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Following a conversation with Bobby (about Robert Rodriguez and cooking) I started compiling a list of entrees that I know how to prepare. I was sure I'd know more than this. Now I need everybody's help. What else have I cooked for you that is missing from this list?

1 Spaghetti Bolognese
2 Spaghetti + meatballs
3 Spaghetti + spinach
4 Spaghetti + cheese/cream sauce
5 Spaghetti + shrimp (in a Marinara sauce)
6 Lasagne
7 Beef Goulash with Knödel
8 Stuffed eggplant
9 Johannisburger
10 Lentils, Spätzle and franks
11 Bifteki
12 Meatloaf
13 North-African casserole
14 Curry
15 Ravished chicken (Lemon/Rosemary)
16 Armer Ritter
17 Brotauflauf (Austrian take on bred pudding)
18 Wiener Schnitzel (chicken fried steak?) with Potato salad
19 English fry-up breakfast (credit for this goes to my man Rupert)
20 Spanish omelet (also props to Rups)
21 Beef rouladen with mashed potatoes

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I have finally moved my old blog entries from Blogger over to this site.

It was fun to read my old entries which mainly stemmed from the first half year of my emigration to the United States. The original blog was appropriately titled "Hannes in Amerika, an immigrant's account of cross-cultural craziness". As time went on my initial culture shock wore off and I started to lose that sense of urgency. Eventually I stopped posting. What I needed to say happened on Facebok or on the TypEdu blog. Now that I have moved all the old texts I feel that the old blog might be dead but also certainly: long live the blog, I mean, right? In that spirit, I'll be talkin at you soon. And now off to the flea market.

Dual Link Hub DLX-182 from ADS <www.adstech.com>

This would be a wonderful hub, combining USB and FireWire in one small enclosure if it actually worked with all my devices. The price is right and I love that you just need one hub for both technologies. It does not however draw its power from FireWire but comes with one of these clunky power converters that blocks three outlets on my power strip.



So with my PowerBook connected to the hub (under Mac OS X 10.4.7) the Nikon Coolpix, LaCie hard drive, LaCie Scanner and HP LaserJet work fine, plug-and-play as one might expect. Unfortunately I had to discover, that my iPod and the Epson color printer remain unseen behind the hub. Neither does the iPod mount in the Finder nor does iTunes discover it. The Epson printer utility reports a communication error with the printer. No reboots or countless permutations of the plug-in-plug-out tango seem to solve this. I can't find any updated drivers online either. So close and yet so far, be warned.

Mike Essl has a short eBay and Mr.T related video clip over on YoTube.

[...]

Updated on June 21 '08
This blog entry has moved into the articles section where it has become a permanent resident and is allowed to take up all the space it needs.

I have gotten into listening to the radio again. The news I have seen on the TV here so far were truly unbearable charades of ultra conservative propaganda candy wrapped in tooth bendingly sweet, John Waters style entertainment. So the radio has become my primary source of information again, just like back in the day when I was a wee little teenage boy, jey!



And then of course the fact that Lilly gave me this wonderful radio makes for a good part of the excitement. Manufactured by Zauberperle, this model Tonfunk dates back to 1956. Its Big ole tube amp and speakers with cardboard membranes makes rock music sound like it was supposed to. Ok, so here is my dream playlist for this baby just to demonstrate the sound:

• Till the End of the Day The Kinks
• What'cha Gonna Do About It? The Small Faces
• Hang On Sloopy The Yardbirds
• This Magic Moment Lou Reed
• These Days Nico
• I Want You Bob Dylan
• Free Money Patti Smith
• Fado Amália Amalia Rodigues

Unfortunately the Tonfunk has suffered a little moving to the US. So I'll have to have it fixed soon. These guys here appear to be specialized in these matters.

Here are my favorite stations:

• WBAI  99.5 FM, Pacifica Radio in New York City
• WNYC 93.9 FM, New York Public Radio

Our fire escape garden is growing like crazy!

From left to right: Rosmary, Oregano, hidden on the lower platform in a big pot is Dill which is expected to grow three feet high, in the clove-shaped aluminium pot and the tiny empty clay are flowers but it's been so long since I sewed them that I can't remember what kind they were supposed to be. Then there is Thym, Chives and Celantro, a big bush of red flowers (I'm bad with names—especially for flowers) and hidden behind the ladder is a big ole pot with a white bush rose that is supposed to climb up the ladder. In front of the ladder just off to the right is a tomato plant. Now is that freggin romantic or what!

