Today (That is to say, Wednesday, January 31st), at 20:00, the vernissage/party for Jake’s newest exhibition will rock the Electric Avenue. On display are large prints of portraits he did during his time in Europe. And as is usual for an artistic orgy of cosmic proportions like this one, you can expect free booze, free speech and other assorted liberties.

If you’re in Vienna, swing by!

Take Palatschinken, for example. This typical Viennese dessert originally came from Romania (The name was derived from the latin Placenta, by the way.) Most other sweets, like apple strudel or Buchteln were taken from Bohemia, with the exception of Golatschen, a pastry made from flaky dough, which we got from the Czech.

Goulash is considered quintessentially Viennese, which is partly correct, because at the time we acquired the recipe from the Hungarians, Austria-Hungary was still one country. The same can’t be said for Munich, the city that gave birth to Leberkäse, one of the best things you can put into a bread roll, according to the Viennese.

Well, at least the Wiener Schnitzel is a true Viennese dish - meaning we took the recipe from the Italians.

Now, exchanging recipes between cultures is nothing unheard of - actually, it was quite common throughout the ages. But the Chutzpah of combining all the cuisines of the neighbouring countries and areas into a big stew, sprinkling it with tiny details like Sachertorte and calling it out traditional way of cooking was something rather new and innovative. And it was this cunning that gave way to modern-day culinary adventures like Tex-Mex and California maki. Which, I guess, can be considered a good thing.

Privacy is percieved as one of the most elementary human rights, and also one of the most contended ones. There are those that argue that every time someone stays anonymous in any given context, the terrorists win and civilization as we know it dies a bit more. Other see privacy as one of the best safeguards for democracy and the constitutional state.

A collective of digital human rights groups presents those who fight privacy in the most creative and sinister ways with the Big Brother Awards each year since 1999. This year, the candidates include companies like Sony BMG and Siemens and folks like our minister of the interior. Unlike the Academy awards, however, it’s unlikely that the people presented with this most prestigious prize will be there to accept it.

This years’ ceremony will take place in the Rabenhof-Theater on October 25th, the eve of our national holiday. The show starts at 20:00, and entry is free.

An’ what’s a tour o’ plunderin an’ pillagin’ worth without a feast afterwards? So after ye stashed yer share an’ bandaged th’ cuts an’ bruises, get ready fer th’ Talk Like A Pirate Party at Meta Island on saturday th’ 23rd o’ September, at 8 p.m. - thar’ll be dance, songs, tomfoolery, more grog than ye can shake a cutlass at, an’ a whole shipload o’ hearties with whom ye can buckle yer swash till sun rises.

Make sure t’ appear dressed fer th’ occasion!

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.

Food is one of the foundations of biological life. Culture is pretty much the same for social life. If you combine those two and leave out a lot of other aspects, results and factors, you get regional dishes. So much for well-written introductions.

Das Wiener Schnitzel has been with us Metbloggers for some time now. In Vienna’s vast and wonderful culinary world, it’s the one thing we all (except the Vegetarians, but that’s life) can agree on. No matter if you prefer roasted brains with scrambled eggs over horse meat loaf, or want your soup with kidney strudel or liver dumplings* - everyone loves breaded veal. In the last story I wrote about it, Mat raised a valid objection to my statement that 22 Euros will buy you between 4 and 7 Schnitzels in Vienna.

He wrote that this may well be true for pork or turkey Schnitzel, but if you want the real deal - tender, tasty veal - you have to cough up a lot more cash. And this, sadly, is true. I know not of even one fast food Schnitzel place that even carries veal anymore, and even many regular restaurant prefer the cheaper, easier to aquire and, in my experience, easier to prepare pork over real veal.

As I searched and pondered, I realized just how long it had been since I’ve eaten a real Wiener Schnitzel. Too long. But I’m really not willing to pay 12+ € just for a bit of tradition and a more refined taste. So therefore, I rephrase Mat’s statement into a question and relay it to you, the reader:

Can you get a veal Schnitzel in Vienna for under 8€?

Bonus points if the Schnitzel is not only made of dead baby cow, but also delicious.

* All real and existing specialities of the Viennese kitchen.

