Ah Berlin!

I'd seen this wonderful video posted around several places, but I hadn't actually taken the time to watch it until yesterday. I can tell that the maker of this video loves this city as much as I do....

Little Big Berlin from pilpop on Vimeo.

'I dedicate this film to Berlin where I have been living for 19 years now. While the architecture of Berlin is stunningly beautiful, only its inhabitants make Berlin the unique city that it is. In every corner there is something new to discover. And the best thing to do is to film it.
Filmed with my beloved Sony HC9. Edited with Sony Vegas Pro 9.The miniature effect is called tilt-shift, which originates from a particular lens that was used to photograph architecture. The miniature effect is a by-product of that. It can also be achieved by digital postprocessing.
Music: “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2” by Franz Liszt' - directed by pilpop

...Which suited my Sunday mood perfectly...

I always feel glowy and good after a session of co-moderating Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School Berlin, and Saturday's No.9 madness was no exception. A rip-snorting good time was had by all. We were treated to some truly divine insanity served up for us by Mad Kate and Juanofakind in the form of "Alien Birth":

Juanofakind approached the stage as the hugely pregnant Anita Drink, and, after a bit of tea and nostalgia, went into screaming labour pains, then proceeded to give birth right before our very eyes. Mad Kate tumbled into the world clad in a birthday suit of ripped nylons and blood (curry sauce apparently), only to terrorize first Anita, and then the audience, as she climbed her way over and through them before sprinting across the DJ desk to return to the stage for more shenanigans! It was a sight to behold, I tell ya! I can't wait to see the photos!

An audience review of the afternoon (including this performance) can be found at Jen Zeller's blog by the way. :)

And it was lovely to have Eve Blood of Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School Nürnberg visiting us. We're always quite enamoured of the photos we see in the Galerie at her Sketchy's site, and are looking forward to being able to visit one of her sessions one of these days. I've never been to Nürnberg before. Hmmmm....

And Bohème Sauvage No.44 in the evening was a treat as well. It was held in this beautiful space this time around, and was terribly, terribly full:



It's funny about Bohème Sauvage. It is possible to find yourself feeling a touch of ennui at one these, in spite of all the fabulous eye-candy walking around (the dress code is mandatory, so don't expect to be able to get in in jeans). So, if you go, go intending to either swing dance or gamble (everyone is provided with some Reichsmark at the door to get things going). Or take sparkling company with you, and plan to meet more sparkling company once you get there.

You will be immersed in loveliness. It's always that oddly surreal sensation of swimming in another time; a time that never existed of course - since what you'll see there is a jumble of styles from the 1890s to the 1940s - and varying modern interpretations of these. The gambling tables are always full, and there's always a little movie theater where you can curl into cushy seating and watch silent movies from the 1920s. There are performances to see, and you can dance until dawn! I recommend staying until at least the wee hour of 4, to see the stylish couple-dancing (swing, foxtrot, tango, Charleston, etc...) mutate into a mad free for all as the night progresses.

I was delighted to see the Old Fish Jazz Band performing there again. They were fabulous at Bohème Sauvage No.41 at the Wintergarten, and were no less fabulous this time around. The New Orleans Vintage Jazz feel they jiggled our bones with really made this Mississippi girl's heart go pitter pat! And watching modern flappers dancing insanely in front of them (from the corner next to that stage that I had tucked myself into) was a bit like watching a wild fever dream from behind a velvet curtain.

Why do I love Berlin? All of this and more!

Hugs + kisses,

LaLaVox
www.mildredlovesyou.com
[edit: March 28th, 2011]
Because of problems with my current mildredlovesyou.com domain host, I have set my Mildred Loves You site up at an alternate address for for safe-keeping (but am still hoping that my mildredlovesyou.com domain will go back online at some point anyway)...
www.lalavoxbox.com/mildredlovesyou.html