Nothing to talk about...

...but anyway, i try to keep posting stories. just come from buying a new camera, so probably there will be a bit more foto-stories on this page. let's see. tomorrow you should see a couple of pictures i hopefully will take tonight at Doris birthday-/goodby-party. i'm rather sure that the party will be good fun, though a bit sad as Doris is leaving Linz for a job in Vienna. i fear this won't be the last farewell to someone leaving Linz this year :/

below you find the links to some songs i currently listen to a lot. i think i don't have to make any special remarks on Joy Division, The Jaguar club was mentioned a couple of days ago. AI Phoenix are a really nice band from Norway - surprisingly those weird people from upnorth can produce some good music as well ;) the last song is by frenchman Da Silva (i know, i know, the name doesn't sound french at all...), a song i once heard down in LUI (!) which - due to its sheer beauty - didn't get out of my head since that very day. enjoy.

Joy Division - Atmosphere
The Jaguar Club - The Sirens
AI Phoenix - Call me in, Piccard
Da Silva - L'indécision

Heroes making dinner

[currently i'm wiping out the remnants of the Tiramisu i made on Friday - 100 grams sugar and 1/2 kilo of pure fat (well, mascarpone, but in the end that doesn't pose any difference). mjam. so, time for blogging:]

another weekend over, though a really pleasant one. in the beginning i wasn't too sure if it would become so good, especially as the dinner party i hosted in my flat was, hmmm, a kind of an experiment - having people from three different circles of friends may work sometimes, more often it doesn't. luckily us 13 people seemed to enjoy the other - unknown - people's presence. at least that's what i was told ;) thx Sophie, Vegard, Karin, Manuel, Andreas, Vito, Doris, Doris, Olivia, Dani, Alex, Scharli!

to something different now: 2007 has so far been aw-some, at least musically speaking. i mention the new albums of Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, Cold War Kids, The Good the Bad & the Queen! and yet more are to come - Modest Mouse and Wilco's new records are to be released soon and said to be amazing. Radiohead also will release a new album in summer...hach. marvellous. here's a new band from Brooklyn/New York City - The Jaguar Club (http://amiestreet.com/thejaguarclub). they might not be the innovative band that changes the course of time, ahm, i mean rock and roll, but still they do good music. people who like Joy Division and New Order and their heirs like Interpol will propably fall in love with them. at least i did.

p.s.: it's amazing how much time you can waste with facebook :/

Indie - a boy's issue?

during the last couple of days a serious debate emerged on the web-platform of "my" radio-station FM4. the debate uprose as a (german) study was made public saying that radio itself was a "female medium": the listenership of basically all radio stations is a female one - by far more women listen to the radio than men do. this study is said to be also valid for austria - with one exception: Radio FM4, the only nationwide broadcasting station in central europe (at least as far as i know) which airs nothing but "alternative" music, a station that defines itself as modern, progressive, and more or less feminist. FM4 is the only station that has a significantly larger male than female listenership. Martin Blumenau, host and "mastermind" of FM4, wrote ensuing an essay, trying to find out the reasons for this said "anomaly" (http://fm4.orf.at/blumenau/217568/main). ending his thoughts he raised the question, if music consumption/listening-habits were a question of education/rudiments - girls still being raised to become consensus-orientated and compliant, to take the way of the least resistance and boys tending to be rebellious.

in an answer to this essay listener "salx" offered a different, yet similar answer (http://fm4.orf.at/blumenau/217576/main): core-thesis of it was that men "define" themselves via rebellion, while women "defemalize" themselves by doing so. on the other hand, women/girls are from their early childhood on being seen as being not the norm, while men/boys state the norm. as a consequence, men define themselves via their autonomy of dependencies, their ability to dominate, while women, as the non-norm, never have the possibility to dominate. therefore, they seek free space for themselves within this sphere of domination. on the other hand, youth culture is per definitionem a game with autonomy and counterweight. it is hence the ultimate boy's corner, so "salx". and as in kindergarten, boys don't tolerate no female intruders in their realm, and if, only to the prize of defemalization. and as mainstream music/radiostations do not state youth culture, but have their place in the male sphere of domination, they pose the perfect free space.

so far the theories.

All you need is laugh

Do you know Fernand Joseph Desire Constandin? No? But you definitely know Don Camillo. Not Terence Hill, but this one:

See? The guy is also - and better - known as "Fernandel".

Well, Fernandel once bumped into a certain Philippe Halsman in New York. It was a short meeting, but the outcome was hilarious - and a masterpiece of photography: a photographic interview. Here is an extract of this interview.



"Does the average Frenchman still pinch pretty girls in a crowd?"


"What measures are being taken by the french government to raise the birth rate?"


"We hope that you have tasted our california champagne?"


"What would you rather give up - women or garlic?"


The interview is available as a book. Find further informations here: http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/books/photography/all/facts/01364.htm

Hello, Mr. Tea Pot!

Finally, i recovered from the disease which struck me down until wednesday. Now i know why i usually never drink tea: Tea bears the smell of sickness in it. brrrr. I'm happy to be back on coffee - the better drug, definitely.

Yesterday i saw a pretty nice concert, irish band the Frames played local venue Posthof and did very, very well, far better than i initially expected. If only singer Glen Hansard hadn't stopped his subtle attempts to communicate with the audience after the first couple of songs. But well, that's always kind of difficult here in steel-city.

Last week i saw my first icehockey match ever - i mean in "reality", not on TV. Local Black Wings were playing evil Salzburg Red Bull's and giving the guest team a hard stand (3:3 after 60 min played) till the last siren called for a penalty shoot out - which was lost (of course, i tend to say...).
me, showing my disrespect for the guest team's logo

My body is a cage.