[General] Good Old Germany
Dec. 15th, 2005 10:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trooper6So here I am in Germany.
How do I know I'm in Germany? Besides the wicked jet lag, I mean? Well, in Germany there are Bakeries on practically every corner. Germany is a place where people go to the corner bakery all the time...sometimes to get a donut...but more likely to pick up some sort of breakfast or lunch. German or French breakfasts abound. German breakfast is generally some sort of baguette or bread roll with something on it...butter, cheese, ham. This morning I had a baguette with cheese, egg, lettuce, tomato and cucumber...and butter. Yesterday I had French breakfast--Croissant with jam. I've also been starting my day off with Hot Lemon Juice. Yum. I have really missed the little Cafés and and Bakeries every where. And yeah, LA has more donut shops that anyone can imagine, but donut shops don't carry freshly baked bread. Perhaps I should institute German style breakfast into my LA life.
Observation about Berlin: Berlin is a city with lots of grafitti and no litter. Also there are a lot more police hanging out compared to Augsburg.
So, I'm subletting the British guy's apartment. He is basically living with his girlfriend leaving his apartment really empty. So I've got the place all to myself. It's right in the middle of East Berlin...within walking distance to all the places I need to be (oh, everyone walks all the time in Berlin). It has a great shower. It also has a futon. Ugh. I'm not a fan of futons. They are so hard. I always wake up every few hours when one of my body parts is numb from having been cut off from the circulatory system from the rest of my body. When I was totally wrecked by jet lag, I slept curled up on a chair in the apartment, and that was way more comfortable! But hey...it is still a great place. The British guy is a Political Science PhD student. He works on the organizational structure of militia groups in the Middle East. Interesting! He's very cool.
Research. I've been hanging out in the Akademie der Künst. I think I'm almost done with that location. I've been looking at their Hollaender archive...and I can only hope they will let me photocopy everything I want to photocopy. If they do it will cost me a lot of money, but I'll have lots of good stuff...sadly there is not enough script information, which makes an overview of what these shows look like very vague. (Though it looks like we'll need dancers--too bad Jez lives in Oakland...she's my only modern dancer that I know...what I minute...do I know another LA modern dancer familiar with early modern dance? Hm....But since it is small cabaret and not the big Variety, we won't need acrobats or animal acts!). It is also not certain I can get the photocopies...and trying to transcribe the over 125 pages of Hollaender's hand written sheet music for Höchste Eisenbahn will be really annoying...and eat up a whole bunch of time I don't have. I hope I get word about what they'll let me copy soon.
On the Comedian Harmonists front, I visited the Berlin Staatsbibliothek (State Library). They are totally friendly...I think I'll get access to the Comedian Harmonists Archive starting tomorrow. I'll have to wait until Monday to speak to the director of the Music Division to find out if I'll be able to make copies of things in that archive. I'm very concerned that both archives won't let me make copies which will really limit the amount of stuff I can madly transcribe onto my computer...Sibelius won't nearly be much fun without a mouse. It turns out that the Staabi has a more complete version of Hollaender's sheet music to Spuk in der Villa Stern than the Akademie der Kunst...I wonder if they will let me make copies? All of these Archives are friendly and nice...but a little hesitant about giving out copies. The entire Comedian Harmonist Archive is on CD-ROM...how easy would it be for them to let me make copies...I hope they let me...please! (Putting the good vibes out in the Universe)
I'd really like to make it to this West Berlin library site where they keep the archive of old Newspapers and Magazines...cuz unlike the fab NYT and LA Times and London Times....none of these old German newspapers are online...what's up with that? So I'd have to go there in person and look through the index books...I also want to look at the Film and Music archives. Sigh. What this makes me think is that I can't stay down in Augsburg for a whole week...I think I have to come back to Berlin so I can get as much work done as possible--it turns out the Staabi will be open between Christmas and New Years.
I think I need to come back to Germany to do more research...but when? With what money? It would be cool to go during the summer...or for a month at a time during the next school year...but I need extra money...so I don't have to give up my sweet apartment. Well...one thing at a time.
Hm.
