Shish Kabob

Today was cloudy and at night it rained.
I had to work at 11, but I went there at 12.
It was a boring day at work. Me and my boss watched "The Empire Strikes Back"(1980) while he smoked weed and I chopped sweet potatoes and tofu before the store opened.
I got a chance to listen to the new CBC3 podcast later in the day while I was working alone.
The rest of the day was slow and I finished work around 5.
I got home and had a shower.
I ate zucchini and green beans and mushrooms for dinner and micro-waved the left-over coffee from my breakfast.
I watched the final episodes of the third season of "Battlestar Galactica".
After that I watched "The Player" (1992) by Robert Altman. About half way through the movie I left the apartment and walked to the corner store. I bought a pack of chocolate chip cookies and a Coke. "The Player" was good - talk about a movie about movies. 'Post-modern' gets thrown around a lot, but if the shoe fits, wear it.
Tim Robbins was good in it and I haven't seen a movie with him for a while. It was raining really heavy when the movie finished.
I checked out Daytrotter and then the illustrator Brendan Kiefer's website. I listened to a bit of David Bazan.
I wrote some more of my short story "Home".
I finished the pack of chocolate chip cookies;
These are pictures of an old chair and old fridges;

Schism

Today was sunny, and a bit windy.
My two day classes were canceled, the professor just didn't show up.
Which was great because it gave me a chance to ride my bike around the city. I finally saw the Berlin wall. I stopped at a cafe in Kreuzberg. I had a coffee and some potato soup. It was a bit expensive for Kreuzberg, but pretty great. The people at the other table had an unchained dog that lunged out (violently!) at bikers as they passed. Idiots; the people with the unchained dog, not the bikers.
My iTunes isn't working, but I really wanted to listen to the new John Safran podcast. I had to listen with VLC Player.
I had to work at 6:30. It wasn't boring or exciting. Near the end of the night a group of guys and one girl came in. They said that they were a band; the girl was really cute/pretty and said that she had just been in Vancouver a few weeks ago and had her first poutine. I laughed and chatted a bit. She and her friends were gone when I went outside for a break. I will never see her again.
I listened to Vampire Weekend and watched their 'new' video.
This is a picture of a abandoned hospital room;

Chisel

Yesterday was sunny but not hot.
I woke up around 10 o'clock and had cornflakes and an espresso that my room mate Neele had made. She has just arrived back from...somewhere, and a different room mate, Jana, is leaving for...somewhere. I have to move to a different bedroom, which is bigger, so I'm not not liking it.
I took the subway to near KaDaWe and bought a new American Apparel t shirt; it's gray and half cotton - half polyester, so it is thinner and cooler for summer.
I went back home and ate left over jambalaya and watched "The Muppet Movie" (1979). I did not like it. It's really hard to sit through Kermit the frog and Fozzy Bear singing together. And then to sit through Miss Piggy sing. It's a musical comedy with cartoon voices. Steve Martin is in it briefly, and his character is pretty funny.
I had to work at 5 and it wasn't very busy. I talked to Genevieve about movies because she has a Master's Degree in film studies (and she works at a pizzeria). She said that she liked movies with a meaning and when I said that I didn't like "Be Kind, Rewind" (2008) by Michel Gondry, she said it was because I watched too many American movies. She also said she only really was interested in 'European' cinema. Despite all that, I like Genevieve.
After work I walked home and read a bit of "The Blindfold", by Siri Hustvedt. So far, not so good.
Then I went to Privatclub to see a DJ that my boss said he would put me on the guestlist for. I wasn't though, and had to pay, and the venue was empty except for my drunk boss and a few (4, 5?) people dancing. A girl from one of my classes, Claudia, was there and I talked to her for a bit in this smoking room that reminded me of Halloween. I got home around 3.

This is a picture of the canal in Kreuzberg where I live;

Whistle

Today was sunny and cloudy.
I woke up around 9 o'clock and didn't go to my first class. I read "Twelfth Night" by Shakespeare instead. My American City novel class is re-scheduled for tomorrow so I went out for lunch with Eli and J.C. after my Shakespeare class. We went to a restaurant called Buddha and the food was OK but expensive for what it was.
I bought two beer on the way home and then listened to an old CBC3 podcast, one from like, September 2005. I drank a couple of glasses of water and cleaned some dishes.
I went over to J.C.'s house for dinner around 7 o'clock.
I watched the first half of the soccer game.
Then I listened to this guy Lauren talk about Tibet, (and surprisingly the Uyghurs) for about 45 minutes. The night slipped into comparing "Toy Story" (1995) to Markism.
This is a picture of the contents of my pocket;

Whisper

Today was sunny.
I woke up around 1:30 and I fell when I was taking a shower.
I had cornflakes and oranges and kiwi and banana for breakfast. I put my orange and kiwi in the fridge last night, and they tasted way better cold.
I went to the Berliner Gallery near my house. There was a new temporary exhibit with photography. There was a big oil painting by Thomas Lange that I really liked and another painting by Trak Wendisch that I also liked.
I was there for maybe an hour and a bit and then walked home and made some rice with tomatoes and carrots and red peppers.
I watched "The Long Goodbye"(1973) by Robert Altman. It was pretty great. I really like Elliot Gould. I'm going to digest the film a bit more and watch it again. It reminded me a bit of those Fletch movies that Chevy Chase did.
I walked over to Kottbusser Tor and ate a falafel and then walked back home.
Then I watched "The Lady from Shanghai" (1947). It was good too. Orson Welles had an Irish accent, that I found uncomfortable, and I normally really enjoy the sound of his voice. I watched "Manhattan Murder Mystery" the other day, and it has a lot of "The Lady from Shanghai" featured in it. That was interesting too.
This is an old truck in Ireland;

Histogram

Today was cloudy and then a bit sunny.
I slept in until about 10 o'clock. I had coffee and corn flakes and then read the fourth book of "Paradise Lost" by John Milton.
I kept getting distracted by the internet.
Around 1 o'clock I left my house and went to work to drop off a DVD that my boss lent me. It was the first four episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" from the 1970's. I've been watching the new series that started in 2003, and I think I like it better. After that I stopped at a bakery and had a spinach pastry and an iced tea. Then I had two classes and hung out with Kat after the second class. Then I went home and listened to the new podcast with John Safran from Triple J.

This is a picture of a shoe in a window in an abandoned hospital;

Thistle

Today was hot.
I woke up around 8 and came very close to not going to class. I did though, I knew if I went back to sleep I would miss the majority of the day, and I wanted to go to a gallery and drop-off some film.
A letter from my friend Phil arrived from New Zealand and I read it on the subway towards class.
Class was hot and boring.
After class I went to C/O, a gallery that used to be a post office (hence 'C/O' (Care Of:). It was a photography exhibit and I liked some of it and disliked some of it.
There was some excerpts from Jacob Holdt photographs across America in the 70's. He hitchhiked around and took pictures of Black people, acts of violence, transvestites, prostitutes; really just poverty, violence and the hate that was in the US then in specific areas. There was also some great stuff by Alex Soth comparing the fashion of Paris to that of Minnesota. The contrast was pretty easily graspable even if the concept seems a little thin. There was also some pictures I didn't like of 'oppressed' Muslim women in India and also Bulgaria. I really felt like I had already seen these photographs a million times and these photographers were trying to contribute but were really just leeching on to a topic and reproducing images we have all seen elsewhere before.
Last night I started watching "Manhattan Murder Mystery" (1994) by Woody Allen, and finished it after I got home from the gallery. It's a pretty good movie. I think the characteristics that distinguishes it from other 'murder mystery' movies would be lost on the audience.
Then I rode my roommate's bike to Nuekolln. I dropped-off the film and bought a bag and then rode around until I found Search & Destroy where I bought some Shoe Goo for my Lakais. They gave me a DVD for free, which was pretty nice. I really like that store and I think I might buy a t shirt from there when I get paid on the 15th.
When I got home I watched some of the DVD and listened to the new CBC3 podcast. This band from Newfoundland, Hey Rosetta! are so good.
I met up with Randi, Joe and Lina and then we met up with Mats and watched the soccer game between Sweden and Greece. It was kind of boring to watch and then we met up with Mark from work. He took us to the roof of his apartment building which was really cool and had a great view and benches and flowers and tables. Then we went to a bar called Roses and me and Randi left before anyone else. We got falafel on the way home.
This is the program from the gallery;

This

If today was Saturday from two weeks ago I would say things like ;
Today was sunny.
I had to start work at 10, and woke up at 9:45.
I didn't have breakfast and rode my subletter's bike to work.
Work was kind of long and busy.
After work I went home and showered and then rode my bike to go see Black Mountain.
They played at a cool venue that I've been to before.
I asked the opening band what their name was between one of their songs and then after the girl next to me said that she was thinking the same thing. Her name was Grace and she was Calgary and we ended up talking in between songs and then hung out during the break before Black Mountain played.
We hung out after and tried to go for ice cream but the place was closed. She went back the her hostel and I went back home.

