www.blankpaper.de

Domestic Violence.What do you know about ...

pg04

Diary of a Jester... and other creative writing.

English Student Paper.

Kassel University .

January 2OIO .

table of contents.2 editorial.

culture. pg12 Upcoming Events

pg22 Our English Drama Group,

the “Red Brick Company” presents

“The Real Inspector Hound”

pg13 Adelaide, Australia

pg16 Face-Reading

pg18 Tagging the other way round

opinion. pg04 Domestic Violence

pg11 Bicycle repair shop

creative. pg05 Sex and the Village

pg06 Diary of a Jester

pg08 A Poem

pg09 Daydreams

pg19 Hamthrax Warning

pg20 New Media

pg21 Disorder

review. pg10 Milena Mosers

“Flowers in your Hair”

pg14 Who? (Album Reviews)

contents.table of

editorial. 3

Due to an utter lack of creativity and the fact that the holidays were just around the corner, which presented a wonderful opportunity to flee Kassel, and the fact that we have been so inundated with emails and discussion on an NC we, blank., have had little time to write any sort of clever editorial. So instead of complaining about the blundering simpletons that refuse to give the Uni more money, more teachers etc...And instead of professing our excitement over the new building we will be moving to in March, or that we have planned blank fest 1.5 for Feb 2 at Gieß-haus and the colossal event, blank.fest 2, that will take place on June 10th during the summer semester we will simply say:

Happy New Year!

And Scientology Sucks!!!

If you are as tired as we are of listening to the dithering, rambling moron that is Tom Cruise or the institution of Scientology and all it stands for, here is your chance to make some money. The good people at Anon have created a contest. Whether out of sheer spite, to further their cause or simply to have fun, we aren‘t quite sure, but we like the idea of pulling pranks on Scientolo-gy, and getting paid for doing so. For more info: http://www.anoncontest.org/

Happy New Year! from all of us at blank.

opinion4 creative.

Domestic ViolenceWhat do you know about ...

Domestic Violence Facts

- 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men will be a victim of domestic violence- in the UK every minute there is one 999 domestic violence call, 24 hours a day- domestic violence is one of the biggest killers of women in the age of 19- 45. More people die because of Domestic vio-lence than of cancer or accidents.

Having volunteered as a caseworker in one of the biggest help organisations in the UK, I started realizing that domestic violence includes so much more than “just” the beating of the partner.

Domestic Violence includes:name calling, putdowns, keeping a partner from contacting friends and their family, withholding of money, actual or threatened physical harm, sexual assault, stalking

To explain those points in more detail, one has to understand that in most cases, though not always, there is a slow beginning to domestic violence.The abuser might start with some putdowns or name-calling. Then a situation occurs where the abuser threatens physical harm, becoming more and more controlling.Out of this behaviour the victim starts to see the friends and family members less and less until they break off all contact.That circle goes on and on until there is no chance for the victim to break free of the relationship without professional help.One may ask, who might be the typical victim? There is no typical victim as there is no typical abuser! Domestic violence can happen in all kinds of families and relationships, regardless of sex, race or religion.One is not able to spot an abuser in public. It could be the friendly man/ woman who helped you to find the right platform on which your train departs. Often they abuse their partners behind closed doors, and mostly in such a way that those

injuries can be hidden easily. If their partner still wants to see a doctor they have power to prevent this. In one of my various cases the respondent told the lady that no one is ever going to believe her because he was in such a position that no one would dare to listen to her. He locked her up in the house and threatened her on a daily basis un-til she promised not to seek any medical advice.Often there are children living in those house-holds who have to see their parent abused on a regular basis. They see scenes, which are so cruel, that if it were a film, they would not be allowed to watch it.Sometimes they want to protect their parent and then become victims themselves.Children, who live in such an abusive environ-ment, are often unable to show their full poten-tial at school, behave either really disturbingly or they are hardly noticeable. It is most likely that they become either victims or abusers in their fu-ture relationships as well, if there is no one to support them.Abusers often claim that their partner and/ or children deserved to be beaten or abused. But the truth is, NOBODY deserves to be abused, the only person responsible for the abuse is the abuser!When a victim realises that life cannot go on as it does at the moment, he/ she is able to contact the police and one of the various help organisations. The most important thing is that he/ she is not ashamed of what happened. There is nothing that a caseworker has not either heard or seen in files, for example verbal abuse, putdowns, broken bones, burnt body parts etc. They are used to listening to people and they take every single incident seriously! Even if the victim thinks it is not as horrible as what other people may have suffered, every abuse is horrible and has to be reported.

Once having talked to professional people, hav-ing planned a new future, life can start again in its full extent without any abuse.

