Germany 2008: Berlin, part the first

Berlin was cool. I was really expecting to totally fall in love with it and want to marry it. A couple of things conspired to head that off at the pass, but I did fall in serious like with it.

Thing one was a nasty sinus infection. I get them every now and then thanks to my horrible seasonal (four seasons) allergies. They get backed up, and I get all snotty and congested for ten days. This was no exception.

Thing two was having to herd cats (i.e., teenagers) around the city for three days. I’d pretty much gotten used to them by that point, but it was still a pain in the ass. Next time, I want to go back sans anyone under the age of 35.

That being said, I like Berlin. It’s a nice, clean, efficient big city. If I were going to live in a big city in Germany, Berlin is the one I’d choose out of the five-ish I visited.

We did touristy stuff (Reichstag, TV Tower, Museum Island, etc.) the first two days.

The two highlights of that sort of thing were the DDR Museum and the Stasi Museum. I’ve got a serious case of Cold War Nostalgitis, so these fed right into that.

The DDR Museum is a really cool, hands-on museum about life in the East, pre-wallfall. It’s a good place to spend a couple of hours. It’s right near Museum Island, and a good break from all that high-toned crap (Nefertiti? Feh. Give me a Trabbi any day).

The Stasi Museum was my most favoritest stop of the whole trip. It’s a museum dedicated to the East German secret Police, the Stasi, and is housed in their old headquarters. It’s full of exhibits on 80s spy gear (the east germans were pretty advanced), symbols of the love between the Stasi and the KGB (latch-hooked rug of the Kremlin, anyone?), and included a truck that was one of the Stasi’s snatch-n-grab wagons and an example of the sort of cell in which they kept political prisoners, which were, of course, the only kind housed in Stasi prisons. Our guide was a senior citizen who had lived through that era, and it was amazing to listen to her stories. Definitely a highlight.

More in the next post on trains, planes and hotels.

Movie Review: Leatherheads

Went to see the new George Clooney flick Leatherheads this weekend. I enjoyed it. I’ll give it a solid 3.5/5 stars. It was entertaining (the first requirement of any film), it had surprising depth, and it had Clooney.

Seriously, that man might be the only one that would get me to turn gay. Not really, but I thought I’d say something mildly titilating just to catch you sleeping.

But, Clooney does have appeal (he also co-write and directed this one). There are a number of famous men whose appeal covers women and men. Usually, men like them for different reasons. Just off the top of my head, I’ll list Clooney, Tom Selleck, Burt Reynolds (the old Smokey and the Bandit era Burt, not whatever he’s become), and maybe Ahnold. Oh, and James Garner. Can’t forget Rockford/Maverick!

It also includes the always-entertaining Stephen Root (from News Radio and as the voice of Bill Dauterive on King of the Motherfuckin’ Hill). Coulda used a bit more Root, actually. Also has some Renée Zellweger. I like her also, though she’s too skinny these days.

Anyway. Go read the real reviews and/or watch the trailers at Apple. It’s a thumbs-up from me, though, for whatever that’s worth.

Rating:

Autolust… postponed

Okay, I so did the math. Apparently, the Lumbering Beast gets better mileage on the highway than I thought (closer to 24 than 20 mpg), which puts it at a real-world average of 15/24. Also, I did comparisons using Consumer Reports’ numbers (which are pretty consistent with mine for the XTerra), and buying a Subaru Forester would only net me a savings of about $50 per month.

Figuring what it would cost me in sales tax alone (insurance and monthly payment would be similar), it would take nearly a year to break even, then I’d be within a year of having the XTerra paid off. Even with regular unleaded running around $3.25 here in the Ozarks, I’m going to be losing money on the deal.

And, since I’ve had some wishy-washiness with vehicles in the past 5 years (the XTerra is the third car I’ve bought in the last 5 years), I’m going to stick with it for a while. Also, the options I want on the Forester aren’t available until the Summer, anyway. Plus, it’s the first year of the redesign, and they’ll invariably make some improvements in years 2 and 3 anyway.

So, getting a new ride is off the schedule… for now.

NOAA Weather Radio

I miss listening to the guys on NOAA Weather Radio. As a kid, my dad was always listening to this little grey-green weather radio before going fishing, which was at least once a week.

I had one in the late 90s when I camped and fished more, and when I got my 2003 Subaru Forester, it had weather band radio in it. Sadly, despite still pushing their “rugged” image, Subaru dropped the weather band from their radios in 2007 (I think). I’m guessing this was so they could add satellite radio.

Don’t get me wrong. I lurves me some XM Radio, but I miss having even the computer voice (which NWS switched to in 2002) available when I’m in the car.

So, I think I’m going to invest in a portable weather radio. I’m hoping to get out fishing more this year, especially now that The Boy is getting big enough to go.

Octopuses are AWESOME

Totally. Awesome.