pHeeblog: September 2007

I want you to take enough time for this entry. Get a drink, chips or anything and enjoy the photos. I recommend them to be seen in full-size (simply click on the pic). I personally love all the pics from Rumania so I would like to dedicate (how lovely) this entry to Heike, the hard working german who keeps promising to come but...where are you,wi-fee???)

First I thought I would show all the Balkan pics together. Then I realized that there has been so many totally DIFFERENT places we have been to that it would be senseless to show it all in one time.

You would not believe the story of these negatives- first I developed the films at home- no problem. I just used my old XTOL developer so I was sort of scared how they would turn out. they were alright. seemed little underexposed, most of them. well, then I scanned some at home-really underexposed. Then the scanner would not work so I decided to take them to some lab. "Check the price list, we just raised the prices yesterday." "Ok," I said and looked, shit! 10 CZK for a frame-just a stupid scan. I had 7 films with me. 7x36x10=over 2000CZK, no way! So it took me around an hour to pick some frames to be scanned. I got them on Thursday and they are not underexposed. My scanner is just fucked up. Ok thats the story...sorry.

Rumania was the third country we visited. Photographically the most interesting country-it might happen that this would be the only report I will get up here cause I personally love the pics. We got to Bucurest by a terrible nighttrain from Varna, Bulgaria. Got chased by dogs, found our hostel, fell asleep, woke up, went to town since we had only one day and one night in there.

He seemed unhappy

What I liked in Bucurest were the trash bins for drivers at every street lights. Nobody seemed to be using it though...

The Caucescu Palace was scary. Thought of A.Hitler very often while walking around... Rumanian cars:) disaster...

My buddy, Petr (Boby). It was soo hot and we did not really enjoy the city so we took it easy and rented a pedal boat. He is a Pee Ai Em Pee!

On the pedal boat we pedalled into this guy, Indian Londoner who told us that marriage was the worste we could ever try to do and that life is about money and sex, nothing else. He was funny though. University professor actually. Unbeliavable (after all he had told us).

Note the book guides:)

At the next table there was a British couple talking. They overheard us and invited us to their table. Interesting people, traveled the whole world, apparently. They did not show up for the dinner that night though (We ate a bear!). That sort of changed my opinion about British manners.

So we went back to the hostel and played some games. I like this one a lot. The eyes belong to a very charismatic Portuguese bloke.

Unimpressed, we left Bucurest to the rural heart of Rumania, where time has stopped and where people are so nice that it makes you think you are not in the 21st century. Maramures...

We arrived on Sunday and the owner of the only hostel in the area gave us a tour around. On Sunday they all sit in traditional clothes in front of their houses and chat...I wonder what about.

Fortunately,we were not alone in the hostel. A gorgeous Australian lady took the tour with us. Marie was her name, sweet girl... the locals were going mad!

Maramures is sooo full of spirits and the villages are so beautiful that even prince Charles owns few houses in there to protect the traditional spirit and keep things the way they look. The priest in this church showed us Charles' signature in the guest book there and was talking for about five mins how amazing it was to shake Charles' hand. I believe him though. For the poeple there, almost isolated from the outside world, it must have felt stronger than Christmas.
The wood is used instead of a bell.

Interesting cemetery around the wooden church. The graves were strange...

We were lucky to get to a local festival. Amazing. Traditional dresses, dances, interesting people. What else could my OLYMPUS ask for?

These guys were playing cards. He did not seem fond of me. Or was it because of his neglected fingers?

My favourite player

It is easy to say whose turn it was...

He seemed as an outsider. Outkast. He might have been owing some money to one of the card player. He kept peeking at them...

The whole festival moved to a barn later where everyone danced. Well, not everyone...

He will be a business man once. He was trading his tattoos very well, I could tell. In the end he had tattoos all over... Reminded me of my childhood.

I wish I had taken a picture of a local reporter. He had this oooold oooold oooold russian camera. Maybe thats why she was staring at my only oold OLY like this:)

We got back to the "bar" where the men were preparing the grill. Very old school natural way. The meat was good though!

We got back to our town later- SIGHETU MARE I think...

Next day we visited local prison. It was used by Caucescu to imprison political deviants. Now it is a museum. Pretty impressive...

In the backgarden there is a great monument. I played with the space to get this pic. I like...

We spent the other days in nature- I will bring a digital report from that. The best days in that area. Anyone interested in adventure and something that is no more available for sight in the western world, go to Maramures. Make sure to take cigarettes though, they are the best bribing tool.

Took a bus to BUDA-PEST two days later...Report soon.

There would ebe more pics coming if the scanning wasnt so expensive. Bastards...

A lil taste of the Budapest report...

Hello!

My scanner gave up. Dont know for how long but he doesnt seem to be happy with the number of films waiting aside to be scanned. As*hole! Sooo, no long entry as promised. Just some negscans I found from July, the month when I worked my ass off to actually let my amazing scanner ignore me now. Very nice!

We(plural majestaticus) start with few shots from a party. Well, the way home from a party. We worked sooo hard that month each one of you can imagine how we ended up that night. What worse, Marta brought me a present from Netherlands and I took it with me. O Oh.

The-guy-who-I-travelled-with rapping some shit to another friend who was one of the crazy group. I wonder how many people we woke up that night. The shot actually feels like they are enjoying some licking game and he is about to stick his finger...whatever. lol.

This made me laugh for some time... The real sportsmanship!

I found out that I will never be able to take any short exposure shots. My hands shake too much. Even when I pass something...My mum told me already that my fingers shaked a lot- thats the age I guess. The-you-know-who here...

The party was over and we were back to work. Working as a bartender sucks. Your life is upside down. If you wanna go drinking after work it is 7AM. We didnt care though. The-you-know-who always fell asleep on the way home. I wanted to as well but then we would oversleep our station, as last year...so I shot a pic and kept reading the newspaper.

One day when I brought the camera with me again, there was this wasted guy at my bar. Nothing unusual, Im just happy I once caught how mostly British or Irish guys end up in that place. See his story...

This is my favorite floor in the club I worked at. The cubical shapes are lights. They are on both sides of the room and the DJ controls them. There are different colors and different light programs. All along are great comfi sofas and it just looks right. You might know this one already though...taken before the club closed. My fav.

I went home earlier one day and it started to rain. I felt like she must have when they shot it. Nobody gave me any towel after the camera snapped though!