I've missed Germany. I have to make sure I get to the Christmas market...there is some hot spiced wine, roasted almonds and sausages with my name on them! You know, I've hated celebrating holidays in LA...but being in Germany with its Christmas markets has put me right back in the mood. It might just be the hot wine and hot rum punch. mmmm....hot rum punch....where is the closest Christmas market again? I wonder if I should find a nightclub and go out this weekend? Bah...I don't have any appropriate going out clothes and German clubs do generally have dress codes. It is nice to be back in a land of really nicely dressed men...though people do tend to dress well in LA...but I always feel a bit overdressed when wearing slacks back in the states. I love that German men are bold in their suit/shirt/vest/tie color/patter choices...I wonder if should buy some clothes while I'm here? I wonder if I have the money! Just found the big music/book store and bought three CD's. I'll have to go back and get more 20s-40s German music...also some 80s German New Wave...plus I have to pick up some of the current hits. Sigh....this will be an expensive trip I think.
You know I like cold weather. It is nice to wander the streets in a warm wool jacket, with the cold air stinging your cheeks. Hm. You are all toasty in the jacket. Sigh. Reminds me of many early mornings in the Army when we are all off to go running and there is still frozen dew on the ground and it crunches underfoot. I'm not a big fan of snow...but I like cold weather. Maybe I should look into trying to get a job in the Pacific Northwest. I think I look good in sweaters and wool coats.
Hey! I spent the airplane ride and the last two days ripping through I book...for fun reading. It is called Black Dahlia Avenger. It is a little over 500pgs and I just flew through them. How come I can never read academic writing that quickly? Hm? Anyway, the book is by an ex-homicide detective/private eye who investigated the 1947 murder of Elizabeth "Black Dahlia" Short. Anyway, the whole point of the book is that he lays out a case for his father being the killer...and a creepy serial killer as well. Totally interesting to me. And creepy. I sort of feel bad for the guy. I think he's solved the case. I think his father was a creepy serial killer. The book involves 1940's LAPD corruption, abortion rings, John Huston, Man Ray, the underworld, Sado Masochism, and a lot of killing of women...and a lot of evidence pointing to this guy's father as the killer. True Crime. What did I learn from this book? Don't use exclamation points when doing a "serious" book. It looks weird...even if you are just discovering that your father is a sadistic mass murderer.
I'm at an Internet Cafe right now...Hm...hot chocolate. I will probably be back here again soon. I haven't had any chance to go sightseeing...maybe Sunday. I haven't had a chance to use my new digital camera yet...don't think I'll be able to use it in the archives...they don't let you bring anything into the reading rooms...it is pretty intense!
Let's talk about my hair. My last haircut was not a fade. It was very short on the sides and back and left pretty long on the top (for me at least). I liked the cut...didn't have the chance to get it cut before I left the country. I knew this would be an issue, so I picked up a tin of some heavy duty pomade. So what have I got going on right now? My hair is beginning to work an Elvis...well no where near, but it is beginning to shape. Also my hair hasn't gotten so long in the back that I'm being driven insane. Which means I am contemplating processing my hair, getting a light trim and letting my hair grow back into a pompadour. When I first got here, my hair was long and I working towards pomp...but then I cut it off. See, I tend to go into these cycles where I grow my hair out in the search for my inner Elvis...then I get annoyed by the high maintenance of that hair and cut it all off...then I keep my hair short for some years...maybe it is time for me to get my rockabilly back on. Hm...let's see. I'm not going to cut my hair here in Germany, and when I get back I'll go put some texturizer in it and see how I feel. The pomade I'm using is doing some nice things to it--though such product and carefully sculpted hair rules out anyone running their fingers through it...not that I have lines of people wanting to do so at the moment anyway.
Okay, this post is way too long.
Oh, the Cthulhu Christmas in San Diego was awesome!
How do I know I'm in Germany? Besides the wicked jet lag, I mean? Well, in Germany there are Bakeries on practically every corner. Germany is a place where people go to the corner bakery all the time...sometimes to get a donut...but more likely to pick up some sort of breakfast or lunch. German or French breakfasts abound. German breakfast is generally some sort of baguette or bread roll with something on it...butter, cheese, ham. This morning I had a baguette with cheese, egg, lettuce, tomato and cucumber...and butter. Yesterday I had French breakfast--Croissant with jam. I've also been starting my day off with Hot Lemon Juice. Yum. I have really missed the little Cafés and and Bakeries every where. And yeah, LA has more donut shops that anyone can imagine, but donut shops don't carry freshly baked bread. Perhaps I should institute German style breakfast into my LA life.
Observation about Berlin: Berlin is a city with lots of grafitti and no litter. Also there are a lot more police hanging out compared to Augsburg.
