Later last night, I attended this Berlin disco. Pretty big place, two floors on the top of a 15 story office tower. This is the place made infamous in my fifth blog posting. The one at which I arrived on the wrong day. On Str8 night. Anywho, I finally made it back on the appropriate night (Sunday). And, as usual, the Germans were single-handedly keeping American tobacco companies in business. Coming from a country in which so many cities and states have banned in-door smoking (including in clubs), it has been a real adjustment to have smoke always circulating around my head in Berlin. Whether, it be while enjoying an outdoor cafe patio on a beautiful day with my croissant and...........SMOKE. Or whether it's in a club filled with............SMOKE. Smoke in Berlin is like fucking Visa. It's everywhere you wanna be.
Anywho, upon leaving the club..........early................cause I couldn't breathe anymore (actually, it was my lungs that left. No, really. They stomped out under protest and waited, somewhat impatiently, for the rest of my body to follow) and the trains had begun running again (remember dear reader; the trains stop at 1:00 in Berlin between Sun evening and Thur night and they surface again at 4:00 a.m., or thereabouts). On the way out, I happened to ask an elevator of revelers about whether there was any movement afoot to ban smoking in bars in Berlin. Cricket, cricket. Cricket, cricket. The sound of silence at night, in farm country (or sub-burbs, pretty much the same). I might as well not have said anything. People just looked around uncomfortably. Upon exiting the elevator, however, one woman decided to take the bait. It just so happened that she was the DJ for much of the night.
Her contention went as follows. NYC was once a killer place in which to party. Then came the smoking ban. Then came the disneyfication of Times Square. In that order. More precisely, she told me over and over that Berlin liked being a really edgy city and that smoking was an inherent component of that. I mentioned to her that the club at which she'd just finished DJing was not the least bit "edgy" (some seriously cute guys, no doubt; but edgy to the extent designer and gay is edgy, perhaps, but I'm thinkin that's not her definition of edgy). She seemed offended by this. But she recovered and told me where to go for the real Berliner "edgy". Of course it just so happens to be at another club at which she'll be DJing. Sounds like a setup doesn't it.
Anyway, the real question for me regards the possible nexus (calm down you star-trek fans) between laws banning things such as indoor smoking and..............well, Disneyland. On the one hand, the one just doesn't seem to necessarily flow from the other. NYC became Disneyland NOT because of an in-door smoking ban but rather because Giuliani decided that all of the cool sex clubs had to go (Damn). Moreover, the smoking ban (enacted in 2003) was the LAST brick in the Disneyfication edifice that has become NYC, not the first. So, our german femme fatale's description is, at least in the case of her favorite example, NYC, not bourne out by the facts. That said, one wonders what the smokers will do if they cannot smoke in the edgy Berlin clubs? Hmmmmmmmm. Gimme a sec. Hmmmmmm. This is tough. I think I got it. THEY'LL SMOKE THE FUCK OUTSIDE LIKE THEY ALREADY DO ALL THE GODDAMN TIME!!! Yeah, that's what they'll do. And they'll anxiously await the fall of their gloriously edgy night-life. That's at least what I think will happen.
Monday, August 31, 2009
A Sunday Outing Becomes a Health-care Teachable Moment
Sunday was an interesting day for healthcare concerns. Both my private ones as well as the issue of universal health care. First, universal health-care.
I met two young Brits in the afternoon on the way to the Sunday flea market at the famed Mauerpark (park of the wall? You haven't heard of it? Where have you been?). Anyway, Mauerpark is a vast area that attracts all kinds of people. From the brass band in leather chinos, a little S&M to be sure, with the laker girl (ok, add a couple pound to each girl) cheerleaders. To the beat boxing boy from croatia (who, by the way, spoke perfect english). To the Janice Joplin look alike (with almost as good a voice, even through a megaphone) accompanied by an 8-piece brass band, to the japanese (I really hope they were Japanese, otherwise, they were just really offensive) clowns who attracted the largest crowd in the joint. The entire area is 14 hectares (35.5 acres). Much fun was had by all.
So, the two Brits and I journeyed our way through this area, ate some food, drank some beer........... Ok, me? Not so much. It was an interesting interaction. I find it often awkward when three people spend time together where two of them know each other so much better than, in this case, either of them know the other one. But we had zero difficulty together. Several reasons for that. First, they were quite cool and didn't mind sharing their (they were not a couple. Her boyfriend was at home recovering, apparently, from the prior night's baccanalian exploits) space with me. I then made sure to focus equally on them in conversation, even though I thought the guy was quite cute. So there were no awkward pauses and no one felt left out. I was surprised how smoothly it all went.
As we were leaving, the woman, Beth, mentioned that her bf is studying to be a doctor. She then noted that she works in the statistical department for the National Health Service (commonly known as the NHS). Well, that got us started on an entire conversation about health care. Namely, about the health care debate (or screaming deathmatch more like it) in the U.S. Both her and the lad (hmmmm, not sure that works but thought I'd give it a go, LOL) asserted that the U.K. had felt some pressure to defend its NHS given its maligning at the hands of rabid right-wing nutjobs in America (do they not seem like rabid, blind, relatively stupid dogs when you watch the town-halls all around the country?). Interestingly enough, it's exactly her job to facilitate the "rationing" of health-care that represents the lightning rod of the discussion about universal health-care reform here. Never mind that insurance companies force rationing all the time. Never mind that "bureaucrats" at HMOs every day stand between a good ole boy and his doctor. But I digress. Anywho, she does look at all kinds of statistical trends and report out re what areas in the country appear to have what kinds of needs resource-wise.
