Manuel 2.0

I’ve finished post-processing my photos from the recent trip to Tanzania and here they are:

A click on the image brings you to the Picasa album for the whole trip.

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October 15, 2010, 5:58am: sunrise on the Mt. Meru, the second highest peak in Tanzania.

October 22, 2010, 5:28am: only 30 minutes until sunrise on Mt. Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa.

Photos and GPS tracks later…

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Just a short update from the Meru View Lodge near Mount Meru in Tanzania. Meanwhile, the Mount Meru is successfully conquered and the next stop is Mount Kilimanjaro, for which I am heading out this morning.

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On our vacation in Croatia last week I took “a couple” of pictures. A selection is on Picasa.

From Croatia 2010

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I spent last weekend in Hann. Münden, where I grew up. Similar to the last 1000 years not much has changed since the last visit about one year ago.

The building above looks like a church from the outside. But because the church wanted to get rid of it and nobody really wanted to buy it, the director of a nearby hotel (http://www.fahrrad-hotel.de) transformed it into a Cafe.

The evangelic church removed most of the religious symbols before handing over the building but found it too expensive to remove the altar. Consequently, it was transfered into a high table.

I have some more pictures online on Picasa.

I you want to have a coffee, a snack, or a (a little more adapted to the history of the place) a spirit from this is the coolest location in town.

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Sam O’Hare created an amazing time-lapse film with perspectives from New York. Using a tilt/shift lens it looks surreal and like a miniature word.

The Sandpit from Sam O’Hare on Vimeo.

Here is an interview with him abou the making of.

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After about one month of searching and reading reviews on dpreview.com and similar websites, I bought my first digital SLR last week. Just like most IT projects this one also ended up way above the planned budget after talking to a couple of people with more experience than me.

Eventually I ordered a Canon EOS 7D the 15-85 IS USM kit lens and a bunch minor small parts like second battery, etc.

The plan is to revive my photoblog where I used to post photos from the old industry ruins around Chemnitz, Germany. We’ll see, how often I manage to update that page. The link is here: http://www.manuelm.org/photoblog/

This is one of the first pictures with the new camera documenting the results of sheep feeding on genetically modified flowers (seen in Konstanz this weekend).

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On my way back from Hong Kong to Frankfurt I had the “pleasure” to fly with Air China. On the way to Hong Kong they had already set a new lower boundary for airline food, but on the way back they really got me. After ordering the “not Chinese breakfast” from one of the flight attendants, I got the Chinese breakfast which looks like this:

I had a dejavu with a scene from “The Matrix”: After Neo has left the Matrix and has a meal with the crew of Morpheus, one of the crew complains about the white slimy stuff that they have to eat. It contains all you need to survive, but tastes – well, not so good.

Guess, what the white stuff on the bottom of the photo is like.

Never Air China again!

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Yesterday, the German comedian Helge Schneider gave a concert in Saarbrücken.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes (German, as a matter of fact):

• “Der Mensch ist, weil er lacht — und gähnt.”
• “Schließe die Augen. Was Du jetzt siehst, ist Deins.”

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Until today I thought, the skyline of New York is impressive. It still is, but Hong Kong is a class of its own.

More photos soon…

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