#eat leipzig

[runwayrunway]

No. 17 - A Gay Plane Has Landed (A Rainbow Twitter Icon Livery Compilation)

Yep, it’s that time again! As we wrap up the yearly scheduled month of concentrated rainbow Capitalism, let’s go over some of the paint jobs airlines have used as a much more expensive variant of changing your Twitter icon to a rainbow version for the month of June, immediately after it stops being actually timely.    

To be clear: I am not rating the liveries as a whole. Those get their own posts. I am rating the modifications made to the livery for the occasion. I am judging this, not on overall quality, but on creativity and shamelessness. I want to see a tastefully designed plane that will make homophobic people get mad when they find out it’s operating their flight for as long to come as possible. 

It is not activism and it means nothing, but it has the potential to be somewhat funny, and I think the task of integrating a big gaudy rainbow flag into what’s otherwise a regular airline livery is an interesting and difficult one, and it’s fun to see different airlines to take on the same challenge. It also gives me a chance to review a bunch of special liveries that only change part of the design, as opposed to the ones I’ve already covered which invent a full new paint scheme. Some airlines even had multiple goes at it!

I just want to make my stance abundantly and unambiguously clear. This is not a sincere appreciation of a conglomerate of millionaires deciding they’ll make more money if they paint rainbows on their plane. This is me rating airline liveries.   

N653GT (Amerijet International for DHL)

I begin with N653GT because she flew directly over my house at 4,500 feet maybe a month and a half ago at time of writing. I’m a bit sad that I didn’t get a picture because it was nearly midnight, but not too sad, because it’s not like it’d be recognizable as anything except a DHL plane. I’m unsure if this was Amerijet International’s idea, DHL’s idea, or a mixture of both, but calling it an idea is honestly even generous. You could easily just not notice that there’s anything different about this livery at all. 

Grade: D

D-AEAS (DHL)

Unlike the prior airframe, this plane is registered in Germany (rather than the US) and is part of DHL’s fleet proper. I do think I prefer this to the Amerijet incarnation, both because it’s more visible and because the diagonal lines blend with the body at least somewhat. Couldn’t they have extended the red one a bit, though? That color literally already exists in their color scheme. 

Unfortunately, D-AEAS seems to have been repainted to the vanilla DHL livery sometime in October 2022. 

Grade: C-

D-AEAR / “Delivered With Pride” (EAT Leipzig for DHL)

I’m almost angry because I do think this is very well done. It sort of combines the two prior attempts and turns them into something much better. This implies that they’re learning. 

Relocating the rainbow DHL symbol to the top of the tail solves that weird spacing issue with the gap at the end which the Amerijet incarnation had. It also makes the rainbow tail far more dynamic by giving it the distinct curve of an actual rainbow, then improving it even further by stretching it rather than making it perfectly circular, which adds even more visual interest. I really like how this covers the often-neglected sort of concave line where the vertical stabilizer actually meets the top fuselage, which is often ignored in liveries that bother to integrate the tail with the fuselage proper. I find that in this case the dynamic nature of the curved rainbow actually makes me feel like this tail is part of the fuselage proper despite there being no paint which actually leaves it, an effect probably aided by the fact that the yellow line of the rainbow directly flows into the main yellow of the livery. The fact that the red in the rainbow is also present in the rest of the DHL livery prevents it from feeling unbalanced despite the fact that the main logo is unmodified. 

This livery is very new. Hilariously, I think it was only applied around the 15th or so. I doubt this will happen, but it would be hilarious if they removed it immediately after the end of the month. I also sort of hope they don’t, because this is a pretty solid rainbow plane. (...it would be very funny though.)

Grade: B+

D-AINY / “Lovehansa” (Lufthansa)

While I generally dislike the Lufthansa livery so much that I made this blog, I have to give them props for a tasteful pride integration. It’s neither garish nor negligible, and as a little bonus the interior also has a rainbow motif. I hope at least one German was very shrill and indignant about having to rest their neck on the dreaded gay antimacassar. 

It does feel like somebody thought about this, unlike the Lufthansa livery as a whole. And it will be graded as such, independent from the Lufthansa livery as a whole, which I still hatehansa.

Grade: B-

N854VA (Alaska Airlines) 

I really like Alaska’s take on the pride theme.  It actively adds something to the design of the livery without overpowering it - this is still recognizable as an Alaska Airlines plane but also as a pride plane. The font chosen is fine and the little airplanes are cute. It’s nice. It’s tasteful. It’s delightful. I’ll be honest, it got a smile out of me even though my emotional investment in the concept of a gay pride plane is less than minimal, just because I think the little airplanes are a nice and cute design. 

Apparently a lesbian couple got engaged on a flight operated by this plane. Good for them, I guess. A lot of these airlines operate “pride flights” (???) which as far as I can tell are just like a flying club night with the sort of people who would pay money to attend such an event, which sounds utterly miserable to me, but I’m here to talk about the liveries, not any of this. It just felt worth including a mention of at some point, as this seems to be an industry-wide phenomenon even with airlines which operate no rainbow planes, and this is the only one of the planes which I have any reason to believe hosted a gay marriage proposal. So do with that what you will. In my case, I’ll do nothing. 

N854VA was stored in December of 2022, but is only 11 years old, so surely she’s still airworthy. I’m just saying, if anyone from Alaska Airlines is reading this: bring her back. 

Grade: A-

LX-LQC “Be Pride. Be Luxembourg” (Luxair)

I’m a little conflicted here, because the paint splash isn’t the worst concept ever for a rainbow addition but it is just added to the existing white part without modifying the existing livery otherwise and doesn’t do anything especially interesting. It somehow feels small despite being large. Your eyes could honestly glaze over it. That’s sort of one of the hazards of propliner liveries but that’s no excuse. At the same time it’s far too large. It feels clumsy, haphazard. I don’t really think I care for it. The rainbow logo on the nacelles is a decent touch but not nearly enough to save it. 

The airframe was repainted in the standard Luxair livery in December 2022. Still, while they are no longer Pride, they are, to the best of my knowledge, still Luxembourg. 

