How you feelin' (Hot Hot Hot)
I can think of few other things to blog about today, other than the heat. It's crazy hot here!
I don't know how hot exactly, but hot!
Hot enough, that had it been socially exceptable, I would have much rather walked around in my birthday suit this afternoon instead of a business suit. Hot enough, that I have been sitting in front of my fan for two hours and have been perfectly content entertaining myself by saying "Luke, I am your faaaather" into the spinning blades. Both of which point to the fact that the heat may have made me delirious!
Might be time to find the local Wilmersdorf swimming pool tomorrow!
Would an actor with any other voice sound as sweet?
Certain American actors have unmistakable voices: James Earl Jones, Fran Drescher, the Micro Machine Man. You would immediately know it was them if you were listening to a commercial and couldn’t see their face.
Things in Germany are a bit different. Because so many American films and shows are dubbed into German, there is a lively industry for voice-over actors. Of course this makes great sense, but I had never given it a second thought before moving here. While working at the Ebert Foundation, my female colleagues once discussed how hot certain actors were. I had never heard of any of them, and finally realized that the ladies were talking about voice-over actors and commenting on their voices.
Apparently, with few exceptions, the same German actor does all the voice-overs for the same character from the US program or movie. I remember once reading an article about the German “Friends” and was interested to see that they were marketed as a group, just as the “Friends” actors were in the States.
Anyway, this all gets back to the present because over the weekend Torsten noticed that the actor who does the James Bond voice-over recorded the airport messages at the Cologne-Bonn Airport. He said it was unmistakable. And then it hit me!... when I was in Bonn in May, I was waiting for my luggage when I swore that I heard the welcome message say, “Welcome to Bonn, Cologne Bonn airport” (like “Bond, James Bond.”) I thought I was just going crazy, but apparently not. So next time you are at the Cologne-Bonn airport, pay special attention to the PA announcement if you want to be welcomed to Germany by German James Bond:-)
Since I mentioned Fran Drescher, I should also mention that the “Nanny” is broadcast over here, but obviously loses a lot without her accent. What would “high” German with a Queens accent sound like, I wonder?
A Poem
With a tear in my eye, I said goodbye to Cheryl;
But I knew that my weekend would not be in peril.
Torsten and I found lots and lots to do;
Flip-flop shopping, KaDeWe and the Memorial Church, all near the zoo.
Then it was off to the east for the rest of the day;
It was great fun to be silly and chat all the way.
We saw part of the gay rights parade from the Sony Center;
There were lots of wild costumes worn by flamboyant maenner.
What’s a Berlin tour without a stroll on Unter den Linden;
We also got into the Berliner Dom, though it might have been forbidden.
Dinner found us in Kreuzberg, having Thai;
Met an unusual GDR guy… couldn’t eat fast enough and say good-bye.
Sunday morning, we were very “Berlin” and had a yummy brunch;
Then we enjoyed the German History Museum and learned a bunch.
We went to Prenzlauerberg for curry wurst, but the famous stand was not open;
And with the warm weather, we were not well a’ copin’.
So we chilled at a café and the Prater Beer Garden too;
Then it was home for a snacks and a movie with Hugh Grant (wahoo!)
This evening it was sad to see a second friend go Heim;
But I thank them both for coming, I had a great time!!!
I tried a Berlin specialty for the first time this weekend: beer with raspberry or waldmeister syrup. Delicious!
