Reggae Nights # 109

Reggae Nights on December 10, 2011 was another scorcher for a winter night. “Römer” was packed again and Roots Ashanti and Calabash created a wonderful vibe as usual. Big ups to Sandra who celebrated her birthday that night and her friends who were all lovely.

Another big up goes to Ramzy who is a very good dancer and danced with me again all night. See you all on January 14, same place, same time, same vibe!

Reminder of Summer

Today I heard a song I like a lot called "You Give Me Butterflies" by Gyptian and was thinking of a butterfly I took some time ago at our botanical gardens in a special exhibition while it was fluttering and feeding on this pink flower, that I have also seen in white. I don't know the name of it, so if you do please let me know. The butterfly is called Papilio demoleus or Lemon butterfly (Limetten-Schwalben-schwanz in German) and is at home in Southern Asia and Australia.

Here is the song I mentioned:

Reggae Nights # 108 on November 12. 2011

Oh, I cannot believe it's been October since I last posted! We had another Reggae Night last night but I have not even posted previous month's photos, so here they are!

The little place "Römer" was full on November 12 because the Reggae Nights promoters decided to make this evening "free entry for everyone". Lots of people stopped by and stayed because the vibes was right. Sounds of the evening were Roots Ashanti and Calabash. They kept us all on our feet dancing all night and were even palancing on the stage with us. What a great evening!

Reggae Nights # 107

Reggae Nights #107 took place at Weserstadion, Ostkurvensaal on a very cold October night, on the 8th to be exact. Perhaps this is why the venue never filled up to its capacity. Those attending were all in great spirits and full of appreciation of the set of one of the biggest sounds in Germany: SUPERSONIC SOUND.

Jr Blender did his thing as usual, a good mix and blend of all genres sprinked with one or ten wicked dubplates and the charismatic MC Spider had us smiling all the way. It was a wonderful night and I had a chance to reminsce with the previous promoters and to dance quite a bit.

The format of my slide show has changed for technical reasons. I do hope you like it anyway. So leave me a comment please! :-)

See you all next time!

Yumiko Tanabe Exhibiting in Bremen

Yumiko Tanabe

The lovely Yumiko Tanabe from Kobe, Japan exhibited at Galerie Herold here in Bremen last month. I was made aware of this by my MySpace and facebook friend and visual artist Fuke San who has been an inspiration to me for many years. I went to meet her on an open day of the whole Güterbahnhof artist community near the main station in Bremen (www.ga-art.de).

Building housing Galerie Herold amongst other galeries and individual artists

Communicating in English ...

... what the symbols mean

Fishbones are boiled several times then dried thoroughly and sprayed with white paint

The connection of nature and the arrangements

Beautiful bones

Backbones

Phalenopsis

Today I am just posting one of my favourite flowers, an orchid. This is a very common type called phalenopsis.

 

I am working on a few projects and my website at the moment an had a few private events too, photos of which I won't publish but are still taking time to process. Soon the photos of events I have attended will be ready for publication here.

Watch this space! :-)

Breminale 2011

Poster with a reference to the Bremen Town Musicians

Osterdeich Bremen, the embankment road

 Breminale is a local festival synonymous with the phrase “umsonst und draußen” which means “free of charge and outside”, which was originally held as an alternative city fest and is financed by private businesses, donations and sponsors. It is located right by the river Weser inside the embankment. The main acts are usually located in four tents of various sizes. Different styles of music are being played by bands and musicians from all over the world, you can expect anything from country to punk, chanson to ska, sometimes even reggae.

Osterdeich, the embankment - a local meeting point and hang-out in summer

Hal över - the local ferry circulating back and forth for about € 1.30 per person

In between the tents you can find lots of little stalls supporting charities, selling clothes or food from all over the world and of course lots of beer and other drinks, benches and tables invite you to chill out in beer garden style and enjoy the illustrous views. You might see walking acts or watch the children play in their designated areas. 

People on the embankment enjoying a mild summer night

Usually, there are several supervised activities for the little ones, some are carried on throughout the night like a steep Bobby-Car http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbycar track down the embankment, which still caused much amusement in the late hours for everyone watching children and men – some of whom very intoxicated - while seated around on the embankment grass enjoying the lovely warm summer evening.

swb-Bühne im Bremen Vier-Zelt - Main stage and my destination for the night

Fetsum singing a mix of pop, soul, jazz and hip hop

Stall owner selling clothes and enjoying the view of the sunset

Most spotted item at Breminale - the Beck's beer bottle

I mainly went to catch the mood and to see Joy Denalane, a wonderful German soul and R&B singer, who had just released her third studio album called “Maureen”. She brought her band and a lovely vibe from Berlin and I must say, seeing her was my musical highlight for Bremen this year. Her performance in which she even sang a duette for a male and female voice, moved me to tears and I did see one or two young men wiping their eyes, too.

Joy Denalane moved people to tears with her soulful voice