Sharron Kidney-Stone Live From Berlin

Air Guitars and Rubber Boots

2007-07-29T23:05:00.000+02:00

Ok, Finland probably has the weirdest competitions with wife carrying, pea eating and mobile pone throwing but this month Germany had some fun to offer too: Berlin hosted the German Air Guitar Championships - always a great event! Just today - despite horrid weather - splash divers competed in Hamburg in the Cannonball World Championships (kind of a masochistic event for those who dig sore butts), and again in Berlin folks with nothing else to do also gathered in Berlin for the Rubber Boot Throwing World Championships. Which brings me back to Finland coz a 70 year old Finnish guy won in the Mens Seniors category and a Finnish woman in the Ladies Seniors. Probably beats sitting in an old peoples home watching TV all day...
Maybe the gay community should think up some new exciting competitions... Gay Games and Eurogames are fine, but how about some fun championships like Dildo Throwing World Cup, Gaydar Contest, Outing Marathon etc etc?! Start practicing boys and babez, I'm sure it's soon to come...

L Pulp - Bad Lesbians in Bad Stories

2007-06-15T08:51:00.000+02:00

Inspired by the many emails I received thanking me for the Queer Music Heritage post, I have decided to post some of the interesting gay/lesbian links I have collected over the years. One of my favorite sites is the Lesbian Pulp site. It's amazing how many cheap little pulp fiction mags were published that portrayed the lesbian way as a sleazy mainly sex-driven lifestyle - outlawed but somehow with an irresistible attraction to the forbidden. I love the illustrations and especially the subtitles. There are actually quite a few sites featuring the lesbian pulp paperbacks, I like Strange Sisters best, check it out here. Surf-lazy? O.K., here's a quick preview of the best L Pulp covers:

gay and lesbian music

2007-06-10T03:23:00.000+02:00

I've been blog lazy - due to work and the great weather in Berlin - so much has been going on in our city and Ill be sure to write again in the next weeks: gay/lez street fetival is coming up as well as gay pride.
but today just a link for you: as a musician I really appreciate the Queer Music Heritage website. This guy has put a lot of work and probably years of research into this site! Preserving gay and lesbian history just becoz it has to be done and out of passion and personal beliefs has become rare in these fast paced times..so kudos to JD Doyle, and to say it in slightly modified ABBA words: thank you for the queer music JD!!
Be sure to check out this mp3: Here come the leaping Lesbians! Today it might seem hilarious, but back then in 77 any lez song was a revolution. I heard the Lesbian Concentrate LP for the first time in the early 80s - and although I was ecstatic about an all lesbian record, I was a bit confused about the song title Leaping Lesbians... frogs leap, bunnies leap. and as a young dyke I did a lot of unusual things...but leap? So, funny then and funnier now - and at least another L-word alliteration for the record.

How women open beer bottles

2007-05-05T07:12:00.000+02:00

I've always admired the gals who can open German beer bottles with a cigarette lighter (contrary to US beer German beer bottles have a tight crown cap that can't be screwed or popped off )... I've tried but only ended up with a sore hand and a broken lighter. Now watch the woman in this ad... this is definitely the ultimate bottle opener.... I'll start practicing tomorrow, but probably end up with a very sore belly button!

Talking Cats

2007-04-17T00:25:00.000+02:00

Being the owner - no my mistake - I mean: being the tolerated can opener and fur stroker of a wonderful cat, I always love funny cat videos. This one is hilarious and encouraged me to try to teach my cat to say "I love you"! Of course she is far too clever and too much of a diva to even attempt to do anything I ask her to do, so I've finally given up and spend my time watching other peoples' felines chatting away instead. Enjoy!

Personal Ads - The Truth

2007-04-12T07:07:00.000+02:00

I found a site that finally explains what all the terms used in personal ads really mean - watch out girls, meeting someone after a few drinks in a bar might be the better alternative after all!
Some examples:
§ Adventurer.....Has had more partners than you ever will
§ Athletic.......................Flat-chested
§ Emotionally secure....... Medicated
§ Fun........................... Annoying & Talks A Lot
§ Gentle ..................... Comatose
§ Good listener ........... Borderline autistic
§ Open-minded ............. Desperate
§ Outgoing.................... Loud
§ Romantic.................. Looks better by candlelight
§ Wants soulmate..........One step away from stalking

Bears come and bears go

2007-03-29T07:33:00.000+02:00

The eternal circle of life in animal kingdom at the Berlin Zoo:
icebear Knut, everbody's favorite animal at the moment, was born and another favorite of the Berliners panda bear Yan Yan suddenly died shortly after. Yan Yan (22 yrs old) was here for 11 years –meant to be the mate of male panda Bao Bao, but actually they had no interest in each other and lived quite separately all the time. now Bao Bao is the only panda bear left in Germany!
Folks here and even around the world are Knut-crazy (me too, he is soooo cute and cuddly!!), and visitors line up for hours just to get a glimpse of him. If you can't come you can see the pics and videos at the Knut blog. But as Knut dominates the national news and magazines and TV shows let's take the time to say bye-bye to Yan Yan. Brought all the way to Berlin with the sole purpose to make Panda babies - or at least one! - she obviously just didn't give a damn but led her lazy Zoo life as an independent Panda lady, more interested in snoozing, eating and watching the strange humans than in the joys of motherhood. Here's a picture I took of her last Spring
Seeing that, I'm sure she will rest in Peace!

German weather gone funny

2007-03-25T05:25:00.000+02:00

We've had sleet and snow to start off Spring here in Berlin...but now finally the sun came out and as usual the Berliners populated all the street cafés and changed from bad mood mode to happy cosmopolitan mode. Just found one of my favorite blooper videos. Popular German weather lady Maxi Biber (pronounced beeber, means beaver!) had a giggle attack while on air... you don't have to understand what she says, except for between laughing and temperatures and sunny spells she manages to say "I'm sorry" about 5 times...

