You keep what you kill

Well, sometimes life is full of surprises. We were hiking around the Berlin "Speckgürtel" the other weekend and stumbled upon the beautiful "Habermannsee". What a nice place! I think I'm going to write to Lonely Planet so they can put it in their guidebook and next year hordes of people can "discover" this new party place and fuck it up, like the rest. Probably wouldn't happen, because the people of Kaulsdorf seem to have a shitload of money judging by the look of the mansions and the cars there, so they can buy off the police to actually do something about it. Probably have a superfascist Bürgerwehr, too, anyway. Nevermind, it's a beautiful area, easy to reach from central Berlin, with some nice walks for the dog left and right. Only downside is, way too many cyclists. ;-) Wooster enjoyed it A LOT! :-) And I regretted not bringing my camera, so these are just stupid smartphone pics, would've really been useful to have a proper lense and s...

Well. So. 7 games played into the new season. We all know how it's gonna end of course. Evil will always prevail. And we will enter a losing streak soon enough. But for the moment, we can sit back and enjoy the best start in years. And a rejuvenated Pizarro of course. :-) I like the way coach is leading the team. But the two lost points against Nuremberg still hurt, especially if you see their performances against Dortmund and Leipzig. Leipzig is such a disgusting shit firm. And of the course the whole "Europapokalränge" target is bullshit. There is simply no way a team like Bremen can ever reach these regions again. The maximum that can ever be achieved is rank 7 and that only if everything is perfect (which implies not losing two points to Nürnberg ...). The first ranks are set in stone for the big money clubs, Schalke, Bayern, Dortmund, Hoffenheim, Leipzig, Leverkusen. Then there's Gladbach, Hertha, and usually Wolfsburg, if they can get their act together. Simply ...

Let's make not the same mistakes folks did back in the 30s ... . Don't put up false hopes, things are not going to get better, they will only get worse. And the majority of Germans has a racist, fascist, and violent past, they were raised that way, and they will act that way. Don't fool yourselves with hoping that the "middle" or the "bourgeoisie" will gain ground again and continue the good old "Kapitalismus mit menschlichem Anlitz". That's not going to happen. Because fascism is the same as capitalism, it's the natural state it converges to when things get tougher. The years between 1950 - ca 2000 have been an exception, because of post-war boom and the existence of a credible alternative. Those days are gone forever and war is necessary for profits and companies to "rejuvenate" themselves. And war does not always mean physical conflict either, there's trade war and cyberwar, for example. And let's not forget that th...

Natürlich ist es nett, dass es dieses Konzert in Schemnitz gibt usw. Und mir tun die wenigen netten Menschen dort auch sehr leid. Aber wir sollten realistisch bleiben. Das Ding ist durch in D-Land, die Nazis haben mal wieder gewonnen, Schemnitz ist da nur ein besonders hässlicher eitriger Pickel auf einem ohnehin schon schwer infizierten Körper ... . Also Fremdsprache lernen, Assets liquidieren und gucken, dass man noch rechtzeitig rauskommt. Gegen die Mischung aus Politik, Pegizei und SA kann man nicht gewinnen. Falls sich dieses Mal (hoffentlich) wieder jemand finden sollte, der Deutschland militärisch Einhalt gebietet - bitte macht nicht dieselben Fehler wie 1945. Arthur Harris statt Eisenhower und Morgenthau statt Marshall!

Momentan gibt es ja wieder einmal Diskussionen darüber, wie die Rentenkasse noch ein wenig aufgefüllt werden kann. Am besten natürlich dadurch, dass Selbständige zur Zahlung gezwungen werden, denn die sind keine signifikante Wählergruppe und haben keine Lobby. Aber bleiben wir mal sachlich: Die staatliche Rente hat viele Jahrzehnte gut funktioniert, weil wir mehr oder weniger Wirtschaftswachstum hatten und eine gut Demographiestruktur. Die staatliche Rente kann in Zukunft nur noch funktionieren, wenn sie steuerfinanziert wird, weil die demographische Struktur es gar nicht anders hergibt - es sei denn, Rente gibt es erst ab 75 oder 80 Jahren, auf sehr niedrigem Niveau und mit brutal hohen Beiträgen für die Einzahlenden in der Zukunft. Dann kann man es aber auch gleich lassen. Das ist relativ simple Mathematik. Die staatliche Rente in Deutschland ist ein sogenannter "Generationenvertrag" - wir zahlen heute Beiträge, um die Rente der jetzigen RenterInnen (inkl. Ossilanten) ...

