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 - MfG by Die Fantastischen Vier

Musik Monday is back!  And this week is one of my favorite songs.  I have about 10 songs on my phone, and this is one of them.  It's so clever and fun to listen to and sing along with/mess up many of the lyrics. 

Die Fantastischen Vier (Fanta 4) have been around for a while - officially since 1989 to be exact.  They are a German hip-hop group that was the first to really reach the top of the music charts in 1992.  Their music employs a lot of comedy, but later in the group's career, some of their songs became more serious.  Fun fact: they voice the Penguins in the German-dubbed Madagascar films.  

(source: www.rotoscopers.com)

The group is still making music, but this song is from 1999.  The song is MfG, which is an acronym for "Mit freundlichen Gruessen," which translates literally to "with friendly greetings"; it's a way to end a letter before signing your name, like "sincerely yours". *Warning: Some adult themes*

If you know the German alphabet, it might sound a little like random letters being rapped then a chorus of actual words thrown in.  It's not random at all though.  First, the title itself is "text speak" and a way that people shortened words to make things quicker and easier.  The other letters in the song all go in groups of 3 as well, and each group of 3 stands for something.

Going even further into the song, each line of 3 acronyms is its own grouping.  The sets of 3 all have something in common.  I took a Deutsches Popmusik class when I studied in Heidelberg and we had a worksheet where we had to try to fill in each group of 3 letters while listening to the song.  Then, after we reviewed those, we tried to figure out what each acronym stands for.  Some were easy, because they're used in English as well as in German.  Others we knew because of learning German.  But the remaining ones were total guesses if we put anything down.  We started seeing patterns though, which is extremely interesting.  I'd urge anyone to try to figure out what the acronyms are before looking at the chart in this link.  I'm a bit of a nerd, but it's kind of like a puzzle and really fun:

http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/german/DeutscheWoche/DieFanta4-MFG.pdf

While some groupings immediately make sense (i.e., EDV, IBM, and WWW are all computer related), some require a little research or additional knowledge to understand.  For example: KMH, ICE, Eschede refers to the Inter-City Express trains (ICE) known for their speed (KMH), one of which crashed in a town in Lower Saxony (Eschede) in 1998.

This is a great tool for teaching adults who are beginning to learn German.  It could also be useful for high school students, but there are some PG-13 themes in the song that a teacher might not want to explain to younger students (or their parents).  Most of all, it's a fun, clever song.

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!

Filme Friday, a new monthly post

So far, I've done Musik Monday and Spotlight Saturday.  It felt like something was missing though.  Then it hit me: Movies!  I'm a TV and movie junkie.  I would much rather be at home watching a movie than out with a bunch of people on a free night.  That's something I'd love to share with other people.  So, one Friday of each month (unless I'm feeling really ambitious), I'll be reviewing a movie.

Of course, in the spirit of the blog, these will be German movies.  And, why not?  I've always said that music is a great language learning tool, and movies are as well.  Both foreign music and movies not only allow people to hear (and see) the language being spoken, but also share a piece of the culture.

I'm looking forward to sharing some of my favorite movies with everyone and watching some new ones!  Suggestions and requests are definitely welcome!

Look for this new segment starting next month.

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 - Jingle Bells (Bayern München)

It's almost 3 weeks after Christmas, but I couldn't resist sharing this gem.  I've posted English speakers singing in German in the past (The Beatles and Elvis), but not the other way around.  It's wonderful and sort of hilarious either way.  Regardless of language ability, sometimes accents are just hard to lose.  Someone once said that the accent you have speaking a foreign language is a special and unique thing that you shouldn't work to get rid of.  I tend to agree.  Plus, it makes for some fun videos.

Behold!  The Bayern München soccer team singing Jingle Bells!

Musik Monday - Wooden Heart

Wednesday, January 8 is Elvis Presley's birthday.  He would have been 79.  Because of this upcoming birthday, it seems appropriate to have a Musik Monday featuring the King of Rock 'n' Roll.  As luck would have it, he sang in German...at least once.  Once is better than never though, especially for my purposes.

This clip is from his movie, G.I. Blues, and the song is Wooden Heart.  If it sounds familiar to German speakers, it's because the melody is the same as the German folk song, "Muss i denn, muss i denn zum Städtele hinaus" by Friedrich Silcher.  To anyone who didn't sing that as a child (i.e., anyone who didn't grow up in Germany, with German parents, or learning German), that's the song he starts singing in German at 1:06.  

