"All the rights secured to the citizens under 
Many of you will recognize the smiling faces of Sara and Maria Banning. My question to you is: where was this picture taken? Be as precise as possible and put your guesses into the comments section.
Saturday night in Berlin meant a visit to Potsdamer Platz, the very modern night spot a mile or so south of the Brandenburg Gate. The plaza is filled with cafes, restaurants, clubs, and all underneath a petaled dome that constantly changes colors.
There's also a film museum (which sadly was closed when we arrived, and I never got back to check out), which had a tribute to Alien in the window.
Here's another shot of the dome, which you can see did indeed change colors from the shot above.
There was some story my friend Bill told us about the Josty coffee shop, but now I can't remember what it was. I do believe this is a rebuild, updated version of the place however.
I honestly cannot remember what this was-- it appears I was shooting down through the window (the overhead view of the guy walking along), and it appears to me some kind of museum, but the details are lost in my memory. Maybe if Ben sees this he can remind me-- any ideas?
This was a small garden club in the center of the Platz, and a reggae band was playing on the small stage. That's the singer's face partly framed by the gold dreadlocks. I'll have some more pictures from that evening tomorrow.
I'm now officially spoiled, where soup is concerned. The other day I was looking for something quick to eat and opened a can of Chicken Tuscany soup that had been on the shelf for quite some time. It was hot and wet, but beyond that bore little resemblance to any of the soups I've been enjoying from other sources. All the flavor in canned soup seems to come from salt, and the vegetables are mostly mush, as was the case this time. There was a time when I was perfectly happy with a bowl of Progressive or Campbell's soup, but now that the cupboard is bare of any of their products, I don't anticipate ever buying them again. But now I've got to restock on Organic Roasted Red Pepper, which I recently ran out of.
Helen practices her ballet moves at the Gazebo in Clinton Park. Meanwhile, Nik has the standing stock still move down pat.
Here's a picture I took last month of Natalie at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. Considering the setting, I thought it appropriate to add some painterly effects
"A man's felicity consists not in the outward 
Here's one last set of photos from our boat tour around Mitte Berlin, including the shot above of one of the many bridges across the Spree River (heading west).
Eventually we cruised up alongside the Tiergarten Park, where we once again spotted the famous angel.
Above you see one of the many funky modern buildings in that neighborhood. I can't remember what this one was,but odds are that it was some sort of government facility.
This closeup of the same bridge seen above was taken on the return, so there was direct light, as opposed to backlight, coming at it heading east, hence the better detail in this shot.
Speaking of detail, here's one of the faces that stare out over the river from the archways that make up the bridge.
There were a number of folks out riverside at numerous points along our cruise. These young ladies were a little too far away for me to hear what they were playing, but made for an interesting picture anyway.
The Crickets
"Liberty of conscience and inquiry can only be 
A few more pictures from our boat tour, starting with another view of the columned walkway that ran back along the river behind the Cathedral.
Next, a shot of one of the many bridges we passed along our route. As you can see, we weren't the only boat on the river.
We even cruised up behind the Reichstag. I think the only thing I regret missing in Berlin is going up in the dome of this building, which is supposed to have a spectacular view.
I don't remember exactly what this building was, but I believe it was a government building, many of which were clustered in teh area surrounding the Reichstag. It almost looks like a MacDonald's Playland inside.
Here's a pedestrian walkway over the river connecting the building seen in the previous shot to the other side of the river.
I think I may have posted a shot of this, the newest train station in Berlin, from another perspective earlier. It was pretty impressive (and in a later post I'll include some shots from inside, which we visited the next day).
After plowing through a number of mostly disappointing books on comedy over the past few months, it's gratifying to finally come across one that's really good from beginning to end. Dangerously Funny by David Bianculli works for me largely because it is an example of excellent reportage, covering in great detail the circumstances behind the creation and notorious sudden termination of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour back in the late sixties. He has obviously spent a lot of time researching and synthesizing the perspectives of just about all of the key actors in that episode, not just the Smothers Brothers and other contributors to the program (writers, directors, performers, etc.), but also the network officials who normally stand as the bad guys in the way the story is recounted. I'm not sure the latter's role in cutting off such a creative, though controversial, show appears any less negative in the final analysis, but Bianculli provides us with enough information to evaluate what happened without recourse to blaming nameless suits whose sole motive was to censor their artistic betters.
"All of us tend to put off living. We are all 
After our bus tour and visit to the Eastern Gallery, we were dropped off alongside the Spree River for a boat tour. Today's pictures were shot as we cruised around the heart of the city of Berlin. Above is the view across the river as we were waiting to get underway.
I thought that giant poster, evidently marking a theater, was pretty cool.
The domed building seen here is the Bode Museum, which is pretty impressive from outside (unfortunately we didn't get a chance to vist the interior), and it sits at a point in the river where it meets a canal. In the background, you see the tower at Alexanderplatz which is actually quite a few blocks beyond the museum.
Above you see some folks walking along the river, but what I like about the photo is the splash of color provided by the graffiti (which is all over the place in Berlin-- maybe a carryover from the days when people wrote on the Wall?).
Here's a shot from behind the Berliner Dom, the big baroque cathedral. I thought the columned walkway on the right really made this look like a medieval scene.
The fancy facade on this apartment building really stood out, as it was surrounded by much more mundane buildings. I'll post some more photos from our cruise tomorrow.
