Berliner December

I spent the weekend in Berlin catching up with a good friend from grad school, and I have to say that visiting Berlin during the run up to Christmas is well worth considering. The city glows with equal parts urban cool and winter wonder and there are a gazillion and one things to do - Christmas-y or otherwise. April in Paris? New York in June? Sure! But don't count out a Berliner December.

This wasn't my first time in Berlin (and I sincerely hope it won't be my last!), but it was my first during December. With pretty winter lights strung along trees, streets, homes and shop windows, and Weihnachtsmarkts (Christmas Markets) scattered throughout the city (erm, sorry, I don't think Berliners scatter anything; strategically placed at optimal locations might be a better way to put it), the festive season was in full swing.

Of course, the highlight of the trip was getting to spend some quality time with my old classmate, but I loved munching and sipping my way through the markets and sampling all sorts of yummy German treats. It was also an opportunity to try out my new Nikon D700 (which moving to it from the D70s is like hopping from the driver's seat of a VW to a Porsche). I've still a ways to go climbing the learning curve to operate this camera but I'm pretty happy with my results so far. See what you think:


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. Can't see the above pics? Click here to view them on Flickr.

---

Read more about my weekend in Berlin ...

Berlin!
Chris Osburn
Qype does London
December 16th 2008



Our line of attack planned, we set out Saturday morning to do Berlin in grand style. A mix of the sobering (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and nearby Memorial to Homosexuals persecuted under Nazism) with the delightfully festive (Christmas markets at Charlottenburg and Gendarmenmarkt) and the historic (Brandenburg Gate, the remnants of the Berlin Wall) made for a perfect weekend, with plenty of glüwein and würst and all sorts of yummies (I loved the seasonal grünkohl with ribs!!!) rounding out the tour.

Read the complete Berlin! post at Qype does London.

You Know You're in New Jersey When ...

... there's a preset pizza button on the phone at your hotel!

More photos from the Jersey Shore at the tikichris photostream on Flickr.

Beijing Olympics Site Arcitechture Videos

Here are a few short clips from early June of the Beijing Olympics site. The architecture is phenomenal. To say the least, it will be interesting to see how the Opening Ceremonies go.

Beijing Photos on Flickr

Okay, here's a link to some Beijing photos I uploaded to Flickr. If all goes as planned, I should have some more pics from my visit to China on Flickr soon.


Photography by Chris Osburn © 2008

Shanghai Photos on Flickr

I finally got a few of my pics from Shanghai up on Flickr, and I hope to upload more from my time in China soon. Click here to check out some of my Shanghai pics.



Photography by Chris Osburn © 2008

Emiana's China Photos on Flickr

How does she do it? I'm still Photoshoppin' around with my pics from our trip to China and my better half, Emiana, has already posted a whole China set on Flickr. In fact, she's already been contacted by a Chinese blogger who posted one of her pics as part of a fulue.com post about the similarities of cinnamon and the Beijing Olympic torch. Neat.

Click here to view Emiana's China set on Flickr.

Photography by Emiana © 2008

Bruce Springsteen on New Jersey

I did my stint in the Garden State ... and loved it. Heck, the missus and I still own property there and have planned what seems to have become our annual trip back for the end of the summer (perfect time to visit the Shore). Despite the fact that NJ is the butt of many a stupid joke, with respect to my love of Jersey, I'm in good company. Here's the Boss at his induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, sharing his thoughts about growin' up in New Jersey:

When I first got the letter I was to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame I was a little suspicious. New Jersey Hall of Fame? Does New York have a hall of fame? Does Connecticut have a hall of fame? I mean, maybe they don't think they need one.

But then I ran through the list of names: Albert Einstein, Bruce Springsteen ... my mother's going to like that. She's here tonight. It's her birthday and it's the only time she's going to hear those two names mentioned in the same sentence, so I'm going to enjoy it.

When I was recording my first album, the record company spent a lot of money taking pictures of me in New York City. But ... something didn't feel quite right. So I was walking down the boardwalk one day, stopped at a souvenir stand and bought a postcard that said "Greetings from Asbury Park." I remember thinking, "yeah, that's me."