Drag-Trash de Luxe

2007-03-08T02:59:00.000+01:00

Berlin subculture at its best: I recently had a great crazy evening at one of the cities most cool clubs White Trash - my friends from the SqueezeBOX band had invited me to a concert. PMS, the late hour (after midnight) and the freezing temperatures outside almost made me stay at home, but my GF managed to drag me outside, stating that I was about to become a lazy old couch potato, and I'm glad she did! The first act were the Teaserettes - Germany's first burlesque go-go dancers. Their show is incredible, a wonderful blend of dance, art, comedy and sex - and they had the crowd excited and cheering within minutes. The crowd being a colorful mix of gays, dykes, girlies, business men in suits, stylish women with expensive handbags, students who still go grunge style and some scene VIPs - anything goes at the White Trash.
So now finally: the SqueezeBOX band (Berlin edition!).
I guess they are one of the most unusual bands around. Jutta, Mr Wonke and Andrea are the cool dykes on guitar, drums and bass. Then a slim new-wavy kind of guy on the other guitar (sorry, I forgot your name, but you're extremely cool nonetheless!). And finally the leading ladies Gloria Viagra & Sherry Vine (who flew in from New York). Imagine two drag queens (with the most amazing long legs!) rocking the house with their wild repertoire from Pink to ACDC ... they are charming and rude at the same time, need a drink after every song and are sometimes so out of tune, but that really doesn't matter - it's all party party party and even gets the expensive handbags and business suits jumping up and down and screaming the lyrics.
Oh and check out Gloria's website - she has the cutest flash intro I've ever seen.

The Butcherette

2007-02-08T22:48:00.000+01:00

I just came across a photo I took last summer:

Even if you don't know what a Carniceria could be, Señora Mari Carmen's sign helps you figure it out. The sign actually caught my eye as it is very unusual in Spain (and I guess in other countries too) for a woman to own a butchery. However, when I went in and saw this very large older lady with very strong arms and very big hands chopping steaks with a ferocious expression, I knew she was born to be a butcher!

Lily Tomlin 's L-Words

2007-02-06T05:51:00.000+01:00

I love to browse through famous people quotes! It's great when you are in need of a profound piece of wisdom and your own words just sound profane, shallowbrained or simply like they were written by a 6 year old.... I usually resort to poets or classical writers (for the intellectual touch), sometimes to actresses ( the cool women category) and rarely popstars (when in need of intended profanity with a kick.)
Some of my favourite quotes in the category funny and wise at the same time are by Lily Tomlin, and as I just rediscovered a Lily quote collection I had bookmarked, I have the urge to share them.
So here are some of Lily's L-Words (L as in life, laugh, looney, lily-speak):
- Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic?
- Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.
- The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.
- Reality is the leading cause of stress among those in touch with it.
- I've always wanted to be somebody, but I see now I should have been more specific.
- If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed.
- Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet?
- Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.

Beware of the Lesbian Callgirl Clones

2007-02-02T08:16:00.000+01:00

Recently a friend visiting from London asked me if there were a lesbian escort service in Berlin. I remembered that many years ago the fabulous Dr. Laura Merrit (Germany's answer to Susie Bright!) founded "Club Rosa" (Club Pink), the first callgirl service by and for lesbians, however I had no idea if they were still around. Out of curiosity and as I always love to help a girl in need I set off for Google-Land to find the answer. First the good news for all you lonesome business women coming to town needing some sensual distraction after a hard day's work: Laura's escort service is still available. It took me a while to find it though - try typing "lesbian escort service berlin" in Google and you will see what I mean, over 200,000 sex and escort sites that surely don't offer what my friend was looking for. Narrowing my search down to German websites only reduced the results to some 20,000 and fortunately the right link was on page one. However, I knew what I was looking for ... I can sense the frustration of a randy lesbian surfing for salvation and ending up on escort sites like this one I found: it's called Berlin XP and offers men, women, gay boys and apparently lesbians. Clicking on the "Our Lesbians" button reveals 24 alleged lez escorts from around the world - but beware: if you look closely you will notice that they kind of look alike... in lack of dykes wanting to work as callgirls they have obviously created clones of a busty blonde lingerie model and given them different names and nationalities:

My advice ladies: even if you love femmes and you're desperate: don't fall for the clones - my untarnished gaydar tells me they know zilch about the joys of true all-girl-action! You can get the real thing by contacting Laura, just send her a mail. You could of course just go to a club or party and chat up the attractive girl next to you at the bar, might be the beginning of a passionate long-distance relationship - it has happened before!

Oranges aren't the Only Fruit

2007-01-18T00:40:00.000+01:00

Today in the supermarket I saw a woman at the fruit shelves picking up oranges one by one and softly squeezing them before placing them into her basket. She did this very slowly and obviously enjoyed the feeling! Watching her fruity pleasure reminded me of an Israeli TV ad from 1998 by Citrusfruit company Tapuz. It was quite challenging at the time - not only because of the apparant though subtle lesbian erotica but also because it confronts the orthodox morals. A modern Israeli woman dares to drive into a religious neighbourhood with a sleeveless shirt and pants, flirting with an orthodox woman while peeling an orange - in her mind obviously not only undressing the fruit.
One of my fav books is Oranges aren't the Only Fruit, but watching this ad you'll see oranges can be a very sexy fruit!

Happy Holidays

2006-12-24T22:14:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas everybody and happy holidays -
whoever you believe in or whatever higher power guides you through your life, be sure you take the time to show your loved ones you care, dont forget those who are less fortunate and dont forget to be good to yourself - a new year is coming up and there is so much to wish for in this crazy world. Wherever you may be: I wish you well and I do believe: love rules.

Christmas Light Craze

2006-12-21T05:04:00.000+01:00

In a previous post I suggested you visit the Potsdamer Platz to get into the Berlin Christmas feeling...unfortunately I didn't take my camera when I went there the other day, but you have to see the magnificent lights in the shopping mall - and fortunately someone else with more time and a better camera has been paid to put some photos online.

Click here to see more.