I spend most of the weekend "correcting" flaws in a typeface, which at a certain point I realized were really just due to the crappy quality of my inkjet Epson printer which is really wonderful for photos but completely useless for proofing type. So I dashed over to Staples which — bless the 24/7 slave system — was open for me on a regular Sunday afternoon and got myself a little b/w laser printer. Back home however I had to discover that the missing mentioning of PostScript or even PostScript emulation should indeed have been a reason for concern. As the image below clearly demonstrates the pixeled image was enough to make a grown man cry. I didn't though. It was hard. So this morning I went back to my friends at Staples where I returned the very unfortunate Brother printer and got for an extra hundred bucks a fabulous HP printer. Be patient with the scan please. To me it is obvious what a world of a difference the PostScript emulation makes. These weird spikes on the contour of the character are visible with the bare eye.




The new printer is faster and more quiet. Even opening the different drawers and hatches on the HP printer feels better. Craftsmanship! The Hannes is happy now.

At first I thought it was urban legend. After all bleeding edge technology is one of the things you are allowed to screen print across US flags without offending anyone here. After a brief round of "google-research" however I was shocked to find the nightmarish accounts of random pedestrians and their pups getting electrocuted on the sidewalk confirmed. So how does it work; when is your number up? It seems that to take part in the New-York-Roulette all you have to do is step on as many manhole covers as possible and just hope you're not getting fried right there on the way to the apple store firmly clutching your big brown bag. If you think that's nonsense read what Reuters and the New York Times have to say about this. And then of course there is not only electricity that turns them into death traps. Sometimes pressure from underground fires sends them flying into the air in mid traffic or the romantic steam coming from the manholes actually heats them up. Utility companies pipe hot steam across town to heat buildings.


This skate boarder fell onto a sizzling hot manhole cover and now has the O and the N of Con Edison permanently branded onto her backside.


If danger is your middle name and you want to be close to the manhole cover at all times here are throw rugs fashioned after the cast iron monsters.

After all that marveling about the hi-tech miracles of modern living lately here is a genuine low-tech miracle that I bet you my dear family and friends back there in europe have never even heard about. Buckle up white girls here comes the do Brooklyn stylie. What is commonly known as a hair weave over here is the answer to the question why so many black women have this strangely shiny and very streight hair. It's not a wig and it's not a reverse perm. It's a weave. I discovered a post card sized flyer at the post office that advertises a hair dresser over on Fulton by the name of Hair Players 2000. On that very post card the miracle, and I consciously use the word for the third time now, the context I feel warrants it, is explained in a series of color photographs.

Yes, this beautiful woman had her natural hair braided in what I believe is called corn rows across her head and then strands of artificial hair were attached or woven into to those corn rows. Presto: weave! Cool huh?

Updated June 21,'08
When I moved my blog from Blogger to my own backend here the comments got lost in the process. In most cases this is not a terrible tragedy as they were mainly shout-outs from my peeps. In this case however I want to preserve the comment so I decided to make it part of the post. Here we go:

Personal Tech Pipeline reports about a bionic suit

which to me seems like a spunkier version of this slightly lethargic "Walker" that shoots rubber balls!



Updated May 8 2006:
Japan has finally introduced miniscule fighting androids to the world of robot wars.

The kids either love it or just love to scream their lungs out for any odd reason.

Yeay! My friend B. who shall remain anonymous for now is finally selling his house, setting sails for the promised city Berlin. Anybody wants to move to Almere? Do me a favor and buy his castle.

Updated May 8 2006:
Castle is sold. Dude is moving to Berlin. Disregard whole entry.

What can I say about Kate my miracle doctor? If you know me at all you will be very suspicious about my sudden consumption of flacks seed and bee pollen. It's true this might just be growing up or married life or a fluke but I ensure you it is at least in part down to Ms. mindBody. Kate is a friend and lives in the neighborhood. She's a free-lance writer, a yoga instructor and the heart and brains behind Ms. mindBody, a weekly newsletter with the sole purpose to enhance your sense of well being. My advice is sign up and see if it does something for you.

