947 days ago
Friday ACCABBANA Olivia Sellerio and Pietro Leveratto - jazz based on traditional Sicilian music. Beautiful touching music, very passionate, I could almost feel the salty wind, the merciless sun, see the women claded in black waiting for their husbands on the shore. Beside possessing a warm deep set voice, Olivia Sellerio is related to Enzo Sellerio, a famous photographer and founder of one of the best publishing houses in Sicily.
Saturday - my new friend Ljuba offered me a private audition at her place of amazing music from Croatia, Bosnia and Russia, pure Gypsy treasures, a world I dream of. Her father is a famous genetician, living in Paris, and a good Croatian friend of mine worked with him on a project!
Sunday Goran Bregovic had an open air concert here under the most amazing full moon one can imagine. I got crazy dancing with some friends, he's the contemporary god of Balkan music, the one who gave it to the world all wrapped up. Looking around me, people here are very different from his Romanian public I saw back in Bucharest Much calmer. We do identify with the Kusturica movies and with this tragi-comic music.
On a less artistic vibe, Saturday I got some nice scratches again picking mushrooms in the forest. Bright yellow chanterelles and meaty boletus. There was a funny kind - light orange on the cut, becoming right away blue, then black. Anyway they were all yummy, although in about 4 hours I didn't get more than 2 portions. I shall go again in 2 weeks time!
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2009
JULY 5, 06 - GETTING HIGH ON MUSIC AT JAZZ FESTIVAL
952 days ago
AMPARANOIA from Spain - pura vida! energetic, yet sensitive, full of life, joy, pain, anger, determination, very intense to put it in one word. I danced by myself, like many others around me. Check the site, you can even download clips.
NYIAZ USA/Iran Persian music (in Farsi and Urdu). With an electro taste. I was simply mesmerized. The singer's voice sounds like coming from the night of time. The music is rich, deep, dense, like walking barefoot on a Persian rug, like gold embroidered velvet touching skin, like burning yet silky Port wine caressing your throat on a winter night. I sit in the grass my body still winding with the music, until I got up and joined the crowd. It was like an outer world experience. Give it a try
AMPARANOIA from Spain - pura vida! energetic, yet sensitive, full of life, joy, pain, anger, determination, very intense to put it in one word. I danced by myself, like many others around me. Check the site, you can even download clips.
NYIAZ USA/Iran Persian music (in Farsi and Urdu). With an electro taste. I was simply mesmerized. The singer's voice sounds like coming from the night of time. The music is rich, deep, dense, like walking barefoot on a Persian rug, like gold embroidered velvet touching skin, like burning yet silky Port wine caressing your throat on a winter night. I sit in the grass my body still winding with the music, until I got up and joined the crowd. It was like an outer world experience. Give it a try
JULY 5, 06 - FEELS LIKE
953 days ago
Just want to lie in the grass, somewhere where it's not raining and listen to Nils Petter Molvaer - ER.
Just want to lie in the grass, somewhere where it's not raining and listen to Nils Petter Molvaer - ER.
JUNE 10, 06 - OVER BOILED GNOCCHI
977 days ago
Two nights ago, looking at a great German movie "Nackt" (Naked). Three couples, getting together for dinner and getting naked, body and soul. Sharp dialogue, replies were flying like arrows, I was mesmerized. I know so much about being in a couple that I should be living with somebody Romeo y Julieta no eran de este planeta.
Got semi-bad news from the university concerning the master: I'm only on the waiting list. The one before the last, therefore my ego is not really flattered. Maybe I should stop waiting to become somebody and leave peacefully with the idea of being nobody. With a big N. Miss Nobody. Having an average life and be a good secretary.
Or go back to ships, I keep having dreams about me being on board. Not about islands and fish, no, just the ships. The big white tin cans.
I'm not Abel, I'm just Cain/Open up the Heaven, make it rain.
He's lying, he's Tom Waits and he's great.
It's raining anyway. What if my life will always be like this? Just wandering through it, no status. Ah, ah, ah, ah...staying alive, staying alive.
"siento, vivo, pienso
que más puedo pedir."
I feel, I'm alive, I think - what else can I ask for? asks Jarabe de Palo.
A million dollars...hotel, filled with people that feel and think, a bit disconnected though
Two nights ago, looking at a great German movie "Nackt" (Naked). Three couples, getting together for dinner and getting naked, body and soul. Sharp dialogue, replies were flying like arrows, I was mesmerized. I know so much about being in a couple that I should be living with somebody Romeo y Julieta no eran de este planeta.