Scared of Santa

2006-12-19T07:41:00.000+01:00

One of my favourite sites at this time of the year is the Scared of Santa Photo Gallery
It proves that from a kid's point of view that fat old man, the total stranger who apparantly knows if you've been good or bad is a frightening figure! I remember sitting on his lap for the first (and last) time in some department store... he smelt really bad (deoderants failed in those days when you were wearing a thick padded red suit) and had a terrifying deep voice, I was scared to death! My mother then decided to destroy the myth and told me the whole truth about who really brought my presents. I was so happy that it was Mummy and that the horrid fat man wouldn't be invading our house. I still wondered for many years though how my mother managed to get down our chimney....

The Bitch is Back

2006-12-17T08:14:00.000+01:00

After a long blogging break I've returned. Sometimes a gal just needs a break. And a wise person once said: don’t speak, unless you can improve the silence. Not that I live by that, but still a great quote. Berlin, experiencing the warmest November/December since weather reports were invented, is none the less all Christmas-craze. Beautiful lights everywhere, millions of stressed people shopping for presents, every German popstar has released a tacky Xmas album and for some reason most of my friends have invited me for a pre-Xmas party - all on the same day! So I'll be Christmas party hopping and drinking lots of Gluehwein... a hot red wine with various spices that usually gives you a terrible headache the next day. If you want the xtreme Berlin Xmas experience I suggest the following: go shopping at the Potsdamer Platz. After an hour of shoving and pushing in the shops have a break at one of the stands outside at the Christmas market and drink 2 or 3 Gluehweins. Then climb up the artificial snow mountain and race down the hill on a sled or rather the rubber tire they stick you in that spins around all the way down. If you manage that without throwing up you're definitely ready for a Berlin Christmas party with more Gluehwein and singalongs with Wham's "Last Christmas".

The snow hill at the Potsdamer Platz

The Lesbian Google

2006-09-08T01:49:00.000+02:00

I'm being swamped by lesbian news! I subscribed to Google news alerts for news containing the subject "lesbian" - its amazing! Here just a few headlines from the news alerts I've been sent:

Surrey school board settles with lesbian mothers
Lesbian mums win fight for more respect
Lipstick Lesbian Take Over!
Marketplace finds lesbians an attractive, but elusive, niche
Angelina Jolie and her former lesbian lover visited dominatrix

I've received 25 news in only 2 days! I also checked out German Google News for the Word "Lesben" and even that produced 187 headlines for the last two weeks. "Schwul" (German for gay) produced 319 news and "homosexuell" another 56...

Welcome to the L-News - we've been discovered by the media and unlike (not so) many years ago, it's not all about scandals, murder and deviated sex in the closet anymore. I remember when I was a kid in the 70s the first thing I ever read about dykes in a newspaper was a series in the German yellow press newspaper "Bild" called "The crimes of the lesbian women"... It was horrorfying, but obviously it didn't keep me away from the girls!

Not so Gay in Ghana

2006-09-03T00:47:00.000+02:00

Ghana bans gay and lesbian conference.... While we're watching the L-Word and being our free lesbian selves, millions of GLTBs in many countries still have to hide and are being oppressed to say the least. Homophobia is obviously widespread on the African continent, or as a South African lesbian puts it: "It's kind of the spirit of the times in Africa". I actually know a dyke from an influential family in Ghana, in fact she is a Princess, and it took many many years for her family to accept her lifestyle - but eventually they did, so there's hope that the "spirit of the times" will change one day. I wish the gays and lesbians in those African countries that promote homophobia, a lot of strength, courage and worldwide support - after all the African saying (from Zaire) is so true: Tsa ifotekya loolo - FIRE can soften iron.
For more infos on GLBT Africa check out the Behind the Mask Website.

Photo: Camouflage (©) by South African photographer and gender & sexual rights activist Zanele Muholi.

Stonewall Goodbye?

2006-08-29T00:38:00.000+02:00

I just read in UK's pink news that the Stonewall Bar in New York is apparantly closing. Maybe unknown to many young gays and dykes this is one of the very few historic places we have and one of the most important ones! Actually it should be landmarked and preserved by the City of New York - or at least sponsered by the rich and famous GLBTs over 40... It might not be a trendy place folks, but if it weren't for this bar and the brave women and men back in 1969 we sure wouldn't live the life many of us are living today.

A photo I took two years ago - I hope it isn't the last.

Sisters are doing it for themselves?

2006-08-14T23:07:00.000+02:00

I had mixed feelings when I read this BBC report about Bill Gates - he's called The American philanthropist in this article- stating that women are key to the AIDS policy. I'm sure Billy boy has the best intensions, but saying that "To change the sexual behaviour of men is a question of generations..." and that's why it's up to the women to once again take precautions and change the situation is really depressing. Of course one could say well, he recognizes the intelligence of women and their feeling of responsibilty. And of course it is a noble mission to spend millions on stopping AIDS - whatever way you do it. But if you just give up on changing male sexual behaviour and take the shortcut, making women use some formula/medication, having them take all the responsibilty, not knowing what side effects this might have in the long run (the pill and cancer comes to mind...) etc etc - it's just so typical and actually is an easy way out. Bravo Bill for doing good with all your Microsoft-money, but take a portion of your mucho bucks and start educating men. Oh and take another portion and start educating politicians on humanity - there is another reason why so many poeple in Africa are dying, and AIDS is not cause number 1 by the way. Neglect, ignorance and greed still prevail and that's something women are NOT key to.