Every morning I cross read the headlines in the daily emails I receive from the New York Times and the Washington Post. This morning clutching my big mug of coffee a link to a news item in the New Scientist hit me. Reportedly the Canadian and US olympic ski team don new suits this year which are laced with a thin tissue which hardens on impact and then becomes soft again just as quickly. No more clunky hard plastic armor just a perforated layer of polymers that know what to do when hit with a slalom stick. Wow, what a great reminder that I am living on the threshold to a world in which intelligent materials dominate technological advances. At this point I got very excited. True, Velcro and GoreTex were great but in no way do they even start to outline the kind of change in our daily routines I thought to see so clearly back when I first read Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age. At the relatively young and impressionable age of somewhere in my early twenties having ingested every word of my newly discovered hero's seventh book I developed a sense of anticipatory euphoria and maybe even a little smugness of someone in the know. I knew that a future with flying cars



and big, fat, earth orbiting space stations was the picket fence, Doris Day version of a future much more intricate in structure and alien in its sensual experiences.



Instead I expected to live in a future that would feel very familiar in its daily life routines but relied on technologies which would change the contents of these very routines and make life seem alien from a today's perspective. And it's true, the existence of the International Space Station does not perceptibly change my daily life. The existence of Teflon does.

Here are an article on Neal Stephenson originally published in WIRED magazine, his old and very unattractive website with a lot of information and his new very small Flash based website that looks a little better but I can't find any information. Hmmm... Mr. Visionary, what's going on there?

Anyway, this ski suit article took me back a few years to when SF really matterded to me. So I dive into my treasure chest of bookmarks hunting for similar technologies the development of which I have observed with peripheral vision in the last few years. Here is a company calledE·INK that manufactures a new display technology which does not rely on emitting light but instead changes it's surface so it almost looks like print on paper.



A company called Plasticlogic has a little movie online that shows a page change on one of these b/w displays in 100ppi and in Japan there is a wall-sized newspaper that uses E·INK technology

And what's up with photovoltaics and semiconductors? Organic light-emitting polymers that can be transfered onto any material with bubble-jet printing technology,



coating just about any regular object with what amounts to a display. The Philips cell phone 639 shows animations and the telephone number of incoming calls on it's clam shell exterior. Or cooler yet, just a simple sheet of plastic that emits light when under current and works like a large area solid state display. They are energy efficient and emit colors ranging from the near UV to the near infrared. Simple examples are already reaching the consumer market. There is a wooden desk which due to its polymer coating is its own desk lamp.



Imagine cars without trailer lights. The whole back of a car will be able to light up instead or display written messages. Combined with thin film polymer solar cells and polymer rechargeable batteries these structures are becoming independent from external energy sources.

Update March 22. 2006:
Smart concrete that changes color.

While I am waiting for Sony Ericsson to come up with the perfect Hannes-phone (this one is lacking the camera) and my funds to recover to a degree that would allow me to actually buy it I can still dream, right? So here are my favorite ringtones by They Might be Giants.

Minor update 02-28-06:
Ok, here is the phone that I crave!

Somehow my immersion into american christmas rites did not work out as planned. I was dedicated to experience the foreign first hand and neither mock the unfamiliar nor change the course of the proceedings. I wanted 100% US holidays. But maybe one has to be a child to follow the tradition with the sort of wide eyed enthusiasm I was expecting from my self. Yes we left the electric lights on over night so santa could find his way and we unpacked the gifts on the morning of the 25th but we started inventing our own rituals as we went along. When it came to decorating the tree we discovered, that we had nothing to decorate it with. So we went out and bought e few overpriced antique looking glass balls. Short of a basket full of christmas ornaments we set out to make our own. KAte and Scott came over and lend us a hand. Then Helen and Ed came too and before we knew it we had a regular ornament making party going on. It's amazing what six drunk grown-ups can accomplish with a bit of cardboard, gouache paint, glitter and glue. The event as well as the products of our creative outburst proved so convincing that we decided to make this an annual event. So now we have our own, brand new tradition.


The tree in it's entirety and a zebra. Every tree should have a zebra.

Sharkey and Rodensanta by Rodenhizer.

Bina's Weihnachtsmann with Bina's angel.

Mr Hanky (my favorite) and his friend the oldfashioned glass ball.

Steve Zissou's seahorse and a german Apple.

I don't know what to tell you... yes this is Dolly Parton (curtesy of Kate) and Alex Famira's wood-Santa.

Black Santa (north pole represent) and a box of chocolates.

Mama's angel keeping it real and Ed's super-sleigh.

