TV Review: Kleo Season 2 (2024)

Kleo Season 2 (2024) created by Hanno Hackford, Bob Konrad, and Richard Kropf

See my review of the first season here.

Kleo (Jella Haase) is back in action pursuing a red case that has valuable documents in it. With German reunification imminent, a lot of the old-line communists in Germany and the Soviet Union want the deal to fail, something the contents of the case can facilitate. Kleo teams up again with the somewhat bumbling Sven Petzold (Dimitrij Schaad), a West German cop who is too focused on grand conspiracies and is a bit smitten with Kleo. Kleo's crazy roommate Thilo (Julius Feldmeier) has discovered his space princess (he thinks he was born on another planet), a relationship that somewhat mirrors Kleo's relationship with other characters while also going off on bizarre, drug-addled tangents. So the show still has a mix of revenge drama and oddball comedy, especially with the introduction of some ambitious, if not entirely competent, Russians and Americans.

The show is still entertaining. The plot is enjoyable yet implausible, but in a good way. The actors keep things fun and engaging even with some off-the-wall shenanigans. The ending definitely hints at more to come and I am willing to follow along for another season.

Recommended.

As I write (February 2025), this is only available streaming on Netflix.

Movie Review: Therapy for a Vampire (2014)

Therapy for a Vampire (2014) written and directed by David Ruhm

A vampire couple moves to Vienna in the 1930s. They've been together for hundreds of years and have become unhappy with each other and themselves. Count Geza (Tobias Moretti) goes to therapy with Dr. Sigmund Freud (Karl Fischer) and is as honest as he can be about his problems--Freud obviously doesn't believe in vampires and is too busy scribbling in his notebook to notice the Count levitating above the couch. The Count tells how Countess Elsa (Jeannette Hain) is very concerned about her appearance which she cannot see. Freud chalks it up to a mental illness that she doesn't perceive her own reflection and recommends an artist paint her to show her true self. He has just the painter--Viktor (Dominic Oley) has been doing sketches of the dreams that Freud's patients have had. Viktor has made many paintings of his girlfriend Lucy (Cornelia Ivancan), though he often changes her appearance which is frustrating for Lucy. Why can't Viktor accept her the way she is? Viktor had given a painting to Freud. When Count Geza sees the painting in Freud's office, he thinks Lucy is the reincarnation of his true love who had died before he met Elsa. He's been waiting a really long time for their reunion and hopes to make Lucy into his original love, Nadila. The Count sends Elsa to the painter as he tries to woo Lucy.

Given the premise and the fact the movie is a German production, I was a little worried that it would be too sexualized or overly Freudian. The movie is a comedy tinged with the tragedy of not appreciating other people, especially those closest to us. Everyone, except for Viktor, wants more out of their lives that they cannot quite achieve on their own. They have a hard time understanding themselves (the inability to see a reflection leads into self-unawareness for the vampires, but other characters also seem self-unaware). The movie has a lot of farcical elements and scenes, giving it a light touch. The sexuality is very discreet, surprisingly so for a twenty-first century production. The actors do a great job with their characters who are interesting and sympathetic; they are not stock goodies and baddies. The viewer understands the frustration that leads to acting out in inappropriate (but often comic) ways. The movie and cast are very charming without the bleakness or gore that a lot of modern vampire films go for. I was surprise by how enjoyable it was.

Recommended, highly for vampire/horror fans.

Geocaching July 2023

In July, we were in France and found our first French geocache--[LHAV] Sete - Balaruc #01. It's on a bike path that connects Sete and Balaruc, both on the Etang du Thau, a lake right next to the Mediterranean Sea. The find was easy after I checked the hint.

The non-picturesque view from the cache

In Nimes, I found a virtual cache that included a statue of a matador outside of the Arena. Virtual Reward: Statue Nimeno II is easy to find and taking the photo was rather inconspicuous since everyone else was taking shots too. I had to point out some interesting detail on the statue.

