Lust for life

Money withdrawal in only 9 steps

2012-01-28T09:00:00.015+01:00

Cash/ATM machines usually don't have highly sophisticated procedures and are generally quite easy to grasp. Three steps include entering your pin, choosing the amount and getting a receipt for it, when needed. This might be true for the big majority machines which differ merely in whether you enter PIN first or choose the amount first and then enter the PIN.

But not DEXIA machines. They are special. In fact they are so special that they manage to confuse you with completely arbitrary order, weird questions and additional request for even weirder confirmation. Kinda makes you wonder if this might be one of the reasons why DEXIA bank is now in so much trouble. The procedure to withdraw money from their machines is already quite long but I took extra few minutes to take photos of what happens after you insert your card.

Screen #1 is of asking for your patience the one that appears at the beginning and after each time you confirm or type something.

Screen #2 is kindly informing you that you shouldn't leave your card after you took the money. You of course need to confirm you understood this by either pressing STOP on the left or OK on the right.

Screen #3 first shows machine's appreciation of your understanding and will to continue and brings you to the actually possibility of choosing the amount of money, you would like to withdraw.

Screen #4 Confirms the amount of money you want to withdraw

Screen #5 again informs you in big red letter what you should do if you happen to forget your card after the whole process is over. You might think this is all but you would of course be wrong. It is actually asking you for your PIN in a significantly less noticeable sign above the ugly one. Since the stars below appear to be there for merely decorative reasons and there are no PIN number longer than 6 digits, it is quite possible the whole procedure will be interrupted before you manage to do it.

Screen #7 is just letting you know the machine registered you entering PIN. It gives however no indication whether it has/will also accept it.

Screen #8 is again reminding you not to forget your card and at this point crossing the line from being thoughtful to implying DEXIA thinks their customers are complete idiots.

Screen #9 is the last one that gives you an opportunity to get your card back and avoid further messages. Unlike other machines this one doesn't simply spit out the card but makes you press very logical STOP button, to get it back. Otherwise you might, you know, forget it :)

Brussels public transport - masochists paradise

2011-11-29T09:17:00.008+01:00

Living in Brussels and having to use the public transport every day makes me wonder. Mostly whether the people who invented reality shows based on survival got the idea from spending a week using Brussels public transport. Sadly "driving a sack of potatoes" attitude is actually the least annoying one.

First painful realisation is that Brussels doesn't actually have the underground, despite all the signs indicating it. What Brussels has is trams pretending to be metros and buses occasionally posing as trams.

There's many different kinds of problems and technical ones vary from big screens, telling you how often any mean of transport will make its appearance at the station but not also which one and when exactly. Trams are very often equipped with modern displays used to show the final destination or in case of buses, the commercial for the company logo. The ones that display actual stations and time are said to be experimental. Even the official map gives up at some point and stops showing names of stops. I guess if you got that far, you'll probably be OK in any case.

If you manage to catch the late tram/bus and at therefore don't have to resolve the occurring mystery of where and when the night buses drive and where to, you should consider yourself to be very lucky. The worst thing that can happen now is the tram will change its mind just before the last station and change the direction after short announcement in French. The display will however continue showing the actual destination where tram will of course not go.

But things go also the other way around and busses occasionally show other direction than the one they are actually going to. Which is confusing mostly for non-natives who don't know that the drivers failed attempt to push the button will now take another 2 - 3 hours of their life.

So what's the alternative? Cycling in Brussels unfortunately classifies as suicide attempt and walking is a bit too optimistic for such distances. I'm currently thinking of either learning to fly or getting a horse. What's your solution?

Slovenia says yes to pedophilia and misogyny..

2011-11-14T23:30:00.002+01:00

...but only if done by priests. In this case also sexual harassment will pass, probably along with almost anything else.

At least this are the conclusions drawn from the Slovenian High Court decision in the case the priest Slavko Štefko who was touching several female minors on different occasions and different body party, including their genitals. He was already found guilty on the first level but the appealed and was despite witnesses of harassment and experts opinion now magically found not guilty due to lack of evidence. Their bright conclusion was that the touches weren't of sexual nature.

I see. So if I randomly go an grab someone's crutch, ass or any other body parts this is actually an act of affection, friendship and appreciation? I suppose in this case black eyes, rape and murder are then the ultimate proof of love.

This is simply way beyond sick.

Ist das Kunst oder kann das weg?

2011-09-12T10:00:00.009+02:00

To me art is a manifestation of life, very often presenting itself as a product that reflects the artistic process. So when seeing art, I always want to connect it to life.

This was however not very easy with some art pieces at Berlin's emerging art fair at Preview Gallery. I'm not going to criticise it from artistic point of view as I didn't study art, I did however wonder how did they end up there. These for example:

I'm sure there must be someone who was absolutely thrilled with this pieces and wouldn't hesitate to spend ridiculously a lot of money to buy them just to be able to admire them in their living room every single day. I find them, well quite frankly very boring.

Then of course there were pieces that weren't boring but just disturbing, not in a good way that would make you think. Eye-stabbing colours put together, allowing me approximate observing time of 2 seconds. It's like bad 80's gone completely mad.

The most ridiculous one was just a set of boring black and white paintings with a dry tree part in the middle, and lots of broken glass on the floor. Not only do I not get the connection nor the concept behind it, I also think it's fairly dangerous.

But in the end there were quite some really cool and inspirational art pieces that made all the trip there worth while. My favourite one was a actually from Slovenian Gallery Alkatraz (3rd picture below), followed closely by bizarre statues, plants in light bulb's and Arjan Pregl's witty paintings.

I don't know about others but I appreciate art for inspiration and creativeness it has and gives and definitely not for being difficult to grasp. For this I already have loads of hardcore theory books and politics with all it's dose of daily disrespect and hatred.

Eating in Berlin

2011-09-07T09:15:00.012+02:00

Eating well is essential part of any good city experience and after 2 years in Berlin I've discovered many nice snack and food places. Unless you got your heart set strictly on Currywurst, 1000 different potato dishes or classic tourist menus, you might want to try out one of them.

Nil is an absolute must for all the snack fans. This Sudanese snack place has for sure the tastiest Falafel like snacks. Their notorious Tamiya Haloumi (Falafel and grilled cheese) is just ridiculously tasty and for sure 3 EUR well spent. You might want to try also peanut soup or buy a jar of their delicious peanut sauce. Nil is also meat and vegan friendly.

Zeus is for sure the best pida place around and you can notice its popularity by dozens of fans notes that are popped to the wall. Now I'm not sure whether the recipe is really following Turkish cuisine, but Zeus's pidas taste much better than any of pidas I had in Istanbul. Delicious snack for about 4 euros.

Datscha is a Soviet restaurant, open also late in the evening where good food usually meats good indie music. It's not the cheapest one but has really good breakfasts and in my opinion also the best Sunday brunch buffet in Berlin. Nice place also just to take coffee.

Sadhu is a Pakistani restaurant at Falckensteinstr., not far from Metro station Schlesisches Tor and remains my favourite restaurant. The food is not only absolutely delicious but also not at all expensive. The meals cost around 6 and 7 euros and are totally worth it.

Burgermeister is a hamburger place with supposedly the best meat burgers in Berlin. I've tasted only veggie ones and those aren't really worth mentioning, but the reputation of the meaty burgers has been confirmed several times by my meat loving friends. The place is hidden below the Metro tracks and opposite to Metro station Schlesisches Tor. It's also open almost whole night so it's convenient for night stops back from/to the party.

The White Trash is somehow a tourist place but still worth visiting every now and then because of the nice burgers. They have a good selection of creative yummy burgers, all available also in very tasty and juicy vegetarian version. If you visit it in the evening, you might catch some of the nice indie concerts.

ChénChè is a Vietnamese Teahouse that also serves tasty meals and nice fruity cocktails. With the open garden it's perfect for warm weather but inviting also in winter, especially because of their delicious home made teas. You will get the meal for around 8 euros.

Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap is a small Kreuzberg miracle - situated at one of the exits of Metro station Mehringdamm, it is very close to one of the popular Currywurst place. The only difference is the cue in front of Mustafa's stand is usually at least 10 meters long. However about 15 minutes of waiting is totally worth getting the best Kebap I ever had (originally vegetarian but meat versions are possible) with grilled vegetables and really good mix of spices. I'm getting hungry just by writing about it.

There's more to be discovered - it's surely a tasty task and I don't mind doing it.

To be continued....

My last visit to the ZOO

2011-07-21T14:24:00.007+02:00

There's something depressing about the ZOOs so I could never really convince myself to like them. All this animals, being taken from their natural environment for the sake of our own curiosity and entertainment is somehow decadent post-colonial idea of doing things without thinking about consequences. It's like kicking someone in the back and saying you were performing a massage.

This is only the biggest, but not the only problem I have with ZOOs. The most annoying thing actually is they're full of people. This loud, nosy and unbelievably embarrassing species that is not at all aware that they are either loud, nosy or annoying.

I wonder what the animals actually want to do when people clap their hands or bang on the glass to wake them up, just to squeeze the best out of 13 euros entrance fee. It is a wonder that one of this animals hasn't actually lost it and started showering us with ~~shit~~ random objects.

Having to listen to a tourist screaming repeatedly kangaroo, kangaroo! for only about two dozen times, I was quite keen on doing some ass kicking myself. I am sure if kangaroos' could turn at his doorstep in the siesta time and started banging on the doors, screaming "Human, human, human!", his response would be much less decent than theirs.

So this was the last time I visited a ZOO. For my own mental health and for the sake of annoying tourist, not knowing they were not very far from being verbally harassed by one of their own species.

All the roads lead to Rome

2011-06-13T15:48:00.000+02:00

Italy is wonderfully crazy! I need to go back soon.

Free doom?

2011-05-30T09:53:00.003+02:00

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe that they are free."

(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

The following post was inspired by two similar events, even though the topic itself has been intriguing me for quite a while. Questions like 'what is freedom?' and 'how do you know that you are free?' can sound a bit too philosophical. But in the end, is freedom the same as living in democracy and peace? I don't think so.

In his masterpiece “Escape from freedom”, Erich Fromm points out that freedom is the opportunity to have and express your own opinion – the one that is based on your own critical estimate of the social and political environment you live in^[*]. What this means is being able to ask yourself what is it that YOU want and whether you really want it, or only think you want it because it is “normal” and expected for you to want it. I wonder how many people actually stop themselves on the way to achieving “wealth and success” or starting a family and ask themselves the question: Do I really want this and will it make me happy?

People are usually surprised if you ask them what it is that they want in life. They tend to give you this confused look, as if this is the first time they’ve ever heard of such a question. Most of the time, they will just shrug it off and admit that they aren't sure. On the other hand, expectations are high and the paths are laid; we walk them with great certitude while never asking ourselves where it is that we are actually going. I don't know about you, but the pressure of finishing an education to get a job with the purpose of making money so you can buy a flat and start a family doesn't sounds all that appealing to me.

And I can imagine after going through all of that and finally achieving the goals set, that you can easily end up feeling quite empty and exhausted, possibly even cheated. Especially if you find yourself stuck in a job you hate, but need to keep in order to pay off the loan for a flat you share with a spouse with whom you're with solely “for the sake of the children”. And all of that before you’ve even had the chance to discover who you are and what is it that you want to do?

To go back to the two events that I mentioned at the beginning: both have something in common. The common thread is me breaking the law while biking; the first time riding on the wrong side of the road and the second time riding on the pedestrian sidewalk. Both times strangers attempted to push me off the bike, and it was no accident. After recovering from the initial shock, I started wondering what could possibly have filled them with so much anger? I was in no way endangering anyone else and there was more than enough room for everyone. Only later did I realize that it was not about me endangering others but about me breaking THE RULES. They are put there for everyone and I certainly shouldn't be so presumptive as to take advantage of the situation and do whatever I please. Rules are there to be respected. Even if they make you suffer.