These are pictures of Black Mountain;

History

Today was sunny.
I woke up around 12:30 and didn't go to class.
I ate an egg, cucumber, a tomato, an orange and a cup of coffee.
I wanted to go to a place near Berlin called Wannsee. "See" means "lake" and "wann" means "when", so I guess it means "when-lake", which doesn't sound that great in English. I didn't actually go to Wannsee though, when I got off the train all I could see was old people and it seemed to me that Wannsee was mostly for tourists and the elderly.
So I got on the train that I had just got off of and headed back to something I had seen on the way to Wannsee, a place called Schlachtensee, which means "slaughter-lake", which sounds awesome - and is.
At first it was just hormones and teenagers, but the lake is large/small enough that I could walk to the other, quieter side within half an hour. There were still teen-aged boys and girls hanging out, but that's fine because I dig teenagers, and sometimes wish I still was one. I haven't swam in a lake since last summer in Kelowna so swimming in Slaughter Lake made me think of home a bit. I also had made some new cut-off jean shorts, which also reminded me of home a bit.
I got home and cooked beans, corn, and a tomato in a pot and ate it.
I finished watching the first season of "Battlestar Galactica" (2003). It was really great science-fiction drama. It's filmed in Vancouver and sometimes the story involves 'futuristic' architecture which is really just the Vancouver library or Science World.
I bought some new headphones and listened to Sunday Night Safran podcast. John Safran is so great, I don't really like the Australian accent, or even the English one, but I can't help but be enthralled with John Safran.
I painted a bit, then I listened to the CBC3 podcast a bit, and then watched "Kids" (1995).

"Hello Wendy"

Today was sunny.
My alarm went off at 9:00. I still haven't figured out the snooze function and I woke up at 12:30. I had coffee for breakfast and skipped my shower.
I spent some time on the internet; I wrote my lawyer, wrote on mixtapesongs.com, and downloaded my friends' band Diamonds and a Woody Guthrie song called "I'll Eat You, I'll Drink You", which I'm assuming is about Jesus. Diamonds released their album through Creative Commons, which means it's totally free, and coincidentally, really good. I got it through popsheep.com
I walked to the park near my house and read a bunch of "Jazz". I'm not finished it yet and am 'supposed' to be.
Around 4 I biked to my old neighborhood to buy groceries. I have a pretty great idea about buying all my groceries from private markets in my neighborhood. Lately though, I have had little money and my new neighborhood is more expensive than my old one. So, while I was still supporting privately (generally family) owned stores and promoting neighborhood infrastructure, I supported and promoted a different neighborhood than my own.
I made pasta for dinner.
This is a picture of an old man promoting Christianity;

I.O.U.

Today was cloudy.
I had a kiwi, a banana and coffee for breakfast.
Melanie went to look at the Reichstag et al and Me and Jane went to the Guggenheim and a gallery called Hamburger Postbanhof.
I bought a Club Mate on the way there. The Guggenheim wasn't all that great and the premise of the exhibition wasn't very interesting or well accomplished.
The Hamburger Postbanhof gallery was great. There was a Wolfgang Tillmans exhibit and some Jeff Wall photography. There was also some Andy Warhol I had never seen and also some Jeff Koons, who I find really interesting. We had to rush a little at the end in order to be home with enough time to meet Melanie and so they could pack and catch their train to Amsterdam.
I played "Holland 1945" by Neutral Milk Hotel as they were packing and leaving my apartment.
Then I wrote a list of movies I liked from each year from 1965 until 2001.
Then I walked to work.
Work was work. I cut vegetables and made pizza dough. I served some customers but not really. I get to drink and eat as much as I want at work, which is awesome. I haven't (and won't) exploit the place for free pizza and pop and beer, but it's a great fringe benefit.
I listened to The Hold Steady when I got home and watched "Breaking Away" (1979) and downloaded some John Milton.

Vowel

Yesterday it rained.
I was out really late with Randi and Joe and some of their friends and was supposed to wake up at 8-ish because I had to meet two girls from Victoria at 8:30 but I woke up at 9 and ran to the subway station and they weren't there.
When I got home Melanie (one of the girls) called me and explained that their train from Poland was late and they got off at the wrong train station and that they were now at the subway station that we were originally supposed to meet at. I walked back to the subway and met them and then we all came back to my apartment.
I made a pot of coffee and we laughed about our friend Mack and figured out where we are all 'from' and what we are all 'doing' etc.
They had plans to go on the walking tour but Melanie suddenly was exhausted and needed to sleep and hallucinated seeing a dog in my kitchen (!).
While she slept Jane, the other girl, went to a gallery I suggested with DaDa Berlin artists and also contemporary stuff and I went and bought some produce from the Turkish market.
When we all met up again around 5-ish, we decided to go out for dinner.
We walked to the restaurant which was great because its near and also on this street called Grimm Strasse named after these two brothers who were German and wanted to find the original 'story' and collected all old fables, and folklores and fairy tales. The area has tons of kids in strollers but looks really great and lined with trees and is near the canal.
Dinner was great and I confided my pop-culture obsession and Melanie was going to pay but Jane did. Jane also offered me tobacco that you snort but I just licked my pinky finger and tasted it and she thought that was really funny.
We got ice cream and then they went to an erotic museum and I went home.
We met up again around 11:30 and talked and laughed and then all went to bed around 12:30.
This is a picture that I drew of my friends Matt and Dustin;

Hallowe'en

Let's pretend it is Sunday...
'Today' was sunny.
I woke up around 10:30 and didn't have breakfast and went to meet Joe and Randi for a big parade that was a block away from my house. It was for a Culture Carnival. I finished off a roll of film during the parade. Randi bought me and her mohitos and at one point she dropped a 20 euro bill but I found it and gave it back to her.
The portable toilets, which I had to use, were disgusting. Smell is tiny molecules of their source, in this case specifically; urine and feces and used feminine hygiene products. These portable toilets were fermenting in the hot sunlight all day.
Most of the floats in the parade were 'African' or 'Thai' or a bunch of under-dressed under-age girls dancing together. There was also one really lonely Christian Missionary float playing 'Christian Pop' and it kind of broke my heart.
After the parade finished me, and Randi went back to my house and ate avocados and drank water and I made milk shakes with kiwis and strawberries.
Then I went to the Volks Buehne (People's Stage) to see a music event put on by a booking agent (?) called Headquarters. It was pretty good with a lot of bands. No Kids, Why?, and Prefuse 73 were the reasons that I went.
I have been wanting to see No Kids for a while now and they were really great. If you ask me what they sound like I would say, "They sound like; Prince, Jens Lekman, Hot Chip and other stuff like Prince, and maybe also Stevie Wonder."
I got to talk to Nick from No Kids about Gigi, which was also great because I had some festering questions about that band.
I ending up staying until around 4 o'clock and did a few things on the way home; made friends with a (possibly gay) guy from Dresden and a girl from Leipzig, refused McDonald's and forgot Mother's Day.
This is a drawing I started of my friend Corbin;

Follower

Today was sunny.
Last night I had a dream where I was running down stairs. The stairs were wide and steep and made of concrete or marble. Close friends of mine were there and were all shouting, " Nasdrovia!" which is 'cheers' in Polish or Russian. I was running down the stairs with a glass of champagne and shouting, "Nosferatu!" which is maybe 'vampire' in German. I dropped my glass as I was trying to shut these huge doors. The doors were at the base of the stairs and made of royal mahogany and were very heavy. I couldn't close the doors in time and a Grizzly Bear that was larger than possible, maybe 20 feet tall, pushed open the doors and tore open my stomach and then I woke up.
My camera wasn't working so I took it to the place where I bought it and where I buy film. Apparently it was a problem with the teeth on the gears that adjust my shutter and it's speed. It works now though.
It was really hot today and I drank two iced teas. Man! I love iced tea.
I went to the Turkish market and bought avocados, strawberries, kiwis and lemons. I also bought some tea, I hope to make some iced tea and put lemons in it.
I tried faxing these university documents but they wouldn't 'go through' which sucks but was also rad because the fax cost 5.65 each page over seas which is a total rip-off.
I drew a picture of my friends Dustin and Matt.
I got home and made a 'smoothie' with kiwis, strawberries, milk and a bit of sugar.
Then I ate dinner, which was noodles with mushrooms and green pepper, and had a beer.
Some of Jana's friends came over and they went to the Kultur Karnival (Culture Carnival), which is right by our apartment.
I met Max and Elizabeth and Franz around 9 o'clock.
We wandered around the festival and bought some beer and ended up sitting outside of a bar far enough away from the festival just chatting.
I told them I would watch soccer with them tomorrow.

