Klaus, der Ast

Hereby I would like to introduce you to my new friend, Klaus der Ast*. I have met him last Saturday. Saturday night actually. You see, it was a really long evening. First we went to see a lecture by "The Yes Men" at the TAZ Kongress in Haus der Kulturen der Welt, after that I went to a birthday party of A.L. (he is a boyfriend of my writer friend, T.D.) - I love their parties and it is also nice to spend some time with writers instead of visual artitsts... And after the party, all 3 of us, went to the opening of 2 news clubs in the neighbourhood. On one hand it is practical to have so many clubs in Friedrichshain, on the other - there are more dubious crowds getting drunk... and there is the danger of the gentrification, which seems to be happening in that (our!) area alredy... so with all these philosophical thoughts we made our way to RAW in Revalerstrasse. On the way, on our quiet (still) and empty (still) street I found... I met HIM! Klaus der Ast (in german Ast means branch)... he was lying there, sad in the darkness... so I decided to take him with us. I didn't take his brother, Horst, that would have been too much and we didn't have enough invitations. Actually it is my little hobby to collect branches, I did that few times, back then in Poland. But it is a different story. So now the 4 of us went to the opening of the Astra Club in RAW area. Unfortunately as I saw bold and big bouncers I have decided to leave Klaus hanging on the nearby fence. I was wearing my crown, that was already too much for micro brains of the doormen, but they let us in. Klaus had to wait. And the club itself... well, big, however empty. Maybe we were too early (2am)? All the drinks were like for 1 euro, but in my vodka drink there was no vodka. Should have had a beer. Still a juice for 1 euro is reasonable. I was just a bit disappointed. DJs were playing (I admit) boring music. So we moved on to Suicide Circus, the next club in RAW which was opening that night. And again, as I saw the bouncers I decided to leave Klaus out of it. He was waiting hidden behing a door. And that club? It was smaller, and full - maybe that was just a feeling or simply the proportions. Drinks were... oh, gin-tonic for 6,50 euro... no happy hour, oh no. But at least there was alcohol in it. Music? Old time techno, which is ok. The rhythm is so simple that you can't really dance with wrong movements. Left, right, back and forth, bam, bam, bam, easy. As it was a long marathon-like evening soon we went home. On the way I picked up Klaus. On Revalerstrasse (in the direction our quiet street = home) a group of young, drunk as we were, people started to chat with us, especially with Klaus. I introduced him to them and we talked a bit. It was actually a nice and methaphysical talk. I can't really remember the details, but it was really mystic. Somehow. I felt like in Poland, I felt like home. And I liked one girl. That happens to me sometimes... old times. Finally we reached our street, we said good night to Horst (the brother of Klaus) and climbed the stairs home. I took Horst with us. He lives now on the balcony. I don't know how long will he live, he has no roots, but I have noticed, to my surprise, that he really lives - he has buds! Is it spring? Is it magic?

Klaus der Ast in his new home.

*No, it is not the dean of my Architecture Department at the Poznań University of Technology, Robert Ast. Any similarities are purely coincidental, although there are some similarities, I reckon, as I look at Klaus... similar name, similar mustache... heck, who knows?