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

So, yesterday I went to the 'Literarisches Picknick' (literature and picnic, or 'literary picnic') which Frau Steinkopf, the owner of our local bookshop organises once a year, usually around solstice. This was the 15th 'picnic', and I've been to about nine or ten of them. They're always very interesting and great fun, and yesterday was no exception.
The invitation always contains a few clues as to where we'll go, and what the 'theme' will be, so you can either try to find out, or just wait and see.
Yesterday's destination was Pfungstadt, a town the average German (me included) will most likely associate with a beer brand.
It was all about the Büchner family who lived in the Pfungstadt/Darmstadt area.
Some may have heard of Georg Büchner, a well-known author whose (unfinished) play Woyzeck is still one of the most-played pieces in German theatre.
(If you don't know it, I can only recommend it. It has been translated into English: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TCac3aGR9bUC&dq=woyzeck&pg=PP1&ots=aXedYwNX6I&sig=nLc4YfZdP7fjEOk3EkVO3_RZVGM&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.co.uk/search%3Fhl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26oi%3Dspell%26resnum%3D0%26ct%3Dresult%26cd%3D1%26q%3DWoyzeck%26spell%3D1&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPA7,M1).

These picnics attract lots of book fans, so there were two , meant to go to different destinations at first and then join at the synagogue, separate afterwards, then join again for tea. After much confusion as to which was going where first, we eventually ended up in the right one, and the journey began. Our busdriver was a woman, who didn't have a clue how to get to our destination, so phone calls had to be made to the other bus when her sat nav didn't get any signal anymore.
I really can't believe that a professional busdriver goes to an unknown place without checking the route on a map.

Well, we arrived at our destination in the end. The weather had looked like heavy rain and thunderstorm, so most of us had taken an extra jacket - just in case. It was dry and scorching hot, though, so we just left those things we didn't need while visiting the villa in the bus, only to find that on our return, there was no . Turned out, our busdriver had accepted another tour (allegedly without the knowledge of her company) and had 'kidnapped' the - with our belongings in it. This caused some upset, but there was nothing to be done about it.

Fortunately, our next destination was only a 15-min walk away. Pretzels, water and Pfungstädter were offered as a refreshment.
I went for the Pfungstädter (I *had* to, being in Pfungstadt) - and was rewarded with a bad headache. Whether that was due to the beer, or to the weather, I don't know, but I guess the latter).
We were joined by the other group, and after a lecture about the Büchner family, and the occasion of buying the book and having it signed by two of its three authors, we split again, our group now going with the second . We stopped at the atelier of a local artist (print, lithography etc: http://picasaweb.google.com/TheBelana/LiterarischesPicknick21062008/photo#5214606340989777138 (zoom in to read the signpost)), only to find that the artist was not prepared for our visit, claiming he never knew of htis appointment and could only spare one hour max.
Part of the group stayed here, the rest went on to go to the birthplace of Georg Büchner. While trying to turn the bus in the very narrow roads of Gernsheim, the hit a signpost and broke a window.
You can see that going somewhere by (a hired) bus can be quite eventful.

That was the last bus-related excitement on this tour, though.

I arrived safely home at 9.30pm. I checked hootoo for an update about lil, then went to bed due to my bad , without even watching the rest of the match.

Photos can be seen at

http://picasaweb.google.com/TheBelana/LiterarischesPicknick21062008

Blimey, eventful, indeed!
I hope your weather was better than ours (and still is)

I hope your has gone now (match was good, sorry you missed it)

It didn't rain, but was very hot and humid instead - we didn't need to go to the loo, we just sweat it out.

Just correcting the subject line.

Preview is my friend.

Was the picnic provided or did you have to bring your own?

There wasn't a picnic, I think it started out as a picnic 15 years ago and the name just stuck. The total costs were € 25, which is a very good price considering the hired busses, guides, pretzels and drinks, and a meal + one drink of your choice (you could choose one of three meals).

