Spirit of the River

Something unbelievable happened: I changed my mind about not wanting to call anybody the number 1 Michael Jackson tribute artist. Read on to find out why. What has changed - and where have I been for the last few months? I haven't written anything on any of my blogs in the last few months - not on my literature related one, not on the one related to my create writing, not on the one about chickens, not on this one, not even on the one I use to write on when there's nobody to talk to but I feel like communicating. I felt like I could do nothing any longer - that it was not worth it. Life in general has been challenging to put it mildly. For reasons I might explain in another post, I am struggling a lot - and I can't tell whether I just reached a plateau down in the valley of "this is going nowhere", or whether I am slowly starting to go uphill again. Only time will tell. If you have read my entries of the past, you know that I had some issues with som...

Last night, I have been to a place called Stevenage to watch a Michael Jackson tribute artist called Ben . He was one of only two UK tribute artists I found interesting and promising enough to spend money on a ticket, transport, and accommodation (it's too difficult to travel back home with public transport at night). Now that I have seen three different Michael Jackson tribute artists in person, I would like to write about what they have in common, what made each of them stand out, and then answer the question: Is there really a number one? Did one of the two UK tributes manage to do something Kenny did not do? If you have read my old writings about Kenny, you know that he's very special (at least to me). I will have a look at their looks, their energy during the performance, the song selection, the costumes, the singing (or lack of it), the moves, the band & the dancers, the overall feel of the concert, and the meet & greet after the shows. In...

Most of us do have role models in our life. For some of us, they are members of our family. For some of us our biggest role model is one of our friends. For some of us, the biggest role models are famous people from various careers. Then there are people who claim to not have any role model - but that is a different story. To me, my role models were mainly people from the world of music and acting. I simply had nobody in my family who was suitable as a person to look up to. There were alcoholics and people who stood by, doing nothing. As a young kid, my escape was the world of music, books, and TV. In there, I found people who had courage, who were well-spoken, encouraging, creative, and in a way always there for me. The first two important role models who entered my life were Captain Jean-Luc Picard , portrayed by the fantastic Patrick Stewart, and Michael Jackson . Jean-Luc Picard was someone I wished to be my father - and you have to admit the man makes a rather good role-mo...

Sometimes, you need the help of a wise friend. A discussion on Facebook gave me the idea to write about imaginary relationships (which includes friendships, too, it's not all about love). Most of us had such a relationship at some stage in our life, some of us had a more detailed one, and others just had thoughts like "What if...?" Some kids had imaginary friends, other kids didn't. An imaginary friendship is defined by the fact that the person you day-dream about either doesn't exist or has no interest in the kind of relationship you are interested in. In many cases, the person of desire is a famous person or a fictional character that simply is too good to really exist in life. And this is what I am writing about here: I am not going into imaginary relationships with people you actually know - because I think that can be quite a dangerous topic, and it can also create problems in relationships as they actually are in reality. But what about your daydre...

While this is not really a love letter (which would be privately addressed and for the eyes of one person only), it is a blog post about why English means so much to me. People often ask me whether I ever plan on going back to Germany, and when I say no, hardly anybody understands. And I usually don't explain because I know that only very few people would truly listen and understand my reasons. In this blog, I do not explain why I do not want to live in Germany, but I will explain why I want to live in a country where people speak English (and basically, Germany's not one of those countries).  It has nothing to do with English being one of the most influential languages in the world. It has nothing to do with English being more beautiful than other languages (though to me it is). My reason for loving English is because to me it is the language of life. The language that gave me hope when there was none in my life. It is the language of the people who taught me mor...

I will only write a short one today, as I am still feeling quite sick, and need to use my energy for working on my jobs. Part of my work is translating books, sometimes "real" books, sometimes e-books. All of them (and most of the books I read) have dedications. I am also writing a book, but when it comes to dedications, it's always a page that bothers me a little, and to be honest, a page that makes me sad. I read how other people can dedicate their books to partners, friends, their family and so on, and then wonder who I would dedicate my book to. Michael Jackson, because he was more of a friend to me than anybody else? Patrick Stewart, because I learned more from him than from my own father who just hated me and always had to remind me that I was just an accident? Lucy Lawless, because she helped me a lot even though I never got to talk to her? Kate Mulgrew, because I wanted to have a mother like her? Kenny Wizz, because he gave me hope? Tolkien, because he insp...

Who's Kenny Wizz? Kenny Wizz (from the USA)  is a Michael Jackson tribute artist who I fortunately could see a few times when he was on tour in New Zealand in 2011. And yes, he is a proper artist, a proper performer - and not just a look-a-like or impersonator. His band plays live, and he sings live (though he might not always sing himself, I think - but I don't know enough to judge that 100%). And he is good at it - not perfect, but you would not expect perfection from someone who is on a stage and dances like Michael Jackson while singing live. Michael Jackson often did not sing live during his tours - so Kenny was actually doing something quite spectacular. Kenny Wizz has been a MJ tribute artist for over 30 years now, so he kind of started with it two years after I was born! Kenny Wizz in New Zealand, 2011 I learned about Kenny Wizz late in the year 2010. I think it was just before Christmas. At that stage in my life I really needed something to look forward to. Y...