Ich Bin Ein Berliner! - JFK

Berlin is historically the most important city in the last century. I took a free tour 2 days ago with Sandeman’s Tour Company (http://www.neweuropetours.eu/), which I highly HIGHLY recommend. All the questions I had about World War 1 and 2, as well as the Cold War, were pretty much answered, and Berlin was the center point in all of the historic events. I saw the actual places that were significant in all the decisions and events that led to those intriguing events. Even if one is clueless about these events, they will get a great summary, and still be blown away with all the stuff that happened in this city that changed the world.

What really stands out about Berlin is how the Cold War truly affected it visually. I saw the difference between East Berlin (former-communist section) and West Berlin (the democratic section). East Berlin architecture is very sterile, grey, boring, but VERY bold and solid – you get a feel for the Soviet ego and might in the infrastructure. West Berlin in contrast is vibrant. Keep in mind, a lot of the structures have been rebuilt and/or updated in the last 20-30 years because WW2 pretty much destroyed all the major cities. Major rebuilding didn’t start until German Unification, after the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. I felt the tension of the Cold War, not in the people or structure, but just in the architecture.

I remember when the Berlin Wall being taken down. I was living in Saudi Arabia then, and only 9. The coverage had taken over TV at that time, and I was an annoyed kid because it was interfering with my cartoons. What blows my mind about the collapse, its only 20 years ago. Most of the middle-aged people living in Germany right now lived through it. Then you see people walking about who are in there 70s-80s, that lived through Nazi Germany. It’s crazy to think that some of them were Nazi sympathizers, or showed fake Nazi support to stay alive.

The best and worst thing visually about Berlin is the graffiti. All who know me really well, I love graffiti. So obviously I took Sandeman’s Alternative Berlin Tour (paid tour, 12 Euros). I love anything street/anti/counter-culture. I have many coffee table books on graffiti, street art, skateboard art, breakdancing, etc. If you think graffiti is vandalism, you can eat my ass. I will admit tagging (where it’s just an effortless signature scribble) is worthless and primitive, just to mark a territory. But graffiti and street art real detail and effort, and its layer upon layer of genius design. It leaves you saying, “how did they do that without getting caught?”. I would go as far as saying that Berlin graffiti culture might rival NYC, the supposed birthplace of modern graffiti. There is SO much graffiti here, following are some samples, and unfortunately there is a lot of tagging as well. Keep an eye out for an artist names XoooX; he is from Berlin and is following the very-famous Banksy’s stencil graffiti method. Also, an artist named Cuttout, he finds great graffiti in Berlin and paints perforated lines around them with a tiny scissors, like a coupon, pretty much giving importance to the main art because “you must have it!” and also daring people pretty much cut it out of the wall…. which did happen to one of Banksy’s small one in Berlin. Keep in mind, no one knows Banksy’s identity, even having a best-selling book. One of his works sold for 280,000 British Pounds last year.

As for the night life, I tried the Alternative Pub Crawl, which was supposed to include quirky bars/pubs/clubs, like a ping pong bar, a hippie-themed bar, a toilet bar, etc. The only one that was worth a damn was the indie bar called King Kong Club… great music. Great music. Other than that, I have not partaken in the night life. I regretfully missed an opportunity to check out the Berlin dance/club scene. I increasingly love electronic music, and it’s something I should have checked out.

*** Fake bonus points for someone who can tell me what's wrong about my blog title. ***

Magic People, Voodoo People

My 2 roommates, at my first hostel in Berlin, were from Israel. When I told them my name was Umair, I could tell he put up his guard, as he asked “Like Omar? Where are you from?” I told him I was from America. His response was humorous to me – “That is a Muslim name. I hope you don’t have an issue with Israeli roommates.” I laughed and told him it didn’t matter to me. He said he didn’t know where I stood politically because I was raised Muslim and “you Americans seem to have a lot of opinions and issues with everything”. I did not take it personally. I, in fact, am always fascinated by international perception of America and its people.

Yesterday, I moved to a cheaper hostel too. I am having an incredibly hard time with the language, especially street signs and directions, so I figured moving to a hostel is centrally location will help. Thankfully, a lot of Germans speak enough English to help out. Whenever I asked them in Deutsch if they speak English, they always say “very little” and always turns out that they know it perfectly.

There are several other things I have noticed about Germans. Most of the time I don’t get a “thank you”, or even eye-contact if I open the door. They don’t say “excuse me” when moving through a crowd. They just go through it, or say “move” in German without hostility. At first I thought Germans are stiff and rude, but they always greet me, always say thanks when any exchange takes place, and when leaving, they always say farewell. It doesn’t make them rude, because that is just the way it is. Manners in different cultures are always different. It’s a very matter-of-fact culture. I like that.

