Spendthrift Shoestring

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What? I had a few spare minutes today.

A brief pause for Helene Fischer

 

Recently I discovered the above song, ("Ich will immer wieder ... dieses Fieber spür'n" by Helene Fischer, released in 2009) during an extended YouTube dérive. It reminds me of smaller German hits from the mid-1980s. Helene Fischer was born in Russia to an ethnic German family in 1984—right around the time, incidentally, that I was listening to the songs reminiscent of the above tune. In German-speaking Europe Ms. Fischer is a big Schlager star, a feat which, it should be clarified, doesn't mean that she's a household name throughout Germany. I love that there is no attempt made to show her singing into an actual microphone in the above performance. In this respect, the song reminds me of German music television from the mid-1980s in another way. There were often no microphones back then, just lipsynching on bizarre sets. 

To say that the song is kitsch would be too easy and not really the point. This song has an emotional valence that is canned but uncannily sincere. It's also Eurovision-ready. If Germans would stop picking weird country bands or annoying reality television products to represent them at Eurovision, this song could do them proud. 

France: Culinary tourism inspiration

I'm very excited about the arrival of this book via post earlier this week. Nos meilleurs produits du terroir en France, published by Routard, is a guide to local culinary products across France. Listings encompass shops as well as restaurants, and there is an index for organic produce. It's already inspired me to map out some itineraries organized around a search for preserves, various meats, wine, and other delicacies.

I wish that we'd see the development of guidebooks devoted to local specialty produce in other countries. These guidebooks are good for small-scale farmers, rural tourism in general, and big eaters. I support all three.

(I also love the timelessness of the book's cover. Beautiful and 1970ish, right?)

Capricorn Route: Round-the-world series for Gadling

I'll break this extended silence here on Spendthrift Shoestring to call attention to the Capricorn Route series, my round-the-world blog posts for Gadling. I've got a few more posts on Mauritius and London to add to the series.