Viajé de Hamburgo hasta Beirut
The last few months have not exactly been very exciting which is why I didn't update this journal as frequently as I usually do. In fact they've been very busy and a bit stressful, too, as I was working on several university projects and a presentation which took up most of my time.
Last weekend I finished my last project for a course about genitive and of-constructions. It's actually quite interesting, but the way it's handled by the tutor is rather ineffective in my opinion. It's more focused on dealing with technical stuff such as evaluating hypotheses in Excel spreadsheets than the field of investigation itself.
On the other hand, I'm doing a generative syntax course which has a rather old-fashioned way of dealing with the topic including reading textbooks in little portions which I prefer a lot.
So much for the past few months.

From July on, when the semester is over, I will be able to fill this place with more beautiful memories of journeys that may take me to some places I've never been before.
I already have a few tickets to see Debbie in the States this summer. Unfortunately not as many as I wished because for some reason it's really difficult to get good tickets for this tour - but I will keep trying, of course. Anything for Debbie.
This is going to be a long summer and the path towards it will be plastered with plenty of work. But no matter how packed each day will be, my thoughts are constantly with those beautiful memories of past special moments, shows and tours and the prospect of more wonderful days to come. 

Ironically, I never see that many concerts in Hamburg even though most of the venues are only a stone's throw away from my apartment. There was a time in my life when I would take my camera off the shelf and wouldn't miss a single good show here. I don't miss those days. I felt a bit restless and insatiable then. Now I feel like I've found my "home" which is not at a venue a few subway stations away but somewhere possibly in a very remote place on this planet where I can see Debbie. Seeing her gives me the warmest feeling in the world, just like every single thought about this truly wonderful person does (the latest pictures from the New Jersey Hall of Fame induction really made my day today).

I still go out sometimes to see other artists if I happen to listen to their music a lot. It's nice to hear the music live, to see what kind of people like it and to exchange some impressions with fellow attendees. 
I really like the type of underground freak-folkish stuff that's coming from the States these days. I personally think that the world hasn't had such a vast amount of great artists for decades. I really want to see Joanna Newsom someday (I still highly recommend  "Ys" which has become one of my all-time favorite albums).
Another band that I wanted to see live was Beirut. I heard that they were coming to Hamburg and decided to go to the show last night. Originally, I was thrilled to hear that Zach and his band were playing at the Fabrik, which is one of my favorite venues in the world, but unfortunately it was moved to the Docks, a bigger place in the red light district. It was sold out very soon which kind of foreshadowed what I had to expect. 
Surprisingly there were hardly any locals. There were plenty of people from France, Poland and Austria. I met a girl who had come all the way from Slovakia for the show. The venue was packed. The majority of the audience was really young. The band played two encores and when the lights had gone on people still wanted a third one. Unfortunately, they didn't play any of my favorite songs such as "Rhineland" or "Prenzlauer Berg and I didn't know all the songs but that was okay. They played one Turkish song in the encore called "Siki Siki Baba" which I particularly liked.
Zach's voice sounds even better live than on the records.
It was definitely an interesting experience and I think the band has a promising future. 
I took a picture of the setlist.

A few weeks ago I gave my personal website playmebackwards.com a new layout. I had started it in 2003 as my own creative ground. The last proper update was posted in 2005 if I'm not mistaken. I put some of my favorite self-taken pictures on it. I'm aware that most of them are not a representative reflection of the real world outside (it's not supposed to be) - only a little extract of how I wish it was.