AWESOME: Euro Rides

Whilst wandering my 'hood here in Berlin, I've noticed a lot of cars you never see in the US - some good, some bad. For the most part, this is a good thing. My first day here I saw a 59 Eldorado with its top down, and a 66-ish Mustang in a similar state. That was a good omen for a guy who, if he had Jay Leno's cash, would be out doing the same thing with it... minus the muscle cars. I prefer the gigantic parade floats and european rarities - but the impulse is the same.

First up - Smart and Mini Cooper (original). The Mini seems like a normal car until you put it next to a Smart. Now, Smarts somehow work in Berlin, unlike the US. There, they just look odd, out of scale, fragile. Here, they fit nicely amongst a set of vehicles that includes NO SUVs. Lovely. The Minis are everywhere. Probably seen a dozen of the older ones so far. Only a couple of the new models oddly enough.

Minis Rule.

And then theres this 1955 Porsche 550, James Dean edition (but without the custom crinkly bodywork) that was sitting on Munchner Strasse the other day. Yeah. Just parked like any other car. *sigh*

How about a late 70s MGB in orange parked in Mitte? I'm surprised to see one of these is still running. Ha~!  Q: Why do the British drink warm beer? A: Lucas makes their refrigerators! (Some of you will get that joke)

And whats this? A Peugeot 204 Cabriolet? Late 1960s according to the intertubes. Not a bad car, considering its French.

Say WHAT? A Porsche 968 in PURPLE? Lordy - terrible color.

Dear Audi: This thing is a laugh riot. The A2 was never brought to the US, and with good reason. Its silly. I guess every car marque gets a mulligan now an again... Please lets not talk of this again.

And, last but not least.... Ok. Least. The MIRTHMOBILE was spotted near my apartment. Seriously, there are none of these on the road in the US, how did one survive here?

I'll keep a lookout for more whacky and rare cars - I'm certain I've only see the tip of the old iceberg.

AWESOME: The Ubahn & SBahn

So, for 52€ a month I can go anywhere in Berlin from my home station (above) that I want. How awesome is that? I have noticed that the air smells just like the air in other subway systems I have traveled on. I find it oddly comforting. Kudos to the tagger who was able to stay within the lines.

The trains here really do run on time.

Reading the history of these systems, I learned the Ubahn was originally run by West Berlin, and the Sbahn by the East. When the communists built the wall, that changed of course, and the East also installed a big system of street trams that I have yet to use - but I'm sure that they will rock as much as the ones in Prague.

In the Alexanderplatz station I ran across these images in a connecting hallway. We met Robin van Arsdale back in the 90s - he was selling (through a gallerist friend) some of his collection of Keith Haring subway chalk drawings and my sister bought one. My parents purchased a piece of Robin's at that event. So it was interesting to randomly come across these two murals from 2003. Notice that many others decided to add to the murals.

I guess it is only fitting that taggers should deface the mural of a guy that started as a graffiti artist....

Lots of cyclists in the subway, and lots of crazy tile colors. I couldn't figure out if these were giant concrete block size tiles, or concrete blocks with glazed sides. Assuming that tile is cheaper and easier to make, I'm going to go with tile - but they are suspiciously the exact size of a block - and those curved corners are suspiciously block like. 

Does Bono get a royalty for this line?

AWESOME: Berlin Street Food - Been a while since I posted here...

So, I've been here about a week now and finally over the jet lag. Continental seems to have sucked the life out of the better experience of overseas travel. The seats were no larger than domestic, the food was awful and the drinks are no longer free. *sigh* I miss the old ways.

Oh, and the jackasses charged me an extra 50 bucks for my over weight bag (by 6 lbs). Hrumph. Needless to say, I will check two lighter bags on the way home and they can suck it.

First up on the yummy parade... pomme frites with mayonaise. I cannot explain it - but mayo here is a delight. At home, I cannot fathom the idea of placing our mayo on fries... but these fries are better and this mayo is made with amazing eggs... so there you have it. Damn these are good.

Second stop on the German street food course was the doner kebab. MMmmmmm. Similar to a gyro, but different enough to say I like it better. Heresy, I know. The meat is gamier - probably from being actual lamb, where in the US its mostly beef - the veggies (salat complex) is different (I will eschew the cabbage in the future) and the yogurt sauce too sparing.  (mehr joghurt-sauce next time).

