On my lunch break I discovered this sun reflection in the backyard of our office in Neukölln. Somehow it looked like arabic signs to me and I had to think about the transformation of this former muslim dominated neighborhood.

Normaly the whole area around Reichstag is not our place to be. I usually go there when my parents are in town or i have to occupy something out of political reasons. Nevertheless this “not-at-all” Berlin area for many people is the first thing they see when they come the city. They arrive at Hauptbahnhof and travel on with the S-Bahn or probably with the shortest subway line ever – the U55 (locals also call it Kanzler-Bahn). The whole ride with this 2 wagon short subway feels unreal. On a way of 1,8 km it connects Hauptbahnhof with the Brandburg Gate and has just one more stop in between – Bundestag. Originally buildt as an extension of the U5 line the tunnels and stations already had a life before traffic. Next to partys, Go-Kart races or theater it also served as the scenery for films like Resident Evil and others. Thanks to Caro Kurze for shooting this nice series about Bundestag Subway station.

Berlin winters suck. The cold is freezing the life in the streets. People are gathering in warm coffee-places or drink tea in their cozy kitchens. Nobody wants to stay outside longer than necessary. But some people have to. 10 000 Berliners are homeless. Our friends of Muschi Kreuzberg are part of a campaign to help these people. At ONE WARM WINTER you can help to finance winter jackets. This saturday they are throwing a huge charityparty muschi-kreuzberg-style at the alte Münze to boost this great concept. That means big beats and KPTN KOTTI (photo). If you bring a winter jacket the entry is free! Or you pay 7 Euro which are going directly to the one warm winter campaign. For more infos check the facebook-event! 

No matter how much of a winter we have (or don’t have) right now: everyone’s come down with the blues. The best cure for a bored night at home is renting a movie, old school, from your favorite video rental store. While there are enough blockbuster stores around the city, I dig the intimate atmosphere of the Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo. It’s been location hopping for a while now: it used to be at Revaler Straße in Friedrichshain before they got chucked out due to the rising rents, then they spent the last year on Glogauer Straße in Kreuzberg right at the Paul Linke Ufer. They’ve moved again a couple of weeks ago (for the same reasons: too expensive) and added a bar to their inventory of movies. Now it’s movies and parties all you want on Reichenberger Straße (which I can only approve of since I live right around the block).

If you’re into indie movies and a dirty atmosphere, or if you’re just looking for good drinks on a night out, the Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo, formerly known as Filmkunst im Roderich, is your best bet. Check it out on Reichenberger Str. 113.

The little urban secrets around the city are what keeps it alive in spirit. Although urban art has had it’s prime time a couple of years ago and is since being used (mostly) as commercial medium, there is nothing as exciting as finding a piece of work that is not put on display quite as obviously.

Now there are many things I could say about my favorite spots or the most interesting pieces I’ve seen so far, but I’ll just let my and Stefans newest find stand for itself: a little hut, somewhere in Berlin, built from old bulk trash with a great view and a lovely atmosphere. I’m sure some people will be majorly thankful when they find a dry and somewhat cozy place to stay in when the weather gets worse. But however you see it, this is a really cool project with a lot of work and thought put into it. Respect!

So: the good news is, we’ve been preparing a new design and a new value package of great things to come along with it. The bad news it: this is not it. This is just the design we’ve chosen to remind us that we should not slack but finally get to working on it. Also, it was due time, my eyes needed a little change.

The first things we’ve done is erase the Blog category. Now every post will be featured on the home page chronologically. Also, we’ve narrowed down the categories – it was way too elaborate. Look around and see if you like it, we’ll soon improve and make it really pretty. Promise!

I am always quite amused by the discussion of Berlins lack of fashion importance because it’s usually stirred by people who are not important (in terms of fashion anyway). Also, it’s a very German trait to hate your own team instead of perfecting it, it happens in football, too. Anyway: I think it’s funny because people talk shit about this and that brand or this and that party but they still visit every time and they still take advantage of everything they allegedly “hate so much”. I, on the other hand, very much enjoy Fashion Week every six months. I get to see bizarre stuff and meet people outside of my usual periphery. It might not always be “what I do”, but come on, it’s fun – even if it’s not that important. I’m thankful for that piece of change in Berlins bi-annual rhythm. It can’t always be an outdoor sunshine rave…

One of my favorite places to hang out during Fashion Week is the Bread & Butter fair of which I took some pictures on Wednesday. Even if you’re not into fashion, B&B is just always a little event itself, carefully crafted and extremely crowded. As for me, personally, I’m looking forward to seeing half of Berlin walking around in patterned Navajo tribe prints. Now that will just make us wish back the flannels and the big horn rimmed glasses!

Although the latter isn’t quite as common in the Winter (at least in my personal world), it’s obviously the more adventurous. You only need a handful of people and a lose plan, maybe some bikes, and a phone to check out what’s going on “tonight”. You’ll most likely end up everywhere and nowhere, lose all your stuff, get seriously damaged, make out with beautiful people (if you’re lucky, anyway) and spend way more money than you intended to.

Marcus and I had one of these weekends. Starting Friday, we visited the 8bar opening in Forster Straße, moved on to a street art exhibition which had a big panoramic view from the outside, and got Arabic dinner beneath the Kottbusser Tor Platte (where Martin was being pickpocketed – there go 25 Euro without having even had a beer). Afterwards, a quick stop at home, a quick stop at Café Kotti, a quick stop at Merkezi, a quick stop at Bohnengold (not for me though), an entire night of Kreuzberg. Saturday night was a bit less chaotic but definitely more intense: the guys from Picknick were celebrating their 5th anniversary. You’d think they would’ve never made it, man, but they did and they provided us with an amazing party til the wee morning hours. Good times!

I don’t know why and I couldn’t care less; I love that it’s there. I’m not sure whether it used to be covered by a street art poster which was removed later (I found a photo of it here), or whether the poster was removed by the sprayer to do the piece…