German Ingenuity + Gastronomical Creativty = Profits

“There are guys walking around Germany with gas grills strapped to them – its crazy.” And when I say “crazy” I mean “profitable”. The New York Times recently reported on the phenomenon of wandering grillwalkers in Berlin’s highly travelled Alexanderplatz. Bertram Rohloff, an unemployed hotel manager was not going to take his situation laying down. [...]

“OMG, Lola is on House!”: Why German Star Franka Potente is Going Prime Time

On Sept. 21, the hit TV series “House” premiered its 6th season with a blockbuster 2-hour episode featuring Dr. House detoxing in an asylum and struggling to regain his sanity while connecting on a more human level with patients, doctors and supporting cast.  Why this even hits my blog-radar has purely to do with WHO was included [...]

Rudolph Laban: Austrian/German/Hungarian Dancer, Choreographer and Movement Scientist

Born in Pressburg (today Bratislava), Laban was an Austrian-Hungarian dancer who revolutionized dance theory and choreography in the early 20th century.  Laban founded dance schools throughout Germany in the 1920s and his fame soon brought him to Berlin in the 1930s where worked with Josef Hubert Pilates (yes, THOSE Pilates) and took over leadership of the [...]

How German Advertisers Open Our Wallets.

 If you have been watching “Mad Men” on AMC, or if you are simply interested in how advertising works in different cultures (hey, its a GLOBAL economy, after all, right?), you might want to throw a glance at how German advertisers pry open some of the stingiest wallets on the planet. They do it in [...]

President Obama! Consider German Health Care

Take Germany, for example. As President Obama tries to convince the American public that his health care plan will work, I wonder why he has not considered (at least publicly) the German model of how a quasi-national health care system can work. As NPR’s Morning Edition reported, most German patients were happy with their health care. I have some [...]

Contemporary “Mono Lisa” Pas de deux and Stuttgart Ballet Dancers Amaze Gala Crowd in Indianapolis

The Indianapolis City Ballet celebrated its inaugural performance on Saturday, September 13th to a full house in the Murat Theater.  The gala occasion which was introduced by Robert Hesse, Chairman of the ballet and narrated by John Meehan, Artistic Chairman was billed as “An Evening with the Stars” and featured principal dancers from the Stuttgart [...]

Good Stuff from Two Gustavs: Alessandra Comini Dishes Up Klimt and Mahler at Butler U.

On Sept.. 10 the renowned art historian Alessandra Comini delivered her multi-media lecture “The Two Gustavs: Mahler, Klimt and Vienna’s Golden Decade, 1897-1907” as part of Butler University’s Leadership Through the Arts Forum.  Comini discussed the golden decade of Viennese art and culture by highlighting the life and work of these two extraordinary artists.  Accompanied by [...]

Book Review: The Ripest Moments: A Southern Indiana Childhood. By Norbert Krapf

Norbert Krapf has justly accumulated accolades since returning to his Indiana home from New York in 2004.  Producing 5 books and a Jazz CD in those 5 years, Krapf, Indiana’s Poet Laureate, shares some of that rich harvest with his 2008 The Ripest Moments: A Southern Indiana Childhood. Oddly enough, this book is not a collection [...]

Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” – An Indelible Cinematic Mark

Promises up front.  I will not give away the end of the movie in this blog.  But if you are studying German or French, you should see this movie just for the linguistic value.  It is possible that there is more German and French spoken in this film than English.  And it is not the [...]

Mature Democracy in the Heart of Europe. Germany’s Bundestag is 60 Today!

  On September 7, 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany began the business of governing a democratic society from its new capital in Bonn in the heart of Europe.  Germany was divided and the ravages of war were still apparent to everyone, but with a new constitution (das Grundgesetz) and a spirit of hope, Germans [...]