Middle of Nowhere, Berlin October 2006

Fountain, Sony Center

Olaf Martens

Olaf Martens is a photographer born in Halle, East Germany. His particular brand of portrait photography is saturated, surreal, and self-concious. Somewhere between fashion photography and the circus freak show; interesting to see online and must be arresting in real life. Now showing at fstop 5,6. via gmtPlus9 (-15)

Night Shift

Ode to Berlin

"Cut the Mullet" Wesley Willis (RIP) (mp3 2min 54sec)

PINKO!!

"Make Mine Freedom" (1948) is a cleverly worded cartoon propaganda against communism. The student animation is top-notch, and the Dali-esque Bad Guy is priceless. The poison comes in the form of ISM (read: communISM), with the capitalist ideal touted and carefully avoided being called an -ism. Now substitute The Patriot Act or Military Commissions Act for ISM and now how does that make you feel?

I'm scurred.

Indian Summer

mmmm...bubblegum

Cansei de Ser Sexy "Superafim (eu cansei)" (mp3 3min 54sec)

Berlin, October 2006

2 euros, 4 photos

Full set

ART FRANCE BERLIN

ART FRANCE BERLIN is a three-month showcase of French artists who have some connection to Berlin, spanning the last three and a half decades. Berlin has long attracted those seeking an open-minded environment in which to be creative, and the attitude of it's citizens reflects the incubative effect the city has on all things creative, be it some version of burlesque, architecture, or public expression.

Throw them glowsticks away

The awesomest thing about this video (26 min.) from 1993 about techno music in Berlin is that everyone here still dresses that way. Tresor just celebrated it's 15th year last weekend, and incubated one of the best house music creators ever, John Acquaviva, who played in Tresor from the very beginning. The video dialog is in German, but it's worth watching for the music and the clothes.

Frisky Fun

This is my favorite map ever.

Self Portrait, May 2006

The Soothing Sounds of "Sex"

Back in the early '90s, when new wave was big in the underground scene, either by those who still loved it from the first time 'round, or by people like me who had older siblings who bought Smiths records, I fell in love with the band Berlin. Listening to my favorite radio show Sunday evenings, I fantasized about Euro-trash new wave bands who wrote edgy songs like Sex (I'm A...) (4.6 Mb, 5:08 min) with that special non-native speaker twist. How disappointed I was to find out Berlin was really from California.

Berlin, October 2006

Spree Park is an abandoned tivoli in south-eastern Berlin. Shut down in 2002 but easily accessible by the public, it is a popular spot to creep yourself out at night. One more here.

Croatia, April 2006

The galleries at the Character walk were a bit dissappointing, but we happened upon two unrelated installations that turned out (especially in comparison) to be quit interesting. The first was Nurse Clara, an installation piece involving a lot of backscratching. The second was a series of 3x5 photographs by Claudia Rannow, arranged so the viewer could change the order of the prints and thereby the story. An absorbing online version exists here.

Today my Swedish friend and I are going to Ikea and to check out The 2nd Pictoplasma Conference's reportedly mediocre gallery displays. We missed out on tickets to the animation festival, but are looking forward to seeing what's displayed to form our own opinions of the work.

Wiener Prater, July 2006

Radio Free Europe

Momus, a Scottish musical anomaly sometimes and current resident of Berlin, recording this Podcast in 2005 (Quicktime, 44 min.), documenting two days wandering about the city marvelling in Momus' special way about Berlin. He's also recorded a trilogy of albums about Berlin, the last of which was released this past summer, entiltled Ocky Milk, of which a video for the song "Frilly Military" can be seen here (Quicktime, 17.5 Mb).

Dust in the Wind

Earth Observatory and BBC report on research done by the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggesting a correlation between the amount of dust in the atmosphere and the intensity of hurricanes. The dust kicked up by winds creating dust storms in the Sahara are carried by trade winds over the Atlantic Ocean in as little as 5 days. Photo courtesy of TerraDaily.

Water Works

Engineering News Record posted this slideshow of pictures of work on the 17th Street Canal and other areas in the Crescent City undergoing "levee relief". There are also interesting aerial pictures here, and here is a google earth-like image of during the deluge.

Pakistan, August 2006

Vienna, July 2006

red beans and mash

djBC from Boston makes a mashup album of New Orleans funk and Wu-Tang Clan. First rate, mates. Perfect for New Orleans homesickness plus general America homesickness. Now if I could only find someplace to buy a shotgun and kayak at 3am.

Paris, June 2006