Got semi-bad news from the university concerning the master: I'm only on the waiting list. The one before the last, therefore my ego is not really flattered. Maybe I should stop waiting to become somebody and leave peacefully with the idea of being nobody. With a big N. Miss Nobody. Having an average life and be a good secretary.
Or go back to ships, I keep having dreams about me being on board. Not about islands and fish, no, just the ships. The big white tin cans.
I'm not Abel, I'm just Cain/Open up the Heaven, make it rain.
He's lying, he's Tom Waits and he's great.
It's raining anyway. What if my life will always be like this? Just wandering through it, no status. Ah, ah, ah, ah...staying alive, staying alive.
"siento, vivo, pienso
que más puedo pedir."
I feel, I'm alive, I think - what else can I ask for? asks Jarabe de Palo.
A million dollars...hotel, filled with people that feel and think, a bit disconnected though
APRIL 17, 06 - ITALY, THAT'S AMORE
1031 days ago
Had such a nice time this Easter holiday.
Friday - The Via Crucis (Way of the Cross?) with a Catholic worldwide association - Communion and Liberation, founded by an Italian, Don Giussani. Then a trip to a "sugar shack" (traditional Québec food and music, in a wooden house in the forest, where they gather the maple syrup). All in the sun, very enjoyable.
Saturday - there was a ceremony at my church, there were around 10 Romanian priests, all dressed up and the Bishop came, all the way from the USA. He was greeted by some four people dressed traditionally, carying bread and salt, according to the customs. Simply beautiful. Then a short trip on some mountain - St. Hilaire, nearby Montréal. Under a small rain, but still great to spend time outside and breath fresh air, enjoy the landscape, the village alond the Richelieu river. The company was also awsome, all Romanians, 3 girls and 2 guys. One of the guys invited us all for dinner and cooked - so nice of him. We might become closer friends quite soon, I'm not hurrying anywhere though. I'm glad we have a lot in common, but I prefer to take my time.
For the rest of the night I went home with my great friend Saj (Sajani) who lives in Cambridge now and was just visiting. We spent time talking and watching my photos. I realized once again how much I missed her and what a great time we have together.
Sunday - had breakfast and lunch with Saj, then met up for coffee with my friend Marcela from Argentina and her friends. One absolutely gorgeous, stunning. But I would doubt we have much in common. A bit too main stream, I guess. For dinner I met my Italian speaking friends Patrizia and Valérie and we joined again the Communion and Liberation for a great potluck, that ended with songs and merriment. It was a great occasion to meet also my Italian friends, mostly from Milano, who introduced me to the group. Before going home I passed by my new Romanian friend's house and we watched "Mystery Train" by Jim Jarmush together, then he took me home (what did you imagine?).
And tonight I had the pleasure to go to the Marco Calliari concert "Al dente". His parents are from Northern Italy and he's playing mostly Neapolitan music. Bellissimo! Very positive and energetic. So I'm in a great mood!
Had such a nice time this Easter holiday.
Friday - The Via Crucis (Way of the Cross?) with a Catholic worldwide association - Communion and Liberation, founded by an Italian, Don Giussani. Then a trip to a "sugar shack" (traditional Québec food and music, in a wooden house in the forest, where they gather the maple syrup). All in the sun, very enjoyable.
Saturday - there was a ceremony at my church, there were around 10 Romanian priests, all dressed up and the Bishop came, all the way from the USA. He was greeted by some four people dressed traditionally, carying bread and salt, according to the customs. Simply beautiful. Then a short trip on some mountain - St. Hilaire, nearby Montréal. Under a small rain, but still great to spend time outside and breath fresh air, enjoy the landscape, the village alond the Richelieu river. The company was also awsome, all Romanians, 3 girls and 2 guys. One of the guys invited us all for dinner and cooked - so nice of him. We might become closer friends quite soon, I'm not hurrying anywhere though. I'm glad we have a lot in common, but I prefer to take my time.
For the rest of the night I went home with my great friend Saj (Sajani) who lives in Cambridge now and was just visiting. We spent time talking and watching my photos. I realized once again how much I missed her and what a great time we have together.