Grade: D+

VH-QPJ “Rainbow Roo” (Qantas) 

One of the earliest examples of a pride plane comes from one of the oldest airlines still in operation. The A330 (GAY330, as it was called at the time) adopted her paint scheme in February 2017 in partnership with Sydney Mardi Gras and kept it until May 2018. A trailblazer for sure. I think the flag on the tail looks sort of bad, but just replacing the logo with a rainbow version is literally as obvious and simple of a pride livery as I can think of and I’m honestly fine with that. 

Grade: C-

I do, however, respect that the special flight they did for Sydney Mardi Gras included a Qantas-themed drag queen named Qantana. That said, it seems they hired a drag queen to perform as Qantana instead of there simply being a full-time Qantas-themed drag queen, and I have to say I’d respect it a lot more if someone had just committed to making Qantas camp to that degree. I mean, there’s an entire, what, three seasons of Aussie Drag Race? I’m just saying I feel like the fact that it hasn’t happened reflects poorly on Qantas’s general vibe. 

VH-EBL “Pride is in the Air” (Qantas)

As of February of this year, Qantas decided they were going to give it another shot. This new livery, not in partnership with anyone, is very similar to the original. Much like the original, it’s entirely fine. I do prefer the way that the flag’s stripes are ordered from left to right rather than top to bottom this time around, as it’s much more legible. They also seem to have updated to the progress flag instead of just the standard rainbow flag, and they’ve removed that weird out-of-place flag detail from the tail. Again, I think it could be improved by making the Qantas logo on the tail rainbow as well for balance, and on the nacelles for completeness, but the current state is absolutely fine. 

In all honesty this is probably objectively a C but I do feel the need to upgrade the rating slightly to acknowledge the subtle yet palpable improvement. That’s growth.

Grade: C+

C-GPTS (Air Transat)

Another gay330, this time from Canadian carrier Air Transat. Another simple replacement of the logo, though it does feel unbalanced. The rainbow on the light blue looks nice, I’ll give it that, but it’s super blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. I’m unsure why nobody thought of making the text rainbow too. Maybe to save paint? I say this because in a very blatant and literal variant of the changing your Twitter icon strategy, she only wore the livery for the month of June 2019 before being reverted to Air Transat’s standard. 

Grade: D

N247GS (Cape Air)

Cape Air is a regional carrier based in...Cape Cod, shockingly. They’re very Cape Cod, not in a Kennedy way. I’ve had nothing but good experiences flying with them in the Caribbean, where they operate a tiny fleet of Britten-Norman Islanders, but they also do flights in the Northeast US and especially Cape Cod. They’re a nifty little airline and if you’re ever in a position to fly with them I recommend it - flying in a little 12-seater twin prop is a really unique experience compared to a full-size jet. 

This livery is fine, mostly just replacing the standard blue part of the Cape Air tail with a rainbow, but I like the extra touches on the engine nacelles and wheel pants. I also appreciate the airline’s statement that she’ll wear this livery for the rest of her service life. How long will that be? Good question - Cape Air is phasing out their Cessna 402 fleet for their new Tecnam P2012 Travellers, but they still have a pretty big fleet of them and they seem to be going strong. N47GS in particular is 41 years old, which sounds outrageous but isn’t particularly eyebrow-raising for this sort of plane, and she seems to be in good nick, so here’s to many more years of service. Go grandma!

Grade: C+

G-SAJE “Pride Jet /  Jet Pròis” “Flying's for all” (Loganair)

I truly struggle to figure out how to rate this, because this particular plane looks...borderline featureless before modification. I do sort of like what they’ve done here, in the sense that it reminds me of SAS’s old belly stripes livery and it looks very clean and all that. I think I would really like this on most other liveries, but it’s hard to accept it just slapped on a plane white plane. It’s not integrated into the livery because there’s nothing to integrate it into. I don’t know, I feel like there could have at least been something to match the tartan pattern? I’m not going to turn this into a general Loganair review but the tartan is so underused here and I think at least changing the stripes to a sort of diagonal weave pattern would do a lot to make it fit better. I just don’t know. With a canvas this blank it’s hard to think of specific ideas but this leaves me feeling very wanting and unsatisfied. Come on, Loganair. The sentence ‘Scottish regional airline with tartan-based livery’ leaves me frothing at the mouth, you’ve got to pull yourself together because the potential is way higher than the service ceiling on that plane! (...wait, the ERJ-145 has a 37,000ft ceiling? Why did I expect that to be so much lower? Good for her.)

This livery is also hot off the presses, June 2023 release. 

This really is hamstrung by the absolute nothing it’s working with beforehand. I definitely think this is more elegant than Luxair’s attempt but the livery is so bare to begin with. I guess - I said I’m judging this exclusively by the pride addition, but it’s so hard to not interpret it holistically. I’m too good at my job :/

Anyway. It’s fine but the canvas is so underwhelming that I just can’t like it. Sorry. 

Grade: C-/D+

Thomas Cook Airlines

Thomas Cook actually had at least two pride planes (I’ve seen the number five tossed out but could only find these two - G-TCDE and G-MDBD - for sure). It’s...fine. Like, whatever. It’s a little heart that’s rainbow instead of the generic yellow Thomas Cook heart. It’s not too visible but I’d describe it as a sweet little touch. I prefer it to what Luxair did. It’s fine. I wish they did more, but it’s fine. I don’t think either of these liveries were left intact for terribly long, and there was no fanfare or reporting about either of these. Following Thomas Cook’s legendary 2019 implosion and the resulting record-setting peacetime repatriation of UK nationals G-TCDE is currently stored and in a default Thomas Cook livery, while G-MDBD is flying for a new airline in a new livery. No clue what happened to the other potential gay Thomas Cook planes, but I don’t think it matters either. 

Grade: C-

XA-MAQ (Aeroméxico)

The immediate impression is of an Air Transat or Thomas Cook-style tiny replaced element, but the more I dwell on XA-MAQ the more I appreciate her. Like, it is just the red stripe replaced with a rainbow one, but I’ve realised - and this is true of Thomas Cook’s fab (alleged) five as well - that replacing the logo on the tail without touching the rest of the fuselage or the nacelles ends up looking unbalanced, but replacing a little flourish avoids that and fits more smoothly into the rest of the design.  

