It is oh-so-quiet!
Great. It is perhaps safe to blame the season. Now that the city is scorching hot it gets harder to catch up with the neighbours. I mean not that I always see them ever since we have moved in.

Almost everyone must be on vacation right now. Most of the Viennese are on their way to their favourite destinations like Italy, Turkey and Greece or the nearby provinces to get a taste of the summer, hanging out at the pool, sunbathing all day, forgetting Vienna for a week or two. Naturally the ones who remain are the tourists and those who cannot afford to go for a grand getaway opting to stay put.

On the other hand, the local papers are filled up with the national election news that will happen on October 1. Every Austrian political party is scurrying to get to the top, digging the opponents’ dirt. Surely not everyone is pleased with the ORF. The Austrian broadcasting channel already scheduled the so-called “Elefante Runde” (confrontation) among the parties who will meet, argue and present their platform to the TV audience. The Freedom Party is not included. Offended, it calls the channel’s action unfair.

The World Cup fever is over and we are suddenly back facing again the usual humdrum of our everyday lives. These days we are left between summer festivals that are happening outside of the capital or performances that have anything to do with Mozart in Wien. Last Friday the bigger-than-life Rolling Stones concert (what the heck, these guys don’t show any signs of retiring from the show business) at the Ernst Happell Stadion was dubbed successful.

Perhaps the end of summer and the return of autumn will be more promising. If you are considering to get an initial taste of who else are performing, you might want to try the following:
– Gnarls Barkley on the 31st of August. “Crazy” is revered to be the most voted single for 2006! I give four stars to the duo’s debut “St. Elsewhere.”

– The mega comeback of the gunge’s last survivor Pearl Jam will be in Wien on September 23 at the Stadthalle. And although I would like to see the aging Eddie Vedder and co. to relive my youth I am not sure if it’s worth my penny. Their recent album bores the hell out of me.

– To be honest I am waiting for Pere Ubu. The band is set to perform at the Szene Wien in October. Last year, the same venue brought Vic Chesnutt, Mike Watt and Lou Barlow to the city, in which I all missed as I was hoch schwanger that time.

So yeah, score your tickets, crank it up and be happy.

It’s been all over the news today: the terrorist bombings in Mubai that left 160 dead and 460 wounded. It’s still unknown who planted the bombs, with guesses ranging from Cashmere separatists to islamic terrorists with ties to al-Qaeda.

Metroblogging Mubai has been covering the developments, complete with timelines, background info and personal reports. If you want to understand the situation beyond the official AP scoop, you should definitely check it out, starting here.

I just hope the body count of this barbaric act won’t rise anymore.

P.S.: Please support the Light A Candle-fundraiser.

…and it’s quite possible that I’ll be metroguestblogging around…
I’ll start in Toronto.

So, see you!

And RSS shall be your one true god.

Is it Bach? Or Louis XIV? Or some strange Calvin Klein model?

Location: between U2 Schottenring and Salztorbrücke.

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

But it’s really hot in town.

The ultimate proof:

(Location of the Mozart year poster: near the Museum of Applied Arts, 3rd district)

An Alcobomber(*) Pick Up! How neat!

(*) An “Alcobomber” is a small car-like vehicle that can be driven without a driver’s license in Austria. It’s called “Alcobomber” because vehicles like that are usually being bought by people whose licenses have been revoked because of DUI.