Tear Down This Wall

celandinecelandine Registered User regular
edited November 2009 in Social Entropy++
This'll probably be the general politics thread in ten minutes, but it is 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and so you should all probably watch these videos.

Leonard Bernstein, Beethoven Symphony #9, Berlin 1989

Bernstein, Berlin 1989: Moar Freiheit

Bernstein changed the words so it's "Ode to Freedom" not "Ode to Joy." He cries like a baby. This is the most hopeful thing I have ever watched.

I'm not crazy about all the 20-years-later triumphalism floating around from people who think they're the heirs to Reagan. I just like the Beethoven, and the thought that there was a moment in my lifetime (barely) when things really seemed to be looking up for the world.

I write about math here:
http://numberblog.wordpress.com/
celandine on
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Posts

  • Clint EastwoodClint Eastwood My baby's in there someplace She crawled right inRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I'm imagining deacon blues making a post.

    He is sitting at the computer in his underwear with a ronald reagan mask on.

    Clint Eastwood on
  • Mr. ButtonsMr. Buttons Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I suggest that as this turns into a political thread, the posters have these videos playing at the same time... it will set the proper atmosphere


    also
    something something tort reform

    Mr. Buttons on
  • Clint EastwoodClint Eastwood My baby's in there someplace She crawled right inRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Cloudman wrote: »
    I'm imagining deacon blues making a post.

    He is sitting at the computer in his underwear with a ronald reagan mask on.

    also, he has an erection

    Clint Eastwood on
  • mnollmnoll Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    the college republicans at my campus had a big mockup of the berlin wall to commemorate the day

    complete with an inlaid speaker blaring Reagan's speech

    they were handing out little leaflets and everything

    while this 6 foot high 10 foot wide brown cardboard wall sits right in front of the campus cafeteria

    mnoll on
  • Bad-BeatBad-Beat Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Wasn't this yesterday?

    Bad-Beat on
  • BarcardiBarcardi All the Wizards Under A Rock: AfganistanRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    mnoll wrote: »
    the college republicans at my campus had a big mockup of the berlin wall to commemorate the day

    complete with an inlaid speaker blaring Reagan's speech

    they were handing out little leaflets and everything

    while this 6 foot high 10 foot wide brown cardboard wall sits right in front of the campus cafeteria

    Matches, throw matches

    Barcardi on
  • LiiyaLiiya Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    BBC radio 2 was in Berlin yesterday live talking to people about their first-hand experiences. It was quite interesting.

    Liiya on
  • mnollmnoll Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    7306 days motherfuckers

    ne'er forget!

    all hail Reagan

    mnoll on
  • celandinecelandine Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Bad-Beat wrote: »
    Wasn't this yesterday?

    Hey, it's a big wall! It takes a while, okay?



    yes it was yesterday.

    celandine on
    I write about math here:
    http://numberblog.wordpress.com/
  • KusuguttaiKusuguttai __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2009
    mr larlar, tear down this thread

    Kusuguttai on
  • Run Run RunRun Run Run __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2009
    We Germans owe the Fall of the Berlin Wall solely to the efforts of David Hasselhoff

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zXiClnK8oE

    Run Run Run on
    kissing.jpg
  • StaleghotiStaleghoti Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    The first video is out of synch and it is really annoying

    Staleghoti on
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  • autono-wally, erotibot300autono-wally, erotibot300 love machine Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I remember watching it live, as 6 year old, 20 years ago.
    Asking my father "Dad, why are these people so happy?"
    and he replied "Because they got their freedom back, son"
    I don't remember much from that age, but this scene is forever burnt into my brain

    I can remember how the living room looked, with the TV in it.
    How my father woke me up, telling me "You've got to see this, son!"

    Those people, in their trabants.

    autono-wally, erotibot300 on
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  • QuothQuoth the Raven Miami, FL FOR REALRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    wally i have a similar memory

    i actually wrote a poem about it that i should probably do something with one day

    here it is, if anyone cares
    fag
    j/k, here it is
    To Berlin, From Miami

    I watched the Berlin wall dissolve
    in stilted slow motion, pebble by rock,
    from five thousand miles away.
    Propped up on the kitchen counter
    at my grandparents' house with feet
    dangling, I asked my mother
    why no one stopped them.
    I thought it was vandalism.
    She tried to explain how sometimes
    people put up walls to keep things
    separate, and after enough time
    other people come to pull the walls down
    and put everyone back together.
    I didn't understand. My room had walls,
    the house, the backyard, my school,
    the playground where I ran around
    pretending to be a super hero.
    They kept me safe, I thought.

