"I shall be telling this with a sigh,
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert Frost, 1916
It has ended again.....for now. Our short tour with Tenement Kids was great; lots and lots of fun, and a few cool shows. A few cancelled ones as well, and some freezing cold nights, but who cares? You get to drive around in a van, play your music in front of total strangers, and in the end they tell you it was great and they buy your t-shirt and maybe even a 7". What more do you want? To be continued in the summer of 2008. Next up for Union Town is the wedding party of my friend Jos 'Seein' Red' on Friday, and the already legendary Powered Records/Dead & Gone-showcase in the UK the day after.
I got home this morning at 9:30, without even half an hour of sleep, but I'm still not tired. I'm lying in my bed right now, contemplating things and feeling as free as a bird: I quit my job before I left on tour, which means that I'm now officially unemployed. What lies before me is the immense freedom -and financial insecurity- of a life as a free-lance writer. I have a shrinking bank account in sight and no real plan B yet, and still I haven't felt this sure about myself in ages. My guide will be finished soon; a very exciting project is coming up......I'm excited as a little kid about the shape of things to come. 2008 will be my year of mirificare.
...of the year. Fall is here: my favourite season. I just got back from a great tour with Liars, and I leave again in two weeks for Union Town's very first European tour with Tenement Kids. In the mean time I hope to do some essential blogging, since I officially have my life back now: the guide is finished, and there is after all life after The Deadline. So stay posted for some blogs, a. o. on jazz fusion heroes Weather Report.
By the way; American hero Norman Mailer died this weekend, at the age of 84. Tragic, if you ask me...all the good American writers seem to be dying the past few years; Saul Bellow, David Halberstam, and now Mailer. If you've never read anything by Mailer, take your pick from his extensive bibliography. I can recommend Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery (1996); a detailed biography about Lee Harvey Oswald.
Another month has passed..... For those of you who wondered what the hell I've been doing lately, the answer is: writing. Again. Just fresh out of my graduation, and I'm chained to my MacBook again, to finish The Guide. The Deadline is October 18th, so I have little over a week to finish my first real book. Exciting! I must honestly say that this is much more fun than my thesis ever was. I just wish I was the type of person who could actually 'work ahead', in stead of spending months starting up, and making schemes, but waiting 'til I can feel pressure breathing its steam down my neck to finish it. The publishers design departement is now making the bookcover, 'cause they will already start to advertise by the end of this year, even though the guide won't be issued until May 2008. I asked my friend, the talented miss Isabella Rozendaal to do the portrait, and I'm actually quite happy with the picture! I think I look very adult, like a real writer. A friend of mine said it reminded him of a Hillary Clinton-portrait.....thanks dude. Anyway, visit Isabella's website, which has some really good stuff. I particularly like her pictures of dogs.
Besides the writing, I quit my job as of December, and I'm looking for something with a little more satisfaction than my current job, which is selling books. In the beginning of November I will go on tour for 10 days with Liars, around Holland, UK and Scandinavia, to sell their merch, and a few weeks later Union Town will do its first tour, together with Tenement Kids. I'll try to be a good girl and add some new blogs in the mean time. The tragic death of jazz heroe Joe Zawinul on September 10th has inspired me to write something about Weather Report, one of my favourite bands of all time, of which Zawinul was one of the founders. Look out for that! For now, I can only add one thing: This Thursday, the Bad Brains are playing Paradiso! And we are playing the afterparty! I haven't been this nervous in ages.
I'm back in Prague! There is a smile on my face ever since I walked out of the airport. Yesterday morning I flew over here, and it felt like I had only been gone for a few days instead of six weeks. At the airport I met a guy from Amsterdam who was also going to Prague for a week, and he invited me to an ice hockey match, which is something I always wanted to see, but never got a chance to since there were no matches in the summer. So, last night we saw a slightly boring game between Slavia Praha and České Budějovice, who eventually got their ass not-so-kicked during penalty's. The stadium was only half full, but the true supporters were really going for it, despite the lame atmosphere. Ice hockey is a great game to watch, because of the elegance of the skating and the brutalness of the fight...I enjoyed it very much.
