The plan was to dine in the Turkische fashion,but we didn’t. It was the desire of my guide to have me dine on the most famous Döner in Berlin, which is the Dönerkapital of the known universe. I was humbled. I had to ask what a “Döner” might be, since everyone except me in this […]

(At the East Mauer Gallery, with attitude. All the pics are at my Facebook Page) Part of this trip to Berlin is an exercise in bringing down the Wall that exists in the middle ground of my-more-than-middle-aged brain. I think we succeeded yesterday, though there is much more to come. First, an important correction.   […]

(One of Berlin’s ubiquitous cabs)     I am little impatient this morning and want to get at it. I seem to have developed a craving for speed. The State Special Security Headquarters (Stasi) tour was like hours ago, and the Soviet War Cemetery at Treptower Park is so like- I dunno. Before lunch.   […]

(In West Kreuzberg. Photo Socotra)   It was an awful flight from Dulles. You know the drill by now. We were delayed, sardine-can packed in the back of the Lufthansa B-747 for much longer than planned.   It was the damned plume out of that unpronounceable volcano in Iceland, of course. The First Officer told […]

(Lufthansa B747-400 (D-ABTB), originally uploaded by jonsey737.) I think they are really going to kill Jack. Everyone else is getting killed, some by Jack himself. So I presume last night’s episode is getting to the end of the television show “24,” which has run the distance of the War on Terror so far.   We […]

  (Colorful remaining section of the Berlin Wall)   “Die Mauer wird in 50 und auch in 100 Jahren noch bestehen bleiben, wenn die dazu vorhandenen Gründe noch nicht beseitigt sind”   “The Wall will be standing in 50 and even in 100 years, if the reasons for it are not yet removed.” – Erich […]

(Renowned actor and activist Alex Baldwin. Photo courtesy Access Hollywood) “First, it’s always a treat to be someplace other than Washington, D.C. – the only place where, as I like to say, you can see a prominent person walking down lover’s lane holding his own hand.” – Remarks by SECDEF Robert Gates at the Eisenhower […]

(Renowned actor and activist Alex Baldwin. Photo courtesy Access Hollywood) “First, it’s always a treat to be someplace other than Washington, D.C. – the only place where, as I like to say, you can see a prominent person walking down lover’s lane holding his own hand.” – Remarks by SECDEF Robert Gates at the Eisenhower […]

(Winning Norwegian Meat Protein Platter from the 2009 Bocuse D’or)   It was a thoroughly Willow week, and generally speaking, a good one.   The weather was on the cool side but sunny and breezy. Pleasant, after a brief swelter that prompted Leo, Big Pink’s resident Engineer to kick in the chill water feed and […]

Microsoft Office was finishing me off late in the day. I was peering at the screen, trying to figure out why no one was responding to the urgent notes I was sending, and realized the stupid program had defaulted to “offline” status.   All the information I tried to convey to my colleagues was clogged […]