Last minute handbag (the tree deserves a handbag) and some Swiss ham (von Thomas und Myriel)

And I almost forgot: Disco Earth and Helen's Joy.!

Advise from Tante Ute, my aunt who emigrated to California back during the Nixon administration is a source of wisdom here. She recommends to have electric lights and candles for a cross cultural Christmas experience. She laughingly admits it freaks out the americans but it's cool if you know what you're doing. Happy holidays everybody!

Can we please agree that christmas is the weirdest holiday as it unscrupulously mixes pagan with christian imagery and custom? Here in America where so many different cultures have merged their heritage and every branch of the hyperactive local industry is happily molding this mix into a new Disneyfied phenomenon called xmas this legal resident here feels the urge to take notes. Now that the americans have declared war on xmas I deem it super important to report home about the local customs and practices before they're totally extinct and lost forever, vanished into the big abyss that we call PC. So here is my report on xmas:

Americans like to buy their trees from charming canadian tree vendors as early as possible. Me too, it makes sense. Canada has a shit-load of trees. When you spend money why not spend it on canadians with sexy accents and, last not least if you buy your tree early-on in December you don't need to shell out for an Advent wreath but instead you get to enjoy the tree much longer. Buying the tree on the 24th and then throwing it out on January 1st shortens the window of xmas-cheer considerably. True, the surprise is somewhat gone when you eventually celebrate xmas and the tree has been around for almost a month but at least you get to enjoy it for a month. OK, so the tree is in the den and dries out day after day in what is called ghetto heat. The gynormous tree stands, available at wonderful places like "The Home Depot" or "Bed Bath & Beyond" allow the xmassee to water his or her tree in an attempt to keep it green for 31 days and nights. But lets be honest, three weeks under desert like conditions found in the average urban american living room turns the proudest canadian fir tree into happy kindling. So, no candles! In fact, Americans faint at the mere mention of candles anywhere near christmas trees... or holiday trees which is the preferred non-offensive term. Big ole fire hazard, so we go with electric lights, called twinkle- or fairy lights. Decorating the tree is a social event and getting pissed on egg nog with rum is a splendid tradition, tightly linked to the decorating event. To make matters even more post pop art we decided to buy a DVD containing an endless loop of crackling fire place. Unfortunately the fire was neither filmed in letterbox format nor does it give off any heat but it inspires so much cheer, that the decorating and egg-nogging chores turn into slices of pie or pieces of cake. One last thing, the gifts. Now gifts go wrapped up under the tree as soon as they become available and then stay there untouched like Michael Jackson's friends until it's xmas time.

So far the report on first hand experiences with christmas customs in the new world. Come back for more as the season's main event unfolds and further anthropological studies become inevitable.

Really nice talking folks. So you wanted pictures, a blog, the latest events, maybe even these likable little QT movies? Get ready for the big Kahuna burger. Of course you know about the Hannes' life as a soap extravaganza but I think a new era is dawning. Get ready for some real movies. Not that crap slide-show-with-a-tune stuff you had to get accustomed to. No-no-no-no-no, I am talking video here. I just received a fully functioning camcorder from a lovely FreeCycle lady (thanks Eileen!). Lovely in a New York grumpy kinda way and now I can't wait to record my video diary for you.

The only thing standing in between you and some saucy footage from the new world is a missing cheap device that turns video into something my PowerBook reads. Wouldn't it be great if this thing could digitize the video stream coming from our TiVo. That way I could send you DVDs with the latest american sitcoms. Joopie! Any advice?

Friday night at the Beast, Pee Wee Herman on the screens and Radiohead serving as the Soundtrack for a smoked trout salad and a big glass of Müller-Thurgau.

I think it was last thursday that I went and saw the vernissage of a book about the work of this guy called Chip Kidd. Too many very happy Manhattanites clutching their plastic cups of surprisingly respectable white wine politely forcing their way through the narrow corridors of the Herb Lubalin Center; eagerly smiling, sweating. So I had to run. But in the words of my fellow countryman: "I'll be back". I will have to return and have a proper look at the work. I can't believe this guy Chip Kidd has eluded me. And also I can't believe how many of the books I own he designed the covers for. Last time a graphic designer's work inspired me to this extend was when I was a student and I discovered Vaughan Oliver. The exposition is not a simple sweep through. It's well done and offers tons of stuff to discover on a second and third glance. Do yourself a favor and go see it. The exhibition will be on until January 3, 2006.

