Since Richard Wagner’s death, the music story in Germany has been one of a long, slow, seemingly unending and inexorable decline, with The Scorpions, Kraftwerk, and Rammstein the few exceptions. Perhaps there is no brighter, glaringer example of this than at Oktoberfest. The songs heard at Oktoberfest with German lyrics are often also sung at… Read More Oktoberfest: Top-10 American Songs
THE LONDON TIMES Filed on October 13th, 1810 Munich — Yesterday, on a cold, damp, drizzly Friday afternoon, October 12th, 1810, Bavaria’s Crown Prince Ludwig married Princess Therese Charlotte Luise Frederica Emilie of Saxony-Hildburghausen, at the Hofkapelle inside Munich’s Residence, in front of about 200 witnesses. Bavaria’s favorite son, and Saxony’s most eligible lady-in-waiting tied the knot just after 2 pm. During a… Read More Oktoberfest’s Backstory: Ludwig Meets His Match
The Germans are fond of saying “April, April, der macht was er will.” April, April, he does what he wants. In Germany, April gets a bad rap for its weather. That is saying a lot in a country where cold drizzle falling from skies imbued with more than fifty shades of grey is as ubiquitous… Read More A Bit About April
This is not a normal post for this blog, but it seemed appropriate for the day. A true story. Many years ago, when I was first cutting my teeth in the restaurant business as a server, I was scheduled to work a dreaded Valentine’s Day evening. All the ‘newbies’ got these shifts because all of… Read More A Valentine’s Day Ghost
You, Oktoberfest, are without compare, Overpriced everything, and especially the beer. Drunken Debauchery, in December we’ll do a detox, Fill up on roast pork, dumplings, or a slice from an ox. Fill up my glass, sir, 12 euros is very dear. With girls scantily clad, call it tradition I might add, After a liter or… Read More Oktoberfest: An Ode
The weather the last two days was whacked. It was too warm. The Germans don’t like it that way. It needs to be average. Restaurants with outdoor seating were jammed, managers stressfully trying to unfold and set up tables that hadn’t been clean since October. Bike shops can charge as much as they’d like for… Read More Spring Is Here. This Is not a Good Thing for Germans.
Laptops And Lederhosen 