Helvetica über Alles

One hundred best fonts, in a table.
Gotham at #41? Maybe it's too new.

Famous friend

While I was in DC I walked around the various Smithsonian buidlings and came across this portrait competition. Some really amazing paintings and photos. The winner was a 2 by 3 foot digital print of a photo taken by Dave Woody of Colorado:



It's a strong portrait and technically a great photograph, but what really gets me is that I'm pretty sure I've met this person. Is that possible? Or is there really something about the lighting, styling, the model, etc. that just fools me into thinking that? And does it work for everyone like that, or does it have something to do with my age, my socio-economic background, my fondness of V-necks, etc.

Windy islands

I recently went to the movie theaters and saw both 'Shutter Island' and 'Ghost Writer' (on different occasions), big budget movies from two of the most well-respected (and aging) directors of all-time.

I suppose it's just a coincidence that both films revolve around young hunky guys sort of stranded on unnamed small islands in New England, with periodic inclimate weather forcing said protagonists to seek shelter in run down cabin/shacks, leading to chance encounters with local islanders.

.
Off to the island, you sure you wanna go?

But what might be less of a coincidence is the fact that both movies seem so out of touch with contemporary story telling. I'm not sure what CST is but I can tell you it's not: a shot of Leo DiCaprio nervously making his way through the island prison, passing through a broken door with a sign that says 'This door to remain locked at all times'. Or: Ewan McGregor introducing himself to potentially menacing government agents as 'the ghost...I mean, the ghost writer.'


Local stranger with valuable information

In fact there are so many moments like this in the Ghost Writer that I almost feel like Polanski gets away with it, sort of a throw back to some other era when films had to be explicit in this melodramatic way (was it ever like that?).

In any case, the strange thing is that both of these movies got really good reviews. Don't get me wrong, I thought both films looked great and most of the time I was having fun watching them. But so often these moments happened that it becomes disconnecting, I have to look around the theater to deal with the awkwardness. I feel like it's lazy film making (didn't someone notice this in editing room?), and I have to think that it has something to do with the fact that these guys are so famous. Compare these movies to some of the more nuanced and subtle story telling from some younger directors like Ramin Bahrani (I just recently saw 'Goodbye Solo') and it really becomes apparent.

Ivy league

Overheard today on the Dartmouth campus:
`I've met some really friendly homeless people, actually.'

Last Days

My time in Berlin is running out and I still have some things I want to do:

Book reading at St. George's bookstore. DONE
Climb up the Teufelsberg.
Meet the President (of Germany). DONE
See the Pergamon. DONE
Swim in/lounge around the Badeschiff.
Swim across Schlachtensee. DONE
Swim in Wannsee.
See the Schloss Charlottenburg.
Get turned down at Berghain. DONE
Get into Berghain. DONE
Not get confused between 'noch' and 'schon'.
Learn how to decline adjectives.
Determine if a certain math professor wears pantyhose or not.
See the Soviet War Memorial in Treptow. DONE



Watch an episode of Tatort.

Others?

Sketchlist

We're heading back to the US soon and these days we're slowly packing up our things. Part of the process includes putting up the few items that are worth selling (printer, guitar, etc) on various Craigslist type websites and listserves. So far we've had a few responses, but somehow the combination of poor grammar, use of all capital letters, fondness for cashier's checks, and requests for overseas shipping seem to indicate that these are less than scrupulous characters. Here are some samples:

i m glad to hear from u,i m a student in UK and i will really appreciate if u can made the transaction with me....so kindly give me all necessary info like your full name to be on the check,your postal address your,postal code,your mobile phone number for easier communications to send the cheque i have with me .......it will cover your payment and shipping.........nice to hear from u again.

thanks
john


HELLO, AM JUST CHECKING ON THE ITEMS ON THE CRAIGSLIST AND FORTUNATELY
I CAME ACROSS YOUR ADVERT AND I AM SATISFIED BY THE DESCRIPTION OF THE
ITEM...
I WILL LIKE TO KNOW THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE ITEM WHETHER GOOD OR BAD..
PLEASE WHEN REPLYING MY MAIL ATTACH RECENT PICTURE OF THE ITEM SO I CAN SEE
IF AVAILABLE... ALSO LET ME KNOW YOUR BUSINESS TERMS AND CONDITION...
I WILL BE HOPING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON


