debouch

Stolen pictures- left side- from this website: http://capacioglu.stumbleupon.com/

the right, Hiroshi Sugimoto, from this site- http://www.kultureflash.net/archive/68/.

Sugimoto is currently being exhibited at the De Young Museum in San Francisco, I saw the exhibit, it covers the variety of his photos; from the minimalism (as shown in this photo) to his faux-figuratives.





Today's obsessions:


What would ancient perfume smell like? "Extracts of anise, pine, coriander, bergamot, almond, and parsley "





Joseph Conrad:



"To survey with wonder the changes of one's own self is a fascinating pursuit for idle hours. The field is so wide, the surprises so varied,the subject so full of unprofitable but curious hints as to the work of unseen forces, that one does not weary easily of it. I am not speaking here of megalomaniacs who rest uneasy under the crown of their unbounded conceit--who really never rest in this world, and when out of it goon fretting and fuming on the straitened circumstances of their last habitation, where all men must lie in obscure equality. Neither am I thinking of those ambitious minds who, always looking forward to some aim of aggrandizement, can spare no time for a detached, impersonal glance upon them selves"





The Estonian language:


"The majority of European languages belong to the Indo-European language group (e.g. Spanish, Polish, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Albanian, Romany, Greek or Welsh). Of the ancient European languages, once so widespread throughout the continent, Basque in the Pyrenees, the Finno-Ugric languages in the North and Central Europe, and Caucasian languages (e.g. Georgian) in the southeastern corner of Europe have managed to survive.

The Estonian language belongs to the Finnic branch of Finno-Ugric group of languages. It is not therefore related to the neighbouring Indo-European languages such as Russian, Latvian and Swedish. Finnish, Hungarian and Estonian are the best known of the Finno-Ugric languages; rather less known are the following smaller languages of the same language group: South Estonian, Votic, Livonian, Ingrian, Veps, Karelian, Sami, Erzya, Moksha, Mari, Udmurt and Komi, spoken from Scandinavia to Siberia. The relations between languages can often be seen from the similarities in numeric systems:



Estonian differs from its closest large related language, Finnish, at least as much as English differs from Frisian. The difference between Estonian and Hungarian is about as significant as between German and Persian.

Along with Icelandic, Estonian is at present one of the smallest languages in the world that fulfils all the functions necessary for an independent state to 'perform' linguistically. Teaching, at both primary school and university level, is in Estonian; it is also the language of modern science (molecular biology, astronomy, computer science, semiotics, etc.). Estonian is used in the army, in the theatre, aviation, journalism - in all walks of life. Estonian is the only official language in Estonia in local government and state institutions.


Estonian is spoken by approximately 1 100 000 people throughout the world. About 950 000 of them live in Estonia, and more than 150 000 are scattered over Sweden, Canada, USA, Russia, Australia, Finland, Germany and other countries. The first attempts to describe the Estonian language scientifically were undertaken in the early 17th century. In 1803, a lectureship of the Estonian language was established at what was then the German-language University of Tartu, founded in 1632. With the spread of the ideas of Enlightenment, the interest of the Baltic German Estophiles in the local language and culture increased. During the 19th century, the first educated Estonians began publishing scholarly research of their mother tongue. The first doctor of the Finno-Ugric languages of Estonian origin was Mihkel Veske who did research into the history of the Estonian language in the 1870s; the Estonian Writers' Union, established in 1871, undertook the task of standardising the common language. "

Sylph

My friend James @ RPS in Oakland


Sylvia, my beloved, roves in dreams, an oblivious sylph.


Today I recount some memories of my East European tour that I took last year. It was during late June through early July, 2005. I visited six countries with 3 others who were performing.


The first stop was in Tallinn, Estonia. Andres Loos & Hanno Soans met Mic & me at the airport, we arrived a few days prior to the performance. Andres & Hanno are founders of Looming -makers & shakers of the Estonian art scene- plus they are really swell guys. Since I had never been to Europe (or anywhere really), Tallinn was a pretty unique in my experience. It has vestiges of its medieval identity: castle walls, churches everywhere, winding, narrow, cobblestone streets. We arrived around the "holidays", that is, St. John's Day, which is basically a summer solstice holiday. The streets were nearly emptied and many shops were closed. It would be as though you came to a smaller U.S. city on Christmas.

So was the first impression I had of Tallinn, a quiet and provincial town. Since it was near the summer solstice, it was also during the "white nights", when the sun never really sets. Instead of darkness- you get half-lit, crepusclar evenings. Its quite a eeie feeling to be up at 3AM and feel that it was more like 8AM. The guesthouse we all stayed in was amazingly cozy. It spoiled me for what was to come on the rest of this tour. The best thing was the atrium room; it had windows on all sides and looked out over the small street where the building was located.

Estonia, for some reason, really touched my heart. The collusion of a very old world and a modern world enamoured me. It triggered both my intellectual and emotional parts; perhaps, because it was the first European place I have ever visited, and all of Europe holds these contradictions. It is something that I have not encountered at all in America. I feel as though I met and conversed with an individual who had an emotional wisdom and mature grace yet was still flexible and open to newness. Nevertheless, the Baltic states in particular really held me. So much, in fact, I even bought a book about it at the book sale.

I mostly wandered around in Tallinn. I walked its labyrinthine streets, up and around the hill where we were staying, through the old town. We visited a little photography museum, a old bookstore and a few churches. But mostly I liked to wander around, drinking Tetly tea.

What I remembered most about Estonia: the linden trees that lined the streets, the warm and mild weather, the glimmering and calm quality of light, my sense of freedom. As for food, we did eat at a "traditional" Estonian restaurant, but I don't remember it very well. My favourite meal was the one Andres made for us on our first evening. It was a simple meal made of herring, potatoes, dill and sour cream, but it delicious. So good, that I wanted to re-create it , but I never could get it right.

go here for my pictures of Tallinn