Cool

Caesar Flickerman interviews Peeta before the start of the Hunger Games

As the semester and school year wind to a close, there are several types of awards and award ceremonies at almost every educational institution around the world.  AUBG is no exception.  The first event that kicks off "awards season" is the Honors Convocation which is an opportunity to salute the accomplishments of the students who have earned the highest grades in their departments, overall, etc.

The students at AUBG have another tradition.  Apparently feeling that "Honors" convo. was not enough, the students started their own award ceremony 15 years ago.  Since "Honors" was already taken, the student ceremony was christened "More Honors" (or "Moroners," depending on your perspective).

This ceremony is not exactly the same as the honors convocation.  Instead of awards like "Valedictorian" and "Outstanding Student in History," More Honors has a rotating set of categories that include awards for "Public Enemy," "Hipster," and "Facepalm."  To receive an award at More Honors is not necessarily a "win," but it is certainly a fun event.

Which brings us to the 2012 More Honors ceremony.  The More Honors academy, in its infinite wisdom, nominated Mark for an award.  After a vote by the students, Mark was named the winner.... so Congratulations?

Where do they get these pictures?

The category was "Coolest Non-Student," as the promotional poster pictured above portrays.  The history of this award is long and prestigious.  Previous winners include a goat (technically, a "non-student").  This year the competition was particularly strong as the other candidates included a former Minnesota resident (Prof. Gilbert), the lunch ladies from the canteen (portrayed as "Chef" in the poster) and two question marks.   It is still not clear whether this award is sincere (doubtful as Mark is uncool at a level that only a Dungeons & Dragons player could comprehend) or sarcastic, but either way - He'll take it!!!

So what is the prize for winning this .... honor?  Well, it's not an Oscar or an Emmy, those were already taken.  The only prize statue that was left was the..... well, the Dickie.

Dickie (*editor's note: AUBG logo added for your protection)

This will, of course, hold a place of honor wherever it is displayed.

Omar sneaks up to investigate the suspicious invader.

After the winner's name was announced, Mark was brought before the assembled masses (the More Honors ceremony is one of the most well attended events of the year with more than 1000 people in attendance) to banter with the event's hosts. 

Note to More Honors academy planning committee: You know what someone with a head the size of Mark's head does NOT need?  A giant screen with a close up of the huge head directly behind him... oh wait, we have that?  Well, that probably won't look too silly....

"My head is abnormally large..."

Oh, great.

Mark works on his "Facepalm" for next year's award.

Legendary

Riding high after their dominating win in dodgeball, SamP and Mark headed to the refreshments area.  The AUBG Olympics crew served up salads, meat balls, sausages, rolls, sodas and Pirinsko beer.  (For those who don't know, Blagoevgrad is in the shadow of the Pirin Mountains, and Pirinsko is the locally made brew.  Like Grain Belt in Minneapolis, Spotted Cow in New Glarus, WI and Miller Lite in South Africa).

"You see, professor, the hands go on the rope, and then you pull. "  Whoa.  Slow down and explain that again, you fast talking son of a gun. 

After a little refreshment, SamP started doing what SamP does - inspiring others to do crazy stuff.  For some reason, he was able to convince old, fat, weak and tired Mark to participate in a tug of war competition against big, strong college kids.  What words did he use to convince this unlikeliest of events to transpire?  No one remembers, but there are rumors it began with "Let's be legendary!"

In any event, SamP was in.  Mark was in.  SamP quickly picked up two additional team members.  Batyr, in the blue t-shirt and black shorts, was apparently attempting to participate in every event (it is possible that he did, too, as he walked away with about a dozen medals).  Alexander, the buzz cut wearing shades, was also on the team to bring a little height and leverage to the proceedings.  To be honest, though, he probably should not have been on the team because he was one of the victims strewn about the dodgeball field by the eventual champions and probably needed more time to recover from the devastating wounds (physical, emotional and spiritual) he sustained there.

