Holy cow. This Open Mic Night was crowded as hell!
And the best part was that I got the chance to see somebody play the song "Ocean" by John Butler live, just about 5 feet away from me. For those who don't know the piece, check it out here. Amazing, right? And although I have no idea if my blog actually made a difference concerning the amount of performers and listeners at the Open Mic, I'd like to thank every one of them for showing up last night. It looks like we made the difference needed to keep it going for some more time. I'll keep you posted about further events.
Now, coming to a completely different matter. I got a few quests going on and I want to make them a bit more public. First of all, there's the burger quest. It's already been subject in one of my blogs. I'll keep you posted further on that matter as we're going to try a new place this week. The cool thing about this quest is that we've started with a group of people and now we've got some kind of burger jury together to comment on burger quality, price and also about service and ambiente at the place. You will from now on find them under the label "Burger Quest".
Apart from that, what can I tell you? I'm kind of sulking about the constant weather change. I've been running around with a cold for days now! (shut up, staying in is not an option.)
Oh, and now, at like 1am, I suddenly remembered what I was thinking when I started talking about the best places to think. (the ones where you're never able to write your thoughts and ideas down). It's because when running through the day, there's subjects to write about left and right, and when I actually sit down to write something new, it's all blank. Which of course is usually the case when you stare into your screen, wanting to start writing, as you need space to write. Well, I found out that there's some inverted mechanism playing: It's not that I transfer my thoughts to the blog, it's that the blog transfers its blank to me. I think it uses me to post emptiness. *shock*
Dis blog entry is about something a little bit more serious. And urgent. So I beg you for once to share this entry to all your friends in and around Zurich. We will probably only get one shot.
For some time now, there has been an Open Mic Night here in Zurich, held twice a month at McGee's Irish Pub. Ryan, the organizer, always did a hell of a job, setting up all the equipment, organizing the whole event, and if you're interested, please have a look at his blog, where you should find all the important information.
Well, it has come to my ears that this Sunday there might be the last Open Mic Night for good, not only for the summer. Apparently the audience as well as the performers (mostly the performers) have shrunk to a minimum of a few regulars and the odd other person dropping in, which kind of made it more and more frustrating to organize the whole event and put such a huge effort in.
Now, dear friends, I ask you one single favor. (okay, two...but one is only a click.) If you are a hobby musician, like to play songs, maybe are looking for a band, or just enjoy playing instruments and/or sing, just grab your instrument and maybe one or two mates and show up on
Usually every player gets a set of 20 minutes to play, you can also just play one song if you like. It's not a competition, it's all about fun.
The other favor, as mentioned above, would be to share this post if you have friends, relatives or acquaintances in and around Zurich who like to play or listen to good music. We need a good outcome this sunday night.
Additional information: oddly enough, there are 4! of the regular players who's birthday falls on the 6th of May. So it will be not only musically a great thing but there should be some cakes (I'll most likely provide a Rhubarb cake) and good party mood. Bring hats, noisemakers and what ever you like if you want!
What's your best place to think? For me, I'd say, it's always the places where you have the greatest thoughts but are unable to keep them in your mind long enough until you find something to write. The bathtub, for example, if you're too lazy to take (waterproof) pen and (waterproof, like laminated) paper. Which I actually always am because I'm not abusing a hot bath to work. Hot baths are about relaxing. Otherwise it would be work related and immediately the pressure would start and you'd be blocked again. Worse even, the bath is wasted because you can't enjoy it.
Or how about dreams. I'm such a genius when dreaming. I think I solved all the mathematical, physical and world problems in one single dream but I can just remember that I did, but not how.
Well, If only I remembered why I started this blog like that, I might tell you an incredible story, but I don't. Instead I'll go for burgers.
