Sunset in Stuttgart

Stuttgart, Germany, June 2008

Waking up from the discontent. Realizing there's a world around us. Realizing the world.
I wish I was you in that sunset. I wish I could watch it with your eyes, feel what you feel. Was it comforting?

What you see is what you get

Ljubljana, Slovenia, Nov. 2007

As I said before, Ljubljana gets filled with friendly ghosts that wander the streets at night, looking for a place to sleep and trying not to disturb the new owners of their previously owned houses (when they were alive, of course).

But those are not the only ghosts you get to see around here.

A ghost can be an image that reminds us of somebody from the past. They are there because we still fear them, or because we just cannot let them go. Those ghosts are around because we want them to.
But if ghosts are an image of something that existed in the past, then we may be surrounded by ghosts all around.
Centromerkur (or Urbanc House), for example, is both a ghost, and a real presence. It's located in the corner of Presernov trg. It's a beautiful and well preserved building, constructed at the beginning of the twentieth century, with the only purpose of holding the first department store in Ljubljana.
Why a ghost? Definitively it's an image of something that existed in the past. It's an image that brings us to the present the daily life of people living hundred years ago in this very same place. Looking at it, we see the image of a lifestyle that, having physical presence in the present, has been long gone in the past.
But if you still need a scary look to properly call it a ghost, just stand below the glass canopy and look upside down. That will give you the effect, and validate the definition.

Frozen Ljubljana

Ljubljana, Slovenia, Nov. 2007

When you come from places with mild winters, you are scare of this moment. You know it's going to come, and you know that you will survive it. But the fear doesn't go away.
The cold has come to Ljubljana. Real cold, the one that puts the thermometer upside down, with temperatures below zero. But instead of being a moment to suffer, it's just another moment of beauty. The color of the light change its hue to a colder palette, the naked trees show forms that reminds mathematical graphs, and all things around go through this metamorphosis that slightly shifts the way they look. In this way, the fear leaves its way to curiosity.
Stay tuned. More winter to come.

Ghosts in Preseren square

Preseren Square, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Nov. 2007

When night falls in Ljubljana, people go to sleep. They don't go because they are tired, or because they have to wake up early the next morning. They go to sleep because the city doesn't belong to them at night.
At night, previous owners of the ancient buildings wonder around the city, at slow pace, asking themselves were to sleep. People in Ljubljana are friendly. Ghosts are as friendly as they were in their human lives. That's why they don't show themselves on their previously owned houses. They don't want to scare new owners, or their kids. That's the secret of the pact. People stay in their houses, so ghosts are free to wonder around the city. That's the least they could ask for.

Where the world changed the colours

Novigrad, Croatia, Nov. 2007

Nothing is infinite. Everything has a beginning and an end. Berlin's wall, 11-S, Mexico '86. The world, as we knew it, cease to exist. Some are lucky enough to witness such transcendent moments. The rest of us enjoy the small ends, the repeated beginnings. Less is less, but still enjoyable.

Things that happen while you're at home watching TV

Ljubljana, Slovenia, Nov. 2007

Actually, I was at home watching TV. Luckily I realized that a funny light was coming from outside, so I took my 'always ready to shoot' camera and came up with something like this.

Clouds over Ljubljana II

Ljubljana, Slovenia, Nov. 2007

Now it's rainy, almost snowy outside. My eyes can hardly go beyond 10 meters. Everything else is white. White fog, white snow, white vision. But sometimes, when it's not like that, it looks like this.

Instructions on how to get the good old mood back

Poreč, Croatia, Nov. 2007

As it appears, this blog only get posts when I am in the mood to do it. And this doesn't happen very often. It's like a wave, it comes and go in chunks... a few posts last month, nothing afterwards, then a few posts again...
Only this time is not about the mood. I have just too much work. This doesn't help very much to get any kind of creativity, so don't expect much from me for the rest of the year.
That being said, I still hope to come back with a few surprise posts, so I wouldn't give up on this site at all. Keep your fingers alerts, and your history of visits enabled, so before you start, everyday, you just type backint and your friendly browser will help you complete the name and take you to this wonderful site.
Keep the good work!

Nothingness, or small Immensity called Utopia

Lençois Maranhenses, MA, Brazil, July 2003

Utopia is a popular word used to describe an ideal society. But the origin of the word can also be interpreted as "non existing place".

For me Utopia is an empty place, like an empty canvas. A place to start from scratch. It's where we have the opportunity to change things back to where we fucked it all up. It's an immense desert, where we can be aware of our nothingness.

When I search for Utopia, I search for the unexplored places, the unknown gestures, the unspoken words, the unlimited land of nothing. I search back for our nothingness.

Cyclops City

London, U.K., Feb. 2006

They say Cyclopes were giants with only one eye. So it's fair to think about London as the Cyclops City. It's definitively giant, and surely has one eye. Funny thing is that this only eye is a blinded one, so in order for London to survive the myth of being a Cyclops they replaced the inability to see with millions of cameras disseminated all around the city, so the blinded Cyclops it's really the open eye monster, where everything can be seen, where the tracks are not lost, but saved.
Think twice before doing anything in London. The Cyclops is looking at you.

