The Day Of The Doctor

Update: We've got an official synopsis from the BBC. Sounds great.

"The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th anniversary special. In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London’s National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor’s own dangerous past comes back to haunt him."

(Source: http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/the-day-of-the-doctor-official-synopsis-54738.htm)

Now it's only twenty days away, let's see what we know:

--> For all we know only three doctors will really appear, but there could be more, couldn't there?

And is it ten's metacrisis duplicate or the tenth doctor from the past? And who is that doctor between eight and nine?

--> We don't know which companions will be in it, but we know for sure that Clara and Rose will appear. While Clara's appearance is logical, Moffat tells us Rose will also have an important part. Sarah Jane is in the trailer, but sadly her appearance is no longer possible except in archive footage.

--> It's about some very significant day in the doctor's past, but will the entire movie be set in the past?

--> It has something to do with paintings, but that may be a completely false lead.

--> Who will be the main enemy? There have been Zygons, Ood, Daleks... in the trailer, but there have also been a lot of doctors and Sarah Jane, so I am not quite sure if that tells a lot.

I will add it if I remember something else or the BBC gives us more information.

We shall overcome - Die Rolle der Musik im Civil Rights Movement

Das war eigentlich ein Essay an der Universität, aber ich dachte, ich stelle ihn online. Vielleicht interessiert sich irgendwer für das Thema. Für genaue Quellenangaben der Zitate schreibt mir eine Mail. Die verwendete Literatur folgt aber auch im Anschluss.

I. Musik im Civil Rights Movement 
Die Musik ist vermutlich das Element der Bürgerrechtsbewegung der Vereinigten Staaten, das am meisten bekannt ist. Durch die Musik wurden die Anliegen nach außen vermittelt. Die Rolle die Musiker in der Bürgerrechtsbewegung hatten, ist kaum zu überschätzen. Ohne Pete Seeger, Joan Baez und viele andere wäre ein Erfolg vermutlich nicht möglich gewesen, denn diese machten die Bürgerrechtsbewegung zu einer Sache nicht mehr nur der schwarzen Bevölkerung der Vereinigten Staaten, sondern zu einem Anliegen aller. Der gemeinsame Widerstand der schwarzen und der weißen Bevölkerung stellte schon einen ersten Schritt zur Aufhebung der Segregation dar, denn es gab nicht mehr die weiße und die schwarze Seite. Aus einem rassistischen Konflikt wurde ein politischer. Nicht nur durch ihre Musik, sondern auch durch ihr Handeln waren die Singer and Songwriter ein Vorbild. Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary, Frank Hamilton, Bob Dylan, alle waren in mehr oder weniger großem Ausmaß Mitglieder der Bürgerrechtsbewegung.1 Auch die Art der Protestsongs, die für die Bürgerrechtsbewegung typisch waren, spiegelt diese Verbindung wider. Es lassen sich hier zwei deutliche Einflüsse ausmachen: zum einen fällt die Bürgerrechtsbewegung in die gleiche Zeit wie das Wiederaufleben der Folkmusik in Amerika. Diese Folkmusik war eine primär weiße Musik, die aber durch die Folksänger, die sich engagierten auch das Civil Rights Movement vertrat.  Zum anderen die sogenannten „Negro Spirituals“, eine Musikrichtung, die beinahe ausschließlich von der schwarzen Bevölkerung getragen wurde. 

