Chiperoni ku Basel

Category: basel

  • Bauzaun Art

    I stumbled across a temporary art gallery along the board fence of a construction site in downtown Basel.

    An excellent idea.

    bau_zaun_kunst

    street art

    See also this online gallery of Bauzaun Art in Hamburg.

  • Biker’s Rant

    An intense heading for a small observation, while cycling home from work:

    I noticed that many drivers and other cyclists make a lot of assumptions. A sincere road traffic faith that everything will work out in the end.

    For instance, I signaled that I was planning to turn left, and pulled across the road to the middle of the road. A car came hurtling out of nowhere and narrowly passed me on my right side. The driver didn’t slow down to wait until I had reached the center line.

    Kind of scary.

    Another situation: I tend to leave a little bit of space between my bike and any cars parked along the curb. Not much. But some room in case a car door opens suddenly. Some of my fellow bikers are really clever and try to overtake in the tiny space between me and the parked cars, instead of on the left side. Happened yesterday and today. Weird. Especially since the road was clear.

  • Sempé at the Cartoon Museum in Basel

    I went to see the Sempé show today. I had seen parts of it during the Museumsnacht, but the small museum was over crowded and I decided at the time that I’d come back another day.

    museumsnacht basel

    My French grammar books at school were illustrated with cartoons from Le Petit Nicolas.

    It wasn’t really quiet today either. There was a museum tour while I was there, and the lady presenting had a very loud voice that you could hear on all floors. It’s a small museum. I learnt that Sempé went through a depressive period after his friend committed suicide. Following this tragedy, Sempé didn’t publish any work for 6 years. And only managed to recover by listening to music.

    I learnt that Sempé required at least 2 weeks time for one his “New Yorker” covers.

    And I learnt another French expression for money: pognon: Used by a couple sitting on a pier, in front of them a yacht harbour and the setting sun to describe the scene.

    I like Sempé’s subtle humor. His illustrations are sentimental and nostalgic, even though they often point out and criticize disparities (e.g. between rich and poor, urban and rural).

    A very enjoyable show, open ’til 13th April 2009.

    I also liked the cartoons by Nicolas Mahler, another exhibition.

  • Blaggede… Surprise…

    How do you know you’ve arrived at the Basel* Swiss railway station?

    You can hear at least 2 people calling out at regular intervals:

    Blaggede

    Surprise (French pronounication)

    *Basel has 3 train stations.