Friday, May 30, 2008

Ralf's Birthday Party

Ralf's Birthday is always easy to remember - 2 days after Kalle's.

Enjoyed a nice dinner, grilling in their garden. Ralf and Monika, as always, are the perfect hosts - but the new cat that just decided to adopt the family a few days ago stole the show!

see more pics on our website, here.


     

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Kalle's Birthday Party

What a surprise!


Since the weather is so nice, Christophe and Carmen (our neighbors downstairs) invited us over for dinner. 


Not expecting more than some steaks or sausages on the grill, Kalle was instead surprised with a birthday party: Alex and Monika and the boys were there as well - the boys each handing over a flower with their birthday wishes and then everybody singing "happy birthday" - and they  even baked a homemade birthday cake!


Have a look at all the pictures on the website here


 


Tuesday, May 27, 2008

happy birthday wishes....

 

  
 

Monday, May 26, 2008

new CI...

changed the corporate identity a bit - we couldn't agree on the dark dots in the background.

Hope you like the new look!

Botanischer Garten, 25.05.08

we're proud of the results -

pour a glass of wine and enjoy!
Music: Mediatation (Thaïs) by Jules Massenet (1842-1912)

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Ein erster Versuch...

Ein erster Versuch, mit einem (für uns) neuen Programm Filme zu basteln.

Die Bilder stammen aus diversen Blumengärten - von Bayern über Rom bis Florida...
Our first attempt at creating movies with a (for us) new software.
The flowers depicted are our own photographs, taken on various trips between Bavaria and Rome to Florida... 
 
please let us know if you can upload/watch the movie!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

What we've been up to...

Been busy uploading pics on our website (http://www.mark-kalle.de) - have now added Amsterdam, Istanbul, and Key West on the holiday pic side, plus three baroque monestaries... have a look! Will keep adding whenever I get the time... so many more to add - Italy, Spain,...


Booked flights home for the summer! Gonna actually be able to melt in the Florida heat and humidity for the first time in ... 19 years!

Our own "Rock Lobster"

We bought a crayfish for the aquarium a few months ago- he started out small, but is growing... quickly! Quite the little bugger, ain't he? He's fairly peaceful, too: doesn't attack the fish as long as he gets his tablets to munch on... and even when we forget, he leaves the quick-swimming healthy fish alone. The others, well, let's say they're learning to swim faster when he's out. But most of the time he hides in his corner and tries to look innocent....  




Thursday, May 15, 2008

"Hey Democrats: Just Pick One!"

If you can't laugh about yourselves and each other - then I am very sorry for you. I laughed myself silly over both sides of the story. (Warning - takes a few minutes to load)


For those who didn't study in the Appalachians and thus don't speak the language, here's a rough transcription of the latter part:

"Hey Democrats: Pick One!"


"Why would anybody want a Democrat in Office? They can't even make their damned minds up who they want to run!"


"Democrats in the office are like 

"Should we bomb Iran or should we not bomb Iran...?" 

".....I can't make a decision..."

".....But it's such a historic decision...."

"....It's such a historic decision that I can't make up my mind...."


"Look: the Republicans had a bunch of crappy candidates, too - and we all hated each other, too - and the headlines said "Republicans tearing their Party apart"

But, finally, we all came together and we said "Aw, fuck it: McCain!"

(Normally I'd tell you to watch your language right there but that pretty much sums it up). "See: Jackie and I have no love for McCain but here we are giving him helpful, profane campaign slogans..."

 "That's right - see we picked a candidate and get right behind him - He might be terrible for the country, but at least we made a damned decision!"


"See: the Republicans all came together: all the Mexican-haters and the Muslim-haters and the Oil Executives and the Gun-Nuts and the Gay-bashers and the Home-Schoolers and the Clinic-Bombers and we put aside our differences..."

(Well, all except for the Ron Paul-Whackos) 

"... and we said, 'I can't stand to look at these Sons of Bitches for another day - let's just go with the oldest.." (Yea!)


