I had already travelled a lot, including nights spend sleeping in buses or Interrail connections during the night, but I had never travelled in a real sleeper car so far. In the end it turned out to be cheaper than a flight, but maybe only because there were no sleeper compartments so we had to book a cheaper alternative, but I am so grateful to the Austrian train service for operating night lines, so it’s not much of a surprise that the train trip took us to the Austrian capital Vienna. I will add some more details and impressions of the trip. I could have elaborated and come up with a sequel ..read more

Placeholder for an unfinished post already drafted in my notebook on paper ..read more

How to provide sustainable and elegant web design that conforms to customer needs and complies with legal regulations? I have yet to finish this blog post in English, but there are similar posts both in German (in this very blog: nachhaltiges, elegantes Webdesign 2024/2025) and in my DEV blog post series: Accessibility, SustyWeb, SDGs, and upcoming European Legislation in 2024/2025 ..read more

not yet another art museum people post, or is it? Skeptical face on purpose, taking advantage of a moment where I’m not expected to smile on a photo. On top: in an exhibition of Helmut Newton’s photography, bottom right at Berlin Gallery Weekend 2023, bottom left at underground station Benrather Strasse in Düsseldorf featuring an artwork that resembles a gigantic braille text ..read more

coming up (to do: translate) Wie Diversity im Kino funktioniert, ist oft so wohlfeil wie offensichtlich. Seit Clashing Differences weiß ich es auch mit dem Begriff Token zu benennen. Als weißer Cis-Mann kritische Filme anzusehen ist nicht nur notwendig sondern auch spannend, nur leider gibt es erstaunlich selten Gelegenheit dazu. Augure / Omen, der neue Film von Baloji über die Reise eines gemischten belgischen Paares in ein fiktives Heimatland in Afrika, wurde wenig angekündigt und war selbst in einer Großstadt wie Berlin praktisch nicht zu sehen. Hauptsache Barbie – kontrovers diskutiert als ..read more

about the German artist Marc-Uwe Kling and his dystopian parody “Qualityland ..read more

Afire (Roter Himmel) Leon wants, or rather thinks that he has to, write a “Berlin novel”. TODO: translate the rest of this post… Leon möchte, oder denkt er müsste, einen Berlin-Roman schreiben. Dass sich der amibitionierte Schriftsteller dazu in eine einsame Hütte im Wald zurückziehen will, mag an umstrittene Autoren erinnern, die sich zum Schreiben auf die Seychellen zurückzogen. Doch es ist mehr als ein kritischer Blick auf die Mechanismen des Literaturmarkts, unter dessen Druck der Protagonist zu zerbrechen droht. Petzolds Film ist vielleicht selbst zu ernst und ambitioniert, doch Thomas Sc ..read more

Another recommendation of a novel that has probably not been translated to English yet. I have read the German book, thrilled and unsure how to categorize. It’s a thriller, but no crime story, and not a Berlin story either, at least not one of those typical ones. Die Kunst des Verschwindens (The Art of Disappearing) by Melanie Raabe. I didn’t translate the quotes below, essentially it’s about the necessity of mysteries and that you can discover “magic” if you want to. It has Nothing to do with Magic Die Welt braucht Mysterien “Das Leben ist ein Rätsel. Und das ist auch gut so.” – “Können die ..read more

“Creator” might be an overrated and misunderstood buzzword, when writing, electronics and the world wide web should already have enabled everyone to be creative and become a creator (and “a born creator of trouble” is a usage example in the free dictionary). These are not my first steps in video editing and publishing but the first as a content creator also speaking in front of the camera. I have been a creator for a long, commenting, contributing, committing code, and writing blog posts. I have also been organizing and speaking at meetups, including several online meetups during the pandemic ..read more

Why do people like to wear black outfits at art exhibitions? Maybe they don’t want to disturb the visual experience? But then again, there are so many other details and impressions in a gallery. Wall color, floor material, lights, and technical installations. Some exhibitions reduce lights and only focus on the objects, which are often behind glass, causing optical reflections not intended by the artists as well. You probably can’t eliminate disturbing the original artwork and you shouldn’t. Isn’t it one important aspect of art that every piece interacts with the beholder and might change int ..read more