Game faces.  To conjure the emotion necessary for this hateful game face, Mark thinks of Gary Anderson missing that field goal in the 1998 NFC Championship game.

So that makes 4.  However, the other teams all had five members.  SamP had the team motivated enough to go into competition with only 4, but that might have made all of the vanquished opponents feel bad, so the team decided to find a fifth.  Who would be a worthy addition to this AUBG Olympics team?  If only there was an ACTUAL Olympian hanging around.... well, as luck would have it, there was.  The special guest of the AUBG Olympics was Lyubomir Ganev, a member of the 1988 and 1996 Bulgarian Olympic volleyball teams.  SamP approached him with an offer he could not refuse and the next thing you know, "Lupo" was signed up as the anchor of the team (I told you SamP was convincing) 

Lesson of the day: It is impossible to compete in tug-of-war and keep a semi-dignified look on your face.

The competition was set up as an 8-team, single elimination tournament.  Team SPOPS ("student, professor, olympian, professor, student") lined up for the first match which would be (as they all would be) best 2 out of 3.  The tension was high, the expectations were low.  When the whistle blew.... well, I cannot really tell you what happened.  I only remember 3 things.  First, everything started moving in slow motion.  Second, I am pretty sure I heard Chariots of Fire playing in the distance. And third, the team going against the SPOPS were pulled forward with such incredible force they all five ended up laying face down in the mud, rope burns still smoldering on their palms, with the crowd cheering as if at a Roman arena (or, at least that is how I remember it).  The second of the two "tugs" went the same and SPOPS had won the round, 2-0.  The next round proved the same as SPOPS did little more than make silly faces to win 2-0.

Then something funny started to happen.  We are now talking about 4 tug of war battles.  Granted, they were all victories so far, but they were taking an unhealthy toll.  Cardio vascular fitness began to fall into the "questionable" range.  Mark, an avid indoorsman, started feeling too winded to do tug of war.  This is not a good sign.  The meatballs and Pirinsko started to haunt team SPOPS as well.  However, ever the true sportsmen, team SPOPS pulled out a third victory, this one hard fought and hard won.

Now, the only thing standing between SPOPS and the gold medal in tug o war was team VOLTRON (awesome name).  This is them:

Voltron: Defenders of the Universe?

So keen observers may have already picked up this information, but for those who have not, it is obvious that this team has CHEATED, obtained UNFAIR ADVANTAGES and should be DISQUALIFIED from competition.  What exactly are these heinous violations?  I think they are pretty obvious, but if you need a little help:

(1) It is well-known fact that VOLTRON is made up of five robot lions.  It is pretty clear that robot lions are not eligible to participate in the AUBG Olympics.

(2) Clearly, the lead puller's hand is on the yellow part of the rope - that's a disqualification!!!!

And, probably most importantly...

(3) They are a LOT stronger than team SPOPS.  I mean look at the arms on these guys.  And they were not even winded.  That's not fair!  

Um...

 So, anyway, team SPOPS had to settle for the silver.  At first Mark was quite disappointed in this consolation prize.  Upon closer inspection, however, the etching in the medallion is pretty funny.... so it ain't all bad.

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and .... ?

So - funny story.  A couple of weekends ago, Mark decided to head down to Porter Field, which houses the baseball diamond for the Blagoevgrad Buffaloes (at least that's what the sign said).  On this day the Buffaloes were no where to be seen, but the field was alive with the action of the games of the XIIth Olympiad (AUBG Olympiad, that is).  The AUBG Olympics is a student-organized event highlighting 17 areas of competition from the silly, unimportant sports (like soccer, volleyball and swimming) to those of utmost importance (like dodgeball and tug-o-war).

As mentioned, Mark ventured to this venue, but not really with any particular goal in mind.  However, all that went out the window when, upon arrival Mark ran into Prof. Sam Pinnochio Pimento Potolicchio (let's just call him "SamP").  SamP is a professor of political science at Georgetown University and wins lots of awards for teaching and lecturing and what not BUT, it should be noted, had no previous award in the field of dodgeball.  SamP was in town to give a lecture about charisma and embracing the unknown at the TEDx conference at AUBG.

