October 2017

Diary

Farbfilm vergessen

German Unity Day: We took a trip down to Entenwerder 1, a nice little café on the Elbe. Cappuccino and cake. There a huge park area nearby, which used to be a water filtration plant until sometime in the 20th century. The weather didn’t bestow us with sunshine and warm air, but it was pleasant to walk around there, even with grey skies and drizzling rain – more »authentic« that way, anyway.

I always enjoy helping people move, especially when they move right across from the Informatikum (computer science department of Universität Hamburg). We had snacks and Pizza.

Theater

First play after the long summer break: Tartuffe at Thalia Theater. Lots of ABBA songs used to express the characters’ feelings. Nice idea. When summing up the gist of the production to my girlfriend later on, I found that this style of theater production really doesn’t leave you with much to ponder once the show’s over.

Diary

When some people I knew from uni asked me to join their weekly early Sunday morning football games, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Having been there a few times by now, I can only say: How’d I ever forget that playing football was so much fun? Highly recommended.

Concert

Last year I was them in Lübeck, this year they conveniently played in Hamburg: Paula & Karol. And they have a new record out. The show was good, but the main event of the evening took place on our way over to the venue.

Cat content

After having Pizza in Eimsbüttel, we started walking through a residential street, when we heard loud meowing coming from somewhere. Me, being the heartless bloke that I am, urged us onward, but my girlfriend insisted this cat was crying for help. So we tried to make out where exactly the meowing was coming from and finally pinpointed it to the underside of a van. Not being able to spot the cat down there in the dark (it was already around 7pm), we called the fire department.

Two firemen arrived ten minutes later and with their flashlights we were actually able to make out where the cat was hiding. Turned out, it wasn’t stuck; but frightened and greasy all over. We got some tuna from a local restaurant to lure it out of its hiding spot. Hardest decision this year: not to take in this little rascal! It was well-nourished though, so we figured it got lost and started crying for help. The firemen took it to an animal shelter and we made our way to the concert.

Movies

Blade Runner 2049: what a feast. The story, well, it was alright. Better than I expected of a Blade Runner reboot. But the experience of seeing this in a big cinema. Gosh. Incredible. Superb. Away-blowing. Seriously, I loved watching this movie as much as I hated the writers for their cheap, extra-evil supervillain and some other minor annoyances I don’t want to spoil.

Another great movie, out of China this time: Angels Wear White, directed by Vivian Qu, who was a producer on Black Coal, Thin Ice. A movie about the entanglement of all sorts of people through corruption. And sexual abuse of school children. Not so much moving, as thought-provoking. When we got out of the theater, we didn’t say much for about ten minutes or so. Don’t expect a good time, but please do watch it.

Concert

Nina Hagen performing songs written by Bertolt Brecht at Schauspielhaus, why not? Very nice show, but some of her comments throughout the evening, well… let’s put it this way: she didn’t say, but at the end the whole crowd knew what party she’d voted in the September election.

Academia

Shanghai Hamburg Forum: I was asked to help, so I did. Not moving this time (well, we moved a few tables and whatnot), but rather being available and cleaning up after people (the term »lobby boy« comes to mind). Quite interesting (I should say so) and we dragged out the informal part of the evening for some time as well.

Concert

Why do people play in bands that sound like Mumford & Sons? I’m seriously asking.

Diary

The Hamburg International Boat Show took place for the last time this year. »Ticket Prices like 1961«, they said and we listened. Sort of understandable why this was the last time. It’s not really that entertaining if you’re not really interested in current developments of sail and motor boats (i.e. looking to buy a boat in the near future). But fun to see for once.

Reformation Day: 500 years of 95 theses. I didn’t ask for this (state) holiday, which threw off my whole internal uni schedule clock. But since that has been screwed with anyway – thanks, Daylight Savings Time – might as well enjoy the free time: with a walk along the Alster and fiddling around with your website’s design.

But lo! There breaks a yet more glorious day.