In the end freedom seems to be quite a slippery ground to tread. It doesn't matter how fast we're running, if we don't know where we're headed. There might be many ways on how to get there. Following the rules however, is not one of them.

^[*]
Excluding expressing fascist, racist, nationalist beliefs and other kinds of hate speech.

Tea snob

2011-03-22T09:05:00.006+01:00

I'm definitely a tea person and even though I love coffee, I wouldn't as much as blink to give it up if I ever had to choose between the two. It's almost a religion.

Coming from a ~~village~~ small town tea was considered something you drink when you're sick. Not a surprising attitude considering other disgusting things you have to put in your mouth when you're sick. The tea I had at that time was tasteless yet colourful water with somehow nice smell. Even when it happened to have a taste, it was mainly because of the sugar.

But then I moved and my flatmate introduced me to the idea that not all tea comes in a bag so I discovered great tasting teas. It was a matter of cups before I became a tea addict. Fruit teas, green teas, spiced black teas, white teas, red teas it was just getting better and better. I admit, I got spoiled to the level of becoming a tea snob.

In the summer I make my own iced tea and I love experimenting with fresh ingredient teas, e.g. ginger, lemon-grass, lime and honey. I noticed being genuinely frustrated when ordering tea and getting it done all wrong. I'll survive lousy coffee but don't mess with my tea!

Image via Wikipedia

Supposedly Ireland and England have a high tea culture, some kinda of tea aristocracy so of course my hopes were high. Don't hold your breath. When the question: "Would you like some tea?" is not followed by "What kind?" you know you're in the black zone: no matter what time of day, you'll always get different versions of black tea. I like black tea, but 10 times a day? I don't know the tea drinking cultures well enough to know whether they get offended if you ask for a different kind of tea. Do you?

Three books everyone should read

2011-03-16T08:45:00.000+01:00

For those ten readers of my blog I want to first apologise for not writing. My absence is party related to lack of time but mostly to reading a lot. While reading things "I have to" I actually came across some extremely interesting books that I think everyone should read.

Especially this three jewels:

Erich Fromm's: Esacape from Freedom is an excellent analysis on historical development of individual/collective identities and reasons for rise of the totalitarian ideologies. It can also give you amazing tools to evaluate your own life.

Cordelia Fine's: Delusions of Gender is showing how gender is being constructed from the perspective of neuroscience using hard evidence. After reading this you might change your mind on how you see men and women.

Douglas Adams's: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - because it's a seriously hilarious & genius adventure that can give you a taste of one thing we should never forget - to have fun.

And since I'm a curious person and always in search of a new good reading, I'd like to ask 3 people for which I know (or assume) they love books/reading to do the same.

So Fairy, Hirkani and Alcessa, please share 3 books you think everyone should read. There's no such thing as too many book recommendations :)

Pills inc.

2011-01-13T17:45:00.002+01:00

I don't like taking pills, mostly because I don't trust them. Having one relatively bad experience was enough, thank you very much. Being sick about one time per year means most of the time I get away with using only natural medicine and herbs. My favorite one is definitely herbal oil 31, the most useful medicine I discovered in the past 10 years.

There are however situations where this is not enough. Like flu. After several continuous attempts to cough my lungs out I exhausted all my natural resources. Finally I gave up and went to the pharmacy, where they sold me this. After reading the long list of side affects I found out that there were cases where this syrup was connected to emergence of severe skin diseases, such as Steven-Johnson Syndrome and Lyell Syndrome. One look at those pictures was enough. Of course they suppose the diseases would have appeared also without taking the syrup but they can't be sure. I guess the fact that it was on "special offer" should have told me something.

I didn't take it. Instead I went to the other pharmacy, where I found out they always offer 2 options - one being equivalent natural medicine. I came home with eucalyptus based capsules and so far the effect it satisfying.

Btw, if you happen to have a nice recipe for anti-flu home made medicine, please share.

This year...

2011-01-08T11:15:00.001+01:00

started differently. When you know what you want things should be easier. Unfortunately that is not always the case. But when you keep on stumbling upon the same answers, it would be wasteful to keep on making turns that lead you away from them. Even if it does make your life a less comfortable and a slightly more difficult.

So what exactly am I talking about? Another change, probably a big one. No more "I can" and "I could" but "I want" instead. And this is not only a matter of semantics.

A Woman is More Than the Sum of Her Parts

2010-12-13T15:42:00.001+01:00

Disclaimer: This is one for those men who don't understand what could possibly be wrong with public sexualization of female bodies and for those women who are quietly simmering about not being appreciated for their brains instead of their cleavage.

“A person is sexually objectified when her sexual parts or sexual functions are separated out from the rest of her personality and reduced to the status of mere instruments or else regarded as if they were capable of representing her."

(Sandra Lee Bartky in Femininity and Domination)

We live in a sexist society that is teaching women to please, to hide their "deficiencies" and to control their bodies to look good. The same system is also raising men to be tough, strong and not show emotions. In short: we might be born man, woman or intersex, but not feminine or masculine. The fact that men are taught to bond over the objectification of women, while women are taught to bond over talk about cosmetics, men and clothes, are in fact social constructs and not some manifestation of our true natures.

Some claim that it is a woman's choice to decide whether or not she wants to look pretty/sexy or not. It isn't. When you are raised up surrounded by images that are constantly telling you THIS is how you should look and behave, when people's behavior towards you is more centered on appreciating your dress, make-up or the loss of a few pounds rather than on your opinion, then you start to behave accordingly in direct relation to the way people treat you. This is not a choice you make; largely because you're not really aware of it.

Of course I don't claim that people are behaving like this on purpose. Hopefully they are not. They are doing it without realizing it, simply repeating the same old patterns. Nevertheless, the effect is to make women feel small, less important and less capable. And it is this feeling that also makes them act this way.

When someone is talking to you and keeps staring at your breasts, you are taught to take it as a compliment, when in fact it is humiliating. It reduces your personality down to a nice piece of ass. But women are also taught to bear violence silently and many of them do. Those who don't are usually considered to be either “bitter little bitches that didn't get any” or “having one of those days”.

So if “looking hot” is the rare form of approval women do get, then no wonder it is the behavior they adopt. If you get a cookie every time you perform a task, guess what happens after a while? Then again, some women say they don't make the effort of “looking hot” for men, but for themselves. Isn't it bad enough that they need to do all of those things just to feel good about themselves?

I know many wonderful, intelligent women who think they are not good enough, pretty enough or clever enough. While you might think those are individual problems one can easily disregard, they are not. All those great women out there are being emotionally tortured without understanding why, while simultaneously thinking this is the way it should be.

But what about all of those women who DO make it, despite living in the same society? Aren't they proof that everyone can make it, if only they try hard enough? Actually, they are merely an excellent illustration of the exception that proves the rule. So if we want real equality, we have to start treating women with respect.

I understand this is not the system you or I have chosen or consciously created. But after realizing how blatantly unfair it is, it IS your choice whether you are going to help sustain it or not. For, as quite eloquently stated in one of my favorite movies:"It is not who invented the gun, but who pulls the trigger."

Fear

2010-11-19T20:11:00.001+01:00

Due to the recent terrorist alarm in Germany I noticed two things:

the number of armed & unarmed forces in Berlin stations and allover the city has significantly increased (for safety reasons),
all of the measures taken don't make me feel safe, they make me feel nervous.

Also I am not quite sure how security guards and heavily armed police would help in case there really was a bomb and it went off. Is this just another conservative trick to point the finger at the Muslims and immigrants while looking for a reason to justify recent xenophobic statements of Angela Merkel?

I'm not really sure anymore. If the Government would really want to protect people then it probably wouldn't choose to do it by spreading fear. Panic doesn't make people feel safe, it does however make them much more vulnerable and easy to manipulate with.

It's OK to fail.

2010-11-10T10:36:00.004+01:00

When I came across postcard with a sign "failure is cool" my first reaction was: No, it isn't! But then I thought about it and came to few interesting conclusions. First of all that failures are integrative part of the learning process. When I think about the situations I learned from most, it was definitely not the ones after which you open the champagne (or beer in my case). It were the ones where I failed. And usually quite badly.

Being subscribed to ~~way too~~ many newsletters connected to my work, I regularly get tips on how to succeed in this and that. The 5 ways on how to improve communication with your clients, 10 steps for better social networking, 7 good practices on writing etc. It's very interesting to read about mistakes other people made and success they achieved. But can we really learn from it? I remember every time my parents told me not to do something because this and this can/will happen, that was exactly what I did. Not because I wouldn't trust them, but because it's hard to learn from other people's experience.

Most of the society is very intensely focussed on success and there's not necessarily anything wrong with that. But aren't we forgetting that often success is based on learning from your own failure? Eventually you need to fail at some points in your life to be able to move on. That is of course if you are able to reflect upon the mistakes and learn from them at least to some extent. Could it be that success depends on how successfully we find learning opportunities in our failures and not how successfully we are trying to avoid them?
I wonder. Maybe it's time for a few changes.

Letting go

2010-10-17T12:46:00.000+02:00

Eventually there comes a time when you need to think about your life and people around you. And sometimes it makes sence to honestly examine the relationships you have and make effort to preserve the ones that really matter to you.

Unfortunately it also means letting go of the ones you tried to keep despite the ever growing differences that kept on telling you it's time to let go. A very wise women once told me everytime you let something go, you make a space in your life for something new. She was of course right. The new already started to happen, so there it is. I'm letting go.

Home

2010-09-01T20:37:00.004+02:00

It's exactly 1 year since I moved to Berlin and I have to say it was one of the best decisions of my life. I am enjoying my life more than ever, finally being able to write as much as I want and I can regularly feed my need for creativity. I love living with my with flatmates and I <3 other friends I made in this year.

Yes I love it and I wouldn't change a thing! I don't think I can actually get happier than this. It's an amazing feeling, having a life you always wanted and I would strongly reccomend it to anyone who is still hesitating whether to take that risk or not. Just do it, it's totally worth it and nothing else can really compare to it.

A year ago I was asking myself Where is home and today I know that my home is exactly where I am now. German language, harsh as it might sound, has a beautiful word "das Zuhause", that described home - the feeling, not the place. Ja, mein Zuhause ist genau hier :)

Sports in the city

2010-08-27T10:36:00.002+02:00

I already wrote about the pleasures of urban adrenalin sports and their number seems to grow with the size of the city. Since I moved to Berlin my sport life has blossomed. Not only I became even worse jogging addict and cycling ~~maniac~~ enthusiast (the latter is inevitable once you get on that bike), I also have the opportunity to do exciting city sports. Such as:

U-bahn surfing: survive the drive with a subway without holding on to anything (or anyone) and surf those waves of underground acceleration mixed with unpredictable movements of disorientated tourists. For details see picture above.

Spot the controller: is a common city sport suitable also for beginners. You don't need much, in fact you don't even need to buy a ticket. While enjoying all privileges of public transport, you will feel the adrenalin with each new stop, while wondering if there is a controller among passengers. You're right - they're not wearing uniforms.

Catch the red light: is a sport popular among car drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. True Berliners can't be bothered with insignificance of stopping at red light. Red is good. Red is sexy. Follow the red. Except when it's the color of cycling track and you're walking on it. Then you should run for your life. Which brings us to the most popular of all city sports.

Dodge the cyclist: Yes, we are insane. Not only will we drive on cycling tracks, we will also drive on pavements, roads, streets and pretty much everything on our way. After all those road hurdles we need to cycle it out. Be scared. Be very scared.

Cycle hurdling: Coming somewhere easy and on time is boring. Therefore we need obstacles such as:

parked cars (upgrade: with opening doors),
delivery trucks unloading their stuff,
confused tourists, checking the maps,
coffee tables/chairs,
slow cyclists that drive in the middle of the track with the speed of injured chicken.