photo: www.imcworldwide.org

The fear of flying revisited

2006-08-13T21:47:00.000+02:00

A friend of mine flew in from Dubai to Berlin today. Due to the terror hysteria she was not allowed to take her small suitcase as hand luggage as she usually does, so she had to check it in and with it her laptop battery other important things you need when travelling on business. Of course the luggage got lost - like it has apparently happened to 1000s of suitcases today. Sure we all want to fly safe but if they need to keep it 100 percent secure we would all have to fly naked. After 9/11 Lufthansa made me leave my tiny nail clippers behind... Sure I could clip the capatain's ears and force him to crash the plane! Puleeze... Well, now it's not clippers or forks anymore, but all your valuables... what person on a business trip would be so insane and check in their computer and mobile phone? An estimated 30 million pieces of baggage gets lost every year! And, while reading all about the airport chaos around the world today, I asked myself: what stops people who do mean harm from hiding explosives in their suitcase and then timing it to go off a few hours later? The airports don't even have the resources to scan every piece of baggage.
My friend had a bottle of water with her and actually had to take a sip in front of airport security. I'm sure a terrorist who intends to blow himself up on a plane wouldn't mind drinking whatever he has in that bottle, so what's the point? US and UK airlines of course don't allow you to take any drinks with you, but according to the Transportation Security Administration Website there is an exception: You are allowed to take "Baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling;" Thank God for that - the idea of young mummys having to squeeze their breasts until all the breast milk is out is even too absurd for the Bush-Blair-Fear-Alliance. It wouldn't surprise me though if you would have to try the breast milk in front of security too.... after all Mum's milk could be some deadly formula hidden in a silicone boob.

Apple Lebanon Mel Gibson

2006-08-08T07:35:00.000+02:00

These are the most popular search words of the day, so I decided to find out if it's true that adding popular words brings thousands of visitors to your blog.
Dear new visitor, I'm sorry but you are part of my experiment, and as you came in search of some information on either of the terms above I might add: I use an Apple Macintosh and have done so ever since the second one was on the market. I feel for all the innocent non-fighting people in the Lebanon who surely do not want war or violence but would really love to live a peaceful life and see their kids grow up happy and without fear. And Mr Mel Gibson already frightened the hell out of me with his horrible Jesus movie - which being a thought through project and probably not something he spat out while drunk is more disturbing. Finally a cool site to find interesting blogs with different views on the Middle East and from the Middle East is this Dubai blog.
If you weren't looking for a Mac but actually for an apple as in fruit check out All About Apples.
And finally, if you were looking up Mel Gibson - well why don't you go outside, get some fresh air, think of something wonderful, plant a tree, donate to a good cause or just hug somebody. That won't be a waste of time! Thank you for being part of my how-many-hits-will-I-get-experiment and have a lovely day...

Cool tool: your blog in color and shape

2006-08-06T02:37:00.000+02:00

Just found an interesting site that creates a graphic image of your Website called Websites as Graphs
Try it out and if you put the image online please send me the link - I'm curious to see what other blogs look like. Here is my blog image - looks like the molecular structure of proteins with a touch of 70s art:

The meaning of the colors: blue:links-red:tables-green:DIV tag-purple:images-yellow: forms-orange: linebreaks and blockquotes-black:HTML tag,root node-gray: all other tags

Lesbians and Wannabe Lesbians in the News

2006-08-02T23:52:00.000+02:00

Apart from some really sad news on hate crimes, couples having to fight for their marriage rights and bigotery in general, 2 news from Lesbiania caught my eye and made me smile:

"Eva Longoria thinks it would be great to introduce a lesbian storyline into Desperate Housewives.
Eva told Playboy magazine that she thought it would be fun if Nicollette Sheridan and Marcia Cross’s characters had an affair during the third series of the show - or she’d be happy for her character, Gabrielle to have an affair with Nicollette’s Edie instead."

Nice idea,they should all try it out and then in 2007 rename the series to "Desperate Lesbians"... a suburb version of the L-Word should be fun!

And back to the real life: San Diego’s new fire chief Tracy Jarman is openly lesbian. She says that she's not out to be a role model, but sorry sister: this is such a satisfaction for all the dykes who said: "I wanna join the fire brigade" when they were kids and whose moms shook their heads and told them that that was impossible and only for boys (and then called the family shrink to ask what they should do with their difficult daughter!)

Come on baby light our fire!

The Beauty of Small Things

2006-07-29T22:45:00.000+02:00

Just returned from Southern Spain and could fill pages with the colorful photos I took.
You can see 3 colorful reasons why I've gained mucho pounds on my holiday at my

German blog

But here I want to post one of my favoutite pictures. I saw this house in Malaga. It was right in the middle of a really ugly and big construction site and I suppose it's the next house to be torn down. The inhabitants obviously care about their house and have decorated their balconies with flowers, silently protesting the destruction surrounding them. It was a beautiful sight on a very hot day - as it was siesta time the streets were totally empty and kind of made the place seem like a movie set for an Almodovar film.

Still Football Crazy in Berlin

2006-06-30T23:01:00.000+02:00

The streets in Berlin were almost empty as the German team played against Argentina in the WC quarter finals today. It seems like now everyone is hooked on the championship by now. When Germany won after a very exciting match with overtime and penalty shoot outs the streets came alive again, fireworks went off and convoys of fans in cars honking their horns and wavin flags were suddenly everywhere. I have always have found it kind of weird that people love to run out of their homes and jump into their cars to celebrate a victory! But there are other ways to do it: below -
- German chancellor Angela -Angie - Merkel: the distinguished way of really hitting it off but not allowed to show too much down to earth enthusiasm. At least the match triggers a kind of smile in her usually hound-dog-serious face.
- The team: in lack of cars and honking horns they run around the field like lost rabbits, hugging each other and waving their shirts - after over 2 hours of chasing the ball it's amazing they can still walk anyway.
- Soccer moms and friends at my place: cheering and having a ball (what a pun!). The ultimate proof that football somehow makes you unashamed and lets you forget that you are usually a cool stylish person: nothing else can explain why intelligent women would sit around wearing silly cardboard crowns in the colors of the german flag!!! And now I'm putting this embarrassing moment online- my friends will just love me for it!

Football's truely coming home...sigh!

