Mittwoch, April 27, 2005
Dienstag, April 26, 2005
German Pop Clash
Heldenzeit
Montag, April 25, 2005
Urban developement
So when you're on the way towards the Finish you can see the old water tower "Wasserturm" in the middle of the Schanzenpark, which is now renovated by an investor. The whole story about it is varying between criminal, hilarious and pulp fiction. Much of it was scandalized where I don't really see the point (can the city pay for a building which is not of any use anymore, but which is hell of expensive only for being repaired? I think no) other points weren't scandalized (how the f**k can you sell a building for 1 German Mark and then nothing's happening, and there were no guarantees in the contract that the city would get it back after some time. Hello?! Who did this shabby contract?. At the same time the areal of the fair is spreading right now, with lots of new buildings. But to keep it short, I took some pictures:
Sonntag, April 24, 2005
Hamburg under siege
By the way, the 20.000 or more marathon runners weren't the only ones to crowd the streets this weekend, especially in St. Pauli you could face an uncommon amount of denim demons - I don't know how many people attended the "2. WeltTurbojugendTage" but the impact was - well, blue. Sailor men all over.
Freitag, April 22, 2005
In da neighbourhood
Picture, picture, picture
Donnerstag, April 21, 2005
Bike in Bed
Mittwoch, April 20, 2005
Habemus papam - look, he's German ;-)
In fact I am pretty content with their choice even though I didn't think of this option any more during the last days - wasn't it way too obvious??? At least I won against my flat mate, who was favouring "a conservative Italian, for sure" whether I was replying "whether Ratzinger or any one from South America or Africa". But the funniest things are the relations - I've heard rumours that the infamous head of the EBM band :Wumpscut, Rudi Ratzinger, is the nephew of this new pope. And man, that is outstandingly ironic.
The former professor of catholic theology and enfant terrible, Uta Ranke-Heinemann, was already interviewed about her former fellow student in an interview linked here some days ago. The phrase about him states:
"Ratzinger is still a riddle to me. He is of high intelligence and was a star among us students back then. We translated latin phrases together. But he always had this strange aura of a cardinal: of high intelligence but with complete absent of any erotic. By the way, it was not him who removed me from university. That's beyond his style and intelligence. I was blocked by the primitive theological means of the local German bishops."
Sonntag, April 17, 2005
Do people speak Flemish in Belgium?
I always like to read a bit more in-depth when I'm home from travel...
Samstag, April 16, 2005
WannaHave
When I'm done with them there'll be no money left, I'm afraid. But... but... butt... I'll desperately need a new office chair. On most of them I can't sit for longer than 30 minutes. So this is my new object of preference: a stool that swings!
Shopping is Hell
Of course the bigger sizes were all but gone when I arrived, so I ended up at the Reeperbahn in the end. But Boutique Bizarre had no good selection of Mode Wichtig items this time. Doesn't matter, Hundertmark is just opposite across the Spielbudenplatz.
To keep it short: The jeans didn't fit. At least no pair I tried on. Unfortunately the new "Kapanen/Stalker" shop with always wanna-have items from Finland and a hot coffee to lift me up was closed as well. But... finally I got a Nokia DKU cable at the Aladin store and heureka! found a nice pair of trousers at the Darkside boutique. Let's see, what my fashion experts say to this hip-bliss of the Aderlass-label...
Ah, yes. Fortunately it was not all vain to run around in the "office desert" of Hamburg: The I-Punkt Skateland has changed the opening hours for old farts like me to wednesday evening. Next training ahead ;-)
Freitag, April 15, 2005
Friday evening sports
I totally missed out the match between FC St. Pauli vs. VfB Lübeck. It was pretty motivating hearing all the yelling and screaming and the "St. Pauli" chants - even in this distance of nearly one kilometer. But unfortunately I could hear them yelling at the referee in the moment of the penalty decision as well... Shit, I would have loved to be in the stadium as well and support the team.
Experimental Jazz and happy Grindcore
Donnerstag, April 14, 2005
Metal up your ass
Montag, April 11, 2005
HeShe Superhero
Labels: MeMe
Paris-Roubaix 2005
I only watch bicycle races once a year. Call it Tour de France. Last year the whole course matched perfectly with my learning schedule, so that I was training vocabulary while the boys where going up and down L'Alpe d'Huez.
