Berlin Calling

1) What do drugs mean to Ickarus?

Drugs to Ickarus in the film were his release. The drugs were what he went to in order to get away from his life when he was overwhelmed or when he wanted to let loose. When the stress got too great with the pressure to make new hip music or when his home life wasn't the best he would take whatever he could get his hands on to numb himself and he usually knew his limits but in the film it showed him over dosing and his body taking the consequences.

2) Why, when, and how are his fans taking drugs, and which drugs do they take?

The film would show Ickarus's fans and fans of his type of music taking their drug of choice before or during the performance of the music. They would usually be taking lines of cocaine but they also would pop pills to get their high. The reason they did this was to connect to the music better and they were able lose themselves in the "trance" like beats and they were able to connect with the beats and different pitches easier.

3) While we can see that his drug habits get him ill and into a psychosis, and while we witness his relapse and inability to work successfully, why does the subculture Ickarus belongs to focus on drugs?

The use of drugs in Ickarus's work is very common. It is so intertwined with the culture he belongs to in the scene that is life is with partying and performing. The techno like music that he performs attracts those who use those drugs and techno and drugs seem to just go hand in hand. Even though Ickarus crashes badly and realizes he needs a change it is almost impossible for him to escape the culture and when he wants to escape his addiction and getting back into his music makes him relapse.

4) Compare the standards you know from your home society with the people you see depicted in this movie. Which are the stark differences and contrasts?

The main differences that I would say are the regularity of drug use in Germany. I feel like the drugs used are very hard core in Germany and the film depicted the accessibility of these drugs was simple and it is easy to get your hands on these drugs. I guess comparing Berlin to Minneapolis I could see some similarities with drug use but with the film it showed the use of drugs during the night and day and whenever. In Minneapolis if people were to do these drugs in public I feel it would be more of a night event. Basically just the regularity of the use of these hard drugs in Germany was shocking to me and is definitely more prevent and in the open in Berlin compared to Minneapolis.

5) Germany is considered a strong industrial nation the world over. Do you think that the youth culture as depicted here could change that? How about work ethics of Ickarus and of Alice, the label director who fires and then re-signs him?

Of course there is the chance to change the industry with different generations going their different ways. However, I feel that this is more of a youth thing and the use of drugs there and most people shape up. Many people don't ever escape the grasp of the drugs but people can change and Ickarus showed how he was able to take this addiction and make it into a positive and made the best of it and ultimately created a great album.

6) Which similar "cult movies" of U.S. origin have you seen, if any?

I haven't seen any similar cult movies of U.S. origin that compare to Berlin Calling.

Personal Reaction to Berlin Calling

I feel this film was very depictive of a certain subculture in Berlin, Germany. At times I couldn't relate to the film but that is what made it beneficial. Even though we in Minnesota can't really connect to that lifestyle we were able to really see it with the music, the drugs and the entire lifestyle of someone in that industry. It was an eye opening film for myself to see that this is probably what the youth scene really is like in Berlin with the constant partying and the use of drugs. Personally I enjoyed the film and was glad we could see the progress and the relapse that Ickarus made and the story that showed this for us the viewers and those who don't live that lifestyle.

Picture Citation

http://www.berlin-calling.de/en/downloads

German Music: Hip-Hop in the 21st Century

Die Fantastischen Vier:

 



Nickname: The Fantastic Four
Members: Michael Beck, Thomas Durr, Michael B. Schmidt and Andreas Rieke
Origins: Stuttgart, Germany
Genres: German hip-hop, Pop, and Rap
Years active: 1986 (1989) – present
Labels: Four Music, Sony BMG
To this day they have released 15 albums.
Die Fantastischen Vier were among the first groups to ever rap in the German language. With success and growing popularity the group had a brief stint in Los Angeles but having no connection to "American Gangster" scene they chose to focus their hip-hop on a more serious and philosophical style of hip-hop/rap.

Deichkind: 

 

Members: Philipp, Ferris MC, DJ Phono and Porky

Origin: Hamburg, Germany

Genres: Hip-Hop, Electro

Years active: 1999 – Present

Labels: Showdown (parent label: WEA Records), Island Records

To this day they have released 5 albums.

The groups lyrics mainly consist of themes of irony and humor, but in their recent appearances display this change noted by fast, electronic rhythms. The band describes their new sound as TechRap, a mixture of techno and rap. Deichkind is very well known for its crazy and wild live shows including rubbish bag-outfits, trampolines, vodka, and pillow fights among other things.

The death of producer and friend Sebi Hackert on 21 February 2009 caused a major shock to the band.