Condy might be mad but not stupid

2006-06-29T00:56:00.000+02:00

Not long ago someone tried to spread the rumour that Condy is gay. Now Ms. Condoleezza-I-almost-was-a-lesbian-Rice is accused of having an affair with da Boss Bush.... paleeeze! That woman is many things but not stupid and would never choose such a dumbwitt to be her toy-boy!
I've read some comments in various blogs stating that the notion of Condy and Dubya hitting the sack is just too scary. Above all it's totally bizarre and the more you think about it the more obnoxious phantasies it spins off. That's why I won't go there and just leave it to your imagination as to what kinky role-playing sex and war games these two would come up with....
For me, Condy alone is scary enough. That woman gives me the creeps and if you look closely you will see that she is one hell of a mad lady with an evil look. Maybe she started out with a lot of ideals and definitely a lot of chuzpe, but she turned into a mean angry power-obsessed bitch along the way. Watch the video and you'll see what I mean. Her official White House photos are of course all friendly - your smiling Secretary of State, a trustworthy WOC bound to save the world - but many snapshots have caught her off guard, showing her true colors - and that's really scary!

Potsdamer Platz

2006-06-19T23:04:00.000+02:00

Berlin is full of art, everywhere, anytime. While 1000s were watching football on the big screens only 5 minutes away, this wonderful public photography exhibition in front of the Potsdamer Platz S-Bahn station was deserted and very peaceful in a kind of urban way....

World Cup Grannies in Style

2006-06-19T02:10:00.000+02:00

Today we strolled across the World Cup Fan Mile in Berlin which was big fun. Seeing 1000s of people from different countries peacefully watching football on big screens while enjoying the sun and some beers was a really nice sight. Yellow and green colors dominated the scene as Brazilian and Australian fans had flocked to see their match.

Fans at the Brandenburger Gate

For some reason this World Cup has turned people into football enthusiasts who probably never even cared before. Maybe it's the sun and fun atmosphere and the gathering of (abnormally) happy people from around the globe - or maybe just the aspiration for a united world without aggression in these wild times. Or maybe some really clever marketing people here have prepared this so well with all the TV ads and songs and general hype that we've all been manipulated into suddenly getting excited about all these guys running after the ball. When I saw these two women today (in the photo below) I knew this World-Cup-Mania had reached even the most unlikely group of people: when elderly ladies who probably usually play Bridge on Sundays, join the cheering crowds and have painted the German flag on their forehead, you know things aren't the same anymore.

Notice the artfully painted wave flag - these ladies are fans with style

My iTunes Signature

2006-06-16T20:08:00.000+02:00

The Dykes in the City blog had a great idea today: "Hey, let’s all post the songs the iTunes Signature Maker selected from our iTunes collection!"
Which sounded like fun and it is! The list that was created for me was quite a surprise, as I really didn't know that I listen to so much old stuff or sad slow songs... It's a weird mix, but still: good songs. The tool comprised my list from the tunes I've played the most in the last 3 years so it must be true. Try it out and if you do, tell me about it, so I can check out your weird or superb music taste!

My list:
Free Your Mind, En Vogue
A Sorta Fairytale, Tori Amos
Pearl's a Singer, Elkie Brooks
I'm so Excited, The Pointer Sisters,
Sing It Back, Molokko
Symphonie, Silbermond
The Time is Now, Molokko,
This is your Life, Banderas
Leaving on a Jet Plane, Chantal Kreviazuk
Hanging by a Thread, Jann Arden
Maybe, Emma Bunton,
Love will Keep us Together, Captain and Tenille
Emotion, Destiny's Child
Look of Love, Sergio Mendez and Brazil 66
This is the Life, Wendy and Lisa
Fly me to the Moon, Julie London
You and Me, Rosie Thomas
You don't know me, Jann Arden
Paroles, Paroles, Dalida
Willst Du mit mir gehen, Nena

Sleepless and Bored

2006-06-15T05:09:00.000+02:00

What to do when you can't sleep or are just simply bored? Well I was just both and way too grumpy to read so I went to blogthing.com
I'm still not tired but I found out that according to blogthing.com my inner European is Irish (which half of me is, so that's fine), I belong in Paris (which can't be true, I love Berlin), my elf name is supposed to be Ditzy Eggnog Breath (which is a bit insulting but it gets worse coz:), my porn star name is Nasty Thong, and in a past life I was a jester in Ireland who died of a natural cause.

Now I'll go and visit some sites that are bound to get me to sleep:
here at talkingonline you can talk to yourself online - just make sure you only chat about boring things! (a pathetic but effective solution)
At snapbubbles.com you can pop virtual wrap bubbles until you fall asleep.
And finally you can dig holes through the earth all night long: "If you were to dig a hole from where you are standing all the way through the center of the Earth, where would you end up?"

Landing in Lesbian Town

2006-06-14T23:04:00.000+02:00

I remember my amazement and delight when I was in New York 2 years ago and saw the giant L-Word billboards towering above Manhattan. Some 2 years later the series has finally come to German TV (way too late: of course almost every dyke has seen it on DVD in the meantime).
The funny thing is: the first billboard you see when landing in Berlin at Tegel Airport is the TV-ad for the L-Word. And due to the World Cup we have a lot of visitors landing every day!! As you can see in my photos below German TV picked the almost naked version of the cast picture while in New York they still had clothes on - but it was winter in NY and it's summer now in Berlin, so that explains it ... or it could be our more liberal approach to nakedness- who knows... naked AND lesbian might have been too much at the time - even in Manhattan.

