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Steven Soderbergh is one of the most articulate and fascinating thinkers on film out there @ Cinephilia & Beyond

Busboy

This week after kindergarten duty and a subsequent visit to the discounter, I schlepped myself to the nearest bus station. A full backpack on my shoulders and a tote in one hand didn’t hinder me to grab Böll’s “Gruppenbild mit Dame” out of a nearby second hand booth while I waited for the bus to arrive. I didn’t have to wait long, entered the bus and carried my stuff to the unoccupied four-seater at the front, which is reserved for the old and invalid, aka me. In case actual old and/or invalid people wanted to occupy one of “their” seats, I only placed the backpack on the one next to me and kept my tote on my lap.

Time for some Böll. I had just started Johnson’s first “Jahrestage“-book two days before but a peek couldn’t hurt. (Me from the future: It did. Johnson was postponed and Böll landed on top of the reading pile. Let’s hope he forgives me for substituting one Gruppe 47 author for another.)

I was just wondering about divorce rates back in the day, after I read the fact that Leni, said Dame in Böll’s title, was only married for three days, when a boy placed himself next to the four-seater and grabbed a nearby bar. I looked up at him and he returned the look. Without words I gestured with my right hand in an inviting fashion to the two seats opposite me like I was an assistant in a game show presenting the price the contestants could win. He wasn’t the gambling type and shook his head, short but polite. I nodded and returned to the book.

The Trembling Web and the Storage Facility by Rachel Hadas @ Literary Matters

I ran away to Spain by Gabrielle de la Puente @ The White Pube

First Quarter of 2025 is gonna be Lichtspielhaus!

Angela Merkel sei Dank, I have a strong appetite for what the cinema institution “Walzenlager” in Oberhausen is cooking up for the beginning of this year.

There is a new five weeks flatrate for only 35,- EUR (get the whole year for only 350,- EUR; don’t hesitate buy, buy, buy!!) which I will use at least two times within the next three months.

Reasons? Let me list them:

Abendland – Merkel is back and she plays Backe, Backe Kuchen with a group of dropouts in some forest (hat tip: latest Cargo mag, where I saw it advertised. Who can say no to a fleeing Angela Merkel?)

Dieses Gefühl, dass die Zeit, etwas zu tun, vorbei ist – Last year I read the review in 4 Columns and was intrigued. This year I’m surprised to see the film playing near me.

Kneecap – First read about this movie in a Guardian Best of 2024-list I can’t find right now. Watched some of the trio’s music videos and consider inviting my dealer to this romp.

Veni Vidi Vici – Austrian vitriol produced by none other than Ulrich Seidl. I can only get so erect… Sidenote: German viewers can see Seidl’s Paradies-trilogy on ARD online!

Armand – I missed “The Worst Person in the World” but I won’t miss this one.

Tandem – In welcher Sprache träumst Du? – Looks a tad too political for my taste but I only heard good things so I will give it a try.

Hundreds of Beavers – Speaking of lesbians…

Die Katzen vom Gokugu-Schrein – Even more cats!

A Pixel Parable by Facundo Olano via Lobste.rs

Taper (online literary magazine for small computational pieces) via Things I Think Are Awesome

Shai Maestro Quartet – Live at the Bimhuis, Amsterdam [2021]

Clean Slating

My RSS Reader is bursting with links I wanted to stuff in the Media Bites and there is this ominous “surf“-bookmark folder with about 30 links (of which about five might make the final cut) for the same purpose. Why not cram it all into one post, I wondered, like I did with way too many spekulatius cookies the past weeks? There might or might not be any music so you might or might not want to open a 5hr set of Floating Points in a new tab.

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The rectangular cows of Art UK via /r/casualUK