Südgelände flashbacks

November 2006

I might try and scan some of Till's black and white shots from that day later tonight. In the meantime, here's some history of the Südgelände Naturpark and how it relates to the "Fourth Nature" concept of Berlin ecologist Ingo Kowarik, who edited the book, "Wild Urban Woodlands."

DDR Night in Kansas City

I'm a big fan of Germany. I studied there, I have friends there and I'd like to go back at some point. Most of you know this. So you can imagine my excitement when I walked into Muddy's coffee shop on 51st and saw a shiny poster advertising a special "DDR Night" at the UMKC Campus.

At first I was perplexed. Why would our local university sponsor a tribute night for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik? (The DDR, or the German Democratic Republic in English, was the offical name for East Germany from 1949 - 1990)

Then I was excited. I figured there was a former Ossi in the school's German department, or maybe a bunch of kids had somehow developed an interest in the former East Germany and wanted to meet up to discuss the benefits of socialism, dress up in stonewashed jeans, eat Spreewaldguerken and dance to Nina Hagen. Whatever they planned to do on DDR night, the shiny, retro/futuristic poster sure made it look it would be fun.

The next meeting was scheduled for Monday, Aug. 27, so I arrived at the UMKC dorms that night with a freshly trimmed punk-rock haircut and a volume of Brecht under my arm only to find this.

Apparently in the United States, DDR does not stand for the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, but instead a video game called "Dance Dance Revolution" in which players move their feet to a set pattern on a dance pad, stepping in time to the general rhythm or beat of a song. How foolish I felt.

Even though the cameraderie I was looking for at UMKC didn't pan out, I do have a couple of film recommendations for anyone interested in learning more about East Germany. Good Bye Lenin is an excellent movie about the transition from life in the DDR to western capitalism, and The Lives of Others provides a fascinating look at the scrutiny East German artists faced by the secret police.

If you didn't see The Lives of Others in the theater, it's now available to rent on DVD. Even if you don't have any interest in the subject, it's a fantastic film and you'll easily see why it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2006.

Finally, here's a few songs you might enjoy from the former East. The first is featured in the Lives of Others soundtrack, by the East German group Bayon. The song, "Stell Dich Mitten in den Regen," takes its lyrics from a poem by the German poet Wolfgang Borchert, a Hamburg native who was killed at age 26 in WWII.

The second is a propaganda tune called "Ami, Go Home" performed by the Freie Deutsche Jugend, a sort of boy scout group for former East Germany. The lyrics, set to the tune of "Jesus Loves The Little Children," basically tell the U.S. occupiers to go home and split the atom for peaceful purposes. Thanks to Susi and Adam for this one.

Track #3 comes from the DDR prog-rock group Berluc's 1979 album, "Reise Zu Den Sternen" (journey to the stars). This song, "Bleib, Sonne, Bleib" is a nice hopeful number about the experience of leaving Earth behind, something East Germans prog-rockers and Dance Dance Revolutioners can surely both relate to.

Thanks for reading and stay-tuned for a more general mix of German music soon.

German Jazz Funeral

The open book market in Bonn had some interesting books, including an old collection of blues tunes and spirituals translated by Guenter Grass himself (unless it's a different guy by the same name). Accompanying the lyrics and music are stained-glass resembling illustrations of John Brown, Louie Armstrong, a buffalo hunt and other scenes from jazz history and the American West. I've learned a few of these songs in translation, such as this version of "When The Saints Go Marching In." Eventually it would be fun to do this with a full jazz band, but for now it's just voice and guitar. Look for a fully electrified, punk-rock version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (Komm herab, suesse Kusche) in the near future. For now, here's this.

Hamburg Haiku and Foto Journey

Upon seeing my 100 Haikus about Bonn, my friend Moritz scoffed that he could not believe I hadn't written at least 10 about Hamburg, my second town of residence in Germany. I've finally prepared a few dozen to share, though they are in some cases little more than captions to some photos from 2004-2006. Photos are by me and a few by Jenn unless otherwise noted. Thanks to Hamburg friends for the inspiration and encouragement. Please let me know of any mistakes you might see.


