up coming trip Munich, Salzburg and Dresden-Meissen

So we are counting the days for our annual trip to Europe. Yesterday I was looking at YouTube for clips on Dresden, the last time we were there was 14 years ago. Since 1989 the City which is the Capital of Saxony was in Eastern Germany and the Communists did little in terms of re-building, meaning that the city was left pretty much as it was after the fire-bombing by the British in February 1945.

The Zwinger Palace in Dresden, built 1719.  

The Dresden Semper Opera House, built in 1838 by Gottfried Semper

Dresden's 18th century panorama is well known because of the paintings of Canaletto. I am looking forward to our visit this year to see what has been completed and how the museums have been re-organised. The Zwinger Palace was still under renovation and closed in 1999, now it is re-open and has wonderful collections, the Residence Palace is also now completely re-built and it too has beautiful art work and many curiosities like the gem collection of August the Strong.

What I am hoping to see is the Otto Dix exhibition which highlights his work from 1914-1932. I am currently working at the exhibit of the Canadian War Museum, entitled Transformations and we have an exhibit on him and his life work from 1905 to 1969. The art work comes from various museums in Germany and Liechtenstein, one work Der Krieg (the war) we only have a photo. It is an altar piece triptych and was made in the period between 1919-1932. It was recently restored and is in the Galerie Neue Meister of the Staatlichen Kunstsammlugen in the Albertinum in Dresden.

I hope to see more of his works so to enhance my knowledge of him and get a better appreciation for the exhibit we have here in Ottawa in commemoration of the start of the Great War.

In Dresden also we will visit the FrauenKirche (church of our Lady) built in 1726 by George Bähr, a Lutheran church where Martin Luther preached, it was destroyed in the fire bombing of Dresden in 1945. Through public subscription this church measuring 93 meters in height was rebuilt between 1994 and 2005.  This church had originally been built by the people of Dresden in response and in protest to the building of a Roman Catholic Cathedral by August II the Strong who had accepted the Crown of Poland and in doing so converted from Protestantism to Catholic Faith.  

 ruins of the Frauen Kirche 1980's

 FrauenKirche re-built 2006

FrauenKirche inside view today

author

Some people spend their entire lives reading but never get beyond reading the words on the page, they don't understand that the words are merely stepping stones placed across a fast-flowing river, and the reason they're there is so that we can reach the farther shore, it's the other side that matters.
-- José de Sousa Saramago

José de Saramago died of Leukemia on June 18 at the age of 87 at his home in Lanzarote, one of Spain's Canary Islands. The Spanish newspaper EL PAIS devoted 8 pages to him as a tribute. He moved to Spain from Portugal after a dispute with the Portuguese Government in 1991, which he accused of censorship after one of his books was banned.Saramago's controversial novel, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, was excluded from the European Union literary contest Ariosto by Sousa Lara, Under-Secretary of State of Portugal, but after international protest it was returned to the list of candidates. Saramago interprets the key episodes from the Gospels from an ironic point of view, inventing new miracles and prophesies.

The human heart is never content, and that doing one's duty does not bring peace of mind, though those who are easily satisfied would have us believe otherwise."

José Saramago was born in Azinhaga, in the province of Ribatejo in Portugal. He was forced to abandon school in order to earn his living. Saramago was educated as a technician, and before becoming a journalist, translator, and writer, he did a number of manual jobs. He joined in 1969 the Communist Party of Portugal, which was forbidden during the military dictatorship of Salazar, but he also criticized the party. In the 1970s Saramago supported himself mostly by translation works. Since 1979 he devoted himself entirely to writing.
International critical acclaim came late in his life, starting with his 1982 historical fantasy "Memorial do Convento," published in English in 1988 as "Baltasar and Blimunda."
The story is set during the Inquisition and explores the battle between individuals and organized religion, reinforcing Saramago's recurring theme of the loner struggling against authority. he was the first and only so far Portuguese author to win the Nobel Prize for literature.

Saramago published plays, short stories, novels, poems, libretti, diaries, and travelogues. His first novel appeared in 1977. Its basic theme is the genesis of the artist, of a painter as well as a writer. In Journey to Portugal (1981), Saramago searched for the idea of Portugal, a few years after the dictatorship had ended. To see his country with with fresh eyes and fresh wonder. His style was described as experimental.

An intellectual who defended what he thought to be just, until the last moment.

‘We won’t change the world,
said José Saramago, if we don’t change our own lives first’.

Escorts train for flag raising CCTV-International

Escorts train for flag raising CCTV-International

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I was looking for the upcoming celebration of the New China 1949-2009 anniversary. CCTV Central China TV channel 9 which I use to watch has lots of items and this one I thought interesting. I also scored high on the quizz on my knowledge of Chinese Military Parades.

I remember how precise the soldiers were in marching formations. This also applied to many other facets of the image given of the State. CCTV also has items on Taiwan, continuing the propaganda of reunification.
CCTV in its coverage of the up-coming celebration puts the emphasis on the Sacred mission for the Party and the people.

It will demonstrate the positive image of China as a country seeking peaceful development, the military power of China's army to safeguard national security and uphold world peace, and boost the self esteem and pride of the Chinese nation," said Senior Colonel Guo Zhigang, deputy head of the training camp preparing the units that will march through Beijing.
Officials are taking no risks with their A-list performers, who have been training for months in the specially-built parade village beside an old runway on the outskirts of Beijing, where the elite group drills for eight hours a day, rain or shine.
"The mission to participate in the parade is a sacred mission, given by the Party and the people," Guo said, adding that many had given up comfortable jobs and good salaries for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The troops - unusually tall for China with a minimum height of 180 cm (5 feet, 11 inches) for men, and 165 cm (5 feet, 5 inches) for women - are almost ready for the parade after months of preparation. They have not been allowed off the base even once.

The zeal found only in Totalitarian State like China. North Korea the little brother to the East is also good at this type of imaging.