Lippe has a dream...

I guess you already know it by now - each and everybody in my family is completely nuts - except me!!!

I have to live with a baking lion and a Green Day loving teddy; oh yes, I'm a guinea pig with issues!!!

But there is another member of my crazy family I want to tell you about. His name is Chewbacca, yes the one from Star Wars, but we call him Lippe. Lippe is the German word for lip and we call him Lippe, because of his outstanding lip!!! He is a Wookiee with a BIG dream - he wants to see the world!!!

I don't know, if you heard about it yet, but many of our stuffed little pals develop great ambitions and start dreaming of traveling around!!! I just found out, there even is a travel agency for them on the internet, as well, as sites, where you can register, to send your friend out into his journey!!!

When they found out about stuffed pals traveling the world, everybody here wanted to go on a journey - except @Poooldiii, who is to cowardly. A cowardly lion, imagine that!!! Oh boy!!! And @F_R_E_D_I can't leave for too long, as he wants to see Green Day live again in June. All the others were too BIG, so we decided to give Lippe the opportunity to travel.

But we feel a little uncomfortable sending him to people we don't know. So I told him, I would ask my Twitter pals, if they would like to host him on his trip. I have been a part of the anipal community on Twitter for more than a year now and I know, we can trust our Twitter pals!!! And I also know, that nothing is impossible!!! I started my post card collection with one post card from @beardoctor and received almost 70 (!) post cards, plus Christmas cards, Halloween cards, Valentine's Day cards and friendship cards from my anipals by now!!! It's so overwhelming and amazing, I still can't believe it!!!

So, wherever you're from, near or far, if you would like Lippe to visit you, please let us know!!! And please be willing to take one or more pics of Lippe at your place and tell us, what he is doing there with you!!! As I would like to update my blog about his trip, or set up a travel blog for him!!!

We picked Lippe, because he is small (10"/25cm) and he weighs less than a bar of chocolate (80 grams/less than 3 oz). He is also experienced in traveling, as he has been to NYC before. But please note, that he is short of money and he would appreciate your help on his way. You would have to pass him to his next destination, but you may let us know, if it's okay with you, to send him to another country, or if you would prefer to mail him within your own country to have lower shipping fees!!!

If you have a stuffed pal, or are one, wanting to travel, we may offer you a place to stay in Cologne as well!!! So, if you would like to pay us a visit, please let us know!!! And I promise to send my mom to our famous cathedrale to take pics with our guests!!!

Okay, now we're waiting impatiently for your responds!!! Please help Lippe's dream come true!!!

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine!!!

I have to tell you all about the 2nd award I received for my bloggy!!! My friend Eline from Norway got the Sunshine award for her blog From the high North and passed it on to me!!! How exciting, everybody have a look at it!!!

Thank you sooooo much Eline, my dear!!! BIG HUGS to you!!!

Now, it's my turn to bring some sunshine to 12 other bloggies, that put a smile on my face and brighten my days (note the rhyme, please)!!!

Here they are and they come in no other, than alphabetical order (you all know I'm German, so perfection is always my goal):

Arthur's Blog 
Busy, Busy Buttons 
Christopher's Groove 
Fueled by cupcakes 
Henry and friends (no bloggy, but pawsome webpage)
JAZZYDACAT'S BLOGGY 
Jin Jin & Pixel's Bloggy 
Kolo's world 
Life without borders (as if!) 
Mario's Meowsings 
Max The Quilt Cat 
Sid the Catahoula 

Now for the rules!!! Oh yes, there are some, but don't panic!!!

By accepting the award, you have to give sunshine to 12 other bloggies that light up your everyday life. Link the nominees in your post about the Sunshine award and let them know they were nominated by commenting on their blog. It's as easy as that, so come on pass the sunshine!!!

Rose Sunday = nom noms, lots of nom noms!!!

