SPIEGEL ONLINE Want to spend a night in East Germany and experience the way things used to be? A new youth hostel has opened in Berlin seeking to offer visitors a taste of life before the Wall fell and a bit of Communist kitsch.
Opened in May by entrepreneurs Daniel Helbig, 35, and Guido Sand, 33, Ostel -- a German mashup of "East" and "Hostel" -- lucratively exploits the trend of "Ostalgie," or nostalgia for the lost days of socialism since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. International interest in daily life in East Germany has surged in recent years with the success of German films abroad about life in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) like the comedy "Goodbye Lenin" and the Oscar-winning Stasi snitch drama "The Lives of Others."
If I ever get to Berlin, I think I know where I'm staying! How funny is this place? I want to start my own hotel now with it's own quirky, kitschy theme. Maybe I could start a Nazi hostel, that would go over really well, right? Yeah, I don't think Nazis will ever be kitschy... ok so maybe I won't start up a Nazi hotel, haha that just sounds funny, but maybe I can go for some other type of weird nitch and make a cool hostel/hotel. I'm sure I'll think of something.
In the meantime, I got a laugh from these ex-circus performers turned hotel owners and their interior design and wallpaper choices. Never having been to communist Eastern Germany, I have no idea what people's houses looked like back then but these rooms look semi-cheery with lots of colors. The rooms also remind me a bit of my neighbors house when I was growing up with all the old furniture, but without the crazy wallpaper.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
People
Have you ever had someone say something completely inappropriate or semi-hurtful to your face and your only response is to look at them in shock?
That happened to me this weekend and I had no words, nothing came out of my mouth and I just stood there while the person "insulted" me (it was only an "insult" because they tried to make it sound like a joke, but it wasn't funny). Then I walked away. Of course two hours later I thought of things to say, but it was too late, the moment was over and by that point I was supposed to have forgotten about the comment. And yet, two days later I'm posting something about it. I need to just forget it, move on, and realize that small minded people with nothing else to do will stick their noses into your business or comment on your life to make themselves feel better.
But it still hurt a bit.
That happened to me this weekend and I had no words, nothing came out of my mouth and I just stood there while the person "insulted" me (it was only an "insult" because they tried to make it sound like a joke, but it wasn't funny). Then I walked away. Of course two hours later I thought of things to say, but it was too late, the moment was over and by that point I was supposed to have forgotten about the comment. And yet, two days later I'm posting something about it. I need to just forget it, move on, and realize that small minded people with nothing else to do will stick their noses into your business or comment on your life to make themselves feel better.
But it still hurt a bit.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Dog owners 'fleeced' in poodle scam
OK, this one is an old one, but a good one. It made me laugh just as much today as it did when I read it the first time a few months ago.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Thousands of people have been 'fleeced' into buying neatly coiffured lambs they thought were poodles. Entire flocks of lambs were shipped over from the UK and Australia to Japan by an internet company and marketed as the latest 'must have' accessory. But the scam was only spotted after a leading Japanese actress said her 'poodle' didn't bark and refused to eat dog food.
The discovery prompted hundreds of women to contact the police with similar problems and the authorities believe as many as 2,000 people have been conned. Poodles are famously used by the rich and glamorous on the continent but are extremely rare in Japan, with many people having little idea what they look like.
I'm not really sure how someone can mistake a lamb for a dog. I'm willing to give these poor, conned, Japanese women the benefit of the doubt and believe that since Poodles are rare in Japan, it might be easy to buy a lamb and think you now were one of the rich elite with your cool Poodle. But I'm pretty certain that there are dogs in Japan. So then I have to wonder why no one was the least bit curious as to why their "dog" never barked, or why their "dog" liked to eat grass, or why their "dog" had hooves!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Thousands of people have been 'fleeced' into buying neatly coiffured lambs they thought were poodles. Entire flocks of lambs were shipped over from the UK and Australia to Japan by an internet company and marketed as the latest 'must have' accessory. But the scam was only spotted after a leading Japanese actress said her 'poodle' didn't bark and refused to eat dog food.
The discovery prompted hundreds of women to contact the police with similar problems and the authorities believe as many as 2,000 people have been conned. Poodles are famously used by the rich and glamorous on the continent but are extremely rare in Japan, with many people having little idea what they look like.
I'm not really sure how someone can mistake a lamb for a dog. I'm willing to give these poor, conned, Japanese women the benefit of the doubt and believe that since Poodles are rare in Japan, it might be easy to buy a lamb and think you now were one of the rich elite with your cool Poodle. But I'm pretty certain that there are dogs in Japan. So then I have to wonder why no one was the least bit curious as to why their "dog" never barked, or why their "dog" liked to eat grass, or why their "dog" had hooves!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Changes
A year ago yesterday, I received an email that changed the direction I thought my life was going in. That might sound a bit drastic, but it is true.