Crazy jacket

Our next country was Switzerland. We stayed in Bern. The first night we went out walking and I found machs na. The name is a phrase used by the architect of Bern's main church, the Munster. The meaning is "repeat my feat," a bit of "top that!" bragging. The challenge was to make a copy of the church in whatever format you can (drawing, baking, sculpting, etc.) and take a picture with it. I did my best with paper and pen.

My lame drawing of the Munster

Gurten Virtual 2.0 is a virtual cache on top of the mountain south of Bern. After going up the mountain (on a funicular train) I had to climb a tower to get a picture with faraway Bern in the background.

Bern with the River Aare in the background

Down by the River Aare, the remains of a tower called "The Blood Tower" is the location of Keine Angst vor dem Blutturm. The tower was part of the city walls. There is no reliable history of prisoners, torture, or executions there. It was used by the mortuary school to bleach skeletons, which drew complaints from locals. The cache was an easy find. I tried to be stealthy but a local sitting on a nearby bench saw me, smiled, and said, "geocache."

View from cache, should have taken one of the blood tower

We took the train to Italy. The first cache I found was a virtual cache in front of the Milan's castle, Castello Sforzesco. The cache is called la conquista del castello. Finders are supposed to take a picture out front and have some sort of "storming the castle" theme. I was just inside the gates, so I said I snuck in like the Trojan Horse of Milan.

Invader rage

I found two caches in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, a covered but open air mall right next to Milan's Duomo. Le palle del Toro -- Virtual Reward 2.0 is a virtual cache in the middle. There's a mosaic of a bull in the floor where people put their foot and spin three times for good luck. I had a hard time spinning and taking a picture that showed me and the bull.

Some of me, some of the bull

Nearby is another mosaic that has some red marble around it. The marble is interesting because an ancient ammonite is visible in it. The earthcache Milano: Rosso Ammonitico/Ammonitic Red tells about the marble and asks for measurements. And a photo with the roof in it, which is what is below.

The red underneath

A multicache called Milano Curiosa: A.U.F. starts at the back of the Duomo, where one of the blocks shows one of the initials (A or U or F) that marked the marble as "tax-free" since it was part of the church. The cache page lists different coordinates for each letter. I found the correct letter and then the cache near a fourteenth century Catholic Church.

View from the cache

At the front of the Duomo is the start of a three-part virtual cache where cachers need to take their picture with some creatures in art. The cache is CnK: Milano: Due Passi in centro. The first monster is a dragon hidden in the scroll-work next to the main door. It is very hard to see the dragon/dinosaur/snake in the photo below, but I assure you it is there.

By the door of the Duomo

The second stage is in the Piazza Mercanti. It was a shopping area back in the day. A legend has it that the founder of Milan had a dream where he was supposed to find a pig and follow it to the spot where a new city should be built. The Scrofa or sow is a minor symbol of Milan. Again, the creature is small in the picture but there. 

Sow (positioned like a gargoyle) and me

The final stage was to get a picture at the castle with the emblem of the Visconti, the family that built the first castle. The emblem includes a snake with a person in its mouth. The legend here is that one of the Visconti returned from a Crusade only to discover a snake had swallowed his child. He went into the swamp and killed the snake, retrieving the child (who was still alive!) and ending a terror for the locals. Pretty weird.

Emblem of Visconti

My final find was another virtual, this time taking a picture with a painting showing unicorns going up the ramp of Noah's Ark at San Maurizio church. Milano Curiosa: San Maurizio et gli unicorni is a fun cache to find.

Unicorns over my shoulder

I lucked out on our return trip which was routed through Germany. The Frankfurt Airport has a virtual cache named Willkommen am Flughafen Frankfurt - FRA inside it that asks cachers to take a photo with an airplane at a gate and another photo with proof that you are actually at Frankfurt Airport, not some other place. I took a pic at the duty-free to prove the location. Now Germany is added to the list of countries where I have cached!

