In the days of big shot Hollywood productions - be it action movies, comedys, thrillers, sci-fi or even drama - it's kinda sad to see that the European film, especially the German independent film is still living a dire existence on the outskirts of the industry. Of course you'll see well-advertised, expensive domestic productions on the big screen from time to time. Some of them, like Good Bye Lenin! or Der Untergang might even make it across the Atlantic (of course, it has Nazis in it...). But yet, there are so many really really good small productions almost no one takes notice of. Except you know your local indy theater well or like watching Arte. So, to show that - especially in the past decade - there have been so many well shot and well acted 'teutonian' movies, here's a small selection of more popular ones and some you maybe have never heard of but should definitely see. By the way, I think this isn't just a German problem. I'm sure there are just as many good French, Swedish or Danish movies that I don't even know about because they aren't shown anywhere near.

Absolute Giganten (1999) - Comedy / Drama
Shoppen (2006) - Comedy
Nichts Bereuen (2001) - Romance / Drama
Vergiss Amerika (2000) - Romance / Drama
Crazy (2000) - Coming of Age
Lammbock (2001) - Comedy
Die Innere Sicherheit (2000) - Drama
Klassenfahrt (2002) - Drama
Tattoo (2002) - Thriller
Mein Bruder Der Vampir (2001) - Drama
Bungalow (2002) - Drama
Kammerflimmern (2004) - Romance / Drama
Herr Lehmann (2003) - Comedy
Montag Kommen Die Fenster (2006) - Drama
Scherbentanz (2002) - Drama
Lichter (2003) - Drama
Das Experiment (2001) - Thriller
Bang Boom Bang (1999) - Comedy
Der Himmel Kann Warten (2000) - Drama
Lola Rennt (1998) - Drama / Thriller

That's what Felix and I are doing right now. After he had built himself one last summer it's my turn now. We used his old bending form to get the flex into the six layers of birch and beech plywood which we had glued together beforehand. After cutting the shape it's up to me now to grind and smoothen the edges, varnish and put the design on the board. I'll keep you posted.

Sorry for the lousy quality of the pics, my Mac's at a repair place for two weeks so I'm using crappy online software for my image processing.

Damn. I was getting some drinks with friends when, more or less by coincidence, I stumbled upon a small festival and my friend Tobi from Yambalaya in the middle of my hometown yesterday night. We were on our way to a bar, so we didn't talk much, but he urged me to come back around 10 as there would be 'a really cool newcomer band playing'. So I did, expectations relatively low - you have to know that in Tobi's eyes, every second newcomer band is 'really cool' - but I was in for a big ass surprise.

Goddaaaaimn, these sixteen year old babyfaces from the Bavarian province called Zico And The Noisemakers could really reggaerock! Amazing what kind of 'ripe' sound including good lyrics and a very fitting voice they produce at their young age. We watched their set half in astonishment (me) half in agony (Tobi) and went home after four (!) encores knowing that these kids are gonna make their way to the big stages pretty soon. First step: they'll be opening for Jahcoustix beginning of September.

That's the Belgian band a couple of friends and I went to see last night in the garden of the E-Werk, a local club complex. The concert took place as part of 'Grill The Monday', a weekly get-together where anyone can come, sit and bring they're own food which the E-Werk staff will then barbeque for you. Very relaxed atmosphere, kinda sad it was my first time there as I'm usually not around on Mondays.

Eté 67 was quite nice as well by the way - melodic Pop-Rock with a very enthusiastic band leader. Don't know how they are on an album, but the live sound was perfect.

Just showing you guys the bike. Often talked about, never seen. Am I bored? No, why?

This is where I spend my first night in Darmstadt. The owner of this room explicitely asked me not to mention his name. At least this much: Cécile and Daniel, I believe you've met him before...

I spend the last three days in my study town Darmstadt. Mainly because I had some business to take care of concerning my exchange semesters and the upcoming internship - fill out papers, get signatures etc. But of course also a good opportunity to see some familiar faces, have a few chats and last but not least see the diploma exhibition.

Had a very chaotic first evening including a race to the Frankfurt airport, a free meal at McDonald's, pretending to work until five in the morning and three hours of sleep that night. The next day was filled with organizing stuff, meeting and talking to a lot of people I hadn't seen in ages, talking to profs and planning my 'educational future'. I also went to the opening of a school exhibition on the subject of 'Risk' at the Design Haus which was quite interesting. The night came to a nice end in a local beergarden with some good ol' Äppler and again a lot of people and chats. At that point it felt so good to be back, even if it was just for 72 hours and now I'm actually quite happy to be returning for good in half a year.

The last day was basically like the first one except that I grabbed some lunch with Falko and Lukas (the guys I stayed with), watched a movie and saw the opening of the diploma exhibition. Again lots of people, lots of talks blablabla. Plus, I was heavily under(over?)dressed with my colorful shoes and my neon hoodie. Anyways, the exhbited work was kind of disappointing except for the Industrial Design stuff and 4 or 5 projects from the Graphics Department. Yeah I know, got a big mouth now - we'll see what I come up with. Finally, before taking off home at 1:30 in the morning, I payed Honey, my old roommate who'd just gotten back from Berlin, a visit for a couple of chilled out hours.