If USA is really interested in “making Greenland great again”, instead of oppressing Greenland and acting like colonial overlords and perpetrating experiments like the “Little Danes Experiment” and the birth control scandal of the 1960s, and generally treating Greenland like shit – then why not? And if the Danish authorities are outraged now, they should have thought about that during the past century.
To all those, especially in the media, who are getting their knickers in a twist over the fact that Ahmed al-Sharaa “refused to shake hands” with Annalena Baerbock and calling it a scandal: get over yourselves and don’t be so melodramatic.
The only scandal is that apparently, Germany’s foreign minister was too ignorant to have predicted this AND her entire protocol department as well, since they obviously failed to brief her to make sure she did not look like a fool during “the incident”.
Makes one wonder if international relations in general are in good hands in Germany.
An annual event with Derk Ehlert, NABU, – by some newspapers called “Berlin’s Wildlife God” :-).
The weather was not as miserable as in previous years. Apart from the usual suspects – crows, pigeons and sparrows, we saw (in many cases had to take Derk Ehlert’s word for it) blue, long-tailed and great tits, nuthatches (photo). jays, “Kernbeißer” (?), a goshawk and a buzzard (which initially startled me as much as I startled him (photos)).
I of course also had to indulge my obsession with trees especially at this time of year.
And finally, almost home, I like this tree in winter too:
Led by Eckehard Heiber. Südstern – Urbanhafen – Treptower Park
Went to see the exhibition at ZAK of art from the German-Polish border region, which I found very interesting.
Took some photos from the surroundings before and after, a.o. my first ever photo of a Kingfisher. I have seen many the last couple of years, but they are shy and fast and – to me – very difficult to photograph. It was far away, and the photo is not good, but it was very cold and windy so I did not want to hang around trying to get a better photo.
| From | Till | Name | Address and/or comments | Opening hours |
| 11.01 | Sprüth Magers | |||
| 12.01. | Gropius Bau | |||
| 19.01. | Nordic Embassies | |||
| 10.1. | 19.01. | Silent Green Betonhalle, Unnatural Encounters | Mo–Fr, 2–8 pm / Sa–Su, 11 am–8 pm | |
| 22.01. | c/o Berlin | |||
| 08.01 | 24.01 | Roam projects Thu – Sat 4 – 7 pm Lindenstraße 91 10969 Berlin Entry at the back corner of the building facing W. Michael Blumenthal Akademie des Jüdischen Museums Berlin. | ||
| 25.01. | Galerie Springer | |||
| 08.02. | Laura Mars Gallery | |||
| 09.02. | Ephraim Palais | |||
| 14.02. | Degussa Niederlassung | Franzö Str. 48 | ||
| 15.01. | Late GDR in photography https://ngbk.de/en/programm/programm/an-den-raendern-taumelt-das-glueck | |||
| 25.01. | Galerie Judin | |||
| 16.02. | Über Grenzen, Humboldt Forum | |||
| 20.02. | 23.02 | Art Karlsruhe (combine with Zentrum für Kunst und Medien) | ||
| 23.02. | Clemens Sels Museum, Neuß | Combine with Art Karlsruhe a.o. | ||
| 28.02. | Profitopolis | Neue Museum der Dinge | ||
| MARCH | European Month of Photography EMOP | |||
| 02.03. | Lenbachhaus and MUCA combine with villastuck.de (visit in February and combine with Art Karlsruhe) | Munich | ||
| 02.03. | Max Liebermann Haus, Pariser Platz | Do-So: 11.00-18.00 Uhr Mo-Mi: geschlossen | ||
| 14.01. | 09.03. | Haus am Kleistpark, Lukas Hofmann Photog. | ||
| 10.03. | Palais Populaire | |||
| 16.03. | Lipsius | Dresden | ||
| 11.01. | 22.03. | Robert Morat (Photo.)EMOP | ||
| 06.04. | Deutsches Historisches Museum Hinter dem Gießhaus | |||
| 04.05. | ||||
| 04.05. | Access Kafka, Jewish Museum (PERHAPS) |
| From | Till | Venue | Address | Opening hrs |
| 01.02. | 07.05. | C/O Berlin | ||
| 02.05 | 04.05. | Gallery Weekend | ||
| 10.01. | 11.05. | Alfred Ehrhard Stiftung | ||
| 14-06. | 14.09. | Biennale | ||
| 10.09. | 14.09. | Berlin Art Week | ||
| 26.09.25 | 25.01.26 | Netzwerke der Surrealismus, Neue Nationalgalerie | ||
| September 25 | January 26 | William Kentridge | Dresden and Essen | |
| 30.01. | 16.06. | Museum der Dinge |
Main purpose walk on 11 January with Eckehard Heiber, Empor Berlin.
