I’ll do a haiku, too.

Haiku by velveteencat

princess clad in black writing poems and then getting assassinated

Username: Haiku! by Hutta.

Nothing is happening here except work. I have one day off in the next 16.

I want to go to Japan.

One More Vienna …

I went back through my photographs and found the plaque placed where Mozart died and translated the German using Babelfish.

Apparently it reads, “un this spot house stood until 1849 Mozart on to 5 december 1791 died”.

Christ. As if it isn’t bad enough that they tore down his apartment and replaced it with a handbag store. Too add insult to injury, they put up a real shitty sign. If you’re gonna engrave something, at least make sure it makes sense first.

Series Finished, Series Start-o!

Yesterday marked the end of another anime: Versailles no Bara

‘Twas the story of a young French girl raised as a boy to become a military general. Interweaving history and fiction, it culminated with the French Revolution. Main characters included Marie Antoinette and Hans Fersen, Robespierre and St. Just. The show aired in 1979, and still held up, mostly…

I would say that today’s tragic anime soap operas are, on the whole, darker and more emotionally realistic. Much of Versailles (VNB) could be summed up as scenes of characters crying or yelling at things. Now, I love characters who have no hope or options, who are forced to push through to extraordinary ends, but VNB remained unmoving, because the true consequences of each plot and character action wasn’t really explored, so the characters’ emotional vulnerability remained demonstrative as opposed to … well, believable. It was such a tragic story, and I didn’t cry once. And I love crying over breakfast and anime.

Revolutionary Girl Utena (Shoujo Kakumei Utena) was inspired by Versailles no Bara, and many of the scenes in SKU can be viewed as secondary texts, commenting on the original scene in VNB. I’ll have to watch Utena again, for sure.

But not yet.

Today, I watched the first episode of Naruto. I expected to hate it, and only downloaded 1 episode as a result. But … but …

Right now I’m BitTorrenting the first 25 episodes! I loved it. It reminds me of Kenshin, a fantastic, fantastic show (well, up until the 3rd season) — and I hear that Naruto spends 100 episodes getting darker and darker and darker….

I don’t know how long the show will run, but I guess I’ll see the other side of it sometime in late May. Naruto to carry me through the New Show Writing Process!

Currently, I’m also downloading Saikano and Shingetsusan Tsukihime. I used to watch one show with breakfast, one before bed. Chobits in the morning, Witch Hunter Robin at night, for example. But when I started playing FFXI, my evening anime was replaced with the equally epic Final Fantasy. I think I’d like to try watching before bed again, since my dreams have started to become an endless montage of fighting game monsters in nondescript dungeons. I’ve heard Saikano isn’t that great, but I love the design so I have to see those 13 episodes. And Tsukihime is just something I read about on the web. Updates to follow as events warrant!

Awesome.

http://www.framestore-cfc.com/commercials/levi_odyssey/levis_60sec.mov

This commercial is so good that I’m going to buy the jeans.

Wow. So amazing.

Photos from Vienna

A few photos from Vienna, randomly selected from a VERY LARGE portfolio. Want a large one for a desktop image? Just leave a comment …

The sunlight! Oh my god, sunlight makes COLORS!? I wouldn’t know in Amsterdam …

Here’s that library that was so unbelievable.

We were treated to a tour of the Vienna Opera house. I didn’t write about it yet, but a orchestra musician came to the show, and then brought us around the Vienna Opera, as a sort of “Thank You”. This was the view from the orchestra pit.

More of that fantastic library.

This is the lobby of the Vienna opera house.

The Hofburg Palace, near the cafe with the most incredible spinach pastries.

More color! Oh, I miss the sunlight.

This guy didn’t want his picture taken.

This is the view from the tower at St. Stephans’ cathedral.

The newest wing of the Hofburg Imperial Palace.

Oh, more sun! More sun!!!

Finally, here is the view from the stage where we performed for the week. It was all so exceptional, I doubt Boom will ever send me on a nice corporate again.

Vienna.

So what else? Vienna continued!

After a good show and a few too many drinks, I spent one day recovering with a hangover. I think Hangovers should be a part of any vacation, to tell the truth. Letting go can be difficult for me, and drinking is a quick fix, but one that shouldn’t be abused.

I don’t know for certain if this was the same day that Jim and I went up to the top of St. Stephan’s cathedral together, but perhaps it was. St. Stephens dominates the skyline of Vienna, and once at the top I realized I’ve developed a fear of heights. Or at least of exposed heights with huge slanted rooftops and hanging cage-walks.