If you look to the right side of this site, just below the search bar, you’ll see a link called “Suggest a Story”. This is your direct link into the Metblogs subconscious, where you can plant ideas you find newsworthy into our collective mind. And now sans the new-age madness: If you find something that you think should be written about in the Metroblog, just click the link, fill in your info and send it, and we’ll make sure your 15 minutes of fame will be as pleasant as possible. Of course, you can post anonymously too, if your data is too hot to be linked to you.

Now, the reason I mention this is because we just got our first story suggestion by Teemu today, and it’s about dogs. You see, luckily dogs cause no real problems whatsoever, so we can continue to focus on shit.

Every day, dogs in Vienna produce around 25 tons of fecal matter, and a lot of that isn’t properly removed by the owners of said dogs. This petition might have opened the eyes of some people in the government about the problem - everyone who ever stepped in dog shit and had to throw away an otherwise perfectly well pair of shoes knows what I mean. And now we have the solution: an ad campaign.

32 different possible ads created by various advertising agencies are displayed in an online vote that runs until July 13th. Online votes, together with a jury, determine the winner till the end of July, and whatever image makes first place will be printed and shown around our little city. Oh, and if you vote, you can even win a wellness trip for two! Golly.

As for the pictures, Teemu’s favorite is this one, and while I love the wordplay, my personal winner is definitely this little gem.

And it will cost you 28 US Dollars. That’s roughly 22 €, or about 4-7 larger Schnitzels here in Vienna. Not to mention that no sane person would ever combine Schnitzel with cowberry sauce. If you search for this combination in Google, the only hit you get is a “Biker menu” offered by some roadside restaurant in Tyrolia - and with good reason. But I digress.

Wallsé also offers other typical Austrian food, like Spätzle, Palatschinken , Tafelspitz (Which is called Kavalierspitz there) or Almond Crusted Soft Shell Crab:

Yes, I remember, back when I was a child, I used to get an almond crusted soft shell crab every day after school from the almond crusted soft shell crab salesman at the corner. Oh those fine days of youth, when all we cared about was sunshine, laughter and our almond crusted soft shell crabs.

Arrgh.

Image source and ©: Liao Yusheng

Seeing how World War 3 still hasn’t arrived, one might argue that the idea probably wasn’t all that bad - at least it hurt no one. The level of intensity in the contact between partner cities varies from place to place - from exchange programs and real cultural bonding to superficial and merely economical contacts, and today, with the European Union, many see the idea of partner cities as an artifact of a time long gone, back when people hated each other because they came from different places.. hmm, I’d really like to write that sentence one day without even a hint of irony in it.

Vienna’s partner cities are Zagreb, Warsaw and Belgrade, and, since 2005, Tel Aviv. This is quite an exotic mix, seeing how partner cities are normally chosen due to similarities. Most of the cooperation is on an administrative level - for example, there’s a cooperation between the civil defence groups of Vienna and Warsaw - and some go a bit deeper. Last February, the second annual “Vienna Days” took place in Zagreb - a mix of a cultural festival and a technology fair. Of course, the fact that Austria is the biggest single foreign investor in Croatia adds to this good relationship - but I don’t (want to) think it’s all about the Euros.

Economic reasons just tend to work well as a catalyst for social advances - at least sometimes. If you take a look at the ads of the Austrian railway company, they slowly start to include cultural events outside of Vienna - instead of “A scenic trip along the danube to St. Whatchamacallit, including coffee and cake”, you see information about jazz concerts in Prague or museums in Sopron.

Even if it’s quite late, I’m hopeful that we can finally realize that the iron curtain is gone - hipsters already realized this in the late 90’s of the last century and made Prague a hot spot back then. With some luck, the image of a grey, ugly, depressing Europe east of us, and the accompanying stereotypes and prejudices, will be gone some day soon.

And since the last passage was so full of pathos, here’s something cute: There’s not only partner cities, but also partner districts. And upholding the idea that we are eternally neutral, 8 Viennese districts have partnerships with places in Japan, while 6 districts teamed up with provinces, cities and districts in China - the first district even has partners in both countries.

And before the inevitable food jokes come: I could find an Austrian restaurant in Tokyo, creatively called Heurigenhaus (Doesn’t get very good ratings however, at least that’s what I think - my Japanese is only slightly better than my Sanskrit), and as for China, if you happen to be in Hong Kong, you can enjoy fine Austrian dining and a selection of Austrian wines at the - hang on to your seats - Mozart-Stubn.