Of course they also have a sense of humor. And they are a bit morbid.
This video is in German. If you don’t understand, skip ahead to about 1:50. I don’t know if it is a real instructional video. Probably just a film school project.
*****UPDATE*****
Actually this is an award-winning short film called Staplerfahrer Klaus – Der erste Arbeitstag and it has its own website.
When you talk about American presidents with Germans, most of them know of at least 3 that were not in office in the last 30 years. JFK, Roosevelt and Lincoln (Interestingly enough, many Germans know more words to the American national anthem than the German one). JFK because of his Berliner, Roosevelt because of the war, and Lincoln because he freed the slaves and because of his big hat and beard.
Here is an Op-Ed from today’s New York Times about what Germans think about Lincoln. It’s kind of short and obvious, at least from my point of view, but it is what it is.
AT least two dozen Lincoln biographies have been published in Germany. Streets and schools are named after Old Abe.There is one simple explanation for all this: Germans admire Lincoln for his success in uniting a country.
Although I think America has seen better days and things might not get better for awhile, I’m reluctant to say that her days are numbered. America didn’t fight a civil war for nothing. When times get real tough, the Amis pull together and clean house. Hopefully this will happen real soon.
Although I don’t agree with a lot of what Charlie Daniels says, I nod knowingly when I hear him sing:
And we may have done a little bit of fighting amongst ourselves
But you outside people best leave us alone
Cause we’ll all stick together and you can take that to the bank
That’s the cowboys and the hippies and the rebels and the yanks
I have been out of action a bit as of late. My computer was broken and I was limiting my online wanderings a bit while it was in the shop being repaired (The AppleCare Protection Plan is worth every penny). In that time I went to Cologne for a weekend with M and we saw some music and art. We went to the Chocolate Museum and the Gerhard Richter exhibit at the Museum Ludwig. We saw the exhibit on the last day. Kim Gordon was making a presentation the evening we left but we had to miss it because we would have missed our train back to Lüneburg. Staying an extra night wasn’t an option because some convention started the next day meaning that all hotel prices tripled overnight. Rats. Anyway, I think I’m going to write a sad country song about heartache, drinking and small beer glasses in Cologne.
Now that I have my computer back, I have a lot of mixing work to catch up on for various projects. Musically, I have been dabbling with 2 additional projects; bass for a local group called Werkraum and guitar at a jazz/blues improv night which takes place every couple of weeks. The Werkraum project is interesting because I have never really played bass in a band. The Jazz thing is challenging because the other musicians I play with are very good players and it pushes me to work on improvisation and learn many jazz standards that everybody should know. I haven’t played jazz in any capacity really since high school ensemble so it’s been a while. I have completely forgotten how to comp.
..open our shop on March 16.
I found this sign in the window of a soon-to-be new shop near our place. Germans love Obama too (and Hendrick and Ilsa are no exception), so much so that “Yes We Can!” has sort of become a catch-phrase shown in ads. I’ve seen a few other ads in newspapers and such but this is the only one I photographed.
The last time Germans got this excited about a politician… well, you know how that ended up.
😉
Okay. I was away for a bit.
More to come….
For an American raised on shopping-mall Santas and Christmas Eve drives through the suburbs to ogle people’s decorated houses, there’s nothing quite like walking around a German Weihnachtsmarkt, or Christmas market.
Unlike Oktoberfest, which is really a Bavarian thing, Christmas markets are found in cities and villages throughout Germany every December, with some stretching into the new year. Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Nuremberg and others, they all have markets.
There is a small bar in Lüneburg called the Saltzkontor. It is owned by a German man and his Brazilian wife. He is totally chill behind the bar doing his thing, listening to Boston or Bob Segar. His thing is mixing up cocktails. These are the best cocktails in Lüneburg, possibly Germany. They are made with real fresh fruit and juice. They are also not too expensive.
The weird thing about the Saltzkontor is that they have lots of stupid rules printed in the menu and on signs on the walls. Don’t smoke outside in front of the door. Close the windows at 8pm. If she brings chips to the table, they are complimentary, but if you ask for them first, they cost money. Put your fruit rinds in the small bowl provided or on your napkin if it is not provided.
The picture here describes just 4 of the house rules. They make sense I guess, but the way in which they are presented to the patrons is a bit “fascho”.
1: Don’t annoy the boss (her) or the bartender with questions of a personal nature.
2: Smoking pipes, cannabis, cigarillos, cigars and self rolled cigarettes is VERBOTEN. Filter cigarettes are allowed.
3: Minors under the age of 18 are not allowed in the smoking section.
4: Don’t depose jackets, purses and backpacks in the way. “Risk of Accident”
The lady has a real attitude problem. It’s kind of hard to understand her German and she gets frustrated and pissed off having to repeat herself. Some guests have been known to get a smack upside the head for not being able to quickly choose a drink from the extensive menu or asking too many questions about the ingredients. And then if you try to be polite and follow the rules, she might take a shine to you and start telling you all kinds of things that you really don’t understand or even want to know.
It’s entertaining.
There is often no free tables and she will kick you out if it is full.
The drinks are great. Check it out.
I’ve imagined doing lots of things to GWBush. Most involved fists, knives and ninjas. However, none of my fantasy death scenarios* involved throwing my shoes at him.
*Dear Secret Service agents reading my blog, please notice that my fantasies are just that, fantasies. I would never in a million bajillion years ever seriously consider doing any sort of harm to dear old 43. I just don’t have the kind of access that you do. But man, if I were in your position though, it would be hard not to consider the possibilities…..
I keed, I keed.
sorta.