Last up was the currywurst. A fried schweinfleish wurst with tomato sauce and curry powder. I have no explanation for this combination of food products on my plate, but I can report that it was delish. The fries were excellent too. Coca-Cola LIGHT baby. Oh, and every plastic bottle and can has a deposit included and you take them back to big automated machines to get a credit slip at the local markets. Pretty cool system I think. Americans would hate it.

AWESOME: Promoting Mid Century Architcture & Preservation

The Georgia State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has issued guidelines in evaluating ranch houses. The preservation community has actually been pretty slow to figure out that so many of those atomic age houses are now eligible for preservation status, and seem to not know what to do with them.

Of course, there are those who are on top of things, like Atomic Ranch Magazine. If you are not a subscriber, you should check them out. One of my fave things to get in the mail.

The state of Michigan SHPO has introduced an initiative called Michigan Modern that seeks to preserve and promote the buildings left behind by the industrial explosion that happened in Michigan in the 20th century.

Too bad the SHPO in Florida has done nothing like this. I saw the new director at a talk at the Harn Museum last semester and he seemed to have no clue at all about the subject. Director Scott Stroh gave one of the worst powerpoint presentations of all time. He yammered on about policy and procedure - and if I had been playing buzzword bingo, would have won by about his 4th slide. Truly, absolutely clueless. Sad really, given the wealth of mid-century gems scattered across Florida.

Top Ten Things I Have Learned Watching the FIFA World Cup

1. 45 minutes of play with no commercials is actually kinda cool.

2. The referees in FIFA play are absolute idiots.

3. Acting like someone punched you in the face will get you a reward (ask Brazil about that one).

4. Good sportsmanship is never to be considered when you can get a penalty kick by play acting. Someone call the Academy and get those Oscar noms ready.

5. The French can even screw up a game of soccer.

6. Watching the French screw up is always hilarious.

7. 90 minutes of running in circles with absolutely nothing happening is considered 'sport' by much of the world.

8. If America's not in it, Americans probably won't give a crap.

9. Even if America IS in it, most Americans still won't give a crap.

10. Vuvuzelas are even more annoying than rap 'music'.

AWESOME: Gainesville North Main St. & 4th Ave

AWESOME: Main Street in Gainesville FL is undergoing a "road diet" - a process that makes terrible roads into Complete Streets. A photo of the improved roadway shows two lanes instead of four, a center shared turn lane, bike and parking lanes. This process started on North Main, and will, over the next year, continue South to Depot Ave - all the way through Downtown to the soon to be built Cade Museum.

So, why choose this particular corner for some AWESOME? Well - its simple really - this corner features one of the Downtown area's simplest and most elegant mid-century buildings: Rip's Cleaners. Its a simple arrangement of angles, post and bean construction, and plate glass. Classic late 50s roadside drive thru design and a nifty angular steel sign combine to make a corner that many wouldn't ever notice, but there it is.

And what else makes this corner rock? Well, the NW corner features the Williams-Thomas funeral home. Nothing special there... and yet....

..... look at THAT! Some history minded business person decided to honor the horse drawn past of their trade, and built this little glass box to house the old hearse. How cool is that? A late 19th c. horse drawn wagon and a late 1950s dry cleaners building on the same corner... on a road that was just given a 2010 road diet makeover. That, my friends, is an intersection of eras that makes cities great places.

AWESOME: Sarasota Public Art

So, I was lucky enough to have been in Sarasota for a conference last week, and as I was departing came upon this public art:

Awesome. Turns out this gigantic sculpture after the famous photo by Alfred Eisenstaedt is entitled "Unconditional Surrender, and has caused quite a controversy in Sarasota. Seems the Art in Public places people simply do not approve of art that the public actually likes. Typical of tin-eared ivory tower types who aren't smart enough to leverage a popular piece to promote newer forms.

Newsflash: Art in public spaces is a program that requires public support. Once in a while its really smart to go with that which builds support for your program, even if its not 'pure art' by your cloistered academic definition.

PS: There was a big lump of something next to it that was undoubtedly an 'approved' piece of public art - no one was taking pix of that, and I'm probably the only one who noticed it going unnoticed.

....