New York State of Mind

Since I've moved here, I've missed New York terribly. However, there are many reminders of NYC around here, which always make me smile. There was one time when I went into a sporting goods store and there was a wall (no seriously, a WALL) of Yankees merchandise (um, hello, they don't even play IN THIS COUNTRY, nor is baseball even a professional sport here).

They love NYC here, naming places after our fine city. There is a chain store that sells trashy clothes called New York, and below is a seedy hotel named Manhattan (note the sex shop conveniently located next door - so pre-Disney 42nd St). What I love is that this one also packs in a little Woody Allen connection. 2-for-1 nostalgia.

I almost peed my pants when I saw this ad. The translation is Law & Order Without End. Back-to-back episodes on Sundays, and another on Thursdays. I watch (when I remember) just so I can hear the opening notes. Of course it's dubbed in German, but seeing as I've seen most of the eps, I can follow along. This next one I caught at the tram stop on my way to school one rainy morning. I looked up from under my umbrella and when I saw the bag, I had to stop for a moment and look around to make sure I was actually in D'dorf, and not on Flatbush Avenue.

Thank goodness I'll be back in NYC in just a mere three weeks...

Bambi

No, not the adorable Disney deer, but the esteemed (?) German version of the Oscars (well, sort of - the Bambis are given not just for film but for art, literature and TV). The awards ceremony was held here in Dusseldorf(!) on Thursday night. I did not know this until Friday morning, when I went online to People.com (I know, shameful) and saw Katie & her new 'do with Tom Cruise, who had received an award for....courage.

What the f*ck??

I have heard two reasons for this award:
- having the courage to not make mainstream movies (?),
- having the courage to make a film about the German resistance to the Nazis.

Thank goodness there is finally an award for courageous actors like Tom Cruise. I hope the Oscars will follow suit and recognize the legions of actors who are out there in the trenches, being all courageous.

p.s. I am not sure if I spelled courageous correctly - I keep looking at it and thinking that it's not right. But I am too lazy to get up and get the dictionary and look.