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The Full Cycle

In the history of man, there have only been two inventions, that, right from the start,  appeared in the way that they were meant to go on!  Both needed wheels, balance and chains; one was static and moved, and one was mobile when moving. Everyone needed one of them, and most wanted both. One was the clock, and the other the bike!

And, although both were complete in their original forms, they are today what they are because of the imagination of original thinking people -  people with an eye for alteration in objects that are impossible to change – and one such person whose thinking has revolutionized the bike is the inventor Paris Maderna.

Working from his studio in the heart of
Vienna, Paris Maderna first turned the cycling scene in the Austrian capital on its head with his dynamic City Scooter – a whiz of a machine, that, because it had no saddle, could only be ridden in a standing position.  It was an ideal bike for young urbanites on the move; it was fast, it was fun, it was light, it was able to be folded and carried on buses, and was perfect for non-pollution.

And non-pollution has always been an item on Paris Maderna’s agenda; and his latest creation is probably one of the most exciting developments in this direction.  The Road Star, as it is called, is a totally new form of getting around town that beats both the electric car and the electric bike; it is a hybrid  that requires both human energy and electricity – and it is the first of its kind in the world!  And, not only that, this amazing cross between a car and bike has comfort and space to offer as well!

A Star has been born in Vienna!  And, who knows, you, too, may be driving one soon!

For full details go to, – www.mcsbike.com

Language Assistance

Right from the start –
von Anfang an …

Meant to go on – bestimmt so zu sein.

Form – Gestalt.

Today – Heut-zu-Tage.

Imagination – Vorstellungskraft.

Alteration – Änderungen.

Inventor -  Erfinder.

To turn on its head  - revolutionize

Urbanite – someone who lives in a city.

Pollution – Umweltverschmutzung.

Creation – Schöpfung.

Probably – wahrscheinlich.

Maria Schmidt and Paris Maderna

See You in September!

Next week I am going on holiday, but, before I do, I would like to introduce to you  two very different people.  One is a healer, and the other an inventor.

Two very different people, but both very similar and both much alike.  They are both much the same because they are both being true to themselves.  They have become the thing that they wanted to be!

By way of introduction only (I will be writing about them fully in the Autumn), the healer is

Maria Schmidt, a Shiatsu practitioner; and the inventor is Paris Maderna, the man who has developed a new dimension in cycling.

But there is more to it than just this.  Both Maria Schmidt and Paris Maderna  posses something in their characters that gives them a “certain something” that puts them in the league of the succeeders.

September looks like being an interesting month.  See you all then; and enjoy your summers.  Nj.

German – English Language Aid

Healer – Heiler

Inventor –Erfinder

Similar – ähnlich

Alike – ähnlich

Much the same – ähnlich

Certain something – gewisse Etwas.

The Bridge – by Nigel James

If  I  Were to Live Again!

The coming of expected death is the theme of Westlicht’s current exhibition; and it deals with it in a most unexpected way!

The exhibition is made up of two parts, photos by
Walter Schels, and texts by
Beate Lakotta.  And both are as important as each other.

Noch Mal Leben (Live Once Again), as the exhibition is called, tells about the coming of expected death.  It is about people who are prematurely dying.

The  pictures are movingly real, no one is pretending, there are no “cheese” pictures; and there are the impressions of regret.  One of the ladies spent all of her life in a factory.  Only working.  Then became ill.  And now death!  Where was life?  Was that it?

And then, in very moving and very simple ways, Beate Lakotta’s texts wonderfully introduce us to those who are dying.  Their thoughts, their wishes and their non – fulfilled dreams.  And then there are the questions!

Are we living our lives to the full?   What are we waiting for?

This exhibition visualises what we mostly try to ignore.  But having seen it, one is not filled with despair, but rather a feeling of thankfulness for the enjoyment of life!

NOCH MAL LEBEN a photographic exhibition about dying is on at Westlicht in Vienna.  It is running until the 31^st of July this year.

Full details,  www.westlicht.com

Language Aid  – German/English

Unexpected – unerwartet.

Important – wichtig.

Prematurely – vorzeitig.

Movingly – berühren

Pretending – Anschein erweckend.

Impressions – Eindrücke

Regret – Bereuung.

Despair -  verzweifeln.

nj-July 2009.

Theatre from a Time Gone By

This summer the curtain is going up again at Tschauner’s,   
Vienna’s   last    remaining

“Stegreif” theatre.  The word Stegreif means impromptu, and that’s exactly what this little theatre is.  What’s put on is only basically planned, and the goings-on in the auditorium are very much unlike the “just watching and clapping” of most normal houses.

