My Daily Banana
 |
| Joint Smoking Banana |
Photo of the
day:
 |
| Heike and Martje |
Word of the day:
cold turkey
the abrupt
stoppage of alcohol and drug abuse resulting in fever, sickness, cramp
German: kalter
Enzug
Name of the day:
Raymond
From the
Germanic name Raginmund, a double name ragin meaning “advice” and mund meaning
“protector”
Event of the
day:
9th May 1972
The day I
arrived in Germany.
As you’ll know
the second family emigrated to Western Australia early 1972. I remember the
tears falling on the platform of St. Marks Station when the train pulled away.
Well, that was the end of me, no work, money that lasted from Thursday (dole
day) till Monday (if I was lucky). After collecting my dole money my first trip
was to the market where I bought spuds, onions, carrots and suchlike, enough
for a big pot of soup (it had to last a week). The rest of the money was for
the rent, beer and drugs.
 |
| Raymond at nineteen, a soft rebel |
In March or
April my grandparents from Germany contacted me and invited me to live with
them. Yes, Yes! I remembered the good times I had as a child and youth over
there on summer holiday. So on the eighth of May 1972 I said goodbye to Lincoln
and the wild life of drugs.
On the ninth I
arrived in Germany, happily greeted by my grandparents and Aunty Karla. They
thought “Here comes the sweet, ever willing to help lad from a couple of years
ago”, what they got was a long haired, extremely ill (asthma), rebellious
junkie.
Wow, that was a
shock, for them and for me.
 |
| Raymond at twenty, the hairs still longish, but the body and mind are working |
It didn’t take two
weeks and I landed in hospital, I had the worst asthma attack of my life or
should I say nearly death. It was the result of fresh sea air against Lincoln’s
heavy industrial air, no drugs and the culture shock. After two months of cold
turkey and regenerating, I came out as the nice lad Oma and Opa wanted. Since
then I hardly know what asthma is, my lungs are stronger than the average and I
don’t go into drugs anymore, I even gave up drinking ten years ago.
 |
| Raymond 1977, between a divorce and meeting Heike |
Another much
more important,
Event of the
Day:
9th
May 1092
Lincoln
Cathedral was consecrated (dedicated to its religious purpose)
What would
Lincoln be without this monumental building? The greatest cathedral in Great
Britain
It was between 1311 and 1548 the tallest building, worldwide. The spire on the central tower reached a height of 160 metres (525 feet). During a strong storm the spire was blown over in 1548, the central tower was then 83 metres (271 feet). The two west tower spires were removed 1720 due to structural problems.
 |
| A 17th century print from the Cathedral notice it still has spires |
 |
| A model showing the cathedral with central and west tower spires (I nicked the photo from The Lincolnite:) http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2013/11/when-lincoln-cathedral-was-the-tallest-building-in-the-world/ |
 |
| The Cathedral as we know it |
Birthday of the
day:
9th May 1920
In Newbury,
Berkshire, England
Richard Adams
 |
| Richard Adams |
Author, he wrote
“Watership Down”, “Shardik” and “The Plague Dogs” (two dogs break out of a laboratory;
one has a metal cap where his crown is supposed to be. It’s a story of their
adventures keeping free. What’s so interesting about the book is that the dogs
speak to one another in a Lancaster accent. Even as a Brit it was hard to
understand, but well worth reading). Watership Down you will know from the
cartoon which came out in 1979, the title song “Bright Eyes” was sung by Art
Garfunkel.
 |
| Watership Down |
 |
| a very good book, The Plague Dogs |
Here’s the
trailer to the film “Watership Down”:
and “Bright
Eyes” performed by Art Garfunkel:
Died on this
day:
9th May 1976
In Stammheim Prison, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Born 7th
October 1934
In Oldenburg, Niedersachsen,
Germany
Ulrike Meinhof
 |
| Ulrike Meinhof |
She was the
second leader of the Baader, Meinhof Group and committed suicide by hanging
herself on this day 1976. Her companions Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and
Jan-Carl Raspe followed suit and committed suicide on 18th October that same
year.
 |
| The arrest of Ulrike Meinhof |
The Baader
Meinhof Group also called themselves the RAF (Roter Armee Fraktion). In the
seventies they committed acts of terror throughout Germany, bombing and
assassinating bankers and politicians.
 |
| Mugshots of the Baader-Meinhof Group |
Cycle ride of
the day:
The roads and
embankments are ready for the big haul. All along the Risum road corners have
been widened, road islands have been flattened, lamp posts have been leaned
over and traffic lights have been removed. This week, during the night hours
the replacement wind generators are being hauled from Dagebüll harbour to the
new wind farm. It’s done in the wee hours of the morning, pity I wouldn’t mind
watching the monster trucks maneuvering through the countryside and village.
Here’s a couple
of uninteresting photos of a covered field adjacent to one of the junctions:
 |
| All covered up ,ready and waiting |
 |
| The lorries with their monster loads need room |
 |
| The sign is now behind the fence |
Bikes Gallour:
How many
bicycles can you see in this picture? They all belong to me and at some time of
the year serve their purpose. There’s the Focus Jarifa on the right, it’s a
hybrid you could also say it’s my cart horse. I bought it in 2007 and have
cycled at least fifty-thousand kilometres on it. All that is original on the
bicycle is the frame. The wheels have been changed numerously, they tend to
wear through or get bent. It didn’t brake well enough so I changed from
v-brakes to hydraulic brakes. And many more changes have been made, the bicycle
is worth double the price that it cost new.
Next bicycle next week, I'm longing to bore you.
It's a learning process: how to write an interesting tale about nothing. That's what the tried to teach us at school, I remember once the English teacher gave me the title "The Parson's Nose" to write an essay about.
 |
| This is my man's room! |
Bye, see you all
tomorrow. Have a good day :-)
