Twinnies CDs!

I saw something on my Facebook newsfeed the other day that my blog audience might enjoy.  Franziska Pauli's Facebook page posted a photo with the caption "Look, what I've found! People told me, that the TWINNIES album isn't availabe at amazon anymore... Few days ago I discovered, that I still have some of them at home. So, does anybody want one or more of them with a personal message for each 15,00$/15,00€ + shipping? Just send me a message! Maybe you still need a christmas gift..."

Considering that my original post about Die Twinnies (from 3 and a half years ago!) is still my most popular post, I thought there might be interest in this sale.  I'm tempted to buy one if any are left!

I couldn't resist commenting on the photo when I saw it:

And to my surprise, Franzi liked my comment!

Lucky me!  So, go buy that album!  And, for a "where are they now" post about Die Twinnies, check out my post from last September.  I'm sure they've been up to a lot since then.

Musik Monday - Die Twinnies: Where are they now?

My most popular post by far is Musik Monday - Die Twinnies from over 2 years ago.  When I first posted the video, it was already 2 years old itself and what happened to the adorable rollerskating, accordion-playing, singing duo was a mystery.  Now, 4 years after the video was first posted, people are still writing comments about how much they love it and asking whatever happened to the girls.  I don't have all the answers, but I did some investigating and came up with something for all you Twinnies fans.

Franziska and Astrid in the Twinnies days (source: kidsmusic.info)

According to the birthdays listed on the duo's Wikipedia page, Astrid and Franziska are now both 18 years old (they were about 13 when the original video was made).  Unfortunately, it looks like the girls have chosen different paths and, at least as far as their music careers go, parted ways.  While Franziska (Franzi) is still in the public eye and pursuing music, Astrid seems to have stepped out of the limelight for a more private life.

Honestly, all I could find of Astrid is what I think is her Facebook page.  Please do *not* friend her or bother her using that link.  First of all, I can't be 100% sure it's her (only 99% sure), and secondly, it's private for a reason.  It looks like that's her personal Facebook for her personal life.  I'm not sure how she'd feel about fan mail, but if you do send messages or anything, please be kind and respectful.  It looks like she's happy and surrounded by some good friends.  Hopefully all is going well for her!

Astrid then and now (source: Facebook)

Franzi was a lot easier to find.  Her Facebook page is made for her fans, so please like it to keep up with what she's doing!  She's still performing music on stage, but it looks like she may have taken a small break for a couple of years.

Franzi then and now (source: Facebook)

Since June 2013, Franzi has been in Stefanie Hertel's DirndlRockBand.  Thanks to that, she's been touring with them in several countries and been with them on stage on on television.  Franzi's Facebook page also chronicles her adventures on the road and what she's doing outside of the band.  She writes in German, but there are plenty of pictures and videos...plus there's always the Google translate button.  I'm sure she'd love to not only have more likes on her page, but also to hear from her fans.  Hopefully her music career continues strong and her talent shines through!

DirndleRockBand (source: mdr.de)

Franzi performing with Stefanie Hertel at Musi Open Air 2014 (source: Facebook)

All is not lost Twinnies fans! Franzi also has a youtube account.  And there are some videos of her and Astrid hidden among the other great videos.  Here's the most recent one I could find.  Enjoy!

 Both girls have become beautiful young ladies and I wish them success in whatever they choose to pursue!  Hopefully this was helpful to everyone curious about where Die Twinnies are now!

Musik Monday - 99 Red Balloons on red balloons

This is pretty amazing:



The guy's name is Andrew Huang and this video is him performing Nena's 99 Luftballons (99 Red Balloons) using only red balloons.  I can only imagine how long this took him.  He has a lot of other awesome videos like this on his youtube channel.  There's a whole song challenge playlist.  He's a talented artist and everyone should check him out!

Musik Monday - Steh Auf

Life's been busy, things have been tough.  But, I've decided to commit to at least one post a week.  Musik Monday posts are my favorites, partly because they get the message across even without a lot of writing on my part.  They also are a way to share music I love with people who may not find it otherwise.

