Belvedere + Schönbrunn

My mother has come to visit - the weather's nice and it's Sunday. What better place to visit than the Belvedere. Just off Karlsplatz lies the Belvedere, which was built between 1721 and 1722. It was once inhabited by Prinz Eugen, but since 1919 it has housed a rather impressive art collection ranging from Medieval Art to Fin de Siécle. The main reason (I presume) that people visit the Belvedere is to catch a glimpse of "Der Kuss" by Gustav Klimt. 

I have always admired Klimt's work - it manages to portray the Secession sentiment perfectly. "Der Kuss" is something that should indeed be seen with one's own eyes - no replica can ever do it justice. When I saw "La Jioconda" by da Vinci at the Louvre, I must say that I was rather disappointed - I had always imagined it to be a rather large painting, but infact it was the size of a postage stamp (from where I was standing). I believe the heaving masses surrounding the painting may have caused my displeasure, but in my mind, that particular painting will always be a disappointment. On the contrary, one could go up to "Der Kuss" and admire all its offerings. Indeed, I was impressed by the painting, but here are some others that caught my eye: 

"Adam und Eva" - Gustav Klimt 

"Der Tod und das Mädchen" - Egon Schiele 

"Mutter und zwei Kinder" - Egon Schiele

"Eva" - Auguste Rodin

"Mutter und Kind" - Oskar Kokoschka

"Die arme Offizierswitwe" - Peter Fendi

The afternoon was spent at Schloss Schönbrunn, the former imperial summer residence. Situated close to where we live, the gardens are a great place to spend lazy Sundays. Mother and I picked up our Korean audio guides and for an hour or so were overwhelmed by the splendour of the place (however, it is no match to Versailles...).

We learnt all about the Habsburg Dynasty, and even visited the room where Karl I signed his "Verzichtserklärung" on 11.11.1918. 

 Sissi (Elisabeth of Bavaria) spent very little time at the palace, or with her husband Franz Joseph it seems. While many tourists know of Sissi either because she was a fashion icon at the time or through the film starring Romy Schneider, her life was rather tragic. She was married off at the age of 16 - something she came to regret in later life and heavily critised by her mother-in-law. 

Now back at home, I am off to enjoy strawberries, the Formula 1 AND the World Cup! What a treat!

oh david...

david explains what it was that made him notice keith for the first time. i wonder what people notice first about others:

a) "first impressions never last" according to Bernard Fanning in 'Wish You Well'

b) "you never a second chance at a first impression" - true

c) i know that i am an extremely judgmental person, therefore first impressions are definitely something important

Jetzt

Eis Kugeln bei Julius Meinl am Graben - perfect people-watching spot


Getting new Marc Jacobs T-Shirts in the post



The Naschmarkt - Dr. Falafel, cheap and tasty falafels

French sole shoes - expensive but worth it




What a good show - David and Ruth are my favourite characters

Drink Up

'Enivrez-Vous'

Il faut être toujours ivre.
Tout est là:
c'est l'unique question.
Pour ne pas sentir
l'horrible fardeau du Temps
qui brise vos épaules
et vous penche vers la terre,
il faut vous enivrer sans trêve.
Mais de quoi?
De vin, de poésie, ou de vertu, à votre guise.
Mais enivrez-vous.
Et si quelquefois,
sur les marches d'un palais,
sur l'herbe verte d'un fossé,
dans la solitude morne de votre chambre,
vous vous réveillez,
l'ivresse déjà diminuée ou disparue,
demandez au vent,
à la vague,
à l'étoile,
à l'oiseau,
à l'horloge,
à tout ce qui fuit,
à tout ce qui gémit,
à tout ce qui roule,
à tout ce qui chante,
à tout ce qui parle,
demandez quelle heure il est;
et le vent,
la vague,
l'étoile,
l'oiseau,
l'horloge,
vous répondront:
"Il est l'heure de s'enivrer!
Pour n'être pas les esclaves martyrisés du Temps,
enivrez-vous;
enivrez-vous sans cesse!
De vin, de poésie ou de vertu, à votre guise."

Charles Baudelaire

Warum, wieso, weshalb?

it's raining. lots and lots, it's very refreshing. the sounds of shafran and his vibrato are particularly comforting today.



sent in my YA essay plan. i wrote 3000 words in german. unglaublich.

Range Life

not my video: mine was taking too long to upload :(


after the glow, the scene, the stage, the set
talk becomes slow but there's one thing i'll never forget:
hey, you gotta pay your dues before you pay the rent.
over the turnstile out into the traffic
there's ways of living it's the way i'm living
right or wrong, it's all that i can do,
and i wouldn't want to let you be

i want a range life, if i could settle down,
if i could settle down, then i would settle down
[x2]


oh pavement. listening to pavement on record for the past few years, i had always assumed that although i loved their music, they were not the greatest musicians. the greatest of the great, they are most certainly not, but they are tighter, more in tune and in time than i would have expected.
they played 28 songs, so i definitely got my money's worth standing in the front row directly under the gaze of Spiral Stairs, Mr. Malkmus and Mark Ibold. they did not, however, play one of my favourites: 'Zurich is Stained'. steve malkmus entertained the crowd by dancing around in a rather bizarre fashion, throwing his pick into the audience and managing to offend the audience by saying "Vienna? What the fuck." and then continuing by telling us about his hot Hungarian grandmother.

Alexander McQueen

I splashed out and bought another McQueen scarf. It goes well with exactly the same one I have - black skulls on white/white skulls on black. Now I just need the shoes and the T-Shirt. Incidentally, they are both on sale at yoox.com. so tempted, but really should not give in.

All patterns were cut on the stand by Lee Alexander McQueen.

Each piece is unique, as was he. [www.alexandermcqueen.com]