Allowed

Today was sunny.
I woke up at 8:30 because I had class at 10 then another at 12 and another at 2.
I didn't go to school though, I had breakfast and watched a VBS.TV series called "Toxic Alberta" about Fort McMurray. It was really good. It's about an hour long and as it suggests looks at different perspectives of the oil sand crisis/boom but also can't conclusively document an inexhaustible topic. At first I was thinking, "Great! Canada has 1000 times the amount of oil as Saudi Arabia! We're a great country!". But then I thought," We aren't doing it right. We are inappropriately destroying our country. We need to change."
(Fort McMurray contributes to 2/3 of Canada's green house gas output. Which is stunning because it's a town of 70,000 in a country of 30,000,00. So it's like a town of 70,000 acting as 20,000,000. I think...)
Then I went to Kreuzberg Victoria Park and read.
I went to the flea market on the way home and bought a pair of thin tan denim Levi's and a print of "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso for 5 euros. Which is awesome.
I've been listening to "Heretic Pride" by The Mountain Goats lately.
I went skateboarding after dinner. The park was super busy but I managed to land some solid noseslides which have been bugging me lately.
I had to go into university around 9:30 to print off a re-admission/campus change form for UBC. Tomorrow I have to fax it and a lost document form to the people who give me money vis student loans.
I wgoing to watch "400 Blows" (1959) by Truffaut but went to sleep instead.

Flower

Today was sunny.
I didn't have class and went to the park to read "A Hazard of New Fortunes".
Last night I watched "Fitzcarraldo" (1982) by Werner Herzog. It is really stunning. It's also the second movie I've seen with Klaus Kinski. It's funny that both films I've seen with the both Kinski and Herzog working together have taken place on and around the Amazon river. "Fitzcarraldo" is really great. It does seem to end while leaving me wanting 'more'. I've been finding that with so many 3 hour-ish movies that even if they are long, they rarely cover enough. "Fitzcarraldo" has some of the most memorable scenes in my film viewing experience. The steamship on land, and Kinski standing proudly on the to deck cruisin' down the Amazon listening to Italian opera on his gramaphone.

I also went to this Canadian pizza store called Ron Telesky Pizza and they gave me a training shift and more work if I want it, which is great because I won't have to stress out about money as much.

I made shorts out of a pair of jeans and had dinner with my room mate Jana. She had a salad and I had; potatoes, carrots, corn and zucchini.
I listened to Nathan Lawr some more. I was wondering how an artist like him could have gone unnoticed by myself. Turns out, he hadn't...he played in this band I really like, Royal City and he also played with Jim Guthrie, which explains why I like him. Great minds think alike.

Snowed

Today was sunny.
I went to the American Church of/in Berlin.
It was in a really big Lutheran church and it was hard to hear. There was a lame 'kids' thing during service and the sermon was pretty weak. The reading was from John but they also threw in some stuff from Acts, but we didn't talk about it - just read it and then kept going. I also screwed up communion, drinking from the dipping wine...I don't think I'll find a church as good as Calvary. I think I'll just wait until I get back to Canada.
When I got home I was still tired from last night so I napped until like 6 o'clock.
When I woke up I made a B.L.T. and watched "Sleeper" (1973) by Woody Allen and "McCabe & Mrs. Miller"(1971) by Robert Altman with Warren Beatty.
"Sleeper" was pretty good. I didn't know it was a science-fiction comedy. I laughed pretty hard at some points. I was thinking that I only watch Allen for the writing. There isn't the film making aspect of someone like Kubrick. I just mean that Woody Allen's stuff isn't visual although "Sleeper" definitely has visual achievements for Woody Allen's stuff. I guess he may spend time photographing New York in other movies though...
"McCabe & Mrs. Miller" was alright. A pretty good western. The ending was good except the special effects were really distracting. I guess they must have filmed the one scene over many days, because the snow is inconsistent. Maybe one day it snowed and then the next it didn't and to cover up, the filmmakers super-imposed snow over the scene - but not always. So it jumps from authentic snow, to this layered film effect of second unit snow laid on top of the scene...
I listened to the Constantines first album and the new CBC3 podcast. They are doing a 'covers' themed podcast and I sent an email requesting a Constantines cover of Neil Young. I hope they choose it.

Bowels

Today was sunny.
I walked to school and printed off the first half of "A Hazard of New Fortunes" by William Dean Howells.
I watched this documentary called "Toxic Garbage Island" on VBS.TV.
It was really cool and reminded me that there is more to Vice than Dos and Donts.
I made a mish-mash of dinner; spinach, carrots, rice, tomatoes, green onions, and an egg all in one pot.
I listened to the new CBC3 podcast.

(I've been watching a lot of movies lately; I watched "The Silence of The Lambs" (1991), "Magnolia" (1999) and "Network" (1976). They are all great movies for completely different reasons. However they are connected in the fact that I first watched "Magnolia" and then read that Paul Thomas Anderson admired both Demme and Lumet and "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Network".)

I went to meet Randi and Joe to see Mix Master Mike.
The club sucked. At first we couldn't find it. It had 3.50 small lame beer and 7.00 cranberry vodka without vodka ( if you did that trick you did when you were a kid, where you hold your finger over a straw and lift it out of a drink and then move your finger and the straw's contents fall out...that was how much vodka was in Randi's drinks). The club was also full of the lamest people!
Guys trying so hard to 'score', moms who are so old and read Star and think that Paris Hilton is sexy and think that young normal guys think Paris Hilton is sexy and these women are just shamelessly gyrating and oh yeah, the room was lined with the skeezy beds... beds! , I dunno. It was like the confused hormones of a middle school dance, what I remember of my prom and the cocaine rampant at my high school and when you are the youngest person at work and there's this awkward Christmas party dance with all the 'adults'.
- That being said, Mix Master Mike was pretty good. I was actually in to dancing. There was still idiots with those stupid hats though, you know...those stuuuupid hats.

Power

Yesterday was sunny.
It was the 1st of May and in Germany they celebrate Labor Day. It is somehow a celebration of worker's rights and slightly communist and even anti-capitalist. I was told it's mostly just punks and neo-nazis smashing stuff and burning cars. It's not even that though; It's just 12 or so streets blocked off and maybe 6 or 7 stages with music, cheap beer and street food everywhere. It's hard to be anti-capitalist when your selling "May Day" tee shirts and mohitos for 4 Euro.
I wandered around for a while and then Joe and Randi found me and then we sat on a curb for a while. There was a really old guy holding a box that read "Frage Mich Nach JESUS" which means "Ask Me About JESUS"... maybe not the best place to discuss theology but he still looked pretty interesting and I took some pictures of him.
We eventually ended up watching a band on a stage that were really good. We stood about 20 feet away and there was a constant river of people walking from left to right past us between us and the stage. Every once in a while about 20 riot police would flood the river and it would pour out everywhere. It was non-stop. Seriously. People walking no place in particular for the entire 1 hour or so that we were there.
We left around 12:30 and I didn't see a burning car but there were a lot of police and a lot of smashed bottles.

Dementia

Yesterday was sunny.
I slept in until around 3 o'clock.
I watched "Boogie Nights" (1997). I think it's really good. It's about the pornographic film industry in the 70's in America. It's not gratuitous though; instead desperate and exhausted and 'real'. I think the segments of the Dirk Diggler movies that the characters were creating were distracting. I really loved John C. Reilly and William H. Macy and even Mark Wahlberg. There's this one scene where he is just staring at the camera for nearly 45 seconds and its really haunting. The score is also really great. There is this climax scene with just a gong being hit with so much suspense and terror. Then I watched "Boogie Nights" with the director commentary. Paul Thomas Anderson is so great to listen to talking about his movies. He's inspiring.
Then I watched "Boogie Nights" with the director and cast commentary. John C. Reilly and Don Cheadle were great. Mark Wahlberg kept yawing, answering his phone and saying he needed to catch a plane. He was still somehow endearing maybe? I dunno. I would have liked to hear Phillip Seymour Hoffman's perspective but he was absent.
I know a lot about "Boogie Nights".