Sunday - had breakfast and lunch with Saj, then met up for coffee with my friend Marcela from Argentina and her friends. One absolutely gorgeous, stunning. But I would doubt we have much in common. A bit too main stream, I guess. For dinner I met my Italian speaking friends Patrizia and Valérie and we joined again the Communion and Liberation for a great potluck, that ended with songs and merriment. It was a great occasion to meet also my Italian friends, mostly from Milano, who introduced me to the group. Before going home I passed by my new Romanian friend's house and we watched "Mystery Train" by Jim Jarmush together, then he took me home (what did you imagine?).
And tonight I had the pleasure to go to the Marco Calliari concert "Al dente". His parents are from Northern Italy and he's playing mostly Neapolitan music. Bellissimo! Very positive and energetic. So I'm in a great mood!
MARCH 2 - DEEP DEEP DOWN:(
1077 days ago
Why?
After seeing that great flamenco show with Nuevo Ballet Español from Madrid - all vibration and lust for life? Flamenco is pain, flamenco is joy, alone, in couple or with others. It is a dance about feeling intense emotions and expressing them with all your energy and convictions. A dance about being alive and screaming it out loud...with all your body. This company is good too - two young dancers are the leaders and their whole team is just as young and convincing. Simple costumes, beautiful lighting, gifted musicians.
And last Friday - the Shen Wei experience. First Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" - geometrical and in shades of gray, abstract dance following only the musical phrases without trying to tell a story. Then "Folding" - visually amazing, with harmonies of white and red and black, slowly moving on Buddhist incantations.
And after this - Damian Nisenson's kletzmer jazz - an Argentinian musician I met the Sunday before in café, during a debate in Spanish about the World Social Forum.
So why am I down? Well, my bank account is running low (again!) because the unemployment didn't pay me since January 19. I made the mistake of working as a hostess at the Car Show, and leaving after 3 days, Jan. 20 to 22. Penalty of 1 week pay. It took them 3 weeks to call me to find out what happened and then they called the hostess agency. Then they found out from the employer that I might go back to study. No one is admissible for unemployment unless one is continously looking for a job. So Wednesday I went back there with a list of potential employers, dates and jobs I applied for. Hopefully it should satisfy them and eventually payment will come soon enough.
A friend is helping me out with the tax calculation. News! I have to pay $500 for the public medical insurance and about $800 because the 2 hotels where I worked calculated my taxes as if I was getting money only from one side (the smaller the amount, the smaller the taxes).
I wanted to start a course already this summer, a professor I met from Uruguay is giving it, it could be part of my later master. I don't think it would be possible anymore...need a job and quick. And guess what? That's not easy either.
So here I am: $1300 debt by end of April, no credit cards, no money getting in, just fear, worries, anxiety. Feel the world is a jungle and I'm so lost in it. More than ever.
Why?
After seeing that great flamenco show with Nuevo Ballet Español from Madrid - all vibration and lust for life? Flamenco is pain, flamenco is joy, alone, in couple or with others. It is a dance about feeling intense emotions and expressing them with all your energy and convictions. A dance about being alive and screaming it out loud...with all your body. This company is good too - two young dancers are the leaders and their whole team is just as young and convincing. Simple costumes, beautiful lighting, gifted musicians.
And last Friday - the Shen Wei experience. First Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" - geometrical and in shades of gray, abstract dance following only the musical phrases without trying to tell a story. Then "Folding" - visually amazing, with harmonies of white and red and black, slowly moving on Buddhist incantations.
And after this - Damian Nisenson's kletzmer jazz - an Argentinian musician I met the Sunday before in café, during a debate in Spanish about the World Social Forum.
So why am I down? Well, my bank account is running low (again!) because the unemployment didn't pay me since January 19. I made the mistake of working as a hostess at the Car Show, and leaving after 3 days, Jan. 20 to 22. Penalty of 1 week pay. It took them 3 weeks to call me to find out what happened and then they called the hostess agency. Then they found out from the employer that I might go back to study. No one is admissible for unemployment unless one is continously looking for a job. So Wednesday I went back there with a list of potential employers, dates and jobs I applied for. Hopefully it should satisfy them and eventually payment will come soon enough.
A friend is helping me out with the tax calculation. News! I have to pay $500 for the public medical insurance and about $800 because the 2 hotels where I worked calculated my taxes as if I was getting money only from one side (the smaller the amount, the smaller the taxes).
I wanted to start a course already this summer, a professor I met from Uruguay is giving it, it could be part of my later master. I don't think it would be possible anymore...need a job and quick. And guess what? That's not easy either.
So here I am: $1300 debt by end of April, no credit cards, no money getting in, just fear, worries, anxiety. Feel the world is a jungle and I'm so lost in it. More than ever.