Larissa Knögel

creative. 5

Right now I live and work in a small village in Panama. It’s small enough to be the main attraction of the town because I’m blonde, pale, skinny, and always wear belly-free shirts. Everybody knows me, everybody honks their horn at me, and everybody greets me. (With “everybody” I mean Panamanian guys.) I get all kinds of compliments; from “preciosa” to “I like the way you walk your dogs.” (By the way, that one was so funny that I spit out the beer I was drinking.) Every woman probably likes getting compli-ments or feels good when guys find her pretty. BUT: If guys stare you down in a way they do here, it starts to get uncomfortable. That’s why I pretty much rule out Panamanians in my search for a guy. The other main group of people living here are Americans. But most of them come here to retire; so they are old and will also not do. There is a small percentage of Americans who are not so old (with that I mean around 30 to 38). It’s still not quite my age, but in an emergency it will have to do. However, I still have not quite figured out how to get through to those guys. They al-ways give me their numbers and tell me to call them if I want to go for a beer. But when I call, they have lame excuses like: “I have to repair my fridge.” or “I have to work early tomorrow.” Don’t they have the same needs I’m having? Girls (not me though) always complain about guys thinking about sex all the time. But girls: don’t you also wanna spend a nice night…or two…or three…or four…or five? I think about sex a lot and the amount of time I think about it increases with every day I’m not having it. Of course, I’m not looking for a relationship because I’ll be leaving in 5 months. But a fuck buddy would be nice. Maybe it would be easier if I told the guys that I don’t want any commit-ment, but just some fun. I guess it’s in their genes that they are afraid of relationships. But how do you tell them? “Hi there…what are you doing? Do you wanna go for a friendly beer and then have some friendly non-commitment sex?” I think I’m too shy for that. I know I know…nobody ever believes me when I say I’m shy. But I am…really!And I can tell you: Having to work nights does not help in the search for a male because you can never go out and look to see who’s around you.But do you know that saying: “Nothing is free, especially when it comes from a guy.” Well, the owner of one of the rafting companies just took me rafting for free. So, now I’m waiting for him to ask for his payment! Somebody told me it’s super easy to pick up a Panamanian guy. I don’t doubt that for a second. But I’m picky. However, I think I will have to lower my standards because I’m getting desperate. I already have three Panamanian guys lined up who’d love to relieve me. (Two of them are friends of my boss. I asked myself if she wants to hook me up.) But then I start to wonder: With how many guys can I sleep before I qualify as the slut of the village? Since it’s so small, everybody knows who has slept with whom.And today? Well, today I’m off (on a Saturday night) and would be able to go out, but it’s raining so heavily that absolutely nobody would be at the bar or club. I hate rainy season! So, I’m sitting here with a cat in my arm (better than nobody), a beer in my hand, in a pretty black dress, and I’m listening to the sounds of the rain and the snor-ing of the dogs.

To be continued (if anything interesting happens)…

How to find a male!Sex and the Village

Day 1: Well, ok, let’s start with the basics: My name is Calvin. I’m a jester and I’m that sort of guy who entertains the court with jokes or artistic things, like juggling. I think I have been doing a very good job so far. They laugh and have fun watching my skills, especially the beautiful princess, who seems to be very elated. And that’s why I can’t understand why they’ve given me a new assignment: I’m supposed to fight a dragon! Do you know why I chose the job of a jester? Because I’m a coward! I don’t want to be squeezed into uncomfortable armor and ride on horse all day to get my butt all bruised. I’m not cut out for those manly jobs. I seriously need to talk to the king again. Maybe the princess can help me and convince him that I’m not in dragon-fighting shape.

Day 2:It was no use; I’ll have to go and fight the dragon. And the king made clear that I shouldn’t come back until the dragon is dead. He also explained that I’m the only one left that is young and strong enough to go on this quest. He mentioned something about all of his soldiers being gone to fight some kind of very important war, probably about some religious crap.

Day 3: That was my first day on the road. Have I mentioned that I’ve never learned how to ride a horse? I guess I’ll have to be a fast learner now because if I continue walking, it’ll take a week to get to the cave where the dragon lives. And I surely don’t want to be sitting in that saddle for a week; my privates already feel squashed. I’m sure I won’t sleep at all tonight; the ground is hard and damp. I can’t wait to get back to my comfortable, soft, warm bed in the palace!

Day 7: Yes, I managed to get the horse to gallop and advanced quite a lot in the last few days. I am now in front of that alleged cave. I peaked in for a short second, but couldn’t see any dragon. I even called it names and insulted him, but it wouldn’t come out. How do you lure a dragon out of its cave? Does it even understand English?