Also, while both are small, the little ribbon isn’t the only touch. Immediately beneath it on the fuselage is text reading ‘volamos con orgullo’, which is Spanish for ‘we fly with pride’, if my Googling is correct. I find that pretty cute. No, it’s not a lot, but it’s cute. It’s at least an implication that more went into this design than checking off a box. A lot of the others, Air Transat in particular, feel very ‘oh, we made the logo rainbow, guess we’re done!’. 

Plus, bonus points for keeping the livery - it was first applied in June of 2021 and is still in service. 

Grade: B-

G-VPRD “Rain Bow” (Virgin Atlantic)

Wait...huh? This can’t possibly be the right plane, can it? This is just a normal Virgin livery. 

Wait. Wait a moment.

Zoom...enhance...

image: Virgin Atlantic)

That’s your pride livery? The entirety of your pride livery? Not a small part of a more interesting whole, not a large design that’s visible on the fuselage, this tiny...e-girl cheek decoration of a guy who looks vaguely fruity? This is your big move towards inclusivity that you brag about flying to Doha? 

I already dislike Richard Branson, but I will not forgive him for this particular act until he paints what will be renamed to GayceShipTwo entirely in rainbow colours with THIS PLANE IS GAY written in massive letters on it, and also sends me a million dollars directly shipped via GayceShipTwo to my local airport. Is the runway big enough to land it? No clue, but that’s going to be his problem to figure out and is none of my business. And then afterwards he will fly GayceShipTwo back to his house and land her on his own head, killing himself instantly. Likes charge, reblogs cast.

Grade: F

N724AV (Avianca)

I have mixed feelings. On one hand, all they’ve done is replace the barely-above-standard tail-only design with a rainbow. On the other hand, I do like that it’s not just a flag and has something actually visually interesting about it with the way it intersects itself. I do wish they’d also replaced the logo, nacelles, and winglets with the same rainbow pattern, but the general amount of things going on in the middle and front at least prevents it from feeling unbalanced. I mean, did they do an Air Transat? Sort of yes, but their livery is a lot less rear-heavy at base and there’s a lot more to look at here. 

I don’t know. I think it’s fine. Just fine. Can’t knock it too hard, but not exciting.

Grade: C-

                 __________________________________________

Well, that’s it for the good, the bad, and the Virgin Atlantic of every pride livery I could find record of. Let me know which tepid corporate gesture you found most aesthetically pleasing, and remember: I am doing my utmost to psychically harm Richard Branson with my malicious thoughts, and this medical equipment I’ve stolen is going to help me in this goal.  

I’ll have a couple more posts coming out about planes which aren’t gay pride planes but look like they might be, so keep an eye out for those tomorrow and Monday. 

[nando161mando]

Follow the workshop of the ANTI-REPRESSION CONGRESS 12 April — 14 April 2024 in Leipzig, Germany.

@antifainternational @anarchistmemecollective @kropotkindersurprise @radicalgraff

[bachstueblleipzig]

Ein Fest für die Sinne: Leipzigs exquisites Restaurant für Feinschmecker - das Bachstüb'l!

[cypherdecypher]

Animal of the Day!

West African Lungfish (Protopterus annectens)

(Photo from Zoo Leipzig)

Conservation Status- Least Concern

Habitat- Western Africa; Southern Africa

Size (Weight/Length)- 3.6 kg; 100 cm

Diet- Mollusks; Frogs; Fish; Roots; Seeds

Cool Facts- The West African lungfish have one of the most complex respiratory systems of any fish. Capable of breathing air with help from gas bladders, they can maximize their gas exchange in their lungs. Even when water is abundant, West African Lungfish breathe directly from the surface. However, living in Africa often means a lack of water for most of winter. These lungfish are capable of living outside of water for these months, buried in dry riverbeds and waiting for the rains to bring rivers. During their aestivation, the West African lungfish doesn’t eat at all. One time, a lungfish survived 3 and a half years without eating anything as it waited for its river to fill.

Rating- 13/10 (Epitome of noodle arms.)

[endlich-allein]

I KNOW that you are a specifically Till acc, but do you have any facts on his bandmates? (If not That’s okay love your blog)

Hi ! Thanks for the ask, I tried to gather all the facts I could think of but I probably forgot quite a few (feel free to add to this list if you feel like it !) :

— Richard did a lot of odd jobs when he was young (shoe salesman, cook, etc.) but the job that made the biggest impression on him was as a cleaner for an old lady who had stuffed her poodles. She made him run a feather duster over her poodles ;

— Richard bought his first album in Hungary for 200 marks. It was the album Plastic Surgery Disaster by Dead Kennedys ;

— Rammstein and Depeche Mode got into a tomato fight in the backstage at the 2001 MTV Europe Music Awards.

— Richard bought his first guitar at the age of 16 in Czechoslovakia, not because he knew how to play, but to sell it back in Germany. On the road, he (and some friends) stopped at a campsite and a girl insisted he play, so he strummed the strings. And it was because girls liked guitarists that he became one himself ;

— Paul said that every time Till went to Leipzig, he went to his grandmother's and ate pasta ;

— Paul thinks he might have been a psychic or psychiatrist, Schneider thinks he might have been a computer scientist and Ollie a masson ;

— Paul thinks that if the band were stranded on a desert island, they'd eat Till first, but they'd have to wait until he fell asleep because he probably wouldn't let them. And the worst thing is that Till agrees with it because, when asked the same question, he replied that the group would eat him first because he has more meat than the others...;

— Flake and Paul, along with Feeling B and others, turned Till's house upside down, smashed tables, turned up the music and cooked fried eggs with honey because they couldn't get their hands on the butter ;

— Paul says that if he had to invent an object, it would be a plate that keeps the heat in, because according to him, the dishes are always too hot, so he waits and then they quickly become too cold ;