II. We shall overcome 

1. Entstehungsgeschichte 

Die Ursprünge von „We shall overcome“ sind nicht absolut geklärt. Der Song ist vermutlich ein Traditional. Eine Quelle ist der Gospel „I’ll overcome“ von Charles Tindley aus dem Jahre 1900. Die erste Strophe von „We shall overcome“ wurde auch später häufig als „I shall overcome“ oder „I’ll overcome“ gesungen. Dies änderte sich durch den Einfluss Pete Seegers zu „We shall overcome“. Als Quelle ist auch der Spiritual „I’ll be all right“ zu nennen, der einen ähnlichen Aufbau und bei dem auch einen Zeile bereits „I’ll overcome“ lautet. Dieses Lied hat jedoch einen deutlich christlicheren Bezug als „We shall overcome“, welches zwar noch gewisse Züge eines Spirituals hat, wie zum Beispiel die erwähnten Werte, aber keinen wirklichen religiösen Bezug mehr nimmt. Es werden auch immer wieder explizit Verfasser für den Song angegeben. Dies lässt sich jedoch vermutlich dadurch begründen, dass der Song in verschiedenen Textfassungen vorliegt, die entsprechend unterschiedliche Autoren haben. Außerdem werden häufig die Copyright-Inhaber als Verfasser genannt, was natürlich auch wenig über die tatsächlichen Ursprünge aussagt. Die Melodie geht auf „No more auction block for me“ zurück, einen Song aus der Zeit vor dem Bürgerkrieg. Eine Quelle davon ist möglicherweise „The Sicilian Mariner“, eine von Johann Gottfried Herder für „O du fröhliche“ adaptierte Melodie, die ebenfalls als mögliche Quelle angesehen werden kann. Der Song „I’ll be all right“ wurde politisch in den 40er Jahren von streikenden Arbeiterinnen einer Tabakfabrik verwendet, die diesen bei einem Workshop an Studenten weitergaben. Der Text begann sich zu verändern und der Song wurde vor allem durch Pete Seeger bekannt. Der Song entwickelte sich von da an nach und nach zu einer Art Symbol des Civil Rights Movement. Weiter verbreitet durch andere Musik wurde er schließlich durch das SNCC zum Movement Song erklärt und verbreitete sich von da an schnell, besonders unter Studenten. Die Bedeutung des Songs beschränkte sich jedoch nicht auf Amerika. Seeger sang „We shall overcome“ auch in Ost-Berlin und der Sowjetunion, wo der Song ein Zeichen des Widerstands gegen das kommunistische Regime werden sollte.

2. Inhaltliche Analyse 

Der Inhalt von „We shall overcome“ unterscheidet sich von dem vorheriger Fassungen. Gemeinsam ist den Fassungen die Hoffnung auf eine bessere Zukunft und die Vermittlung von Idealen. 

I’ll be all right. I’ll be all right.       We shall overcome, we shall overcome
 I’ll be alright someday.                   We shall overcome some day 

Down in my heart I do believe        Oh deep in my heart I do believe. 
I’ll be all right someday.                  We shall overcome some day.

Die erste Strophe des Songs „I’ll be all right“ weist bereits deutliche Ähnlichkeiten mit der von „We shall overcome“ auf. Im Gegensatz zu „We shall overcome“ fehlt jedoch noch der revolutionäre Inhalt. Während in „I’ll be all right“ der Sprecher passiv ist, ein Leidender, der auf Erlösung hofft, wird in „We shall overcome“ ein aktives Tun gefordert. „Overcome“ ist ein aktives Tun, ein Überwinden der Widrigkeiten. So wurde der Text zunächst zu „I will overcome“ und dann zu „We will overcome“ geändert. Auf Pete Seegers Einfluss ist die Veränderung des Textes zu „We shall overcome“ zurückzuführen.  Durch das „shall“ wird der Text noch viel mehr zu einer Aufforderung zum Handeln. Der christliche Inhalt ist in „We shall overcome“ nicht mehr so relevant. Während in „I’ll be all right“ spätere Strophen deutlich religiöse Bezüge wie die Strophe „I’ll be like him“ mit Referenz zu Jesus, findet man diese in „We shall overcome“ nur in der Strophe „The Lord will see us through“, die nicht sehr häufig verwendet wird. Dies lässt sich dadurch erklären, dass auch wenn sich im Civil Rights Movement viele religiöse christliche Lieder finden, die Bürgerrechtsbewegung doch eine religionsübergreifende Bewegung war – ein wichtiges Mitglied war zum Beispiel Abraham Heschel – und ein Song, der für das ganze Movement stehen sollte, musste ohne spezifisch religiöse Bezüge auskommen. Andere Songs des Civil Rights Movement wie zum Beispiel „All my Trials“ behielten das religiöse Element bei.  Diese gelangten jedoch auch nicht über die Arbeiterbewegung, die häufig eher antireligiös gestimmt war, in die Bürgerrechtsbewegung. Außerdem enthielten sie keine so spezifisch christlichen Elemente, sondern eher allgemein religiöse.  Den Text, auf den ich mich im Folgenden beziehe, findet ihr hier: https://www.ksu.edu/english/nelp/american.studies.s98/we.shall.overcome.html   