Day 8:Well, the dragon is dead. It was much easier than expected. Ok, here’s the whole story: This morning when I woke up, all my beer was gone. I had taken about 3 litres with me and wanted to keep it as my victory drink. I was very incensed that someone would steal beer from a poor jester on such a hard

Diary of a Jester

creative.6 creative.

mission. However, I couldn’t do anything about it. So, I went into the cave to do my business: kill the big bad dragon. The cave was huge; probably about 25 m high and it had burn marks all over. When I was right before a curve, I heard loud, heavy footsteps echoing in the cave. And then I saw a 20 m high shadow while the dragon came at me. The shadow showed huge teeth and huge puffs of fire came out of its mouth. And suddenly it stood in front of me. I was…er…surprised: it was only 2 m tall, its color was more baby pink than fire red, and it had big blue eyes. Seriously, it looked kind of cute. And that was supposed to be the dangerous dragon that ate 20 villagers? But something seemed to be wrong with the dragon: it couldn’t stand still and when I walked backwards and lured it after me it was tumbling. Its eyes were rolling and weren’t able to focus. And when it breathed its little puffs of fire, I knew who had stolen my beer! So, I was to fight a little drunk dragon. Well, I knew that this was going to be an easy fight. I drew my sword and ran to-wards the exit of the cave because although it was a tiny dragon, I didn’t feel like fighting in a closed space. When I exited the cave, I turned to my right in order to not fall of the cliff. But the dragon was so drunk that it stumbled over a fallen tree and fell off the cliff. I always thought that dragons could fly, but this one couldn’t. Or maybe the drunkenness impaired its flying abilities. However, it was lying in the canyon looking very dead. But to get proof that I killed the dragon I climbed down and pulled one of its biggest teeth. And then I went back to my horse and started on my way back to the castle.

Day 12:I’m on my way back to the cave. “Why?” you might ask. Well, when I was at the palace and proudly presented the dragon’s tooth, the king started to laugh hysterically and asked me where I had gotten the tiny tooth. I told him about the small dragon I encountered and how bravely I killed it. After ten minutes of hilarious laughter the king was finally able to speak again and explained that this must have been the baby of the dragon because the dragon I was supposed to kill is 20 m tall and has reddish-black skin. So, I guess I have to prove my braveness once more. And this time I took 3 litres of strong liqueur: Let’s hope that mama dragon likes alcohol as much as her baby! Wish me luck!

Sabine Krause

creative. 7

Like Children tearing open Christmas gifts, unveiling truthful brothers to their guess, from torn and tattered wrappings do I lift you, clad in perspiration’s salty dress.

Acquainted with that endless sea of skin are hands, are teeth, are lips and tongue and eye and spider-woven hair, so very thin, entangled in the wet boughs of the sky.

It all adds up to such exquisite sum, when words, or rather sounds, jump from your lips to merge the beating of the stifled drum across the polished marble breast and hips.

And sometimes, with the windows rightly closed,you seem at peace, as if collapsed and overdosed

by franz mutschler

creative.8 creative.

DaydreamsHappy I am in my daydreams,

they make my going on,so it seems.

Possible is everything, living somewhere else,

and I’m not missing anything.

There are no clouds in the sky, I’m laughing about your jokes, and nobody I love will ever die.

Music always plays in the background,everything has a theme song,it makes my world go around.

When something happens,we always work it out,

and unhappiness never threatens.

Sitting by the shore of a stream,I realize that I’ve always asked myself,

why can’t I live my daydream?

Sabine Krause

creative. 9

When Milena Moser, a young woman from Switzerland, visited San Francisco for the first time, she decided to live there for some time and so the story begins.She has only four days to get the residence authorizations for herself and her family and to find an apartment.What she finds isn’t an apartment, it’s a construction zone, but she doesn’t lose her enthusiasm. With wordplay and good humor Milena Moser shares her experiences of life in San Francisco, the city that has the second highest cost of living in the entire U.S.A but at the same time terrible infrastruc-ture.It’s a city full of extremes: it is considered very fashionable if you spend the whole day in your pyjamas but it’s prescribed not to wash your hair daily or have a perfect manicure.The city is full of gays and promiscuity, on the playground you’re getting asked if you’re homosexual or bisexual but at the same time you shouldn’t use the “F-word“.Milena Moser reports about the differences between Americans and Europeans, for example she can’t understand why there are “dating-rules“ which have to be strictly obeyed, why there are kindergartens just for dogs and why having fun is the most important principle. But that’s why she loves “Frisco“, because it’s “the other America and always different than you would expect it“.At the end of every chapter the reader finds addresses of hotels, shops and sights. But “Flowers in your hair“ is neither a city guide nor an autobiography; it’s the story of a European family living in one of the most liberal metropolises for eight years.By Laura

Book Review “Flowers in your Hair” by Milena Moser

review.10 opinion.

A friend of mine, Heike Jablonski, recently called to my attention that our university’s very own bicycle repair shop is in danger. For those of you that do not know, the shop is located between Café Desasta and the parking lot near the Mensa.