DECEMBER 19 -21, 05 - NEW YORK - SEEING FRIENDS, TRANSPORTATION STRIKE, MUSEUMS, IMMIGRANT CHRISTMAS
1133 days ago
So, The Big Apple from the evening of December 19 up to the morning of December 21.
The trip by train was loooooong, late for about 1 and half hours. My doctor cousin works 3 evenings a week as a waiter (being there ilegally since 97), so as I arrived I had to go and pick him up in Queens. The subway is dirty and stinky. The restaurant where he works is close to the river, right across from Manhattan and looks decent.
His place is the same, only he shares a one bedroom apartment with another Romanian guy which proved to be not very social and well behaved. The windows shown a beautiful view of Midtown Manhattan, with all the striking towers like Empire State Building and Chrysler (my favourite).
The day after we found out the public transportation strike has been declared. As it takes one bus and 2 subways to go to Manhattan from his place I wasn't very happy about it. The bridges over Hudson are quite long and Queens is not the best place to walk around, especially in the dark.
After talking to my good friend Michael (jazz bass player and composer, originally from Vancouver, living in New York and married last year), he came to pick me up and we went to Brooklyn. I met his lovely wife: Celena, she's Cuban and a lawyer, with a scenographer past. I liked her from the very first moment, same for their pug dog - Cosmo.
I also liked Brooklyn, they live in Prospect Heights, close to Park Slope (I was to find out another long term friend I have lives there). We had lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Crown Heights, a Jamaican neighbourhood. The guys there looked really cool, some even had dreadlocks. Food was great, no sushi though There's more about Japanese cuisine.
We took Cosmo for a long walk so I can have an idea about the place. I really liked the Tea Lounge (there's more than tea and jazz concerts, a really pretty cozy place) and the Venetian looking building where Michael and Selena celebrated their wedding. Lots of houses looked old, probably turn of the century with stairs at the entrance, painted ceilings and antique furniture. We also stopped by a real estate agency window and I could see prices range from $700 to 1 million. We passed the Public Library, a great park, walked on the 7th Avenue, packed with bars, boutiques and restaurants. All together I liked the feeling around there. We had some wine and cheese home - reminder of our great ones under the stars on the deck of the cruise ships. Then they headed to the Eastern Village in Manhattan for a free jazz concert. As I'm no crazy about this less coherent (to my ears) kind I went for a stroll, as far as teh famous SoHo. Well, it was winter time, even without snow, and no public transportation. Street were empty, all I could see were a few restaurants and closed boutiques, so not so impressive all together.
I came back shivering and we drove home. Wednesday morning Michael dropped me by the Williamsboro bridge which I crossed walking like everyone else. The cars couldn't cross any of the bridges unless they had 4 people inside. So unless you catch ride with somebody needing one more person, you have to use your feet. To hell with it! At the end of the bridge the Red Cross was giving coffee and cookies. Nice of them! The sun was shining and I was heading to the Metropolitan Museum.
I hopped in a taxi (during the strike taxis could be shared, and it costed $5 per zone, no matter how many people were in). As I was in downtown, heading mid-town it was $10. A cheerful black driver, we had a bit of a talk. Then I walked on the world famous 5th Avenue. I was amazed by the decoration and fairy tales in shops' windows. The ones at "Bergdorf Goodman"- the most extensive luxury department store looked like theater stages, with an ostrich, zebra, gondola...all different props from various times and places. Bloomingdales and Saks 5th Avenue displayed well known fairy tales scenes with moving dolls. I never saw that many luxury items on display in such environment - not even in Paris or Milan. I liked a lot of the Art Deco buildings too, sky scrapers, many had top adornments you couldn't see but looking up. As avenues were large I didn't feel crushed by the buildings, as I was expecting.
When I got to the entrance of Central Park (after checking on the lobby of the Trump Building - nothing to see) I started feeling cold. There was a chilly wind and I had no stockings under my jeans. Got there, had a pretzel and ginger ale on the steps (no food allowed inside) and got inside one of the most amazing museums I've ever seen. TO BE CONTINUED
So, The Big Apple from the evening of December 19 up to the morning of December 21.
The trip by train was loooooong, late for about 1 and half hours. My doctor cousin works 3 evenings a week as a waiter (being there ilegally since 97), so as I arrived I had to go and pick him up in Queens. The subway is dirty and stinky. The restaurant where he works is close to the river, right across from Manhattan and looks decent.
