Johannes Schult

Martin Sommer ist wohl eine Art Liedermacher. Immerhin macht er Lieder. Und zwar solche, in denen vorwiegend Geschichten erzählt und Situationen mit Wortwitz und einer humorvollen Note geschildert werden. Seine Homepage ist relativ informativ und bietet zum Einstieg beispielsweise das Stück “Drachen”; dieses ist ein tolles Liebeslied, das sich mit der Liebe selbst und den damit verbundenen Ambitionen beschäftigt. Ich mochte es vom ersten Moment an.

Ich persönlich finde seine zweite CD “Chansons” besser als das Debüt “Wort & Tonschlag”, obwohl beide ihre Höhe- und Tiefpunkte haben. “Haus mit Fenstern”, “Wohin”, “Bei Nacht” und “Hahn abdrehn (live)” sind meine Favoriten. Dass die der Bestellung beiliegende Rechnung mit LaTeX erstellt worden war, macht mir die Sache noch sympathischer. Leider wurde bei den Texten komplett auf Zeichensetzung verzichtet, was an der Qualität der Musik freilich nichts ändert.

Falls es jemand noch nicht weiß: Ich bin Vegetarier. Dafür gibt es zwei Gründe: Ich habe die Möglichkeit dazu und es ist ein Beitrag zum Umweltschutz. Um es mit den Worten von Paul McCartney zu sagen:

If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat. That’s the single most important thing you could do. It’s staggering when you think about it. Vegetarianism takes care of so many things in one shot: ecology, famine, cruelty.

PETA ist zwar in erster Linie eine Tierschutzorganisation, listet auf dieser Seite jedoch die Gründe auf, die mich vor seinerzeit (vier Jahren) zum Wechsel bewegten. Dass Natalie Portman z.B. im englischen Vegetarierstartkit für den Verzicht auf Fleisch wirbt, hatte dagegen gaaar keinen Einfluss. Ähem.

One bulb can help the whole world. Says Natalie Portman (at National Geographic).

There might be some more personal updates later on, but I’m rather busy; kind of. Visiting some European countries, stepping into the future, and stuff like that. If this doesn’t satisfy you, you stalker, then take a look at (apply) the first and last few lines of Eric Bazilian‘s diary entry from 10th July 2005.

Kohlekraftwerke pusten Unmengen Kohlendioxid in die Atmosphäre, welche die Erwärmung des Erdklimas beschleunigen – mit ökologischen (Meeresspiegelanstieg), ökonomischen (Versicherungskosten) und sozialen (Flüchtlinge) Folgen. Atomkraftwerke produzieren Müll, dessen Entsorgung ungeklärt ist. Von Problemen der Urangewinnung, dem Betriebsrisiko und dem Zusammenhang mit Atomwaffen will ich gar nicht erst reden. Dagegen sind Wind-, Sonne-, Wasser- und sonstige regenerative Energien, nunja, harmlos. Eine komplette, weltweite Umstellung von heute auf morgen ist zwar technisch nicht möglich. Aber der erste Schritt ist heute sehr wohl möglich (wenn ihn – und weitere – nicht bereits gegangen ist). Damit meine ich den Wechsel des Stromlieferanten. Der dauert nicht länger, als man zum Lesen dieses kurzen Textes braucht. Der Wechsel tut nicht weh und absolut erfolgt reibungslos. Kurzum: Es gibt keinen triftigen Grund, tatenlos zuzuschauen, wie die Welt untergeht. Also los, jetzt zu umweltfreundlichen Energiequellen wechseln! Es wäre doch schön, wenn in ein paar Jahren 100% statt der bisherigen (trotzdem Mut machenden) 14% des Stroms in der BRD aus erneuerbaren Energien stammt. Zum Schluss noch ein Satz von Hermann Scheer: “Wenn die Ãœberwindbarkeit der ökologischen Weltkrise als realisierbare Vision passioniert vertreten wird, dann geht die Post ab.”

While Fingersmith is a tremendous work of fiction, The Night Watch is utterly boring. Both novels were written by Sarah Waters. She has a verbose style that matches the elaborate schemes in her books. Fingersmith should be approached with reckless innocence. I recommend to read it without any prior knowledge of the plot. If you do want to read a summary, stay away from those at Wikipedia and Amazon; they spoil a lot of the twists and turns of the story. While the book is still a great read if you know what’s going to happen (like I did), I can only imagine the impression it leaves on those who expect “just” a romantic novel set in 1862. The Night Watch, on the other hand, is set in the 1940s, again in and around London. I forced myself to read the whole thing. The connections between the main characters are somewhat loose; the plot doesn’t really deserve that name, because it’s totally arbitrary. There are a couple of horrible events, not to mention the war. Despite the mastery of language, the words on the pages remain distant. There’s little, if any, suspense. I kept expecting a spectacular event, a connection between all of the main characters, anything, but the arbitrary, personal fates described throughout the 470 pages. (I will now “spoil” the structure of the book, but I’d say: just read on…) The first part is set in 1947, the second in 1944, and the third (and last) in 1941. So it’s a bit like you get to read the ending of the story, first. If you read the parts in chronological order, the whole thing would be incredibly disappointing. Read it the way it is printed, be ready for a boring ride with no distinct conclusion. My suggestion is, of course, to not read it at all. Check out Fingersmith, instead, which has also been made into a solid movie in 2005 by the BBC.

