Recent film gems

There have been several beautiful and inspriring movies in cinemas over the last couple of months. Some of them were hidden gems, some have found a broader audience, all have been able to create a unique feeling of magic. Here are a couple of them.

Amazing and magical, Hugo is a declaration of love to art and film and following your dreams. Must see.




This one pictures genuine friendship and the beauty of life just as it is and people who try to embrace it that way.



These two are about growing up, becoming mature and true to yourself, coming to terms with your past and finding out who you really are, each one in a very different yet inspiring way.

oh, and this is all you need...

...if considering to 'beautify' the streets of your own town.

kinda simple, it seems...

taken from 'London Street Art Tours', Gallery

I know this great little place in Frankfurt is LIVE and running

So, it took waaaaay longer than expected, but finally 'I know this great little place in Frankfurt' is up and running on facebook. I have posted some of the nicest little places and events that I could think of for the moment, and I hope that they won't stay single on that page for very long but instead get many many new siblings. Current question is what sushi restaurants / good places to go for sushi in Frankfurt people can recommend. So if you know a good place for that kind of food, I encourage you to go there and leave your comment. Ah, wait, the most important thing is still missing - the address. Here it is.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder no 2

'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', a line i have used in the blog entry below about the poem, actually is a quote from a song by dan le sac vs. scroobious pip, called 'tommy c'. it has been combined in this video with footage of tommy cooper, who the song is about. check them out on their myspace-page, VERY recommendable! and listen closely to their lyrics when you do.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

picture taken by me

Here is a poem that a friend of mine has written recently. It is very dark, and even though I am in favour of emphasizing the wonderful-ness and beauty of life I find this poem beautiful exactly because of its darkness. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; every moment, even the dark ones, can give you something to make out of.

Written by MJ:

Gejagt von der Traurigkeit, die ganze Welten auflösen kann.
Ist es da noch möglich zu entkommen, wenn man ihren kalten Atem im Nacken spürt.
Jene Traurigkeit verschlingt jeden Wunsch nach Leben und spuckt dafür etwas Dunkles aus.
Der Zweifel, den man so tapfer versucht hat zu überlisten, gewinnt langsam an Raum.
Die Tage werden trüber, Licht wird zu Schatten und die Dunkelheit unumgänglich.
Träume versinken, der Boden unter Ihnen verwandelt sich zu Treibsand. Und jeden Tag bleibt weniger von ihnen übrig. Bis sie ganz versunken sind. Am Ende bleibt die stärkste Kraft.
Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt. Sie verliert an Farben bis sie sich ganz auflöst.
Am Ende bleibt nur noch die Ahnung von dem was einmal da war, wenn der letzte Funken Licht
wie ein Stern verglüht.


 

frankfurt's got art in the streets

 I was on a small shooting tour yesterday (shooting pictures, no casualties involved), trying to discover what my neighbourhood looks like from a closer perspective, and i found a couple of interesting street art samples, whether they are graffitti or stickers or posters or of other kind. to some of the pictures i've done some editing so have included myself in them as well.

it always depends on how you look at things...

 

                                   

all pictures taken by me

the book(et) list...

a friend of mine has had the brilliant idea of asking all her facebook friends for book recommendations publicly on her facebook status. this is what she got as a reply: 

SIRI HUSTVEDT, DIE ZITTERNDE FRAU

MILAN KUNDERA, DIE UNSTERBLICHKEIT

JOYCE CAROL OATES, WIR WAREN DIE MULVANEYS

JOHN IRVING, DAS HOTEL NEW HAMPSHIRE

FLORIAN BECKERHOFF, FRAU ELLA

PETER USTINOV, DER ALTE MANN UND MR. SMITH

JACK KEROUAC, UNTERWEGS

MARIO VARGAS LLOSA, TANTE JULIA UND DER KUNSTSCHREIBER

AMÉLIE NOTHOMB, METAPHYSIK DER RÖHREN

DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, SCHRECKLICH AMÜSANT - ABER IN ZUKUNFT OHNE MICH

ZERUYA SHALEV, LIEBESLEBEN

GARCIA MARQUEZ, DIE LIEBE IN DEN ZEITEN DER CHOLERA

HEINRICH BÖLL, ANSICHTEN EINES CLOWNS

ALTES TESTAMENT, PREDIGER SALOMO (KOHELET)

