update-ino

so i'm at Giggi's place, with Pelo and Marok. Kind of ok. Tomorrow who knows what i'll be doing. But anyway, everything's fine.
Cheers.

a quick one

the ending of an email from my parents:

"Thanks for taking care of the cat and yourself."

Nice.

Leaving for Rome

This may be the last post of 2004 but after all, who can tell?
(so i haven't posted much in december: too busy studying the first week, too busy living afterwards)
so i'm still busy but
(goes to burn some cds)
i still have time for
(packs suitcase)
some blogging. Hey, did i mention i'm spending the new year in rome?
(chats for half an hour on irc)
leaving tomorrow morning, train to modena where i'll see the action painting exposition and then meet Pelodia. After that, i have no idea what we're going to do. Latest updates say we'll be eating extremely greasy fried objects, which is fine by me.
(goes to download some vinyl remixes on elioelestorietese.it)
The following morning we leave from Pelo's hometown, Rolo, and should be reaching rome in the early afternoon. Giggi should be waiting for us there with his arms wide open.

Um, gotta go make tomorrow's lunch. So i'll cut this short. I'll probably manage to update from where i'll be staying. If i can be bothered to, of course.

Later.

Inca Roads

My parents, who are currently in some latin american location i can't remember the name of but which i'm sure was also a Santana instrumental, gave me a new coat/pullover for christmas. Orange, with nazca lines all over it.
I just tried it on, and decided it's best not to wear nazca lines.

I'm too afraid aliens might want to land on me.

Small aliens.

Really small ones.

If you will only download one mp3 this year, let it be this one

And i don't mean the one i've uploaded and am sharing at the end of this post, i mean track 5 of the songs available at this link.
Recorded live in Laigueglia on the 28th of june, 1998, this song features

Elio e le Storie Tese - percfest '98 lineup:
-Feiez (Vocals)
-Rocco Tanica (acoustic piano)
-Cesareo (electric guitar)
-Faso (Bass)
-Christian Meyer (Drums)
-Elio (Flute)

and
I Quattro Dell'Oca Selvaggia
-Dado Sezzi
-Marco Fadda
-Massimo Carrano
-Carlo Martinelli
all on percussions,

performing Caetano Veloso's Desde Que O Samba é Samba

For all those who aren't familiar with the original tune, i have decided to upload the version played live in Perugia by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, for the july '94 edition of Umbria Jazz - here (160kps mp3, 6.25Mb).

This post, just like almost everything i do, is dedicated to the memory of Paolo "Feiez" Panigada, 12/7/62 - 23/12/1998.

On the phone

(or: Bas Estemeide)

phone: Ring! Ring!

Foreign number. I immediately think it's some relatives calling from chile. Or my parents calling from mexico or guatemala or wherever it is they're hanging out these days.

me: Pronto?
phone: (silence)
me: PRONTO?
phone: (more silence, lots of background static)
me: Alò, quien habla?
phone: Hello?
me: Hello, who is speaking?
phone: Alò, quien habla?
me: QUIEN HABLA?
phone: pronto? Chi parla?
me: Look, first decide which language to speak then talk.
phone: (silence)
me: English?
phone: ok
me: who's speaking?

And so on. And so on.
Eventually hung up.

ета штука никгда не будет равотать.

on the MSN

her: why haven't i seen you for so long?
me: um, i don't remember.

Memorial Barbecue Remnants

Saturday's events were pleasant and not at all foul-smelling.
Monster Road screenshots here, with a couple of my subtitles too.
Ossi Duri/Baloney Trio pics here, ft. the backs of gnapppo's head and mine(r-l), in the dark, at the very front of the first one.
Pierrejean Gaucher & Christophe Godin pics here.

A nice mp3 of Tink Walks Amok performed by Baloney Trio here.

I'll write some more about this stuff one of these days. Hopefully.

arto live bonanza

2004 has been the year of arto lindsay live webstreams.
Here's another two:
1
2
Live in The Netherlands, 25 april 2004.
Usual band. Him, Melvin, Micah. The usual stuff. Some surprises.
(Tnx again to kackatoon for the discoveries)

Katamari Damacy

The 5cm tall Prince rolls a katamari around
and collects stuff to make it bigger,
in order to create stars.

This is how Katamari Damacy works.
Very romantic, don't you think?

To-do list:
1. Find someone who has a PS2.
2. Convince him to buy this game. Force him. Use jedi mind tricks on him. Or her.
3. Play game
4. Lose contact with reality.

(Tnx to Drew)

postscript

Addendum to the previous post:
After the movie and before the concerts, the organization offers a special-priced meal at the Hotel bologna(which is where all of this stuff is taking place). Aforesaid special price consists of approx. 10-12€, which is more than what i'm paying to get there. And that's why i just plan to go out and buy some food from the street, or catch a couple of pidgeons and roast them in front of the hotel entrance.
Reflections on this topic reminded me of what was my most zappa-related meal ever: in Cuzco(Peru) i once had the amazement of finding in my same plate Corazòn Asado(Stewed Beefheart) and Palta Reina(Guacamole Queen).
I know, this information is completely useless and self-indulgent. But if it's not the kind of information you want, then stop reading other people's blogs and go read a book or something.

Bah.

Some people.

Monster roads, french musicians, secret links and baloney trios

Or rather: what i'll be doing tomorrow.
Taking a break from his current studying schedule, the webmaster will travel to Mestre, where several interesting events will be, er, event-ing.
First of all, the one which involves me directly: Monster Road, a documentary dealing with the life and work of claymation pioneer Bruce Bickford will recieve its first ever italian screening, featuring subtitles partially translated by yours truly. So now that i can see the words in context i'll finally find out if what i translated made any sense.

After dinner, which in my case will probably be a slice of pizza at the stall down the road, the first of two musical numbers will take the stage of Hotel Bologna: Baloney Trio, which is actually three(or four?) members of Ossi Duri performing...lounge versions of Zappa tunes? This i gotta hear.
And at ten o'clock it'll be time for PierreJean Gaucher and Christophe Godin to perform their celebrated set of Zappa and related tunes, arranged for two classical guitars.

After that i'll have to rush along to avoid my train turning back into a pumpkin.
Of course my presence at all of this stuff completely depends on my bicycle not breaking down on me on the way to the train station, tomorrow afternoon.

Event organized by Debra Kadabra - Italian Frank Zappa Appreciation Society Or Something.
All info c/o Musica Continua.

And now, a couple of interesting websites:
Pierre Boulez commenting Stravinsky, Webern, Schoenberg, Zappa and Boulez.
Rogerio Duprat reminiscing on his groundbreaking arrangements on historical Tropicalia albums - and on his encounter with a young Frank Zappa, at Kagel and Stockhausen's Summer Music Courses in Darmstadt, 1962!
There, i just found the hidden link between Zappa and the Tropicalia Movement. I'm so proud.

(I've always found it hard to find information about Zappa being in West Germany in 1962, actually reading about it from an eyewitness, and such an important one too, really made my day. Ok, that and finally finishing my next exam's textbook.)

banned books

The Online Computer Library Center lists the 110 most popular books that have been banned from one time to another.

It's nice to know that:
-Number of banned books i own, which are in this room while i type: 16
-Of which aren't really mine but My Father's: 3
-Number of authors in the list of whom i once sat at an opposite table outside a venice bar(and who have the most amazing hair i've ever seen): 1
-Number of books from the aforementioned 16 that i regularly pull out and consult: 3
-Number of books that made me freak out when i discovered a copy had somehow weaseled itself into my room: 1, the Bible.

At least it's a valuable edition printed in paris in 1884, which gives me a good excuse to avoid all physical contact with it. And not to learn french for the time being. Wouldn't like any of those holiness germs to trickle down on my poor, defenceless person.

indispensable video site

so...many...videos...
...must...download...everythiiiing........

small print

Suprnova.org has been offline since sunday, or earlier(i hardly ever have time to check it on weekends). When it reemerged earlier today, it had this following little text added at the bottom:

Any resemblance between users and real persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Isn't that great? Ok, i can do that too, now: Any resemblance between the webmaster and real persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Ok, now, about the college...


...Never mind, i'll keep quiet about that topic nonetheless. May i just say something? My cat misses palazzine. There, nobody can sue me for that.

Yes, Chile usually does that to you

9 May 1974
Friends Of Chile Benefit
Felt Forum, New York City

Quoting "Behind the shades" by Clinton Heylin (Penguin Books, UK 1991):
"Unfortunately Bob Dylan arrived for the show well ahead of time, and passed the hours by drinking wine and chatting with old friends like Dave Van Ronk, Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie. By the time he took the stage for his brief 15-minute set he was virtually legless - literally - and the performance remains probably the most excruciating of all his many guest appearances..."