"So now all you Democrats out there: 

You need to gather up all your Homosexuals and your Atheists and your Elitists and your Baby-Killers and your Tree-Huggers and your Flag-Burners and your Socialists and your Communists and your Undercover-Islamo-Fascists and your Screen-Actors' Guild and the last living members of the Weather Underground - Throw up a bunch of pictures of Obama and Hillary, grab one and GO WITH IT!"


"Aw hell, just turn and look in a mirror real fast with Hillary and Obama and the first one who catches your eye...just to get rid of it"


"Democrats: Pick one and hurry the hell up" 


"Good Lord: Make up your minds - I need to know who the hell I'm gonna vote against!"


Quick Hello's

Since I've sent this link to you guys, and don't know if you stopped by or not:


Here's a quick hello to Andrea & Carl, Jutta, Jordan & Danielle, Mom & Dad, Jim & Rina... 

As well as to Alex, Angelina, Anne, Cara, Caroline, Copeland, Elizabeth, Eve, Françoise, Jennifer, John, Joyce, Karsten & Andreas, Lauren, Marzia, Petra, Rachel, Robert (who needs to get some sleep!!!) and Thomas.... nice to be back in touch and "relinked" with you guys again!

Let me know what you think & keep in touch!

M

Monday, May 12, 2008

Our New Lounge

drumroll..... ta-dah!

Our new lounge is finally finished - 
and damn, does it look good!
 









Sunday, May 11, 2008

the B-52's are back

After 16 years, the B-52's have released a new album "Funplex"
- and it is really, really good!

Go, buy, listen, and shake that thang!

"Juliet of the Spirits" is my fav - my ipod can repeat 10-15 times without my hitting stop!

Friday, May 9, 2008

New furniture for the balcony

Welcome to our chillout lounge!

Today we went shopping for new furniture for the balcony and found a great deal on the lounge combo - we still need to shift things around (we managed to assemble the sofa, two chairs and table before deciding to call it quits for the day, open a bottle of Sangiovese and relax to some nice lounge-music... Cats love it: took to the sofa right away!
Still have to assemble the rest: will get pics up as soon as its done (in the next couple of days)
hugs!
-m.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Meet the cats...

We have 2: Neko and Gato. They're brother and sister, born 30 Aug 1998 in Hamburg, Germany.


Gato (spanish for "cat") was firstborn of the litter, and remains undisputed king of the hill, although "cowardly lion" would fit better. 
He's the formal, black tuxedo wearer.

Neko (japanese for "cat"), the girl, was the runt - the vet wasn't sure if she was gonna make it - but what a fighter she turned out to be! If Gato is king, she is Empress - and rules with a clawed paw if necessary.





Der Beginn: Mark & Kalle's Blog

Da heutzutage internet-basierete, online weblogs (auch liebevoll "blogs" genannt) als Beweis dafür dienen, dass man nicht nur in der 21. Jahrhundert angekommen ist, sondern auch damit klarkommt, haben wir uns entschieden, einen eigenen Blog auch zu erstellen.

Hintergrund ist, unsere Familie und Freunde auf dem laufenden zu halten - Die Familie ist weit verteilt (Deutschland und USA) und spricht mehrere Sprachen (weswegen es auch sein kann, dass die Blogeinträge mal in deutsch, mal in englisch verfasst werden)
Dazu kommt, dass wir gerne reisen und liebend gerne Fotos machen - also wird dieser Blog demnächst auch einige Fotos beinhalten - Viel Vergnügen!
Mark & Kalle

Launch: Mark & Kalle's Blogspot

Since these internet-based, online weblogs (lovingly known as "blogs") have become more than a requirement as proof that you and living in - and coping with - the 21st century, we thought we'd give it a try as well...

The intention here is to keep family and friends updated as to what we're up to - the family is spread far apart (Germany and USA) and acorss different languages (which also means posts may occur in either german or english). 
Moreover we travel a bit, and love to take pictures - so this blog might also contain quite a few photographs as well - enjoy!
Mark & Kalle