UNTER VORBEHALT DER RÜCKZAHLUNG

UNTER VORBEHALT DER RÜCKZAHLUNG

Der Schaum der Tage

Met the handsomest man in Deutschland Ulrich Ziemons of Forum Expanded at Mexican boite Maria Bonita in East Berlin for good food and even better gossip. Of course we were talking about you. That’s why your ears are sizzling.

Hey all my literary admirers out there please send me a copy of Marlon James’ latest fantasy tome Black Leopard, Red Wolf. While you’re at it I’d also appreciate reading his award winning A Brief History of Seven Killings which won the Man Booker Prize.

The book that I am currently gobbling up and can’t seem to put down is by my juicy young pal Travis
Jeppesen who took me to lunch at Papaya for scrumptious Thai food. I haven’t seen Travis in a few years since his very successful solo exhibition at Exile Gallery in Berlin. I have known Travis since he was 16. In those days he would send me his homemade chapbooks of poetry and prose. Before moving to Berlin he lived for years in Prague. I´ve known Travis since the 1990s but our relationship was only via post. We didn’t meet in the fleshy flesh until I came to Berlin in 2005

Travis recently completed his PhD and was hired for a full time tenure track teaching position at a major Chinese University where he will commute back and forth from Berlin to Asia.

Travis gifted the doll a signed copy of his latest sensational release See You Again in Pyongyang-A Journey into Kim Jong Un’s North Korea. Travis has been getting incredible reviews for this book and believe you me its utterly amazing! The only book I can compare it to is Bruce Benderson`s The Romanian. Travis was mentored by Bruce Benderson.Its hard to believe that Travis is almost 40 years of age. He still looks like a weenager. We had a delightful time catching up on every little thing, including hot gossip. I wasn’t aware that big peniled NYC based musician and visual artist Gio Black Peter recently broke up with his long time sugar son Neal who worked for Calvin Klein. Travis told me a million other things but they are way too scandalous to repeat in mixed company. Run out and buy a copy of Travis’ book its just now being released in paperback.

I was so lucky to get a chance to see Jamie Stewart of XiuXiu perform at the Berghain Cantina. Jamie`s gorgeous and talented wife Angela, who works for high powered LA politico Mark Ridley Thomas writing policy, isn’t able to travel with XiuXiu anymore, so on this particular outing with the band he was accompanied by two members of The Swans. Jamie was utterly sublime on stage and the music sounded majestic. I´ve never seen anyone play a pair of scissors like they were marimbas and when it comes to choreography, well lets just say Jamie was channeling his inner Freddie Herko with his swivel hips and lips. Going crazy for all things Jamie and XiuXiu was lovely Pamela Schlewisnki the latest edition to the CHEAP kollektiv, and young gorgeous male ingénue Jake Cannavale the son of actor Bobby Cannavale and screenwriter Jenny Lumet. Beauty boy Jake is a big fanatic when it comes to all things Jamie Stewart and XiuXiu. Jake is also the great grandson of the late legend Miss Lena Horne, and grandson of film director Sidney Lumet(Dog Day Afternoon,Network).

The night before I was lucky enough to be taken out for a divine Italian feast by Jamie Stewart. Joining us was film historian Marcuse Siegelstein.

Earlier in the afternoon my old Tenderloin bandmate Felix Knoke who writes for Der Spiegel took me to luncheon at the Imren Grill in Neu Kölln. Felix is the proud papa of a two year old bouncing baby boy, so I don´t get much of a chance to see him now that he is a smoking hot dad. It was nice to catch up.

On Saturday March 9th Kollektiv CHEAP performed as part of the Palast Der Republik event at the Haus der Berliner Festpiele. We were commissioned to bring back our punk art band Ruth Fischer which we did incorporating a program of expanded cinema/installation/klatch that we called ungleich 1+1 Ein ausgeleiertes Konzert that featured gorgeous short subjects by the late Dusan Makawejew, Thomas Brasch and Susann Maria Hempel who appeared live on stage along with the wonderful and vivacious Teodora Tabacki. Via Skype was Jasmina Tumbas and actress Silvia Rieger who we gave a CHEAPy Underground Uber Alles Award to along with Vegard Vinge & Ida Müller.

On display as part of the installation was sexy muscle hunks Richard Gabriel and Hermann of Wedding kick boxing plus our living sculptures and a special hilarious performance by Mad Maxmillian Brauer.

Our happening also featured the juicy Pola Sieverding doing live akshunist video, Senol Senturk, Maurice De Martin, Pamela Schlewinski, Marcuse Siegelstein, kJohnny Blue, Martin “PowerhouseSemen” Siemann, Akira Knightly who expertly wove our Liz Taylor in Ash Wednesday plastic surgery look and of course fearless leader Susanne Sachsse whose new song Blame the Woman sez the New York Times is the mantra everyone will be chanting.

Some of the audience wasn’t featuring us but we did have a lot of Ruth Fischer diehards in the SRO crowd like Empress Stefanie Schulte Strathaus, George Ezra, Deutsch Welle  and Bloomberg News journalista Michael Scaturro, Jonas Dassler, football thick for baseball dick actor Jannis Niewöhner, humpy Broadway star Jonno Davies, Ruth Schönegger, Instagram influencer Hasand Piker with his uncle Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks podcast, Katja Sander, art schtar Yael Bartana, Dorothea Wenner and Mickey,  Gina D'Orio of Cobra Killer, art historian Tom Holert of the Harum Farochi Institüt, Nebosja Tabacki,  Piero Bellomo with Shawky Hassan, Felix Knoke, Christian Fitzenwanker, Adham Hafez of HaRaKa Dance Development who brought with him the beautiful young Egyptian pop and film star Donia Massoud. Ms. Massoud is an intermedia performer who documents the disappearing songs from the Egyptian villages and mountains and turns them into popular concert sensations. She has been living in Paris for five years and looks like the reincarnation of Nefertiti.

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Andre Previn the composer and conductor died recently at age 89. He was born here in Berlin. One of the scores he conducted that I absolutely adore was to the 1953 film version of the Broadway musical Kiss Me, Kate directed by George Sidney starring Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Ann Miller, Bob Fosse, Keenan Wynn, James Whitmore, Bobby Van and Tommy Rall. Previn`s handling of Cole Porter music was dazzling. I also loved his ex-wife and former collaborator Dory Previn who he dumped for Mia Farrow.