I think i'll pass on the download.

Anyway, speaking of Chile, the military regime report i'd mentioned in this post is currently available here. Spanish language and lots of patience with .pdf files required.

Circuladô de fulô

A nice analysis of Caetano Veloso's version of Haroldo de Campos' text, Circuladô de fulô, available at UbuWeb(Mp3 included).
Grossly overlooked by some(i.e. myself), Ubuweb is also the definitive home of the famous 365 days project.

About that last post...

Yes, that's the saturday download.
Um.
I'll explain it later.
Cheers.

And now for something completely different.

1.Un Chien Andalou, Buenos Aires/Paris, 1928
2.Luigi Russolo - Risveglio Di Una Città (approx. 1921)
3.Captain Beefheart - Fallin' Ditch ('90s reading)
4.Brian Eno - Matta (1986)
5.Perez Prado and Rosemary Clooney - Mack The Knife(Brecht/Weill) (1959)

Fallin' Ditch

When I get lonesome the wind begin t' moan
When I trip fallin' ditch
Somebody wanna' throw the dirt right down
When I feel like dyin' the sun come out
'n stole m' fear 'n gone
Who's afraid of the spirit with the bluesferbones
Who's afraid of the fallin' ditch
Fallin' ditch ain't gonna get my bones
How's that for the spirit
How's that for the things
Ain't my fault the thing's gone wrong
'n when I'm smilin' my face wrinkles up real warm
'n when um frownin' things just turn t' stone
Fallin' ditch ain't gonna get my bones
'n when I get lonesome the wind begin t' moan
Fallin' ditch ain't gonna get my bones

1969, Don Van Vliet a.k.a. Captain Beefheart

Arto Interviewed

"Portuguese is a most graceful language, and the portuguese are a most respectable nation." -V.I.Lenin
"Brazilian portuguese is beautiful, portuguese portuguese sounds like russian." -Arto Lindsay

Over 70 minutes of videos of Arto Lindsay being interviewed, at this link
Arto goes through most of his career, with interesting commentaries on the contemporary brazilian dance scene, the early eighties new york improv scene, the late seventies new york punk scene and the brazilian language.
One of the best things i've seen online in quite a while.
(Tnx to kackatoon for pointing it out to me, and to Realalternative for working well, once in a while)

Job Proposal

An extended version of this job proposal reached my desk this afternoon.
I'll have to reply with a firm "Thanks, but No Thanks."

no comment (almost)

It's about this photo.
I watched the scene on the news and the first thing i thought was "Why are they wearing their ponchos sideways?" Ladies and gentlemen, a poncho is not worn that way. My father echoed my thoughts by commenting: "Don't their throats itch if they wear them like that??"
Later on i saw the picture online, and realized something. Those depicted are not traditional Chilean ponchos. Putin's in particular is nothing more than a mantlepiece with a slit in the middle. Worn sideways.

My theory is that this is actually President Lagos's cunning plan to ridiculize them in front of the whole world. I appreciate the effort, but they're doing well enough on their own.

And anyway, that same picture is also recieving some amusing attention over at KillUglyRadio.

(The reason i only linked to the picture instead of posting it here directly is that this blog looks bad enough already, thank you.)

Saturday Download: some confusion.

It has been kindly pointed out to me that today is sunday. I was living in the complete certainty that it was a saturday. This means last night was not a friday night. Kind of changes my view of things.
Anyway, it also means i accidentally skipped a saturday download, so without further ado:

Smokey & Miho - Live on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic (July 25, 2002), 192kps Mp3, 38'39", approx. 55Mb (yep, it's a big one)

This one's quite self-explicative.
All you need to know is that Smokey(who has played guitar for Tom Waits and Beck, among others) and Miho(who has been and probably still is a member of Cibo Matto and Gorillaz, besides having worked with anyone from John Zorn to the Beastie Boys) perform together as a tribute to Baden Powell and Vinicius DeMoraes's historical Os Afro-Sambas album. Which is one of the most beautiful things ever recorded, and everybody should go out and track down a copy, and since this humble website isn't worthy of hosting the mp3s of that album, we'll make do with the next best thing.

Smokey and Miho are:

Miho Hatori - vocals
Smokey Hormel - acoustic guitar, vocals

featuring:

Joey Waronker - drums
Mauro Refosco - percussion
Sebastian Steinberg - bass
Jon Birdsong - horns
Ganda - Backing vocals

1-Ocean in your eyes (Smokey and Miho)
2-Consolacao (Baden Powell/Vinicius DeMoraes)
3-Tempo de amor (Baden Powell/Vinicius DeMoraes)
4-Capoeira (Jorge Ben)
5-Orixa & Yemanja (Baden Powell/Vinicius DeMoraes)
6-Canto do caboclo pedra preta (Baden Powell/Vinicius DeMoraes)

official site

another big dilemma

I keep trying to "read" this site vertically as if it were a comic book.
The question is: is this because i'm obsessed with cats or because i'm obsessed with comic books?
WHatever the answer may be, it's rather indicative of how messed up my brain is.

(anyway, the story gets too confused after a while and there are too many characters to follow around. But that's just my impression.)

update

Ok, managed to get my blogger dashboard in english again. Feels much better now.

also

I would like to apologize about not blogging enough about what's going on in Duino.
The fact that all four of my email providers currently classify any "save the uwcad" mails as spam is a good enough explanation. But i guess i ought to offer a better one one of these days.
Anyway, in the meanime, you can read this other blog from duino. Soon to feature pictures of Yours Truly.

(Apparently, i'm not the only one not to be able to keep quiet about having a blog when drunk. Clap clap to me for remembering the URL.)

News from Keigo

Mr. Oyamada, a.k.a. CORNELIUS, writes:

Keigo writes:

I recently recorded w/ Ryuichi Sakamoto and Sketch Show and did a remix of Kings Of Convenience. Next week I'll be recording w/ Arto Lindsay. I've started recording for my new album.

I also performed live with Human Audio Sponge (ex. Yellow Magic Orchestra) at the Sonar Festival in Tokyo.

Recently, I was robbed.

Top 10 Things That Were Stolen
1. Robert Moog Etherwave Therimin
2. Korg Chaos Pad II
3. Gibson Les Paul Recording
4. Teisco Spectrum 5
5. Steinberger Fretless Bass
6. Cash (about $2,000.)
7. Ephiphone Casino
8. Korg Micro Control
9. CDJ 1000
10. Lottery Tickets (10 tickets)

(source: Matador Records.)

The webmaster is trying not to cry of joy.

the webmaster is listening to one of two P5 remixes of their songs, which is not at this moment so important, because on

ON THE 30TH OF JANUARY
IN TRIESTE
(ITALY)

Napoleon Murphy Brock - Lead Vocals, Saxophones
Roy Estrada - Vocals, Bass
Bunk Gardner - Saxophones
Don Preston - vocals, keyboards and synthesizers

with musical guests
Ken Rosser - Guitars
Christopher Garcia - Drumset, marimba, vocals

WILL BE PLAYING
IN TEATRO ROSSETTI TRIESTE
ITALY

and evaristo will be there of course
and is unmentionably happy about this right now.

Remember: you heard this here first.
And this weekend i'll post something from japan *and* from new york *and* from the rest of the world(ok, just brazil again) to celebrate by listening to. You'll enjoy. And so will i.

This is the site that kept me awake until 3AM tonight.

Die Etiketten des Chateau Mouton Rothschild seit 1945

Chagall, Kandinsky, Matta, Warhol, Motherwell, Mirò, Steinberg, Alethinsky, Masson, Tchelitchew, Haring, Picasso, Braque, Villon, Dalì. And so on.

Good wine (i assume), good art, good taste.

Link of the day

Saul Steinberg, Untitled, 1971.
Ink on music paper, 14 1/4 x 20 1/8".

The Saul Steinberg Foundation is where most information can be found about one of the greatest, if not the greatest 20th century cartoonist. Which may seem like hyperbole if you're not familiar with his name, but is actually not pushing the point hard enough. The site's Life And Work section puts it better:
"Saul Steinberg (1914-1999) was one of America’s most beloved artists(...)."
Which i still don't actually feel sounds good enough. But it'll do. Just go there and check out his pictures, then go looking for more online*. Well worth it.

*Here, for example.

From Barry Miles' A Biography. First chapter online.

Yoko acted like Frank Zappa had stolen everything he had ever done or even thought from her." Frank completely ignored her.
If he hadn't been dead for three years, Marcel Duchamp would have had a couple of words to say to both of them.

First major report on torture and political assassination during the chilean military regime presented.

