The fashion designer

Under the label 'fashion by RS', Rebecca Schoser of Owen designs her own fashion collection. The range of clothes includes for example evening gowns, T-shirts and skirts.

Designs and samples of Rebecca's collection are presented on her website. It is also there that the items can be ordered directly from her. On command, she will manufacture the clothes herself.

Magic potion

The year is 1948 AD, and all Germany lies in ruins and is occupied by foreign troops. Only one small village of indomitable Swabians holds out against the post-war depression. 

But what can the villagers do to overcome the depression and revive their village? Anything is possible, with a little cunning plus the butchers' oxblood! Its effects can be truly historic ...

This is the beginning of the tale of the remote small town of Trochtelfingen which since then has converted into a gem of the Swabian Alb not least thanks to the initiative of the three Schoser brothers Gustav, Hans and Franz. (See also under 'Gallery'.)

iChina

Qinqin Schoser works as assistant editor for the iChina Magazine, a monthly English-language magazine based in the U.S.. The magazine aims at giving an independent view on China's society, economy and culture and at building a bridge between the Chinese and Western people. Having moved to the U.S. quite recently, Qinqin is well-placed to mediate between the cultures.

iChina Magazine is available in print and as electronic version on the Internet. The most recent issue on the website, however, dates from May 2009. It therefore seems that the magazine has meanwhile ceased publication.

Bavaria's pearl

The tourist information of the Bavarian town of Donauwörth displays a remarkable creativity in branding its city:  'ancient free imperial city', 'Bavaria's pearl on the banks of the Danube' or 'North Swabia's friendly center'. It also offers no less than 35 different guided tours and excursions to discover the historic, artistic and natural treasures in and around Donauwörth. Top of the list are a visit of the cathedral tower and a boat tour on the Danube which, after all, is Europe's second longest river even if it is still pretty small in Donauwörth.
Daniela Schoser is member of the team working at Donauwörth's Tourist Information and organising guided tours and excursions. Apart from the 35 standardised tours, she can also help to adapt the programme to the individual needs and wishes of the visitors, for example separate tours for men and women or advice on the local gastronomy. Hence, visitors wanting to spend their time drinking a few pints in a typical Bavarian biergarten can at least make an educated choice.

Go the distance!

'Go the distance' is a U.S. swimming programme launched four years ago. It is a self-directed programme intended to encourage swimmers to regularly exercise and track their progress. In 2010, 2,200 swimmers participated in this programme, logging a total of over 425,000 miles.

John C. Schoser is participating in this year's edition of 'Go the distance'. On 23 July, he achieved the 200 milestone, meaning that since the beginning of the year he has swum just over one mile per day. At present, his score stands at 292.55 miles showing not only that John has sped up his efforts most recently but also rocketing him up into the top 15% of all participants. He may crack the 300 milestone before long, in fact probably even before the end of this month.

Golden Wedding

Today, Franz and Edith Schoser celebrate their golden wedding. It was 50 years ago on 14 August 1961, they married in the abbey of Beuron on the Danube.  The wedding took place only one day after the construction of the Berlin Wall started.

50 years on, the Berlin Wall is history. In contrast, Franz and Edith are alive and well and proud grand-parents of 16 grand children. On the occasion of the golden wedding, all gathered to congratulate.

About eagles and other birdies

More than any other sport, Golf seems to have developed its own particular language. Some say the challenge of playing golf is less learning how to get from the 'tee' to the 'putting green', but to know what it means.

Norbert Schoser has learnt the necessary vocabulary and has entered the miraculous world of golf courses and tournaments. In July 2009 and July 2010, Norbert took part in the annual tournament at Wendelinus Golfpark. His score cards tell us that both times he must have made it to hole 18. But while this is trivial information, we leave it to the instructed reader to identify the number of albatrosses, eagles and other birdies, Norbert came across when walking those 6,265 meters.

Make yourself at home

Regina Philipps (Schoser) owns and runs Villa Blum, a bed and breakfast, in Waldenburg (Hohenlohe). The villa was built by the Earl of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg between 1910 and 1914. It has four single and five double rooms, each with an individual design and high comfort.

The description on the website sound promising:

"Each morning, the scent of fresh coffee wafts through the entire house and invites you to the lavish breakfast buffet. In the evening, you are welcome to relax in the winter garden and enjoy a glass of wine."

And for those who nonetheless plan to leave the villa, there is also some sightseeing to be done.

A soft spot for big beasts

Susanne Hillmann (Schoser) is editor at the German public broadcaster ZDF. Her speciality are animal and nature programmes.

Recently, Susanne has edited several TV series on animal life in zoos. She has presented the whistling Orang-Utan of the Heidelberg zoo, the only European howler monkies in Cologne and the removal of ice bear Flocke from the Nuremberg zoo to the (not so arctic) French Côte d'Azur.

Apart from these zoo series, Susanne has ventured into documentaries about the culture, customs, flora and fauna of far-away places. In her documentary 'Magic of Cappadocia', she reports about life in the famous underground cities of Cappacdocia in Central Anatolia (Turkey).

In an episode of the documentary 'On the road with Starship', she presents animal life in the impenetrable rainforest of Venezuela. The full episode is available on Youtube.

The unconventional convention

ConventionCamp is an annual conference about the future of the Internet. And it is meant to be different!

The organisers do not even want to label it a 'conference', rather a 'non-conference' or 'camp'. 'Those who have left ConventionCamp will think differently about the Internet' is the declared objective. Hence, you would be forgiven to think that ConventionCamp takes place in the Amazon jungle with participants sleeping in tents and fighting for survival. However, it is not quite like that... 

ConventionCamp takes place at the exhibition centre of the - not so thrilling - city of Hanover (Germany). Participants do not seem to sleep in tents either, rather they are offered special rates at the five star Radisson Blu Hotel. And food and drinks are provided for.

Andreas Schoser went through the ConventionCamp experience in November 2010. He spoke about the topic 'Connected Life = Smart Living?!' Being Head of Marketing Planning at Deutsche Telekom, he presented his employer's view on new services in the area of 'connected communication' and 'connected entertainment' taking adavantage of the increasingly interconnected way of living. 

Whether convention(al) or not, it's pretty well connected after all.