G8 '07 Roundup (Videos Posted, Karaoke Sung)

ROAD BLOCK
Uploaded by dropping_knowledge

The above video was the final piece I made in Rostock. I edited it in about a day or so...a day meaning at least 24 hours of work although at first glance it may not look like it. At the bottom of this post you'll find more links to videos I worked on as well as the general dropping knowledge G8 site.

The following post was begun at 5am on the 2nd monday of my 2 week stay in Rostock. It took a while to post. Entschuldigung:
So I'm on the night shift here in Rostock. The 1am-8am door watching is really a treat. Since we're bunkered here in the Schule we (meaning all 50 or so of us) have to watch the door all night to let in any of our member who's still out there on the cold summer nights. So cold here! It must be the estuary we're on. Ich habe keine ahnung. (I have no idea).
Tonight was kind of celebratory: we finally screened a bunch of finished films for the whole group and had a good meal of delicious indian food. By 12 everyone was raring to keep the mood up and by 1230, with a large gaggle of dropping knowledge people, I ventured out. The only problem was my previously engaged night watch shift with Esther from Salzburg. But visions of a group outing to the local karoake spot (Spoolchen Bar or something...?) led me astray.
Exiting the Rostock Technisches Kunstler Schule and turning left we meandered up the hill of our street and saw police blocking the way to the bar. Their on high alert now for anyone who looks like a member of the black bloc but we were able to easily convince them with our normal clothes and bar-going demeanor that we meant no trouble. We only meant party.
We were let in by a woman unlocking a glass door and relocking it behind us. High security. Even for karaoke! 3€ for coat check, entry and complimentary tequila shot is not a bad deal for such a smoking-hot karaoke bar. This place had it down. And they had it down right. I'll post pictures when I can but damn.
Disco square lights on the karaoke floor, a good song selection, cheap beer and a good crowd. Well the crowd was mainly 30 or so dropping knowledge folks, but there was also a nice smattering of American sailors (sans Popeye outfit) and cheery locals.
So you stroll up the marble stairs and in through the door you go and its just amazing. A Swedish girl with the camp who went by Katarina for her karaoke performances took over for most of the night with "summer of 69," "you're simply the best," among others and a german duet took care of "bohemian rhapsody" pretty handily. The Americans did "Welcome to the Jungle" and I got embarassed. One of their member kept doing really aggressive flying kicks while the others kind of waved and wobbled.
The worst part of the evening was during the Swede's rendition of "One More Time" by Britney Spears. The damn sailors kept yelling across the whole karaoke floor, "Hit me baby from behind!" whenever the chorus came on. It was lame.
Of course I planned to do a song, but only if they had "Motorin'" by Sister Christian. I had to do Gabe right and make sing song come to life in Germany. Sadly the KJ had no such song and I was forced to consider a rendition of "Ignition" by R Kelly. Sadly I wavered and couldn't bring myself to make that urinating man's flow over my new germanic friends.
The best part of the night was sharing some kraeuter lickor with a few new Salzburger friends. It was kind of like Jagermeister except I didn't feel the irresistible urge to vomit after drinking it. YUM!

I've now been back in Berlin for a few days and its good to get back to the relaxed life. No more working 12 or more hours a day or until 4 in the morning trying to perfect an edit. At least not for the next few weeks. Check out all the videos at: http://www.droppingknowledge.org/g8/videofilm
I know it looks like a lot of stuff, but most of them are really short and also pretty cool. Let me know if you want recommendations.

Videos I edited:



























I worked on translation and some editing nuance on a bunch of other clips up on the sight. Let me know which ones are your favorite. Comment here if you like!