Berlin Pixz

Ok so I turned my cammerfone off for the flight from Berlin to Stockholm so I couldn't get any pics while I was there.. (shitty, I know) but here are a few from Berlin- the drive there, the arrival, misc, and some pics of KaDeWe- the giant department store where we ate a f***ing amaye-zing blue-camembert cheese sandwich that still gives me a gastronomical hardon every time i think about it.

The graffiti is something that looks like a Banksy but probably isn't, and a Banana Man stencil which also may or may not be authentic- but WTF, why not? Also included are some pics I (illegally- ooh!) took at the Levis store for my friend Roy, who wanted to write an article about the 'grunge comeback'- even though I tried to argue that in most places where I come from grunge never really left.. Also shown: the Sony Center, the Czech Embassy (which Matt referred to as "Soviet architecture from the future"), the Berlin Wall (floor-plaque), a chocolate liberty bell, Roy shaving in an airport bathroom, Yael and I at the Pergamon museum on some ancient (stolen- as my ironically postcolonially-minded Israeli friends constantly pointed out) stone steps, and Roy 'hanging out' on the hostel room floor after only half a bottle of champagne... bla bla bla

Ok and there are a couple pics in there from the Konstanz Oktoberfest- in which my Danish friend Jeppe (pictured with sunglasses on head) and I snuck into the VIP section up on a balcony, stole a 3/4 full maß beer that was sitting unattended and ate pieces of ham dipped in gravy (which was all that was left of the buffet). And pic of the worst meal I ever had at the Uni Mensa.

Ok.. l8r.

Oh wait! And some pics of Yael and my friend Katya (Russian) playing with hemp that was growing in the Black Forest historical museum site place. And of my friend Jordan from Long Island. I think that's it.

Länge Zeit kein Post...

Sorry. I've been away.

So.. tonight is the weekly dance party up at uni- which I will not attend because it gets sloppy and is too shit-hop/trancy/teuer.
('Teuer' means expensive- which it isn't really, but I am living on the thin lately so it is better if I stay home and do hausaufgabe)
The idea of having a party at the uni is pretty insane though. There were three dancefloors last week all situated in the middle of the university- like right in the middle where all the different parts of the uni come together. It was kind of like one of those dreams you have, and then when you try to explain to someone where it took place you say, for example, 'well, we were at the uni, but it was like, not really the uni because it was this big rave and everyone was piss drunk and...'

When I went to school the morning afterwards I had to make sure it wasn't just a dream because it was 9.00am and there was absolutely no signs of what had taken place only hours before- except this one sticky part of the floor that I stepped in near a corner somewhere.

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In other news, I started classes this week.

I am taking two german courses, one of which I share with a couple of my heeb friends, a nice australian girl I know and an intense romanian who likes to wax philosophical with me (and what can I say, I enjoy it too!). Also, there is an older Aussie fellow who turns out to be an assistant professor at Yale with a CV as long as my arm. His list of published works would rival Anne Rice (well, probably not, but you can understand I am psyched to get this guy out to the 'stube' for some beers)

I am also taking a course about Cities, Flaneurs and 'Easy Rider(s)' which is a 'project seminar'- meaning I will have to create a social documentary as part of my grading in the course. The prof is a timid, elfish Russian who has taught in Germany and in North Carolina. There were three people in the class on monday. Today there were four. IN-TI-MATE. But the course should be pretty awesome- I will keep you posted on cool stuff we do.

The other three courses I am taking is one more german language course, which I haven't been to yet; a course called 'Hybrid Cultures: Monstrous Bodies in the Cinema' which is pretty much the most awesomest class I have ever heard of. If brock doesn't want to give me a transfer credit for it (it will be replacing, *yawn* 'Film Genre') then I will probably just blow the whole department up, or set the registrar's office on fire, or both. The course is in german and I was straining to understand snippets of what were covered in class today, but since I am so psyched to do the course I think it will keep me really engaged and I will learn german even faster.

The other cool-ish course I am taking is called Cultures of Copy- also auf deutsch- and its basically covering just what it says: the apposition of the ideas of 'original' and 'copy', problems with authorship, appropriation, remix culture, etc. etc. I actually was able to understand a lot of the discussion in class- it's like you pick up a word here and there, make some sort of link between them and then just guess outright at the most likely thing that they are talking about:

"Bla bla bla bla bla bla 'Autor'... bla bla bla 'Kopie' bla bla bla 'unterschied' (which means difference) bla bla 'original'... bla bla bla bla bla 'gutenberg'... bla bla bla bla bla 'palimsest'..." etc. etc.

Pretty straightforward. I think. I hope.

In other news, you might have noticed I posted up a mix and a new facebook group for a podcast I hope to be able to put out periodically. Grabbing tons of new tunes has always been a kind of therapy for me, especially now that I am far from home and all my old beloved friends, so this is kind of a way to keep in touch with people (outside of these exasperating blog posts) and have a kind of personal connection that is not skyping or taking erotic pictures of myself.

In case you missed it, the link is here, and this will be the same link for all successive podcasts I do in the (near) future.

Next post I'll put up a bunch of pics from Berlin (but not Stockholm- will explain)...

What the fuck is going to happen to all of us??

Yeah, so I just heard about the whole financial bailout being voted down (god bless america), and the subsequent stock market crash (which is not good for this temporary ease in the $ to € exchange rate). So if any of you read my note on facebook about the alien invasion, it must have been a kind of premonition or something. I'm just glad I have you, dear internet to keep me company in these dark times ahead.