Last year, I was in love with my then boyfriend and had reached a point in a relationship I had never been before. First, I had never dated someone for 9 months (don't laugh) and secondly, I started to think about being married to him and it made me happy. This wasn't a one sided relationship either, he said he loved me as well and his actions only helped to support that. He got to know my family. He even spend 24 hours in a hospital waiting room with my family waiting for my sister to have her baby. I was head over heels. A month after that I got an email from him, breaking up with me. It was like The Post It break up, only better worded and more painful.
I tried contacting him after I received the email, I even responded to his email and tried not to sound too pathetic. But nothing happened, I never heard from him again. It didn't help that he lived in a whole other country, so running into him was never going to happen. I wanted so badly to have an explanation for what had happened, better than what he wrote in his email. I had just talked to him the previous weekend for over two hours and things seemed fine. To have someone stop loving you within a week is a little disheartening. I was severely depressed for a while and then only slightly depressed after that. I used to cry on my way home from hanging out with friends and after happy hours. I felt lonely and empty inside. Spending time with my extended family only made things worse, since I am the only single girl over the age of 25, other than my 60 year old aunt.
Now that a year has gone by, I would like to say that I'm super happy, in love with someone new and my life is fabulous. But I can only say that I'm happy and that my life is pretty good, which I guess is close enough to fabulous for now. As for the guy situation, I have only recently felt like dating might be enjoyable. I haven't had a date since last year, if you don't count the one lunch "date" I had back in November, which I don't.
Being single can suck at times, but I think I would still rather be single and happy than married and miserable. And I guess if things had worked out the way I thought they were going to last year, maybe I wouldn't have been happy.
Or maybe I would have.
Last year, I was in love with my then boyfriend and had reached a point in a relationship I had never been before. First, I had never dated someone for 9 months (don't laugh) and secondly, I started to think about being married to him and it made me happy. This wasn't a one sided relationship either, he said he loved me as well and his actions only helped to support that. He got to know my family. He even spend 24 hours in a hospital waiting room with my family waiting for my sister to have her baby. I was head over heels. A month after that I got an email from him, breaking up with me. It was like The Post It break up, only better worded and more painful.
I tried contacting him after I received the email, I even responded to his email and tried not to sound too pathetic. But nothing happened, I never heard from him again. It didn't help that he lived in a whole other country, so running into him was never going to happen. I wanted so badly to have an explanation for what had happened, better than what he wrote in his email. I had just talked to him the previous weekend for over two hours and things seemed fine. To have someone stop loving you within a week is a little disheartening. I was severely depressed for a while and then only slightly depressed after that. I used to cry on my way home from hanging out with friends and after happy hours. I felt lonely and empty inside. Spending time with my extended family only made things worse, since I am the only single girl over the age of 25, other than my 60 year old aunt.
Now that a year has gone by, I would like to say that I'm super happy, in love with someone new and my life is fabulous. But I can only say that I'm happy and that my life is pretty good, which I guess is close enough to fabulous for now. As for the guy situation, I have only recently felt like dating might be enjoyable. I haven't had a date since last year, if you don't count the one lunch "date" I had back in November, which I don't.
Being single can suck at times, but I think I would still rather be single and happy than married and miserable. And I guess if things had worked out the way I thought they were going to last year, maybe I wouldn't have been happy.
Or maybe I would have.
Chinese boy kills mother in cybercafe row
Friday 15 June 2007
A teenage boy in southern China, "heavily addicted" to the Internet, killed his mother and severely injured his father with a kitchen knife after he was refused money to go to a cybercafe, state media said on Thursday.
The boy, identified only by his last name, Wang, is from Guangzhou, capital of the Guangdong province. He stabbed his mother to death at home during a heated argument, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
"After his father got home, Wang hacked at him, causing serious injury. Seeing what he had done, Wang went to his room and sat on his bed," the paper said.
This is nuts! I don't even know what else to say about this one.
A teenage boy in southern China, "heavily addicted" to the Internet, killed his mother and severely injured his father with a kitchen knife after he was refused money to go to a cybercafe, state media said on Thursday.
The boy, identified only by his last name, Wang, is from Guangzhou, capital of the Guangdong province. He stabbed his mother to death at home during a heated argument, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
"After his father got home, Wang hacked at him, causing serious injury. Seeing what he had done, Wang went to his room and sat on his bed," the paper said.
This is nuts! I don't even know what else to say about this one.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Happy 35th Anniversary!!
Since I'm a horrible daughter and totally forgot to post something for Mother's Day, here is a combined Mother's Day/Father's Day/Anniversary post for my parents.
