Poscht ausm Wilden Weschtn

Out of all the bands reuniting lately, Britain's KULA SHAKER were probably the most pleasant surprise. The 4-piece band, whose debut album "K" hit double platinum in 1995 and catapulted the band into the public eye, vanished just as quickly as they had appeared, and they have been sorely missed ever since. Surprisingly, 10 years later the band decided to give it another shot, and their 2007 album "STRANGEFOLK" was anything but a sell-out and showed the band stronger - and more relevant - than ever. In times of war, climate change, consumerism and economic crisis, the band does not only still sound great, but has something to SAY, and something to GIVE as well - if you take a look at their website www.kulashaker.org, where they hand out little virtual Christmas gifts for fans, and offer free downloads such as the hilarious and peculiar singles "Drink Tea (for the Love of God)" or "Baby Jesus", you can't help liking these guys. Their 4th al

Thanks to a pen-friendship initiated by a tennis colleague, i have the honour of welcoming Yulia Kraeva, a young lady from Moscow/Russia, in Vienna from December 31 until January 7. I always loved showing visitors around, and i haven't hit the tourist trail for quite a while, so I gladly took up the "duty" of being her tour guide. Since she'll be here for more than a week, and her hosts Heinz & Anna are pretty busy fostering their 4-months-old baby at the moment, i guess we'll have plenty of time to enjoy Vienna in all its diversity instead of just ticking off the most important sights. In a way, visits like these give you the opportunity to rediscover your hometown and appreciate the fact that you live here and not elsewhere. So I already took some time off work, and look forward to be spending a full week holiday - without even leaving the city. As so many Russians - and Vienna tourists in general - Yulia is very interested in the classical music department

In Abwesenheit unseres Wahl-Australiers Stefan Podar durfte ich erstmals beim "The Group" Tennisdoppel teilnehmen, wodurch es zu einem Vergleichskampf Essling vs. Ottakring kam, welcher fairerweise auf neutralem Boden (in der MAXX23 Halle in Altmannsdorf) ausgetragen wurde. Um ein möglichst ausgeglichenes Spiel zu gewährleisten, einigte man sich bereits im Vorfeld auf ein Duell Lackner/Petzelbauer gegen Pusam/Park. Dass es allerdings so spannend UND hochklassig werden würde, damit hatte wohl niemand gerechnet. Sämtliche Kontrahenten waren 100%ig fokussiert, was schon die Tatsache zeigte, dass Max Petzelbauer eine taktische Besprechung mit seinem Doppelpartner am Vorabend im Charlie P's ablehnte, um am Samstag körperlich voll fit zu sein... Bereits der erste Satz war charakteristisch für das ganze Spiel: während die ehemaligen "Blondschöpfe" Lackner/Petzelbauer von Beginn an die Initiative übernahmen und konsequent den Weg ans Netz suchten, wurde man doch immer w

Der "1. Esslinger Herbstwandertag" wurde zwar nicht der von mir erhoffte und geplante Gruppenausflug (dafür war der Termin Ende Oktober auch zu spät, nach dem Kälteeinbruch vor 2 Wochen war den meisten die Lust vergangen), aber dafür ein echtes 2-Mann-Abenteuer! Eigentlich wollte ich die Wanderung ja schon aufs Frühjahr 2010 verschieben, aber nachdem die Wetterprognose für dieses Wochenende recht günstig schien, hab ich mich dann doch anders entschieden und glücklicherweise das Esslinger 2-Rad-Konditionswunder Bernhard "Börnie" Kornherr zum Mitmachen überreden können. Wie nicht anders erwartet, war er auch genau der Richtige für ein solches Unterfangen. Wir starteten gestern, Samstag, um 10:00 in leichtem Nieselregen von Seewiesen (nahe Aflenz, Steiermark) auf 970 m Seehöhe und wurden schon bald von beträchtlichen Schneemengen überrascht, die unseren Aufstieg erschwerten. Um 12:30 erreichten wir ziemlich durchnässt die auf 1650 m gelegene Voisthaler Hütte und hielte

