Unscene Berlin

Unscene Berlin is currently penniless (thanks, Ibiza) but that didn't stop her having brunch and taking a cabaret (read: puppetshow) for free in Boxhagener Platz, Friedrichshain.  Read on to find out how... A breezy, polite hippy in a tidy ponytail came up to my friend and I in Boxhagener Platz, today.  Leaning over us and smiling, he said, "English or Deutsch?" "Depends what you're selling," I quipped. This is an ingrained reflex... I work in the Mitte, after all, which is home of Berlin's biggest 'Speak English?' begging community.  But the hippy dude recoiled like I'd tarnished his idealistic credentials, and cried, "We are selling nothing! I only wanted to invite you to have some free food, if you like."  Then he turned to my mate and explained, in German, that he is part of a group that collects brunch-buffet munchies (brunchies?) from the cafes and restaurants surrounding Boxhagener Platz, and hands them out for free...

This week Unsceneberlin is partying in Ibiza, but the podium dancers there don't seem to be having as much fun... Add caption On Amnesia: love the club.  On Cream, loved the music.  But one comment I heard over and over again was, "What's up with those podium dancers?  Why aren't they actually dancing?"  The 34-22-34 sized women that you see standing around on their podiums are so tightly bound by the 'ideal' male fantasy gear that they probably can't breathe, let alone move with anything like the freedom of an actual dancer. Yes, even the men I spoke to were less than enthusiastic about them.  In fact, it was most often a guy who turned to me and wondered loudly why those women were even up there - they were obviously not into the music. How could they be, when they reputedly earn about 45 Euros a night for working in one of the world's most famous clubs, on one of the world's most expensive party islands? There was a time when go-go...