It's Rose Monday today and there will be a BIG carnival parade in Cologne's city center. But I live in a part of Cologne called Porz and we already had this year's carnival parade yesterday afternoon!!! It's called Rose Sunday parade and I told my mom to take some pictures to show you, what was going on right outside my door!!!

Let's start with one of my favorites. This football waggon with 1 FC Köln mascot Hennes was created by carnival club Närrische Geissböck.

A group of angels throwing Kamelle (sweets) and distributing Strüssjer (flowers).

This clown is called Nubbele and the waggon was made by carnival club Poorzer Nubbele.

Some crocodiles with lots of nom noms in their bags!!!

This pirate ship is part of our carnival parade every year. It was created by the carnival club Eiler Freibeuter.

Here is a group of frogs with their little princess.

These clowns are called Lappenclowns (rag clowns), because their costumes are made of many, many single rags.

This waggon belongs to Colonian comedian Guido Cantz, who is also known on TV here in Germany. He stands at the very front of the waggon, but he's not in the pic!!! Never let my mom take a picture for you...

Another favorite of mine is the big turning man on the Hätzepöppelche waggon!!!

Congrats mom, you didn't ruin that one too!!! Here he is, looking at us!!!

Some funny dressed lighthouses!!!

And here are more pirates!!!

A world waggon...

...and the Colonian Statue of Liberty!!!

The most beautiful waggons in the Porz Rose Sunday parade are always made by the carnival club Fidele Elsdorfer!!!

Their topic this year was the football World Cup 2010. Look at the HUGE cup they created!!!

It's absolutely worth looking at more of their waggons on their homepage in the Bilder-section!!!

Here are the Cologne Ugly Cowboys with their pawsome waggon!!! You have to imagine the horse's heads... Yep, my mom is a brillant photographer!!!

But here are some men dressed as horses...

The Cologne cathedral cheering Porz Alaaf!!!

The Blau-Wiesse Funke are a very old and traditional carnival club here in Cologne. This is their senate.

We have a kid's triumvirate as well, as an adult triumvirate in Porz. Here is the children triumvirate with virgin Corinna, peasant Robin and prince Mike I.

And this is the adult triumvirate of 2010, formed by virgin Stefanie, peasant Dieter and prince Dieter I.

The weather was awful, but the parade was pawsome!!!

Porz Alaaf!!! Kölle Alaaf!!!

Kölle Alaaf!!!

You might all know I'm a Colonian boy, but I don't know, if you already heard of our big tradition called Karneval (carnival)??? If not, I want to tell you a little more about it!!!

Carnival has been celebrated almost as long, as Cologne exists. And Cologne is more than 2000 years old!!! Once, there where Greek and Roman rulers in my city and they celebrated spring festivals to honor their Gods. And they celebrated with loads of wine, women and song...

Then, the ancient Germans took over Cologne and celebrated winter solstice to praise their Gods and as an expulsion of the winter demons. And we all know, winter demons can be very mean...

Later, the Christians celebrated the period of Lent, prior to Easter, as Karnival, a farewell to meat!!!

In the middle ages, the masquerade often took on drastic forms and the celebration of carnival was very wild!!! Many men dressed as the devil and behaved like it too, very much to the displeasure of the church, who tried to prohibit the carnival, but the people would not listen to them!!!

In 1794, Cologne was captured by French revolutionary troops and they allowed the Colonians to celebrate their carnival parades. Shortly after the French, the Prussians took control and oh, oh, they were stricter, because for the Colonian people, the carnival was a way to express anti-Prussian thoughts through parody and mockery. But whatever the Prussians tried to forbid carnival, did not prevent the natives from cultivating their traditions!!!

Carnival was soon romanticized and became bourgeois. And it became organized. Another new idea was the introduction of the carnival hero, today known as prince carnival!!!