Both are love songs, but they don't quite have the same meanings.  The folk song is about a guy going away, telling his girlfriend he will stay true to her, and that if they are together after a year, they'll be married.  Wooden Heart is more of a "don't break my heart" than a "I won't break your heart."  I guess Elvis sang plenty of other songs asking women not to break his heart.  Someone posted a good translation on a forum if you're more curious.

Some of the pre-production filming for the movie was done on location in West Germany while Elvis was stationed there in the Army.  I'd recommend watching the full film if you can find it...not just because I absolutely love Elvis and would almost always recommend him.

Alles gute zum Geburtstag Elvis!

Musik Monday - May You Always

It wouldn't be New Years for me without hearing the bit below.  It's not really music (though it uses Auld Lang Syne in the background), but I thought I'd use it anyway.  The man speaking is Harry Harrison, a radio DJ I grew up hearing daily.  He worked as a DJ from 1953 through 2005, most famously on WMCA, WABC, and WCBSFM.  He not only talked about the music, but also shared personal stories and became a friendly voice for many people.  The clip below was played every year around Christmas and New Year's Day after being recorded in 1965.  You can read the text here, but I'd recommend listening when you have a chance.  It's well wishes and hopes for everyone listening.  It's a small tradition for me that I hope all of you can enjoy.

Musik Monday: Sesame Street, Santa Claus kommt Heute

Since Christmas is somehow only about a week away, it seemed appropriate to share something Christmasy for Musik Monday.  This is "Santa Claus kommt Heute", translated literally "Santa Claus comes today", better known as "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" done by the cast of Sesame Street (including some Muppet guests).

Even though Sesame Street did come to Germany as Sesamstraße in 1973, two years before this video was made in 1975, this is not an episode of Sesamstraße.  It is from an episode of Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten (Peter Alexander presents Specialties), a popular German variety show that aired on ZDF.  Peter Alexander was an Austrian entertainer who both acted and sang.  He eventually transitioned to TV in the 60's.  His variety show first aired in black and white from 1963-1966.  ZDF then picked it up in 1969, aired it in color, and continued with it through 1996.  It was an extremely popular show through its entire run.

This episode featured Peter Alexander traveling to America to visit Sesame Street for a Christmas special.  Though this clip only features the puppets singing, he joined them in singing and dancing.  I think my favorite parts are Bert's Santa outfit and Ernie's lederhosen.  

Look at how adorable they are!

The puppets were originally voiced by their American voice actors and the sound was later dubbed to German.  This episode was #1 in 1975.  It had were 38 million German viewers and more in other German-speaking countries.  I honestly was never a Sesame Street fan (my favorite was Grover...I think that says a lot about how I felt about the show), but this I enjoy! I should thank my mom for sharing this with me in the first place :)

Musik Monday: Rammstein's "Du Hast" performed by The Schwaben Dancers

It's crunch time (Bar exam is a week from tomorrow and I'm more freaked out than I can explain), but I saw this video and had to share.

For those of you not around in the late 90's, not into German music (I don't know how you got here then, but welcome!), or not into metal, this is a German dance group performing to Rammstein's most famous hit (at least in the USA) "Du Hast."  The dance group calls it the "Rammertanz" (Rammer, short for Rammstein and Tanz, which means dance).

I saw more traditional German folk dances in the past year as Steuben Parade Princess than in my entire life before then, but I never saw anything like this.  The group took this heavy metal song and put it to traditional folk dance moves.  I love unexpected crossovers so this was a complete treat for me.  

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 - Wise Guys, Jetzt ist Sommer

I've prescribed myself bedrest today after falling sick yesterday afternoon.  The fever/chills are gone, but the sore throat is still here, so I'm not as chipper as I could be.  I do, however, have a short break from my Princess duties and can hopefully get a little rest in.

Today, I decided to post a song for Musik Monday that always lifts my spirits a bit: Jetzt ist Sommer by The Wise Guys





It's probably one of my favorite songs of all time.  I first came across it when my mom decided to have her German class sing it at the "International Caberet" the language department at my college used to throw before I went there.  As the child of a professor, I got to ham it up on stage too, and the class sang this song with the karaoke version on the CD...and did some "dancing", while wearing sunglasses of course.

The song is glorifying summer as a wonderful time of year (because it is) and basically promotes the mentality that even when everything seems horrible or cold or bad in whatever way, it can at least be summer in your head.  That's just the kind of pick-me-up I needed today.  Maybe I'll celebrate the real summer outside by switching up my soup and gingerale diet with some ice cream :^)

Enjoy the beautiful weather whether it's outside your window or in your head!

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!