His place is the same, only he shares a one bedroom apartment with another Romanian guy which proved to be not very social and well behaved. The windows shown a beautiful view of Midtown Manhattan, with all the striking towers like Empire State Building and Chrysler (my favourite).
The day after we found out the public transportation strike has been declared. As it takes one bus and 2 subways to go to Manhattan from his place I wasn't very happy about it. The bridges over Hudson are quite long and Queens is not the best place to walk around, especially in the dark.
After talking to my good friend Michael (jazz bass player and composer, originally from Vancouver, living in New York and married last year), he came to pick me up and we went to Brooklyn. I met his lovely wife: Celena, she's Cuban and a lawyer, with a scenographer past. I liked her from the very first moment, same for their pug dog - Cosmo.
I also liked Brooklyn, they live in Prospect Heights, close to Park Slope (I was to find out another long term friend I have lives there). We had lunch in a Japanese restaurant in Crown Heights, a Jamaican neighbourhood. The guys there looked really cool, some even had dreadlocks. Food was great, no sushi though There's more about Japanese cuisine.
We took Cosmo for a long walk so I can have an idea about the place. I really liked the Tea Lounge (there's more than tea and jazz concerts, a really pretty cozy place) and the Venetian looking building where Michael and Selena celebrated their wedding. Lots of houses looked old, probably turn of the century with stairs at the entrance, painted ceilings and antique furniture. We also stopped by a real estate agency window and I could see prices range from $700 to 1 million. We passed the Public Library, a great park, walked on the 7th Avenue, packed with bars, boutiques and restaurants. All together I liked the feeling around there. We had some wine and cheese home - reminder of our great ones under the stars on the deck of the cruise ships. Then they headed to the Eastern Village in Manhattan for a free jazz concert. As I'm no crazy about this less coherent (to my ears) kind I went for a stroll, as far as teh famous SoHo. Well, it was winter time, even without snow, and no public transportation. Street were empty, all I could see were a few restaurants and closed boutiques, so not so impressive all together.
I came back shivering and we drove home. Wednesday morning Michael dropped me by the Williamsboro bridge which I crossed walking like everyone else. The cars couldn't cross any of the bridges unless they had 4 people inside. So unless you catch ride with somebody needing one more person, you have to use your feet. To hell with it! At the end of the bridge the Red Cross was giving coffee and cookies. Nice of them! The sun was shining and I was heading to the Metropolitan Museum.
I hopped in a taxi (during the strike taxis could be shared, and it costed $5 per zone, no matter how many people were in). As I was in downtown, heading mid-town it was $10. A cheerful black driver, we had a bit of a talk. Then I walked on the world famous 5th Avenue. I was amazed by the decoration and fairy tales in shops' windows. The ones at "Bergdorf Goodman"- the most extensive luxury department store looked like theater stages, with an ostrich, zebra, gondola...all different props from various times and places. Bloomingdales and Saks 5th Avenue displayed well known fairy tales scenes with moving dolls. I never saw that many luxury items on display in such environment - not even in Paris or Milan. I liked a lot of the Art Deco buildings too, sky scrapers, many had top adornments you couldn't see but looking up. As avenues were large I didn't feel crushed by the buildings, as I was expecting.
When I got to the entrance of Central Park (after checking on the lobby of the Trump Building - nothing to see) I started feeling cold. There was a chilly wind and I had no stockings under my jeans. Got there, had a pretzel and ginger ale on the steps (no food allowed inside) and got inside one of the most amazing museums I've ever seen. TO BE CONTINUED
DECEMBER 10, 05 - NICE BRIEF ENCOUNTER
1159 days ago
Last week when volunteering, at a hotel welcome desk, I met this "character" I might say, as he is more than just a person or a man, or gentleman. Mr. K, like in the Process.
First of all, he's an amazing mixture of Catalan, French and Italian, speaking all these languages perfectly, plus English and some Portuguese, so our conversation was winding through their nuances and enchantments.
As he was very busy with the conference (on behalf of Catalunya - Spain), we decided to go out this Friday. I wanted to show him "my" Montrèal. Started with a Brazilian/Cajun (New Orleans style, from Acadian/Northern Québec immigrants that went down there) food fare: softshell crab, seafod gumbo, alligator and coconut sauce fish - the Bahia way they say. The restaurant is literally invaded by green plants. There are a couple of tacky alligators too hanging around, but all together there's a nice ambiance and the food is rather decent.