I tried to press her on the issue of the co-habitability of both a private insurance system and an NHS model. At least on the train, we were not able to really tease this issue out. Some of the private aspects of their system lack any real analogue in our system (or so it seemed from our very cursory discussion on the train home). I look forward to continuing my discussion with her to find out more about the NHS system in the U.K.
I met two young Brits in the afternoon on the way to the Sunday flea market at the famed Mauerpark (park of the wall? You haven't heard of it? Where have you been?). Anyway, Mauerpark is a vast area that attracts all kinds of people. From the brass band in leather chinos, a little S&M to be sure, with the laker girl (ok, add a couple pound to each girl) cheerleaders. To the beat boxing boy from croatia (who, by the way, spoke perfect english). To the Janice Joplin look alike (with almost as good a voice, even through a megaphone) accompanied by an 8-piece brass band, to the japanese (I really hope they were Japanese, otherwise, they were just really offensive) clowns who attracted the largest crowd in the joint. The entire area is 14 hectares (35.5 acres). Much fun was had by all.
So, the two Brits and I journeyed our way through this area, ate some food, drank some beer........... Ok, me? Not so much. It was an interesting interaction. I find it often awkward when three people spend time together where two of them know each other so much better than, in this case, either of them know the other one. But we had zero difficulty together. Several reasons for that. First, they were quite cool and didn't mind sharing their (they were not a couple. Her boyfriend was at home recovering, apparently, from the prior night's baccanalian exploits) space with me. I then made sure to focus equally on them in conversation, even though I thought the guy was quite cute. So there were no awkward pauses and no one felt left out. I was surprised how smoothly it all went.
As we were leaving, the woman, Beth, mentioned that her bf is studying to be a doctor. She then noted that she works in the statistical department for the National Health Service (commonly known as the NHS). Well, that got us started on an entire conversation about health care. Namely, about the health care debate (or screaming deathmatch more like it) in the U.S. Both her and the lad (hmmmm, not sure that works but thought I'd give it a go, LOL) asserted that the U.K. had felt some pressure to defend its NHS given its maligning at the hands of rabid right-wing nutjobs in America (do they not seem like rabid, blind, relatively stupid dogs when you watch the town-halls all around the country?). Interestingly enough, it's exactly her job to facilitate the "rationing" of health-care that represents the lightning rod of the discussion about universal health-care reform here. Never mind that insurance companies force rationing all the time. Never mind that "bureaucrats" at HMOs every day stand between a good ole boy and his doctor. But I digress. Anywho, she does look at all kinds of statistical trends and report out re what areas in the country appear to have what kinds of needs resource-wise.
I tried to press her on the issue of the co-habitability of both a private insurance system and an NHS model. At least on the train, we were not able to really tease this issue out. Some of the private aspects of their system lack any real analogue in our system (or so it seemed from our very cursory discussion on the train home). I look forward to continuing my discussion with her to find out more about the NHS system in the U.K.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Safety in Berlin
Ok, something that has recently occurred to me. I've been walking everywhere in Berlin. At all hours. One thing has continually stricken me. Namely, the extent to which I see women on bikes and walking at these same hours. I do not believe I have ever lived in a city in which I have seen as many women out partying late and walking around. It's fantastic. It occurred to me to inquire of a young German woman re what it must feel like to be able to walk around at all hours of the night. This particular German woman had decided to walk about a mile, at 1:30 a.m., with Andy and I to the next subway station (by the way, they were all closed. The system shuts down at 1:00 during the week and the Berliner girl didn't know this). I found it amazing that a woman would walk with two strange men down any street at that hour. She just shrugged her shoulders when I asked her how cool it was. She had no other experience. You know, the one of feeling threatened at night in large cities if you're a woman. I thought to myself how liberated American women would feel if they, likewise, did not have to worry about being accompanied by men at night or having to find transportation for distances that, during the daytime hours, they would otherwise walk. Although I do not believe I have any female readers, I felt the need to post this thought nonetheless.
Helmut Newton Photography
So,
Andy and I once again got a late start out of the house. We did work on drumming up models for the photo shoots we wanna do and stuff like that prior to really moving very much. So, we ended up leaving the house around 4:00. I thought we'd head to the Gedächtniskirche. This is a really cool monument. It encompasses the remains of what was once a really beautiful/elegant cathedral. However, as it lies in the Middle of the downtown Berlin area, it was largely (about 60%) destroyed during WWII. The Berliners decided to retain the shell of the cathedral as a reminder of the ills of war. We took lots of photos and you should be seeing those soon.
After the Gedächtniskirche, we visited the Berlin Museum of Photography. With our cameras in tow no less. The museum was the brainchild of famous photographer Helmut Newton. He, apparently, was a childhood hero of Andy's. The museum generally designates about half its space or slightly more to his work. Newton focused upon fashion, nudes, and famous people. His fashion work was definitely interesting. His nudes were quite boring. And his famous people were relatively interesting as well. I found it funny that the nudes of the photographer George Holz (from Pasadena) were much more compelling and told a more dramatic story (even Andy agreed) than those of the pater familia of the museum. Oh well. It was a fun day nonetheless.
Andy and I once again got a late start out of the house. We did work on drumming up models for the photo shoots we wanna do and stuff like that prior to really moving very much. So, we ended up leaving the house around 4:00. I thought we'd head to the Gedächtniskirche. This is a really cool monument. It encompasses the remains of what was once a really beautiful/elegant cathedral. However, as it lies in the Middle of the downtown Berlin area, it was largely (about 60%) destroyed during WWII. The Berliners decided to retain the shell of the cathedral as a reminder of the ills of war. We took lots of photos and you should be seeing those soon.
