Hab' 'nen Luftballon gefunden

5/21/2008 2:44:00 PM

This is what I'll remember from 2008, if nothing else:

A hot May morning at a Berlin hotel. I turn on the telly and out comes "Mercy" by Duffy (must be one of the greatest music videos ever made). I pull the curtain and see the huge Die Welt hot-air balloon floating up and down in front of my window.

One of those moments when everything seems to make sense.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcRvzYI6h-4

Dear Shania Twain

5/16/2008 9:17:00 AM

I was sorry to learn about your divorce.

I was just wondering if you'd be interested in a second-hand goth musician who can play "Still the One". No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol. Well, the occasional glass of wine maybe if you insist. Switzerland is not a problem.

Emmenez-moi

5/7/2008 3:06:00 PM

Brussels-Marseille in less than five hours and no changes. My prayers have been heard. Adieu, Paris-Orly. I will never see you again.

Why did this take so long?

http://www.raileurope.com/

It's only rock'n'roll and I hate it

4/29/2008 7:06:00 AM

The '90s reversed the development of live music and to some extent the damage was irreparable. The idea was that all you needed for a live show was a couple of Marshall stacks, a pair of jeans and a checkered shirt. I simply cannot understand people who pay 20 quid for a Pearl Jam DVD.

Here are my favourite antidotes to this disease:

12 Years of Tears, Marc Almond

The Royal Albert Hall, a lot of costume changes, dancers, and a grand piano. So Pearly don't you shed more tears.

Cubism, Pet Shop Boys

Auditorio Nacional, Mexico City. Grand but entertaining.

Kraftwerk

Their website is an inexhaustible source of joy.

But does it work in theory?

4/22/2008 10:56:00 AM

Intellectual laziness is infectious. Most editors-in-chief, for example, love to recycle soundbites that correspond with their predetermined worldview and the prejudices of their readers.

That's why things like the "clash of civilizations" stay in the press regardless of what's really going on.

Thank God for people like Nicholas Kristof who actually know what they're talking about.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Kristof

Flight to nowhere

4/15/2008 3:37:00 PM

Beautiful and functional airports are a dying breed. I can't think of a single one after they close down Berlin's Tempelhof.

Soon we'll spend most of our flight time on our way to and from the airport or stuck in an ugly terminal.

If this gets any worse I'll finally move to Japan. They sure know how to organize transport.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Flughafen_Berlin-Tempelhof?uselang=de

Worth the hype

4/11/2008 1:51:00 PM

Yes, I know they're all over the press. Yes, they are the darlings of the pseudo-intellectual pop establishment. Yes, they are the flavour of the month.

I don't care. "Day & Age" by The Killers stays on my turntable until it melts.