Back To Shore

Lyrics: “Polaroid Picture” – Frank Turner, 2013

For my 50th birthday some friends gifted me an “outdoor escape room” / digital scavenger hunt experience in Cologne. We did that today and it was lots of fun. We spent 2.5 hours exploring the Ehrenfeld quarter, which is characterized by it’s diverse scene. People from various countries and cultures, pubs, cafe’s, little shops and lots of street art, galeries and just a vibrant atmosphere. On the trail we had to follow we passed through various streets I remembered having parked my car in when I went to a gig nearby and we even passed a small venue I have been to once in the past decade. For Will Varley in 2018 / 2019? I don’t exactly recall. I’ve gone to quite q few gigs in Cologne in the past 20 or so years. It felt a bit weird to be back there in the daylight, but not in a bad way.

I plan to definitely be back for a proper street photography tour in Ehrenfeld the summer. Here now are just a few shots from today:

Since February I have been going to the cinema more often. The main reason was that a UK friend told me they had signed up for a 3-months “Unlimited Card” at their cinema and I looked into if the multiplex chain over here offered a similar deal. And they did. It’s 19,90 € / month and if I go to see two movies a month I’m already saving money.

So I signed up, because I actually do enjoy the cinema quite a lot, but haven’t been going as much as I used to many, many, years ago. There are reasons for that of course. In parts it’s lack of time, even though I could have made time for it. Then there was the steep rise in tickets prices (at the multiplex most of all). If I wanted I could also blame the lack of interesting films, but that’s only partially true or a reason. Because decades ago I used to watch all kind of films and not all of them were all that good. If I’m honest sometimes I’m prone to inertia, as in getting in the car to go to the movies feels like too much hassle these days. It’s not as if I’m watching / streaming a lot of movies at home either though.

Anyway, I thought I should do something about it: Battle the inertia and also try to recover some of the film – loving part of me. When I was at uni 25 odd years ago, I was going to that multiplex several times a month. With friends on the weekend. With another student during the week for “sneak previews” where the tickets were half-price (if even that) and you never knew what you were getting into.

One thing that has changed though is that these days I do prefer to watch movies in the “not dubbed in German” version. I guess I can blame the language options of all the streaming services for that. And there’s often only one movies shown in the original English and it’s not always the one I want to watch. Which also might lead to me going to see more German movies or see a movie in English in a different cinema (and pay for it then), like I did yesterday.

Anyway here is a quick run down (from latest to first) of the movies I’ve seen in the past few weeks:

Eden (5 April, in a small 20 seat theatre)
This was based on true events from the 1930s where a couple of Europeans try to settle on an island in the Galapagos. Wikipedia calls it a survival thriller, but that doesn’t do it justice. It is much more an intense study of the human psyche: What drives us? What separates us and what brings us together? I thought the trailer was interesting and the movie didn’t disappoint (me). It also had a few surprising twists and turns in the end.

Heldin (16 March, Multiplex)
This Swiss/German production has a documentary vibe, as it follows a female hospital nurse through one shift. There isn’t all that much happening, but it gave me a really good insight into the working life of hospital staff. I’ve basically only ever been on the other side – as family member of someone in hospital – and I’ve complained and bitched about staff to some degree. So this was a helpful reminder to see the other side. And with lack of staff and lack of resources it’s not a pretty side.

Mickey 17 (5 March, Multiplex)
I kind of like Robert Pattinson, even though I haven’t really seen all that many films with him, I think. I admire that he managed to withdraw from the hype after Twilight and pick a variety of roles even though he probably could have easily build a career on heart throb / hero roles. He was awesome in the film and so were the other actors. Mark Ruffalo was doing such an amazing Trump impersonation in his role and he didn’t even have to dye his hair blond for it. I thought the sci-fi plot idea of identity and such was a good one. Bu I wasn’t such a fan of the creatures on the planet to be honest and I might not have picked the movie had they been featured more prominently in the trailer.