So, I'm subletting the British guy's apartment. He is basically living with his girlfriend leaving his apartment really empty. So I've got the place all to myself. It's right in the middle of East Berlin...within walking distance to all the places I need to be (oh, everyone walks all the time in Berlin). It has a great shower. It also has a futon. Ugh. I'm not a fan of futons. They are so hard. I always wake up every few hours when one of my body parts is numb from having been cut off from the circulatory system from the rest of my body. When I was totally wrecked by jet lag, I slept curled up on a chair in the apartment, and that was way more comfortable! But hey...it is still a great place. The British guy is a Political Science PhD student. He works on the organizational structure of militia groups in the Middle East. Interesting! He's very cool.
Research. I've been hanging out in the Akademie der Künst. I think I'm almost done with that location. I've been looking at their Hollaender archive...and I can only hope they will let me photocopy everything I want to photocopy. If they do it will cost me a lot of money, but I'll have lots of good stuff...sadly there is not enough script information, which makes an overview of what these shows look like very vague. (Though it looks like we'll need dancers--too bad Jez lives in Oakland...she's my only modern dancer that I know...what I minute...do I know another LA modern dancer familiar with early modern dance? Hm....But since it is small cabaret and not the big Variety, we won't need acrobats or animal acts!). It is also not certain I can get the photocopies...and trying to transcribe the over 125 pages of Hollaender's hand written sheet music for Höchste Eisenbahn will be really annoying...and eat up a whole bunch of time I don't have. I hope I get word about what they'll let me copy soon.
On the Comedian Harmonists front, I visited the Berlin Staatsbibliothek (State Library). They are totally friendly...I think I'll get access to the Comedian Harmonists Archive starting tomorrow. I'll have to wait until Monday to speak to the director of the Music Division to find out if I'll be able to make copies of things in that archive. I'm very concerned that both archives won't let me make copies which will really limit the amount of stuff I can madly transcribe onto my computer...Sibelius won't nearly be much fun without a mouse. It turns out that the Staabi has a more complete version of Hollaender's sheet music to Spuk in der Villa Stern than the Akademie der Kunst...I wonder if they will let me make copies? All of these Archives are friendly and nice...but a little hesitant about giving out copies. The entire Comedian Harmonist Archive is on CD-ROM...how easy would it be for them to let me make copies...I hope they let me...please! (Putting the good vibes out in the Universe)
I'd really like to make it to this West Berlin library site where they keep the archive of old Newspapers and Magazines...cuz unlike the fab NYT and LA Times and London Times....none of these old German newspapers are online...what's up with that? So I'd have to go there in person and look through the index books...I also want to look at the Film and Music archives. Sigh. What this makes me think is that I can't stay down in Augsburg for a whole week...I think I have to come back to Berlin so I can get as much work done as possible--it turns out the Staabi will be open between Christmas and New Years.
I think I need to come back to Germany to do more research...but when? With what money? It would be cool to go during the summer...or for a month at a time during the next school year...but I need extra money...so I don't have to give up my sweet apartment. Well...one thing at a time.
Hm.
I've missed Germany. I have to make sure I get to the Christmas market...there is some hot spiced wine, roasted almonds and sausages with my name on them! You know, I've hated celebrating holidays in LA...but being in Germany with its Christmas markets has put me right back in the mood. It might just be the hot wine and hot rum punch. mmmm....hot rum punch....where is the closest Christmas market again? I wonder if I should find a nightclub and go out this weekend? Bah...I don't have any appropriate going out clothes and German clubs do generally have dress codes. It is nice to be back in a land of really nicely dressed men...though people do tend to dress well in LA...but I always feel a bit overdressed when wearing slacks back in the states. I love that German men are bold in their suit/shirt/vest/tie color/patter choices...I wonder if should buy some clothes while I'm here? I wonder if I have the money! Just found the big music/book store and bought three CD's. I'll have to go back and get more 20s-40s German music...also some 80s German New Wave...plus I have to pick up some of the current hits. Sigh....this will be an expensive trip I think.
You know I like cold weather. It is nice to wander the streets in a warm wool jacket, with the cold air stinging your cheeks. Hm. You are all toasty in the jacket. Sigh. Reminds me of many early mornings in the Army when we are all off to go running and there is still frozen dew on the ground and it crunches underfoot. I'm not a big fan of snow...but I like cold weather. Maybe I should look into trying to get a job in the Pacific Northwest. I think I look good in sweaters and wool coats.