It's at the

The Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
School of Art
Foundation Building, 2nd Floor
7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue
New York City

There is a book that goes with the exhibition ...or is it the other way round? Oh, and in case you're wondering, no it's not a really tiny book but the hands are part of the cover illustration. I had to buy that book right away and boy, it is a wonderful ride. I keep picking it up, flicking through it. The level of typographical craftsmanship is like big boles of five star cuisine.

Chip Kidd has a website and so has the
Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography

I have finally become member of a sports club which is conveniently located on top of my favorite Korean greengrocer on Flatbush Ave.

Unlike the many sports clubs that I tested or have been a member of in Switzerland and in the Netherlands the atmosphere here is friendly and relaxed. The staff and trainers take their job serious but they don't harass the sweet bejeezus out of you. It is quite obvious that these guys actually work out themselves, which one might think of as quite an important prerequisite to earning money by working in a gym. In my experience though the most obnoxious gym instructors are often of the physically lazy and —I hate to say it— also of the female persuasion. In other words, women who see their job as a position of power rather than one of service and who often amazingly enough don't seem to feel any affinity with sports in general or fitness training in particular. I should not get started on the PMS-style hostility I have had to endure by some of the pills at Caesar's in Den Haag or at the Forum in Basel... At my new sports club I have been spared by those and must say that the staff is helpful, friendly and serious about the process. After my prior experiences I have to pay those guys and gals here in Brooklyn a big friggin compliment. I have the cheapest of the three available memberships which allows me to come in on off-peak hours only. This works fine for me though because that way it's never too crowded. As for constructive criticism there are two points worth mentioning. The old carpet is just slick and icky in some places and the sound systems on the cardio machines don't seem to be set up to either play anything but white noise or the ones playing actual programs are not corresponding to the programming on theTV's. Talking to the staff about the sound issue has not actually yielded any results so far. But let's be fair, that's basically small fries to me so I'm pretty happy and look forward to turning Hannes, the beached whale into Hannes, the sexy, butch deity.

Every morning I check that darned Apple site. Today they feature a big photograph of Rosa Parks who they apparently have added to their Think Different campaign now. I sat in bed with my PowerBook on my lap and got tears in my eyes when I saw the photo. Man, what's wrong with me... I do understand the concept behind the campaign and I basically like it but I felt uneasy when they hi-jacked John Lennon and now they got Rosa Parks selling PC's? When celebrities endorse a product they get big fat wads of cash for it. I understand that the campaign doesn't say:"Ghandi likes to work with a Mac" but that Apple instead is saying:"We want to be like Ghandi". It's a fine line though. Rosa Parks died last Monday. Now she's on the Apple website with the company logo and the famous caption "Think different". Somehow that's just not right. Am I wrong? I'd love to know the percentage of black employes at Apple. Did Apple make a sizable donation to the Parks Institute? Steve J. If you read this let me know. I'm feeling uneasy here.

Rosa
by Rita Dove

How she sat there,
the time right inside a place
so wrong it was ready.

That trim name with
its dream of a bench
to rest on. Her sensible coat.

Doing nothing was the doing:
the clean flame of her gaze
carved by a camera flash.

How she stood up
when they bent down to retrieve
her purse. That courtesy.

See, now that's how you pay tribute...

Minor Updates
The picture in question is gone but here is what it looked like.
And while I'm at it, OMG they have turned Rosa Parks' life into a made-for-TV movie!

Now this movie shook me up me in an intellectually stimulating way. More so than I care to admit, which is a rare experience for me. I know, ...sad. Reading up on IMDB and such I was surprised to learn that the main reaction has been: "I don't need to see this fucked up shit". Now that's just immature and also a little exaggerating. Demonlover is in fact a beautifully shot, incredibly well acted and very well pieced together story. One of the rare but wonderful occurrences when the authors don't assume their audience consists of minors and fools exclusively. In that respect, as a piece of craftsmanship Demonlover is as refreshing as it is fascinating. The plot is basically a baroque game of intrigues around ruthless french high-power business men and women getting involved in japanese animé porn and preceding to tumble down a hellish rabbit hole. Instead of the Syd Field school of Hollywood plot twists Demonlover keeps changing in front of our eyes, constantly redefining the relationships of power between the players. Allies, victims and perpetrators perform a dream like dance of destruction.