Der Text ist an sich sehr einfach gehalten und lässt sich inhaltlich auf die Grundsätze Freiheit, Gleichheit, Brüderlichkeit und Universalität reduzieren. Dadurch lässt sich vielleicht erklären, warum „We shall overcome“ in Widerstandsbewegungen auf der ganzen Welt populär ist. Mit der Schlichtheit der Aussage ist es möglich, das Lied für eine Vielzahl von Situationen zu adaptieren. Im Civil Rights Movement wurden dann noch weitere Verse hinzugefügt: z.B. „We shall end Jim Crow“13, “Black and White together”14 , “Truth will set us free” und „We shall live in Peace“.15 Diese haben im Gegensatz zu den klassischen Strophen deutlichen Bezug zu der aktuellen Situation im Amerika der 60er Jahre. Die ersten beiden Strophen beziehen sich natürlich auf die Jim Crow Laws und die dadurch festgeschriebene Segregation in den USA. Es sind also Strophen, die speziell auf das Civil Rights Movement Bezug nehmen. Die anderen beiden lassen sich zum einen allgemein als Aufforderung zu Engagement und Pazifismus, der in der Bürgerrechtsbewegung eine wichtige Rolle spielte, verstehen, die letzte nimmt zum anderen sicher Bezug auf den Vietnamkrieg, gegen den die Bürgerrechtsbewegung deutlich Opposition einlegte.

3. Warum „We shall overcome“? 

Warum ist nun gerade dieser Song das Symbol der Bürgerrechtsbewegung geworden? Dafür lassen sich, denke ich, mehrere Gründe finden: Zum einen schließt das Lied niemanden aus, sondern alle ein. Es ist ein Lied, das jeder singen kann – sowohl technisch als auch inhaltlich. Es fordert zur Einheit auf, aber nicht zur Einheit gegen einen Feind, sondern zur Einheit als Weg zur Freiheit. Es möchte die Menschen zum Handeln bewegen, aber es verlangt nichts Unmögliches, es verlangt nur Zusammenhalt dafür. „We shall overcome“ beinhaltet, auch ohne spezifisch religiösen Inhalt, immer noch die Hoffnung auf eine bessere Zukunft. „We shall overcome“ ist kein an sich politisches Lied. Die einzige Grundthese, die in dem Song enthalten ist, ist, dass alle Menschen gleich sind. Dadurch sagt es nichts aus, was nicht in der Declaration of Independence 1776 schon gefordert wäre. Man kann es nicht bekämpfen. Es weist nur darauf hin, dass die eigenen Ideale nicht umgesetzt werden. Es greift keine Gesetze an, sondern es sagt nur aus, dass Gesetze wie die Jim Crow Laws nicht gelten können in einem Staat, der auf den Grundsätzen aufgebaut ist, auf denen es die Vereinigten Staaten sind. 


Literaturverzeichnis 
Baez, Joan: Joan Baez: CD, London 2001 (ursprünglich 1960). 
Ronald Bailey u.a.: Civil Rights and the Struggle for Democracy. Toward a Paradigm of Unity in Afro-American Studies. In: http://eblackstudies.org/intro/chapter14.htm, Zugriffsdatum: 19.12.2012. 
Cummings, Terrance; Scotts, Stuart: We shall overcome. A Song that changed the World: Boston 2010. 
Gallagher, Brendan: The Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. In: http://www.americansc.org.uk/Online/Vietnam_Civil_Rights.htm; Zugriffsdatum: 19.12.2012. 
Hoffmann, Bernward: Troubadour für Gott: Würzburg 1991. 
Ruehl, Kim: We Shall Overcome. History of an American Folksong: In: http://folkmusic.about.com/od/folksongs/qt/WeShallOvercome.htm; Zugriffsdatum: 19.12.2012. 
Scholtes, Peter S.: “Something about that song haunts you”. In: http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2006/06/something_about.php. 2006, Zugriffsdatum: 19.12.2012. 
https://www.ksu.edu/english/nelp/american.studies.s98/we.shall.overcome.html; Zugriffsdatum: 19.12.2012. 
http://courses.education.illinois.edu/ci407ss/overcome.htm, Zugriffsdatum: 19.12.2012 

Petition concerning the imprisonment of Greenpeace activists

Greenpeace Germany has a petition to free the imprisoned activists. Sign it!!! https://service.greenpeace.de/themen/oel/mitmach_aktionen/aktion/protest_e_mail/freilassung_der_greenpeace_aktivisten/

"Day Of The Doctor" in Munich

Doctor Who is coming to Munich. It's already great that it will be shown in Cinema in Germany at all, but in Munich that's just incredible. And with the tenth doctor and Rose back it's just unbelievable. I just hope, we get a real trailer soon. BBC keeps us waiting. See you on November 23 - and bring a banana. One should always take a banana to a party.