Since I've been in a bit of a stress-filled rut lately, I decided on an empowering song that helps me feel stronger and able to get through the tough times.  I first heard the song in 2005 or 2006 at German Camp even though I had some very different songs from Die Toten Hosen on my iPod before that.  Part of language immersion and instruction was learning through song and this is one of the songs the counselors taught us in our morning music session:



I love music for the music, but I also appreciate lyrics a lot.  That's why it's great that the group also recorded the song in English so that a wider audience can enjoy it:



I prefer the German version because I don't actually know the lyrics in English, haha.  I'm a person who needs to sing along with songs.  Hearing the British-esque accent preference is definitely interesting though.
The next couple of weeks have the potential to be very rough, and I know this song has helped me keep things in perspective and stand strong when life tried pushing me down in the past.  Hopefully someone else who needs that encouragement will find it too!

Musik Monday - German Call Me Maybe

Carly Rae Jepsen's song "Call Me Maybe" is one of the catchiest songs ever.  I won't deny that I absolutely love it and the many youtube videos it's spawned.  This is obviously one of my favorites since it's in German and realllly well done.  Enjoy!



And they have more videos!  I am so excited right now!

Musik Monday - Heino, Ich hab mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren

I got extremely Nostalgic tonight for my time studying abroad in Heidelberg after one of the Facebook pages I liked, German Girls Helping German Girls in America, posted many many pictures from the city tonight.

I stalled on putting up a song today and actually had a different one planned, but at the last minute, I knew I had to post this one:

Gotta love the winter photos when they talk about a balmy summer

The song is more about missing a woman the singer met in Heidelberg after he left the city, but most will quote the song as a way to say that they miss the city.  Here are lyrics that translate the song from German to English.  I love the above video because it shows the beauty of the city and gives an inkling of how amazing it is.

I also feel the need to share some of my photos from my time in Heidelberg (after the break):

Musik Monday - Endless Summer

This isn't my favorite song I've posted for Musik Monday, but it seemed appropriate given that it's Euro Cup time.  According to this article, the German-American singer Oceana was chosen to  sing the official UEFA EURO 2012 song.  The song that became the official song is below:





I have absolutely nothing against the singer - she's popular in several countries for a reason.  I just am not a huge fan of songs that sound like this one.  Regardless of that, it'll be stuck in my head for days.  I'm sure it will be an "Ohrwurm" for all of you too.

All of that being said, I'm so excited for this Euro cup season.  It's only every 2 years that there are big soccer tournaments (Euro Cup and World Cup) and I'm always cheering for Germany.  In World Cup years I cheer for USA a little too, but the only guilt-cheering for America I need to do in Euro cup years is during the Olympics.  Seriously though, Germany and USA are both my teams.  And with one win already under their belts, here's to hoping Germany wins it all!

Go Deutschland!!

On top of being great soccer players, they're also an attractive group of guys

P.S. - I know this is a Musik Monday entry, but I'm posting it on Tuesday.  Just know that it was really meant for yesterday.

Musik Monday - Die Twinnies

My friend sent me this the other day and it's just too great to not pass along:





In case you didn't catch that, here it is with English subtitles:




It's a music group made up of two German girls who sing, skate, and play accordions (and other instruments) simultaneously.  It's sort of corny music, but you have to give these girls credit for the show they put on; Most "musicians" can barely sing, let alone play instruments.  And doing both while on skates is insane!  They come close to giving Weird Al a run for his money.

I did a little research on their website (warning, there's sound) and found that Astrid and Franziska aren't actually twins, but they are best friends and "inseparable like twins".  They've been singing and making music since they were young children and did it because it was fun.  They did it more because it made other people happy.  They learned accordion from Franziska's father, who teaches people how to play the instrument.  They started off just playing and singing, but decided to incorporate another activity they love - roller skating.

Though they exemplify the traditional Bavarian music style of their home, they love current music as well and play many pop and rock songs on the electric guitar and electric bass guitar.  They hope to mix traditional and current music in their own style.  I encourage everyone to check out the website for these talented girls!  They may not be actively making or performing music now (I couldn't figure that out), but they're certainly entertaining!