Duty-free caching

Airport proof (though not our own plane)

Back in America, I found CAM 2023 - Savage Mill Trail, a part of the Cache Across Maryland set that comes out every year. The idea is that cachers make at least ten finds in various counties in Maryland. There's a picnic in June where finders get together and receive a geocoin for the accomplishment. Since I found this in July, obviously I won't be going to the picnic or getting the coin. The trail runs along the Little Patuxent River, the water that powered Savage Mill back in the day.

View to the river from the geocache

Better view of the river

We did some more work on the Legend of Zelda forest series in Fairland Recreational Park. This cache is LoZ Series: Forest Temple Small Key. The kids enjoyed the creek while I located the cache. 

Shoes off does mean wading!

With the final information from the cache, I was able to calculate the location of the "boss" cache, which was far on the other side of the park. Being a hot summer day, I decided against trekking all the way across. We found a much closer cache, Punch Buggy Orange - No Punch Back. Somehow, there's a car in the middle of the park. We were not sure how it got there but it has definitely been there for a while.

This buggy was punched a lot

The month ended with the grid for "days cached" full and a total of 844 caches. Hopefully we'll break into the 850s next month! And maybe finally finished that Legend of Zelda set.

German Oktoberfest Beers 2021

After trying some American-made Oktoberfest beers (see here), I thought I would give a set of German-made beers a similar trial. Seems only fair, right? Here they are...

Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier by Hofbrau Munchen (6.3% alcohol by volume)--The label is quite wordy: "The Oktoberfest originated in 1810 in Munich, Germany, as a wedding celebration for the Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria. This product was created especially for this event and is brewed usually for the Oktoberfest, now the largest beer festival in the world. Hofbrau Munchen (HB) is one of a selected group of breweries granted the privileges of supplying the Oktoberfest with their products. Using the highest quality ingredients, HB's Oktoberfest Specialty has it own distinctive and unique taste." The color is a rich gold. The flavor is smooth and easy drinking, with a little tang of lager flavor at the end. It's so easy to drink, I can see why it is popular at festivals. I enjoyed it a lot.

Warsteiner Oktoberfest Special Edition by Warsteiner Brauerei Haus (5.9% alcohol by volume)--The label just says that they brew according to the German Purity Law and the business has been a family tradition since 1753. The website is more verbose: "Celebrate German heritage with this authentic, German Specialty Beer. A truly German import brewed according to the German Purity Law, as are all Warsteiner beers, in limited quantities especially for Oktoberfest celebrations. This special edition has a well-balanced, mild and smooth taste with a uniquely soft, hoppy aftertaste and 5.9% alcohol. So bring a bit of Germany with you to your next Oktoberfest celebration and bring a Warsteiner Oktoberfest Special Edition." The beer has a nice, clean taste at the start but then hits the hops at the end. The bitter kick is not to my taste but otherwise it is a fine beer. The color is dark for a lager but not black or opaque. This is a typical lager experience with a little more smoothness at the beginning.

Bitburger Festbier by Bitburger Braugruppe (6.2% alcohol by volume)--According to the website, "A seasonal edition, available only in the US from August each year for a limited time: our Bitburger Festbier – tasty, full-bodied and delicately malty-mild. Created by our brewmasters to enjoy the traditional German beer festival atmosphere. A very special malt composition, including Pilsner Malt, Münchner Malt and light Caramel Malt, accounts for its fine color and smooth body. Additionally, the beer is refined with Bitburger’s proprietary and unique hop blend called ‘Siegelhopfen’ (seal hops), which is sourced from a farm just a few minutes from the brewery. This drinkable 6.2% ABV full-bodied beer is the perfect marriage of hops and malt with a slightly sweet backbone, while finishing dry." The color is rich and hazy. The initial taste has a delightful caramel sweetness that naturally blends into the dry lager ending. The aftertaste is very nice and makes this a fun, easy drinking beer.