Links via google news:
Chile's torture report finalised - BBC News
Chile completes terror regime report - The Washington Times
Chile: Pinochet crimes to be exposed for the first time - Pravda
Daughter rues Pinochet-era abuses - BBC News

Violeta Parra - La Carta

Me mandaron una carta
por el correo temprano,
en esa carta me dicen
que cayó preso mi hermano,
y sin lástima, con grillos,
por la calle lo arrastraton, sí.

La carta dice el motivo
de haber prendido a Roberto
haber apoyado el paro
que ya se había resuelto.
Si acaso esto es um motivo
presa también voy, sargento, sí.

Yo que me encuentro tan lejos
esperando una noticia,
me viene a decir la carta
que em mi patria no ha justicia,
los hambrientos piden pan,
plomo les da la milicia, sí.

De esta manera pomposa
quieren conservar su asiento
los de abanico y de frac,
sin tener merecimiento,
van y vienen de la iglesia
y olvidan los mandamientos, sí.

Habráse visto insolencia,
barbarie y alevosía,
de presentar el trabuco
y matar a sangre fría
a quien defensa no tiene
con las dos manos vacías, sí.

La carta que he recibido
me pide contestación,
yo pido que se propale
por toda la población,
que el "león" es un sanguinario
en toda generación, sí.

Por suerte tengo guitarra
para llorar mi dolor,
también tengo nueve hermanos
fuera del que se m'engrilló,
los nueve son comunistas
con el favor de mi Dios, sí.


Violeta Parra- La Carta - 128kps mp3 - 2.66Mb

Come back next week for the originally scheduled mp3 download.

Caetano live

See & Hear Caetano Veloso And Orchestra Live at this link.

Small question: why was my blogger dashboard in italian today? This was most definitely wrong.

SLOW

Boom! One day your graphics card goes boom.
Which means i'm currently accessing my pc via a remote desktop program, triggering it to work from a distance.
It also means i need to buy a new graphics card, thus making me even less wealthy. (Money should start knocking on my door again by the end of the month, so don't fear. I'm not organizing any fundraisers, yet.)

To you, it mainly means i'll be updating even less then usual, since being online like this is becoming quite a nuisance.

what makes me tick

My afternoon plans were ruined by Gnapppo, who redirected me to this archive of contemporary art sound and video files. Am currently downloading the video(?) of John Cage's 4'33''.

All this brought me to some reflections, such as:
Should we define a surrealist to be anyone who proclaims himself as such, or just anyone who Breton considered a surrealist? In the second case, we would have to study Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin as surrealists. And not Salvador Dalì.
My realization of this made me do the happy dance around my room, and proceed to change my study schedule even more.

"Everything we do is music"
-John Cage

Saturday download, the third.

Arto Lindsay played in padova last saturday, but since i'm very, very poor i couldn't go to see him. So instead i'll just upload this radio broadcast of an excerpt from a gig he did this summer. and link to his website, which was recently updated completely. About time, too.
Anyway:

Arto Lindsay Trio live in Saafelden, 27 august 2004.
1 - Habite em mim (Lindsay/Gibbs) 4:38 - 128kps Mp3 4.25Mb
2 - Over/Run (Lindsay/Levin) 3:13 - 128kps Mp3 2.95Mb
3 - Maneiras (Zeca Pagodinho) 4:26 - 128kps Mp3 4.07Mb
4 - Into Shade (Lindsay/Santana*) 4:50 - 128kps Mp3 4.43Mb
5 - O Mais Belo Dos Belos (Guiguio) 5:06 - 128kps Mp3 4.68Mb
6 - Radio outro 0.16 - 128kps Mp3 0.25Mb

The band:
Arto Lindsay - Electric guitar, vocals
Melvin Gibbs - Bass
Micah Gaugh - Keyboards, sax

Next week Caetano is playing in italy, but i'm not wealthy enough to go to that, either. Damn.
WGD Central will now devote the rest of the day to watching some Marx Brothers movies and continue trying to forget about Bush.

*Lucas, not Carlos

The Formalist

Since i haven't linked to many comics recently, go and read E-merl's The Formalist, a potentially infinite hypercomic.

Also: Get one of these for your kid! The perfect gift for the post-nuclear family.

in an ideal world...

In my ideal world, the 2004 election ballots would be counted by a giant supercomputer. After some time the machine's loudspeakers would bellow:
"PEOPLE OF EARTH! THE NEW US PRESIDENT IS..."
(pause for suspence)
"...AL GORE!"
and everybody would be like: "huh?"
and then the machine(who of course, in case this wasn't already clear, would also be a giant robot)would speak again:
"PEOPLE OF EARTH PLEASE BE PATIENT, PREVIOUS DATA INCORRECT."
(everbody sighs of relief)
"THE REAL NEW AMERICAN PRESIDENT IS...ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO!"

and two CIA guys at the back would look at each other and say "whoops!"

In Pancevo

The town of Pancevo, Serbia is the home of GRRR!- International Comics Festival. IndyMagazine offers a very nice photoreportage of this year's edition from one of the guests.

"Urbaniturbani (yes, it means "Urban Turban") the radio station, was covering GRRR! in some detail. Much later that Saturday, a crowd of drunken cartoonists took over the station at midnight and played music more to their taste long into the small hours ..."


Also on Indymagazine: Election comics by Art Spiegelman, Joe Sacco and Willem.
I remember seeing a small exposition of Willem's works about a year ago in Rome and it shocked me to see the level of anticlericalism in some of his works, considering they were literally at a stone's throw from the vatican. But then again, they were exposed in an anarchist bookshop specialized in avantgarde manifestos from the twenties, so i should have known what to expect.

Post Scriptum: don't miss the Art Spiegelman Interview linked from that same site. Interesting views on what it's like to be a mouse in a world of lizards. These are the symbolisms i love the most.

Preparations...

The wisest suggestion i've heard about election night goes something like this: buy large amounts of alcohol to celebrate or to forget.
As for me, not knowing whether the time zone will be appropriate for such activities and probably not being able to afford them in the first place, all i'll do is get ready for the worst to happen.
I'm not very optimistic about how things will go this time around, all i can say is that i really, really hope to be proved wrong.

Oh, but i have a couple of suggestions anyway(as if anybody cared): why not watch this movie and then listen to this interview? Or vice versa.

"We're talking about having our own personal Ceausescu here. His name will be easier to pronounce of course, probably it's gonna be a one-syllable word. Like Bush, or Quayle, or something like that. But the result is the same."

-F. Zappa, interviewed by J.B.Peterson, 21 June 1990

(Both links courtesy of killuglyradio.com)

Saturday Download, vol.2: Genesis

I had a very clear idea about what to upload this week. Then i changed my mind. Then i changed my mind again. Then i uploaded both of the things i wanted to share, so it would be easier to make my mind up.
Then i realized i wasn't really in the mood for either of the selections i had chosen, and decided to upload something that just feels right in this moment.

So here you have the song Genesis, originally recorded by Jorma Kaukonen in 1974 for Quah, his first solo album, in the version that Cristina Donà gave us a few years ago, only available on a limited edition EP which happens to be in front of me while i'm typing this.

Cristina Donà - Genesis
(Kaukonen)
Recorded in 2000 for the Goccia EP
Cristina Donà - vocals, egg shaker, trumpet
Davide Govelli - acoustic and electric guitars, barlock
4'48" 192kbps mp3, 6.6Mb

As a bonus, i'm including the original version:
Jorma Kaukonen - Genesis
(Kaukonen)
Jorma Kaukonen - acoustic guitar
4'20'' 192kbps mp3, 5.97Mb

"At the time, my wife Margareta and I realized we were really miserable and we were trying to be happier together. I was writing a lot of true love songs - true love almost gone wrong but saved at the last moment. Some people have suggested that wouldn't it be nice if you could write songs like 'Genesis' all the time, and I always say 'Yeah, it would be, but it would be great not to have to be in the place I was when I wrote it.' Many of the best songs get written in a state of abject misery. I prefer to write fewer songs and have less cataclysmic events in my life."

-Jorma Kaukonen, from the Quah album liner notes.

Song Lyrics:

Genesis

Time has come for us to pause
And think of living as it was
Into the future we must cross, must cross
I'd like to go with you
And I'd like to go with you
You say I'm harder than a wall
A marble shaft about to fall
I love you dearer than them all, them all
So let me stay with you
So let me stay with you
And as we walked into the day
Skies of blue had turned to grey
I might have not been clear to say, to say
I never looked away
I never looked away
And though I'm feeling you inside
My life is rolling with the tide
I'd like to see it be an open ride
Along with you
Going along with you
The time we borrowed from ourselves
Can't stay within a vaulted well
And living turns into a lender's will
So let me come with you
And let me come with you
And when we came out into view
And there I found myself with you
When breathing felt like something new, new
Along with you
Going along with you

Next week, one of the things i had originally chosen. Or not. Something completely different, anyway.

