I can't wait for married life. Good times!

Happy Halloween! It's a bank holiday in Germany. Except in Berlin, of course.

Slightly more worrying:

Is it really, though?

This autumn requires more 4AD guitar.

I don't know which version I like better. No, I do. I like the second version. I feel like I should like the original version, cos it's more rare, but I don't know. What do you think?

Original:


Second version:
(I also love that this is lifted off of VHI Classics. Really? Already?)


My favourite Lush song, for what it's worth:

Life is a game. A video game.

Even when I feel that all may be lost, this video puts everything into perspective.

I missed Gus Gus at Melt! and I do regret it now.

I saw them in San Francisco in 1997, but couldn't keep myself awake enough to see them at Melt! in 2008 at 6.00 in the morning. Lame.

I went to Melt! Festival and upped my 'seeing divas in concert this year' quota by three; four if you count Goldie.

I went to Melt! Festival with assorted friends and lover. I can only recommend it for next year. It's held at an old strip mine! What's sexier than that?

Some of the acts I saw:

Robyn.
At Melt!.

Video.


Zoot Woman.



The Notwist.


(Gott, but I miss VIVA Zwei...)

Róisín Murphy.




Hot Chip.

Good view of Melt! venue:



Björk.
And the Wonder Brass!


My favourite live Björk performance ever, though the quality isn't that good. Glastonbury 2007.



Yeah! I can't wait until next year.

It's all about Robyn this year.

I can't wait to see Robyn at Melt! this weekend and opening for Madonna at Olympiastadion next month!

Artsy-craftsy videos are where it's at.

The Notwist. Pick Up the Phone.


múm. They Made Frogs Smoke 'Til They Exploded.

Viva Variety.

Let's hope Christmas comes early this year and Comedy Central releases Viva Variety on DVD.

You decorated my life, '79.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa.

The Streak by Ray Stevens:

And you know that I love you.

Dolly Parton has always been a hero of mine. Amy Sedaris? Ditto, Amy, ditto. Boy George? Well, let me refer to my pre-teen diaries and get back to you.

The highlight:


The lowlight:

Tempelhof Flying Field to Croyden Airport.

I miss the boy. I wish I were on an Imperial Airways flight to Croydon Airport right now.


Let us return to adventures in Daily Dialogues...

2

AT THE AIRPORT CUSTOMS, LONDON

A

Mr. Ronald Long slowly passes along the counters, behind which stand English Customs Officials in dark-blue uniforms, at Croydon Airport.

C.O.: Have you anything to declare, sir ? Just have a look through this list while I attend to this lady, will you ? (Handing him a printed list stuck on cardboard.)

R.L. (after carefully going through the list, says, when the official is free): The only thing I have to declare is my Leica.

C.O.: May I look at it, sir ? Thank you, have you the original invoice, sir ?

R.L.: Yes, here it is. As you see, I've had it over a year.

C.O.: So I perceive. Well, there's only a small duty on it,sir.

R.L.: May I pay by cheque ?

C.O.: Oh yes, sir. Just let me have your full name, home-address and telephone number,if any, as well, and you can take the camera with you. Nothing else in the way of spirits, scent, binoculars, jewellery ?

R.L.: Nothing at all, only the camera.

C.O.: Very good, sir, thank you.

B

American: This is my tenth trip to England. All I have is a bottle of 4711 (forty-seven eleven), a few cigars, and a partly-full bottle of liqueur.

C.O.: No cameras, lenses, optical instruments or the like, sir ?

American: No, I'm not interested in them.

C.O.: (looking through the contents of his bag): There'll be duty in the scent and cigars, sir, but I'll let the part bottle of liqueur through. You'll get the receipt at the desk, sir.

American: O.K.*, thank you.

C

Mrs. L.: No, I've nothing in the optical or camera line at all.

C.O.: Any scent, madam ?

Mrs. L.: No, nothing. The only things which might possibly interest you are these pieces of cheap jewellery for my nieces.

C.O.: I'm afraid they're subject to customs duty, Madam.

Mrs. L.: Oh, don't say that. All these "genuine" pearls and diamonds together are not worth more than £5.

C.O.: That may be, madam, but they're still jewellery from our point of view. Here's the regulation about it. (Points to the paragraph about jewellery on the printed card.)

Mrs. L.: So I see. Well, I suppose there's nothing to do but pay up and look pleasant ! It seems to be a case of Hobson's choice.

D

Business Man: I have a few cigars here for my personal use, and a box of chocolates for my wife.

C.O.: I'll just put them on the scales, sir. (Weighs them separately.) That's all right. Nothing else ?

B.M.: No, nothing else.

C.O.: Very good, sir.

E

Motor Coach Driver: Take your seats, please.

Mrs. L.: Where are you taking us to, driver ?

Driver: We're taking you to the headquarters of the Imperial Airways, Victoria Station, madam.

R.L.: I suppose we shall have to find our way to our friends from there alone ?

Driver: Yes, sir, that's right.

F

R.L.: How delightful to be home again and see all these rows and rows of little house with their patches of garden at the back.

Mrs L.: Yes, and don't forget the warm, cheerful fires inside the rooms.

R.L.: I don't. I'm looking forward to toasting my toes before Neville's fire to-night.

Mrs. L.: The wonderful thing is that one feels so fresh after the trip. After all, we've come five or six hundred miles in a marvellously short time, and I feel as fresh as a daisy.

R.L.: So do I. It's a pleasant change. I always feel tired for a whole day after making the journey by train and ship. Well, here we are at the Imperial Airways ! There are Neville and Muriel waiting for us !