Here is a weird observation though. I get some unfriendly looks from whomever I try to get info from, when I have my black beanie on. If I have it off, people are much nicer to me. I don’t look that scary or intimidating. But I guess that is debatable. Ironically, the black beanie I own is one of my favorites, and was in the letter’s of the Nazi ‘SS’ soldiers. Creepy huh? I didn’t know that.

Tomorrow I will get into my tour and pub caul that happed toinight, with lots of pictures. I for some cool pictures. YES!

Bed-bugs on a plane!

Guten morgen America!

I have been looking forward to coming to Germany... scratch that... Europe since '98, when I graduated high school back in England. It's a long time away from what I considered my second home.

I quit my job of 3 years because I was burnt out. Myself-from-10-years-ago would kick present-day-me's ass for settling, for being creatively defeated, and doing a corporate job that is initially pointless for me. I know a lot of people support themselves and their families with that job, they have a purpose. But I didn't. I don't need the money. I have no dependents. I figured I would quit and, as cliche as it sounds, discover myself again. I have money saved up, and I don't have to ask for vacation time, seemed like a perfect time to do it.

Why Germany? Germany was my most favorite country I ever visited when I was in high school. We had several school trips there. I wanted to go again at this age, because I will take it in with open eyes, versus the narcissistic world of a teenager.

It is as beautiful as I remember it. I was skeptical. I feared the mass-consumer culture of over-indulgence and convenience like America has taken over developed-Europe, as it has in urban England.

I am going to try hard not to make comparisons between the States and Germany, except when I really have a need to share something unique or profound. That being said, let me get these 2 comparisons out of the way. It's true. Beer is at times cheaper than water here. I am not saying that the beer is ultra-cheap, but the water is achingly expensive. Regular bottle of water everywhere is around 2-3 Euros = $4-5. Crap! Tap water is perfect, so I have that where ever I stay, but you cannot get tap water at any establishment without really harsh looks. I will spend $5 to avoid that look. Second comparison: People here have a diet full of potatoes, breads, cheeses, processed meat, and beer... lots of carbs. But there are very few fatties here. Tell me whats up America, you fat-ass.

My high school friend, Lory, lives a bit away from Frankfurt, who picked me up from the airport on Sunday (4/4/10). A couple of her friends, including herself, convinced me that there is nothing in Frankfurt... unless I was into the whole Red Light District thing, which I am not. Got a gorgeous one back at home ;) By the way, prostitution is legal here, but regulated for safety and reputation. During WW2, Frankfurt was pretty much demolished due to the air-raids from all sides. So the city was re-built, leaving very little pre-WW2 history. It's funny to think Seattle is has an older infrastructure than Frankfurt.

We went out to a salsa club in Frankfurt last night... yeah, that just happened. A salsa club full of Germans dancing away. I talked soccer (real football) with 2 of Lory's German friends, since none of us danced. Talking soccer and having a few German lagers, no talk about player stats or what a player/coach/manager should have done. The guys knew their place in the sport as spectators, not aspiring sports agent or analysts that I am surrounded by in the States (oops, comparison #3).

This morning I got up and took a 7 hr (that was supposed to be 5) horrible trip in the famous EuroRail to Berlin. It's not the systems fault, I didn't know that Easter was a huge traveling weekend for the Germans. So the trains were flooded, and took about 10-20 min extra each stop to load/unload passengers. And since I didn't have reservations for a seat, I stood for 5 hrs. Got here about 2 hrs ago, and its 11pm now. Berlin is much more lively. I just needed a place to sleep since I am beat, so I just came to Meininger Hostel right by the main station, and here I am telling my first story and experience thus far. Tomorrow my actual 'tourist' mode is switched-on.

Lastly, what is with the title of this first blog? Well, American Airlines apparently has bed-bugs in their seats... I felt 3 itchy bites around my body when I woke up for landing. I think Ryan Durr needs to write a famous letter to AA to wash the international seats!!

The blogs will become more lively, promise. Leave comments, and let me know what you would like me to experience, even write about. Thanks.

The Best Of.... My lists of the 00s.

Happy 2010 everyone. I hate you all!

My list of favorite movies, TV, videogames, and my least favorite music of the 00's.

Movies I loves this decade:

There is no particular order, and some of them are cheesy/guilty pleasures... I loved Freddy Got Fingered. I don't like too many hipster movies. I am not a huge fan of Wes Anderson movies, Tarantino movies (though Kill Bill was brilliant), or Cohen brother movies (liked O Brother...., but despised No Country For Old Men). Go jump off a bridge you pretentious movie snobs.

