Fischmarkt follies

Nino, Kasia & I at Sommersalon

It was at half-eight on Sunday morning when I got home from the Fischmarkt after a night out starting at Sommersalon bar at the heart of the Reeperbahn (a bit of a change, but nonetheless it was with the company of the ever-present fellow weekenders Nino & Kasia and later, Sebastien) with a view to bopping to the funk at Astra Stube. The planned funk night disintegrated as the stalwart members of the band were not present and so random MCs descended onto the stage forming a circle in which each attempted to spit rhymes at the slowly-vanishing crowd, ourselves included. I recall one MC managing to incessantly repeat "AL PACINO!" for every other line, at which point we decided to scarper for Kulturhaus 73 for a brief while (Sebastien going AWOL at this point, such was the drunken compass he was following). So the trio involuntarily and spontaneously decided to head down to the Fischmarkt; it was my second time at this bizzarely lively recurrent event and we found ourselves munching on a currywurst before absorbing the buzz of the live concert in the Fischmarkthalle at what must've been 7a.m. Droves of people appearing to sway and shuffle to the peripheral stands in my hazy perception which was sharpened by the rock band belting it down the entire length of the steel-structured hall to rows of revellers savouring the last few moments of the Saturday just gone. We crossed paths with Alex and Michael arriving from their respective parties and with everyone in jubilant mood the weekend really couldn't get any better.

We agreed to meet up the next day but it so transpired that we didn't, so I took the chance, whilst in town, to check out Claude Monet's "Camille" (1866) temporarily being displayed at the Hamburger Kunsthalle, as I had wanted to see it again for a while. The sight of it cemented what was one of the most memorable times I have had in Hamburg to date.

Einstein the cat

I thought I'd dedicate an entry to the mischievous cat that frequents the house. I prefer dogs and I haven't had many encounters with cats before coming to Hamburg but more often than not he's a personality that deserves a mention. The other day I witnessed Einstein leaping from its usual comfort spot in my room and throw up on the old wooden floor, much to my befuddlement. He's a cat who craves to be pampered, much like any other cat I suppose, but with a tendency to protract his claws as soon as you get complacent whilst stroking; he keeps you on your toes and your attention is mostly spent anticipating what devious act he might commit next. A stubborn, masculine character with a plump physique, Einstein lets you know when he wants to leave the house and when he sits on his rotundness and stares tens of yards ahead with an almost visionary air. What does he look for? Who knows? It does seem as if he pauses for thought before I presume, finding the next pad to crash and cause more misdemeanours. Like a friend who's got partly irritating habits but you always end up accompanying. Einstein the cat.

Some party, somewhere

...so after Joshua Bell, Nino, Kasia and I trekked all the way to Langenfeld, a non-descript place, at least in party terms, where there was in fact, a farewell shindig tucked away upstairs in a flat. The party was already in full swing with many fresh faces and a peculiar conversation about a piece of circular wheeled-storage unit deemed by Sebastien to be the second best invention in mankind's history after the wheel...as I said, the proceedings were in full swing when we joined...

 

  Four-player game of (?)

Joshua Bell @ Laieszhalle

Set in the grandiose Großer Saal in the Laeiszhalle on Fri.19.03.10 I went to see one of the world's best violinists perform Mendelssohn's violin concerto. After moving around 400 double-sized bricks at work for the previous two days a night of orchestral performances sufficed in lifting the lethargy into a state of deserved relaxation. Joshua Bell (American) was also in the mood to play Yankee Doodle for his encore...only a virtuoso like him can make such a song sound like a masterpiece...

Dinner party @ Daniel's, Sat.13.03.10

A friend was supposed to visit Daniel from Italy, but unsurprisingly, a number of successive delays on Italian transport meant that she couldn't come and we didn't get a chance to taste some 'real' lasagne as was promised. Instead, the party burrowed through a collective effort of food and alcohol provision...here are some of the other characters I roll with here on a regular basis in Hamburg...

 

The host, Daniel Holler

 

The Brazilian culinary maestress, Joice

 

 

Our very own wine connoisseur, Sebastien

Partners in crime - Daniel & Alex

Clare contributed a quintessential British delicacy to the party...chocolate cornflake cakes

Solvejg and I agreed to share the 2nd Viennetta ice cream, but after playing a game of chicken as to who would give into the temptation first...guess who won?

