quick update

i got to Vienna fine. No problem at all at the border and I was really comfortable in a sleeping car on the train. Now I am here with Angela Dorrer, well in my very own tiny apartment. Going out to check out the market now....

some pain

I have kind of been drinking more alcohol than usual. This still doesn't add up to alot, but during the last 5 days I had one drink each day. Each time it was because I have some pain. I always get kind of beat up from traveling. My suitcases are a bit heavy and here I had to climb some giant stairs. Also I have been carrying my laptop around a lot in the past month. I feel like a big weakling telling about this but I wanted to remark about the drinking. I know tons of people always have one drink everyday, but I don't make a habit of it so I can see this is really related to the pain. It does help though.
And what will help the most will be to arrive in Vienna tomorrow and stay there for some weeks.
At 8pm tonight I'll have to move the luggage down the stairs of the hotel... its not going to be fun.

I'm not sure what to do about this. I can't really have less stuff, I am living and working out of these 2 suitcases and I have already purged down to so little belongings. What is traveling with me now is kind of necessary for work, surviving and feeling like a normal person. Maybe I can get a pet llama to help move the things.

My shouders are sore, its a bit hard to sleep. The pain feels like this red bird somehow.
I'll find a yoga school in Vienna and try to go every morning for 4 weeks. I am still doing it on my own but I have been a bit slacker lately.

Animal paintings by Danica Masnikovic, Serbian painter.

rainbow music

maybe you already know this but there was a band called Rainbow formed by former members of the wonderful Deep Purple. Really cosmic shit. But they were called 'heavy metal'... these days I never understand that description becausew e have so much hard music and I'm always listening to brutal noise music... so this stuff just seems less than 'heavy'.

of course I am right now downloading every single song they ever put out.

here is what it says on allmusic: formed 1974 disbanded 1984

On their second release Rising, Rainbow not only avoid the sophomore jinx; they hit a home run. After replacing the entire band (except Ronnie James Dio) immediately following the recording of the first album, Ritchie Blackmore and the Rising lineup (Blackmore; Dio; Tony Carey, keys; Jimmy Bain, bass; and the late, great Cozy Powell, drums) had plenty of time on the road touring the first album to get the chops and material together for their second. In particular, "Stargazer" really came together on the 1975 tour and featured stunning keyboard work from Carey. The material is uniformly strong, with "Starstruck" and "A Light in the Black" standing out in particular. Ronnie Dio turns in a great vocal on the stunningly direct (under three minutes!) "Do You Close Your Eyes." All six songs on the album are up there with anything the band has done, before or since. The playing has a very tight, colorful feel to it, which was lacking a bit on the first record. This album can legitimately be mentioned in the same breath as classic Deep Purple.

lignes

interesting body lines.

side note : I asked the boys where Fatima was. Sadly she had a minor puncture wound that turned out to be fatal for her. She is no longer a part of the bachelor party. RIP

fatima

here, there are 6 slovenian guys in this hotel in Belgrade ... one is getting married and they have a blowup sex doll with them, they are partying here for some days. her name is Fatima
she is really fat. I missed the moment to get a photo of the groom just before he went outside in leopard print hotpants.

tfy coat

The puma coat from 4 years ago can go to rest finally!


yay for serbian design and good prices!

grey area

I went to the police but they did not tell me anything convincing. Just that I should hang onto my bus ticket and show it at the border when I go out and I might not have any problems. I went back to the Canadian Embassy to see if they knew anything more concrete. They called around for me, to some bigger police and to the border where I entered and said it was lame because nobody would take responsibility, so I still have risk. One option is to return to the border where I entered and they will give me a stamp. But that is 3 hours away by bus and then I should wait for another bus to take me back here. Probably when I leave, it could be ok, they won't notice anything, but then again, they could cause trouble. I think I will go tomorrow or thursday to the border.

glitch on the Serbian radar (not even)

I just came from Skopje to Belgrade this morning on the bus.
At the border the Serbian guys looked cranky because I have a lot of Kosovar stamps. They overstamped them all with "cancelled"and they did not give me an entry stamp to Serbia. The Macedonians also did not give me an exit stamp, but they often do not.
This means on exit the Serbians can cause problems saying I could have entered illegally. They cna fine me and even put me in jail.
I went right away to ask about this at the Canadian embassy and they said this can be a "big problem" and they sent me to a Serbian police office. When I was at the Serbian police and they said it is a "big problem" and I should return tomorrow morning at 9am with my passport and my bus ticket receipt. They said they don't have stamps.
I asked them what I should have done to avoid all this, because the border guards would not talk to me and I did not want to cause a fuss at the border.

