It's small, but it's the first of it's kind! Open today and this weekend 2 p.m.-8 p.m. on Solmsstr. 30, just around the corner of that strange bookstore. After that you gotta book a personal tour with Flo.

Dear Mr. President, the "official Homepage for the base at Guantanamo Bay" is still off-line. It looked the same three years ago: "We are currently off-line. We will be back on-line soon. We apologize for any inconvience this may be causing our visitors. "

Still not "on-line"? You guys must have some really bad webmasters!

Who ya gonna call?

First of all: The Under-Construction-Club

Update: Here is a "Plaze called 'Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba' located in, Cuba."

"A civil court judge ruled Wednesday that the landmark punk club CBGB's can't be evicted from its Bowery location, saying it shouldn't be punished for not noticing it owed its landlord money.

The ruling was a victory for the club where groups like the Ramones and Blondie defined the punk scene in the 1970s, but CBGB's future is still uncertain. Its lease with the Bowery Residents' Committee expires on August 31, and a renewal remains up in the air." cnn

"Former Python Michael Palin has made a name for himself lately as a brilliant travel-writer and the host of a series of excellent travel documentaries. He has put the full text of all of his amazing travel-books online for free. They're spread out across multiple html pages, unfortunately, so they're not suited to downloading for reading on your phone on the Tube in the morning, but man is this ever a step in the right direction." boingboing.net had it first.

If Videodrom doesn' have it you're fucked!

"Keep Up Your Rights. First Preliminary Program of the Berlin Pirate Cinema". Subscribe to the newsletter and hang out with the pirates and their cool buddies.

Where no tourist has gone before! Rucksacktouristen, aufgepasst, Molvania ist nur was für ganz harte Typen, die schon sämtliche Impfungen der Welt im Blut haben! Hier gefunden!

Stranded in the concrete hell of Expo City 2000 can be a pain. Better make sure to get to know Silke Arp Bricht in time. Friends of Silke will give you some directions and they're a lovely bunch. Also check the internet-hazienda of n.ur-kult, one of the grand old labels which backed up the underground with wicked tapes ever since....

Brad Pitt, Steven Sonderbergh and George Clooney are about to start shooting "Oceans 12" in May in Amsterdam. The other day they already made it to their favourite bar, the De Dampkring on Handboogstraat, one of the best coffeeshops you can find anywhere. The place will also be featured in the movie which will guarantee thousands of boring college-students to drop by the year after...

"Ruins capture the imagination with their ability to tell stories about the past. There are memories within the crumbling walls of these ruins that speak with a potent language. Abandon architectural spaces and discarded objects recall moments when former occupants walked these halls and occupied these rooms. The aging surfaces bear the etched marks of a bygone time, scrawled upon the walls are the personal memories of the buildings, memories from a past that pulse from the walls."

Shaun and wendy lewis o'boyle have put together one of my new faves, a site with pictures and photgraphic essays. I spent a long time over there. Try the tour of the State Hospital for the Insane for example.

Christiana, the squatted area on the outskirts of Kopenhagen is one of the last truly free states. Now Denmark's gouvernment wants to end the experiment. Christiana organizes a parade for diversity on August the 30th to protest against the takeover. read more...

Cooler Quatsch! Klassisch schlechtes Geschreibsel aus Aachen, Berlin, Tübingen und von anderswo.

"The Aboriginal Australians were able to navigate across their harsh and unforgiving land by memorizing and following the Songlines--an intricate series of song cycles that identified the landmarks that one needed to pass to get where one needed to go. These songs described how the features of the land were created and named during the Dreamtime, the timeless era when the giants, heroes and monsters that serve as totems for the Aboriginal tribes walked the earth. By singing the songs in the proper order, the Aborigines could walk across their nation's vast deserts and always know where they were."

quoted from New York Songlines, a great alternative travel guide covering the psycho-geography of New York City by linking to all the little stories on every block.

Alan had a toga-party at the shoplast night. Prominent members of the good-for-nothing-league got together to celebrate the ides of March. It was decadent as fuck. The cook had prepared a Roman mega-dinner and everyone sat around in towels and sheets while reading out loud from the collected works of Willi Shakespeare. Doofus Mikus Amerikanus made a great Caesar and Ralfus Germanikus surprised his audience with a good Shylock-impersonation before playing really loud odd techno-music and downloading song after song until the orgy started. It was fun. We should do this more often.

WGcompany.de is a nice little website with an English section for people looking for roomates or a place to stay in Berlin. WG means Wohngemeinschaft which is the term for sharing a place with people you're not having sex with (don't fuck at the factory!)

The Veganladen is a small place in the heart of Kreuzberg and it can help you out with all you vegan needs. They got food, cosmetics, shoes, books and flyers.

Cheapest haircuts in Berlin: The Happy Hour at No Name (you find them either on Görlitzer Str.68, Gneisenaustr. 83, Motzstr.52 or Grünberger Str. 77). From 8-11 a.m. every haircut is 5 Euro. Otherwise it's 10 and you get hip videos and a lot of goa-atmosphere while you wait. Better would be to find the guy at the Raw Temple. He cuts you hair for free and considers it an individual art-project. You never know what you will look like, but it's hip as fuck!