The L Word billboard at Berlin's Airport

The L Word billboard in Manhattan

My favorite World Cup Video

2006-06-11T13:48:00.000+02:00

As we're all in Football World Cup mania here in Berlin, I'd like to share my favorite WC video - which is disgusting but still funny in a yucky kind of way... and it shows what some women have to endure during football events like these.
Watch the video at my sister site

Kick it Like Ian Roberts

2006-06-08T23:05:00.000+02:00

Ian Roberts is a famous gay Australian rugby player - and I picked his name for the headline because he's the closest you will get to a gay soccer player. Here in Berlin it's all about the World Championship these days which starts tomorrow. Homosexuality in soccer (or football as we call it here) seems to be the last taboo in sports - they exist but they don't come out! Some years ago English soccer player Justin Fashanu came out but experienced hell and committed suicide eight years later. Apparantly the British Sports Minister tried to convince other soccer players to come out and set an example and help fight homophobia in soccer - but no luck there!
Yesterday a gay organization revealed a billboard that will be all around Berlin during the championship showing two male soccer players kissing (sorry don't have a picture yet) - and the Berlin Mayor - who was present and is openly gay - wondered why on earth there are no gay professional soccer players. Well they sure exist and if a rugby player can come out - it is after all the most brutal macho sport! - then I think a soccer player should be able to do the same. If they can endure the pain of getting their shin bones kicked every week, not to mention a hard ball kicked right into your crown jewels, you should think they would be brave enough to be out...
It's similar when it comes to the German women's soccer team. Their most popular player is Birgit Prinz, who looks so much like a dyke but says she is hetero. I heard her say in an interview a while ago that there are a quite a few lesbians in the German team (oh really? why am I not surprised) but that they are afraid to come out. And Germany's player Steffi Jones stated that the lesbian players will never come out because they are afraid to lose their sponsors and also fear that they won't get a trainer license later on after their player career.One of Germany's best players ever Martina Voss got kicked out of the national team right before the Olympics in Sydney. At the time the real reason was kept secret but it soon got out: she had had to skip a local match because she had problems in her relationship with her girlfriend, also a soccer player. When the higher ranks of the conservative German soccer federation found this out she had to leave. Imagine they would do that to a popular straight soccer player. If Beckham were to have a bad day because he had a fight with bitchy Victoria the guys would pat him on the back, probably tell him to either dump her or get his act together and then on with the show!
The Voss incident is a few years back and she is now out and even works as a trainer. And maybe today if the kicking gals were to come out, it wouldn't be such a big thing - now that Europe has seen the L-Word and gay marriage is a-ok. Might be worth a try girls! And anyway, most people think female soccer players are dykes anway, so what the heck.
You can test your gaydar with the photo of the German soccer team below - but it might take many years to find out if you were right.

Gay Marriage and not so gay marriage

2006-06-06T23:46:00.000+02:00

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So Dubya did it again - he opposes gay marriage, what else is new? I actually just read the proposed amendment text for the first time which is:
"Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the Constitution of any state, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."
Ok, so what's so damn great and exclusive about heterosexual marriage? I can tell you after doing a bit of research:
It's not working:
The total numbers of U.S. divorces (excluding the non-counting states) reported finalized annually are 957,200 in 2000.
(The total numbers of U.S. marriages (including those states) reported celebrated annually are 2,355,005 in 2000.)
It can be a dangerous union:
Two million spouses (mostly women) are threatened with a deadly weapon annually, according to the US Department of Justice. One half of all American homes are affected by domestic violence at least once a year.
This holy union does not always result in a loving family:
The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) reported an estimated 1,400 child fatalities in 2002. In 2002, more than one-third (38 percent) of child maltreatment fatalities were associated with neglect alone. Physical abuse alone was cited in more than one-quarter (30 percent) of reported fatalities. Another 29 percent of fatalities were the result of multiple maltreatment types.

So, this is something that should be protected from us ? Clean up your own mess biggots and put a little love in your life instead of hatred and ignorance!

It's one of these days I'm glad I live in Europe - and could marry my girlfriend if I chose to (well and if she said yes!). After all those horrid figures here's some nice lesbian romance for you - in an Australian Johnny Walker ad from 1997. You can see it at The Commercial Closet

gay marriage

Berlin Underwater

2006-06-03T23:27:00.000+02:00

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This is usually the time of the year when we sit in outside cafès and bars in Berlin and enjoy the colorful life in our wild city... but it's just been raining forever and it's so cold I had to turn on my heater.
I've found a photo at flickr that describes the sad sight better than words could ever do:

The photo is by Reinhard Clasen ... click on his name to see more of his great Berlin photos.

LESBIAN STALKERS

2006-06-01T23:55:00.000+02:00

Somehow I missed this news a few weeks ago: Germany's Fashion Queen Jil Sander

had a female stalker who threatened her and her girlfriend Dickie (what a name for your lesbian lover ay?!?!) and even threatened to murder the couple.
She had never met Jil but still fell in love as she says... More falling than loving I would say.

The stalker-dyke will probably get let off with 6 months probation. and I'm wondering does a sentence like that stop someone who is that disturbed?
I used to believe that stalking was a hetero-thing but then Sharon Gless had a lesbian stalker and even Pamela Anderson - which must be the climax of lesbian stalking disturbance.

Even lesbians I know have had some bad experiences with stalkers and it seems to be a frightening and increasing trend.
Or was this always there and it was just a taboo you didn't talk about? In any case these are the times I'm happy not to be a hollywood celebrity (well there's more reasons for that!) or at least don't seem to have that certain something that makes someone become abnormally obsessed with me...

Queen of the Road - 500 lesbian miles

2006-05-24T22:15:00.000+02:00

After walking about 470 miles through Spain many years ago I've become really lazy when it comes to taking walks - but here is one awesome woman who is taking a v e r y long walk for a good cause: Jennifer Schumaker is a lesbian soccer mom who has been walking from San Diego to San Francisco to raise awareness and dialogue about your gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgendered neighbors.
Check out her blog where she writes directly from the road.
She's almost there - planned to arrive in S.F. on June 3rd.
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Nothing Gay About the Winner

2006-05-21T05:52:00.000+02:00

I have to correct yesterday's entry: Eurovision has a new face.... tonight the European viewers voted a monstrous Finnish metal band who looked like Orks and sung a growling song ( that could have been from any 80s metal sampler by the way) No.1.
The only gay thing about them was that their singer funnily enough had a microphone in the form of a Labyrs, but there it ends my friends. Well at least most others were as tacky as ever but the final vote was a total shock... and the 70s outfits of the contestants were as much horror as I can take.