Women

Today was sunny.
I slept in and had a banana for breakfast.
I walked along the sunny side of my street and bought a loaf of bread and some more bananas.
I read some of "City of Glass" in the park near the subway. While I was there, a woman drew my attention from the book. At the moment I noticed her, the fire she was lighting exploded and pushed flames against her face. It looked like she was burning garbage.
I went back to my apartment and ate some toast and tried listening to Fugazi.
My friend Randi called and her, I , and her friend Erika met and walked to Maroosh, a falafel place two subway stops away. Then we went for coffee at another place.
I bought grapes, more bananas, and an avocado as we walked to the subway station.
They went to the Check Point Charlie museum and I went home.
I finished "City of Glass". It was really good. While I was reading it I could hear what someone in my apartment building was listening to. They were listening to Johnny Cash but the lyrics were muffled through the walls. It sounded like the chorus, with the words "I've been everywhere man" but the rhyming verses, with varying lyrics, also sounded like the words "I've been everywhere man" so it sounded like Johnny Cash was singing only that one line with only those words; "I've been everywhere man."
I listened to Vampire Weekend and cleaned my room a bit more.

Phenomenon

Today was cloudy and then sunny.
I've been a little bit sick so I slept in until 1 'clock-ish.
I had eggs and fresh fruit for breakfast. I've been avoiding coffee as it is dehydrating.
I walked to The American Church in Berlin. It's near my house and there is services in English on Sundays and I have been wanting to attend for a while but am always distracted. I want to go this Sunday, but we'll see, as I have promised to spend time with my friends in Berlin late Saturday night. It was a great walk and the area just east of me is full of trees and old buildings. No matter which large city I am in I always think it similar to what I imagine of New York. I've been to New York city, and spent two weeks there, but the New York city I imagine is some romanticized Woody Allen New York city, that doesn't really exist.
I listened to Nathan Lawr and also Wintersleep and cleaned my room.
For dinner I had; a weak but interesting salad and rice, zucchini and carrots...healthy?
I went to a movie with my roommate Jana and her friend Maria (?) I forget her name...
It was a Scandinavian or Norwegian film and it was dubbed in German...meaning no English.
It was pitched in the newspaper as if Ingmar Bergman had made The Big Lebowski.
The film was great and slow and sparse enough for me to understand the spoken moments. It also looked great; like tarnished tiles of old swimming pools or rain stained tin, and every character looked chalked and dusty and acted half dead. My parents would have hated it.
It was called "Das Jüngste Gewitter" (2007), I think, which translates to English as "The Recent Thunder Storm", I think, but the 'international' title is "You, The Living". The real title though, is "Du Levande" from Denmark. It was made by Roy Andersson.

Meningitis

Today was sunny, it has been all week.
Yesterday Katie left back to London. It was wicked having her here. It was great to see someone from home but also because Katie lived in Vancouver, and I lived in Kelowna so we rarely saw each other. I took me moving to Berlin and her to London for us to hang out...
I met a David through Katie, he's also from London. He's pretty sweet, has a Commodore watch and was watching "War Games" (1983) when first met him. We talked about science fiction and pop-culture and Ubuntu a lot while we hung out. He's still in Berlin and when I visit Katie in London it will be cool to already have made friends with David, who will be back in London when I get there; he's only in Berlin briefly.
I had three classes today; American Education, Shakespeare's comedies, and 'city' novels.
The education class was alright.
We spent the majority of Shakespeare talking about authorship and translation and publishing and the authenticity and reliability of each. It reminded me of Biblical debates on translations and authorship and dating writings etc.
After the last class I wandered home, using the sun in the west-ish sky as a guide southwards. My sense of direction was surprisingly accurate.
I skateboarded for a couple of hours at a park near my apartment. I landed some nose-slides, kick flips and a f/s kick flip on a bank. There was a layered manual pad and I managed to ollie on and then manual to the next layer and then manual-ollie onto the next step-up and continue manualling. It wasn't too crowded which was great.
I watched Radiohead and it was the first time I've heard Thom Yorke talk. His voice was not-at-all what I expected.

6th Amendment

Today was sunny for a bit, but on the whole, I'll remember it as cloudy.
I slept in pretty late and had corn flakes and coffee for breakfast.
I bought "Jazz" by Toni Morrison, I think the cover is great!

Honorable Mention

Today was rainy and cloudy.
For breakfast I had coffee and toast and jam and a conversation with my roommate's mother about Paul Auster and his novella "City of Glass" (1985) and why I thought it was interesting, in German.
I had a class on the education system in America and also a class on Shakespeare's Comedies and also a class on novels about the "city".
The class on Shakespeare's comedies was difficult because the room is large and there is an incredible echo so everything is multiplied. The teacher's voice resounds to the point of being lost amongst the din of her echoes. Also whenever people shuffle paper or move a plastic bag that is all I can hear.
After classes I took out some money from my Canadian account and deposited some in my German account and kept some in my wallet. I walked for a while trying to find a new vegetable market that was both endearing and inexpensive. I didn't find one but I did find a stationary store and bought paper and folders. I also found a second-hand store and bought a pair of gray Wranglers for 50 cents! I also bought some pizza from a 'authentic' Italian restaurant near my apartment.
My mom called and said that a package arrived at my house in Kelowna. It was two records that I had ordered from the internet (Constantines, and a Constantines/Feist split). I won't hear them until July, but I am excited to own them.
I watched "Margot at the Wedding" (2007) by Noah Baumbach. I thought it was pretty good. Baumbach writes his characters with an honesty and thoughtfulness (in the truest sense of the word 'thoughtful') that is uncommon in reality. They seem to say what is on their mind and have no inhibitions to expressing their thoughts and feelings. This creates the comedy and drama in the movie. It's another movie about dysfunction in a family a kin to Wes Anderson (who Baumbach worked with on "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004)) and Baumbach's movie "The Squid and the Whale" (2005). Jack Black is in it and is forced to cry in his role and I thought he was convincing and also am somehow proud of him for grabbing a supporting role that is a bit of a push for him, but not in the way that he gets special attention for pushing himself as an actor. John Turturro is also in it, and I really like him.
I also watched "Lars and the Real Girl" (2007). It was OK; a film about coming to terms with loss and how some people deal with grief in unconventional ways. It's funny, and 'heart-warming'. Ryan Gosling is the lead actor and the movie rests pretty heavily on him, and I'm not sure he holds it up. The music at first seemed like Jon Brion, but then kind of withered away. I wouldn't recommend the film, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it, it justs means that I would recommend other films before this one.

Mending

I got back from Ireland today and didn't go to class.
My student loans are up in the air which is not great and completely expectable.
I listened to the new CBC3 podcast and watched a bunch of Feist Juno stuff on youtube.

This is a brief summary of my experience in Ireland;
Ireland is not surprisingly really green. It also has a lot of rain; But as quick as the rain comes, it goes. However, sometimes when it goes, it is replaced by hail or sunshine.
Leaving Germany I wasn't anticipating a language barrier. However, the Irish accent is quite strong and I mistook 'pound' for 'pint' and 'train' for 'T-N' (which I thought was a method of travel exclusive to Ireland, like 'U-bahn' or 'skytrain' or that train in Japan). Also, in efforts to reclaim a loss of national identity, Ireland is really promoting Gaelic and it is written on all their street signs and taught in southern schools.
I spent most of the time in the south west. I walked for about 7 hours straight along the shoulder-less highway. At times the traffic pushed me into the bushes lining the highway. At other times I would sprint around blind corners because I would have a better chance of being seen on straight stretches and was worried about getting killed by a car coming around the corner. Then I found out about a hiking trail far removed from the highway that most people use. So that was better. At one point while I was hiking about 6 cows were blocking my path and they are so frightening. I know that its spiders that are more afraid of you than you are of them, and the same probably goes for cows. They're these massive mammals with hooves and look so heavy and have these hauntingly dead eyes and I was so, so afraid. I talked to myself a lot as well. Walking for more than 7 hours alone makes you a little bit crazy.
I also rented a bike at times and rode along the same shoulder-less highway.
In addition to walking I; took a lot of pictures, saw a sheep carcass on the Atlantic cliffs, drank a lot of Guinness, and hitch-hiked successfully.
It was my first time seeing the Atlantic ocean. I wish it had been from Canada's shores but, oh well...

