Good Night America - Good Morning Germany.

I hope this is going to turn out half as good as everybody is expecting it to.

UPDATE (5.10am in Germany): Good bet. No I can safely go to sleep. Dirk… you do this too! ;)

A few hours before we had stopped in Kennebunkport the summer home of the Bush family. The East Coast is so full of history you, can’t avoid it.

We’re planning on a 5,500km drive all the way up to Montreal via Boston and the Maine coastline, then to Chicago with stops by the Niagara Falls and Amish County. Next will probably be a short stay in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park only to proceed to Virginia Beach for a birthday party in the sun. Last stops then two days in Washington D.C. and one in Philadelphia and a short trip to Atlantic City before we head back to Brooklyn.

We’re getting excited!

Roadtrip USA 2008

As we now hear Starbucks will be closing more than 600 stores in the US alone, which probably no one will even notice because they have more then 10,000 of them over here.

That said, I have to add that I really feel for the 1000 people losing their already underpaid jobs. But it also shows that there is not unlimited demand for ever the same products. I admit that it gereally makes sense to have chain stores in some respect. But it also makes traveling (and living) so not exciting at times, because it kills cultural particularities.

Her comes a sermon by Reverend Billy, founder of the Church of Stop Shopping, getting the word out to the masses on Fox Biz News:

“Capitalism isn’t necessarily the same as Freedom.”…eat this Sister Rebecca! Although my favorite part is when he says that their coffee “isn’t that great”. That’s a good one.

So you can argue if Rev. Billy is taking it all a bit too far, or if Rebecca Gomez has ever given anything she said a thought - at all. Yet, one thing is for sure: supporting independent businesses is a thing we could probably all agree on.

If you do, then you can start on Sunday by showing up in New York’s East Village:

AuH2O is not only local and independent - it’s fashion with an attitude. Kate Goldwater (hence the name: Au=gold H2O=water) is a feminist, a friend of the environment, a soccer player and a sweetheart. Learn more about her store, her fashion and herself on her new blog: blog.auh2odesigns.com and come out for fashion coffee and music this weekend. I’ll be there…

This is a double post also published on tapmag.

Check the full feature with map here and ask me for the embed code if you wanna put it on your mySpace or blog.

It’s basically the story of a desperate superhero indulging in alcoholic beverages. So this guy hates his job - but keeps doing it anyway - to the point that the people of Los Angeles wish him to New York City because he usually leaves a big mess every time he’s on a mission. Finally he meets this publicist played by Jason Bateman who wants to help him gain popularity by (among other things) talking him into voluntarily going to jail .

So much for the neat idea and fun part of the movie. I’ll leave out the part in which they find out that the publicist’s wife is actually also a superhero and they both get mortal because of their physical closeness and all that crap.

So the reason for this blog entry is the funny but plausible question that Colbert poses:

The movie is opening shortly before the 4th of July. Is this possibly a metaphor for the USA using their superpowers but messing up so everyone gets mad at them?

Good point! Will Smith wouldn’t approve, though… what a sissy!

Both Mr. Smith and the American government should probably sit down with Joan Jett and take on a little of her attitude - or better yet: do a good job!
(This goes for both summer movies and foreign policy.)

This is a double post also published on tapmag.

Anyway, I just read a blog post on woot.com that has occasional reviews of funny used books. This one is called “Street Smart” and was written by Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa and their lawyer Murray Schwartz.

In his blog entry Jason Toon highlights the funniest and most paranoid moments of the book (including Guardian Angels fashion) and wouldn’t miss the chance to spice them up with a handful of hilarious comments. My favorite excerpt from the book is probably this one:

Wow… I’m so glad my ass is here - safely in 2008!

I mean, what is this guy doing down there? How long did he have to wait under this car?
And most importantly: what happens now?

One of your white slippers you have just seen for the last time, buddy! But wait, this guy is stuck under your car. Maybe you just wait until he will crawl out of there? Or get in the car and move it just a little bit? If people really tried to rob others like that back in the 80ies, then it was probably the most brainless era in crime history.

So when I read this and the comments on the blog entry, I begin to understand: all the fears that my parents were (and still are) expressing about me moving to big cities are clearly relics from the 80ies:

Can I find an apartment in Berlin? Hell, yeah! Back in the 80ies? Maybe not so easy…
Isn’t it ridiculously dangerous in the big city? Not really. Maybe more than in a small town. But I’m not afraid of people shoving me off the subway platform. Which has - by the way - most interestingly taken place in Berlin recently.

But enough of that. I don’t wanna spoil the fun. Go and see the full blog entry here.

Have a nice day!

This is a double post also published on tapmag.

This is the story of The Monks, one of the most radical and influential rock bands of the mid sixties. What’s transatlantic about them? They were a group of GIs stationed in Hamburg/Germany in the midst of the cold war and they made their mark in the history of rock music by releasing just one album.

Filmmakers Dietmar Post and Lucia Palacios dedicate their documentary “The Transatlantic Feedback” to this remarkable band. Director Dietmar Post will be attending the screening.

All about the Awarded Summer on www.augezeichnetersommer.de (German).

This is a double post also published on tapmag.