Does exactly what it says on the tin. Some of the nonsense contained herein may be very loosely related to The Sisters of Mercy, but I wouldn't bet your PayPal account on it. In keeping with the internet's general theme nothing written here should be taken as Gospel: over three quarters of it is utter gibberish, and most of the forum's denizens haven't spoken to another human being face-to-face for decades. Don't worry your pretty little heads about it. Above all else, remember this: You don't have to stay forever. I will understand.
The twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Inner German Boundary is today.
I know we have a fair few German and Germany-based Heartlanders, wondered if anyone had any thoughts or feelings about this iconic event? I was, ah, quite young when it happened but vaguely recall seeing happy people on a special edition of the television news at the time!
Be nice to hear from anyone who recalls it a little more clearly.
I like the way that Berlin -- even now, 20 years later -- still seems to have a weird kind of split personality between East and West. That, and the fact that there's two of everything (the old BRD version and the old DDR version). It's a crazy place, but very lovable.
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
I remember watching it on the news. It seemed to come totally out of the blue at the time, and it was quite astonishing the speed at which events occurred. There was a definite sense of living through history as all the other communist regimes fell over the following months.
Feels kinda weird thinking back 20 years on; is it really that long ago?
If I told them once, I told them a hundred times to put 'Spinal Tap' first and 'Puppet Show' last.
For me and my former girlfriend it was a great day. She an her family escaped about two years before the wall falled from the GDR.
_________________________________________
...
as time goes by...
The gal has gone, the wall has gone...some people say that at least one thing should come back...
I remember watching it on the tv and thinking "At Last!"
And then all I can remember after that (except for that fucking Scorpions song) is line upon line of smoke belching Trabants carrying people with the biggest smiles i think I have ever seen.
DocSommer wrote:
East German fashion was also quite odd:
"my first banana"
... sure, compared to nowadays ...
These images clearly reflect the results of years of enforced steroid-taking by Eastern Bloc athletes. The first picture shows Greta Bischoffneschmidt, the gold medalist in the 1988 Olympics hammer toss. The second one is of the same woman today, who now goes by Gregor and shaves her back twice a day.
I think the biggest drawback of German reunification and the fall of the communism is the distinct lack of masculine-looking women competing in the in the Olympics. Soviet athletes always seemed to go from this:
to this:
in a matter of weeks.
"I won't go down in history, but I probably will go down on your sister."
Hank Moody
"And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what's after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it's a frightening thought to go nowhere".
~ Peter Steele
"And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what's after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it's a frightening thought to go nowhere".
~ Peter Steele
markfiend wrote:I like the way that Berlin -- even now, 20 years later -- still seems to have a weird kind of split personality between East and West. That, and the fact that there's two of everything (the old BRD version and the old DDR version). It's a crazy place, but very lovable.
Yeah, I noticed that last time I visited Berlin. The buildings in East were still all dilapidated and it wasn't even that rare to see a crappy Soviet-era car driving by.
There's probably a reason that the Wall somehow manages to have had an even bigger influence on Germany's collective sub-conscious than WW2.
You can take a tiger out of the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the tiger... on the other hand, the tiger can't step into the same river twice because other waters are always flowing on to it. Yeah.
"And when you start to think about death, you start to think about what's after it. And then you start hoping there is a God. For me, it's a frightening thought to go nowhere".
~ Peter Steele
markfiend wrote:I like the way that Berlin -- even now, 20 years later -- still seems to have a weird kind of split personality between East and West. That, and the fact that there's two of everything (the old BRD version and the old DDR version). It's a crazy place, but very lovable.
A stunning place, beyond fascinating
As the matter of fact, I really need to return there some day soon! Now all I need is a good excuse