One of the greatest things about the video is how it shows a pretty typical German audience.  Understandably, part of it has to do with the venue, but look at how they all sit and clap with a slight side to side swaying.  In almost all my experience (with the slight exception of some clubs in Germany - though many were also full of international students), that's what Germans do when they love music.

At least they had enough enthusiasm to make matching signs

I personally love it.  I'll be honest, I am not in my element when it comes to dancing, unless it's some sort of line dancing.  Give me Cotton Eyed Joe or Cha Cha Slide any day and I can dance the heck out of those.  But music where there's no specific dance to learn?  That's one of the most frightening things to me.  It must be the German in me that's terrified.

Musik Monday - American Soldier

It's Memorial Day, and I hope between the picnics and fun, Americans take a moment to remember those who protect us and our freedom.  And especially remember those who died defending and protecting us.  I'm changing it up again this week to honor all the past, present, and future soldiers with this Toby Keith song:




Not so much about the actual music today, but I love country music and Toby Keith.

Though it's not as common where I grew up as in other areas of the country, I've had a number of friends join the US Military in some capacity.  My father was in the army and both my grandfathers were as well.  My grandpa did everything he could to join and I know he was in Korea and did a lot of dangerous work looking for bombs on bridges because of his engineering background.  My Opa joined after moving here from Germany to become a US citizen and even was stationed as a US soldier in Germany for a while.

I'm lucky that none of my close friends and family have died or been seriously injured while serving in the Armed Forces, but it's important to remember all of those soldiers who have.

Musik Monday - Grün, Grün, Grün

This is a classic German children's song and a great way to teach colors to anyone.

Musik Monday - Weird Al, Yoda (live!)

Back in March I was the lucky, lucky winner of Weird Al tickets.  Then, I got even luckier and won backstage passes to a meet and greet after the show!  I could not have been more excited.  I got him to sign my copy of "When I Grow Up", the children's book by Weird Al.  I also had him sign a program for my friend who I didn't take to the show.  I'm running out of time and haven't gotten anywhere near uploading pictures, so I'll put another post just for all of that.

For now, I wanted to post a video of him performing "Yoda" live:

There's even a little hint of German culture at 4:05 or so, which is so fitting for my blog.  It goes beyond the Yoda song to one of the most impressive performances I have ever seen in a concert.  You have to see it - barely compares to live, but it's amazing.
I thought this was the best choice since I gave him the crochet Yoda I made from a previous blog entry.  He liked it!  He said it was pretty cool!  That made my day.  So now if you use the pattern for crocheting Yoda that's linked in that entry, you'll have a twin Yoda to the one Weird Al has.  What could be cooler than that?

Musik Monday - Comedian Harmonists, Veronika

Spring is here!  And after school is out, we can actually enjoy the season.  One of my first thoughts in springtime is an old German music group, the Comedian Harmonists, specifically this song "Veronika, der Lenz ist da".  Translated, it means "Veronika, the Spring is here":

Here is a very good translation of the lyrics from German to English for those of you who are curious.

I love this group for their amazing harmonizing abilities and their back story, which is told well in the German Film Comedian Harmonists.  The group was very popular before WWII, but ran into difficulties because half of the members were Jewish and one was married to a Jewish woman.  They faced immense obstacles after initially being such a huge success and eventually disbanded when members fled Germany.  They formed new groups, but nothing came near the original.

Their songs are generally wonderful, happy songs.  I couldn't help put put them on when the weather started warming up and everything got greener.  As they say readers, der Lenz ist da!

Musik Monday - Law School Finals Edition

Have I mentioned yet that I'm in law school?  Only about a million times?  Oh, okay.