You name it, we got it. Plain cycling is so 20th century, so bring it on!

Jump to the sound of sirens: I am pretty sure there is a limitation on how loud the ambulance sirens can be and I'm convinced that the ones in Berlin are well above any limit. So jump, as it will surprise you when you will at least expect it. Possibly when your mouth is full of coffee.

As you can see, life in the big city is never boring. Possibly life-threatening, but boring definitely not. Are there any other interesting city sports I've missed so far? Please, do enlighten me.

Shopping in Berlin

2010-08-19T00:00:00.001+02:00

Most of my friends who come to visit aks me where can they buy something "typical Berlin". And they don't mean endless lnumber of Ampelmann products or I love Berlin T- shirts. So if you had different kinda shopping in mind, you might wanna pop into one of these stores:

Kleidungschmuck (Skalitzer Str. 82): is a sweet little shop with clothes, made by young designers. Of course the clothes are a bit more expensive than in H&M, but at least you'll be sure that they're not powered by delicate children handfcrafts. You'll find mixture of clothes from street chic to elegant sporty stuff. The shop is also a bike rental.

Dazu shop is selling designer "ich" bags that resemble Freitag bags (very popular in BLN). They cost from 30 to 100 EUR and are creatively decorated, sometimes also with recycled materials e.g. bike tires. Definitely something that says Berlin.

Zozoville (Mainzer Str. 12) is like a candyshop for fans of bizzarre contemporary art. You can buy beautiful artwork of artists Johan Potma and Mateo. Of course if you're like me, i.e. far from being ritch, you will get your friends one of the posters, not the paintings. They are beautifully obscure.

Freakout (Grünberger Str. 63) is a cute shop with everything from clothes to vintage bags, kitchy souvenir and funky glasses. If you're looking for small and not too expensive gifts, that's your store. It's packed with things that scream Berlin without actually spelling it.

Zierstiche (Gabriel-Max Str. 14) is selling lovely little monsters in different shapes. You'll also find some clothes for children, jewlery, toys, pois, bags buttons and thingies you put on your eyes to sleep during the day (Sleepgoggles?). All things are hand made and incredibly cute.

There is also a fair number of cool shops in Boxhagener Str. and Kopernikussstrasse. In case you're not really sure what you want and how much you wanna spend, go to one of the Berlin fleamarkets on Sunday e.g. one at Boxhagener Platz, the big one in Mauerpark or the occasional one in Neukölln. That should fix any shopping spree.

Tears in a cup

2010-08-17T11:54:00.013+02:00

Finnish indie band Cats on fire are not completely different from all other good indie bands. They are addictively melancholic but that's also not something new. They are however incredibly adorable.
So far they've released 3 albums and I managed to get my hands only on the first one: "The Province complains". According to Wiki:

"The mood in their lyrics extends from melancholie to self irony."

When I asked Ville to sign my CD, he slightly blushed. I find that incredibly cute but then again, I always had a soft spot for the shy guys...

Taste some of their good stuff, yeah:

Miss U-bahn

2010-08-15T19:24:00.003+02:00

An excellent idea, creative minds and love for fashion resulted in Miss U-bahn contest, one of those slightly crazy but typical Berlin events. The concept was that designers capture the spirit of their designated U-bahn station in their creations and compete for the title of Miss U-bahn.

Besides creative ideas we also found out interesting historical details about actual U-bahn stations. I have to say that all the contestants showed lots of talent and sense of humour.

Miss Alexanderplatz:

Miss Rosenthaler Platz:

Miss Merhingdamm:

Miss Schlesisches Tor:

Miss Kottbusser Tor:

Miss Warschauerstrasse:

Miss Potsdamer Platz:

Miss Zoologische Garten:

Miss Potsdamerplatz became the new Miss U-bahn 2010. I have to say Miss Warschauerstrasse won my heart by answering the final round with: "Can I at least get a fucking beer if I answer?" Also Miss Rosenthaler Platz was extremely good in the talent round with her ghost performance (during the Berlin Wall times this station was not functioning and was kinda ghost station). Maybe they have more chances next year?
P.S. Thank u JinX for the tip about the event.

Radio Dept. - Swedish indie with a style

2010-08-08T14:19:00.001+02:00

I like discovering new band by checking upcoming concerts and listening to the songs on youtube. In this way I discovered Local Natives, a band that quickly became one of my new favorites.

So last week I Radio Dept. came on my indie radars. They are an indie band from Sweden (Lundt), that exists for 15 years. So far they've released 3 albums and I have to say, I really like the music they play. Not only they sound extremely well, their songs are also political.

The concert was like a balsam for every indie fan. Soft indie electro was extending from chillout to dancy rhythms. By a coincidence my friend and me met a part of the band after the concert. Interesting coversatoins about music, politics and life pretty much convinced me they really have something important to say.

In case you wanna hear - I recorded this video at the concert.

Sidewalk Philosophy

2010-08-04T23:38:00.002+02:00

Sometimes it seems that people on the sidewalks are behaving unlogical and are often on your way.

I finally figured out how it works :)

Cool places in Berlin

2010-08-02T20:23:00.013+02:00

Image via Wikipedia

It took me a while to find out about alternative places in Berlin and even longer to discover really cool places, outside the tourist gridlines. So here they are - make a good use of them when you visit Berlin.

Squats: Almost in every part of the city there is also a squat. The most popular events are of course parties and VoKu (Volks Küche), a meal prepaired by volunteers that is usually quite cheap (2 or 3 Eur). Sometimes they also have international VoKu (e.g. traditional Norwegian food), vegan Voku etc. If you're into alternative and/or activist stuff, you'll feel right at home there. You will find most of the squats happening on the website Stressfaktor.

Chén Chè Teahouse is one of most recently discovered places, described as an oasis in the middle of the city. It really is, as this Vietnam Teahouse is hidden in the courtyard and beautifully decorated with plants. It feels like entering a secret garden. Is you are a tea person it's a must. They also have meals and delicious sweets. It's so nice that I even forgave them for telling me that dumplings were vegetarian. Anything that had a heartbeat can't be vegetarian, including fish and crabs.

Schwarze Kanal is a community of ~~artists~~ activists, living in trailers. It used to be situated by the river Spree (hence the name) and was moved this summer to it's current location near Treptower park. Occasionally they organise festivals and activities but mostly, live together and work on their projects. It's one the Berlin secrets that are not so easy to discover.

Krumme Lanke is a lake, just a but outside the city, the last station of underground line U3. Unlike Wansee or lakes around it, it's less turistic so it's possible to enjoy a nice swim or a picnic without feeling like you're on a festival.

Even after almost a year Sadhu is and remains my favorite restaurant. It is a Pakistani restaurant with delicious food and friendly staff that occasionally gives you something nice to drink on the house. Unlike other similar restaurant on that street, Sadhu is almost always full.

White trash is probably a dream of every rock fan - it's a fast food place with indie punk rock/rock music and concerts. Burgers are so big they come in two parts, served with fries. Additional plus: all burgers are available in veggie version and it tastes amazingly well. Also the menu is extremely amusing. Check for yourself.

Of course this are only some of the cool places I'd reccomend, so...to be continued.
P.S. Those of you, who prefer your burgers with meat - I heard that the best burgers in Berlin are @ Burgermeister.

More about Berlin:

I heart rain

2010-07-29T09:15:00.001+02:00

I love the weather just before the storm. It feels like my mind shortly before writing.

I love the sky before after and during the rain. It shows the most amazing colors and reminds me how wonderful life actually is when you manage to seize this moment. Now.

When it walks like a duck...

2010-07-25T14:04:00.001+02:00

There's a certain lady with way too much time to kill and access to the internet so yes, naturally she concluded that:

"Fascism is better than socialism cause it gives more opportunities for communiaction."

Hm, let me see....Begging for your life, saying goodbye to your loved ones just before you're taken away to the concentration camp in the middle of the night, asking for food and dignity... Yeah, lots of communication going on there.

Since sometimes it's better to let the music speak, here it is - for you Dajana:

p.s. I hope you really do get a little kick out of being small-minded. Otherwise it is just a huge waste of bytes.

I want my money back!

2010-07-19T17:42:00.002+02:00

Dear Jack & Jones,

Less than two months ago I bought my first pair of Jack & Jones jeans. Unfortunately it will be also the last one. It has one of those "washed out" looks and I appreciate the thoroughness of "looks old" style, but I really didn't expect it to also act old.

Now, jeans and me have a long and loving history which is why I like to buy it in the range from "not cheap" to "rather expensive". And of course there are things I do and don't expect from it: I don't expect it to turn into a unicorn or write my articles, but I do expect it to last longer than two months! My almost new pair od Jack & Jones now looks worse than my 5 years old pair of Levi's. See for yourself:

If I wear them every day they should last at least 1 year. I know you probably spend a lots of time researching the habits of your target groups and yes, latest studies do show that young people spend a lot of time online. However that is not all we are doing.

I expect the stitches to be strong enough to survive random activities like riding a bike, catching a bus and occasional partying. Would be nice to know that clothes for young people are not made only for sitting in bars.

I think I'm being quite reasonable about my expectations. You see...I already have many pairs of old jeans that are falling apart. This is actually the reason why I bought new ones.

yours sincerely...

OMG, ick kann Deutsch sprechen!

2010-07-16T19:53:00.000+02:00

Ja, jetz kann ich Deutsch viiiiieeeeel besser sprechen als früher. Echt! Danke BSI!

Hai=shark

Aber keine sorge, schreibe ich leider am Englisch :).

The Villagers & Here we go magic in Berlin

2010-07-06T11:05:00.002+02:00

Checking out new indie bands became my new summer sport (apart from repairing my bike). This time I bought tickets for Here we go Magic, indie band from New York. It is fair to say the band is not inventing new kind of music, nevertheless it is performing a crossover indie extremely well. Untamed raw guitare sounds are sometimes very soft and gentle and the other times hardcore, almost old school rock like. So yes, definitely 12 EUR well spent.

But this time something quite strage happened. It was not the main band that impressed me so much, but their support act - The Villagers. Actually it was only the frontmen Conor J. O'Brien performing but OMG, what a voice! Clear, strong and melanholic in that indie kinda way, topped up with quality lyrics that left me speachless. Apparently he described his lyrics as:

"transcendental darkness and the weirdness...Dark imagery or feelings alongside really mundane domestic everyday things".

Yes, I bought the CD and yes, will definitely go and see the next show. I think the music did for me what John Mayer did for some of my female friends. However, I do think Conor O'Brien is entirely different story than John Mayer and probably less of a cunt too :)

About Slovenian national sports

2010-06-18T17:13:00.001+02:00

This is not about football. The closest I got to World cup is listening to honking horns and drunken yelling from the streets while getting a serious flag overdose.

No, it's about the sports that Slovenians are learning and practising from the very early age: complaining and criticizing. Yup, that's right. We are the world champions in nagging, bitching, exaggerating, searching for loopholes and mistakes and many other similar disciplines. So many olympic medals just waiting to happen.

Have a good news? Don't worry, we can turn it into a bad one in no time. And smash any ideals or hope you might have had while we're at it. See a nice opportunity? No problem - in a blink of an eye it will become a scandal, maybe even an international conflict. Nothing interesting to say? Just criticize the first object/person/news/thing you see. It'll make you feel much better and more important.

If you want to compete with us, there's important lesson you have to learn. Remember that there are no challenges. There are only obstacles that prevent you from actually doing something.