Went for coffee and dessert at Les deux Marie - a French coffee shop I love on St. Denis, then got to a well hidden jazz bar (underground) on the same street La Kemia. The jazz was just finishing around 11, so after some more chatting we ended up until 3am at Cafe Sarajevo, another favourite spot I haven't been to since July.
Usually they play gipsy music from Yugoslavia, quite commercial at times. I saw in the newspaper there was a L'Esprit d'Istanbul concert, and I'm quite nostalgic about Turkey. The concert was over, in theory, but the Turkish drummer wrapped around his hips one of those coin decorated dancing scarves and started whirling and shaking, with guys playing drums, guitar and accordeon. A surprising excellent performance.
I got home and straight to bed about 4.
Saturday we went for lunch and a bit of wandering in the same area I like: Mont Royal - St. Denis - Duluth. Santropol - a community fun, colourful, warm café, where they serve no alcohol, but nice coffees and fruitjuices and healthy organic food. Dessert was Portuguese, in one of the numerous bakeries of the kind in the area. All people serving were Portuguese, as well as the ones sitting next to us. Pastel de nata, an orange tart and a sweet potatoe mini-cake.
Then a visit to 10.000 Villages - a fair trade shop, with crafted products - mostly decoration, few clothing items from all over poor countries: Latin America, Africa, Asia. Lots of colours and textures - a real pleasure to look around and buy a few items.
We spent a quick hour at my place looking at pictures and telling more of my life stories.
Then I went for dinner with my Spanish speaking Montreal friends and he went for more jazz with a colleague and people he knows here.
I ended up in Cafe Sarajevo again, with a Norwegian friend - Petter and an Armenian Turkish - Loerna. This time the music was on - kind of pop/folk Turkish, still had fun.
Bottom line - I had a great time, so much smooth communication, he travelled all over the place and has some kind of extraordinary family, an excellent talker, enthusiastic and empathetic, I felt like I knew him since ever. And that we can go on talking forever A special kind of connection that doesn't happen every day. He's taking a plane today, hopefully we shall meet again on one of life's winding roads.
Last week when volunteering, at a hotel welcome desk, I met this "character" I might say, as he is more than just a person or a man, or gentleman. Mr. K, like in the Process.
First of all, he's an amazing mixture of Catalan, French and Italian, speaking all these languages perfectly, plus English and some Portuguese, so our conversation was winding through their nuances and enchantments.
As he was very busy with the conference (on behalf of Catalunya - Spain), we decided to go out this Friday. I wanted to show him "my" Montrèal. Started with a Brazilian/Cajun (New Orleans style, from Acadian/Northern Québec immigrants that went down there) food fare: softshell crab, seafod gumbo, alligator and coconut sauce fish - the Bahia way they say. The restaurant is literally invaded by green plants. There are a couple of tacky alligators too hanging around, but all together there's a nice ambiance and the food is rather decent.
Went for coffee and dessert at Les deux Marie - a French coffee shop I love on St. Denis, then got to a well hidden jazz bar (underground) on the same street La Kemia. The jazz was just finishing around 11, so after some more chatting we ended up until 3am at Cafe Sarajevo, another favourite spot I haven't been to since July.
Usually they play gipsy music from Yugoslavia, quite commercial at times. I saw in the newspaper there was a L'Esprit d'Istanbul concert, and I'm quite nostalgic about Turkey. The concert was over, in theory, but the Turkish drummer wrapped around his hips one of those coin decorated dancing scarves and started whirling and shaking, with guys playing drums, guitar and accordeon. A surprising excellent performance.
I got home and straight to bed about 4.
Saturday we went for lunch and a bit of wandering in the same area I like: Mont Royal - St. Denis - Duluth. Santropol - a community fun, colourful, warm café, where they serve no alcohol, but nice coffees and fruitjuices and healthy organic food. Dessert was Portuguese, in one of the numerous bakeries of the kind in the area. All people serving were Portuguese, as well as the ones sitting next to us. Pastel de nata, an orange tart and a sweet potatoe mini-cake.
Then a visit to 10.000 Villages - a fair trade shop, with crafted products - mostly decoration, few clothing items from all over poor countries: Latin America, Africa, Asia. Lots of colours and textures - a real pleasure to look around and buy a few items.
We spent a quick hour at my place looking at pictures and telling more of my life stories.
Then I went for dinner with my Spanish speaking Montreal friends and he went for more jazz with a colleague and people he knows here.
