Ceci n'est pas un blog

There was a recent article in the NYTimes about the rise of the Weimar aesthetic in some very off-color adult political cabaret.

And this struck me because just earlier this week I was listening to the Dresden Dolls, who describe themselves as "Brechtian Punk Cabaret" partly because it is so evocative and partly to make sure no one calls them Goth. Their infectious clangy piano and passionate vocals got me hunting for more "Dark Cabaret" scene music.

And while I was thinking how interesting it is that this trend harkened back to 70s glam scene (also visually referenced several times during Eurovision), there was yet another sign that Weimar is having its place in the zeitgeist: the Metropolitan Museum in NY had an exhibit just a few months ago called Glitter and Doom at the Met. Some very interesting pieces that capture the loosened morals and more liberal laws of the era but also a sort of sadness, it seems to me.

When I fell into the wikipedia rabbit hole on this topic, I saw an amazing picture of a young lady feeding huge stacks of money into her fireplace since it was so much cheaper than firewood. The spiral of massive inflation and devaluation helps explain the context for the ugly brown-shirted end of the period.
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On an unrelated macabre note, Damien Hirst has made the most expensive piece of art ever, a human skull encrusted with diamonds and platinum. It is titled "For the love of God" presumambly because that is what everyone says as soon as they hear about the $99million price tag. While I have seen some of his work that I quite like, much of it leaves me cold. It doesn't feel as twee and contrived as many of Koons art does but there is a gimmicky quality. There is a very nice analysis in Prospect Magazine.
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And on a more personal note, work has gone completely insane. Just as we pass the middle of the long Norwegian vacation season, it seems that we suddenly have several new and high profile projects landing on us, dozens of new resumes to review, some interesting opportunities to completely re-write things so they will work with new feature requests coming in. Busy is good but it doesn't rain that it pours.

Moving next week should be fun. We are very much looking forward to being settled in the new home, H starting school, and shifting our schedule to look more like something you might find in a "normal" family. At the moment we keep the hours of a mad Spaniard; dinner after 9:30, stories close to midnight, sleep sometime later. All this will change and our eccentricities will find another outlet.