Yefimov's History Lesson

Boris Yefimov, The History Lesson (1941)

'I do not intend to take a rest from politics. Nor will you. You'll continue drawing your cartoons because you do it well'
-Leon Trotsky,shortly before his exile in 1928, in conversation with Boris Yefimov.

Although i'm still trying to find out about the existence and eventual availability of comic books during Soviet Russia, the importance of satyrical cartoons from that period is universally recognized. Today, for example, i have come across this fascinating interview with Boris Yefimov, the now-104-year-old cartoonist who was active during the most oppressive years of Stalin's power.

Another cartoon of his and a very short biography can be found at this other site, which also mentions Yefimov's work on propaganda posters in the sixties.

post-scriptum

While i was preparing the last post, my old friend Mitko suggested me to link to this image. Which as a long-time Michael Ende reader i just couldn't help doing. It actually reminded me of my childhood, grazie mitko!

Speaking of Escher...

Print Gallery, lithograph, 1956.

"Mystery of Print Gallery solved", the official M.C.Escher site i linked to the other day triumphantly titles.
This so-called mystery of what ought to be in the blank center of this famous painting never actually had been one, as can be demonstrated from various sources.
One source, for example, is Bruno Ernst's omnipresent text The Magic Mirror Of M.C.Escher, where the author points out that in Escher's final print, 1969's Snakes, it is not necessary to continue the painting to what may seem like infinity, because it is enough to simply suggest this possibility.


Snakes, woodcut, 1969

As we can see here(click picture for an enlargement), the rings at the center of the painting could go on into infinity as they would do in other earlier Escher works, and it is our awareness of this fact that dispenses the artist from actually representing it.
Escher recognizes his own limits, the approximation to infinity is literally that: an approximation, and even the finest artisan in the world could not achieve the detail needed.

The same thing happens in Print Gallery, where each side of the painting is amplified four times as much in the next. The center of the work would theorically show another approximation to infinity, with the same image repeated on and on. This, however, was not the point Escher wanted to make. Since he wanted to represent the amplification of images closing in on each other, what happened in the center was utterly irrelevant, and portraying it would have been a useless distraction.

The aforementioned "news headline" is interesting anyway, as it links to a completely mathematical explanation to the problem, Escher and the Droste Effect which i particularly recommend to anyone studying or interested in maths-related disciplines. It explains some of the aforementioned topics with insightful computer-generated images and a pdf article which, although i was only barely able to grasp most of the maths, is quite a good read.

Jury Duty

That latin american film festival i mentioned the other day? A bizarre turn of events landed me a place in the jury, with my nice badge, festival program and seven-day pass bundled in. Sweet.

To which i must add this small anecdote:
Five minutes ago i pop by the living room and find my mom relaxing in front of the tv. On the screen, a cop-looking couple fighting a bad guy with a knife.
Me: "What're you watching?"
Her: "Oh, those two german cops are finally catching the bad guy, who's an evil chilean expatriate."
Me: "For real??"
Her: "Yeah! And the cops just found out they're brother and sister, so now they can't fall in love with each other anymore."

Which completely spoiled the fun out of going to the festival, because no movie could beat the premises of the show my mother was watching on tv.

Oscar Peterson - Wave

Starting a new tradition here at WGD Central - the Saturday Download.
Expect something worthwile in this space every week. That'll probably also make me update more regularly.

This week, i'm making this nice little sound file available, originally recorded in 1969 for the Motions And Emotions album, with the great Claus Ogerman arranging and conducting the orchestra. Which explains how this can manage to be one of the most beautiful encounters of improvised piano and strings i've ever heard. But maybe that's just me.

Oscar Peterson Trio with Claus Ogerman Orchestra - Wave(Jobim)
Oscar Peterson - Piano
Sam Jones - Bass
Bobby Durham - Drums
Claus Ogerman - Arrangements, Conduction
Unknown Orchestra.

Recorded in Villingen, West Germany in march 1969.
(info from this site - grazie pino!)



Download the 11Mb 256kps mp3 here, or just go for the 5.5Mb 128kps one if you have a slow connection.

Meanwhile, in FredLand...

Continuing the life chronicles of the famous Fred...

Scene: Fred's place, kitchen.
Fred opens the fridge, turns to his dad.
Fred: "Why is there only beer and sausages in the fridge?"
His Dad: "They were cheap. We got them in slovenia."
Fred: "Ok, that's fine for you since you're going away for the weekend. But what am i going to eat?"
His Dad: "Beer and sausages."

The Tati - Belleville connection

Word has just reached me (Via the magazine Internazionale, thus justifying the renewal of my subscription) that Les Triplettes De Belleville director Sylvain Chomet's next project is based on L'Illusioniste, a recently discovered script written in the '50s by none other than the great Jacques Tati.

I have been wanting to see Les Triplettes De Belleville for quite some time already, having read great reviews most of which pointed at Tati as one of the influences in its making. But i didn't know the film was an all-out homage to the director, even making him appear in one of the scenes, as i discovered reading This Interview. So for these and other reasons it's gone way up to first place in my dvd's-to-buy list.



It is an added satisfaction to know that the L'Illusioniste project might also end up being the first full-length animated movie ever made in Scotland. Score one to my homeland.

Future appointments

Over a hundred works by M.C.Escher are on exposition in Rome's prestigious Musei Capitolini until the 23rd of january, 2005. Meaning i'll just have to pop over and take a look, then.

In the meantime, i'll probably be spending quite some time in Trieste next week.

And speaking of Escher, why not catch up on another dutch outsider protosurrealist?

William Shatner - Has Been.

It's crazy. It's absurd. It's almost esoteric.
But most of all, it sounds surprisingly good.

It's produced by Ben Folds and features guest appearances by Aimee Mann, Joe Jackson, Lemon Jelly(!), Henry Rollins, And Adrian Belew(!!)

You can listen to it here and read(and hear) more about it here.

WGD will be back for good as soon as humanly possible.

Recoil

As if he didn't already have enough problems, the webmaster has a cold.
He sneezes, the aftershock sends him to the other side of the room.
Damn chair with wheels.

WGD will be back for good as soon as possible.

The sms i didn't send

Was in London over the weekend.
Here's a text message i was going to write but eventually didn't bother to send:

"Dormo a casa di Gri.

Ha un divano!"

(Send: Y/N)

WGD will be back for good as soon as possible.

Involuntary Simpsons Quote

On the way back home last night.

Her: We should rob the little store down there. I wonder why we never thought about doing that.
Me: Why bother robbing a little store when this town has two banks and a post office?
Her: Yes, but i'm hungry now!

WGD will be back for good as soon as possible.

How i learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, revisited.

"what shocks me most about it all", a good friend of mine* once told me after watching Dr. Strangelove for the first time, "is how close we actually were to that happening. And how little we know about how close we still may be."
Turns out the movie was much, much, much more realistic than most believed, even those of us who have studied 20th century history to a good extent. And this article explains why.
(Link via Mark Evanier)

*whom i still owe some money so i won't make his name here in fear of having accidentally misquoted him.

Won't Go Down will be back for good as soon as possible.

(please wait)

We are currently experiencing severe hardware problems.
Won't Go Down will be back for good as soon as possible.

"voialtri, avanti con quel camion"

Please ignore what's going on in the three posts below. I was preparing a big post last night, but then my connection broke down while i had those images temporarily up. Everything will make sense again as soon as i get back into the state of mind of doing this. Probably tonight. And it ought to be good.

On the winamp: Van Morrison - A Night In San Francisco. Ten years after it was recorded, more than six after i lost my copy of it, the night Blue Moon played live in mickey mouse and everybody subsequently got too drunk to keep track of their personal possessions. Which is only fitting, since that was the album that got me wanting to play the harmonica in the first place.

WORK IN PROGRESS

quino3

quino2

Quino - 1

Arto Lindsay, Chenonceaux


Vinicius Cantuaria, NYC


Kazu Makino, Nerano

Photos by Diego Cortez, at Stuzzicadenti.org


Stuzzicadenti 1997-99, cd and mixed media art object by Diego Cortez featuring himself, DJ Spooky, Butch Morris, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Priest, Ben Neill, Kazu Makino and Arto Lindsay.

Also: Vinicius Cantuaria interviewed by NPR, 24th July 2004.

I really, really want this.

Drew Weing's Journal Comic is one of the best things available on the internet. Period.
This volume collects all of his Journal Comic strips, plus a nice amount of bonus material. Self-printed, like just about everything he's done until now, which will make it quite difficult for a copy to reach my hands.
But not impossible.

Désolés indeed!

Hand wash with warm water.
Use mild soap.
Dry flat.
Do not use bleach.
Do not dry in the dryer.
Do not iron.
We are sorry that our president is an idiot.
We did not vote for him.

Via Newsgrist, a great artblog i wish i had the time to go through the full archives of. But i'm too busy studying Rothko, Motherwell, DeKooning and Gorky.
What i learned today: After a few drinks, Arshile Gorky would usually start singing traditional armenian folk songs. But the other artists liked jazz better.
(Source: D. Ashton - The New York School:A Cultural Reckoning, 1973)

Yes, there is a Santa Claus!

The rumour was true, according to this catalunyan site which links to an extinct german webpage. These are professional sources if i've ever seen any, so it has to be true: Stanley Kubrick actually was, at some point of those crazy, crazy sixties, planning to film his own adaptation of Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings with the beatles as lead actors. Starring George as Gandalf, Paul and Ringo as Frodo and Sam and John as...um...Gollum. The true source of this entropic spiral of wierd information is Peter Jackson himself, the guy who makes movies about hobbits smoking joints.

Myself, i never really got past chapter five of the first book of the trilogy, but sort of enjoyed the appendixes. Also wasn't very interested in seeing the movies, i'm more of a star wars geek myself. Would have gladly seen the kubrick version though, had it ever existed.

Does this answer your question, Mitko? You got me curious there!

My posts have been making me look too clever lately, so here's what happened in the last ten minutes...

So i was lying in bed reading the book i bought today. A thought crosses my mind, as i stroked my cat. Cats feed on mice. And mice feed on dead people. Therefore, cats are higher up on the food chain than us.
But that wasn't what shocked me. After all, i called it quits on the food chain about a year ago.
What shocked me was about dogs.
What do dogs eat? Hint: dogs are domesticated.
Dogs eat dogfood.
Dogfood is manufactured by humans.
Dogs left independently wouldn't know what to eat.

Therefore, if humanity became extinct, dogs would just starve away while cats would rule the earth, thanks to their preserved independence and to a coincidental surplus of plump well-fed mice.

I had always considered the possible extinction of humanity to be a good thing, but now i realize that if it happened, dogs would go down the drain too. And as much as i love cats, some of them being my best friends, roommates, accomplices and occasional colleagues in work and study, the extinction of dogs would just not be fair. They're just unfortunate, not evil or anything.

All of these conclusions made me terribly sad.
So i went to the kitchen and got myself some ice cream.

The phone rings.
Them: "Aren't you coming out tonight?"
Me: "I was going to, but then i started thinking about dogs and found ice cream in my freezer.
Them: "..."

Couldn't let this one pass me by...

See GWB singing the lyrics to my ringtone over at FZ vs WMD.
(link via KillUglyRadio)

Caetano Online!

Brazilian singer/songwriter extraordinaire Caetano Veloso finally updated his website! This is the first facelift it's had since its debut, in 1997, for the release of the Livro album (which i was coincidentally listening to in the shower this morning).
Since 1997, it had only been updated *four* times. Caetano hates the net, and this attitude was reflected in his old site... Hope things have changed now!
Anyway, go there now and enjoy the new stuff!

Postscript:

"Nirvana's Nevermind is one of the most beautiful albums ever made. Rock albums, of course. It's one of the five greatest albums of all times, anyway."

-Caetano Veloso, 2004

Compelling.

Tiger Magazine may look like a fashion magazine, at first sight.
Only at first sight.

Also, How to build an alien communicator.

More wabb...er, Rabbits.

Eduardo Kac, GFP Bunny, 2000. Materials: One phluorescent bunny.

Rabbits, hares, bunnies, etc. Phluorescent, too. Fast and bulbous. Tight also. (Haven't finished reading that last article yet, so i still don't have a clear opinion about it. But i tend to disagree. Updates pending.)

What, is this blog becoming an artblog? That would be cool! But i don't think we'll get that lucky. I'll probably start posting about boring stuff(i.e. my life, duino, etc) again one of these days. And i hope my cat starts blogging again soon, too.

(Please note: not only is this rabbit phluorescent, it is also clickable. And cuddly, of course. Follow the green rabbit.)

Joseph Beuys, Capri Batterie, 1985

This one, on the other hand, i just love! It would make a great album cover, methinks. Or digipak single cover. Although maybe that would be disrespectful towards the artist.
(It must be hard to be disrespectful to the artist who performed How to Explain Paintings to a Dead Hare, however.)

Joseph Beuys, Evolutionäre Schwelle, 1985

Every now and then you come across a work of art that you just can't stand. Not that you dislike, but that makes you feel very, very uneasy. A bit like the effect Joanne Graham's "Seven Dogs Playing Poker" had on Homer Simpson in one of those halloween specials from yesteryear ("Those dogs are playing cards! Aaaaaaaauuugh!!!" One of the most terrifying simpsons moments ever. But i digress). In my case, such an effect was brought to me by this Joseph Beuys installation, Evolutionäre Schwelle(1985). Don't ask me why it makes me feel so strange, i haven't the slightest idea myself. Maybe it has something to do with once having to correct a manual at work that was about measuring this kind of steel plate. Mysterious.

Oh, no, wait, that's not steel. It's felt. Even worse! Waaaaugh!

More Crumb

It seems that Barry from Killuglyradio also stumbled across the Robert Crumb exhibition website i linked to in that last post. He also linked to some other tasty Crumb-related websites and news items. So beng the lazy slob that i am, i will just link to his post so you can follow the links from there. I'm so lazy. And i also like to say the word "also" a lot. Also. Also. Also. It's great how words seem to lose significance and become pure sound if you repeat them for too long. Somebody get this keyboard away from me.

Yeah, but is it Art?

...is what Robert Crumb is wondering at Museum Ludwig, Köln, until the 12th of September(German not completely necessary).
Back in the States, Bill Barminski appears to have some answers. Or are they just more questions?(RiccoMaresca gallery, NYC, September 9 - october 30, 2004).
Miyazaki and Moebius ignore the problem altogether and happily expose in Paris from December 1st 2004 to March 13th 2005.

And what about italy? Well, there just might be a chance of this blogger actually meeting one of the greatest cartoonists ever lived, not to mention childhood(lifetime?) idol, sometime next weekend. But i'll tell more about that as soon as i'm certain i have enough coins in my purse for such a thing to be possible. Meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed for me!

Ad Nauseam.

I'm too lazy for my blogspot, too lazy for my blogspot, too lazy.
And so on.

50 Reasons To Stop Sketching At Conventions, by Stuart Immonen

Go read this comic. It's for free, see? It's for free!

Also

My brother just came in to remind me to check the cat's email.
So i did.
It's amazing how many people want to loan money to a small orange cat.

map update

Ok, there's only one new country since the last time i did this, but it's still a small thing to be proud about. And furthermore - evaristo's moving east! So many great places to explore in this expanded european onion(sic)!

create your personalized map of europe
or write about it on the open travel guide

(20 minutes later Post Scriptum: This is a map of places i've visited. As in: taken a bus, plane, train or trycicle to. It is Not in any way an Olmo Map. Why does everybody always think this?) (On the other hand, maybe i ought to feel flattered about this)

Had i already linked to this? Don't think so.

Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein explores the sources of some of the artist's most famous works: Romance and adventure genre comics from the fifties and early sixties. Great Silver Age era comic artists Such as Kirby, Heck, Romita Sr. and Ditko are easily recognizeable.

And just to make this post look less serious, i would like to share with you that i'm blogging from my bed.

More Baseman

Play with Gary Baseman and Tim Biskup's interchangeable postcards at Tin Man Alley.
Yes, we're still going through our plastic art toy trip here at WGD Central.

1.

So today i felt like linking to some things that i consider inspirational. I'm doing this in a hurry, so i might be adding some nice images later. Meanwhile, in inverse order(whatever that may mean), here are three things that were on my mind today.

The first: Rykodisc records will be publishing Cristina Donà's first english-speaking album on the 13th of september. Her music is something to keep an eye on, and i truly, sincerely wish her success. The right kind of success.
The album, simply titled Cristina Donà, will be published in 33 countries. Italy included.

Go check out the new english-speaking section of her site, still a work in progress but extremely worthwhile nonetheless.

2.

Roberto Matta permanent exhibit at Galeria De Artes Graficas VALA.
Even at work, people have started teasing me about when i'll finish my university thesis on this artist. Ha ha fucking ha.

3.

Gary Baseman interviewed at Scene360. Designer, toymaker or artist? The answer lies in there somewhere. Somehow.
KidRobot Toys offers an assortment of Bateman's works for sale. Go and enjoy their junk.

