Another evening

another dance.... I don't know why, but when I was quickly flipping through the photos, chaos seemed to yell out to me with the words:' Pick me! Pick me! Me, me, me! I wanna be the photo of the day... So what was I to do? As if I could master the energy to say no. So, without further ado, here is a bit of chaos...

Back to the dance stage...

...for me.
Dancing with my camera. In the crowd... just a shadow going by... (hmmm... I have a feeling that might not be true entirely... )

My local

is usually not this full.... But then again it usually doesn't have an excellent live act playing in front.

Little prince would disagree...

with the title Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. Because his was special. And mine is special (even though it does not receive the TLC his did - I am more a believer in the let it grow wild and offer TLC only when really necessary).
And the play? Well, it was more of a recital really. With a bit of music. Most of it providing a sound background. And a short lecture in art history. And some rough edges. And a text that did not really pull all of it together. All it needs is a bit of TLC. Just like Little Prince's rose...

Popaye the voodoo sailor man

And no Olive Oyl in sight.

In the end...

...we did get to photo Moby. We just had to sign a piece of paper stating where the photos will be published and promise we will not turn our photos of him into merchandise from which we would make money. And as I don't (as a rule) make money from my photos, this will not be hard to achieve I reckon'...
Here is the photo from the concert. It is not my favourite one... you know what my favourite ones look by now (and there is a really good one like that, but I haven't really had the time to go through the photos yet, I just quickly checked the ones I remembered already from the concert that they were good)... but I chose this one because it has a certain alien feel (sort of mothership has landed and we are here to take you home) and because he is staring me right in the face... You know, it is photographer vs photographer :)

After all, it is May

naturally the word is love
it always is

some believe they have caught it
some believe they have dodged it
some believe it will save them
others believe it will kill them
some believe it is the cradle of all joy
some believe it is the root of all pain
some believe it is as powerful as the sun
others believe it is as dark as a black hole

some hope they will find it drinking whisky in a dark bar downtown
some hope they will find it spending their hard earned money in a mall uptown
some hope they will find it sweating alcohol on the dance floor
others hope they can curl up and hide from it in the deep deep blue
some hope they will find it walking their cute dog in the park
some hope they will find it stumbling in places unknown after dark
some hope they will find it in the dusty attic or cellar
and I know I am invisible and lost to it forever

The end of my street...

Tuesday. Day 5 of staring at the ceiling and the walls (more or less, and yes they are all white – again more or less).

The orange fireball rising slowly from the house opposite (possibly aided by the fact that I still had a temperature) sent me a telegram revealing important insider trading information: stay in bed stop don't go to concert stop xx stop stop
I read it twice, thrice... I was trying to discover what was the meaning of a telegram in the 21st century? For the last decade the government has been controlling our every move through radio signals, and no other communication existed in this alienated society. Through the various revolutions that took place over the last decades (for all of which we believed will change the world for the better) our lives, thoughts, emotions and motives were reduced to: ‘Lucky to get the next breath of air. Lucky to find that piece of rotten plant. Once my neighbour dies I hope I am the first there to call dibs on his ribs. I am lucky, I will live another second, minute, hour, day.’ Never more than that. Nobody could imagine it was possible to live for more than another day. Everybody knew that there were so many things one could do and that could offend our bright and righteous leaders that there was no certainty of surviving. As the society had no interpersonal relationships all communication was reduced to instructions issued by the government. Our implanted receivers received the instructions passed over the radio waves: ‘Work. Worship. Reproduce. Work. Worship.’ At some stage everybody also received a single multiword message, a message that used to be feared, but that was not accepted with the same indifference as all other messages: 'Your useful life has run out. We are grateful for your xx years of service, but now you cost us almost 5 % of what you make us, so your time has come. Die.’

So what was the meaning of the telegram? Who sent it? What was it warning me from? Why me? I had no idea... So, after I translated the day away (and I did, I successfully translated Tuesday into Wednesday), and just before the afternoon turned into the evening storm I risked a feverish stroll to the munchkin land at the end of my street, hoping that I will discover more about the mysterious telegram...

Another day

so here comes another day without a fresh photo... hopefully this will be the last... But today, I will not leave you completely emptyhanded, instead I will give you a link to Izi's blog, who has kindly included a slideshow of my photos from his opening on his blog. And once there, do go and check his photos also... enjoy.

