Carpeberlin: Being a visitor, not a tourist

Klangwerkstatt Festival Review

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:25:00 +0100

Have you ever watched your grandfather eat? Mine, when he was still alive, always ate in shifts: first meat, then potatoes, then the (frozen) vegetables. Invariably, his meals followed this strict regiment (except Fridays, when there was lasagna) and, if you dared to ask why he didn't nibble around, or, even mix it all up into an amorphous mess and let your mouth figure out what you're eating; well, if you dared to ask such, he'd simply respond: "I've always done it like this, ever since I was on that crew ship..." The programming at this Klangwerkstatt reminded me of my grandfather's meals: the first concert was filled with pieces for drums, the next concert featured piano, followed by an accordion concert, an ensemble concert, a clarinet highlighted concert, ad nauseum. It got to the point in each concert, where I already felt like I knew the last piece before they'd even begun to play its third measure. I felt like the nuances that were to be explored was already familiar ground but only in a new combination. This lack of attention may seem unwarranted and unfair but no matter how hard I strained (and no matter how much caffeine I consumed), I just couldn't keep with it.

What would the concerts have been like if they presented them more like a child eats? How would I have responded if they had mixed the accordion pieces with the ensemble pieces, the clarinets with the drums? Surely this would have been more expensive, but prohibitively? Of course, it might not be the point of the festival to appeal to plebes, but then again, were they really appealing to anyone besides the musicians and the composers? This critique, or commentary if you will, is admittedly coming from the outside and anyone reading this from the festival should understand it as such. Yet, if they're not interested in the outside world, if they're happily insulated, then why try to appeal to children? Why spoil their pretty little minds with ennui?

That isn't to say there weren't some great pieces nestled in the festival, because there were. And there were even some good pieces for the two children ensembles. I really enjoyed Bill Deitz's musical chairs of short game-like pieces. It, in fact, reminded me of other pieces in the festival, but in that it was written for children, it seemed more playful and less hoity-toity. Malika Kishino's Aqua Vitae (2008), commissioned by the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe, was a beautiful, flowing piece that used the space very well. Kishino mentioned after the piece that she tries to find something organic when composing, and this was immediately apparent on the first as well as the second listening (the piece was played twice that evening, thankfully). What was so amazing about the piece was its concentration and guiding narrative. Though it ebbed and flowed, there was something driving and definite, a line in the sand that you could follow that didn't get washed away in the chaotic bubbling. The piece lived up to its title and breathed while the rest of the evening felt like swept up chalk dust at the conservatory.
Jakob Ullman's piece "disappearing music"(1989-1991) was another interesting piece and much needed respite. Slow and thoughtful, sad, lonely, yet welcoming, "disappearing music" embodied most fully the expanses of water and desert, the themes of this year's festival, and created a space and a mindset for the listener. I enjoyed its structures and felt rejuvenated after the trance like space.

The real excitement for me however was Michael Maierhof's "Zonen 7" which, besides a traditional string trio arrangement, used 'nylon players' –a functional definition of performers playing cups with nylon through them, much like the telephones we all built as children. While basically a string trio with nylon players, "Zonen 7" transcended its parts, especially in its moments of intense noise. Most of the other pieces, kept afloat by their program notes, talked a lot about avant-garde ideas in an avant-garde language but seemed as challenging as trying to hum muzak –difficult, sure, but nowhere near inspiring. Maierhof, in contrast, forged his own way: while you certainly couldn't hum his music, one felt that he was searching for a certain sound and consequently tried to find a way to express it. He did not merely talk about accepted ideas in an accepted language, but rather tried to say something on his own, in his own language. And even if there were moments where it felt like babble –and even if I don't feel like it got the performance it deserved–, "Zonen 7" nevertheless spoke bravely, chin up, with its two feet on the ground. Maierhof, for me, is a composer to keep an ear out for.

