Get into the groove June 12, 2006
Posted by BiB in Uncategorized.trackback
If any of you are at a bit of a low ebb, though, may I recommend taking up smoking as a great boon? I thought yesterday it was time to nip some renascent smoking culture chez moi in the bud, and have this evening chosen to nip the nipping in the bud in the bud, and it’s done me the world of good. I’ve put on Duel by Propaganda to heighten my spirits further still, wondering once more why no German knows this fabulous German song. (Perhaps I should occasionally meet people older than 3.)
Anyway, this is doubly no time for misery. There’s no point me seeking sympathy for having to work. I think I’m onto a hiding to nothing there. And I’ve got to get through the bit of work that’s currently stalking me – better have a quick blog, though, just in case I actually get started – as guests arrive this weekend. And not just any old guests. No. An old pal. And a blogger. And only a blogger from NYC and his missus – no link – who’ve never been to Berlin before so how do I show the city in its best light and make Berlin seem even groovier than New York? Is this doable? I need tips galore. Nightlife tips. Daylife I can do. But nightlife. Where’s funky? But not so funky that I’ll vomit with nerves about being turned away by the bouncer at the door for not being perfect, and then be turned away by the bouncer at the door for being covered in puke. Tips, darlings, tips! Our city’s reputation is at stake.
BiB 
Oh cripes; everything’s full of football and I’ve only just started to get the hang of the “real” nightlife here. Sorry not to be much use. Any juice tips?
A Secret Wish is still a fantastic album but my favourite from it is Dream With Withon A Dream.
Here’s to nip the nipping in the bud, sir.
Take them to an Ossi-style bar. Or to a proper Berlin gay bar. Or to a typical German village pub somewhere in the suburbs.
B., Whatsthatsmell has been known to do juice, though not of late.
Wynders, delighted to discover that someone else out there remembers Propaganda. I wonder if they’re now living in squats in Berlin. Mind you, their tunes are often used, in an M-People way, for Wimbledon sound effects and the like, so perhaps they’re raking it in.
Lukeski, all suggestions taken on board and are now being mulled over. I’ve got a feeling EINY is more of a wine-man than beer-man, but I’ll see what I can do. Perhaps I’ll get them slaughtered on Rotkäppchen and then they should be up for anything…
Can you send me some mp3s of Propaganda? I’m showing my age, I know…
Ah, me old China, I presume you are looking for something to celebrate Australia’s glorious first ever win at the World Cup to? I immediately imagined newspaper headlines along the lines of, “Advance Australia Fair” (in view of the dodgy Japanese goal) and something to do with hara-kiri for the Japanese collapse as the final whistle blew. I’ll try to find where I downloaded this one from – I know it was free – and will send you the details, sir.
In the latest copy of LivingEtc, the home furnishings magazine for minimalist media types such as moi, it appears one of the ladies from Propaganda is married to a rock photographer and now lives in Hove in a very nice house indeed. The other lady from Propaganda is married to one of the chaps from OMD and they go on tour together, presumably playing their old hits in a Together At Last kind of way. I don’t know what the other members of Propaganda are doing, if indeed there are any other members.
Ah, I was just listening to Duel the other day as well. It’s a marvellous record and I still hear it out in some of the gay bars in London, which is great. One of Claudia Bruecken’s solo records (Kiss Like Ether) is also bloody marvellous.
Sadly it seems they are very much not raking it in – it looks like their record company well and truly shafted them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_%28band%29
As for impressing tourists, this may be horribly naff for real Berliners, but when I was there last summer I took my English friends to Tacheles, which amazed them – the idea that people would be allowed to drink in a semi-derelict building (which would NEVER be allowed in safety-obsessed England) astonished them. And it has lots of outside space for drinking on warm evenings.
Mixed fortunes, mixed fortunes…
No, we could easily pop into Tacheles, although it serves its drinks in plastic glasses, if I remember, perhaps because, in a minor concession to Health & Safety, they’re afraid people will lob them off the top floor. Actually, even Prater, the best beer-garden I know, has gone plastic for the World Cup. Very disappointing.
Try Himmelreich bar, Simon-Dach-Str. 36 in Friedrichshain. “Old lady’s livingroom” furniture, cheap cocktails. Severly trendy punters. To get there you have to walk past a video store that also looks like an old lady’s livingroom, complete with formica table, winged armchairs and patterned wall paper in the window!
Thank you, incredibly public-spirited anonymous poster. But will there be a bouncer on the door or will I be able to sneak in undetected?
I can’t help you out with any Berlin nightlife suggestions, but I *have* just bought your mate’s book.
What, Englishman in New York’s book, or Radio Free Mike’s book? I’ll tell whichever the winner is on Thursday/Saturday. I’m sure they’ll be chuffed to bollocks!
Crikey, have *all* your friends written books? This was Englishman in NY’s book, the one that’s understatedly called ‘Blog!’ (the book of the musical of the blog, clearly).
I’ll tell him the moment he arrives on Saturday morning. He’s a quite wickedly charming person. Hope that comes across in the book.
re: Himmelreich. No bouncer. Just blond barmen.
stevend, thanks again for the tip. I’m sure I’ll cope with the blond barmen admirably. I’ll tell you if the New Yorkers – actually an English gent and his Danish wife – were impressed! (How gay is it? Will it cope with a pair of hetero interlopers?)
It’s hetero-proof. No naked table dancing. Rubber gloves are strictly for washing-up only.
Naked (apart from the obligatory trainers, and those sock-things that are meant to be invisible, as wearing socks with trainers is soooo old hat) washing-up?
Do you mean this is a place where we’ll have to take our clothes off at the door? (Hope they don’t charge by the item. Although this would, admittedly, be much worse in winter.) We’ve only met the New Yorker’s wife once. We might be shy.