I could probably write a short sitcom based on my rather ridiculous financial situation and the joy of job searching in a city with something like 50% unemployment. As a result I've not been going out a whole lot these last couple of weeks.
On the upside, my two flatmates are awesome and Sophie has a vast collection of films that I've not seen including a lot of Art House films. We've also been renting a films from a rental place nearby.
The films I've watched are:
Godfather 2 & 3
Big Lebowski
Miller's Crossing
Bonnie and Clyde
Burn After Reading
It's a crime that I had not seen the Godfather trilogy and I'd only managed to see the first film (incidentally my favourite) shortly before leaving for Berlin. I thoroughly enjoyed the second film despite it's length. I can see why the third film is generally regarded at the worst of the three, but it's still a solid film. Sofia Coppola should definitely stick to writing and directing though as her acting in Godfather 3 is shamefully bad.
Three of the films I saw this week were by the Cohen Brothers. It would have been four but the DVD of Fargo that I rented was only in German. The Big Lebowski is another film I've been needing to see for a while and it certainly didn't disappoint, very much a Cohen Brothers film. Burn After Reading is a film that is cleverly about nothing, it's good, but not great. Miller's Crossing is a stylish film noir gangster film, which is always good in my books and probably my favourite of the Cohen Brothers films I've seen so far.
Bonnie and Clyde was one of the most violent films when it was made back in 1967 and it's still violent by today's standards. Anyway, it's a very cool film of the romanticised story of the two outlaws and the Barrow Gang.
Saturday 29 November 2008
Friday 28 November 2008
BVG Redeem Themselves
During my usual internet surfing at priMaria (I don't even need to ask for tea now, he just brings it to me) I noticed an update for my iPhone's Berlin trip-planner app. It turns out that the developer got permission from BVG to use their maps, so I now have them back in my pocket.
I'd like to think it was the strongly worded email I sent BVG that made them take notice.
I'd like to think it was the strongly worded email I sent BVG that made them take notice.
Thursday 20 November 2008
priMaria Cafe - Friedrichshain
As my new apartment doesn't have internet yet I've been using the internet at a nearby cafe called priMaria. The second time I came here I asked for a tea and to my great surprise and satisfaction is came in an actual mug instead of a glass. It was also quite delicious.
After bringing me the tea the owner of the cafe picked up an acoustic guitar from behind the counter and played 'Losing my Religion' by REM and then continued on to play a selection of other songs.
When I came here today and sat down, the owner came over to order to confirm that I wanted a black tea with cold milk, remembering that is what I have had previously. Now that's service.
So, the priMaria is becoming a definite favourite of mine, I think even after we get internet I'll be coming here often.
After bringing me the tea the owner of the cafe picked up an acoustic guitar from behind the counter and played 'Losing my Religion' by REM and then continued on to play a selection of other songs.
When I came here today and sat down, the owner came over to order to confirm that I wanted a black tea with cold milk, remembering that is what I have had previously. Now that's service.
So, the priMaria is becoming a definite favourite of mine, I think even after we get internet I'll be coming here often.
Monday 17 November 2008
Wiedersehen mit Brideshead
Brideshead Revisited is one of those quitesentially English TV shows, which starred Jeremy Irons. There was a recent film remake of this, which I was dissappointed I would miss seeing by being in Berlin, that is until I saw the trailer and realised how inferior to the original it would be.
Safe in the knowledge that this would never see Germany I left thinking no more of it, that is until last night when I saw this film poster:
I can't think of anything less English than a strong German accent and as the Germans dub everything (despite all speaking English) this already poor homage to the original series will be further ruined.
Safe in the knowledge that this would never see Germany I left thinking no more of it, that is until last night when I saw this film poster:
I can't think of anything less English than a strong German accent and as the Germans dub everything (despite all speaking English) this already poor homage to the original series will be further ruined.
Lovejoy in Berlin
Berlin has a wide and wonderful range of graffiti. In Friedrichshain my new district of residence there is definitely no shortage, including it seems Lovejoy that classic TV character/series:
And the other nearby graffiti is pretty cool too:
And the other nearby graffiti is pretty cool too:
I now own a Koenigsegg...
...lanyard.
Ok, so it's not quite the CCX with it's 806bhp and it's (apparently) 259mph top-speed, but I own something by Koenigsegg, that's enough for now.
Ok, so it's not quite the CCX with it's 806bhp and it's (apparently) 259mph top-speed, but I own something by Koenigsegg, that's enough for now.
