Author Archives: alasdairflett

About alasdairflett

German & English Literature graduate. From Orkney. Interested in alternative and indie music, language, writing and politics.

Disgorging suspended cargo

Posted on 10/03/2018 by alasdairflett

Perhaps it begins rightly on a frozen Tuesday morning. Bikeless, following the previous day’s abandonment to nature of my, on balance, trusty-enough hot pink-saddled steed in central Hamburg after failing to sell it to anybody, I board my usual number … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Personal experience | Tagged Copenhagen, Denmark, Erasmus, Germany, Helsingor, journal, Leipzig, life, Malmo, Roskilde | Leave a comment

Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Flett

Posted on 25/02/2018 by alasdairflett

Ah, Sunday. A fine day for reflection and calm, quiet contemplation. In Germany a brief respite from consumerism (also perhaps an inconvenience). Additionally, and purely coincidentally, you understand, optimal for the garnering of likes as the weekend’s accomplishments tie together … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Personal experience | Tagged British Council, German, Germany, Hamburg, indie, journal, journalism, laundry, Leipzig, life, Literature, news, Sunday, University, work | 1 Comment

On Orwell

Posted on 28/01/2018 by alasdairflett

I don’t know if you know or don’t know but I’m currently living and, ostensibly, working in Germany as part of my Year Abroad from the University of Edinburgh. Hence weird gushing praise of Burns, hence the invocation of glorious … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Personal experience, Politics | Tagged Burns, Edinburgh, George Orwell, German, Germany, life, philosophy, Vikings, work, year abroad | 1 Comment

The man o’ independent mind: who was Robert Burns?

Posted on 25/01/2018 by alasdairflett

Robert Burns is the National Poet of Scotland – a phrase I use to introduce the most important figure of Scottish literature. This led, after about the third repetition to the question of: Why does not England then have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Personal experience, Politics | Tagged bard, Burns, life, Literature, Scotland, Scottish | 1 Comment

My Top 12 Albums of 2017

Posted on 17/12/2017 by alasdairflett

Top 10 is an arbitrary number and I felt like there were at least two projects that were worth tagging on regardless of the format. Before we start, however, I’d like to give honourable mention to a couple of artists … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged 2017, A Deeper Understanding, Alvvays, Antisocialites, Catholic Action, Courtney Barnett, Drunk, Every Valley, HAIM, Ibibio Sound Machine, In Memory Of, In Mind, Jesca Hoop, Kurt Vile, Lotta Sea Lice, Mac Demarco, Masseduction, Memories Are Now, Public Service Broadcasting, Real Estate, Something To Tell You, St Vincent, The War on Drugs, This Old Dog, Thundercat, Uyai | Leave a comment

Where fishmen lounge at noon

Posted on 03/12/2017 by alasdairflett

Last weekend I went to London to attend the UK-German Connection seminar, which facilitates the starting up of joint projects between foreign language assistants in each of the respective countries. Before this I’d only ever driven through or skirted the … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Personal experience | Tagged Doctor Who, Edinburgh, Fleestedt, George Mackay Brown, Glasgow, Hamburg, London, Manchester, T. S. Eliot, UK-German Connection, Van Gogh | Leave a comment

Luther, Lyrik, Lieder und Leipzig

Posted on 19/11/2017 by alasdairflett

Trees increasingly denuded, the mulch on the path starting to settle, I find myself stumbling into the final third of November. Since my impromptu excursion to Manchester at the end of October, Hamburg’s schools have gone back, but of course, … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, Life, Music, Personal experience | Tagged 1984, Abitur, BadBadNotGood, Berlin, Bremen, Canadian bands, Ein Sommer in London, electronica, European, folktronica, funk, George Orwell, Girl Ray, Hafenklang, Hamburg, hip-hop, identity, jazz, Leipzig, Mac Demarco, Martin Luther, Mojo, national, papacy, poetry, Poetry slam, protestantism, Public Service Broadcasting, Reformation, regional, Sylvan Esso, Theodor Fontane, UK-German Connection | 1 Comment

A Free Admission

Posted on 28/10/2017 by alasdairflett

Midday in Manchester; streetlamps lit. The overcast gloom was a mental association, acquired thanks to Morrissey and co, satisfyingly confirmed as I was transported through a city whose psychogeography was already etched deep into my mind and which was later … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, Life, Music, Personal experience, Politics | Tagged art, Engels, gloom, Hamburg, journal, library, life, Manchester, Metrolink, milkshake, The Smiths, travel, Ukraine, vinyl | 1 Comment

The return of Twin Peaks: a classic revived

Posted on 19/10/2017 by alasdairflett

It is unusual for a writer to revisit his work after such an extended period of time away, and stranger still for him to successfully gather almost all of the original cast for the return. The only comparable example that … Continue reading →

Posted in Entertainment, Review | Tagged 2017, David Lynch, Review, Twin Peaks | Leave a comment

Lübeck: charmingly wonky

Posted on 15/10/2017 by alasdairflett

The weather this Sunday is disconcertingly mild for October, it seems stolen from a summer past or future, wrenched anachronistically into autumn. I cower in a room saturated with light. Creamy, lumpy walls that have a vaguely pebble-dashed texture encase … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Personal experience | Tagged Emelia Galotti, Hamburg, Harburg, Herbstferien, journal, Lübeck, Lessing, life, medieval, Wildpark Schwarze Berge, Wohnungssuche | Leave a comment