On the go

No more music chauvinism

Reading Spiegel Online on "the most important CDs this week" makes me sick.

Let me simply put it this way: I once bought Tom Waits CDs or, then, LPs. I don't know why because his music is overrated rubbish. He can't sing, his instruments are crap and he simply ridicules all the pooping feuilleton editors who think this is so great. I'm blunt because that's how he is.

Of course, others may have a different point of view. I think it is chauvinistic to bash artists that many people love for a reason. (OK, I did the same thing one paragraph above, just to give an example).

Music is not about showing off how intellectual you are. It's all about passion. Music has to catch you, move you, touch you. It's purely emotional.

Ever heard of Ursula Rucker? She's overrated, too, at least many of her songs. The Supa Sista CD is partially cool but there are so many songs that are just boring or even embarrassing. Might be that writing a song about the dangers of the internet was innovative in 2001 but in 2008 it's simply stale.

What I'm saying is: it's your judgement. Critics may be helpful as they dig out new names that might be interesting. But defining what's hot and what's not is very individual. Don't believe anybody. Trust your ears and your soul. And there is no "better" music. That's pretentious. There's just music you like and music you don't like. And if you like Heino, fine with me. I like Dido and I am not embarrassed although it's exchangeable music for the hairdresser's.

Boa in Basel

There is a boa in Basel. It's located near the Wettsteinbrücke and it's part of what I call Heimat. I can't tell how often we passed this sculpture on our way to town. It really was part of the whole "family goes to Basel" procedure:

• Find a parking lot at the St.-Alban-Graben next to the Rhine. Somehow we always found one.
• Go up the stairs, pass the boa, touch it, proceed either to the Kunstmuseum or go down the Freie Strasse in order to have a Vermicelles or a Chäschüechli at the Gfeller.
• Go shopping either to Globus or somewhere up Freie Strasse.
• Go up the hill to do some more (window) shopping.
• Have some maroni. Strange enough Basel to me is mostly a winter city in my memories.
• Go back to the car.
• Go to Migros in Hochbergerstrasse (a really small one) and get coffee, Fondue cheese, chocolate and yoghurt. Rice (Arborio, but that came later).

Today, since it was a normal business day I calculated chances were OK to get a parking lot at this spot. I was right and yet I had completely forgotten the boa until I saw it again. Still it was as if it had been yesterday since I've been there the last time.

Nevertheless this is why there are some places on my mental map that really define Heimat. It's really tiny places. Heimat is defined by mere square metres.