A couple nights ago I got back from my week-long trip to Bodensee in the south of Germany. The weather didn’t play nicely however and I spent most of my time reading rather than riding my bike around the lake. The last 2 nights were especially bad. There were only 2 days with half a day of sun and the temperature seemed to fall a degree or 2 each day.

As I usually do when camping in less than nice weather, I went to the movies to pass the time and get warm and dry. The first film I saw was X-men 3. I really like X-men movies although this one was the weakest of the 3 and had lots of room for improvement. I’ve always liked the idea of taking on special powers.

The 2nd I saw was The Da Vinci Code. Man, Ron Howard screwed this one up. It was just bad. The pace was way to fast (especially at the beginning), many important details were left out that were in the book (one of the cryptex passwords was “sofie”, her brother was also at Roslin, etc.) and I saw at least 3 instances where it seemed as if Robert Langdon was trying to mollify the catholic audience. In the book I got no sense that Robert Langdon’s character was trying to play to the catholic crowd.

The third and last film I saw was As in Heaven. I really liked this film. It’s a swedish film that was nominated for best foreign film at the last Oscars. It really makes you feel good although it’s not necessarily a happy movie. I strongly recommend this film.

As mentioned earlier, I also read alot. I read “The Da Vinci Code” during the first 2 days. I think I’m the last person on earth to read it. It’s a really fun book, a real page-turner.

I then moved on to Philip Roth‘s “American Pastoral.” After reading The Da Vinci with it’s suspense, the pace of American Pastoral was a bit of a shock and it took time to settle into it. It’s one of those books that you need to reflect on and maybe read again to enjoy it thoroughly. Basically, it’s about America and the pent-up emotions that we build-up to maintain face.

And lastly, I’m working through Haruki Murakami‘s “Kafka on the Shore” now. I truly love this book. I’m not finished yet but I simply love the way the stor(y/ies) is/are told in the book. I’ll be getting more of his books to read later. As a sidenote, it’s strange that as a white kid from The South it’s hard to imagine the charecters as being Japanese although I know that the story takes place in Japan. I have no problem imagining white, black, hispanic or even asian-american characters. I guess everyone is influenced by their surroundings. Now that I’m nearing the end of the book, I’ve chiseled into my head the image of Japanese characters into my head.

It’s been so long since I’ve read non-computer books. It was really refreshing. I didn’t use a single computer or the internet all week. I hadn’t done that for years.

Europe once again proved that it has no sense of taste in music. They did, however, show a sense of humor. It was surreal seeing the “Monsters” from Finnland excepting a trophy and bouquet of flowers upon winning.

For all the Americans out there who have no ideas what this is all about, Eurovision is kinda like a Star Search that takes place once a year and is voted on publicly by country. Lordi winning this would be like GWAR winning American Idol or something.

Of all the songs, I only found 3 good. The Bosnia and Herzegovina song was alright. The Danish one was fun. The Texas Lightning song was really good. Probably of too high a quality for the competition. It’s the only one I’d actually buy. The others were either boring or standard Europop crap, with the exceptions of the acapella song and the Lithuanian entries.

Over all, the quality was better than last year. Now to sit back and watch media clamor to interview “monsters.”

Tomorrow the Eurovision Song Contest will showcase the great musical talent from across the European continent. Ok, enough with the jokes. The only reason I watch it is for the Schadenfreude. It was even more fun to watch a few years back when Radio Eins broadcast it live with two commentators who just ripped each contestant. You could turn the volume down on th TV and just listen to the radio. That was really a hoot. They didn’t have it last year and probably won’t have it this year either. Oh well.

Germany got last place last year. Probably had more to do with the controversy than the performance. Germany will be represented this year be Texas Lightning, the ESC’s first country act.

This year all the talk is about Lordi, the finnish horror-core act. Some conservative groups in Greece even want to prevent them from performing, claiming that “the band cultivates and legitimates Satanism and undermines the foundations of Greek and European culture.” Lordi has a couple statements on their website to counter this claim.

Lordi has, after all, had a hit in Finland with a song called “Devil Is A Loser”.

and

“We have the same aesthetic as horror films. The scarier the film, the more fun it is. And rock music should be all about fun”,

If you need more proof of how non-satanic they are, the bands entry is titled “Hard Rock Hallelujah.” To that, I say “Amen!”

I actually just bought tickets for “Das Leben der Anderen” (The Lives of Others) for tomorrow evening. Now I’ll have to get them exchanged for a later date. I’ll be damned if I miss the making of the next ABBA.