    My grandmother watched, too,
    stirring a pot of black beans,
    waiting for oil in the big frying pan
    to heat up enough for breaded steaks.
    Her tears salted the food because
    she knew something that I didn't,
    that no one had wanted to believe
    as they climbed portable stairs
    into a small plane and watched the ground
    fall away beneath them--sometimes,
    you can't put people back together,
    you never see the other side again,
    you leave graffiti when you can but
    it's only lines drawn in the sand.
    Some walls are ninety miles wide
    and made of water.

    Quoth on
  • FizFiz Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    One of my directors was talking to me about the time he got to work with Bernstein. The guy rehearses the orchestra to the point where he doesn't actually need to conduct them, just so he can dance around and have a great time during the actual performance. I saw a dvdi last year of him doing just that back in his final years. Super awesome.

    Fiz on
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  • MrMonroeMrMonroe passed out on the floor nowRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I remember watching this on TV

    of course I was five at the time

    I just wanted to watch my cartoon but my parents were all "NO, THIS IS IMPORTANT AND WE'RE WATCHING DAN RATHER"

    MrMonroe on
  • ZoelZoel I suppose... I'd put it on Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    that's p. good quoth even if it makes me want to strangle rae armantrout by reflex

    but you can't help that she's terrible

    Zoel on
    A magician gives you a ring that, when worn, will let you see the world as it truly is.
    However, the ring will never leave your finger, and you will be unable to ever describe to another living person what you see.
  • StaleghotiStaleghoti Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Did you say

    "I'd Rather not"

    Cause that would have been perfect

    Staleghoti on
    tmmysta-sig.png2wT1Q.gifYAH!YAH!STEAMYoutubeMixesPSN: Clintown
    Dear satan I wish for this or maybe some of this....oh and I'm a medium or a large.
  • KusuguttaiKusuguttai __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2009
    MrMonroe wrote: »
    I remember watching this on TV

    of course I was five at the time

    I just wanted to watch my cartoon but my parents were all "NO, THIS IS IMPORTANT AND WE'RE WATCHING DAN RATHER"

    rather than what

    Kusuguttai on
  • ZoelZoel I suppose... I'd put it on Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    my parents learned this lesson the hard way when I was upset about having to watch the challenger lift off instead of the smurfs

    Zoel on
    A magician gives you a ring that, when worn, will let you see the world as it truly is.
    However, the ring will never leave your finger, and you will be unable to ever describe to another living person what you see.
  • JohnHamJohnHam Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    My mom is a hella conservative and attended one of Reagan's Inaugural Balls

    I love to make fun of Peggy Noonan in front of her. She calls me sexist.

    JohnHam on
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  • DJ EebsDJ Eebs Moderator, Administrator admin
    edited November 2009
    We Germans owe the Fall of the Berlin Wall solely to the efforts of David Hasselhoff

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zXiClnK8oE

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CdqsUOCpfc

    DJ Eebs on
  • celandinecelandine Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Zoel wrote: »
    my parents learned this lesson the hard way when I was upset about having to watch the challenger lift off instead of the smurfs

    I got the news bug early.
    At oh, age 10 or 12 I used to fight with my little sister over the remote. Cartoon Network vs. C-SPAN. I never won.

    celandine on
    I write about math here:
    http://numberblog.wordpress.com/
  • BigDesBigDes Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    James May from Top Gear was in my town recently build a Meccano bridge over a canal.

    I missed it because I didn't know but it looked pretty cool.

    BigDes on
    steam_sig.png
  • ZoelZoel I suppose... I'd put it on Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    if you listened to c-span you would think that the world is populated by werewolves and aliens

    really it's for the best that you got to see interesting werewolves and aliens rather than listened to callers who were concerned by werewolves and aliens that had opinions about gross domestic product

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCpdCsj9Nqs

    skip to 1:00

    Zoel on
    A magician gives you a ring that, when worn, will let you see the world as it truly is.
    However, the ring will never leave your finger, and you will be unable to ever describe to another living person what you see.
  • celandinecelandine Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Yeah, yeah, it gets dumb and I learned better.
    The quick cuts between Powerpuff Girls and Senate hearings were kind of surreal; it's a wonder I didn't grow up thinking the Speaker of the House was Mojo Jojo.

    celandine on
    I write about math here:
    http://numberblog.wordpress.com/
  • SirToastySirToasty Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    FACT: Leonard Bernstein was bisexual.

    He was also ridiculously awesome.