Menial Labor

Today was cloudy, rained briefly and then was sunny.
I went to school and scanned some photos.
I walked for a bit in Kreuzberg again and found a pretty cool coffee shop. It had old chairs and a taxidermied deer. It also old French Literary journals. Which is maybe 'pretentious' but hey were from like, 2002, so I dunno.
I made a salad and had two beer and watched some movies.
I watched "Gimme Shelter" (1970). It's about the Rolling Stones tour that ended at the Altamont Speedway free concert. It was really good. It has parts where The Rolling Stones are watching the footage of the tour and the concerts and its unclear really why we're watching them watch themselves. It becomes clear that they're watching to see the violence of the concert and the homicide that takes place at the concert. There are some stills from the footage that gave me shivers. It was really frightening watching the violence at the concert and they way things got out of control and how The Hell's Angels and The Rolling Stones independently tried to stop it. There were times too, where I felt untrusting of the editing. Meredith Hunter.
I also watched "El Topo" (1970). It is this absurdist western from the 70's. Everything in it is so theatrically rehearsed and really mystic and routined and ritualized; As if every action is some profound movement. It also makes theses statements about humanity et al that are so hollow. 'Perfection to is to lose yourself ', that kind of stuff, 'the heart and the head; swap them'. With obvious symbolism and contrast. It's just so empty. It may be argued as satire or irony and I guess it could be. But it just seems to take itself too seriously to be either.
It also uses Old Testament and New Testament imagery etc, not to create some idea about Christianity, but just more of the film 's self indulgence and attempt as being 'epic'.
The foley sound is also so terrible. Every sound effect is done in some studio.

Menthol Cigarettes

Today was cloudy, and rained for a bit.
I wrote a bunch of letters to my friends, and sent a present to my sister in Canada.
I tried reading again, but couldn't concentrate, so I went for a walk in Kreuzberg.
I cleaned up my room a bit.
I listened to Lamchop, "How I Quit Smoking" (1995). At first, like most of my first listenings to Lamchop, I didn't like it. And normally, with Lambchop, I just abandon the album. I stuck with "How I Quit Smoking" though, and my opinion of it is slowly changing. I think I like it.
I also listened to a lot of The Constantines.
I listened to two podcasts from this church in Victoria that is either called "The Place" or strangely, "The Church of Breakfast". I don't know which, but they did a series of sermons on the last book in the Bible, Revelation. It's pretty cool to hear about Revelation because so much of it is pretty fantastic and often misunderstood. There is one pastor there, at The Place/The Church of Breakfast, named Randy Hein. I think he is really good at speaking and letting himself be understood and focusing on what he is trying to say.

This is a picture of an igloo in Paris;

Mental Illness

Today was cloudy, and it rained for a bit.
I wanted to go to the service at the American Church in Berlin, but I slept in.
I went to a flea market in Kreuzberg and got some cool sweaters and a present for my sister.
I forgot my keys in my apartment so I had to wander around for a while.
When I got home I drew some pictures and read a little bit but couldn't really focus on anything so I had a nap.
I woke up around 7.
I watched "Hard Eight" (1996) by Paul Thomas Anderson. The movie is also known as "Sydney" by Paul Thomas Anderson, and "Last Exit Reno" by Germany. It was great. Watching his movies really makes me want to make movies. It was one of the hardest movie watching experiences I've had yet though; the DVD wouldn't play in my laptop so I hooked up the computer of the person whose apartment I am living in, then I found her keyboard and attached it, then I couldn't find her mouse and took one from my room mate who is away on vacation, then I couldn't turn off the German dubbing on her computer, then I finally did.
Then I watched the movie again with an audio commentary by Paul Thomas Anderson.

This is a dollar bill my close friend, Dane, gave me;

Apartment

Today was cloudy.
I woke up around 2 o'clock. I had eggs for breakfast. My new apartment has two birds for pets and I couldn't help but think that they somehow knew that I was eating eggs, and that I was somehow eating their unborn, unfertilized kin - which freaked me out.

I walked to a couple of second hand stores but they were all closed. I took the bus home and some old woman started talking to me on the bus. I thought that she was asking where her stop was but couldn't understand and just shrugged. Eventually she noticed that I couldn't speak German which led to her asking where I was from etc etc. I think she offered to teach me German and in an effort to leave the situation I told her I needed to get off at the next stop. It was a bus stop in front of an undeveloped Mosque. But she got off with me and then I told her that I was walking in the opposite direction that the bus was going, again, in an effort to leave her behind. She told me to wait and that she had a pen and would give me her phone number so we cold meet so that she could teach me German. She ended up writing all these dates on a piece of paper like, 1959, and 1994, and talking about, I think, Frankfurt and her son in Toronto. Anyways, she talked for about half and hour until finally I said that I had to leave.

I had potatoes, cauliflower, cucumber, tomato and avocado for dinner.
I watched "The Outlaw Josey Wales" (1976) with and by Clint Eastwood. I thought it was pretty good. Eastwood's character is pretty 'cool'. He chews and spits tobacco and carries 4 guns on his person et al. Its a pretty typical western. There are times that seem to put it outside the canon of westerns and there are some moments that I could really see emulated in"Dead Man" (1995) by Jim Jarmusch.

J.C. invited me to a bar in Neukolln called "A" pronounced "eh" or "ey". Then we went to another bar called" Astro". I tried making everyone talk about "No Country for Old Men" (2007), Don DeLillo, Flannery O'Connor and "There Will Be Blood" (2007). Which we did. But we disagreed on a lot of stuff, and one guy, Rex, well, I don't think that he liked me.

Department

I've been back from Paris for about two weeks. I spent the first week with Joe and Randi while I waited for my new apartment to become available. I had to write two papers while I was there, which I didn't, and we spent most of the time watching movies.

My new apartment is great because it's a 'zwischen-miete', which means 'between rent', which means it's a sublet; This is great because I've adopted all of the stuff of the person that I'm subletting for. Things like, a stereo system, a bed, a wardrobe, computer speakers, lamps, and a glass desk. The glass desk is great because I can shine a light through it and see through paper, which is good because I can make short animations. I'm planning on making a short animation about two people in a boat on a lake, playing chess and talking and that kind of stuff.

Yesterday was sunny, then rainy, then it hailed.
I walked to a park that was surprisingly empty of people. It was however, full of drug dealers who asked me if I wanted to buy drugs, which I didn't, and also said, "Hallo, Harry Potter!". I got a hair cut that I wasn't conscious of until I thought that maybe people thought looked like Harry Potter...but I don't.
I went into a record store called Scratch Records. There is a record store in Vancouver called Scratch Records that I like, so I went into this one. It wasn't as good as the Vancouver Scratch Records, but it did have 7" vinyl and I looked at some Les Savy Fav 7", a Wilco 7" and a TV on the Radio 7". I didn't buy any though - even though my new apartment has a lot of stuff, it doesn't have a record player.
I got a coffee and a scone at a cafe near my apartment.
I made some beans and vegetables for dinner, then I listened to a CBC3 podcast.

I've been reading a lot of "Underworld" (1997) by Don DeLillo, and I like it a lot. I'm on page 398 and about half way. I'm hoping to finish it before university starts, April 15th, or before I leave for Ireland, April 10th.

When I got back a couple of weeks ago there were a lot of letters from my friends; Dave, Dane, Phil, and Brittany, so I've been writing back to them also.

This is something that happened in Paris;

(I lived at a bookstore while I was in Paris, and made some friends...)

James, a boy originally from Halifax, who worked at the bookstore, invited people over to his apartment to watch some episodes of “Twin Peaks”. Me and Alice and Calogero went together and bought wine and I bought beer on the way. James lives in a fairly low income area of Paris and there also seemed to be more Black people than other places in Paris. English Gemma drank some of my beer and everyone else drank wine. It’s been a while since I had seen the first season of “Twin Peaks” and not that long ago that I had seen the second season of “Twin Peaks”. The first season is so noticeably better. Exponentially better. They seem to worlds apart, and I’d even attempt to say they are two different shows entirely.
A late twenties guy from Vancouver who had been living in Paris for 13-ish years, Matt, was also at James’ apartment but he tended to talk during the episodes and get distracted easy.

