the rape of europa

December 19th, 2007Tags:
| art, documentary, movies | chris | 0 comments


monday night deeann and i went with our neighbors to a documentary called the rape of europa. the film takes you through the violence and greed the nazis brought to europe for 12 years while focusing on the looting of classical and fine art.

when you think about world war two images of violence and murder come to mind. it has an unforgettable chill that impacts the world. i really had no idea how much the world of art was threatened by this war. adolf hitler and hermann goering had massive collections of art not only from those looted homes but those of museums and monasteries. taking literally tens of thousands of masterpieces, robbing people not only of their art but of their culture and heritage.

the lengths the nazis went to to get their hands on these pieces and the lengths the museums and common people went to to keep them safe are astonishing. this is probably one of the greatest untold stories of world war two and this film is an outstanding and notable retelling of it.

a little update

November 7th, 2007Tags: , , ,
| bike, dogs, farmers market, food, fun, good stuff, mmmmmmm, movies, portland, single speed | chris | 0 comments

things in portland are moving right along. deeann has settled well into work. it doesn’t seem to be too stressful at this point and the contract at this VA hospital is really going well. i had orientation last saturday and we went to blue night at the school on monday. it was so delicious! a few of the chefs that are graduating get to cook and serve the incoming students. here’s the menu: salad: beets, mache lettuce and horseradish vinaigrette with manchego cheese. appetizer: grilled shrimp on saffron risotto cake and basil cream sauce. entree: sauteed game hen on creamed corn with parsley pesto and chanterelle mushrooms. dessert: fresh pumpkin souffle with cinnamon creme anglaise.

needless to say it was unbelievable and i can’t wait for class to start.

other than that, we’ve been on a few hikes around the parks here. i also got the bike out for the first time this week. i can’t tell you how much fun it is to ride in a city that embraces cyclists. it was a good time.

to keep us busy we have been watching a couple movies, meeting neighbors dogs, eating our way through some of the local restaurants — not to mention farmers market, and playing lots of scrabble. good times. it’s also been quite nice to keep in touch with many friends and family through video chat online. if you have skype or AOL let me know and you too can enjoy the fun! (or just download either of them!!)

so check out some of the new photos and toss us an email. we’d love to hear from you! (cgrebner@gmail.com)

Turtle Power

March 24th, 2007 | good stuff, just stuff, movies | chris | 0 comments

Go see it.

Trailer 1

Trailer 2

Leonardo -- Isn't he sick!?

jesus camp?

February 21st, 2007 | just stuff, movies, news | chris | 1 comment

Ren and I watched the documentary Jesus Camp last night.  Quite disturbing to be honest.  In many ways taking the same mentality of some foreign countries and “arming” the children with the “weapons” of God.  Very much an “us against them” mentality.  Not to mention the very ironic statements made by Evangelical pastor Ted Haggard.

To be sure I don’t run my mouth on this subject I want to point you in the direction to another blog that responded very well to the movie.  Pete, blogger behind Living in America, actually wrote a very good post in response to this movie.  Take a minute to check it out.