I recently discovered that I've not made near enough 'positive' lists in the last couple of years. So time to take up this nice tradition again. Plus I'm spending too much time on the move and thus have far too much time to think about shit. ☺ So, let's start with a difficult easy one. A top twenty list of whole albums that are fucking amazing great wonderful fantastic, even today. And it must be the whole album, not just 2-3 songs on it. And they must have stood the test of time, that means be at least a few years old to make sure it's not just a short time love affair. Exceptions apply. And I'm always right and you're always wrong. What else. So these are albums I've been listening to a gazillion times and am still not tired of them. Some of them I had to buy twice because the vinyl was simply wrecked / thinned out after having been played a million times. Chronological order. Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables Eric B. &...

I think I posted some nice photos from picturesque Leiden, a few k south of Amsterdam, a while ago. Here's some more, I'm very happy that I get to go there at least a few times more. They have arses with eyes, super cute rat lamps and the lovely Boutique Hotel Huys van Leyden is fantastic in many ways, not least because it's does not really feel like a hotel, is right by the canal, and does a nice breakfast. :-)

I've turned off comments for obvious reasons ... dunno what Google does with the login data and so I'd rather deactivate that then go through all the bullshit required after May 25. This is a private blog, no advertising, no Google Analytics or anything. I don't want your data, go away please.

Easter happened quite early this year. And we'd made the decision to go visit the good old British Empire for one last time, before they depart from this world and move to their own fantasy reality. :-D So, off to London on Friday, and of course it was raining. More or less all the time. But who cares? Because we had umbrellas and we're made of steel, not sugar. :-D We spent Friday and much Sunday perusing records and bookstores, travelling all over London, as requested by the Reisebegleitung. Lovely breakfast at one of my Soho favourites, Cafe L'Eto. Very nice hot chocolate at the Dark Sugars Chocolate House in Brick Lane, great coffee at Climpson's Coffee Bar at Spitalfields Market and an Monmouth Coffee in Monmouth St and of course the lovel Department of Coffee and Social Affairs. The culinary main event was a visit to Ottolenghi at Spitalfields for a very extensive and super delicious Sunday breakfeast. Wonderful.   The main event was of course Saturday eve...

Our last day in Singapore, a lazy start after the craziness of CNY celebrations the night before. Went for a walk and then to see Black Panther at the Shaw/Lido Imax. My favorite cinema in Singapore. And hey, we even got a secret super Marvel Black Panther medal with our tickets! So proud, so happy! :-) Plus fantastic ice-cream in front of the cinema, you couldn't wish for more. Well, maybe you can. Wish for more, I mean. Like more general craziness in the streets, dogs everywhere. And the beastmaster in their midst, of course! But it was the airport that topped everything again in terms of whacky displays of whatever. There was this, what, dunno, "fairyland" you're seeing depicted below. No idea what's it about and why, but great fun for young and old. :-D And last, but not least, praise where it is well deserved. Singapore Airlines, great business class product. Super comfortable seats, great service, ...

Nach soooo langer Zeit gibt es endlich wieder einen leise glimmenden Hoffnungsschimmer. Der natürlich im Sommer gnadenlos verlöschen wird, aber freuen wir uns wenigstens über wenige Wochen mit weniger grausamen Fußball als sonst. Dank Florian Kohfeldt. Man muss es einfach mal so deutlich sagen. Der Mann ist gut und hat auch das nötige Glück bislang. Werder spielt wieder ansehnlich, holt sogar auch Punkte. Mit etwas Glück steigen wir dieses Jahr nicht ab, vor allem, weil Mainz, HSV, Köln so schlecht sind. Man muss sich aber keine Illusionen machen, in den nächsten Jahren wird es uns treffen, denn Werder ist auf Dauer halt nur maximal zweite Liga. Da werden noch ein paar Sponsorenclubs hochkommen, man beachte, wer bei der 50+1 Abstimmung dagegen votiert hat ... . Und auf Dauer kann ein Pleiteclub wie Werder da halt nicht mithalten. Diesen Sommer wird man wohl wieder Spieler verkaufen müssen und dann geht das Theater wieder von vorne los ... Panikverpflichtung am letzten Transfertag, schw...

Motherfucker. Singapore rocks. I even grew a pair of wings. Now I'm unstoppable and will join the Avengers to fight Thanos!!! #TeamCapForever

I have been fortunate enough in the last couple of months to be able to perform some work for a client in the Netherlands, in the beautiful small town of Leiden to be precise. I really consider myself lucky, because a) I enjoy working with the people there a lot and b) I otherwise would have never visited this little gem of a town between Amsterdam and The Hague. Obviously, I never write about my work, so this is purely about Leiden: Supernice town, great infrastructure, bikes rule the streets, nice cafes and restaurants. What more could you wish for? In summer, having dinner on one of the many canals rocks and in winter, well in winter you get great views, too, and a wonderful atmosphere. Highly recommendable is the wonderful Boutique Hotel D'Oude Morsch btw, great location, very nice rooms, comfortable, and super friendly staff.