(Interview link via GmtPlus9.)

burek

Back from croatia. Had a really, really, really swell time. Problem is, now i don't know how to start the day without my morning kick of burek.
Oh well, at least i have emotion eric to cheer me up.

ok

So i'm leaving for Croatia early tomorrow morning. Pelo is already keeping a place for me, or at least that's what we all hope. He never specified it would be a place we would all fit in, though.
The tent eventually decided not to be an issue, as about half of the people who'd been counted in by both interested parties eventually didn't make it, so as usual things just fixed themselves. Thanks anyway to Igor for his kind and amazingly swift offer of help, i was actually hoping to use your tent: the radioactivity would have been the talk of the town. Come in dear, the fallout is lovely.
I still haven't found my rucksack and am leaving in eight hours, but don't worry, what's most important is that i know where my towel is. Always.

I'll be back here on saturday with more stories, running men, cows, cats, bears, music, general wierdness and asking for water before going to bed. And promising updates on stuff i never get around to write about.

And when i get back my summer will be over.

Cheers.

Man Running

Runner, an animation by Makoto Nakamura.

We treat you like cattle

One thing i'll remember fondly from my trip to prague earlier this summer is the amount of decorated cows available on the streets. Actually, of all the pictures i took there, i think the only good one is the one that portrays two such specimens. Nothing surprising, my photographic skills are such that out of 36 pictures, only one or two are usually passable for human inspection.
Anyway, this morning i found the official prague cowparade website.
So go there and have a cow, man!

(damn, now i'm feeling nostalgic for prague...)

by the way

The webmaster will be away camping in Croatia with some irregular associates this week. If he manages to find a tent within the next couple of days, that is.

Um, anybody got a tent i can borrow?

some nice music

OrchestraSpaziale plays zappa, live at radio3, and you can listen to it here.
Also from the same site, a 1996 eelst live gig.
(Tnx to Gnapppo)

lifelong doubts

I'm watching The Cure's video for Close To Me.
I've always wondered how they managed to fit the cameramen into that little closet.

FYI

Bad Scrabble (once again via Killuglyradio), brings to mind a couple of old scrabble anecdotes. For one, the time when a still short-haired and bespectacled evaristo-to-be played scrabble with some old glasgow chums and was handed the perfect tiles for spelling "YAZOO" or "WAZOO". I eventually chose the former, since due to some of my earlier behaviour we had to insert the "no zappa titles" rule. Of course, after fifteen minutes of intense discussion, the others were forced to implement the "no obscure record label names" rule, too. Pity, any of those would've gotten me a truckload of points.
The other equally anticlimactic story happened less than a year ago, when we had a game of All-Languages-Accepted Mutual-Trust-Based Extreme Scrabble. If memory serves well, participants were a hungarian, an israeli, a latin american and myself (representing any other repressed minorities). Quite surprisingly, the game was not won by the Hungarian, helped by the mixed blessing of one of the most complicated languages in the world.
It was won by a passing italian.
Go figure.

And yes, posts have been scarce around here because we've gone from "oh my god, so much has been going on and i just haven't had the time to post about it on the blog" to "things around here are SO boring and there is absolutely nothing to be posted about". Either way, you -the reader- lose.

Oh, and i've been trying to implement an rss feed on this blog. Theorically it would only take a single click in my user settings. Instead i've had to bang my head against the keyboard for several hours, still to very little avail. If i ever actually manage to get something done with this, i'll let you know. But you'll probably have been distracted by your household piglets suddenly sprouting wings and fluttering around your back garden by then.

Don't say i didn't warn you...

Here and Here is where you can find just the right critter hats for the next Dress-Up-Like-Robin-Day! As you all should know by now, Dress-Up-Like-Robin-Day is that annual festivity which, uh, only ever happened once (a couple of months ago) and only involved two of my closest friends. For a couple of hours. But anyway! The next one will be even better! So get your critter hats today! Or knit your own ones, which would make you even cooler.
As cool as a mentally deranged person can possibly be considered, that is.
Oh, and be sure to take more than a passing look around meomi.com, as it's one of my favourite new-design sites.

Updates around here have been slow as of recently, mainly because i was dsl-connectionless and didn't want to post from the college connection, which is just not safe. So as was inevitably going to happen, these days my cat was blogging more often than i was.

Will update readers on a few important goings-on, regarding employment and institutionally recognized felinity. And stuff.
More to come.

Eventually.

There's something for everyone

Over at this site you may enjoy the one and only Napoleon Murphy Brock performing a selection of Zappa classics at this year's Arezzo Wave Festival, while some italians throw muffins at the audience. Said muffins come from a plastic bag on which the Agip Store insignia is well visible, thus making me an even prouder customer and occasional shoplifter of such an illustrious enterprise.
Shortly thereafter, Napoleon stops singing, picks up his towel and walks away. Now there's one hoopy frood who really knows where his towel is.

You wait, time passes.

And finally, Fernanda Porto comes on to sing her enchanting new bossa nova. Or at least i suppose she does, i haven't watched that part yet.
(link via KillUglyRadio)

Non-misplaced Siblings

Washing the plates, my brother calls.
Him: "hey, is it raining there yet?"
Me: "no, it's, uh, still kind of warm here."
Him: "oh cool, 'cause i can see some big black clouds gathering over duino from where i'm standing(trieste castle), looks like it's gonna pour down any minute now."
Me: "oh, ok, i'll take the washing in. Anything else?"
Him: "Yeah, water the plants."
Me: "Cool."

End of conversation.

Childhood.

Just finished watching an mtv special on Bob Marley. Wasn't too bad, for mtv standards. There were, however, many videos i had never seen before. It seemed to me that Robert Nesta M. often made children be the stars of his videos, quite appropriate for the message of hope he was spreading around. Both things(small children and hope) would get you arrested these days. But anyway, what gave me mixed feelings was seeing the videos and thinking to myself that these 1978/1981 children were dressed like my parents used to dress me up at the time. (i have pictures to prove it, but they will never, ever appear online. This blog itself is enough humiliation, thank you.)
What followed was a progressive mix of:
-nostalgia
-pride(for once looking like something that would appear in a bob marley video, not trendy perhaps but cool nonetheless)
-"oh my god, am i really that old?"

But still, i would love to get that kind of clothes back. Flannel pants. Jeans jackets with brown patches on the elbows. Colorful pullovers. Cool. As if i didn't look silly enough the way i usually dress, but after all, silly is in the eye of the beholder.

Another thing, speaking of childhood, that induced me into reflection today was this nursery rhyme:

Monday's Child is fair of face,
Tuesday's Child is full of grace,
Wednesday's Child is full of woe,
Thursday's Child has far to go,
Friday's Child is loving and giving,
Saturday's Child works hard for a living,
But the Child that is born on the Sabbath Day,
Is witty and wise and good and gay!

I was born on a thursday. The reason this poem turned up on a yahoo group i subscribe to was in reference to this song whose lyrics i just need to post here and now. Had been a while since i last posted lyrics, so don't complain.

Some Birds Blue (Thursday's Child)

Words&Music: Sananda Maitreya

• Thursday's child has far to go •
• But there are things he needs to know •
• Thursday's child is wondering why •
• His apple has fallen from your eye •
• Why are some birds blue? •
• What is the taste of rain? •
• Why are some birds blue? •
• And why am I not with you? •
• Thursday's child has love to give •
• From a heart that's positive •
• Thursday's child was born to sing •
• Into your ear the sweetest things •
• Why are some birds blue? •
• What is the taste of rain? •
• Why are some birds blue? •
• And why am I not with you? •
• Dreamers begin by opening their mind •
• And throwing out the doubt they find •
• Happiness is the freedom to be •
• Within your sensuality •
• Thursday's child has far to go •
• And he still loves you so •
• Thursday's child has only you •
• And questionmarks to answer to •
• Why are some birds blue? •
• What is the taste of rain? •
• Why are some birds blue? •
• And why am I not with you? •

The complete song can be listened to at this link. Listen to the whole album, while you're at it. It's not at all bad. Ok, i'm kind of biased considering the guy's one of my childhood heroes. So whatever.

(sorry for being so *deep* today. My DSL connection had been down for 24 hours, causing me to devote my attentions elsewhere and thus come up with all these considerations.Tomorrow onwards, back to the usual stuff. Y'know, links, comics, useless musical trivia, boredom, etc.)

See? this is the kind of place i was supposed to come from

Two strange animals, described as small dinosaurs with a shape vaguely resembling that of a kangaroo, were sighted by the occupants of an all-terrain vehicle traveling from Iquique to our town, on thursday night. (Spanish required)

So this is the place i was originally supposed to come from if all kinds of shit (i.e. the cold war, just to name one generic reason) hadn't happened.

Arica: Important drug-trafficking center, alcoholic's paradise, perfect breeding climate or surviving dinosaur haven? None of the above would surprise me. After all, my birthplace is also a reknowned surviving dinosaur haven, so i'm already used to that.