SIEGFRIED LENZ, SO ZÄRTLICH WAR SULEYKEN

TS ELIOT, OLD POSSUM`S BOOK OF PRACTICAL CATS

WM PAUL YOUNG, THE SHACK

ECKHART TOLLE, NEUE ERDE

JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER, EXTREM LAUT UND UNGLAUBLICH NAH

RAFIK SCHAMI, DIE DUNKLE SEITE DER LIEBE

HOMER, ODYSSEE

VLADIMIR NABOKOV, TRANSPARENT THINGS

PAUL BOWLES, HIMMEL ÜBER DER WÜSTE

CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON, DER SCHATTEN DES WINDES

MARIO VARGA LLOSA, DAS BÖSE MÄDCHEN

MITCH ALBOM, DIENSTAGS BEI MORRIE

MARINA LEWYCKA, CARAVAN

PAULO COELHO, KRIEGER DES LICHTS, DER SIEGER BLEIBT ALLEIN

VOLTAIRE, CANDIDE

OSHO, LEBEN LIEBEN LACHEN

MICHAEL MOORE, YES, WE CAN: MIKES ULTIMATIVER WAHLFÜHRER

SHMUEL BOTEACH, KOSHER SEX: A RECIPE FOR PASSION AND INTIMACY

ALAIN DE BUTTON, WIE PROUST IHR LEBEN VERÄNDERN KANN

MIKHAIL BULGAKOV, DER MEISTER UND MARGARITA

HENRI CHARRIERE, PAPILLON

FRIEDRICH DÜRRENMATT, DIE PHYSIKER

ANDREAS FRANZ, EISIGE NÄHE

PATTIE SMITH, JUST KIDS

YANN MARTELL, SCHIFFBRUCH MIT TIGER

DENIS THERIAULT, DAS LÄCHELN DES LEGUANS

STARHAWK, 5TH SACRED THING

DAVID SAFIER, MIESES KARMA

FRANK MCCOURT, DIE ASCHE MEINER MUTTER

WASSILI GROSSMANN, LEBEN UND SCHICKSAL

DAVID GILMOUR, UNSER ALLERBESTES JAHR

MARKUS FELDENKIRCHEN, WAS ZUSAMMENGEHÖRT

MORITZ NETENJAKOB, MACHO MAN

JONATHAN FRANZEN, FREIHEIT

HERMANN HESSE, SIDDHARTA, STEPPENWOLF

KHALED HOSSEINI, A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS 

SELIM ÖZDOGAN, DIE TOCHTER DES SCHMIEDS

JOSEPH HELLER, CATCH-22 

JOHN FANTE, ASK THE DUST (ICH -ARTURO BANDINI)

ERNEST HEMINGWAY, FIESTA, DER ALTE MANN UND  DAS MEER

TONY KUSHNER, ANGELS IN AMERICA

JOSE SARAMAGO, TABUCCHI

my friend is very into arts, photography, literature and writing on a professional level, and i adore a lot of things she does and have come to realize that many things she liked and shared with me have inspired me immensely. this is why I assume there will be quite a number of very entertaining, thoughtful and high quality proposals among her friends' recommendations and i thought i'd share the list here, even though so far i have not read many of the books myself. but as i plan to use her result as a source for new novel material when i am in search for new inspiring books i thought somebody else might want to do so as well... so here you are.

on her request i myself have actually added a couple of recommendations to the list. any idea which ones they might be? feel free to take a guess...

if you are interested in finding out about my friend's artwork and writing you will get a slight notion of it in her blog

into the wild

welcome to my blog! hanna impressed - a collection of things that make life a little more worth living. I will try to assemble all the little bits and pieces that have impressed me, and maybe, from time to time, also include evidence of where I might have contributed to impressions that made other people happy...

the first one that comes to my mind is this one. into the wild - an amazing film full of longing, being authentic, and making your dreams come true. living life to your fullest potential.

here is the into the wild webpage. the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder contributes immensely to the whole experience. just listen and enjoy.