Hello,
I am very much excited to hear back from you.I lived in the UK.The guitar is meant for my daughter studying abroad.I will take it at your price.I want to know the method of payment you will like,but i prefer paying you with a certified check.The payment will include the shipping funds.Let me know if you accept the offer by sending me the necessary information to get the payment across to you.
My regards,
Emmanuel

(After responding to 'Emmanuel' with a polite message indicating our preference for face-to-face interactions, cash, etc. we got this back:)

why will you worry about the shipping.I should be saying that.!! I have a reputable shipping compnay that handles my consignment neatly without blemish.So let me worry about that.You just have to worry on how you get the payment on time by giving me the information i requested from you.Thank you for your concern.
Emmanuel

Swede shot

I don't really know what hockey is, but this is pretty funny. Also, here's a picture of an ice hockey team from 1921, taken from wikipedia:

Happy bday Baron

A few days ago it was Georges-Eugène ("Baron") Haussmann's 200th birthday (he's dead now). Haussmann's the guy who completely redesigned Paris back in the 1860s with the wide streets and boulevards that define the city today, in general solidifying the idea that the planning of a city could have a significant political and social effect on its citizens. Dropping Haussmann's name was a popular thing to do back in college, I guess partly since you could say things like 'Haussmannisation'. He was also a big part of the great city planning course that I took as a senior. Ananya Roy was the instructor, one of the best professors I had in my 4.5 years at Berkeley (also didn't hurt her appeal among some of us that she came out of the Castells school of thought).



For an account of Haussmann's influence among contemporary city planning check out this great article.

Out of gas

I was listening to NPR the other day as usual the topic was the struggle for economic recovery and in particular Obama's recent budget proposal. In this segment they were focusing on criticisms of the proposal and I figured I might learn something about the complicated economic forces at play. But one after another all we got from the Republican skeptics were empty metaphors and (literally) shit jokes. I could only remember a couple:

Senator Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire) provided this technical breakdown of the Obama budget proposal on a morning news show:

It is as if you were flying an airplane and the gas light came on and it said 'you have 15 minutes of gas left' and the pilot said 'we're not going to worry about that, we're going to fly for another two hours.' Well, the plane crashes and our country will crash and we'll pass on to our kids a country that's not affordable,"

Meanwhile Governor Haley Barbour (R-Mississippi) delivered the weekly Republican address last Saturday and had this to say:

While families are cutting back, President Obama has proposed a massive government spending spree. It reminds me of how one of our old senators used to joke about the federal budget. He said it was like a newborn baby: insatiable appetite at one end and total irresponsibility at the other.

Ok I do think that last one is pretty catchy, but do either of these comments really qualify as economic analysis? It's also fun to think about variations on the themes, e.g. what if you were driving a car and the light says you have 15 minutes of gas but you still drive on? You run out of gas and have to walk to the nearest garage and then all the way back with a gallon of gas - still pretty annoying!

Still here

Hello readers,
It's been a while but now I'm back! I could sense the frustration out there among all of you with your Google Readers set to notify you of my next posting.

A lot has happened in the >6 months since I last wrote anything on this. I guess the biggest deal in terms of global paradigm shifts is that the USA finally did something right. It was a good time to be in Berlin during those days following the election, they really love Obama here and I could feel like I was a part of all that (I voted absentee).


I also got some new glasses.

I went back home for the holidays, stopped off on the east coast for a few days and then LA for a couple weeks. While back in the states I experienced some of the expected (reverse) culture shock. I couldn't find an address in New York since I forgot about that even and odd on the opposite sides of the road thing. When I overheard English being spoken on public transportation (they have that in NY) my first instinct was always that these were some American tourists and I wonder what they're doing here?

I took a bus down from NYC to DC and on the way down overheard a conversation that particularly brought me home though. I'm not saying that Americans are necessarily any less educated than the Europeans but they do say some funny things. Sitting next to me was a couple (A and B) and they were talking about the weather, since it was kind of cold:

A: So how do they measure the wind chill factor anyway?
(this is a good question actually, I also wanted to know)
B: Yeah good question. But I mean, how do they even measure *temperature*?
(um, I think I know this one)
A: I don't know. Well, I know how they measure *Fahrenheit* temperature, but not sure how they measure Celsius.
(eh?)
B: Whatever, no one uses Celsius. It's only for dorky scientists like you.

