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August 30 2010
Vienna – where grumpy people go to die
And there we are. In one gentle but swift move autumn has swooped in and replaced what we like to call summer. It’s not even September and people are already feeling properly dressed wearing scarfs, coats and whatnot. Well, I don’t mind. You see, I like me a weather which dictates not what I should remove from my body but rather what I should add to my body to keep me from freezing to death. It’s just so much more comfortable.
I think that’s why I like places like Sweden that much. Even in mid-August, there’s nothing wrong with wearing hooded sweaters and long trousers. And hell, the people are friendly too. Returning to Vienna after spending some time in Sweden is like returning to the place where people go after they’ve used up all their compassion, optimism and good humour. The best you can do in Vienna is getting a waiter who realizes how fucked up his performance of being a grumpy old asshole is and has to grin in the course of it.
Anyway, my intention is not to make you feel all gloomy so here’s another breathtaking picture to marvel at. Enjoy.
August 29 2010
August 25 2010
The North
My girlfriend and I spent the last week in Sweden, and since you’re an avid reader of this blog, you’ll have realized that I seem to go there often. Well, it’s a beautiful country and I get to see my sister, her husband and the two delightful Half-Swedes they produced. So that’s that.
I’m not yet in the physical condition to write long blog-posts, mainly due to what some of you might refer to as a cold, others as a reason to make people feel sorry for me. Any which way, I still want to update this very blog, only to prove that Twitter has not yet turned every blog into a wasteland of old musings longer than 140 characters.
So there, I’ll just post one of the numerous pictures I took, so you can admire my ability of using nice filters for my cell-phone camera while also wondering where that unlimited source of cockiness lies of which I make so ample use. Enjoy!
August 22 2010
August 15 2010
August 11 2010
La Crêperie - (1/5)
August 08 2010
August 01 2010
July 25 2010
July 20 2010
Publish or Perish!
Well, hello, dear and faithful readers. If you’re as avid a reader of this very weblog as I think you are, you might remember that I was the co-author of a fiction weblog turned solid, physical book a few years back. Which, by the way, is still available and great fun to read. So go ahead and buy that.
But here’s the thing. Horst, mastermind of that last project, has just released a new book. It’s called “Dinge, die ich vom Nachtfernsehen gelernt habe: Things I learned from watching TV after midnight” and features an assortment of images taken off of after-midnight TV, accompanied by texts. And apart from the fact that the images are quite captivating, there’s also a text of mine written especially for this volume. It features my ability to fall asleep during TV and is great fun to read. And it’s in German, proving that my German is almost as much fun to read as my English.
So please, do check it out and don’t hesitate to buy and spread the word to whomever you might know. I assure you, the more people have this book at home, the better this wretched world we live in will turn out to be.
July 18 2010
Lifeball 2010
I’m a lucky bastard. I really am. I do, for example, have friends who think of me when they have spare tickets to events. Like a couple of weeks ago when I was treated to a concert of Them Crooked Vultures. Or, well, yesterday, when a good friend of mine had a spare ticket for the Vienna Lifeball. And not just a simple ticket (which still goes for 150€) but a VIP ticket with free food, drink and an actual table to sit at and watch people.
In case you’re not familiar with the Lifeball, it’s a charity event that started out as a small AIDS awareness party and today is probably the one party in Vienna, or Austria really, that most people who are into parties would love to attend. Well, here’s the official website, they do a much better job explaining what it’s all about.
Anyway, I got that ticket and I must admit, I’m probably the least deserving person to do so. First of all, lots of people dress up for this event. And I don’t mean dress up by wearing a suit. I mean dress up by thinking up a bizarre, fantastically outrageous costume, working on it for weeks and then spending hours to get it to sit perfectly. Me? I don’t like dress-up.
Second, I’m not one for huge parties. I like sitting down, sipping on my beer, smoking a cigarette and being my misanthropic self.
The good thing is, I’m also a fantastic freeloader. If it’s free, I’ll take it. You should see all the crap I got at home, only because someone told me it’s free. Ok, so that’s not entirely true. Most of the crap I own I actually bought. But that’s for another time.
Well, so I went there, and yes, it was actually quite fun. Unfortunately, the opening ceremony, which is always quite impressive, had to be discontinued due to a massive rainstorm. Fortunately, there was still time enough for me to get exceptionally wet.
The rest of the evening and night was filled with delicious food, loads and loads of crazily creative costumes, even more photographers taking pictures of said costumes and the feeling that this was the party of a lifetime. Well, not really. But there was music and there were people gyrating to that, so I guess it was quite alright.
All in all, it was a memorable night, not least because I’ve never seen so many virtually naked people in Vienna’s city hall.
By the way, there are always people lamenting how the Lifeball has deteriorated to a mere large-scale party, isn’t about the fight against AIDS anymore and is selling out by having ads all over the place, yadda, yadda, yadda. Well, if you’re one of those, fuck off. I’m pretty sure AIDS won’t be cured by your bitching either.
For all the others, here’s a link to the slideshow of the rest of the pictures I took.
And for fuck’s sake, use rubbers.
July 11 2010
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