Thursday 13 November 2008
Double Feature: James Bond + Eagle Eye
There is a cinema in Potsdamer Platz at the Sony Centre that shows English films in English and any foreign films (including German films) in their original language with English subtitles. After finding this out I vowed to go and see Quantum of Solace upon release.
The new film is definitely a break from the old style of Bond but it’s one of the things that I like about it. There is a lot more action in this one than in Casino Royale with is a plus and the special effects are beautiful especially the computers used in the briefing about the marked cash, it’s just so seamless. The overarching storyline does not get concluded in the this film so there is a slight sense of it being unresolved. It’ll be interesting to see how long that takes to get wrapped up and where they take the Bond films once they have done so.
After the first film we headed to a bar nearby where we had some rather pricey but exceptionally good beer (I think there may have also had a micro-brewery there) before Don suggested seeing a second film. The film he suggested was ‘Eagle-Eye’. I’d seen the trailer to this and thought that it looked worth seeing despite probably being trashy. It was going to finish very late so I was the only one apart from Don who wanted to go.
It was actually a decent film, naturally it had a cheesy Hollywood ending but then all big films seem to now. The evil computer in the film did remind me of Glados from Portal (for those of you who get that reference). She even sounded similar, although there was no companion cube.
The film finished at 1:30 am and it was past 3am by the time I’d taken the night-bus up to Pankow then walked the rest of the way, so I was ever so slightly tired in my German class the next day but it was well worth it.
The new film is definitely a break from the old style of Bond but it’s one of the things that I like about it. There is a lot more action in this one than in Casino Royale with is a plus and the special effects are beautiful especially the computers used in the briefing about the marked cash, it’s just so seamless. The overarching storyline does not get concluded in the this film so there is a slight sense of it being unresolved. It’ll be interesting to see how long that takes to get wrapped up and where they take the Bond films once they have done so.
After the first film we headed to a bar nearby where we had some rather pricey but exceptionally good beer (I think there may have also had a micro-brewery there) before Don suggested seeing a second film. The film he suggested was ‘Eagle-Eye’. I’d seen the trailer to this and thought that it looked worth seeing despite probably being trashy. It was going to finish very late so I was the only one apart from Don who wanted to go.
Jerry and Rachel are two strangers thrown together by a mysterious phone call from a woman they have never met. Threatening their lives and family, she pushes Jerry and Rachel into a series of increasingly dangerous situations, using the technology of everyday life to track and control their every move.
It was actually a decent film, naturally it had a cheesy Hollywood ending but then all big films seem to now. The evil computer in the film did remind me of Glados from Portal (for those of you who get that reference). She even sounded similar, although there was no companion cube.
The film finished at 1:30 am and it was past 3am by the time I’d taken the night-bus up to Pankow then walked the rest of the way, so I was ever so slightly tired in my German class the next day but it was well worth it.
Que Pasa + Once
After another Sunday brunch and a visit to the Flea Market, I was sat in a cafe drinking hot chocolate, listening to live acoustic music and chatting with the others trying to think of what to do in the evening and how I could best avoid going back to the apartment. In the course of this Ollie mentioned a small cs gathering at Que Pasa cocktail bar at 7pm.
I arrived early and Dominike was running late, so far so good then. I didn't know who else was turning up so was glad to see a friendly face after 30 minutes in the cold. A few more people arrived and everyone ordered cocktails and a couple of people at one end of the table ordered food. Gradually throughout the night the desire for food slowly spread up the table until everyone had ordered food.
One of the people I got talking to was Don and Irish guy who invited me along to see an Irish film called ‘Once’ at one of the others csers apartments, but I had to keep hush-hush about it as it was a private thing, or there wasn’t enough space or something. I’m not really sure but I was glad of the invite none-the-less, I’m always happy to watch new films.
After getting to Warschauer Strasse we went to a small DVD rental/coffee shop which had a vast selection of English and foreign art-house titles, definitely somewhere I’ll be going back to frequently.
Once back to the apartment, we settled down with food and hot whiskey to ‘cure’ our colds (which worked fairly well I must say) we watched the film. I’m going to be lazy again and just paste a synopsis from imdb:
It was a truly exceptional film, which impressively was made with a micro-budget and the main characters being played by musicians not actors. I enjoyed the music of the film so much that I bought the soundtrack from iTunes the next day.