Congratulations of 35 years of marriage, M & D. You guys are awesome parents! Happy Mother's and Father's Day!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Rodent on the Rampage: Squirrel Assaults Three Before Being Killed By Pensioner
Thu Jun 14, 2007
BERLIN (Reuters) - An aggressive squirrel attacked and injured three people in a German town before a 72-year-old pensioner dispatched the rampaging animal with his crutch.
The squirrel first ran into a house in the southern town of Passau, leapt from behind on a 70-year-old woman, and sank its teeth into her hand, a local police spokesman said on Thursday.
With the squirrel still hanging from her hand, the woman ran onto the street in panic, where she managed to shake it off.
The animal then entered a building site and jumped on a construction worker, injuring him on the hand and arm, before he managed to fight it off with a measuring pole.
"After that, the squirrel went into the 72-year-old man's garden and massively attacked him on the arms, hand and thigh," the spokesman said. "Then he killed it with his crutch."
The spokesman said experts thought the attack may have been linked to the mating season or because the squirrel was ill.
When I read this article this morning I laughed so hard I was crying. I feel bad for the squirrel, obviously, that is a tough way to go. Being beat to death by an old man with a crutch can't be nice. But when you picture an old lady running out of her house, screaming in German, arms flailing about with a squirrel attached to one hand.... I can't help but laugh, really hard. Plus if you go to that attachment you will find that this is not the first incident of squirrel invasions in Germany.
BERLIN (Reuters) - An aggressive squirrel attacked and injured three people in a German town before a 72-year-old pensioner dispatched the rampaging animal with his crutch.
The squirrel first ran into a house in the southern town of Passau, leapt from behind on a 70-year-old woman, and sank its teeth into her hand, a local police spokesman said on Thursday.
With the squirrel still hanging from her hand, the woman ran onto the street in panic, where she managed to shake it off.
The animal then entered a building site and jumped on a construction worker, injuring him on the hand and arm, before he managed to fight it off with a measuring pole.
"After that, the squirrel went into the 72-year-old man's garden and massively attacked him on the arms, hand and thigh," the spokesman said. "Then he killed it with his crutch."
The spokesman said experts thought the attack may have been linked to the mating season or because the squirrel was ill.
When I read this article this morning I laughed so hard I was crying. I feel bad for the squirrel, obviously, that is a tough way to go. Being beat to death by an old man with a crutch can't be nice. But when you picture an old lady running out of her house, screaming in German, arms flailing about with a squirrel attached to one hand.... I can't help but laugh, really hard. Plus if you go to that attachment you will find that this is not the first incident of squirrel invasions in Germany.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Thai drug dogs sacked for 'sexual harassment'
June 10, 2007 - 4:40PM
Two Thai street mutts, Mok and Lai, who became ace sniffer dogs at an airport near the notorious Golden Triangle opium-producing region have been fired for urinating on luggage and sexually harassing female passengers.
"He liked to pee on luggage while searching for drugs inside," Mok's former handler, Police Lieutenant Colonel Jakapop Kamhon, said. "He also liked to hold on to women's legs."
"Both were just as good as foreign dogs trained for use in drug missions," he added. "But they were stray dogs, so their manners were worse than those of foreign breeds."
Mok and Lai now work on a farm, herding chickens and pigs, the paper said.
My favorite part is what the handler says, like peeing on luggage was the natural thing to do while sniffing for drugs. Plus the thing about "holding" the woman's leg, hilarious! I don't know why those ladies were so upset, the dogs were only holding onto them. Gosh!
Those poor mutts were fired for being dogs.
Two Thai street mutts, Mok and Lai, who became ace sniffer dogs at an airport near the notorious Golden Triangle opium-producing region have been fired for urinating on luggage and sexually harassing female passengers.
"He liked to pee on luggage while searching for drugs inside," Mok's former handler, Police Lieutenant Colonel Jakapop Kamhon, said. "He also liked to hold on to women's legs."
"Both were just as good as foreign dogs trained for use in drug missions," he added. "But they were stray dogs, so their manners were worse than those of foreign breeds."
Mok and Lai now work on a farm, herding chickens and pigs, the paper said.
My favorite part is what the handler says, like peeing on luggage was the natural thing to do while sniffing for drugs. Plus the thing about "holding" the woman's leg, hilarious! I don't know why those ladies were so upset, the dogs were only holding onto them. Gosh!
Those poor mutts were fired for being dogs.
What is going on?
In an attempt to make my blog a little more interesting, I've decided to occasionally talk about things I find interesting, funny or annoying in the news. Since my life is pretty mondane at the moment with just work and sleep going on.
So for my first installment:
WASHINGTON -- A judge who is seeking $54 million from a dry cleaner that lost his pants said he is acting in the interests of all D.C. residents.