Last updated: 09 January AM. Will be changed and updated regularly.
ing the weeks where for one reason or the other there is no bridge course at VHS. Where nothing else is stated, we aim at arrivals from 18.15, ready to start playing at 18.30, but for those who can only come later, that is also OK. We’ll start playing as soon as enough people have arrived.
The occasional opportunities to play bridge privately in the weeks where VHS is closed, are marked with *** below.
Course starting Wednesday 15 January: https://www.vhsit.berlin.de/VHSKURSE/BusinessPages/CourseDetail.aspx?id=743390
Course starting Friday 17 January: https://www.vhsit.berlin.de/VHSKURSE/BusinessPages/CourseDetail.aspx?id=725702
Week 3: Wednesday 15 January VHS 1/10, and Friday 17 January VHS 1/10
Week 4: Wednesday 22 January VHS 2/10, and Friday 24 January VHS 2/10
Week 5: Wednesday 29 January VHS 3/10, and Friday 31 January VHS 3/10
***Week 6: The option to play at my place on either Wednesday 5 or Friday 7 February
Week 7: Wednesday 12 February VHS 4/10, and Friday 14 February 4/10
Week 8: Wednesday 19 February VHS 5/10, and Friday 21 February 5/10
Week 9: Wednesday 26 February VHS 6/10, and Friday 28 February 6/10
Week 10: Wednesday 5 March VHS 7/10, and Friday 7 March 7/10
Week 11: Wednesday 12 March VHS 8/10, and Friday 14 March VHS 8/10
Week 12: Wednesday 19 March VHS 9/10, and Friday 21 March VHS 9/10
Week 13: Wednesday 26 March VHS 10/10, and Friday 28 March VHS 10/10
Week 14:
Week 15:
Week 16:
Week 17:
Week 18:
Week 19: New courses now available for registration: Course starting Wednesday 7 May here, and course starting Friday 9 May here.
Comments? Questions? Attending but don’t know my address yet? E-mail me here.
Updated 30 December while prepping for New Year’s Eve 2024: This time, I am using split red lentils which I had overcooked (very easy to do). I actually think it works better since you do not have the skins of the chickpeas to contend with.
Updated 16 January with this tip: For hummus, the best result is obtained when the “skin” is removed from the chickpeas. This is quite bothersome and time consuming and have hardly ever done that now. However, I have discovered that you can now buy dried chickpeas with the skins removed in bio supermarkets, at least in Berlin, of the brand Vivaterra. Also, to make sure that the chickpeas get nice and mushy fo the purpose, add a heaped teaspoon baking soda (natron) to the water in which you soak the chickpeas for 8-10 hours. Rinse before boiling in new water.
400 g cooked chickpeas (if you must use tinned, then rinse thoroughly)
Salt
3-4 cloves garlic
3-5 tblsp (up to 150 g) tahini
2 tblsp olive oil
Juice of 1,5 lemon
1,5 tsp roasted cumin seeds
If you are not using skinless chickpeas as mentioned in italics above, try to rinse and remove as many skins as possible. Then process all ingredients, tasting along the way, and add more of everything as needed.
Obvously, the creamier you want your hummus, the longer you have to process – up to ten minutes, which means the processor can run warm, and thus warm up the hummus. To counter that, instead of adding the cold water all at once, add an ice cube at intervals.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours to settle.
LAST UPDATED 29 December AM
If you are in Berlin, and we know each other one way or another, and interested in a relatively quiet but informal private celebration, and especially, but not necessarily, if you are a hobby photographer (see here some photos I took last year: https://www.hellemoller.eu/2024/01/03/some-whacky-photos-from-new-years-eve-31-january-2023/), perhaps you would like to come to my place in Lindenstraße near the Jewish Museum (good public transport) on 31 December between 21.00 and 01.00.
I have a relatively good view of the fireworks from my sixth floor perch towards Kreuzberg in one direction and Potsdamer Platz in the other.
You are welcome to bring frinds, and also to bring food if there is a special regional or national dish you would normally prepare and want to eat for this occasion. I will provide bits to eat – cheese, cold cuts etc. (- no cooking on this occasion :-)), wine, and of course something bubbly for midnight.
NOTE: If you drink anything other than wine and the midnight bubblies, please let me know in time for me to make sure I have it available. Alternatively, bring some yourself :-).
PS Just because I am too lazy to translate this into German, this is a multi-lingual event – English, German, Arabic, perhaps Polish, and even Danish if need be :-).