I haven't totally figured out my love affair with this city; I never expected to become so attached to this place, and so sad when forced to go back home. And now that I'm back, I feel so happy again. I don't know if it's Prague, or if it's me; so eager to explore, to discover new places, and things different from my life in Amsterdam. Living in Prague for 10 weeks, all alone, and discovering that I am perfectly capable of creating a new life somewhere else and enjoy it too, has sparked something inside me that's still there. Anyway, I will be here 'til Wednesday; writing, shooting some extra slides for the guide, visiting some places again and of course hanging out with my friends here. Nashledanou!
No posts for over a month, and so much has happened. The most important news of the past month is that I graduated! I turned in my thesis, entitled From the bare lake to the dreary street, on August 21st and a week later it was approved. My graduation is on September 25th, and my parents are coming to Holland to witness it. I'm an Art Historian now (yes, I like the capitals), 'though this realization hasn't fully reached me yet. I've decided to take a short year 'off' to focus on finishing the guide and trying to get some more freelance writing jobs, but I will probably want to apply for a Master in Journalism and Media next year, at the University of Amsterdam. I think it's time for me to say goodbye to Art History and concentrate on that which truly makes me happy: writing and editing. And maybe even, in the future, I will try to get into the School of Journalism of Columbia University (NYC).... But this is all in the future. If there's one thing I've learned the past decade, it is that my life does not let itself be contrived.
I'm flying back to Prague on Wednesday, to do some final work for my guide (and, of course, enjoy the city again). I'm looking forward to it, as I have missed it more than I imagined.
One of the best things about being home after a 3 month absence is being able to play your records again. Although I love my iPod, there are times when I crave for a piece of vinyl.
On top of this weeks playlist is the 'A Light in the Darkness' EP by NYC's Citizens Arrest. This band had a short life in the late 80's/early 90's and released aforementioned 7" EP, a full length entitled 'Colossus' and a few tracks that were on the 'Look at All the Children Now' compilation (also featuring Rorschach). I knew this band, but didn't own any of their records. A few months ago, my good friend Jeroen was selling someone's record collection and I dropped by his house one night to see if there was anything to my hearts content. I was holding the EP, hesitating if I would add it to my purchases, until Jeroen played it for me and said "If you don't buy this, you're an idiot." And he was right. I was hooked; it has been one of my favourite 7"s since. Citizens Arrest has the 'fast and furious' sound of bands like Infest, but it's mostly the vocals of singer Daryl Kahan that do the trick for me. He sounds like a maniac, basically, but one who really knows how to sing. As Eric from the excellent Something I Learned Today-site wrote about Citizens Arrest: "Hard to believe this shit ain't Japanese."
I'm back in Amsterdam. Monday morning I left Prague with tears in my eyes. It was weird to be back in Holland: the houses seemed small, the roads narrow, and all of a sudden I was able to overhear every conversation people were having...I still have to get used to hearing, and speaking, Dutch all the time. The last week in Prague was nice and a bit awkward. My friend Bianka visited me, and we took it easy besides some sight seeing. I went into the St. Vitus kathedral at the castle again, and again I was taken away by the beauty of it. The last days I tried to suck in as much of the glory of Prague as possible, knowing I would have to get used to missing the beautiful sights, the parks, the architecture. Sunday I had a 'goodbye lunch' with my friends and my roommate Zuzana, and I wandered around in the streets, feeling sad. It's nice to be home; to sleep in my own bed, have my records and books and friends around me again. But I've fallen in love with Prague, and it's hard to let go. I've decided to keep this blog, so I will have to think of a new title. As soon as I have my good mood back, I will start writing again.
A 2000 Kč (around 75 Euro) reward for the return of this dwarf parrot.
