Fernseher am Sonntag / TV on Sunday

I only just learned about the Global Edition of the Daily Show, and not a moment too soon. They do a "best of" from the previous week's shows, and Jon Stewart does a special little monologue with the live audience. This was the post-election show. "If you're living in the Middle East, we don't hate you as much as we used to!" He said. "And if you're living in Europe, now we can be friends again!"

When the show was over, I changed the channel to MDR, the station broadcast out of Leipzig.


Next up: a mash-up of these two programs.

Oper / Opera

The opera house in Leipzig is an unexpected Soviet gem - which is to say that, in my opinion, the gems of Soviet architecture are few and far between. My camera and I really do not do it justice.

Blaetter / Leaves

Most of the leaves are gone here, but every so often I see a tree that is holding on with all its might.


On the Brühlische Terrasse in Dresden.

Rebuilding / Wiederaufbau

In the decades following the war, Dresden actually went on to rebuild almost all of the historical buildings and monuments that had been destroyed by the firebombing. Somehow everything really does look hundreds of years old, though. Thank goodness for acid rain.

Mural / Wandbild

On the side of a communist-era building in Dresden.

Waschsalon / Laundromat, Part Deux

"The last time I saw "From Dusk Til Dawn" I was in a Laundromat in Brooklyn."

"Oh! That must have been so much fun! Did you meet anybody cute there?"

"Oh no. Your roommate said the same thing the first time I met him. You all think Laudromats are someplace romantic, where you go wash your underwear at midnight at meet your true love. I was there at three in the afternoon on a Saturday, and they were showing "From Dusk Til Dawn," for christssake. It was totally weird."

"Well, I mean, that movie is violent, but it's also kind of funny."

Party

Boy was my camera drunk!

Sonderangebote / Special Offer

The day I visited the Deutsche Bücherei, I also discovered what might be the largest used book store in Leipzig. They had several converted garages for the cheaper books.

Deutsche Buecherei

I visited the Deutsche Bücherei one lovely October afternoon when I didn't have work. The library is sort of like the Library of Congress, only their goal is to have a copy of every book written in German, ever.

You have to pay a fee to be a member, but the guard was amenable to me just taking a look around, although he warned me sternly that I should not sit down.


This poster is advertising "The most beautiful German book 2006" contest, and subsequent exhibition on the second floor. Yes, the books were very pretty. Leipzig is historically a publishing and printing town, so they do crazy things like this. I don't suppose it's a coincidence that one of the three books tied for first place was an illustrated book of poetry about Leipzig.

Morgenrot

"Morgenrot" literally means the red color of the sky at dawn. However, it could also be translated as "the red of tomorrow." If it makes you think of communists looking towards the sparkling bright future of their state, you've got the right idea. Let's get up first thing tomorrow and put a big red star on top of that old building, ok? Yeah, cool.

The alte Messe building in Leipzig, no longer in use.

Berlin Graffiti

Probably there are sections of New York where graffiti is as ubiquitous as it is in Berlin, I just can't think of where. Most neighborhoods sport it everywhere that is within reach, and that reach can be pretty broad.

There is lots of ugly stuff, too, but when it gets cute I can't help but love it. Not a lot of paper art, but boy are stencils big.