26.5.06
greenery.
two days ago, I went to the botanic gardens in my town with the other Jo and Elena. Hadn't been there in a while... there's nothing like visiting old favorite spots, finding new ones, being silly with the other jo, and getting out in the sun.
I also posted a little diatribe... or something... on my written blog regarding my deal with videoblogging. What I wrote is not set in stone or even a complete sample of my thoughts... I just had to get something out. Read it here. Hope it enlightens somewhat.
music by boom bip
time is 2:30
24.5.06
painting.
so I'm in new jersey for the summer... this will be the first time I've spent more than two weeks in new jersey since I left for college in vermont. I certainly have mixed feelings about being here, but I'm really looking forward to dusting off my own cobwebs and sorting through my life and getting some fresh perspective.
first project: take my room, which I painted when I was 16, and make it less cluttered, more sophisticated, and more sellable for when my parents sell this house (no time soon). Before/After photos will be posted on my Flickr once the room is put back together.
This is just something of a resolve. A mantra. A promise. Not meant to be deep, or anything profound. Just on my mind.
By the way, this Blog of Note thing on blogger was pretty cool... shocking, I didn't realize why I was getting so many comments and so many hits for a while. Thanks for watching though. I hope I'm showing you something interesting. Please comment, offer suggestions and insight. Always appreciated.
music by the yoshida brothers
22.5.06
bennington talk
an important part of last week's return to vermont was catching up on all that had happened in the Bennington bubble while I was gone. I went out for a drink with Alana and Amy. Sure the news was interesting to hear sometimes but I just enjoyed watching... this is a little remix of our conversation.
I'm amazed at how life can push and pull from all sorts of directions. It was nice to catch up with them again, this just pulls a little towards the ridiculous side... it's always there.
background music by dave douglas five
time is 1 minute
18.5.06
my heart sings.
on my trip up to Vermont I stopped in on Jonathan and Becca's ballad tutorial with John Kirk and you bet I got a treat. I loved hearing them sing, it made me realize how much I missed American music, despite loving traditional Irish stuff... there's something gutsy and raw about this stuff. I better get to sing with these guys more before they graduate.
homegrown music.
making visits
Tuesday, I went up to Bennington for the opening of the Senior Visual Arts Show. It was, firstly, nice to be driving again and nice to put the ipod on master shuffle and hear stuff that's been sitting in my memory for years.
more posts about this trip to come.
music by nick drake, sufjan stevens, paul simon, tori amos, alanis morrisette, john hartford, ali farka toure, clifton chenier and his red hot louisiana band, ashley macisaac, abdou guitte seck, joe henry, patsy cline, & sam bush.
and we're back to manageable file sizes. time is 1:49
14.5.06
postcard from europe: el fin
I arrived home on Friday, after 13 hours of travel, passing through Reykjavik (I'm going back there some day!), and I was up for over 24 hours. But now I'm here, in new jersey... with my parents and my cat and my brother home for a couple months before moving to DC.
I've done lots the last few months... changed, grew and all that jazz. I saw a lot, I thought a lot (what else is new), and I created a lot too. I'm living at home for the summer, and I suppose it's my choice. I'll be working some boring job to pay back loans and pay the gas (I cannot believe it's so high here), I'll be trying to travel on the weekends, music festivals, friend visits, hikes, and climbing trips. Despite the seeming dullness of it all, I'm excited. All the things I accomplished since January inside myself and out have some potential this summer. They have potential to come into their own, I suppose.
I've got plans and finally the energy to see them through.