David R. George III: Star Trek: The Fall: Revelation and Dust Review (includes spoilers!!!)

David R. George's new novel faces one problem. It has to layout a complete new setting for future novels. It has to describe the new Deep Space Nine. It has to describe the persons still there, to explain why some aren't still there and introduce all the new ones. So the first half of the book resembles a guest list and a technical manual. If you have survives this part and some of the rather superfluous character developments - Did they have to analyze Bashir's and Dax's relationship again? Sarina is annoying etc. - then the book gets interesting. The story about President Bacco and what happens to her - I won't tell - is really well written and the character of Ro Laren whom I liked very much in TNG, but who annoyed me sometimes in the DS9 relaunch, gains some depth. I would have expected more of Odo's story, but the way the character is treated they could have left him out all together. So the storyline is OK, but sometimes boring. The story about Kira on the other hand is great. It begins with Kira reliving Sisko's first contact with the prophets. Then we find out more about Kira's other existences. The previous novels shed some light on Sisko's alter ego Benny Russel from "Far Beyond The Stars" and Kira's character from that story together with another one during a conflict in Bajor's history are developed in this book and the story gets really great. I don't quite know what to make of the end, I'm not absolutely sure what has happened and that's somewhat annoying, but I guess, we will find out sooner or later. So, the book is certainly not the greatest Star Trek novel ever, but definitely not the worst either and well worth reading and I hope we get a continuation.

Antifa-Demo Regensburg 5.9.13

Jetzt wurde endlich einmal öffentlich gemacht, dass die Rechten eine Kundgebung planen und zur Gegendemonstration aufgerufen! Tausende kamen dem Aufruf nach und protestierten gegen die rassistischen, menschenfeindlichen Parolen, für die die Rechten sich gerade Rosch Ha-schana ausgesucht hatten und es so der Jüdischen Gemeinde unmöglich machten, selbst einen Sprecher zur Gegenkundgebung zu entsenden. Man fragt sich natürlich, ob es nicht möglich gewesen wäre, die Kundgebung gerade an diesem Tag zu verhindern - bei so vielen anderen Veranstaltungen geht das - aber nein. Die Stadt sperrt den Kohlenmarkt - direkt am Alten Rathaus - für die Kundgebung. Am benachbarten Haidplatz findet um 16 Uhr die Gegenveranstaltung mit Sprechern der katholischen und evangelischen Kirche und von Parteien aus allen Lagern statt, bei der man manchmal tatsächlich den Eindruck hatte, es ginge um mehr als den Wahlkampf. Tausende finden sich danach am mit großem Polizeiaufgebot abgesperrten Kohlenmarkt ein und warten. Der Platz ist nicht groß und weitgehend gesperrt, es ist voll. Nach anderthalb Stunden ist klar: die Gegendemo war ein Erfolg, es ist kein Durchkommen zum Kohlenmarkt, die Kundgebung kann nicht stattfinden. Jede andere Veranstaltung hätte bei diesem Widerstand vermutlich auch nicht stattgefunden. Aber für die NPD wird natürlich ein neuer Platz gesucht. Und von allen Plätzen der Altstadt fällt die Wahl der Polizei gerade auf den Domplatz. Wie könnt ihr nur? Wisst ihr eigentlich, wie viele Priester in den Konzentrationslagern gestorben sind? Wisst ihr, welche Legitimität ihr den Rechten damit gebt? Es ist eine Schande. Doch unter den rufen der Gegendemonstranten ist die Kundgebung kaum zu hören. Und als um zwanzig nach sechs dann in Abspreche mit dem Bischof auch die Glocken von St. Peter läuten und die Hetzparolen vollkommen untergehen, da ist klar, dass in dieser Stadt die Rechten nichts mehr zu suchen haben. Die Regensburger haben ein Zeichen gesetzt gegen Rassismus, gegen Rechts. Wir haben ihnen gezeigt, dass sie hier nicht erwünscht sind. 2000 Gegendemonstranten!!! Es ist schade, dass die Demo noch eskalieren musste und es zu Verletzten sowohl unter Demonstranten als auch Polizisten gab. Gewalt ist keine Lösung, egal von welcher Seite sie kommt. Aber ein Polizei-Chef, der den Einsatz von Schlagstöcken und Pfefferspray, von dem Leute erblinden, anordnet, nachdem er mit der Lokalität eh schon provoziert hat, muss vielleicht doch seine Einstellung zur Demokratie überdenken. Dennoch war die Gegendemonstration ein Erfolg und ein Zeichen. Und sollten die Rechten wieder einmal kommen, müssen und werden wir wieder da sein und etwas gegen sie tun, denn "if you don't fight against a rotten thing you become a part of it" (Joan Baez).

