A PLACE FOR SIDEWAYS TRAINS OF THOUGHT
Some time ago I posted an article on my liking for random walks, in which I outlined an insanely complicated method to get to places you weren't planning to see. Recently I found another way to go to randomly explore the world, without getting up from my chair. A few days ago, as I was... Continue Reading →
I read a lot and when I don't have a book, I find it hard to avoid reading any of the signs and labels in my vicinity. Sometimes I come across one which makes me pause. Here are a few examples Dementia Bar I spent a couple of nights in a room on the 3rd floor just... Continue Reading →
The April 19 issue of the New Yorker had an interesting article by Lauren Collins on the American photographer George Steinmetz. His speciality is taking pictures from a motorised paraglider which he flies low and slow (27 mph is the one speed it has). With it he can get the angles which he wants, whereas... Continue Reading →
T(This is a post from 2010). The other day I came across an article in Le Monde about the political situation in Vorarlberg, a region of Austria. Together with Carinthia, Vorarlberg has adopted a law to prevent buildings being erected which aren't "ortsüblich". The best way I have found to render ortsüblich in this case... Continue Reading →
(This article was first posted in February 2008. I think it is time for people to be reminded of North Korean music. Nordkorea.info.de doesn't seem to provide songs any longer, which is a great pity, but there is a good selection here. In particular, I would recommend Heroic Workers' Factory, which has an English translation.... Continue Reading →
(Listen to the poem here) The train for Kandy leaves Colombo Fort just as the morning heat begins to swell. Inside the observation car the rusty fans begin to turn and tilt. We watch the platform where we stood for one, two quarters of an hour slide off our moving stage. And now we're ready... Continue Reading →
Some nights I lie awake, thinking how nice it would be to assemble a city which incorporates all my favourite streets and squares. Some of them because they offer an unexpected glimpse of a river at a sharp bend, others because of their beautiful buildings, some because of their fascinating shops or magnificent trees and still others because of the... Continue Reading →
San Serriffe (main islands Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse) is a country people first noticed on 1 April 1977 after the Guardian published a seven-page supplement on it complete with advertising. Philip Davies, the person who had the original idea, apparently said, “The Financial Times was always doing special reports on little countries I’d never heard of. I... Continue Reading →
Once in Istanbul I was eating at a cheap restaurant near Sultan Ahmet- the Blue Mosque. It was one of those times when a bomb had gone off or somebody had invaded someone somewhere, and despite this being a tourist area there was nobody but me in the place. And then a lady walked in.... Continue Reading →
Mexican bus ride was the US title given to a Buñuel film called Subida al cielo (Ascent to Heaven). What follows is about a Mexican bus ride of my own and has nothing to do with the film, I just liked the poster and it is always worthwhile mentioning Buñuel, but you can see an excerpt here.... Continue Reading →