My friend Alessio invited a bunch of people over to this restaurant called Iroquis, which was supposed to have good and tasty burgers. Being all sporty now that spring is in full bloom, I cycled all around the lake to get there. Quite a treat, after months of tram riding. Although I have to say, probably much to my friend's disappointment, it definitely didn't match the best burgers I've had so far. ( FYI: The burger quest is an eternal game to me, its aim being to find the best burger in town.) There's still no burger like the ones I used to have in Regenbogenbar. Need to try them again sometime soon.
(You might say: sure, of course she'll call the burger of her favorite bar the best one, because it's her favorite bar. Well, if you ever wanted to know why it became my favorite bar in the first place, try the burgers. :).)
This rather short entry is just to remind you that I'm still alive and just very... (sorry: VERY) uncreative concerning subjects to write about because - hey people, I have NO idea whether you prefer vast variety of subjects or rather something special. Well, I guess that's my thing to decide because you'll hopefully still read it.
Btw: I got that banana cinnamon hot choco..choko...chocko...cacao stick from Austria on easter. It's gross. Don't buy it. Even if the package looks nice. It's no comparison to a swiss hot cho...thing. And sorry for the lack of pictures in this entry. And to conclude this story: I tried to make another chutney, I failed. It's gross, too.
For once something to do outside of Zurich. If you happen to have like half a day off and don't know what to do, there's a pretty cool glass factory called Glasi Hergiswil, obviously situated in Hergiswil at the Lake of Lucerne (which is, in case you didn't know, worth a trip itself)
The factory gives you the opportunity to play with glass, find out about its properties and uses and why it's an incredibly cool material. If you're heat resistant you can even go and blow your own glass bowl! The whole exhibition and watching area in the factory is free, the only things that cost are the glass museum (CHF 7.-), making your own glass bowl (CHF 15.-) and the worth-every-cent glass labyrinth (CHF 5.-). Christian and me spent like 20 minutes in there and took funny and mystical pictures of an army of ourselves. Look:
The following day I went into my kitchen and discovered that somehow there was a bunch of ants making their way into my kitchen through the window. (I don't know if it's a good thing that my chutneys got famous in ant colonies...?) Of course, that caused a whole afternoon of spring cleaning. I think the following technique is pretty effective: Grab a big bag and instead of wanting to clean the room, you set the aim to fill the bag... Worked with my wardrobe, too. I wonder now if I should announce a girls-night clothes-swap party or give it to charity ... ?
The ants seem to have vanished now that I have set a trap for them. The only downside of this whole thing is now that the rest of my apartment compared to the kitchen looks like...
Guess that means 'nuff said, gimme that damn cleaning cloth. And a dust mask, if you're at it.
Zurich has a lot of places and groups that offer great activities during summer. This post will be dedicated to the game "Boules". There's tons of names for variations of the game, like Bocce, Pétanque, Boccia, bowls, and probably some more but just so we get each other right: If I'm referring to metal balls or so, I'm not talking about crown jewels here.
First, as usual, something about the history of this sport. uh, wait. that's second. First I need to make certain you know what it actually is. If you know Helvetiaplatz or also Lindenhof Platz in Zurich (more to that later), you might have seen a scene like this:
(I honestly don't know if it is a rule to wear a beret during the game or if this is just a way of the french to say "beh, voila, moi pétanque. bleh.")
You might also have noticed the round objects on the floor (commonly known as "balls" or "bowls"). Traditionally they are made of some heavy metal (meh, no Black Sabbath...). To play, you need two of them per person and one small ball, usually called Jack (or as the french say "cochonnet"). Quickly said, the aim of the game is to throw your balls (every player, also girls, usually have two of them) as close as possible to the Jack. It's also allowed to hit some other player's balls to get them further away from the aim. (I don't want to explain the rules in detail here because whoever you're going to play with, I'm sure they do have their own rules. Let them explain the way they play it first. If you want to be well informed and start your own game, click here)
Generally, Boules is a really easygoing tranquil game (again, unless you hit the wrong balls) and can easily keep some old guys busy for a whole afternoon. It's a good way to have some business discussions, too. (If you disagree, just throw the balls at your partner's head.)