Summer Lunch

2010-06-16T09:23:00.001+02:00

I love experimenting with food, especially if the outcomes are delicious. Of course sometimes experienting also means growing mold or making dishes of weird colors, but amost never intentionally. Fortunately this experiment ended in a delicious risotto and refreshing salad. To make it you'll need:

For risotto:

brown rice
1/2 onion
1-2 garlic cloves
1 medium size zucchini
5-7 asparagus
olive oil
salt
pepper
yellow curry
thyme
rosemary

For salad:

lettuce
mozzarella
fetta cheese
1 green pepper
2 tomatoes

For salad dressing:

olive oil
juice of half a lemon
honey
salt
pepper
yellow curry
pinch of thyme

Experimenting starts with heating olive oil in the saucepan and adding chopped onion and garlic with a pinch of salt. Add rice and spices, after few minutes add water, cover and cook on low/medium hear for about 20 minutes.

In the meantime cut zucchini and prepaire asparagus - peel off the hard skin, cut off the ends and cut them into smaller pieces. After the rice is half way done, add chopped veggies and more water. Leave for another 15 - 20 minutes, untill the veggies are cooked, add more water if neccessary.

Salad is pretty easy, just some washing, chopping and putting things together. Now I know the salad dressing sounds a bit exotic and weird but it's actually really tasty. Ever since my ex flatmate showed me that salad dressing don't have to be prepaired only with oil, vinegar, garlic and onion, I've really started to enjoy them much more.

Bon apetit!

Slave to nicotine?

2010-05-22T11:40:00.001+02:00

Not anymore! Thank you Allen Carr!

image source

Mock it all you want - it totally worked for me! Free at last!

Intimacy

2010-04-14T14:09:00.002+02:00

Some statistics imply that most of people is scared of public speaking and death. It's probably not far from the truth, however I do believe what really scares us most is intimacy. Fear of opening up to another person, uncovering the weaknesses and showing who we really are. Fear of not being accepted by others is nothing unusual since many are actually struggling with accepting themselves.

Once we put down our strong fences, built to protect us from pain, dissapointment and ourselves, we are left with naked vunerability and mixed emotions. How long does it take before we are willing to share it, knowing that there is no guarantee or protection from getting hurt? How careful can one be when opening up to people? How fast or slow should you do it? Is there the right way?

I don't know. But sometimes it is better not to ask too many questions. It's possible to get hurt, shattered or torn apart. Just as it is possible to feel something trully strong and special, even if only for short time. Going through life wihtout giving other people a chance to know who we are and how we feel is quite comfortable way. Probably not a very happy one. I'm not willing to give it a try. I want to feel.

Creepy freshness

2010-04-10T13:13:00.004+02:00

There's something that needs to be said about modern automatic air fresheners with a sensor. They creep me out.

Sure it may sound like an excellent idea. But when you enter bathroom still in the morning braindead mood, the last thing you want is having some device spraying deodorant on you while making strange noise.

Trust me, when you hear a weird squishy noise at 4 a.m. air freshener is definitely not the first thing that comes to your mind. It's more like wondering what kinda freaking animal/alien has found its new home in the safe environment of our cosmetic products.

After few seconds of twilight zone feeling you realise it's just the falic device with it's ~~evil~~ blinking green eye. Lord of the Rings meets Cyclop.

Seriously scarry shit.

Yes, I am a feminist!

2010-03-09T11:31:00.003+01:00

This statement is usually accompanied by a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, awkward moments or rolling eyes, followed by the question: But why?

Naturally most of the people assume that being a feminist means hating men, not shaving legs or exercising militant stereotypes where furious women point fingers at you and scream slogans about opression, domination and payback time. Well no.

For me being a feminist means smashing gender stereotypes and fighting inequality. Being a woman or man doesn't mean you need to fit into the uncomfortable and socially prescribed role if you don't want to. But many do because of the social pressure.

It's not about all women of the world having a sucessful career nor about all men becoming caring housewifes. It's simply about recognising that "women" and "men" are not unique categories. Not all women want to have a family and not all men want to be providers. And personally I don't see a problem with that.

Being a feminist means noticing the existing power relations and the structure behind them. Equal rights are not just about the laws, but also about all the social structures that affect us and our surroundings, constituting invisible "natural" order which is in fact as artificial as it can get.

So yes I am a feminist. And I think it's about time to claim feminism back. It is not and shouldn't be a fight of women for their rights. It is a fight of the society for the gender equality. Globally.

Confessions of internet user

2010-02-25T18:53:00.006+01:00

As internet user there are some things I don't expect to happen when I visit a website. And by "don't expect to happen" I really mean "it annoys the hell outta me". For example :

the music that starts playing when I visit a website,
the music that starts playing everytime I refresh the page, even if I turned it off the first time,
the main navigation dissapears every time I visit any of the webpages,
pop up ads (possibly in flash with loud music) appear out of nowhere and follow my cursor,
special characters change in bizzare unreadable signs thus making the text completely impossible to consume,
having to read long text with few or no paragraphs,
having to read somebody's mindflow for 10 minutes before I get to actual information,
having to look for contact info for more than 10 seconds,
having to deal with the search field or e-form that doesn't work,
discovering the dead pages,
"news" that was refreshed a year ago.

Having a website is overrated. Unless you can take care for it properly, don't embarrass yourself by having a lousy one. This might also help.

So, how is your German?

2010-02-19T20:48:00.001+01:00

This is a sentence I hear quite often (apart from two most ~~annoying~~ common ones: what are you doing in Berlin and why). My usual answer is: besser.

Eventhough I am still planing to take an intensive course, I learned a lot just by listening and trying to speak. I must say the latter is much easier after a beer or three. Of course I make lots of gramatical mistakes with die, der, das and others, but it doesn't really matter cause they don't pronounce half of the letters anyway.

I love Berlin slang. It's somewhat soft, melodic and sometimes also funny. E.g.

Bin ick kino? = Why are you staring at me?

Ick mach dich Krankenhaus = I will beat you up. (funny only cause it means literally I will make you a hospital)

With everything else I improvise. Like today at the hairdressers. She can't speak English so I showed her a picture. Actually I showed two pictures of completely different haircuts and said: Etwas wie so oder so.

She went on on explaining on what would be good and what she's gonna do. Every now and then she would ask me something. I understood most of the things and when I didn't I just answered with "Ja".

The result is a nice haircut for only 7 eur. So yes, my German is improving :)

Local Natives

2010-02-03T15:34:00.005+01:00

Yesterday's concert of Southern Californian indie band Local Natives was indeed one of the music highlights. Only a week after the German release of their debut album Gorilla Minor they peformed in Berlin's rather small but nice alter place called Bang Bang Club. And let me tell you, oooh, and aaah doesn't even begin to describe it.

Expectations were high and were partially satisfied by an excellent rock pre group who's name I didn't manage to catch. Needless to say the club was packed with excited people and so was the stage.

Local Natives were not performing at all, it seems as they were completely melted with their music, enjoying every minute of it, and so did we. They mastered their instruments as well as the genre. Positive surprise and a band that is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Unfortunatelly I didn't make any photos as I found concert much more enjoyable that way, but here is a taste of their live performance. Very likable!

Freedom

2010-02-01T19:26:00.001+01:00

..usually come with uncertainty. Of future, desires, finances and often also relationships. But for those who crave for it, it's really not the question of choice. It's more about either feeling alive or being imprisoned by other people's expectations.

It is not an easy decision to make, to step into unknown when it would be so much easier to grab already known reality which leads to certain but prescribed future. A golden cage at the reach of a hand doesn't mean much when you want to fly.

So here I am, not sure of what will happen or how will I be able to realize my goals. No guarantees, no promisses, no laid down paths to follow. But I do know that I really like to fly.

Sometimes...

2010-01-31T19:13:00.024+01:00

...clouds can brighten your day.

What will 2010 bring?

2009-12-24T15:01:00.003+01:00

Who knows, who cares. Looking back is a bit pointless when u can't really change anything and looking forward only makes sense if u can see the future. Fortunately I can't. It's much more exciting this way.

Life can often seem like waiting in front of the closed door. Luckily, unlike the cute dog on the picture, we are not wearing a leash ;). So just go for it.

Happy 2010 ! (with recycled wishes from 2007 and 2008)

Fuck the pain away!

2009-12-17T00:50:00.003+01:00

Nope, it's not about rebound, it's all about concert of Peaches in Berlin. Definitely one of the top 3 concerts ever, right after Rammstein.

It's hard to say what exactly was so great about it cause it was pretty much everything. Of course it also helped to have two rather lousy groups performing before.

Hawnay troof was some kind of funky wanna be Michael Jackson meets The Beegees. Only offtune. Rich lyrics included "You're my momma, I'm your brother/cousin?" and "I'm feeling it." So yeah, definitely not a keeper.

Snax was slightly better at singing, but much better to listen to than to look at. All that manic jumping on stage made me think someone underestimated their daily drug intake.

But then she came. Simply amazing performance, not just because of the costumes, stage diving, laser show and walking on our hands, but also because of extremely addictive energy. Yeah, I'm definitely a believer.

Sorry, no pictures this time. I was too busy jumping.

Dear Santa...

2009-12-13T18:30:00.007+01:00

Recent Obama's Nobel prize got me thinking nothing is impossible. So I'm changing my strategy. Forget eteric experience and miracles on the 34^th street. We are in financial crisis for f***k's sake and this is no time for modesty!

So dear Santa, please remember, whatever you decide to bring, think big. By buying lots of gifts you will help our underfed economy and, more importantly, me. Since the luggage limitation or border control doesn't seem to be a problem for you, just bring me as much as you can of:

Natureta sauerkraut - because it's sauer enough to make jota. I know you'd imagine I can also get good sauerkraut in Berlin, but not really.
Natureta spread with red pepper - in case you're wondering if I'm a fan of this brand, you're right. So while you're at it toss in some gherkins, red beet and ajvar. Even though I could get decent substitutions for the latter three, I'd rather have the good stuff.
Lemon flavoured Cedevita - cause there is nothing like instant quasi vitamins early in the morning. Yum!
Zdenka sir - First of all, I can't believe it doesn't have a website. Tradition with a taste of irony. I still want it though. Now I know there's been some fuss about different sizes in Slovenia and Croatia, but I'm not picky, so just bring both.
Cockta - I take it this one doesn't need much explaining. Think a looooot. Now double it.

I know it is the thought that counts, but unfortunately thoughts make a lousy breakfast.

yours unfaithfully

Cherry

Modern romance

2009-12-03T18:54:00.005+01:00

I'm ever so grateful to Facebook for educating me about what a romance means these days.

So next time I'll be rubbing my cleavage towards somebody's torso while they grab my ass, I have to remember. It's not foreplay, we're just discovering romance.

Lame ad

2009-12-02T19:46:00.004+01:00

On my way to the market I stumbled upon this fail:

Seems that car ads are becoming more and more absurd. A bussiness god, throwing away money, a woman, happy because of the new car, and a satisfied man (because of the money?) do seem like a parody of happy modern family. Except they are not. This ad is for real.

I'm sure there are people who don't mind getting humiliated to get a new car. However, I liked car ads far more when they were like this.

ABC alternative Berlin

2009-11-28T13:50:00.011+01:00

I finally took time to write down few reccomendations for everyone who is interested in less tourists sights of Berlin, especially East part. Not only because it is bursting from alternative culture and is much more colorful and cheaper than West, but also because I live there :).

So here's what you can check out:

Køpi is "occupied" house on Köpenickerstr. 137 which has a long history of fighting for it's legal rights and is today autonomous housing project and (alternative) cultural center. Cool parties and happening till late morning hours. Also very wallet friendly.

Mauerpark flea market happens every Sunday in memorial park, dedicated to Berlin wall. It's one of the biggest I've seen, where you can buy everything from bicycles to records and products from young Berlin artists. And while you're browsing through various stands, you can treat yourself with some coffee or freshly made juice/food.