Carnival is also called the 5th season and is declared open at 11 minutes part 11 a.m. on November 11th. The peoples carnival spirit is then temporarily suspended during the advent and Christmas period and picks up again in January. The street carnival, a week-long festival, takes place between the Thursday (Women's Carnival Day) before Rose Monday and ends on Ash Wednesday. The highlight of carnival is Rose Monday (Rosenmontag), celebrated with a huge parade in the streets of Cologne!!! More than 1 million spectators from all over the world come to see the Rose Monday parade every year!!! That makes Cologne carnival one of the largest street festivals in Europe!!!

On February 10, in 1823, Cologne celebrated it's first Rose Monday parade. Even involved was the former city militia called "Rote Funken". And not to forget the triumvirate (Dreigestirn), 3 people, who are granted the titles of virgin, peasant and prince. The virgin and peasant as a reminder of the former free imperial city of Cologne. And the prince as the highest representative of the festivities, leading the main carnival parades.

And now comes the best part about the carnival parades!!! People in the parades throw tons of "Kamelle" (sweets) to the spectators to celebrate the time before fasting with them!!! You may collect bags full of sweets and chocolates and chips and popcorn at the parades!!! And now comes the very best part about it... there is a carnival parade right outside my door on Sunday afternoon!!! If I open the window, they throw all that yummy stuff right into my livingroom!!!

So, cheer with me 3 times "Kölle Alaaf, Kölle Alaaf, Kölle Alaaf!!!" That means Cologne alone, but never shout "Helau" in Cologne!!! That's what they do in our neighbour city Düsseldorf and there is a big rivalry between Cologne and Düsseldorf!!! It all started in the 13th century, when the catholic Archbishop of Cologne lost a battle against troops from protestant Düsseldorf. They became rulers and made Düsseldorf more important than Cologne, although Cologne had already been a big and important city by that time and Düsseldorf had only been a nearby village!!! Needless to say Düsseldorf is still unimportant, even though it is todays capitol of North Rhine-Westphalia... Oh yes, Cologne got a raw deal again...

And now, guess what - I don't know many Germans on Twitter, but I found a friend from my neighbour city Düsseldorf there!!! Okay, she ain't a native Düsseldorf girl, maybe that's why we get along and I like to tease her for living in that dingy town of Düsseldorf!!! If you want to meet her, please visit @BettinaWagner!!!

Kölle Alaaf!!!

My crocheted self...

I have to tell you all what happened to me a few days ago!!! I went to Twitter, just like any other day and found a message from my dear friend Stinky @TheRealStinky!!! He told me, he finally updated his blog and added something, he already wanted to show me for a long time!!! I was very curious and went to his blog. When I opened it, a picture of myself appeared and when I scrolled down a bit, my crocheted self appeared...

Have you ever seen anything like this before??? I definitely haven't and I still can't stop laughing!!! But if you visit Stinky's blog, you'll find out about his look-a-like too...

I'm honest... honest scrap!!!

Yesterday was a lucky day for me!!! When I opened Tweet Deck, I found a DM from my dear friend Henry!!! I think you all know him, but if not, you should get to know him right away!!! Or just after reading this entry... Everybody loves Henry, because he is a great-hearted bear, with soul and personality!!! He is kind and always helpful, just seeing his Twitter avatar brings a smile to my face!!! Henry has been awarded with the Honest Scrap Award by @kyba for his unique web presentation on Twitter @henryandfriends, as well, as on his homepage http://www.henryandfriends.co.uk/!!! And guess what - Henry picked my blog to honor it with the award too!!! I was very touched, because there are so many pawsome bloggies and I am still just a newby to Blogger!!! Thank you sooooo much Henry, it means a lot to me and I really appreciate receiving the award from you!!!

The Honest Scrap Award is to honor bloggers, who put their hearts on display, as they write from the depts of their soul. Thank you for this description Mario, I took it from your blog!!! And everybody should check out Mario's, already honored with Honest Scrap Award, bloggy here: http://mariodacat.blogspot.com/ But don't forget to finish this entry first...

What comes along with the honor of being honest scrap is the duty of telling 10 things about yourself, no one knows yet and then pass the award on to 10 other bloggers.

