Latest news from Germany

I was perusing the paper this morning and several things were of interest. This was the warmest winter since 1901 with the highest temperature registered in Sigmarszell, Bavaria at 66.2 degrees Fahrenheit on the eighth of December. Thanks to the mild weather the storks have returned early from their winter quarters in Spain. In the past the birds that came back around the beginning of March were called "Frühankommer" in German and early birds by us in English.

The opinion articles concerned freedom of the press and here is the link in Engleutsch which is English combined with German but you will get the point. Another opinion article was the idea of having a free day from autos traffic which was prefaced by "Why not?" this can be seen at this link.

One of the most charming things about driving to North Germany near the North Sea is the lovely houses with reed roofs. Here is an article about the puzzling attack of mold affecting the roofs.

Hof germany and the Oscars

Naturally we are proud of the first German in 80 years to win an Oscar but the real story is that we have the Hofer Film Festival each year here and the quoted article (see Link) is the opinion that without the experience of the Hof Film festival and the help from the Festival Director Heinz Badewitz he would probably have come as far as he did. (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)

What is funny is in the online translation Mr. Badewitz is called Mr. Bath Joke which is actually what Bade and Witz mean separately. We have as many funny names in English such as "Culpepper" to begin with.