Culture Presentations

I went to see ten presentations on Wednesday and Thursday last week. Most of these presentations were very interesting and well prepared. 

The Secret language of Irish travellers – Kristina Tandl

Kristina did a good job and chose a very interesting topic. I was attracted by the title but couldn’t imagine what it is about. She told us about “Shelta” – the academic name for the Travellers’ language. “Travellers” are an Irish ethnic group with their own language and history. I learned that they live a nomadic life.

This is Fritz – Sandra Lang

Now I know who Friz is J. Sandras topic was Marian Noone – an Irish artist who is better known as Friz. The presentation was about Friz’ life, her typical style of painting and how she influences Ireland with her art. Noone has an interesting live and founded for example the street art collective SPOOM.

Tornado Alley – Anna Agabani

“Why on earth would anyone live in Tornado alley?” was one of the best presentations I saw on these two days! Anna was self-confident and I really liked her way of presenting the topic to us. I can understand now why people live in an area where tornadoes are most frequent.

The history of Irish Sign Language – Lisa Moder

I was particularly interested in this presentation because my second foreign language at the ITAT is ÖGS, short for Austrian Sign Language. Lisa mentioned some very interesting facts and told us about deaf people in Ireland and about their problems. I liked the fact that she showed us two sign-language videos.

When Irish eyes are smiling – Cornelia Kaiser

Cornelias presentation was great – I really liked it and my eyes smiledJ. “When Irish eyes are smiling” was about poetry in Ireland to be more concrete about which poems children have to learn at school. We got to know some famous Irish poets and also poems nearly every Irish child has to learn. I was surprised by the fact that students have to learn poems for their school leaving exam.

Drugs Scene in Dublin – Lisa Marie Vido

I wasn’t aware that the Irish drug scene is so different then the Austrian. Lisa presented the topic very well and talked about drugs which were taken during the 60s and 70s. She also informed us about head shops where you could buy legal stuff but also drugs and equipment for consuming drugs until 2010.

Deaf Art in the U.S. – Sonja Haunschmid

“Deaf Art in the U.S.” is a very interesting topic. Sonja Haunschmid told us about De’VIA short for Deaf view image art. I know now that De’VIA was founded at Gallaudet University – the only university with special programs for deaf and hard of hearing students. Artists of the De’VIA movement express their experiences with their deafhood. It is interesting that you do not have to be deaf to be part of De’VIA - it is also possible for a hearing person to produce De’VIA.

How the Columbian Exchange changed the world – Alexandra Haunold

I had no idea what the Columbian Exchange was about and I am sure that many other “visitors” had the same problem. Now I know that it refers to the exchange of animals, humans… in the years after Christopher Columbus arrived in America in 1492. From my point of view, Alexandra did an excellent job and presented the topic very well. I was shocked to hear that almost 90% of the Native Americans died after Columbus arrival because the sailors brought influenza, malaria and many other diseases with them.

Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann – Sabrina Michelitsch

I have never heard of this festival before. In my opinion Sabrina did great because she knew how to pronounce all the difficult Irish names. I really liked the Irish music she played at the beginning and all the facts she mentioned. It was interesting to hear that artists have to compete in qualifying rounds to be allowed to take part in the festival. I liked the fact that she mentioned “Scoil Eigse” (I have no plan how to pronounce it but I am sure Sabrina doesJ) where foreign people but also locals get the chance to learn about traditional Irish music.

The Cliffs of Moher center and its charges – Leclere Blandine

From my point of view it was a bit tricky to understand and follow this presentation. Blandine told us that she has been to Moher and showed us some of her pictures of the Cliffs, the local animals and the visitor center. She also talked about the entrance fees you have to pay and how to avoid paying them.

The five Irish presentations/topics I liked most and therefore chose to be tested on the KGP are:

• ·        The Drugs Scene in Dublin – Lisa Marie Vido
• ·         When Irish eyes are smiling – Cornelia Kaiser
• ·         The history of Irish Sign Language – Lisa Moder
• ·         This is Friz – Sandra Lang
• ·         The secret language of Irish travellers – Kristina Tandl

By the seat of one's pants

Do you know what these two guys have in common? Apart from being handsome… J

Their names are Jeff Dunham (from America) Sascha Grammel (Germany) and they are both ventriloquists. You think you don't know what a ventriloquist is? I am sure you do. According to Wikipedia "Ventriloquism is an act in which a person changes his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a 'dummy'".

