park/markt/records/food/movie

i don't even know what to talk about anymore. i've done a lot, been having a lot of fun, but nothing crazy has happened--nothing like, "oh what a great story that all my friends need to hear." but that's ok. writing long-windedly about quotidiana is kinda, like, what i do. all the publicizing of self-reflection that goes into a project like this makes me somewhat uncomfortable, especially as i don't have an aesthetic agenda here like i did in my old myspace blogs. there is a fear that introspection will turn into self-absorption and noone wants that!!

the day i got to berlin was sunny, warm and beautiful. aaron and i spent the afternoon drinking beer in the mauer park by his house. it's an area that used to be the wall. since then, the skies have been grey and sunless, the weather cold and rainy. it was starting to wear us out. then yesterday it was warm and sunny again. wunderbar! we went to the flohmarkt at mauer park, basically a flea market that happens every sunday. lots of junk, some of it good. lots of people selling records.

i was kinda looking for some unique records that i would not see ever or often in the states, maybe some krautrock. and helpfully, many of the vendors had dedicated krautrock sections. aaron asked one middle-aged dude with no sections if he had any of this music, that his friend (me!) was looking for, like, some can records. the guy was like, 'no can. but there were so many other good krautrock bands. you american kids and your can [essentially]! listen to this.' and he put on a live album by a band called jane. it wasn't very good.

aaron tells me this is a common attitude among the people who were around in the 60s/70s--they don't like can. it wasn't the real deal, they were seen as snobby upper class people kind of pretending to do this music. ok. that may be. but. most krautrock is not very good. and can is very very good.

so. more record shopping. one place had good, well-priced copies of can's future days and bowie's low. that's one that i don't see often in denver, and any time i did it was either a dirty copy or got snatched up by one of my coworkers. here it seems fairly common--it was recorded in berlin after all. so i had told myself, next time i see it, i will buy it. so i bought these, took them back to aaron's and did a little discogs.com research. looks like they're both originals (ooh!) in very good condition. benuk would be proud of me! i don't normally care about that shit, but i felt the need to justify my purchases to myself. since i had just found out my landlord sold our place and we have to get out like as soon as i get back and i don't have the money to get a new place. hmm. i feel like this should be bothering me more than it is. and maybe it will surface soon that i'm incredibly freaked out. but i feel ok about it right now. mostly i'm not happy about moving a-fucking-gain. we shall see how this plays out.

we listened to records, then went over to margareth's place for a dinner party. she had a couple of her and aaron's friends over and made delicious food. and this was the third night in a row she had done this for us! thank you margareth. the night before it was risotto. the other two nights there was kind of a korean theme, with lots of small dishes. that's her kick right now when it comes to cooking, and it's sehr gut.

then i came back to aaron's place and watched trans-europ-express, directed by alain robbe-grillet. as some of my readers may know, i was obsessed with his novels a year or two ago. and this movie of his is just about as good. it's got essentially the same aesthetic as the novels. time is fractured, reality is inconsistent and ever-changing (a habit of his that he makes fun of in the movie), events repeat in subtly different ways. the cinematography is gorgeous, with a brilliant use of mirrors. and it's fucking funny. i think i'm embarking on an a.r.-g. film kick.