Code. Design. Explore.

Unfortunately I’ve run out of steam when it comes to blogging about  my Europe trip.  There is something real about blogging while the thoughts are still in your head.  It’s another story to blog post-trip.  (Most) of the thoughts, realizations, epiphanies, etc are still in my head, but I feel like I burn myself out.  I’ve spent the last 2 weeks, since I’ve been back from my trip, sorting through the 700 pictures I took, fixing up the good ones, and uploading them to Picasa.  (Thank god that is finished!).

So let’s see what stories I can muster up this time.  First, let me give you a visual of how the city is mapped out.

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The clubs in Europe are absolutely ridiculous!  The photos (taken from the nights we were at the club) don’t even do it justice.  Not only was this an introduction to European techno clubs, but to techno clubs in general.  I’ve been listening to techno/trance/electronic music for years now.  My collection probably totals over 50 GB which might be 200-300 hours of music.

The toughest part of getting used to the scene in Europe is the time in which you go out.  Clubs in Europe rarely start before 11pm and usually go through the night.  This was definitely hard to adjust to.  The first night we were in Prague and ready to go out — we didn’t.  We had good intentions, but we went so wrong.  Jenn, Kelsey and I headed to Olympia for a happy hour pre game.  You can get 0.5L of beer for less than $2.  Several beers later the buzz had kicked in.  Unfortunately we were a few hours early.  It was only 4pm.  We decided to continue to get our drink on for another hour or two.  Finally, around 6pm, we headed home.  The plan to was chill out for a bit before going out at night.

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On February 27, 1933 the Reichstag which housed the first parliament of the German Empire caught fire.  This event is seen as pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany.  Hitler used the power he already had as Chancellor and further helped propel his own interests after the fire.  When a group of people are in fear they typically cling to those in power with answers.  During times of fear, clarity of thought is fogged.  It was almost to easy for Hitler to use fear for own self interest.

Fast forward to 2001.  Can you draw any parallels from the events of history to now?  It’s even scary just to that about that.  But let me ask you, was it all that scary in 1933?  No one would have gone along with him if they thought so.

So let me ask you, how will history tell the story we are currently living?

Train station of Berlin