Von langer Hand geplant, hat der Ottakringer der Nation, Stefan Podar a.k.a. Pavel oder auch Stuffi die Insel der Seligen verlassen und ist für die nächsten... naja sagen wir mal 15 Monate, nach Australien - genauer gesagt Adelaide, South Australia - übersiedelt, um dort gemeinsam mit seiner besseren Hälfte Julia Habitzl den Masterlehrgang in "Sports Physiotherapy" zu absolvieren. Zum Abschied sagte er nicht bloss leise Servus, sondern lud zu einer grossen Abschiedsfete inkl. Live-Musik in Gestalt von Mike Regan, Exilaustralier und Musiker in Wien. Bis in die frühen Morgenstunden wurde im Schwarzen Schaf (Wien 8., Lederergasse) der Musik gelauscht, getratscht und getrunken. Mittlerweile haben sich die beiden bereits in Adelaide einquartiert, und während Julia erstmal 3 Monate in einem Englisch-Kurs büffelt und hoffentlich genug Aussie-Slang für eine erfolgreiche Alltags- (um nicht zu sagen: Haushalts-)Bewältigung aufschnappt, darf Stefan die Gegend erkunden und im Gegenzug d

The following article by Pamela Bloom is taken from the newspaper "DER STANDARD", which publishes a choice of collected "NY Times" articles each Monday. The modern world has given us a lot to cope with, but who really has the skills? The whirlwind of emotions caused by Scotland's release of the Lockerbie bomber has illuminated a common psychological problem. How de we move on from grief and rage? Loss is inevitable in life. But when the scale is huge - a terrorist attack like September 11, the breakdown of social justice as in Iraq or Rwanda - the rage and resentment left behind is often more cancerous than the event. Is there a way to recover from extreme trauma that allows us to let go of the pain and reboot our lives? Many of the stories I collected for a book titled "Buddhist Acts of Compassion" point to a radical shift in perspective that could transform the way we deal with such issues, not to mention inspire profound social change. A slogan in B

... and that is my tiny chat algérien called Zizou, whom I found at the restrooms of Boumédienne International Aiport in Algiers! Or should I say, he found me? My vet told me it was a classic case of the pet picking its owner. He suddenly sat there crying and shivering, when I was about to exit the men's toilet, while Said was waiting with my luggage in the check-in queue. I told the cleaning lady "Hey! Un chat!" but she just shrugged, so i picked up the little tiger, who immediately started purring. Just a few seconds later, I had already made up my mind and put him in a little laundry bag inside of my hand-luggage. The people in the check-in queue didn't bother, and - amazingly - the people at the luggage screening didn't notice. My hand luggage was scanned twice, in Algiers and in Paris, but none of the clerks discovered Zizou, who also didn't give himself away by crying, for God's sake. He seemed so relieved to be removed from that neon-bright and co

It took me a while to settle down from the emotional rollercoaster ride that has been my 2nd week in Algeria, and to be able to write about it in retrospect. After I left Constantine, both minor catastrophes and small miracles seemed to happen to me alternatingly, in a twisting plot that could have made any movie writer envious, and that finally made this holiday the unforgettable trip I was hoping for. I left to Biskra on Thursday, August 16, 2009 with a certain feeling and intuition that the highlights of my trip were still ahead of me. However, not even in my wildest dreams could I have predicted what would happen to me over the next (and last) 4 days in Algeria. I felt quite sick, and I knew I was on a tight budget (I had about 75 EUR left) but as it turned out, that was only the beginning... I had split up with Salah, the brother of my pen-friend Hassina (with whom I had done most of the travelling up to that point), the previous night and decided to do the trip to Biskra on my ow

Nach genau einer Woche in Algerien finde ich nun erstmals die Zeit laenger im Netz zu surfen, und meine bisherigen Eindruecke ein wenig zu ordnen und zusammenzufassen. Diese Verschnaufpause kommt aus mehreren Gruenden gelegen: erstens fuehle ich mich gesundheitlich nicht auf der Hoehe und hab soeben 2 Aspirin eingeworfen, zweitens brauchte ich schon dringend mal einen Abend fuer mich alleine, und drittens befinde ich mich jetzt an einem Wendepunkt der Reise: ich habe mich heute von der feuchtwarmen Mittelmeerkueste verabschiedet und bin jetzt auf dem Weg ins Landesinnere; das heisst in Richtung Sahara. Zu diesem Zweck hab ich mir heute ein Hotelzimmer in Constantine , der Hauptstadt Ost-Algeriens, geleistet. Constantine liegt etwa 160 km im Landesinneren und bietet sich als Ausgangspunkt geradezu an: die Stadt thront majestaetisch auf einem Hochplateau und wird von einer tiefen Schlucht durchzogen, ueber die mehrere spektakulaere Bruecken (nichts fuer schwache Nerven...