After the Gedächtniskirche, we visited the Berlin Museum of Photography. With our cameras in tow no less. The museum was the brainchild of famous photographer Helmut Newton. He, apparently, was a childhood hero of Andy's. The museum generally designates about half its space or slightly more to his work. Newton focused upon fashion, nudes, and famous people. His fashion work was definitely interesting. His nudes were quite boring. And his famous people were relatively interesting as well. I found it funny that the nudes of the photographer George Holz (from Pasadena) were much more compelling and told a more dramatic story (even Andy agreed) than those of the pater familia of the museum. Oh well. It was a fun day nonetheless.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
End of an Era
Wow. Ted Kennedy passes. I just listened to his eulogy of his brother Robert from 1968 (you can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9JTYnMpRyg) . Although I make no pretense to the eloquence he demonstrated on that day, I will take a moment to say a few words regarding his passing.
One cannot easily sum the complexities and contradictions that were Edward Kennedy. He was the scion of an authentically American fairy-tale family. He drank a lot and this habit likely robbed a young woman of her life. Love them or hate them, however, the Kennedy's gave more to America than perhaps any other prominent family in our history. They were raised to be great men, the four Kennedy brothers, and each, in his own way, achieved everything for which their patriarch and father, Joseph, could have ever hoped. Each of these men could have pursued the expansion of their family's financial empire. Instead, however, they were weened on the importance (perhaps even elitism) of government service. Joseph Sr. was an ambassador to Great Britain during WWII and from there, the taste for service to country was born.
It is unimaginable today that four such sons in a family possessed of the financial resources of the Kennedy's would pursue a life of public service. And while it's true that with such high ranking public office comes great influence, there is no doubt that with great financial means, comes perhaps even greater influence. That the Kennedy's sought public office and not financial influence is a testament to their greatness and a justification of the love and affection so many of us share for this American royal family. With his death, an era, unlikely ever to be witnessed again, comes to a close. Although I am glad to have been witness to some piece of this legacy, I was often saddened to have missed the era of the Kennedy family's most prolific success. I was, nonetheless, raised with a great awareness of the Kennedy family and it's commitment to service. America can only hope that other families within it's most elite class will someday feel the same call to public service that embodied the Kennedys. I'm not holding my breath. So we say goodbye to an era and, perhaps, even a paradigm.
One cannot easily sum the complexities and contradictions that were Edward Kennedy. He was the scion of an authentically American fairy-tale family. He drank a lot and this habit likely robbed a young woman of her life. Love them or hate them, however, the Kennedy's gave more to America than perhaps any other prominent family in our history. They were raised to be great men, the four Kennedy brothers, and each, in his own way, achieved everything for which their patriarch and father, Joseph, could have ever hoped. Each of these men could have pursued the expansion of their family's financial empire. Instead, however, they were weened on the importance (perhaps even elitism) of government service. Joseph Sr. was an ambassador to Great Britain during WWII and from there, the taste for service to country was born.
It is unimaginable today that four such sons in a family possessed of the financial resources of the Kennedy's would pursue a life of public service. And while it's true that with such high ranking public office comes great influence, there is no doubt that with great financial means, comes perhaps even greater influence. That the Kennedy's sought public office and not financial influence is a testament to their greatness and a justification of the love and affection so many of us share for this American royal family. With his death, an era, unlikely ever to be witnessed again, comes to a close. Although I am glad to have been witness to some piece of this legacy, I was often saddened to have missed the era of the Kennedy family's most prolific success. I was, nonetheless, raised with a great awareness of the Kennedy family and it's commitment to service. America can only hope that other families within it's most elite class will someday feel the same call to public service that embodied the Kennedys. I'm not holding my breath. So we say goodbye to an era and, perhaps, even a paradigm.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tuesday Blues
So I finally received a call from an acquaintance of mine from Cincy who's traveling the world right now. He's in Berlin and has been here for the better part of a week or more. After blowing me off pretty much that entire time, he rang me today. And I answered (no caller I.D. here, LOL). So Andy and I met up with Brendan (oops, did I mention his name?) and we had an interesting time. We went to the Reichstag (you've already heard so much about my great adventure there on Sunday) and to the Jewish memorial. That was really highly interesting.
First of all, the memorial itself is quite interesting. It's seriously cool yet understated. Secondly, I find it so trippy that in a country once led by criminals who tried to eradicate the Jewish people from the planet, that this memorial (fairly large) would sit within the sight-line of the German capitol building, in the German capitol down the street from Hitler's Berlin bunker. Everyday, if they want, German federal legislators can look down upon the memorial. Also interesting was the number of young children and adolescents running through the memorial (although you'll have to take a look at the structure to have any idea what this means, think labyrinth). On the one hand, this seemed so sacrilegious. On the other, however, this seemed like a natural artifact of time. Just as time has little respect for the sanctity of life (and of the body itself) as we decay in graves, so too do younger generations, with little first-hand knowledge or memory, lack the respect of serious places like this memorial. It was not just at this location where this blithe treatment of history was on display. The same was true of the Marx/Engels memorial, the memorial to Checkpoint Charley, remnants of the wall on display at Potzdammer Platz, etc. It seems to just be the nature of young people. But I'm certainly open to other interpretations on this one.