For those who are unfamiliar, ted.com is a website which carries video copies of short speeches given by a wide range of people on whatever topic each particular speaker chooses.  TED is dedicated to, according to its tagline, "Ideas worth spreading."  TEDx is similar, but is almost like a franchise.  Local groups from pretty much anywhere can arrange a TEDx conference, invite speakers and have an enlightening and exciting evening of spreading ideas.

Everybody's getting fired up!!!

The reason that this is worth mentioning in a post about dodgeball is that on this day Mark learned the following lesson: if a guy who gets flown halfway around the world to speak about charisma and motivation runs into you at a competitive, participatory sporting event, he will convince you to participate in the sporting event.  So, long story... longer, Mark showed up and SamP formed a team.  Although he had not planned to when he woke up that day, Mark ended up playing on that team.

For those of you who are not familiar, dodgeball is a game invented by the gods to settle disputes.  It is still considered to be the most important game in all of the sporting world and only truly great athletes ever win a dodgeball tournament. (editor's note: no source provided for the preceding paragraph)

You may remember the dodgeball scene from the classic film "Billy Madison."

  

Pink polo and mullet?  So awesome.

In this scene, Billy shows agility and guile in his effort to avoid the projectile hurled forth by the competitor.  Interesting fact: the age difference between Billy Madison and these kindergarteners is the same as between Mark and the AUBGers he defeated en route to the title.

You may also remember the great dodgeball film entitled, appropriately enough, Dodgeball.

Purple outfit and mullet.  Possibly the same kid as in the photo above?

In this sports classic, the Globogym Purple Cobras, led by the be-mulleted Whit(e) Goodman, demonstrate the key aspects of dodgeball: violence, exclusion and degradation.

It is primarily from these cinematic athletic roll models that Mark patterns his dodgeball game.  He takes the agility of Billy Madison combined with the intensity and wild throwing inaccuracy of White Goodman and combines them to form one of the most unique dodgeball players ever.

More dodgeball tips: Intensity leads to velocity.  Velocity > accuracy.  The only player who is safe at this point is the player Mark is actually aiming to hit.

Luckily, however, SamP also recruited some GOOD players to be on the team.  Apparently the best players, as team .... I am not sure the team had a name .... won three matches en route to the 2012 AUBG Olympics dodgeball championship!

That bronze medalist guy in the lower right is not happy... he demands a rematch.

Sports in Bulgaria with an American Flavor

After the whirlwind trip around Germany and the Czech Republic with KP and JoJo, Mark returned to absolutely beautiful weather in Bulgaria.  When it starts to get nice outside, one activity that increases without fail, is participation in athletics.

The most popular sport in Bulgaria is, as one might expect, soccer.  (Yes, I know that is not what they call it, but that is what it is.)  After that, many different sports have some degree of popularity.  Volleyball is big, as is tennis, weightlifting and basketball.

Basketball is so big, in fact, that they hold all-star games involving former NBA stars.  Imagine his surprise when Mark opened his email and saw that former NBA star, wedding dress model and all around sideshow Dennis Rodman was in town for a basketball all-star exhibition.

Nice quote, Dennis

Normally, that would be an event worth seeing.  However, as chance would have it, there was also a football tournament right in Blagoevgrad on the exact same day.  The local college club team, the AUBG Griffins, were hosting a four-team tournament of flag football.  The other three teams were all from Sofia, and apparently play in a league there in the fall.  So, this was kind of like the spring game we might see at campuses in the US.

So, which event would you choose?

Mark decided that there will always be a Dennis Rodman sideshow going on somewhere, but live football within walking distance?  That's pretty rare.