Weihenstephaner Festbier by Weihenstephaner (5.8% alcohol by volume)--The label says nothing about the beer and the website is barely better, "Not only a hit at the Volksfest - the Weihenstephaner Festbier." This pale yellow lager from the "World's Oldest Brewery" is also a bit non-descript. It tastes like a standard lager, fairly dry with a bit of the bitter at the end. The bitterness is fairly light and would probably pair well with something salty or some nice sausages.

Hacker Pschorr Oktoberfest Marzen by Hacker-Pschorr Brau (5.8% alcohol by volume)--According to the website, "Forbidden as it was to brew in summer, a stronger beer – the Märzen – was brewed earlier in March. It would finally be served at the Oktoberfest, under the “Heaven of Bavaria”. We have returned once again to the age-old recipe and recreated that gloriously smooth, honey-coloured piece of history from times gone by. And all is brewed with due reverence to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516." The color is more like honey than copper. The flavor has the smoothness but not the sweetness of honey. The slightly sour ending makes it satisfying with some salty snack. It's a nice beer but not earthshaking.

Benediktiner Festbier by Benediktiner Weissbrau (5.8% alcohol by volume)--The website (which says Benediktiner is part of the Bitburger group!) states, "The closest thing to heaven: Benediktiner Festbier is a pleasure to drink thanks to its fine flavor, malty aroma, and intense golden-yellow color. The aromatic profile of Ettal cellar yeast paired with a soft bitterness from the hops makes Benediktiner Festbier a flavor experience.Brewed in Lich in accordance with the original Benedictine recipe for Benediktiner Weissbräu GmbH, Ettal." With a light golden color (maybe even like straw?), this beer has a light malt flavor that is very drinkable and refreshing. It goes down smooth and makes for a nice time. I liked it a lot. 

These beers all comply with those good old beer purity laws (maybe the exact opposite of Prohibition?) and sit in the same alcohol-by-volume range. They are all very close but the two favorites for me are the Benediktiner and the Hofbrau. Either one is a winner!

Lenten Beer Fasting

Ever since I visited the ruins of a monastery in England I've been interested in a crazy idea. One area of the ruins was the ale house. Back in the middle ages, people processed drinking water for safety's sake. They didn't know about germs and bacteria, but they certainly knew their effects. The purification process was brewing, turning potentially dangerous water into low-alcohol beer (because it was made for drinking, not for partying). The sign at the monastery's ale house said that some monks even brewed special beers for the Lenten season, the forty days (minus Sundays) from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The monks wanted to drink just the beer, not eat any food. They especially brewed the beer for calories and nutrient, basically making liquid bread.

With further research I discovered that monks at the Saint Francis of Paula monastery at Munich were the first to ask papal permission to brew a strong beer for the Lenten fast. In honor of the holy father, they called the brew Sankt Vaterbier (or Holy Father Beer), later shortened to Salvatorbier. The recipe was based on the popular Bavarian bock beers and it became known as doppelbock, or double bock. The beer was popular enough that they started selling it outside the monastery. In 1799 the monastery closed but enterprising brewers took over the property and the recipe.

The beer has undergone some changes but is still available from Paulaner Brewery as Salvator (check their website!). A 100ml serving provides 4.5 grams of carbs and 1 gram of protein! They don't list any vitamins or minerals, but who drinks beer for its nutritional value these days?

Salvator (7.9% alcohol by volume) has a nice, coppery color that goes along with the smooth, creamy texture of this beer. There's a slightly nutty flavor with hints of bitterness. It tastes great and is satisfying.

Any popular beer is bound to have its imitators, so plenty of other breweries have gotten into the doppelbock business. They even mimic the "-ator" ending of Salvator, presumably to get some brand recognition or positive vibes from the association with the Paulaner brew.