So we'll see what happens tomorrow morning.
arg
lucky me

too young to drive

today I missed my grandmother. I was sitting at lunch and I remembered going to Victoria with her and she was quite old, very late 80s. And I was quite young, too young to drive anyways. I think she has a walker with her. Of course we wanted to walk and see lots of things and I always had to remind her to stop and take breaks she she looked like she was about to fall down, she didn't want to stop or to slow me down. We went to the Empress for tea and we stayed in a hotel for a night. At night she let me go out on my own and I found some concert in the street to watch.

black and red and yellow market

i am having breakfast sitting in a posh cafe and the guys next to me have an eee and two other computers in the table. they are British and talking with a few locals
they are talking about making a website for porno merchandise so funny
they said : can we have video of girls parading "the wears"? ... hihi
there is a local team of 3 young girls and one guy, I guess web designers, and they just left
one British guy just said to another one... "one thing that worries me is that this country is about to go to war, what happens to our in progress website when the war breaks out?"
another one said "this is new territory for me"

soffline

these days I have no internet in the place I am staying so I don't have much time to write on here. I do think about. It looks like for the next 6 or 8 weeks I won't be living with internet at home so maybe I won't post very often. I'll try to keep it up.

photos during setup of Chain Reaction

Marko + Sean putting up the ceiling screen for Kire's work.
RYBN setting up the computers with Linux for Antidata Mining.

John Marshall getting friendly with the et dukkhejm talking chair.

Thanks to all the artists who helped install the exhibiting and were so autonomous when installing their own works.

offline messages in the middle of it all

(08:12:31 PM) 274690425: i had a super dooper nap
(08:12:47 PM) 274690425: but ur gone
(08:13:09 PM) 274690425: it was super hot before and I was walking and I found a super sexy short dress for a few euros
(08:13:11 PM) 274690425: hehe
(08:13:35 PM) 274690425: i don't know if I was hot before.... but now I should have no trouble getting into fancy discos
(08:14:56 PM) 274690425: it now just rained super hard and I was at the city square and and it was ultrawindy
(08:15:04 PM) 274690425: and a very sad thing happened
(08:15:16 PM) 274690425: one piece of metal on the pony umbrella broke
(08:15:26 PM) 274690425: i will have to look for an umbrella fixer
(08:15:41 PM) 274690425: because the pony umbrella is really too cool
(08:15:56 PM) 274690425: its the only umbrella that doesnt make me feel crowded
(08:16:15 PM) 274690425: i'll find out how to fix it or have to ask ales to send me another one from praha
(08:16:27 PM) 274690425: i got invited back to lisbon
(08:16:33 PM) 274690425: i could go for a month even!
(08:16:41 PM) 274690425: i have nothing really to do in october
(08:16:53 PM) 274690425: and in november its road trip
(08:16:57 PM) 274690425: and :S
(08:17:13 PM) 274690425: one day I must get myself employed........ for realsy
(08:19:39 PM) 274690425: bla bla, i keep taking to u but ur not there
(08:19:48 PM) 274690425: i'll just imagine your responses
(08:20:17 PM) 274690425: today I am way more chill, i woke at 7, sat and drank good tea, did yoga ffrom 8-9
(08:20:57 PM) 274690425: then went to the upgrade meeting, but they were all super jerking off so I left and went to the muiseum and turned on all the computers and projectors and hung out
(08:21:14 PM) 274690425: i met the wife of the norwegian ambassador
(08:21:24 PM) 274690425: and she is young and super sweet
(08:21:52 PM) 274690425: then pd, then sleep, now food... alone for once and actually sitting down
(08:21:59 PM) 274690425: net in this cafe
(08:22:01 PM) 274690425: and
(08:22:23 PM) 274690425: after screenings and after performances and party outdoors
(08:22:29 PM) 274690425: the rain stopped now
(08:22:33 PM) 274690425: fioui
(08:23:02 PM) 274690425: i wish u were here for dinner tho
(08:23:38 PM) 274690425: and i like being on the tech side of stuff rather than theory and public face for once.... i can be antisocial and do physical work, rather than bla bla
(08:23:55 PM) 274690425: we managed to open the exhibition exactly at 8pm, on time
(08:24:04 PM) 274690425: but I was running like mad till the last second
(08:24:17 PM) 274690425: and then i was so tired and sweaty suddenly
(08:24:29 PM) 274690425: so I ran off and showered and changed
(08:24:53 PM) 274690425: and came back a lot later in the night.... happy to have missed the ceremony and bla bla :)
(08:24:58 PM) 274690425: bla bla bla

research

this is funny, because its super bad and also because some years ago in Turkey I was teaching a video blogging workshop on the theme of conspiracy and honestly, our videos were just about as bad as this one.
thx rawwwwk

digital day

I like this photo by Luis Montemayor, one of my stranger flickr contacts. Its nice for tonight, because I am about to get into a huge digital frenzy tomorrow with the exhibition. I think I am about to have to make friends with MS! O!