One man band

Now this is the problem with having a daily blog with a single postee... (I know I have a few aliases on the blog, but they are all me really). Sometimes I get ill and I really can't find the inspiration to take a photo, and I don't want to just bore you all with a random shot of my television (which was the only thing I could really see, as I was too feverish to read, work or play)... so once again no photo... but I will get better soon. I have to. This is not leading anywhere, is it?

Calling in a sicky

Not a really good day for me... A lot of sleep (what is that?), high temperature (droped to 38 whenever I had some paracetamol, otherwise it rose up to 38.8)... And I can tell you what I have noticed at 38, I only feel drained of all energy, at 38.8 my whole body aches... so you see what a difference (less than) a degree makes... At one time when I had a higher temperature I did have a feeling that I would make a photo, but that in reality seemed to be more a halucination than anything else, by the time it dropped I just didn't have the energy to do it... and I have a feeling another similar day is coming up... so ta-ta for now...

What's all this about?

It is supposed to be summer...and I really don't need this...

100010110110001110101001

Our binary professor explains the true importance of the open code.

Italians do it better...

... or this was at least what Madonna tried to convince us in the 1980s with one of her T-shirts (in Papa don't preach?). Of course, as I am not Italian, and my last Italian roots probably reach back to the Roman times, I was not really incllined to believe her. And then it all changed yesterday. At Žiga's opening. So now it is official. Italians do it better. They are much better at changing an opening into a party than, I don't know, let's say Majda Širca.

Double whammy

well, not really, but it seems to early to be able to come up with the positive way of saying this... How do you say it? You know, when two good things happen at the same time... aaargh... not my morning it seems.. well, can't win them all... Anyway, what I wanted to say was congrats Izi :) Good photos, a nice opening, and you had a mini concert to go with ... if only we had more evenings like this :)

All's well that ends well...

Sometimes it all works out in the end. The way it was meant to. And for the best (this wave of optimism seems a bit overwhelming, I know). I really wanted to go and see this performance. Of course, part of my joy of watching performances is also capturing moments in my faithfull lens... But after a few e-mails it seemed that this will just not happen (well, the only way I could go was by substituting the photographer they usually use, which would mean he would loose out on a job, and this is just not done). So... it seemed like I would be staying at home... Because this was the performance of the night as far as I was concerned... the other things did not really tickle my fancy... so there I was prepared to spend a night at home for a change (in fact I just boiled the kettle to make some tea that would go down nicely while reading a book) when Ryuzo phoned and asked me if I can come and photograph anyway... And guess what I replied? (I will leave you guessing, but while you are thinking about it, you might want to look at these photos ...)

Red rage

Extremely hard to photograph, but when you manage to get somesort of a result it makes you that much happier... If you are going to look at the whole album this music could go well with it... It just seems an easy (in fact way to easy) association to make...

Fjords? What fjords?

Mari Kvien Brunvoll. Never heard of her before, but would love to hear her again. I don't know much about Norway, but one thing I can tell you for sure: As much as I find the fjords fascinating (even though I have never been there), they have now become my second favourite association linked to Norway :)

She told me so

She told me
nobody would ever love me the way she does
she told me
nobody would ever kiss me the way she does
she sucked me into her dark eyes
and wrapped her soft hair around my body
the lights were dimmed
and sparks exploded across the universe
as her kiss landed on my neck
and I just stood there numb and dumb
staring as she walked away...

Another day of facial expressions

The blog is back and running again... and hopefully they will soon return yesterday's post to where it belongs (just in front of this one)... So now I can finally post today's post (and hope that it will stay put).
I have seen Demolition group a couple of times now... and they are easy to photograph, because the frontman likes to pull various faces, and yes that makes a good and entertaining photograph... So here is one from yesterday's concert...

Photo exhibition

In a theatre. On stage. With a short dialogue.

Tina, Damir and Stephen

Made it in the end. I was convinced that I will not see Damir at all, because I was at an opening, and one just cannot be in two places at the same time, can one? Nope. Sorry, I know you thought you can, but it is just not (humanly) possible... Or is it? What was that Einstein said (now he is someone I would love to have met)? No, I will stick to my theory. You just can't do it. It is impossible.
However... Sometimes you are lucky... And the concert starts fashionably late and even though I was even more fashionably late (or how should I put this?) I managed ta catch some of it. Maybe even just enough of it... enough to keep me wanting more...
The concert was good, but maybe the recital at the end was even better... I like the way he lets go... Disconnect the brakes, pour out the brake fluid, and hit the wall at full speed (mentally of course)... even though I have a feeling that as real as this used to be, it has now became a part of the performance as such... but it still seems an excellent way to let out some of the pressure that builds up inside... which makes me think... shall I go and sing one song at a concert on Friday?