— Richard and Flake, during the recording of Reise Reise, got into a verbal joust : Richard said that Flake's wife "sang like a cuckoo", and Flake informed Richard that nobody cared about his children's talents ;

— Richard grabbed Till's collar and slammed him against a wall because Till made a joke about Richard's unconditional love of Donald Duck movies. Till repeated this in an interview (with Richard and Ollie) in 2006, to which Richard replied: "Idiot ! I’m a fan of Italian realism from the early 60′s. Alberto Sordi, Fellini... I’m not a snob but unlike these gloomy guys I know cinema well." ;

— Flake told Paul he couldn't be racist because he didn't like anybody ;

— Schneider and Till have gardening competitions, but Till is jealous because Schneider always has the most beautiful orchids ;

— Till sent a huge box of candy with the note "Enjoy the fucking candy" to Chris Martin (Coldplay) to thank him for helping him with a sore neck. Since then, they've been friends, and Chris dedicated a Coldplay song to Till and his children during a concert ;

— Schneider's mother was angry with him because of the Mutter song, but he didn't understand why, he just told her that he didn't write the lyrics ;

— Ollie accidentally hit Till on the head with his bass, Till had to leave the stage and be bandaged, he ended the concert with a huge bandage ;

— Ollie once stole something. It only happened once. It was a little wooden boat, and when he got home he felt so guilty that he confessed the whole thing to his mother ;

[localsunnet]

monn rach lore pt 3

hi chat I’m back

if you recall, there were two endings for Monn after Leipzig, he gets infected or survives.

canonically, he survives. :) so pt 3 will dive into the events after Leipzig (ft. Kaub)

any historical inaccuracies are NOT intentional and im sorry if there are any grammatical errors

any interpretations and scenarios are also VERY VERY VERY allowed

After surviving and escaping Leipzig, Monn stays with the remaining group of survivors (including Father Silvio) as they travel in search of a place free from the cannibals.

The events of Leipzig really effected him a lot, and it’s really starting to show after a few weeks as his cannibalistic thoughts spiralled into actual tendencies.

It started off as an occasional bite of flesh here and there, but he started packing cannibals’ limbs into his bag as ‘extra food’. Father Silvio has definitely noticed it but is willing to occasionally consult him about it to see why and how he got these tendencies in the first place. His teammates were very wary of him but they didn’t question him, and just left him alone with his tendency unchecked as they didn’t want to have anything to do with it.

(Monn during this time has also decided to be semi-verbal, mostly quiet but occasionally letting out a word or a short sentence.)

One day, Monn finally snapped and gave into thr temptation of fresh human meat, which ended up with him murdering the only surgeon of the group and a musician in cold blood, chopping up and eating their limbs.

His teammates were NOT HAPPY and in fact is scared, quickly suggesting that Monn should be executed to avoid any incidents like this from happening. But Father Silvio defended Monn, accusing them of causing this in the first place by leaving him alone and with his thoughts unchecked.

Saying their argument was chaotic would be an understatement, but in the end, Father Silvio left the group by his own terms with Monn, with the goal to somehow reach Kaub.

Their journey to Kaub was less than smooth, Silvio was constantly looking out for Monn and making sure he is not visibly insane, while Monn was trying his absolute best to protect Silvio with his Carbine and Heavy Sabre. (He does lose his heavy sabre later because it broke while he was dealing with a small group of shamblers.)

Monn does eventually run out of limbs to snack on and complains to Silvio. So out of irritation, Silvio offered one of his arms to chop off and eat. He was of course hesitant at first, but temptation took over and he chopped off the arm, which kind of started a thing where if Monn runs out of flesh to eat, Silvio just offers a part of his flesh for him to eat,,,

Their journey went on for a while, stopping at towns or villages to get supplies as they slowly reached Kaub.

Silvio has gave Monn a huge chunk of his flesh at this point, covered by bandages and is pretty much in constant pain. But he cares about Monn a lot, even before the Blight happened, so he was willing to give up his life if it meant helping Monn.

but he can’t last forever, Silvio finally told Monn that he might not survive anymore when they encountered a hoard, and motioned him to run and hide as he sacrifices his life to save Monn, only making him promise to reach Kaub.

This, obviously, also took a big toll on poor Monn, watching a trusted ally sacrifice himself for HIM, and he didn’t believe he deserved such ‘herotic’ acts. Along the way to Kaub alone, he picked up a stray black cat whom he named “Missy” and grew very attached to.

He does eventually reach Kaub, fulfilling Father Silvio’s last wish and found fellow survivors in the church and here commencing the events of Kaub.

What happens in Kaub? Well he survives with a mild infection. But for the sillyboard people out there, Monn joins the backups to the castle and insert fanfic stuff here (its 12am forgive me)

And yes, Missy the cat does survive.

And also yes, he very much misses his brothers, which he hoped is still surviving and is looking for him.

AND THATS MONN’S (CURRENT) LORE!!!

If anything doesn’t make sense UHM IM SO SORRY VRO 😭😭🙏🙏

have fun, i would know, Monn Rach rots my brain!!!

any questions are so welcomed, ask thru strawpage or ask feature here and ill be so happy to respond!!!! /gen

[faradaysketches]

Sona, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse, Leipzig. September 2024 Street was full of people eating and drinking. There were many urban sketchers in these restaurants sharing sketchbooks but fewer than I first thought as I’d confused customers looking in their menus for sketchers in their sketchbooks!

[vladdocs]

CD SHORTS: Who paid for the "Stories about Dracula"?

Until now, it's a mystery who wrote them, denouncing Vlad Țepeș as the "greatest tyrant" in history. However, it has been clarified who the audience was that consumed these prints for over 80 years: the townspeople, the burghers of large cities like Nuremberg, Leipzig, or Hamburg. These prints were not cheap at all and yet they became bestsellers. Printers made money by presenting Țepeș as joking, laughing, and eating next to people impaled, flayed, chopped up, or boiled in a cauldron. But what was so fascinating? Simple: the cities were at odds with the nobles from the surrounding areas, who massacred their merchants or destroyed their goods, just as Țepeș had done in Transylvania. From the perspective of the townspeople, Dracula replaced the image of these nobles whom they hated so much. It comforted them to imagine such a noble and perverse pagan ending up in hellfire.

