The Art of Begging in Montreal

There is an extremely large amount of panhandlers in Montreal, so you have to be creative...




Montreal

Sushi

Sushi

VIVE LE LIBAN!

Some pics from yesterday's demonstration that I went to with Rok and Danny...






Lebanon

Scenes from Montreal...

Montreal

Back in Montreal

Well, I'm back in Montreal. I haven't blogged since the airport, as I'm staying with my mother and at the age of 71, she really couldn't care less about the internet. I managed to get one of my brother's old computers and modem, so I have a dial-up connection just for checking e-mails and stuff, but for posting any pics... well, you all remember how it used to be.
I arrived on Friday, spent the afternoon and evening with my family. On Saturday I also spent the day with my mom, then went out for dinner with Tara. We went to a Turkish restaurant then went to a place on St. Denis for a shisha... What struck me as interesting was that despite the no smoking law and not being able to smoke cigarettes indoors, smoking a shisha in the cafe was not a problem (I guess the inspectors don't know what to classify it as or something).
Tara and I got together again on Sunday and spent the day on Ile Ste Helene, where the have an outdoor party every week called picnik electronik. I had read about it before, including some bad reviews. I honestly thought it was pretty good. There was a mixed crowd, young, old, families, a bit of this and a bit of that. We danced, went for a swim, walked around the island. Overall a fun day and I'll definitely be checking it out again during my time here.
Here are some pics from that day...

Airports...

I'm at the Zürich airport waiting for my flight to Montreal which leaves in just under three hours. I've been here all night and am exhausted and irritated beyond belief. Wishing I had managed to get a better connecting flight, wishing that a certain special someone was with me...
Well, other than that, I actually love airports. I always have, ever since I was a kid. When we'd go to visit my grandparents and relatives in Slovenia(then Yugoslavia), there weren't any direct flights (still aren't except charter), so many hours of my childhood summers were spent airports in London, Paris, Zürich, Frankfurt. I love watching the screens and seeing where all those planes were coming from and going to. So many people who looked so different than what I was used to. All these cultures, personalities, languages in one place, a half-way point for some... I was fascinitated with airports back then.
Well, as dear as they were to me, yesterday was my birthday and I seriously could think of much better places than I could have spent the night than sleeping in the waiting area. Airports feel different at the age of 33 than at the age of 3. People no longer seem foreign, no matter where they are from. Instead of visiting Slovenia from Canada, it's the other way around.
It has been four years since I visited the city I grew up in. This should prove to be an interesting summer.....

Mostar...

Picture I took of a man painting, Sarajevo

Man with the musical suit

Ok, this is really weird... a Russian, some breakdancing, some dogs, a pig.... and what's up with the fat guy in the cape???

Sarajevo....

On an emotional level, Sarajevo was a lot for me to handle.
Bosnia itself has always had a special place in my heart, its warm atmosphere, the blend of the orient and the west. These elements are still there, yet since my last visit to Bosnia, another element has been added: the reminder of war.

The "old" part of Sarajevo (Barščaršija) is still as charming and cozy as ever (if you don't let the beggars get on your nerves too much). While sitting there, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying my "kahva", I felt so at home....

I continued to enjoy the sites, the beautiful architure of Sarajevo's mosques and churches.... My heart sank when I saw the library, which is now being renovated due to damage sustained from the war... more and more such buildings kept appearing, but that wasn't what broke me...
What were once sports fields in the Olympic village are now resting places for the dead. And as I looked up at the beautiful green hillsides that completely surround Sarajevo, hillsides that are now overgrown with white obelisks, I began to cry...

Picture I took of a man smoking, Barščaršija, Sarajevo

The Tunnel of Life

During the war this tunnel was Sarajevo's only connection with the outside world.