Penname

Today was cloudy.
I had bacon and eggs for breakfast.
I called this guy Robert, who's connected to my passport, and he told me that my passport would be able to be picked up Wednesday, if not Tuesday. !. I booked a flight for Paris literally after I hung up the phone.
I met with JC for coffee at a place called Fuchsbau, which means something like a 'fox den'. The picture outside had a fox wearing a wool sheep costume and the fox was presumably hunting sheep. It reminded me of those episodes where the coyote would dress up as a sheep and the dog would always stop him from one.
I watched "Naked Lunch" (1991) adapted from William Burroughs by David Cronenberg. I've yet to be impressed by Cronenberg. I would recommend watching "Barton Fink" (1991) by Joel Coen (strange that it was also made in '91). Although I don't doubt the creativity of Burroughs, I feel that it was slighted when transferred to film. The movie was, again, alright. Peter Weller acted well I think, but he and the par prosthetics couldn't save the film. It was also a loosely auto-biographical story, which is stunning.
I moved most of the furniture in my room onto the street. Yes, this is illegal, but I found most of the furniture in my room on the street, so I don't really care.
Around 12 o'clock, Gabriel opened a bottle of cheap champagne and made a German pasta-esque dish, called 'spetzel'.

Pennicilin

Today was sunny.
JC invited me to go for a coffee with his friend Maria. We went to a place in Charlottenberg called Schwarzes Coffee. It was really expensive. We also thought that we had ordered pots of coffee, but he instead ordered bowls of coffee...which cost 4 euros. I suppose it could be good preparation for France (still no passport pour moi!). We went out to the old Olympic stadium from the 30's; it looked like a stone castle Colosseum. It looked less like a sports arena and more like a prison. I watched "Juno" (2007). It's a story about an unplanned teenage pregnancy, although those words "unplanned" and "teenage pregnancy" in the same statement seem like a given. I didn't think it was a very good movie. Michael Cera is funny but absent throughout most of the film. Ellen Page plays the girl that shares the film's title (and Zeus's wife's) as a quirky off-beat 16-year-old girl. I could not tolerate sayings like "tunage" (when referring to music) and when things are called "bitchin' ". I don't know any 16-year-old girls anymore, but I've never knew any to talk like that. It's a slang that has always seemed contrived but maybe that's part of the character; regardless it is difficult for me to watch. The music is cute and fitting and there are some memorable moments; but the film is overall forgettable.
JC invited me to a party in a suburb of Berlin. It was a pretty fun party. There were a lot of Polish people there. We had a surprisingly good tasting Polish vodka and said "Na Zdrovia".

Penumbra

Today was clouded over, cold, and really windy.
I slept in pretty late.
I watched "Mean Streets" (1973) by Martin Scorsese. It was alright. There was a lot of hand-held shots, probably because of the budget. I think Scorsese uses music well in it. Sometimes there are scenes where the natural sound is muted and only music is heard, which creates an surreal feeling. It is a story about wise-guy New Yorkers in Little Italy. There are a lot of "whadsa madder wid you?" and "wadda yamean?" and "yekiddingme?"; rhetorical tough guy talk. Which is not the films strongest aspect.
Me and Bjorn had planned on going to White Trash, but Blood Red Shoes, the band playing, had sold out. So we ended up going to a bar in Kreuzberg named after a Luis Bunuel film, " El Angel Extermindor" (1962). The English translation is pretty obvious but in German it translates back and forth to mean The Choking Angel in English. I've never been to a bar named after a Bunuel film, but at the same time, why name your bar after a Bunuel film? Maybe because you're pretentious?...or maybe it attracts people like me?...or maybe just because it sounds like a good name for a bar?
This is a snack vendor near where I live;

Pensive

Yesterday was cloudy.
I slept in pretty late, and by the time I had woken up, Gabriel and Aletta had already cleaned up the apartment from the party.
I had bacon and eggs and toast for breakfast. I read a bit during the afternoon and then I went out to buy some vegetables. I went over to JC's apartment to cook. He was having a party and I said that I would contribute a soup. JC made a spicy (!) curry meal and also guacamole and potato salad. The party was pretty fun and at the same time kind of weird because it was all Americans. I think the party seemed odd because I've been here for nearly 6 months and haven't made friends or really interacted with people other than Germans; Suddenly I was surrounded by people throughout the states and having pretty normal conversations. Elizabeth continuously cut off songs by changing them on the computer. I was thinking what it would have been like to have music at parties before computers etc. Were people constantly changing vinyl during parties back in the 70's? In an 'age of the single' more and more the 'album' is slighted and I think that the party contributes to the loss of the album as a whole.
I left around 12:30 but didn't get home until 3-ish. After 1:00 the subway stops and I missed the last one, but the night buses run all night, so I waited for the bus. I had to wait about 30 minutes and then I got on the wrong bus. Well, it was the right bus, but headed in the wrong direction. After about an hour in the wrong direction, I realized that it was the wrong direction and headed back the way I came. Long story long, a 30 minute bus ride took nearly 3 hours.
This is a picture of a kitschy front yard at Xmas time;

Pencil Drawing I

Today was a little bit sunny but mostly cloudy.
I went in to the university to hand in my essay on Shakespeare's sonnet, get another 'benottete shein; (this time I got a 2,0 - which is like a B) and also to check my passport (no luck!).
I met Randi at the computer lab and then we went out for lunch at the cafeteria.
I got home around 3 and me and Gabriel went out and bought some beer, rum, coke, and snacks.
I cleaned up my room a bit and then had a shower.
Aletta started 'decorating' for the party. She was putting curtains in the tree-fort; arranging glasses on the counter and bowls of chips on the stove, hanging candle lanterns from the ceiling, and making a sign for the bathroom. I'm not sure how much Gabriel helped. He got pretty excited about his jug of rum and coke, and also the aestheticism of the apartment in preparation for the party. The party was pretty cool, and a lot of people showed up. Some of the people I invited can't speak German, so there ended up being these weird English speaking bubbles throughout the party. Which was kind of expected but at times, there would be a room of just the people I knew, speaking English, and then the other room would be only the people Gabriel and Aletta knew, speaking German.
Conversations ended up concerning themselves with the American candidates and Christianity. So although those are generally thing one wouldn't talk about, Joe steered every conversation to politics and theology...
We went out to "A", a bar near our apartment. It was pretty good except we all sat a one long table and there ended up being an unspoken division of an English side and German side...man!
We all left when Gabriel was picked up via his armpits and kicked out.
This is drawing I made of graffiti at Schelsisches Tor;

Appendix

Today was like yesterday; wet but not raining.
I slept in quite late. I am pretty sick and my morning consisted of eucalyptus, a long, hot shower, and a lot of blowing of my nose.
I filled a bucket with hot water, 5 black tea bags and my white windbreaker.
I went to a 4 story second-hand store in Friedrichshain. I was looking for a suitcase/travel bag to take with me on my trip (start date still still pending the return of my passport!).
I also went to East of Eden, the English language used book store. I was looking for Upton Sinclair or Cormac McCarthy. They had neither, but Nelson Algren was suggested to me. Algren was a 'dust bowl' author but I only recently finished "The Grapes of Wrath" so I don't think I can read another novel about that era in Americana.
I went back home and cleaned the bathroom and had some creamed-corn. I listened to an episode of this cooking show called, Let's Get Baked with Matt & Dave. I think the title is weak, but it has cool 'indie-rock' guests. This episode had Grant Lawrence. I think he is so funny, he had a miserable, complaining charm as a guest.
Then I had to go in and get my 'benottete shein' (graded credit) for my American Literature class; I got a 1,7 (A-)! All I really did was participate in class and do two presentations, so I think that's pretty rad.
I got home and made pasta.
Gabriel suggested (in regards to my cold, which at this point was in full effect); a great tea that had an unpronounceable/translatable name, hot lemon water, water, and warm beer. I told him that he was like my German equivalent of a mother, and motherly advice.
Hopefully I will feel a lot better tomorrow.
This is a picture of a circus in Berlin on a rainy day;

