finally, i’ve completed the new website.
i’ve added a few new functions (like this page you’re reading right now), and changed the basic structure and layout of everything else.

i had anticipated blogging for some time before i actually got wordpress – so i saved some of the highlights in my little world and copied the stuff in here.

within the next week, i’ll try to finish uploading the last missing pictures, like my trip to the us in september/october 2003…

so there you are, have (decent) fun on my website! and if you like it, sign my guestbook or leave a comment in the blog!

[lyrics quote of the moment]
” … and the rain let up, and the sun came up, and we were gettin’ dry… ”
van morrison – and it stoned me

today i returned from an 8-day-music project located in toblach.
“puschtra wind” is/was a youth wind orchestra with musicians from the pustertal valley and surroundings.
you might wonder what a double bass is doing in a wind orchestra – the answer is: there were two, not just one ;-)

it was totally cool, i had a great time down there!

there were rehearsals all over the day from 9am to 10pm. and still, marco (the other bass player) and i met early so we could play duettos and stuff.
i don’t think i’ve practiced that much in the whole last year!
and then, in the end, we held two concerts – the first one in toblach and the second one in lienz.

besides that, i met many cool musicians from south tyrol (which actually belongs to italy) and east tyrol.
i’m really looking forward to meeting them again soon!

so today i had to get up at 4:30am to catch the train back to innsbruck (altogether about 2 hours of sleep). and by the time i arrived, i was 10 minutes late for work…
the good thing about it is that, having slept only 2 hours, the working-time of 8,75 hours just flies :-)

i took some pictures when i was down there, of course…

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… clearly was feeding scully ice-cream.
since her fur is all black and today was hot and sunny, she was just lying there grumbling.
she wasn’t even grumbling at something in specific…

great experience to give her an ice-cream – amazing how long a dog’s tongue can get ;-)

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i took part in another botanical excursion today – we went to jamtal valley.
it’s one of the last valleys of tyrol that (nearly) haven’t been influenced by mankind, so we found many protected and rare plants and an almost pristine flora.

jamtal valley is declared a nature reserve – there’s only 3 buildings in an 11km (7 mile) valley, all of which are alpine huts.
we even needed a special permission to drive in some miles…

once again it got obvious how focussed i am on butterflies (and their developmental stages) – i photographed a bunch of cool ones up there!
see for yourself!

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today my father and i went up the mountains in rum to a stone formation called ‘rumer nadel’.

there, we unexpectedly saw a chamois family, including two cubs!
they seemed surprised to see us too, and were standing there making strange whistling noises…

furthermore we found some protected plants

i got some good shots up there, especially the inn-valley panoramic and the photo of a ‘globe daisy’!
see for yourself!

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i just returned from an excursion arranged by a club called blattform (link). it’s an open association of biologists and biology students.

we met at 6 am (and it’s sunday, just to remind you) to go to schmirntal valley on a 90-minute ride.
first, there was rainy weather, but by the time (and the height), it got sunshiny and warm.
we soar up about 700 meters (2300 ft) in height – from 1500 to 2300 meters (4900 to 7550 ft) – looking for specific auricle-hybrids.

i had a great time, being with a whole bunch of nice and knowing people – although i was the only second semester freshman…
anyway, i learned a lot of facts and details worth knowing, and i’m looking forward to the next excursion i can take part in.

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what a great day!
the sky hasn’t been in that deep blue for a long time now…

that’s why i took the opportunity and did what i’ve been wanting to do for weeks: i went up on our roof and took some panorama shots.

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