Begin Clip.

2000 to present

Today, the German hip hop scene is a reflection of the many dimensions that Germany has come to represent in a unified image of Europe. Everything from "migrant hip hop," which is known as hip hop from the large Turkish immigrant population that is mostly centered in Kreuzberg, to the more humor-based groups paint a portrait of a vibrant and diverse hip-hop community in Germany.

Despite common notions of the Old School German hip hop’s emulation of US hip hop styles and the New School’s attempt to rap about crime and violence, some “Old Schoolers” feel that the New School has, in fact, forgotten about its roots. Old School supporters and Scholars disagree on the nature of the recent transformation in German hip hop. Scholars have argued that the Old School German hip hop “scene was musically and vocally oriented to American role models. Rhymes were written in English; funk and soul samples dominated musical structures”. However, Old Schoolers themselves contend that it is the New School German rap artists who have been “Americanized,” and therefore lack the authenticity of the struggle of the ghetto in West Germany. The German old school acknowledged that there were many the differences between the situation in the United States and the situation in Germany, and aimed at expressing the concept of “realness,” meaning to “be true to oneself”. Different from the US hip hop’s equating “realness” with “street credibility,” many raps that came out of the old school German hip hop “address this issue and reject unreflected imitation of US hip hop as clichés and as the betrayal of the concept of realness”. Furthermore, the Old School of German hip hop may have been seen as representing “a critique of White America” because of its modeling after US hip hop; however, Old schoolers dispute that hip hop in Germany was about the oppression of people in Germany. One Old School artist, DJ Cutfaster lamented that, “Most people have forgotten that hip hop functions as a mouthpiece against violence and oppression and ultimately against the ghetto, which has become the metaphor for the deplorable state of our world”. Contrary to the New School hip hop’s attempts to crossover into the mainstream popular culture, the Old School “envisioned and propagated hip hop as an underground community that needed to keep its distance from and to create resistance to mainstream culture in order to avoid co-optation”. End Clip.

Die Fantastischen Vier Hits:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1yEIaoRNhE&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAnQnZpq5zg

Deichkind Hits: 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn_paxkL_tU&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOH7E4DrLWA

Sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_hip_hop 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deichkind

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Fantastischen_Vier

 

http://www.rme-audio.de/artists.php?page=content/artists/deichkind

 

http://www.musikladen.at/Konzerte/Deichkind/Deichkind.html

 

http://www.eventim.de/obj/media/DE-eventim/galery/kuenstler/f/die-fantastischen-vier-2010-02-005.jpg

Presentation Review:

• The task our group had was to present information on Hip-Hop in the Germany in the 21st Century.
• My group consisted of myself, Talimatou (Tyler) Peniata and many other individuals.
• The way we completed this task was by everyone working on their own and researching and posting their information to the blog. Then in class we took turns presenting from our own blogs.
• Suggestions? Perhaps make this assignment a 2 week assignment so that groups can meet together and the presenting will go smoother and the information will be clearer to the audience.

All Quiet on the Western Front Chapter 4

Summary:

The chapter starts out with the company being assigned to spread more barbed wire fences across the front.  The company is dropped off in the evening and not to be picked up until the following morning.  While they are putting up more barbed wire fencing, Kat is instructing to all of the new soldiers how to decipher between the different kinds of shells and how to take cover from them.  Kat predicts that there will be a bombardment tonight due to the fact that the English started shelling an hour earlier than usual.  Once they finish putting up the fence and are laying around trying to sleep waiting for the trucks to come pick them up, they realize that Kat’s prediction was right, and shells start falling in every location.  The company seeks cover to hide from the shells.  The trucks finally make it to pick them up, but when they are on their way back a few shells land really close to them and they are forced to take cover in a cemetery.  They are all instructed to put their gas masks on to protect themselves from the gas bombs being dropped.  One soldier who Paul had helped out earlier has taken a hit to his hip, and it is very clear that he will die from this wound.  Kat and Paul contemplate shooting him so that the pain from his wound doesn’t make him suffer for longer than he has to, but other soldiers come by so they decide not to.

