Funny, as I was reading one of the only two english written magazines
in our flat, I had an epiphany.
Both, Gabrielle bought at Heathrow Airport on her trip to Phoenix
back in January of this year.
One is National Geographic, and the other was Time Magazine.
It was in TM that I read this article last night, and it inspired me,
or maybe it brought me down a bit. The jury is out.
I still don't know yet how I feel.
Joel Stein, who writes the last column in the back of TM,
"The Awesome Column", basically tears down our fascination
with video calling, and mainly the one time new breakthrough of Skype.
As Stein weaves between tongue and cheek-is-m's, and hardcore
opinions that run more negative than positive, me,
as one who now has to rely on the once future outlet, I am really thinking.
Skype, who ironically is one of my advertisers on my website www.jlradio.com
happens to be also my only open line to the world, as far as having a real
conversation with friends and acquaintances, other than
e-mail and instant messaging.
He let's us know that all our interest in the future devices may have
failed us in some areas. He doesn't like the face to face glamour of webcams.
Being a newer Skype user since I moved across an ocean and far removed
from relatives, friends and acquaintances, I need it, I want, and
sometimes I love it. The webcam is not really my thing,
but the PC to PC talking real time is.
Stein really is over the top on his love of texting.
He describes using Skype is too stagnant for him. He prefers to wash
dishes, do chores while on Skype or his cell phone, as to sitting still at his PC.
In the end he is running away from Skype and instills in his readers mind that
better to text while being fidgety. He has a great analogy that
incorporates Star Trek being one of the early pioneers of
video conferencing. He is clever with how he describes
Bones and Jim, and especially Sulu would be checking out
GoFugYourself.com while Bones and Jim were using the video only 20
yards from each other. Funny. A good titter there, but overall he
bashes the new technology so much I wonder how he got to have a
lofty position at Time.
Don't take it wrong though, he had me riveted reading his article.
When I lived in the states, I was a phone junkie. Big time. I was usually
the one who initiated at least 80% of the calls. My
attitude, is/was, why wait. Dial and pick up the phone.
Direct communication.
Yes, I used all the other outlets too. E-mail, although I get depressed
when I have to type an e-mail longer than a couple of small paragraphs.
I love instant messaging. I still use them most of them. AOL and MSN
are my preferred options. But I love the instant gratification of not only
Skype and MSN and let's not forget Mac users, with iChat.
The latter two also have webcam capabilities.
These are free. All of them. Are they great? Not always.
Skype has drop outs and fades, MSN doesn't always work.
The one that seems to be most dependable is iChat, but alas, so few
people have it, it is gets little usage.
At this point, maybe my excitement about Skype is diminishing as fast
as an ice pop in summer time. The flavor goes quickly.
I might point out, I am not a big fan of the webcam either, but the
phone chat PC to PC is essential to me.
I am now in my fourth month in Germany, and this is where I will be
the rest of my life. So, one would think, hey, JL is really into Skype.
I am, but have found out that most that I have asked to join and let's tawk,
have either had an account from the beginning, but have not used it for so long,
they can't remember their password. At first I thought that was funny
as one by one I was told that, but I do understand.
The other thing I understand with reservation, is that people cannot or
will not find the time, mainly because using Skype or the others mentioned
above require sitting stationary for the duration of PC phone chatting.
The main problem is not setting up an account with Skype, that takes
only minutes, it just isn't really important to most.
They don't find what was once the future, an important tool for their lives.
I would imagine the most usage is by Military persons and their families.
They I am sure, rave about it, but let's face it, the large general
population could care less.
So where does that put me? I suppose in a position where I will in time lose
many friends, or have very little contact with them at best.
This I will accept. I have to. There are no other alternatives.
So I guess Joel Stein, I have you to thank for waking me up to reality that not
all on this earth feel compelled to talk, but would rather instant message,
text, and of course the occasional e-mail.
Skype, you should pay me for being a card carrying fan,
but very few are buying into your once great idea.
The next great idea might come from the cellular phone companies.
Free international calls, but with a price. While you are talking, they keep flashing advertisements on your phone or every time you open it up.
Yo, I would accept that. Bet your ass I would.
Advertising is everywhere, so no problemo.
The title refers to our return to the vast ocean known as Osstee (Baltic Sea).
"Klappe die Zweite" translates to "take two", like in the movies.
As the summer kicks in, the weather has climbed to the high eighties and low ninety's.
So, on a beautiful Sunday June 27, we decided to go back to Osstee, as we did
weeks ago. The sun was bright, with pillow like clouds, around mid-eighties.
Before I go any further, I must tell you that this is just as much about a
Navigation system and Fussball (Soccer), as it is about the ocean.
On this occasion, we decided to leave earlier than the last time. 9:30 am should
get us to Ahlbeck by maybe 12:30, so we will have plenty of time on the
beach and just a more relaxing day than the last time.
Gabrielle set the Navigation system for Ahlbeck and we left Berlin. 3 hours have
gone by and we are close, Or we thought so. We ended up in small town after town
promising we are getting closer. One thing we didn't know.