I arrived early and Dominike was running late, so far so good then. I didn't know who else was turning up so was glad to see a friendly face after 30 minutes in the cold. A few more people arrived and everyone ordered cocktails and a couple of people at one end of the table ordered food. Gradually throughout the night the desire for food slowly spread up the table until everyone had ordered food.
One of the people I got talking to was Don and Irish guy who invited me along to see an Irish film called ‘Once’ at one of the others csers apartments, but I had to keep hush-hush about it as it was a private thing, or there wasn’t enough space or something. I’m not really sure but I was glad of the invite none-the-less, I’m always happy to watch new films.
After getting to Warschauer Strasse we went to a small DVD rental/coffee shop which had a vast selection of English and foreign art-house titles, definitely somewhere I’ll be going back to frequently.
Once back to the apartment, we settled down with food and hot whiskey to ‘cure’ our colds (which worked fairly well I must say) we watched the film. I’m going to be lazy again and just paste a synopsis from imdb:
An (unnamed) Guy is a Dublin guitarist/singer-songwriter who makes a living by fixing vacuum cleaners in his Dad's Hoover repair shop by day, and singing and playing for money on the Dublin streets by night. An (unnamed) Girl is a Czech who plays piano when she gets a chance, and does odd jobs by day and takes care of her mom and her daughter by night. Guy meets Girl, and they get to know each other as the Girl helps the Guy to put together a demo disc that he can take to London in hope of landing a music contract. During the same several day period, the Guy and the Girl work through their past loves, and reveal their budding love for one another, through their songs.
It was a truly exceptional film, which impressively was made with a micro-budget and the main characters being played by musicians not actors. I enjoyed the music of the film so much that I bought the soundtrack from iTunes the next day.
Monday 10 November 2008
Charlottenburg - The nice part of Berlin
On Saturday night I went along to drinks at a bar in Charlottenburg followed by a late night Jazz club. Charlottenburg is on the very West side of central Berlin and is one of the nicer areas, which also means it's much more expensive. The bar we went to was serving 333ml of Heineken for €4.30. I'd happily pay that price for a good beer like Leffe or Kwak but Heineken is Europe's answer to Carling.
Ben and I, being cheapskates went over the road to get a couple of cheap beers before heading back to the bar and enjoying the free warmth. Before this though I had to withdraw cash (with my new shiny German debit card) and while searching for an ATM walked past a few expensive designer shops with displays in class containers on the street. Some of them contained handbags ranging fopm €500-1000. There was really nothing to stop us simply smashing the glass and legging it as far as we could see.
Around midnight we set out to the Jazz Club, called A-Trane. On the way a few of us decided we were hungry so went in search of food. We went to a place recommended by one of the others called 'Schwarzes Kaffee' (that would be 'Black Coffee') which was playing Jazz music as we arrived, definitely a good sign. The food wasn't exactly cheap but it was very nice and generously portioned. I ordered a club sandwich which ended up being quite cheap as I was undercharged €2.
Bizarrely one of the main talking points of the place was the toilets which we apparently 'had' to visit. My cup of tea saw to that so I decided to 'take a look'. It was indeed worth the trip, the toilet was bathed in dim blue lights with dark tiles reflecting it. The tap in the sink was a long pipe with a faucet handle to turn it on, I audibly laughed to myself as I realised what to do, and then had to point it out to the rather confused looking German who went to use it as I left.
In the end we decided to head home as we were all pretty tired, the free Jazz night at A-Trane is every Saturday so I'm sure I'll have chance to go again. Charlottenburg is a nice change from the trendy but scummy East Berlin, but a bit to rich for me at the moment. Definitely somewhere I'll be going with my parents at Christmas though when they come to visit.
Ben and I, being cheapskates went over the road to get a couple of cheap beers before heading back to the bar and enjoying the free warmth. Before this though I had to withdraw cash (with my new shiny German debit card) and while searching for an ATM walked past a few expensive designer shops with displays in class containers on the street. Some of them contained handbags ranging fopm €500-1000. There was really nothing to stop us simply smashing the glass and legging it as far as we could see.
Around midnight we set out to the Jazz Club, called A-Trane. On the way a few of us decided we were hungry so went in search of food. We went to a place recommended by one of the others called 'Schwarzes Kaffee' (that would be 'Black Coffee') which was playing Jazz music as we arrived, definitely a good sign. The food wasn't exactly cheap but it was very nice and generously portioned. I ordered a club sandwich which ended up being quite cheap as I was undercharged €2.