Starting in February 2010, construction of the new campus center is set to begin. While we are all thrilled about finally receiving a new building along with lecture and seminar rooms, this also spells an uncertain future for the bicycle shop. The staff of the shop has as of yet not been informed whether construction is going affect the shop; they fear that, in a worst-case scenario, it may be torn down. Efforts by the staff to make contact with the building planners have been unsuccessful so far. As for simply moving the shop to another location, it is a container that was built by students and is by no means a construction that can simply be dis- and reassembled.

The bicycle shop has been on university campus for over ten years. Anyone is able to receive help there – free of charge. The shop is open all year, Monday through Thursday. The small building is highly frequented, even during the semester break, when, first and foremost, inter-national students as well as children and teenagers with an emigrational background come to fix their bikes. As such, the build-ing does not merely serve a prac-tical function, but also constitutes a place of cultural encounter.

This call to attention is not in-tended to motivate anyone to protest the building of the new campus center, far from it. How-ever, its builders should be alerted of the importance of the bicycle shop, and for that, we need your support.

On the afternoon of the tenth of December, there is going to be a public announcement around the square between Cafe Desasta and the bicycle repair shop.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Heike Jablonski at jablonski@student.uni-kassel.de.

Murat Sezi

Bicycle repair shop

opinion. 11

culture.12 culture.

Upcoming ...

English-speaking

Discussion Clubs

I had the idea to found an English-speaking Dis-cussion Club for our FB02 students and all the in-ternational students around the university. It is a free student club that meets once a week. It is obviously not necessary to attend every week and beside the discussions we will have time to eat and drink something together!The webpage is like a forum where students are able to find interesting articles or videos, which are worth talking about! For interested partici-pants it is also possible to post their own articles and videos on the page. The club is totally interac-tive and without any hierarchy! Furthermore, we will have readings and guest ap-pearances from native speakers!

So the concept is simple: Just attend and talk in English about anything you want! Have a great time with people that like to practice the English language!And the Website is available under www.the-dcc.de.ms

Daniel Aschenbrenner

Once again blank will bring some culture to the University of Kassel. This will be a smaller version of our extremely successful <blankfest> and a prelude to an even bigger and better blank.fest2 coming in June 2010.

blank fest 1.5 will take place on Tuesday February 2nd at Gießhaus. The art show will open at 16:00 and the other festivities (poetry slam and live mu-sic) will start at 18:00. We look forward to seeing you there!

If you are interested in participating in the art show or poetry slam please contact: dlowman@uni-kassel.de

blankfest.I.5

culture. 13

Good Day! I am currently enjoying temperatures of about 10 degrees and see lots of rain in the al-legedly sunny country of Australia. It is friggin cold! Have you ever seen a picture of the rainy streets of Sydney? Kangaroos cowering under trees in order to stay dry? Probably not. Let me acquaint you with the real Australia.Luckily, I was introduced to the natural perils that lurk everywhere Down Under. Cars. It is true that several lethal species live here. And I was shocked by the advice: „Beware of the Redback spider, it‘s deadly. Oh, come with me, I think there‘s still one on the wall next door.“ But the truth is that neither evil insects nor crazy koalas have attacked me. The thing that nearly killed me was a car driving on the wrong side of the road. The learning process was amazing. Since I have always looked right before crossing the street. I wonder if teachers could use similar strategies in their lessons. Might be fun.Situated in Adelaide, I live close to the biggest kangaroo slaughterhouse in the world. These crea-tures are delicious, but I‘m afraid no one seems to eat them over here. Beef is the preferred meat. By the way, I was told they don‘t eat koalas when I asked if we could have one for dinner. Let‘s talk about beer. Which beer brand is the most popular in Australia? Foster‘s you think? Far from the truth. The bars offer all kinds of beer, but I have not seen the famous Foster‘s anywhere. When I visited a friend, a good old Löwenbräu was served. Anyway, I‘d rather drink an Australian spi-der (coke with vanilla ice cream).

Next misconception: Australians are laid-back. Unfortunately, this trait of the stereotypical Aus-tralian seems to be wishful thinking. When my col-league picks me up in the morning, she always ar-rives right on time. Everything is well organized. I was told: „If you are punctual, you are already too late. Try to come at least five minutes early when you have an appointment.“ And I was pretty surprised when the deputy principal of the high school I work at wanted me to come to his office immediately. Is something wrong? Did I say some-thing inappropriate? No. He just wanted to check whether I was really wearing a suit and tie. "Looks good, mate. Uniform check is done." Likewise, I have to give students a signature when they want to go to the toilet. It is amazing how different the real Australia can be in comparison to the count-less documentaries and ads you see on TV.Nevertheless, Australia‘s beautiful countryside and hospitable people will make your visit extremely enjoyable. Go to the city, grab a coffee and it won't take long until you find somebody to talk with. On the whole, the mutual politeness and respect among people seems to be highly valued over here. You might not always find what you expect, but the country definitely lives up to its good reputa-tion. A guy in a bar put it as follows: „Everyone thinks Australia is a big desert with snakes, spiders and some small cities. That‘s nonsense, but I think it‘s great! Scares people off, you know. And we can have this great country for us.“ How true that is.

