roberto ist tot

o nein! habe gerade, ach, zu mitternaechtlicher stunde die aktuelle folge der lindenstrasse per stream angeschaut.
rroberrto ist tot. auf dem op-tisch an einem leberriss verstorben.
jetzt sehr traurig.
aber bis morgen frueh ist das sicher vorbei.
gute nacht.

marx to hollywood

question of the day: how come there has never been a major film about karl marx?
and jenny von westphalen, his wife? and lenchen, his nanny/mistress? and friedrich engels, his benefactor, sponsor and co-writer?
i can see vincent d'onofrio as marx, julia roberts as jenny, guy pearce as engels.
a guaranteed blockbuster.

ddr fernsehprogramm

mit jan und tini auf reisen (da hab ich selbst mal mitgespielt!)
mach's mit mach's nach mach's besser (mit adi im gst-trainingsanzug und angeklebten haaren)
ein kessel buntes (wo weststars mit stakkato-geklatsche gefeiert wurden)
oberhofer bauernmarkt (die sonntagnachmittage hab ich gehasst)
pan tau (und arabella, und sexana, und all die anderen tschechischen maerchenfilme)
flimmerstunde (mit pittiplatsch und schnatterinchen)
der schwarze kanal (fand ich toll!)
willi schwabes rumpelkammer (fand meine omi toll: marika roekk, johannes heesters...)

mehr faellt mir nicht ein. sieht ja jetzt schon aus, als haette ich meine kindheit nur vor der glotze verbracht.

bestandsaufnahme

unglaublich.
das *neue* jahr ist schon wieder 27 tage alt, und ich habe noch keinen flug gebucht. nirgendwohin.
denn man bedenke, dass ich zu dieser zeit letztes jahr in aegypten war, und meiner neuen firma schonmal vorsorglich angekuendigt hatte, dass ich im sommer fuer einen monat weg sein wuerde.
war ich dann ja auch.
aber das war halt letztes jahr. 2007 wird wohl ein langweiliges werden.
einfach unglaublich!

gimme a v for virtual

as of today, i'm member number 2,456,679 of second life.
to those of us firmly anchored in the real world: second life is the virtual community that allows people to have a life online, complete with virtual property, business and career opportunities, and virtual money (linden) to pay for it all.
clearly, everyone has a better life in 2 dimensions, more money, better looks, a different gender (anyone who appears to be a disco girl is probably a married man and father of 3 in real life), and who knows, instant virtual fame?
my question is: now that i'm a member and i have no desire to lead a different life, what do i do with it?
will it be another pointless registration exercise a la open bc, which resulted in me being spammed to death by newsletter and business opportunity pushers?

bras and veils

had a radical thought last night.
since i am now a dedicated rather than a bad student, at soas, it was about the middle east.
veils are for the middle east what bras are in the west.
same controversy, same feminist bone of contention (just think of the bare breasts in lecture theatres and the bra-burning action in the late 60s). same edgy statements of women who wear it *because they have made a personal decision to wear it and that should be respected*.
same patronising by men and by society (veil - religion, bra - tissue strength).
and of course, while neither are a necessity, some women look better with...

london, 7:45am today

winter is here!

throwing in the towel

for the 3rd time in 3 months i'm being tasked to develop a new brand.
all for the same service! for the same launch date!
as the german saying goes: *aller guten dinge sind drei*
the first 2 attempts have all been scrapped after it turned out that legal had not done their homework properly and the brand name was already in use. unexpectedly so.
mamma mia, how embarrassing is that! for my company, but by extention also for me!
my agencies are happy of course because of all the repeat business they get. let alone the practice.
the sad thing is that i already have new ideas.
this is dangerous.
i am in the process of detachment, i need to let go.
someone else can have ideas.
i'm glad i did what i did last week.
i need to worry about my future, not the future of my ex-company.
a new start, as they say.

madeira

who reads my blog in camara de lobos? (i checked, it's on madeira)
greetings!

container

q:
if jade goody had called me a kraut, made jokes about *ze vay i speak*, reminded me of the world cup 1966 and marched in front of me with her right arm in the air, how would i have reacted?
a:
same as i react every time this happens to me after people find out i'm german. on a good day i laugh it off, on a bad day i tell them to go practise penalty shots, on a really bad day, i'd punch them in the face.

clearly, the indians have even less sense of humour than the germans!

london visit

tip of the day: when you are coming to visit me and london, and you are not keen on my nice, bright spare double bedroom, or in case i don't want you here (hardly!), stay in one of these great little guesthouses.
(it's a german link my darlings)

wallpaper

my pic of the day.
because it reminds me of the transience (big word alert!) of life,
of the hideous 70s retro wallpaper that's in fashion again,
and of my ceiling that needs new paper and paint.
tante gertrud is buried today.

options

for another place *in the system*:
get another 9 to 5
help a brazilian friend conquer the german market with his coffee beans
become the tour manager of transsibtom
or:
finally be a good student!
finish my ma on a high note... grade

too many options again? ach nee...

cha cha cha changes

do you ever have that feeling that it's time to change?
that you have outstayed your welcome, been in a place for too long?
things are starting to go wrong, and you feel that if you don't jump now, you'll be left behind.
if you do ever have that feeling, you know the only action is to get off your behind and make change happen.
and that's what i did today!
feels good.

brilon, 9. februar, 20 uhr, sparkasse:

hingehen, eintritt zahlen, bier greifen, staunen!

spring fever

seasonal confusion everywhere.
migrating birds don't migrate anymore. why fly away if you can stay in northern europe and benefit from the pleasant living conditions? parasites!
penguins have spring fever in january and start making out.
bears cannot sleep, sorry: hybernate, because it's too warm.
and the garmisch tourist office recommends relaxing hikes in the mountains. to disappointed snowboarders.

pleasant surprise

the fortune cookie i got for christmas (amongst other gifts!) foresaw in rumbling english: *pleasant surprise. you intuition wasn't deceivable.*

the cookie was right! the surprise was that my little journal seems to have more readers than i thought (i.e. more than one).

thanks for your new year wishes.

now back to the big task for this weekend: i'm writing an essay on history and ownership. my example is israel and the conflict with the palestinians over who was there first and who therefore has more rights to the land. it appears that the prize would justify rewriting history. it's more interesting a topic than you'd think when you just watch daily news. and anyway, following daily politics is the biggest time waster there is in my opinion. apart from reading blogs maybe... (only joking!)

columbo is on tv in half an hour.

to cheer yourselves up, have a look at the sky over london:

english versus deutsch

my german readers say that they don't understand english posts and my english readers refuse to learn german. leo.org (look right --->) does not help much.
well my dear friends, i guess you'll just have to leave it up to me and which mood i'm in when posting! my next post might be in spanish!

hasta pronto muchachos.

white plastic chair

happy new year.
inspired by a scene by the road that we witnessed on 1 jan, i was thinking about the world's true symbol of globalization. and of efficiency. of practicality over looks, and of very bad taste.
the white plastic chair.
no matter where you are on this planet, you will inevitably bump into one of them. maybe 2, stacked on top of each other.
why do we need it? why do we keep buying it when clearly there are alternatives? how did it come to be as common as... well, nothing else? didn't neil armstrong bring a white plastic chair along to the moon? i'm certain my friend grant has at least one on his sailing boat. though i hope not...
and - who produces them? tell me quickly if you know, because he or she must be the richest person in the universe. i want to marry them. in a white plastic dress.