Bizarrely one of the main talking points of the place was the toilets which we apparently 'had' to visit. My cup of tea saw to that so I decided to 'take a look'. It was indeed worth the trip, the toilet was bathed in dim blue lights with dark tiles reflecting it. The tap in the sink was a long pipe with a faucet handle to turn it on, I audibly laughed to myself as I realised what to do, and then had to point it out to the rather confused looking German who went to use it as I left.
In the end we decided to head home as we were all pretty tired, the free Jazz night at A-Trane is every Saturday so I'm sure I'll have chance to go again. Charlottenburg is a nice change from the trendy but scummy East Berlin, but a bit to rich for me at the moment. Definitely somewhere I'll be going with my parents at Christmas though when they come to visit.
Saturday 8 November 2008
White Trash
Last night there was another big CS meetup in Berlin, this week held at 'Die Turnhalle' bar. After eating and stocking up on cheap beer (0.60€ for a 500ml bottle) we arrived at the bar. It was a very swanky place and also a bit on the large size and as such the drink prices reflected this. So we decided to sit outside with our cheap drinks as it was a very mild evening for Berlin. A waiter came out a few times and complained at us for drinking out own drinks but didn't make us leave and kept clearing the empty bottles so we happily stayed there.
After chatting outside for a couple of hours one of the other CSers told us about a CS house party and invited us all along. We got the address of the place then myself and 4 others went with Ben to get a lift in his car to the party. Melissa called shotgun so the other 4 of us piled into the back with Laura having to lie across us.
We arrived at the address and met up with two other CSers as they got out of their taxi. The CSer who apparently knew the people at the party had not yet arrived but we somehow managed to get in. Upon entering the apartment it suddenly dawned on us that this wasn't a CS party and we were basically gate crashing. Still, the people there seemed friendly enough, there was a large guy wearing a long blonde wig and 'Herman the German' and also free beer in the fridge.
There was one random guy who seemed quite surly. As I was looking through a CD case to see if there was any good music to put on, he snatched it from me and said something angrily in German. I assumed it was his (although it probably wasn't) and resided to listening to the bad music that was playing. The surly German spent most of his time complaining at us all and then told us to leave despite it not actually being his apartment and the owners being cool with us being there. However, we left anyway as the party was a bit shite. This was of course not before Melissa grabbed us another beer each from the fridge.
Dan, Paul, Melissa and I got another lift with Ben to a club called white trash. Despite giving us a lift Ben didn't join us and decided to go home but we went in and stayed until 4:30am after which we walked to Dan's apartment and started watching the Full Monty. Dan quoted the film a little to much but with classics like 'Ay, not so bad thanks' 'Not so bad? That's not much of a chuffing SOS is it?' it's hard not to quote it. We left after a the first 20 minutes or so because we were so tired. I walked back to Alexanderplatz and got the U-Bahn home, trying to stay awake and not miss my stop.
I got back at 6:45am and the door to the apartment was locked and had to be let in. It took nearly 5 minutes before they buzzed me in and I'd obviously woken them up, I'm sure they'd be a lot more annoyed if I'd arrived an hour earlier though.
After chatting outside for a couple of hours one of the other CSers told us about a CS house party and invited us all along. We got the address of the place then myself and 4 others went with Ben to get a lift in his car to the party. Melissa called shotgun so the other 4 of us piled into the back with Laura having to lie across us.
We arrived at the address and met up with two other CSers as they got out of their taxi. The CSer who apparently knew the people at the party had not yet arrived but we somehow managed to get in. Upon entering the apartment it suddenly dawned on us that this wasn't a CS party and we were basically gate crashing. Still, the people there seemed friendly enough, there was a large guy wearing a long blonde wig and 'Herman the German' and also free beer in the fridge.
There was one random guy who seemed quite surly. As I was looking through a CD case to see if there was any good music to put on, he snatched it from me and said something angrily in German. I assumed it was his (although it probably wasn't) and resided to listening to the bad music that was playing. The surly German spent most of his time complaining at us all and then told us to leave despite it not actually being his apartment and the owners being cool with us being there. However, we left anyway as the party was a bit shite. This was of course not before Melissa grabbed us another beer each from the fridge.