With the exception of a few half years in California, my family and I have raised our kids here. We have a big Italian-Irish family. I found my own Jersey girl right here in Asbury Park . I've always found it deeply resonant holding the hands of my kids on the same streets where my mom held my hand, swimming in the same ocean and taking them to visit the same beaches I did as a child. It was also aplace that really protected me. It's been very nurturing. I could take my kids down to Freehold, throw them up on my shoulders and walk along the street with thousands of other people on Kruise Night with everybody just going, "hey Bruce...." That was something that meant alot to me, the ability to just go about my life. I really appreciated that.

You get a little older and when one of those crisp fall days come along in September and October, my friends and I slip into the cool water of the Atlantic Ocean . We take note that there are a few less of us as each year passes. But the thing about being in one place your whole life is that they're all still around you in the water. I look towards the shore and I see my two sons and my daughter pushing their way through the waves. And on the beach there's a whole batch of new little kids running away from the crashing surf like time itself.

That's what New Jersey is for me. It's a repository of my time on earth. My memory, the music I've made, my friendships, my life ... it's all buried here in a box somewhere in the sand down along the Central Jersey coast. I can't imagine having it any other way.

So let me finish with a Garden State benediction. Rise up my fellow New Jerseyans, for we are all members of a confused but noble race. We, of the state that will never get any respect. We, who bear the coolness of the forever uncool. The chip on our shoulders of those with forever something to prove. And even with this wonderful Hall of Fame, we know that there's another bad Jersey joke coming just around the corner.

But fear not. This is not our curse. It is our blessing. For this is what imbues us with our fighting spirit. That we may salute the world forever with the Jersey state bird, and that the fumes from our great northern industrial area to the ocean breezes of Cape May fill us with the raw hunger, the naked ambition and the desire not just to do our best, but to stick it in your face. Theory of relativity anybody? How about some electric light with your day? Or maybe a spin to the moon and back? And that is why our fellow Americans in the other 49 states know, when the announcer says "and now in this corner, from New Jersey ...." they better keep their hands up and their heads down, because when that bell rings, we're coming out swinging. God Bless the Garden State.



Photography courtesy of NJ - Library Events' photostream on Flickr.

Marrakech Photography: Untitled

Untitled
Photography by Emiana © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Click here to see more of Emiana's Morocco photos on Flickr.

Marrakech Photography: From Pakistan with Love

From Pakistan with Love
Photography by Emiana © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Click here to see more of Emiana's Morocco photos on Flickr.

Marrakech Photography: Footie

Footie
Photography by Emiana © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Click here to see more of Emiana's Morocco photos on Flickr.

Marrakech Photography: Tagines

Tagines
Photography by Emiana © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Click here to see more of Emiana's Morocco photos on Flickr.

Marrakech Photography: Antique Cat

Antique Cat
Photography by Emiana © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Click here to see more of Emiana's Morocco photos on Flickr.

Marrakech Photography: Les Jardins Majorelle

Les Jardins Majorelle
Photography by Emiana © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Click here to see more of Emiana's Morocco photos on Flickr.

Marrakech Photography: Hotel

Hotel
Photography by Emiana © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Click here to see more of Emiana's Morocco photos on Flickr.

Marrakech Photography: Medersa Ben Youssef

Medersa Ben Youssef
Photography by Emiana © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Click here to see more of Emiana's Morocco photos on Flickr.

Marrakech Photography: Sweet Ride

Sweet Ride
Photography by Emiana © 2008
Interested in contributing a photograph of London to this blog? Click here for details.

Click here to see more of Emiana's Morocco photos on Flickr.

Trans-Atlantic leg room and high attendent to passenger ratio

Airline Commits 'Eco-Crime'
Trans-Atlantic flight arrives in London with just FIVE passengers on board
eTurboNews
Mar 05, 2008

Furious environmental campaigners have hit out at an airline that sent a plane on a 4,000-mile journey with just five passengers on board.

Click here for complete post.


Photography by Cubbie_n_Vegas via Flickr.

Maponya Mall in Soweto

Giant Soweto shopping mall opens
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has opened the largest shopping centre in southern Africa in Soweto.
BBC News
Last Updated: Thursday, 27 September 2007, 11:35 GMT 12:35 UK

The Maponya Mall marks a transformation for the Johannesburg township, once an impoverished centre in the struggle against apartheid.

Click here for complete article.

Photography courtesy of Pan-African News Wire File Photos' photostream on Flickr.