The Stegreif theatres were founded 100 years ago, and, because of the social gap that they filled, their popularity became very widespread. In their heyday there were more than 80 of them to be found in Vienna alone.

The venues for these summer theatres were mostly  to be found in the inner courtyards of working class tenements, and the performances were carried out upon simple wooden stages.  Everything was basic, and that’s what the audiences liked.

Their success lay in the humour of the language that was used and the fun that the audience was able to have by joining in with the action.  There was cheering, laughter, booing and very loud comments – and, of course,  there was eating and drinking!  But, more than that, there was always a certain element of surprise!  And all this for very little money.

The Stegreifs did have a certain repertoire, and the most popular plays were certainly not suitable for children; and the decision as to which piece to perform was taken according to which actors turned up on the night – and usually, just an hour before the show was due to go on!  And then, after “curtain up” the rest was up to the cast and the mood of the audience!  

Having no fixed scripts, the players had to make up the dialogue as they went along, and in this lay the surprises that the audiences loved!  And being able to improvise was not always easy, and many of the best players, because of their wittiness, became very popular figures.

And now there is only Tschauner, the last of the greats. Things have of course changed. Some things have survived the years whilst others have gone.  There is no more 9–0-clock  interval for the janitors to go home and lock up, and the spontaneous decisions as to what should be played have been replaced by a program that has been

fixed in advance. But the basic element of improvisation  has survived and so have the sausages and wine.    But Tschauner has one more link to the past as well.

The actress, Emmy Schörg has been playing for the theatre for the last 50 years, no performance is imaginable without her; and the cultural life of Vienna would be just as unimaginable without Tschauner.  May there be many more summers of bawdy plays and sausages and spritzers!

Language Assistance – English/German

Stegreif – impromptu.

Founded – gegründet.

Heyday – Blütezeit.

Tenements – Zinnshäuser.

Simple wooden stages – Holzpawlatschen.

Success – Erfolg.

Cast – Besatzung.

Mood – Laune.

To make up – erfinden.

Wittiness - Schlagfertigkeit

Janitor – Hauswart.

To lock up – zusperren.

Bawdy – heftig.

www.tschauner.at  for full information, prices, bookings, address, etc.

would you like to mail me?  najames@gmx.at

                                                    Bert Millinger – Photo by Nigel James

One Man Rock Fast Tradition

Bert Millinger has been steadily building up a rock fast following since the day that he started playing his own kind of music; and, having seen him in action, I fully understand why.

His music is in him, and, when his fingers start strumming his unique Viennese sound, he takes over the mood of his audience completely, for his sounds are the feelings of the life that he knows – and when he sings, it is for everyone, for his world is the world of everyone, and his music is the beat of the shadows and the light of Viennese feelings.

Bert Millinger is Viennese, and the traditional sounds of this city are very much alive in his work; and this is why he’s successful.  When he starts singing he sings with conviction.  His songs speak to everyone and his repertoire ranges from the highly popular Wiener Lieder (Viennese songs) to the Austro pop of today and to his very own compositions which address the social consciousness of the Viennese soul.  

Bert Millinger is an extension of the Viennese social tradition of  the putting to music of the things that are best sang rather than said!  And when people join in with his songs, they are singing the feelings of their hearts. Bert Millinger is social rhythm in action.

I saw Bert Millinger playing solo – and I was impressed.  He also sings with the Vienna House Master Project, a group with a very distinctive sound that is based upon the diverse and rich experiences of its members.

But Bert Millinger is also part of a chain.  His daughter, Susie is an up and coming young singer with a promising future; and she has an extra dimension of  tradition that promises an exciting uniqueness of sound. Her mother, Elfie is from the mountains of Lower Austria, and the tones of the peaks have never before been married to the urban scales of Vienna!

Bert Millinger – the “M” factor in music is strong, and getting stronger – search him out and enjoy him!

link -     www.viennahousemasterproject.at

would you like to send me a mail? – najames@gmx.at

Language Aid

Rock fast – Felsen fest.

Strumming – (to strum) -   klimpern.

Takes over – (to take over) – übernehmen.

Mood – Stimmung.

Beat – Schlag.

Conviction – Überzeugung.

Repertoire – Repertoire.

Address – ansprechen.

Extension – Verlängerung.

Putting to music – vertonen.

Distinctive – unverwechselbar.

Diverse – mannigfaltig.

Experiences – Erlebnisse.

Chain – Kette.

Scales – (musical) – Tonleiter

11 – June – 2009   NJ

Picture by Nigel James

Relative Killings

Only people who knowingly live life to the full can relate what they know – and the years which we put on,  provide the shadows, the heights, the colours, and the depths of experience which make up the interesting stories that can then be passed on.

 And one such person who knows how to live and tell stories is

Ingrid Noll.

