We rose early on October 10 to make it a James Joyce Day in Zurich. We were greeted by rain, but we were determined to check a visit to Joyce’s grave in the Fluntern cemetery off of our list no matter the weather. As we found in all of the Swiss cities where we used public transportation the bus schedule was fairly simple to figure out and very reliable. The pleasant thing about going to a cemetery in the rain is that we essentially had the entire place to ourselves. We didn’t know what to expect on the other side of the gate, but I can confidently say it was the most beautiful and awe inspiring cemetery I have ever tromped through. Maddie’s pictures say it best.
The most striking part of the cemetery was the individuality of the tombstones – although calling them tombstones is wholly inappropriate. Every single one was a tribute to the body in the earth below. Unique fonts. Unique carvings. Unique shapes. One stone that stood out to me had a cat on the top and a water dish at the bottom. An inscription on one stone I especially liked was “das leben ist ein ewiges kommen und gehen.” It roughly translates to “Living is a perpetual coming and going.”
Joyce’s grave is marked by his figure relaxing amongst ferns with a book open in his hands. Buried nearby is Nobel prize recipient Elias Canetti. The setting is calm and relaxed. Oddly it filled me with a desire to host a picnic instead of mourn the dead.
From Fluntern we traveled back down to the center of Zurich and a date with a ballerina in a bottle.
A day later we were in the Zurich airport. We headed straight to our hotel, the Zic Zac Rock Hotel. The room we chose was the “Talking Heads” room. Those quotation marks are important, because the room lacked anything related to the Talking Heads with the exception of the name on the door. Instead the room was decorated with images of Van Morrison, Krokus, and some band called Eyes of the Universe. I was tempted to seek out some Talking Heads memorabilia while in the city and donate it to the hotel.
Overall we were pleased with our stay. The bathroom was shared, but we had a set of sinks in our bathroom. Our room was toward the back of the hotel, so we didn’t have any issues with sound from the clubs facing the front of the hotel or the first floor club belonging to the hotel.
After checking in we headed out and explored the city. What was our first meal in Switzerland? Sushi. Yeah, that’s simply the way we roll. Get it? Sushi roll? Anyway, all of my sushi research was in Geneva, so ending up with raw fish in my mouth on the first day was a bit of a surprise. It simply worked out that way. Maddie had her heart set on visiting a department store called Globus. It was a beautiful and very trendy department store. The grocery department was filled with such bright and lush looking produce. The coolers were packed with cheese. The wine department was stocked with so much temptation. However, it was much too early in our trip for purchasing foods at a store…until we went reached the top of the escaltor and we were greeted by sushi on a conveyor belt. I’ve always wanted the opportunity to eat sushi off of a conveyor belt. And we did. And it was expensive. But it was everything I dreamt it would be.
We left Globus and continued to explore. We found our way to the Lindenhof which overlooks the river that runs through Zurich. It was beautiful and one of Maddie’s favorite parts of the trip. The Lindenhof is notable because a second century tombstone was discovered at the location featuring the name Turicum which is the oldest known name of Zurich.
On the way back to the hotel room we picked up some soft cheese and cheap bubbly at a convenience store. The bubbly wasn’t the best, but it got us drunk and it was our first evening in Zurich of drunken bonding. I wrote in my journal “drunk bonding over champagne in Zurich because nothing else is present.” It would take four more days before it hit me how important this trip had become. All of the usual stresses we talked about on a regular basis – work, people drama, finances – they were no longer present. Our minds were free. Our souls were clean. We existed for Switzerland and were only with each other.
On October 8, 2009 we boarded a plane for Zurich, Switzerland. A day later we would be on the ground in a country that would be new for both of us. The flight was what I expected from NWA (now Delta). I disliked both airlines prior to taking this trip and it appears the merger has done very little for the airlines. It was the first flight I had ever been on that didn’t offer gate check. Being two of the last passengers to board the plane we had to find a space all the way near the rear, well away from where we were sitting. As a result when we eventually landed we had to wait until nearly everyone on board had disembarked so we could get our bags.
The one thing I liked about the flight was the entertainment built into each back seat. I spent a great deal of my eight hour long trip playing Bejeweled. I attempted to watch Terminator: Salvation, but found the film to be mostly intolerable. I’m not sure if this was the result of watching the movie on a plane or if it is actually the movie itself. I also made what I believe was a valiant attempt to digest Dragonball: Evolution. That lasted roughly 20 minutes.
The best pat of the flight was our quick jaunt from Amsterdam to Zurich. At this point we left NWA and boarded a KLM plane. Such friendliness. Such service. Such delicious sandwiches. Yes, sandwiches, such a novel concept for airline food, but it hit the spot perfectly. Two sandwiches came in the package. One was cheese and the other I believe was salami. Both were fresh and absolutely delicious for airline food.
I have to disagree with Arianna Huffington. If there is one segment I would trust more than any with credit it is the Zombie population. Lacking a need for sleep, zombies make excellent workers and therefore have a high productivity rate. Any business that employs zombies is likely to weather this financial storm better than others because they can depend on one zombie to work multiple shifts. That means an undead worker is more likely to hold onto a job then a living worker. If I were a bank I’d much rather offer credit to someone who can hold onto a job. Without the Zombie Banks, who will extend that credit?
I just came across a trailer for the soon to be released documentary The People vs. George Lucas on /Film. I brought it over here because it made me laugh a whole bunch. You should laugh. Now. It would be a perfect entry for the Comet Star Moon Film Festival. Remember when I was running that series of posts? If there is anything consistent about me it is my ability to be inconsistent.
I have to admit, I’m kinda, sorta liking Lily Allen’s new release, but that’s not why I’m taking seconds from my always important day to make a post. I just “loved” her song “Fuck You” on last.fm and was amused by my “recent activity” and wanted to share. Yes, I’m easily amused. I like making last.fm jealous.
Variety is reporting that Brett Ratner, who directs the type of movies I walk away from wishing never happened including the final segment of the X-Men trilogy, has been tapped to direct a film based on Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood. I had a friend in high school who loved everything Liefeld put his fingers on, but beyond the wee bit of respect I give him for being part of the Image revolution, I was never sold on his distortion of the human figure and found his storytelling, specifically in the Youngblood comic (which he was never able to produce on a timely schedule), to be drab and stunted.
I love the quote from Ratner “Most of the great graphic novels are gone, and ‘Youngblood’ is one of the few comicbooks left with tentpole potential.” So, Ratner is essentially saying everything else has been bought up and this is all that’s left. I have to question “tentpole” potential. I’m not exactly in the comic book scene as much as I used to be, but does anyone even feel a deep enough nostalgic connection with Youngblood to make this film do well? I’m predicting a bomb.
Today I continue my experiment in twitter reviewing. The objective: Review an album while restrained by Twitter’s 140 character limit. This Twitter Review is for Wiley’s “See Clear Now.” I was unable to pull off a “twoosh” with this one (using all 140 characters) and clocked in at 139 characters.
Wiley’s “See Clear Now” proves that grime is still stagnant as a genre. Not an unpleasant album, but wholly forgettable. In summation: Meh.
I’m trying out a new experiment on Twitter where I review an album with one tweet. It is incredibly restrictive allowing for less than 140 characters because I need to at the least put the name of the artist in the tweet. A secondary goal is to use all 140 characters. The most recent review is of the debut Fever Ray album from the Knife’ s Karin Dreijer Andersson. My 140 character long twitter review is below.
Karin Dreijer Andersson’s Fever Ray project is the remnant population of a dead planet circling a neutron star. Elegant and lonely gravity.
Stars