Nigdje Posebno, Zemlja

26.07.2005., utorak

Folkestone Revisited

Not actually revisited, because I`ve never left, but I had to think of a title. And here it is. As stupid as it may be. Well, the last couple of days have been interesting. Apart from a lovely visit to the beach (where only two of us had the guts to take a swim while it was raining), and the Dome (a sort of a casino/caffe/public meeting place), we got to see the English version of our own marketplaces. It`s like the lyrics from Only Fools And Horses: We've got some half price cracked ice and miles and miles of carpet tiles, T.V.s, deep freeze and David Bowie L.P.s, Ball games, gold chains, whatsnames, pictures frames and leather goods, And Trevor Francis track suits from a mush in Shepherds Bush, Bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush, bush ... No income tax, no V.A.T., no money back, no guarantee, Black or white, rich or poor, we'll cut prices at a stroke, God bless Hooky Street. Viva Hooky Street. Long live Hooky Street. C'est magnifique, Hooky Street, Magnifique, Hooky Street, Hooky Street (to fade) I have to watch my spendings, because all the money I bring back from England might help the purchase of the almost mythical guitar I`ve been talking about for... well, a lot. So far I`ve bought four books (The Gunslinger, The Half-Blood Prince {yeah, I know it`s Harry stinking Potter, so what?}, Dreams in the Witch House and a parody Bored of the Rings), a pair of Doc Martens boots and a video game for Icefisherman (or Pixelcounter...). Of course, he`ll give me my money back when I return or else... Besides that, a whole bunch of students left over the weekeend, Alex (the annoying Pole) left with them. But, they still had time to show their work at the weekly presentation of each group. Since our weekly theme was myths and legends & stuff, we decided to present it in a slightly less boring way than graphs, essays and other boring things. We chose an all time legendary song from an even more legendary band (Queen - We Will Rock You), and sung it with the help of Talal - a very funny Saudi-Arabian, with a great sense of humour. The crowd went wild, children were crying, people were jumping out of windows... Great stuff indeed. This week, the topic is world culture. And I still don`t know what to make of it. We lost our two good teachers, Paul & John, and recieved unworthy substitues in the form of an idiotic Venezuelan woman, and an Irishman. The Irishman is a bit... I don`t know how to describe it but I simply do not like him. Sixth and a half sense. I can`t wait to get home to all of you and my family. Now, don`t get all mushy and sobbing... Music: Queen - We Will Rock You Kierlan Darkskye, Bringin Down The House

- 15:51 - Komentari (3) - Isprintaj - #

22.07.2005., petak

Garden Gnome Liberation Front

The day started early with King Prawn. I was walking down the street to school, all tired and washed away (this constant walking is killing me, but the blisters are wearing off, and when this is all finished I`ll probably be in the best shape I`ve ever been...) Then, as I approached the school building, I switched to Metallica - Ronnie (Load). I think that song is talking about King`s Dark Tower saga. Because there is this Gunslinger (the first book), called Ronald... I bought the book, since I only had the 4th part, and I couldn`t understand any of it. Anyway, I went to Canterbury yesterday. It was fun... the cathedral wasn`t as pretty as I thought it would be, but the rest of the town was great. I even found a guitar shop where I could play my heart out. What next... oh, the teachers. One is called Paul, the other one John. Now, Paul has learned Japanese and has done a variety of teaching jobs over the years, while John (who I like more) has never teached anybody anything until a couple of weeks ago. But, he has management experience, and is a somewhat big shot in the transport buisness. Today, he asked us have we ever of thought garden gnomes as controversial. We said no. Then he divided us into three groups, told us we were going to reenact a real event and set one group up as the French government (I was in there), another as the Garden Gnome Liberation Front (GGLF) and another as the French Respecters of Garden Gnomes Society (FROGGS). And we, the French government had passed a law that all garden gnomes should be kept out of gardens, because they were repeatedly stolen out of them and returned to their natural habitat (The Forest). And we had to explain why we did it. Then, the Froggs would say why they want the gnomes back and the GGLF would try and keep the gnomes inside the house. After a heated discussion, and one of the Frogg members admitting that she would gladly adopt a gnome, the Government withdrew to think. First we thought of taxing the gnomes for working as garden keepers, but then we decided to kill all gnomes, and put an end to this mindless rubbish. The gnomes were abolished, their owners sent to psychotherapy, and France surrendered to the demand of the Free Gnomish Republic, as they always do. The End. I have no more time... sorry. More tomorrow or soon. Glazba: Dream Theater - Scenes From A Memory Kierlan Darkskye, Gnome Politician

- 15:03 - Komentari (2) - Isprintaj - #

18.07.2005., ponedjeljak

On the road again...