Weltfriedenstag - International Day Of Peace 2013

S.D. Perry: Rising Son

This review contains spoilers on a number of Star Trek novels.
I've red a number of novels of the Deep Space Nine relaunch, but I like stories focussing on Bajor and at first I thought something like: Well, what's Jake doing in the Gamma quadrant?
But I've already read Unity and some other novels by S.D.Perry and I really like her style of writing and her view on the different characters and I wanted to read something from DS9 and it was the only one they had in the bookshop, so I read it.
And it is great. I like Jake, though he isn't one of my favourite characters, but a story focussing on Jake alone seemed a bit boring (I found it even annoying sometimes in The Worlds of Deep Space Nine: Bajor, though I like the book in general), but it isn't. Well, it's a Star Trek novel, I had already read Unity and knew Benjamin Sisko wouldn't come back before that and as Opaka was on the cover - well, we get everyone back in Science Fiction - I was quite sure, it was her Jake would bring back to Bajor in the end.
But that doesn't really matter, because this really isn't about space fights or heroes or whatever, this is Star Trek and Star Trek is about people and this novel is about Jake looking for his father. About Jake trying to understand why the Prophets took him away from him, about Jake making friends - quite unusual friends, one could say - that don't see him only as an appendix of his father.
And the characters on the Even Odds are equally complex characters. You get to know them as Jake gets to know them, even better and you get their viewpoint as well.
And that ship is Star Trek in its essence. It assembles a number of very diverse characters that because of some circumstances have to get along. And they make it by everyone doing what he is best in and somehow they begin to like each other though they couldn't be more different, though they would never really admit it.
In Rising Son Jake travels to the Gamma Quadrant and gets rescued from his damaged shuttle by the crew of the named ship, the Even Odds, who salvage goods from certain planets. They are fortune hunters without a very elaborate code of morale, but they are very tolerant and good friends and they take on Jake readily, because the captain sees in Jake's search for his father a lot of his own situation.
Jake becomes part of their crew and even thinks of staying and not going back home, when on a planet they meet a quite confuse Tosk and subsequently Opaka  and a strange girl named Wex (whoever has read Unity already knows a lot more about her). The Tosk seems to have deviated from his original programming and Jake, Opaka, Wex and the crew of the Even Odds follow him on a search that in the end leads them to a species that has lain dormant for thousands of years and also knows about the Bajoran Prophets and has a similar though in some elementary points quite different concept of religion. And they also learn of a new threat to the Prophets and to Bajor...
It's really a very good novel, the story is great, the characters are great (and because nobody needs to put it on screen they are quite strange looking etc.) and the story develops the concept of the Bajoran religion and the Celestial Temple to a new level which makes it even more interesting.
And well, in the end even Weyoun makes an appearance and he really hasn't changed at all...

Alice Levine (editor): Byron's Poetry and Prose

The critical edition presented here is extraordinary already in that sense that it is a critical edition with all the characteristics a critical edition should have to a very, very reasonable price.

The book contains first a large selection of Byron's works, namely a selection of his poetry, the full texts of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, The Giaour, The Prison of Chillon, Manfred, Beppo and The Vision of Judgement. It also contains parts of Don Juan which I personally would have loved to see included complete, but I suppose this wasn't possible because of the limited space a one volume book has. The selection of poetry is in my opinion a very reasonable one including not only such typical Byron texts like She walks in Beauty, but also the satiric English Bards and Scotch Reviewers and early poems like I would I were a careless child, which I personally think is very beautiful, and of course a lot more.

