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.