October 2010
7 posts
3 tags
A Year Onwards
I am the passenger and I ride and I ride I ride through the city’s backsides I see the stars come out of the sky Yeah, the bright and hollow sky You know it looks so good tonight
So today I woke up nursing a hangover - not that this is unusual for a Sunday - and realised that on this date, a year ago, I arrived in Berlin. That’s all I’m able to muster really, because...
4 tags
Containing Gentrification Banksy Style
So, apparently this anti-gentrification movement called Hedonism International is sending its members to view flats in Berlin’s most sought-after areas posing as would-be tenants. Once there, they strip off and prance around with only a Mickey Mouse mask to cover their identities, and with slogans such as “too expensive” or “rip off” painted on their birthday...
3 tags
You know you’re in Prenzlauer Berg/Mitte…
When a loud bespectacled American enters the joint where you’re having lunch and asks very loudly whether they still have Pitfall, orders a Bionade (they don’t sell Club-Mate) and loudly proceeds to play it while you’re trying to eat your puerco especial. Retro games, you say? Wow! Edgy! Wasn’t wearing an Atari vintage t-shirt. Loser.
4 tags
Defending the Germans
It is no coincidence - and a testament to the political importance of history in Germany- that both former West German chancellor Helmut Kohl and former East German boss Walter Ulbricht were self-appointed historians by profession.
Time Out Berlin Guide 2009 Edition
I’ve lived in Germany for almost a year now and this is only the second post in which I use the N-word, or Nazis as they call...
2 tags
One of my favourite quotes...
“Sylvia Plath - interesting poetess whose tragic suicide was misinterpreted as romantic by the college girl mentality.” Woody Allen in Annie Hall (1977)
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Ye Olde Amsterdam: The Capital of Daltonism
Fair burghers of Berlin! Harken to this humble harbinger! When people say that Berlin reminds them of NYC during the 80s, it might not *necessarily* be meant as a compliment. Well, I got your attention now, but don’t shoot the messenger and all that jazz. Anyway, I’m back in the Prussian capital after spending a few days swishing through the Schengen area - no passports, only euros -...
3 tags
The Berlin Integration Test!
So next month I’m doing this so-called “Orientierungskurs” as part of my language course. For those not plugged into the matrix that is the Volkshochschule (like any other institution, the Volkshochschule heavily favours green for all decorative purposes), an Orientierungskurs provides students with a grounding in German history and politics. The participants do not only become “oriented” but...