Bethanien is basically an old mansion, functioning as cultural center. Various cultural events and rich alternative activistis and political happening will not dissapoint those, who seek something more than just a night out.

Cafe Datscha - Cute russian cafe, decorate in Soviet style. On Sundays from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. you can get the most amazing brunch (all u can eat) buffet, I've ever had. Extremely tasty food, fingerfood and sweets - for about 9 EUR. Also they serve my favorite soft drink Wostok - natural energy drink, very tasty, very Berlin. Unfortunately not so easy to get outside Kreuzberg.

Kptn. A. Müller is very cool pub at my favorite street - Simon-Dach Strasse. It is one of those places that are typical for East Berlin and look like a livingroom from the 80's. Wallet friendly prices, satisfying variety of beers, cocktails, soft drinks and snacks are some reasons why it is quite popular. Also you can play table football for free. Unfortunately it does not open before 6 p.m.

Café Bar Sofia - very cool smoker (and wallet) friendly bar, with special affections for kitsch. They don't mind if you bring in your own food, also they have quite interesting toilet. Nice little café, most of the nights music is indie orientated.

Görlitzer Park is nice huge park, right near U-bahn station Görlitzer Bahnhof. What makes it special is that very alive through most of the year. Young people mostly bring their drinks and hang out or bring their grills and make picnics. Yes, it is one of the parks where you can grill food. Very cool, especially in the summer.

So this was something to start with. Stay tuned for more tips.

Useful websites:

Nationalities

2009-11-25T14:30:00.003+01:00

Is nationality really that important? Does it define us? Did it become an inherent part of our lives from which we can't be separated? Why?

Personally I don't think it matters at all. Sure, your cultural surroundings have influenced who you've become and probably also how you behave. But I don't feel like I belong to a country, I don't raise flags and I also don't think there's anything wrong with that. In words of Virginia Woolf:

"As a woman I have no country. As a woman my country is the whole world."

I think nationality is too often used only to enhance somebodies importance or insignificance. To make a bigger gap between "us" and "them". Here's how:

Sports - I don't really watch sports, I like doing them. But how come that winning a game makes us feel we overruled the country of the other team? Does our educational system suck less because of that? Are we more happy with our government? Of course the true sport spirit says, it's all about participating, not winning. But then again nobody really likes to be a loser, right?

Death - I can't really understandf why is it so important to stress that none of Slovenians (or any other nationalities) have been killed during the plane crash. As if their lives would be more important than lives of other people. What is really the purpose of this information? To calm down potential relatives of people who might be on that plane? Don't you think they would be informed already and probably not by the news? To calm down the others, that there is not any less of us? What?

While we are mourning over death of "our" important citizen which we knew mostly from the newspapers, we forget thousands that are being killed every day on the other side of the globe. Is their death somehow less significant, because they didn't manage to achieve anything "important" while they were dieing over water and territory?

Celebrities - Everytime someone discovers something important or makes an entrance to public sphere, whether a pop star or a scientist, often we hear that their grandparents were e.g. half Polish, or they studied in the capital of this and this country. Like we would want to pin a part of their achievements to our country. To prove we are somehow connected to great minds. Of course we are not so eager to share this joy when it comes to e.g. killers. Nobody wants to brag about "their" socipaths.

So according to my experience, nationalities are mostly about US and THEM. I don't think there is THEM at all. I think it's only us. And we all matter.

I hope there is a hamster heaven

2009-11-16T18:04:00.004+01:00

Štefan, I will miss u.

Easy Saturday morning

2009-11-07T13:30:00.002+01:00

On Saturdays I go to the market. Even if I don't need to buy anything. I take coffee from the Italian guy. He's always in a good mood, smiling, greeting people with "Buongiorno" and inviting them to try his home made Tiramisu. You can easily notice he's not faking niceness. He's truely enjoying his work, doing it with a big smile.

It is sunny and people seem relaxed. I drink cappuccino and roll a cigarette. He pours more milk into my coffee, we do small talk, both in bad German but nobody really cares. I compliment on the coffee - it's really delicious. He thanks me and whishes me a nice weekend.

I take a walk through the market, sun is bringing out the autumn colors of the trees. The city look even more beautiful. Families are playing on the plaground in the middle of the market, people are enjoying their coffee and buying fresh fruits and veggies. Time doesn't exist anymore, there is only now. Yes, this is home.

(Un)romantic

2009-10-31T22:41:00.005+01:00

Just few seconds before the ending of what it was supposed to be romantic comedy.

Cherry: Oh come on! Smooch her already!

Fairy: Yeah, I gotta pee.

I think we have a winner for the worst movie of the year. On scale from 1 to 10 I'd give it 0.5.

Random stories of interruption: Mr. B.

2009-09-30T15:40:00.005+02:00

Disclaimer: All the characters and events are fictional. Any similarity with real persons or circumstances is probably a product of your twisted mind. Or consumed substances.

Hi, my name is Mr. B. and I am... Actually I can't really tell you what I do. Well, I could , but then I'd probably kill you. That is if you didn't die of boredom or slip into a coma by the time I finished. It's not that it is dangerous, it's just deadly boring.

You don't believe me? Remember Sleeping beauty? Yup, she wanted to know all about it and see what happened. It's not "reading a phone book" boring but "building a tunnel with a toothpick" boring.

Naturally I wasn't always aware of this. It only dawned to me when people started to fall a sleep during our conversations. As far as I know narcolepsy can't really go epidemic, right? But I still wasn't completely sure. Until they started calling me late at night, saying they can't sleep and asking me to explain how my day was. Needless to say there was a lot of snoring after few minutes. Or silence. Both of which was equally disturbing.

So what could I do? Change my job? Change my friends? Get a new haircut and forget all about it? The last one seems like a fairly good option if only I had any hair left. Besides, I love my job, so the only reasonable option seemed to get new friends. I tried one of those internet pages. Needless to say it failed badly.

After few attepts to meet people, I got several obscene photos of their intimate parts and quite a few detailed explanations of their interests. Call me conservative but I don't really care about other people's purposes for growing vegetables or collecting other people's underwear.

But then I got a message from quite interesting person, supposedly a young executive working in a statistical research center. We had this long and fullfilling conversations about data analysis and quantitative method research and I started to think I've met my soulmate.

Unfortunately it proved to be a 74 year old gardener who lived with 14 cats and was looking for long lost twin brother. Finally, when I started to recieve loads of offers to enlarge my penis, adopt weird animals and meet christian singles in my area, I gave up. Apparently internet is no place for people like me.

So I did the only logical thing I could think of - I bought a goldfish and named her Data. She is a good listener and never complains. There is only this one thing that worries me. I think she is addicted to swimming. I guess you can't have it all, can you?

Where is home?

2009-09-13T18:10:00.003+02:00

Moving to Berlin wasn't really that difficult (apart from all the physical exercise that was included). Probably because I wasn't completely aware of what I was actually doing. Of course thoughts like "Am I completely nuts?" did cross my mind from time to time but then quickly disappear to the "Don't panic!" area. Douglas Adams knew what he was talking about.

First days were kinda exciting and confusing at the same time. Mostly I was dealing with fundamental questions like: where is the post office, where can I get decent caffeine fix and where am I anyway. While looking for answers I found extremely useful things like:

Soft drinks with gas are very popular,
if you make out words that sound german, people might even understand you,
organic wine is actually quite tasty.

I also found out that it IS a good idea to visit huge computer stores without a credit card. Especially if they have also Apple Store.

So right now I am still kinda adjusting, discovering the city and trying to practice my German. I'd say I covered the basic level by mastering shopping conversation (hello, how much, goodbye, yes, no) and random useful phrases like: Can I have some toilet paper?

What's next? I have no idea. Let's wait and see.

Germanwings FAIL

2009-09-02T20:25:00.005+02:00

I made it to Berlin, unfortunately without my hamster. My first post here should probably be dedicated to glorifying the city, however I am still too irritated by Germanwings and their serious lack of information skills. Here's why:

1. I read the info on their website: So I got a note form the vet, my hamster is under 8 kg and is not in the category 1 restricted breeds. I just needed to make a phone call to "check" him in. According to this info I should pay about 25 EUR. Not really cheap but OK, I don't really have a choice.

2. The contact page is somewhat confusing as not all the call centers have the full numbers. After second week of trying to reach them on five different numbers and some effort trying to get the right number, I finally managed. The guy on the other side, supposedly empoyee of germanwings, said I need a note from the vet and 35 EUR which I pay at the check in. Ok, So maybe they raised prices because of the crisis.

3. I come to the check in, already check in all my luggage, including the cage, and then point at the hamster. Only then they told me that rodents can't travel with planes. And if I wanted to get the cage back I would surely miss my plane. Splendid. I swear I could hear Murphy laughing out loud.

So now I have the cage while my parents, ~~only~~ 700 km away, are stuck with my hamster. I would to complaint to them but there is no email on their website and I am too pissed off to spend money on calling them.

So dear Germanwings, we spent fun few years together but now it is time to move on and find something else. Because I deserve better :P

Good, Better, Sziget 2009

2009-08-22T19:58:00.006+02:00

Sziget proved again to be my favorite festival. Excellent camping spot in a beautiful and gigantic park (island), insanely diverse cultural/other happening AND superb concerts. What's not to like? Plus I got to go there for free thanks to my DJ friend Luk@May.

This years main theme of the festival were animals. Inflatable and furry animal toys, animal costumes, tents in the shape of animals and of course the beasts that come out of people after a bottle or two of vodka. Very primal, very zoo-otic.

It was literally impossible to go to all or even most the concerts and performances that were happening, so I choose only the ones I really wanted to see.

Highlights:

I am X,
Editors,
Bloc party,
Primal Scream,
Klaxons,
Fat Boy Slim.

"Discovery":

Pendulum

Cultural happening:

Performance show in Magic Mirror,
Dance and theatre show with gigantic wheel.

A slight dissapointment:

The Prodigy,
The Ting Tings.

Too bad I missed the White Lies AGAIN, because they were performing in an owercrowded tent. I think it's time to finally recognise their potential and put them on the main stage. Seriously.

As it is for the rest: It's been almost a week and I am still recovering from everything. If you are bored there, it's probably your own fault.

Urban adrenalin sports

2009-08-09T19:07:00.003+02:00

I used to think adrenalin sports are quite exciting. Bungee and parachute jumping were on my teenage "to do before I die" list. Now they are on the top of "to do if I want to die" list. Not because I wouldn't like adrenalin sports, but because I'm already doing too many as it is. Like walking through the city.

Being a complete bookworm, I own lots of books. So many that I still didn't manage to read even half of them. Naturally that doesn't stop me from buying new ones. So every time I see a bookstore, I have a two level adrenaline experience: passing and entering.

Entering usually includes complex dilemmas such as: do I really need it, can I afford it, should I wait for few more days... Most of the times they are solved by a swing of my credit card. There's probably no need to describe the "excitement" when the money is actually taken from my account. What goes for books, goes also for movies and CDs, except I actually get to see and listen to most of them.

My other daily intake of adrenaline is provided by biking through the city. It's quite amazing how it resembles the ride on a train of death in the amusement parks:

disorientated pedestrians, randomly apprearing from nowhere,
overwhelmed supermans on bikes, rollerblades and motorcycles, imitating the speed of light,
drivers paying more attention to their phones and make up than to the road,
cars, parked on the cycling tracks with drivers opening the doors only a second before the biker appears,
people, throwing stuff outta windows.

Need I say more?

So I don't really need to do any extra adrenalin sports, because living in a capital provides me with all the adrenalin I'll ever need.

Brunch de Luxe

2009-07-16T13:47:00.005+02:00

Brunch usually means enjoying a special meal while reading morning newspaper and sipping coffee. Of course sometimes it also means getting up in the afternoon, still a bit hungover from yesterday's party, not being able to decide whether to have breakfast or lunch.