The texts are presented with an introduction explaining the background of each text and there are footnotes explaining certain words or metaphors. This is on one hand very useful because you have the notes right there when you are reading, on the other hand it sometimes disturbs the reader as there are quite a lot of footnotes. I would also question the necessity of some of the footnotes because for example that Andalusia is in the south of Spain is  quite well known and not really necessary to be put into a footnote. On the other hand this may be known to me because Spain is geographically rather near and in other parts of the world - Alice Levine is a professor at a New York university - that may not be quite so obvious.

There is also, as should be in a critical edition, a large part dedicated to Byron's letters and journals. What is a very positive aspect here is not only the variety of letters, but also the notes and suggestions for further reading which are very helpful. 

Then there is of course the criticism. The most interesting part for me was the 19th century criticism which includes letters to Byron and among other writers. There are also reviews in literary journals included and this is very interesting, because it shows the diverse opinions on Byron of his contemporaries.

The 20th century and recent criticism is not quite as obvious to me. There is a number of very interesting articles included for example The sublime self and the inner voice by Peter J. Manning or The Orientalism of Byron's Giaour by Marilyn Butler, but it isn't clear why those articles are chosen. This is my only real critique: that I don't know why they did what thy did.

The register and the bibliography are all right, but I didn't go into them in detail.

Summed up a well made book and worth reading.

Sophie Scholl - Allen Gewalten zum Trotz

There was a great documentary film on 3sat on Saturday and as it is still available on the website of 3sat I thought I could mention it. It's not as the title suggests about Sophie Scholl only but about the entire Weiße Rose. There is hardly any narration only text and time witnesses and excerpts from the 2001 movie Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage you might know.  Anyway, it's very well made and very impressive.
So, check it out if you have time.

Il faut avoir l'esprit dur et le cœur tendre. (Jacques Maritain)

Charles Frazier: Cold Mountain

Well, they made a movie out of it so it can't be that bad. That was NOT my first thought when I began reading Cold Mountain. It was actually on the reading list at the university so I had to read it to pass the exam ;-)
Well, it is a civil war story and you may think like the guy in Sunset Boulevard when he talked about Gone with the Wind who would want a civil war story?
The point is if you don't like civil war stories you're probably gonna love this.
The book is about two lovers who he in the war and she at home suddenly have to survive under dire circumstances. And it's not about heroes. It's about a young man - Inman - who suddenly had to be a soldier and whose main motive for deserting from the army is to get home. And you have a young woman - Ada - who though she is a stranger in the valley - she moved there with her father - has gotten to think of her father's farm as home and doesn't want to leave there when he dies though she knows nothing about farming.
Inman journeys back to Cold Mountain where Ada together with a poor girl named Ruby a few years younger than she is struggles to survive the winter and keep the farm going.
Ada learns in the progress a lot not only about farming, but about independence and survival. And about friendship as well, because Ruby and Ada are as different as they can be, but in the end they are very close and Ruby learns almost as much from Ada as Ada from Ruby.
Inman's journey on the other hand journeys back home and meets all sorts of strange people on the way almost like in a fairy-tale though while they sometimes seem very far off they are strikingly real at the same moment and sometimes you almost forget the danger of Inman being caught over the beautiful way Frazier tells his story.
What makes the book so unforgettable and to one of the most beautiful things I've ever read is the way Frazier describes the landscape. You can see the beautiful valley with the mountain looming over it as clearly as if you had just been there and it's one of the most wonderful things you have ever seen. The landscape and the way it's described bears so much emotion you almost want to cry. The landscape becomes a mirror for both Inman's and Ada's soul and it's overflowing with their sadness as well as their happy memories.
I suppose there was no possibility for a completely happy ending in this book. It would have destroyed the credibility the characters have. But the sad ending is so beautiful up in the mountains were reality and ancient tales and lore finally become one that this has for quite a long time been the first book that had me actually crying.

Just a poem I wrote (and even published) quite some time ago.

Ach, der Regen fällt wie Tränen 

In den Weiher träumend still 

Und in schweren Winterträumen 

Weht der Wind mich ohne Ziel. 

Durch die Felder, leere Fluren, 

Birken stehen weiß und tot, 

Doch durch Nebelschleier schimmert 

Neuen Frühlings Morgenrot. 

