I KNOW I'M BEHIND THE TIMES.
the times. what does that mean, exactly? apparently there is more than one time. how many times are there? i don't know how i'm expected to keep up with all of them.
WINE COUNTRY
last month our friend petr drove us into moravia to drink some wine with his friend pavel. we arrived around 4 in the small town of horni dunajovice and were welcomed immediately into pavel's cellar.
pavel makes all of his own wine. we tasted about five or six types (cabernet, chardonnay, rulandske, pinot noir, etc) and then walked across the courtyard to have dinner in pavel's garage. surrounded by powertools and empty wine jugs, we sat at a table and discussed the wine we had just consumed. and then, out came the food. at the bottom left, we have some rye bread. to the right of the bread were some raw onions. to the left of the onions was a large jar of pickles. then more bread. then a plate some form of pureed pork mixture. in the blue bowl were some other parts of the pig (not sure which though). and finally, for flavor, a small dish of salt and a plate of lard. it was pretty intense.
after dinner, we walked across town to pavel's other cellar. this one was much bigger than the one in his basement. i’m actually unsure how we got there since i was already rather inebriated. here's a blurry picture of it.
there were around 30 barrels filled with different types of wine. after tasting six or seven new wines, pavel graciously showed us his statue of saint urban, the czech patron saint of wine.
after a few more slurps, we walked back to pavel's house for some smoked pork with a side of slivovice. and at some point, we went back to the lodging facilities and fell asleep. apparently, i also agreed to cook for thirty people on an annual biking trip from prague to the northern mountains.
regardless, thanks to pavel and petr for an unimaginably memorable experience.
nazdravi!
PHOTOS & VIDEOS
ponec stage
truck bunny
literary infinity
WHAT A COOL IDEA
brooke invited me to a modern dance performance last night called Extraction. it was staged at divadlo ponec in zizkov.
the production team had installed sensors around the stage that were apparently capturing the dancers movements and tranlsating them into sounds programmed by a computer in the back.
at one point, all the music suddenly dissappeared and was replaced by a looped recording of the sounds of the dancers moving across the stage. with each pass of the 4-5 second loop, the recording would build upon itself, gradually becoming a virtual cacophony of arms and legs sweeping the floor. when it was approaching the level of white noise, it quickly dissolved back into various low pads and synths.
what a cool idea.
I RODE THE THE END OF TRAM LINE 10 YESTERDAY.
that's what it looks like. this city is big. i found a cool cemetery with lots of overgrown ivy, but the gates were locked. an old woman passed by and spoke to me in czech, probably saying something to the effect that, yes, the gates were indeed locked.
as it turns out, the czech language is very difficult. three times today, people have asked me questions in czech, only to have me utter something incoherent back at them. prominte, dekuji, nerozumim, ne mlooveteh cesky, blah, blah, blah. i am a walking blabber machine. usually, most people look as if they would like to give me a slap. all i want to do is say a complete sentence that doesn't involve ordering a beer. i'll keep trying...
BALLERS
a few weeks ago, we took a train to ostrava. our friend martin is the starting center for the basketball team. he picked us up at the train station after our 3.5 hour journey through east bohemia and moravia to watch his team play the team from liberec.
our hotel had several interesting motifs. in the lobby, as a lovely welcome, we were welcomed by several animals, including this
and this
and this
and the bar area seemed ready to go to war with this
and this
and this
but in contrast, the restaurant had a distinct overlook hotel feel to it.
this painting was also in our room.
we went to the the arena around 5. the game itself was amazing. i could try to recap it, but i'm no good at that. everyone there was extremely attentive to what was happenning on the court. and there was no food in the stands, no slurping of sodas or crunching of nachos.
afterwards, we travelled to martin's apartment for pizza and drinks. there were very minimal amounts of english being spoken, which was nice. eventually, we walked over to the infamous stodolni street, home to 80 bars and clubs. i kept trying to order beer, but the ostravian ballers kept handing me vodka currant cocktails. we all had a swell time. thanks martin!
I'VE BEEN WRITING A LOT OF NEW SONGS.
some are string arrangements.
some are appearing on acoustic guitar.
some are evolving as beats in the computer.
some are reworking themselves from previous material.
some are just sounds like the ones i posted a couple weeks ago.
some are really annoying the hell out of me.
no clear theme has emerged from any of it.
it's going to take some time, i reckon.
but it's going to be different.
i promise.
MY AMAZING WIFE...
my amazing wife, brooke, has been asked to be the dance critic at the prague post. here's a photo of the front page for one of her stories.
yeah, she's pretty awesome.
AN UNFORTUNATE EVENT
i've learned during the past few months that while riding public transportation, you should be ready for sudden stops and lurches. well, apparently, i wasn't overly ready on thursday evening. i was sitting down when the bus took a sudden turn to the left. my body slipped off the seat and was thrown to the floor. i laughed as I picked myself up, but couldn't help but notice a sharp pain in my leg.
MY BIRTHDAY WAS LAST MONTH.
i am now 29. i don't feel old, but several people asked me if i felt that way. i know my body looks different. i know some of my thinking patterns have changed. i know i've made some good and bad decisions. and apparently, other things have been happening in the universe that have influenced the things that are happening now. and so on.
THE CZECHS + PYROTECHNICS
the czech don’t mess around when it comes to pyrotechnics. on new year's eve we went to old town square to see the fireworks. at one point, i was walking through the crowd with some hot mulled wine. i saw an opening and thought, 'oh, that's convenient.' i had just entered the clearing when two bottle rockets suddenly flew skyward to my right and a loud explosion went off somewhere on my immediate left. i spilled some wine on my hands and made some sort of painful 'ahh!' noise.
AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN...
so it's 2007. it sounds more futuristic than 2006. soon we'll have crystals on our hands that will flash red when we're scheduled for carousel. sanctuary!
HELLO EVERYONE.
to all of you who have followed the progress of this endeavor, i thank you. remember, this album is now definitely and undeniable yours. it was made for you. listen and interpret in whatever manner you please. high volume, low volume, different speakers, change the order, phones backward, walking, driving, flying, sitting, alone, with friends, angry, happy, sad, whatever. it's never really finished. all i can do now is let it go...
CITIZENS
i finished watching angels in america last night. i know it's been given all sorts of awards and what not, but i have to say it is one of the best works of art i've ever seen. thank you tony kushner.
no matter who we are or what we do, we are all 'citizens.' we are human beings searching for answers out of oblivion, yearning to love and be loved. and we are all, every one of us, prophets.
'the great work begins...'
ON THURSDAY
i was flipping threw provokator, the magazine for which brooke has been writing film reviews, and found an article on a punk rock show centered around anarchism, anti-racism, and anti-fascism. and it was happening that very evening. and it was just down the street. as i left for the show, i walked out my front door and found this.