Ich habe keinen Bock

Last night Germany played Turkey in the semifinal game for the Euro 2008 football/soccer tournament (think World Cup but just for Europe). This game was important for Berlin because lots of Turkish people live here, especially in our part of town and neighboring districts. All week people have been waving flags out their windows, balconies, cars, storefronts, etc. The respective displays of patriotism have been pretty well represented on both sides, and I even saw a flag that was Germany on one side and Turkey on the other - very multikulti but confusing when the sun is shining from behind.





Of course I don't really care who wins the Euro 2008 European Cup (the US once again did not make it in) but it's fun to pretend to watch, and at least drink a beer in the warm evenings with everyone else. We watched this game at a very crowded beer-garden style bar in Kreuzberg by the Spree. The crowd turned out to be mostly pro-Germany and I guess I was kind of hoping for a Turkey upset.

Turkey scored first in something like the 20th minute and Germany soon evened things at 1-1 with a goal from the dyed-blonde Schweinsteiger (which I'm pretty sure means 'pig rider' although it doesn't seem to phase anyone here). Then in the second half each team scored another goal on what seemed to be mistakes by the goalkeepers. It looked like the game was heading to overtime (I went to buy another drink) but in the last minute of regular time the guy from the advertisements in the U-bahn scored a goal and won the game. It was all very exciting.



Actually one of the best parts of the game for me was when the TV signal cut out and sent the whole crowd into an uproar. I guess the folks in Austria (where the game was being played) lost power and blamed it on the weather. It was hard to get too excited when the goals were scored but it was easy to see why that was amusing.

Another good thing about watching German soccer is that the coach is kind of a hipster.

So anyway, Germany is in the finals and they place Russia/Spain (decided in a couple hours) on Sunday in the EURO 2008 championship match. I can't wait!

Re the title of this entry: I'm told it's funny if you speak German and Turkish.

words of wisdom

I just got back to Berlin after a couple weeks in Paris and then Stockholm. It was mostly work-related conference travel, but I did get to explore the cities a bit. I'll try to write something interesting and maybe put up some pictures at some point (at least from Paris, the camera broke before I got to Stockholm), but for now I will just say that I heard this song in a Stockholm bar/club.



I've been humming it to myself ever since.

bad news, Heidi

There's a McDonald's at Hermannplatz, a couple blocks from where we live (I've only been there once, and just for the fries). This morning I noticed that the windows are all taped up and seems like it's being closed down - is that possible?

catchy spam

Today I checked my old email account from the UW math department (seems to still be active). Everything gets forwarded to my gmail but occasionally I need to log in and delete all the old messages to free up some space. It's also fun to see the emails that slip through those sophisticated spam filters that the department has set up. Here are some of my favorite subject lines from surviving messages:

linguistic deficit
most difficult toothache
strawberry blonde grain of sand
overpriced submarine
sprightly bartender
so-called food stamp
self-actualized scooby snack
greasy football team
placid pine cone
cosmopolitan customer
like others, allows
we need one idea
he studies history.
kids win money
russian sex roulette
self-loathing blithe spirit
Barack Obama is saying about his transsexual affairs videofile!!!

rockin'

There's an article about our part of town in this week's zitty. It's in German but you can get the gist from the cover page (see below). And no, I've never seen her around the neighborhood.

Fahrt like the wind

The U-bahn has been on strike for over a week now. Since this is the line I usually take to work, for the past few days I've been biking to the nearest S-bahn station and taking that train to work (S-bahn = schnell bahn = 'fast train'). This isn't so bad (I've been told some folks bike to work regardless of train strikes) but lately it's been pretty rainy and especially windy in Berlin.

My journey to the S-bahn station (Warshauer Strasse) takes me over the Oberbaumbrücke, one of the more famous bridges in Berlin.


It's a fun bridge to cross, always busy and especially full of tourists making the journey from East to/from West Berlin. This morning was particularly gusty, and as the wind blows east across the Spree I was more or less coasting across the bridge - even the uphill parts.

hip shots

Last weekend it was sunny in berlin and so we walked around the neighborhood - mostly south this time along Sonnenallee into Neukölln. I took some pictures and the best ones were crooked and blurry.







It got darker as it got later (this was expected) and the photos got blurrier.

best music of '07

So as many of you know one of my favorite ways to waste time is by trying to keep up with the intricacies of the contemporary music scene. This mostly involves reading online publications and other blogs, but also sometimes actually listening to the radio and occasionally checking out a show. At the end of the year I have a bunch of albums and songs on my laptop and some I like to single out as the best efforts of the year.