The results of the games cannot be reported here (because I did not write them down), but I am told that the Griffins represented themselves fairly well.  They ran a variation on a spread offense, concentrating on the short pass to matriculate the ball down the field.  I am not sure what defense they were running, it looked like a 3-1-4, but that is just a guess.

In any event, good times were had by all.


And, also, apparently good times were had by Dennis Rodman as well.  (article taken from the Sofia News Agency, novinite.com)

Praha

In your mailbox this December: "Merry Christmas, from KP & JoJo"

Having finished their tour of Germany, Mark, KP & JoJo headed to the Czech Republic and its beautiful capital city, Prague (or as they call it there, "Praha").

The city has a long history and managed to not get destroyed during World War II, making it one of the most well-preserved historical cities in this party of the world.

Crossing the bridge to the castle

One of the main tourist sites in Prague is the astronomical clock.  Our intrepid trio investigated this "must see."  Apparently, the clock will not only tell tell, but also your astrological sign, your weight, the weather for the next two weeks and the next three answers that will be produced by the nearest Magic 8-Ball.  This is made all the more impressive by the fact that this thing was built in 1410.

In addition to all of those features, the clock is also houses in a pretty nifty little clock tower.  Our trio decided to climb up to the top to see what they could see.

The trio purchased the entry ticket and took the elevator option.  The ramp pictured above (modeled by the stunning KP) are the hike necessary to get to the top AFTER the elevator portion.

Prague's Old Town Square

Once at the top of the tower, the trio was treated to a pretty decent view of the city.  In the immediate area was the Easter market that was taking place in the city square adjacent to the clock tower.  In the other direction, a crowd was gathering beneath the clock as the top of the hour approached.

According to Rick Steves, the pickpockets hang up in the top right of this photo.

"Toot, toot"

At the top of each hour, a trumpeter steps onto the walkway around the clocktower and plays a little trumpeter tune.  The crowd goes wild.  Then the trumpeter waves his little hat (the trumpeter does this entire act while in full costume from ... the past) and the crowd cheers.  Then he goes to the other three sides and repeats the act, to the wild applause of the tourist throngs below.

In full costume, but not fully in character

After ditching Mark, KP and JoJo headed to Paris.  Mark had been there fairly recently (and really, you don't want to wear out Paris), though, so he headed back to Blago for some sports, sports, sports.

Big Day

Happy Birthday to Gail Trocinski.  (and to Gerry as well)

Beaten Path and Wildside of Dresden

After spending a little time touring Lutherstadt, Mark and KP & JoJo went on the next leg of the tour, a train to Dresden.  Dresden is located in what used to be East Germany and was the Saxony region of Germany even before that.  In contrast to Prague (which the trio will visit later), which was spared during WWII bombing, Dresden bore the brunt of a significant, sustained and controversial air attack near the end of the war.  The city was being used as a refuge for POWs, refugees and retreating Germans at the time it was attacked, creating a controversy over the propriety of such action.  (The events of this chapter of the war are recounted in the Kurt Vonnegut's classic Slaughterhouse-Five, based on his experiences as a POW in Dresden.)

The current city bares some scars of the war and the post-war period, but you kind of have to look for them.  Modern Dresden is a bustling, lively and fast-growing city.  Our trio decided to see a few of the "off the beaten path" sights, so they took a tour led by a crazy guy.  

Sorry, folks, he is not sticking a cork in it.  Instead KP demonstrates the edible nature of the welcome drink.

"Crazy," in this instance, is not intended to be an insult.  I think our guide introduced himself as a crazy guy, in fact.  Then he promised to show us the "real Dresden" - which apparently means the real bars and pubs of Dresden - and tell us the history of his city from his point of view.  First stop - politics.  At a pub overlooking a busy street, the group piled into a booth and the server brought everyone a "welcome drink."  This was minty and served in an edible, shot glass-sized ice cream cone coated with chocolate (see KP in the photo above).  Pretty tasty.  Then, when everyone had ordered an appropriate German beer (not sure what made them appropriate other than approval from the bar keep), our guide told us about a series of events about which he was incredibly passionate, although they could easily have never happened.