Jim and I also tagged along on a German-language tour of the crypts under the church. This was a real Indiana Jones style adventure. Human bones were tossed into huge chambers like garbage. It was truly, vibrantly shocking. Skulls were packed into Lincoln-Log Femur Houses, and the air was cold and moist. We couldn’t take pictures, but maybe I’ll go back with a camera phone sometime …

Tim, Jim and I went out to the summer home of the Hofburg Dynasty. The highlight for me was the room where six-year-old Mozart played with his sister. For much of my adult life, I’ve been quite obsessed with W.A.M., and this room was the location where his father reported that after Mozart was finished playing, he leapt into the lap of the empress and showered her with kisses. There, no more than 3 feet away from me, was the very same velvet chair that she had sat on, while little Mozart was embarrassing his father. I was standing in the nearly-unchanged chamber where he had clicked around in loud heels. I’m not spiritual by nature, but this room, that sofa - it was a benediction.

There was of course, much more. Afternoon naps, long walks in the dark to the greatest hot-dogs, and yesterday I went back to the Hofburg Palace to eat a Buchet(?) filled with Spinach and Feta Cheese. The food, I can not emphasize enough: It was Staggering. And the Library! It was the most beautiful place I think I’ve ever been. And I got plenty of pictures of it.

The final night, Boom reunited in an underground restaurant (with bricks in the walls from the Holy Roman Empire, and perhaps Rome itself!). This hidden, basement location had no advertising – it was word of mouth passed on to us mid-level celebrities. The ribs were served on wooden plates. Potatoes were stacked like hash-brown towers in the center, and it was romantic in such a real, wonderful way. Candle light and an over-friendly waiter who took genuine pride in his work; a refreshing change from the cool Dutch service I’ve become accustomed to.

Right now, this entire job was worth it for this one corporate. I was happier then than I’d been in a long time.

131

I hate quizzes, but … took this one after seeing it posted on Matt’s LJ, and got my actual age.

You Are 26 Years Old

26 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what’s to come… love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You’ve had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You’ve been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

130

The mozart house is closed until 2006.

Vienna some more

Vienna is mythic. Every building is staggering; the beauty and sheer height of everything diminishes you, makes you feel reduced to some different scale.

Oh! And the Food. The food is amazing. For the first time in Europe, I have that sickening overfull ache when I’m done with a meal. I believed, when I moved to Holland, that this was a specifically American sensation - the bursting stomach balloon - but now, here, I know that I’ve just been slowly starving in Amsterdam.

Everyone who told me this place was beautiful was right.

We arrived, exhausted, at 11 am on Sunday. Every one of us spent the day sleeping - a full day was lost because we are all bad planners, and were all packing, drinking, talking till 3 am the night before. So on Monday, I shot out of bed at 8:30 am, and went to the New Imperial Palace. The museums there were empty; I was alone in all three of the wings. First, I padded quietly through the Museum of Ephesus - this being the strange collection of Roman Ruins from the seaport town of Ephesus. What was this permanent exhibit doing in the Imperial Palace of Vienna? Who knows.

I went next into the Armory. Saal after Saal of steel and iron armor innovations - horses decked with armor - cumbersome night shields - swords and guns so old they were literally relics. My footsteps echoed on for the entirety of the museum. I could sit and take a nap and I would have remained undisturbed for centuries.

Finally, I went to the Ancient Musical Instruments collection, and nearly immediately found myself behind the keys of a playable, demonstration clavichord. So, I played it. The cinematic Romance of playing music in the Imperial Palace was overwhelming - I played three different pieces. Then, a security guard approached, and I thought for sure that he was going to shriek at me in German before kicking me out of the entire city. But instead, he guided me to a better clavichord in another wing of the palace, and said, “You can play. This one too.”

The show that evening was simply a tour show. Awkward and uneasy, but very well received despite the centennial age of our audience.

On Tuesday, we met up for lunch at the Central Cafe (where Freud worked out his psycho-analytical theorems before escaping to England during WWII). It was a great meal, only overshadowed by the meal I would have that evening at some smoky local cafe. Jim and I went back to the Imperial Palace to see the Sisi Museum. I knew nothing about Princess Elizabeth of Austria before I entered that museum, but -hats off- to the curators — now I want to read about her silly, melodramatic life. The complaining Princess, clad in black, writing poems and then getting assassinated. Sounds like an anime.

Today, I’m hung over and exhausted again, staring at the clock and trying to will myself out of my room. It is 11:27, and I only slept for 5 hours and 20 minutes. Do I go back to bed and lose another day here? Or can I dredge up the energy from some supernatural reserve, and see the Figaro House?

I’m going back to sleep. I am here because of work, after all.

Vienna!

By some lucky twist of fate, I have wireless internet access in my room. The hotel doesn’t list it as a feature, so this is just the spillover from some nearby business.

Arrived in Vienna. The city is beautiful beyond my ability to describe. I’m exhausted, having slept one and half hours last night, with a further three hours today in my room. Took some photos, planning to Pass Out! As soon as I’m able, I’ll post some pics as well as more prose on what is sure to be a remarkable memory for the rest of my life.

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