You see, it's my birthday...
Sep. 27th, 2004 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakMy father had the rather nifty idea to surprise me on my birthday with a trip to Neuschwanstein, which I hadn't visited before. Neuschwanstein being the most famous of the castles that most excentric of Bavarian kings, Ludwig II., build. Not that he got to enjoy it much. Only 17 rooms were finished at the time he was told by his cabinet he had been certified as insane and was taken to another castle. The next day, he was found dead in the Starnberg Lake together with his doctor, and whether he committed suicide or was killed or had an accident is still hotly debated. As is in fact whether or not Ludwig was insane. Certainly by today's standards, his behaviour wasn't any more unusual than that of your avarage Hollywood star.
Anyway. Ludwig wasn't just the biggest Wagner fan ever but shared his era's romantic view of the middle ages. Hence the fact Neuschwanstein doesn't look like a genuine castle but the way a romantic with Wagnerian obsessions would think a castle should look like. It wasn't even designed by an architect as first, but by the man who did the stage art sketches for the most famous theatre in Munich at the time. No wonder Walt Disney copied. It's just this side of pure kitsch, and lacks the austere genuineness of the Rhine castles, or those along the Loire, but at the same time, the sheer anachronism and the great gesture it is has its own charm. Plus that stage designer knew what he was doing. Set against the alps, it looks magnificent.
On the way back, we also visited the Wieskirche, which is one of the most beautiful Baroque churches I've seen. Now my prefered aesthetic style for churches is Gothic - I've been raised in the shadows of a cathedral, so to speak - and usually Baroque is too excessive for me, but in this case, they managed to evoke the vivacity and splendour of the Baroque without going overboard into gaudy tastelessness. It made you hum Händel's Messiah. Which hasn't been called an opera for nothing.
Starting to surf through lj entries, I noticed immediately not one but two great DS9 fics:
"Nothing Ventured"
Which makes this not so secret Quark/Dax 'shipper very happy, and has a great Quark characterisation, and:
"Gumbo"
By the one and only Yahtzee, a Jake pov, set post-show. Lovely portraits of the entire (remaining) ensemble.
Now:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
deborah_judge demanded an online party. If anyone wants to come by and ask yours truly a question, or deliver some merciless teasing about becoming 35, I'd be happy to hear it!
Anyway. Ludwig wasn't just the biggest Wagner fan ever but shared his era's romantic view of the middle ages. Hence the fact Neuschwanstein doesn't look like a genuine castle but the way a romantic with Wagnerian obsessions would think a castle should look like. It wasn't even designed by an architect as first, but by the man who did the stage art sketches for the most famous theatre in Munich at the time. No wonder Walt Disney copied. It's just this side of pure kitsch, and lacks the austere genuineness of the Rhine castles, or those along the Loire, but at the same time, the sheer anachronism and the great gesture it is has its own charm. Plus that stage designer knew what he was doing. Set against the alps, it looks magnificent.
On the way back, we also visited the Wieskirche, which is one of the most beautiful Baroque churches I've seen. Now my prefered aesthetic style for churches is Gothic - I've been raised in the shadows of a cathedral, so to speak - and usually Baroque is too excessive for me, but in this case, they managed to evoke the vivacity and splendour of the Baroque without going overboard into gaudy tastelessness. It made you hum Händel's Messiah. Which hasn't been called an opera for nothing.
Starting to surf through lj entries, I noticed immediately not one but two great DS9 fics:
"Nothing Ventured"
Which makes this not so secret Quark/Dax 'shipper very happy, and has a great Quark characterisation, and:
"Gumbo"
By the one and only Yahtzee, a Jake pov, set post-show. Lovely portraits of the entire (remaining) ensemble.
Now:
deborah_judge demanded an online party. If anyone wants to come by and ask yours truly a question, or deliver some merciless teasing about becoming 35, I'd be happy to hear it!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2004-09-27 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2004-09-27 12:39 pm (UTC)I've always wanted to visit Neuschwanstein. I have a very dim recollection that I visited with my folks when I was very very little but can't properly remember anything about it. Must make a point of planning a trip next time I'm in Munich...
Thanks!
Date: 2004-09-27 12:48 pm (UTC)Re: Thanks!
Date: 2004-09-28 07:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 01:01 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2004-09-27 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 01:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 09:09 pm (UTC)*loves on you*
Date: 2004-09-27 02:13 pm (UTC)*squeezes you and feeds you chocolate*
have to go to bed now, but...
Date: 2004-09-27 02:20 pm (UTC)*squeezes you back, and can't imagine life without you*
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Date: 2004-09-27 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 09:11 pm (UTC)So, did you see any of the biopics, and if so, which one did you like best?
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Date: 2004-09-28 11:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 12:54 pm (UTC)"Ludwig II", directed by Helmut Käutner, starring O.W. Fischer. (Who was the German Gregory Peck, so to speak.) This one is from the 50s, great colours, good performance by O.W., but of course 50s taboos. I.e. no sign Ludwig being attracted to other men. Regarding the death, they went for suicide.
"Ludwig II", directed by Luccino Visconti. Starring Helmut Fischer. This is Visconti revelling in the neurosis and the decadence etc., and naturally the homoeroticism (along with Ludwig's big crush on his cousin Elisabeth, which is also dealt with in the earlier film). Alas, I don't like the main actor, who looks gorgeous (like Jude Law in Wilde) but can't act that well. However, everyone else around him can.
Als das Experiment :-))
Date: 2004-09-27 02:41 pm (UTC)Mir ist es wieviel hier der Fehler interessant? @__@
Ganz herzlichen Dank...
Date: 2004-09-27 09:12 pm (UTC)Re: Ganz herzlichen Dank...
Date: 2004-09-28 03:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 09:13 pm (UTC)It's past your birthday now, but...
Date: 2004-09-27 04:05 pm (UTC)Re: It's past your birthday now, but...
Date: 2004-09-27 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-27 05:11 pm (UTC)In any case, I truly wish you a very
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
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Date: 2004-09-27 09:15 pm (UTC)Und dankeschön.*g*
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Date: 2004-09-27 06:49 pm (UTC)Somewhere, amongst my old treasures or in my older brother's room, is a tiny miniature of Neuschwanstein from his trip to Germany with his high school chorus.
Thank you, most estimable Cat Mun!
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Date: 2004-09-28 12:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 01:07 am (UTC)(BTW how do you do umlauts? My attempt failed misereably so I resorted to Es.)
Danke
Date: 2004-09-28 01:57 am (UTC)Umlaut: they're on a German keybord as a matter of fact. I don't think you can produce them on a standard English-language keybord, so when I'm not using my laptop abroad, I resort to Es as well.
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Date: 2004-09-29 02:54 am (UTC)Awww. :-D Und es freut mich dass es ein guten Geburtstag war.
I resort to Es as well.
I'm glad you do too. When I lived in Germany I used a German keyboard. The main difference for me was the swapped Z and Y, but I got used to that fairly quickly.
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Date: 2004-09-28 04:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 06:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-28 08:50 am (UTC)And let me ask...what made you first fall for Quark? Do you remember the episode?
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Date: 2004-09-28 09:29 am (UTC)Of course, my newfound Quark affection was then cemented by Proft and Loss, and I also adored that the show let him, not Bashir or Sisko, be Humphrey Bogart in that Casablanca remake. By the time season 3 rolled on and I saw House of Quark, I was all but cheering him on the screen.*g*
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Date: 2004-09-29 02:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-29 04:32 am (UTC)