It used to be a Spaniard writing in English but since recently the author is american, maybe it makes it even more worth it :-)

I added this blog to my list of links and this is one post I particularly enjoyed.

Cementerios

Me gustan los cementerios en Inglaterra y Alemania porque muchos son como un parque, especialmente los que están en medio de la ciudad. Éste lo descubrimos el otro día en Kreuzberg, buscando sitio para aparcar.

I like cemeteries in England and Germany because many are almost like a park, especially if they are in the middle of the city. We discovered this one in Kreuzberg during the weekend, looking for a parking spot.

El otoño ya está aquí...

Deutsches Technikmuseum de noche...

Hacer fotos de noche sin trípode (todas las anteriores) o con el mini trípode en un puente con tráfico es casi inútil, pero supongo que todo es cuestión de práctica hasta dar con los parámetros adecuados.

Taking night shots without a tripod (all the previous ones) or with a mini tripod standing in a bridge with heavy traffic is pretty much useless, but I guess it´s a matter of practice to get the settings right.

Just because...

JC closed the gap to the shelves which contained books in Spanish.
There were not that many volumes and, as it would be expected from a bookshop in downtown Berlin, it just contained mainstream authors.
People usually go to bookshops in order to buy books, right? Well, he was there to leave one instead. More specifically, one written by him.

He had collected his old short stories in a forty-odd page booklet and had published it with lulu.com. The most immediate result was this crazy idea of his, so crazy in fact that it may even work out well. He was not in the book selling business, in which he faced so much competition, but in the business of gifting smiles to people. And this you can do in many varied ways, for example giving something unexpected, be it a photo, some candy, or a short story...

Just as he was about to step out and look for one of those big red sofas a thought blazed through his mind. What if the book ends up in a bin? What is an average German bookshop assistant supposed to do with a book which she cannot understand and is so obviously not her business? Well, possibly the same a Spanish bookshop assistant would do with a German book with no ISBN and no marked price. Whatever the chances, he set out to spend the evening there, pretending to be reading that big photo book but actually keeping his eyes and mind fixed on that shelf.

Five minutes later the first person approached the Spanish section. He had a quick look at "La sombra del viento", checked the price and left without even sparing a second look at the other books. He had obviously known what he was looking for well in advance and not the kind of person JC was waiting for. What a waste of adrenalin, he thought.

A bit later a young lady appeared, walking lazily from shelf to shelf, like a negative print of the previous bestseller predator. As she was making her way along the aisle, her finger touching the covers of the books, tenderly caressing them, recognizing the titles and the authors and maybe remembering those long hours isolated from everything while enjoying the reading. When the finger reached the "C" section, it stopped abruptly, exactly at the same time JC´s heart did. She took the book with care, surprised at not recognizing neither the author nor the title. As the back cover did not provide any further information, there was no other way to find out what it was about, but to start reading it. Two pages, two short stories and an eternity later she looked around, half curious, half amused. Slowly, very slowly, with her utmost innocent look, she let the book drop into her bag and continued her gentle stride for a few minutes. Eventually she headed towards the exit and disappeared in the crowd.

JC took a deep breath, closed the book in his hands and left. On the way home he was thinking of the handwritten note that the girl had found:
"This book is not for sale, it has no ISBN and it doesn't belong to the bookshop inventory, so if you ask, they will claim it is not theirs. Take it home with you, read it slowly, one page and one short story at a time. When you are finished with it, bring it back to this bookshop so that somebody else can enjoy it."

PS: The bookshop is Hugendubel in the Schlossstrasse, if you pass by, the book may have already been brought back...

Y que cumplas muchos más...

Una de las mejores cosas de este mundo, los cumpleaños de los niños pequeños.

One of the most lovely things in this world, a birthday party with small children.

Die Welt...

Potsdamer Platz de noche...

Bundestag...

Como se puede apreciar en las fotos, en la parte del edificio (Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus) que no da al Spree hay un patio abierto con un trozo del muro. De hecho, aunque no se ve en la foto hay otro trozo que continua dentro del edificio. Un buen recuerdo para el día a día de los políticos...

As can be seen in the photos, there is an open yard in the side of the building (Marie-Elisabeth- Lüders-Haus) not facing the Spree and it has a segment of the original Wall. In fact there is another segment inside the building (cannot be seen in the photo though). A good reminder for politicians...

Atasco en el Spree...

Siempre se ven barcos yendo y viniendo con turistas en el Spree.

Pero lo de ayer era exagerado...


Traffic jam in the Spree...
There are always boats with tourists coming and going along the Spree.

But yesterday it was maybe a bit too much...

D wie Demokratie...

Hoy dando un paseo por el centro nos hemos encontrado con esta D gigante en uno de los edificios del Deutscher Bundestag. Pero la D no es la de Deutschland, sino la de Democracia.

Mirando en internet he encontrado las fotos del making-of.

This evening we went for a walk and found this huge D in one of the buildings of the Deutscher Bundestad. Contrary to myfirst thought, it is not D for Deutschland, but D for Democracy.

Follow the link for some photos of the making-of and additional information.