Dunham has various of these dummies such as Walter, the grumpy retiree; the furry and manic Peanut and José Jalapeño from South of the border; but he is best known for his character “Achmed the Dead Terrorist” who is an incompetent suicide bomber. Achmed became famous for his yelling “Silence! I kill you!” to Jeff Dunham. The video where Achmed is introduced has more than 160 million clicks on You Tube, but that’s not all. Dunham’s TV series on Comedy Central have the highest audience ratings; he has sold more than seven million DVDs and his videos have half a billion views on You Tube. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? No wonder Forbes Magazine ranked him in its list “100 most powerful entertainers” and Time Magazine wrote that he is “the most popular comedian in the United States”. 

Jeff Dunham has earned much money but his success has also a negative side. His characters have been accused of being racist, sexist and homophobic. In 2008, a TV commercial featuring Achmed was banned by the South African Advertising Authority after people complained about the ad because it was offensive to Muslims and portrayed them as terrorists. Dunham defended himself against the complaints and pointed out that he is a stand-up comedian and that it is his job to make people laugh. From his point of view comedy is the last true form of free speech.

Sascha Grammel, on the other hand, is well known in Germany and Austria but not as popular as Jeff Dunham is in America. Grammel created his own unique ventriloquist-style which is called “Puppet-Comedy” and combines comedy, magic, puppet show and (of course) ventriloquism. Like Jeff Dunham, Sascha Grammel has plenty help-on-stage: “Josie”,

a turtle that works as a cash machine, “Frederic Freiherr vom Furchensumpf” a cheeky eagle-pheasant-mix who is extremely self-confident; and “Dr. Peter Hacke”, a burger and nutritionist. Grammel’s previous show was called “Hetz mich nicht” (Don’t rush) which he performed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I had the occasion to see him live on stage in Vienna - it was absolutely amazing! He performed “Don’t rush” for more than three years but now he has a new show – “No plan”. 

Grammel has got new characters (for example “Rüdiger”, an alien; or “Huhn, a blue chicken), new jokes AND is coming to Vienna in November 2014! I am really looking forward to seeing him again on stage.

„Mozart Music Makes You Smarter“…

…titled the Los Angeles times a few years ago. Have you ever heard of the Mozart-effect? The idea is that if babies or children listen to music composed by Mozart become more intelligent. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Just buy your newborn baby a CD or, if you are more ambitious, stimulate the unborn child with classical music and it will become super intelligent.

Where does this idea come from?

Neurobiologist Gordon Shaw tried to illustrate brain activity on a computer and found out that nerve cells adopt specific rhythms and patterns. He decided to turn the output into sounds and found realized that these sounds sounded familiar with some of the characteristics of baroque music. In 1993 he joined two other scientists and created together with them the study “Music and Spatial Task Performance”. The three scientists from the University of California divided college students into three groups. The subjects were given a series of mental tasks to complete. All of the tests were designed to measure spatial intelligence. The participants had to, for example, mentally unfold a piece of paper that has been folded over several times and then cut. The test looked like this:

If you know the answer please leave a comment J

Before each task they listened either to ten minutes of silence, ten minutes of a tape of relaxation instructions or ten minutes of Mozart’s sonata for two pianos in D major. The students who listened to the sonata increased their IQ by eight to nine points. For a short time they were better at spatial tasks than their colleagues. These findings made front-page headlines (the heading of this post is an example).

This sounds great so far but before you a CD collection of classical music to improve your intelligence -  read on.

Gordon Shaw and his colleagues made clear that this effect lasts only for about fifteen minutes – the time it took to take the test. Although the effects were temporarily and the Mozart-effect is a myth, the findings caused public interest. In 1998 the Governor of Georgia set aside state budget so that every newborn baby could receive a CD of classical music.

In 2001 Carlo Cignozzi set up speakers throughout his vineyard in order to keep pests away from his vine. He began playing a selection of classical music to his plants 24 hours a day and noticed that the grapes ripened faster.