Nixon clips

Defending himself against the Watergate charges, Nixon declares, "I'm not a crook" (538K sound .avi)
...And other timeless classics.

Rather surprising.

Things around here recently have been so boring, i've actually started answering emails. Even the ones from relatives. Amazing.
Take advantage of it while it lasts.

EYES

Eyes
a short film by Koichiro Tsujikawa.
music by CORNELIUS.

Images courtesy of Getty Images

debate

My friend fred once told me he closely identifies with bart simpson. No surprise to all those who know him. And that he always associated his family to the simpson family. Again, no raised eyebrows.
He then sometimes proceeds to tell me how each person in duino is represented by a simpsons character(or vice versa). So Barney is the large drunkard who often pops around duino bars, the one with heavy-rimmed glasses. M.O.N.A. is either principal skinner or Mr. Burns. Flanders is of course fred's extremely nasty neighbour. And so on.




And then he once told me: "Oh, and you're Milhouse."

But i wanted to be Otto!



All of this has been a matter of intense debate in the hot summer of Duino, 2004.

Anyway.

Sorry for not posting much recently. Stuff has been happening.

cold, cold, cold

Evaristo and gato are currently the only residents of Casa Evaristo. This morning there was no hot water. Evaristo exits the shower shivering, says to gato "it-t-t-t's v-v-v-very c-c-c-cold, g-g-g-gato". And gato answers "y-y-yes-s-s it-t-t is-s-s-s."
And we're in july, dammit!

So the webmaster occasionally goes to festivals.
So the webmaster also sometimes wakes up in the middle of a field.

So now the webmaster has a headache and a sore neck. I think he's going back to bed, too.

What i did yesterday

Woke up around ten. Stayed in bed until some time after eleven. Got up, checked email, checked downloads. Had a bite, watched futurama, went back to bed. One hour later i'm thinking of getting up, the cat walks in and convinces me of the opposite by lying next to me on the bed and purring loudly. I eventually wake up around seven o'clock in the afternoon, and somehow make my way out of the room. Hung around the house(and the internet) for almost six hours, eventually going to bed around three.

All this laziness is justified by the fact i was still tired from what i did the day before yesterday.

nice early morning read

I realize i'm considerably late on this (exactly one year late, to be precise), but here are some nice opinions Pat Metheny has on Kenny G. Mr. Metheny gets a great deal of my respect back for writing this.

That'll sell!

The latest fashion here in italy these days seems to be a belt with the argentinian flag's colors on it, and with "HIJO DE PUTA" written on it. Or at least, i've been seeing these  in shop windows quite often in the past week or two.
So what i'd like to do is go to argentina and sell belts with the italian flag and "COGLIONE" written on them. I'm sure they'd sell like hotcakes.

i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.

i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.
i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.
i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.
i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.
i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.
i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.
i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.
i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.
i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow.
 
Just testing these new blogger options. Oh, and did i mention that i'm seeing gilberto gil live tomorrow? Udine "castle", soundcheck sometime in the afternoon, press conference thingy at seven o'clock in the afternoon at Sala Aiace in Piazza Della Repubblica, wherever that may be, and finally concert at half past nine back at the castle.
 
While most of tomorrow morning, i'll be deciding which one of these fonts i like best.

but anyway,

(another overused title. The roommate already beats me in quality.)
But anyway, here's a short exchange i just had over MSN:

evaristo scrive:
sei ancora a praga?
Hatsu[how much is a pint of beer in Prague? I MUST find out personally!] scrive:
sono sbtonbzoooooo

az<<<<<<<<(...)<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

(title quite aptly chosen by the roommate, who is starting to enjoy this blogging business)

I was reading a friend's blog, when i realized something.
I realized that the standards of my most inner aspirations had lowered themselves considerably: over the past years i've gone from secretly wanting to be a rockstar to openly planning world domination.

Definitely much lower standards.

it's hard to type at the moment because my cat is sitting on the mousepad. There's something terribly wrong about this, but i'm not sure exactly what.

Celebrations ensue

To mark the first anniversary of this blog, may i invite you to visit the newborn website of my roommate? I believe it's something rather unique, where blogs are involved. So strut your way over to

http://el-gato.blogspot.com/,

possibly to the soundtrack of Mongo Santamaria's El Pussycat, or Shonen Knife's I Am a Cat, or Les Luthiers' Gato Con Explicaciones, or Pizzicato five's cover of Nanka Li Koto Naika Konekochan(What's New Pussycat), or Renato Carosone's Il Gattino Sulla Tastiera, or Los Tres' Gato Por Liebre, or Frank Popp Ensemble's The Catwalk, or Kahimi Karie's Cat From The Future, or PJ Harvey's Cat On The Wall, or...(and so on, etcetera, und so weiter, eccetera.)

Ok, go. Enjoy. It's still in its beta version, of course. I'll be adding links and maybe a better template in the next days. I'm sure it'll eventually become more popular than this blog. Much more popular. But that's not hard.

back...

...so i just got back from prague. Tired. Will now retreat to bed.

And i just noticed this blog is one year old today.
Celebrations will ensue if i ever wake up.

Still in prague.

Yes, i'm still in prague.

Uhhh... that's about it.

Oh, saw Shrek 2 in english the other day. Was cool.
Pity the poor italians who'll have to wait till christmas to see a badly-dubbed version of it. (and laugh at them when their backs are turned)
Actually, being abroad lowered my italian-tolerance level by faaaar. But i'll write mre about that once i'm home in (gasp!) Duino.

And Czech keyboards are confusing.

From Prague

Cronopio A sends an SMS to Cronopio B.

Cronopio A: "Dove sei?"
Cronopio B: "Sono a Praga!"
Cronopio A: "Anch'io sono a Praga!"
Cronopio B: "Che Bello!"

Much laughter follows.

Repeat at least five times a day, even (especially) when in each other's presence.

(Cfr. Julio Cortazar - Viaje a un pais de cronopios. It's available online somewhere, google for it.)

Travel plans.

Evaristo had written exams today. The results are currently unknown. They will be revealed tomorrow morning around 11gmt+1, when he will show up in udine for his orals.

This post, however, has nothing to do with that. It is more about the declassification of his secret travel plans to an undisclosed eastern european capital.

Oh what the hell, i'm just going to Prague.

Tomorrow night(July 8, 2004) i shall depart via bus from Duino at 21:59, destination Udine, courtesy of APT Transports. I expect to be already quite tipsy by then.
Udine shall be reached at 23:10, at which time i am planning for people to pick me up and take me out for more drinks, and eventually lug my senseless body back to the bus station and dump me on the 00:45 bus to prague, on what will by then be July 9, 2004.

Eurolines, or Tourbus for the internationalists among you, should then deposit me in prague at 12:15 of that same day, where i shall wipe the dust off my clothes and start looking for my hostel, which will probably be one of those depicted here or here.

Four nights(!) i shall spend in that ancient city, doing god-knows-not-what. Don't want the old bugger to find out. It's my own business. On the other hand you, dear readers, will be constantly updated with all non-interesting details of my stay, just because i'm that kind of annoying person.

Then, on tuesday, a turn for the worse: i shall embark on the bus back to udine, at 15:30 from Prague bus terminal. Udine will catch up with me at the wee hours of the following(Tuesday, 13th of july 2004) morning, approximately 04:00 AM.

An hour or so of hanging around the hobos later, and at 05:20 i finally leave udine, again by bus, and reach duino around 06:24. There, i will cross the road and fall asleep on the benches of Al Castel. Or maybe even make it home.

All this was also for useful self-reference, so if i don't remember timetables or stuff all i have to do is check this site. I'm so practical.

By the way: Anyone reading this from prague? No? I thought not.

petite changes

As a result from getting appallingly bored after studying minimal art for five big fat minutes, i have added a Recent Posts menu on the sidebar and a rather awkwardly positioned sitesearch box at the very bottom of the page where nobody will notice it anyway because of how uncomfortably the page loads. All this is only temporary, as i shall probably be completely restyling the page over the next month, after i've dealt with my exam and with certain other personal affairs. Probably to coincide with its first birthday, hip hip hooray, we're all so excited, pass the martini.

Can't even fake enthusiasm at the moment. Just bored out of my bones. I miss my DSL connection. I miss my internet friends. I miss my sweet, sweet downloads of completely useless stuff.

...nor have i been available to exchange bizarre links. Lucky i'm so busy studying. Oh yes.

Webcomics!

For those of you who are starving for good webcomics, let me give you this little piece of information: Scott McCloud has finally updated his Links page! See the present wonders of the webcomic world, as selected by one of the newborn genre's luminaries and prime spokesmen. Most of my favourites are mentioned, with the possible exception of Something Positive, Bruno and Cat And Girl, which i link to every other week anyway, so who cares. The first two i mentioned are particularly special for me, having read their full archives, accounting for several years of production just while i was going through two rather difficult moments of my recent life, so they've both left a strong sign on me somehow. You can probably also blame SomethingPositive for my becoming far more cynical in the past month, but that's another story.