My Top 5 6(no order): Anchorman, Dark Knight, Training Day, Transformers, Avatar, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

And the rest (no order): Hotel Rwanda, Little Miss Sunshine, Kill Bill, Role Models, Up, Monsters Inc, Batman Begins, Juno, Momento, Lord of the Rings trilogy (Two Towers being my fave), The Hangover, Star Trek, Mission Impossible 3, Friday Night Lights, House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Kung-fu Hustle, Bowling for Columbine, Shaun of the Dead, Who Killed the Electric Car, Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room, Superbad, Talladega Nights, 40 year old Virgin, Sunshine, Serenity, Live Free Die Hard, Last Samurai, V for Vendetta, The Grudge, Love Actually, 300, Zombieland, Kingdom of Heaven



TV I loved this decade:

Minus all the reality bullshit, many TV shows surpassed movies when it comes to quality. I like my TV shows to be either creatively written, funny, and/or educational. I don't care about American Idol, Whale Wars, Ice Road Truckers, The Hills or any MTV reality show, etc. And if you watch Tyra, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Blue Collar Comedy, Wife Swap, or similar trash shows, we should part ways.

Top 5 (no order): Friday Night Lights, Lost, Firefly, Dexter, Battlestar Galactica

My other faves (no order): Clone High, Veronica Mars, Chappelle Show, Fringe, How I Met Your Mother, Mad Men, The Soup, Breaking Bad, Daybreak, Journeyman, Buffy, Dirty Jobs, Colbert Report, Daily Show, Arrested Development, Family Guy, SNL (new cast is AWESOME), 30 rock, Wonder Showzen



Video Games I loved this decade:

This was the decade of the BEST video games... and my list has nothing from the Wii. The Wii is crap, and for people who can't comprehend video games. If I hear someone say "the controllers have too many buttons" or "I love the original Mario", you are going to be that old person that can't figure out new technology, or you are trying to be oh-so-retro: "Look at me, I love the 80s! Woo!" Either way, it's stupid.

Grand Theft Auto (3, 4, Vice City, San Andreas), COD Modern Warfare (1 & 2), Halo 2, Metroid Prime, Perfect Dark (N64... yes, it was 2000), Doom 3, Burnout 3: Takedown, Brain Age, Heavenly Sword, F.E.A.R (1 & 2)



Music I hated this decade:

Black Eyed Peas (remember when they didn't have Fergie, and they were an awesome hip-hop band?)
Green Day (after Warning, they have continuously embarrassed themselves... stop it!)
Evenescence (complete horseshit faux-goth/religious rock)
Amy Winehouse (why did the critics and radio love this man-sounding junkie?)
Beyonce (so many of you have been duped by her)

And the ultimate shit-list:
-The small dick macho-rock: Creed, Nickelback, 3 Doors Down, Disturbed, Saliva, and anyone that sounds like these bands.
-Toby Keith
-Pretty much all Crunk / Dirty South rap, especially Soulja Boy

-BrokenCYDE - The worst on this WHOLE list. This is why this angry list exists.

Hello 2010.

The Best Decade (2000-2009)

The Best Decade (2000-2009)
(this is not an angry brown guy post, just a civil observation)


Many people have an overall negative opinion of this passing decade, and I see it quite the opposite. The 00s kicked ass (I refuse to call it the Oughties/Aughties/Noughties… cheap media tag-names). They are trying to compare it to the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s, claiming that this decade didn’t have enough culture to reminisce about in the future, especially with music.



I will refute that claim by stating that we just have more music now. In the past decades, we needed radio and TV to get exposure to new major music. Indie/punks/etc relied on word-of-mouth, shows, and opening bands for new stuff. Right into the decade, MP3s opened a whole world of new, free music (major acts to garage bands). Where in the previous decades you might have been exposed to 200+ bands, now you might have 1000+ bands in your library. It’s harder to keep track of all music, and attention span’s shorter, with numerous releases every day. When people think of the 00s, the only musicians that come to the front are the cookie-cutter, ultra-processed, mega-stars like Britney Spears, Nickelback, Green Day, Black Eyed Peas, and crap like that. No one wants to remember this decade with those cheesy/terrible musicians on top, but this decade did offer the MOST, the BEST music from lesser known bands, and we all have many MP3s to prove it.



The cultural impact from music, fashion, movies, TV, art all had one common ground: Technology. This decade was all about technology. Everything from cell-phones, cars, computers, video-games, MP3 players, and most importantly, the internet advanced exponentially. Put yourself back in 1999, you would have been blown away with 2009 tech. Watching HD movies over the internet on your TV? Using a cell-phone with buttons and used as a wireless PC? This decade shines with technology, which in turn, makes our art shine. The music is awesome, the movies are awesome, graphic designers are awesome, fashion is awesome… the 90s were the PIT of fashion.



