I have a vision. I would like to organize a showcase:
Vibravoid from Duesseldorf, Germany, Curlee Wurlee from
Hamburg, Germany, Black Angels from California. Special Guest Ricky Shayne. He appears at any time in between and performs some of his old hits. Wonderful Gea* from New
York exhibits her drawings and pictures (and appears of course personally). The kiosk of Ricky Shayne from Duesseldorf-Flingern will be replicated and there the merchandising items of all participating artists will also be offered. Ricky Shayne plays Ricky Shayne and is the the sales man. Sponsors, pipe up!
If you read the coverages and interviews (and the highl-level talks in the related commentary sections) in Michael J. Tottens blog, you will learn more about the Middle East and it's related conflicts than from all so called middle-east-experts (in Germany they proudly call themselves 'Nahostexperten') and so called analysis in TV and common newspapers and magazines altogether.
Michael J. Totten in his own words:
I learn most of what I know about the Middle East from the people who
live here, and I was a bit shocked when I discovered, years ago, that
many reporters—especially wire agency reporters—absorb most of what they
know, think, and believe about the region from other journalists. I
didn’t know anyone, local or foreign, in the Middle East when I first
got here, and I initially had to rely on the people I met randomly in
cafes and bars and in person via the Internet to teach me what’s going
on and how the place works. All my information came from the street.
Most of my understanding still comes from the street—not from on high,
not from newspapers or press releases, and not from foreign reporters
who do not live here. Eventually I worked my way up to the prime
minister’s office in Lebanon, and I’ve almost gotten that far now in
Israel, but my real education has taken place during long sessions in
cafes and bars with Arabs, Kurds, and Israelis.
For example, learn something about Israel based on a talk between Michael and Benjamin Kerstein:
MJT: So what’s it like to read about Israel in the foreign press?
Benjamin Kerstein: Surreal.
MJT: How so?
Benjamin Kerstein: It rarely bears any resemblance
to the country I live in, mainly because it either deals only with the
conflict or because the news is produced by people who live in the
English-speaking Jerusalem bubble.
MJT: Tell me about the English-speaking Jerusalem bubble.
Benjamin Kerstein: There’s a large population of
English speakers in Jerusalem. The people who speak English tend to
gather around each other, especially if they’re in the higher reaches of
government or the media. They tend to hang out with other
English-speaking people. They go to the places where such people
congregate, they read English-language newspapers, and they watch
English-language television. They have very little contact with the rest
of Israel, which is predominantly Hebrew-speaking.Tel Aviv is quite cosmopolitan, but if you go to the development
towns in the south or to the towns in the north and in the Galilee,
there are Hebrew-speaking and Arabic-speaking populations there.
Journalists have almost no contact with this world. What they portray as
Israeli is a corner of a corner of a corner of this country.So when we read about Israel in the foreign press—especially if we
know about the English-speaking bubble in Jerusalem, or if we’ve ever
dealt with the media in Jerusalem—we recognize almost instantly the same
themes over and over and over again. All you usually get is the view of
a closed subculture, which is not even interesting in my opinion.
MJT: A lot of these journalists don’t even socialize with English-speaking Israelis.
I know they don’t because I’ve met some of them. I know who they hang
out with and how disconnected they are. They hang out with each other
and with other foreigners. That strikes me as bizarre because almost all
my friends here are Israelis. Likewise, most of my friends in Lebanon
are Lebanese.
And, last but not least, if you have some Euros or Dollars or whatever left, please donate for him on his site, so that his independent, well grounded and valuable work will go on!
Das ist in meinen Augen aber noch gar nix gegen den Herrn, den ich gerade entdeckt habe (und der es schon zu einiger Beruehmtheit gebracht hat):
Das hat aus meiner Sicht eine ganz neue Qualitaet. Deutsches Schlager-Schmachten und die entsprechenden Texte ins Unermessliche ueberhoeht oder vielmehr auf das Wesentliche reduziert, unterlegt mit einem Housebeat und dargeboten unter einem duemmlichen Dauergrinsen des Hauptprotagonisten. Und dazu seltsame Trash-Videos.
Das Phaenomen Alexander Marcus sowie der von ihm kreierte Musikstil 'Electrolore' wurde natuerlich auch schon von unserer sogenannten Qualitaetspresse entdeckt und 'analysiert'. Jedoch, wie immer, wenn es um Trashiges oder Abseitiges geht, mit intellektuell verkopfter Distanzierung - auch wenn man es irgendwie gut findet. (FAZ, SPON, Welt). Da wird Name-Dropping bis zum geht nicht mehr praktiziert (z.B. wird ein Zitat von Jarvis Cocker eingestreut), werden abstruse Vergleiche angestellt (von Dieter Bohlen ueber Guildo Horn bis hin zu Helge Schneider - was falscher nicht sein kann) und Vieles nicht verstanden (z.B. wird eine bewusst fiktiv gestaltete Biographie fuer bare Muenze genommen). Aus meiner Sicht kommt folgende Einschaetzung aus dem SPON-Artikel dem 'Phaenomen' Alexander Marcus noch am naechsten: "Die Vorstellung, dass der Typ tatsächlich so meschugge ist, bleibt zumindest möglich."
Ich ueberlege mir sogar, am 11. September im 'Getaway' in Solingen 22 EURO fuer einen Liveauftritt dieses Herrn zu bezahlen. Obwohl mir natuerlich klar ist, dass das Publikum zum grossen Teil aus Menschen bestehen wird, die auch den 'Toedlichen Markus' gut finden (der sogar mir zu extrem ist). Des weiteren fuerchte ich, dass das Ganze ohne die entsprechenden Trash-Videos viel von seiner Anziehungskraft verliert.
"Eben noch im Buedchen, jetzt hier bei uns auf der Showbuehne"... mit diesen Worten wurde ein nicht mehr ganz so junger Herr heute Nachmittag auf dem Duesseldorfer Burgplatz angekuendigt: