tonight we

I always knew our friend Ron had street-cred (can't remember where i found this image). He's from the streets.

fiken-chingers are good finger food

Did not eat most of the day, in anticipation that my stomach will be filled with finger-food and cold-drinks at Tirona tavern. The waiter wes drunk as usual and no matter how hard Drindi tried to ask for a beer, he just did not give a damn.
Eventually he would bring the beer and be more attentive. I did not get it why so little food was there to devour, I mean, people initially declined to eat anything, but when we ordered, they started finger-licking eating.

I saw people snapping digital-cameras on top of tables but seems that those were close-ups and were not for sharing, most probably - received none so far. Hope my camera was alive to see all of this, and make the blog come to life.
It was very humid and I did not want to go to a place called Flirt. I'm still hungry as I just think about that night.

Tonight's home-night, as the weather is rainny and my bones are achy. Ratatat!

75cent soap cream is a fake hand-wash

prior to anything, we got some movies for tomorrow - one of which was an awful recommendation. tonight we were too big of a group to fit anywhere, let alone a small cafe. ron was good enough so he bought us a bag of peanuts. narta was taking photos, so i guess i might put photos at some point, but right now, my camera is broke and i like to keep it that way. we drank up at tingle and small chit-chat was there. beer seems to be our friend. stories were told about our newzealender/kiwi friends, one of which resembled joscef (a smoking-drinking version). after that, all of us - i'll name us (nita, drindi, ron, schatz, narta, milot, narta's brother, alban muja, milot's sister... ) - went to a cafe called

traffic
great small place, at a corner, at a quiet neighborhood. let's you play your own play-list - if you know the guys that run the place of course. beer and raki could be favorite companions, along with The Cure or any other band that's playing. I felt really sad because i was reminded of a great friend that passed away, but was happy for what was left. After being tipped off by Rina that akbar is a no-show because only the DJ was the one playing, and no ears were there to listen to its beats. personally, it's my favorite part of a party - dancing to the beats, real close and chatting to the one playing. anyways, we then moved our feet to

johny's
small place, isolated from the mainstream and small cafes. it is way-off the radar of your regular places, and it's like you are teleported back in time to get the boogy on. the owners are super nice people, and one of them touched my cheeck when i paid the bill - sweet. And he talked to Ron - Hi, my name is Ron, and I'm an alcoholic - about the speed at whichi he was throwing down hard raki at his throat and stomach. they were being careful that not too much raki was going down our throats. it was like being looked after a really nice person - not an annoying one.

departed after that with nita. there were some old friend that i shook the glasses with, but nothing more than that. we're a crazy lovable bunch that i'm glad to be part of.

it started.

"
summer season has landed and it's hot hot. last night was a long one, with me, nita, drindi, and alban muja heading off to tingell-tangell, te shoki/martini, and ending up at spray / places that we will regularly visit for the whole summer season. purple is the color of this season's blog writings.

" "
last night was weird /
we met two newzealanders, nick and (could not catch the other's name). They traveled all around Europe going thru festivals, went to Kotor (Montenegro), met some kosovars, slept on a four-star parking lot and then headed back to Kosova. They could not go to the EXIT Festival because the Serbian border police denied the entry (so stupid!) because they had Kosovar stamps on their passports. Anyways, they were glad of staying in Prishtina for the night.
We met Bardhi and Joe at the same exact spot - last summer, and now we hung out with two new-zelanders - one that terribly resembled Joescef Castor. It was surreal! we talked about peanuts, rugby and their adventures.

" " "
Dave Mothersole was a good-hear (he was wearing a "The Clash" super-fit t-shirt). the 3 eur heineken at spray was not cool, and it did not even taste good. Just after we left, we saw police cars enter the club. Drin (who stayed 10min longer) said that the police ordered that the voice is "lowered". it was 4.12a.m when we left.

it's like 2007 all over again

but without Bardhi and Joscef, which is sad sad. Drini is here after he was bored from the baking Croatian sun, which left him all brown. Ron finally joined us. Milot's insights are amazing. (and the name-mentioning stops here). we hang out during the winter and autumn and all, but summer and the whole people-visiting-Kosova makes me think that we're seasonal: summer is the heaviest with visitors and it's then when the going-out events suddenly quadruple.

``

dinning with a silver clio and a gold cannes lion`

``
Ogivly Kosova won a gold Lion in Cannes for the NEWBORN sculpture, prepared for the celebratory events of Kosova's declaration of independence. This is the second award that they receive for NEWBORN, with the first on being a Silver Clio Award in Miami. I feel so proud and happy for them letting me hang around the preparation process and inviting me to dinner parties, and letting me touch a lion and a clio. Good to know that Nita played an important part in this whole ride of our lovely typography-giant. They should also thank Independence of Kosova, as an important date that set them to create such a stunning piece of work. Thank you independence.
To mark the very special occasion, they threw a great dinner party at which we were fed tasty food and drinks.

