Thoughts on middle ages, movies, music and more
Waking up in Wellington, I was surprised that the dreaded jetlag seemed to have no effect on me. I was just a groggy as I usually am after waking up slightly too early. Fortunately, there was no time for my usual slow start, as there were buses to be caught and breakfasts to be had: we were on our way to Ohakune, one of the possible HQs for the dreaded Tongariro Crossing!
Flying, if you ask me, is a weird – if not unsettling – experience. Especially when traveling long distances, I always get the feeling that my mind and/or body are telling me that I’m moving too fast for my own good, that being stuffed into a big metal tube and whisked across the planet is not the way man is supposed to travel. Usually, when I fly, the effect is too small to properly appreciate (Berlin to Amsterdam is, for example, a relatively short distance), but when I had the pleasure of journeying halfway across the globe to New Zealand, what I think iamounts to the longest possible distance on a commercial flight, this effect hit me once again, like an old friend playfully punching you in the gut (albeit slightly too hard).
You know, one of those weekends where you have big plans, but in the end you just stay at home, sleeping late and being too lazy to even consider going to one of the many parties that I could have gone to (ok, ok, concerts – I’m not the type that gets invited to many parties). The snow didn’t help much either – even going to the gym was an ordeal, and then I had a flat tire to boot!
Oh well, I finally got to play some guitar again (although the deep cut I made in my index finger is making life tremendously difficult in that regard as well), saw Crossroads (not the Britney Spears one!), The Hangover, Charlie Wilson’s War, and, at the urging of The Nostalgia Critic, The Rescuers Down Under. I also thought some very deep thoughts about my thesis, and now I know what I am supposed to do again, so I guess it wasn’t a TOTAL waste, but still … it’s one of those weekends that just leaves you feeling slightly guilty. At least I didn’t have a hangover.
Only in Berlin can you brave half an hour of snowy streets to watch one slightly underwhelming (but promising) rocksteady ska band (loved the Skatellites cover, guys!), then one AWESOME Japanese ska-punk band (Japanese ska NEVER seems to disappoint – great stage show, great energy, great metal riffs hidden under the 2tone, and of course bowler hats!!), only to move on to a bar three doors down to play foosball with a bunch of coked-out Greeks who were way too good for our humble skills, before stumbling back home at about 3am.
Man, I love this city… Read the rest of this entry »
When I was in Sweden, staying at my friend Yvo’s place, I spent one morning just nursing a hangover in the apartment while he was out making money or something. Eventually, I switched on the TV and stumbled across one of these movies that almost instantly have you stop the zapping process because it is clear that something exciting is being broadcasted. Even though I had missed the setup, which usually means I don’t want to watch the rest of the movie anymore either (too confusing, plus I had a hangover), I decided to keep on watching – and that’s how I discovered Brick, a movie you may have missed.
Here’s a review…
Listening to: Boysetsfire – Tomorrow Come Today and Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
Just so you all know: I had intended to try and get some work done this weekend, but life, as usual, interfered with a vengeance. Oh well… my only real regret is that the batteries in my camera had died so I sadly cannot present any photographic evidence of my exploits until someone else decides to share pictures or send them to me. But, I’ll always have the memories of my first ever poker victory, and a fun-filled evening of bowling with a host of people I did not, or hardly, knew. That’s about all there is to it, actually, but if you really are interested, , by all means read on and I’ll provide some details that are of no consequence whatsoever. But, there’s police involvement!
In November and December 2009, I went to Vienna (for a Hludowicus Project Meeting), and to Frankfurt (for a T&I project meeting). In between those two, I spent some time working in the ever-inspiring OEAW, where the coffee and company is good and plentiful, and strolled around beautiful Vienna in what turned out to be the last few nice days of the year (weather-wise, that is). Went to the Leopold Museum to see Munch and the Uncanny, went to the Albertina to compensate for this expressionist onslaught with some nice Impressionists impressions, went to the Wien Museum to experience the excitement of Vienna in the 20s and 30s (all great exhibitions by the way!), got lost in the labyrinth that is the Wiener Altstadt, got some trinkets at the Christkindlmarkt, went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum to gawk at Old Dutch Masters, Egyptian stuff and Charles the Bold, and felt revived by all this high art and culture.
Also, I drank quite a few beers, gluhweins, Rieslinge, and other beverages there, saw Modern Earl perform in some basement with some of my new-found friends, and had an overall good time! So thanks to everyone involved for making that happen!! (and an extra-special thank-you to Gerda for letting me stay at her apartment! You rock!)
Seeing as it has already been some time since all this went down (holidays, you know), I figured I’d just let the few pictures I took do the talking. Just a few, I’m afraid, as I actually had to work as well, but still, they seem kinda nice… Read the rest of this entry »
Of course it had to happen that the first “proper” update on this new site is, again, a bunch of limericks, but that’s how it goes…
These here were influenced, nay, inspired by the presentations held at the T&I-sessions in Frankfurt, 4-6 December 2009. I sent them around for approval before posting them here because it was quite a hard set of subjects of accurately convey in five lines, but as yet I have not gotten any complaints so I guess it is safe to post them here.
Being an unprofessional opinion on Fall Out Boy at the Columbiahalle, Berlin (21 March 2009)
I wrote this one shortly after the concert, so I guess it should be part of the Old Website Articles, but I kind of forgot about it so now it gets a place of honour here at the “top”. Incidentally, near the end I mention a Biffy Clyro concert that I refer to in an earlier post as having been mentioned in an earlier post, but it turns out that earlier post is now a later post (this one) due to my negligence… Get it?
Here are the limericks written during the RMA-study trip to the Alsace, 1-6 November 2008. Some are by me, some are by students, all are idiosyncratic and personally approved by me!