In both cases food must be involved. So why not try out scrambled eggs on leek with fresh salad?

Ingredients:

leek,
onion,
2 - 3 eggs,
tomatoe,
mozzarella cheese,
fresh basil
olive oil,
butter,
salt.

Melt the butter and fry chopped onion on it. Add chopped leek, cover the pan and leave it for few minutes untill leek becomes soft.

Add scrambled eggs and salt and fry it untill the eggs are done.

Cut the tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, add salt and some olive oil. Garnish it with fresh basil.

You will find garlic bread a perfect addition to this brunch. Unless you are a vampire of course :)

Heineken Open'er Festival 2009

2009-07-10T13:00:00.012+02:00

It takes several good reasons to travel that far just for the music festival. Fortunately the organisers provided a couple of great reasons to book those plane tickets and pack my bags.

Open'er Festival was substantially smaller than Sziget with ~~only~~ about 60.000 visitors. But the nice surroundings, summer weather, great music and good organisation, made it equally unforgetable.

First surpise was the coupon/card payment method. At first it seemed quite weird to have to go to some boot to buy coupons or add money to your card, but later on, especially after few beers, it turned out to be a mighty good idea. If only I would be able to keep track on the amount of money I still have on the card.

Free bus to from the festival area at Babie Doly airport to the center of Gdynia was much appreciated. Need for proper coffee, cuttlery and a flushing toilet should never be underestimated.

And after years of visiting festivals I finally learned I can enjoy the concerts without being 10 meters away from the stage. Priceless.

Highlights of the festival

Arctic Monkeys:
I was really looking foward to this concert, trying not to expect too much after hearing their live performance is pretty much dissapointing. For me it wasn't. Even though they didn't connect much with the audience, they did connect a lot with the music.

The only real dissapointment were the technical problems. The sound went out in the middle of the song. Twice. So the concert was briefly interrupted to fix this problem and the guy explained that such things can happen also on the festival. I understand. But they really shouldn't.

Gossip:
Since I wasn't a fan of the bend and new only one of their songs, I didn't know what to expect. But when Beth Ditto came on stage in her black hot pants and corset, screaming: "We are so fucking happy to be here!", it was just getting better and better. Great concert great communication with the audience and excellent performance. Not to mention the drummer was illeagally cute. Worth seeing again.

The Kooks:
The band was mindblowing. Absolutely great performance, excellent communication with the audience and amazing energy. Don't remember when was the last time I danced so much. Love it, loved it, loved it! Maybe the security guys didn't love it so much as the singer spent a lot of time playing and singing off the stage. Bummer. Well done Kooks!

White Lies
I didn't manage to see much of the concert cause the tent where it was taking place kinda sucked, if you weren't in the front. Still I did enjoy the soothing music of White Lies. Didn't notice much of a performance, still the audience went wild everytime they started or finished a song. Lovely concert but I wish I would have seen more.

Kings of Leon
Least but not last - KOL. It was by far one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Not just because practicly everyone at the festival was attending it, but also because of the amazing honesty, energy and dedication of the band. They were amazed by the crowd, singing their songs, screaming, jumping, dancing.

"This is our first time here." they announced at the begining. Later on Caleb Followil said they didn't know what to expect and they though nobody will know who the hell they are.
"But this is amazing!" They promissed to come back to the festival every time we would want them and played an extra song too. It was an audio orgasm without competition.

Discoveries

Mass kotki
Cool Polish feminist electro punk band. Too bad I didn't understand any of the lyrics.

The Calog
Decent music but too few english songs to understand what the sing about. Hopefully not about beer, chicks and bohemian life of a rock star.

Trivia

Poland has their own simbols for toilets. I discovered that ▼ is not a sign for women's toilet. Apparently a circle is more of a female simbol. Go figure.

It is good time to visit Poland during the strawberry season. Got a bag of these beauties for only 1 EUR.

Sunsets were breath taking!

Rakoon dance

Queens of the rodeo

Flying commercials

Place for fashion junkies
So see you again next year?

Polish seaside

2009-07-07T19:30:00.005+02:00

While visiting Open'er Heineken festival I couldn't resist my tourist urges so I took a look at the nearby cities. I was impressed. Apparently Poland is not only affordable but also very beautiful. People were very nice, often offering to help me with my luggage.

GDYNIA - small city that I visited every day to have brunch, coffe and relaxing time at the beach. After discovering cute little Hollywood bar, it soon became my favorite place. Apparently not only mine as every day it was harder to get the table. Lunch and delicious latte for only 3-5 EUR? Abso fuckin' lutely!

Café Cyganeria, also near Hollywood, is a perfect place for coffee people. Tastefully decorated place with a long list of coffee, nice waitress and comfortable couches made me wanna sit there for hours. So maybe it was a good thing that I found it only the last day.

SOPOT
A small city with a huge promenade, famous crooked house and creative tribute to Roman Polanski on the beach. Because of the less salty see, swans are randomely floating on the water. Quite adorable.

GDANSK
Absolutely amazing mideval city, rich with beautifyl buildings, street life and cultural happening. Accidently I visited it exactly at the time of big floods. However all the broadcasting made me a bit confused as I saw no traces of flood, nothing even close to what was shown on TV. Weather was perfect and if I could I would stay there much longer. Gdansk is a definite must see and I would love to visit it again.

One the way back I spent the night at the cuttest little hostel in Warsaw. Hostel Zielone Mazsowze is well hidden in the building close to the central train station. Instead having that impersonal hostel feeling I felt more like I am staying at my friends flat. The receptor was very nice, helpful and understanding about my struggle with the entrance door in the middle of the night. To make things more interesting - NGO that owns the hostel, is involved in projects on sustainable development. I like them even more.

So that was my Poland. Absolutely worth seeing more than once. And if you decide to visit it, don't miss the oportunity to try pierogi, gofry and Zubrowka. Possibly in that order :)

Women and technology

2009-06-22T13:42:00.011+02:00

There is a common belief that women and technology don't go together. If that would be true every housewife would need a training before she could start using her kitchen.

I've been asked several times to help "make the presentation appear on the projector" by the room full of men. So I think saying "women don't understand technology" is just an excuse for those, who are either not interested in it or are simply too lazy to deal with it on their own.

However I could agree that women (if I dare to generalise this not at all unified category) maybe have different expectations and needs towards technology. And I'm not talking only about design preferences or various period tracker applications. There is an interesting debate about the topic in the comments of this post.

Personally when it comes to computers and software, I want it to:

be simple (have good usability),
be visually appealing (not flooded with colors and animations),
allow customization,
speak my language,
have a bit of a personality.

Even though I am quite interested in the topic of gender and technology, I am still somewhat sceptical about gender specific technology. Firstly because "men" and "women" are not homogenous groups and most certainly not the only two gender groups. And secondly because attempts to find common characteristics in the gender groups usually means using blue vs. pink arguments.

So is it fair to say you designed software for women when it's not going to satisfy all the women? I think not. But I would definitely go for software with a little of personal touch.

Here's an example:
Beeing annoyed by endless windows popping up when least needed just to ask me if I am really sure about some action, I've wished I would have had different options than "No" or "Close". Having "STFU" or a third option "No. And never ask me again." did cross my mind several times. And I would definitely love to be able to rewrite certain commands in a more creative way. Of course that is not the only thing I'd like to change.

So what is the alternative? Honestly I don't know but if there is one, please do share it. After all the purpose of technology is to meet the needs of the people and not the other way around.

Why I like Saturdays in the city

2009-06-18T19:15:00.002+02:00

Cause the streets come to life:

Geeky pop hits

2009-06-05T17:10:00.008+02:00

Since we are more and more affected by a number of different online coomunities, it's probably only a matter of time before it starts to reflect in popular culture.

Actually I am quite surprised that we weren't yet honoured with pop hits like:

Only a click away,
Skype me baby one more time,
Tweets for my sweets,
I will always digg you,
Jenny from the blog,
Staying online,
Master and server,
Crazy little thing called Facebook,
Do you really want to block me,
I said I didn't google you but I lied,
Fatal error seem to be the hardest words.

I'd love to hear those. Wouldn't you ;)?

Shopping nightmares

2009-05-25T21:50:00.012+02:00

Through the years I've developed a certain kind of love & hate relationship with shopping. Love part mostly refers to buying gifts for friends and family on my travels while the hate part more or less covers all the other occasions.

Especially when I know exactly what I'm looking for, which is in most of the cases. And all that because for some weird reason I don't want my clothes to be polluted with roses, butterflies, sculls, shiny and glittering shit or phrases like: "Bitch", "2 hot 4 U" or "Sexy".

So usually I would ~~spend~~ waste several days looking for a specific piece of clothing. What usually happens is that I:

don't find what I'm looking for,
find it but not in my size,
find it but in all the wrong colors,
find it in the right colors and size, but it looks awful on me.

Afterwards I could really use a drink, a massage or a therapist. Possibly all three.

This time I got lucky. After few attempts of trying to buy short pants, I finally got them - at men's department. The salesman didn't forget to kindly point that out several times and tried to offer me an "equivalent" female model. It was much shorter and ~~what a surprise~~ pink.

I'm sure they would go nicely with my tiara and baby blue high hills but somehow I found strenght to say no. After all Barbie might eventually claim her clothes back.

So I got these instead:

Friends

2009-05-05T17:27:00.012+02:00

My social profiles tell me I got lots of friends. Lucky me. If those numbers were true I would go bankrupt every x-mas.

But who are friends anyway? I'd say someone:

who loves and respects you and you feel the same way about them,
you think about often even if you see eachother only every now and then,
you can call for no obvious reason,
who tells you to STFU when you are full of bullshit,
who calls a cab and takes you home when you are too drunk to exist,
who listens to you even when you don't make much sence,
who might forget about your birthday, but will be there for you when you really need them.

Of course all of this goes also the other way.

So basically friends are people who know you, but like you anyway :).

Love you guys & girls - you know who you are.

Breakfast philosophy

2009-04-29T21:30:00.012+02:00

I have a long history of "no sign of breakfast" behaviour. Sure, it's healthy and good for you but then again:

Coffe and cigarettes ARE breakfast.
Lunch counts as breakfast if you have it on empty stomach, right?
Why waste time eating, when you can sleep longer?

So yes, I had quite some difficulties accepting the breakfast philosophy. And on the rare occasion when I could actually have breakfast, my fridge contained only things which MacGyver could use to make some weird kind of weapon.

And then something magical happened. No, not really. My ex's father had a very strong opinion that everyone should have breakfast. It was pretty much impossible to avoid eating in the morning. Jumping out of the window somehow didn't come accross as a very appealing option at that time. So I gave in.

And here I am now, a proud breakfast eater. Not only that, I made a whole ritual out of it. There is no day without breakfast. What I am going to eat very much depends on how I feel in the morning. But most of the times one of these two options will do the trick:

1.) Feelin' chewy: boiled eggs, bread & butter & salt, freshly squeezed orange juice

2.) Not feelin' chewy: fruity smoothie

before:

after:

And since my housewife genes are apparently kicking in it is only a matter of time before I make a philosophy out of snacks :)

Unite for the free world!

2009-04-21T13:02:00.007+02:00

Is there a world beyond capitalism, hate and disrespect?

You bet there is!

When: 27^th April 2009 @ 12:00

Where: Trg OF (near the train station, Ljubljana)

Why: Because enough is enough!

more info @ http://zasvobodo.si/

Wanted LIVE @ Roxly

2009-03-27T12:11:00.005+01:00

Ever been rocked by six women who know their instruments and are not afraid to use them?

Well, tomorrow is your chance. See u @ Roxly.

Keyboard for blondes

2009-03-17T16:06:00.003+01:00

No, it's not a joke. Apparently creativeness has no limits. There actually is such a bizzare thing as keyboard for blondes.