Apparently, after the communist regime left but before Germany reunified, there was a bit of time of uncertainty.  Who was in charge?  What is the law?  These were valid questions since the government was not ... well, did it even exist at the time.  To their credit, the German people did not fall into anarchy, although it appears our tour guide, at least, may have tried.  According to him, he and his neighbors, having had enough of East German rule, declared independence.  They drew up a map of their 6 or 8 block neighborhood, elected a king (not sure how that works) and declared independence as a "micro-nation" (not to be confused with "Micronesia," a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean).  And this guy was pretty serious.  He had a passport issued by the tourism minister (whose day job happened to be the bartender at the very bar we were sitting in at the time) and a flag of his nation (which looked a lot like the German flag, but with the smiling face of Mickey Mouse in the center of it).  Seems legit.  

According to our guide, the 'independent nation of his neighborhood' puts on a big party every year which is attended by hundreds of thousands of revelers.  Last year they even invited the governor of Saxony (or something like that).  The provincial governor responded to the effect of (1) what you are doing is paramount to treason, and (2) have a nice party.

Live and let live, I guess.  After talking politics, it was time for a little culture.  Our guide took us to his favorite hang-out, Lebowski's, although we did not go inside.

Thirsty for a white Russian?  Best prices in the city are right here.

Apparently, the Coen Brothers' classic "The Big Lebowski" has struck a nerve in Dresden and this bar is one of the results.  Patrons can show up at any time of the day or night and watch the film, as it is always showing (both in English and in German).  The Dude abides.

Our night walk through Dresden took us to a few other pubs and bars, as well as to a few local landmarks of street artistry and the like.  All in all, a fun experience.

"Mrs. Hippie?  I knew her when it was just Miss."

The next day, it was time for high culture.  In their travels, Anne and Mark (and KP & JoJo as well) have often seen the cherubs pictured at the top of this post, but only in gift shops.  It always seemed strange that they would appear at a museum gift shop, but not inside the actual museum.  Once, Mark even asked the person at the gift shop if they were in the museum and she said no, and did not know where they actually were.  Well, it turns out gift shop lady, that they are in Dresden.  At the Zwinger, more specifically.

There they are, see them?  It's like an old-school "Where's Waldo?"

The Zwinger is a large complex of art and culture, which a couple of very nice art galleries included.  

KP & JoJo tour the roof of the Zwinger.

After a few hours of admiring the art collection at the Zwinger, the trio headed down to look at the other parts of the old city.  One of the most striking visuals in Dresden is the Furstenzug (even writing that, I feel that I am mispronouncing it).  This is a panoramic mural depicting the sovereign leaders of Saxony.  It is over 100 meters in length (equivalent to about 2.3 miles, I think), made entirely of porcelain tiles and it includes all of your favorite Saxony sovereigns from Conrad to Dietrich, a handful of Friedrichs and even George.  Come see them all!

One of the more interesting pieces of symbolism in the work is shown in the photo above.  August II was on watch in Saxony when Luther hit the scene.  August, apparently, was a strong catholic and opposed Luther's efforts.  To commemorate this, the artist put the rose of Luther (an obvious symbol to those who know what to look for) under the foot of August's horse to symbolize his feelings about the reformation.  Take that, Martin Luther!

While the trio was admiring the mural, a local news crew gave a report on it.  To be honest, we expected a little better technology (seriously, those Philips flat screens just are not what they used to be).  The content was pretty solid, though.  Nice work, news team.

Last, but not least, the trio stopped by the big, honking church right in the middle of the city.  Might as well stop by, after all, you can't act like you didn't see it.

Lutherstadt

Fans snapping pix in Wittenberg

After spending a couple of days in Berlin, our trio hopped a train and headed to Wittenberg.  This town is also known as Lutherstadt Wittenberg.  This is the town where Martin Luther was living, teaching and preaching when he nailed his 95 theses protesting the practices of the Catholics to the door of the All Saints Church.  Scholars and protestants refer to Luther as a leader in the protestant reformation.

