Bunissima

Să bei ceai verde ieri și să ai energie și azi.

A week ago I was in Sighisoara at the Blues festival. Outside the old medieval walls, just getting off the train, I have found the the city to be just like any other city with its people and their daily worries.

[In the mantime I had a peak at the old city, again, after a few years of a foemar visit here]

[the church seen from the city top]

[my favourite house from the old city of Sighisoara)]

Going up to the old citadel feels like you enter a different world because of the architecture, even if, unfortunately, can still see cars up there. Apart from the festival I had the chance to get a grasp of how food is like there. The restaurants are not very thrilling, maybe not in the winter time. The expectations were very quickly lowered summing up to the basic necessity of satisfying hunger. Being brave enough to look for food at 1 am in the morning proves to show what the hidden part of bravery is: thoughtlessness, to use an euphemism. But not because it’s your fault, people are apparently very sleepy in there and they go to bed early.

[the centuries old cemetery]

While going down on the old medieval building stairs for the concerts every night, I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy the snow falling down from the lights of the city, which made the entire experience more poetic.

[one of the sighisoara towers in the twilight]

Due to certain reasons, I missed the beggining of the concerts, in all the 3 nights of the show. Nonetheless, being there was real fun. The show was great, some bands better than others. The number of spectators was probably around 500 or even less. The public loved all the bands and singers and even if not all were perfect, it all came out great, because people were enjoying the experience. Who needs perfect when it’s fun?

The blues festival itself may be trying to raise to the level of an international renowned event, but its local color, modesty and location make it more like a niche, exclusivist event, that you discover by accident or if you have a very adventurous spirit. Locals, muzic frenzies and people directly involved in the organization of the festival are not included. The “local” color is given by the small city overall, by the way everyone was checking everyone else up to see if they knew them or just because it almost felt like the spectators, organizers and singers all together were like a small community where everyone knows everyone. I reckon that part of the checking is the human curiosity, but at some point it felt like all eyes were on you.

[the drummer is eight years old and the guitarist 10, they and their other colleague were a revelation for the crowd]

The first edition of the festival was in 2005, so it does not have a great deal of tradition, but it’s a great opportunity to be the witness of a simple and real fun event in a wonderful little medieval city.

I have weird dreams at night where I am going from one place to another. I can’t help but wonder, which one is the world that has a stronger grip on me? Is it here, where I can feel and think and think that I can feel and think or there where I feel like I know all those people so well and I like them, I live every moment they live, I am oblivious to everything else.

I have been struck by the genius of Science meets the Movie. I don’t know what is it about Battlestar Galactica that makes me so addicted to it, but I can tell that my sensible inner balance has been blown apart after dreaming for 5 days in a row that I am jumping all over the entire Universe.

It was pretty exhausting too. When I woke up, I was so tired after all those jumps, I needed some more sleep.

No Photoshop this time, just Gimp. Prague did all the work for me.

“Buna seara doamnelor si domnilor. In seara aceasta veti afla de ce trebuie sa aveti incredere in emisiuni tv precum raniti din dragoste sau in dragoste sau cam asa ceva, de ce locatarii unui bloc refuza sa plateasca intretinerea, de ce nu este electricitate in spitalul judetean din judetul X si de ce capra unui satean din satul Y a fost brutal ucisa intr-o conjunctura absconse intelegerii ei.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Din cate am inteles pana acum, insotitorul caprei se afla la o bariera, asteptand sa treaca trenul. Stand el ca tot el omul, asa, cu capra de hat, la un moment dat a realizat ca in apropierea lui se certau doua persoane intr-o caruta. Nu stim exact de ce se certau, se pare ca era vorba despre cine va mana caii dupa bariera. Omul, ca orice bun cetatean, s-a gandit sa-i imbuneze pe acei oameni care isi pierdusera sensul ratiunii asupra capastrului. El si-a legat capra de bariera care era lasata in asteptarea trenului si s-a dus catre cei doi. Nu a reusit sa aplaneze conflictul pana in momentul trecerii trenului, iar cand caruta cu tot cu cei doi conducatori ai ei s-a miscat din loc, omul s-a dus sa isi ia capra si sa-si vada de treaba lui. Nu a mai apucat insa sa o dezlege, pentru ca era spanzurata de bariera care se ridicase intre timp. In loc sa o dezlege cat mai repede, omul si-a pus mainile in cap, s-a luat de par si a inceput sa boceasca.
Andrei, care se afla la locul faptei, ne va da mai multe detalii. Andrei, ai legatura!”
“Multumesc, Andreea. Se pare ca omul in cauza si-a legat capra de bariera pentru a aplana un conflict intre cei doi conducatori ai carutei. Omul a uitat ca avea capra legata de bariera, iar cand bariera a fost ridicata, capra a fost trasa in sus de franghie pana s-a asfixiat. Avem aici cativa martori oculari care au fost de fata cand s-a petrecut nenorocirea. Domnilor, ce imi puteti spune despre acest evenimet?”
“Pai stam si noi aci ca sa sa treaca trenul si la un moment dat am vazut capra cum dadea din picioare…”
“Da domne, am vazut ce a facut omul acela, e inuman ce s-a intamplat, ar trebui pedepsit…”
“Aoleo, murii capra, saraca, asta e semn de la Dumnezeu, ne pedepseste pentru pacatele noastre…”
“Am facut-o de oaie… adica as putea sa zic de capra, stiti… off, o sa ma omoare nevasta-mea cand o auzi…”
“Din pacate capra nu a mai putut fi salvata. Cei de la protectia animalelor au fost sesizati si omul se va alege nu numai cu o capra in minus ci si cu o amenda. Andreea, si legatura”

