> “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” Anne Bradstreet, ‘Meditations…
> This flag is either that of the Füsiliergarde Garde der Prinzessin Mainz Prinzengarde Kleppergarde Ranzengarde Husarengarde or one of a myriad other outfits. As you can deduce, I’m pretty…
> Local politics around here are real hoot. This is the pedestal on which Famous Son Johnannes (not me – Gutenberg) normally resides. JG’s off for some well-deserved R&R and…
> Tricky, this photography lark. Had to stand on my head to take this snap….
> Actually – DO fence me in. Please. Otherwise I’ll get nicked, just like jb’s bike. From right next to his front door. Security cable and all….
> For a (supposedly) humourless bunch, the Germans come up with some choice plays on words. The billboard idea from SWR1, a local radio station, is a cool one just…
> …through the alley. (Robert Palmer with half Feat plus a Meter or 2. Listen here) Very starkly designed townhouses in Gonso. B&W matched the mood today. Never thought I’d…
> Mrs jb rescued this book. Johann Töws, an ethnic German, emigrated to Germany from Russia in 1978. Over a period of 10 years, he documented his recollections from childhood…
> Hitching your kids up behind the van and towing them through the countryside is the moral equivalent of taking your dog for a walk by letting it run alongside…
> As if we didn’t have enough snow already, the darn stuff’s growing and multiplying. Crystals. Just like you grew at school. Quite cool. If not to say freezing. As…
> Quite a brisk 267º out in the fields today. Kelvin, that is. -6º Celcius. 22º Fahrenheit. And the tracks in the snow got me thinking (which doesn’t happen very…
> What goes for the Champs Elysee around here (the Augustinerstrasse, actually) all flash and festive. All together now: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
> … I could tell you about the Mathildenhöhe, an artists’ colony built in a park above the city at the turn of the last century at the height of…
> Ploughing’s a piece of cake these days. So says Mrs jb’s nephew Chris, who does that sort of stuff for a living and appears to be more than proficient…
> It’s a sad state of affairs when you walk across the market in Mainz and find a gap where Caffea Moguntia‘s TSOW should be. I mean, I don’t begrudge…
> Don’t – whatever you do – go to markbeast.com. It’ll scare the living daylights out of you. But given that this is Post #666, I figured I couldn’t let…
> …”is to give up smoking.” [Stage whisper: “Just as soon as I’ve finished these 3 cartons…”] And – for some serious resolutionisms – check out young Helen’s Resolution Round-Up…
> ….is futile” Thus spake Beate Thiesmayer, artiste extraordinaire.
> Almost, anyway. Chris Paulson‘s a German-based American folk-singer. Pretty good, too. Good enough to garner regular invites back to the Unterhaus, the local subterranean alternative cultural Mecca, anyway He…
> Scuba-diving, going to the dunny and climbing ladders (only if you’re a suitcase, though) are all things on the “No No” list at Mainz 05’s football ground. How about…
> Recipe:Freezing temperatures for a couple of daysLight RainFreeze some more Result:General moaning Geriatric reminiscences “But this is NOTHING compared to 1847….” Cancelled dinner parties (Actually Mr and Mrs Helen…
> As good as any, I’d say. Here’s the original (Although a learned and quite genteel reader pointed out that it’s “artsy-fartsy”, not “arty-farty”. Whatever..) The other 150 are over…
> “If you play your cards right….” as the actress said the bishop. Seen at the container terminal on the Rhine
> Here’s one of those classic “Only in Mainz” stories. Mainz 05, the local football team, has drifted around at the top of the 2nd Division for years and inadvertently…
> If you’re a bookbinder, you’re treading on hallowed soil in Mainz, given that Johannes Gutenberg’s birthplace is just around the corner. Can’t get much closer to the source of…
> So you’re Ludwig II, it’s 1277 and you’ve just bought the village of Kaub from Philipp II. von Falkenstein-Münzenberg. As part of the deal – apart from a halfway…
> I slept last night in a good hotelI went shopping today for jewelsThe wind rushed around in the dirty townAnd the children let out from the schoolsI was standing…
> The 27 page user manual I got with my candle instructs me to “place vertically in a stable holder” and light the wick. I would never have guessed. And…
> Peace, joy and whatever…. And NO – not “Happy Holidays”. Merry Christmas
> My young friend Lena from across the way – having thankfully escaped the clutches of the mullahs – is home for Christmas. Not in time to partake of the…
> Worried about deflation? YOU’RE worried about deflation….?
Mainz Daily Photo 