In the Catholic educational system Luther is referred to as "the man who vandalized that nice church in Germany," if memory serves.

A matter of perspective, I suppose.

Oh, NOW they put up a fence in front of it.  That might have been helpful 500 years and 95 theses ago.

Anyway, if you want to, you can go see all the sights.  The university, the church where the vandalism nailing of the the theses took place (although the original wooden door has been replaced with a metal one), and Luther's house are all well preserved for visitors.

One might imagine that this place would be turned into something between DisneyWorld and Graceland with a religious bent.  That is not at all the vibe.  It is not heavily commercialized (there are several types of beer bearing Luther's name, but that was about it) and the town maintains a "small town" feel, despite its fame throughout the world.

Small town feel.

Upon arrival, our trio visited the famous landmarks and took in the views that have been basically the same for the past 500 years or so; seeing the town the way Luther may have seen it.  The next morning, the three bought tickets to the Luther House and took the tour.  The Luther House is where Luther and his family lived and entertained visitors.  After his passing, the house was maintained and it still is in remarkably good shape and gives a good flavor of what it was like when he lived there.

 For example, the two photos above, both show representations of Luther's living room.  The top photo is a drawing that is several hundred years old drawn by a contemporary of Luther and the bottom photo was taken last month by a contemporary of KP & JoJo.  The large black stove-type thingy is in both.  According to the locals, this is the original stove used to heat the living room, that Luther and friends would have sat around to talk, sing, or what have you.

KP points out the "tags" left by Peter the Great.

The only degradation of the Luther House that is obvious was some vandalism in the form of graffiti (seems to be a lot of vandalism in this town, just that most of it is 500+ years old).  In the photo above KP points out the graffiti left by Peter the Great of Russia, which is covered by a glass plate.  Apparently, after Peter visited the Luther House (probably in the early 18th century), he autographed the door to the living room on his way out.  Do not strain to read the signature unless you know Cyrillic, however, as it appears that Peter wrote in that script.

Although the living room may have been the best preserved area of the Luther House, the remainder of it was also kept in remarkably good condition and contained a wealth of artifacts.  Behind the house there is an archeological dig that has exposed the oldest part of the Luther House, which probably contained Luther's office.

If these walls could talk....

Below the office was the latrine.

If these walls could talk.... probably not as good.

Finding Wisdom in Berlin

A couple of weekends ago, Mark traveled back to Berlin to meet up with friends, KP & JoJo.  Long time readers of this space may remember these two from last year (Happy Anniversary, by the way).  As they are avid travelers, they hopped a plane across the pond and ended up in Berlin.

Once all three Minnesotans (sorry, JoJo, it is accurate) were in Berlin, they took advantage of the beautiful weather by finding a local guide to give them the bike tour of Berlin.  But not just any tour guide would do.  Mark, KP & JoJo were not only looking for fun, they were also looking to learn a thing or two, so they went and found the man with the plan.

Their guide, Mr. Auto, took Mark, KP & JoJo to a few places that most bike tours will not go.  Of course they saw where the Berlin Mauer (that's "Berlin Wall" to the uninitiated) used to split the city.  Of course they saw the stadium and the revelers playing basketball in the court nearby.  Of course they went to Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate.  All of that is a given.  But they also went to look at the bridge where the people of East and West Berlin met up on November 9, 1989.  And it might not even have been planned.  According to the story, the people running East Germany had been considering loosening travel restrictions between the two halves of the city for some time, but had not reached a formal policy conclusion.  At some point on the 9th, the leadership told the spokesperson something to the effect that the travel restrictions would be lifted.  The spokesperson then dutifully went on national television and told all of Germany that the travel restrictions had been lifted.  Whether this was actually what the government of East Germany wanted is still a gray area.  However, within hours of this broadcast, tens of thousands of Berliners (the Germans, not the jelly doughnuts) were ready to cross over into the other side of Berlin.  Unfortunately, no one told the soldiers guarding the bridge that they could take the night off, so a fairly tense scene unfolded.  However, cooler heads prevailed because (and once again, thank heavens that people watch television) the East German soldiers had also seen the announcement on television.  They had not received orders, but the guy on TV said that the restrictions were lifted, so.....