Spaten Optimator (7.6% alcohol by volume) is darker in color--it only looks coppery with a light behind it. The flavor is malty with a notable bitterness at the end. It does not seem like it would be liquid bread! I was less impressed with this.

Troegenator Double Bock (8.2% alcohol by volume) is an "-ator" with an American translation of doppelbock. Troegs Independent Brewing is out of Pennsylvania and is creative enough that they've been on The War of Christmas Novelty Ales in 2014 and 2018. The dark copper color of Troegenator is an indication of its richness. It's got chocolate and caramel flavors along with a delightful hint of gingerbread. The flavor is enough to carry a drinker through Lent or even through a whole winter season. I liked this a lot on its own. 

Celebrator (6.7% alcohol by volume) is the blackest of the brews in this set. The texture is smooth and silky. The flavor is lightly smoky (just barely) and caramel (a bit more). I don't really taste much bread flavor, but the flavor it does have is very delightful. I could drink a lot of this. 

The fun thing about the beer is that each one comes with a little goat figure!

They got my goat, or I got theirs?

Why the goat? Bock in German is the word for ram, hence another common thing to see on the labels--a goat image (or two, if you want to emphasize the double). That Troegenator guy on the label has goat horns in his head!

Aecht Schlenkerla Eiche (8.0% alcohol by volume) is called a doppelbock but it has a more characteristic element. As the label says, it has "Schlenkerla Oak Smoke." The malt used in the brewing process is smoked in a kiln that burns oak wood. The resulting flavor is definitely smoky (think a lapsang souchong tea) and Schlenkerla is known for its rauchbier or smoke beer. This beer has a dark amber color and a smooth feel. The smoky taste gives it a lot of character, making a tricky blend with the doppelbock elements. It's not particularly bread-flavored. This beer, while delightful, probably belongs in another category. 

I am not the only one interested in spending a Lent drinking nothing but nutritional beer. A journalist in Iowa named J. Wilson tried out a home brew doppelbock for a Lenten fast. He blogged about it at Diary of a Part-Time Monk, which has subsequently been turned into a book. I read the book and found it interesting but a little underwhelming. In addition to taking on the challenge of fasting on only beer and water for forty-six days (he didn't take Sundays off as often practiced by Christians), he wanted to explore the spirituality of it. He enlisted a Protestant minister as a spiritual advisor and spent a few days at a Catholic monastery doing research and experiencing monastic life. Half-way through, he decided to read the Psalms, figuring four a day would get him finished by the end of Lent. He struggled a lot with finding time to read. He found the psalms repetitive and boring. In the afterword he explains that he's become an agnostic. He recognizes himself as a work-in-progress and hopes that he will make progress on the spiritual front. Sometimes that's the best one can do.

Read more about the German Lenten beer fast at https://www.ucatholic.com/blog/the-lenten-beer-only-fast-practiced-by-german-monks/

TV Review: Barbaren (2020)

 Barbaren (2020) created by Andreas Heckmann, Arne Nolting, and Jan Martin Scharf

In the first decade AD, the Romans raise the taxes in Magna Germania. The individual German tribes are upset by this but rebellion seems to be out of the question since Rome is at its imperial might. Governor Varus (Gaetano Aronica) took one son from each tribe some twenty years ago and sent them to Rome. One of the sons, Arminius (Laurence Rupp), has come back to help the Romans squash any notion of rebellion. But Arminius remembers his childhood, especially two friends who had a vision of a great upheaval in the future. Loyalties switch sides many times as the Germans plot to strike back at their Roman oppressors. The story ends with the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. 

The show gives a sense of historical verisimilitude while developing its own style. The German tribes still have their culture and devotion to their gods. They are a rough and ready people, all they need is leadership that doesn't kowtow to the Romans. The show is a German production, so the dialogue is in German and Latin. The ending leaves an opening for another season, which I would be interested in, though I am not sure where the story would go.