Immer weiter will ich schweifen, 

Stiller Wälder grünes Licht, 

Wo der Sonne helles Leuchten 

Sich in tausend Farben bricht. 

(c) Rebekka Wörner

Kira Nerys - A character Star Trek needed

As I have read and answered to a number of rather "interesting" posts in some star trek boards I feel compelled to write a defense of my probably favourite Star Trek character ever (Spock does have some chances as well).
Star Trek has in its history had many different characters of varied complexity. It has had the philosopher, the fanatic,  the scientist, the humanist, the war criminal as well as the capitalist and hundreds more.
But before Kira Nerys Star Trek didn't have a really strong female character. Tasha Yar might have become such a character, but she was there only for one season and was too traumatized and too much in the shadow of other strong characters like Picard,  Riker or Worf. Then there is Ro Laren who has certain aspects of that character we are looking for, but Ro Laren though she changes sides in the end is too much impressed by Picard to be a worthy adversary for him in the long run. Most of the other woman characters are simply not tough enough. They surely are not submissive or anything like that, but they have those certain characteristics our society attributes to women: Deanna's sensibility would be the best example, but Uhura starting to cry while all the men are still very much under control works as well.
Now there is Kira Nerys and I liked her from the very first moment I saw her, but that's probably because she reminded me of myself. But if we just analyze the first episode of Deep Space Nine we realize that Sisko won't have that easy a life as Picard and Kirk did. Kira Nerys' first scene shows her shouting at a monitor in the office of the former prefect. This is a very telling scene because we see a woman who is at war not only with the Cardassians but with everyone. Her taking Dukat's office is a physical act of freeing her people at one of whom she shouts at exactly that moment. Kira isn't happy to see Sisko and different from Ro Laren she won't be happy in the second episode either or the third. It takes Kira a long time to trust anyone. Six years later she would be extremely worried that maybe she would have to keep that office she so reluctantly gives up at the beginning.
Kira develops extremely from being a very angry person to being still an angry person with completely different motives. Kira distrusts everyone non-Bajoran (except Odo, but she counts him among the Bajorans) at the beginning simply because she grew up in a world where distrust could keep you alive.
The occupation and the resistance have made her tough, a fighter, but not without emotion. Kira is overflowing with any kind of emotion and they only make her stronger. She is tough, but not incredibly tough. When someone begins to kill all her friends she cries and almost breaks and then she stands up and does something about it.
Kira fights her way through life, but she stops to learn a lot along the way.
She has been a terrorist most of her life, but she has been a terrorist out of necessity, never because killing gave her pleasure. It was the necessity to free her people that made her do what she did. And while she doesn't regret fighting in the resistance this never stops her from regretting some of the things she did. Kira feels guilty, but that guilt never overwhelms her.
Kira starts out having the views of a terrorist: We are the good ones, they are the bad ones. But she learns fast. When Marritza is killed in Duet she realizes that that is wrong. Him being Cardassian is no reason to kill him, because he was a honourable man and innocent of the crimes. And in season 7 we see her leading the Cardassian resistance movement together with Damar and Garak, though she sees the irony and doesn't like it very much at the beginning.
But Kira doesn't change so much herself. She mostly changes her opinion about other things. About Cardassians (the most interesting persons involved here are surely Tekeny Ghemor and Ziyal), about the Federation, about the Provisional Government, about Sisko and she learns to accept them. But she doesn't shape herself to be like them. They have to take her the way she is. She is still a child of the occupation, she is still extremely honest, she still mistrusts a lot of people, she is still very religious, she is still angry, she still argues with Sisko and she still usually shoots first. She still doesn't fit into the world view of the Federation.
And while Dax says to Worf in season 5 "five years ago I didn't think she could be anyone's friend" she makes a number of very good and very unlikely friends.

Just to get started...

I once tried to maintain a website, but it was quite a lot of work and I wasn't able to keep it updated on any regular basis. So I think I will try a blog.
I am going to put up book reviews, my own literary works (whatever they are worth) and whatever else comes to my mind.
The languages will get quite mixed up I'm sure. You can expect to see English, German, French and Spanish on a regular basis, but also some other languages... And by the way, all authors are me, I just don't want to switch accounts all the time... And this will become the backup if I ever get it done: http://throughtimeandspace.blogspot.co.at