Unfortunately they only come in pink but I guess the funky key signs provide enough entertainment to its owner. See what I mean:

Ecs = No
Space = The Big One, "I need my space" Key
Alt = Useless key
Backspace = Oops
Enter = Yes, I want it
Caps Lock = WARNING! Size XXL letters

Besides those there are also some additional "shortcut keys" for texting:

Having a blonde moment
Laughing out loud
Boring date

No, I'm not getting one, even though it could be a nice funny gift. But probably not for people who are not good at blind typing.

Dream life

2009-03-01T13:41:00.002+01:00

For you I would even RTFM

2009-02-25T17:05:00.003+01:00

I wanted you for so long...

It seems like forever now

And it's almost unreal

To have you beside me
Feeling your smooth body

Underneath my fingers
Admiring your elegance and complexity.
Yet I know that you will never

Ask if I am really sure

What I want from you.

me2everyone

2009-02-19T10:50:00.018+01:00

I am probably not the only one who got the invitation to join the community me2everyone.com. Normally I would ignore this kinda things but this one was slightly different. It was supposed to be owned by its members, meaning you becoming a shareholder if you sign up.

So I did the same thing as many others and used the "what have I got to loose" criteria. After all it only takes a few minutes and the thing could get real big one day and be worth millions. Like Google, right? Wrong.

Before I could start ~~spamming~~ inviting my friends I forgot my password. Yeah, it happens when you're not writing things down. I tried the "forgotten password" link and got email saying "Your password is:" but not really giving me one. There were also some other very interesting basic things missing in the content (e.g. blank space instead of my username and asking me to reply to noreply@me2everyone.com). Every time I tried it.

Right. So they didn't test their SGE. I sent them e-mail through their contact e-form, even though it has some usability issues and was apparently not tested on different OS. They promise to get back at you in 24 hours. It has been almost a week now. Well, I guess we should have synchronized our watches first. My bad.

So as much as I wish for everyone to get a lot of money out of this and laugh at my skepticism while they're sipping margaritas on their private beach in Tijuana, I can't help wondering. I am not particularly good at math but how much can you possibly earn out of a website that was launched and advertised without sorting out basic development and usability issues?

V-day

2009-02-14T09:19:00.009+01:00

And it's the pink day again, a day to celebrate sweet things in life and avoid getting diabetes. Last year I suggested three perfect Valentine songs for you, this year I'm feeling more generous.

The right music can create the right atmosphere for you and your loved one/s. And the right atmosphere can make this Valentine's day just about the most interesting you ever had.

That is why I am giving away a perfect CD for this romantic occasion (photo of the band with signatures included): Bullet for my Valentine; Rule Brittania. All you have to do is send me an email with your address.

Feeling lucky?

image source

Better Than Heaven

2009-02-10T21:17:00.001+01:00

There are some things that simply nothing can spoil for you and there are some bands that you want to see no matter what. And yesterday's Bloc party concert was definitely one of those situations. No wonder it was sold out.

Chaotic crowd, lack of air, sweaty strangers pressing against you, people jumping and ~~dancing~~ pushing around. Disturbing? I couldn't care less. We were all united by one wish - to see them live. And we were not disappointed.

The concert was spectacular and far beyond anything I imagined. Banquet, Like eating glass, Modern love, Song for Clay, Hunting for witches, One month off, Ares, Mercury and many more.

Soooo much energy, so much sunshine and such an excellent music! It was definitely one of my top 3 concerts ever. Completely surreal and I want to see them again.

And if you feel bad about wanting to go but not going, you shouldn't. I lied. You really should. I swear I felt love.

Naughty Haiku #3

2009-02-02T22:10:00.003+01:00

White flakes and silence.
Magic chaos everywhere.
Nature, bring it on!

Making plans for Friday evening?

2009-01-31T09:00:00.004+01:00

When: 6^th February (Friday)

Where: Open Cafe, Ljubljana

What: Your daily recommended intake of indie provided by Djane Cherry

Excuses: N/A

Can't say you didn't know.

London

2009-01-27T18:19:00.009+01:00

If I would get 1 Euro for every time I heard: "You really gotta see London", I could probably buy myself a nice dinner. Or in these days more likely just a sandwich and maybe a smoothie. But financial crisis has its advantages - it is now much cheaper to travel.

So I visited London. Partly because of the "you really gotta" recommendations but mostly just to shut them up. At the first glance London is rather vibrant dynamic city, excellent for everyone who likes shopping & partying & various cultural events. Shows, musicals, movies, stand - ups, performances. You name it, they got it.

However the city is also somewhat individualistic, fast-paced and occasionally quite chaotic. The drinking ~~habits~~ problems are really beyond my understanding and so is the drop-off-your-garbage-anywhere attitude. Of course there's only so much sightseeing and partying you can do in few days. Even if you miss your plane back and stay an extra day.

Overall I must say I liked it - especially The Camden town and The Borough Market. I thought the Cockney accent was rather cute, even though sometimes quite hard to understand. I even liked the funny toilet water handles and the fact they drive on the ~~wrong~~ left side of the road.

London indeed is lovely. However, it isn't Berlin...

Cosmetics with a concept

2009-01-21T17:25:00.008+01:00

You know I'm a Lush lady, not only because their products are natural and are not tested on animals, but also because I won't put on my skin anything I wouldn't put in to my mouth.

If you're not really sure what all the fuss is about, maybe it's time to reconsider the largest breathing organ of your body. And if you're thinking lungs then your biology teacher probably needs a new job.

It's freaking hard to find a good cosmetic shop that satisfies all the criteria. But I did, even if it was by pure coincidence.

OrCa is the place where you can shop cruelty free (well, except the fact they still endorse the plastic bags). Their products are organic, not tested on animals and in most of the cases also vegan.

Not a breaking news, I know, but what really makes them different is that they donate a part of their monthly profit to animal asylum Horjul.

They also have a special box for extra donations with some material on taking care of your pets. Now that's what I call putting the money where your mouth is. Very neat, very sweat.

Also the shop is quite cute and I got my eye on few more things so I'm definitely coming back.

P.S There is also a downside - the coconut body milk I bought smells soooo nice I keep on sniffing my hand and putting off the weirdo detector. Sigh.

I heart winter

2009-01-15T19:12:00.014+01:00

I love the winter, I love the snow, I even love the cold and other people's bitching about the traffic chaos.

Winter is the only season that really brings out the child in ~~you~~ me. It's fu**ing amazing! And if you dare to disagree, I will have to challenge you to a snowball fight (please note that I have Batman on my side):

Besides - it's the only season when you can get naturally chilled orange juice without extra effort ;). Priceless.

There's no place like homo

2009-01-10T22:20:00.004+01:00

Did you every wonder what really happened in the Wizard of Oz?

Well, here's one version of it =)

My darling Berlin

2009-01-08T14:34:00.001+01:00

Most of my friends know about my ~~obsession~~ amazement with Berlin and how I can go on and on and on about it. Somehow there is this unexplainable urge to visit Berlin at least once per year, if I want to keep my sanity. Since I started this new year near Berlin I'm positive it's gonna be an excellent one.

Of course the fascination with Berlin goes beyond admiring the pretty buildings, enjoying cheap shopping & food and experiencing cultural diversity. It's actually the only city that makes me feel it. Being completely sober that is.

So if everything goes well, I should go there at least three times until December. But all that going back really enhances the feeling of not wanting to leave the city at all. And I know that someday I will just answer that call and won't return home.

After all, home is where my suitcase is...

Just be

2008-12-23T11:40:00.003+01:00

In 2008 I took my own advice and made some changes. The result is fun, exciting and extremely creative year and I wouldn't change a thing.

So now what? The plan is to continue to be myself, have fun and do what I love most. And I couldn't share my life with fun, easy going, caring and creative people, if one of them wasn't me =).

Yup, "Life's not worth a dam till you can shout out I am what I am!"

Happy new year!

120 Days

2008-11-26T18:30:00.003+01:00

I found out about 12o Days while randomly surfing around for some new indie music. To me they sound very much like a modern mixture of Placebo and Joy Division and are there a must for my shopping list.

The Norwegian band consists of four people (whose names I cannot pronounce properly):

Jonas Dahl,
Arne Kvalvik,
Kjetil Ovesen, and
Ådne Meisfjord .

The band was formed in 2001 under name "The Beautiful People" - apparently they felt the name was a bit too ambitious so they changed it to 120 Days :). After two EP's they signed up to new record company - Norwegian independent label Smalltown Supersound.

The band is now working on the new material which will be followed by a tour - hopefully somewhere close :hint hint:

120 Days : Get away (nevermind the lame slide show)

120 Days: So this is suicide

120 Days: C-Musik

Liffe

2008-11-23T13:52:00.006+01:00

Once again the international film festival Liffe was taking place but this year I was somewhat less impressed with the program than usually. Anyway, I made my selection of movies due to my usual criteria:

the plot: if it sounds boring then what's the use?
the nationality: yes i do discriminate in favor of Northern European, Czech and Asian movies and will probably see them even if the plot seems a bit too plain.
the genre: strongly prefer dramas, extravagant movies, science fiction and dark comedies (the darker, the better).

Achilles to kame: Interesting and humorous story yet a bit too long for slightly disappointing ending. The text interventions in between different parts of the movie were completely redundant, breaking one of the main rules (text shouldn't repeat what is already said by the picture). Yet the crazy plot and interesting happening still deserves a 7.5.

Boy A - A stunning drama, unbelievably strong and touching story that got me from the very first minute (I cried like a baby). Excellent screenplay supported by skillful directing and outstanding acting of Andrew Garfield uncovers unforgiving side of the society. An absolute 10 and will definitely go to see it again.

Valu: Fresh comedy presenting chase of the supposedly dangerous wild bull in a small Indian village. It was nice to see a non-Bollywood movie with a specific kind of humor that doesn't always travel. Great refreshement that definitely deserves an 8.5.

Deti noci: I didn't like the script and even the good directing couldn't take away the bad taste of insufficient development of the main character. Of course the three "small breaks" we had to have due to the projector breakdown did kinda ruin the feeling but not as much as some girls discussing what might happen next. Could have easily lived without knowing that. I'd give it a 6.

Aruitemo aruitemo: An interesting drama about family ties and it's buried secrets, spiced up with that little touch of Japan. I loved the dialogues and subtle unspoken hints for the audience to wonder about. Solid movie that deserves a 9.

Kunsten å tenke negativt: Absolutely brilliant dark comedy served exactly the way I like them. That northern European humor surely has a very specific appeal and a way to tell the story. Bizarre, funny, entertaining. A definite 10 and a note to myself to get it on DVD.

Liffe is ending today and I'm already looking forward to see the movies I skipped during the festival. Overall impression - quite good =)

Wanted @ Ihanstok

2008-11-21T13:55:00.008+01:00

Yes, I'm with the band again and today we are peforming on the Ihanstok festival (a kind of slovenian version of Woodstock, only ~~much~~ smaller and shorter).

So if you have nothing to do today and you're up for some pop, rock, progressive and dark rock, Ihanstok is definitely a place to go.

We will be the first to peform at 20:00, following by some other Slovenian bands: Iscream, NKKR, World:Within and Nikki Louder.

Check it out!

NON Band

2008-11-14T09:30:00.002+01:00

Every now and then Myspace turns out to be actually quite useful tool for discovering cool Slovenian bands.

I've never heard about NON before but after listening to music on their Myspace profile it was almost love at first sight.

It is kinda electronic mixture of Depeche mode and Interpol. Their dark synthetic melodies are quite catchy too. Darkish. Naughty. Sexy.