But this year already started with the Ronde van Vlanderen - which Tom Boonen won. And yesterday he won the "Hell of the North" as well, the race Paris-Roubaix. The finish was impressing - hey, the others looked like sprinters as well, but only Tom seemed to have some extra power in his legs. I'm starting to become a fan...
Labels: Games+Sports
Sonntag, April 10, 2005
Swimming in Hamburg
But it was a more than bad idea to go into this water temple on a sunday evening. Let's say, a 90 percent of the visitors were couples, the music and the light show was romantic through and through - a good place to get the depression of your life if your alone even only for those few hours..
Labels: Games+Sports, Hamburg
french military victories
Labels: History
Samstag, April 09, 2005
more about the pope - mostly German
Some of the best things I read about during the last days:
Freitag, April 08, 2005
Holidays in Belgium Pt. II - Brugge
The old city of Brugge is a tourist trap to the core, with some thousand Americans and Japanese stuck in the main Shopping Lane. But, this "hartelijk bedankt" goes out to Ed, who was leading us contrary to the touristical paths - but without missing out one of the beautiful landmarks and attractions. We walked by...
- Sint-Salvatorskathedraal (St. Saviour's Cathedral), Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church Of Our Lady)
- got a glimpse of the Steenstraat without the troubles of being stuck in a big group
- passed by the Markt, jostled into one of the tiniest alleys I've ever seen - seems like Harry Potter could have been shot right here
- passed the Burg and the town hall
- and the Heilig-Bloedbasiliek (Basilica of the Holy Blood
- stepped into the 21st century again - em, into the new building of Toyo Ito
- crossed the Vismarkt
- passed by the Groeningemuseum
- and enjoyed the most beautiful silence on the old Begijnhof(Beguinage)
But the final was more than a crowning for the whole stay - we had dinner at the Brasserie Cafedraal. Already in the afternoon we had a short stop for a coffee. I was very impressed with their collection of fine and old Rothschildt wines, impressed with the light show in the bathroom. The bar is well-decorated as well, fresh ham is hanging from the ceiling.
But the food is even better - I had fresh, handmade french fries (or Belgian fries ;-) and delicios Tomate crevette. Yummi! I heard, the crime scene of a popular murder novel is placed in the restaurant, but I didn't figure out the name of it.
Donnerstag, April 07, 2005
Gran Turismo or: vakantiereis in Vlaanderen
And of course I spent some money in the local record store...
The sunday started with a seemingly major event in the region - the Ronde van Vlaanderen. I saw many famous racing cyclists - but I recognized only a few, among them Jaan Kirsipuu - and Erik Zabel, who later scored no. 4.
Well, so much about Kortrijk - next time I'm gonna take a closer look at the River "Leie" or "Lys" as it is called in France - or "The Golden River" as it was called during the high times of the linen industries. And the Linen Museum.
Also I'm gonna search for the traces of Breydel und Coninck next time I'm gonna visit Kortijk. Both were leading the Flemish in the Battle of the Golden Spurs or "Guldensporenslag" which the Flemish won against France. The "Guldensporenslag" was the prelimenary for the 100 Years War, but we don't wanna talk about it now, well?!
Labels: Games+Sports, History, TravelGuide
I liked the Pope 'cause the Pope smoked Dope
I wonder how many people might have made an April Fool about it? No one will ever know... Ah, yes - and I liked the pope. Maybe because I'm NOT catholic. So I liked his approach towards other religion and other denominations. Even though I would have immediately have left the church if he would have made a success in reuniting any of the denominations. But he never wanted it as well, so...
I liked his peace policy as much as I dislike his approach to regain controll about the private lifes of the christian, his anachronistic sex morals and maybe some of the dogmas.
But: I think he showed a lot of style the way he died - defeating the US american trend of keeping sb. alive as long as doctors and medicine can. Ironically the same week as Mrs. Schiavo. I think he showed a lot of dignity by waving the world farewell as he did.
Belgium has 2 Many DJs
They played an 80th/90th set during my stay here in Kortrijk, and it was at least cool! Pics like "Thriller" (Michael Jackson) had a kind of "Do you remember?"- effect. Nice. And I was on the verge of dancing. ;-)
And went in a night shop on our way back. Of course owned by a turkish man. Iyi geceler, dostam. Hos bulduk!