Parental warning: The series has a lot of graphic violence and a little bit of sex. This is not for little kids.

Recommended.

Currently streaming on Netflix.

Dora The Explorer in Germany

No, this is not some double-length episode available only on DVD coming in 2006! It's one of the things we saw during a trip to Germany. J was sick on the last day, so we stayed at the hotel and watched some TV. They have a German Nick Jr. channel and on it is Dora the Explorer, simply called Dora.

Anyone who has seen the English version of the show knows that a central element is Dora's bi-lingual life. She speaks English and Spanish, as do some of her friends. A few only speak Spanish, notably the transportation guru Tico the Squirrel. If Dora needs a boat, car, or hot air balloon, Tico is sure to show up in the nick of time to help her out.

The odd thing about the German version of the show is that Dora speaks perfect German. Even odder was the part of the episode where they needed some transportation and Tico showed up spouting the perfectly English phrase, "Hi guys, I can take you where you need to go!" Hearing Tico speak English was flabbergasting to me and my wife. The children were unphased by this shocking turn of events. English is clearly the second "bi-lingual" language in the German version.

To see a list of the international versions of Dora with their language pairs, go here.

Jesuitenkirche, Heidelberg

Another classic church post from the archives!
 

Jesuitenkirche, Heidelberg

The Jesuit church in Heidelberg has an interesting blend of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Built in the early 1700s when the Jesuits came to town, in many ways it looks like a counter-Reformation boast of the greatness of Catholicism. You don't like statues or saints? Here's some of the best saints in glorious golden garb:

St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church and highly brilliant and influential theologian

St. Ambrose, who taught St. Augustine and brought him into the church

St. Juliana, the original Happy Catholic

St. Hubert, book up his sleeve and beloved by golden animals

Don't like sacred music or showy light fixtures? Look how easy it is to see our organ lit by this chandelier:

We even keep the ancient tradition of marking the church door with the initials of the three wise men who brought gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus (see bullet point 4 here):

Not everything is so great. Off to the left of the main door is a little alcove where a small shrine to Our Lady is set up. The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary may not be the best representation:

This made me grimace; not sure why I took the picture

The meditation garden just outside the church is full of wonderful plants and blessed silence. If you wander too far into it, the silence is interrupted by the sound of this fountain:

There was a character like this on Doctor Who

You can't tell from the picture, but the water drips from the eyes. I'm sure the artist and his mum think it's a lovely work, but it definitely took me out of the meditative state. If it was meant to make the viewer smile, then I definitely did, though not with the most Christian attitude, I fear.

Overall, visiting the Jesuitenkirche is a great experience, one that made me smile in good, bad, and ugly ways.

A Playground in Essen, Germany

While I went to the second day of the game convention in Essen, my wife took J and L on adventures. They wound up at a fun playground where they became superheroes and made friends.

The first thing to catch their eye was the large train engine.

L tries to board the train

The side view of the locomotive

J was eager to get on board and decided to practice his Ninja Warrior techniques.

Boarding like Makoto Nagano

He made it!

Did they jail him for improper boarding procedure?

J, like the A-Team, soon broke out of the maximum security prison and headed for the engine room of the locomotive.

J at the wheel

Looking out

Meanwhile, L tried out the nearby alligator, who was nice enough to let her ride.

L fixes her shoe

Comin' at ya!

J headed off to the spider climber in the back of the above picture for some action and adventure.

The spectacular Spider-J!

Web-head close-up

Joined by L

Ready to fight crime, or just hang out

L is a charmer

After exploring all the playground equipment, the kids started playing hide and seek.  Counting loudly to 20 alerted some of the other kids at the playground that we were speaking English. A girl of about 10 or 12 approached shyly and said hello and practiced a few phrases from her English lessons at school. Pretty soon her dad and sisters joined the fun, with various levels of English fluency but plenty of the international language of playground fun. It was really fun to make some new friends and to feel so welcomed.