It's a great idea and it's growing fast. The next time you wanna travel, check out the hosts of the Hospitality Club. Become a member, crash at someone's house instead of paying for a hotel and host other people at your own house in return. The site is getting more and more international and it's using a rating-system for hosts and guests. You will have to fill out a little potrait-thing, upload a picture of your ugly face if you want to and you're ready to see other cities through the eyey of a local. I've been travelling in this way for years with bands who took me on the road and it's the real thing. If you don't wanna waste time on the obvious tourist-attractions and prefer to go a little deeper, this one's for you. Hell, it reduces your costs as well!

Hospitality Club

Anmelden, einsteigen und billiger verreisen. Der Hospitality Club vermittelt Pennplätze in aller Welt. Wer Mitglied werden will, muß aber natürlich auch Reisende bei sich daheim aufnehmen. Eine großartige Möglichkeit um wie früher punkrockmäßig auf anderer Leut's Fußboden zu pennen und nebenbei im Ausland sofort Anschluß an die Locals zu finden. Und kostenlose Pennplätze mit Billigflieger-Tarifen kombiniert, ergeben effektiv mehr Geld für die Reisekasse!

Hospitality Club

Stressfaktor is your no.1-guide to all the leftie-activities in and around Berlin. They have a complete list of current political and subcultural events, addresses, marshes, soup kitchens, concerts, parties etc.
Der Wegweiser Nr.1 in Sachen linke Subkultur und Politik in und um Berlin ist und bleibt der gute, alte Stressfaktor

Das Erdgeschoß unserer Lieblings-Kadterschmiede in Berlin-Friedrichshain wurde frecherweise geräumt. Am 13.12 wird aber ab 21 Uhr mit einer großen party zurückbesetzt.
One of Berlin's traditional squats, the Rigaer 94, which was squatted in June 1990, has trouble with the owner again. The basement had been evicted in September, but it will be taken back on December the 13th 2002. Join the party and follow the events over at
Rigaer 94 Online (German only)

See the forgotten subway-tunnels of Berlin and crawl around in the mud underneath the city. Great fun and a must for fans of subterranean worlds! Groups gather every saturday on the corner of bad- and Hochstraße in Gesundbrunnen. Berliner Unterwelten

Small store on the way to the airport with vinyl only! Not really cheap, but with an extra-ordinary selection of any kind of music.

Platten Pedro, Tegeler Weg 100, Wedding, tel.3441875, Mo-Fr 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sa 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Platten Pedro

Great selection of more than 6000 videos and 700 dvds! Superb place!

Negativeland, Dunckerstr.9, Tel.:4477447, Mo-Sa 12 until around midnight Negativeland

Swim in salty water and relax to the sounds of Berlin's hippest Djs. This public pool is one big temple of decadence, but it's worthwhile visiting if you really feel ike totally chilling out

Liquidrom , Möckernstr.10, Tel.:74737171, Mo-Thu. 10 a.m. -10 p.m., Fr.&Sa 10 a.m. 'til midnight (full moon 'til 2 a.m.!)

Not too much left to see of the wall which divided the city of Berlin. The monster had been torn down right after the eastern revolution in 1989. But right next to the river at the Oberbaumbridge, there are 1.316 meters of 3,5 meters high concrete wall left. That's the East Side Gallery, which is also a collection of historical grafitti: 114 pieces of artwork produced by 118 artists from all over the world.

Website of the East Side Gallery, Mühlenstr.48-50

Great little bar preferred by artists, writers, djs and musicians. Some sort of cultural event going on whenever they're open (check the site!) It's sort of a little bit away from everything else, but that's why it's well worth checking out.
They charge 50 cents membership per month! Kinski, Friedelstr.28, open wed/fr/sa from 9 p.m.
Kinski Online

Tonikum , Alte Schönhauser 39/40, 10437 Berlin, Fon: 030-51098572, Subway-Station: Schönhauser Allee

Excellent place to buy rap and talk to the owners who also run the Out Now Office for various acts and djs. Best place in town to buy records, mix-tapes and phillies.

Open Mo-Fr 12 a.m-7 p.m. and Sa 12 a.m-4 p.m.

Specializing in Black Music of any kind and home of Jazzanova. Direct imports from all over the world and a great place to pick up flyers and find out what's going on. Any serious record-collector wouldn't wanna miss it.

Soultrade, Sanderstr.29, 12047 Berlin, Fon 030-6945257, Fax 030-6918701, Subway-Station: Schönleinstr.

Open Mo-Fr 11 a.m-7 p.m. and Sa 11 a.m-4 p.m.

Soultrade

Great collection of anything that is of any ionterest. One of the best stores in town. Lots of Soul, Funk, HipHop, Jazz, Worldmusic, and all the alternative pop-stuff. Well informed people working here and located right next to the comic-store Grober Unfug in southern Kreuzberg.

Scratch, Zossener Str.31, 10961 Berlin, Fon 030-69817591, Fax 030-6918704,Subway-Station: Mehringdamm

Open Mo-Fr 11 a.m-7 p.m. and Sa 11 a.m-4 p.m.

Soultrade