Dan, Paul, Melissa and I got another lift with Ben to a club called white trash. Despite giving us a lift Ben didn't join us and decided to go home but we went in and stayed until 4:30am after which we walked to Dan's apartment and started watching the Full Monty. Dan quoted the film a little to much but with classics like 'Ay, not so bad thanks' 'Not so bad? That's not much of a chuffing SOS is it?' it's hard not to quote it. We left after a the first 20 minutes or so because we were so tired. I walked back to Alexanderplatz and got the U-Bahn home, trying to stay awake and not miss my stop.
I got back at 6:45am and the door to the apartment was locked and had to be let in. It took nearly 5 minutes before they buzzed me in and I'd obviously woken them up, I'm sure they'd be a lot more annoyed if I'd arrived an hour earlier though.
Friday 7 November 2008
I have an apartment
I've finally gotten myself an apartment to live in for the rest of the two years. I'll be moving my stuff in from the 12th of this month and moving in properly on the 15th. Which incidentally is when I'm being booted out of where I am currently so it's rather conveniently timed.
Anyway, I'm going out soon for another CS meetup, but I'll post up pictures of the new place when I move in. The room there is huge and it has a very nice balcony and furniture!
Anyway, I'm going out soon for another CS meetup, but I'll post up pictures of the new place when I move in. The room there is huge and it has a very nice balcony and furniture!
Wednesday 5 November 2008
A New Dawn
Last night, with one of the highest turnouts ever in an American election people from around the world were watching and hoping that Barack Obama would win and become the first black President of America.
Our night started at '40 Seconds' club near Potsdamerplatz, an expensive glitzy place on the 8th floor of a modern looking building. The terrace had an spectacular view of the surrounding area (which my iPhone has done little to show off):
However, we decided to move to the Babylon cinema at around 12:30. As the tickets were sold out we had to wait for people to come out and ask them for the wristbands they were wearing before we could get in, but by 2am and after a coffee from a nearby bar we got in and were ready for the results to start coming in.
In-between updates from the CNN web-feed there was live music from a band called 'Folkadelic' which played some old American classics and even 'I am a man of constant sorrow' from the film 'Oh brother, where art thou':
As the results started to come in Obama took an early lead which he continued to extend. Amongst the first main victories was Ohio one of the hotly contested states. Then a number of other swing states went to Obama also; even some of the former 'maybe' Republican states went Democrat followed by almost all of the other swing states.
The final signs of victory came when California (a very valuable state), Nevada and the rest of the Western coast all went to Democrat. The landslide victory was then secured when Florida, the state which has been surrounded by controversy in the last two elections finally voted Democrat without the slightest hint of any 'hanging chads'.
Around 11pm American time (5am Berlin time) McCain made his concession speech, which was very honourable and endorsed Obama saying that America needed to work together to solve its problems:
Then at midnight (6am Berlin) Barack Obama made his acceptance speech as the new President of America. The cinema went absolutely wild and it was one hell of a speech:
Click play to view:
As we left, the results were 338 to 156. 270 is needed to win, so this really was a landslide victory.
Today then is a new dawn for the United States.
Our night started at '40 Seconds' club near Potsdamerplatz, an expensive glitzy place on the 8th floor of a modern looking building. The terrace had an spectacular view of the surrounding area (which my iPhone has done little to show off):
However, we decided to move to the Babylon cinema at around 12:30. As the tickets were sold out we had to wait for people to come out and ask them for the wristbands they were wearing before we could get in, but by 2am and after a coffee from a nearby bar we got in and were ready for the results to start coming in.
In-between updates from the CNN web-feed there was live music from a band called 'Folkadelic' which played some old American classics and even 'I am a man of constant sorrow' from the film 'Oh brother, where art thou':
As the results started to come in Obama took an early lead which he continued to extend. Amongst the first main victories was Ohio one of the hotly contested states. Then a number of other swing states went to Obama also; even some of the former 'maybe' Republican states went Democrat followed by almost all of the other swing states.
The final signs of victory came when California (a very valuable state), Nevada and the rest of the Western coast all went to Democrat. The landslide victory was then secured when Florida, the state which has been surrounded by controversy in the last two elections finally voted Democrat without the slightest hint of any 'hanging chads'.
Around 11pm American time (5am Berlin time) McCain made his concession speech, which was very honourable and endorsed Obama saying that America needed to work together to solve its problems:
Then at midnight (6am Berlin) Barack Obama made his acceptance speech as the new President of America. The cinema went absolutely wild and it was one hell of a speech:
Click play to view:
As we left, the results were 338 to 156. 270 is needed to win, so this really was a landslide victory.
