h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Checkpoint Charlie - A4028078
Author: the_evil_tree - U743628

This is the first time I've attempted a guide entry (shamefully after quite a while of being a h2g2 member). It's also the first time I've ever even attempted GuideML, or anything remotely like that. I'm also a little rusty at writing in general having not had any reason in almost a year. I'm just making excuses now and will make myself stop...
bye

Very good entry. Nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about - I waited two years before my first submission to PR.

The house style for dates in edited entries is

There may be more information that others will suggest you include in the entry, but I think this one is headed for the EG

Actually, the style is 13 August, 1961, though I always preferred Gosho's version myself

Excellent first entry. I cant think of anything off hand that you missed.

Good Entry
I have just visited what remains of the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie. All your info is accurate and presented well (in my opinion anyway). Should be accepted.
Good Luck

Great stuff: I've always wondered about this place.

Now why is 'Oliver's Army' suddenly my current earworm?

Thanks for the correct way to write the date as well as the encouragement. It's pretty nerve-racking. Not the same as a death in the family but above a haircut. Maybe on par with a public exam??? Perhaps it's just me.

Costello does seem to reference much of the known world in that song. My favourite has to be "we could be in Palestine overrun by the Chinese line". I always thought it sounds like a game of Risk, or how I imagine Risk would be played as I've never done it myself...

bye

Can I ask you to forget NOW about the fact that Costello gives us a whistle-stop tour of all the world's trouble spots? I say this because if some eejits round here get wind of this they'll write an entry about each and every one of them.

Great stuff.

If I was forced to make a comment, I'd say, maybe the 'reason' why there was a checkpoint could be explored a bit more... Err... Or how 'life' was when the checkpoint was there... I mean, how it operated... like, there are reports of people who passed the checkpoint... How many people used to pass the checkpoint? Was it like hundreds of people everyday, or more like one or two fellas every month? What would one have to do to in order to pass, just get there, or bring a truckload of documents? Or if I passed it, say, from west to east, where would I be? What would happen next? The other way round, when passing from East to West what kind of documents were needed, did poeple get a personal search? Did that happen often? Was the checkpoint more like a customs office, or more like a 'secret agent' exchange meeting point?... Things like that.

But then again, the Entry is already very good, and my comments only marginal.

HELL

Thanks for the advice. Shall update the beginning bit.

bye

Well-written

Do you think 'the museum instead tells rather romanticised true-life stories ' is your subjective view or would others also draw that conclusion? I visited the museum a few years ago and didn't find it overly romanticised, more a moving and effective way of giving one impression of what living either side of the wall was like.

Jules

During my time in Berlin I met people who came to the same conclusions as both me and you (you being JulesK (just to avoid confusion...)). But one thing it would be hard to argue is that the museum was showing the history of Checkpoint Charlie or even that of the Berlin Wall. It instead presented individual cases in a way that seemed designed to provoke an emotional response with minimal information about the events that happened and the context they took place in.

You're probably right though, it might be a bit too subjective. I'll try and think of a way to re-word it.

I was just flagging it up as that bit seemed unbalanced as I read it through, so changing a word or two will probably sort it

I haven't been to the museum for a while and I appreciate that individuals will have a different take on what is presented there.

I thought it did tell the story of Checkpoint Charlie but my memory may be wrong on this. You have obviously seen it with more recent eyes than me!

Jules

Excellent Entry. To my shame I have never been to Checkpoint Charlie, despite the fact I live in mainland Europe. I will make an effort to do so in the future.

It probably doesn't belong in this entry, but has anyone ever considered writing about some of the more creative/bizarre attempts to escape the eastern bloc?

My favourite story is that of a man who lived about 20km from a rural border crossing between Czechoslovakia and West Germany. One day he started painting the milestones (well, technically kilometer stones) along the road that led to the border. Every day he painstakingly painted one milestone.
The border guards got used seeing him as they drove from the barracks at the change of every shift. They would wave and shout their hellos.
Finally, he painted the last milestone on the Czech side.
The next day he cycled past the guard post, carrying his paint pot and brush. The guards let him through with a smile and a wave.
He didn't stop until he reached the West German border.

Thats quite good.
There was another about a man who crossed at one of the checkpoints. He wanted to get from East to West.
The officer asked him for his passport, to which the man replied that it was in the security booth where it had been undergoing checks. The officer told two soldiers to watch the man and went into the booth to get the man's passport. The Man then told the soldiers that he had left his passport back at his house in the West. The two soldiers replied that he should go and get it. The man walked through the "Death Strip" and into West Berlin.
Not a bad example of thinking on your feet huh?

It's amazing how deferent the military are to pointless procedures. I remember an apocryphal story in our family about a relative who was in the Army and was given the job of painting the kerbstones white. He accidentally knocked the paint can over in the road. So, being a quick thinker, he decided to paint it into a nice white square.
Twenty years later he goes back to the army camp for a reunion. Not only have given the kerbstones a fresh lick of paint, but the white square has also been freshly repainted.

My dad once managed to get himself thrown out of his Czech national service by throwing some kind of pie at a general. Apparantely he was pretending to be mad but I've never been too sure.

I've altered 'the museum instead tells rather romanticised true-life stories' bit to make it sound a bit less biased. It wasn't really too bad - just not exactely the best use of my time in Berlin...

"such as ‘The Spy Who Came in from the Cold’, as well as making appearances"
The house style for film titles in edited entries is to put them in italics and leave out the single quotes: 'such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, as well as making appearances'

Good entry...

I entered east Berlin through checkpoint charlie sometime in December 1979 - it was a very strange experience. After having your passport checked at the little wooden hut the guard directed you into the barbed wire maze that led out into Friedrichstrasse. You had to go quite slowly as every few yards the path did a 90 degree turn but because you could see through the wire you couldn't see where the corners where (all I can remember thinking at the time was 'Harry Palmer I am definitely not!)

This is a fine entry. I have nothing to say but well done.

Excellent first Entry The only things I can think to suggest are the ading of links to other Edited Guide Entries, always looks good and gives other entires (and yours) a bit of promotion

Here's a couple as suggestion; A3768537 , A2181890 and A3768609.

On a side note e_t, you might like to also look in on Entry A306, which is a bit naff. Sure you could do it justice.

Good luck with more Entrys e_t Like your stuff.
HF