Again, I'm sure there were other pieces I would have enjoyed more had the framework allowed for it. But, as often as not, this may have been part of the avant-garde festival's challenge to the bourgeois consumer, the old tired fist in the air to make said supporter rethink his ticket purchase. If this is true, it seems to me they beat themselves at their own game; after all, I think there was one other person who attended more than 3 concerts (besides the machinations associated with the festival and yours truly) and she, from what I could tell, seemed to be a journalist. This is especially deplorable since one of the efforts of the festival is to bring children into the mix and show them new music. They should have offered festival tickets for school children, opening it up to classes and not just siblings of the Saturday and Sunday afternoon performers. Oh well, we'll just blame the parents and the inevitable birthday parties and hope that next year's Klangwerkstatt can resuscitate itself.

Christmas Trendmafia Market in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:08:00 +0100

More than 60 artists will exhibit and sell their fashion ideas and products- fashion - photography - desing - jewelry - art.

Lounge music will be setting the scene to this christmas surprise. There will also be a kids room for drawing, playing and reading, equipped with a 'listening corner' where "Stories for little people" will be heard in combination with classical music. For the bigger people, there will be a 'sitting corner' with cakes and coffee, as well as a games room for playing iPONG®. A snack-bar with tasty crepes and glühwein (warm wine/vin chaud) will decorate the front of the former bank.

For Shopping - Chilling - Enjoying

www.trendmafia.de

WHEN:
Saturday 6th, Sunday 7th of December
From 1pm to 8pm

WHERE:
Frankfurter Allee 21A in the old bank building
(near Proskauer street and Niederbarnim street, u-bahn Samariterstrasse, or Frankfurter Tor)

ENTRANCE:
2 euros
and free for children up to 9

Sauna and Pool in the River

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:37:00 +0100

Beneath a ceiling which looks like it's out of a sci-fi movie, is a bridge leading to very warm places where you can find refuge from the cold outside; a 24ºC pool, a sauna, and a bar.

Times and prices:

7th November - 31st March 2009

Mondays: 12pm - 10pm. 10pm - 3am, sauna for men.

Tuesdays: 12pm - 12am

Wednesdays: 14 pm - 12pm. 10am - 14pm, sauna for women.

Thursdays: 12pm - 12am

Fridays: 12pm-3am

Saturdays (and days before Bank Holidays): 2pm - 3am. 10am - 2pm sauna for women

Sundays (and Bank Holidays): 10am - 12am

Special timetable from the 24th December - 4th January

on the 12th, 27th, 29th and 31st of December there is no separate sauna for men and women.

Wed 24.12.: 10am- 6pm

Thurs 25.12.: 10am - 3am

Fri 26.12.: 10am - 3am

Sat 27.12.: 10am - 3am

Sun 28.12.: 10am - 1am

Mon 29:12.: 10am - 1am

Tue 30.12.: 10am - 1am

Wed 31.12.: 10am - 8pm

Thurs 01.01.: 10am - 1am

Fri 02.01.: 10am - 3am

Sat 03.01.: 10am - 3am (10am - 2pm Sauna for women)

Sun 04.01. 10am - 12am

Entrance Fees:

3 hours: 12 € / Children up to 14: 8 €

Monday to Friday (except holidays) Entrance until 3pm: 8€

Voucher for 10 days (10x3 hours): 100,00 €

Each additional hour: 2 € / children 1,50 €

You can rent:
bath robe: 4,00 € / towel: 2,00 € / Sandals: 1,00 €
all together: 7,00 € (bath robe, 2 towels, sandals)

Capacity of the Badeschiff: 150 people
Sauna 1: up to 95 degrees, max capacity 24 people (13m²)
Sauna 2: up to 95 degrees, max capacity 12 people (6m²)
Lounge: approx. 100m²
Exterior: approx. 65m²
Pool: approx. 7 x 25m

Design, construction and direction: Gil Wilk Architekten with Thomas Freiwald
Contractor: arena Berlin, Falk Walter