Substantial Meaning:

 

This chapter kind of sets the tone for the rest of the book, as a company they are forced to endure, even with loss of life among the company.  One of the more important pieces of text from the chapter though is a small aside that Paul has with the reader.  In this he talks about how important the earth is with the soldier.  He says that the earth is there for him every time he drops to the ground for cover and that every time he asks for shelter he receives it.  Another important idea that Paul talks about is how at the front, the soldiers turn into “Human Animals” where instincts rule their actions.  He says that they are a saving grace for the ones who obey them without hesitation.  In many instances, the soldiers dropped to the ground to avoid a shell that they weren’t even aware was coming, they just did it on instincts.  What Paul says he is extremely important as to showing how the war affects the soldiers.  At the front, the ones who survive are the ones who do not act on emotion, but on instincts instead.  This tears the soldiers into two directions at once, because how could one ignore all the sources of emotion that are around them such as death and injury? The effects of this are seen throughout the rest of the book.

Presentation Review

• The task our group had was to present information on Chapter 4 of All Quiet on The Western Front to the class.
• My group consisted of myself, Talimatou (Tyler) Peniata and Robert Olson.
• The way we completed this task was combining our work and research that we did on our own and met once outside of class to compile our final presentation.
• Suggestions? I feel the process was pretty simple, research the chapter, and present on it. No suggestions.

Feb. 19th Thesis Statements Response

The thesis statements were definitely a reoccurring theme and I agree with how the novel All Quiet on The Western Front was one of the most accurate depictions of war to this date. The description used by Erich Remarque was very accurate and anyone who has read the novel speaks about how real the novel is depicts how inhumane the battles and war truly were. Most novels wrote on war try and discuss or justify how whoever it is that is being described as patriotic and great war stories but Remarque chose to describe war as realistic as he could and not worry about what people thought and that is why this novel is so successful and highly praised.

I agree with the Realities of War thesis statement and I appreciated how Remarque wrote with description and took detail and even over did it. In the novel there was such realness and not much censorship to it about how limbs would be blown off and the poisonous gas and the overall inhumanity in War. The thing that many people forget about all these wars with all the numbers and stats is that all these numbers were once real people. Patriotic and young men that were going into war with a positive look on it and those who did survive were and are forever changed from there experiences. This novel does a wonderful job of telling war and describing it as what it truly is.

The Pirate Party (Piratenpartei Deutschland)

History

The Pirate Party was founded in September 10th, 2006 in Berlin, Germany. The party is currently headquartered in Berlin as well. The German Pirate Party is in agreement with the Swedish Pirate Party and is in partnership with the Pirate Parties International. In August of 2012 there were 35,000 members. The parties current Party Leader is Thorsten Worth.

Notable Joining Members

• February 2009, The City Councillor of Strausberg, Jens Knoblich joined the Pirate Party Germany.
• June 2009, Bundestag member, Jorg Tauss left the SPD and joined the Pirate Party.
• August 2009, Herbert Rusche, one of the founding members of the German Green Party and in the 1980s, the first openly homosexual member of parliament in Germany, joined the Pirate Party.

Ideology

Begin clip.

The party supports the preservation of current civil rights in telephony and on the Internet; in particular, it opposes the European data retention policies.

The party favors the civil right to information privacy and reforms of copyright, education, genetic patents  and drug policy.

In particular, it promotes an enhanced transparency of government by implementing open source governance  and providing for APIs to allow for electronic inspection and monitoring of government operations by the citizen.

The Pirate Party also supports an unconditional basic income for citizens and direct democracy. End clip.

According to political theorist Oskar Niedermayer, the party sees itself as part of an international movement to shape the digital revolution and transition into a information society. With their focus on freedom in the net and their fight against government regulations. The group has caught the attention especially of the younger generation. The network policy was the core identity of the party, it is now more than just an advocacy party of digital natives. The Pirate Party characterizes itself as a social-liberal-progressive.

Notable Election Results

2009 German Federal Election

In the 2009 German Federal Election pm September 27, 2009, the Pirates received 845,904 votes which was only 2.0% of the vote. Needing 5.0% to secure any seats in the Bundestag they fell short. However, this was still the best result among parties that did not meet the 5.0% threshold. Also noted among first-time male voters, the party received 13.0%.

2009 European Parliament Election

In the 2009 European Parliament Election The Pirate Party received 229,117 votes which was 0.9% of the vote. Needing at least 5.0% of the vote they did not earn any seats.

