Monster Phone Bills

I love this commercial....it's simple and clear, and the monsters are pretty cute.  Especially the bluetooth headseat monster and his friend going through the wallet of the man in the Mercedes convertible!

A Gummi Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Haribo Vampire Gummis + Spooky Gummis from the gummi store

Not exactly Edward and the other Cullens, but the Vampire gummis are fun.

Their bodies are slightly licorice flavored, with normal gummi flavored wings.

Vacation on my Mind

Frau A and I haven't had a vacation since May.  That's quite a while to go without time off, and for Germany is bordering on criminal.  Over here, most people get 30 vacation days a year!  (Annual salary is proportionally lower, but it's a pretty good trade off)  Many take a 2 two-week trips per year, plus three weeks over the year end holidays (including public days).  Some will take a big three-week vacation instead -- I've never had one that long.

I am so ready to get out of town with Frau A, and channeled that excitement by browsing through some of my favorite photos from trips long ago.  These were taken on an old Canon compact, so nothing as gorgeous as Frau A's pics.  Hopefully in the next weeks we experience a combination of...

Something Different

In the Yukon (Canada), you can ride a 4-wheeler over light sand, running down to a wide lake, with mountains as backdrop.  Just a really unusual combination of natural features.

Good Timing

It's always nice to catch the things at just the right moment.  In this case, light-from-heaven and a rainbow off a cruise ship in Alaska.

     

Cool Creatures

Landscapes are nice, but a fur and fang are exciting.  Here, from completely opposite ends of the spectrum, stingrays in Grand Cayman and Huskies pulling a sled across an Alaskan glacier. 

       

Peace and Quiet

Adventure is great, but sometimes you need a little R&R.  Courtesy of a hut in the South Pacific.

Look for some vacation photos here in late November... 

A Table to Match My Shoes

So far, I haven't accomplished much during unemployment....a couple great weeks with my visiting parents, a lot of paperwork (German bureaucracy....), a couple interviews, and keeping the house clean. OK, that last one is a big one....it included totally cleaning out the kitchen and putting in some additional shelves. There's now empty storage space for new kitchen gadgets (pizza oven, here you come!)

But this week....I discovered the German versions of Home Depot and Lowe's AND gathered up the courage/vocabulary to ask them to cut some wood.  Today, I put it all together with my trusty drill and by some miracle it all worked!

Now there's a nice table in the hall to match my cute ballet flats  hall rug and red Billy bookshelves. More importantly, the Aboriginal paintings now have a home, since the walls are pretty much stone and hanging them just wasn't a good option.

A good week's work...now time to enjoy the long weekend!

  

Where is Georgetown in the Beer Bracket?

Yesterday, Frau A reminded me, quite clearly, that in my post Understanding the Beer Bracket, Part II, there was an inexcusable omission.  Actually, two.  Without hesitation, she offered a suggestion for the appropriate analogy linking the missing university and beer.

 

Her argument goes like this:

Georgetown is part of the Big East, but lies geographically closer to ACC country, near the heart of the sport.  Franziskaner is located in Munich (beer central) rather than the German northwest like the others in Part II.  Like the brewers in Part II, Franziskaner is big - the 3rd largest producer of weissbier in the world.  The others in Part II produce mainly pilsner, but we can probably agree the Hoyas play a different style of basketball than their Northeast conference mates.  Franziskaner started as a brewery across from a Franciscan monastery (hence the name and friar in the logo).  Georgetown was the first, and is therefore the oldest, Roman-Catholic (Jesuit) university in the U.S., and was founded by the first American bishop, John Carroll.

 

Note:  I'm sure her idea has nothing to do with the fact that Georgetown is her alma mater... or that Franziskaner is probably her favorite weissbier...or that Franziskaner brewed the first Vienna/Märzen style with higher alcohol content for Oktoberfest (in 1872)... or that Franziskaner had a cool carousel-bar at this year's Oktoberfest which rotated to give drinkers a changing view of the fair (see below)... but I had to admit it was a good start.  So I looked further into the matter.

 

Franziskaner Carousel Bar at Oktoberfest, 2010 

 

Munich is the capital of Bavaria, Washington the capital of the U.S..  Franziskaner is not far from the Isar River; Georgetown's main campus is on the Potomac.  In 1683, Bavarian troops stationed at the gates of Vienna to fight the Turks are supplied with weissbier, helping the Austrians achieve a historic victory.  Georgetown had over 1100 students (most of 'em) enlist to preserve the Union in the Civil War.  But there's more.

