Love, Poetry and Revolution - Monday 8th January 2024

First post of 2024 - Happy New Year!

Q and I saw the new year in with M and A in Berlin, having flown there on New Year's Eve evening.   

We spent the week in Berlin, the first part at M and A's house near Gatow, then the remainder at a hotel in Central Berlin for Q's birthday. 

We crammed a lot into the week, including a New Year's Day sausage party (!?!) with some of M and A's neighbours.  It was really cool to participate in typical German every day life.  Certainly not the wurst way to start the year.

As for NYE, Berliners really love their fireworks. Weapons grade, I would guess.  There was literally a continual barrage for several hours, way past midnight.  Apparently people get fireworks from Poland and then combine them to make even more powerful explosions.  As you might expect serious injuries are not uncommon with people blowing their heads off. Crazy.  Given what Berlin has endured in the past it seems odd.

Other highlights included a Munch exhibition at a gallery in Potsdam, an exhibition about turning points in German history and some wonderful food. Loved it. Looking forward to another visit to M and A later in the year.

New year.  Change.

One big change resulting from our visit to Berlin concerns music. I have been a big fan of music on physical media, even though space does become a problem.  I've been trying to find a way around this problem that satisfies all my requirements, an now I've found one which has multiple benefits.

I now have found a way to get the music I require without buying any more physical media.  Not only that, I will start to sell some of my collection.

How has this come about?  Two things: Qobuz and a new network streamer.

I shall be dropping Spotify in favour of Qobuz, which offers high-res audio (better than CD quality) and, more importantly pays artists more per play and doesn't support podcasts by fascists and other nutters.

The network streamer is incredible.  The DAC it includes is so good that even streamed CD audio sounds better than the CDs themselves.

There are more reasons why I'm happy to make this shift, but that'll do for here.

I just need a plan for books, though the solution to that 'problem' will be different. If I may quote Umberto Eco: "It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones" and "Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity."

2024, bring it on!

Marika Hackman /  'Slime'  / 'Big Sigh' (Forthcoming)


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