A short look back on the first month of 2006. Good music, good movies, good books - lots of travelling and visiting family and friends. The mole (birthmark) over my right eyebrow was removed, I sprained my ankle badly (thank you Andi for bringing me home) and now I am happy to be back in Helsinki for the next two weeks.

Forgive me, that I mostly list the good things below - there is just not time enough time, to review the not-so-good artworks.

Read:

• Michel Houellebecq - Die Möglichkeit einer Insel / The Possiblility of an Island
  Misanthropic, sad and haunted by sex - that's Michels style in Die Ausweitung der Kampfzone / Whatever and Elementarteilchen / The Elementary Particles. In this new book his view on mankind has become a bit more negative and he really makes the reader blieve that everything that happens between North- and South-Pole is disgusting and the only advantage is anyhow that it makes no sense. At the very end he seems to leave a little light of hope burning. Weather it's a hope that you like, you'll have to find out on your own. A good book, but Elementarteilichen / The Elementary Particles was better. (7/10)

• Juli Zeh - Spieltrieb
  On over 560 pages Juli Zeh ist not capable of writing a single wrong sentence. Every word, every metaphor fits - and many of them hurt. Her talent in using the German language is for sure unique. Already Adler und Engel / Eagles and Angels was a crime and a love story. In Spieltrieb she changes the scenario from drug addicted grown ups to a German grammar school. We meet Ada, a fourteen year old girl, whose mind is one of a fully grown-up and disillusioned person. We meet Smutek, her teacher who tries to find happyness, or at least hope, together with his wife. And we meet Alev, one of Adas classmates - a player of games. And as all games between people, also this becomes serious and ends in something that might look like a catastrophe at first glance. (8/10)

Saw:

• Match Point
  Woody Allen leaves the comedy (not for the first time) and New York (must have been for the first time), goes to London and directs a love-crime-tragedy that sucks you in, shakes your emotions and leaves you waiting for more. But the end is as cruel as justice is. One might not like the moral implications this movie transports, but it is a perfectly constructed, directed and acted story, that will not let you think of anything else until it is finished. (9/10)

• Southpark - Bigger, Longer and Uncut
  I said it already - it is great! (9/10)

• Bob Dylan - No Direction Home
  Martin Scorsese makes a movie about the early Bob Dylan and the man himself talks about himself and it is all wonderful. This documentary made me listen to Dylans song in a different way - with much more background knowledge. I even took out the one and only Woody Guthrie record I have and listend to it. Don't watch this if you do not like Dylan. (9/10)

• Ronin
  I saw this in 98 when it was released and now again on TV, but I did not like it too much. It is a good thriller, but the streets of Nice and Paris are too empty and just waiting for the cars that chase each other through them. (5/10)

Listend to:

• Mary Broadcast Band
  Now, after coming back home again, I am able to listen to their first album, which is unfortunately not available in stores. The three songs on their web page are good, but the album is just perfect. I saw them live, but I do not know them personally, so don't think I would make advertisement for friends here. They simply play the blues and Marys voice has a power rarely heared these days. Be there at their next concert, get a CD. (10/10)

• Juliette and the Licks - You're Speaking my Lanuage
  This is the little Juliette Lewis, who played in Natural Born Killers. Somebody must have told her to make music and this somebody should get a special bonus. This is very well made Rock'n'Roll - loud, aggressive, sometimes sad and always good. (8/10)

• Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un M'a Dit
  Yes yes yes, I like to listen to female voices. I know that. And Mrs. Bruni is not only good to listen too - we also know that. But still her songs are so easy and so much Cote d'Azur, that even a 42 square meter room in Helsinki in Winter becomes a cozy place for forgetting everything that is anyhow not worth the trouble. (9/10)

• CocoRosie - Noah's Ark
  I heared them on Zündfunk on German Radio Bayern 2 and their sound and song was so different, that I had to hear more of them. Their music is organic and does not go into cateogries of loud or soft, happy or sad. Sigur Ros is maybe in a way similar, but then again - only hardly similar. Don't listen to this as background music - it gives you a severe headache. (7/10)

Played:

• Tarock
  A big "Thank You" to Alice, Christian and Johannes, who not only took time with me in Vienna, but also taught me this great game. I got addicted to it and play it on the my computer all the time.