 

There have always been concerns that beer is unhealthy, whether for physical or spiritual reasons.  (In the year 600, an Irish missionary travelling through Bavaria was mortified to observe beer being sacrificed to a heathen god.  Today our gods are sports teams?)  But in 1602, Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria recognized that weissbier is an "ideal refreshment" for the population. He places every Bavarian brewery that produces weissbier under state ownership... Is this kind of like Obamacare - government medicine for the masses?  Did G-town grads have a hand that legislation?  But that's not all.

In the first decade of the 20th century, Franziskaner started delivering beer to North America.  In the same time frame, Georgetown founded their School of Medicine and School of Nursing.  Well, now that weissbier is available over here, they probably thought they should train healthcare personnel to administer it, right?  Healthy and ideal refreshment, right?  Within the same ten years, Georgetown began its basketball team/program too.  I'm not sure if this was a place to sacrifice the beer to the new god, or simply a central place/events to administer a recurring student healthcare treatment.  In either case, I'm guessing it was quickly followed by the first visit of the police to a campus party, but there is no historical evidance to support this theory.  Overall, the evidence is clear: Frau A's idea really makes sense.

 

A few final thoughts on Georgetown, beer and Franziskaner:

In the year 719, Duke Lantfrit decreed in his code of law, the 'Lex Alemannorum', that all bonded peasants must pay tribute to their lords IN BEER.  Why can't the government-types from Georgetown change U.S. tax laws in this direction???

In 1924, Franziskaner's parent company unveiled a new slogan:  "Lass Dir raten, trinke Spaten" (literally "Let yourself be advised, drink Spaten").  The verb "advised" is interesting... a more influencial approach than just marketing?  Not long after, in 1928, the U.S. Senate passed the first bill that attempted to regulate lobbyists (but it was blocked by the House).  Georgetown is known for government and political affairs... can this just be concidence?  Hoyas in the beer lobby are out of control!

Frau A spent quite some time in Texas, and Franziskaner's web site has most of its marketing events there.  There is Spaten Pint Night at The Libertine Bar in Dallas, Spaten Sundays (Franziskaner is part of the Spaten/Löwenbräu brewery group) at Ginger Man in Fort Worth, and Franziskaner Hefeweisse avaialble at the American Airlines Center.

 

So there we have it.  Franziskaner = Georgetown.  Readers:  any other beers/teams you think should be included?

Franziskaner logo and dried hops, Oktoberfest, 2010

A Gentleman's Guide to Ties

From our Schnitzelbahn guest-blogger, BB:

Necks are for more than just necking and serving as a swivel base for the head.

They are one of the foundations for a properly fitted shirt and essential for the proper tying of the cravat. Thus, some reflections on the art:  Newscasters, celebrities and some politicians are poor examples, although the Europeans are the winners, uh losers in that arena!

1. Shirts have neck sizes. The purpose is not to find the biggest size but a comfortable no gap FIT.

2. There are 3 main knots: Four in Hand, Windsor and Half Windsor. Simple diagramed instructions are available at any tie shop.  Use them Gentlemen.  The square knot is for the Boy Scouts.

3. A knot is not a loosely folded loop. It is a KNOT.

4. The open collar, sagging knot is for the after hours bar where it can look cool. Not in the office please.

5. A knot the size of a medium potato is not a universally recognized knot.  And... is not pleasing.

6. There is a reason for the huge variety of patterns and colors. There are many colors in Germany other than orange and purple. 

6a. Purple and orange stripes are not the answer.  

7. Length. Ties are long for a reason the will comfortably fit a variety of heights. The broad end should be approximately at mid belt buckle length. The narrow end is not to be peeping beneath the fat end!

8. Tomato sauce is not allowed on a tie worn in public.

9. Tie your tie in front of a mirror.

10. Or burn them for God's sake!! 

Unfortunately the selection in German stores usually is dominated by diagonal stripes, solids, and more diagonal stripes.

Understanding the Beer Bracket, Part II

This is a continuation of the post where we describe the major German beer regions and brewers by comparing them with their counterparts in NCAA basketball.  It's now time to look at the northern breweries and their NCAA basketball counterparts.