But I'm not really down about the economy- I've been bracing myself for a diet of flavourless noodles and müslix for almost two weeks now.. I'm easing into it you might say. I'm just bored- or at least afraid of an impending boredom that may or may not arrive. The charm of the whole exchange experience is beginning to wear thin- and the BFFs bullshit that is mistaken for the almost-acquaintedness of all of us involved- though endearing and sometimes comforting- is not much of a crutch if you don't have good friends to talk to. I guess I am somewhat lucky to have some close friends, but I suppose I am also saying that I have started to really miss my friends (and select members of my family) and when I might have said that I'd never get homesick here, I was just being naïve.

Booooorrrringggg!!

Entshuldigen. I've been having Schlafstundes lately during the day and its fucking up my sleeping- so here I am late at night with nothing better to do than make frivolous blog posts. I don't even really have any good internet fodder to offer cz all I ever do is read the online version of the NYtimes and listen to CSPAN on iTunes. I don't know... I have this urge to take a long hot bath (no can do) or watch movies all day in bed (no tv, no vcr, no university library card to take out movies) or make mixed drinks with robutussin and hang out on the balcony in the sun listening to Kaki King.

Oh yeah, that's what I was going to post about: I'm not sure whether or not this is like, a guilty pleasure or not (what is there that I can't find some reason to feel guilty about?) but I think I like Kaki King. It may be her handsome, boyish features or that slow, jammy noodling that reminds me of a time when I had easier access to drugs, but I think I could watch her hang out in a basement with a drum kit, a guitar (or lapsteel) and a bank of pedals just making music all day long. The problem is that I imagine meeting a really annoying hippy chick who I have nothing in common with and am hating talking to, but for some reason or another we get on the topic of Kaki King and I just can't bring myself to lie and say I don't like her music. And then I'm stuck there with this stupid chick having to listen to her inane blathering about why we both like Kaki King. Bitch, just shutup! I don't want to come over and watch lofi acoustic versions on youtube, I didn't even want to admit liking her to someone I hardly know so just go away already and stop ruining it for me! Thanks to you I probably won't even like her by the time I write my next post! Fuckk.

brand consciousness

I keep taking pics of german brands I think are funny at the time- like Ice-T (iced tea) or 'dick n' durstig' paper towels..














but then I remember that this is just a kind of mild culture shock and things back home are also totally whack:










why do all those homophobe juggalos drink that shit anyways? How does that even make sense?

ich bin krank

yeah, so I got sick with a bitty little cold virus, and I've been catching up on the campaign, putting off registering to vote in my home country and finding out my birth name if I were Sarah Palin's child. ('Knife Pile')

I am also sick of feeling pressured to write all about Germany. Not that I blame you, dear reader, but sometimes blogging can challenge the most interesting of experiences with finding something worthwhile to share.

So fuck it... for awhile. I'm gonna stay in bed and have an internet smorgasbord:

Ok impossible conundrum #1:

Which would you rather be stuck in the middle of- an actual hippy party (like some kind of festival or organic pot-luck), or a "Hippy Party" (like, 'dress-up-like-a-hippy-themed')? Impossible to answer.














Top image search results for 'worst party ever':






StadtKind - killer deffos [zshare]

Walter Meego - Forever (Van She remix) [discodust]

few more pics...

some of these are a little older but worthwhile, and only three of them are in a particular order (can you guess?)

Fishwich mania

This is not my official food post, but I wanted to post this pic of the fishwich place we keep eating at because we are addicted to it:

It's called 'Nordsee' and you can get amazing fish baguettes, smoked salmon wraps and herring sandwiches for pretty cheap- especially for being in the Altstadt (old city- the touristy area near all the boutiques and sights). Yeah so, for all you fashion freaks I am like a ten minute walk from countless boutiques like Lacoste, DnG, and places that showcase Gucci and Armani and what-have-you. Not that its really my thing, but it's neat to pass by all these windows in the morning if I go to catch the bus up at the Bahnhof.

Also, we've been eating a shitload of really good donär, which is a little pricey near the Altstadt, but outside town you can get a real good one in fresh-baked focaccia for 3€. Usually I'm too famished to remember, but I will take pictures of the next one.

Yesterday we bought a bottle of 2.49€ champagne and some bottles of orange juice and drank mimosas on the curb outside the mall. I'm not sure what you call the median between trashy and decadent, but Roy said he felt like we were royalty in exile. He also almost broke through the windows of the H&M when the plastic cork went off like a cannon right out front of the mall entrance.

It was cool and rainy today, but we still needed to get out so we went and hung out in Altstadt. People are so fucking rude sometimes, they will be walking along, totally not looking where they are going, and then they get close to you and say 'entschuldigen' like somehow you were supposed to get out of their way. So today we started being real cocky (after some street-jäger) and saying 'entschuldigen' to all sorts of dazed out old german tourist people as we passed. Sometimes you have to make your own fun. Also- Camel 'Essential Flavor' cigarettes- amaye-zing. Finally I found a pack of smokes that lives up to my fantasies of what I wanted european cigarettes to be. Soooo good. But will have to rotate between them and maybe Davidoffs cz they are 20 cents more. 

Ok so, here are some random pics also- Roy and Yael not taking pictures of the historic monuments, cool font from fashion store, "Free Willy jeanswear", my friend Tal and american friend Jordan from Long Island after drinking at the beach bar on the banks of the Rhine near my building (Tal cut off all his hair and is going for the 'Jewish Skinhead' look), Eis (creme), and some dude from a zombie biker gang.