A band called Trike (Berlin)

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Whilst riding the typically quiet U-Bahn subway two days ago passengers were entertained by a shamelessly ridiculous pair of Canadian musicians called Trike. Their brand of music is electro-art-pop. That's the normal part. Their appearance is another matter.

He, the electric keyboardist, is a tall, lanky blond who looks every bit the starving artist. She, the tap dancer/front man, is a be-striped, polka-dot wearing performer of so many bright and uncomplimentary colors that one might've disbelieved his own eyes! The show opened with his barker's voice announcement of their "Bubble" song and her added effect of blowing soap bubbles. They both sang (and, yes, homegirl actually tap danced a diddy) poptistically loud and upbeat -- about soap bubbles. 

amusing, yet utterly ridiculous, song-and-dance

Ever stare at someone's audacity to make utter fools of themselves in the spirit of Now-or-never? That's what this was like. We were so shocked and embarrassed for them that we just had to watch their amusing, yet utterly ridiculous, song-and-dance. It was fun. And guess what. In the end we all applauded and laughed. I even overheard one guy invite them to play at his next party! Those Canucks made pretty good tips, too. Not bad! So that's what it takes to make Germans crack a smile: a Canadian band called Trike.
www.trikeaband.com
trikefangroup@gmail.com    

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"Andorra" (Berlin)

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This past Friday I attended the last performance of Andorra at the Berliner-Ensemble Theater. The theatre is one of those nice old things one can easily imagine dressed up people in the 1920's went to with coats and hats and gloves. As a point of fact, the coat-check girls this time were very un-busy: no coats were bothered to be checked and hardly any man wore a hat he couldn't stuff in his pocket or book bag. But back to the building: the gilded frescoes of muses...the wonderfully, gargantuan tacky chandelier...roomy, plush seating...wall mirrors...wall-to-wall carpet and wood banisters all lent themselves to experiencing a quiet evening at the theatre. I got the impression "What book are you reading?" was just as if not more likely to be asked than "Are you on Facebook?" 




As for the play I liked it -- despite only catching on to three words in the whole two hour performance. Does not high art transcend language barrier? (Low art certainly does.) When my aunt learned I was going to Berlin she implored I see this one if nothing else. So I did. I wore my tuxedo (yes I tend to travel with one), caught the metro to S-/U-Bahn Friedrichstrasse and made it to my seat on the fourth floor - whew!- just in the nick of time. At eight o'clock sharp, or as they say here, 20:00uhr, the house lights dropped and the dialogue began. No C.P.T. here! At the drawing of the swastika there was an audible gasp, like seeing two men hold hands, yet at the end of the performance I found the German audience amazingly...restrained in their applause. Almost stingy with it, really. When the star actors took their bows the applause was no louder than it was for the bit role of the co-worker. Egalitarians.... 

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3D model of Flex Lewis

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Here is a cool computer animation of British bodybuilder James "Flex" Lewis

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Baby shoes hurt man feet (Berlin)

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Monday's rain was just an annoying mist and drizzle. Tuesday and Wednesday was the shit. It came down in fat plops, making staying indoors feel all the more lazy cozy and wunderful. But out we went for coffee and dessert: to, at least step outside for the day and visit a cafe and, also, because I mentioned my need to go to a second-hand shop for shoes and a heavier coat.

I was couchsurfing in Wedding (pronounced: Vedding). The four of us set out - two housemates and two couchsurfer guests - and in no time I was determined to buy another pair of shoes. The ones on my feet were running shoes and very porous. My feet were getting wet just the same as if I were barefoot. We found a HUMANA store - it's like a Goodwill store - and I found a pair of Adidas for 3euros. The size read "7.5in" (I wear a 9-9.5) but was sure it would only be a matter of breaking in the shoes. At any rate, it felt good to have a pair of durable DRY footwear -- and cheap, no less. 


After two days I could take it no more. I had to get my feet free from these tiny, ungiving Adidas! Was en route to a writer's group somewhere - I forget the location now - when I turned around, got my butt back on the train, and beat it to Alexanderplatz where I knew there was a HUMANA store. This time I lucked out with a pair of rugged New Balance cross-trainers -- size 12. They cost 12euros. As for the Adidas? I donated them back to the store. 


What comes around, goes around....

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Rainy Monday in Berlin

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Last Monday it was grey and misty - and, naturally, chilly - as I walked across the Warshauer Strasse bridge to the East Side Gallery. Actually, I was just walking aimlessly when I saw the stretch of artistically painted preserved Berlin Wall and realized I had been here before -- a decade ago on my first trip to Europe.


I got my passport stamped with a Checkpoint Charlie (West) stamp. Can't wait to see the German officials' reactions to that one in the airports!


Since I wasn't in the tourist mood - and am not a big fan of walking in the rain - I hopped a train to visit a familiar in Charlottenburg and eat some hot tea and apfeltasche (homemade apple pie).

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Greyhound wi-fi buses are busted

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The new fleet of Greyhound buses are sleek black and have more comfortable seating. I rode on one from Indiana to New Jersey earlier this week. It was my second time being on a new bus. In lieu of those damn monitors blasting movies at you the entire way - there are no TV monitors! - the buses have outlets for plugging in your laptop or mobile phone (or whatever), obnoxiously bright reading lights (but, hey, at least they work for a change), roomy seats with a nice leather texture and free wi-fi. 


Supposedly, there's wi-fi. 


Keyword: supposedly. I couldn't get a signal during the entire 16hr trip. Didn't appear the Asian girl across the aisle or the tall Russian kid did either. The Greyhound.com web page came up. But that's it. It just keep reloading itself ad nauseam. Click on the permission button and around and around spun the loading button. It was so vexing! I tried using Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. Still nothing doing. On top of that the bus drivers - both were women - were useless to do anything about it. Useless because they were 1) too lazy to even try to fix the glitch and 2) had they listened to the simple instructions to press the re-set button or momentarily switch off the router I am sure they would have effed that up, too. So the whole "free wi-fi" is bull. A gimmick. A pipe dream that this lazy American company, who already outsourced Customer Service hotline to the Caribe which is an accent even harder to understand than the Indian ones, can make work. Wi-fi in moving vehicles or public places like airports and parks does function -- just not on Greyhound Bus.


But our travel was on time. And that's saying a lot for the company.

NOT a Greyhound Bus...but the name is befitting

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