Nordrhein-Westphalia & Rheinland-Palitinate = The Big East

Nordrhein-Westphalia is the state in germany with the greatest population (18 of Germany’s 80 million) and the center of “liberal” politics in the country – think Northeast corridor in the U.S..  The breweries here, like Big East schools, often are located outside the large cities.  The brewing towns may be small, but the production is immense.  Despite having only about 10% of the 1200 breweries in Germany, they crank out 2.7 billion liters of beer each year (25% of German production volume).  Here’s who were talking about:

Warsteiner and Krombacher = Connecticut and Syracuse

These two brewers are located in the region north of Frankfurt (the NYC of Germany) and are the #2 and #1 volume leaders in Germany respectively. Each makes 450 million liters annually, with Warsteiner exporting 80 million of that.  Marketing is the priority here and it is executed to perfection – these brands are always on television with expensive commercials, sponsoring sports teams and events, and reminding everyone how good they are.  Their pilsners are good, though are missing the feeling of tradition and cultural integration like that found in Bavaria.  But it’s consumed and enjoyed in volume by locals and foreigners alike.

Bitburger = Pittsburgh

 

The town of Bitburg is in Rheinland-Palatinate, a state often overshadowed by it’s larger and richer neighbor Nordrhein Westphallen.  (Hello, Pennsylvania.)  The culture here is distinctly more blue collar, and the beer reflects that.  It’s the brew that factory workers grab after their shift.  Bitburger has a stronger presence of hops giving a, well, more bitter taste, and many northerners claim it is the real thing – not like the glossy offerings of Warsteiner and Krombacher.

Veltins = Villanova

Veltins is the seventh largest brewer in Germany and is strongly associated with the soccer team FC Schalke 04 which has a broad base of fans.  Why the match with Villanova?  Both Schalke and Villanova have blue colors. Like Villanova, Schalke is known for an open (rather than defensive) style of play.  Finally, Villanova is a catholic university… and Pope John Paul II became an honorary member of Schalke's Fussball Club after celebrating a mass in the stadium.  God, football and beer. 

Best of all, Schalke plays in the Veltins Arena, which seats 61,000 people, has a slide-out field, a Teflon-coated retractable roof, and was the first stadium with the four screens above the pitch (the new Cowboys stadium super-sized this concept).  More importantly, it has a 5km long beer pipeline, direct from the brewery to the stadium, which pumps 52,000 liters of beer to the concession stands during each home game!  Despite the fact that it’s yet another large sports-oriented beer, I have never actually tried one – but am looking forward to the tasting in our tournament.
 

 

Cologne and Düsseldorf

A final note on Nordrhein-Westphalia:  Are you familiar with the Rheinheitsgebot from 1517?  It defined “what is beer” and anything that did not conform to its definition was not recognized as beer.  Well, Cologne and Düsseldorf are not interested in obeying orders.  They’re like many teams in the Big East that will try any approach to basketball.  Stick to a zone defense (‘Cuse), go with a 4 guard lineup (‘Nova), run & gun (Louisville), or just cut and paste a football offensive line as your starting five (Pittsburgh)?  No problem.  Likewise, Cologne has “kölsch” and Düsseldorf “altbier”, neither of which conform to the RHG, and that’s just how the locals want it.  The are served in special kinds of glasses too, to make sure everyone knows this is not your grandfather’s lager.  In fact, these are not even clearly an ale or a lager, as they use mixed production techniques.

One more metaphor is quite useful for the Schnitzelbahn Beer Tournament: 

Franconia = Midwest/Grain Belt Basketball

              

Franconia is a region, not a state, comprising parts of Baden-Wüttemburg, southern Thuringia, and northern Bavaria.  Small towns, lots of local flavor, purist mentality – I think of kids shooting hoops in the driveway, no showboating or hard fouls, just great passing and accurate jump shots.  The city of Bamberg is the spiritual center of beer here (not sure if I would make this Indiana or Kansas…) and coincidentally has one of the best professional basketball teams in the German league!

Frau A and I have actually heard both Bavarians and northern Germans admit that they think Franconia has truly the best beer in Germany – and one colleague at work actually takes beer tours through the region!  Locals claim that it’s the pure water that makes the difference (water is the main ingredient in beer, after all), and everyone seems to take advantage:  there are more breweries concentrated here than anywhere else in Germany, though typically smaller (often a brewery/bar combo) and with limited or no distribution outside the region.  This is truly the heartland of beer, and Frau A & I are looking forward to a beer tour here – we will post when we do.