Badeschiff: An idea is born

In 2002, the curator Heike Catharina Müller from the organisation Stadtkunstprojekte e.V, summoned artists from all over the world to create a project for a competition with the theme of bridges as connecting elements in a city. Artists and architects were to join forces in the creation of proposals for projects around the city. The "Team AMP" architects with Gil Wilk and the berlin artist Susanne Lorenz reinterpreted the theme and instead of working with an already existing bridge, proposed the idea of the "bridge to the river". The objective was to make the river more accessible, to be able to swim in it and thereby include it even more in the city's landscape. Originally, this would be a mobile object which would be anchored each year in a different place on the river. As they were looking for a contractor and a director, the Badeschiff finally anchored itself permanently at the Osthafen in front of the Kulturarena Veranstaltungs Berlin.

Badeschiff: Construction

At the beginning of 2004, an old 30 year old barge was remodelled at a nearby shipyard. In order to achieve a higher adaptability to the different levels of the river, the barge was rid of all technical constructions and anchored flexibly. The water in the pool is purified with chlorine, is at a temperature of 24 degrees, and measures 2 meters deep, 32 meters long. The body of the old barge surrounds the pool in such a way as to create benches for visitors as well as a border which holds the floodlights and prevents the water in the pool from mixing with the river water. The result is a geometrical balcony in the middle of the river on which you can enjoy the views of the river, whilst you go for a swim. Because of the high number of visitors, the space was widened and a bar was added as well as a beach.

Links to the project and its architects:

Projekt Badeschiff:
stadtkunstprojekte e.V.: www.stadtkunstprojekte.de
Fenando Menis: http://www.menis.es
Gil Wilk: www.gil-wilk.de
Susanne Lorenz: www.komat.de/susanne-lorenz

Projekt Winterbadeschiff:
Gil Wilk: www.gil-wilk.de
Thomas Freiwald: www.thomasfreiwald.com

The Night of Broken Glass

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:49:00 +0100

The Berliner Morgenpost newspaper stated in an article this weekend, that the term "Reichkristallnacht" (Crystal Night, or Night of Broken Glass) was not at all an exaggerated term used by the Nazi administration.

Unlike the other euphemisms and cynical tags used by the nazis to name their misdoings, such as "euthanasia" or the famous phrase "work will set you free", the term Crystal Night was not made up for propaganda purposes. This term had been used once before 1945. In a recorded debate from 1939, the nazi civil servant Wilhelm Börger said, "This will go down in history as the Crystal Night". Journalist and linguist Dolf Sternberger claims that this is nothing else but what is today referred to as "Berliner Volkswitz", popular German humour. It therefore remains a question today whether this name was given as a critique of the barbarities, or as a way of softening the actual course of events to the citizens.

But whether it was a term coined by the propaganda minister Goebbles, or a cynical way of dealing with one of the many horrors of the Third Reich, the fact remains that this night should be safeguarded in history. Perhaps the term "pogrom", although timeless, would be more adequate, since more than 90 Jews were killed, and hundreds of shops and synagogues were burned to ashes.

Actually, one more thing: what happened 70 years ago as a reaction to the murder of the German Ambassador in Paris by the 17 year old German Jew Herschel Grynszpan on November 7th in the French capital, actually took place from the 9th until the 10th of November.

Photo: Landesmuseum Joanneum, Abt. Bild- und Tonarchiv

Tosca at the Staatsoper

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:26:00 +0100

This time it was Tosca at the Staatsoper. While the opera singer, who has a huge weakness for Puccini, was enthusiastic about seeing it, the musicologist was a bit fed up of Puccini after seeing the poor rendition of Turandot a few weeks before, and claimed that Puccini's music, according to his private elitist standards, tends to be too vulgar and without any subtlety. At any rate, I convinced him to come and invited him to a small, yet expensive, drink at the ravishing Apollo-Saal before the opera begun. There is nothing better than imperial glamour and rococo decoration to soften even the hardest heart of a critic.