There are two, not one, but two Ahlbeck's, one an hour further away, and
no ocean in site. At one point we are in a town and the Navigator had
me driving up a driveway and around in a circle of neatlty cropped high
hedges. Fuck! They were cool looking, but, FUCK!
The red flag is the wrong place. The blue flag is the correct one
You gotta be kidding! So after a bit of frustration, Gabrielle reset the
Navigator for Usedom, a town we were familiar with from the last trip.
Lesson learned: Next time, tell the Navigator, Usedom please.
At last at 2:20 pm we pulled into Ahlbeck, and were very lucky to get
a superb parking spot and then on to the beach!
One thing you need to know is that, and I forgot to mention this
in my last post, is that you drive 5 kilometers through an incredible
forrest of tall trees and a narrow road. It's awesome. Forrest, and then
there is this fantastic ocean. The trees keep the air so healthy and clean.
As we lay on our blanket soaking up the son, I noticed something
I didn't last time, most likely because there were many more
people on this day. I thought I was on a nude beach. Not more than
50 feet was a woman in her 60's completely naked on top. Just sitting there
and chatting with her friend, another woman. Her friend had a top on.
Frankly, she was an ugly site, but hey, she had the guts to do it.
A little further away was a boy about 6, running around with no
bathing suit and his little dong hanging out. To me, this was, so
this is Germany? Ha. Pretty funny. You had to be there.
We now had long forgotten about the longer trip to our new paradise. The only
thing left was to eat by the ocean and watch Germany take on England
in the World Cup. Big game, in Germany, no doubt about it.
I am a lucky man. My lady loves Fussball and follows it religiously. She
doesn't just watch Germany, but as many games as possible. She even keeps
a scorecard of all matches, writing in all scores as the Cup progresses.
She also loves boxing. She into these two sports.
So, naturally we had to watch the big game that afternoon in
Ahlbeck, not at home. Ah, eat and watch the game. Doesn't get
any better than this. We are both in heaven.
Keep in mind, me, as an American, I cannot turn on on ESPN or
any other sports channel in Berlin. I will confess, due to my
love of Baseball, I subscibe to MLB.TV and keep up with my
favorite sport, team, Los Angeles Dodgers, and my fantasy team
on Yahoo. Sure I can look on the net about all sports, but this is
enough for me. I don't want to waste too much time on TV.
We found this rustic big huge pub/eatery called Strandcasino.
It is located at Dunenstrasse 57
17419 Seebad-Ahlbeck 038378/333 44
We ate hamburgers, and salad and watched the game on
a regular size television with about 30 others. All different ages.
Very quiet people, but when Germany scored the place erupted with joy.
England lost 4-1 and has gone home.
To sum up the day. It was a great day.
Next time, and there will be another time soon,
enter Usedom into the Navigator. Simply that.
A pretty lofty title huh? Okay, it was "Father's Day" in the U.S. But, ironically
that holiday is not celebrated in Germany, and other parts of Europe.
Let's face it, that day is not as important as "Mother's Day", which is quite
understandable. A very important day anywhere.
"Father's Day" is like a makeup game in Baseball. True.
It only exists to try and make things a bit even. Funny.
So on this day June 20, Gabrielle and I set out for Potsdam, a small community
from our humble flat in Neukölln section, in the heart of Berlin.
A quick breeze on the highway had us in this quaint town and the first place we
stopped was a flea market. The smell of food was at times tempting and at
times, dare I say rancid? Well, it was not exactly a good aroma.
The day was cool enough for a jacket, but when the sun popped in and out
it was warmer and very comfortable. Beautiful clouds that day.
One thing I noticed, many tables had old and rare model trains. I have
been searching for trains for my friend John Stockett from Los Angeles, who
is an avid collector. Kibler is the brand, and very hard to find. They are from
the 1930's and I believe ended in the 1950's.
I did find a cool new cap though for 5 € Gabrielle bought a package of
black socks for 4.99 €, and that was our spending.
Next, we drove into the downtown area and parked. We walked into what I
would described as kind of like Delmar, California. Lots of art shops, antiqiue
and clothing places, and many eatery's. Most of the food places had an
outside area of tables and chairs to enjoy the nice day.
We sat and enjoyed coffee. But that was after getting
rockin' hotdogs for each of us at a stand right in the middle of all
what I described above. German hotdogs are the best! Crispy on the
outside and delicious on the inside. We sat on a park bench and
was joined by the resident wandering dog begging for food. This little
guy ate bread like it was a bird.
We gave him his fill. I think he was thankful, but was hard to tell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the way back home, we stopped at the now closed Tempelhof Airport,
not far from our part of Berlin. Plenty of history.
Here is part of the history of the airport that will be the site of the annual
international music conference and festival Popkomm
this year from September 8-10. Last year there was no event due to
lack of advance ticket sales and interest. But, the long running showcase
for the music industry is back with a new location and interest.
Berlin Tempelhof Airport (German: Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof) was an
airport in Berlin, Germany, situated in the south-central borough of
Tempelhof-Schöneberg. The airport ceased operating 2008 in the process to
ultimately utilize Schönefeld as the sole commercial airport for Berlin.