A Complete Unknown (1 March, Multiplex)
I admit I only know Dylan’s greatest hits. I know that his music played a big role in the US peace movement in the 1960s. I know he’s got a Nobel Prize and that he’s got a reputation to be difficult. I thought the movie was a good way to educate myself a bit more and it was. I like that Bob Dylan doesn’t necessarily come of as the good guy in this one. To be honest, I thought he was kind of asshole a lot of time. As a Frank Turner fangirl of course I compared Dylan’s ethos about performing to an audience to Frank’s and I’m glad Frank is more appreciative of his audience, to put it mildly. But the 1960s were a different time of course as well. I put Joan Baez on the list of musicians I need to learn more about after watching this. Timothee and Edward Norton played and sang all the parts in the film themselves, which was quite impressive.

Wunderschöner (15 February, Multiplex, before I got the Unlimited Card)
A sequel to a German movie success from a few years ago. A sort of interconnected multi-episodes movie about women of various ages and professions and relationships. I hadn’t seen the first one at the cinema back then so had to watch it on Amazon first, but I had seen the trailer a few times and thought I might like it. And I did, even though this sequel now was more serious than the first one. Still very funny but in parts it felt like the female director (and lead actress) tried a bit too hard to comment on everything that’s making womens’ lives to hard these days. Still a great and enjoyable movie.

I’ve seen quite a few trailers for new movies as well. Some trailers over and over again, which is no surprise. There are a lot of “let’s make a sequel / retell the same story” movies out this year. Paddington. Bridget Jones. Karate Kid. Plus variations of Marvel movies of all kinds. I’m not interested in Bridget Jones, but the Karate Kid trailer is starting to wear me down. I might want to watch the original movie first, because I don’t think I’ve seen this back in the day or since. But I’m not sure. It’s been a long time ago.

Anyway, I’m quite happy that I was able to recover some of my passion for the cinema again. I hope it’ll last.

Lyrics: “Letter To Myself” – The Lottery Winners, 2023

Oh look, it’s already over a week since I posted here last. I’ve been busy. You know. Work. Life. Sadly not in any balance. Plus the whole.. everything. Everywhere. Again, you know what I mean. Anyway: let’s tell you a little bit about the The Lottery Winners gig I saw in sold-out venue in Cologne on Saturday, 15th March. Sold out! 450 people, I think. Which is about 10x the amount of he audience they played to the last time I saw them in Cologne in autumn 2023. How times have changed. Next time headlining Palladium in Cologne? A girl can dream, right?

The show was lots of fun, because Thom (lead singer) is talking to and interacting with the audience a lot. I think it’s palpable that the four members of the band are close and old friends, they enjoy experiencing this together. I remember other bands (not naming any names), where (by the end of their band career) they didn’t really interact with each other at all. Not the Lottery Winners, they are having the best of times together. 

At some point Thom was wondering, where all the people knew them from and he said “Nickelback, I guess?”, because they were a support on Nickelbacks’s last tour in mainland Europe and I saw quite a few in Nickelback swag in the audience. In protest to that assessment, I pointed to the FTHC shirt I was wearing and Rob (guitar) at least noticed that, because I stood right in front of him and he gave me a thumbs up. 

Later on Thom was talking about [Instagram link] how his biggest talent is doing things – being on stage, sharing his emotions through songs and all – despite being scared about doing those things. But doing them anyway. 

By the end of the gig he then asked for six volunteers to do a dance routine on stage with them and I found myself raising my arm. Half of me was scared about embarrassing myself up there, because I’m a klutz. The other half was determined to do it anyway. I then was picked indeed and climbed up and did the routine, which I sort of already knew, so it wasn’t such a big deal. But OMFG! If you had told me I’d do something like that a decade ago, when I started out as introvert, hyper self-conscious, worrying (Frank Turner) fangirl, I would have said “No way!” If you’d told me I’d do something like that 5 years ago, I probably still would have said “No way!”. Look how far I’ve come. Go Me!

I haven’t found any photo or video proof of it all online (yet), I’m not joining The Lottery Winners Facebook group just for that. I don’t need proof that I did it. I know I did. (And I’ve got a photo of the crowd from the stage to prove it). The Instagram post I shared above has a bit of the routine, but it’s filmed centre stage from behind the volunteers and I was at the right side, out of the frame. 

Anyway, it was a fun night. Next time I see the Lottery Winners they will open for Robbie Williams in a stadium. Far far far away from my seat up on the side somewhere. But I can’t wait to see them win over the next big crowd.