We arrived at the Staatsoper a bit early and as I was surveying the hall in amazement, a heated debate began between my two friends about the character of Tosca. The opera singer, who can easily indentify herself with the great but extremely emotional Floria Tosca, an opera singer herself, kept defending Tosca's behavior throughout the opera and emphasizing the Character's important feminist role. The musicologist disdained all of her arguments by claiming that Tosca is no more than a crazy, egocentric and manipulative control freak. Always disguised behind religious morality, her hypocrisy and insincerity bring doom on her and her lover, culminating in a tragic end. This disagreement could not be settled in a civilized way between two apparently civilized persons, and the moment I heard someone mention the name of The Diva, and I don't mean Floria Tosca, but rather The Maria Callas, I realized that something urgent had to be done in order to prevent this debate from escalating and ending with us being kicked out of the building on the grounds of disturbing public order. And so I drew them gently (but firmly) into the opera hall and sat between, hoping to stop the argument from bursting out again.

After being told by a representative of the opera house that despite a planned strike, the house had given its consent to the performance, the three echoing chords which open the opera made us plunge immediately into the deceiving world of the opera, forgetting every bit of reality.

Angelotti, an escaping political prisoner in the days of the attempted revolution on the verge of the Napoleonic era entered, and as he was singing the musicologist turned to me and said that for an exhausted fleeing prisoner he seemed quite refreshed. The opera singer hushed him, as she usually does, and waited eagerly for the entrance of the main characters.

As Cavaradossi, the painter of the cappella, entered, we were immediately carried away by his ability to pour so much liveliness and meaningfulness into the so often "dull and superficial role" (to quote the musicologist). But it was Tosca who confused my two learned counterparts with her charming voice and distinct feminine and amiable character. During the traditional lovers duet, I could not help but notice the big smile on the opera singer's face, which I understood as a sign of her victory over the musicologist who had claimed that Tosca is "completely egocentric, unable of showing affection and often attacked by irrational jealousy". The Tosca we heard was the most warm, feminine and loving character ever to be seen in this role (according to the musicologist). Scarpia, the threatening police chief, whose entrance made the strongest impression on us through the marvellously contrasting stage effects, was nevertheless quite disappointing. His acting abilities were ill, or "Artificial, clumsy and not convincing - rather than being a panther he was nothing but a small growling pussycat," the musicologist said. The famous monologue "Va Tosca", which brings the first act to a close, was accompanied by the snoring of discontent from the opera singer to my left. During the intermission, she explained that Scarpia had ruined the end of the first act which she loves so much, with his dull singing and inability to gradually build any dramatic tension. The musicologist even added that the monologue lacked synchronization between the orchestra and the singer.

The main feature of the second act was, defiantly, the setting. Though in the eyes of the musicologist it seemed very conservative, the decorations of the Palazzo Farnese amazed us all with its contemporary painting and furniture. Perhaps affected by this well-done setting, the Baron Scarpia, playing in his own "home-ground", seemed a bit more convincing than in the first act, though the opera singer stuck to her original opinion. Tosca on the other hand seemed to touch us all, while being mentally tortured by Scarpia to such an extent that even the musicologist could not avoid pitying her, especially when she sang her "best hit" aria "Vissi d'arte" (And I don't think it can be belittled).

In the third act we were all struck with surprise, this time thanks to the orchestra, which playing during the remaining part of the show, and especially in Cavaradossi's later romanza "E lucevan le stele", couldn't have been worse (maybe the only thing that my two friends could agree on). However, nothing can ruin the execution scene and Tosca's fatal reaction to the death of her lover, performed superbly by the whole cast. Nevertheless, Tosca's usually most dramatic suicidal jump from the fort, not before promising to persecute Scarpia whom she killed in the previous act, until the arrival of the last judgment, was quite disappointing. After a gradual building of dramatic tension meant to lead towards a powerful climax, Tosca simply hopped with a graceful, light step into her supposed death. To the musicologist it seemed that our Tosca's gracefulness did collide after all with the dramatic nature of the character, who carries her hubris with her to the next world for a second round with Scarpia. The opera singer, on the other hand, was still quite convinced that the beautiful singing of Tosca can even make God forget that she had killed Scarpia with her own hands.

