I had a small shock coming back to Berlin. The first thing that happened when we exited our gate was that a man was looking at me from the other side of one of the tiny corridors that Tegel is made up of. I was caught off guard. What was wrong with that guy? Then I realised that this is the way people here look at each other all the time. At the S-bahn we were asked for money by a street person. Made me think that there is something symbolically interesting with this kind of human interaction, which does not exist in Tokyo. On the S-bahn the guy we sat down next to was visibly nervous, looked at us, his leg bumping on the floor. What was wrong with this guy? Again, I had forgotten that this simply is how people are here. They are always, always, always caring about everyone else, trying to figure them out, and if they fail at it, it bugs them and they must gaze at you, make sounds, bump their foot like on a drum – instead of simply minding their own business. A bit later – we didn’t travel many stops – two Romanian drunks roamed loudly through the car. Berlin, Berlin. And then more street persons outside the S-bahn. Conclusion: Toughen up. No problem.
What I appreciate most being home is bread and desk. German bread, not the babyfood variety of Tokyo conbinis. And my proper desk. Japanese hotels and airbnb apartments certainly stretch the definition of a desk and a chair. Yes, technically you can put your computer on it, but any work that takes more than 20 minutes will slowly drive you ergonomically crazy.
I read a bit about the complete failure of adhering to laws when renovating Oberbaumbrücke. They renovated for a year and when it was finished they had made the bikelanes illegally narrow. So after complaints and court verdicts or the like, it must be remade – again for the taxpayers’ money. It’s like the miniature version of BER, except it seems to be more incompetence than corruption in this case.
I feel so negative.
Stories
- Solarpunk: Ecological and Fantastical Stories in a Sustainable World, edited by Gerson Lodi-Ribeiro
- Carlos Orsi: “Soylent Green is People!” Pp. 7–47.
Articles
- Oberbaumbrücke:
- RBB24: Oberbaumbrücke in Berlin soll breitere Radwege bekommen
- RBB24: Oberbaumbrücke soll schon wieder umgebaut werden (October 2019)
- Tagesspiegel: Oberbaumbrücke bekommt breitere Radwege
- Techcrunch: Grindr sold by Chinese owner after US raised national security concerns
- TNW: Hackers are using coronavirus maps to infect your computer
- Vulture/Brilliantly Canceled:
- Matt Schimkowitz: ‘That’s My Bush’: Inside Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s Short-Lived Presidential Parody (2013)
- Matt Schimkowitz: Watching the Hitler-Based Sitcom Pilot (Yes, Really) ‘Heil Honey I’m Home’ (2012)
TV
- Heil Honey I’m Home Full Uncut Episode (UK 1990, 26 min)
- Mr Robot, S4 E1–3
Film
- Spirited Away (Miyazaki Hayao, Japan, 2001, 125 min)
Video
- Pause and Select:
- Indigo Gaming: Cyberpunk Documentary PART 1 | Neuromancer, Blade Runner, Shadowrun, Akira
- Zeria: Why Japanese Cyberpunk is Different
- Publicistklubben: PK DEBATT 10/2: Vem driver dreven?
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