Boules originated in the ancient Roman Empire. That's enough about history so far.
The best places to observe real Boule players in Zurich are as mentioned first of all the schoolyard next to Helvetiaplatz as well as (more rare, though) Lindenhofplatz close to Bahnhofstrasse.
About a week ago I bought 10 pears because I wanted to try another chutney, one that I didn't have a recipe to. My plan was to create a chutney that contains the same spices and therefore tastes a bit like my fabulous "Upside-Down Pear and Ginger Cake". (The recipe is somewhat secret but then it isn't because it's from a cook book. But a secret cook book.)
And I found out: Chutneys are fun. I just threw in what I thought could match the taste and let it simmer for a few hours... And now i got (only) two twist off glasses full of something that seems to be pretty close to what I expected. I just have no Idea what to eat it with. I guess when opening one of the glasses I'll also scatter some walnuts over the served amount because that's part of the cake and it would go well with it.
Rimini Bar Completely different subject now. Last night I went to the season start of Rimini Bar with some friends. For those who are new to Zurich, or haven't heard of it yet, it's a bar that opens only in summer because it's all outside. And of course only when it's nice. Usually it's being announced on their website as well as their facebook page, so if you're not sure whether the weather will allow it to be open, just check one of those pages.
(Disclaimer: The following text is meant as a purely scientific matter and therefore I refrain from any accusation of being disgusting.)
What is it about asparagus? ... And how on earth did we end up discussing asparagus pee? Well, it's asparagus season. So it must have something to do with that. And I found out that I was fundamentally wrong about something. First of all, there's about half the population on this planet that doesn't know this issue, and it is because they are MISSING a gene that produces an enzyme that splits the chemicals so they stink. This makes me wonder. If they are missing a gene, I assume that there has to be a replacement gene for that. And I think they can make themselves invisible. I've rarely ever met a person who doesn't know the issue, and if half the population belongs to this group, WHERE THE HELL are they??
Last night I was invited to a potluck dinner. A term rather unknown by the Swiss (that's why I'll explain it, mainly because I didn't know what it meant, although my audience is probably wiser than I am), a potluck dinner is a gathering of people where each person brings a dish made by themselves for everybody to share. I wondered why people would call that potluck, because hearing the word and its meaning, the first thing that came to my mind was a kind of russian roulette with food. (Which probably is the case in many a potluck dinner occasion. Be careful about what you try!)
Apparently (according to my friend Wikipedia), the word origins in the 16th century england but meant rather "food provided for an unexpected or uninvited guest, the luck of the pot". And then, the Americans picked up the word (probably errorously referring to the word "potlatch") and used it in the sense of "communal meal, where guests bring their own food"; sometime in the 19th or 20th century. Although the Irish apparently already used it as a term to describe a meal with no particular menu where everybody brought a dish. It originates in the time when Irish women gathered to cook dinner and they had only one pot; so they brought their ingredients (whatever they had to bring that day) and threw them together. Surprise! Suddenly I can imagine how they invented Irish Stew...
And for lack of a better second subject, I'm going to bring up a fun fact about the day: On April 25th in 1792, exactly 220 years ago, the french officer Claude Joseph Rouget de Lislecomposedin Strasbourg the "Chant de guerre pour l'armée du Rhin" (roughly translated: War-song for the army of the Rhine), which became the French national anthem in 1795, better known today as "the Marseillaise". (It lost its status under Napoleon but was reestablished in 1830.)
And I even found a picture of de Lisle singing it. (I wonder if he sang it reeeeeeally slowly or if the painter was extremely fast...either way, they did a good job!)
The piece was originally dedicated to the governor of Strasbourg, Graf Luckner, and to this day, it is played daily at 12.05pm on the market square of his birthplace, Cham in der Oberpfalz. And below is Graf Luckner. (hm... Maybe he should have sung a song, too, so the painter wouldn't have been able to paint all those wrinkles?)
Allons enfants de la patrie... *sing* and au revoir for now!