First of all, the memorial itself is quite interesting. It's seriously cool yet understated. Secondly, I find it so trippy that in a country once led by criminals who tried to eradicate the Jewish people from the planet, that this memorial (fairly large) would sit within the sight-line of the German capitol building, in the German capitol down the street from Hitler's Berlin bunker. Everyday, if they want, German federal legislators can look down upon the memorial. Also interesting was the number of young children and adolescents running through the memorial (although you'll have to take a look at the structure to have any idea what this means, think labyrinth). On the one hand, this seemed so sacrilegious. On the other, however, this seemed like a natural artifact of time. Just as time has little respect for the sanctity of life (and of the body itself) as we decay in graves, so too do younger generations, with little first-hand knowledge or memory, lack the respect of serious places like this memorial. It was not just at this location where this blithe treatment of history was on display. The same was true of the Marx/Engels memorial, the memorial to Checkpoint Charley, remnants of the wall on display at Potzdammer Platz, etc. It seems to just be the nature of young people. But I'm certainly open to other interpretations on this one.
Am Montag (on Monday)
So, Monday was a pretty cool day. I ate the hugest wienerschnitzel with a friend of Jon's. It was so big, that even splitting it, I only ate half. I ate a quarter of it (if not less). I did a lot of walking (like every day) and taking photos (don't forget to check out my flickr site). Later in the evening, I went out with Andy to an area I visited on Sunday evening. It was a horrific night for transportation insofaras I could not recall a single one of the trains that I'd been on less than 24 hours earlier. There was an earthquake in Honshu, Japan yesterday and I'm quite certain it upset the delicate balance of my extraordinarily sensitive GPS system. So I was all turned around to the great amusement of Andy. After finally arriving at a restaurant, we ate well and had great conversation with the very nice Danish people. That's pretty much all that happened Monday 08/24.
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Craziest of Days
Ok, today did not begin with any intentions or pretense of greatness. I woke up late and didn't really get moving till about 4:00. So, I decided to go to the German capitol building, the Reichstag. Before arriving at the Reichstag, I was amazed at the downtown area (known as Mitte). It was really cool and very high-tech looking. Since my brother tells me my posts are somewhat lengthy (guess he doesn't read many blogs), however, I'll not belabor a description of Mitte and get to the heart of today's adventure more quickly.
So, I'm up on the cupola of the capitol (a really stunning structure that you can see on my flickr page for which there is a link on the home page of my blog) doin the George thing, takin' loads of pictures, when I'm stricken by an errant thought. I wondered how much of the current structure survived from the original building. I did what any tourist would do and approached a person in uniform to inquire. Upon rephrasing the question in German (so much for it being an accessible tourist destination), the woman, let's call her Christina (her actual name, lol), nicely explained that none (what a shock!!!) of the existing building was original. After expressing my utter surprise at this fact, she decided to surprise me even more and invited me to follow her into the security office (one of many). Ok, this is when things begin to get really weird.
On the way to the office (only 2-3 meters from where we had been standing), she tells me that she has a book, on the history of the Reichstag, that is quite special and is only given to employees and State guests. While I was quite excited about this unexpected boon, I was also thinking that the public drinking thing, "not sure it's working". She seemed like she may have had one Bier too many for lunch today. Anywho, she begins closing the blinds and shutting the door so that people cannot see inside the increasingly claustrophobic security booth. Remember folks, THIS IS AT THE CAPITOL. So, I'm beginning to get really weirded out. I'm thinking OMG, is grandma really going to put the moves on me? More seriously I was thinking, OH FUCK, I'M GOING TO BE STRAIGHT UP ARRESTED!!!!
Grandma then calls for someone to replace her while she goes to her locker ("with a friend" she actually tells them over the secret service looking walkie-talkie device) to get some pills. After about 7min, two FEDERAL POLICE officers arrive at her door to relieve her. Now I knew I was just minutes away from handcuffs. I've seen this shit too many times in movies and it never ends well for the hapless black man. With a straight face, she tells the two federal police guys that she's going to her locker and taking her "friend" with her. Did they think we were going to get it on? That grandma had her a fine piece of...........? I shudder to finish that sentence. Just can't bring myself to imagine it. Anyway, the two federal police guys (who really were cute, so I was hoping any arrest would include some kind of cavity search by one of them) were looking at me like, "yeah right this black dude is your friend". Even their stares had heavy german police accents.
But surprise of surprises, they let us go. The slightly tipsy seeming grandma then proceeded to take me through the super secret path to the women's locker room. Some of the areas were open to the public, others were not. The whole time I'm just waiting either to be arrested or for Ashton Kutcher to show up and tell me I've been punked. And hoping there'd be some type of cavity search included there too.
Anyway, grandma finally gets me to the women's locker room and I say "I'll wait out here". Of course she says, "No, no, there's no one here. Come on in". I ask you dear readers (especially my gay sisters) what would you have done here? I'm seriously wonderin at that point whether grandma has concocted this whole story just to get my juicy butt in the bowels of the German capitol and put the moves on me. I was looking for the way out but we'd come through about a dozen locked doors and I had no idea where in the hell we were. I took the prudent path and followed her in.
She went to her locker and after some fumbling, pulled out...................the book. Ok, so she was a really nice mature German woman looking to do a big favor for a very good german speaking black American guy as opposed to the creepy, intoxicated, manhood stealing German beastress I thought she'd turn out to be. The story ends with one last reminder of the nature of the journey I'd just been on. We went out an employee exit (and did not return to the suspicious but hot federal police) and I had to be let out of two impenetrable doors with pneumatic locks on them. Oh!! When I think of the things that might've transpired in that building. But alas, I have a real cool book and had an extraordinarily iconic Reichstag experience.
Aufwiedersehn' Y'all
So, I'm up on the cupola of the capitol (a really stunning structure that you can see on my flickr page for which there is a link on the home page of my blog) doin the George thing, takin' loads of pictures, when I'm stricken by an errant thought. I wondered how much of the current structure survived from the original building. I did what any tourist would do and approached a person in uniform to inquire. Upon rephrasing the question in German (so much for it being an accessible tourist destination), the woman, let's call her Christina (her actual name, lol), nicely explained that none (what a shock!!!) of the existing building was original. After expressing my utter surprise at this fact, she decided to surprise me even more and invited me to follow her into the security office (one of many). Ok, this is when things begin to get really weird.