Yesterday, I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which was a rather disappointing experience. The editing was horrible; really, really horrible. Earlier on I had read in a book about film editing that this part of making a movie should at best be invisible. In this movie it was ruining quite a lot. SPOILERS ahead! There was a part in the current Die Hard installment where McClaine tells Farrell to stay in the car while he inspects an abandoned gatehouse; and in the next both of them are running across the helicopter landing site. Apparently the scene of McClane knocks off the guard had been cut. I had the same feeling several times during the newest Harry Potter movie, most of them towards the ending. Not good. The richness of the plot helped the book over the fact that the main story line is only about a prophecy. The movie fails not only to condense the essential background stories, the major twists remain insufficiently portrayed. I guess it’s partly the fault of the director and the screenplay, as well. After all, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban had been an excellent movie – with great acting, enchanting music – and a different director.

That being said, there are a few positive things to say about the film:

1. Tonks rocked!
2. Azkaban looked amazing!
3. The scenes in which Luna Lovegood had dialogue stood out, because she seemed to be the only person in the movie who actually had a “character”, not just a role.

Wow, what a show! I’ve already written a German review and a long, verbose report in the new Hooters forum. (There you can read about the Hooters gig in Tuttlingen last week, as well.) So yes, this is already the condensed version.

The Hooters really rocked the tent last night! They played 110 minutes and (finally) managed to keep the energy of the regular set during the encore (partly due to “Catch of the Day”, partly due to the euphoria of the crowd); they even had to return a second time, because the tent was indeed going crazy. The audience was great and the band apparently enjoyed the gig. The sound (in front of the stage) was amazing, very clear vocals, not too much bass. All good, all good!

There were about 2000 people; hardly anyone left right after the Hooters (although most people got outside to catch some fresh air and get something drink; you see: a Hooters show makes your throat sore, because you can’t help but sing along all the time. Later on, Asia (who were supposed to be the headliner) played for about 100 minutes, but the energy level – both on and off stage couldn’t compare to that of the Hooters!

The concert was organized by the Kulturinitiative Winterbach. They’ve done an amazing job. Not only did they bring the Hooters to the Remstal area, they also made the actual concert very enjoyable, i.e. you weren’t allowed to smoke in the tent, and you were allowed to take pictures (without flash). Two thumbs up! Check out their Zeltspektakel homepage for additional photos. Here’s the Hooters’ setlist:

1. I’m Alive
2. Time Stand Still
3. Time After Time
4. Day by Day
5. Fightin’ on the Same Side
6. Graveyard Waltz (slight return) / 500 Miles
7. Until You Dare
8. Where The Wind May Blow
9. The Boys of Summer
10. Twenty-Five Hours a Day
11. Johnny B
12. All You Zombies
13. Karla With A K
14. Satellite
15. And We Danced
16. Catch of the Day
17. One of Us
18. Free Again
19. South Ferry Road / Brother Don’t You Walk Away

The University of Konstanz has an excellent library. The collection of books on data analysis is excellent and you can spend many hours in the computer pools on level B6 with STATA. There is also a growing number of audio-visual resources, mainly video tapes. As a connoisseur of comedy, absurdity, and statistics I can highly recommend the Black Adder-series, Airplane!, or the complete introductory course in research methods lecture.

With the advent of DVD technology most new items are on DVD and therefore more popular among the students. In other words, there is a reservation list for most of the good stuff. I don’t really mind and hope I don’t sound complaining. The reason for this long introduction escapes my memory, so here’s the thing: I was quite surprised to find the English version of She’s the Man on the shelf. It’s “based on Shakespeare”, I know, but it’s not sorted with the rest of that stuff. Could it be that someone working there realized the sheer brilliance of the movie? Grasped its timeless kind-heartedness? Experienced the exuberant joy upon watching it?

Don’t try to say “tilde” (~) whilst brushing your teeth.

Last Wednesday, the Hooters played the gig of their current European tour. The venue was small (200 people), so there was a rather familiar atmosphere. There were still some minor technical flaws here and there, but the spirit was there and the band apparently delighted to be back on the road/stage. There was, however, hardly any improvation. They basically played their hits and almost the whole new album. Early in the set they played a rock version of “Time After Time” (which was co-written by Rob Hyman) and a mixture of “South Ferry Road” and “Brother Don’t You Walk Away”. Both weren’t really necessary in my opinion. From then on things got better. “Catch of the Day” was the best new song. The band sounded really mellow at times. Just compare the current (album) version of the song “Time Stand Still” with the version they played two years ago and you get the point. Also, Eric Bazilian played more mandolin than on previous tours. All in all it was a good show that. A few more surprises in between wouldn’t have hurt, though. Here’s the setlist:

1. I’m Alive
2. Time Stand Still
3. Time After Time
4. South Ferry Road / Brother Don’t You Walk Away
5. Day by Day
6. All You Zombies
7. Until I Find You Again
8. Until You Dare
9. Catch of the Day
10. The Boys of Summer
11. Karla with a K
12. Twenty-five Hours a Day
13. Johnny B
14. Satellite
15. And We Danced
16. 500 Miles
17. Where the Wind May Blow
18. Morning Buzz
19. Free Again