RELATED LINKS

• Face (French American Cultural Exchange)
• Interesting article on french corporate culture
• Weird Japanese Demonlover website

Ok kids, new category: FilmTip. Yes, since we got TiVo I've been watching more quality TV than ever before. Hell, I can't watch as fast as that mofo keeps recording my favorite shows and some other stuff I don't even know what it is or where it came from. So here is my first FilmTip: "Buffalo 66". That movie is just to cool to be true. Actually it's so cool because it rings so true. I have rarely if ever seen an portrait of a deeply fucked up and dysfunctional family and a destroyed person in such a perfect, quiet little love story. When the movie begins you just know in the end you'll want to slit your wrists. But Vincent Gallo pulls it off to swing it all around for his protagonist. We even get some kind of a happy ending without any of the cheese that is usually necessary in movies coming out of my new home, the US of Disney. I don't think the whole movie officially qualifies as a love story though. It's more as if the audience were allowed to peek into this guy's life just as he reaches some kind of acme on his personal curve of despair and we get to witness a defining moment where life proves to be more important to him than his self destructive driving force. The tone of the movie is the most lyrically depressing winter and there are no heroes and no flying cars. Buffalo 66 is so beautiful and modest it could be a scandinavian movie. Yes there, I said it. It actually paints a very carefully observed picture of contemporary american life. Vincent Gallo came up with the story, wrote the script, directed and stars the movie while the rest of the cast is equally impressive. Christina Ricci, Ben Gazzara, Mickey Rourke, Anjelica Huston. So go and rent this movie, you heard me. It's worth it.

Of all the stores in our neighborhood I think I like Red Lipstick the best. It first occurred to me because of the cool logo but it doesn't stop there.

Stacy's runs this wee little boutique from which she manages to sell a surprising amount of clothes and paraphernalia and knickknack held together only by her breathtaking fashion sense. Some of it she's made herself! I will have to take photos of that stuff. When you guys visit we will definitely have to go to RedLipstick.

560 Vanderbilt Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 1238
718-8579534
www.redlipstick.net

The exterior of this bar gets a fresh coat of blood red paint so often that the facade just shimmers in the sun like it's dripping wet. Behind the fence there are four or five small tables for al fresco seating. Inside the dracula appeal turns out to be less than incidental. The bar is dark, the ceiling high and a broken TV-set that seems to like purple a lot more than any other color silently runs non-stop trashy horror movies. The music seems to be a tasteful collection of eclectic indie and rock classics that every hour or so makes me go: "Oh wow, remember this?". Next to guys night out Beast is also good for breakfast and dinner. The modestly sized portions of food are simple dishes exquisitely prepared.

Beast
638 Bergen Street
Brooklyn, NY 11238
tel. 718-399-6855

Ok, what can I say, these guys... The place is a mess and not what you would call clean. It's like a last resort kinda hardware store. Around easter I returned two lamp shades for store credit which I have been using for many, many small purchases since. That's fun. It's like having my own money. Everybody pays with US dollars but I just take out my hand written receipt. Every time I buy something it gets deducted from the total amount and to me it is simply amazing how many small calculations can be scribbled on this tiny piece of paper and still it seems to make sense to the guys at Daffodil. Whenever I ask for a certain piece of hardware the clerk start's to wander through his store like he has no idea what he will find. With a certain frustrated air of defeat he will stubbornly keep presenting wrong items suggesting they might do a similar job to the item I've been asking for until I thank him for his effort and then I just end up driving to Lowes again where a hot dog is waiting for me.

Rieme is from Belgium and sells old world treasures like cheese, cured meats, olive oils and vinegars, really good sour dough bread, ...you name it. And every time I go she has added new products. Delicacies makes me miss Europe less. Next time she will tell me how to find that butcher up in the Bronx who makes fresh Merguez sausages.

639 Vanderbilt Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-622-1255
www.brooklyndelicacies.com

Minor Update
Rieme offers a cup of real good coffee or tea for a buck now.

Mae washes from the early morning until late in the evenings and is a real upbeat kinda lady.

This is where we buy our wine, champaign and whisky


651 Vanderbilt Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11238
718-230-3216
www.fermentedgrapes.net

I am sorry. That is not the official name of this store and it might be totally unfair to call our marked that. But it's nickname derives from a personal encounter with what almost looked like an olive but then turned out to be a thoroughly pickled water bug resting peacefully amongst olives. Strangely enough what started as a shorthand between Veronica and me has been readily adopted by our friends. It seems that the title Roach-Store hits the spot. People are just ready to call it that. Truth be told we still buy a lot of our packaged shit there, milk and such. I try however to never put my knapsack on the ground and I inspect every side of every article before I put it in the bag... You should have seen that beetle! Mimic has nothing on those suckers.

