Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Oh Times 8
For those who loved Major Lance's 'Um Um Um Um Um Um,' in the 60s and Crash Test Dummies' 'Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm' in the 90s, I serve up some onomatopoeia with angular, jittery new wave and memorable hooks. It's 'Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh', by Say Hi, the Seattle band that's shortened its name (from Say Hi To Your Mom) but not its song titles...Fronted by Brooklyn-based, Seattle-born Eric Elbogen, whose last name is German for 'Elbow,' Say Hi's music is recorded mostly at Elbogen's home with him playing most of the instruments and providing most of the vocals. The band changed shortened its name from 'Say Hi To Your Mom' mostly because it didn't like it anymore. : - ) Five albums in, Say Hi is thriving...
Here's 'Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh' live from Seattle's Capitol Hill
Earlier work: Say Hi's 'Northwestern Girls'..
and some onomatopoeaic singles...
Major Lance - 'Um Um Um Um Um Um,' written by the great Curtis Mayfield
and the alt-rock one-hit wonders Crash Test Dummies with 'Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm..'
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Saturday, July 11, 2009
Days 14 and 15: Berlin, Germany
From our itinerary: "We soak up the chequered history of this creative and cosmopolitan city. We experience its modern aspect - perhaps head out to join locals at a modish lounge bar to celebrate the end of this Baltic adventure." Take the tour: Here's 'Berlin in Your Pocket' with Andrew Quested
Germany is even bigger than Poland and far more populated: the country covers 137,847 square miles, slightly smaller than Montana. But while less than half a million people inhabit Montana, 82 million people call Germany home. This is only slightly less than the entire US eastern seaboard (91 million)! If Germany were a US state, we'd have to break it up, since it's more than twice as populated than California, and it would be #5 in area.
Its capital, Berlin, has 3.7 million people and another 1.3 million in its metro area, about 6% of Germany. The city itself has more people than Estonia and Latvia combined, and the metro area has more than all three Baltic Republics..
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Friday, July 10, 2009
Requiem
On my last visit to Poland I saw Auschwitz, a powerful and wrenching reminder of organized man's capacity for evil. It's hard for me to forget that Poland was ground zero for the Holocaust. Here are two very short films on the Warsaw ghetto uprising of 1944. The first is a powerful series of photo footage, set to poignant music by Tears for Fears
Here's a moving classic music requiem for victims of the camps
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Thursday, July 09, 2009
Days 12 and 13: Warsaw, Poland
From our itinerary: "The current pace of social change makes Warsaw an exciting place to be. We come to grips with the city's turbulent history on a walk through the Old Town and perhaps experience its rich culture with a trip to a unique puppet theatre." Here's the Warsaw welcome video:
Poland is large for a European country, at 120,726 square miles it's the 9th largest country in Europe, slightly smaller than either Norway or New Mexico. Poland is 40% larger than the three Baltic countries combined! The population isn't small either, with 38.1 million inhabitants, Europe's 8th most populated country and five times the combined Baltic population. That's more people than California, so if Poland were a state, it would be #1 in population (!) and 6th in area. Here's a tour through picturesque Krakow, Poland, far, far south of Warsaw, where I visited in summer 2007:
Poland's capital, Warsaw, is home to 1.7 million people, and the Warsaw metro area is only 2.6 million people, only 4% and 7% of Poland's population, making it far, far less concentrated than the Baltics. The US is even less concentrated, with DC's metro area holding 5.4 million people, a scant 1.8% of the nation. Here we have 'Polish History in 10 Minutes,' which is just what it claims to be...
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Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Bee-ing Insufferable!
Since today I visit the Lithuanian beekeeping musuem (yikes!), here's a hilarious sketch on the subject with Rowan Atkinson & John Cleese. I may sit this museum visit out...
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Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Days 10 and 11: Aukstaitija National Park, Lithuania
From the itinerary: "We hike and canoe through lush forest to appreciate the natural wonders of this delightful national park - all 126 lakes of it. We visit traditional medieval villages and learn about Lithuania's ancient beekeeping industry, founded in the 15th century." It's pronounced ;Owk-Sty-Cha'...Here's a visit to Trakai castle, located in this region.
Here's some footage of the park...
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Monday, July 06, 2009
Vilnius Moody and Jazzy
Here's a jazzy 70 second visit to several Vilnius points of interest...
Here's some great moody footage from Lithuanian's great director Sharunas Bartas - the film is called 'In Memory of the Day Passed By'
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