That being said, I wanted to do several lists to end the decade, and they will be posted shortly. There are lots of lists on the internet right now, and mine on the best and worst in Movies, TV, Games, cultural highlights, and trends will follow. I will not have a music list because there is just too much out there, and I don’t want to take the time to make one.

It's Tiger Woods' wife's fault.....

Here is a disclaimer. I don’t watch golf. I don’t follow Tiger Woods. I don’t listen to celebrity gossip. Due to the media frenzy about Tiger Woods’ issues, the common theme on the internet, and status updates on FB (or whatever other social-sites used), I noticed people really have strong, definite opinions and ‘incite’ into Tiger Woods’ situation. Maybe Tiger is not the asshole here, maybe it’s his wife… or maybe he just is.

A truly happy couple never cheat on each other. Just saying. I agree that there is no excuse for cheating, an his behavior is universally incongruous. But I always say a truly happy couple never cheat on each other. If you have cheated or been cheated on, you or the other person saw that something was missing in the relationship, and it could be very little simple things.

According to the mass, unanimously he is an asshole / douche / misogynist. The public and media ‘analysts’ seem to have demonized him and have their minds made up. Maybe Tiger is a womanizer, an ass, and he did an excellent job of fooling the world otherwise. He is one of the richest athletes in the world, and they probably don’t have a prenup; you can’t really leave someone based on not being in love with them and not lose half of what you worked for. I know that is an asshole thing to say, but put yourself in those shoes. Maybe he feels like his wife contributes nothing to his life anymore; he earned everything he has now, and wants her to have the same work ethic; she just probably takes and takes. Or he is frustrated sexually, she just lays there. As Jason Segal said in ‘I Love You, Man’, it’s time to “give it back, yeah? (wink) Return the favor”. His wife could be a monster bitch, total Bridezilla-type (thank you The Soup, for showing me those insane wedding-obsessed losers). Or his wife is probably the sweetest, most caring person, and he simply cheated. You see? It’s a lot of “maybes”.

The major issue here has nothing to do with Tiger Woods and his personal life. None of us know him and the situation personally, but so many have made up there minds and voiced opinions. I just came up with plethora of different speculative situations above. But they have no weight because I don’t know. And most importantly I do not care, and neither should you. He does not represent anybody, he does not have public dependents, his personal life hiccups don’t affect anyone other than the people he is personally involved with. So you should not care. It’s not as if he is a politician and his new policy might effect you and many others. This does not mean that he is a better or worse person than perceived. He is flawed, like a human being. How many friends or relatives do you know that have cheated, and still are stand-up, respectable characters? I do. People slip. You forgive, and move on.

All of you people who are engrossed in celebrity gossip, get a hobby, something creative. Stop putting so much time into other people’s lives, and forming opinions on them. It is mentally unhealthy, and uninteresting. All of us, myself included, get involved in this garbage-entertainment culture, like celebrity gossip news or reality TV shows. All of us who have watched any reality shows, come out feeling superior to the people on the show because you seem sane or more controlled than the subjects. I don’t like thinking that I am better than others, it makes me bitter, and gives me a skewed perspective of people. Look at Fox News anchors, so much aggression, ignorance, and bigotry. Why do you think they are so angry? (l love inserting a little slapping reference to Fox News whenever I can). I try to stay away as much as possible because the news and shows are dramatically bias, and why not, they get major ratings. Trust me, it’s better for you to stay away.

To sign off, all I have to say about the whole Tiger Woods thing: to keep him happy, make some sandwiches woman! That is the key to a man’s heart. Heyo! Or should I say Mayo!

Smart States Vs Stupid States

US News printed an article based on research by Life's DHA (www.lifesdha.com) that factors brain health and activity based on demographic diet, lifestyle, habits, etc.

The Top 10 were rather predictible, mostly in the northeast of the US.

The list (from #10-#1):

NH, ME, NJ, MA, CO, CT, VT, WA, MD, and #1 was Washington DC.

Washington State was the odd man out, but didn't surprise me. Lots of fresh food and seafood diet, I didn't see any fatties in Seattle either. DC is the most fit city I have been to, though. Remember people! Health leads to mental sharpness (but don't expect that from a Affliction / UFC meathead douches. They are a mystery).

Now the Bottom 10 were much more predictable.

The list (from #41-#50):

IN, ND, SC, AR, KY, TN, MS, AL, OK, and last LA.

The shocker for me was that LA beat out MS. I only say that because MS is the worst state I have been to, and I personally don't like it at all. No offence to you MS folks. I would rather live in Saudi again than go there again. HEYO!

Let's politicize this. Notice that most of the Top 10 are traditionally "blue" states, while the bottom are DEFINITELY "red" states. Just throwing that fire in there. Have fun.

Remember.... I hate you all.