> www.droga5.com
> www.anomalynyc.com
> www.fitch.com
> www.thebrooklynbrothers.com
> www.suit-men.com
> www.isobar.net
> www.tugboatmedia.com
> www.edwardsgroomsaunders.co.uk
> www.wk.com
> www.modernista.com

> Built To Last / Jim Collins
> Made To Stick / Chip Heath & Dan Heath
> The Perfect Thing / Steven Levy
> The Rise Of The Creative Class / Richard Florida
> The Long Tail / Chris Anderson
> Juicing The Orange / Pat Fallon & Fred Senn
> Citizen Marketeers / Ben McConell & Jackie Huba
> The Creative Economy / John Howkins
> The World Is Flat / Thomas L. Friedman
> Smart World / Richard Ogle

> www.ted.com
> www.gnpd.com
> www.saatchigallery.com
> www.youtube.com
> www.ihaveanidea.org
> www.express.de
> www.kicker.de
> www.newbusiness.de
> www.ntv.co.jp
> www.digg.com

Al-Kaida, RAF, Mafia oder Yakuza - thinking of any terror cell and organized crime you learn a lot about the culture and the society in which these forms of violence exist. They undermine, destabilize and they kill always with the intention to change the structure of power. Sometimes as the trojan horse of ideology, but always to capitalize on it economically.

Since beginning of the 80’s I am interested in this phenomenon. Grown up with the terror acts of the R.A.F. in Germany and following media on the IRA in Northern Ireland and the ETA in Spain I started reading authors like Stefan Aust and Dagobert Lindlau. I discovered Bobby Sands and digged deeper into the US-film industry and its glorification of the Italian mob. Robert de Niro’s, Andi Garcia’s and Joe Pesci’s careers are due to him. Movie classics like „The Godfathers“ and “Cotton Club” are based on the admiration of crime syndicates.

However, this is interesting stuff. What makes a society becoming more violent? Where does the admiration of crimal heroes come from? And when is violence a solution?

Think about Roberto Saviano, the author who wrote “Gomorrha”, a book about the inside of the camorra. After the release he was forced to disappear and since then he lives underground.

The release of two new movies dealing with organized crime around the 7th anniversary of 9/11 might be just coincidence. But „Gomorrha“, www.gomorrha-derfilm.de and „Bader Meinhof Komplex“, www.bmk.film.de, gives us some new and some different insights on both, the victims point of view and on the society that make organized crime grow – and on the political system that has to deal with it.

The pick of the year. Sweet little café in my surrounding. Nice people, relaxed, excellent Milchkaffee, homemade Frikadellen and all the newspapers you need to come through a lazy sunny afternoon.
www.cafe-rekord.de

Great band, great album. My favourite song “The Chamber”. Nothing to wake up yourself in the morning…

Check out the video on YouTube and read Andrew Tijs’ critics:
“In the aftermath of the Arctic Monkeys hype, it's still fair to say that Alex Turner is a cracking good songwriter. And he's more productive than most, pairing up with Miles Kane of Liverpudlian trio The Rascals and some foreboding pop orchestration performed by no less than The London Metropolitan Orchestra, in new side project The Last Shadow Puppets.
The lissome Mod girl on the cover is a fine indication of the swooning, swinging pop inside. The Age Of The Understatement ably recalls a time of heavily eye-shadowed air hostesses and Vespas. It's lush and a little cute and might've been just the ticket to make 2004's Thunderbirds movie less of a camp catastrophe.
The Rascals are to release their debut album this month and it's hard to garner from The Last Shadow Puppets how it might emerge, if only to say that Kane might've actually stymied Turner's ability to nail a memorable hook here. Oh, it's a very stylish album, sure, but the stirring timpani and grandiose strings make it difficult to differentiate the substance. The tantalising Spaghetti Western shimmer, like that on 'Only The Truth', tends to get overwhelmed by battling orchestral bombast.
The Last Shadow Puppets certainly nail the early Bond-era mood. And like those films, the atmosphere beats the art. There just aren't enough tunes worth humming - sacrilege coming from Turner. Still, the plot thickens.”
Andrew Tijs

My friend Felix recommended it to me. We’ve got pretty much the same taste. He also brought me to buy Ian Brown earlier. If you like WEEZER as well, they will love to get your comment on their official website or on their profile...
www.myspace.com/weezer

I found their debut album by coincidence when I was in London in July. American Indie-Band, founded two years ago in Florida. According to ROLLING STONE they are one out of ten “Artists to watch 2008”. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

You can find a lot of Turkish Restaurants in Düsseldorf. This one is currently my most favourite place. At lunch time you’ll get a fantastic dish for only EUR 5. Including tea and the sweet sound of the incredibe noisy Dorotheenstrasse/ Birkenstrasse. Cheers!