I am finally working my way through all of the movies I’ve missed recently (don’t ask how I get them).

I just watched The Blind Side — I was mainly interested in this movie because it was shot at my high school in Atlanta.  I normally would be interested in football movies, but they did a horrible job of cutting the trailer to appeal to football fans, because I had zero interest.

Anyway — after Sandra won last night, I decided to give it a shot.

It was surprisingly good.  I found myself really enjoying it.  My favorite part, of course, was the parade of actual college football coaches — just watching that it’s fascinating to see how much the SEC has changed in a few years.  I know it’s based on a true story and all, but I was a bit upset that Miami was the only ACC team represented at any point in the movie…. but hey, at least Spurrier didn’t make a cameo.

So yeah, good solid movie.  Think Jerry Maguire (football, cute talking kid) meets, well, Jerry Maguire (sappy feel good story) — without Tom Cruise — add in Southern Republicans.

I clearly need a trip to Vegas.

Last June, after I saw “The Hurt Locker” for the first time, I left the theatre and said to my friends that I would be any of them that it wins Best Picture …. well, clearly, I was right.  I’m so glad it beat “Avatar” — a visually stunning movie, but not much else.

The only other movie I would have been happy to see win would be “Inglorious Basterds” — but at least Christopher Waltz won for Supporting Actor!

I didn’t see the show, but the reviews I read weren’t too positive.  The LA Times said it was lacking pacing, which they said could have been fixed with better stage management — I know a few people that will be happy to stage manage next years production …. feel free to call me.

Chatting with Chris and his dog, Valentino, last night.

Nice to catch up on the happenings in Vegas!

lovealwayslindsay:

We’ve had several dusty days of late. Above is captured by NASA, ”thick enough to completely obscure the satellite’s view of the planet’s surface”.

See all of that dust covering the right side of Kuwait?  Yeah, that’s where I live.  It was miserable…. clear today, though, finally.

Berlin Day 3

I had several goal for today, but the weather did not want to cooperate.  Berlin actually has a pretty solid subway system, but up to now I had not used it.  I’ve realized that I like walking as much as possible, because when walking, you stumble across neighborhoods and areas you would not have seen otherwise.  Thanks to my walking, I had found many cool little niches.

Anyway, the day was very windy (left overs from that storm that tore up France a few days before) and a bit wet and very cold.  I decided to walk to the first stop and see how well I did.

The other day when walking around the Brandenburg gate area, I somehow missed Hitler’s Bunker all together.  I didn’t have my map out and forgot it was in the area.  Well, today I found it and, frankly, it’s very easy to miss.  Though there is plenty of historical significance with this location (where Hitler spent his final days and ultimately killed himself), the German government has decided that it’s better not to glorify it in anyway.  There is simply a small sign sitting in the middle of a parking lot for a new apartment complex.  Apparently, the entire bunker is still underground and according to the diagram, this is a massive structure.  The government, though, has decided to keep it covered — mostly out of fear that modern day neo-nazis will turn it into a shrine — and make Hitler a martyr.

After checking out the Bunker, I headed back up towards Brandenburg gate for some food and to get my bearings before my next journey.  I decided that I could handle the weather and I walked all the way to the ruins of a bombed out church deep in West Berlin.  This involved walking the entire length of their “Central Park” — along the way I found a cool memorial to the Soviet Soldiers that died in Berlin and the home of the President of Germany.

I got a bit lost, but eventually found the church.  As you can see from the photos, they preserved on bit of the bombed out church as a reminder of what can happen.  It’s a pretty cool site … though ruined by all of the vendors that set up around it, blocking a lot of the views.

I was now in the trendy shopping area of Berlin and the weather was clearing up a bit.  So, I decided to walk around a bit and see the shopping scene.  Finally, though, my feet and the cold caught up to me and I decided to head back to the hotel area.  I knew I didn’t want to do the 2 hour walk again, so I hopped on the subway.

I went back to the hotel to warm up and relax for a minute.  I decided that I was going to go out tonight and see if there was a Monday scene at all.  I started with dinner and beers at a traditional German place and then walked around to a few of the bars recommended in my book.  I then headed towards the more trendy area for a bar called “White Trash Fast Food” — this place was pretty cool, a lot like a House of Blues with crazy decor and good live music.  I stayed there for a while before hitting another bar that was recommended by the cab driver and then headed home.

Slept in the next morning, got some breakfast and then headed back to the airport ……

The End.

Um… “Freaknik: The Musical” … brilliant.  Anyone who grew us in Atlanta in the 90s easily remembers Freaknik (annual spring break festival for mostly black universities).  It got so popular I remember they were closing school early so we could miss the traffic.

I honestly never thought I’d hear that word again, much less see someone make an animated musical based on it….

… was the other day.  I can’t believe I’ve been out here for 4 months …. the main question is how many more will there be …. 3?  4?  5?  6?  Yikes.

CURRYWURST

Actually, quite simple and very delicious.  A hot crispy grilled sausage, sliced, covered in curry powder and ketchup — awesome.  Usually served with fries with mayo, but I can’t do that, so I opted for ketchup.

Currywurst stands are all over Berlin … I knew I couldn’t leave without trying it at least once … delicious.  I might even try to make it at home … pretty easy one would think….

Berlin Day 2

After exploring some of the more marquee Berlin attractions on day one, I decided to shift my focus to museums on this day.  It turned out to be a good idea because the first part of the day was very cold and wet.  I headed out of the hotel towards the rough direction of the “Museum Island” that has a cluster of some very impressive museums.