Farmers in America and Italy play Mozart’s music to their cows to help them produce more and better milk.

I really like the idea that listening to Mozart makes you smarter and although I know that it is a myth, I could imagine listening classical music with my unborn baby. What do you think of this topic?

About hummingbirds and cupcakes

Do you like cupcakes and other desserts? If yes, here is an inside tip for you - Hummingbird Bakery in London. On my birthday on March 21st I received “The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook” from my roommate and am a fan of them since then.

Hummingbird Bakery was founded by Tarek Malouf in 2004. He loves American-style baking but could not find a place in London to enjoy the food. So he decided to found a company where you can buy cupcakes and muffins as well as brownies and cakes. His courage paid off because Hummingbird sells more than 20,000 cupcakes per week in their five bakeries. The first one opened on Portobello Road in Notting Hill – a very exclusive area. Doesn’t it look awesome and trendy?

Why is Hummingbirds so exceptional for me? The main reason I like it more than my other cookbooks are the recipes. They all sound great, there is an appetizing picture for each recipe plus there are many innovative and exciting flavors inside the book. I have never heard of “Strawberry Milkshake Cupcakes”, “Jam Doughnut Cupcakes” or “Tiramisu Cupcakes” before. I tried the “Tiramisu Cupcakes” for my mum’s birthday and she really liked them. It was a bit tricky because you have to hollow out the cupcakes, sprinkle coffee on them and then fill the hole with

mascarpone cream. It took me one hour but it was worth the effort. I am not sure whether it is allowed to post one of their recipes, but let’s risk it :).

…

Unfortunately I could not find the “Tiramisu Cupcake” recipe on the internet (and my cookbook is at home in Lower Austria) but I found a recipe for “Vanilla Muffins”. I have tried them and modified the recipe a bit so that it is easier for you to understand and to follow.

• 120g plain flour
• 140g caster sugar
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 40g butter, at room temperature
• 120ml whole milk
• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 170°C

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl. Use a hand mixer and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.

Gradually pour in half the milk and beat until the milk is incorporated.

Whisk the egg, vanilla extract and remaining milk together in a separate bowl for a few seconds, then pour into the flour mixture and continue beating until it is incorporated. Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray until two-thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes or until the muffins are light golden and the sponge bounces back when touched.

 Leave the muffins to cool slightly in the tray before turning them out to cool completely.

Another fact I really like is that the cookbook clearly tells you not to change anything. It is really important to stick to the recipe in order to get delicious and beautiful cupcakes.

Blind...and Happy

Can you imagine being blind – totally blind? I can’t and therefore I also can’t imagine how difficult it must be to live in this visual world. It is amazing for me how these special people live their life. In class we talked about “disability” and “difficulty” and I was not sure which term I should use to describe the following person. Then I found the “Courtesy Rules of Blindness” on the internet, where someone wrote: “I'm an ordinary person, just blind. You don't need to remember some ’politically correct’ term, ‘visually impaired’, ‘sight challenged’ etc. Keep it simple and honest, just say blind.”
Okay, I will try to stick to that.

Two days ago there was a concert in a church (in the “Münzgrabenkirche”) in Graz. As you may have guessed from my introduction it was not an “ordinary” one. The duo was called “Blind and Happy”, which refers to one of the two members - Sandra Seiwald. She was born with failing eyesight and became totally blind eleven years ago. Nevertheless, Sandra graduated from high school and studied jurisprudence. Together with Gudrun Topf she founded “Blind and Happy”. Topf studied music and educational theory and had the honor of performing together with Stevie Wonder.
Seiwald and Topf became well-known in Austria when they took part in the ORF talent show “Die große Chance”. Seiwald said in an interview that they applied just for fun and were really surprised that the audience liked them so much. “Blind and Happy” reached the semi-final where they performed one of Seiwalds favorite songs from the musical “Mozart”. The concert last Friday also ended with this beautiful song.

Now I realize that I haven’t written anything about the rest of the concert. Sandra Seiwald and Gudrun Topf sang not only songs from musicals but also spirituals as well as new and old pop songs. My favorite one on that evening was “Run” from Leona Lewis. Seiwald mentioned something that I haven’t realized before. “Run” is a song about a mother and her dead child. The atmosphere afterwards was really special.

