Germany's New Conservative Cabinet

It consists of:

A Vietnamese immigrant, brought from that war-torn country as a tiny child.

A baron, the grandson of a princess, who lives in his family’s five-hundred year old castle.

A widow who once worked for the patent office.

A paraplegic.

A huffy gay man.

A former captain of paratroopers.

A mother of seven.

Read more here.

Hat tip to MR for the pointer.

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Congrats to Herta Müller for Nobel in Literature

Romanian-born German author Herta Müller just received the Nobel prize for Literature. The last German author to receive a Nobel award was author Günter Grass.
Read more here.

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Bravo, Westerwelle, Bravo: When in Germany.....

I had a hard time masking initial shock upon seeing this. For those of you who don't speak German, the BBC British reporter asked newly appointed German Foreign Affairs Minister Westerwelle whether he could answer his English asked-question in English. Westerwelle answered and I translate:

"As it is the case that one speaks English in Great Britain, it is also the case that one speaks German in Germany."

Westerwelle further adds jokingly that he would love to meet after the press conference for some tea where they could speak in English. But, he interjects, in the end: 'Es ist Deutschland hier.' This is, after all, Germany.
Indeed!!

Seriously BBC guy, you must have been joking! One cannot be shocked that one chooses to speak German in one's own country.

Was ist denn das?!

View the exchange here:

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German Elections and Cable Talk

A favorite thing of mine is news commentary and cable talk. The thing becomes even more enjoyable to me when I follow German commentary. The coverage of the last election which resulted yesterday in Merkel winning was quite gripping.

Those of you who do German will undoubtedly get a kick out of the 'bias' in this Merkel v Westerwelle commentary. By way of context, Merkel is a conservative and Westerwelle is a liberal. The openly gay leader of the FDP allied with Angela Merkel who will continue to be chancellor. Westerwelle will most likely be vice chancellor and Foreign Minister.
Quite a marriage, indeed!
Ah, also the caption of the video on Spiegel TV says: "Hochzeitsnacht: Westerwelle kuschelt, Merkel mahnt." Translated, "Wedding night: Westerwelle's cuddling whereas Merkel is exhorting."
Hmm. Tough to pick up on bias there.
Watch this. I found it oddly entertaining.

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Rightwinger, German Style

In light of the elections in Germany, I've been reading a number of various German politics- and culture-related news.
This one, via Matt Yglesias, takes the cake.
He writes:
"Germany’s Free Democrats have a lot of pro-business tax cutting views, much like our Republicans. But they’re also liberal on cultural questions. Thus things like these t-shirts people were wearing at their election party last night:

The t-shirts say roughly: “make love, not tax forms.”
More here.
Tip of the hat to Yglesias.

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Why Donald Duck Is the Jerry Lewis of Germany

Just why does Germany like Donald Duck?

A bit from the feature says:
"“Donald is so popular because almost everyone can identify with him,” says Christian Pfeiler, president of D.O.N.A.L.D. “He has strengths and weaknesses, he lacks polish but is also very cultured and well-read.” But much of the appeal of the hapless, happy-go-lucky duck lies in the translations. Donald quotes from German literature, speaks in grammatically complex sentences and is prone to philosophical musings, while the stories often take a more political tone than their American counterparts."

Hm.
Read more here.

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Depeche Mode's New Album: A Review

Think of Depeche Mode's new album Sounds of the Universe as the kind of thing you can carry anywhere and with any 'outfit.'

I am absolutely loving it because while it feels very 'now' and as hyper-modern as time allows, it is, at the core, staunchly Depeche Mode. Dave Gahan and company have a thing or two to teach younger musicians about creativity, musical relevance, and reinvention: These things happen if the artists know themselves and willingly surpass their limitations. This is the king of album that allows you to do your work, take care of quotidianity, run menial errands, read the paper and so forth, and feel well fed musically.

I had been looking forward to Depeche Mode's new project as they have been a favorite since I was teenager. Granted, as a teenager, I didn't give them the kind of lip service they deserved because, well, the cool thing to do was lavish Metallica with attention. Adolescence is cruel, no doubt.

The tracks I am enjoying the most are:

1)Peace
2) Wrong
3) Hole to Feed
and
4) Miles Away

So, if synthpop and/or electronica/indie is the kind of musical direction that tickles your fancy, do consider Depeche Mode's Sounds of the Universe. And I sign off as I listen to Miles Away.

Also, for those of you who enjoy things German, here's a German commercial featuring Depeche Mode.

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graph per wiki

Ouch, Spiegel, Very Ouch

Well, I disagree with the Spiegel film review of Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona. At the same time, the generous amount of sun we were exposed to during the summer, which is when we had a chance to watch Woody Allen's latest composite of therapy sessions, might have contributed to my mostly positive review of the film.
And since HetPer has a good number of German-speaking, -reading, and -understanding readers, I figured I would include the following sentence in the original. You may read the rest of the review here.
Am Ende wirkt "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" banal und nicht zu Ende gedacht, so orientierungslos wie seine beiden Heldinnen, die irgendwann nur noch dastehen wie Idiotinnen, deren Niederlagen der Film fast höhnisch zu feiern scheint.

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Ben Affleck's German Tourist

Ben Affleck was a guest on Saturday Night Live last night. His reading of a German tourist was, well, something else. I can't seem to find the right adjective for it. It simply needs to be viewed.

"Ich bin ein Beginner?"