Long after the stage had been covered by the last curtain and the audience had left the building, my two friends continued to argue about whether such a human Tosca can fit into the opera without damaging the dramatic sequence. On my part, I left, wishing them farewell and good night till the next time.

New Music Festival

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 14:37:00 +0100

This weekend Berlin rolls out its red carpet for, er, experimental new music!

Premiering a number of pieces (including the highly anticipated (by me at least) debut of Michael Maierhof's 'Zonen 7' on Sunday), the Klangwerkstatt hosts its annual celebration of contemporary music under the theme 'Water and Wilderness' at the Saalbau Neukölln. Though most pieces are for traditional settings, you should expect anything but your run of the mill classical music.

http://www.klangwerkstatt-berlin.de/2008/index7.php

Berlin Universities

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:04:00 +0100

CARPEBERLIN UNIFACTS (Taken from the summer semester) Foundation: 1946 *** Students: 26.850 *** Foreign Students: 5.570 (20,7 %) *** Professors: 315 *** Research Assistants: 1985 *** Faculties: 7 *** Departments: 168 *** Budget: ca. € 259,6 Million (without external funds of approx € 80 Mil.) *** Cooperation with: 61 outside universities, 60 Guest professors

The Technical University of Berlin (TU), together with the Technischen Hochschule (1879-1945), the Industrial Sciences Academy (1821/66-1879) and the Architecture Academie (1799-1879), and even more pioneers, were founded in 1946 under the TU. It has been in Berlin-Charlottenburg since the late 1900s and belongs to the German government. The TU played an important role during the student uprisings (the famous speech given by Rudi Dutschke in the Audimax was recently shown in the Baader-Meinhoff complex.)

The CHE ranking presents the TU 's departments' teachers and research as being all in all in good order, even without excelling the national average in any of these areas. Therefore, the World University Ranking gives it the 70th place on the international "hitlist", making it, after the TU in Munich, the second best German University for Engineering and Technology. The student body of TU Berlin also praised internationally: more than a fifth of TU students come to study on the shores of the Spree from foreign countries, and the exceptional amount of cooperation deals with foreign firms and partner universities confirms the cosmopolitan creed of the TU.

Despite what the name of the university might lead one to believe, the Technical University presents itself as one of the most versatile universities in Berlin. Because at the TU, not only can degrees in electrotechnics, architecture and law be pursued, but also arts degrees such as literature, philosophy or history of art and set design.

A restructuring of the already cut down 7 departments and the newly created 7 research areas, are only a part of the elaborate and large-scale reform politics which the TU is carrying out, along with an intensified recruitment of internationally renowned professors. University government funding assists the TU in its proliferation on the international stage.

The following faculties can be found at the TU Berlin: Humanities (where you can also find departments for Anti-Semitism Research and a centre for women and gender studies), Mathematics and Biology (within which is the Institute for Optics, Atomic Physics and the centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics), Law, Electrotechnics and IT, Transport and Machinery Sciences (part of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Institute), Environmental Design, Economics and Management.

The numerous partner universities (in the USA, France and England, as well as Shanghai) make the studies at the TU a favourable starting point for researchers who are ambitious. Innovative institutes like the EICT (European Center for Information and Communication Technologies), or the Competence Centre for the Application of Nanostructures in Oploelectronics, enable the TU students to secure their studies beyond the common internships, and to find future employers.

For all the degrees that the TU restricts admission to, think about sending your application as soon as possible.

More info:

Address: Straße des 17. Juni 135, Raum H 70 (Berlin-Charlottenburg)

Telephone: (030) 314-25606

Email: studienberatung@tu-berlin.de

Homepage: www.studienberatung.tu-berlin.de/menue/home/

Hours open to public: Mo, Tu, Thurs: 10am–1pm, and 2pm-4pm; Fr: 10am-1pm; Mo, Tu, Thurs, Fr: 9am-10am; Wed: 2pm-4pm (only by phone)

Feel Spass!