We ended our trip at the base of the Eiffel Tower, ate our bread and cheese breakfast and then I began my trip home.
so many more adventures to come. so much more to see.
music by the killers
postcard from europe: zurich
our second to last destination. Zurich was a beautiful city, clean, and a nice mix of modern and old... not to mention the Alps (the clouds weren't helping out in those shots, apologies). We almost didn't have beds which wouldn't have been good, but all worked well. We had a long day there on Thursday because we were taking a night train to Paris... visited lots of chocolate shops and saw some really cool parks. The two new ones I shot were ones that Charly knew all about... they're still really growing in but urban renewal is great.
music by paul simon
postcard from europe: venezia
Next stop was Venice... unfortunately our amazing weather didn't hold up and we had only the afternoon we arrived without rain. The following day was full of downpours and my sick self didn't want to get worse so we limited our exposure. It was surely an incredible city though... if only the tourists... I can't say that since I was one, but it is pretty amazing how many tourists there are... it's really unbelievable. Also the number of pigeons... there's a shot in the video of the pigeons in Piazza del San Marco, it was really a sight to behold.
more random music by rod stewart
postcard from europe: ljubljana
Ljubljana was one of my favorite cities... perhaps my favorite. Not being much of a city-person, it fit me well in its smallness, cozy-ness... and hey, it had a market every day. It was like the outdoor center of Slovenia and southeastern Europe. Again, we hit it on a Sunday when most museums and shops were closed but that didn't stop us from enjoying the beautiful weather. I'd go back there in a second, despite being a small city, to tour around the Slovenian countryside... the train ride was just a tease. Go there now before it goes to the euro (in 2007) and gets touristy.
music by do make say think.
postcard from europe: graz
On our way out of Vienna, we stopped for a few hours in Graz, Austria. Charly had wanted to see some architecture... it was a strange city, very old but it had some crazy buildings. The two shown are the modern art museum (also known as the blob) and a ampitheater/restaurant/playground in the middle of the river.
the clip at the end... there was this bouldering wall alongside the river, and as you see, we were having some fun. There was a flash, I asked "did you just take a picture", Charly said, "no", and I went on climbing. Then we heard the loudest clap of thunder I have ever heard. Just one. That's when I jumped off the wall and fell into Charly. Not an earthquake, but we did get caught in a brief storm. Crazy. Would be more effective with the sound, but I messed the clip up.
music by belle & sebastian
postcard from europe: vienna
more wonderful weather in Vienna. It's a beautiful but strange city. I suppose I expected it to look less new... but were only a few of the old buildings that were spared in WWII. I loved the trams... a fresh-air subway. We wandered the city, went to museums and gardens. You see the courtyard outside of the KunstHaus (art museum) with big red lounging things, the Schoenbrunn castle gardens (and labyrinth!), the Haus der Musik (a fun interactive sound museum), and the Kunst Haus Wien, a Gaudi-esque building housing the paintings and prints of Franz Hundertwasser... a very cool guy.
music by badly drawn boy
13.5.06
postcard from europe: prague
we headed over to prague... it was quite a trip, trains and buses and more trains... Prague was beautiful though. Again, wonderful weather. We wandered all around, even hit a couple museums. I'd most certainly go back, there was this statue on the Charles Bridge (the one with all the people on it) that all the tourists were taking their picture in front of... and so many parks to see. I'd love to see it in the snow... oh and that's a peacock by the way.
music by rodrigo y gabriela
postcard from europe: munich
We stayed one more day in Munich, which happened to be May Day when everything was closed. We did get to see a labor party rally and some political puppetry. We did get a beautiful day in the park though.
just a note about the music... this isn't the usual way I do it. The choices are a little random, I just had fun with it.
music by calexico
postcard from europe: fussen
we arrived in Munich nice and early and ran to catch a train to Fussen, Germany to see the Neuschwanstein Castle, a fairytale castle, dedicated to the opera of Wagner, and swans, which inspired Disney's Cinderella castle. Quite a sight... and how about the snow?!
music by manitoba
postcard from europe: amsterdam
finally! here they are! I'm back in the U.S. with a fast connection and lots of things to show. The files are sort of large, sorry for that. First up...