And that is how vague statements and television reunited Berlin.  (or something like that)  Our three travelers had gained a little wisdom already (watch more TV).

I feel like I am learning so much!

After the bike tour, Mr. Auto took the trio to one final stop, the Prater Beer Garten.  Yee-haw!  There are not many things better than a nice hefeweizen after a long day of bike riding (well, at least three hours, anyway).  As it was the middle of the day and the garden was mostly full, Mark asked our guide whether these people were on their way home from work or on their way to work.  And if it were the latter, would that be a problem in Germany?  Mr. Auto then shared another bit of wisdom: "It is ok to show up to work drunk.  It is ok to show up to work late.  It is just not ok to show up to work drunk AND LATE."  Words to live up.

Bottoms up! (.... or what a big, weird nose you have.)

Later, our intrepid trio toured the city.  At the top of this post KP & JoJo are shown in Pariser Platz with the Brandenburg Gate in the background.  This photo was taken on the East Berlin side of the gate, where you can see the faces of the horses pulling the chariot atop the gate.  The view from the West Berlin side, while still of a chariot, is less flattering for the horses (not their better side).

Pariser Platz is a main square in Berlin and many tourists gather there for photos and general revelry.  And whenever you have tourists gathering in one area, you are likely to have a motley collection of pickpockets, salespeople, street performers and imperial storm troopers.   Wait, what was that last one?

"Aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?"

After visiting the Pariser Platz, our group of ne'er do wells went for the scheduled tour of the Reichstag.  Tourist note: touring the dome is free, but you need reservations in advance.  No walk ups.

The Reichstag is the building that currently houses the legislative body of Germany called the Bundestag, but it has a long and fairly tumultuous history.  Prior to WWII, it was used to house the German parliament.  It started on fire in 1933 under mysterious circumstances.  During the war, it was not used for any legislative purposes, and mostly not used at all.  The Russian army took control of the building in 1945 and graffiti left by the soldiers is still visible in some places (preserved during renovations).  Then it was pretty much just a big empty building for a long time.  Rev. Gerry Trocinski served in the U.S. Army back in the day, part of his tour in Berlin.  The good Reverend reports that the building was unoccupied back then.  It stayed that way until East and West Germany were reunified, at which point there was a large renovation project, capped off with the construction of a nifty little dome for the top of the building.  After a few years of renovation, it was ready for prime time and opened to the public.

These mirrors are inside the glass dome and serve some sort of climate control purpose (recycling sunshine or something).  It also makes it possible to take a weird looking self-portrait.

Before leaving Berlin, the three managed to visit one museum.  The museum contained the Pergamon Altar, which (as you might guess) is an altar that was taken from a place called Pergamon.  Pergamon was a Greek settlement in Asia Minor (modern Turkey).  The altar was built to honor Zeus and the other Greek gods and very detailed reliefs of them in their famous battles and stories are depicted throughout.  The entire structure was brought to Germany in the 19th century for preservation in the Pergamon Museum (what a coincidence!).  The museum is very impressive, as it houses the Ishtar Gate from Babylon and a large collection of antiquities, but the altar is the main attraction.

If you have been reading your Book of Revelations lately, the word "Pergamon" may sound familiar to you.  Revelations 2:12 references "Pergamos" and something about the "seat of Satan."  So, maybe the huge altar built to the Greek gods was the seat being discussed (maybe not).  In any event, just to be on the safe side, it would be wise to not get too close.

Don't get too close.... oh, too late!