I'm thrilled to announce that my trip to Algeria (something that seemed nothing but a crazy idea a few months ago) is not only becoming reality, but is already in its final planning stages and about to start very soon. Since the tickets are already paid, the visa is finally issued, and my backpack's in the corner ready to be stuffed, i think that my mother (who was convinced from the beginning that I would get hijacked) really has to be worried now. For those of you who don't know where Algeria is, you can find out on the little map below. It is located in Central Northern Africa, sandwiched between Morocco and Tunisia, and although it is actually the 2nd biggest country in Africa (and N° 11 in the world!), not too many people know a lot about it. This is, in part, due to political and social difficulties the country had to go through ever since it seperated from its former colonial emperor France in 1962, making it unattractive to the average tourist (for the adventurous,

I had many reasons to celebrate my 33rd birthday on July 1, 2009 - the most obvious was the anniversary itself (especially since i hadn't done anything on my 30th), but another reason was the completion of the Bikram Yoga 30-day challenge the day before. So I decided to throw a party under the "33 years, 30 hot days" moniker. As it turned out, exactly 30 people showed up - so looking back, the party should have been labelled "33 years, 30 hot days, and 30 cool people"! Thanks again to everybody who came to celebrate, or wanted to come but couldn't make it. There were a few more reasons to celebrate this year. One of them is a new job contract which I signed the day after my birthday - I will start working as a freelance physiotherapist in a nice practice in the 9th disctrict, close to Votivkirche. A friend of mine, who embarks on his Master Studies to Adelaide/Australia very soon, suggested me as his replacement, and this came as the right opportunity at ju

Gestern bin ich zum 2. Mal "Onkel Alex" geworden - Angela's Sohn Eddie (ein kleiner Tribut an Pearl-Jam-Sänger Eddie Vedder, aber auch ein sehr hübscher Burschennamen, wie ich finde) ist überpünktlich - eigentlich war mit Verspätung gerechnet worden - am 2. Juni um ca. 21:00 Uhr in Gross-Enzersdorf auf die Welt gekommen! Da Angela sich für eine Hausgeburt entschieden hatte (2 Hebammen unterstützten sie dabei), konnte Töchterchen Lana (im August 3 Jahre alt) also gleich zuhause ihren kleinen Bruder in Empfang nehmen. Ich gratulieren Angela & Hudson ganz herzlich zur Geburt, jetzt ist die Kleinfamilie perfekt! (sofern das letzte Wort da schon gesprochen ist...)

I've been trying to get into Yoga before (twice, to be exact) and - although I've always seen the benefits of it - I could never quite keep it going. On one hand, I've never liked being tied down to a regular "weekly" class on a certain day; on the other hand I'd always found it hard to establish a regular practice routine at home. This has changed since I discovered Bikram Yoga a few weeks ago, which - to me - offers everything that previous Yoga classes were lacking, and more. I had heard that "Hot Yoga" was very popular in the US, but - although the idea of practising Yoga in a heated room made sense to me - I thought of it as just another American marketing trick to make more money out of the health/fitness/spirituality boom. After all, this boom is still ongoing, and Yoga instructors worldwide have without a doubt benefited from it over the last few decades. What I didn't know was that there's actually one guy standing behind the concept

I know what they say... Blogs are like assholes - everybody has one. Now I am proud/embarrassed to say: I have one, too! Welcome to my... blog! I know that I'm far behind the trend, but I guess this is a good thing. As far as my title goes: I'll try to spare the world from unnessecary "litter" and keep my postings to a bare minimum. (Un)fortunately that's all I can say about this blog at the moment, except that there might be postings in other languages as well, preferrably in German. For anyone who is still interested to have an occasional look: thank you, and I hope you'll find it interesting!