Hey! I spent the airplane ride and the last two days ripping through I book...for fun reading. It is called Black Dahlia Avenger. It is a little over 500pgs and I just flew through them. How come I can never read academic writing that quickly? Hm? Anyway, the book is by an ex-homicide detective/private eye who investigated the 1947 murder of Elizabeth "Black Dahlia" Short. Anyway, the whole point of the book is that he lays out a case for his father being the killer...and a creepy serial killer as well. Totally interesting to me. And creepy. I sort of feel bad for the guy. I think he's solved the case. I think his father was a creepy serial killer. The book involves 1940's LAPD corruption, abortion rings, John Huston, Man Ray, the underworld, Sado Masochism, and a lot of killing of women...and a lot of evidence pointing to this guy's father as the killer. True Crime. What did I learn from this book? Don't use exclamation points when doing a "serious" book. It looks weird...even if you are just discovering that your father is a sadistic mass murderer.
I'm at an Internet Cafe right now...Hm...hot chocolate. I will probably be back here again soon. I haven't had any chance to go sightseeing...maybe Sunday. I haven't had a chance to use my new digital camera yet...don't think I'll be able to use it in the archives...they don't let you bring anything into the reading rooms...it is pretty intense!
Let's talk about my hair. My last haircut was not a fade. It was very short on the sides and back and left pretty long on the top (for me at least). I liked the cut...didn't have the chance to get it cut before I left the country. I knew this would be an issue, so I picked up a tin of some heavy duty pomade. So what have I got going on right now? My hair is beginning to work an Elvis...well no where near, but it is beginning to shape. Also my hair hasn't gotten so long in the back that I'm being driven insane. Which means I am contemplating processing my hair, getting a light trim and letting my hair grow back into a pompadour. When I first got here, my hair was long and I working towards pomp...but then I cut it off. See, I tend to go into these cycles where I grow my hair out in the search for my inner Elvis...then I get annoyed by the high maintenance of that hair and cut it all off...then I keep my hair short for some years...maybe it is time for me to get my rockabilly back on. Hm...let's see. I'm not going to cut my hair here in Germany, and when I get back I'll go put some texturizer in it and see how I feel. The pomade I'm using is doing some nice things to it--though such product and carefully sculpted hair rules out anyone running their fingers through it...not that I have lines of people wanting to do so at the moment anyway.
Okay, this post is way too long.
Oh, the Cthulhu Christmas in San Diego was awesome!
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-15 09:29 pm (UTC)I weep! There is much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair!
no subject
Date: 2005-12-15 09:55 pm (UTC)I'll be back around the 5th of Jan!
no subject
Date: 2005-12-16 05:45 pm (UTC)Check in with me when you get back. I still owe you a drink.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-17 05:53 pm (UTC)I'm thinking of the movie 9 to 5. After Dolly, Jane Fonda, and Lilly Tomlin have incarcerated Dabney Colman and they have to keep up the charade that the boss is still in the office. And Roz is always trying to get ahold of him and our trio keep staging near misses. I especially remember that one scene where they pretend like the boss just stepped on the elevator.
I feel like Dabney Coleman. Bondage gear optional.
Any more word on your creepy peeping Tom?
no subject
Date: 2005-12-15 11:16 pm (UTC)Sounds like you're having a great time! Take some pics, will ya?
Travel and well dressed men
Date: 2005-12-16 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-16 07:09 am (UTC)You sound like you're having so much fun, and like you're getting so much done; it sounds fantastic. Do chestnuts travel? Can you bring some home to LA? Keep posting--it's great to read about what you're doing.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-22 06:10 pm (UTC)The alternate German word for chestnut is Kastanien...but they always call them Marone when in the context of being roasted at an outdoor Christmas market.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-20 04:43 pm (UTC)So, I'm subletting the British guy's apartment. He is basically living with his girlfriend leaving his apartment really empty. So I've got the place all to myself. It's right in the middle of East Berlin...
I was taking a course on East German literature just as German reunification was going on. (Boy, do I feel old now.) I'd love to see whatever pictures you manage to take while you're there.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-22 06:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-12-23 12:46 am (UTC)Enjoyed your post about your boots - I never realized how much ritual was involved in the process of making them shine.
no subject
Date: 2005-12-23 07:37 am (UTC)· The New Sufferings of Young W - Ulrich Plenzdorf
· The Panther Woman - Sarah Kirsch
· Cassandra - Christa Wolf
· The Quest for Christa T. - Christa Wolf
· The Wall Jumper - Peter Schneider
· The Distant Lover - Christoph Hein
· A Moment of True Feeling - Peter Handke
· The Left-Handed Woman - Peter Handke
Unfortunately, my copies are all english translations, but you're welcome to borrow any you might be interested in.