*Okeh is a Choctaw (Red-Indian) word, and means " so be it ". Etymological fairy takes about its being an abbreviation of OTTO KRUEGER, or of an illiterate American's way of writing ALL CORRECT (orl krekt), may be disregarded.

Well, Imperial Airways was obviously no Ryanair. Apparently, Imperial Airways was in business from 1924 to 1939, so our Mr and Mrs Long must have been travelling between the wars.

I do believe in etymological fairy tales, I do ! Er, I do! Otto Krueger, not so much.

Give me, give me cha cha heels.

Have you been ignoring the feline Eartha Kitt for the last 40 years?

Here's a report on her and Bronksi Beat's single Cha Cha Heels on BBC Breakfast in 1989. There's also some footage from Top of the Pops.



And the video. It looks like a few Berlin gay bars I've been to... I expect to see it performed at Halfway II Heaven any Sunday now.


In my quest to get over to London permanently, I have begun reading Daily Dialogues: Conversational "King's English" by Montcalm Carr (Why aren't there more people with names like this nowadays?) and W. Dadley-Potter. It's a helpful guide for the clueless German traveller to 1940s London. I say, it's jolly good you know. Cricket and the like.

1

BY AIR-LINER TO LONDON

A

Ronald Long and his wife Isabel are in their Berlin flat having breakfast on a fine, sunny morning. Ronald looks at the clock, and is reassured to find that it is only 6 a.m., so that he has time for another cup of tea and a pipe before taking a taxi to Tempelhof Flying Field.

Ronald Long: It will be a glorious experience flying through the air on a day like this.

Mrs. Long: I'm much looking forward to it. It reminds me of when I was quite a little girl, and my father took me for my first motor-ride.

R.L.: I think it'll be more thrilling than a mere motor-ride. I've read so many vivid descriptions of flights that I shall not be satisfied till I've actually made a trip myself. By the way, we're not allowed much luggage, so that our heavy bags will have to follow separately.

Mrs. L: I've got all we need for the trip in this suit-case. By the way, I DO hope you haven't forgotten your camera.

R.L.: I haven't done that, don't worry. I hope to take some interesting snaps from the plane. I know that clouds are surprisingly beautiful when seen from the air. So sorry Benson isn't coming with us. He told me yesterday he was going via the Hook.

Mrs. L.: I'm sorry, too. He's very charming, so is his wife. (Looking out the window, she sees the taxi waiting, and in a few minutes they are speeding to the Flying Field at Tempelhof. Their luggage is stored separately, Mr. Long taking with him his document-case, containing a few sandwiches and a thermos flask.)

R.L.: These seats are quite comfortable, aren't they ?

Mrs. L.: Yes, we've got good places at the back of the cabin. Our view is not spoiled by the wings. The sun is shining brightly. I'm sure we shall have a magnificent trip.

R.L.: I'm certain we shall. I've never been so keen about an experience before. I wonder if I can smoke in here ?

An American Passenger: No, the smoking compartment is at the front. I'm afraid all the seats are taken. I wanted to sit there myself. Now I shall have to wait to smoke till we get to Amsterdam. The pilot set the engines in motion, so we shall be starting soon.

Mrs. L.: What a deafening noise ! Good gracious, we're off already. I never even noticed we'd left the ground.

American Passenger: One never does.

B

Mrs. L.: How fascinatingly interesting it all is! And don't the people down below look small, silly and stupid ! They all appear as if they had walked out of a toy-shop with their toy-motor cars, toy-houses and -farms, toy-fields, toy-horses and everything. It's too absurd !

R.L.: I'm enjoying this thoroughly. I've never seen anything quite so humorous. Everything looks so uncommonly funny. I'd no idea men and things could look so very ridiculous when seen from a height.

Mrs. L.: How tiny the ships appear so far below ! It's hard to realise there are sailors on board.

R.L.: Yes, and the ships must be fairly big too. That looks like a dreadnought.

American: It is, and that tiny speck is probably a fishing-smack. Now we're flying over some white clouds.

Mrs. L. (enthusiastically): Oh, I've never seen anything so lovely in all my life. Look at those strange shapes, for all the world like fairy castles or palaces, with turrets, windows, minarets and roofs all complete. They might be the abode of magicians, sorcerers and fairy-queens.

R.L.: Perhaps they are ! Just see that vast, smooth patch of clouds over there. What a fine skating-rink for millions of fairies of every kind and hue, flitting and pirouetting over its surface.

Mrs. L.: I'd no idea you were so poetical.

R.L.: Nor I either, but I've never seen anything so strikingly beautiful, so awe-inspiring and uplifting in all my life. I shall certainly return by air.

American: It's a pity there's not more cloud scenery. Sometimes we're over clouds the whole flight. The best is the night plane from London, for then you sometimes enjoy sunset on the way, with all its crimson,, golden glory, and when you reach Berlin after darkness has fallen, you come into a fairyland of many coloured lights. Now we're over Father Thames, we shall be in London before you can say Jack Robinson.

It's a miracle that Germans of a certain age are able to speak English at all. How many hyphens can you cram into a sentence? So many questions left unanswered: What happened to their layover in Amsterdam? Will Mr Long and the American flit and pirouette arm and arm through the fairy-lit London streets? Find out in the next exciting chapter when the Longs go through customs.

Godt nytår!

Again, I've been absolutely crap at updates. Too much looking for work and translating.

Anyway, I'm going to see some friends play tonight in Shoreditch at The Old Blue Last.

Here are the boys of Fenech Soler:


Right then, more later...