German State Elections

(Note: To gain seats you need to recieve 5.0% of the vote or more)

• 2009 Saxony State Election the Pirates received 1.9% of the vote.
• 2009 Schleswig-Holstein State Election the Pirates received 1.8% of the vote.
• 2009 Hesse State Election the Pirates only received 0.5% of the vote.
• 2010 North Rhine-Westphalia State Election the Pirates received 1.5% of the vote.
• 2011 Hamburg State Elections the Pirates received 2.1% of the vote.
• 2011 Baden-Wurttemberg State Election the Pirates received 2.1% of the vote.
• 2011 Saxony-Anhalt State Election the Pirates received 1.4% of the vote.
• 2011 Rhineland-Palatinate State Election the Pirates received 1.6% of the vote.
• 2011 Berlin State Election the Pirates received 8.9% of the vote and managed to gain 15 seats in the State Parliament.
• 2012 Saarland State Election the Pirates received 7.4% of the vote and gained 4 seats in the State Parliament.
• 2012 Schleswig-Holstein State Election the Pirates received 8.2% of the vote and gained 6 seats in the State Parliament.
• 2012 North Rhine-Westphalia State Election the Pirates received 7.8% of the vote and gained 20 seats in the State Parliament.
• 2013 Lower Saxony State Election the Pirates only received 2.1% of the vote.
• 2013 Bavaria State Election the Pirates only received 2.0% of the vote.

Number of Members

Decline in Numbers and Polls

Begin clip. After those successful state elections, the party was able to score up to 13% in nationwide polls. However, after a lengthy array of scandals and internal disputes which were handled unprofessionally and picked up by the media, the party lost the trust of voters and entered a steady decline in polls. End clip.

At the 2013 German Federal Elections the Pirate Party suffered a major defeat where it was only able to achieve 2.2% of the votes, leading to the resignation of party leader Bernd Schlomer. The Pirate Party has often been criticized as well for the lack of women in the Pirate Party. At the height of the parties popularity they had over 35,000 members.

Past Party Leaders

 Bernd Schlomer, Sebastian Nerz, Dirk Hillbrecht, Chrstof Leng, and Jens Seipenbusch.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party_Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Piraten_de_ew_2009.svg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mitgliederentwicklung_Piratenpartei_Deutschland.png

Presentation Review

• The task our group had was to present information to the class and educate them on the German Pirate Party.
• My group consisted of myself Talimatou (Tyler) Peniata, Brianne Stamer, Nicole Hughes, Natahaniel Kleene, Brian Richter and Sam Chung.
• To complete this task our group split up the research Brianne and I had to present on Basic History and Ideology of the group. Sam and Nathaniel presented on how the Pirate Party has done in past and recent elections and Brian and Nicole presented on information of number of members and rise and decline of the party. Our group presented our information right off of this blog post.
• Suggestions? The only thing I thought was tricky is that there was no rubric for us to know what exactly to present on it was nice though at the same time that we could use our discretion and present on what we found interesting.

Bavaria Presentation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IsjLpwD7iBuRyF5Se89PgoGVrB7jX5h0SA5k2Ld-9Is/edit?usp=sharing 

Presentation Review

• The task our group had was to present information on the German states of Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg.
• My group consisted of myself Talimatou (Tyler) Peniata, Brianne Stamer, Nicole Hughes, Natahaniel Kleene, Brian Richter and Sam Chung.
• We split up the research questions and each were assigned 1 or 2. Then we created 2 seperate blogs on these states then a presentation (above) focusing on Bavaria, Germany.
• Suggestions? Perhaps make sure every group is aware the key was to focus on 1 state in particular so the information can be processed better by the audience rather than every group presenting on all 3 or 2 of their states and the listeners are kind of blown away with information. Perhaps make this a 2 week assignment so all groups really collaborate and put their best product forward.

Baden Württemberg, Germany

 

(photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Deutschland_Lage_von_Baden-Württemberg.svg) 

1. begin clip-After World War II, Allied forces established three federal states: Württemberg-Hohenzollern, Baden (both occupied by France), and Württemberg-Baden (US-occupied). In 1949, these three states became founding members of the Federal Republic of Germany. Article 118 of the new German constitution, however, had already prepared a procedure for those states to merge. After a referendum held on 16 December 1951, Württemberg-Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Badenvoted in favor of a merger.[3] Baden-Württemberg officially became a state on 25 April 1952

The state parliament of Baden-Württemberg is the Landtag (Eng. state assembly). The politics of Baden-Württemberg have traditionally been dominated by the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), who until 2011 had led all but one government since the establishment of the state in 1952. In the Landtagelections held on 27 March 2011 voters replaced the Christian Democrats and centre-right Free Democrats coalition by a Greens-led alliance with the Social Democrats which secured a four seat majority in the state parliament.
From 1992 to 2001, the anti-immigration Republicans party had seats in the Landtag.