Marc Motyka

Adelaide,

Australiablank.Notes

from Abroad

review.14 culture.

Who?Welcome to my first column on music that you have never heard of. Over the next couple of blank.issues, I’ll try to acquaint you with a couple of my personal favorites, ranging from alternative to ambient to indie-hip hop and anything in between. So without much further ado, new artists shall take the stage:

by Franz Mutschler

Across the Delta “Well, this is the next scene“ – A band from Austria took my heart in a storm, with an EP much more versatile and ambitious than most of their colleagues from overseas. Who are their col-leagues anyway? It’s hard to tell, really, these guys are unique in sound and style, although I believe that if you like Dredg and Incubus, this band might be for you. It’s pretty much melody, mixed with atmosphere, mixed with in your face, lets-do-this parts - unusual but still rock. The EP improves with every lis-ten, but at only 30 minutes, I’m totally stoked that a new album is on its way. Enjoy!

Standout Track: The Loop

http://www.myspace.com/acrossthedelta

Lydia It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in his right mind is in want of a woman that has such a beautiful voice like Mindy White does. Lydia, a band I rediscovered recently, is sof-ter than ATD and mostly acoustic. Melancholy, for the most part - a perfect band for a rained and ruined afternoon in fall... and check out that artwork!

I, personally, like the first album („This December...“) better, just because Mindy White gets more of the spotlight as a singer, and even though the other guy is great and totally fits the sound, ha-ving a duet between the two just can’t be beaten. They, too, are currently working on a follow up to 2008’s „Illuminate“.

Standout Track: This is Twice Now

http://www.myspace.com/lydia

culture. 15

Closure in Moscow

Now, for this issue’s over-the-top band, let me introduce you to Closure In Moscow, an Australia-based Postcore combo that is so fast paced and full of details, it is hard to keep track during even a single song. But if you can keep track, you will definitely be rewarded, because these guys can play! And these guys can write songs. It has a kind of punky and proggy attitude, in a technical way, but not as lame as Dream Theater, or even Dra-gonforce (please don’t ask me to review those) but in a fashion that actually contributes to their style – it’s hard to image what they would sound like without way too many guitar licks and drum fills... Think a very technical second album-era My Che-mical Romance, but with less eyeliner and more balls.

Standout Track: Sweet#hart

http://www.myspace.com/closureinmoscow

-sponsoren / anzeigen -

An interview with the Frankfurt-based hair-styl-ist Oliver Metzler (O.M.), together with the make-up artist Andrea Leicher, he’s holding seminars (http://wiewirkeichwirklich.de) on “face-reading” for big companies and others who are interested in the whole concept. Today he talks with <blank> to give us a short insight into what face reading is and how it works.

blank. First of all, thank you for your time. It’s great to get a chance to hold this interview with you. Let’s start with the one question most of our readers might ask themselves when reading the headline: what is “face-reading”?O.M.: Basically, face-reading is about the general approach of people. That and the first impression of their appearance. I assume that our appear-ance is the expression of our inside. That means outside as inside. Of course it is possible to turn it around as well, inside as outside. For example, that’s how you can easily identify who is more in-clined to be choleric. It’s something you can tell by someone’s eyebrows, the way they walk, their parting or asymmetry in their face.

blank. That’s really interesting, maybe tell us what made you interested in the concept of face-reading in the first place? O.M.: That would be the day when I found out that I wasn’t satisfied anymore with people tell-ing me “Aah! I want strands!” “I want a fringe!” I wanted to know why all those people want to have a fringe, or why they want to have their hair out of their face, which means standing up to others. In Munich I took classes in “Chromo-Morpho-Typology”, lead by Inge Geisberg. For five years I learnt from her and now I know in which situa-tions people prefer to have a fringe, or their hair out of their face. It really has to do with wanting to stand up to others, as well as a fringe symbol-izes wanting to step back a bit to rather try look-ing for contact through the eyes.

blank. And how does it work?O.M.: There are four general types of appearance, which are also assigned to the four seasons, ele-ments and the classic antique temperaments. In

our language those four are known as Raffiné, To-nique, Naturelle and Sophistiqué. Those words are in French, because the French and Italian painters, during the High Renaissance, were the first ones to reflect and create studies on that matter. That’s why a person who shows many Raffiné aspects on the outside, appears to be rather introverted and won’t be a very colorful speaker. While people with a Sophistiqué aspect tend to use exaggera-tions and extreme examples in their speech. How-ever, there’s no person who only consists of one aspect, but of at least two of these.