Soon many people will be coming to Berlin for the 2006 World Cup. For many it will be their first time in Berlin, so I thought I’d provide a tour of the places that I’ve found interesting in my 6 years here in Berlin. Some you will have heard of while others may be new. Bold links lead to a satellite map provided by Google Maps while most other links lead to a Wikipedia entry.

Culture:

• Museumsinsel (Museum Island) is a collection of some of Berlin’s best museums; The Pergamon, Altes Museum (Old Museum), Neues Museum (New Museum), Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery). It also incudes Lustgarten (Pleasure Garden), Palast der Republik (Palace of the Republic) and Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) and is located in the heart of Berlin.
• Checkpoint Charlie was a border crossing while the city was devided. It is now home to the most interesting exibit about the Berlin Wall.
• Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) is the city’s largest modern art Museum.
• Hamburger Bahnhof is one of the best places for Modern Art lovers.

Sightseeing:

• The Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) is THE symbol for Berlin. During the Berlin Wall era it lay in no man’s land. You can now move freely (when there is no building) around its pillars.
• The Reichstag is home to the German Parliment. With the addition of the glass dome designed by Sir Norman Foster it has become a tourist magnet. Go early to avoid lines.
• The Fernsehturm (TV tower) is the tallest structure in Berlin and has a rotating cafe. It offers the best view of Berlin from above. For the World Cup the sphere at the top has been decorated as a football.
• Gendarmenmarkt is located in Mitte and is home to the Konzerthaus (concert hall), the Französischer Dom (French Cathedral) and the Deutscher Dom (German Cathedral). A statue of Schiller is the center piece of the square.
• Potsdamer Platz (Potsdam Square) lay in no man’s land. Once the wall fell the real-estate was the most sought-after in Berlin. It was the largest construction site in Europe throughout the late 90′s and early 00′s. It is now a maze of modern architecture. In the 20′s, it was the busiest place in all of Europe and even had Europe’s first traffic light.

Parks:

• Tiergarten (Animal Garden) is Berlin’s largest and most central park. It gets it’s name from the Zoo located in the south west corner. It is bordered by many of Berlin’s most visited tourist destinations.
• Gölitzer Park is located in the multi-cultural borough of Kreuzberg. It’s a great place to relax and people watch.
• Volkspark Friedrichshain is located on the border of Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain. It is home to an open-air movie theater and is great for taking walks along the tree-lined paths.
• Mauerpark (Wall park) is located on the border of Prenzlauer Berg and Wedding and was formerly the no man’s land between the Berln Wall and the residential area. It’s were you want to go to hang with the drum-playing, fire-throwing crowd. On the weekends it’s home to one of Berlin’s best flee markets.

Memorials:

• The Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) is Berlins newest memorial. It’s located only steps from the Brandenburg Gate.
• The Soviet Memorial in Tiergarten is located between the Siegessaüle and the Brandenburg Gate.
• The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church) is located across from the Zoologischer Garten (Zoo). Its tower was destroyed by the bombings during WWII and has been left in that state to remind us of the destruction of war.

Shopping:

• Kaufhaus des Westens (Department Store of the West) or KaDeWe for short is the largest department store in Europe. It’s located on Tauenzienstrasse, an extension of Ku’Damm.
• Kufürstenstrasse or Ku’Damm as it’s known is the premier shopping mile in Berlin and one of the most famous in Europe. It’s located near Zoologischer Garten train station. You can find lots of stores from designer labels here.
• Friedrichsstrasse is quickly becoming the Ku’Damm of East Berlin. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall it has slowly been gaining the prestige that it once had.
• Hackescher Markt includes Hackesche Höfe, a series of courtyards and it’s surroundings. It’s thriving with trendy shops and galleries. It’s one of the “coolest” places to be.

Sports:

• Olympiastadion (Olympia Stadium) will be host to all World Cup matches in Berlin. It usually is home of theHertha BSC Soccer team as well as the Berlin Thunder American football team.

Boroughs:

• Prenzlauer Berg lies in former East Berlin and was quickly populated by many young people once the Wall came down. Due to this, it is now home to many young families and even had the highest birth rate in all of Europe at one time.
• Kruezberg is home to the largest Turkish population outside of Turkey. It’s historically one of the most politically radical parts of the city and home of the annual May Day riots. It’s a must-visit for anyone coming to Berlin.
• Mitte (Center) is the city center and where you’ll spend lots of your time while sightseeing.
• Friedrichshain is now home to some of the most vibrant night spots in the city. Most bars and cafes are located in and around Simon-Dach Street. It’s also where you’ll find Karl-Marx-Allee, a wide, soviet-style boulavard that leads to Alexander Platz.
• Charlottenburg was the “center” of West Berlin. The city’s main shopping street and one of its main train stations (Zoologischer Garten Bhf) are located here.
• Schöneberg is located in the former West Berlin and has been known for its gay and lesbian scene.
• I’ve only described the most central boroughs here. Other boroughs are Pankow, Wedding, Tiergarten, Weißensee, Wilmersdorf, Spandau, Steglitz, Zehlendorf, Tempelhof, Neukölln, Treptow, Köpenick, Marzahn, Hellersdorf, Lichtenberg, Hohenschönhausen and Reinickendorf.