Travelled:

• Wien
• Budapest
• Miesbach
• Nürnberg

Alle Maiers sind verschieden - die einzig akzeptable Schreibweise ist mit ay zwischen dem M und dem er. Der Name an sich ist ein Sammelbegriff für einen verwegenen Menschenschlag der sich öffentlich meist harmlos gibt jedoch hinter der vermeintlichen Ödnis seines Namens die Weltherrschaft mittels perverser Praktiken zu erlangen sucht. Altbaiern wird bereits von den Mayerischen beherrscht und gibt sich nach aussen (exoterisch) konservativ, verstockt und deppert während im Inneren (esoterisch), hinter den Stumdialn (Stubentüren - Wohnzimmereingangsverschlüssen) unnennbare Praktiken betrieben werden, die nur für einem von Geburt an eingeweihten und spätestens mit 14 in einer katholischen Kirche voll initiierten Mitglied der Mayerei voll verständlich und erträglich sind. Die Eingemeindung Preissns ("Operation Mistgabel") wird in einem kühnen Überraschungsangriff innerhalb der nächsten Dekaden über die Bühne gehen.

Ansonsten gilt die altgriechische Weisheit (Siehe Sokrates: Phaidon, vierte Szene, letzter Aufzug): "Obacht gem, lenga lem", die im Folgenden erläutert wird:

"lenga lem" hat seinen Ursprung wahrscheinlich im Hinterpersischen und umschreibt um 400 v.UZR die bewusste Abwendung der griechischen Philosophen vom Glauben an ein Existenz nach dem Tod - es ist sozusagen (sehr schwer zu übersetzen) der Hinweis darauf, dass es sinnvoller ist die Existenz im Diesseits zeitlich auszudehnen.

Die Herkunft von "Oh-bacht" ist nicht klar. Man vermutet es handelt sich um eine Wortkonstruktion des Sokrates - wiederum eine Abkehr, diesmal von der Verehrung der Götter hin zu einem mehr in die Natur eigebetteten Leben, einem (für damals recht grüne Vorstellungen) "vorsichtigen" Leben.

"gem" kann mann allgemein mit dem Verb "sein" übersetzen - es beinhaltet im Zusammenhang dieses Satzes aber auch einen mahnenden Zusatz (das "m" am Ende), dass eine eher strenge Befehlsform vermuten lässt.

Sei achtsam mit Deinem eigenen Jetzt, damit Du nicht zu früh herausfindest, dass es kein Jenseits gibt - so könnte man es recht frei übersetzen.

Es hat inetwa den gleichen Stellenwert in der modernen Philologie wie der bekannte hebräische Ausspruch "wer von Euch ohne Sünde ist, den lass ich als ersten rein".

The pictures visible on the blog-pages are not thumbnails (as long as they are not included from other pages) and therefore the page loads much faster. Many thanks to Andreas K. for requesting that.

The thumbnails are done with Visualizer Photo Resize, a freeware tool that is easy to use.

My website at www.fragmentspuren.de is currently down and redirected to this Weblog. Fragmentspuren will come up again during the next weeks.

On Thursday the Mary Broadcast Band played in Cafe Carina (see also here)in Vienna. They play good and honest Blues and Rock sound, the singer has a great voice and some of their songs, especially the wild ones, make it impossible to sit on a chair - one has to move. Three of their slower songs can be found from their web page and I achieved to buy one of the few CDs they had available. It seems you cannot get the CD up till now in normal stores. Keep an eye (and both ears) on this band, they are really worth it.

Mary Broadcastband Concert in Cafe Carina, Vienna

Paparazzi at the Concert

This positive music event was tainted a little by the news that Alalie Lilt, another very good newcomer band from Vienna, has split recently. Their two albums belong to my favourites as the band had a very special sound, often sad and melancholic.

And yes, I know that the pictures are not best quality. As usual during a concert the lights were not made for taking pictures with a mobile phone camera. So apologies for the bad quality, I hope they nevertheless give you an impression of the evening.

And no, the person on the paparazzi pictures is not me. :)