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NieR: Orchestra Concert 12024 [the end of data] in Berlin
Nathalie, René, and I (along with many of our other friends) have played the “NieR” games with great joy – starting from “Drakengard” to “NieR: Automata.” Especially “Automata” from 2017, in my opinion, is one of the best video games, excelling in story, gameplay, and soundtrack. While I played Drakengard and Nathalie and I played “NieR: Automata” together, René also played the remake of “NieR Replicant Ver. 1.22474487139” (still on our to-do list). In 2023, a new NieR Orchestra Concert Tour for 2024 was announced, and we were eager to get tickets because this time it was going to be held in Berlin, whereas the concerts had previously only taken…
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Photo Competition for Anime Figures
Here’s a somewhat different blog post. It’s about a photo contest with anime figures organized by Tsoto. In itself, the ‘staging of anime figures’ is nothing new to me. I’ve seen such photos for years in various forums and on other platforms. However, I never had the idea to take such photos and edit them with Photoshop myself. This was partly because I didn’t have many anime figures or simply didn’t have the inspiration to edit such photos. That changed with the competition, combined with the many large and small figures that have already accumulated in our apartment. Since photos in the apartment would be quite boring (and would also…
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Tunisia (2023)
This travel report begins with a confession: Tunisia was rather towards the bottom of my imaginary list of countries to visit. In my mind, I always associated it with a typical destination for people who want to lock themselves up in an all-inclusive hotel for two weeks. Then suddenly came the email that changed everything. I had previously submitted a paper to the AfricaCrypt conference with my boss, and out of nowhere, there it was: the email announcing that our paper had been accepted for the conference. I ran jubilantly through the apartment; after all, this was a crucial milestone on the path to my promotion. The location for AfricaCrypt…
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Saalfeld Fairy Grottoes
During the bridging days between Christmas and New Year, it was once again time to make a few small excursions. In addition to visiting relatives and ice skating, we also wanted to go to a new place we hadn’t been to before: the Fairy Grottoes in Saalfeld. We had already been to the Dragon’s Cave in Syrau, the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Poland, or the Turda Salt Mine in Romania – now we wanted to visit this nearby mine, although “near” is relative here. By car, it would have been about an hour’s drive to the south, but we traveled by train and bus via Jena Göschwitz, so the journey…
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Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit with Cats
I’ve always enjoyed playing fun racers like Mario Kart 64, Crash Team Racing, or Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. In 2020, Nintendo came up with a new idea—quite convenient since most people were at home due to Corona: a Mario Kart game that you could play right in your living room, “Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit.” It was an AR game, Augmented Reality, where the game events are projected into the real world with a camera (or the other way around by bringing the real world into the game). Such features are common on smartphones, but it was something new on a console. Nevertheless, it was foreseeable that it might…
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Alligatoah Concert in Erfurt
Recently, we attended our second Alligatoah concert after the one in Leipzig. This time, the concert took place in Erfurt, which is practically just around the corner. Initially, it was supposed to be held in the Thüringenhalle, but it was closed this year due to the risk of collapse. Therefore, the concert took place in the Messehalle. We got there quite quickly by train and tram. I was wearing my tour shirt from Leipzig, and Nathalie had her white fan shirt. When we arrived, about 15 minutes before admission and over 2 hours before the concert started, some queues had already formed, but shortly after 6 pm, we were already…
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Ilmtal Cycle Path and Falconry
In late summer 2023, we decided to go on a short bike tour while the weather was still good. A few years ago, we cycled south from Weimar towards Hohenfelden Reservoir. However, the bike path turned out to be a real challenge as we had to push our bikes uphill through an overgrown forest. Surprisingly, even today, Google does not feature the Ilmtal Cycle Path. This time, we relied solely on road signs, without a navigation system, and rode to the neighboring town of Kranichfeld, from where we had taken the train back the last time. Depending on how early we would arrive, we planned to visit the castles there…
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Cuba (2022)
What do you normally think of when you hear the word Cuba? Dreamy Caribbean beaches, rhythmic salsa music, cigars, classic cars, and Che Guevara. We all probably know at least one person in our circle who has been to Cuba and raves about it. I myself visited Cuba in 2005 with my parents. We stayed in an all-inclusive hotel in Varadero, like most people who travel there. Although I had a good time during that trip as a child, I was fascinated by the country beyond the hotel walls, and even back then, I wondered why we had to fly for over 10 hours just to spend most of our…
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The Drei(n)schlag 2023
In mid-August, a special event took place here in Thuringia. It was called the “Drei(n)schlag” (Three Strike). This is a fireworks display celebrated irregularly since 2002 in the area between Erfurt and Gotha at the “Drei Gleichen” (Three Equals) hills. The Three Gleichen consist of three castles (Burg Gleichen, Mühlburg, and Veste Wachsenburg), which got their name from the “Dreinschlag” when allegedly on May 31, 1231, lightning struck all three castles simultaneously, causing them to blaze like torches. Conveniently, an autobahn runs between the castles, and a train station is also not far away. Taking the train wasn’t an option due to the late evening timing of the fireworks (although…
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Model-Kit “Anubis” – The Series Is Complete!
Anubis is the third and final model kit in my “Zone of the Enders” series. For those who have been following my blog posts, you know that my very first model kit was “Vic Viper,” and shortly after, I assembled “Jehuty.” Naturally, the last mecha (or “Orbital Frame” as they’re called in Z.O.E.) couldn’t be left out. However, things didn’t go smoothly during the assembly this time… In general, Anubis doesn’t differ significantly from the other model kits. It’s actually the “easiest” to assemble because it doesn’t have stickers like Vic Viper nor tiny parts like Vic Viper or Jehuty. Nevertheless, the kit was delivered in a box twice the…
Reisen, Katzen und Essen… nicht zwangsläufig in dieser Reihenfolge.
