Culture On The Cheap

Every Wednesday night, Nuremberg's Germanisches Nationalmuseum (sorry, no amount of photo-fixing will make this camera phone shot any better) stays open late and offers free admission, so B and I went down there this past week to check out their latest show Mythos Burg (roughly translated, it means the myth of castles), and it was an OK exhibit that attempted to deflate the notion of castles being full of brave knights and fair maidens-- nope, they were grubby places where a lot of people lived and worked in constant paranoia (castles tend to get marauded a lot), though they had it a lot better than the poor schlubs toiling for them down there in the fiefdom. It featured a lot of materials from museum collections all over Europe, even a minor painting from old master Peter Paul Rubens (note: I'm speaking of this P. Paul Rubens, and not this Paul Rubens), who actually purchased a castle in the 17th century, lived in it, and it tended to show up in his works a lot in the background. Showboat.

While hardly a gotta-see destination the Germanisches Nationalmuseum still has a lot going for it, and it's a place where folks can see old master artwork, a substantial armor collection, modern sculpture garden, an expansive musical instrument (especially from the Renaissance-era) section, artifacts from pre-Roman settlements, one of the earliest globes of the world (Nuremberg was an important map-making city) and so forth. Due to its broad collection-- this isn't specifically an art (or archaeological, architectural, weaponry, etc.) museum, but it still is pretty good. And once a week, it's free-- not too shabby.

Really? Christmas Decorations in October?

Took this photo this very afternoon at the high-falutin' Karstadt (think Macy's or Nordstrom and you're on the right track) department store downtown-- they are setting up Christmas decorations before Halloween (or Great Pumpkin day, whichever). This follows a news item I saw where the new Black Friday (deep discounts on Christmas gifts) is now around Halloween time. Sheesh. I haven't even started eating my Halloween candy (not that we have Halloween as we know it here, but I just had to say it). Hey, why is Santa dressed up in an American Flag suit?

OK Then, What Am I Supposed To Do In Here?

Men's room admonishment, The George Tavern.

Ewww Part 2

Taken in the Munich train station. Mr. Porky Pork Scratchings (pork rinds to you and me) are actually a British product, but given German's love of the pig, I'm a bit surprised I don't see these around more than I do. Here's a mildly amusing commercial as a bonus.

Altogether Now: "Ewww"

Spied at my local Rewe (say "ray-vay") supermarket, we have corn (mais) and popcorn-flavored yogurt. As my good buddy and regular reader RW in Seattle can attest, there was a time I'd eat/drink pretty much anything (within a broad latitude of reason) on a dare... but even though this is a lot more palatable than the Ouzo shots and habanero peppers of our younger stupider days, I'll take a pass on trying these out-- taste matters to me now. FWIW, this same company also makes malted milk ball and poppy seed flavored yogurt as well.

Cue The Black Helicopters

After reading a report today that MySpace (remember them?) routinely hands over user information to its advertisers and other interested parties, I was reminded of the following video which shows that Facebook users should be less concerned with the site's regular programming glitches which allow enemies/employers/ex-girlfriends, etc. on the front side to see your information, and a lot more concerned with all those folks on the back side to whom you have already signed off your privacy rights-- corporations and (if you are to believe this video) intelligence agencies.



Now, I'm far from being a conspiracy theorist, and I am very aware of the genuine benefits of social networking sites... but until I can find one that actually gives a rip (a genuine rip) about user privacy--and this is coming from a guy who writes a blog post for all the world to see 2-3 times a week-- I'll take a pass. As for folks who say "(fill in the blank) is the best/hottest/most happening site out there and everybody is on it," I seem to recall they said the same about Friendster and Chatroulette too.

Yes, Please Get This Out of Your System Now

So B and I are going to spend Christmas in Paris this year (it sounds really sexy until you realize that airfare is about the same as Seattle to Oakland on Southwest), and as you may have heard there is open rioting in the streets, primarily in Lyon, the second largest city in France, as well as a Paris suburb. The reason these folks are protesting has to do with the French Senate passing a bill that will raise the official retirement age from 60 to 62. The reason the rioters are largely younger people (plus the hooligan element who are using this as an excuse to trash cars and buildings) is that the unemployment situation in France is pretty high, and the kids feel that this situation will make jobs even more elusive. Certain labor unions are performing sympathy strikes as well, blockading fuel refineries and making gas and jet fuel scarce. The situation appears to be easing today, but we'll see about that. My knowledge of France is far from comprehensive, but like the Italians, strikes and protests are quite routine and normally short-lived. I doubt that anything will be resolved anytime soon, but here's hoping for a Festivus miracle.