 Alex jamming to a few requests

POP LIFE @ Hamburger Kunsthalle

It was my second visit to this exhibition after seeing the show in London in Autumn 2009, so I casually led my companions around the bombastic world of art in the context of popular culture. Nino once again managing to wrestle the camera out of my hands...

Torsten Zwingenberger's "TEASY Swing Out Best" @ Birdland Jazzclub, Fri.12.03.10

I ran out of pages in my diary to sketch the musicians as I usually do, so I took my camera out for the first time in a long while to see if I (teaming up with Nino, who eventually seized power of my camera) could capture the jazzz...

Claire, Kasia und ich

 

 

 

 

 

 

Torsten Zwingenberger

Night @ Ego, Sat.06.03.10

The Berlin Connection, Part III

This weekend Berlin came to Hamburg as fellow-architecture-year-out-student-in-Germany Grant Taylor came to visit. Fri.05.03 to Sun.07.03 went as follows...

FLASH 11CM SNOWFALL FRIDAY EVENING (WTF!!!).
GRANT ARRIVES INTO HAMBURG 2130, MEET AT OTHMARSCHEN, BEERS @ MINE.
NO JAZZCLUB. KULTURHAUS 73, STERNSCHANZE INSTEAD: ELECTRO DOWNSTAIRS, CLASSICS IN MAIN BAR, SOUL/FUNK/REGGAE IN BACK ROOM.
KASIA, NINO, SOLVEJG & CLAIRE JOIN US. BOOGIE SHAKEDOWN.
TISCHFUSSBALL. FALAFEL FROM FALAFEL FACTORY. HOME @ AROUND 0430HRS.
WOKE UP 1115HRS. BRIE ON TOAST & TEA FOR BREAKFAST.
FELL OVER IN SNOW. ALMOST BROKE CAMERA...AGAIN! PHEW...(bloody glad to have it back though...)
WENT UP GLASS LIFT 75M UP ST NIKOLAI KIRCHE.
AWESOME SAVOURY CREPES FROM TI BREIZH.
HAFEN CITY. ELBPHILHARMONIE & PAVILION w. 1:10 ACOUSTIC MODEL OF CONCERT HALL.
SPEICHERSTADTMUSEUM w. EXHIBITION OF HISTORIC PHOTOS OF HAFEN.
TO THE RATHAUS, THEN A STROLL ROUND STERNSCHANZE PEEKING INTO ALTERNATIVE SHOPS.
POTATOES w. FILLING and were FILLING @ KUMPIR.
BACK TO THE HOUSE FOR MUCH-NEEDED NAP.
BEERS BEFORE MEETING NINO ON THE WAY TO KASIA'S. POLISH WODKA. SHEESHA.
DANIEL, ALEX & SEBASTIAN JOIN THE PARTY. TO THE REEPERBAHN @ 0200HRS.
DANIEL & ALEX LEAVE UPON ENTRY TO EGO. DJ T @ EGO, T'UMPIN MINIMAL TECHNO 'TIL 0530HRS. CREAM CRACKERED.
HOME @ 0630HRS. DAYBREAK & BIRDS SINGING. FAT LIE IN. BUT BRIE ON TOAST BEFORE BED. EPIC.
WOKE UP 1300HRS. WATCHED 'THE HURT LOCKER'. SUNDAY AFTERNOON WIND DOWN.
GRANT BACK TO HAUPTBAHNHOF @ 1820HRS.
GUTE LAUNE. GOOD TIMES...

Weekends and work seem to be getting better and busier, respectively - and I is lovin' it.

Grant is evidently lovin' it too.

Jazz-funking it

The past week was as busy a week as I've worked in the practice - completing (right up until the last minute) a 1:50 model for a private house that has finally been resolved, whipping up some tender drawings to accompany the proposal, attending ever-complexifying client meetings and even setting up the decorations for my boss's daughter's 5th birthday...

Last weekend therefore served as license to let loose starting with a wind down at the Birdland Jazz club to see the Bernd Reincke Quartett (fast becoming one of our favourite spots to hang out) and then grooving it up by chance at a bar with a live funk band jamming willy-nilly the entire night. In between I did my usual spot of record shopping popping into a Smallville Records, which houses a comprehensive array of electronic music and simultaneously a record label for some artists which I listen to - I'm hoping to meet some of the artists who sometimes man the shop floor in the upcoming weeks, let's see if I can get some promos off 'em...