Lately, I started running. I do this in the evening because I never wake up early enough and the rest of the day is really hot. All this happens on a road along a river, where people not only jog and walk but also gather on the side of the road in groups for different reasons. Some come there to smoke and thus give the wonderful opportunity of smoking for free while jogging to the people who jog, some come there to walk their dogs, some to stuck thier tongues in their boyfriens/girlfriend’s throats (get-a-room!), some to fish, some just to STARE or combine all these. But mostly yes, allcaps, S-T-A-R-E, you get the point, annoying, intense staring.

But this does not end here, staring is not all, it is just the beggining of a creative process that Romanians are so gifted with, which is called Commenting.
So, the process takes place something like this:
1. They see you from far away. They have no fucking clue about who you are. Precisely because of this, they want to discover more.
2. The closer you get, the more they stare.
3. The Stare, as a muse, has brought them the Inspiration.
4. While you are passing right near them or right after you passed them, they do it, they hit you with it so they can see how weak you are in front of their creations, they let their Inspiration come out in a form of Commenting.

The commenting is street poetry, if so you wish, it is like nothing you can see in the real books, that’s just bullshit. Romanians, in places like this, feel like it’s their duty to let you know what they think, to be honest, to be very creative. Romanians feel the stringent need to let you know that, if you are decided to ignore them by minding your own business, they will let you know they exist by commenting something at your address.
Quoted form the Inspirational commenting poetry:
“Wow, nice glasses, where did you borrow those from?” -a girl wanting to make fun of people that pretend to be someone else… just like her

“1,2,3,1,2,3,” (in the rhytm you run, you get the idea) - by a guy and also by some 40 years old housewives- give a welcoming ‘WTF?’ to the latter

“Hey, girls, I would like to get married but no one wants me, can you take me?” said by a 10 year old encouraged by his retarded father

“Can I run with you?” (an idiot fishing)

“Hey gipsy!”- WTF?

“Muuuuuuuuu” -just a cow, for one moment there I thought someone was making another bad joke

“RAAAWWWRRWWAA” - another idiot that had been snorting too much smoke form the grill fire

“Hey, don’t hook the girls with the fish hook” - a fishermam to his other idiotic smiling fishermen friends.

If I had been answering these, here are my answers:
“Yo’ mama!”
“Even old women feel the need to Comment, how’bout the young and the restless?”
“You two need to grow up some more”
“No, swim with your fishes”
“Your village is burning”
“WTF?”
Hit the ignore button.
Hit the ignore button.
Hit the ignore button.
Hit the ignore button.
Hit the ignore button.
Hit the ignore button.

Deci, apply, rinse, repeat, apply, rinse, repeat, apply, rinse repeat… you get the idea, if I state it like so: nu se termina niciodata si ochii tai incep sa iti roteasca fata cam in aceeasi directie cu care masina de splalat isi face treaba aia centrifuga.
Si din nou deci, pentru ca asta e un fel de parodie autodeclamata de propriul limbaj care serveste in fond la a demasca o tragi-comedie moderna si fara intoarcere, deci, cum spuneam, asadar si prin urmare, grecii fac comert pe mare. E vorba de un sens foarte larg al cuvantului “greci” la fel cum si “mare” inseamna uneori “mare distanta.”

Nu stiu de ce numai grecii faceau comert pe mare, dar se pare ca in ultimul timp toti sunt greci intr-o masura oarecare. Tu, eu, ‘coana care vinde legume, supermarketurile, agentiile de publicitate. Acum toata lumea face comert si acesta devine din ce in ce mai inteligent in a te convinge ca ai nevoie de tot ce exista pe lumea asta din magazin, de la standul de cosmetice, de la bricostore. Si daca ai un frigider care nu e indeajuns de impresionant si mare, poti sa faci un credit pentru nevoi personale, pentru ca poti si problema e rezolvata. E ca un fel de eu cu cine votez? tu cu ce echipa tii? tu cu ce marca tii, tu fara ce nu poti sa traiesti?