For my school, it's finals season and that means I am beyond stressed and busy.  My first in class final is Wednesday and I'm not prepared at all and I have a million other law school things to do and this commercial law outline just isn't making any sense and AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Don't expect too much from me for the next couple of weeks.  I did want to post the most relevant song/video I could think of for my life right now though for Musik Monday:

Just, just, just cram

Musik Monday - Kids singing Rammstein

A friend posted this on my facebook wall (timeline?  I don't know, they forced the change on me and I have no idea what to call anything on facebook anymore) recently.  I get a lot of "This is German, you'll love this" kind of posts - and that's usually really accurate.


 


This video is amazing for so many reasons.

First of all, Rammstein is awesome.  I'll be honest - I used to hate them.  I thought they were overhyped and had nothing better than loud noise.  Then a few things happened.

Musik Monday - The Power of Music

This is a little different than my usual Musik Monday posts, but when I saw this video, I knew I had to share it with many, many people:




I grew up with music being an enormous part of my life.  It was always on in the car, and I knew the words to almost every oldies song before I started Kindergarten.  I played violin and piano since before elementary school and continued through college.  I even visit pep band for college basketball games and break out my electric violin.

Musik Monday - The Beatles, Sie liebt dich

When people think of The Beatles, they rightfully think of England.  However, the Beatles really owe a lot of their popularity and start to Germany, specifically Hamburg.  The group traveled to Hamburg in 1960 when they had 5 members: George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Pete Best (the original drummer who the group found right before their trip to Germany), and Stuart Sutcliffe (who dropped out of the band in 1961 to finish his studies and sadly died shortly after he left the band).  They played at a handful of nightclubs and were gaining popularity until Harrison was deported for being underage and McCartney and Best were deported for attempted arson (I can't make this up).

Later, the group returned to Hamburg.  In 1961, they made their first professional recording there.  They continued visiting Hamburg and playing in nightclubs there through 1962.  It's said that this not only helped to build their fan base (Germany loved them), but they also got some of their signature style, namely their haircuts, there.

They returned to Germany after they hit it big and were worldwide stars.  The group made a number of recordings in German - of German songs and of their own songs translated into German.

Here's "Sie Liebt Dich":


Can you figure out what song that is in English?


It's "She Loves you (yeah, yeah, yeah)".  Some minor typos by whoever made the video and pronunciation isn't perfect, but it's quite good considering they didn't speak German!  There're some live videos too worth taking a look at.

How about that?  The Beatles are far from the only musicians in that era who recorded songs in German.  Many groups and singers did so in order to build their popularity in Europe.  There's many other weeks for all of those though!

Musik Monday - Wise Guys Deutsche Bahn

My mom sent me this video earlier today and it wasn't until after a long day of classes that I got to watch it.  She loves the Wise Guys and got to see them live as a foreign language teacher conference.  Awesome accapella, awesome humor as always from the Wise Guys.  They're at the top of my list for German music.  They're definitely inspired by Die Comedian Harmonists (I can say that with relative confidence because they have a song called "Die Comedian Harmonists").  This is another group you'll all likely see a lot of music from on here in the future.  I'm a big fan of this kind of clever talent.  It's almost got a Weird Al taste to it (there will be so much on Weird Al soon by the way).

Senk ju for träveling wis Deut-sche Bahn

Musik Monday - Glücklich

I've decided to try to force some consistency on this blog, so I'm going to do a Musik Monday (or Music Montag).  I'll put up something to do with music weekly on mondays, maybe just a song or something about an artist or band.  Music has been such an important part of my life and it's something that transcends all cultures and lifestyles.  What better for a blog that celebrates my cultures?


I have a big entry involving country music planned, but I want to do it justice, so I'll hold off for a week or two.


For today, I wanted to share a song by Farin Urlaub named "Glücklich".  I love him and all the members of Die Ärzte.  I actually found a band poster while I was studying abroad in Heidelberg and brought it home.  It's not horribly classy, but it's a centerpiece in my apartment, right above my tv.  What better way to decorate than those 3 talented men?  


We learned this song one of my years at Waldsee German Camp.  Some of the words were changed (The dominatrix line was changed to "Bist du Bürgermeister oder liefest du das Brot"), but the message made clear in the refrain stayed the same:
It doesn't matter what you are as long as you're happy.