The Fearless Five Live At Toyota Center

People with fear of height are clearly disadvantaged.




















On the team:

Daniel – The Resident Raisin
Felix - Autopilot
Susann – Sheryl Swooooooooooopes
Georg – The White Larry Bird
Hartmut – Koach Keil

Since time immemorial man has dreamed about attending an NBA Basketball game. Ah wait, since time immemorial man has dreamed about going to the moon. I got lost for a second. I was the one that dreamed about attending an NBA game. And not since time immemorial either. Rather since 1994 when ‘The Dream’ (what a coincidence!) and his Rockets teammates (if you take away one ‘m’ from this word it sounds a mighty lot like a congregation of gay English aristocrats: “Good evening, my dear reader, my name is Lord Tussleswarth and these are my tea mates…”). Sorry for getting sidetracked again. The ’94 Rockets, ah well, fond memories: Hakeem dominating Patrick Ewing, Otis Thorpe battling Charles Oakley and a young Sam Cassell trying to make people forget that he, indeed, WAS E.T. (I dare you to tell me with a straight face that this man doesn’t have any alien blood running through his veins). Needless to say that I’ve been a fan ever since. So again what a coincidence that we were going to Houston for our study tour. In fall! Basketball season, bitches!

Alright, it was just a pre-season game. Yao, the gentle Chinese giant didn’t even play, neither did new acquisition Bonzi Wells. And the Rockets lost 69-72, to boot. Still I enjoyed the game, especially in the first half. A healthy T-Mac was poised to show he hadn’t lost a step recovering from his back injury as the Memphis Grizzlies never found a way to stop his drives, jumpers and three-point daggers. Shane Battier was providing instant help on both sides of the court and rookie Steve Novak showcased his precision from downtown. If what I saw in that first 20 minutes was a glimpse of the future, it looks like a bright future indeed. Realistically, the team will need a full season to gel and a deep play-off run to gain experience in do-or-die situations. Hence, they could make a run at the championship in 2008. reminder: pay a visit to Houston in two years and watch the Rockets win championship #3.

It wouldn’t be as surprising as my first visit though. Having been to a couple of basketball games in Germany already, I was expecting a Max-Schmeling-Halle-like, 4000 people seating arena. Turns out Toyota Center is slightly bigger. By slightly I mean five times bigger. They’ve got escalators in there. And it makes sense, too. If they hadn’t, people would have to arrive 5 hours early to climb up to their seats.

With luck I managed to snatch up some tickets for the first row. Upper deck but still…
What’s good about American sports arenas is that they’re entertainment complexes. I assume half the people in the building were not there to watch the game but to socialize. For first-timers like ourselves they have neat little zones were you can compare your wingspan to Yao’s or test your vertical leaping ability. Or you can play a quick pick-up game at a mini-court. You gotta love it.

Probably more entertaining than the game was Susi beside me running her mouth like Charles Barkley. Her: “I don’t like this McGrady guy, he looks like he’s on drugs.” Me: “Well, he looks kind of sleepy but he’s one of the best players in the league.” Her: “I like Steve Novak because of his name.” Me: “Dude’s definitely Nowack from the three point line.” Her after T-Mac hit a free throw: “Yeaaaaaaah, whooooooooooooooooo, yeeeeeeeee-hah!” Me: "Never do that again! Never!” Again me: “Why is coach keeping our good players on the bench? These white breads are fucking up the game!” Her: “Don’t you be so racist!” Me: “OK, mom.”

In short: we had fun that night.

guess who's bizzack?

mehr bilder

football & strand

reservoir dogs





















the city

lightworks (c) dilla

nationalfeiertag

v.l.n.r.: georg, daniel, felix, alex

blogger bei nacht

Hurricane

Wenn ihr mich fragt, welche berühmten (Ex)-Sportler ich bisher schon in Houston gesehen habe, hätte ich bis gestern nur Dikembe Mutombo (Houston Rockets, NBA) nennen können. Der lief uns nämlich in der Lakewood Church über den Weg, was mich so schockierte, dass ich gar nicht mehr daran interessiert war, ein Foto mit dem Mann zu bekommen.