Today then is a new dawn for the United States.
Tuesday 4 November 2008
American Election
Tonight I'm going to one of the many events for the American Election which will hopefully end with the election of the first black American President. Either way, many drinks shall be had and at the all you can eat buffet that is being provided where I'm going, much eating shall also be done.
Melissa's Birthday
On Saturday it was Melissa's 19th birthday. She is an au-pair and lives with the family she is working for. Ben and I were invited to go round for cake in the afternoon. So we hopped on the S-Bahn for the 45-minute journey up to the very outskirts of Berlin. In the woods nearby there are supposedly wild boar running about, but neither Ben nor I saw any and doubt they really exist (which we pointed out to Melissa).
Once we arrived we had a quick tour of the house, which had a small swimming pool downstairs. The parents who were a very friendly couple, had prepared a birthday cake for Melissa and an assortment of smaller cakes and nibbles. After singing happy birthday and scoffing a rather large amount of cake we played board games with Jenny (the 3 year old daughter) and the family.
Once back in the centre of Berlin, we went to a shisha bar where Ben managed to negotiate us a cheap price for the 'Birthday girl'.
After the shisa we went to Cafe Zapata which is a large building with several bars scattered over a few floors and a couple of floors with artist workshops selling art. Ok, that makes it sound all nice and clean, it wasn't. The building was old and run down, and there was graffiti on every possible bit of wallspace and the artwork was weird. For those reasons I loved the place. After having a couple of drinks in the bar downstairs and looking at the art on the floors above we headed to the top floor where there was a small bar and an open view of the city.
As we were sitting, chatting near the bar a strange looking man wearing tinted black glasses and a black hat came over with what looked like a laminated photocopy of the ID part of a Passport, a photo of himself and a leaflet for a gig for the day before. Naturally I avoided attracting his attention as he didn't look like he was quite there. But Melissa started asking him various questions in German which she had to keep asking him to repeat the answers of because he was talking in a low husky voice. After she pointed out the leaflet was for the day before he ripped it up and threw it behind him, stumbling backwards slightly. He then produced a small orange glass ball which he put in my hand and then quickly snatched it away with a look as if I'd stolen it. After Melissa told him a few more times she couldn't hear him he apparently said "You shouldn't talk to me because I'm insane" so we promptly stopped.
We later decided that he was definitely the devil.
After Cafe Zapata the others went to a club (one of them somehow fell asleep inside) whilst Ben and I and went home via Hermanplatz grabbing a Doner on the way.
Once we arrived we had a quick tour of the house, which had a small swimming pool downstairs. The parents who were a very friendly couple, had prepared a birthday cake for Melissa and an assortment of smaller cakes and nibbles. After singing happy birthday and scoffing a rather large amount of cake we played board games with Jenny (the 3 year old daughter) and the family.
Once back in the centre of Berlin, we went to a shisha bar where Ben managed to negotiate us a cheap price for the 'Birthday girl'.
After the shisa we went to Cafe Zapata which is a large building with several bars scattered over a few floors and a couple of floors with artist workshops selling art. Ok, that makes it sound all nice and clean, it wasn't. The building was old and run down, and there was graffiti on every possible bit of wallspace and the artwork was weird. For those reasons I loved the place. After having a couple of drinks in the bar downstairs and looking at the art on the floors above we headed to the top floor where there was a small bar and an open view of the city.
As we were sitting, chatting near the bar a strange looking man wearing tinted black glasses and a black hat came over with what looked like a laminated photocopy of the ID part of a Passport, a photo of himself and a leaflet for a gig for the day before. Naturally I avoided attracting his attention as he didn't look like he was quite there. But Melissa started asking him various questions in German which she had to keep asking him to repeat the answers of because he was talking in a low husky voice. After she pointed out the leaflet was for the day before he ripped it up and threw it behind him, stumbling backwards slightly. He then produced a small orange glass ball which he put in my hand and then quickly snatched it away with a look as if I'd stolen it. After Melissa told him a few more times she couldn't hear him he apparently said "You shouldn't talk to me because I'm insane" so we promptly stopped.
We later decided that he was definitely the devil.
After Cafe Zapata the others went to a club (one of them somehow fell asleep inside) whilst Ben and I and went home via Hermanplatz grabbing a Doner on the way.