Boats on the harbor
take tourists between barges
and through the canals


woman is free but
everywhere she is in chains
clamped on golden calves


The beckoning blue
guides you to the U-bahn stop
at Landungsbruecken


Hopes of the squatters
are shripwrecked at the shores of
the Hafentreppe

(Hafentreppe = harbor steps)


the Hafentreppe
a gateway to the harbor
you can buy drugs here


The protestors shout
"Kein Hotel im Wasserturm!"
but to no avail



These are the green vines
that cling to the old brick walls
of the post office


bin viel geschwommen
unter die gruene Lichte
am Holthusenbad


Weinachtsmann of Wurst
slings his Christmas sausage links
to winter shoppers


the Rote Flora
rock shows and vegan dinners
for the anarchists


graffiti dreamland
an activist jungle gym
behind the theatre


Philosophenturm
"tower of philosophy"
I had class here once


Pfanner Gruener Tee
is the elixir of life
drink it by the box


altes und neues
stehen gegeneinander
Kirche und Hochaus


Koenig der Loewen
shuttles the theatergoers
to the musical


steht auf dem klingel
"auf zwei raedern bleibt man jung"
bikeride and believe


pedal past chapels
and the fields of soldier's graves
nameless in the sun


the grabengel weeps
and lingers on the headstone
of her dead husband


all the ice-skaters
skate along to the sounds of
Harry's Eisdisco


Elbetelescop
see across the galaxy
for just 50 cents


alte Elbtunnel
surrealistic frisbee
und lichtenspiele


once you've hacky-sacked
in the bowels of the earth
you can not go back


at the Hafenklang
you never go home alone
der Rhythmus kommt mit


Susannenstrasse
where the Sternschanze starlets
go to drink coffee


wall of astronauts
who have ventured into space
and brought back new sounds


back when I was young
me and Susi had fun at
the Crocodile rock


St. Pauli Fussball
Pirates drunk in the floodlights
nachts am Millerntor

(photo by Ayla Kiran)


at the Grey Havens
bid farewell and chart a course
to Undying Lands

(and a few I don't have photos up for yet)

Every weekend night
prostitutes in puffy coats
line the streets of Kiez

red retro ballroom
ascend velvet rolltreppe
to Revolver Club

Zardos is the place
to drink a cappucino
and buy some records

riding around the
Stadtpark Planetarium
on my bike at night

Auf der Reeperbahn
the spirit of Hans Albers
sings a festive tune


when it's time to leave
I board my private shuttle
to the USA

100 Haikus about Bonn, Germany

After months of intermittent efforts, I have finally finished writing one hundred haikus about my year living along the Rhine. I finished this project in September 2006 to coincide with the five year anniversary of my arrival in Bonn. I am posting them today because it is national poetry day in the United Kingdom, and that's a good as occasion as any.

Eventually, I would like to make these into a little booklet complete with translations, footnotes and photographs. So let me know if you might be interested, and I'll make sure you get a copy. For now, though, I thought I would just let the text stand on its own. Comments and corrections are welcome, as are questions about language or content. Thanks to Adam for encouragement and editing, Cory for penning the inspirational collection "100 Haikus about the Science Library" and thanks to you for reading. And be warned, 100 haikus is quite a few, so it might be best not to try and read them all in one sitting, if you dare try reading them at all.

bush pilot, was hast du getan?

By now, many of you have probably seen the grainy video footage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel quickly rebuffing George Bush's awkward attempt to give her a neck massage at a global summit. If you haven't, there are YouTube vids aplenty depicting this embarassing scene.

The maneuver has been jokingly referred to as a "sex attack" in the blogosphere, but few folks have actually delved deep enough to learn the real reasons Bush did what he did. Fortunately, and with a little help from the foreign press, I think I may have figured it out.

The answer, oddly enough, can be found in an amazing video report done by German news network NDR some time ago. I'm not generally a fan of circulating Bush-related humor, for the simple fact that there is so much of it and it's all rather depressing once you stop laughing and realize he is our elected leader. However, the "Bush Pilot" feature is a cut above the rest.

