20th Anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall fell

[~Katja~]

I was reminded on this great day in my past when I was reading some reports this morning, just thought I share my happy feelings of that very special day in my life 20 years ago with all of ya! Even though I was too young to understand the impact of that historic event on my future I shared some very happy tear filled moments with my mom, watching the events develop and finally the wall coming down.


This NPR article (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120188440&sc=fb&cc=fp) covers a bit more of the night from the west german side but it definitely touches some of the emotions that were felt both east and west.

Here is a great collection of images (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/autumn.of.change/berlin.wall/) from the wall around it's fall, before and after

I think 20 years later one can still tell the difference between East and West Germans, their way of life and outlook on life in general though the cities and towns have adjusted well and a lot of construction has been done to repair the damages of 40 years under communistic government and Russian control.



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[EliSnow]

I was reminded on this great day in my past when I was reading some reports this morning, just thought I share my happy feelings of that very special day in my life 20 years ago with all of ya! Even though I was too young to understand the impact of that historic event on my future I shared some very happy tear filled moments with my mom, watching the events develop and finally the wall coming down.


This NPR article (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120188440&sc=fb&cc=fp) covers a bit more of the night from the west german side but it definitely touches some of the emotions that were felt both east and west.

Here is a great collection of images (http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/autumn.of.change/berlin.wall/) from the wall around it's fall, before and after

I think 20 years later one can still tell the difference between East and West Germans, their way of life and outlook on life in general though the cities and towns have adjusted well and a lot of construction has been done to repair the damages of 40 years under communistic government and Russian control.



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No mention of David Hasselhoff's role in this event?

For shame, Katja, for shame.

[~Katja~]

No mention of David Hasselhoff's role in this event?

For shame, Katja, for shame.
yeah I know... it baffles me when I hear stories of him filling stadiums for his concerts cause I honestly know only one person I grew up with that was his fan as a kid. I doubt she still listens to that shit today.
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[~Katja~]

and another great article
Witness: The news conference that toppled the Wall (http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5A323Y20091104)



just remembering the many Monday demonstrations in Leipzig leading up to this incredible event... hearing Schabowski say these words... it was the first rush of tears coming in as we watched all the people in the streets of Berlin celebrate and cheer, cry tears of joy!
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[A.J.]

This is nice but I'm really looking forward to seeing how Romania will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the public trial and execution of Nicolae Ceauşescu!

[A.J.]

I remember that when all of this was happening in Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia (of the regimes there tumbling and people celebrating), I kept thinking back to the early part of the 80s when there was all this doom and gloom with movies like WarGames, The Day After and, yes, even Red Dawn. There was a real fear of war (nuclear or conventional) with the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact countries breaking out. And then, just a few years later, that was all over.

[TheMojoPin]

Now if we could only wall off all of Germany from the rest of the world.

DEATH STRIPS FOR EVERYONE.

[Dude!]

Now if we could only wall off all of Germany from the rest of the world.

that's something we can
all agree on!


Mr. Gorbachev...tear down this wall!

Oh....for a president like Reagan.....

[A.J.]

Now if we could only wall off all of Germany from the rest of the world.

But it's the Land of Chocolate!

http://www.duffzone.org/framegrabs/8f09/02212002191744.jpg

[~Katja~]

NO CHOCOLATE FOR YOU! http://www.seinfeld-fan.net/pictures/episodes/the_soup_nazi/the_soup_nazi004.jpg
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[TheMojoPin]

Nobody wants that nasty German chocolate.

The Swiss will do just nicely instead.

[Dude!]

Nobody wants that nasty German chocolate.

The Swiss will do just nicely instead.

and the Belgian even better!

if there are any Belgians left
after the Germans put bayonets
through all their babies

[TheMojoPin]

and the Belgian even better!

if there are any Belgians left
after the Germans put bayonets
through all their babies

Germans will claim that they are needed because of their chocolate, cars, beer and sausages, but equal or better variants can be found elsewhere.

[Hottub]

But it's the Land of Chocolate!

http://www.duffzone.org/framegrabs/8f09/02212002191744.jpg

This?

http://www.carenvy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/homersimpson-in-chocolate-land.png

[WRESTLINGFAN]

If only the wall can be built here to keep people out

[~Katja~]

Germans will claim that they are needed because of their chocolate, cars, beer and sausages, but equal or better variants can be found elsewhere.
not to mention the scientists, inventors, musicians, poets, artists...
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[A.J.]

not to mention the scientists, inventors, musicians, poets, artists...

I can't imagine a world without Nena.

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[TheMojoPin]

Good point. Those are all better elsewhere, too.

[topless_mike]

Germans will claim that they are needed because of their chocolate, cars, beer and sausages, but equal or better variants can be found elsewhere.

and their porn.
just sayin.

[~Katja~]

I can't imagine a world without Nena.

<object width="425" height="344">


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I meant classic music though... but let's not forget the greatness of NDW
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[A.J.]

I meant classic music though... but let's not forget the greatness of NDW

I know. I'm a big fan of Dave Beethoven.

[disneyspy]

I know. I'm a big fan of Dave Beethoven.

wasnt his favorite album SLIPPERY WHEN WET?

[GregoryJoseph]

I remember watching the footage and the parties that ensued at it was awe inspiring.

I can't even imagine what it meant to someone like you, Katja.

