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Big day, today! Not only did I discover (again) that Jim Carrey can really act – I watched The Number 23 which was quite entertaining – I also scheduled my late activities so that I could watch East Is East a dramaesk comedy about a Pakistani/English family whose patriarch is trying to force his sons into arranged marriages. The film has its highs and lows and reminded me of my time in India and the few occasions I got the locals to chit-chat about their matrimonial customs. Note that in todays India arranged marriages are still very common.

The movie takes place in England of 1971 – the time of the Indo-Pakistani War – which makes the father rant and enrage even more. Even today the divergence between the two countries – I am not gonna say 'cultures' because to us Whiteys it’s just one – is still

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This is the end. Suiting my character I will end the Helmet in India section by intertwining something funny with something devastating, some might say tragic. Train rides: one of my favorite topics.

The Bombay metro system is a known hazard to commuters. Since nothing is alike this city, train rides blend in smoothly. They actually can kill you. I was too lazy researching numbers on how many people die riding the commute each year but just googling for images reveals horrifying proof of the 2006 train blasts; only one of the many perils. Others are mashed by the hordes of people, pushed out of an overcrowded coach and shattered on the tracks, or killed by the power supply lines whilst traveling on the train roof (great idea, by the way!). There are several websites and blogs wrapped up around this topic. And even the ...

Still waiting to get back the analog photos I took during my Rajasthan travel – it's been 85 days that I returned (yeah, I am a lazy bum) – I ftp'd the ones I took with my iPhone. They're surprisingly good.
[Rajasthan Photo Gallery]

In short, I flew in to Jaipur, the pink city. Apparently, the Rajasthanis are peculiarly aware of the fucked-up beauty of the city. Whilst glowing and gleaming in the sunset, Jaipur seems like a remainder of the old heritage of the Rajput Kingdoms convulsing with the industrial charms of modern India during the day and crackling New York themed burning barrels at night. Oh yes, and it smells like crap all the time but that's true for most parts of the sub-continent.

The night train to Udaipur captured me for about twelve hours in nausea and disgust. Or let me put it like ...

We just returned from a trip to Goa over the weekend [Picture Gallery]. It was clearly not enough time to get around as much as I had wished for. My friends Jan, Nicola & Anna got to stay a few days longer but I had to go back to work.

If you ever go to Goa perambulate it from north to south. Well, maybe just rent a car or get a taxi. But be prepared that they’re gonna rip you off like a cheap hussy is will take your money and leave you high and dry. I am really not complaining, maybe just exaggerating a bit. Our flight was delayed for more than three hours which gave me time to sit around the Santa Cruz domestic airport, watch people, do a little soul-searching and finally listen to music on my iPod, I hadn’t done that for at

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[sept. 01] Bei strahlendem Sonnenschein bricht nicht nur eine neue Periode an, ich treibe auch auf die Schönheit der Unsicherheit zu. Nach den Erlebnissen der vergangenen Tage bekommt die Welt einmal wieder neue Facetten und Falten in die gegerbte Vielfalt ihrer Haut gemeißelt. Nachdem die Ankunft bei wunderbar milden 26°C nur Gutes vermuten ließ, kühlte jedoch die Air Condition auf eine eisige Realität herab. Unmittelbar zum Eintritt des Sonnenuntergangs machte sich neben mir eine heimelige Wärme breit, die auf den gelockerten Gemütszustand meiner Sitznachbarin schließen ließ. Die Flasche fuseliger Wein tat ihr Bestes, um dem Vorschub zu verleiten. Kurz vor geschätzter Ankunft in 'Downtown Vancouver’ und geschwächt von der langen Fahrt, der Nacht zuvor und der mangelnden Ortskenntnis, beging ich den Fehler, der alkoholischen Reminiszenz aller Charles Bukowski Bücher die folgende Frage zu stellen: "Is the next stop close to Granville, or Robson?" Die Freude der Beachtung, die ich der Dame zuteil werde ...