[mariacallous]

They say, in the end, “history is destiny.” A recent trip to the supermarket reminded me just how true this is. 

I am the daughter of German Jewish immigrants who proudly embraced their new, foreign land when they arrived in New York in 1946. My grandmother, Frau Becker, from Leipzig, Germany, traveled by ship with her family in the aftermath of World War II. She arrived with little more than the clothes on her back — and a few treasured  artifacts to remind her of home, including a trove of recipes. One of which, penned in a careful German cursive script, was for spaetzle. 

Spaetzle, a type of small noodle or dumpling made with fresh eggs, was always accorded a special place at my grandmother’s rectangular wooden table. The preparation of food was such a pre-eminent event in our family, and she made it from scratch, stretched out on a white linen cloth. My mother told me:

“Deine Oma wird jetzt spätzle Machen. Schau dir an, wie sie es macht, damit du weiBt, wie.” (Your grandmother is going to make spaetzle now. Look at how she makes it so that you know how.)

“Bestimmt” (certainly) I replied, although my 8-year-old mind was more focused on the annoying antics of a young male cousin who was taking the head off my Barbie doll.  

I watched my grandmother roll out the spaetzle dough so that it was approximately a half-inch thick, switching seamlessly between French and German as she instructed her children to pay attention to her efforts so that, someday, the dish could be replicated for future generations. Spaetzle was often accompanied by bratwurst or wienerschnitzel, and the adults all drank schnapps with the meal. For a family who’d had more than their share of hardships — my mother and her siblings had hidden in convents, monasteries and farms in the French countryside while most of their extended family perished in the Holocaust – sharing food was a unifying force. But it was mostly German cuisine. As a young child, I craved the things I saw my American counterparts eating: hamburgers, pizza, hot dogs, though none of these ever passed through our doors.

Once I left home for college, my German heritage took a backseat to my burgeoning American identity. While I occasionally found myself thinking in my family’s native tongue, it wasn’t until my late 20s that I accepted that one could not escape one’s history. That despite my attempts to become as American as apple pie, my German roots had shaped me into someone else. And no one represented those roots more than my grandmother. 

By this time, my grandmother had passed away from cancer at age 81, surrounded by her family in Los Angeles. Shortly after her death, my cousin sent me a selection of photos of her. Studying them provoked a sudden urge to learn more about her. Through stories, my mother taught me of her lively intelligence and humble demeanor. That, among her many virtues, she was well-known as an excellent cook. 

On a recent trip to the supermarket, history clapped back at me when my eye alighted on a box of spaetzle in the pasta aisle. With an emotional jolt, I realized that I hadn’t thought about it since I left home for college at 19. I purchased the box, but on the ride home I suddenly heard my grandmother’s accented voice reminding me that real spaetzle is a dish you make yourself.

Once home, I put the box in the cupboard with a guilty conscience, and began to look for my grandmother’s old recipe, lettered in her German cursive script. The ingredients were simple enough: flour, egg and a bit of milk mixed into a pancake-batter-like consistency. Dropping little lumps of the batter into some salted boiling water then ensued. When the lumps finally took form, plumping up into particulate morsels, I drained off the hot water, forcing myself to wait for them to cool before digging in. The first bite reconnected me to my childhood — to the tastes of my bubbe’s kitchen, and the sounds of immigrants talking in their native languages, their home a refuge in this strange, new land. 

The box of spaetzle I bought, which I know I will never use, still sits high upon a kitchen shelf, recalling the architecture of a former life. It reminds me that each of us is knit of an infinite fabric of previous histories; that I cannot separate my identity from my past, but can reside happily in my European and American worlds. When my son nearly trips on a street curb while alighting from our car, the word “Vorsichtig!” (Watch out!) suddenly issues from my throat. I tell him my own stories about the great-grandmother he never knew, who poured love and soul into her food, so that her story is not forgotten. The word “spaetzle” is now a part of his vocabulary, and one day he will make that delicacy, with his bubbe’s blessing, on his own.

[nando161mando]

Lipsia: Nel quartiere di Plagwitz più di 100 Antifa sono scesi in piazza e per una manifestazione spontanea lungo la Karl-Heine-Straße...

Leipzig: In the Plagwitz neighborhood more than 100 Antifa took to the streets and for a spontaneous demonstration along Karl-Heine-Straße...

#FreeMaja #Leipzig

[bachstueblleipzig]

Bachstüb'l Leipzig ist eines der besten Restaurants in Leipzig. Wir bieten unseren Gästen eine einladende Atmosphäre, in der sie sich entspannen und köstliche hausgemachte Gerichte genießen können. Unser Angebot an Speisen und Getränken ist abwechslungsreich und reicht von klassischen Gerichten bis hin zu innovativen Kreationen. Wir verwenden nur die besten Zutaten und bereiten jedes Gericht sorgfältig zu. Besuchen Sie uns und erleben Sie ein kulinarisches Erlebnis, das Sie nicht vergessen werden. Wir freuen uns darauf, Sie bei uns begrüßen zu dürfen!

[stormoflina]

Domi interview, part 3

Dominik says the biggest differences from going to playing in the Bundesliga to the PL, are pace and decision making.

D: "You get the ball, then you have 2 seconds to make a decision, in the Bundesliga you had 4. Every match is a life or death situation. Every team can beat the other, and this is what it's so great about it [the PL].

About how beefed up Salah got ever since his shoulder injury in Madrid, if working out like he does, strengthening core muscles are expected of everybody, or it's a plus they can decide to do:

The interviewer basically goes on a monologue about how muscular and strong Mo is. He seems very impressed, retelling how Mo works out, how strong he is and wonders if the special workouts he seems to do is what makes him avoid injuries. He asks Dominik about his opinion, if he too, believes in putting in the extra work, like Salah does.

