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Note: These are thoughts and images from Monday, August 31, 2010. I did not have time to get a blog post written on Monday.  Better late than never.

Monday I started up German language classes again.  I was a bit nervous about going to class because I have not studied very much this last six weeks.  Fortunately the instructors do a great job making sure everyone keeps up.  The day went really well considering.

A rainy day rainbow

It was a rainy day Monday and I rode my bike to class.  I was running a couple minutes late and the rain was not improving my mood.  Before the six week break started I had given the instructors my website card so they could read this blog if they wanted to.  During class she mentioned reading something on my website and it cheered me up.  I love it when people mention reading my blog.  It takes some effort to put my thoughts into words and recognition makes it all worthwhile.  I wish more people would comment on the articles directly, but getting feedback offline and in other places is just as great.

As I mentioned Monday was a rainy day.  I wish the rain would just stop since it has been raining on and off for a while now.  Reminds me of last summer when it seemed to rain every Tuesday.  Except this is a little more frequent.  Sunday we went to an outdoor concert in front of the Dom (Catholic Church).  It poured through most of the concert and we were not allowed to have an umbrella out.  Thankfully they passed out plastic ponchos for everyone.  Even with the poncho I got soaked.

Evening sky after a rainy day

Monday afternoon it finally quit raining and the sun came out.  That is when I shot the rainbow picture above.  I am lucky I noticed it was there.  The curtains were pulled and I am not sure why I was looking out the window.  The evening sky picture to the right was taken an hour or two later from the other side of our house.  I love sunset pictures.  Even if you cannot see the sun.

This is the second part of the Design Exposition article from our visit to Halle, Germany.  You can find the first part titled Design Exposition: Halle an der Saale (Part 1) here.

I had a great time walking through the exhibits during the design exposition.  There was an extensive range of design and individual creativity on display.  With so much on display I will just hit my highlights from the weekend.

Monster design at the fashion show in Halle, Germany

Fashion Design

I never thought I would go to a fashion show.  I’m not really the fashion kind of guy.  I think Anni sometimes wonders why I even own some of my clothing.  Fortunately I was not prejudiced against going because I had a great time.  Even with it being extremely hot in the auditorium.  Most of the fashions on display were not really wearable.  Some of them even looked like they had just been tacked together.  Which I am pretty sure was the intent of the designer.  There was even a group of “monster costumes”.  You can see my favorite monster costume in the picture to the right.

I ended up taking around 85 pictures at the fashion show.  I was impressed how well my Canon T2i did in such a dark room.  We were sitting in the back of the room and I still got some pretty good shots using a high ISO.  It was fun flipping through my pictures afterward seeing the differences in the costumes.  During the entire show I thought the models were changing into different outfits, but was surprised at the end when each model came back out wearing their original costume.  The markup artists did a great job of making everyone look very similar.

Ceramics

I actually found the ceramics section pretty boring.  There were a couple pieces I spent a minute or two looking at, but most of the collection I just glanced over as I walked through the room.  What I found interesting about the ceramics (and that whole building) was they prohibited photographs from being taking.  Apparently several years ago the University found some pieces being replicated in the market without permission from the original artist.

I have mixed feelings about this.  Coming from an industry where everyone borrows from each other, I think finding creativity around you is a good thing.  And what better way is there to collect ideas than with a picture?  Yet, taking someone else’s idea and copying it entirely is just wrong.  If I am working for company A and company B copies the look and feel of our website, that is wrong.  You were not inspired, you are just lazy.

Toys

The toy section was in the same building as ceramics, so I was not able to take pictures here either.  There were a lot of children toys within this section.  Most of which I did not find interesting.  I did end up playing with a table top croquet game that used two childrens “booger suckers” (I have no idea what they are really called.  I am not a parent.) to push ping-pong balls around the table.  I was entertained for about 30 seconds.

What was intriguing was the Lego room.  One project in particular caught my attention.  It was a light rotating inside of a cylinder made out of clear Lego plates.  You would place Lego pieces on the cylinder and depending on where the piece was it would play a different note.  I would drive Anni crazy with this toy, but I could see it being a great teaching tool for children.  I wanted to post a video or picture, but I couldn’t find it online anywhere.

More Coming Soon

Because there was so much to see at the exposition I have broken this part into two sections.  I will post the second section by the end of this week.

Mountain Dew

Perhaps I write about Mountain Dew to much, but I was amazed to find it in a local grocery store the other night. Before then I had never seen it outside of a train station. They had 3-4 wrapped packages of bottles sitting on the shelf with the Pepsi products. Of course I brought a package home.

In July we traveled to Halle, Germany to see a design exposition at the university there.  Design encompasses such a broad spectrum and almost everything in the “design world” was on display that weekend.  Before I get into the exposition I want to write about Halle.

Building being remodeled in Halle, Germany

Located in former East Germany, Halle seems to suffer from the continued effects of that failed socialist state.  Even today there is a disparateness between the former east and west.  In Halle this really showed itself in the houses.  You can walk down most streets and find a recently remodeled building surrounded by empty worn down structures.  According to our friends half the buildings in Halle are empty.  In the picture you can see a university owned building half renovated.  It was the best comparison of two buildings with completely different views.  At first thought it was a depressing view.  Upon reflection though I think it symbolizes the rebirth of Germany better than anything else.  It takes time to repair the damages of the past and seeing progress lets us know we are moving forward.

Water tower in Halle, Germany

According to the Wikipedia page Halle was first mentioned in history around 806 AD, but evidence shows salt has been harvested in the area since the Bronze Age.  History like that is not common in the United States.  Even when you look at Native American beginnings you mostly see a nomadic tribal existence with places of significance each group with visit on a regular basis.  The oldest historical site I experienced growing up was a cave in northern Missouri.  A Native American tribe has marked Thunder Birds on the walls and carved foot rests on top of the cave entrance.

Walking path in Halle, Germany

The past makes me believe that todays troubles can lead to tomorrows golden age.  Perhaps Halle will see a rebirth in its future, but only time will tell.  There are many beautiful parts of the city.  Lots of green parks and walking paths.  Amazing structures both historical and modern with a breathe of history to tie it all together.  We spent most of Sunday afternoon walking around from site to site talking and taking in the beautiful weather.  There was a lot to see in the city that we could not accomplish in two days.

In my next article I will write about the design exposition.  It was great to see all the new ideas from those involved.  I never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but I even enjoyed the fashion show on Friday night.  I will leave you with some additional images I captured while walking around Halle.

Part two is now online.  Read Design Exposition: Tomorrows Visuals (Part 2) here.  Part 3 will be coming out later this week.

Saale river in Halle, Germany

Castle tower in Halle, Germany taken from the lower courtyard

A water fountain in a park in Halle, Germany

George Frideric Handel statue in Halle, Germany