Seriously?!?!?! What is this world coming to that some out of work pain in the butt judge can sue a Korean dry cleaners for some ridiculous amount of money? I don't like the dry cleaners any more then the next person, but you don't have to sue them for millions. Plus, these poor people obviously don't have that kind of money, they run a freaking dry cleaning business. If they had 54 million dollars they wouldn't be washing your clothes! I heard on the radio today that the family that owns the dry cleaners might have to go back to Korea because of all the money they have had to pay to lawyers to defend themselves.
This jerk with the pants needs to suck it up and buy a new pair of pants. He actually cried in court, like a little sissy! Over Pants!!! If there was an award for crybaby over actors who try to rip people off, he would win. He actually tried to justify his claim by saying that since he didn't own a car he had to rent a car everyday for 14 months ($15,000) so that he could find another dry cleaner. Really? Do you expect anyone to believe that? You could buy a whole new car for that money and who on earth is so stupid that they would rent a car everyday to find a dry cleaners? It's called Dryel, look into it. Really, if that judge is such an anal freak about his stupid suits he should clean them himself.
Not only does this judge not deserve one cent of the money he is asking for, but I think the court should take the rest of his suits and burn them. Just to show him what it feels like to really lose his stupid pants. And then maybe slap him around a bit if he starts to cry.
So for my first installment:
WASHINGTON -- A judge who is seeking $54 million from a dry cleaner that lost his pants said he is acting in the interests of all D.C. residents.
Seriously?!?!?! What is this world coming to that some out of work pain in the butt judge can sue a Korean dry cleaners for some ridiculous amount of money? I don't like the dry cleaners any more then the next person, but you don't have to sue them for millions. Plus, these poor people obviously don't have that kind of money, they run a freaking dry cleaning business. If they had 54 million dollars they wouldn't be washing your clothes! I heard on the radio today that the family that owns the dry cleaners might have to go back to Korea because of all the money they have had to pay to lawyers to defend themselves.
This jerk with the pants needs to suck it up and buy a new pair of pants. He actually cried in court, like a little sissy! Over Pants!!! If there was an award for crybaby over actors who try to rip people off, he would win. He actually tried to justify his claim by saying that since he didn't own a car he had to rent a car everyday for 14 months ($15,000) so that he could find another dry cleaner. Really? Do you expect anyone to believe that? You could buy a whole new car for that money and who on earth is so stupid that they would rent a car everyday to find a dry cleaners? It's called Dryel, look into it. Really, if that judge is such an anal freak about his stupid suits he should clean them himself.
Not only does this judge not deserve one cent of the money he is asking for, but I think the court should take the rest of his suits and burn them. Just to show him what it feels like to really lose his stupid pants. And then maybe slap him around a bit if he starts to cry.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
No Sleep
I'm on midnight shift this week at work and I am totally messed up. I can't remember what day it is or what time. I'm listening to Elliott in the Morning on my way home from work and watching nighttime television before I leave home for work. I also feel like I'm completely cut off from civilization, it is sucking a little bit.
The good part is that the phone isn't ringing too much and I've been able to catch up on my movie watching. So really it isn't that bad and I shouldn't complain.
The good part is that the phone isn't ringing too much and I've been able to catch up on my movie watching. So really it isn't that bad and I shouldn't complain.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Summer Thunder Storms
Last week, my girl friends and I went to Baltimore to enjoy a show. It was the "Australian Male Revue" Thunder from Down Under. I know that is shocking and silly. But they were well built, tan men dancing around with their shirts off and bonus-they had accents. Very superficial of me, yes! But look at them!
You try and tell me that isn't something you want to see! Any ways, the evening was full of laughs more than anything else. I think Anne even mentioned that she might be beginning to have less respect for herself, since we were watching boys dance around in pirate outfits.
But it was super funny! And I would gladly see them again.
Friday, June 1, 2007
la Dolce Vita
For anyone who knows me, my love of Italy and Rome, in particular, is no secret. In fact, I fear my family and friends are sick and tired of me talking about the place. I do try to curb my enthusiasm for the Italian culture, food, and men. But occasionally, I am unable to bite my tongue and must gush about the beauty of Italian architecture or the simple pleasure of grabbing a cup of coffee. Especially when someone I know will be traveling to Rome. I can't help myself, it is truly an obsession, a sickness... I don't know what comes over me until after twenty minutes or so of me babbling on, I'll realize that I need to shut up.
My co-worker has a newly formed theory, which she claims might explain my obsession for Rome. She found it in the Washington Post. I'm not too sure about the theory, but I do feel really good when ever I get into Rome and I have returned to Rome a few times....hmmm maybe there is something to that theory.
My co-worker has a newly formed theory, which she claims might explain my obsession for Rome. She found it in the Washington Post. I'm not too sure about the theory, but I do feel really good when ever I get into Rome and I have returned to Rome a few times....hmmm maybe there is something to that theory.
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