Gestern Abend jedoch war Boxen angesagt. Verbales Schattenboxen, um genau zu sein. Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, ehemaliger Mittelgewichtsweltmeister, war zu einer Vorlesung an der University of Houston geladen. Einige von euch kennen Dr. Carter vielleicht aus dem gleichnamigen Film, der vor einigen Jahren in den Kinos lief und in dem Denzel Washington die Hauptrolle spielt. Der 'Hurricane' war gekommen, um hauptsächlich über sich und seine Geschichte zu sprechen bzw. welche Erkenntnisse er daraus gewonnen hat. In den 70er Jahren war Carter des dreifachen Mordes für schuldig gesprochen worden, woraufhin er mehrere Jahre im Todestrakt weilte. Mehrmals wurde der Fall wieder aufgerollt, da Carter beständig seine Unschuld beteuerte. Abermals wurde er wieder für schuldig befunden. In den 80er Jahren setzte sich eine Gruppe junger Jurastudenten ein weiteres Mal mit dem Fall auseinander und im darauffolgenden Prozess konnte endlich Carters Unschuld bewiesen werden. In der Zwischenzeit hatte der 'Hurricane' sein Leben komplett geändert. Nach vielen unerträglichen Jahren im Gefängnis, war er zum Buchliebhaber, Philosophen und eifrigen Studenten des Rechts geworden, was ihm später einen Doktortitel einbrachte.

Heute versucht Carter seine Botschaft an Jung und Alt zu bringen: Der Glaube an sich selbst kann Berge versetzen. Mitnichten sollten sich die Menschen damit zufrieden geben, was sie sind, sondern stets nach Höherem streben und ihre Träume zu Zielen reifen lassen.

Das Überzeugende in Carters Rede war nicht nur die Botschaft des Selbstvertrauens, sondern auch die Art und Weise, wie er sie verbreitete. In der Tradition großer, charismatischer afro-amerikanischer Redner wie W.E.B. DuBois, Frederick Douglass oder Booker T. Washington zog er das Publikum von der ersten Minute in seinen Bann. Ausgestattet mit diesem natürlichen rhetorischen Talent und der Authentizität seines persönlichen Werdegangs verkörpert der 70jährige Carter glaubwürdig den Prototypen des Todesstrafengegners und Kritikers des amerikanischen Rechtssystems, und das mit der Vitalität eines jungen Preisboxers.

hangman

überbleibsel aus einer schönen letzten septemberwoche in deutschland.

lakewood

Fast Food Service

Lights, camera, action…If that’s the way your church service starts, there must be something wrong. That is WRONG. Lakewood Church is one of those megachurches becoming ever more popular in the U.S. Matter of fact, it’s not even a church, it’s a former sports facility turned holy place by bribing a corrupt City Council member. I guess, the bribe was slightly more than the 30 pieces of silver that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for but that’s just technicalities. Now, of course, they want you to believe it was an old friend of that City Council member that persuaded him to vote for Lakewood after several years of opposition but all I heard was *clickety-clank, clickety-clank, the money goes into his piggy bank*.

The Colgate-endorsed, Botox-injected Joell Osteen and his lovely wife Barbie (I don’t know if that’s her government name but you get the idea…) are the main attractions at this deftly-choreographed entertainment show they call service. It starts with a 30 minute musical introduction led by another one of those mass-fabricated slender blondes. Behind her she has six back-up singers, a band and a choir. She’s singing about…well, I forgot…but probably something about how great God is and how small we are as humans. I bet 90% of the people in there couldn’t tell you either but damn, were they dancing and clapping their hands. Shiny Happy People. Or was it Losing My Religion?

Who cares though, what’s more important is the message Joell is spreading. It goes like this: If anything good happens, it’s because God planned it that way. If anything bad happens, well…first of all, let’s forget for a second, better yet for the rest of our lives that bad things happen. Now, IF bad things DO happen, they probably don’t happen to the good people at Lakewood. But IF bad things DO happen to the good people at Lakewood, it must be a test of faith. But let’s forget these bad things for a second, better yet for the rest of our lives. Good things do happen because God wants it that way. You just have to believe in your Fuhrer, I mean, in God and he will open up all doors for you.

*And he will enlarge my bank account to the size of the budget for the war in Iraq because you dumb m_ther_u__ers are actually believing this crap I’m talking about and you are buying the books that I haven’t even written myself and the plastic crosses and the DVD’s and the key chains and all of our worthless but expensive paraphernalia. I pimped the sh_t out of Jesus. I am truly the Warren Buffet of this Christ sh_t.*

And the people love it like a fat kid loves cake.

*cues up In Da Church*

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go shorty, it’s your birthday

We gon’ pray to God like it’s your birthday

We gon’ sip wine like it’s your birthday

And you know we don’t give a fuck it’s not your birthday

You can find me in da church

Bottle full of holy water

Look mami, I got the Ex(odus) if you into reading stuff

I ain’t into having sex, I’m into spreading love

So come give me your checks if you’re into getting robbed