Congrats and let's hope there are more on the way.
The link on the latest from NEWBORN's award travels here.
``

roisin/skopje/bass/heavy/bra-less/murphy

``my very first contact with a singer whose songs i sometimes listen. the place was packed (considering that we went there almost 2 hours before the show), and all the people were happy and seemed nice. we were right in front of her, a white/black combo shirt/pants, and the very first thing i noticed were her unusual shoe heels. she also had some killer shades on, at some moments during the concert (quite daft-punkish). there was no need for crowd-control personnel, but after roisin stretched her hands towards armelina and nita, the crowds rushed right in to see if murphy made the same offer again - which at this point, the crowds in front were filled with song-singing females / became a bit overwhelming actually. there was some ass shaking as well - but not a lenghty one.
``
videohere.

the performance was ecstatic, considering that i was a concert-virgin of this type. her clothes kept changing song after song (with bits and pieces added/removed). her small/miniature hats were amazing, and looked really nice on murphy. there was a mini-wardrobe on stage that helped her with the clothes-change. she even had two fans installed that spun when she sang "overpowered" i think. backup dancers, well, danced well.
``
videohere

nita, me, agon and armelina were too-many drinks over the limit, but i found myself quite sober half-way thru roisins performance. we were all dancing, and i was more amazed at what i was seeing right in front of me: roisin murphy. (symbolizes the break from the stupid concerts i saw). Sometimes the sound was too rhythmically the same as a South American melody, or something like that, and it was not very enjoyable. people there knew all the lyrics, and from the look of murphy's face, she was pleasantly surprised of this fact. lights/sound were perfect, and really were synchronized together.

there we meet two other friends that came from prishtina, and we heard that there were others as well, although not that much. it was a nice weekend in skopje, then we headed back to the hotel and slept small-hours. it made us think of how good it would be if we had more going on in our own city / prishtina.

the show started at 00:30, and went on to about 1:20, and in the end, roisin murphy and the two backup dancers/vocals got in a fight, which was so great to see.
``

``
The last view of edgesoup.com, before it was taken down. Edgesoup5 was never published and rhere still might be a last e-version of it coming out, but I doubt it. The website was a plan on what the latest edition of edgesoup would look like, but it never happened. It was fun and exciting making such a zine, but i think we could have not kept it together for long. Thanks to all those who sent their writings + promises in.

It won't be long until a new edgesoup springs out,

in a new shape/form. It will just take some time.
``

Automated Food Service (AFS)

New York City. Bamn food automat in the East Village.

``wish we had something like this here, so I could skip the whole "get your order" procedure. Those sandwiches look mighty fresh. Yum. It feels so good when you actually see your food before you order it, and the small food containers look amazing. The whole coin/open door thing is so nice and simple.
Automated Food Service sounds so mechanical. Just food automat.
Automat is harsh a word.
``
``Some sweet galleries for this type of food service here.

shopsitting

``me and nita will be babysitting SIMPATIKO Gift Shop for the next two days, starting today. Please come round if you legs happen to be near.
It's so lovely.

``A page from this year's auk yearbook. I'm done with school.

``
Victor Vasarely
prof. Tibor Csepei (lecture)
Kosova National Art Gallery
Prishtina/Kosova
May 21/08
20.00hrs``

``said by one of the organizers of the coming March 23rd, AUK senior class graduation party.
I will not attend.
``

``video released some time ago. brings itching-joy to watch forever.

``It has been almost 5 days since May 1st. Holiday, passed, but I'll tell the May1st story. It was one of those "bridge" holidays when a Friday is sacrificed in order to have a full 4day holiday from Thursday. I worked on Friday, but was lucky enough to have the apartment all by myself.
For the first time, workers here protested for getting rid of the business foot on their faces that is quietly degrading them of their moral values as humans.
Then again you had the scene where footballs were hoping from one end to the other - the celebrating part of the May 1st were enjoying a day out in the park. Complaining and wailing and making sad statements were made by the people that were in this weird picnic in the Germia park, while their counterparts (the most desperate bunch) waved flags, banners and shouts at the injustice and mistreatment that workers were facing.

``Me and nita did none of that. We decided that we should make a nice vegetable diner and enjoy the fresh taste of these vegies painted in rainbows and some pasta. Too bad I broke my camera - now I'm stuck at posting fake pictures of the vegetables we ate. But they were so so so good.