So, here we go, be prepared for 10 things about my secret piggy life you possibly never wanted to hear!!!

1. I like to pee in the corner of the living room ( oh, oh, this is getting embarrassing for me!!!).

2. It's said, that I poop more than my mom, but I don't really agree with this point.

3. I'm not into fruits and I hate some of them - Kiwis, stay away from me!!!

4. I have not been sick in 3 years now!!!

5. I never drank, drink, or will drink a drop of my water!!!

6. I dream of becoming the new mascot for my football club FC Cologne!!!

7. I have a little crush on Linny from Wonder Pets!!! Adorable smart girl!!!

8. I am kind of vain, my fur is always brushed and I think strawberry blond is the best you can look!!!

9. I am a professional beggar and I know how to turn my mom into a puppet on a string!!! (Oh, but that one ain't really new!!!)

10. I am the smallest voodoo priest in the world, fighting bad weather with my magic!!!

And now, it comes to the 10 blogs I want to give the award to!!! I tried to be as correct as any good German and did some research to find out, if any of the blogs I want to honor already received the Honest Scrap Award and I didn't find any hints on the blogs. But I forgot to put my glasses on, so, if anybody already got the award, please just feel lucky to be honored again!!!

These come in no particular order:

1. Mister Awesome himself!!! I'm truly sorry, I forgot to nominate you for a shorty award in awesome, but I'm glad you made it with commanding lead!!! His Blog is awesome, his comics are awesome, his Twitter is awesome, his cooking show is awesome - HE is awesome!!! Mister Zack Rabbit @ZackRabbit !!!

http://somebunnyscreation.blogspot.com/

2. Miss Lexi-Lou Nafziger for brighten so many of my days with her pawsome blog!!! I miss you and I want to keep up your memory with this award!!! I guess you see it from up there, your sisfur Buttons @BusyButtons is doing a great job too!!!

http://lexi-dog.blogspot.com/

3. Bunny Jean Cook @BunnyJeanCook , who focusses on animals in need and tells their stories on her blog!!! http://bunnyjeancook.blogspot.com/

4. Michelle Stringer @grrlysquirrel, a very dear human friend of mine (and I must confess, I got a crush on her too), for her nice blog about her life and her views on the world... and of course on Gavin DeGraw!!! http://grrlysquirrelheartsgavin.blogspot.com/

5. Jed Bramwell @jedbramwell for his blog about the making of his stop movie called Making Wanted and for all the effort he puts into his miniature sets!!! It's worth looking at!!!

http://makingwanted.blogspot.com/

6. Another human friend of mine, my fit Turnschuh Miss Dana Pixie @danapixie for her blog to support #pawcircles on Twitter and for letting us all know, whose anipals are in need for good thoughts and prayers!!!

http://pawcircle.blogspot.com/

7. My Australian friend Stinky @TheRealStinky for his nice, but neglected blog!!! I hope to get him to write a new entry about the award... http://therealstinky.blogspot.com/

8. Mister Bear doctor @beardoctor for his lovely and interesting blog about the life of a wise bear and his people The Human and Her!!! We truly miss you, Doc, but being smart as ever you knew this was gonna be a tough winter and did the only right thing - escape to the Spanish sun!!! But someday, spring will come and you'll be in it's suitcase!!! http://beardoctor.blogspot.com/

9. My sporty friend Shawnee @ShawneeShep , who tells about her hiking adventures (you have to see her funky vest for cold days) and the life of a German Shepard!!! http://shawneetheshep.blogspot.com/

10. And not to forget - Sir Hellkitty himself @SirFudgeEsq!!! I don't know how you will react on the award, because I'm not sure if it's befitting your social status to join in our nice and funny game of passing this award forward!!! But all I can say is "comrade, accept the honor I want to pour out over your head like warm pee pee!" http://sirfudgeesq.blogspot.com/ 

I love you all and you make my life sooooo much richer!!! BIGGEST HUGS!!!