Designated by the Ministry of Transport on 8 October 1923, Tempelhof became
the world's first airport with an underground railway station in 1927, now called
Platz der Luftbrücke after the Berlin Airlift. While occasionally cited as the
world's oldest still-operating commercial airport, the title was disputed by several
other airports, and has in any case been moot since its closure.
Tempelhof was one of Europe's three iconic pre-World-War-II airports —
the others being London's now-defunct Croydon Airport and the old Paris -
Le Bourget Airport. One of the airport's most distinguishing
features is its large, canopy-style roof that was able to accommodate most
contemporary airliners during its heyday in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s,
thereby protecting passengers from the elements. Tempelhof Airport's main building
was once among the top 20 largest buildings on earth. Tempelhof formerly had
the world's smallest duty-free shop.
The airport was used as a base of operations for the United States Airforce
during the war and afterwards until 1949.
Tempelhof Airport closed all operations on 30 October 2008, despite
the efforts of some protesters to prevent the closure.
Courtesy of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I was. Literally, on the pure white sandy beach in the town of Ahlbeck,
on the northern tip of Germany. The ocean in Ostsee. Also known to American's
as the Baltic Sea. I was born with the ocean nearby in Brooklyn. I have
been to the ocean along the Atlantic coast and of course the Pacific ocean,
which I have spent many days of my life north of San Diego and many many
times on the the waves of Zuma beach in Malibu, California.
I love the ocean, with its pure air, breeze, and its natural high. Just
being at the ocean takes away all thoughts of real life. It washes away
anything that is clogging your mind. The best brain drain of all!
On Sunday June 6, we executed our plan of the day before, of deciding
at the last minute on Saturday, "let's take a drive up to the ocean",
Gabrielle and I exclaimed to one another. A great idea! It was going to be
a warm day, so let's do it! Yeah! Yeah!
So she pulls out a huge book of maps of the world. She shows me Ostsee, and
I say, "That's the Baltic Sea", and she says "no, it is Ostsee". I said genau (okay).
Later that day on Facebook, new friend Rik De Lisle confirmed my guess.
We started pulling things for the trip. Excitment buliding!
Sunday morning, after getting ourselves ready, we got in our car, and
and off we went at 11 am, believing from our navigation system it will take us a little
over 3 hours, maybe. lol We got on the autobahn and I massaged the pedal
to 120 km's and higher. That's a another rush in itself.
The drive at one point takes you to a long, and I mean a very long two
lane highway, more often lined with huge green trees, than not.
After about 3 and a half hours we were in Usedom. But, our navigator
wasn't being polite. It was taking us in a circle. We ended up in that
same town three times. It got to point where we pulled into a roadside
cafe for coffee and sweets to chill and figure out how to get from
Usedom to Ahlbeck. Ha ha.
With humor in us by that time, we asked two different people and they said
we were merley 22 killometers away from our destination. Damn, really?
Okay, after a little over 4 and a half hours we finally arrived!
It was worth all the driving and time. There it was. A unique
seaside town. Many people walking, eating at restaurants on
the many streets. My first thought was, this rivals Delmar,
north of San Diego. Nicer than Malibu. Quaint, would be the
operative word. Yes, quaint, and freaking clean like hell.
We parked the car on a side street and walked a short distance to
wooden boards surrounded by sand dunes, and walla, there it was!
The sights and sounds of a summer ocean day.
We walked until we found our spot and lay down a blanket. Rolled up our
jeans and just relaxed, talked of dreams of living by the ocean in
the future, and watched people, birds and the waves crashing in.
That's what it's all about isn't it? The ocean has a carthartic effect.
We spent over two hours soaking it all in, and started getting that
feeling that your stomach warns you of hunger. We were
pretty much the last people to leave the beach. So we found a
nearby fish restaurant Uwe's Fischerhütte. I had fish soup and halibut,
and Gabrielle had a full on trout with head and eyeballs still attached. She
cut the head off, of course. The food was good.
We had our two hours in the sun, and now was time to leave and make a short
trek over the border to Świnoujście, Poland to buy cheap
cigarettes. Kind of like driving to the Indian reservation in Arizona, but a lot
further of course. It took all of 10 minutes to cross the Polish border and
we found a stand right away. 10 carton's of Route 66 smokes at a
210 Euro pop. That would be half price of the same in Germany.
Now I have to tell you, I drive barefoot, which I would imagine is
illegal anywhere except maybe the Arabian desert.
As we crossed I noticed 3 German Customs agents on one side
beckoning drivers to pull over.
Our transaction took 5 minutes, and now we are headed back
and I thought to myself, we will get pulled over, so at least I
had enough sense to put my shoes back on. Sure enough, as
soon as we approached them, bingo, got pulled over.
After a brief lecture about, next time no more than 8 cartons, we
were summoned on our way. My only thought was, why didn't
they ask for my drivers license?
So that was our day trip. Fun filled, big smiles, mission accomplished.
So, there I am, the last American sanding at 6 pm at Ostsee!
Great day!
All photographs by Gabrielle