This week I've been thinking of something to post; something intelligent, witty or exciting. But with no result so far. My brain hasn't been working properly the past few weeks.
My Prague days are almost over. Monday the 30th of July I'll be flying back to Amsterdam, at the inhuman time of 6:40. My friend Bianka will visit me the last 5 days and fly back with me, so that's nice. I have a hard time believing I've been here for two months already, and at the same time it feels like two years. I've been so absorbed in this town; its city life, its culture, its inhabitants. As the first few weeks were more of a 'warming up'; time needed to get rooted, the past month or so has been filled with 'stuff'; new friends, new places, trips in and around town, a lot of researching, writing and photographing, moving, seeing friends and my parents. I'm satisfied, but not done yet...and I'll probably never be. Although my manuscript now mostly consist of ideas, bits and pieces, a scrapbook that just gets bigger and bigger and a Moleskine with only a few blank pages left, I look forward to finishing the project in the remaining two months. I've read almost every guide on Prague there is to find, and often thought "I can do this, and probably even better." I'm confident I can do it, and that feels really good. Since it's been over 30 degrees for the past week, I have no other option than to go with the flow and take it easy. The coming two weeks I will work as much as I can, and spend the rest of my time enjoying my friends and my city. I hope I will be able to squeeze out a few more intelligent, witty or exciting posts before I leave, but if not; forgive me.
Finally, I promised my parents to give them a little more honour on this blog; I think they were a bit dissapointed by the sparing post about their visit, haha. Since no thousand words could properly praise these wonderful human beings, I'll just leave you with a picture of the happy couple, taken after their extensive visit of the castle of Prague:
For the fifth year in a row, the Sculpture Grande exhibition has hit the centre of Prague, featuring sculptures of 'established' artists as well as up and coming artists. The sculptures are scattered around the centre of Prague until the 30th of September. Julian Opie, 'Imagine you are driving a blue Honda'
I'm suffering from a little writer's block, or maybe it's more a blogger's block. I'm not sure. Last week was spent with my parents, whom I tried to show as much of the city as possible, as well as some things outside of Prague. We visited Karlštejn, a small town south of Prague, where King Charles IV (then ruler of the entire Roman empire) had a castle built in 1348 to save his crown jewels (how decadent). We did a tour of the castle, which was in some ways quite impressive. The town itself isn't very interesting though, and so horrible touristic it makes you wanna kill everyone that's in your way. The next day we went to Kutná Hora, a town east of Prague, which has a beautiful old centre that is under the protection of UNESCO. We visited the St. Barbara Cathedral, which had some 15th century frescoe's that amazed me, and the Ossuary. The Ossuary is a small chapel in Selec, a suburb of Kutná Hora, that contains the remains of the 40.000 people who were buried in its cemetery. Since 40.000 dead people produce quite a lot of bones, in 1511 a monk started to decorate the chapel with the skulls and bones of the deceased, and nowadays the small chapel is completely filled with it. The ceiling has a huge chandelier containing every bone that can be found in the human body, and the corners house four big 'altars' of bones. While we were there, a group of Japanese metalheads were taking pictures of each other while doing the 'horns up'. I wonder how many album covers worldwide contain cheesy pictures taken at Kutná Hora..... The Ossuary also has its own website.