Baby-steps to understanding the universe all over again when your existence is dipped in a foreign culture:
• Half and Half is cream and regular milk mixed, ...delicious heavy stuff
• You can tell coffee is old when you add half and half and instead of turning a lighter brown the coffee turns grey
• Mosquitoes will always find their way in. Screen windows are merely to be understood as proof that the conflict with american insects relies mostly on psychological warfare
• "trepidation" is my new word and means fear

Franz Ferdinant's new record shall be my soundtrack for the coming week. Sweet! And my special kudos go out to Martina for being in the know a million years ago and trying to convert my musically challenged ass.
Also, Jonathan's educated opinion is that the much disputed king of rap is worth a visit too. I am downloading his oevre as I'm typing this. The true quality of his majesties recitative remains to be judged after taking it through an exhaustive headphones-on-the-sofa test though.

Draussen ist es irre heiss und feucht. 35 Grad un 81% Luftfeuchtigkeit. Das ist nicht echt verlockend um rauszugehen. Da schiesst einem der Schweiss nur so aus der Stirn. Ich hab auch schon ein paar Cronies hier im Viertel, die sich entschlossen haben, dass ich ihr Buddy bin. Da ist zum Beispiel Robert. Der war bei der Marine und in Deutschland stationiert. Jetzt hat er Krebs und wohnt im Altersheim gegenueber. Er sitzt immer auf der Bank vor der Tuer und hat krach mit anderen Altersheimlern oder haut passanten um Geld an. Er ist eigentlich bischen Jung um im Altersheim zu leben aber das ist halt der einzige Platz den die haben fuer einen der kein Geld aber dafuer viel Krebs hat. Da wohnt man halt im Altersheim. Um die Ecke hier ist der Waschsalon. Der gehoert Mae, die wohl aus China kommt und von morgens frueh bis nach Sonnenuntergang froehlich und ohne Klimaanlage anderer Leute fiese Klamotten waescht. Mae spricht eine Sprache die in Ihrem Kopf wohl Englisch sein muss. Fuer mich aber klingt wie der Soundtrack zu Crouching Dragon Hidden Waschmadam. Mae findet es toll, dass ich bei uns die Waesche erledige. "Ooooh Good boyfrieeeeeend" sagt sie gerne und haut mir dann mit wucht auf die Schulter. Dann erzaehlt sie mir eine Geschichte, in der einige Worte klingen als wenn sie mich an englische Worte erinnern wollen. Ich komm nur nicht drauf welche das sein sollen. May lacht dann laut haut mir nochmal auf die Schulter und sagt "Good baaaaay, my frieeeeend!". Ein bischen die Strasse rauf ist ein mini kleiner Einkaufsladen, der hauptsaechlich Sardinenbuechsen und Toilettenpapier verkauft und von Spaniern gefuehrt wird die viel mit Arbeitshandschuhen rumstehen und schwitzen und immer irgendwelche Geschaefte zu machen scheinen, die man nicht sehen soll. Die finden mich toll. Bleiben auf der Strasse stehen um mir die Hand zu schuetteln und so... go figure. Noch weiter oben hat Rieme ihr Delikatessengeschaeft. Sie kommt aus Belgien und ist das charmanteste Maedchen das man sich vorstellen kann. Sommersprossen Chrueselihaar. Sie hat lauter leckere europaeische Sachen und gutes Brot. Irgendwann verrät sie mir dann noch wo in der Bronx der einzige Metzger ist, wo man frische Merguez bekommt. Ich schätze, dass ein ausführlicher Rundgang durch die Nachbarschaft angebracht ist. Gestern hab ich schonmal ein paar Foto's gemacht. Kommt bald. Oh fein, ich hab ne Idee: Ich werd meine Nachbarn alle einzeln vorstellen!

Hello my dear friends. Yes I have finally started a blog. Since I moved to Brooklyn I feel as if I am losing touch with my friends and family while there is so much I need to tell you guys. Every day is bursting with new experiences and first-offs. So the plan is that I will rant about my daily encounters with America and the world in general and in return hope to hear back from all of you as much as poss. Please come back for more, peace kids.