Repent

Today was clouded over. It didn't rain but it was really wet. The rain was in the air but not falling.
This morning I saw two women in full purdah (I'm not sure if that's the correct term). They were dressed in huge black robes that also hooded their faces. The only things visible were their eyes and the ridge of the noses. It was by the markets and it felt so surreal.
I went to the German Guggenheim museum. There was an exhibit called "True North". It had some great photography of Iceland and the Arctic Circle and some of the first video installations that I actually thought were good; generally I feel so unimpressed by video art in galleries. One example of the photography was a man who rode back and forth on skis tracing the topography of a mountain. The mountain was covered in snow and his skis left tracks that followed the rise and falls of the mountain. After that I photocopied some more theoretical texts for my essay on "White Teeth".
I bought some vegetables and made a soup. It was just carrots, celery root, a green onion (maybe a leek, I'm not sure) and parsley, but the soup was really good. I cleaned my room and packed away a lot of my stuff in preparation for my travels (the start date still pending the return of my passport!).
I bought what I think is an anti-histamine drug and a box of tissues, as my allergies are in all out war.
Gabriel and Aletta are planning a party on Wednesday and I think tomorrow I have to clean the bathroom.
This is a picture of a statue in Berlin;

Depend

Today was sunny.
I was pretty tired because I got little sleep and I drank a lot of beer yesterday so I was also really thirsty. I went out to Honow, which is technically not even Berlin anymore. It was pretty suburban but almost rural. I went out to meet this girl Carola, who I've become friends with. She's pretty rad and talks pretty honestly about herself and her life. She also speaks differently; it kind of sounds like how a deaf person sounds when they speak, but not as extreme as that. I'm not saying that to be mean, I actually think it's pretty endearing. We walked her dog and drank tea.
I read some Homi Bhabha on the subway home.
I watched "No Country For Old Men" (2007) again. The movie is adapted from a Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. McCarthy just won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel "The Road". I'm a sucker for the Pulitzer Prize, so I want to read it.
Then I made a sandwich and drew a couple of drawings.
I talked to my sister and my mom and my dad on the phone.
I made a salad, but wasn't paying attention and accidentally put chili pepper in it instead of black pepper. The chili pepper was so spicy and ruined the salad and I couldn't even eat it. Then I rubbed my face and eyes - the chili pepper burned so much! The sensation was unbearable, I thought I was going to be blind!
This is a picture of a building that I think is ugly in Kreuzberg;

Penelope

Today was sunny.
I didn't accomplish much. I mailed a letter to Mack but then when I got home I hung around in my room. I read a lot about Paul Thomas Anderson and then I got stranded on the internet and ended up watching John Safran on youtube. I read some sonnets by Shakespeare; I have to write a paper on one of his sonnets and I'm deciding between 50 or 73. 50 is about this guy who's slowly riding a horse and he's thinking about all that he's leaving behind; a person he loves but also I think maybe his youth.
Then I made a sandwich and had curry for dinner.
Elizabeth invited me to a bar with some of her friends. The bar was pretty busy and beer was over priced. There were some English people sitting near us, and for whatever reason Ireland came up and there is a lot of animosity between England (this one guy at the bar) and Ireland. The girl was a linguistics student, and I've been noticing a lot of stuff about the German language and we talked about that for a bit.
I ended up making friends with Elizabeth's friend Jiann-Chyng (JC) and me and Elizabeth and JC left the bar and went to a different bar and then went to JC's apartment. JC and I have pretty similar tastes in music. He accused me of being 'emo'; my haircut, my jeans and my shirt. I thought black t shirts or 'band' t shirts defined 'emo' but now I guess it's solid colors. I'm loathe to accept that label but I don't think I'll ever escape it. Me and JC stayed up until 7 talking about music et al, and I slept on his couch.
I think I'm getting sick and my allergies are starting to act up. I'm also noticing that the hair on my head and legs is always standing on end with static electricity - which I hate.
This is a picture of a ferris wheel and a bus stop;

Pentagram

Today was sunny and cloudy.
I slept until 1230-ish, we got home late last night, and I was really tired.
My passport still hasn't been returned from the visa office!
I listened to a lot of Daniel Johnston today...I think it may be easier for me to appreciate it than I thought.
I had a sandwich for dinner, which felt awkward and then I went to "There Will Be Blood"(2007). I was so excited to see it, I actually could feel my pace quickening as I walked to the theater. I'm never sure who to credit with the way a film looks, director Paul Thomas Anderson, or cinematographer Robert Elswit. Some scenes are photographed and staged so well, they could be hung in galleries. Daniel-Day Lewis is good, but I think Paul Dano does a great job too. He plays a religious leader of a church that seemed to be a fanatic off-shoot of Christianity. Characters like that are always hard for me to watch. I also noticed that some of the actors share their names with their characters. The film is long, but it never seemed to be. Watching it, it felt as though it wasn't really developing. The film is paced and the story structured so that nothing really 'happens'. That obviously isn't true, things happen, its just that rising action doesn't seem to 'rise', but remains a steady gait throughout the film. I want to read "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair, the novel the film is inspired from. Johnny Greenwood's score was appropriate to the film, but also sometimes felt out of place, like the strings sometimes did on Joanna Newsom's "Y's"(2006). I can't put my finger on what makes a Paul Thomas Anderson film a Paul Thomas Anderson film. The ending is fantastic.
This is a picture I took of a cross in Berlin;

Pentagon

Today tried to rain all day long.
Someone from the apartment administration woke me up at at 7 by ringing the doorbell and knocking on the door. I had a banana and a coffee for breakfast then went to my last class of the semester.
I didn't do much after class. I scanned a bunch of of photos into the computer at school but the power went out so I will have to do it again tomorrow...
I played guitar most of the afternoon. Some of Gabriel's friends came and we watched a soccer game between Scotland and Germany. It was OK. Gabriel's friends were; a thinner more Jewish Scott and a older guy who was blading so he, like most balding older men, shaved his head. He did leave one lone dreadlock ratrail at the back though.
We went to a pub in Prenzlauerberg and met up with a bunch of Gabriel and Aletta's classmates. Then we took a taxi to "A", this bar near our apartment. The taxi driver said that he had only been asked to drive to our neighborhood once since 1969. He also said that he is the oldest taxi in Berlin, and had newspaper articles to prove it. I downloaded "Red Apple Falls" (1997) by smog and also "Yip Jump Music" (1983) and "Fun" (1981) by Daniel Johnston.

Pendulum

Today was mostly sunny.
I forgot the peanut butter and jam sandwich I made when I left for school.
My sonnet class was pretty good. We read e.e. cummings, "next to of course god" (1926). I think some of the students liked it because of their misplaced angst towards George Bush. I liked it too though, less for the political edge it had, but for the way cummings challenged poetry and language. I had a long break between classes and ended up drinking 4 cups of coffee, and I think I can still feel the effects of the caffeine. My passport still hasn't been processed and returned and I think it may postpone my travel plans, albeit by only a few days. My American literature class was just a 'wrap-up' session, but me and Phillip got to talking and he told me some great stuff about the south of France. Phillip studies music and really likes Lambchop, and said there is an archive of live recordings and that Lambchop has a great concert and I said I liked smog and that I had heard "Is A Woman" (2002) but that I didn't like it.
I read a lot about In "The Aeroplane Over the Sea" (2008) when I got home. It's a hard album to talk about, I don't think much more can be said about it and what pitchfork is doing is maybe not the smartest thing to do. I also think I'm developing a relationship with Jeff Magnum really similar to what I've created with Dylan, which ends up being really special, but also limiting, for me and for them. It's becoming harder and harder for me to talk about Bob Dylan, and I can see now, that I'm doing the same to Jeff Magnum.
Also reading about Neutral Milk Hotel, Daniel Johnston came up once or maybe twice. I think I have a pretty intelligent understanding of music and can be pretty objective, but - but - Daniel Johnston is something that is going to take a lot of me.
I talked to my mom an the phone for about an hour. Then I made a pretty great curry rice and beef meal.
I finished "White Teeth". It was great, even if the ending was spoiled for me. Oh well.
I think "There Will Be Blood"(2007) comes out here tomorrow, so I'm really excited about that.
I edited some more Super8.
This is some Super8 film of a bee on a dandelion and willow tree leaves;