My theory is that the "Bush Pilot" (also known as Johannes Schlüter) has been pent up in the "Kopfpit" for much too long now, and couldn't resist showing some physical affection for the female leader of his home nation. To see the NDR clip about the Bush Pilot with English subtitles, klicken sie bitte mal hier.

Jay Jay One's Courageous Quest

While copy-editing Universal Press Syndicate's "EarthWeek" feature, an ecological week-in-review that lists the recent earthquakes, floods, volcanos and a couple of animal-interest stories, I learned about one bear's epic and controversial Bavarian adventure.

"JJI" is a two-meter tall brown bear who crossed over from Austria into Germany, where he has been terrorizing sheep, crushing beehives and basically just doing fun, stereotypical bear shit. Authorities later figured out "JJ" had journeyed all the way from Italy, where he was part of a project to reintroduce brown bears to the Italian Alps.

Though the situation is probably amusing to most folks, some Bavarian sheep-owners were pretty pissed, prompting Bavarian authorities to take action. According to the Los Angeles Times:

Bavarian Environment Minister Werner Schnappauf initially declared that the bear was welcome in the province but changed his mind after consulting experts. He said Monday that the animal might have to be killed or at least caged for good.

"The bear has turned into a problem bear," Schnappauf told reporters. "The animal has to be taken out of circulation."

Naturally, I think JJ should remain in heavy circulation (specifically 200 kilograms), and so do a lot of animal rights groups. For the time being, the bear has retreated back into Austria, where the government and people are a bit bear-friendlier. We'll have to see what happens. In the meantime, I also can't help wondering about the motivation behind his journeys (which is probably a result of my seeing "Over the Hedge" the night before). Maybe he just decided, "Italy is great and all, but this whole "reintroduction to the wild" thing is a joke, so I'm just going to lope my way on up to Bavaria, where the sheep are fat, the beehives are sumptious, the alp horns echo through the valleys and the living is altogether easy." I received a text message yesterday from Andrew Giessel that said "It is the courage of the creative person, as much as the art, which stokes my interest." I think you can apply that to JJ as well.

Regardless of whether he's making a statement or just following his animal instincs, this is certainly great material for a song, poem or screenplay. If any of you would like to write one, I'll be happy to post it here on this most visible and viable of Web sites. To read more about JJ, check out this story from the LA Times.

the marshmallows of sorrow

This is a post for Good Friday, known as "Karfreitag" in the country in which this photo was taken. Jennifer took this shot last March during our tour of the Rheinland. As far as church holidays go, I always liked Good Friday, its solemn processions, the dirge/hymns sung at a snail's tempo about garden meditations and sleepy, unreliable friends. There's a pathos and romance to it that the rest of the church calendar lacks, and I think this photo does a good job of capturing it.

The location is Bad Godesberg, Germany, Villenviertel neighborhood, March 2005. The building behind the gate is the once-proud sanitorium/studentenwohnheim of Rheinallee 37-43, built in 1894, turned into student apartments in 1972 and shut down just months after I moved out in summer 2002. The "passion" in this case is Rheinallee's demise and subsequent renovation into luxury apartments. God only knows how the project has turned out, having long since abandoned its red brick walls and lush courtyard to partial demolition and deforestation, respectively.

Such is the fate of old buildings. Their original structures are altered and repurposed, but the spirits of their inhabitants dilly-dally on the premises. When I went by last year to view the ruins of Rheinallee, I swear I could hear my friends and I through the window in the second-floor balcony, laughing, listening to music and pouring wine into tea glasses, waiting for a nachtbus that would never come.

Karl Heinz wärmst Sie von innen auf

-Smell is the sense most strongly associated with memory
-Each year in Germany, tea drinkers form a line the morning Karl Heinz hits the stores
-Nothing, not even the autumn rain, can wipe the mirthful expression from Karl Heinz' face

The Ruins of Legoland

Wade sent me the link to this photo taken in 1990 (post-reunification) that he saw at the Story of Berlin museum. The story was that 2 Americans were playing frisbee by the wall and the disc went over. In order to retrieve the frisbee, they poked their heads through a hole in the wall and asked the soldiers to throw it back. They then threw it back directly through the hole in the wall.

While I'm at it, I'll go ahead and post this picture of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche, made out of legos.