Wednesday, June 16, 2010


I'm back in Berlin for my weekly visit. My first week in Luckenwalde has been very enjoyable and relatively eventful. As well as spending a good deal of time pottering in the garden, cutting the grass, and coming to terms with the incredibly complicated watering system and trying to simplify it, I have been engrossed in a new book by Jeremy Rifkin called the Empathic Civilization. I still have around half of the 600 or so pages to go, but the effort seems well worth it, if only for the delightfully readable style with which the author draws on all aspects of the entire history of mankind in relating his thesis, that
"at the very core of the human story is the paradoxical relationship between empathy and entropy. He observes that at various times in history new energy regimes have converged with new communication revolutions, creating ever more complex societies. More technologically dadvanced cultures, in turn, have brought together more diverse people, heightened empathic sensitivity, and expanded human consciousness. But these increasingly complicated milieus require extensive energy use and speed us toward resource depletion.

The irony is that our growing empathic awareness has been made possible by an ever-greater consumption of the Earth's energy and other resources, resulting in a dramatic deterioration in the health of the planet"
At least according to the notes in the dust jacket. It is certainly a gripping read, for someone like me who has never really managed to grasp an overview of the history of mankind, whether in the sphere of politics, psychology, religion or any other.

At the weekend Luckenwalde hosted the 20th Turmfest (Tower festival?) , a weekend fair involving the transforming of the town centre into a venue for music and entertainment. There were three stages, providing for all tastes, from country and western to rap, as well as the usual fair ground rides and bars and fast food stands. I managed to persuade Claudia to join me on Friday evening to see Engerling, a blues-based band from the former DDR, who can evidently still create a good atmosphere, and I enjoyed hearing them. They did great cover versions of Dead Flowers and Riders on the Storm.

On Sunday Claudia and I had guests and took them to the miniscule town zoo, which comprises little more than a few deer, wild boar, miniature goats ponies, donkies, various birds and apair of brown bears. It was however a pleasant outing, and probably the quietest zoo I have ever been to.

Of course I have been continuing to run. Officially I am in a recovery period before embarking on my 12 week marathon training plan at the start of July. Therefore I resisted the temptation to join in the 10 km race on Saturday that is part of the annual fair, and have jogged my way through the woods near the cottage every couple of days. After all it was less than a week beforehand that I ran a half marathon. My next race is the 10 km Berlin City Night run on 31st July.

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