Nostalgia and Bosnian Pyramids

This weekend I took a bus-trip with coworkers to Bosnia and Herzegovina. A short trip it was, but I saw several lifetimes' worth of beauty, passion, strength and tragedy.
I hadn't been to Bosnia since before the war and I wasn't really sure what exactly to expect. Now that I'm back in Ljubljana, I wish I could go back...spend a few more days in Sarajevo... a couple in Mostar, then come back in time to leave for Montreal....tempting... No, no...I can't do it. Though the school year has ended, I still have a few translations to submit before leaving... kind of limited financially too *sigh*. Anyhow, about the trip...
First of all, I'd like to say that Boban was kind enough to lend me his camera for the trip (Thanks Bobo!). Yes, I'm one of the only losers left on the planet who does not own a digital camera (time for me to make a wishlist...), so I usually borrow one at work. Ok, back to the trip....
We left in the extremely early hours of the morning, almost 3am. I passed out at some point right after crossing the Croatian border. When I woke up, we were in Slavonski Brod, not far from the Bosnian and Serbian borders. We stopped there for a while and had some coffee, breakfast. We still had a long day ahead of us. Sarajevo was still far away.
I was still rather sleepy when we crossed the Bosnian border. I faced the window, daydreaming, became a bit more aware of things when I realised I recognized the place. It was Gradiska. Well, back when I visited it in 1990, it was still known as "Bosanska Gradiska". I had gone there to visit a friend, Dragana Dojcinovic She had spent a couple of years living in Montreal with relatives. I'm not sure why she had to go back.
I wondered what had ever become of Dragana as I continued to stare out the bus window. Now this is part of "Republika Srpska"... A lot more Cyrillic than I remember there being 16 years ago. As the drive contued, I felt nostalgic...
I fell into a bit of a daze until I began noticing all the signs of the war. I began to cry. Until I looked up and saw a pyramid.
Well, I don't know if it's really a pyramid or just an oddly-shaped hill. I had read something a while back about a recent claim of finding pyramids in Bosnia. Hmmm, so this was Visoko. It would be nice if it turned out to be true. After what these people have been through, they deserve a break. And whether the theory is bullshit or not, pyramids in Europe would be extremely cool :)

Our next stop was at Ilidza, where we had a look at Vrelo Bosna, the source of the Bosna river. I was extremely enchanted by the park's beauty and took a long walk and tried to soak up as much of its energy as possible.


Ok.So much more to say, but I have to get some work done..Enough procrastinating. I'll be writing more about this wonderful trip in my next post, which will probably be later on today... (yeah, I'll need a break)

World Cup Humour...

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway in Germany.
A man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window
and asks, "What's going on?" The man tells him, "Terrorists
have kidnapped three England fans for a 10 million euro ransom
or they're going to douse them with petrol and set them on fire.
We're going from car to car, taking up a collection."

The driver asks, "How much is everyone
giving, on average?"

The man replies, "About two gallons..."

And on the eighth day, God created Lego!

Apparently this has been covered by all kinds of media over the past few years, but it's news to me.
Bible stories illustrated with Lego blocks!




The Brick Testament is a project created by the "Reverend" Brendan Powell Smith, who is not an actual reverend, but rather an atheist. He began this project as a website back in October 2001 that featured six stories from the book of Genisis. The popularity of the website has also spawned a Brick Testament book series. All stories are retold using direct quotes of passages from the Bible, with chapter and verse numbers cited. Smith claims that he created The Brick testament to increase people's knowledge of the Bible, whether they are believers or not.


The website and book series have become popular both among religious believers who often use its material for evangelical and instructional purposes and among non-Christians who view The Brick Testament as pointing out what they consider to be absurdities in the Bible.

Funny? Disturbing? Creative? You decide!

ALERT FOR METELKOVA!

It was a topic in a recent post of mine and I'm so pissed off at myself for not having gone to the demonstration to protest its demolition. Hopefully it isn't too late. To all of you out there who support the arts, take some time to read this and help out!
Thanks!

ALERT FOR METELKOVA

"On Wednesday, June 14th 2006, at 6am, the government Inspectorate for the Environment and Spatial Planning brought an excavating machine to the Autonomous Cultural Zone Metelkova, Ljubljana, to tear down one of the buildings of the converted ancient army barracks which they consider to have been erected illegally. The cultural workers and supporters of Metelkova prevented the action. This attempt to destroy one of the liveliest cultural and intellectual locations in Ljubljana was the third in these past few months. Various inspections have recently intensified their interventions during cultural events at Metelkova.

The government of Slovenia is acting in accordance with a recently passed law on catering industries. Under the cover of its strict provisions regulating commercial activities, which cannot be fulfilled by the non- profit associations and NGOs of Metelkova, the executive might as well put an end to the largest agglomeration of alternative cultures in the country. Metelkova provides 40% of the non-commercial music events in the city.

Its attendance can favourably be compared with that of the established Ljubljana Festival. It is the second largest provider of cultural events in Ljubljana. Metelkova is the only location in the city, and one of the few in the country, where youth cultures and alternative cultures are systematically produced and presented to a large and active audience. It is also a forum of impressive intellectual irradiation. During each academic year, it organises the Workers' Punkers' University where the most urgent dilemmas of the contemporary world are discussed by competent international speakers.

