Graffiti Advertising Helps Me Decide!

Like many European cities, Berlin is plastered with graffiti. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like the stuff when it’s artistic, clever, or just happens to besmirch lame-o advertising. (Graffiti artist Banksy’s stencil on Israel’s West Bank wall, above.)
But Berlin’s street artists are crying foul because lately the ads have been besmirching their work. You see, advertisers looking for an edge have increasingly turned to ads camouflaged as graffiti (see above)… Ooh, they’re tricky!

Take the mobile communications company Ogo for example. According to Der Spiegel, there was a mysterious overnight appearance of “hundreds of round cartoon monsters… in the form of graffiti, on Berlin's high-rise buildings, on posters and construction site fences.” Later, the truth came out: They were ads.

Guerilla ads are nothing new, and co-opting pop and youth culture to sell stuff is likewise not very shocking. But while graffiti has been around since humankind learned to build walls, it was a big deal in 1969 when a kid wrote his nickname (Taki 183) all over New York. Der Spiegel points out that graffiti’s modern variant then “gained strength in the 1970s when it reclaimed public space from advertising. ‘Reclaim the streets’ was one of the slogans of the early activists, who saw themselves as critics of commerce armed with spray paint and magic markers.”

So much for that. And these new ads aren’t even vandalism! Charges of property damage don’t stick when ad stencils wash away in the first hard rain. But those advertising images will stick in our heads longer than that. Mission accomplished. (Right, a meshing of commerce and graffiti from Palermo, Sicily that sums up my feelings. Oh, and I love this graffiti story.)

Merry Christmas from Austria!

He’s incredibly ugly. He carries a stick to frighten naughty childen in the Yuletide season. And as if all that weren’t bad enough, his name is Krampusz (from the old German krampen: “claw”).

Meet Austria’s resident seven-foot tall Christmas mascot. Krampusz looks a little bit like Pan’s rougher cousin after a bacchanalian bender. As explained by Der Spiegel, starting on December 5, the longstanding tradition was for folks to dress up as Krampusz and then go around the neighborhood knocking on doors. If children answered, the faux-Krampuszs would brandish switches, ring cowbells, and basically make the kids REALLY look forward to the arrival of Saint Nicholas.

This frightening routine was well-established before the Inquisition, which began in the 13th century. The threat of torture and execution was enough to get the Austrians to lay off the Krampusz fun/heresy for a few centuries, but the hairy fellow made a comeback in the 1600s, and he's stuck around ever since.

The town of Schladming is the epicenter of the Krampusz society. It holds a parade with over a thousand Krampuszs that includes lots of revelry and cowbells (yes!). As they say in Austria: Krampusz gerne Partei. ("Krampusz likes to party.") Check a Krampusz enthusiasts' site (auf Deutsch) here. (And if you hear cowbells on the 5th, don't answer your door.)

Introducing El Caganer

Readers of The Pocket Guide to Mischief are already acquainted with the Spanish character of El Caganer (“the great pooper”). Statues of him evacuating his bowels are a common sight in Catalonia, where the traditional figurine of El Caganer is the Catalan peasant pictured below.
While this may seem odd, in northeastern Spain, these figurines date back to the 1600s and are considered symbols of good health. Hey, it's a culture without prissy scatalogical hangups! Before dining, Catalans sometimes say, “Menjar bé, i caga fort, i no tinguess por de la mort!” (“Eat well, poop strong, and you will have no fear of death!”)

According to Der Spiegel, in the Christmas season, Catalan kids “play a Where's-Waldo-like game that involves searching for the caganer, who is hidden somewhere in the Nativity arrangement.” As a symbol of respect, the pooper is usually located at some distance from the manger’s holier occupants.

If you’re interested, this website offers 150 different El Caganer figurines, all of them assuming the position. The current U.S. president is the company's second-bestselling item, but other political leaders are also available, for instance, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. (See also the Friends of El Caganer.)

World Toilet Day

Dang, I almost forgot: Today is World Toilet Day.
Odds are that anyone reading this will use a toilet 6-8 times daily. (More if you visit here regularly.) Above, an exhibit of 50 toilets placed outside of Berlin's Central Station to heighten sanitation awareness. What I like about the photo (from Der Spiegel) are the people; you can almost re-create their train of thought:

"There are dozens of toilets laid out in a pattern over there. Let us wander among them."

Last Thing: Here are the toughest places in the world to find a toilet.

Attack of the Cheap Lederhosen

Munich’s Oktoberfest is already underway, but folk culture purists fear their beloved tradition is under attack by substandard Lederhosen.

Bavarian farmers have worn leather outfit made from pig, goat, or deerskin since time immemorial. These "Lederhosen" were adopted in the 1800s by local aristocrats. (That's the way it always is: Bavarian aristocrats co-opting the cool culture from farmers and American teenagers.)

Der Spiegel reports that Lederhosen-wearers were out in force this weekend in their Bavarian shorts. Ah, but WERE those shorts authentic? Or were they cheap imports from un-Bavarian locales like Poland, India, and… China?

[These] are “yuppie outfits” that have nothing to do with original Bavarian dress, says Otto Dufter, chairman of the Bavarian Federation of Folk Costume Societies. “…we don’t use any pseudo-costumes made abroad.”

Dang, pseudo-costumes are way un-gemütlich. Folk costume society member Hans Lehrer had the quote of the day: “A good Lederhose is like a second skin and it will last you your whole life if you don’t get too fat.”

Now, since Lederhosen have H-shaped suspenders, and “H” is the first letter of “Heim” (the German word for “home”), the path seems clear. Germans honoring the traditions of their homeland should wear domestic Lederhosen.

Oops, price check: Embroidered deer-leather Bavarian Lederhosen cost €600? That’s almost $830!

Chinese Lederhosen it is, then.

BONUS! In the course of "researching" this, I was offered this authentic German joke.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
The police. I'm afraid there's been an accident. Your husband is in hospital.

A Farinaceous Holiday

Der Spiegel had a story on the flour wars that take place in the Greek village of Galaxidi.

The day is known as "Clean Monday" (or Καθαρή Δευτέρα), though that is a bit misleading, given that villagers throw over a ton of colored flour at each other.

According to the article, "Preparations for the war -- also known as alevromoutzouromata or 'people throw flour at each other' -- are intense. Locals dye bag upon bag of flour with food coloring and paint their faces with charcoal.... And revellers, at least those who know what they are in for, bust out goggles to protect their eyes from the flying starch....

"The flour fight dates back to the very beginning of the 19th century... Villagers began celebrating Carnival in defiance of the Ottoman occupiers, painting their faces with ash and dancing in decorous circles, one for women, one for men. Now the fun is co-ed and the flour throwing non-discriminating."