On the way to the office (only 2-3 meters from where we had been standing), she tells me that she has a book, on the history of the Reichstag, that is quite special and is only given to employees and State guests. While I was quite excited about this unexpected boon, I was also thinking that the public drinking thing, "not sure it's working". She seemed like she may have had one Bier too many for lunch today. Anywho, she begins closing the blinds and shutting the door so that people cannot see inside the increasingly claustrophobic security booth. Remember folks, THIS IS AT THE CAPITOL. So, I'm beginning to get really weirded out. I'm thinking OMG, is grandma really going to put the moves on me? More seriously I was thinking, OH FUCK, I'M GOING TO BE STRAIGHT UP ARRESTED!!!!
Grandma then calls for someone to replace her while she goes to her locker ("with a friend" she actually tells them over the secret service looking walkie-talkie device) to get some pills. After about 7min, two FEDERAL POLICE officers arrive at her door to relieve her. Now I knew I was just minutes away from handcuffs. I've seen this shit too many times in movies and it never ends well for the hapless black man. With a straight face, she tells the two federal police guys that she's going to her locker and taking her "friend" with her. Did they think we were going to get it on? That grandma had her a fine piece of...........? I shudder to finish that sentence. Just can't bring myself to imagine it. Anyway, the two federal police guys (who really were cute, so I was hoping any arrest would include some kind of cavity search by one of them) were looking at me like, "yeah right this black dude is your friend". Even their stares had heavy german police accents.
But surprise of surprises, they let us go. The slightly tipsy seeming grandma then proceeded to take me through the super secret path to the women's locker room. Some of the areas were open to the public, others were not. The whole time I'm just waiting either to be arrested or for Ashton Kutcher to show up and tell me I've been punked. And hoping there'd be some type of cavity search included there too.
Anyway, grandma finally gets me to the women's locker room and I say "I'll wait out here". Of course she says, "No, no, there's no one here. Come on in". I ask you dear readers (especially my gay sisters) what would you have done here? I'm seriously wonderin at that point whether grandma has concocted this whole story just to get my juicy butt in the bowels of the German capitol and put the moves on me. I was looking for the way out but we'd come through about a dozen locked doors and I had no idea where in the hell we were. I took the prudent path and followed her in.
She went to her locker and after some fumbling, pulled out...................the book. Ok, so she was a really nice mature German woman looking to do a big favor for a very good german speaking black American guy as opposed to the creepy, intoxicated, manhood stealing German beastress I thought she'd turn out to be. The story ends with one last reminder of the nature of the journey I'd just been on. We went out an employee exit (and did not return to the suspicious but hot federal police) and I had to be let out of two impenetrable doors with pneumatic locks on them. Oh!! When I think of the things that might've transpired in that building. But alas, I have a real cool book and had an extraordinarily iconic Reichstag experience.
Aufwiedersehn' Y'all
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Berliner Protests, Sat. 22.08.2009
It seems that in some ways Berlin is Germany's "angry" city. What exactly thousands of Berliners have about which to be so angry, one never knows. Andy and I were armed to the gills with our camera equipment at the "fuck parade" yesterday. Now, in the U.S., particularly in a city like S.F., this would have had something to do with sex. In fact, that's what I originally thought. But quickly I noticed that, unlike S.F., there were no hairy older men sporting tons of leather. Instead, there were tons of folks wearing lots of black, dancing, and waving their arms menacingly at no one in particular. It was, apparently, a "fuck the world" party. They were apparently protesting all things to do with Berlin Mitte (one of the most affluent parts of the city), while also protesting for greater economic inclusion. For the mot part, though, the parade was fun-spirited even though the title suggested otherwise.
Andy hopes to meet some young designers to whom he can offer photographic services in order to increase his portfolio. We walked around an area called Hackerschermarkt, which is the swanky downtown (i.e., Mitte) area for shopping/living. We actually met several designers who were, in fact, interested in working with us. That was cool. Now just have to find the models and make-up folk necessary to create a shoot. We'll see how that goes.
Andy hopes to meet some young designers to whom he can offer photographic services in order to increase his portfolio. We walked around an area called Hackerschermarkt, which is the swanky downtown (i.e., Mitte) area for shopping/living. We actually met several designers who were, in fact, interested in working with us. That was cool. Now just have to find the models and make-up folk necessary to create a shoot. We'll see how that goes.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
What a trippy Friday
Ok,
So Friday began in a fairly sleepy way. Woke up. Checked my email. Sent emails out. The usual crap (viz. the "I'm trying to stay here and, therefore looking for employment opportunities but haven't found anything possible yet" routine). Later, I walked for about 6 miles; that was a lot of fun. I then spent hours in a cafe speaking to a Swiss (who, thank heavens spoke normal German as opposed to Swiss German) guy about political crap. He was funny and quite ironical. By early evening, I planned to go to one of the many cool gay nightclubs. I know they stay open late (e.g., some don't close till the afternoon) so I took a nap in order to make sure I could stay out for the appropriate hours (till approx. 6:00). I misread the magazine with the clubs, however, and ended up at the right spot, wrong night. It was a hetero night. MASSIVE BUMMER. Halfway cute guys, but everyone too str8.