Metelkova recently hosted the annual meeting of TransEuropeHalles. During the 13 years of its existence, projects at the Autonomous Cultural Zone Metelkova have been supported by the Ministry of Culture and by the City of Ljubljana, as well as by many international sponsors. Producers from Metelkova have been participating to Documenta, Manifesta, Sao Paolo Biennial, Venice Biennale, Wiener Festwochen? Many international festivals held in Ljubljana locate part of their activities at Metelkova: The City of Women, The Other Music, Jazz Festival Ljubljana, Trnfest? Metelkova has been presented as an outstanding phenomenon by international media: ARD, Arte, BBC, Belarus' State TV, Die Zeit, Falter, Feral Tribune, Los Angeles Times, ORF, Russian State TV, Seattle Times, ZDF? Metelkova is a squat initiated in 1993, when a group of alternative producers and activists occupied the ancient barracks of the army headquarters near the centre of Ljubljana in order to prevent its illegal destruction, which was launched by still unknown agents presumably led by speculative real-estate interest. Although it has never succeeded in achieving a proper legal status, the location was registered as national cultural heritage in 2005. ACZ Metelkova is under attack. Its people are ready to defend it. They need support. Please circulate this information.

If you want to express your support, please write to the Prime Minister: Janez.Jansa@gov.si and to the Minister of Culture: vasko.simoniti@gov.si"

Back after another long pause...

After a couple of months of being overworked, things are starting to calm down again. The hard work did pay off, as I was able to get enough cash together to get my ticket to Montreal. This trip is a much needed one for several reasons. I haven't seen Mom in almost 4 years, nor my brothers, my nephew André was a month old the last time I saw him. My neice is 15 now... Of course, it'll also be great to visit the old hang-outs and catch up with old friends that are still there.

More good news, this year the union organised a little weekend staff trip for those interested, to Sarajevo & Mostar. It'll be at the end of this month. I'm anxiously awaiting this trip, yet I know that some of it will be difficult for me, as I haven't been to Bosnia since before the war.

Today will be busy enough, there's laundry to do, some e-mails to write, meeting Boban and Matija for lunch later on, a couple of translations that are due tomorrow and some tests to correct. (Procrastinating right now...)


As my workload has become lighter, I'm faced with several decisions to make, which would mean extreme change in my life. These issues had been stuck in limbo for quite some time now since my relationship with my dearest became a long-distnce one. I now have one month to decide: stay in Slovenia or give living in Jordan a chance. In ten years and starting from nothing, I have managed to build a life for myself here. I have a lot to think through, though this has been made easier by the fact that I have the best boss in the world, who offered me a "safety-net" in case I do decide to give Jordan a try for a year and things don't work out. Somewhat reassuring and makes giving it a shot seem less scary. The thing is, I have to let her know before I leave to Canada, which will be 13 July. For some decisions, plenty of time.... for this one, not nearly enough.

I love Ljubljana. I love this neighbourhood. I love how the river is close by,how there are many bike and walking paths, how green everything is, how the building is surrounded by trees and playgrounds.



As I look out the window, I know these are things I'd miss greatly. Though probably not as much as I miss him...

Amateur graffiti contest at Metelkova Mesto, Ljubljana

Metelkova Mesto happens to be one of my favourite places in this town. For those of you who are not familiar with Ljubljana, until 1991 Metelkova Mesto was the location of military barracks of the Yugoslav People's Army. After Slovenia declared independence and the Yugoslav army left, the place was squatted by several artists, musicians, students, etc. and became somewhat of a centre for underground/alternative culture. It is also the location of a wonderful youth hostel called "Celica" (The Cell), which is a former military prison (each prison cell was converted into a bedroom-- you can read more about the place here.)
Anyhow, I won't get into anymore of the place's history in this post, as you can all see by the title, it's supposed to be about a graffiti contest...
I saw some posters announcing this contest that was organized by a secondary school students' association. I wasn't quite sure exactly what to expect as I've never attended a graffiti contest before.
I arrived there a bit late, the contest had already started. From what I found out, each contender was given 8 cans of spray paint and 3 hours time.
Well, I'm not an artist, nor am I an art critic, but I'd have to say, that some of these young artists have a lot of potential. Here are a few shots of them at work:








While this was happening, some other kids tried to demonstrate their breakdancing skills (or lack thereof) to various rap and hiphop tunes....




Finally, the 3 hours were up... The judges walked around, rated the work and made their decision....

Here are the winners :


First prize




Second prize




Third prize


Oh, and here is a possible contender for the 2016 contest, getting an early start! ;)





These and the rest of the pics from the contest can be seen here.

As it is Metelkova is already the host of lots of interesting and unusual graffiti and other works of art... I'll end this post with some examples...