Fat topless men, small children dancing, going to prison and the birth of stars.

They say a picture paints a thousand words, so this blog post an essay of over 5,000. So if, like me, you're prone to getting easily bored when reading, here's my last week or so in photos. 

1. Karneval der Kulturen

This is the kid's float at the recent Karneval der Kulturen. Lots of bright-eyed, innocent little children were dancing and playing drums without a care in the world. It's the only photograph I have from the carnival, not because the kids' float in particular was my favourite, but because my phone crapped out. Seriously, if you're thinking of buying a Samsung Galaxy S, don't bother. I discovered they're shit. 

I also discovered one shouldn't accidentally kick a beer bottle at a large German sporting a heavy metal t-shirt with cut-off sleeves and a big mullet.

The carnival itself stretched over the weekend. It was great. Lots of happy people, fantastic atmosphere and a general celebration of different cultures. 

2. Drunk people turn Schlesisches Tor U-bahn station into a club just because they can

Following the delights of the carnival I met my Dutch friend Erik who was in town. Inevitably we got drunk. It was good to see him. On my tipsy way back I discovered my local U-Bahn station had been turned into an impromptu party venue. In my mind's eye I recall loud music, beautiful people having fun and dancing in a magical and spontaneous atmosphere. 

Imagine then what I thought the next morning when to my horror I discovered this image on my phone.

3. A trip to the Planetarium near Tempelhof

I went to the planetarium! This isn't a planet but it is at the planetarium. Enjoyed in reclining cinema seats, the show projected onto the massive dome was visually compelling but completely incomprehensible. It was obviously all in German. The only word I understood was 'dunkel'. 

4. A disused prison with shit smeared on the walls is turned into an art gallery and club 

I went to a disused prison in Neuköln *makes gang signs*

As part of a 48 hour party in this part of Berlin, they opened the prison up and displayed art in the cells (some good, some bad) and in the courtyard some guys from work created some extremely loud electronica via a fantastic ensemble of music technology. Doesn't get much more Berlin than that.

Here is a shit photo (the Samsung Galaxy S doesn't have a flash, told you it's shit) of the guys from work combining a few Maschines, some sequencers and god knows what else to produce some crazy electronica. It was LOUD. I actually saw people dancing to white noise. The discordant music was perfect for the eerie surroundings.