Ingrid Noll is one of Germany’s best known and most popular writers; and if you like detective stories, she should be on the top of your book buying list!

But, Ingrid Noll hasn’t always been writing. This “very young” 73 year old, has only been at it since the age of 55; and now, 9 books and numerous short stories later, she’s still working – and harder than ever.

After having had 3 children to bring up – whilst at the same time supporting her husband in his surgery – and, at the same time, nursing her aged mother at home, Ingrid Noll understands family life to the full. And the family, she maintains, is not only the cradle of love, peace and security that everyone needs, but it is also the perfect breeding ground for hate, jealousy, intrigue, and plotting,  All ideal ingredients for an exciting detective story!  Everyone, she believes has the potential to murder!

Strangers, too, are a good source of inspiration for Ingrid Noll.  And the best place to meet them  is on a train!  She says that people open up on long journeys, and because of her age, she believes, she is not considered a threat.  People of all ages enjoy talking to her.  Ingrid Noll is obviously a very good listener!

But, being a good listener doesn’t mean that Ingrid Noll enjoys everything that she hears!  She hates hearing the moaning and groaning of people who blame everything that never happened to them on everything else.  We have all had time and experiences, and the  years which we have to our credit provide all that is needed for change.  Ingrid Noll is on her 10^th book – and she’s 73!  Being old is for those who want nothing to do!

Good writing,  however, does have its downs, and one of the downs that most writers experience is “writer’s block”.   This happens to Ingrid Noll, too. And when it happens she has a simple remedy: think of something completely different, and soon the book will be back on course towards its happy end.

But it is us who do the reading, and all of Ingrid Noll’s books are published by Diogenes, and because they are translated into 20 different languages, there is, I am sure, a book shop near you with a super choice of her work.

Language Aid –

Knowingly – bewusst.

Relate . erzählen.

Provide – liefern.

Shadows – Schatten.

Heights – Hohen.

Depths – Tiefen.

Detective story – Krimi.

Been at it – to be at it – mit was beschäftigt.

Practice –  (medical practice) – Praxis.

Cradle – Wiege.

Breeding ground – Nährboden.

Hate – Hass

Jealousy – Eifersucht.

Plotting – intrigieren.

Strangers - Fremden

Source – Quelle.

Threat – Drohung.

Moaning and groaning – meckern.

Would you like to send me a mail?  najames@gmx.at

Vienna – 2. June 2009.

Shadow trap – by
Nigel James

The Shadow Catcher

On at the moment at Westlicht is an exhibition that speaks volumes about the Martus, an Aboriginal folk which lives in the west of
Australia.  On display is the work of Megan Lewis, a photo journalist from New Zealand. Conversations with the Mob, as the exhibition is called, is the story of life in two worlds: the ancient and the modern!

In 2002,  the Martu,  a group of Aborigines from the Great Western Desert in Australia, invited Megan Lewis, a journalist from New Zealand, to stay with them for 5 years and record their lives.  The result was a powerful  Technicolor record of  the hardships and poverty of a life of two worlds.  One, the old disappearing world of ancient traditions, and the other, the modern  world of today.

This exhibition is about the shadows and currents of the normal life of the Martus; and,  in her incredible photographs, Megan Lewis has expertly frozen and made visible the feelings and emotions that go to make up the normal existence of a people whose lives are  influenced by poverty and the effects of a hollow existence.

Against this background, it is a wonder that there is happiness at all!  But there is, and this is the theme of the work that I was able to pick out.  Humor, it would seem, is the driving force that helps the Martus survive the grief of the most saddest moments of all.  Through Megan Lewis’s eyes, we are able to experience the bleakness of the most closet of family tragedies, the death of a young man because of drug abuse; and then, there again, we are taken to the heights of victory of a football match!  There is much, much more to see; but this exhibition is very much about Megan Lewis as well.

Megan Lewis must be a very dynamic person, and, having never met her, I can only speak from the impressions that I have from her photos, and they say very much about her.  The photos are electric because she is dynamic; and only someone with the gift of being able to fully accept the other as he or she is, is able to enjoy the complete acceptance and trust that makes such photos possible. This psychological access to people upon which empathy based is the vital essence of all character studies! 

If I were to be asked to mark this exhibition with points out of ten, I would give it ten plus!  This exhibition is one of the most powerful displays of character studies that I have ever seen!

This exhibition is on until the 31^st of May of this year, and is being held at Westlicht in Vienna.  Address – Westbahnstrasse 40,  1070 Wien.  Tel Nr. (01) 522 66 36.

INFO@WESTLICHT.COM       WWW.WESTLICHT.COM

Language Aid

Invited –(to invite)  einladen

Record – aufzeichnen

Hardship(s) – Not – Elend.