While walking to the island I crossed the coolest little draw bridge (see photo) that’s still in operation, apparently.  While heading to the museum area, you quickly see the Berliner Dom sitting there.  This is a very impressive cathedral that easily reminds me of all of the ones I saw in Italy.  On that note, I was very surprised by the number of churches in Berlin.  Looking out over the city, all you see are church steeples everywhere …

Anyway — I got my ticket for the Neues Museum, but had some time to kill.  So, I walked through a little flea market that was set up and had lunch — Berlin’s Famous Currywurst — will explain later.

After lunch, it was raining, so I headed into the Berliner Dom to kill some time.  Beautiful church with a nice little exhibit on the construction of the structure with some really cool original architectural models.

FInally, it was time to head into the recently reopened and renovated Neues Museum.  I have been into many museums in my day and includes ones I worked on, but this was easily the most beautiful and impressive museum I’ve ever seen.  It’s famous for it’s Egyptian collection, including the Bust of Nefertiti (I included a picture above from the web since you can’t take pictures of that one artifact).

Quickly — this museum has been around for a very long time and was significantly destroyed during WWII.  After reunification, most of the artifacts were returned or recovered and a massive renovation began.  It’l be hard to describe, but what they did was try to keep the original feel of the building alive, but make it work for modern day exhibits.  So, there are rooms where there is chipped paint on the walls, for example — this remaining paint is from the original museum, but it’s restored in a way that it looks like a choice … it’s so cool.  The perfect blending of old and new.  I could go on forever … and might later.

After several hours in here, I headed up towards Alexanderplatz with the tall TV tower.  I decided not to go up.  It wasn’t a clear day and I figured I’ve done the towers in Seattle and Toronto, so I can skip this one…. I’ll be back.

I then took a long walk home that allowed me to stop at a few beer gardens.  Again, that night I was too exhausted to go out, so I treated myself to a very nice Italian meal at a very cool restaurant near Checkpoint Charlie.

Take a break from Berlin.  While going through my Berlin photos, I found this one again from one of my first few weeks in Kuwait.  I love this photo.  It’s like I’m on the moon or something.

Right now, though, you wouldn’t see more than 10 feet because of another horrible dust storm.  Apparently, the dust storms are a prelude to the extreme heat …. awesome.

Berlin Day 1: Part II

After the walk through the Holocaust Memorial, I headed up to the world famous Brandenburg gate.  I spent most of my time looking at the pretty massive structure built over 200 years ago wondering how hell Napoleon was just able to “steal” the Quadriga (horses and chariot) on top … that must have been a lot of work.

Surrounding the Brandenburg Gate area are several embassies (including USA) and the famous Hotel Adlon which used to be one of the grandest in Europe.  You might recognize it as the hotel that Michael Jackson famously dangled his baby off the balcony.  On the note of Michael Jackson, apparently he also performed a concert in the front of the Brandenburg gate in the early 90s — U2 also performed there recently for the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down.

Right down from the Gate is the Reichstag.  I don’t even need to go into the history of the building other than to say its been burnt and bombed and rebuilt probably more than any building in history (just a guess).

Because Berlin was basically erased off the map during WWII, there aren’t many old architecturally significant buildings that remain as they were before.  The country, though, has done an impressive job of restoring what they could an adding a modern twist.

The old exterior is basically the only partially original portion of the Reichstag remaining.  The interior was completely redone a few years ago to create a modern head of government.  Part of this includes a large glass dome on the top with a spiral walk way to the top providing impressive views of the city.  Right below the dome, which you can see through the glass center, is the parliamentary room.

A couple geek things to point out:  the top of the dome is open, but all rain and snow is funneled through the giant cone with all the mirrors in the center and sent out of the building.  The mirrors on that structure adjust based on the sun and heating and cooling needs.  There’s also a large shade that rotates around the center cone allowing even dispersion of light into the government chambers below.  All very very cool and subtle.

That night I was exhausted from traveling with little sleep and walking all over the place.  I had dinner at the hotel and a few beers at the Irish Pub across the street … I knew I had a lot to do the next day ……

Berlin Day 1:  Part I

I arrived in Berlin at about 9am Saturday.  Luckily, I was able to check into the hotel, shower and get refreshed after an all night flight.

My hotel was right near the classic “Checkpoint Charlie”, so I started my day there and explored the Wall Museum (easily one of the worst museums I’ve ever been to).  I then wandered down to the “Topography of Terror” which is an outdoor exhibit on the site where most of the main Nazi buildings were located.  It was here that they planned their “Final Solution”.  This is a very somber exhibit — very interesting.

I then wandered down to Potsdamer Platz - which is a modern shopping and entertainment complex.  Here I had my first German meal and beer - delicious.

I then headed up towards the “Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe”.  This monument and underground museum is an interesting memorial.  I read a lot about it, but still don’t quite get it.  It’s a pretty amazing collection of large stone towers that go from a few feet tall to well over my head.  There are 2,711 of these slabs — but I still don’t know what this number means.

The museum below the memorial is very nice, except they were having a few technical difficulties.  It’s small, but the most interesting room is a large open space where they project the name of a victim on all of the walls.  There is then a voiceover giving a brief biography of the person.  They are constantly adding names - trying to get a the most comprehensive list of stories …. very well done.

Stay tuned for Part II of Day I — visit to Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, etc