Interviewed by Tom Mangan
M.O.A.T.M.A.I., suffering for art.
His Website is here.
AUTHORS
Michael Fuchs
Elizabeth Hilts
Paul Riddell
Gary Rivlin
Jim Motavalli
Barbara Shafferman
Jules Siegel
Keith Snyder
ARTISTS/POETS/
PHILOSOPHERS
Jon C. Allen
Will Baker
Mike Leung
Jon Sarkin
COOL SITE KEEPERS
Mike Cash
Scott O'Neal Colf
Godfrey Daniels
Cliff Davis, DDS
Tammy Hocking
Wes Modes
Frank Rogan
DIARISTS
Ralph Becker
J. D. Bruns
Linda DeVault
Mike Reed
Moira Richardson
Jessamyn West
FILMMAKERS
JOURNALISTS
Bernie
Mary Cooley-Jones
Lindsay Crysler
Jamie Dupree
M.O.A.T.M.A.I.
David Moll
Robert Niles
John Orr
Steven Ovadia
Pierce Presley
Mack Reed
Rip Rense
Curtis Ross
Neal Ross
John Scalzi
Catherine Seipp
David Sheets
Dwight Silverman
Matt Welch
MOVIE MAVENS
HUMORISTS
Debbie Farmer
Mike Jasper
Madeleine Begun Kane
Patrick Keller
Bob Sassone
Valerie Sprague
Ken Swarmer
Ian Wolff
SOLDIERS
TEACHERS
TECHIES
Chris Adamson
Mike Gunderloy
Michael Ivey
Greg Knauss
Floyd Maxwell
Ellen McDonough
Mike Pingleton
Wayne Thume
John Worth
TEENS
UNDECLARED
WEBLOGGERS
Five items, off the top of my head:
- Moments without discomfort or pain. It's become a rare event, though I always realize that it could be much, much, worse.
- Sitting in a Merry-Go-Round, the kind with gondolas suspended on chains, with my arms spread and my legs dangling in the air. Sheer joy, always.
- Seeing my wife break into a smile. That always has a very soothing effect on me. I try to give her as many reasons to smile as possible. (I suppose this sounds corny.)
- Music. Music is one of my passions; my collection is immense and goes from Mozart to Yellow Magic Orchestra, from Baden Powell to Prince. I've never done drugs, they don't hold any interest to me (I'm in enough trouble as it is), but I guess you could argue that I am addicted to music to some degree. With the present ear ringing situation, synthetic music has become tiresome and painful. Jean Michel Jarre, Fila Brazillia, etc. used to give me joy, now they give me headaches. "Natural" music involving "real", i.e. not sampled, instruments doesn't have this side effect, which means that these days, I am mostly listening to the Lovin' Spoonful, Beach Boys and The Beatles -- and lots of Mozart. Ever since the Tinnitus got me, I can only bear about five percent of my music collection without ear aches. As I write this, the 1966 album "Hums of The Lovin' Spoonful", an old favorite of mine, is soothing my nerves.
- Writing. It usually distracts me from any physical discomforts. I like writing much more than talking. Somebody recently flattered me by saying I'm a good talker, but conversation exhausts me. Writing stimulates me, mellows my mood and makes me happy. A great way to irritate me is to interrupt while I'm writing.
(Incidentally, the Website hasn't yet been updated with the most recent painful developments: On December 30, 1999, a couple of teenagers threw a firecracker into my path. It exploded directly under my bicycle; since then my ears are ringing with a high screeching noise (6 KHz) 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- a phenomenon known to doctors as tinnitus. This had made me rather sensitive to noise and worsened the way I grind my teeth, increasing my jaw pain. It was treated with a six-day infusion therapy in a local hospital and ten sessions in a pressure chamber, with no effect on the tinnitus.)
You lived in the U.S. for a while before heading back home to Germany. What do you miss most, and least, about the U.S.?
The first time I headed back to Germany, I had to, because otherwise my airline ticket would have expired. I'd loved to have stayed in the U.S. then, but I was young (21) and naive.
I miss the language very much, especially the puns. I miss the museums and movie theatres. I miss the Bay Area a lot, especially San Francisco's Mission district and the Golden Gate Park. I miss my U.S. relatives and the casual friendliness of complete strangers. San Francisco felt more like Home than any other city I've ever lived in.
The second time in the U.S. I got to see the seedy underbelly of the country. I spent six weeks in Texas, under less than ideal circumstances. Then I spent five months in the Bay Area (Alameda), where I suddenly began to see the disadvantages of the American Way.
I took a severe dislike to the way some Americans treat the socially disadvantaged. Hardly any "social net" exists; if somebody begins to spiral downward because of unemployment or a bad turn, he/she has to catch himself/herself. Health care is really poor, good doctors are prohibitively expensive. Everything's relative, though: I have lived in Latin America for six years, though, so I know how much worse it can get.
An anecdote might illustrate my ambivalent feelings towards the US. During my study year in San Francisco, a classmate, a chatty, bright-eyed WASPy young woman, once mentioned her hopes to one day marry a foreigner. "They are so interesting", she said. I agreed, pointing at Japanese and African exchange students sitting around us in the campus cafeteria.
She gave me a strange look and said that of course, she would only marry a foreigner who "looked like an American". When minutes later, a close American friend sat down next to me, the WASP fell silent and began to look very uncomfortable in his company. She left quickly; I didn't understand why.
It wasn't until that evening that I noticed the implications of the scene. While brushing my teeth and looking at my pasty-faced, blond-haired mirror image, I realized that besides my slight accent, nothing really gave me away as a foreigner. My American friend, on the other hand, is black. He recently married a Japanese woman.