Their two voices are amazing together and if there is another concert in Graz, I will definitely be there.

Click here to view their website

Ö3...Let's Rock

Today I am going to tell you about a very interesting job interview, which happened last week.

When I was looking for a summer job in the internet, I suddenly clicked on a blog where a boy wrote about his work experience at Ö3 (a radio station). I am very interested in music and radio and so I decided to try my luck and sent them my application documents. This might sound easy - but it was not. At first I had to fill out about five pages. There were very many different tasks to do. I had, for example, to name my favorite film and to explain why. Moreover I had to tell a foreign friend about the political system in Austria (in five sentences) or shorten news in order to use them on the radio. Some exercises were really tricky and I spent much time on them. The most difficult thing for me was the last task. I had to write about whatever I wanted to. The only two requirements were: it should be about one page long and it has to make them curious. I rewrote my text about 15 or 20 times until I was satisfied with it. I sent my application at the end of March and from then on I had to wait.

As time went past I got more and more excited. When I finally got an E-Mail I was so nervous I could hardly breathe – it was like getting a test back. I opened the E-Mail and was gobsmacked. The vice manager wrote me that she really liked my application and invited me to an assessment center – which was last week. It took place in Vienna and that day was pretty cool. When I arrived at the company buildings, I was overwhelmed. There are many people bustling around, the whole building is equipped with their own products (they even have beanbag chairs with their label on it) and you can hear Ö3 everywhere (even in the bathroom!).
There were about 25 other job applicants – all very interesting people. Some of them study music, journalism or communication science. They were all very friendly and we had a lot of fun together. The assessment center was separated in three parts. At first we had to fill out a general knowledge test. Then someone handed out some pictures and we had to write humorous texts. The third part was a “normal” job interview – this is what the vice manager told us at least. Luckily the interview was not in front of the other applicants but in a separate room. It was a relaxed situation – there were also some other important people – and we talked about why I applied here and so on. Suddenly one guy asked me if I could tell him a joke. I told him that there is one joke I can remember from my Spanish class at school. The English translation would be: “What time is it when an elephant destroys your watch? …..Time to buy a new one.” No one laughed, they only looked at me and I said something like: “Hahaha, that’s it.” Another guy answered: “At least you tried”.This was so embarrassing!
The vice manager told me that she would either write me an E-Mail or call me to inform me whether I got the job or not.

I will keep you posted!

EDIT: Unfortunately I was not selected but it was woth a try!

Only the truth

Last Saturday was pretty exciting for me. Together with my two brothers we went to the latest Dieter Nuhr show in Vienna. As this was my birthday present from them I was really looking forward to seeing him.
I am a huge fan of Mr. Nuhr, read some of his books, watched many videos online and his audio book is, because of the length (four hours) and his voice ideal for relaxing and also sleeping J. His new tour is called “Nuhr die Wahrheit” (Only the truth) where he states his opinion very clearly. All of his previous shows contain his last name “Nuhr”, for example “Nuhr unter uns” (between ourselves) or “Nuhr am Leben” (only alive).

If you don’t know Dieter Nuhr, here some facts:

• · Nuhr is a German comedian and lives in Rathingen.
• · He studied art and history in order to become a teacher.
• · Nuhr won the German Comedy-Price twice (2003&2010)
• · He is one of the most successful comedians in Germany    (more than 200.000 people visit his live shows every year).
• · Dieter Nuhr is married and has got a daughter
• · His famous saying is: "Wenn man keine Ahnung hat: Einfach mal Fresse halten," which means, "If you have no idea: just keep your mouth shut."

Last weekend was the first time I saw him live on stage and I was really surprised. He did not have any stage design except for a chair and a microphone stand. At the beginning he explained why he does not use and like videowalls. The audience would fully concentrate on the screens and won’t look at him any more (I think he is absolutely right). The show lasted two hours and was so funny that I almost died laughing. After the encore (where he read the first chapter of his new book “The perfect day”) I got the chance to ask him for an autograph and even took a picture with him.

This was one of the best birthday presents ever!