Eurovision

The most important annual, pan-european, musical singing contest is kicking into high gear. I present to you Germany’s entry to the contest, rumored to be supported in the finale show by a Dita Von Teese strip show of some sort. The hastily put together, nomenclature-challenged duo, Alex Swings Oscar Sings, performs the song, Miss Kiss Kiss Bang.

Taking the concept of Eurotrash to a new level seems to be a key requirement for the competition. Have you ever seen the jacket with no shirt underneath look pulled off so flawlessly anywhere else??  They are clearly a shoe-in. Props for integrating it into the 50’s Americana swing-vibe though.

Listen to it twice and good luck getting it out of your head.

Update: Ok, leave it to the Americans to get involved in a Eurovision controversy, but apparently Ms. Teese got kind of innapropriate, a la Janet Jackson. “Her nipples were however covered partly by some glittery stars. Whether this kind of nudity will be allowed by the Eurovision Song Contest bosses, remains to be seen.  If so it will be a clear a new precedent on what is and what is not consider suitable for the Eurovision Song Contest stage,” according to esctoday.com . And yes that url stands for eurovision song contest today.com

And I’m done caring.

What Finance Crisis?

It’s official, I live in the 8th best place to live in the world. I think we can safely assume that everyone’s criteria for such a list differs substantially, but based on the availability of 24 hours döner, ample running paths, weather.com forecasts that don’t include the term “smoke” (I hate to name names, Beijing), riverside cafes, public transportation outside my doorstep, and liquor control laws that are perhaps the polar opposite of the United States’ (read: BYOB to parks, festivals, riverside benches, anywhere, etc.), I happen to generally agree.

And it seems counter-intuitive that Frankfurt often feels like it is coming out unscathed from the whole global economic downturn, especially considering that the city is based on the finance and banking industry. There are more than 300 branches of banks located here, including basically every international one you can possibly think of, as well as the European Central Bank. However, as I attend a mostly banking school, it seems the general feeling is that banks will regain their rightful place in the economic order, and the manufacturing sectors in other parts of Germany are probably going to be the most severely affected.

Various factors that are holding it back from the number one spot, in my mind:

-Why does virtually every taxi have to be a Mercedes? Could that be contributing to the outrageous cost of 10 euro for about a 2 kilometers distance ride? I’m guessing yes.

-I get that closing basically every single business on Sunday, other than some small cafes, increases the quality of life for some retail workers, but it in fact it drastically reduces mine, on Saturdays, when every working person in Frankfurt crams the grocery store, Ikea, and shopping streets, etc. And on Sundays, when there is nothing to do, except homework.

-Starbucks is officially the only place in the city where German retail workers are friendly, or at least smile at you, any day of the week. Tip to the service sector: people might actually tip you if you didn’t make them feel like you would actually prefer them dead.

-Paying for things by writing down your bank account number, a bank code, and a signature, can not possibly be safer than just using a credit/debit card. Why is this practice still in place here where direct deposit/payment is totally standard?

-Again, 19% sales tax

-Cocktails range from 8-11 Euros.

-The whole German language thing.

Going Way Back

Check out this headline from February 29, 2000 I found using the “Wayback Machine” courtesy of archive.org

McCain might have played the card, but Bush managed to play the whole deck for the last 8 years. Sorry, I couldn’t get the actual link with the story to work. Would have been elightenting I’m sure…

Dear Mom,

Please don’t replace me.

Happy Mother’s Day again! Miss you tons!

German Blog Leftovers

Here are a few (I’m guessing) little known facts about Germany for the uninitiated:

-They serve Special K with organic milk at Mcdonald’s here.

-Big Red gum isn’t actually red, or spicy for that matter.

-When a class is over, to show appreciation to the professor, we vigorously knock on our desk, as if it were a door, for about 5 seconds.

-I saw Energy Mentos once, but wasn’t brave enough to buy them.

-The public transport is so effective, or the mailmen so abused, that they deliver the mail using it.

-Bags at the grocery store cost money, and no one seems to mind. Unheard of!

-Sales tax is 19% (in Frankfurt at least)

-I would venture to estimate that at least 50% of the autobahn is an area with speed limits.

-Even the ovens are fabulous.