(small note for those of you reading this from home: my internet connection has been somewhat volatile in the past two days so i haven't been able to connect to any instant messaging/p2p facilities. Which is why some of you haven't seen me around to offer bureaucratic advice, crave for romantic advice, discuss subcultural minutiae or brag about having met this or this other semi-nonfamous musician. Which has actually been very good for my exam preparation.)

Everybody here at WGD Central wishes a big fat In Culo Alla Balena o Merda Che Dir Si Voglia to Intuassenza, who tonight are finally performing for the first time in what's supposed to be their hometown. More info here, where you may also listen to a brief excerpt from their EP.
Pity i can't make it to the gig, too busy studying and answering emails for one thing or another. But tell you what, if anyone from milan reads this in time, pop over to the concert and tell them i sent you. Then watch yourself get beaten up by the members of the band for being so damn stupid.
Molto rock.

UPDATE: Especially for the occasion, italian minister of finance Giulio Tremonti resigned last night! Seeing the state he left the country in, i don't see him finding new employment anytime soon. All this will be celebrated tonight at yet another of WGD's PiwoParties. We welcome anybody! Bring alcohol! As if we didn't already have 58 cans of english&polish beer.

in a perfect world...

In evaristo's perfect world, Spain is still islamic and Araucania is of the araucanians.

These are both arguments i always end up bringing out in conversations, although this is the first time i make a connection between the two. Also, in most chronicles, Orelie-Antoine de Tounens is described as quite an eccentric to say the least, putting him on the same level as San Francisco's own Emperor Norton. I recall one exhibit in the Museo Regional de la Araucanía in Temuco, my first contact with this small chapter in the history of indigenous nations, that was quite so inclined in its description of this unlikely king. Luckily, contemporary historians are shifting their attention towards de Tounens by considering him as more of an enlightened politician than as a madman.

Come to think of it, i also have the childhood memory of one of those contemporary historians in particular, getting into a loud argument with my father at the dining room table regarding the exact body count of the vietnam war, and myself trying to think of a good way to sneak out of the situation. And thinking "they shouldn't even be discussing this! They're nineteenth century historians, for christ's sake!"

But a storm is forming over duino right now, so i think i'll turn this pc off and go back to studying post-war informal art. If you'll excuse me.

First two links courtesy of Plep, which is a really good blog i ought to visit more often.

Musical musings

My parents had always wondered (but have eventually just grown accustomed to) how their offspring was capable of studying with rock music on, and of the loud variety too. "Why not classical music, at least?" they've often asked themselves. Nowadays i'm the only one of the three who is so inclined as to indulge in bookworm activities, and must say that i have recently tried to study with classical music on, but it

Just.

Didn't.

Work.

I would find myself listening too carefully, concentrating on the music, trying to understand it. And all my energy would go towards what i was hearing and not to what i was supposed to be reading. Instead, i found that i study marvelously well with japanese classical music, of the loud drone variety. It puts the mind in a good relaxed and open state. Also Hendrix is good, the sixteen-minute improvisations are a good challenge and keeps that thinking muscle exercised. And i've also been known to sometimes listen to seventies disco (Earth, Wind and Fire, anyone?) while studying, just to keep myself awake. All of these very, very loud. At all times possible.
Which has been doing wonders for my study/research environment.

But i don't think the neighbours are very happy about it.

Seclusion & felines

Go and check out what 26 years alone in a house with only a fat cat (and the occasional drooling dog and obligatory housemice) as company can do to a poor comic strip character's mind: Farfield.
"The strip's Beckettian terror is fully realized", is the author's succint description.

(And mr. Mills, if you're reading this, your P5 Lyrics and song-by-song annotations pages have been of great help to me in the past month. Thank you for occasionally being almost as monomaniacally obsessed as i am.)

Following a trend

Visiting blogs, i quite often notice people recommending the latest film they've seen. Happened ten minutes ago, too. But then i asked myself "what's the latest film i've seen?" and quickly realized that the answer would have been a contradiction, for the "latest" film i've seen(i.e. this afternoon) is this one.

On the phone

Her: Robin, you aren't talking much. What's wrong?
Me: Well, i've had a kind of strange day...
Her: Robiiin...all your days are strange. You're strange. It's inevitable, you know that!
Me: Right, forgot.

Detached

This comic is for people who occasionally think they might need a check-up at the ophtalmologist, but eventually never do.

More random thoughts

-A night in the fridge will do these tomatoes good.

-There's nothing like a good cop, bad cop.

-A bird in the hand is an overused cliché.

other links' links

John Cleese's kettle is finally mended, link courtesy of NewsFromMe.
And Woody Allen was interviewed at least seven times in 1971, link courtesy of HotPoop.

The fact that nothing much has been happening on this blog recently doesn't necessarily mean nothing was happening on other ones. Or at least i think that's what i meant to say.

Random thoughts

Random good mood : two(for the time being) random thoughts.

-A man who asks his boss "what can i do in the meantime?" is a man who has never learnt how to play minesweeper.

-It's always good when Art goes against the rules. It's particularly good when it also goes against the law.

Don't Panic. No, really.

On Tuesday 21 September 2004 at 6.30pm The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy returns to Radio 4 for a brand new series.

Farewells...

Speaking of relatives, my uncles&aunts who were visiting just left. Who knows when i'll get to see them again. This brief exchange was the parting gift from one uncle:

Me: Well, the others are already downstairs. Make sure you don't forget anything that's not valuable.
Him: Hey, don't expect me to come back around here so soon.
Me: Oh come on, i'll show up for a visit in Arica when you least expect it...
Him: Yeah, and I'll come back to visit you for your wedding.
Me: Oh, that'd be grea...FOR MY WHAT???

...

Oh, look! i actually clicked on "create new post"! I'm actually typing stuff into this little window! Now, those are things i hadn't seen happening in quite a while.
Now, to justify my one week absence(or, in other words, "what i did last week instead of studying")...well, i have no idea. Not that i don't remember what happened in the past week, that hasn't happened in quite a while. It's just that nothing spectacular has happened. And when it has, i haven't felt like writing about it. Ok, so some cool things have happened, but nothing life-changing.

I've been paid, for a start (hope nobody i owe money to reads this). It's strange to be employed by honest regularly-paying people for once, i'm not the slightest bit used to it. Especially if you consider that my other employer behaved like a total ass the other day because Pino hadn't found a place to park and had to block the way up to fore for a half-hour, screaming at him in public and totally ignoring me(which i don't have a problem about, since i'd been doing the same to him for a few months already). The same employer who once made a death threat to a family member of mine, which would not be unusual if it wasn't for the fact that the family member in question was our cat. (as i carefully omitted commenting on here, it was something too incredible to think about at the time). The same employer who i strongly suspect will no longer employing me next year just because we so often get on his nerves. Ah, but after all, he's the boss. He knows what's the right thing to do.
(Please note: i didn't mention any names. And i have several employers. All of this could apply to anybody. And i don't think it'll show up on google this time) (grin)

Was hijacked to Gorizia the other day, taken out to eat one of the most amazingly good Lubjanskas i'd ever had. Was in good company, too. And at the restaurant they even served my favourite home-brewed beer. Despite having to go to work the following morning, we all ended up in Gorizia Castle, dancing around at some student party. Eventually only got a couple hours' sleep, but managed to be quite productive at the office nonetheless.

My so-called brother who was visiting last week has finally gone back home. I was polite enough not to talk to him completely, apart from a couple of very brief small-talk sessions just to make my mother happy. Where i did have to bite my tongue every now and then, anyway. At one point he told me he would like to work in Chile. I was this close to suggesting a job selling babies in the black market, but then i remembered he has two daughters so it wouldn't have been very tactful.
And as i usually do with religious freaks, i kept quoting Yoda pretending it was confucius. They always fall for that. (Mental note: add Pai Mei to faux religious quote repertoire.)

Oh, and the day before he left a large amount of relatives came to visit, sensing it was a good moment. Oh yes, the moment my brother leaves is always one of the happiest in this household. (The little girls are nice though. Hope they're big enough to travel on their own soon, so they can leave the fat guy at home)

So at the moment this place is thriving with chileans, but they'll also be leaving in a while. And next week my parents leave, too. And ten minutes later, the party begins.

So what else have i been doing over the week? Well, as a matter of fact, a good 90% of my non-sleeping, non-office time has been taken up by reading the full archives of this fantastic webcomic. But that's something i'll devote another post to, this one's gone on too long. And to think that i just wanted to write "i'm still alive" and click on Publish Post...