I ended up in Cafe Sarajevo again, with a Norwegian friend - Petter and an Armenian Turkish - Loerna. This time the music was on - kind of pop/folk Turkish, still had fun.
Bottom line - I had a great time, so much smooth communication, he travelled all over the place and has some kind of extraordinary family, an excellent talker, enthusiastic and empathetic, I felt like I knew him since ever. And that we can go on talking forever A special kind of connection that doesn't happen every day. He's taking a plane today, hopefully we shall meet again on one of life's winding roads.
August 25, 05 - About hedonism, thanking friends, looking for a life purpose, identity issues
1266 days ago
Ok, Im starting with the last one...basically what I want from life is to be able to be myself - 24 hours, have a medallion that reads ESSE QUAM VIDERI - To be, rather than to seem (just got translation from Internet, I thought it was I am what you see, that's even better!). Therefor, find a job that would allow me to show and develop my real self, my best skills.
An university proffesor of mine (Roger Tessier, from Montréal!) told me once I am like a gardener that has all kinds of fruits and vegetables in his garden and doesn't know what to pick, letting some of them rotten. I guess there lies my problem: I'm unable to focus, in world that's more and more specialized.
So I'm looking for what I really, really want to do, maybe I don't even know this exists, maybe it is something still unknown to me. But I need to find it fast, as I feel I'm wasting myself.
We live in a world where hedonism - pleasure as life's ultimate purpose became most frequent way of life. Lifestyle matters so much, comfort - keep away from pain, keep away from becoming a loser, this is the worst thing that may happen. Success as a measure of all things, judged by social position, exposure, posessions. Convenient appearances, covering inner emptiness, fear of existing for real, of experiencing extreme emotions, extreme sensations replaced those.
Feeling like saying a word for my Portuguese friends who sent me two great CD's: MARIZA - TRANSPARENTE and my beloved MISIA - DIVA BOX. Mariza will be here in one month time for a concert. Funny, right? I'm going, obviously. Got also a book by Fernando Pessoa, one of the greatest modern writers. It bears the most appropriate title for the present moment: The book of anxiousness.
Well, so much for now...tomorrow I gotta go make some more money And Saturday I'll be moving alone, for the first time in my life!
Ok, Im starting with the last one...basically what I want from life is to be able to be myself - 24 hours, have a medallion that reads ESSE QUAM VIDERI - To be, rather than to seem (just got translation from Internet, I thought it was I am what you see, that's even better!). Therefor, find a job that would allow me to show and develop my real self, my best skills.
An university proffesor of mine (Roger Tessier, from Montréal!) told me once I am like a gardener that has all kinds of fruits and vegetables in his garden and doesn't know what to pick, letting some of them rotten. I guess there lies my problem: I'm unable to focus, in world that's more and more specialized.
So I'm looking for what I really, really want to do, maybe I don't even know this exists, maybe it is something still unknown to me. But I need to find it fast, as I feel I'm wasting myself.
We live in a world where hedonism - pleasure as life's ultimate purpose became most frequent way of life. Lifestyle matters so much, comfort - keep away from pain, keep away from becoming a loser, this is the worst thing that may happen. Success as a measure of all things, judged by social position, exposure, posessions. Convenient appearances, covering inner emptiness, fear of existing for real, of experiencing extreme emotions, extreme sensations replaced those.
Feeling like saying a word for my Portuguese friends who sent me two great CD's: MARIZA - TRANSPARENTE and my beloved MISIA - DIVA BOX. Mariza will be here in one month time for a concert. Funny, right? I'm going, obviously. Got also a book by Fernando Pessoa, one of the greatest modern writers. It bears the most appropriate title for the present moment: The book of anxiousness.
Well, so much for now...tomorrow I gotta go make some more money And Saturday I'll be moving alone, for the first time in my life!
July 28, 05 - Erratic behaviour
1294 days ago
Summer in Montréal - full of music, hot, vibrating people, living at maximum and thinking at minimum...let me be out, let me dance, let me walk, lie in the grass, be, be, be and nothing else.
Feeling so alive..when out from work, the only annoying part is coming back...about 1 hour before reaching real freedom, before getting to be myself.
Saw an excellent wild film: Head-on or Gegen die Wand in German - two crossed destinies of Turkish living in Germany, very intense, too intense, overwhelming inner energy that bursts into violence, looking for the limits and trying to go beyond, always beyond, and when they realise this is not their real self is too late...maybe never too late to finish your life...and just start a new one. Anyway, liked it.
