Feminism is for Freiburg.

Someone brought Feminism Is For Lovers to Freiburg.

Young Rebel Set.

Young Rebel Set, the new band on the wonderful Grand Hotel van Cleef label, fit right into the musical scope of this blog. Folk. Indie. Alleged Springsteen & Dylan references. Beards. Hailing from Stockton-on-Tees, they're also something for people who listen to Artic Monkeys, Maximo Park etc. 'because of the accent'. Here's the video for a charming litte ditty called "If I Was":

And! - they're coming to Freiburg on 29.01.10
Young Rebel Set might just blow up or fade away - haven't quite made up my mind. But for now, you can believe the hype.

Freiburg is on fire!?

In the last couple of weeks, and especially today, a large number of protest are going on all around Austria, Germany and other European countries as part of teh so-called Bildungsstreik. This is (or is supposed to be) a map of all universities where students are taking part in the protest against the the past introduction of tuition fees, the Bologna reform and other education related issues..

Unsere Unis auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen

Here in Freiburg, a demo with ruffly 5000 participants just ended and the main auditorium is occupied by students since Monday night. More info on twitter and on the corresponding website. The motto is "uni brennt" or "Freiburg brennt" (Uni/Freiburg is on fire), which is catchy yet, due to the implied violence, problematic.
We'll see where this goes. I wouldn't go as far as claiming that the broad student protest movement is "back", but there is certainly something going on. And the protest and demands are even slightly more differentiated and creative than in the past. It's also interesting to see the participation of high school students. Might add my 2 cents later, yet first I have to get back to... studying.

From the Mighty Streets of Freiburg.

Chin Up!
Nice to see that at a tram station on the first day day of class.

Health Care Snaps.

The video of Barney Frank is all around the internet, but I just had to include it here as well:

I have few issues with this video. Of course, there is the entirely crazy Hitler-Obama comparison. Then there is the discussion of whether these protesters are "liberals" (in new American meaning: leftists) or right-wingers. Apparently the young lady in the video - who looks suprisingly normal - is a LaRouche supporter. Ehm.
Concerning Nazi comparison from the left and the right: I attended a lecture by Dr. Michael Butter here in Freiburg a few weeks ago, the topic was the use of Hitler in North American literature since the 2nd World War. After being used for war time propaganda, several war protesters (from the left) took up the comparison to protest the Vietnam War. And finally, the practice shifted to the right, in order to frame any opponent as quintessentially evil after the end of the Cold War - the absence convenient commies made the Nazi comparison 'necessary'. Which brings us to the current 'discussion', or rather screaming at townhall meetings. And to Barney Frank.
As much as I appreciate his response to this nonsense, and personally like the arrogant-fun way he responded, I would've prefered it if had taken the lady more seriously. Do state that the comparison is ridiculous and extremely offending, but don't talk down to her. Otherwise you'll appear like a out-of-touch, arrogant D.C. elitist, or in other words, just as that 'evil' figure that the crazy right-wingers, including all the pundits, want to see in you. I think the response was good, because somebody finally had to find a few strong words, but I don't think they were the perfect strong words.

And now excuse me, I have to go back to pretending to live in a world where Fox News isn't the leading new channel in the country I still quite fancy.

From the Mighty Halls of Albert-Ludwigs-University

Feels like summer.

Funny thing happened to me the other day. I sat in the sweaty tram, listening to The Hold Steady's "Constructive Summer" and wondered what the summer hit of 2009 might be. Think for the general public it'll be Emilia Torrini's Jungle Drum. Nice, cheery, cute, pretty agreeable. Not a really bad song.. summer-y.
Still, I was looking for something more (and preferably something people by now do not associate with Heidi Klum and Germany's Next Topmodel) And I came home, opened my laptop and tada - a serious contestant for summer hit 2009: Johnny Foreigner - Feels like Summer.

Johnny Foreigner - Feels Like Summer from eds209 on Vimeo.

Really fits this summer in Freiburg. Hot, sweet and sweaty with a dash of thunderstorm. Plus, their EP including this song is available for free download. They sometimes remind me of The Wombats, You Say Party! We Say Die! and especially Los Campesinos!. By the way, Los Campesinos! just taped an amazing daytrotter session.

Runner-up for summer hit '09 so far is The XYZ Affair. Their "2 Summer Jams" are also available for free download and especially "No One That You Love Will Ever Die" is a feel good gem. (At least from my subjective position.)

Plus, stereogum.com compiled a pretty nice 4th of July "Independents Day 2009" compilation.

But the summer record of the year is just coming up: Portugal. the Man's The Satanic Satanist. See more and yeah - it leaked already. But do buy it when it comes out on July 17th - what I heard so far is amazing. Guaranteed sunshine during the thunderstorm.

I Might Shed a Tear.

Karo is coming to Freiburg's White Rabbit on Sunday, May 3rd. And it'll be more than just amazing, I bet.



Schöftland will perform as well.
Be there or be square!

It Never Rains in Southern Germany.

Okay, that's definitely not true. However, Freiburg, my new "home", is supposed to be the sunniest town in Germany. Over the last couple of months I realized what a relative term that is.
To document just how sunny Freiburg really is, I set up a new blog project called "Deutschlands sonnigster Hinterhof" featuring a daily photo of, well, the backyard I see from my room's window. Or rather the area behind that.
Doesn't look too bad today - looks like spring is coming. And even my part of town looks kinda pretty in sunshine.