German Films: Moritz Bleibtreu

Moritz Bleibtreu

Last month I debuted the new German Film feature on the blog to help German language learners to find worthwhile German films to watch for practice. Last time I featured German filmmaker Fatih Akin and this month I’m featuring a German actor who was in Akin’s Soul Kitchen: Moritz Bleibtreu.

You might already know Bleibtreu if you’ve ever seen English language films like The Fifth Estate, World War Z, or Speed Racer. But he’s also been in a long, long list of fantastic German language films. Some of the highlights include Run Lola Run, The Baader Meinhof Complex and Das Experiment. Bleibtreu is one of those actors where I’ll watch pretty much any film he’s in: he’s that good and his films usually are, too.
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On My Must See List: The State Hermitage Museum

The State Hermitage Museum
As the Olympics were aired on television last month, I got to enjoy perhaps my favorite part of the games. Not the competition or the incredible athletics but the cultural pieces that the networks air. NBC aired pieces about Russian nesting dolls and about the wonderful friendship between American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut. But while we watched the activities in Sochi, I couldn’t help thinking about St. Petersburg and especially the State Hermitage Museum.
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German Book Review: Sieben Jahre in Tibet

Sieben Jahre in Tibet

When I started reading Heinrich Harrer’s Sieben Jahre in Tibet I didn’t know the “seven years” referred to how long it would take me to read it. Maybe it wasn’t quite that bad but between resuming German lessons and life in general, it took me much longer than I had anticipated to finish the book. Initially when I started reading the book, I got borrowed an English language translation from the library. During the check out process, the librarian mentioned he didn’t realize the film was based on a book. Never a good sign.
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German Music: Einstürzende Neubauten

German Music: Einstürzende Neubauten

Music, they say, is a universal language. But listening to music in German is another great way to practice your German skills. No matter what your musical taste, there’s a band performing that style in the German language. Unless, of course, you’re into instrumental music. Every month I want to feature a band or musician that performs in German. First up, my favorite German band — Einstürzende Neubauten.
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Snow for Valentine’s Day

Holly in snow, close

In case you haven’t heard, the East Coast of the US got a wee bit of snow this week. Just a bit. Today, Valentine’s Day, it’s bright and sunny but we’re still bracing for the clean up. Even my knee-high Hunter boots didn’t protect me from the snow as I ventured out for a quick look around with my camera. If you have to go anywhere, it’s a real mess. But you have to admit, the fresh snow sure is pretty. A real Valentine’s Day treat.
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