Nostalgia

Went to a great little club last night - Club Brenda, a Manchester night put on as part of British Music Week. The venue, which appeared to be a barely converted sex sauna and was nearly impossible to find, reminded me of weird and wonderful nights out in early visits to Berlin. The night itself made me miss the UK, and Manchester in particular: mixed gay and straight, dance and indie, everyone really into the music, and me not the only person playing air guitar.

And as you can see, I also went to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who were fabulous. I wish with hindsight that I'd also hightailed it across town to see Sons and Daughters, who apparently also rocked. When there are two good gigs on in Berlin on the same night, they seem to stagger the performance times so that you can see both. Must remember that in future.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

And very good they were too.

http://www.aaamusic.co.uk/reviews.asp?id=1017

Die dunkel Vergangenheit

I had a dream about my bike last night. I'd left it overnight in Paris and it had been stripped of all accessories and tires, and I was very upset. It just shows how attached I'm getting to the dear old thing, even if now that I've started going faster I've noticed that the brakes don't actually work that well.

I found myself for the first time ever in row C on a recent trip to London. Either I'm getting more responsible with my timekeeping, or Easyjet are getting slack.

My favourite German phrase of the moment is Die dunkel Vergangenheit, meaning the dark past. It's mainly used here when talking about the war, but I like to think of it in a more personal sense.

What happens in the Kit Kat Club stays in the Kit Kat Club

As a matter of fact, it was rather tamer than I'd been expecting. Of the 100% of men who looked gay apparently only about 70% were, but you could only be sure that you’d hit the straight 30% when one of them started swinging his loin cloth (and all beneath it) back and forth in your face. This has never been a winning look for me. Despite the fact that by the time I left I had my own gimp, sworn to a lifetime of service to me and only me, I have to confess myself a tad disappointed. However this may be partly sour grapes because I missed Eurovision, which was apparently won by a masked Finnish heavy metal band.

Up The Arsenal

I think I may have travelled right across Berlin and paid €25 to have a bit of toffee removed from the side of my tooth. I can’t be sure, but I strongly suspect it to be the case. All the evidence (I’d eaten a toffee-ish Turkish sweet earlier in the day, the dentist drilled for mere moments, there was no pain) points in that direction.

The Oscar Wilde was so full as to be almost unbearable for the European Cup Final last night. I was supporting the Arse and was sorry to see them lose like that. Anytime Lehman wants to get himself sent off for Germany though, he is more than welcome to do so.

My little area around the canal has come to life now that the sun's shining, and Berlin is really showing itself at its best. I hope I can stay here.

Tack

Another party weekend back in London. Made a merkin for my friend's birthday, in colours to match her Vidal Sassoon coiffure. It went down very well.

Was very happy yesterday when I heard a group of locals break into an impromptu version of 'I've been looking for freedom.' Confirmation that they do really know and love the Hoff here. I asked them if they'd seen the footage of him singing it on the wall as it was dismantled, and they were all very impressed with my Hoffknowledge.

As World Cup fever mounts (at least in my flat) I am following all avenues that might lead to the obtaining of tickets, of any match, anywhere. I'm also making forays into the world of ebay, though not without a certain wariness, as previous efforts have met with limited success. I once sold something but forgot to put a reserve price on it, so ended up parting with an item worth nearly £50 for about £4.50.

In the meanwhile, am reduced to buying €5 shoes from a shop quite appropriately named Tack.

Union upwards and onwards

Am very happy to report that FC Union are to be promoted to the third Bundesliga. All we need now is Leeds back up in the Premiership and everything in life will be rosy.

Ryanair is Satan's airline, and I shall never be flying with them again.