Poverty – Armut.

Disappearing – verschwinden.

Ancient – altertümlich

Traditions – Traditionen.

Shadows – Schatten.

Currents – Strömungen.

Incredible – unglaublich.

Frozen – gefroren.

Visible – sichtbar.

Influenced – (to influence) - beeinflussen.

Effects – Wirkungen.

Hollow existence – ein Trostloses Dasein.

Background – Hintergrund.

Wonder – Wunder.

Driving force – Antrieb.

Survive – überleb.

Grief – Leid/Kummer.

Saddest – am traurigsten.

Bleakness – Trostloss / Freudloss.

Impressions – Eindrücke.

Gained – gewonnen.

Acceptance – Anerkennung.

Trust – Vertrauen.

Psychological access – Seelische Zugang.

Empathy – Einfühlungsvermögen /Empathie.

Vital essence -  das Wesentliche.

Vienna – 3.  May – 2009.

Do you have anything to say or any comments that you would like to share? 

If yes, then please mail me,

najames@gmx.at        Thanks!

It could have been yesterday …

What We Have is Because of What Was!

The Kaiser
Franz Josef-Museum is in
Baden bei Wien, and last Tuesday, the 21^st of April,  I had the pleasure of visiting it with one of its curators, Mrs Edith Lappel.  And, thanks to Mrs Lappel, this museum is now moving in a new and exciting direction.

The traditional role of a museum, to my way of thinking, has always been the presentation of the past, or, to put it differently, an introduction to things as they were before we were; and, in no way a reminder of the past (after all, we can only remember things we have experienced!).  But, at least as far as this Museum is concerned,  I was wrong!

Founded in 1905, the Kaiser Franz Josef-Museum is a collection of items, that, when put together, makes up an accurate picture of where we are today – and where we are now, is, to a main part, a result of many of the items on display in this museum.  And this is the thing that makes it exciting!

This museum encourages visitors to think.  The military uniforms on display could well have been worn by our grandfathers or great uncles; and the clothes we are shown are the ones which were certainly worn by every-day people of not so very long ago. Here, the thread of  our clothes is easily visible.  This museum is living history!

As well as many other highly interesting exhibits are the robes of the priests who baptized us; and there is a fine example of the typeset machine that created the newspaper that published the news of our baptism; and the camera that, maybe, would have recorded the event on film.    

The Kaiser Franz Josef-Museum is a celebration of the beginning and development  of many modern day objects which make our lives the way that they are – and not only that – it also caters, in an excellent way,  for the one thing that hasn’t changed at all since 1905, and that is our appetites!   Super meals at reasonable prices can be enjoyed on the terrace; and, to complete the picture, the view towards Hungary is magnificent!

To find out more about this wonderful little museum: where it is, how it is reached, and why it was called the Kaiser Franz Josef-Museum, etc. - 

www.Kaiser-franz-museum-baden.at

Its address and telephone number,- 2500 Baden, Hochstraße 51.  (02252) 41 1 00

I certainly enjoyed my visit there, I’m sure you will, too!

Language Aid

In no way – keines Weges

Reminder – Erinnerung

Past – Vergangenheit.

Experienced – erlebt.

At least – mindestens.

To a main part – hauptsächlich

Encourages – ermutigen.

Thread – Faden

Baptized (to baptize) – taufen

Typeset machine – Schriftsetzen Maschinen.

Published – veröffentlicht.

Recorded – aufzeichnen.

Caters – (gastronomic) – sorgt.

Pelicans by
Nigel JAMES

The Queen of Spanish Modern

If by chance you were to be Spanish, the chances are, that right now, you might be a very sad person indeed.  And the reason for this is that Corin Tellado is dead!

Corin Tellado was, without any doubt at all, the most popular and most widely read  writer that 
Spain has ever experienced.

Within the space of  her 81 years, which sadly came to an end on Easter Saturday, Corin Tellado wrote an astounding 4000 novels which, altogether, sold more than 4 million copies.

So popular were her works, that many of them were filmed for the cinema or turned into TV serials.  But not everyone liked them.  Many critics complained that her stories amounted to being nothing more than “kitsch” and not worth the paper that they were written on. 

They may have had a point, but Corin Tellado knew and understood the Spanish soul better than anyone else; and only someone with this gift could be able to do what she did.  The figures speak for themselves!

I’m sure that the Spanish nation will be mourning this fine lady of Spanish letters for a long time to come.

Language Aid

Without any doubt - ohne zweifeln.

Experienced – erlebt.

Astounding – erstaunlich

Mourning – trauen.

Vienna – Wednesday the 15^th of April -2009.