Serpent

Today was cloudy.
My creative writing class was pretty fun. If anyone ever suspected creative writing to be an 'easy' course or of less academic fervor than today's class would be a prime example. We ate cookies and played word games; spontaneous rhyming, worst opening sentences to novels, incoherent lists of commands. It was, like I said, pretty fun.
My American Literature studies class went well as well. I was tentative to present AHWOSG and had prepared "America" by Allen Ginsberg in case everyone else brought canonical texts; Ginsberg was my Plan B. But (!) Sabine brought "Survivor" (2006) by Chuck Palahniuk, so the coast was clear for Dave Eggers. I am pretty nervous with presenting among my peers and it never fails that I am asked to "slow down a bit". However, I think AHWOSG was generally well-received and I pitched it pretty well; I literally sold it. Literally. I sold my copy to my professor, which is great because I wasn't to sure if my plan of returning it would work.
Me and Max went for a coffee while waiting for a lecture after hours at the university. I only had a vague understanding that the lecture would involve music so I said I would go. It was about Mohandas Gandhi and Martin King and their achievements. The presenter was a towering Black man, Kevin Maynor, and he was accompanied on piano by a less towering White guy, Eric Olson. I don't question that they were both talented in their respective skills, however, the couldn't have been more un-harmonic. Maynor's spoken word (Darth Vader) and operatic style of singing were powerful and Olsen is an accomplished pianist, but they seemed to be working against each other and rarely complemented each other's performance. There was also an overwhelming Christian aspect to the presentation. Granted Martin King was a Christian, but the lecture bordered less on the struggle of race relations in America and more on Christ's teachings of understanding and love. Maynor sang excerpts from the Bible, that reminded me of Anglican bishops and the speak-sing they sometimes do, and he sang "Blessed Assurance" and his encore was solo effort of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". Both hymns center on salvation, not Black and White relations, so it seemed somehow...unrelated.
All the grocery stores were closed when I got home and I was really hungry. I ended up caving and eating at ActivChickenHaus, an establishment whose name is an amalgamation of English and German, and I had a meal which, I'm sure, was an amalgamation of chicken and well, something else. It tasted like failure and defeat. Never. Again. Ever.
Gabriel and Aletta and their classmate Phillip were studying when I got home. They only spoke in German, but I think they were talking about Calvinism and it's concepts of predestination and knowing God, Capitalism and then Hinduism and it's concepts of reincarnation.
I edited some more Super8 film.
This is some Super8 film of my sister Kathleen and a windy day in Kelowna;

Happening

Today was cloudy.
I had my Post-Colonial London seminar today. I still don't know what I'm going to write my 12 page essay on... I'm thinking about how religion is represented in Post-Colonial texts, but that sentence is far from a thesis. Me and Joe went out for coffee after and shot the shit.
I made some copies and an unnecessary transparency of AHBWOSG. I don't how the presentation will go tomorrow, here's hoping.
When I got home I went 'running'. You can tell I'm not a person who should 'run' as I don't own 'running' clothes and wore jeans and a pair of far-from 'running' shoes. I also think that I may have an ugly 'running' style. There was another 'runner' at the park and I was somehow embarrassed to 'run' around her and planned my laps so as to not cross our paths. I don't know when 'running' became such an involving activity and required so many of these ' '; Remember when running was just something you did at elementary school. While running I was picturing the scenes when Kevin Spacey runs in "American Beauty" (1999)
I made some pasta; using the term 'pasta' loosely, as it was only noodles and a store bought sauce.
I'm butchering my new canvas; think mountains made of mustard and characters made of plasticine.
I'm really listening to a lot of Andrew Bird lately, mostly "Armchair Apocrypha"(2007).
I also edited some of my Super8 film.
This is some Super8 film of traffic after rain;

Pennsylvania

Today was hazy.
I slept in until 10. I bought a coffee and a muffin from the bakery at the end of the street and took it to the park. I read a chapter and a bit of "White Teeth". I gave Aletta her birthday present when I got home and then her and Simon went out for a bit. While they were gone Gabriel approached me and said that Simon had 'ordered' a Mariachi band to play for Aletta as a surprise. I'm terrible at surprises and Gabriel said that Simon said that he and Aletta would come home and then Gabriel and I would have to distract Aletta while the band set-up in her room. We were all convinced this was a bad idea and instead, the band came first and set-up and then Aletta and Simon would return from their walk. It was a really great present and the band, a three piece, sounded great. At one point though, I wasn't sure if we were enjoying the music or somehow exploiting a culture. We may have been doing both; I definitely enjoyed it.
I hung out around the apartment most of the afternoon, eating toast and drinking tea and reading. I watched "The Deer Hunter" (1978). It was 3 hours long, emphasis on the 'long' part. I thought it was really good though, I mostly liked the parts in that took place in America. I really identify with factory workers, and their steel-toed lives. Maybe it's somehow because of my dad. There's something about that persona though, like Jack Nicholson in "Five Easy Pieces" (1970) or even in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) . I'm almost in a way, envious. Maybe I'm just being maudlin though...
I made hamburger and potatoes and peas for dinner. I had a couple beer after dinner and didn't do much before going to bed.
I watched the trailer for the Ladyhawk documentary.
This is a picture of 'graffiti' near Schlesisches Tor;

Peninsula

Today was cloudy, but with blue sky visible but no real sun except it was sunny when I was in the park.
It was Saturday so I could sleep in, and I did, until around 11.
I got a notice to pick-up a package today, yesterday, so that was my only real appointment. It turned out to be my birthday (December 8th) and Christmas (December 25th) gifts from Adam and Troe (sic); a comic book (Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life), a Choose Your Own Adventure (Tattoo of Death) book and a scarf. I think I'll take the Choose Your Own Adventure to France...for obvious or less than obvious reasons.
I got back home from the post-office and then went into "town".
I climbed a wall to get into a closed park and swimming pool. The wall is maybe about 10 feet tall and covered in barbed and/or razor wire. I found a barren spot though and climbed over. The backside of the wall was covered in moss that was surprisingly warm. The park however, not surprisingly, was empty. It was really surreal being in the park. There were two huge swimming pools and a big grass field with trees. It was totally empty and I walked around for a bit and took some 35mm pictures. Then I laid down against a tree and the sun came out.
I bought groceries on my way home. I don't like buying groceries. It could be the lines or the fact that money is becoming more and more important with my fast approaching travel plans. Regardless, I hate grocery shopping. I read the comic book in one sitting; it was funny and full of pop-culture which is a "+".
I made a pretty bland pasta dinner and then read some of White Teeth (2000) by Zadie Smith. I'm nearly finished it and like it a lot.
Tomorrow is Aletta's birthday so I went out after reading and bought her a Charlie Parker CD. It's a recording of a performance at Massey Hall. I listened to it and it sounded pretty good. I really wanted to get a concert performance CD, being that its jazz, and it's known for its live characteristics. I also bought "A Heart Breaking Work Of Staggering Genius"(2000) by Dave Eggars. On Tuesday we have to present a book of American Literature and I'm going to make transparencies of the preface and memorable parts to AHBWOSG, present it and then return it to the book store and pretend it was a gift but the person already had it. We'll see...
Simon (Aletta's boyfriend) is here for Aletta's birthday.
This is a newspaper clipping of a boy in a grocery store;

Pen Drawing II

Today was cloudy.
I slept in until 11 and had cereal for breakfast.
I had no class today, as I do every Friday, so I had planned on going to a photography exhibit.
On my way to the gallery, I cut through this old vacant lot and there were 4 rottweiler puppies wrestling with each other. I'm sure you can imagine, but it was pretty adorable, even if they were probably homeless or owned by someone homeless. The exhibit was really really good. It was called "Martin Parr : Assorted Cocktail", a collection of Martin Parr's works. It was a photo journalism documenting how obnoxious globalization is and how marketable national pride and Roman Catholicism/Buddhism are and how disgusting tourism can be. Parr is a master of juxtaposition, photographing birds eating Fried Chicken left-overs, kids swimming, literally, in garbage, people taking photos of landscapes with landscapes screen-printed on their t-shirts and handbags, etc.
http://www.martinparr.com/
I bought some potatoes and yellow peppers on the way home. I also bought a new canvas and am excited to paint a new picture. I went skateboarding after dinner, it wasn't too crowded but then some really good guys showed up and annihilated the park. I got home as Gabriel, Aletta and Mario were heading out to a party. I stayed home instead of joining them because my back was hurting after skateboarding. I finished the painting of Chaad and started a new one while listening to the CBC3 "makeout" podcast. They played my Jon-Rae request, which was rad - except Grant Lawrence said the wrong title of the song...
Jens Lekman is playing on the 16th so I'll wait to see him and then I'll go to France.
This is a pen drawing I made of a roadblock in Kenya;