Posted April 2008:
The other day I went to a
panel discussion on the American Election Campaign organised
by the German Marshall Fund and the
Hanns-Seidl-Foundation. These two political think tanks
had brought over from the United States one journalist and
two party strategists (one GOP, one Democrat) who sent us
home with the warning that we could be wrong to think that a
Republican candidate could not win the race to the White
House. In other words, the longer Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama
continue their slugfest, the better for Mr McCain to build
on his lead.
What I found most
fascinating attending this discussion was not just the
insight I gained into the use of the internet as a means of
political campaigning – when it comes to using the web,
European political parties have a lot of catching up to do –
I particularly liked studying two high calibre spin doctors:
one by the name of Juleanna Glover (Republican) and the
other by the name of Jamal Simmons (Democrat). Female spin
doctors in Europe are still a rare breed so I expected some
self-effacing woman, a younger version of Chancellor Merkel,
black trouser suit and all, but lo and behold, I was made to
shake hands with a woman who behaved like a girlie, flopping
her ginger hair about and speaking in a grating high pitched
voice.
I mean does no one
remember Mrs Thatcher and how she handbagged everyone once
she had reinvented herself as one of the boys, taking
elocution lessons and lowering her voice?
Ms Glover, on the other
hand, did not live up to anybody’s expectations. As she sat
there in her green stilettos, her purple tights, her blue
dress and pink t-shirt, clutching her tiny evening bag whose
rhinestone front would have made Liberace envious, I
wondered if G.W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Rudi Giuliani and John
McCain really listened to her advice as her biography
claims?
American bloggers can be
cruel. When I googled Ms Glover, I found out that she is
referred to by three descriptors mostly: society hostess,
lobbyist, and more recently, divorcee.
Welcome to 2008. It’s as
if the 70s never happened.
*
If you read German, I have
a book recommendation for you. It’s a historical novel by
Günther Thömmes, a Bitburg brewer who turned writer some
years ago. His book is called “Der Bierzauberer” (The Beer
Magician). I find the title a bit unfortunate because there
is nothing magic in brewing a good beer. In the Middle Ages,
the setting of his novel, that may have been the case, but I
fear it was his publishing house that suggested the title to
make the novel more sellable. A bit of suspense and mystery
all mixed in with the mash – and the publisher will laugh
all the way to the bank.
Actually, the plot keeps
you in its grip. It revolves around a young man who becomes
a brewer in Weihenstephan, then moves on to St. Gallen,
falls out with the Inquisition, escapes to Bitburg, make his
way to Cologne only to have a final and fatal showdown … I
will not give away any more.
For anyone who is mildly
interested in the history of brewing and life in the Middle
Ages, this novel is a must-read.
*
The painter Valeska is a
friend of mine. But even if she had not been, I would have
chosen her painting “Globalisation” for my website. True, we
have had to cut it down in size to fit onto a computer
screen. We have multiplied it and done a Warhol on her. Our
excuse? Call it artistic licence.
But should you ever get to
Munich, ask your taxi driver to take you along Mittlerer
Ring (Circular Road). Across from the mighty old pile that
is the Bavarian Prime Minister’s Office, there is a bank
building and on the ground floor there is a permanent
exhibition of Valeska’s gigantic canvasses. That’s why I
suggested taking a taxi. That way you will not cause an
accident (like other unlucky drivers before you) once you
see Valeska’s work for the first time. These red hues,
applied on canvasses several square metres large, are quite
a sight to behold. Especially at night. You can take at look
at Valeska’s art at www.atelier-valeska.de
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