Today was all about building and curtains and cool ceiling projection screens and sweating and hot beer and birthday cake, shopping carts, plaster, and reses chocolates.

Tomorrow, projectors, computers, internet... and most of the artists will be buzzing around.
I have to say that is you want to have some good help installing your big nutty exhibition, call out Pardon, Sean Arden!!! Really loud and he might show up all the way from Canada with his very own toolkit.

upcoming Instructional Videos : how to make a new looking plinth out of some bashed up box made of old cardboard maps and sticks. How to cut a perfect 7 inch hole, without a saw. How to make realy good wifi. (I'm scared)

small place

when I was going to Albania with Edith and Luis a few weeks ago, I was at the border, I was out of the car alone holding the passports and waiting in line with other drivers. I could not help but notice one guy, he has almost white, blue eyes, amazing. And I was super bored, so I was just watching the nice looking guy. Tonight that guy was at the house party. I asked him if he went to Albania and yes, it really was him......small place I guess

interfaced

Here is some things I wrote in a chat conversation recently, something about the idea of staying far away from someone on purpose. I edited and only put here the bits on the conversation that I wrote.

why isn't it possible to think of seeing each other and it being harmless?
maybe it is possible
maybe it would just be super ok
not a huge deal
i always imagine that upcoming situations and meetings are going to freak out the whole rest of my life... and actually they rarely do
i often like the idea that they could
and I even get disappointed at how banal they are
sometimes I wish I skipped the meeting and kept on with the waiting, just to hold onto the big ideas
i laugh at myself about that a lot actually

so maybe I'm not so into the truth afterall

I think its possible I am way more dramatic and a lot less shy when I am interfaced.

and though I like to think that interfaced talking is totally connected to the real life relationships
its so not
i learned that so many times

"How do I look?"
"Just like always. Just as you’ve always looked."
"And what does that look like?"
"Direct and vague. Sweet and ironic."

hands on

Photo by Edith.

My friend android Jesse in Oklahoma said he thought that going to feed his families animals might not be sexy, so often he didn't tell people when he went to do that.

I told him I am really good friends with the local dogs and cats where ever I live. I love thema nd can't resist touching them. Of course they are super dirty so I always have to carry a packet of antibacterial wipes with me, because I really cant resist touching the animals.

I also usually visit zoos when I travel. The Skopje Zoo... looks like it has been bombed and smells special... the Sofia Zoo is really nice... exquisite tigers. And I was surprised ot be up there and actually run into a friend, Kosio. Very random meeting place.

I spent all day today in the city museum pondering the space and taking measurements.
Why do digital artists feel so attached to digital images... screens and projections... out of nearly 30 pieces, there are no pieces without images and only 4 or 5 sculptural works. Is this a trend withing the Upgrade! circle or across the board in digital art?

The LINE girls in the office late. Producers of Chain Reaction.

Recently I decided to make the RAINBOWS project without any monitor at all, it will have mechanical controls, and use just lights and sounds as indications. And thinking about all these flashing screens i will be around soon is just makinbg me feel beter about that choice.

I want to explore interaction and action and how to instruct users without just using instructions and on screen indications. Back to basics and hands on.

me mordre

When Tennur and I were walking in the city square some weeks ago we saw this girl. Tennur took this photo. I wanted to take her home with me, but I bet she would bite me. I want to be her when I grow up.

Edith, Luis and me. Luis is reading my palm. My life line is very short.Maybe this means I have not lived long before. In the big scheme of things I am young.

"seuls les français sont des emotionnels"

my favorite fake band MeikeJejeOk

Par rapport au Canadiens, Jerome a dit: "vous êtes des machines qui se battent contre la neige à longueur d'hiver" disant... typiquement des non-emotionelles....

Its true maybe some how that its sometimes seen as shocking in Canada if you are super emotional.

I am in Skopje, working on the technical arrangements and exhibition layout of the Upgrade! International meeting Chain Reaction. Its from September 11th-14th. The event is a big one for Skopje and the main venue is the City Museum. Its full of artifacts, coins, stones, maybe even skulls... i forget... and we are installing all the digital art works amongst the museum collection.

I feel a lot better since I returned here to Macedonia. People are kind and human and the food is nice. Its very calm here, although we do have quite a chaotic job to organize this festival.