Miscellaneous Meandering: A Mr. Bean Christmas

Merry Christmas!
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Many people are afraid of dinosaurs. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Miscellaneous Meandering: Ah Yeah! Holidays

As mentioned in a previous post, I am unable to recall all of the the domestic details of our life in Germany. However, I'm sure we must have been Bounty fans.

And so with that...
Encore for the Paper Towel Gang, Ah Yeah!


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Many people are afraid of encores. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 18a: Friedrich Rückert's “Barbarossa”

The ancient Barbarossa,Friedrich, the Kaiser great,Within the castle-cavern, sits in enchanted state.

He did not die; but ever waits in the chamber deep,Where hidden under the castle he sat himself to sleep.

The splendor of the Empire he took with him away,And back to earth will bring it when dawns the promised day.

The chair is ivory purest whereof he makes his bed;The table is of marble whereon he props his head.

His beard, not flax, but burning with fierce and fiery glow,Right through the marble table beneath his chair does grow.

He nods in dreams and winketh with dull, half-open eyes,And once a page he beckons beckons--a page that standeth by.

He bids the boy in slumber "O dwarf, go up this hour,And see if still the ravens are flying round the tower;

And if the ancient ravens still wheel above us here,Then must I sleep enchanted for many a hundred year."

~Friedrich Rückert
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Most people are afraid of old poetry. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 17: Wilhelmsbad Puppenmuseum

February 21, 1991:
“Inside the main building was the Hessisches Puppen Museum. There were many dolls and puppets. The coolest exhibit was an Oriental display of an entire village made of crepe-like paper”.

Once we went to an old spa, called Wilhelmsbad, with its many secret nooks and crannies throughout the grounds. The spa was built in 1777 by Prince Wilhelm von Hessen-Kassel. Sadly, there was no access to the tower of the castle ruins; so I had to make due climbing to the top of the Hermit’s cell.

In the Puppenmuseum there were amazing puppen exhibits to delight the eye. The paper village, a gift from Japan, contained 493 figures. All of the buildings, people with ornate black hairdos, clothes, and market place stalls were made of paper. There were paper vegetables, paper fish, paper meats, paper trees,…everything tiny and colorful. New Mexico man pointed to a lone small figure with long brown paper hair standing atop of a little pagoda …nah, it couldn’t have been…could it? All in all, it was an interestingly fun day.

A post card as promised.

Paper Village [you can just see the edge of the pagoda on the left side].

Castle Ruin and Hermit's Cell

Carousel

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Most people are afraid of puppens. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Part 16: Zoo – Nuremberg

February 19, 1991
Weather: Sunny and cold
“Hardly anyone was at the zoo, so we could sort of play with the animals. There were 2 hippos in the water pools with only a metal bar separating them from us. I held out my zoo map which made the male open his mouth real wide.” …stepped over the rail to take a picture of the wolves who then rushed towards us putting their paws on the fence and wagging their tails like puppies. ”

Playing predator and prey games with animals is a very good way to build essential climbing muscles. Had a lovely day roaming the Nuremburg Zoo, and quite enjoyed having the run of the place. Apparently, frigid winter days cause low visitation rates. Despite the lack of people anonymity escaped us. We quickly discovered our growing fame had begun to spread not only through man-kind but through animal-kind as well.

The zoo inhabitants were quite thrilled about our visit. Since the zookeepers were oddly absent, we dared to get as close as possible to our new found admirers. One of the manatees even requested I sign his paddle, but I didn’t have a Sharpie. Not to mention Furchtlose-Schloss-Aufsatz-Bergsteiger-Frau takes some time to write properly and a lazy day had already made the manatee quite tired. Instead, we promised to send him a postcard from our next outing, which we did.
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Many people are afraid of frigid days and manatees. Admit it, I am FEARLESS.

Part 15: Alte Fanserie Wildpark – Frankfurt

February 14, 1991

“The Animals run in large fenced-in sections of woodland. Fed various species of deer and wild boars which were quite cute. When the baby boars saw that we had food, those dumb little things would run along the fence after us making the most ridiculous noises (we laughed and laughed). Visited with Elch (moose), wolves, and European Bison.”

Went to the Wildpark for a Valentine’s Day break from climbing . The day was cold, 14 degrees with giant snowflakes. New Mexico Man attempted to pet one of the Wisent (aka Bison Bonasus). Said Bison took this as an opportunity to 1) try to impale the offending hand on his horn 2) try to butt the wood fence down with his head. Ha ha ha! New Mexico Man kept his cape a bit farther from the fences after that.

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Most people aren’t able to see the humor in wild boars, cold weather, and near gorings. Admit it I am Fearless.

Miscellaneous Meandering: Ah Yeah!

You know its funny, I have absolutely no recollection of using or buying paper towels while in Germany. I am positive that we did...and that our brand in those days was certainly Bounty - the quicker picker-upper. However, I am unable to recall even one paper towel musing.

Odd how the human mind selectively saves some snippits, and loses others for all time. Here is a little video that is sure to joggle the brain waves.


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Most people are afraid of independent scientists. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Miscellaneous Meandering: Harry und Charlie Mix & Remix

Because you simply can't get enough of a good thing: Hip Hop Harry (view then scroll down).

And lastly, is there nothing in this world
that can't be improved a Synthesizer?
[you might neet to hit the pause button and give it a head start in loading]
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Most people are afraid of Charlie. Admit it, I am Fearless.

Miscellaneous Meandering: Harry und Charlie

When we lived in Germany, we came across many British workers. They were often employed by the local attractions as tour guides for the English speaking tourists. As I became increasingly well known they numbered among my followers. They had nifty accents and children with names like Alister , Edgar, Harry, and Charlie.

One time when the weather was poor, little Harry carried New Mexico Man’s cape to prevent it from becoming heavily soiled. He was a most charming tyke and we rewarded him with hard-boiled sweets. Here is a video of little Harry and Charlie.