Also Lila Downs, a crazy Mexican witch I saw tonight in concert, whispering, moaning, crying, screaming, with a deep set voice, now a hush, then a curse and a blessing. Charming, even more - thrilling.
Last Sunday - Shakespeare in the Park, A Midsummer's Night Dream, then a folk creole show from my beloved Martinique. Again...a real spell. Colourful costumes, beautiful creole children and teen-ageers, swinging and whirling in wild tropical dances, with a shiny smile on their chocolate faces.
I'm happy, nothing changes in my life right now, no drama, no action, just work and fun in the sun. A bit worried about moving to a new apartment, alone this time, get it completely furnished, then start looking for a different job, I want out of hotels, I'm fed up with it. I want to find somenthing really motivating, after all, this is what brought me to Canada.
Summer in Montréal - full of music, hot, vibrating people, living at maximum and thinking at minimum...let me be out, let me dance, let me walk, lie in the grass, be, be, be and nothing else.
Feeling so alive..when out from work, the only annoying part is coming back...about 1 hour before reaching real freedom, before getting to be myself.
Saw an excellent wild film: Head-on or Gegen die Wand in German - two crossed destinies of Turkish living in Germany, very intense, too intense, overwhelming inner energy that bursts into violence, looking for the limits and trying to go beyond, always beyond, and when they realise this is not their real self is too late...maybe never too late to finish your life...and just start a new one. Anyway, liked it.
Also Lila Downs, a crazy Mexican witch I saw tonight in concert, whispering, moaning, crying, screaming, with a deep set voice, now a hush, then a curse and a blessing. Charming, even more - thrilling.
Last Sunday - Shakespeare in the Park, A Midsummer's Night Dream, then a folk creole show from my beloved Martinique. Again...a real spell. Colourful costumes, beautiful creole children and teen-ageers, swinging and whirling in wild tropical dances, with a shiny smile on their chocolate faces.
I'm happy, nothing changes in my life right now, no drama, no action, just work and fun in the sun. A bit worried about moving to a new apartment, alone this time, get it completely furnished, then start looking for a different job, I want out of hotels, I'm fed up with it. I want to find somenthing really motivating, after all, this is what brought me to Canada.
Recommendations - March 3, 05
1442 days ago
Sunday I went to see in concert LHASA (de Sela), a Canadian Mexican-American, that lived in France lately, together with her sisters that have an itinerant circus. She sings in Spanish, French and English and released only 2 albums so far. I was dreaming about seeing her here in concert since I decided to immigrate. So she came, five minutes away from my house. In a beautiful old movie theatre from the '30s, where you can stay at the table and sip a glass of wine while her deep, hushed voice fills your soul with joy and pain. She has a very intimate way of singing, like making a confession, close to the microphone, no dancing and fooling around. You feel she's telling you things about herself she wouldn't tell to just anyone. So, if you find her albums - La llorona and The Living Road - get them, she's a pearl.
Sunday I went to see in concert LHASA (de Sela), a Canadian Mexican-American, that lived in France lately, together with her sisters that have an itinerant circus. She sings in Spanish, French and English and released only 2 albums so far. I was dreaming about seeing her here in concert since I decided to immigrate. So she came, five minutes away from my house. In a beautiful old movie theatre from the '30s, where you can stay at the table and sip a glass of wine while her deep, hushed voice fills your soul with joy and pain. She has a very intimate way of singing, like making a confession, close to the microphone, no dancing and fooling around. You feel she's telling you things about herself she wouldn't tell to just anyone. So, if you find her albums - La llorona and The Living Road - get them, she's a pearl.
My mom took my advice and went to see MISIA in concert - a brilliant, amazing Portuguese singer who reinvented the great art of Fado - this song about fate, despair, separation, longing, that breakes your hearts and mends it again. Misia puts together great poetry and beautiful music, giving them expression with her sensible, emotional voice. She's the one conceiving her albums. My mom sent me Misia's last CD - "Canto". I hope her next one - "Diva Box" will be available in Montreal soon.
A must see: THE SEA INSIDE - EL MAR ADENTRO, not because it won the Oscar, but because it truly is an amazing film, about love, life, death, responsibility, human beings. Same about "SIDEWAYS", not at all a Hollywood movie, but a sarcastic, realistic, bitter sweet touching comedy.Feel free to add your reccomendations in your comments.
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