I suppose the list this year looks pretty similar to e.g. the pitchfork best of list, and (despite my age) it's mostly indie rock of some sort or another, but in any case, here they are: the top forty something songs of 2007. in no particular order (aside from alphabetical by band name).

Beach Party - Air France
Keep the Car Running - Arcade Fire
(This Is for The) Better Days - A Band of Bees
Atlas - Battle
Elephant Gun - Beirut
Katrina - Black Lips
Sun Lips - Black Moth Super Rainbow
23 - Blonde Redhead
In Our Talons - The Bowerbirds
Truth Is - Brother Ali
Archangel - Burial
Gutterfly - Camp Lo/Lifesavas
Melody Day - Caribou
Believe E.S.P. - Deerhoof
Heatherwood - Deerhunter
Radio Ballet - Eluvium
My Moon My Man - Feist
A Paw In My Face - The Field
Your Rocky Spine - Great Lake Swimmers
(I Don't Need You To) Set Me Free - Grinderman
Colleen - The Heavy
House by the Sea - Iron & Wine
A Postcard To Nina - Jens Lekman
Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem
The Demise of Madame Butterfly - Madeline
Deserter - Matthew Dear
Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Dying Breed - Marissa Nadler
Wet & Rusty - Menomena
Summersend - Misha
Grolandic Edit - Of Montreal
Fake Empire - The National
Comfy in Nautica - Panda Bear
Dear Employee - Papercuts
Jigsaw Falling Into Place - Radiohead
Umbrella - Rihanna
I Sing I Swim - Seabear
100 Days - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Australia - The Shins
Animal House - Simian Mobile Disco
Jade Like Wine - Six Organs of Admittance
Winged-Wicked Things - Sunset Rubdown
Lost and Found - Taken by Trees
Lolita - Throw Me a Statue
Sky Blue Sky - Wilco
2080 - Yeasayer

P.S. I might add more to this list in case i realize i forgot something - any suggestions?

current resolution

Happy 2008 everyone! (anyone?)
It's been a while since the last post and that's partly due to the computer problems I experienced over the holidays. We spent xmas in England and while I was over there the charger for my computer stopped delivering voltage from the wall into my laptop (its primary function). I figured it had something to do with the high voltages streaming from the outlets but according to the numbers on the back of the charger it should have been able to handle it. So anyway, I had to wait until we got back to Berlin to order one through german ebay. It arrived in the mail the other day and now I'm back on the laptop.

In related news, one of the keys on my casiotone broke in our initial move to berlin and I've been waiting for months to find a philip's head screwdriver small enough to reach the dozens of screws in the back. Part of the traditional English Christmas dinner (apparently) involves everyone shooting off explosive poppers with small prizes inside - coincidentally my prize was a pack of mini screwdrivers (with a carrying case)! As soon as we got back to Berlin (and after placing the ebay order) I went to work on the casiotone. After an hour of carpal-tunnel-defying effort I managed to get the thing open. I was able to access the broken/stuck key and after moving some things around I put it all back together again (minus one or two screws). Needless to say I had limited expectations of the results, but I plugged it in and it was working, good as new (but you know still in a vintage way). Working for a while, that is - after a few rounds of pre-programmed beat assisted chord progressions, there was a spark and the thing went dead. But this time it was surely the power adapter, I could tell by the smell.



Casualties

SBSK

here in berlin, i frequently find myself in discussions (with adults) that involve the intricacies of the cartoon show we know as Spongebob Squarepants (SBSP). the germans call him 'Spongebob Schwammkopf' (SBSK) and he's pretty popular over here. at a recent dinner party at our house, the conversation inevitably turned to SBSK and for some reason one of our guests made this.



the SK part of SBSK can be translated as 'Eraserhead', and of course in english it's a term that already carries some significance in popular culture. at least in germany (i've never seen the show in either language), there seems to exist a certain fondness for the surreality of SBSK (eg it's a talking sponge), and so i thought fans would enjoy the connection to the filmmaker known for his 'surreal, nightmarish and dreamlike images'. or least they would recognize my extensive knowledge of 'culturally significant' art house films. but no one seems to appreciate the comments so now mostly i don't say anything about it.