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:11:00 +0100

DJ Joey Hansom has a new monthly DJ night debuting tomorrow at Monster Ronson's, a unique karaoke bar with a stage for live music.

Similar to the King Kong, the beauty of Monster Ronson is the guest performers and DJs, promising locals with something to show.

The entrance is free and there's plenty of room to dance!

Address: Warschauerstr 34

Rocky Horror at Admiralspalast.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:57:00 +0100

When we interviewed the director, choreographer and costume and make-up designer I was shocked at how young they were. But then again, to be able to take a classic and keep it as timeless as always, and add your own (delicious) flavour to it, you must have a lot of energy and power to think outside the box.

Well, we were speechless. The premiere was mad, and as tends to happen with the Rocky Horror Show, the public dressed up as the cast. The red carpet was teeming with beautiful freaks, men dressed as women, women dressed as outrageous women, one woman dressed as a man. Etiquette? Cross-dressing and above all, sex, sex and more sex.

And on stage it was even hotter. Without giving it away, the actors were just as they were meant to be, each one of them more powerful than the next with their voices and presence on stage. This is truly a worthwhile theatre night, and for those Rocky Horror virgins, here are some tips:

- don't be afraid to dress up, remember someon else is always going to look freakier than you
- participate- throw lines at the cast (you can get some ideas on the internet about what to say and when)
- bring the props!
   -rice
   -party hat
   -watergun
   -newspaper
   -playing cards
   -noise maker
   -lighter/flashlight/torch
   -toilet paper (to throw, don't worry)

So, just take a jump to the left, and a step to the right into the Admiralspalast. You have until the 23rd of November, don't be late!!

Interview with a Poet: Six Questions for Alistair Noon

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:26:00 +0100

Poet Michael Haeflinger sat down with poet and Poetry Hearings founder Alistair Noon to talk about life in the Hearings, the ins and outs of Anglo-Poetry in Berlin, and what to do if you find yourself on a desert island with plenty of time to read.

Why did you start Poetry Hearings? What was going on in the Berlin poetry scene at the time?

Around 2004-05, I realized that there were more English-language poets in Berlin than there had previously been. Fiona (Mizani) was doing readings at the Café Rosa. I was giving her names of poets to book and finally she said, “why don’t you do a festival?”

In the first year, there were 10 Berlin poets and a couple from Prague in a very small and very packed downstairs room. I remember thinking, “bloody hell, there’s a market for this.” The audience was a lot of English speakers and regulars from Rosa. The café was the focal point of a lot of disparate scenes.

Was there an “expat” scene?

When Anglophone people came to Berlin in the 1980’s-90’s, they’d pitch up here, shack up with a German partner, their German would get good, they’d buy Tip and Zitty and become well-integrated foreigners. When we went to open mics, we went to “German open mics.” When the first slams kicked off, there were German and Anglophone poets, they tended to merge.

What types of poetics do you look for when you select poets for the festival?

A mixture of mainstream, performance, and experimental, because there can be very good things in all three. Poetry that entertains and surprises. Just entertaining gets boring quickly, and poetry that just challenges is torture. If it doesn’t surprise you, it’s simply massaging you like a smooth back rub. I look for deep tissue massages.

What are some memorable moments from Poetry Hearings past?

There are some memorable performances. Michelle Noteboom wowing the audience with her long poem "Roadkill", Andrea Brady reading from her essay poem "Tracking Wildfire". MC Jabber (photo left) in 2006. Verbal machine gun, interspersed with jokes: “I keep picking fights with agoraphobics. Come on then, outside.” In 2007, Thaddeus Rutkowski’s “White and Wong.” John Hartley Willams and immediately after him, Giles Goodland (in 2005). When I’ve seen the same audience react positively to very different poets.

What are you looking forward to at this year’s festival?

I am looking forward to seeing the audience there. I think this year’s lineup is the strongest. It’s the most balanced. I am excited that most of the poets are traveling to Berlin for the show, so it’s a chance for the Berlin audience to see poets they wouldn’t normally get to see.

If you were stranded on a desert island, which three books would you want with you?