Excursions:

• Potsdam is a small town to the south west of Berlin. It’s major tourist draw is the Sanssouci Castle, summer palace of Frederick the Great.
• Wannsee is the largest body of water in Berlin. It also has one of the longest inland beaches in Europe.
• Müggelsee is to the Ossies (East Germans) what Wannsee is to the Wessies (West Germans).
• Spreewald is a short trip south east of Berlin and known for it’s network of irrigation canals. You can cheaply rent a canoe and paddle for hours on end. It’s designated a biosphere reserve by UNESCO.

This is a work in progress. I know it’s missing lots. If you have a suggestion please leave a comment.

First the countries….

So basically most of Europe and North America.

A detail of Europe…

So mostly “western” Europe.

And States in the U.S….

The ones from Georgia to Arizona are just drive-thrus.

If you want to play along go to World66.

I just submited the following feature request to Google Maps today.

[Subject] Feature Idea: Collaborative map viewing

It would be quite useful to be able to view maps together with others. I often find sending links to google maps too disconnected with what I’m trying to communicate.

I imagine the zoom and drag functions that one person does are visible to others that are ‘subscribed’ to the session. This could be nicely integrated with the chat functions in gmail. I could invite a friend to view a map with me and they would be informed of the invitation and can either join or refuse just as one can with Google Chat. We could then communicate in a chat pane (or even Google Talk) and each control the movement of the map.

This would be useful for instance to give more descriptive directions, giving a travel group an overview of the days plans or just to help people get an idea of what’s available in an area.

Making the session recordable would also be nice in order to webcast the tour.

If this is being worked on or if you think it’s a viable idea, please let me know

I’ve been wanting something like this for a while. Since I live so far away from alot of my friends it would be useful to be able to show where I live and to see where my friends live.

If it’s ever implemented I expect a fat check for the idea.

So it looks like Berlin (and Europe) has finally gotten decent coverage from Google Maps. Now I can Finally give folks an idea of what it looks like (from the air anyways) where I’ve been living for the last 6 years.

So, a small tour is called for….

• My place
• The Reichstag
• Alexanderplatz (Alex for short)
• The Holocaust Memorial
• Annika’s Mom’s place (near Kiel)
• Where I lived when I first moved here (Yes, those are garbage trucks)

Notes for new users:

You can change the zoom factor with bar on the left. You can change between the 3 view with the buttons on the top right. If you want to send someone a link then you need to click on the “link to this page” link at the top right (above the map). If you don’t, then the link will only take them to Google Maps start page and not to your destination.

Enjoy.

After a week of Annika coughing and blowing her nose every few minutes, it’s my turn. I have a growing mound of used tissues beside my desk and the coughing is just starting. Oh joy!

Thanks for nothing, Annika!

Before the World Cup gets rolling here in Berlin, I’m planning on taking a trip down south to Bodensee (Lake Constance). I was originally planning on going to Spain but have now decided on staying inside of Germany because I’ve still got 2 trips left on the 99 EUR 4-trip ticket they were selling at McDonald’s.

I’ll be taking my bike and camping around the lake. From what I’ve seen on the internet the infrastructure is really nice for biking/camping. I’m also glad I’ll be going outside of the high season. As the lake has about 300km of shoreline and I’m planning on doing the whole thing, I’ll probably stay about 10-14 days. This should give me time to take it easy and stay at a few places a couple days.

In 2000, I took a bike trip from Berlin to Breman which was about 350km. That took 4 days at a brisk pace. Last year Annika and I took our bikes up to Ueckermünde and then rode to and around Usedom. That was just a 5 day trip, though.

Last night Annika and returned from our Easter trip to her mother’s place in Kiel. Although they were calling for poor weather, it was really nice 90% of the time. We played mini-golf on the first day, on Easter Sunday we had a brunch with others and on Monday we visited friends. We then took the train back.

There was one guy sitting in front of us on the train with earphones turned up really loudly. You could hear everything. The worst part about it though is that he was listening to the most common pop crap. The kind that we as a society we collectively learn by heart after only a week of radio play; even those of us who listen to very little radio. Being that the guy was 40ish, I’d think it would be a bit embarassing to listen to such music on a mp3 player where you personnally select the music. Guess not.