D: "Nothing is obligatory, we don't have a gun to our heads to work out in the gym. Everyone does it for themselves. He [Salah], yeah, it's true all what you said. I talked a lot about to him about this, asking questions, because I was interested. He said, until he was like 28 years old, he didn"t do this (...), then he decided to cut out pasta, bread, sugar (...). He made his decision, and ever since, like even if we have training at 12, he is at the gym by like 10."

I: " And what about you, what do you think, do you do this or not (...)?"

D: "Everyone is different. I do my own things, this [what Mo does] is I think not what I need. I have tried it, being very strict about food (...), but I didn't feel better. I felt very anxious, that I had to restrict myself, I didn't feel free, didn't feel like I was able to do things freely. Now, if I feel like eating some chocolate, then I will eat it. He [Mo] thinks different."

About how much work he brings to his private life, if he watches matches in his free time, things like that:

D: It's hard still. I'm trying to build this habit up, that when I come in the door, I leave work behind, and when I leave the house and go to training it's all about football (...) But it's hard. (...) I very rarely watch matches, usually only when one of my friends play. I have a friend, who now plays in the NB2 (the Hungarian Second Division), sometimes I watch that on Youtube.

I have a friend group of 5 people, we do a shared call, than watch the friend's match on the TV."

I: "Do they do the same with you?"

D: "Sometimes it doesn't work out, but yeah, they all watch my matches too."

About playing style of RB Leipzig vs Liverpool

The interviewer goes on about how Klopp changed his tactics up a bit, after Liverpool became the champion, back then it was less direct, but now it's so direct, all about gegenpressing, there are so many balls going forward, meaning there are many, which "come back too". [It's all about counter pressing.]

D: "I can't really compare the two teams, it's a different league, different players. The coaching mindset is different too, even if Klopp and [Marco] Rose are quite similar choaches."

I: "And then there is Jesse Marsch, [Klopp and Rose] basically on steroids." (lol)

D: "You get the ball, long ball/long pass, then shuhsu. [makes a sound to go forward]

But, basically, the last season for Liverpool was kinda bad. So, he [Klopp] thought, let's twist it all up. We will go for every ball, we will get every ball, then when we have it, we will go forward. Not in a stupid way, of course, if we can't go forward, then we keep the ball, twist it around (...). There is [tactical] football, it's not get the ball forwards." [basically saying not hoofball]

I: "You are someone, who rather keeps the ball, turns it around in the sides..."

D: "Before the match against Everton, in training there was a situation, when we were playing, running for like 5 minutes, and I kept the ball, passed it back, said that why aren't we going forward? Then, the others told me, we are not going forward, because we have been running for 5 minutes, let the opponent run some, while we keep the ball."

I: "It was reported, that when TAA started inverting to midfield, he would find this information [if he has to do this or not] a day before the match. This seems ??? (sorry, for some reason I cannot understand what he says). Is it the same for you, because sometimes you play as a 6, mostly when you are down to 10 men [Dominik chuckles at that], it seems your position on the field changes a lot. How soon do you find this out?"

D: "Our positions are discussed in the training before the match. But everything can happen, so it does change a lot."

I: What did Klopp tell you yesterday [in the game against Everton] at the 61th minute, when he called you over to you at the side of the pitch? Everton was very deep by then, defending 5-3 basically, leaving no place left in the midfield. Do you remember what he said (...)?"

D: "He told me to go forward, to be closer to Jota. If there is a ball, shoot."

I: "In Leipzig and the NT too, you are right in front of the pitch with the ball [meaning that he had the time and space to attack, move the ball], but now, you are playing as an 8, where you have seconds to find space between the lines, it's all very quick. Which styling play you prefer (...)"

D: " I don't like to play backwards to the net. I feel like I'm someone, who can see things, when facing the net, which others may not. It's an advantage I try to use as much as possible, to give myself a bigger space from the people, then I try 1 vs 1, or either with passes, but if I have to play between the lines, then I will do that."

I: "Do you have any preference where to play? [position vias] You said you like to be in front of the net, but sometimes, as an attacking 8, that's not possible."

D: "It depends on how I position myself. Whatever position I play, I can position myself in a way that it works out for me. I don't mind if I have to play deep, what matters to me is that I can turn, and see everything in front of me. Not when I get the ball, and there are people breathing down in my neck. I don't like that."

I: "But that happens a lot lately. (...). Sometimes you have to play as a double pivout."

D: " Yeah, it happens, when we feel like we can't get through them. Then, Trent goes to the right wing, and then Mac Allister and I can deal with the rest."

The interviewer then mentions the problems Trent faced last season, that Henderson used to help him out. Question that when he has to do the same [cover for Trent, when he inverts into the midfield] how automatic it is, if it comes naturally, or it's something Klopp drilled into him.

D: "No, it comes naturally to everyone, I think. If you see your RB struggling, you will go and help them. I'm not a good defender, but I know what I have to do in that 1,5 min I'm there."

Question about the connection between Klopp and Pep. He said, and it was reported as well, that he [Pep] invented this new position of TAA, and sometimes it's him who is in charge of the training too. Who comes up with the tactics, who tells them (...).

D: "We don't know who comes up with the tactics. Klopp is the one who tells us, and it's only him, who does the training before the match. Other trainings, Pep does it sometimes."

Question about Dominik's feelings and impression of Pep.

D: "He is good. I love him. He listens to everyone, we all listen to him. It's great to work with him."

About Haaland.

Haaland said his superpower is regeneration. Examples how he tapes his mouth, things like that. "He is a machine, a robot, says that about himself as well." Question if Dominik believes in the same stuff as well.

D: "I don't judge (lol), everyone does what they think it's the best for them. Back in Saltzburg, I meditated with him a few times, because we shared a room. First, I thought it was stupid, then I joined him, because why not. He used to wear those blue light glasses, I tried that one out too, he said it would help me sleep better... Well, you can only guess, if it worked out I would be wearing them still. It didn't help me. Maybe it didn't work out for me, because I didn't believe in it. He does a lot of other [regeneration] stuff, that people don't know about. I have been in his place, yeah it's a lot. He is a bit strange. [laughs]"

Short questions:

I: "Do you prefer heavy metal football or a possesion-based, slower stlye?"