I’ll now give you a short overview of those four types I’ve mentioned before.

Raffiné typeseason: summerelement: watercolour: grey, pastelpattern: pinstripedhair: straight hair, limp; dark blonde (asch6/11)example: Diane Keaton

Tonique typeseason: springelement: aircolour: pinkpattern: dots, flowers, glitter, and sequinshair: curls; blondeexample: Cindy Lauper

Naturelle type

FACE-READING

Tonique

Raffiné

Sophistiqué

Naturelle

R + T = glamour N + S = passion

T + S = rebel

R + N = granite

culture.16 culture.

season: autumnelement: earthcolour: brownpattern: chequered, corduroy, tweedhair: thick hair, wavy hairexample: Dirk Bach

Sophistiqué typeseason: winterelement: firecolour: black or whitepattern: no patternshair: black or white (peroxide-blonde)example: Marylin Manson, Dita Von Teese

blank. How can we make use of this?O.M.: Let’s say that there are two components. The first one is a) the very personal appearance. How do I appear on the outside? How do I pres-ent myself ? And how do I want to be reflected by the people around me? The other side would be b) how do I look at my surroundings? How do I acknowledge and look at the people I’m facing? Which leads to leaving the level of judging them and instead I’ll just see what they look like and can accept them the way they are. Or in the worst case manipulate them.

blank. Could you give us an example?O.M.: Of course, here’s a daily life example for you. Do you know these people who wear polo necks all the time? Polo necks are often preferred by Sophistiqués. They are black-and-white think-ers. For them it’s either good or bad, take it or leave it, all or nothing. That’s the way they judge their surroundings and the people they work with. It’s their way of going through life. Sophistiqués are the enlightened among us. You can easily iden-tify them by asymmetries in their face, very pointy eyebrows and a diamond-shaped face. Their direct complement is the Tonique type. These people love to wear pink, glitter, sequins, a variety of pat-terns, striking hairstyles and make-up, you name it. Men who come off as “hetero-like” (without wearing pink) you easily recognize thanks to their slightly bouncy kind of walking. You’ll do good to pay them a lot of attention and have an open ear for them. Those who combine both aspects are

rebels. The typical obstructionist. “YES, BUT…” That’s how I’m able to analyse and identify people, even without them speaking to me. That way I know how they work, what they do and what I can expect from them.

blank. What’s the best thing to do when identi-fying a Sophistiqué type?O.M.: RUN! (laugh) No, just kidding. Never stand right in front of those people, but diagonal to them. Let the energy float away on their heart side or on their rational side. That’s because in 100% of cases, confronting these people ends up in a cho-leric reaction. Choleric people are always black or white. The black side is loud while the white side prefers to step back and punish with non-verbal communication.

blank. In your opinion and according to all of this, what do you think, which kind of students have it rather easy compared to others? As in: which will reach their aims the quickest?O.M.: The farther the distance between a person’s tip of the nose and their upper lip is, the easier it is for those people to follow their aims. The shorter the distance, the easier people lean towards being easily distracted. Put away the mirrors! Finish reading first! ;D

blank. You mentioned that one can make use of face reading in a kind of wider spread/global way? O.M.: Exactly. For example, one of the things we’re doing is training companies such as Condor, L’Oreal Paris as well as other companies dealing with cosmetics, in things such as packaging. That’s because the profile of a person’s forehead makes it possible to tell about their buyer behaviour.

blank. That’s cool. Again, thank you for your time. All of this was really interesting. O.M.: You’re welcome. You all, have fun with your mirror!!! Check out your roommate(s)! ;D

by Kim-Vivien Lichtlein

culture. 17

You probably all wrote “wash me” on the dirty window of a car once, didn’t you? This habit probably set the beginning of reverse graffiti, which is also called clean tagging. The name “reverse graffiti” already describes how this form of art is produced: Instead of adding col-or to a wall, you reverse the method and take “color” away from the wall – namely the grey of dirt and dust. As its elder brother, reverse graffiti also belongs to the category of urban art. Of course, cleaning walls with fingers is out of fashion. Nowadays, you can either use a brush or, the modern version, a high pressure cleaner. In order to get a clear picture on the wall and because it is difficult to draw with a