Although Baden-Württemberg has relatively few natural resources compared to other regions of Germany,[3] the state is among the most prosperous[4] and wealthiest regions in Europe with a generally low unemployment rate historically.- end clip. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg)

2.The population is 10, 569, 111. Stuttgart is the capital of Baden Württenberg.  Schlossplatz is the largest square in Stuttgart and has two castles and major museums.

3.There are currently 4 political parties in Baden-Württemberg. The largest party is CDU or Christian Democratic Union of Germany which until 2011 had held all but one government in the state since it was established in 1952. The next party is the FDP or Free Democrats which are in close collaboration with the CDU, but have lost popularity in the state by doing so. Then there are the SDP or Social Democrats, which have secured 4 seat majorities in the state parliament since 2011. The SDP are aligned with The Greens and are the only socialist party in Baden-Württemberg. The third party is The Greens who are aligned with the SDP and are slowly losing popularity in the region. The fourth party is The Republicans which hasn’t held a seat since 2001, they are mostly anti-immigration.

                Baden-Württemberg has a great diversity in religion. The largest are the Roman Catholics with 36.9% of the population. The next largest is the Lutherans, which is the traditional religion of the state. The Lutherans make up 33.3% of the population. Next are the Muslims with 5.6% of the populations as followers. Then there are the Buddhists with 0.23%, the Hindu with 0.14%, and the Jews with 0.08% of the population as followers. Then there are the non-religious with 22.3% of the population.

                Baden-Württemberg has a rich heritage that can still be seen in the region today. They have an assortment of castles like Ludwigsburg Palace, Hohenzollern Castle, Heidelberg Castle, and Schwetzingen Palace. They also have other cultural hubs like the Stuttgart State Opera, Baden-Baden Theater, Maulbronn Monastery, Limes Roman Defences, and Reichenau Island.   

4. The Maulbronn Monastry is the best-preserved medieval Cistercian monastery complex in Europe.

It includes an extensive water-management system of reservoirs and channels.

It is situated on the outskirts of Maulbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

The monastery was founded in 1147.

It further developed from the 12th to the 17th century.

It has a style transitional from Romanesque to Gothic and surrounded by fortified walls.

The removing its political quasi-independence was in the course of the German Mediatisation in 1807.

The seminary merged with that of Bebenhausen the following year, now known as the Evangelical Seminaries of Maulbronn and Blaubeuren.

Since 1993 the monastery is part of the Unesco World Heritage.

5.

 -Daimler AG, Daimler is a German multinational automotive company established in 1883. The company owns many shares of many other automotive companies such as Mercedes-Benz. Daimler's headquarters are located in Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemburg.

- Porsche Automobil Holding SE, The Porsche company was established in 1931. Porsche automobiles are still being manufactured to this day but by Volkswagen. Porsche Headquarters are based in Zuffenhousen, Baden-Wurttemburg.

- Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes brand originated in 1886 in and is headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Wurttemburg. Mercedes-Benz is is a German luxury automobile manufacturer. Much like Porsche Mercedes is owned by Daimler but still to this day Mercedes-Benz automobiles are still being produced. Mercedes-Benz's logo is "Das beste oder nichts", translated to english (The best or nothing). 

- Robert Bosch GmbH, Robert Bosch is the largest supplier of automotive components in the world as of 2011. Robert Bosch was established in 1886 in Stuttgart and is headquartered in Gerlingen, Baden-Wurttemburg.

- SAP AG, SAP is the largest software enterprise in Europe. The SAP headquarters are located in Waldorf, Baden-Wurtremburg and was established in 1972.

6. One of the most famous people from this state is Roland Emmerich. He is a director, originally from Stuggart. He is known for his film Independence Day (2006). He has also directed The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2009). He specializes in disaster films with action. 

A famous actress from this state is Nina Hoss. She is known for her somber attitude while playing often a tragic, tormented woman.  She is known for her movies in Barbara (2012), Yella (2007), and The Downfall of Berlin: Anonyma (2008). 

Natalia Wörner is an actress from this area. She played a main role in the 1995 TV series 'Um die DreiBig', which was a hit across the country. She has received many awards, including one for her performance in 'Perfect Mind'. She received Best Leading Actress in 2000 for her performance in 'Bella Block'. In this episode, she wrote the screenplay. 

7. This state has relatively few natural resources compared to other parts of Germany, however, it is the most prosperous ad wealthiest regions. There is very low unemployment. There are many manufacturing enterprises here. In 2003, there was almost 8,800 of them. Nearly 43 percent of the people in this state work for manufacturing enterprises. 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg 

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/546

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maulbronn_Monastery

http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/maulbronnmonastery.html

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000386/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0396125/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0944255/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm