Tuesday, October 24, 2006

on Brno so far- on a Bratislava day

Brno's had me for about 6 weeks... so..... so far:
- kinda manage my way round the city... the streets now have recognisable features- some of them even have names by now...
- feel safe in quite a peaceful city- always avoid the train station area late at night- as a rule of thumb...
- still on the look-out for even more atmosphere-rich cafes - with cheap and crispy pints on top of that if possible...
- went clubbing once in a venue called 'Fleda': DJs and live bands, there's room for all the good fun... no dancing for me that night though.. too tired, too late..
- hopefully some hip shaking action soon!!!!!
- loads of work. Doing higher levels' challenging what i thought I knew of the English language... I find myself having to learn again stuff I learnt age ago and never ever used in Ireland or Britain.. Ah, teaching Cambridge standards and expectations of the English language... Well, it's a new teaching experience for me, and a challenge's gotta be a good thing...
- met 'kwolity' people... really... need evidence? come over and find out for yourself..
- taken some pictures; walking around new territory and the eye wonder, stops and snaps... borders between new and regular are mellow - the first time I spotted those letter boxes, the concept of correspondence bounced back in mind... leading me to wonder.. when was the last time I forgot about what i've always known? need to be reminded, novelty helping, energy paving the way.... new/ old = novy/ stary
- still go to my Czech lessons every Tuesday: great fun
- I also attend an art class on every Tuesday: been making a lumpy pot for the last couple of weeks.. could get angry atmy hands for nt doing this 'proper', but hey, have done enough of that already.. just gotta have fun with what i've got...
- lumpy can be groovy... in me head!!!
- have learnt some stuff about Action art... thanks to a retrospective (is that considered a bad word??) of Vladimir Havlik.. loads of old documentary photos testimoning of the action that invovled the art/ modern paintings..) the website could well be something like www.dumb.cz

- you just can't deny the power of the boob.. as shown here in a fine communist sculpture ornating a rather random post office..... got to spot some more soviet block representations of mankind: big and grey, seems to be the crying out loud motto of every single one of them.. I've been told that a park in budapest gathers loads of sculptures from the communist era.. sounds impressive and intriguing, if you ask me.... Definitely want to go and check that out.. Yet, will patiently wait for the end of the turmoil..
tear gas's not one of my favourites..

On a different note, visited Bratislava on last Saturday. It was a worth day trip.. even though it involved getting up at 6.30a.m and going to bed at 2.20 a.m.. a few impressions about the city:
the old town is the highlight/ the rest of the city's pretty grim/ nice park with '4-swan fountain'/ irish breakfast for about 10 euros/ that got a giggle outta me/ bad smell here, luxury shop there, it's all there...
here is some most randomly selected evidence
electric box on a Saturday morning


terminally ill buiding betwwen the Old Town and the Castle. Below, almost as good as home-baked cookies: homemade poster stuck in the street..... I like it....... For now, wish you well....
groove away!!
all of you people, take care of yourself and of your loved ones
cau/ ahoj/ as the Czech say