In the spirit of international cooperation and multiculturalism, this series of reports from my two week stay in England shall be written in English. Don`t try and correct my English, because I don`t care. So, ladies, fish & gentlemen... here we go. We left for Graz on Sunday at 10:45, arriving there with enough time until my flight at 14:55. And let me tell you, what a flight it was... The airline was Ryanair, a low fare airline, but with pretty high standards for that price (no, I`m not hallucinating, or making this up). When the plane started taxiing up the runway it was going smoothely, like a ride in the car. However, when the plane straightened itself for takeoff and ignited its engines properly... well, let`s just say that my kidneys tried to escape through the back of my seat. We broke off from the eartly chains that bind us, and soared high as the birds (and even higher). My ears popped and I felt a bit sick, but that feeling was washed away after I looked out the window and saw the entire world at my feet. It seemed like I was looking on a model town, with tiny cars and tiny buildings, and then after I while, you couldn`t even make out the cars. It was a smooth glide up at 11.000 kilometres (or should I say, 30000 feet... thank God it wasn`t an episode of Twilight Zone, or I would have to put up with Shatner`s poor acting... again). We passed by a couple of airplanes, and saw the world as it was meant to be seen. The clouds... I won`t even begin to describe the clouds... Clouds thin as paper, clouds that looked like foam or whipped cream... the mist when we crossed the Channel. Magic. Pure poetry. Then came the bitter disillusionment... we were stuck at the airport for two hours, waiting for our driver to take us to Folkestone. (btw, this broadcast is from a local internet caffe) He was late because of a traffic accident on the M2, a five car pile up at a junction. It seems traffic accidents happen often (but I`ll explain this statement later). After what seemed an eternity, we were in Folkestone at 21:30, waiting to be delivered into the loving hands of our families (well, not really our families... foster families) as wards. My family is very wierd. The mother is very friendly, but is of a spiritist religion, something to do with the Da Vinci Code, The Templar and the painting of The Last Supper. Christ was a Magi or something and... well, it`s interesting, but I`m not buying it. However, I nod and spurt out pretty little words like a bird (I know Nighthawk will recognise the quote) and I`m ever so polite. The rest of the family is O.K. The brother and another ward (a 12 year old Polish kid) are constantly playing the Playstation and the sister is teasing them both all the time. And there is a French girl also with us (17), Clara or something, and she disproves the theory I had that the French do not speak English. Today, we took the placement test (I aced it, did you doubt it?) and I will probably in the most advanced group. Currently we are having a tour of Folkestone, and they give us some time of for shopping. Since my family has no computers, nor does the school, I guess I`m going to have to manage like this every day. That`s it for now. The seagulls are a general nuisance (but they leave you alone if you share your peanuts with them) and the family cat is orange and pettable. Greetings from England. Music: Willie Nelson - On the road again... Kierlan Darkskye, Globetrotter (or maybe just Trotter?)

- 15:41 - Komentari (3) - Isprintaj - #

08.07.2005., petak

Tko živ, tko mrtav...

Prekjuèer je ta serija završila, na moje žaljenje. Ali današnji topic nije o tome. Vraæam se iz mrtvih. Opet. Škola je završila dobro, svojim manipulatorskim vještinama uspio sam srediti èvrstih 4,5 i time poduzeo još jedan korak u izbjegavanju mature. Puno se toga dogodilo, ne znam otkuda da poènem... Sad sam na moru. Ovo pišem iz nekog internet caféa u Senju, gdje sam nakratko uspio pobjeæi okrutnim kandžama mojeg djeda i bake, koji se još uvijek prema meni odnose kao prema bebi. Nije da mi razmaženi tretman smeta, ali... nije zdrav za mene. Svake godine, trudim se oporaviti od svoje lijenosti, srediti te proklete radne navike, što mi toèno pred kraj godine uspije - a onda me pošalju na more. Uživanje i odmor. Fuj. (sad svi normalni ljudi gase prozor u gaðenju, ne mogavši pojmiti kako netko ne uživa na odmoru gdje ga tetoše) Evo razloga. Prvo, društvo ovdje je oèajno. Svake godine moram ponovno uspostavljati kontakt s njima, kao da smo stranci... a zapravo i jesmo. Svake se godine sve manje i manje razumijemo (jer ja sam ipak razmaženo derište iz grada, autsajder), a meni se svake godine sve manje i manje da truditi oko toga da mi komuniciramo. Dakle, prestat æu. Što znaèi da mi jedino društvo ostaju deda i baka i paket karata za belu. Hm. Drugo, fale mi prijatelji. Fale mi "normalni" razgovori. I koliko god priroda ovdje bila lijepa, a stvarno je predivna (po prvi puta uviðam da sam posve nepismen, s obzirom da ju ne mogu dobro opisati). Treæe, moja nevjerojatna lijenost, koju pokušavam suzbiti šetanjem po šumi i jogom. Zasad nema napretka, ali... tko zna? Vjerojatno se ponovo neæu moæi javiti iduæih tjedan dana, jer... gore u planinama nema interneta. Nema ni raèunala, barem nema onih na koja ja imam pristup. Još jedna detoksikacija, lijeèenje ovisnosti. Traženje samog sebe ispod svih tih slojeva. Prokleto bilo... Nije dobro dati èovjeku previše vremena za razmišljanje. Uglavnom, èujemo se najvjerojatnije za kojih osam-devet dana, kad se vraæam kuæi. I nakon toga, ako bude sreæe, iz Engleske. Glazba: The Bambi Molesters - Ice & Pinewood Trees Kierlan Darkskye, Dead Like Me

- 11:47 - Komentari (6) - Isprintaj - #