This nice view belongs to the window of my new room. The past week proved to be the most hectic since my stay in Prague, starting with the arrival of Ernesto, my best friend. Ernesto arrived last Friday around noon, and after meeting up with him, I decided to take him to my house to show him my room and have a sandwich before hitting town. Little did I know that my flatmate/'landlord' A., who had already told me I wasn't allowed to have friends sleeping over (which I found already pretty ridiculous), did not want me to have anyone over, anytime! So, Friday night I received an angry text message from him, resulting in me rushing home to discuss the situation. To make a long story short: I was not allowed to have people over without calling him first, to ask for permission. This was, to him, only natural, since it was his house, his rules and I had to obey (!) him. When I pointed out to him, so angry I had trouble keeping my voice down, that it was just insane to ask this of me, that I was allowed to have friends over since I was paying him quite a fair amount of rent for a not so big room, and that I didn't want to be treated like a child, he concluded that I did not respect him. Also, I was acting hysterical and childish. So there you go. The weekend with Ernesto was great. We walked around a lot, had dinner, spent lots of time with my new (American) friends and before we knew it, it was Sunday night again and Ernesto had to catch a 6:40 plane back to Amsterdam. Six hours later, I went to Žižkov to look for a new room, and loved it immediately. It's two blocks down from the TV Tower, in a beautiful, but slightly deteriorated, old building. The room is huge, the ceiling doesn't seem to end and my new flatmate is the cutest Czech girl I've met so far. Monday night I packed all my stuff, cleaned the house, told A. the good news and moved out. Here's to new beginnings.
Tuesday afternoon, my parents arrived in Prague. I was very happy to see them, since it had been five months since I'd last seen them, and the past days I have showed them my city. Because it truely feels like my city now. I've been here for more than six weeks, and I'm home. I can't believe I have to go back in less than a month, and to be honest, I don't want to.
Tonight I went to NoD, a gallery right next door to Roxy, one of the oldest and most legendary (underground) clubs of Prague. There was supposed to be some kind of stencil art 'thing', or so I was told by an American guy I met here (one of many; I've met more Americans here in a month than I've met in the past year, bands not included). I asked Jaime, one of the nicest persons I've met here, to come with me (yes, she's American too!) and she came with another nice girl called Jessica, from......well, you guessed it by now. Unfortunately, there wasn't a stencil in sight. The exhibition consisted of a collection of artworks from different Icelandic artists. Some of the names looked vaguely familiar, as I had visited an exhibition of Icelandic artists the last time I was in New York City, but the works bared no resemblance to anything I had seen there: mostly very complex and almost surrealist drawings and paintings. This exhibition 'Islandia' however, showed some video's and some very poor mural artworks. After a few hours two girls started to do some performance that included laptops, huge wigs with flowers and a lot of screaming through a mega-phone. By then it was time to get the hell out of there, and so we left and ended the night in Duende, my favourite bar in Prague.
There was one work of art at the exhibition that was, well let's just call it 'pretty interesting'. It took me a few seconds to figure out what it was exactly. The stills were next to a video on a loop. I forgot to write down the name of the artist or the title of the artwork, so I'll just call it 'Talking Penis'.
It's too bad that there's no sound, otherwise you could've heard the penis talking loudly in Icelandic.
By the way, there was a Danish girl also taking pictures at the gallery. I was intrigued by her camera, since it looked like an old fashioned Leica, but a very well preserved one. I asked her about it and she showed me the most beautiful digital camera I have ever seen: the Leica Digilux 2. It's digital, so it has a big screen on the back, but it looks just like a nice old Leica. Now I am probably the last person on earth to stop shooting analogue; I love films, I love the darkroom, I love all the 'hassle' that comes with it. But this was something special. I probably can't afford it, but I want that camera!
Not in the mood for writing, so I'll just leave you with a few pictures, taken the past few days.
Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square). A square in the middle of the Old Town of Prague. It is usually packed with tourists, who are closely watching the Orloj (Astronomical Clock). I was there on Thursday morning at 6 am, and it was almost completely deserted.....
Yesterday, I walked there again, noticing the beautiful facades at the buildings surrounding the square again (and the fiercely blue/grey sky). How I'm gonna miss this kind of architectural beauty...
The TV Tower however, is another story. Located in Žižkov, an area that used to be very rough and working class, it's one of the ugliest buildings I've ever seen. It stands on a plateau in the middle of a residential area, and can be seen from almost everywhere in town. It's 216 metres high. In 2001, sculptures of babies by Czech artist David Černý were attached to it.
on Town is the wedding party of my friend Jos 'Seein' Red' on Friday, and the already legendary Powered Records/Dead & Gone-showcase in the UK the day after.