I cannot keep my thoughts from wanting to open a vegetable/fruit store with nita
``

``Happens quite rarely that I really anticipate a good football match, you know the classics - two great teams that would be impossible to beat one each other. Tonight's match (manUtd vs. Barca) was stupid and boring and just ruined my anticipation for the game (like these big games do). It has happened before that the pre-game match is better than the actual one played on the pitch.
``
Once again, these big-league big-money games disappoint me. Me rooting for no team could be a factor that ruins the match. Bring on second division Scottish league.
I'm not watching big matches like these any more. Time-waste.

Lovely.
Simpatiko Gifts.
Open. Come visit.

soccersock club returns?``
``don't bet

Last night my leg muscles marked the return of the word called "sports". Now they hurt so bad, but last night's game was super. Not that I care about winning or loosing (now), but last night it was a draw between a team of somewhat experienced players and the team I played for that had 2 extra players. We never got tired.

They made me a goalie, made one great save. No, actually two great saves.
Good to be back.
``

``
BOYSNOIZE = KOSOVO

oh man.
win a boysnoize ipod here.

Ensemble Rue du Nord (CH) : Anne Gillot, recorders / Laurent Bruttin, clarinets /
Jonas Kocher, accordion / John Menoud, electric guitar, electronics / Dragos Tara, doublebass /Benoît Moreau, piano, clarinet Vedran Tuce, bassclarinet
/ Dugagjin Muhaxheri, saxophon / Kaltrina Shala, flute /
Visar Kuçi, violin / Liburn Jupolli, piano / Lukatoyboy, electronics, toys
``

````

``I mentioned animal collective in my previous post, and with last night's (improvised) performance there were moments (fraction of moments) that made me think this would be as close to Animal Collective as I would get. The performance - all improvised - by the Swiss-Balkan creative ensemble (looked more like everyone playing on their own, and then combining sounds) played instruments in ways that instruments themselves never thought they would be played. ODA theater never heard that much noise - ever. Prior to the performance, all I could think of is that this ensemble will be a mix of local/foreign musicians playing jazz, classical or traditional Albanian folk music, because we are so used to that. But last night's performance had us duped and just made our hearts stop, and it changed my frame of mind on musical performances in our small city. Our ears were blasted with electro acoustic music.
``
Three tables that were stacked with wires, mixing tablets, more wires, laptops, and they had so many objects that reminded you of a working desk, or some sort of gadgets needed for a technical experiment - quite frankly i never thought i would see a set-up like this at ODA.
A middle-aged guy, wearing a pale-melon colored sweater and a t-shirt with a comic-book printed on it, really shattered all the atmosphere that was created in that stage by previous performers. He took the sounds he made with marbles, and other objects, and twisted them so much that he produced a noise that was nothing like I've heard before. All other performers were so unique characters but yet their sounds melded so well with each other - like having more than one epicenter of sound/focus. A woman played some sort of instruments made of wooden-boards and electronic wiring.

``

It was unbelievable to see young local musicians play their instruments that way, and have their sounds improvised with other electronic screeches that were generated by other members. The sort of exploded and destroyed that pattern I've used to see them play... Librun is a piano-genius (heard him play a couple of times) , Kaltrina was good with the flute, and Visar just proved what a talented musician he really is (all-round). I never saw them placed in such a setting and "survive". Last night's performance was a shock really, a shock that distorted the perception of a musical reality created in previous performances.