Freedom rules.

[RhinoinMN]

wasnt his favorite album SLIPPERY WHEN WET?

Wow! A Bill and Ted reference. Not bad for an old fucker with saggy balls.

[badmonkey]

Barack is Too Busy
Obama Cancels Plans to Attend Berlin Wall Anniversary (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,655632,00.html)
but...
Barack is Not Too Busy
Obama Olympics trip carries political risks (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/29/obama.olympics.politics/index.html)

Nice

[GregoryJoseph]

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[high fly]

I remember that when all of this was happening in Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia (of the regimes there tumbling and people celebrating), I kept thinking back to the early part of the 80s when there was all this doom and gloom with movies like WarGames, The Day After and, yes, even Red Dawn. There was a real fear of war (nuclear or conventional) with the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact countries breaking out. And then, just a few years later, that was all over.

We had those heavy blackout curtains in school and drills where we lined up to go to the fallout shelter. It just seemed as if it would go on forever, but there were always stories about how they couldn't even make postage stamps with glue that would stick to envelopes or how they could not feed their people.
Remember the controversy over the wheat deals during Nixon?

Then the more we traded with them the more the people wanted Western stuff and lifestyles. They got organized and starting in Poland of all places they got things rolling and it was indeed incredible how it all wen down like dominoes....

[high fly]

Reagan - "Tear down this wall"


Gorby said no and Ronald "Dutch" Reagan watched it all fall apart on the teevee just like the rest of us.
The whole system was rotten through and through and fell because of its own inner contradictions and because people rose up and demanded something better.

It was the Chermans who ended up tearing down the wall, not Gorby and the Soviets. They wanted to stop it but couldn't, any more that "Dutch" Reagan could pay the Iranians enough to get them to stop killing Americans...

[Zipgun]

I was in the process of quitting my first semester at a shitbag community college so I could drive cross-country and get high a lot when this all went down.

I wish I grasped the weight of it back then, as important of an event that it was.

[PapaBear]

I was shocked when I heard this today. I can't believe it's been 20 years! I noticed something, though. The wall came down less than two weeks after my oldest son was conceived. Then I noticed that Reagan made the "Tear down this wall" speech on June 12th, which is my son's birthday. I think my son had something to do with it all.

[~Katja~]

I was shocked when I heard this today. I can't believe it's been 20 years! I noticed something, though. The wall came down less than two weeks after my oldest son was conceived. Then I noticed that Reagan made the "Tear down this wall" speech on June 12th, which is my son's birthday. I think my son had something to do with it all.
I only believe that if his car also talks to him
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[PapaBear]

I only believe that if his car also talks to him
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He's never even driven a car. Though he does drive Humvees and Bradley fighting vehicles.

[TheMojoPin]

Barack is Too Busy
Obama Cancels Plans to Attend Berlin Wall Anniversary (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,655632,00.html)
but...
Barack is Not Too Busy
Obama Olympics trip carries political risks (http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/29/obama.olympics.politics/index.html)

Nice

He would have been slammed by pundits regardless of his decision. If he went he's just wasting time on a propoganda stop trying to piggyback on Reagan's "greatness." If he doesn't go, he's terrible. It's lose-lose with certain people.

[TheMojoPin]

I was in the process of quitting my first semester at a shitbag community college so I could drive cross-country and get high a lot when this all went down.

I wish I grasped the weight of it back then, as important of an event that it was.

I was, unfortunately, in Germany as it happened.

I've got chunks of the damn thing around here somewhere. I'm saving them for when communism makes a comeback and I can help build a new wall.

[Recyclerz]

I bet these guys are planning their comeback tour:

Jesus Jones - Right Here, Right Now (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6dxQVhE8o)

This song came up on the shuffle last week and it really took me back to how happy a period (from the 1989 mass protests in Eastern Europe until Saddam invaded Kuwait & we got Desert Storm 1) that was (Tianenmen Square excepted). It may look a bit dated now but I think those bastards really nailed the proverbial zeitgeist with that song.

I remember that when all of this was happening in Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia (of the regimes there tumbling and people celebrating), I kept thinking back to the early part of the 80s when there was all this doom and gloom with movies like WarGames, The Day After and, yes, even Red Dawn. There was a real fear of war (nuclear or conventional) with the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact countries breaking out. And then, just a few years later, that was all over.

Very true. I spent the first part of my life not connecting to things because I was sure that I and everyone I knew would be dead in a war because an ideologue on one side or the other would eventually flinch the wrong way. I've spent the time since then figuring out what I should do since I'm not going to die in a nuclear war. Still working on that, actually...

[TheMojoPin]

I had never thought to look up any other Jesus Jones songs until now.

I'm sorry that I did.

[Recyclerz]

I had never thought to look up any other Jesus Jones songs until now.

I'm sorry that I did.

Sorry, I should have warned you that to dig safely deeper than the one song you have to innoculate yourself with an overdose of ecstasy.


Here's another one from that time

Blues for Ceausescu- Fatima Mansions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moPWDSVRenQ)

[TheMojoPin]

Sorry, I should have warned you that to dig safely deeper than the one song you have to innoculate yourself with an overdose of ecstasy.

There but for the grace of EMF go you.

[Recyclerz]

There but for the grace of EMF go you.

That's unbelievable.

[TheMojoPin]

My purple prose just gives me away.