Goethe-Institut - Blog Cityscapes - Auckland

Transmediale Berlin 2012 - by S.Lone & J.Brooking

nospam@example.com (Jonathan Brooking) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:37:16 +0100

You never know what to expect when the programme briefing of a festival involves watching a Boyz II Men track slowed down and warped, but Transmediale couldn't have come at a better time. The festival followed the arrest of German born Kim Dot Com (the founder of file sharing website Mega Upload) who is now being tried in the New Zealand High Court. Transmediale is a week long event engaging discussions between art, technology and culture. Transmediale is a transdisciplinary platform, a place for new artistic, academic, activist and everyday expressions.

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Discoveries - Berlin

nospam@example.com (Jonathan Brooking) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:51:46 +0100

For a city, Berlin is a never ending discovery of new places and sites to see both old and new. A complicated history with one not needing to look too far to see constant reminders of what has passed. Small remembrance plaques on the side walk, remnants of the Berlin Wall, countless museums and old worn buildings with the occasional bullet mark.

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More musings and museums

nospam@example.com (Sahar Lone) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:55:51 +0100

It's always nice to be surprised, and I have been by what I hadn't expected to find in Germany. Born in '89, I didn't see the fall of the wall but being in Berlin the remnants are still visible. I had breakfast with a woman who grew up in the GDR, unable to travel or holiday then. My housemate wasn't able to go to the Prince concert in the GDR as a teenager because her visa to enter wasn't ready in time. I feel privileged to be able to move around and discover this fascinating city as I please.

Friends of friends have shown me some of their favourite places in Berlin. I've been to Madame Claudes; a bar with everything (including a kitchen sink) stuck to the ceiling, an old multi-leveled wallpapered bar, the best felafel place in Kreutzberg, Mauer Park markets and more. The markets rows with their rows like a maze that lead nowhere also have deckchairs in the sand. We ate a late lunch sitting in them around a fire. This was a fine cure for Seasonal Affective Disorder.

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World Upside Down - Journeys to Berlin

nospam@example.com (Jonathan Brooking) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:48:48 +0100

Invited to study on the other side of the world and learn a new language can send shivers through you, and I was no different. Though what I was unclear of along with many other things, is the extremeness of a European winter.
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WINTER WINNERS

nospam@example.com (Sahar Lone) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:58:28 +0100

After a short trip in Tokyo, Jonathan and I arrived in Germany. With a few days to spare before starting the German language course at the Goethe-Institut Berlin, we began to find our bearings. Emails and messages from back home in Auckland suggested the New Zealand summer was over, while in Berlin we were waiting for a real winter to begin. Bring on the snow!

Fireworks went off throughout the day, leading up to New Year's Eve, with some even thrown out of apartment buildings. The Brandenburg gates, a popular place to watch the display, was packed so early in the night we lit our own fireworks with others on a bridge by the river. A man proposed to his partner after the countdown and she accepted as crowds cheered them on.

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The sensible season

nospam@example.com (Sahar Lone) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:58:29 +0100

'Naughty Holidays' Connan Mockasin

Rites and Rituals - Auckland

nospam@example.com (Jonathan Brooking) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:05:53 +0100

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So much to celebrate..so little time..

nospam@example.com (Ri Williamson) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:45:56 +0100

For New Zealanders, the lead-up to Christmas signals a string of celebrations, the end of the year, Christmas, and the start of summer.
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Auckland 'The big little city'

nospam@example.com (Ri Williamson) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:59:00 +0100

Each city has its own obsession with some kind of element that has a negative influence on the urban environment. The element will become apparent pretty quickly in conversation.
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Auckland: how we roll

nospam@example.com (Sahar Lone) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:48:50 +0100

I really feel for bus drivers on Auckland's public transport. They work in bad conditions, have low pay, and many seem to dislike talking to people. When Maxx (the bus and train company) introduced a new method of paying for travel - a Hop card - earlier this year there was some ambiguous advertising on bus backs. A Disney Pixar film also called Hop was being advertised on bus backs at the same time.

People at bus stops step away back from the curb if see one approaching that they don't want to catch, as if it's a disease. But what are the alternatives in the urban sprawl that is Auckland? And why is it that so many people traveling far prefer to take a car?

"Walking Off a Cliff Again" - Mint Chicks, and "Drive" - Home Brew

100% Little or No Traffic - Auckland

nospam@example.com (Jonathan Brooking) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:02:00 +0100

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Geek or Chic?

nospam@example.com (Ri Williamson) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:59:00 +0100

This reminds me of the very daunting task of writing for
March - Sex in my City…....Where do I start, where do I begin?
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Black in Fashion in Auckland

nospam@example.com (Sahar Lone) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 01:54:00 +0200

Although it's Spring, and humid in Auckland, many in the city haven't stopped wearing black. A stylist who lives in Auckland told me about the custom made black wedding gown she wore. Is it personality or the practicality of Aucklanders' lifestyles that explains the penchant for the colour?

Curator of the Black in Fashion exhibition, Doris De Pont, investigated how far back New Zealanders have worn black. In her previous life as a fashion designer she recognised that designing black clothing sold well. She and fashion student, Amalia O'Neill, whose work was included in the exhibition discuss why the colour is what it is for Aucklanders.

For more information on the exhibition visit The New Zealand Fashion Museum website

Collective Identity - Auckland

nospam@example.com (Jonathan Brooking) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:22:14 +0200

by Jonathan Brooking
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Meanwhile, across town...

nospam@example.com (Ri Williamson) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 23:59:00 +0200

While Jonny and Sahar were investigating ‘Cents and Sensibilities’ in the south of Auckland, I was stuck at my desk with mounting deadlines.
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