```

Hands down to Ilir Bajri for assisting in this. For me he is one of the performers that pushes the boundaries of music, and a wonderful guy that works so hard with these young talented local musicians/composers.
``
Many people were laughing and others left in disbelief of what they were hearing. They missed are truly amazing performance that still makes me scratch my leg hard, and drive fast without looking in the rear-view mirror.

```myspace page

WATER CURSES
``
Avey Tare was probably referring to the flat in which the lest of my life is spent (for sure). But that does not mean that the neighbor on the first floor has the right to switch off the water supply to the building without any notice?
A brief history of water in my life ``
Can't remember when we had a full day of constant water supply. Well, there might have been some (for national holidays probably), yet the neighborhood in which I live in has been marked with water supply shortages since ...forever? Most probably yes. From 10am to 4pm, forget to clean that dirty dish, since there's no water. This is an everyday event.
``
So, this neighbor of ours simply just cut the water supply without even notifying the residents. At first, we quickly adapted for the situation and braced for the worst (we are used to this), but we did not like it at all. Second, we asked around and found were the problem was. There was some illegal construction building going on on the other side of the building, and most probably the workers broke a water pipe. It is so stupid to go ahead and work on a building without even having the slightest idea about the water pipe structure / blueprint. Then always, ALWAYS, stuff like this happens. "Oops, we accidentally did this", "Oops, we did not know that you had water pipes in your bathroom".

What gives? Of course there are! ``

There are tons of other cases when road-works leave a whole neighborhood without electricity because they accidentally cut the wrong wire, or when the ground for an un-planned (refraining to use the word "illegal") building is prepared the bulldozer bursts open a water-pipe, leaving much of the area short of water for days (and without even apologizing or feeling the urgent need to fix the leak). Most of the people do not give a damn if others suffer from their stupid actions that should have been stopped in the first place.

Now I'll just go and use a bottle of water to wash my teeth.
``

DAM Festival#

#Day 5

For tonight's program, a talented young man from Prishtina charmed the crowds as his fingers did the talking on the piano pieces he played. The crowds were happy, since most of the crowd were probably the relatives of the guy playing the piano. Then a saxophone quartet (not part of the DAM Festival), played some pretty neat stuff - and their performance of dancing and playing around the crowds, creating a surround sound made it even better.
Anyways, as broke as we were to go somewhere else, we got some pretty good sounds tonight.
I could not help notice how long the curtains were in that hall, and how red they were, and how I wanted to get rid of stupid, super-long curtains blocking the windows of the hall. Not to mention the molecular-shaped lighting above us, painted in red.
The other thing I would get rid of in all of these events, is the advertisers and their banners on each corner. I mean, sure, they give tremendous money on sponsoring events like this, and my hat goes to them, but come on. It would be a lot more exposure if one of the banks/other sponsors fixed the creaking floor, and provide the hall a new set of chairs - these ones are red and uncomfortable and dirty. Newspapers would probably write about that, and the sponsor would get publicity, and people some joy.
But then again, we will be stuck with sponsors trying to overwhelm these cultural events with their banners, flyers, pamphlets, and other degrading, cheap promotional material.
#
I have to search why are all classical music instruments painted in gold. Wouldn't be nice to have a black saxophone, red drum-set, blue guitar and yellow bass player?

DAM FESTIVAL # Third edition
#5th night - Petrit Ceku



Tonight the red hall at the Youth Center (ex-Boro Ramizi, communist labeling - but still the main hall is called the "red" hall) was packed with people young and old. A very talented guitar player simply mesmerized us all. Petrit Ceku, born here but now living in Zagreb, Croatia, sounded like he had a back-up guitar orchestra with him. But the thing is that he did not. Petrit and someone from the 17th century in Venice could be friends, since he that this look that "made me imagine the boats of Venice". His stage presence was good, and his performance masterful. The sounds he produced were so melodic, so full of color, that - probably for the first time - made me want to listen to it more and start liking these festivals even more. The guy was unbelievable, and the stage was nicely set - there were two mirrors so you could also see the back of the guitarist if you wanted to. We saw friends at the concert, some people that normaly do not like classical music, but don't have where to go. Most of the decorations were red-dyed cloth, and black-dyed cloth, and I imagined that a plane came crashing into the hall, cutting us all up and splashing the walls and floor with red - so that each square of the hall is red. Sponsors for the event gave so much money, and yet they could not fix the screeching makeshift floors that they improvized for the festival.
#
Petrit was probably not aware of any of that (the occasional noise, the number of the crowd) - because he was playing with his eyes shut all the time and his ears wrapped around his guitar sounds. It looked as if the deep emotional feel that he had put into the songs made him do that. His hands seemed to know their way on their own.

Such a melodic night, from a really talented/promising individual.

more#DAMfestival
read more# petrit ceku
read more# prizes.

Nine years today.

The only time we rented our very own air-force for more than 60 days.
It was also the day I new what a Tomahawk is, a F-117, B-2, and all those flying fortresses.
The term "humanitarian intervention" was coined.
A sovereign state was bombed for not halting its crimes against us here.
Chills move up and down my spine, arms and legs as I write this.
The activation order, what a climax.

Depleted uranium was also a term I got to know.But no-one wants to know of it today.

Thanks to everyone for lending their air-force from that day,
and for being so good to us from then onwards. More or less, the military at least.

NATO // USA // USANATO // USANATO USA // NATO USAUSA // NATOUSANATO // NATO // USA // USANATO // USAUSA // NATO//

Once again, we are featured on a tv series. This time its on the Flight of the Conchords (episode 6).
In this scene a badly burnt-out kid appears, burned by Albi - the discriminating Dragon, that's sitting next to him.
Albi clearly discriminated the little Albanian boy,
but in the end they ate chewing-gum cake, and Albi's tears that turned into rainbow-colored jellybeans, and sang-along.

^managed to mount Ubuntu on my work computer. i like it, and will adjust to it in no time. thanks Betim.
^on the way to the bus stop, a really young male child was weird enough to publicly kiss a young woman's behind. I could not imagine what that you child would grow up to be. Then the bus-ticketeer came and I had to pay the man 20cents.