Anywho, on the way out of the club, I got into a discussion with a guy I'd met inside. Somehow the issue of AVP (aliens v. predator) came up and the guy (about 25 years old or less) said that he'd never heard of it or any of the Aliens series. I was dumbfounded. So, I asked the German guy next to him and he, of course, had heard of the series. I mentioned that probably everyone in the U.S. has heard of the Alien movies. Then, the guy behind the coat return counter (asian immigrant) explains that the german guy doesn't know about the Aliens series because, "we're not in the U.S". He said this with a snotty attitude, the asian immigrant dude. Anywho, I told him that our not being in the U.S. didn't seem to have stopped his club from playing American music (ok, music, house music, that originated in the U.S.) nor did it stop their film theaters from showing almost exclusively Hollywood movies. But, hey, who's counting.
When I took my leave of these three guys (or the two, minus the nasty asian immigrant dude), they instructed me in the proper way to shake hands when saying goodbye to a "cool" german. You shake hands, and then pull the guy in with the one-armed hug thingy. These guys were completely scandalized (and a bit offended even) when I informed them that this gesture hailed from............you guessed it, the U.S. Specifically, black men have been greeting each other this way for decades. Ok, perhaps not decades, but a real long time. But the poor ill-informed German boys refused to believe that some super cool german guy didn't create this gesture. Ha Ha. They wish. Some super cool German guy saw it in one of those American films these guys apparently do not watch (because they're in Germany, where American films are not shown, and mana falls from heaven).
So, total bust on the club thing. That said, the night (or, rather, the morning) did end with me meeting a cute (though slightly girly manish, I mean like both, at the same time) Dutch guy and his not so patient friend. I guess it must suck to be stuck waiting for your friend while he talks to someone who has no interest in you (and, likely, vice versa). These two have let an apartment right across (I mean, directly across) the street. So, although we have no real means of communicating expeditiously with each other, we traded email addresses and I told them what bell to ring for our apt. We'll see if it happens (I'm not holding my breath, and told them that as well). That was Friday into Saturday morning.
Mal schauen was heute bringt!!
We'll see what today brings!!
So Friday began in a fairly sleepy way. Woke up. Checked my email. Sent emails out. The usual crap (viz. the "I'm trying to stay here and, therefore looking for employment opportunities but haven't found anything possible yet" routine). Later, I walked for about 6 miles; that was a lot of fun. I then spent hours in a cafe speaking to a Swiss (who, thank heavens spoke normal German as opposed to Swiss German) guy about political crap. He was funny and quite ironical. By early evening, I planned to go to one of the many cool gay nightclubs. I know they stay open late (e.g., some don't close till the afternoon) so I took a nap in order to make sure I could stay out for the appropriate hours (till approx. 6:00). I misread the magazine with the clubs, however, and ended up at the right spot, wrong night. It was a hetero night. MASSIVE BUMMER. Halfway cute guys, but everyone too str8.
Anywho, on the way out of the club, I got into a discussion with a guy I'd met inside. Somehow the issue of AVP (aliens v. predator) came up and the guy (about 25 years old or less) said that he'd never heard of it or any of the Aliens series. I was dumbfounded. So, I asked the German guy next to him and he, of course, had heard of the series. I mentioned that probably everyone in the U.S. has heard of the Alien movies. Then, the guy behind the coat return counter (asian immigrant) explains that the german guy doesn't know about the Aliens series because, "we're not in the U.S". He said this with a snotty attitude, the asian immigrant dude. Anywho, I told him that our not being in the U.S. didn't seem to have stopped his club from playing American music (ok, music, house music, that originated in the U.S.) nor did it stop their film theaters from showing almost exclusively Hollywood movies. But, hey, who's counting.
When I took my leave of these three guys (or the two, minus the nasty asian immigrant dude), they instructed me in the proper way to shake hands when saying goodbye to a "cool" german. You shake hands, and then pull the guy in with the one-armed hug thingy. These guys were completely scandalized (and a bit offended even) when I informed them that this gesture hailed from............you guessed it, the U.S. Specifically, black men have been greeting each other this way for decades. Ok, perhaps not decades, but a real long time. But the poor ill-informed German boys refused to believe that some super cool german guy didn't create this gesture. Ha Ha. They wish. Some super cool German guy saw it in one of those American films these guys apparently do not watch (because they're in Germany, where American films are not shown, and mana falls from heaven).
So, total bust on the club thing. That said, the night (or, rather, the morning) did end with me meeting a cute (though slightly girly manish, I mean like both, at the same time) Dutch guy and his not so patient friend. I guess it must suck to be stuck waiting for your friend while he talks to someone who has no interest in you (and, likely, vice versa). These two have let an apartment right across (I mean, directly across) the street. So, although we have no real means of communicating expeditiously with each other, we traded email addresses and I told them what bell to ring for our apt. We'll see if it happens (I'm not holding my breath, and told them that as well). That was Friday into Saturday morning.
Mal schauen was heute bringt!!
We'll see what today brings!!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Alexander Platz and Museums
Not much to report for Thur. We got sort of a late start (ok, everyday is a late start because the Berliners keeps such late hours) and didn't really move much till we went towards Museum Island in order to take advantage of some free Thu evening museum stuff. Not as many free museums as there used to be (the website I saw said six, but there were more like two); but, after the first museum, we were museumed out so, that was that.
Andy and I met a cool woman (twice) the first meeting of which led to our first traveling disagreement. Come on now. You didn't really expect that two people, who have never traveled together before, could do so without a single argument, a single disagreement. And certainly no one who knows me (or Andy, I fear) would expect this. This issue was simple. The cool woman spoke English and Andy felt that I talked over him and didn't let him get many words in edgewise. Ok, I can accept that criticism. As it happened, we saw her again several hours later on another train. This time I let Andy take more of the lead in our conversation. Though the conversation probably didn't flow as smoothly as when I'm doing the George thing (and this woman was quite similar in style to me), it was cool. What a concept! Conversations do not always need to proceed at George pace or even under my guidance. I know at least one of my readers (who will remain nameless.................................JON) who would really sympathize with Andy here. Unfortunately, Andy somewhat squandered his opportunity to ask the pretty lady to join us for dinner; but c'est la vie, no?