Hmm....


via Chicago Tribune

Move Over Mick Jaeger, There's a New Rock Star in Town

Barack Obama's visit to Germany reminds many Germans of a rock concert of mega proportions. "Think of a lineup where The Stones open for The Beatles," observes a friend of mine.
Today's Spiegel magazine features a number of articles on the candidate's visit to Germany but a favorite headline would have to be: "Obama ist doch ein Berliner" a play on Kennedy's famous utterance.
Read more from the German coverage here.

Pop Culture 'Germany Style'

A most interesting piece on the NY Times observes:

"...it’s true there is a general embarrassment among Germans about being famous for being famous. Unless you are a world-class star, you must be intellectual and appear normal; otherwise you’re considered trash.”

Mr. Poschardt elaborated: “It’s the reverse of America. You can openly be an intellectual elitist here, but materially you must act the same as everyone else. We have a lively pop scene now, but Germany doesn’t have a real pop culture tradition because we killed or expelled everybody who produced pop culture years ago, then we missed out on the next 50 years."
Read more here.
graph per ny times

Euro 2008

Alas, Euro 2008 ended yesterday. And, alas, Germany didn't win even though Ballack tried harder than we thought he could.
But someone had to win and that someone was Spain. They played better. So, for once, the soccer gods favored those played well. I bet Zidane is saying to himself, 'tja, where were those guys when we played Italy in '06?!'
Congrats Xavi and friends, the cup suits you.
graph per euro2008.uefa.com

Yes, Berlin Is This Great!

"Berlin is the new New York," someone said to me a while back. The statement carried the effect of a very familiar echo. I had, indeed, uttered the same thing to other people a couple of years ago. Indeed, I concurred.
I have long believed that one needs to look at the art that a city has to offer before creating any opinion about that particular place. The reason why I think Seattle and Portland, OR are great urban centers is mostly because of SAM and PAM, respectively.
And the reason why I continue to stay true to my old observation regarding the avant-guard, artistic nature of Berlin is because of how much one can do there in the realm of arts.
Reading this feature today on the Times was a good treat, indeed. A snippet:
"Facts: You could go to art galleries in Berlin for a solid week and find yourself not halfway through a master list. You could spend two weeks wandering Museum Island and still miss a few Romantics; you could spend a career within the Bode Museum."

And by way of a P.S., those of you particularly keen on art galleries, don't forget to check out the Arndt & Partner gallery.
graphs per ny times

A Doctor After My Own Heart

This is my kind of guy.
The talented 30-year old surgeon who also holds a doctorate in Music and is an accomplished pianist, does everything to music. I fully understand why. I cannot perform good work sans music. It needs to accompany all I do and grabbing the iPod is the first thing I do when about to leave the house as I face the day. Music is not a luxury, it's a necessity.
Breakfast I can skip, lunch too, but my iPod, no. If I do, I have been known to change my route and go in search of it till I have it on my person again.
Good work or good anything for that matter, I have been conditioned to think and sense, can only happen in the company of sound.
Having stated that, the NY Times article I just read this morning made me nod after every paragraph. It is about a German surgeon, Claudius Conrad, who also does research on the soothing effects of music on patients. A most fascinating read and a true testament to multidisciplinarity. Here are some snippets,
"When Dr. Conrad operates, he brings an iPod stocked not just with Mozart, Liszt and Scarlatti but also with gigabytes of European techno-rap bands his colleagues have never heard of (and cannot understand), including Klee, M.C. Solaar and Armin van Buuren.

Asked if he could actually work with that kind of music, he replied, slightly sheepishly: “Well, that’s not the music you want when you’re in the middle of a delicate procedure. But once you’re through that part and you’re closing up” — he shrugged — “it’s a good time to liven things up.”
Read the full exciting feature here.
graph per ny times

Flying in Style with Lufthansa

Rana Florida over at creative classroom just posted this. I had to feature it as well. What do you think?

'I had the rare pleasure of flying Lufthansa, classe primo. What an amazing experience. Not only was the food delicious and the cabin spacious but the flight attendants were not surly! And the best part of all..every seat had a ROSE!
So typically after I fly, I rename the airlines. For example.
United is U-FRIGHTED
Northwest= NorthWORST
Southwest = SouthWORSTEST
US Air = US SCARE
Air Canada- SCARE Canada
Continental - Conti-HELL-tal
Delta - Schmelta
Aeroflot - AeroFLOP
American - Ameri-CANT
So for now, Lufthansa gets to keep it's name. Please share your monikers for the airline carriers.'

Misbehaving Knut

Remember, Knut, the cute polar bear in Germany?
Well, he seems to have misbehaved publicly. Read the cover here.

graph per bbc

The Pope said it, folks

Ok, as I was sipping my Passion Tea Lemonade this afternoon thinking about ways to finish a writing project on which I have embarked, I came across some news online re: Pope Benedict XVI, or as he is known in Southern Germany, Joseph Alois Ratzinger.

Interesting timing, I thought. Last night I was speaking to my friend Benjamin about this 'monopoly on truth' business and when I read the following bit online I thought, 'how apropos!'

So, here is the blog-worthy snippet of today:

LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy -- Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document that says Orthodox churches are defective and that other Christian denominations are not true churches.

The document, released Tuesday, restates key sections of a 2000 document that set off a firestorm of criticism among Protestant and other Christian denominations. It said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."


via real time with Bill Mahr