D: Both, it depends. Maybe I prefer when I have the ball, and it's the opponent who has to run, not me, even if I can.

I: DC or Marvel?

D: Marvel.

[im-suchanicegirl]

Hi! Feel free to answer this whenever you're rested from your trip. But I'd like to know how Germany was 🥰 (other than the guys from SPC saying you're a good photographer 🤭)

HIIIIII.

Im still on the adrenaline of the flight and all but oh my god im ready to leave again for Germany.

Some highlights:

- "the Germans" became "the Germs" and @lovesomehate and I must have said ‘fucking germs’ too often

- german tv had an after hour sexy ad thing with half naked girls and one of the ad was called ‘susie 9’ and i said "oh no, this is what susie the saxophone grew up to be"

- i was holding my phone saying HELLO FROM MONTREAL and Stefan R. saw it and pointed at me, i pointed back (like the spiderman meme) and he did a 🫶🏼 but i didnt get a picture

- Dan, when i said i was from Canada: Montreal??? What are you doing in Germany? IN LEIPZIG?? Did you get lost??

- jan, when he heard us speak french: were you at the electric callboy show in Montreal?? IT WAS SO HOT?? *rambles to @chaotic-gingey about it*

- being thoroughly confused by The Butcher Sisters every single night

- I sang Ein Zwei Polizei everytime we saw a police car (sorry @lovesomehate and @chaotic-gingey )

- It was Anne-Marie in Germany instead of Emilie in Paris, as I strolled in the morning to get breakfast, coffee and food from the grocery store.

- Germans are so fucking tall y’all i need heels

- i can’t even explain how good and better food is there. The quality. The diversity. (Though i hope you like paprika)

- the döner and curry wursts are the unsung heroes

- on night two there were no barricades so we were right at the feet of the bands which was… interesting to say the least.

- thats when stefan said he and dan liked my pictures and i basically melt on my bed.

- me: these are candies from Canada for EVERYONE. Roberto, the merch dude: oh, Daniel will love this.

- @chaotic-gingey and I didn’t vibe in Berlin so we drove to Hamburg with the idea of visiting and maybe attend the show

- spoiler we did 🙄

- we stayed by the sound booth as we were tired and hot and basically… forgot to eat that day. Bad idea. The place got so hot i was sure I’d faint. Front row were troopers!

- @chaotic-gingey and I ‘awwwwwing’ when we saw that Bollo’s screen background was the Tekkno tour picture with the guys and their team

- Two German dudes tried to invite us to a party or a bar and wouldn’t take no for an answer and tbh it was just hilarious as they were not threatening. They even asked for a picture with us when they left 😂

- we met the guys again🥰 Stefan’s hugs > any hugs. Better than Kevin’s hugs. I don’t know. It’s just, pretty sure he cracked my back. He thanked us again a million times for coming.

- roberto gave us flame glasses and it was hilarious and its one of my favorite things

- me: did you like the Canadian candies? Dan: ohYES. I haven’t finished them but im working on it.

- the entirety of State fall guys being the sweetest bunch❤️

- we went to eat at the döner place after the show

- @chaotic-gingey : wouldnt it be funny if Bollo or any of the guys were to come in hahaha

- narrator: Bollo did come to the döner place to get some food, much to her shock.

- i fell on the ice And couldnt stop laughing

- we drove back to Berlin and with less than two hours of sleep we made our way to the airport

-now im writting this to you and I’m sad

-lets all move to Germany

[lindsaywesker]

Good morning!  I hope you slept well and feel rested?  Currently sitting at my desk, in my study, attired only in my blue towelling robe, enjoying my first cuppa of the day.

Too Much Information Tuesday happened yesterday, so let’s just reflect on a fabulous long weekend, which continues today!

Friday was pretty normal.  Saturday was superb, as ever.  Many thanks to everyone that listened to the show.  If you missed it, it’s available on Mixcloud.  My team played well and won.  Top 6 at Christmas.  After years in the doldrums, I’ll take that.  We just need a few new players and we’ll have a decent squad.

On Sunday, as predicted, I did a huge shop at Sainsbury’s.  Cashed in all my Nectar points and got £30 knocked off my bill.  Many will say it’s a false economy, as Sainsbury’s is one of the most expensive supermarkets.  Yeah, maybe it is, but we like their food.

The queue to check out was 30 minutes!  As I queued, I talked to this woman, and we couldn’t remember the last time Christmas Eve was on a Sunday, definitely contributing to the congestion!  The Trouble wasn’t really feeling Christmas Eve and dozed most of the day, only waking up at midnight to start wrapping presents.  Best to let her work to her own rhythms. 

Christmas Day was brilliant!  We had ackee, saltfish and hard dough bread and butter for breakfast.  Including all the kids, we had 24 for dinner!  More than we’d expected.  The dining room was a glorious cacophony of very loud teasing, insults and laughter.  There was no room for me at the table, so I ate in the front room.  Vegetable soup for starters, roast lamb, roast chicken, BBQ ribs, roast potatoes, fried plantain, macaroni cheese, stuffing and gravy for mains.  Trifle for dessert.  Nobody went home hungry and that made me very happy.  I love my family and I love feeding them!  The Trouble out-did herself & cooked up a veritable storm!

We’ll be off to Hove soon, to see Lady Wesker & my brother, in from Leipzig.  That will involve eating more food, so I’ll make sure I walk down to the sea front on Wednesday morning.     

Have a tremendous & tumultuous Tuesday.  I love you all.

[thegothicviking]

TW: Mention of suicidal thoughts

__________

Lost another friend due to me being "high "maintenance"...although I don't feel like I am?

I guess I nagged too much on her and she didn't think that not wishing me "happy birthday" was a big deal, when I personally think birthdays are important. Clash in personalities I guess.

I'm just glad that we didn't have that much in common (although she told me she was Asperger too and she was the only physical friend in a long while that I had a mutual fave band with, Bauhaus,) but we weren't even friends for a whole year so it's not that much of a loss I guess. I might have ONE "in real life" friend left now. ONE that I can still visit. But I feel like she is gradually withdrawing herself too. She is never the first to contact me to ask to hang out...