We began in Amsterdam. I arrived early and found out quickly that it was no ordinary Saturday... it was Queen's Day: everyone wears orange and everything is closed. Despite the insane crowds and having to carry my pack around all day, it was quite an experience. I loved Amsterdam and would love to go back, I didn't get to ride a bike along a canal like I had planned... then we headed to our sleeping car for our ride to Munich...
music by of montreal
This video was originally shared on blip.tv by rustedgate with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.
7.5.06
postcard from Ljubljana
hello from green, green, and more green Ljlubljana, the Slovenian capital. We left Vienna yesterday morning for Graz, Austria. We got caught in a brief rain shower and wandered the streets for a few hours until our train into Slovenia.
The ride through the hills was unbelievable. It reminded me of Colombia, in its lush green, and Italy in the architecture of the landscape. After a long trip and wandering through the streets trying to find the hostel, we found it... and it is unbelievable! The most comfortable accomodation we've had for sure.
The city is small but cozy and vibrant. Being Sunday, there wasnt much to do so we took a lazy day, spent lots of money on dinner and are calling it a night before our trip to Venice tomorrow.
I recommend Ljubljana to anyone... I'm certainly coming back.
Still no way to upload but the videos are made and waiting...
5.5.06
postcards on hold
greuss gott...
that means hello god... which is how germans/viennese greet each other... the things you learn.
After a day walking around Munich (with nothing open) we went on to Prague... Simply crossing the border was something amazing. The transporation was a little spottier, things got more chaotic... we couldn't find our hostel because of so much construction in the city. But we finally arrived... and it was something else! The sky opened up and the setting sun put just the right light onto the city. It was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined! We wandered and found a little Dali exhibit, had a Czech pilsner, some goulasch and did our best at understanding. On Wednesday we toured the palace gardens, found more parks, and fixed our own dinner in the hostel.
Yesterday we arrived in Vienna, to another beautiful day. The city is surprisingly modern, apparently being rebuilt a lot after the war (we found that out at an architecture museum). We went the die Hause der Musik and played with a bunch of interactive exhibits about sound and music... a total blast. Today we went to see more palace gardens, wandered around a garden maze, saw an awesome exhibit of this guy.... Hundertwasser... kind of Keith Haring meets Gaudi... and hopped on and off the tram to our hearts content.
Tomorrow we go to Graz for the day then the night in Ljubljana.
So I have a few video postcards ready and on my laptop but haven't gotten a way to put them online yet. They may just have to wait until I'm back in the U.S. Apologies.
and the adventure continues...
1.5.06
hello from munich
so here´s mz updates for now. typing on a german kezboard is difficult. forgive.
I arrived nice and earlz in Amsterdam onlz to find out that it was Queens Daz and the countrz was virtuallz shut out and and everzone was partzing ni the streets. I lugged mz 60lb backpack and 20 lb dazpack around with me and saw the streets before thez )and the beaztiful) canals became flooded with people wearing orange, drinking heineken, and dancing the daz awaz.
I met up with Charly around 4 and we wandered some more, eating waffles and taking photos. I loved Amsterdam, I just wish I had been ther eunder other circumstances... like luggage places being open.
We took a night train to Munich, arriving and dropping our bags at the hostel and getting a smoked salmon sandwarich and taking off for Fussen to see the Neufschawnstein castle... the fairytale castle built for Wagner and used for the basis of Disneys castle. Beautiful snow Alps and incredible views...
checked into the hostel, then went to find a beerhall. We ended up wit this place that was nearly as authentic as zou could get. We squeezed bnext to a middle aged couple and chatted the night away. Food was poozenschnitzel (turkey schnityel), more lox, noodles, and icecreem... oh zeah... and their own lager made 100 feet awaz.
Todaz is a bank holiday and everzthing is closed... except this internet shop. Bad timing I suppose, but its a beautiful daz, nice for walkign around. Tomorrow we take off for Prague... as it all unfolds.
I have tons of photos and footage, but havenät had the time to put anzthing together, I will get on that on the 6 hour train tomorrow and upload as soon as possible.
cheuso from munich.
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