Brotherhood of Man 1976

Finish group Lordi 2006

Eurovision - Tacky, Camp and sooo Gay

2006-05-19T09:04:00.000+02:00

If you're visiting Berlin this weekend be sure not to miss the Finals of the Eurovision Song Contest!
It will be shown on big screens in every other gay and lesbian bar in town. For a large part of the gay crowd the ESC is the sub-cultural highlight of the year. Forget the World Cup - Eurovision singers' outrageously horrid fashion and tacky dance performances beat 22 hairy legs by far!
Many of the wannabe-Ricky-Martin male singers do not succeed in hiding the obvious: I'm gay!
Dykes have come to be a rare sight at the annual contest as some countries nowadays tend to enter singers who look like anorexic barbie dolls (hoping to get some votes for the sexy factor, if the song is plain boring or bad).
At least we had 2004 winner Ruslana who could have won a Xena lookalike contest. And then there was Sestre (sisters), an entry from Slovenia. Three drag queens dressed up as trolley dolleys was a perfect scandal and a lot of fun!

Israel has won this contest 3 times and as an Israeli fan once told me: the first winner was a gay guy, winner number two was the band Milk and Honey that featured a lesbian singer and then 1998 saw transsexual Dana International win with her disco-anthem DIVA. Don't even start to ask why on earth Israel is in a European contest...the ESC's history is long and complex!

Visit rainbownetwork to find out what really makes the Eurovision Song Contest such a gay event.

Just for the record, my favourites this year are Turkey's Sibil Tüzün with Süperstar - the next European gay anthem if you ask me - and Germany's Texas Lightning, who actually have the crazy guts to sing a country song and wear country-band outfits. They also stand out for me because singer Jane Comerford is probably a good 40 plus (and then plus) - a great antipole to the mainly 20ish girlies that will be performing on Saturday.

Song of the Day: Boom bang-a-bang, LULU - 1969 Eurovision winner

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Video still kills the Radio Star

2006-05-02T10:20:00.000+02:00

I've been blog-lazy..and why? Of course too much work but also because I've been hooked to Google Idol...it's totally stupid and totally fun. Watching teenagers lip-syncing to any kind of pop song - who needs it?! Well obviously we all need a break from shiny want-to-be-perfect American Idol and similar shows.
Gidol then took me to Google Video which is even better, just enter lip-sync into the search and you'll get even worse pop-star-wannabees. My favourites at the moment are these two girls lip syncing to Beep... if only I had had a webcam when I was a kid (or even Internet for that matter)... it so beats using a hairbrush as a microphone and singing into the mirror when noone is watching.
Enjoy!

Prawn Priscilla - Queen of the Ocean

2006-04-23T02:48:00.000+02:00

Ever wondered if crustaceans, fish and other sea inhabitants might also have gay communities? well ok probably not ... but they obviously do and if that's not enough disturbing information for you: they have sleezy sex lives! While browsing through my daily dose of Web weirdness I found this site Prawnography.net

They feature prawns, mussels and scallops in hot action. So next time you have this for dinner
think again: these prawns were probably in the middle of an orgy when they were brutally interrupted and thrown into boiling water!

Spring in the Zoo

2006-04-14T04:22:00.000+02:00

This is just a short greeting for my hispanic Internet Friend Amber who just loooves Pandas and a general welcoming of the new season: it's raining in Berlin but still: Spring has finally arrived. Which for me every year means: time to go to the Zoo. Panda bears sleeping peacefully on the lawn have a soothing effect, the best stress remedy!

SONG OF THE DAY (AS EASTER IS NEAR): YOUR OWN PERSONAL JESUS, Marylin Manson

Faster Pussy(cat) Kill Kill!

2006-03-30T01:09:00.000+02:00

I just came across this weird newsbite from last month
Victoria L, 41, in custody in Chillicothe, Ohio, in January for a barroom shooting, apparently smuggled her gun into the jail at the time of her arrest by putting it inside her vagina. A shot was fired in a holding cell, and according to a fellow prisoner interviewed by the Chillicothe Gazette, the gun had gone off when Lundy sat down on a bench in the cell.
Chillicothe Gazette, 2-1-06
Apparantly nobody was hurt... how on earth did she do that? I would have thought she must have harmed herself when the gun went off! If she were to share the secret of pussy-shooting I'm sure she could make a fortune on teaching classes. Don't get me wrong: I am totally against guns, but Women's Self Defense courses could change....

Anyway, this news reminded me of another site I saw the other day: the All About my Vagina blog. It looked weird at first sight but actually is a very informative sight (has some pages about sex injuries, but nothing involving guns!).

A page that looks weird at first, second and third sight is Tampon Crafts
How bored must you be to start making Christmas Angels out of tampons??? Apparantly I'm not up-to-date on the tampon craft hype though, as the page states: You’ll find instructions all over the Web for this classic tampon decoration, but we think ours is the best and easiest. Sure: ALL over the Web!
Check out the Bloody Tampon Heart Earrings ... might be something you want to wear when coming out to your conservative parents or having a business dinner with important clients at the country club.

My last weird Web finding of the day leads us back to the shooting pussy incident and directly to Brian's Page of Antique Weirdness where I found a collection of antique chastity belts. I'm sure there are still some idiot guys out there who wish they could put one of those on the wife while on business travel. But then maybe Victoria's cellmate had a similar thought when that gun went off.

SONG OF THE DAY: Happiness is a Warm Gun - the Beatles

Dalbello has Brains... Let's Blog!

2006-03-29T00:35:00.000+02:00

Last night I was at a party and suddenly "Let's Tango" was blazing out of the stereo, which made me quite ecstatic because back in 1987 this song by Dalbello was my favorite and as with all great songs it still had that power and made me scream along with the chorus (making everyone in the room jump out of their skin!)... wondering what became of Dalbello I just did some research and found out: she has a blog here at blogspot!!

