Berlinale 2010, Welcome to the Space Show World Premiere

I watched the second Anime during this years Berlinale, the world premiere of Welcome to the Space Show or Uchuu Show e Youkoso / 宇宙ショーへようこ if you are more familiar with the Japanese title.

A tiny mountain village in a remote woodland region. Five primary school kids have come together in this idyllic spot in order to spend their summer holidays at a camp. At first the children enjoy carefree days amidst unspoiled nature far away from adult supervision. But their life changes dramatically when they come across what they believe to be a small dog, badly in need of help.

The creature turns out not to be a dog at all but an alien on an important mission. It seems there is a mysterious substance on earth that is coveted throughout the universe.

The movie was produced by the same guys who brought you R.O.D -Read or Die-, Ishihama Masashi Masunari Kouji, Hideyuki Kurata and Tomonori Ochikoshi, all of them were parts of the audience.

There was only one thing I found a bit disturbing, I watched the movie in three languages, Japanese language, English subtitle and… a German translator for every single sentence and also totally emotionless.

But overall It was a really great movie with an interesting science-fiction story and cute characters.

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Berlinale 2010, Summer Wars サマーウォーズ

So I watched Summer Wars today at an official cinema of the Berlinale 2010. It’s the DVD premiere in Germany and the movie was shown two weeks earlier, of course in Japanese language with English subs.

The movie was about a boy called Kenji, a computer technician for a virtual world called Oz (a massive social network in which everything is connected with the real world) who was invited by the most popular girl at his high school to her expansive family’s home for a summer job.

During their trip, the world of Oz became infected by a virus, Kenji’s Account got hacked and so the chaos begun.

Hosoda Mamoru, the producer himself, was one of today’s guests and at the end, he answered a couple of questions about the movie which I can’t tell you without spoiling you the story. The only thing I can tell you is that he got his inspiration from his own family… oh yes and that he loves Germany.

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Berlinale 2010, Ticket Madness

Seems like this year’s Berlinale is pretty popular, people standing in line for about an hour to get a ticket for their favorite movie or a chance to meet one of the many stars who came to Berlin to present their newest creations.

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Berlinale 2010, International Film Festival in Berlin

The Berlinale in Berlin has begun, artists from around the world came to Berlin, to present their newest creations. Up to 400 films are shown every year, more than 19,000 film professionals from 136 countries, including about 4,000 journalists, are accredited for the Berlin International Film Festival every year.

The Berlin International Film Festival sees itself as a showcase for what is happening in cinema, but also as an actor and propagator on the international film circuit.

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The Pitfalls of Snow

With all these snowstorms recently, it’s not a good idea to let your bike outside. A little bit more snow and it will be hard to find it again. This could be really annoying if you have an important appointment.

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Narrentag 2010 – Part 02 – The Night


After the Narrenbaum was erected, the city was ready for the big Night Parade. Led by a couple of marching bands, thousands of different Narren (as I said yesterday, Narren are something like a jester or Joker) ran through the city. Jumping, laughing, whip lashing and tangerine throwing, it was a fascinating moment.

Every city has their own traditional costumes, first you will see the city of Rottweil with their Federhannes, Schantle and Gschell. If you can sing a well known carnival quote, you will be rewarded with a handful of candy.

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Narrentag 2010 – Part 01 – The Beginning

Last weekend, I took a plane to Stuttgart , to watch an event which only takes place every 3-4 years, the Narrentag (which probably means something like “Day of the Jester”), organized by one of four famous carnival cities; Rottweil, Oberndorf, Elzach and Überlingen, all of them part of the Viererbund, a union between these four cities since 1958.

This year the parade took place in Oberndorf (Black Forest), about 1 hour away from Stuttgart.

As an opening ceremony, a decorated tree, the Narrenbaum, was erected, as a symbol that the Narrentag has officially begun.

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Winter in the City


I heard something about Climate Change and Global Warming, but when I look outside my window, it’s an Ice Age out there. After 4 weeks, the snow is still there, the temperature has raised up to -5°C (23°F) so it’s not so cold anymore.

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RAF Laarbruch – Abandoned Military Airbase


On my way through the western part of Germany, I discovered an abandoned British military airbase in Weeze, a village in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Part of it is now used as a civilian airport and you can see the old military buildings if you drive the road from the big “Welcome” sign to the airfield. The old British RAF Laarbruch military base, was well placed along the Netherlands border into which the Soldier could flee if something unexpected happened.

Even some old military weapons were placed as a reminder for the Cold War days, or they were just forgotten, who knows.

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