    SirToasty on
  • ZoelZoel I suppose... I'd put it on Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    From Atlantic Beach Florida, the ballad of Long Dong Silver

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBZaKhw2XCw

    From old person to crazy old person in less than 60 seconds

    Zoel on
    A magician gives you a ring that, when worn, will let you see the world as it truly is.
    However, the ring will never leave your finger, and you will be unable to ever describe to another living person what you see.
  • MacGuffinMacGuffin Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I've been born in the GDR and was about 8 months old when this happened, so I can't really remember it.
    But I know quite a few stories about it.
    My father worked on a ship back then and had just left us to do his job. My mother told him that the wall would be gone when he comes back.
    He called her crazy.

    MacGuffin on
  • The Otaku SuppositoryThe Otaku Suppository Bawstan New EnglandRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    A Berlin Wall? NOT ON MY WATCH.

    The Otaku Suppository on
  • FishmanFishman Put your goddamned hand in the goddamned Box of Pain. Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    celandine wrote: »
    Yeah, yeah, it gets dumb and I learned better.
    The quick cuts between Powerpuff Girls and Senate hearings were kind of surreal; it's a wonder I didn't grow up thinking the Speaker of the House was Mojo Jojo.

    Don't be daft, he's clearly a Republican.

    Fishman on
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  • FishmanFishman Put your goddamned hand in the goddamned Box of Pain. Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Seriously though, that was awesome.

    Fishman on
    X-Com LP Thread I, II, III, IV, V
    That's unbelievably cool. Your new name is cool guy. Let's have sex.
  • lostwordslostwords Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    So the dc sniper is getting executed tonight. Probably just got done with his last meal. That was kind of crazy living in Maryland when that all went down. Good riddance. Also death penalty lol

    lostwords on
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  • NuzakNuzak Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    lostwords wrote: »
    So the dc sniper is getting executed tonight. Probably just got done with his last meal. That was kind of crazy living in Maryland when that all went down. Good riddance. Also death penalty lol

    took them a while to off him didn't it?

    god i can barely remember him

    Nuzak on
  • ZeroFillZeroFill Feeling much better. A nice, green leaf.Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Quoth wrote: »
    wally i have a similar memory

    i actually wrote a poem about it that i should probably do something with one day

    here it is, if anyone cares
    fag
    j/k, here it is
    To Berlin, From Miami

    I watched the Berlin wall dissolve
    in stilted slow motion, pebble by rock,
    from five thousand miles away.
    Propped up on the kitchen counter
    at my grandparents' house with feet
    dangling, I asked my mother
    why no one stopped them.
    I thought it was vandalism.
    She tried to explain how sometimes
    people put up walls to keep things
    separate, and after enough time
    other people come to pull the walls down
    and put everyone back together.
    I didn't understand. My room had walls,
    the house, the backyard, my school,
    the playground where I ran around
    pretending to be a super hero.
    They kept me safe, I thought.

    My grandmother watched, too,
    stirring a pot of black beans,
    waiting for oil in the big frying pan
    to heat up enough for breaded steaks.
    Her tears salted the food because
    she knew something that I didn't,
    that no one had wanted to believe
    as they climbed portable stairs
    into a small plane and watched the ground
    fall away beneath them--sometimes,
    you can't put people back together,
    you never see the other side again,
    you leave graffiti when you can but
    it's only lines drawn in the sand.
    Some walls are ninety miles wide
    and made of water.

    I must admit I laughed at the 1st spoiler

    I have a piece of the berlin wall!

    ZeroFill on
  • lostwordslostwords Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Nuzak wrote: »
    lostwords wrote: »
    So the dc sniper is getting executed tonight. Probably just got done with his last meal. That was kind of crazy living in Maryland when that all went down. Good riddance. Also death penalty lol

    took them a while to off him didn't it?

    god i can barely remember him

    its actually pretty speedy compared to other executions in virginia, i think. they put it on the "fast track" and all

    lostwords on
    rat.jpg tumbler? steam/ps3 thingie: lostwords Amazon Wishlist!
  • DrIanMalcolmDrIanMalcolm Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Man I love the 9th Symphony

    DrIanMalcolm on
  • AlpineAlpine Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    The world needs more cities with walls

    If we all hated the guy down the street, there wouldn't be enough hate left over for other countries

    This is a foolproof plan and will win the next nobel prize

    Alpine on
  • lostwordslostwords Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    i just want a house with a moat

    and battlements

    lostwords on
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  • freakish lightfreakish light butterdick jones and his heavenly asshole machineRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    lostwords wrote: »
    So the dc sniper is getting executed tonight. Probably just got done with his last meal. That was kind of crazy living in Maryland when that all went down. Good riddance. Also death penalty lol

    dude people went nuts in fairfax

    to the point of hanging up tarps at local gas stations

    freakish light on
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