To be honest, I feel empty and tired of trying. I feel I need to "keep a lid on myself"/wear a mask now as I always end up being too enthuastic about a new friendship right from the start. This enthusiasm is scaring them away. So I'll try to keep it more "low profile" but this last physical friend, but it's hard when you have endured so many years of bullying and finally get to talk to someone face to face. Of course I get excited! It's like a starving man finally get access to food for the first time in a long time! He ends up eating too much and too fast. Just like I end up nagging and pushing...

I guess I just haven't found my type of people yet. And I honestly don't think I will, at least not here in Norway...

It has only been a week since I returned from Dresden and Leipzig..and my suicidal thoughts are already back. I returned from being surrounded by likeminded people..being able to express themselves and dress how they wanted to!

And then returning to..."normal people"...everyone looks the same..everyone is talking about the same mundane things.. It's eating me from the inside!

I wanted to be honest with anyone who is willing to read this: the mental health care system in Norway is a joke. They will straight up tell you that "because you are suicidal/have suicidal thoughts...this and this program won't work for you" and then they let you leave without even trying to recommend or place you into some other option of therapy or help. It's like they literally want you to just... die.

Here at home: I honestly feel like that person that stinks..or have some sinister mark on them. As if I have the plague and everyone avoids me..and I am blissfully unaware that I stink..or have the plague..and so I try to run towards the pretty people and I always have to try and chase them because they keep on running away from me. And I am blissfully unaware that I am meant to be shunned/shooed away. That I don't belong.

Ever since I was 6-7 years old and wrote in a stupid "friendship book" (which I now honestly believe is cursed)..all of my then friends who have ever written in it, are no longer my friends and in the beginning of the book I was supposed to write or draw whatever I wanted in life (as an introduction to the owner of the book/me).

As a 6-7 year old I could have written or drawn the most insane of things! Ask a child what they want and they can answer anything from a pony to a million in cash or a whole mountain made of candy..

And what did I write/draw? What was I wishing for? From anything in the world what did I want?

"Friends." ("Venner").

I draw two girls chasing each other in a tag-game. And I wrote "Venner" ("Friends").

And now, over 20 years later...that wish is sadly still relevant.

I really want to go on..but I am so tired.

If I didn't have my fic series...something I feel like I HAVE TO complete (out of spite or because hate to have any project unfullfilled). If I didn't have that... I'm sure I would have been 6 feet under now...or have had my ashed tossed into the sea.

I have no therapist...I wasn't allowed to keep him..and besides my family I don't have anyone to vent too. This is why I make this long post now. As to make you all my followers/mutuals aware that.. I might give up one day. I don't believe suicide is selfish. I believe you should be allowed to end it all if everything seems hopeless. I just wanted to vent. I just wanted you all to know...

I am grasping the last strands here. I am trying my best to keep on...but please don't be mad/angry if I decide to give up. I have fought these thoughts for 21 years now... Don't be mad at me if I'm too tired to keep on fighting. But I will give you a sign. I will let you know..if I decide to give up.

[fatehbaz]

As the Zapatistas say, “walking we ask questions,” [...].

It is about working together, side by side, in common purpose. We try to reach a sense of reciprocity -- we work towards the world we want to see together. [...] [W]e each bring to the table what we can. [...] Solidarity [...], at its best, it is about relationships and becoming [...] people who actually care about each other. In reality, solidarity is a messy and exasperating exercise. [...] There were countless brilliant initiatives and projects that were a credit to national and international solidarity, from introducing potable water systems, solar energy supply, technologically appropriate means of communication, pirate radio, organic horticulture [...]. And of course, there were a lot of unsuccessful and failed ventures, because it was a learning experience [...].

Beyond solidarity, the Zapatistas were planting the seed of Zapatismo and encouraging people to, instead of simply supporting them, “Be a Zapatista wherever you are.” Solidarity as movement building. When asked what the best contribution was that internationals could make to the Zapatista struggle, an old Zapatista back then said, “More Seattles.” A more contemporary version would be “More Black Lives Matter Uprisings.” [...]

---

Within Fortress Europe there are various territorial bases of what might better be described as counter-power. [...]

[I]n Athens, [...] the rebellious neighborhood of Exarchia is home to a large community of Greek and international radicals. [...] The people have created a neighborhood-wide structure to offer support to refugees and migrants and [...] they live together, they eat together and they struggle together. Activists have squatted buildings to provide shelter for those that needed it, food is distributed from various social centers [...], there are free health and education initiatives and resources are shared [...]. Walking around Exarchia [...], you get a palpable sense of everyday solidarity -- not just with the refugees and migrants, but for global social and political movements based in the neighborhood, from Kurds to Palestinians. [...]

For years, Exarchia has been a living, breathing center of counter-power in the [Euro-American] [...] core committed to supporting developments in the periphery in a reciprocal manner. And it’s the threat of a good example, which is why they are faced with unrelenting state repression. Now, because of the rapid gentrification of the area [...] and the rampant commodification of living spaces via [air b and b], it can feel like a territory under siege. [...]

---

Exarchia is not exceptional, there are bases of anti-systemic alternatives all across Europe albeit on a smaller scale and in different forms. I’ve witnessed comparable autonomous projects in, for example, the Connewitz neighborhood in Leipzig, or Vallekas in Madrid. Christiania in Copenhagen is something else -- more of an intentional community -- but shares similar traits. The common factor is the desire to create communal, non-capitalist initiatives that bring people together and foster mutual aid. [...] These are dark days in Europe with the rise of the far right, the climate crisis, the pandemic and gross inequality. What the anti-systemic nodes represent is a radical alternative and a ray of hope.

---

Words of Ramor Ryan as transcribed in an interview conducted by Liam Hough. Published as: Ramor Ryan. “Zapatismo, solidarity and self-governance: a conversation.” ROAR Magazine. 23 March 2022. [Some paragraph breaks and contractions added by me.]