Arts

Stealing the Maibaum

Many Bavarians take advantage of the typically beautiful weather on the first of May, and spend the day outdoors. Not only is it a public holiday, but many villages and neighbourhoods raise a 'Maibaum' (Maypole). There will be music and dancing for most of the day at the Marienplatz, as well as at multiple places around the city. From the Maifest im Tierpark in the south to the Moosacher Maifest in the north, there will be plenty going on in and around Munich on the 'Erste Mai'.
But first we...

Ring in the springtime at the Frühlingsfest

Often referred to as the 'Little Sister' of the Oktoberfest, Munich's 'Frühlingsfest' runs from 20 April to 6 May 2012. There are more than one hundred stands offering games and food, as well as the rides that any Wies'n guest will immediately recognise. Though Friday's opening day was quite dreary with rain, the visitors during the first weekend enjoyed mostly beautiful weather.

The 'Riesenflohmarkt' (massive flea market) took place on Saturday 21 April and people were able to haggle for...

Munich's 'Long Night of Music' is a perfect excuse to enjoy the city after dark

From Rock to Greek Byzantine Choir, or Calypso to authentic Indian dancing, Munich's 'Long Night of Music' has something for everyone. Started a few years ago and modelled on the immensely popular 'Long Night of the Museums', the 'Long Night of Music' allows the inhabitants of the area a chance to visit many places at one time that they would normally not have an opportunity to do. This is because it is coupled with Munich's city subway/tram/bus company which provides transportation throughout...

St John Passion at the Matthäuskirche on Good Friday

Each year during Holy Week, many churches in and around Munich perform one of the Bach Passions or a similarly sacred work. The one at the Matthäuskirche (at Sendlingertor) was performed by the Münchner MotettenChor and the Residenz Orchester München under the direction of Hayko Siemens on Good Friday 6 April 2012. From multiple sources, I had heard that this was one of the best performances on offer in Munich this week. I cannot say I was disappointed.

As with many Bach works, the most...

Asparagus, so much more than a vegetable

Ah yes, 'Spargelzeit' (asparagus season). Nothing seems to captivate the Germans, the Bavarians even more so, than those 8 weeks that end on June 24th. And the fascination runs across all generations, genders and socio-economic strata. The health benefits of asparagus are many and well-documented, but the love of it goes well beyond that. But why? The history of the vegetable goes back around 4,000 years and it is grown throughout the world. Most people eat the green variety but the white type...

New Rodent Discovered, could lower Termite Population

A new species of rodent was discovered in 2001, in Africa, but has only been announced by the discoverers last week, for fear that they would become endangered very quickly due to their remarkable talents in finding and consuming termites. The extremely small animal, with a maximum length of 4 cm, and a weight of 20 grams, was discovered by some scientists from The National Geographic along the Kenyan-Ugandan border. It seems as if the mostly nocturnal animals have an innate ability to smell...

The Countdown has begun

After a few false starts, reassessments and restructurings, we here at The Munich Eye is progressing ever so closer to a "Launch". The random and sometimes haphazard articles we have posted so far have been an attempt by us to garner feedback, work out some bugs and to show some formatting to potential advertisers and partners. We are rapidly approaching the day when everything goes live. Our intention at The Munich Eye is to create a newspaper that is geared towards everyone, but no one group...

Smoking and Drinking Bans in Munich Accomplish Little, Set an Ugly Precedent

Bans on smoking and drinking in Munich's public places ineffectual, and perhaps, should be over-turned. When Deutsche Bahn announced recently that the drinking of alcohol on Munich's S-Bahn trains would take effect on December 11th, 2011, most people applauded the decision. Nearly every regular passenger has been confronted at some time or another by unruly teenagers who are drunk, or well on their way to drunkenness, in one of Munich's trains. The old adage that nothing good ever happens...

This week in Munich : Lenny Kravitz in town

December is almost upon us and instead of snow, we're currently experiencing intense bouts of fog in Munich. But we're not letting that dampen our spirits or cloud our vision (ho ho); there's a bunch of exciting events going on in Munich this week. Monday we recommend you check out Bombay Bicycle Club at the Freiheizhalle. The London band released their third studio album in August and are currently on tour in Europe to promote it. 

German chanteuse Annett Louisan is at the Kleine...

Thriller Live 2012, Munich

Long-time legend Michael Jackson should have been there to watch this. His forty year career meticulously played back by four different people. Fantastic performers. Fantastic dancers. Fantastic vocalists. With tickets ranging from 34 to 74 Euros, the Thriller Live show which premiered on Tuesday, the 28th of February 2012 in Munich, comes to an end this Sunday, the 11th of March, with a double performance at 1500hrs and 1900hours respectively. The European tour goes on. The Jackson Five's ABC...

Some Things to Ponder, part 2

In my first article, Some Things to Ponder, part 1, I looked at some of the many benefits of today's modern technology, mostly smart devices. In the short time since then there have been many new developments including the new iPad 3, the fact that for the first time ever more mobile phones in the US are of the smart-phone variety than not, and a host of others.  But at what cost? As we rapidly continue in the Age of Information many questions arise. Here are but a few of these...

I Wanna Rock!

As a product of America, one of the things that I grew up with which seems to be in very short supply here in Munich, is real Rock music. I'm not talking about Bon-Jovi, or Bryan Adams. AC/DC is OK, but their best days are behind them. Please no more Styx or Foereigner! There is a real dearth of good driving guitar-based Rock here in Munich. Why? Mention Rammstein here and eyes mostly roll (Rammstein is one of the few German bands-if only band-that can sell out large arenas in the US. And most...