Speisenaufzug!

I could never have guessed either from the name or from the picture what it was - in fact I finally gave up and went to the next picture and got your little joke

Thanks for sharing the fun

(maybe not a joke exactly - just a small windup for your ignorant friends)

It wasn't meant as a wind-up at all, but I thought it nicer to have a different caption for the photos. It's not ignorant not to know German (and you know some German anyway, don't you?).

nein, ich kann nichts - alles vergessen und mir, jetzt alles wurst. Wie sagt mann auf deutsch 'ignoramus'?

(i wonder if that'll get by the filter - not the 'is it another language?' filter, rather the 'does it make any sense?' filter)

I just looked up 'ignoramus' - so who is ignoramus here, eh? Certainly not you.

And yes, what you said makes perfect sense.

Will wonders never cease?

Dumbwaiters are common enough in old houses here, but they're recognizable. It's always fun to poke around old houses.

The current state of the house is desolate. After the builder (owner) died, it was first used by the Nazis as labour camp for the forced labourers, later for the prisoners of war. After the war, it housed the homeless for more than 40 years. Then in the 1980s the city council managed to rehome those, but the house was left empty and unprotected for a long time, so quite some vandalism took place.
They eventually secured the house and started with the restorations about two years ago.

War can be quite hard on houses. We have almost no plantation homes left in the south because most of them were burnt to the ground during our civil war. The ones that you see now are generally rebuilt from the remains of several others.

According to what our guide told us there's plenty of the original material left, so reconstruction should go well. They are in touch with the grand-grand-grandson of the owner, who is even in possession of some of the furniture and other original things, and who has lots of photos which show what it once looked like (although not the colours, cause unsurprisingly, they're b&w photographs).

"Woyzeck" also exists as an opera by Alban Berg; probably the most well known opera written in "serial" technique.
I never have encountered the play alone. The opera is so very dark, I wonder how they compare.
Sounds like a fascinating outing -- maybe a little too fascinating. I think one could live without that bus ride. Makes me feel less stupid for messing up my camera.

I think the Alban Berg opera is called 'Wozzeck' here.
I haven't seen the opera, but the play is very dark and gripping.
I'm still reading up on Geord Büchner and his family.

Hope you had a nice 4th July.

I've always heard of it as Wozzeck. I think the 12-tone serial technique is generally considered to be a failed experiment, now.

I remember we learned about that at school, but that's about all I recall.

B'El, the method involves certain rules about using up all twelve pitches in the chromatic scale in certain orders before repeating any. Most pieces written that way would use several different orders -- sometimes simultaneously. (and sometimes cheating!) It was initially a reaction to the fact that Strauss and Wagner and others had stretched the tonal scale so much that the eight note scale was becoming unrecognizable. It's just another way to construct a piece. Arnold Schoenberg is considered it's inventor.
Whether it's a "failed experiment" would depend on whom you talk to. I had a piece written for me in both serial pitches and rhythms as recently as '89. Serial rhythms are fun to play, after you get the hang of the pattern. By and large, it's been more sucessful than most attempts to inject non-western scales with quarter tones into western music.(Unless you count pop singing, where quarter tones are rampant until someone uses a vocal filter to remove them. )

Of course, there are the great classic pieces in 12-tone method --the Opera's "Lulu" and "Wozzeck" (yes, it usually gets the other spelling), and Berg's violin concerto. Those are played often enough that I doubt they will ever go away entirely. Even Copland and Stravinsky wrote in serial techniques at certain points in their careers. I'm very fond of Copland's "Variations" for solo piano. One seldom hears much other in the style -- I think as much because it's hard to play and rehearsal time is expensive. Once in a while, I still run into something of that sort by Pierre Boulez, however, Schoerberg's "Verklarte Nacht", which is pre-serial, probably remains his most popular work. I'm partial to his "Survivor from Warsaw', a very powerful 12 tone choral piece.

There, twice as much as you wanted to know!