You know you’re in the West when on NPR, the local police chief advises the inhabitants of your (densely populated) surroundings not to “celebrate the New Year by firing their guns in the air” because “the bullets will come down somewhere and might do harm”. Hardly any rockets around here, by the way, they are much too dangerous. All this reminded me of a song about a fellow German expat, who put it so well: Once ze rrrrockets are up, who cares where zey come down? Thatz not my department, says Wernher von Braun.
Their rail system may not live up to European standards, but boy, Americans really are obsessed with trains. You know what causes this love? It’s not an extensive network, it’s not high speed, it’s not accurate timing, it’s not working A/Cs, it’s: Horns, or, to use the technical term, choo choooo! Listen to this Amtrak train passing trough Oakland on its way to or from Berkeley. We can hear them every day where we live. In fact, I can hear one right now!
There’s a whole genre of American music that consists of train imitation. Start out with this very simple, very skilfull example from 1926 – if you’re DeFord Bailey, you don’t need more than a harp:
Choo-choo and rhythm can be done in many different ways, here’s some of my favorites:
Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues is missing the Choo-choo, but it has great rhythm and gangsta lyrics to make up for that (“I shot a man in Reno / Just to watch him die”). Can you imagine this train stopping because there’s some ice or snow on the tracks? I don’t think so! Johnny Cash really Had a Thing About Trains, liked Riding The Rail, wanted you to Come Along And Ride This Train, whether it’s the Bible Train or the Orange Blossom Special (that one is a typical imitation including choo and rhythm) – and finished it up with the very sad Let The Train Blow Her Whistle.
I also like the Mystery Train:
Bob Dylan’s wonderful version of the Freight Train Blues:
And the Chattanooga Choo Choo:
Wikipedia offers this extensive (but not complete) list of train songs. It’s missing the only German train song that I can think of (maybe for the better)…the other one is of course a cover version of the aforementioned Chattanooga. The lack of train music is probably due to the fact that German trains don’t choo-chooo. Maybe the Deutsche Bahn should invest in some decent horns?
Last time I checked, access to pornography was already very much on an “opt-in” basis. I mean – sadly -, it’s not like you just switch on the computer and delicious depictions of consensual sex flash up all over your screen. If that happens to you, dear British conservatives: You probably have a virus and should reformat your harddrive instead of forcing censorship on the rest of the world.
Although I think I can see some blue sky right now from my desk, the evening will probably be cloudy in Berkeley and we won’t get to see any of these exciting phenomena. This night also happens to be the winter solstice. That means it’s not only the darkest, but also the longest night of the year. I guess it can only get better from there.
Posted in Umsonst & Draußen. Comments Off on If We Make It Through December
In honor of my upcoming visit to Warshingten (that’s how they pronounce it on NPR!), here’s a West Coast original:
hard in the paint: To approach a problem, obstacle, or challenge with supreme confidence of success through a commitment to use all facilities available to one’s self to achieve a goal. The term has etymological roots in the basketball parlance that describes an attempt to score in the crowded and highly contested area directly under and immediately adjacent to the raised hoop on a basketball court, or “painted” area. Shot attempts in this area are traditionally only successful when made with a strong conviction to score, skill, overpowering strength, or a combination thereof (i.d. “going hard”). (Urban Dictionary)
Here’s a mom’s description of the hilarious reactions her son’s Halloween costume provoked:
“We walk down the hall to where his classroom is. And that’s where things went wrong. Two mothers went wide-eyed and made faces as if they smelled decomp. And I realize that my son is seeing the same thing I am. So I say, “Doesn’t he look great?” And Mom A says in disgust, “Did he ask to be that?!” I say that he sure did as Halloween is the time of year that you can be whatever it is that you want to be. They continue with their nosy, probing questions as to how that was an option and didn’t I try to talk him out of it. Mom B mostly just stood there in shock and dismay. And then Mom C approaches. She had been in the main room, saw us walk in, and followed us down the hall to let me know her thoughts. And they were that I should never have ‘allowed’ this and thank God it wasn’t next year when he was in Kindergarten since I would have had to put my foot down and ‘forbidden’ it.”
Click here to see the little guy’s shocking shockingly cute outfit and the rest of the article.I empathize, because I loved dressing up as a cowboy when I was a litte* girl, complete with hat, plaid shirt and a little fringed leather vest and corresponding chaps. I don’t know whether it was because of the costume or despite of it, but I grew into a person who definitely tends towards the good old left side of the Kinsey scale.
“I’ll emphatically resist any attempt to recreate a London where the rich and poor cannot live together…We will not see and we will not accept any kind of Kosovo-style social cleansing of London. On my watch, you are not going to see thousands of families evicted from the place where they have been living and have put down roots.” (BBC News – Boris Johnson criticised for ‘Kosovo’ benefits remark)
Oh, BoJo. Every other well-spoken politician would have used at least one Nazi reference in this situation. Not you! This is why we love you. This, and the way you manage to look cute wearing those huge BBC headphones.
Speaking of rhetorical brilliance in the face of high rents, have a look at this political activist from another truly diverse city:
cohu's blog 