Seems to me it would've been much easier to do your Website in your native German. Why did you choose English instead?
Mainly, it seemed ridiculous to put German-language content on a .COM domain.
The Health Section was created to keep friends and family informed about my current health status. When one's jaw hurts, one doesn't really want to tell everybody the same story. My German friends and family can read English and German. My American friends and family barely speak English... Hence, the pages are in English.
It's easier for me to write in English than in German. In German, I frequently strangle myself with subordinate clauses. And, of course, it's a way to continually expand one's vocabulary and keep one's English from rusting.
(To achieve balance, I translate a daily English-language online comic strip into German. Now THAT's hard... but fun.)
Having lived on both continents, what do you make of the complaints about the insinuation of American culture into the nooks and crannies of European life?
There is definitely a merit to this complaint. The American "Way Of Life" invariably permeates European countries -- by its sheer volume and by its very nature. Personally, I'd like to pick and choose what one adopts from another country, but Americanism comes as a package deal. The fact that most Europeans have some degree of English language skills, while most U.S. Americans have no foreign language skills at all, says a lot. A bidirectional culture transfer rarely occurs.
Usually, U.S. trends arrive in a Germany about one to two years later -- even Web trends. For instance, at a time U.S. companies and surfers were already beginning to realize that Portalmania wasn't really going to take off, German enterprises were just discovering the "trend" and beginning to build portals everywhere.
Sometimes, European or even German trends make it across the ocean and strike it big in the U.S. -- but these events are rare and in between. When it happens, it can have strange results -- a French movie might gain a lot of interest in the U.S., an U.S. studio produces a Remake with American actors and an Americanized plot, and it gets reimported into Europe.
For instance, there is a rather weird and magical movie called "Diva," starring a cast of French unknowns and dealing with a mail delivery boy's fascination with a classical singer, the diva of the title. Apparently, it is presently being considered for an U.S. remake, starring Will Smith and Whitney Houston. The very thought makes me shiver.
Americans love to hear that the rest of the world is trailing us in regards to technology. Since you work for a technology publication in Europe, how about telling us about some technology that we're behind the curve on?
Urgh. Personally, I don't share the opinion that Europe is, as a whole, trailing the U.S. in regards to technology. Socially yes, but not in regards to technology.
From what I gather, ISDN never took off in a big way in the U.S., while it did have a big impact on online communications here. This might have something to do with the fact that in most European countries, local calls are not free -- hence there is a higher interest in speedy file and data transfers. High-speed Internet access has become very mainstream over here, ASDL is already available in many German cities. Also, digital wireless communications (mobile phones) seem to be more common in Europe than in the U.S.
Also, AMD processors seem to be welcomed much easier here -- the Intel market dominance is clearly eroding.
I always hear that north Americans are more work-obsessed than Europeans. Can you share an example that either confirms or refutes this?
First off, I don't think there is such thing as a "European Work Ethic", anymore than there is an North American obsession with work. From my experience, Americans in Texas or Washington (DC) have quite a different attitude towards work than, say, Californians. And, of course, rural Californians have a different attitude than an insurance broker working on Market Street.
Let me give an example which both confirms and refutes the claim you mentioned: My present work place is very energetic; many colleagues frequently work overtime, well into the night -- because there is a lot of work to do and because, Goshdarnit, the work here is FUN. My previous employer (same country, different state), on the other hand, had a severe problem with demotivated employees. The employers were, to put it mildly, completely out of touch with the needs of their employees; we had to argue about the purchase of equipment worth 50 dollars with our superiors even if we really NEEDED it to do our work. Consequently, productivity kept declining, there was a lot of turnover and everybody left work at 5 p.m.
Relate a tale about someone you admire greatly, one that reinforces your admiration for the person.
There are two kinds of admiration ... personal admiration for somebody whom one admires from deep within, and an impersonal admiration for somebody whose work one appreciates deeply. Hence, you're going to get two tales.
A great-aunt of mine lived her whole life adhering to the principle of altruism. She taught children never to leave food on the plate (she was a war child), never to lie without need and all those other small lessons which differentiate the ethical from the unethical, the caring from the uncaring. Most of all, she taught what she lived: If you behave honestly and good-naturedly to others, it will pay off, somewhere and somehow. (The antithesis to the "Me Generation", if you will.) The world lost her on December 31, 1999. I'm doing my damn best to carry the torch onwards.
As for the other kind of admiration, I greatly admire the writings of Ernest Hemingway. He could write a seven-page story about an event which lasts fifteen minutes (a conversation in a bar) and a two-page story about the entire lives of two people. In either case, he tells you everything you would want to know: nothing has been padded out, nothing has been left out. Not an ounce of fat on any of his stories. And he made it look so effortless (the bastard).
(Postnote: There is a book, "Ernest Hemingway On Writing", edited by Larry W. Phillips, which gives you some insight on his writing style, his philosophy and his advice to other writers. Here's a quote:
"Actually if a writer needs a dictionary he should not write. He should have read the dictionary at least three times from beginning to end and then have loaned it to someone who needs it. There are only certain words which are valid and similes [bring me my dictionary] are like defective ammunition [the lowest thing I can think of at this time]."
All to often, I see myself forced to rely on defective ammunition. But at least my aim is getting better.)
Thanks for the Seven Questions. It's a very unusual situation to find oneself in, being questioned oneself instead of questioning others. It makes one realize how the person "at the other end of the gun" must feel. I don't know if I'd have lasted for an eighth question.
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