Photo friends

from Kino Šiška... Not all of them... But we had a little get together in the park and guess what... a photographer is never bored as long as there is a camera in sight :)

The subconscious

is trying to escape (?)...

Staying positive

Went to see Staff Benda Bilili... I must say I did not know anything about them until one day ago... Well, except that they were going to play at the Druga godba festival. Then my photographer friend told me she has seen a documentary film about them and that they are a great bunch... which made me think, ok, I really have to go and see these guys... So after a long day I ended up at the concert... Not in the best mood, as we had a downer experience on the way from an otherwise great day, but looking at these guys enjoying themselves on stage even though most of them were in wheelchairs and as much as I have understood have led extremely tough lives, sure makes you think... and adds a different perspective... so to all of you (us) out there who tend to be miserable and complain just because we have not won the lottery, or because your girlfriend gave you a nasty look in the morning, or your boss was in a bad mood yesterday, or your car broke down just as you wanted to leave for a round of golf... think. And stop whining for a second. Help the old crippled lady across the street. Ask the weeping child what is wrong.
(I added this photo because his expression made me feel his tranquility in life, so yes, once again I am breaking my rules)

Just a regular Friday night

in Ljubljana... So what does it look like in your town?

One of the best...

... jazz photographers currently around. Goes without saying. What is that? Somebody in the back row seems to be disagreeing with me. Well, you are entitled to your opinion, but before you start raging and raving check his homepage. And yesterday he openend an exhibition in one of my favourite venues... A park exhibition opening in the sun... what more could one want? If I wasn't so terrified of the concept I would say perfect (the concept of perfect that is)... I think this event might be one of those that calls for me to break the rules and post multiple photos (I do like to break the rules every now and then, just to feel alive). So, now that you have seen the face and you know who we are talking about, here are a few more:
This one I chose because it looks a bit like he is saying: Me and my friends have just returned from a family gathering in Sicily... ooppss sorry forget that, from a jazz festival in Sardegna...
OK, I didn't chose it because of this. But it was taken during his opening speech, and the two guys in the background are not his bodyguards or members of the'family' but jazz musicians (and I thought it was only seeming to take a photo that included them - as it was an opening of an exhibition of jazz photos - but because it was obviously Žiga's day (for a change - usually it is the musicians in the foreground while he stands out of the photo - he had to be sharp and the musicians blurred... and for those who would not know what it is all about, they can just about make out the name in the back... so that should be a starting point for googling - so I thought it was a well thought out photo - in some ways anyway).
This one I chose because this is what he is usually like (well at least when he does not have a huge lens sticking out from where his nose should be)... relaxed and smiling and enjoying himself...
And this one... well this one is a photo of his work, just so you can see what he does.

Experimenting

The good thing about photographing without having an end client to whom you have to hand in photos is that you can experiment and do not have to worry if the photos will come out or not ... This is even more the case when you get to really dark places and you just try to get the best photo possible with the equipment at your disposal... You can play around, try new things and then come home and see on the computer if anything works, and see what does not work or what could work if you tweaked it as bit more... And remember it for next time...

Slovene Rap

It kicked off with a film... a short overview of the history of Slovene rap... and once we were all into it we were treated to a concert that reminded me of a fashion show...Not because they wore carefully selected designer clothes (even though I am sure some of them did, but because it started off by each rapper coming on stage (catwalk) and presenting one of his songs (dresses) and in the end they all came out together to show us the entire new spring/summer collection...
Of course with rappers it is all to do about attitude and putting on a show (again, not that disimilar to models walking down the catwalk), but what truly led me to this fashion show association was at the end when they were all on stage together (ok, not all, but a lot of them) they all walked around the stage like tigers in a cage (hence catwalk, which inevitably led to the fashion show association). Come to think of it, they walked around the stage like tigers in a cage all of the time, even when they are alone on stage
Even though I am not a great rap fan, I do have a few CD-s at home and I do listen to them every now and then... I am usually impressed by the lyrics (which makes it obvious that I do not listen to Gangster rap), 'cos they seem to be socially aware of the events unfolding around them, and they try their best to draw attention to the various injustices happening in this world... as for the gangsta rap... well, they just seem to have had a testosterone overdose which makes them talk rubbish most of the time..

Singing

scared... I wonder what went through her mind...

International worker's day

So why are all the lights in the factory turned on?