I have answered this before, and my answer is the same. A book on how to teach yourself ancient Greek. A Greek/English dictionary. And The Odyssey in the original Greek.

Catch the full lineup at the Poetry Hearings site: www.myspace.com/poetryhearings. Friday and Saturday November 14 and 15 at the Salon Rosa in Mitte.

Photos of Alistair Noon and MC Jabber by Stephen Mooney.

CarpeBerlin Pizza Charts

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:54:00 +0100

Pizza Dach

Price: 2,50€Address : Simon-Dach-Straße 12 (a magnet for Backpackers)Opening Hours: 24 StundenTelephone: 030 20078786Others: Thick, home made doughU-Bahnhof: S+U Warschauer Straße

Pizza Pasta

price: 2,50€
Address: Frankfurter Allee 32
Opening hours: 24 hours
phone: 030 2945460
others: many flavours and good piccante!
U-Bahnhof: U Frankfurter Allee

Via Nova

Price: 3.50€
Address: Revalerstraße 9 (near RAW and the Spree)
Opening hours: 08.00-02.00
Phone: 030 2941650
Others: comfy and tasty
U-Bahnhof: S+U Warschauer Straße

Runde Mini Pizza

Price: mini 1,00€; normal 3,00€
Address: Schlesische Straße/Skalitzer Straße (always partying at night)
Opening hours: 24 hours
Others: very practical, pizza is ready in 5 minutes, fast and tasty
U-Bahnhof: U Schlesisches Tor

Pizza La Romantica

Price: 3,00€
Address: Schlesische Straße/Falkenstein Straße
opening hours: 10.00-24.00

others: very cool place, big screen for football matches and a good meeting place for families
U-Bahnhof: U Schlesisches Tor

Piccola Musica

Price: 3,00€
Address: Wiener Straße 62
Phone: 030 61288966
Opening Hours: 11.00-02.00
others: tasty pizza with a good delivery service
U-Bahnhof: U Görlitzer Bahnhof

Piccola Romantica

Price: 3,00€
Address: Oranienstraße 33 (many shops, bars and pubs)
Phone: 030 61403011
Opening hours: 10.30-01.00
Others: this is a typically italian place in the hustle and bustle of Kreuzberg

U-Bahnhof: Busliner M29 Oranienstraße

Pizzeria

Price: 2,00€ (2 Pieces)
Address: Görlitzer Straße 54 (in front of the park, so much loved in the summer)

opening hours: 12.00-24.00
Others: Home made pizza with fresh basil. And for those of you who want something sweet, home made ice cream
U-Bahnhof: U Schlesisches Tor

Why not sleep more, instead of buy more?

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:39:00 +0100

“The Christmas business is stuck”. Next to the news of unemployment rates being at its lowest in the last 14 years, a message shocks the German press. What is happening to shopping? "Germans Grow a Conscious", that is what the catch phrase of the article ought to be.

It appears they have realised that mobile phones are nothing else but little machines used to communicate with others. In other words, the old Nokia would suffice. But what´s more, who the hell needs a Playstation 3, knowing that the unemployment rate is increasing and that professional football players can be counted with the fingers of one hand? Who really wants one of those huge screens, when today´s films are more and more void of meaning, even the commercial ones? It seems that Germans are realising that: There is no need! And that´s good news, right?

Whoever, during the half-time of a football match, happens to hear the news of the catastrophes in "business", and on top of it gets angry about it... might as well hit themselves against the wall. "What can we do?" Media Markt asks itself, "so that the product reaches the masses?" But the truth is that we already have everything, or at least we have everything we need to live comfortably and even to be entertained. The rest is for inbreds. Only those who really believe in the market, some members of the FDP, might see it elsewise. Maybe Guido Westerwelle wants a Playstation for Christmas and thereby improving business conditions. Well, he can go to Media Markt with his charitable feelings. Meanwhile, the rest of us can give up on the tiresome shopping and instead put our feet up, relax, take a nap- which, by the way, is much healthier.