I do find the Germans (or, perhaps more accurately, the Berliners) to be fascinating people in distinct ways. Ok, that last sentence was filler. What does it mean anyway? Simply, that I find it curious that the same people who are so very comfortable disrobing publicly, the same people that stay up till all hours of the night (and keep their children out very, very late as well) at bars that have no legal closing time, that these same people stand at crosswalks and wait for the "walk" sign before crossing. No matter that it's 2 in the morning. No matter that there isn't a car moving. Anywhere. In all of Berlin. To be clear, I don't intend to advocate capricious lawbreaking (as opposed to well-planned law breaking I guess). Rather, I just find it odd that these people who are so liberal, so uninclined to the conventional in so many other ways, waste minutes, hours, and days of their lives waiting to cross perfectly empty streets.
Of course, one of these same people micromanaged how I held my camera in the museum. A female employee at the museum approached me to warn me that I had to carry my camera flat on my chest because it was too big. Hmmm. Too big I thought. Anywho, like my helpless little camera was going to swing wildly and knock some priceless sculpture weighing a ton off its little stand? I don't think so. But there you have it. I was told where exactly on my body to carry my camera. That's a first
That seems to be it folks. Sorry no more interesting tidbits of erudition from Thursday. Perhaps today, Friday, will bring more tantalizing morsels.
Andy and I met a cool woman (twice) the first meeting of which led to our first traveling disagreement. Come on now. You didn't really expect that two people, who have never traveled together before, could do so without a single argument, a single disagreement. And certainly no one who knows me (or Andy, I fear) would expect this. This issue was simple. The cool woman spoke English and Andy felt that I talked over him and didn't let him get many words in edgewise. Ok, I can accept that criticism. As it happened, we saw her again several hours later on another train. This time I let Andy take more of the lead in our conversation. Though the conversation probably didn't flow as smoothly as when I'm doing the George thing (and this woman was quite similar in style to me), it was cool. What a concept! Conversations do not always need to proceed at George pace or even under my guidance. I know at least one of my readers (who will remain nameless.................................JON) who would really sympathize with Andy here. Unfortunately, Andy somewhat squandered his opportunity to ask the pretty lady to join us for dinner; but c'est la vie, no?
I do find the Germans (or, perhaps more accurately, the Berliners) to be fascinating people in distinct ways. Ok, that last sentence was filler. What does it mean anyway? Simply, that I find it curious that the same people who are so very comfortable disrobing publicly, the same people that stay up till all hours of the night (and keep their children out very, very late as well) at bars that have no legal closing time, that these same people stand at crosswalks and wait for the "walk" sign before crossing. No matter that it's 2 in the morning. No matter that there isn't a car moving. Anywhere. In all of Berlin. To be clear, I don't intend to advocate capricious lawbreaking (as opposed to well-planned law breaking I guess). Rather, I just find it odd that these people who are so liberal, so uninclined to the conventional in so many other ways, waste minutes, hours, and days of their lives waiting to cross perfectly empty streets.
Of course, one of these same people micromanaged how I held my camera in the museum. A female employee at the museum approached me to warn me that I had to carry my camera flat on my chest because it was too big. Hmmm. Too big I thought. Anywho, like my helpless little camera was going to swing wildly and knock some priceless sculpture weighing a ton off its little stand? I don't think so. But there you have it. I was told where exactly on my body to carry my camera. That's a first
That seems to be it folks. Sorry no more interesting tidbits of erudition from Thursday. Perhaps today, Friday, will bring more tantalizing morsels.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Second Day in Berlin
So,
I see that I'm mostly talking to myself thus far. No worries. I know that all of my friends who love me so much and can barely handle my absence will soon be flocking to this so very exciting blog. I just know you will. Right?
Anyway, my initial thoughts on Berlin. Although it's so popular in our very jingoistic U.S. to protest the notion that we have much to learn from old Europe, that could not be further from the truth. When listening to the radical insurgents on the wrong side of the healthcare debate (and the right in general), one would think that America has nothing to learn from Old Europe. They're socialists, they pay excessive taxes, and they're lazy to boot. Without debating the merits of those ideas at this moment (other than to say I find each of them ludicrous (ok, there is some socialism)), one thing Berlin demonstrates, for sure, is how transportation in a city works best. Put simply, there are bikes everywhere.
I find it disconcerting to reconcile the ubiquitous bikers and walkers with the fact that this is one of the greatest automobile manufacturing nations in the world. Is there any doubt that Germany remains largely unrivaled in its production of highly sophisticated, performance automobiles? Ok, they wish that last little piece were correct. However, everwhere one looks, one sees endless thousands of persons on bikes and on foot. It's amazing!!! While the threat of tire tread on one's back seems imminent in so many other world capitals (Rome, Paris, New York), the worst one's likely to experience in Berlin is an irate german slamming into you after you've inadvertently walked into one of the numerous bike lanes (that seem to be part of the sidewalk). Moreover, unlike in the U.S. one sees very few (I've seen perhaps two) runners in Berlin. Given the fact that people walk and bike everywhere, running, as such, seems far less popular than in the U.S. But, I'll have to move around the city far more before I can really stand by that observation.