Moonlightning

Tivoli Park, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Oct. 2007

I went back to Tivoli today. We went together with Kam, to take pictures and learn a little bit more. This night, the same one that started in Tivoli a few hours ago, it's already in Flickr. Forever. Pretty good, isn't it?

Not in a million years!

Lilly Allen is popular. Actually, very popular. Everything that can be said about her has probably been said already. So if you live inside a cave and you have not heard about her yet, please google her name and you will find loads of biographies, information and so on. Of course, just if you care enough to do it so, otherwise feel free to keep yourself virgin of Lilly Allen.

This post is not really about her, it's just about one of the songs that you can find on her new album. It's called 'Knock'em out'.

If you are a man (even more so if you are a teenager man) you have been probably in the mood for dating, at least once in your life. As you know, dating is not an easy thing unless you are Brad Pitt or Serge Gainsbourg (and a few other millions that are handsome/rich/smart/whatever enough to attract hundreds of women at the same time). Not being one of these guys makes things more complicated. You will have to relay on any of your 'above average' techniques or attributes in order to stop being one in a million and start to be seen as the 'special' one. Still, not an easy thing to do. Not at least if you lack the minimum self confidence required.
But let's say that you are good enough to sort out these difficulties and you feel all ready to go out for some 'hunting'. What do you do? Normally you end up in a bar or a disco, with some friends, a beer in your hand and an overwhelming desire to get laid. That will probably lead you to the ladies. Any ladies. At that moment, you are a man looking for action. You're a hunter. As we said before, you feel self confident because you know you have '\something special' that will drive the most beautiful girls towards your bed. This, could be well said, is a proper description of how you feel about yourself at that moment.

If you have been out there, you know that what you feel, and what women see is not exactly the same. And that's where Lilly Allen's song comes into play. Please, listen to it:



So, now back into our small analysis. From 1 to 10, how much do you feel identified with this situation? How many times did you get some of these 'creative' answers from a lady?

Conclusion: Lilly Allen wrote this brilliant, catchy, ironic song to complain about you. Yes, you. This song is nothing more than a mirror where you can see the other half, you can see how some women feel when you approach them all confident and horny. It doesn't leave us man in a very good position, but for sure it will make you smile and think about more creative ways to approach them.

Hyde Park, or example of how to fear

Hyde Park, London, UK, April 2007

A possible nightmare example would be depicted by sudden clouds turning everything dark and moody. Add some trees waved by the wind, and you will get an instant feeling of 'Something is going to happen here'. Add some sun light to this creepy landscape, and you will get a wonderful picture. But still, don't feel confident. Something is going to happen.

Tivoli (III)

Tivoli Park, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Sep. 2007

It looks like a setup. Those colors cannot be natural, and the same applies to the simmetries. But things are there to proof that we are wrong. In its unpredictable sort of way, life gets organized from time to time.

Ljubljanica river side

Riverside, Ljubljana. Summer is long gone, and first signs of real cold are making serious appearances, specially in the morning.

But we still have the afternoon.

In the afternoon we can still seat at the side of the river, next to the weeping willows, and enjoy some time thinking that the good times are not really gone. Of course, until the sun falls and the good times are off, at least until tomorrow, same time, shorter length...

Fall in Tivoli

Yes, indeed. Fall is all around. Also in Tivoli Park.

Fall is here

If colder weather was not enough sign for some of you, maybe these colors all around will do the job. Fall is here!! You like it or not, this is the subject to come for the next months. You like it or not.

Velika Planina I

First post of pictures about Velika Planina, in Slovenia. Ski resort in winter, and also fantastic place to hang around in Summer time. Enjoy!

Tree on fire rehearsal

Sometimes things happen without us having any notice. Is this an evidence of the existence of a parallel world? Maybe. Or maybe somebody up there is making us part of its rehearsal, on this big scenario of life...

PS: This foto is for real, not a Photoshop creation or something like that. Same sunset moment as the posting with the dragon...

"Some a some a some I murdeeeer, Some a some I let gooo..."

So, M.I.A. came back to the game.

If you don't know M.I.A., a very brief biography would say that she is a musician named Mathangi Arulpragasam. She has been born in London in 1977 from a family originally from Sri Lanka, and she spent part of her childhood back in Sri Lanka, where her father was a militant of the Tamil group. After a few years she went back to London, where she studied fine arts, film and video.

'Kala', her second album after the succesful 'Arular', is the evidence of her talent, and the confirmation that the originality and strength of the first record was not just a coincidence.

But 'Kala', for me, is Paper planes, a violent song written to express the worst nightmare of a society that feels immigration as a threat.
If you need to express violence in a song, just ask M.I.A., she will tell you how. Just give it a try:



This is what M.I.A. has to say about the inspiration for this song:

"I was going to get patties at my local and just thinking that really the worst thing that anyone can say [to someone these days] is some shit like: ”What I wanna do is come and get your money.” People don’t really feel like immigrants or refugees contribute to culture in any way. That they’re just leeches that suck from whatever. So in the song I say All I wanna do is [sound of gun shooting and reloading, cash register opening] and take your money. I did it in sound effects. It’s up to you how you want to interpret. America is so obsessed with money, I’m sure they’ll get it. "