Thursday, November 29, 2007

changement de decor...

Changement de decor indeed...
After being given a week's notice to move out of our flat on Mendlovo Namesti (and being made a lame offer to relocate to another flat at the heart of panelak town- how much communist heaven can you ask for?!), we've found another flat, right in the centre of town.. and are now ready to move, yet again...
So before we lock the door one last time, here's a wee blurry snap from the living-room window... really had a fabulous time in this flat!

On a different note, winter's lowly but surely settling in. There have been a couple of intense snow days... yet, it's all pretty much thawed out by now... many Czechs are in the starting blocks, snow boots on!
gotta go to the shop and get some mulled wine spices.. it's this time of year!
Apart from this,
- going to Prague to see Stars Of The Lid on Saturday 15th of December.. should be intensely tranquil... odd combination that, isn'tit?!
- done and dusted- I have finally read angels and Demons as well as The Da Vinci Code...
'it's a common misconception to believe that...' oh come on Danny, can't you pull some synonyms out of your box of tricks, nevermind how deep, dark and ritually pagan that place is!!
- been re-listening to some of The Magnetic Fields stuff, and oh man, I had forgotten how good they sound (especially on headphones, no doubt there!)..
- planning to go and watch Irina Palm and 'Elizabeth the 50-year-old-Queen-that-looks-30-cos'-Cate-blanchett's-hot'... (good reviews on europeanfilms.net , the site seems to be down momentarily though..)well, keen on waiting for another week for the latter and make most of the Spalicek cinema 50 crowns for a film offer...
yeah, every little helps...
- going to Watch the documentary Spellbound... now!


Saturday, November 03, 2007

he coughs collages

that of course makes no sense
and that's alright for now, let's face it, it's Saturday evening, autumn's definite;ly settled in, it's grey east west north and south
and yeah, it's kinda pissing me off, I suppose
cranky time of year for me and others for whom lack of natural light's an open doorway to dark shades of introspection....

anyhoos... time's passing so fast i feel i got no grip over it..
too busy to take time management classes or any smart arse's advice
but apart from spending too much time on the kind of trivial crap i usually thrive on, there have been some interesting -and needless to say time-consuming- experiences:
here's a quick summary:

- eating lunch and dinner in France- homecooking joy...
a fantastic week's holiday, time well spent, food well digested.. and even a quick visit to Belle-ile, and oh man, that's got to be a good thing... sea, sex, mussels and chips, and cycling cramps...
couldn't really ask for more, could you?!

- My Cup of Tea, a collage exhibition.
Organised by the Art Class of Luzanky, Brno. We all worked on our collages for about 4 lessons.. unsurprisingly enough, time was an issue here as well, as we didn't have so much of it.. the general theme was tea/ cup of tea..
it was the first time I worked from scratch, as opposed to remix an image. That was very interesting and thoroughly enjoyable. The result could have done with more work, but respecting the time limit was quite a positive challenge too, as it can be quite difficult to put a full stop to a collage.
- visited Moravsky Krumlov at the end of October. The is pretty derelict but there's a wonderful charm to it. The rooms that are well-kept are all dedicated to the painter Alfons Mucha, known worldwide for his legacy in Art Nouveau. Yet, advertising posters portraying voluptuous women are not what the exhibition's mostly made of. Indeed, it focuses on the Slav Epic- a collection of 20 canvases of most impressive dimensions.... it's a long tale of oppression, fighting, fear and glory, all set in the Slavic countries of Europe. Most certainly worth a visit, for art and history (on arrival, you're handed a booklet that explains each and every painting. available in English, French etc.)






- Visited Vienna that same weekend- Home of some of the most classical architecture in Europe/ clean/ affluent/ very white.
Strolled down a flea market, which is always great for photographic opportunities...
Visited the Schiele exhibition in the Leopold Museum, which is part of a huge complex of museums called Museum Quartier.
This is a truly wonderful place to visit and get lost in.. only drawback.. exhibitions are about 9 euro a pop...




- Went looking for deers in a forest south of brno... unfortunately, the photographs are out of focus.. but it was fantastic to witness a whole herd of deers.. i don't think i had ever seen deers before... It made me feel very privileged... moreover, walking in the forest at this time of year is simply a treat, autumnal colours make for a stunning scenery!

- have been working on photographs. I'm hoping to exhibit them inthe near future in Brno. I'm just hoping that the print quality will be decent enough.. fingers crossed.. the images are on one of my picasa albums:
http://picasaweb.google.com/annesophiecocault/ADiaryOfMissingYou
- not much happening since then, unfortunately.. very little time, and energy levels have been going down big time... it's time for vitamins I think!

http://www.nataliedee.com/110904/vitamins.jpg
http://www.nataliedee.com/110904/vitamins.jpg



hoping to be back soon
peace out