So who are they anyway? According to their webpage NON consists of four guys who already did their share of touring abroad:

Boštjan Brcar - synt
Damjan Ćosić - bass
Gregor Vrečar – drums, percussion
Matjaž Moraus Zdešar – vocal, guitar, programming

When I asked them if they could send me some of their stuff I expected a CD with few songs. Well, I got their debut album: Not everything is made in china which btw has a really good potential to become one of my all favorite albums.

You can check them out live this Saturday @ AKD Izbruh in Kranj.

Naughty Haiku #2

2008-11-13T09:43:00.004+01:00

Gloomiest weather.
Motivates to stay in bed.
Work remains undone.

The bag theory

2008-11-03T20:39:00.009+01:00

Being more or less a typical woman I own my share of bags. Yes, I know how hard it is to resist buying a new one when you know you don't really need it. But it looks so great! And even though it's very similar to one or two of your other bags, you don't have that exact model yet. Shallow? Yes. Irrational? Very much so. Satisfying? Absolutely!

But I've realized that eventually you get used to a specific type of bags. So even though this new one has more pockets and my stuff should therefore be more organized and easier to find, that is not always the case. In fact my stuff ends up even messier than usually.

The problem of the bags with many pocket is quite similar to the problem with big bags:

I don't always put things where I predict I would
in order to find something I need to open all of the goddamn pockets or even repeat that procedure a couple of times
I'm never sure whether I lost my phone or just displaced it in one of the overstuffed pockets
when I'm looking for my Ipod or a pencil, I would need a flashlight to find it (a phone would do, but to find it...)
whenever I want to take my notebook with me I have to use my other bag.

So what can I do? My rational sense tells me to become more organized and remember which pocket I use for what. But my gut tells me to get the hell to the store and buy a medium size bag with two pockets which has proved to be the most suitable for my needs. Oh well, you just gotta love the trivial dilemmas of the modern world =).

Invitation

2008-10-29T14:00:00.003+01:00

What: Concert SLADKA: "Jezikavi disko"

Sladka is a project of Katarina Višnar (former band member of Uluru and Brain'n' Bubizz) focused on disco rhythems, pop melodies, funky guitars and naughty lyrics.

Who:

Katarina - electric quitar, rhythem, vocal
Tina - vocal
Veronika - vocal
Zvonka - vocal & Kaoss Pad

When: 6^th November @ 22:00

Where: Klub Gromka, Metelkova

After: Djane Cherry (moi) & Djane Najky

Come & join us!

Positive vibrations

2008-10-24T11:01:00.007+02:00

Disclaimer: This is one of those post that are written in deliriously happy state of mind. I strongly advise you to reconsider reading it if you already had your daily dosage of sugar rush.

I have been neglecting a part of my online life but all for a very good reason. The creative itch has kicked in and I finally started stratching. It is weird and exciting at the same time how everything falls into place once you smash down the ugly head of "must do" activities and start to do all the fun stuff you always wanted but just ~~couldn't~~ wouldn't find time. Like writing a novel, and a damn good one too :). It's not even nearly finished yet but I'm having soooo much fun writing it I don't really care.

So excuse me while I'm going to take the rest of the day off to enjoy this beautiful friday. Offline.

Good news only

2008-09-30T20:28:00.009+02:00

Even though it is only Tuesday, I officially proclaim this week a week of good news! Share 'em if you got 'em. Here's mine:

We've successfully elected a new Government
That Fair trade shop finally got my favorite coffee ~~after 3 months~~.
The concert is happening - one of my top three most wanted.

Bloc party in Vienna? Are you fucking kidding me? I'm sooooo going!

Post election...

2008-09-24T20:22:00.009+02:00

System crash. Disk cleaning required...

image source

How to see a crappy movie in style

2008-09-23T09:35:00.002+02:00

Step one: let yourself be convinced to see exactly this movie, even though you wanted to see another one.
Step two: Go to the cinema and buy the ticket instead of downloading the bastard from the web.
Step three: Wait for something interesting to happen until the movie ends.

It is important to see a crappy movie every now and then, just to remember to go with your feeling the next time. Besides that - I think I had an Abba overdose.

In desperate need of good movie asap!

Say the dirty word politics!

2008-09-19T19:43:00.004+02:00

It's that time of the year when we get to decide how we want to spend the next four years. And I totally understand how some people are not interested in politics and can't be bothered with something as insignificant as electing the Government of the country they live in. The right to decide is overrated anyway.

I also understand how hard it is for some to have an opinion. After all there are more important things in life, like walking a pet, taking a trip or cleaning the apartment. Why would anyone want to think about this drift towards totalitarian regime when they can sit comfortably on their sofa, have a pint and enjoy a nice reality show or a cheesy movie. Ignorance is a bliss.

But there are people who do have an opinion and don't mind noticing the reality we live in. And this Sunday we are going to take that 10 minutes to spell it out. Enough is enough! Ironically left is the only right way to go now and my choice are the Social democrats. Something's got to change and I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit down and wait for the others to decide for me.

I've got the right to vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

I feel Sziget

2008-08-20T22:25:00.005+02:00

1. The Preparation
Erase from my mind:

healthy,
quiet,
clean.

2. The Companions:

3. Activities:

concerts,
beer & Palinka sessions,
Yoga,
a movie,
creative workshops,
logical games (sometimes breaking it really means that),
shopping,
gossiping,
reading,
napping,
photo taking.

4. Music Highlights :

5. Disappointment:

MGMT

6. Missing in action:

Burek,
Soup,
Some peoples' cleaning habits.

7. A Special Thnx to:

Apis & Doriana for saving a place for our tents.
Zewa for providing the luxury toilet conditions for my fancy ass.
Slovenian railways for the priceless experience of getting to know different kinds of trains, delays and for giving us a unique chance of exploring the Slovenian countryside.

For more info see below:

Venice

2008-08-11T11:08:00.000+02:00

Venice is one of those "must see" cities, like London, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna and Berlin. I finally got to go there and I must say it is lovely and quite romantic. Being there makes you wanna sit by the canal, sip your delicious latte macchiatto and listen to melodic Italian conversations which are far too fast to figure out what the hell are they talking about anyway.

I seemed to have arrived just in time for demonstration of public transport workers but luckily I still caught my bus to the airport :).

And now for something completely different.

B for back from Belfast

2008-08-08T16:26:00.005+02:00

Just came back from Northern Ireland and obviously brought back Irish weather with me. It's perfectly natural to get that post-holiday "I wanna go back" feeling but I really do. Ireland isn't beautiful - it's fucking amazing!

First of all, people are really nice and I mean nice, not just polite. I love that "darling" and "love" they add to each sentence although when I come to think of it that would probably sound rather strange in Slovenian. The accent is quite strong though and sometimes doesn't even sound like English at all.

First thing you notice in Ireland (besides the rain) are endless green pastures, lavender fields, woods, loots of sheep, cows and water. Not to mention that wonderful misty "Sherlock Holmes" feeling. Unfortunately my camera broke down on the second day so I didn't manage to make any decent photos apart from the ones in Venice.

Northern coast is simply wonderful. Dunluce Castle and Giant's Causeway are definitely the places to visit and Downhill is just the place from my dreams. I think I might move there someday. Contrary to my belief Ireland wasn't all that expensive and I did manage to do some serious shopping. I must admit I could never keep up with the Irish drinking habits. However it was lovely to be able to tryout different beers and have my share of Guinness.

Belfast is famous for many things but mostly for being the city where they built the Titanic. Yeah, well maybe that's not really something to be so happy about but apparently that company still exists and is quite successful too.

Besides sightseeing, shopping and partying I read more books than in the past year, saw few good movies and a play and went ice-skating. And yeah, about that one thing I've never done before - I think singing off-tune at the karaoke night was quite enough. The only real question is - why the hell did I get back ;)

Is you on holiday?

2008-07-28T22:57:00.008+02:00

I tried to remember the last time I had two weeks of vacation. I mean real vacation, not the ones when you work at nicer places. I couldn't remember, so it's either never or about the freaking time to have one already! I wanted to wait another week but my body said "no" to my workaholic schedule. So a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

For the next few weeks I'll be on my vacation mode. Which means:

no internet, no phone (OK, I might cheat on the internet part a bit),
no work related stuff whatsoever,
have a good time,
visit old friends (and maybe make some new ones),
do something I've never done before (suggestions welcome),
go to a few concerts,
take photos (Japanese tourists style),
relax a lot.

This year I'm not doing any sun bathing. Intentionally. I guess that shouldn't be too difficult considering where I'm going.

Have a hint:

Now excuse me while I get my tired ass to that beer-relax-enjoy land :)

Blogs and marketing

2008-07-17T10:17:00.007+02:00

Being a blogger it's only a matter of time before you start getting ~~spam~~ invitations to join communities or adding some widgets to your site. Most of those are generic invitations, sent to everyone and usually doomed to end up in your Trash. I got this two:

Marketing executive from SocialMatic Team is pleased to inform me my blog is not a total waste of other people's time:

Well, Ms. Alicia Yap, I'd never hire you to do marketing for me and to be honest I don't like your website nor your approach. You offering signing up for me just shows how desperate you are to get more traffic. Besides, I don't want to automatically sign up to 13 more social websites and get more spam to my Inbox.

However there are also people who know how to approach bloggers without fancy titles and big words. I got kind invitation from Pocket cultures' Blogs of the world, who focus on life in different countries. Not only I like the concept AND the blog, their approach is individual, cute and obviously effective. Plus they give the impression the really did read at least one of my posts. Needles to say I said "yes".

Now this is what I call proper marketing:

See Ms. Yap, lousy marketing can do you more damage than the ~~ugly~~ aggressive red banner on your website ;)

This fire is out of control

2008-07-13T11:30:00.008+02:00

What on Earth can motivate people to drive in the unbearable summer heat to anther country? Got two words for you: Franz Ferdinand. Even though I've already seen them live I knew it was one of those "longlasting" relationships so I couldn't resist convincing Jota to go with me to the concert. Spinach Fairy tagged along and so we headed towards beautiful Italian city of Ferrara.

Our timing was amazingly perfect. Despite an hour long waiting at the Italian "pay toll" stop we arrived just in time to hear Franz Ferdinand rehearsal, have a couple of beers and some ~~cheap~~ junk food and to take a walk in the city.

The concert was held in the open space of Ferrara Castel and the place was not too crowded. The Cribs seemed fairly average but then again they were not even close to what we all were waiting for - almost two hours of pure joy provided by four Scotsmen.

And so they did - the concert was outstanding! Set list consisted mostly of Franz Ferdinand album, few songs were taken from You could have it so much better and we got to hear quite a lot of new stuff - soon to be released in their third album. What an energy! What a music! What a performance!

40' , Come one home and This Fire were absolute highlights of the evening, not to mention Jacqueline, Fallen and Michael. I missed Darts of pleasure and This boy but I guess the idea of concerts is to leave the audience wanting more. Well, it was successful.

According to what I heard, third album will be much better than the second one and a bit more diverse than the first one. I simply can't wait to get my hands on it. Until then - enjoy the highlights:

Ferrara:

Franz Ferdinand sound check:

High male shoe fashion for Tadej and his shoe fetish ;)

The Cribs:

Franz Ferdinand

Till next time!

Lent 2008

2008-07-04T00:29:00.005+02:00

After a while I took time to visit Lent, Slovenian traditional summer festival which is happening at the beautiful riverside of Maribor. To be more exact I went to see Grimmski and to visit a friend.

Besides their album material they played two non album tracks (want to have those, especially Necromancer) and some new great covers from Air and Santana. The atmosphere was relaxed and the audience quite excited.

Of course cheap beer and the fact that the singer is quite cute and the audience was female dominated might have something to do with that :) Grimmski indeed show major potential and once they figure out their image style and do more PR, they will take the lead.

Captured moments:

Naughty Haiku

2008-07-01T19:59:00.005+02:00

Stripped in the summer.
Trembling for their existence.
How long will they last?