Dar domnilor, astea sunt doar niste mofturi pe care toata lumea le trece cu vederea, tinand ochii pe jumatate inchisi si plimbandu-se cu cosul prin supermarket.

Exista insa probleme stringente, mult mai serioase, care nu pot fi trecute cu vederea. Una dintre ele este celulita. Nimeni nu poate sa doarma noaptea din cauza celulitei. Este o problema nationala, intenationala, globala, planetara, u-ni-ver-sa-la.

De aceea exista un nou produs, nu spun cine il produce (ca nu-mi amintesc) ca sa nu fac reclama, care te va scapa de griji. Tot ce trebuie sa stii este ca acesta contine lipocafeina destocanta care iti va destoca toata celulita datorita proprietatilor extraordinare ale lipo-cafeinei. Ce o fi aia lipocafeina, nici eu nu pot sa spun. Important e ca ea de-stocheaza grasimile printr-un proces de cafeinizare a lipidelor care incep sa se arda singure intre ele. There. Asta e explicatia. Si acum toti la magazin. Vine vara.

Si cu aceasta ocazie, tin sa anunt pe toata lumea ca voi lansa si eu o noua linie de produse anti-celulitice pe baza de radacina de gard si ceai verde. Se va numi probabil ceva de genul “Exorcise with green tea” iar principiul care ii sta la baza e chiar simplu: extractul de “ceai verde+radacina de gard” va patrunde prin pori, va ajunge in sange si va arde grasimile. Va intrebati probabil cum se va intampla aceasta minune care va revolutiona industria carnii… Well, e simplu. Patrunzand in sange, cafeina in combinatie ultra-supra-extra-hiper-speciala cu radacina de gard va avea asupra utilizatorilor un efect de energizare incredibila care ii va face sa vrea sa faca sport fara sa stea sa se mai gandeasca la cat de lene le este, asa cum se intampla inainte. In consecinta celulita va disparea pur si simplu, fara prea mare efort, errrr, psihic.

Would you buy that? Which one?

Doua fete in autocar.
-Ia uite ce se alearga oile alea… Is oi, nu-i asa?
-… tuuu, is oi, cum sa nu fie oi, tuu?!
-Pai de unde sa stiu io cum arata oile, io am crescut la oras. Pe noi nu ne-a invatat la gradinita cum arata oile. Nici la scoala nu ne-a invatat ce-s alea oi. Nu am invatat nicaieri.
-Tuu, nu te-am dus io la tara la mine, ti-am aratat vacile si oile mele si… tot?
-Tu nu ai oi tuu, ai vaci… vaco!

Peste vreo douazeci de minute. Aceleasi fete.
-Tu, municipiul e oras, nu?
-Da, da’ exista si capitala de judet, care nu e acelasi lucru cu municipiul!
-Da, adica, Craiova este capitala Olteniei si Bucurestiul este capitala Romaniei, adica e deasupra Craiovei.
-Da ma, da’ fiecare judet are si el capitala lui.

I love dogs. Since I don’t have a dog I like to take photos of them and then look at them. If you wonder why I don’t have one despite the fact I love them so much, that is because I forget to feed them. If I sometimes don’t know when I’m hungry how in the world would I guess when the dog hungry?
I don’t know if I always loved dogs. I am pretty sure I did not like stray dogs because there were a lot of them around here and they attacked people, so I considered them the evil kind of dogs. One time, I was with my sister late at night between the dark blocs. We find ourselves suddenly surrounded by e herd of crazy vampire rabid dogs. They were barking at us so bad that you’d say we had done something bad that offended them. I would have preferred to be yelled at by mom than by those dogs. “Let’s start running” said my sister. My instinct told me the same but rationally I knew that we had to stay still. I told her to start talking to them… just like that, dog talk. In no time at all the dogs began wagging their tails at us and fighting each other about who’s getting petted.
This is when I learned they were cool. Ever since, when I am walking on the street and see any, I look at them deeply in the eyes and tell them that I am not an enemy. They always seem to understand that.
So whenever I can, I help other dogs to stay away from inconsiderate people. There was a dog that had find a lady whose mind he could play with. He was barking at her and getting closer, to her obvious fret. She got scared and this is when I intervened. “Here doggy doggy” I called the dog and told the lady to stop running.
In a little while I find myself with a tail wagging behind my backpack. That did not disturb me. But in front of me a guy starts laughing and then he says:
-Pretty nice dog, how much you want for him? I looked at him from head to shoes and said:
-It’s for free if you tell me where you got you Make shoes from.