Sunday 2 November 2008
Oh there it is: Gaming withdrawl
So I fell off my high horse today as the harsh reality of gaming withdrawal finally hit me. I was telling one of my flatmates about Left4Dead and he looked it up and found the following video (the opening Cinematic in HD):
Suffice to say, after watching this I felt the rather nagging urge to play it and am seriously considering trying to get my PC shipped over here.
Suffice to say, after watching this I felt the rather nagging urge to play it and am seriously considering trying to get my PC shipped over here.
Thursday Museum Visit & Halloween CS Meet
Every Thursday evening in Berlin the museums open late and allow free entry to everyone. This is a great way for the locals to have a look round without shelling out the tourist prices. Earlier this week I'd received a message about renting camera equipment from a Hungarian girl who is studying Film in Berlin. I arranged to meet her and go along to the 'Alte Museum' to view the Egyptian exhibit along with other Couch Surfers who were meeting there at 7.
Unfortunately I was late so we missed the meetup so it was just the two of us. She spoke German but only a little English which meant I had to make an effort to talk in German, which was actually quite a nice change. Despite my German still being rather basic, I was surprised that I was able to say more than I thought I could.
Annoyingly I'd forgotten my camera so only managed to snap a few low quality pics on my iPhone. On the upside, the exhibition had the information written in English as well as German and was fascinating:
Then on Friday night I went along to the Halloween CS meetup at 'Nah Bar' near Nollendorfplatz. As usual the first hour it was fairly quiet which I'd avoid if I didn't keep going for the pre-meet food, but it got a lot busier after an hour or so and once Melissa arrived the evening got a lot more interesting.
I went to join her and her friend Molly outside while they were smoking and chatted with them for a while. A few people arrived and a couple of others came out to smoke and we chatted with them. One of which was a Swedish girl called 'Cajsa' (pronounced 'Kaiser') who was quite mad. She was clearly very drunk, and possibly under the influence of some other toxin (I'm not too sure which though). It's hard to explain what she was like, but she was just funny because of it.
She also went round hitting on every guy in the bar, including me apparently but I was oblivious to it at the time. Although as the evening went on she became somewhat less subtle, she asked Melissa if we were together and after she told her she had a boyfriend back in Canada she stumbled over to me and asked me a bizarre series questions (like 'Do you live alone?') that were quite clear where she was leading. After being rather definite in answering negatively she got the message and went off in search of some other hapless victim.
Before heading off back home I ended the evening on the small dance floor dancing away to the cheesy music that was being played. It was that kind of dancing you do when you don't care what people think so it was pretty fun, if rather graceless.
Regardless, I'm well on the way to making a great embarrassing Dad when dancing when I'm older.
Unfortunately I was late so we missed the meetup so it was just the two of us. She spoke German but only a little English which meant I had to make an effort to talk in German, which was actually quite a nice change. Despite my German still being rather basic, I was surprised that I was able to say more than I thought I could.
Annoyingly I'd forgotten my camera so only managed to snap a few low quality pics on my iPhone. On the upside, the exhibition had the information written in English as well as German and was fascinating:
Then on Friday night I went along to the Halloween CS meetup at 'Nah Bar' near Nollendorfplatz. As usual the first hour it was fairly quiet which I'd avoid if I didn't keep going for the pre-meet food, but it got a lot busier after an hour or so and once Melissa arrived the evening got a lot more interesting.
I went to join her and her friend Molly outside while they were smoking and chatted with them for a while. A few people arrived and a couple of others came out to smoke and we chatted with them. One of which was a Swedish girl called 'Cajsa' (pronounced 'Kaiser') who was quite mad. She was clearly very drunk, and possibly under the influence of some other toxin (I'm not too sure which though). It's hard to explain what she was like, but she was just funny because of it.
She also went round hitting on every guy in the bar, including me apparently but I was oblivious to it at the time. Although as the evening went on she became somewhat less subtle, she asked Melissa if we were together and after she told her she had a boyfriend back in Canada she stumbled over to me and asked me a bizarre series questions (like 'Do you live alone?') that were quite clear where she was leading. After being rather definite in answering negatively she got the message and went off in search of some other hapless victim.
Before heading off back home I ended the evening on the small dance floor dancing away to the cheesy music that was being played. It was that kind of dancing you do when you don't care what people think so it was pretty fun, if rather graceless.
Regardless, I'm well on the way to making a great embarrassing Dad when dancing when I'm older.
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