Unfortunately, I doubt many American cities can duplicate this feat (of having bikes replace cars for transportation), because too few of them have the necessary sidewalk real estate to effectively add bike lanes. More unfortunate still, remains the pesky little fact that Americans are far too unfit for such bike lanes either to make sense, or more likely, to even be used. That said, do not believe dear reader that one sees only fit looking Berliners racing everywhere on super high tech, extraordinarily expensive, german-engineered (though the Germans do not make the most expensive or most famous bicycles; that would be the Italians) bikes of death. In fact, the bikes are mostly large tired beaters possessing nothing in common with the sleak performance machines Germans famously put on the world's roads. Moreover, the riders vary from the fit and petite, to the elderly and slightly overweight. Slightly overweight because there are very few significantly obese people in Berlin. By way of example only, I have yet to see one person as large as my brother Wendell (sorry bro). By contrast, in Cincinnati, there are thousands of persons so big. Well, that's it for now. I have much more exploring to do. I'll write more tomorrow.
I see that I'm mostly talking to myself thus far. No worries. I know that all of my friends who love me so much and can barely handle my absence will soon be flocking to this so very exciting blog. I just know you will. Right?
Anyway, my initial thoughts on Berlin. Although it's so popular in our very jingoistic U.S. to protest the notion that we have much to learn from old Europe, that could not be further from the truth. When listening to the radical insurgents on the wrong side of the healthcare debate (and the right in general), one would think that America has nothing to learn from Old Europe. They're socialists, they pay excessive taxes, and they're lazy to boot. Without debating the merits of those ideas at this moment (other than to say I find each of them ludicrous (ok, there is some socialism)), one thing Berlin demonstrates, for sure, is how transportation in a city works best. Put simply, there are bikes everywhere.
I find it disconcerting to reconcile the ubiquitous bikers and walkers with the fact that this is one of the greatest automobile manufacturing nations in the world. Is there any doubt that Germany remains largely unrivaled in its production of highly sophisticated, performance automobiles? Ok, they wish that last little piece were correct. However, everwhere one looks, one sees endless thousands of persons on bikes and on foot. It's amazing!!! While the threat of tire tread on one's back seems imminent in so many other world capitals (Rome, Paris, New York), the worst one's likely to experience in Berlin is an irate german slamming into you after you've inadvertently walked into one of the numerous bike lanes (that seem to be part of the sidewalk). Moreover, unlike in the U.S. one sees very few (I've seen perhaps two) runners in Berlin. Given the fact that people walk and bike everywhere, running, as such, seems far less popular than in the U.S. But, I'll have to move around the city far more before I can really stand by that observation.
Unfortunately, I doubt many American cities can duplicate this feat (of having bikes replace cars for transportation), because too few of them have the necessary sidewalk real estate to effectively add bike lanes. More unfortunate still, remains the pesky little fact that Americans are far too unfit for such bike lanes either to make sense, or more likely, to even be used. That said, do not believe dear reader that one sees only fit looking Berliners racing everywhere on super high tech, extraordinarily expensive, german-engineered (though the Germans do not make the most expensive or most famous bicycles; that would be the Italians) bikes of death. In fact, the bikes are mostly large tired beaters possessing nothing in common with the sleak performance machines Germans famously put on the world's roads. Moreover, the riders vary from the fit and petite, to the elderly and slightly overweight. Slightly overweight because there are very few significantly obese people in Berlin. By way of example only, I have yet to see one person as large as my brother Wendell (sorry bro). By contrast, in Cincinnati, there are thousands of persons so big. Well, that's it for now. I have much more exploring to do. I'll write more tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
First Day in Berlin
Well, after some 10 hours flying and numerous hours in the airport, I arrived in Berlin. Andy was nice enough to have waited in the airport for a couple hours to assist me with my luggage etc. But before I move to Berlin, I should cover some of the trip across the ole pond. From Philly to Munich, I sat next to an interesting Canadian woman. During our lengthy discussion, she mentioned how shocked she was at the causticity of our national healthcare debate. And, as so many Canadians, she took great umbrage to the suggestion (generally offered by conservatives) that Canadians either receive inferior healthcare or that they're generally unhappy with their healthcare. She rejected both of these contentions. She also added the suggestion that perhaps Obama was just too smart\educated for the average American who may have voted for him. More than anything else, however, she professed a profound sense of disappointment at the nature and tenor of the healthcare debate in the U.S. I'm really tired now so that's all for now. Till tomorrow.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
How I Joined the Blogging Community
Well all. Hello.
This is my first posting on my own blog. The inspiration for this blog was partially the fact that I'm beginning an international tour on 08/18/2009. I wish to find a vehicle to share my thoughts and experiences with friends and family. I was, however, also stricken by the blogging of the title character Julie in the movie Julie & Julia. Although both the vacation and the movie were my inspirations, I intend to write about numerous subjects, as they occur to me. This blog will likely be an organic entity and I expect to cover various themes. I hope it will be interactive and I will certainly be highly interested in the interests of those persons who read this blog and share my thoughts. Well, that's it for now. Cheers to my new blogging life. I'll try to post daily but make no guarantees.
This is my first posting on my own blog. The inspiration for this blog was partially the fact that I'm beginning an international tour on 08/18/2009. I wish to find a vehicle to share my thoughts and experiences with friends and family. I was, however, also stricken by the blogging of the title character Julie in the movie Julie & Julia. Although both the vacation and the movie were my inspirations, I intend to write about numerous subjects, as they occur to me. This blog will likely be an organic entity and I expect to cover various themes. I hope it will be interactive and I will certainly be highly interested in the interests of those persons who read this blog and share my thoughts. Well, that's it for now. Cheers to my new blogging life. I'll try to post daily but make no guarantees.
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