high-pressure cleaner, you’ll need a stencil of your image. Finally, you’ll have to find a dirty place such as a tunnel, the ground or a wall near a busy street and you can start cleaning up.The greatest reverse graffiti in Germany is, by the way, about to be created here in Kassel by Oliver Bienkowski, a local light artist. You might have heard about his company Lichtkunst24, which also projected the artificial flames on our uni-versity in the context of our student strikes. He plans to bring luck to the people of Kassel in the shape of 1001 shamrocks spread throughout the city. So far, you can find about 700 of them at Weinberg, Herkules, Hauptbahnhof and other places. You’ll find more pictures and a short video about this project on his web page www.lichtkunst24.de/weinberg .Other companies also discovered re-verse graffiti for publicity, a marketing strategy that is namely called street branding. Microsoft, Nike, Smirnoff and other brands used this method to catch peoples’ attention and to demonstrate some kind of ecological awareness. The city of Kassel doesn’t seem to have a problem with the shamrocks but other cities might. Of course, cleaning walls is nothing bad but it might show that the city is dirty… If reverse graffiti becomes more popular in Germany, the discus-sion about graffiti as a form of art or simply vandalism might arise once again. Moreover, the fact that you can only create a white image and nothing colorful might ruin your enthusiasm for this method. A further disadvantage: You cannot get a great image without a stencil, which forces you to prepare ahead of time and avoids spontaneous creativity. And you need to get a high-pressure cleaner! Nevertheless, there are really cool reverse graffiti showing skulls and trees, but in Germany clean tagging is still something “new”. Best thing about reverse graffiti: Even the ugliest graffiti will slowly fade away after some time.

Bianca Kuchenbrod

Tagging the other way round

culture.18 creative.

Dear fellow citizens -STOP-Please listen to this governmental broadcast warning you of the dangers of what is regarded as the most terrible disease since the Black Death - Stop- Please remain in your homes, wash before, after and during meals -Stop- Only talk to other people via phone or facebook and twitter your health status ev-ery 5 to 7 hours -Stop- Do not Panic -Stop- There might be hundreds or even thousands of reported infections daily and of course those lead inevitably to almost certain death but nobody would benefit from a stampede -Stop- The pharmaceutical industry is preparing an only slightly overpriced medication just in case you should wish to ignore our guidelines -Stop- The government has no information regarding reports on HAMTHRAX infected people turn-ing into brain-eating undead and be assured that the doubling of military activities in your area has nothing to do with it -Stop- In fact, the reasons for this increased security standard [d]are rumors[/d] is intelligence informa-tion on terroristic activities in connection with the outbreak of the epidemic -Stop- The government is in complete control of the situation, but if your neighbours, wife/husband, your relatives or your friends behave differently or show some or all of the following symptoms; coughing, tremor, fever, runny-nose, pale skin, bloodshot eyes or sweating, please inform your local police-officer or the commanding military officer in your area -Stop- The government will not join the chorus of the Prophets of the Apocalypse but we all know that after this crisis is over - and the government promises its people it will be over soon - the world will never be the same again -Stop- End of message , Dennis Wienert

HAMTHRAX WARNING

creative. 19

creative.20 creative.

New Media

I have plenty of friends all over the world,I meet them a lot in a place you might have heard.

This place called Facebook, MSN and Skype,you should go there some time, it is quite alright.

There is Chris from the States, I know him so well,just met him once, though I always know when he’s playing Farmville.

Lucy from China, I met her on travel, has just missed her breakfast due to no working kettle.

And Joseph from Germany, we have so much in common,has got 500 friends - and guess what - I am one of ’em.

My social life couldn’t be any better,I meet so many people, for instance, on twitter.

It is Saturday night at 9p.m,other people are probably out drinking or dancing.

Not me though, I’m busy – talking to my friends far and near.What else can I do, don’t know anyone here.

Andreas Weitzel

New Media

creative. 21

DisorderChaos is real, Anarchy is present

throwing us down into a deep descent

Hierarchy becomes all so much blurred

true brilliance surrounded by fake dirt

Social disorder in conclusion

distorted pictures, a truest delusion

nothing is predestined nor manifested

just illusions we already detested

Clear paths are yet to be settled

no bloodshed although one has battled

to be free in spirit and soul

yet it's an illusion, just a parole

freedom is not to be seen nor felt

it is all the more the pain we dealt

setting us, ourselves, above others' borders

creating misery and mental disorders

Distortion is to be extorted

Society close to being cohorted

by the dark and pitiful gloom

of modern, dreadful legions of doom

Lovis Schmidt

culture.22 sponsor.

30/11/2009 – 08/12/2009 Do not fear. Tonight I am here to tell you the truth! But before I do so... let me introduce myself. I’m a member of the order of the Living Bricks and I’m here to tell you about the tours over the campus many of you came to see not too long ago. For those who couldn’t come, do not worry, there’ll be a third part following next winter semester. Yet, let me tell you briefly about what you missed. Imagine the campus in the dead of night. Nights on which then newly created university department 08 actually planned to introduce its students to their first session of supernatural studies. Planned to, right. Why so? Because during the night of nights, when the gate to a different world is open holding a lecture is a difficult matter. Crawlers and zombies are only an example of the creatures the students had to face. No human soul was safe on campus. Of course that’s not all when there’s an everlasting quarrel going on between us, the Living Bricks, and those who imprisoned us in the university’s

walls, namely, the order of the Red Bricks. Soon they took over the tour and told the humans all kind of lies about us, and our story, dirty lies we couldn’t accept. Lies we had to correct by taking the tour out of their hands – those cowards. However, Nemesis got in our way, so eventually, we had to join forces and fight side by side to survive. The good thing is: we won and killed the evil. Yet the bad thing is: its creator, the Mad Scientist, is still seeking the lives of all of us next year. So beware!