And an intelligent one too... if you're into politics and like people who speak their mind you should visit her blog at Voxpopgirl

The funny thing: she links to some of the same sights about the Middle East as my friends at M and J Adventures

Blogworld is so small at times... There is the theory that you only have to know 6 people to actually know the world (Six Degrees of Separation theory by Stanley Milgram). I wonder if the Web and blogs will change that? Anyway this original theory is being tested on the Web and it's a cool project called Small World Project

L World viewers will know the sexual variation of the Six Degrees of Seperation from the The L Word Chart
I've tried this out in Berlin and it actually works... left a woman in shock who thought she had nothing to do with the local scene here, when we proved that she was actually linked to at least 30 women she didn't even know!

SONG OF THE DAY MUST BE: LET'S TANGO

Bird Flu Caused by Gays

2006-03-24T23:41:00.000+01:00

Now this would really be hilarious if it wasn't so outrageously dumb and dangerous:

Kabbalah-Rabbi David Basri, who is under Israeli Police investigation due to his frequent hate speeches, says supporting gay marriage is just another example of Israel embracing immoral ideas.

But it gets better: according to his son he believes that the bird flu which has killed two people in Israel is because the country is ‘strengthening and encouraging homosexuality’.

What????
He explains it of course: "The Bible says that God punishes depravity first through plagues against animals and then in people."

Well the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic in the UK in 2001 is no surpise then ...looking back: in 2001 the first gay couple in Britain registered their partnership in a civil ceremony organised by London mayor Ken Livingstone. Ahaaaa!!

Back to the bird flu: if it is directly linked to being gay it's a miracle that the gay penguins in the Berlin Zoo (yes, scientifically proven homosexuals and they have become quite famous) are still alive... Zoo vet Dr. Andreas Koch states by the way that gay couples are not rare in the bird world.... Well at least they prove the raging Rabbi wrong who so gracefully enlightens us about homosexuality: "...this is not a disease or a deviation, but a straight-out abomination. Even animals don't behave this way... There is no place in the Holy City for such a phenomenon.”

Now if I were a vengeful woman I would strike back and say: well look what Kabbalah has done to Madonna:

But of course I would never do that... I like Madonna and respect other people's religion... as long as it doesn't do us any harm.... which unfortunately happens far too often.

SONG OF THE DAY: Nelly Furtado - I'm Like A Bird

Some color in Berlin's long long winter

2006-03-21T00:40:00.000+01:00

If you've come to this page because you've found it in Google under Berlin and you're looking for infos, because you plan on coming here this week..be warned: everyone is in such a bad mood it's dangerous. Or if they're not in a bad mood they are at least depressed... it's mid March and it's still freakin' cold, we're freezing, the snow has turned gray and slushy and the wind is obviously whilring into the city coming directly from Siberia. Oh we're so fed up with it and are longing for Spring. We want to sit outside in cafés and stroll in the Tiergarten or at least just sit on a bench and make nasty comments about people who pass by... (a favourite Berlin passtime!)
Visitors should try to avoid the attempt to make friends while it's still cold. Don't expect to be served in a friendly manner in restaurants and don't ask for directions or similar info..especially not in English: the Berlin brain has turned to ice, there's no cells left to try to explain anything in a foreign language. Postpone your visit, come next month, or better yet in May. May is beautiful in Berlin and strangers will smile and love to chat with you.
If you have to come now just spend your time in all the museums we have here...you can spend years in all the galleries, museums etc in this town.
For some color go to the Ephraim-Palais: they are exhibiting Erna Schmidt-Carroll who made the most wonderful illustrations back in the 20s. She was a fashion designer and her pencils captured the various characters of Berlin's roaring 20s in the most enticing and colorful way. She was last exhibited in 1938, so this is a rare chance to see her work. After the Nazis took over she had to turn to unglossed art and just painted mountains and other landscapes.

At night go to a club, even if you don't like dancing to the electro-pop beats that dominate these days: you'll finally get warm after freezing all day! And finally at about 2 in the morning (after mucho drinks and who knows what else) everyone is back to being happy and friendly and you'll get that smile you deserve as a brave visitor of this vibrant city!
Fear not stranger: we are your friend!

SONG OF THE DAY: Baby it's cold outside, Johnny Mercer & Margaret Whiting

Sleeping Blogs & Strange Blogs

2006-03-19T03:40:00.000+01:00

Creating a new blog when you are up to your ears in work for weeks is a dumb idea I guess... that's why this blog has been sleeping... left untouched in the nirvana of the world wide web... I'm sure there are thousands of weblogs out there left alone, waiting to be fed. Just imagine the thousands of people who just wanted to try it out and then never write... then there are those who write coz they are lonely, then one fine day they meet the love of their life and suddenly they abandon their blog, because romance, sex or even sitting in front of the TV with your lover seems so much more fun that typing into the anonymity of the Internet. Not to mention bloggers who depart this world. What happens to their blogs? Who decides when to take it from the Web? Or will their blogs stay here forever? How infinite is the Internet?

Ok, enough philosophy... I'm alive and kicking and will tend to my new blog from now on. I feel like I'm making up for the diary I started when I was young and then soon trashed it after finding out that my mother was reading it... blogging is like the fractious reaction to that childhood experience, because now everyone on the world can read my babble and I don't care. And I know I'm not alone with that attitude - I have read the most embarrassing things in blogs of total strangers. Talking about strange, there are some really strange blogs out there too. No surprise in a world full of strange people I guess. And in case I'm starting to bore you (how did you get here anyway?) ... here's some strangeness for you (just a random pick from the strange blogs I came across)
MyCatHatesYou - "the largest collection of sour-faced, indignant felines on the Internet"
THE Coffee Blog - this actually is a blog ALL about coffee..and some
London Pigeon blog - really funny, probably the only blog written by a pigeon (called Brian by the way)

My own strange sight of the day: this dog behind the steering wheel ready to pull out of the parking lot at Berlin Tegel Airport:

Sharron Live in San Francisco

2006-02-03T21:30:00.000+01:00

Well, as Hildegard Knef once sang: From here on it gets rough...