by Sam Winston

Here’s a tally of my proximity to death and violence in New Orleans within the last year.

A longtime family friend was choked unconscious for his wallet in the Marigny at 5 p.m. after leaving work last month. Another friend driving in Algiers had bricks thrown at his car windshield. I myself heard gunshots on two separate nights sitting in my apartment on Nashville Avenue in Broadmoor. A young friend committed suicide due to a battle with depression. There was a person murdered Read the rest of this entry »

by Sam Winston

A MOMENT FROM MUNICH

When he hit the ground I thought for sure he was out cold. If not at least seriously bleeding. The music and the crowd of thousands were so loud that hardly anyone noticed. If he hadn’t fallen at my feet and spilled half a liter of beer on me, I probably wouldn’t have noticed either.

I was in the middle of explaining to friends how I thought the stereotype of German culture (beer, sausage, women in dirndl and a lot of cheering) strangely resembled the stereotype of American masculinity (Beer! Football! Cheerleaders! Meat!). That is why, I was saying, so many Americans love the idea of the Oktoberfest. Whether my German companions didn’t get my parallel or my German was incomprehensible above the din of oompah music I’m wasn’t sure. Nevertheless, they looked a bit perplexed. Read the rest of this entry »

by Sam Winston

This post was originally published Tuesday, October 9th. A new video clip has been added.

The USA Today recently put out the top 25 news stories/headlines from the last quarter century. The fall of Communism as symbolized by the fall of the Berlin Wall was number one. Hurricane Katrina was number four.

“Our final Top 25 list features the biggest news stories of the past quarter-century. They’re the ones that generated the largest headlines, the greatest change, the most vivid memories, the most immediate impact.” Read the rest of this entry »

 by Sam Winston

The previous post by Ian about what the German word gemütlichkeit means in New Orleans got me thinking. What other words do the folks of New Orleans and dee Germans share in common? Just so happens that I’m currently living here in Germany and I’ve spent endless hours doing armchair translations.

There’s… Read the rest of this entry »