Die Kultinsel

Valle Gran Rey from Barranca del Agua















evening in Gomera















Valle la Laqa

















wooden gargoyle















green fingers

(Garajonay National Park)

I've wanted to go to Gomera for a while, and we finally did it a couple of weeks ago. It's good for walking and it's got some spectacular scenery, that's for sure. I first became aware of the island through The Time Out Book of Country Walks near London. I've been using this book for a while and quickly learnt to respect and admire the people who researched and wrote these walks down. Anyway they've also published a book on Gomera, saying that it is one of the best and most beautiful islands for hiking. I ended up not using their book which i believe details a very strenuous round walk once around the island, but we had a couple of other books. There's no shortage of trails, a lot of them old donkey trails, and a national park in the middle of the island, Garajonay, which is an ancient forest and a World Heritage site. It looks like a Lord of The Rings kinda haunted forest, mossy trees everywhere that look like gargoyles or messengers, in all sorts of wierd shapes (see above). We ended up walking around in there quite a lot. Gomera is easy to reach by ferry from Tenerife which is a lot more developed. The quite extreme mountaineous scenery in Gomera has probably prevented it, it's difficult to drive around, and not a lot to do apart from hanging out and hiking, so there's a lot of outdoorsy (predominantly German) people around, and still a few hippies down in Valle Gran Rey.

some more photos from Munich back in February

The Johnny Cash wall in the X-Cess, right next to the turntable. I think he gets played there rather regularly. Joerg was a bit late collecting me from the tube platform because 'they played a Johnny Cash song'. I think there was even an autograph among those...
















Ilona and Joerg in the excellent Brotraumhttp://brotraum.de Cafe near Muenchner Freiheit. Ilona moved from London to Munich with her boyfriend recently and works there at the moment, it's run by her boyfriend's brother, they bake their own bread, cakes, pizzas, confectionies, etc. on the premises and sell them from there, from what I sampled it's all very high quality, we had a nice lunch there. Plus it's a smokefree place which is extremely rare in Munich in my experience.














Everywhere in central Munich you see at least one of these cutesy lions in all sorts of colours and arty decorations. In my hometown of Ulm it's the sparrow, we've got the sparrows everywhere too. It reminds you where you are, should you wake up in the street and not know. Anyway, Joerg really hates them so when I tried to make him sit on this one to take a photo, he decided to give it a good kick instead...hahaha

smokefree station in Munich. Well, mostly. In fact, all stations in Germany have these banners now. It might look like things are changing over there too, but unfortunately when it comes to pubs, bars, cafes, restaurants, clubs etc. in Germany, there are still ashtrays everywhere, and hardly any non smoking areas, proper ventilation, let alone totally smokefree places for going out. Public opinion may be shifting, at least when you look at this excellent site

my little niece

Paulina Sophie. She's a little sweetie. Since the last time I saw her, she has grown a lot, is already walking and is starting to speak a bit as well. She likes dogs and other animals...















There was so much snow in Munich. Apparently it had been there since November, wheras in London we haven't seen any real snow this year at all. They live near a huge forest in the southern (?) outskirts of Munich where you can walk for miles and miles. I need to go there in the summer sometimes.

slave time

zero effort required
mental zones are defined, refined, formed by request, taken abroad, taken inside
felt up
and thrown out again to see the new sun
and a leak behind the ocean means
waterfalls will swallow you whole
as you dance
in slave time
downstairs by the river lodge
the window opens
for stranger requests
to be taken in
and swallowed whole
in slave time
furious wake up calls follow
time's running out on your scheme
colour awaits rejection
done it without thinking
forced it to hide
touched it at the base but then it slipped
i stumbled
where is the lightswitch in this room
have i followed you here by mistake
i want to walk now
crawling
talking into the timeslits by the wall
to another future that's been preserved for ages
a dialogue opens up
but i'm a captive
to slave time
have i touched my own line
so you trip over
and leave by the other door
or is everything
alright again
i ask as you swallow
but i'm forgotten too far ahead
too early
so all you get is words
defined and spoken
in slave time
my brand new morning
laughs in your face
as we ponder the options
hidden in the caves
tried without rhythm
left outside to dry
burnt to reflect glory
spoken until guilty
a trial without words
my best option
is to submit
and forget
unless i take it further one day
but when will it come
hey! we are back
slave time

confused icebreaker

nutshells, further wrecked but sleeping,
trying it all out again,
for safety follows you, inside your
growing time machine, to
swallow
lies when you see them
and make conversation
all the other times to see
whether anyone can get away with it
this time,
a smile for your wedding day,
a revolution but not
as far as i can see,
to lick it off and spit it out,
to fake a rhythm in the booming corridor,
to step aside for
rhythm control,
issues you have, and had,
to stare too far,
to lie there sleeping, to multiply, just to
say it like it is
but

fragments of what you said are just a
hello inside a dungeon,
and outside wishes that remain faceless
and nameless, to
vanish inside the circle,
but i never saw it like that,
to fire away until you
stand still beside the booming envelope.
focus on the guitars
or stand still anyway
before it comes closer and
licks your hidden glue line,
to seal it but I interfere
and throw you
a confused icebreaker,

so now we're even you think
and relax
but this road is deeper below the surface
and it keeps twisting and turning away,
a fork inside your face,
dividing lines,
a wakeup call,
so early i can't see it,
my forcefield collapses
and sweats it out
but here i am
asking a question
will you do it?
or not?
it's only a game
when i thought so
but somehow
it's finished without.....

i can hear you now....

Phillip Boa & the Voodooclub at the Garage

I last saw them about twenty years ago in Berlin (!), though they still sound the same (in a good way). It was half full but a real cult atmosphere as most of the crowd in the front seemed to have travelled from Germany and elsewhere. Made me a bit nostalgic of the new wave times in the 80s in Germany. Boa is a genuine survivor though.

Coombe Hill

Monument to the Boer War, towards the end of Walk 52: Princes Risborough to Wendover, mostly along the Ridgeway path. It's an eerie monument, standing on the top of the hill with vast views all around. It was very windy...

One very important thought "Now that the show is over, and we have jointly exercised our constitutional rights, we would like to leave you with one very important thought: Some time in the future, you may have the opportunity to serve as a juror in a censorship case or a so-called obscenity case. It would be wise to remember that the same people who would stop you from listening to Boards of Canada may be back next year to complain about a book, or even a TV programme. If you can be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you can be told what to say or think. Defend your constitutionally-protected rights. No one else will do it for you. Thank you." [

yellow numbers