The First Crumbs of September

One thing I forgot to mention in that last post is that I will not be blogging from Ars Electronica. I'm probably the only person who won't be, so I should stand out. I just wish I could be the only person without a cell phone. But it means I will be absent from this blog until at least Tuesday Sept. 7, because I get in late on Monday night.

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O ye of little faith! Blaise Lawless, the man with the best name in art, came over the other night with a clipping from the notorious BZ, one of Berlin's tabloids. Unfortunately, that link will get you lots of cheesecake, but it won't take you to the article, which shows a cop sitting on a guy, waving a grill-fork in the air. The headline says "Here the neighborhood police practice the grill-fork war." Berlin now has a new neighborhood-based police force which patrols in twos, the article says, with the aim of making sure dogs are leashed, grill-parties in forbidden places are ended, and bicycles are kept off the sidewalks. They undergo eight weeks training for this. A grateful nation sighs in relief. I'm holding on to this clipping, though, for when people express doubt.

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Meanwhile, time to invoke the Power of the Blog again. In the past, this mysterious power has gotten me paid by people who owed me for nine months, and has caused the city government to cut back on the Hitzefrei, the curtailed workday for hot weather, so I hereby call upon it to wish my friend Bob, one of the world's first bloggers, a speedy recovery from his recent operation.

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And, just on the off-chance that someone reading this has a sense of adventure (which pretty much eliminates everyone in Berlin), a friend of mine tells me she's got very little time left to raise the seed capital for a wonderful project that the city of Berlin is looking to help her do. If she can raise €15,000, she can get up to €100,000 from them and get to work on it. She's got a great track record in the business she's trying to start, and I'm under nondisclosure, but suffice it to say it ain't vaporware, and I think she can probably make some money with it. If anyone wants details, just e-mail me and I'll put you in touch. Nothing in it for me except probably a couple of free meals, but hey, I could use 'em.