I. Return of

the Living Bricks

Our English Drama Group

Red Brick Company presents...

18+19/01/2010 and 25+26/01/2010The Mad Scientist is seeking our souls but I cannot guarantee your safety either. However, you might have a chance to survive if you come to the Red Brick Company’s upcoming play “The Real Inspector Hound” by Tom Stoppard. Follow the two theater critics, Moon and Birdboot, and the play within the play, which is set in Lady Muldoon’s country residence one morning in early spring. We invite you to come and find out about the murder and the crucial question, who did it? Oh, you’re interested? Great! We then welcome you to the play in January, stay tuned through the Red Brick Company’s homepage. [www.redbrickcompany.de]

Kim-Vivien Lichtlein

II. The Real Inspector Hound

sponsor. 23

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art.24

<blank>s t u d e n t s h a v e i n t e r e s t i n g t h o u g h t s

Purple Rain

winner of <blank>‘s Battle of

the Bands

Table Heroes

third and final part of the role

playing series

Dreamlines

internet art project

N o v 2 0 0 8

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p03

p13

U n i K a s s e l

p0X <blankfest>

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U n i K a s s e l

p08 The Law of Success

p10 Lord Arthur Saviles ... Night on Campus

literature.art.music

May 7th 2009

s t u d e n t s h a v e i n t e r e s t i n g t h o u g h t s<blank>U n i K a s s e l - A p r i l 0 9 - w w w. b l a n k p a p e r. d e

Edmund LowmanFormerly of Rosebud and

The Redjumpsuit Apparatus

Performing at <blank>fest

May 7thHeiler, Clarkto perform at

<blank>fest

on May 7

philosophy slam

poetry slamimprovmusic

art

at the <blank>fest

s t u d e n t s h a v e i n t e r e s t i n g t h o u g h t s<blank>U n i K a s s e l - J u l y 0 9 - w w w. b l a n k p a p e r. d e

<blank>U n i K a s s e l S t u d e n t P a p e r

Role Playing Games

the sub-culture of online-gaming

Win Prizego online and pick your favorite

name for our paper; win prize

Casual Sexthe relationship of the

21st century?

J u n 2 0 0 8

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ImpressumMagazin der Studierenden der Anglistik / Amerikanistik des

Fachbereiches 02 der Universität Kassel, Georg-Forster-Str. 3, 34109 Kassel Telefon: 0561 804 3352

eMail: dlowman@uni-kassel.deV..i.S.d.P.: Don Lowman

Redaktion: Don LowmanStaff/Writers: Murat Sezi, Marc Motyka, Dennis Wienert, Bianca Kuchen-

brod, Sabine Krause, Karin Kolb, Don Lowman, Alastair Purves, Sabrina Lohmann, Franz Mutschler, Gudrun Hahn, Alan Cordell, Lilia Brestel,

Daniel Aschenbrenner, Bastin Heß, Concetta Mugavero, Olliver Noll, Christian Weiß, Natalia Bogorad, Andreas Weitzel, Mirjam Hofman, Rilana

Mossig, Larissa Knögel, Lisa Schöps, Kim Lichtlein, Laura ScharpenFrontpage: Marvin Herbring

Layout: Peter Carqueville, Annerose Ritter, Sebastian RitterDruck: Nordlicht

<blank>U n i K a s s e l S t u d e n t P a p e r

Role Playing Gamesthe sub-culture of online-gamingWin Prizego online and pick your favorite

name for our paper; win prizeCasual Sexthe relationship of the 21st century?

J u n 2 0 0 8

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<blank>students have interesting thoughts

Destination M

iddle Classp15

Slaughterhouse Jazzp20

Larpp08

<blank>s t u d e n t s h a v e i n t e r e s t i n g t h o u g h t sPurple Rainwinner of <blank>‘s Battle of

the Bands

Table Heroesthird and final part of the role

playing series

Dreamlinesinternet art project

N o v 2 0 0 8

p15

p03

p13

U n i K a s s e l

p0X

<blankfest>

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F e b 2 0 0 9

U n i K a s s e l

p08 The Law of Successp10 Lord Arthur Saviles ... Night on Campus

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May 7th 2009

s t u d e n t s h a v e i n t e r e s t i n g t h o u g h t s

<blank>U n i K a s s e l - J u l y 0 9 - w w w. b l a n k p a p e r. d e