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| The Crow Boys |
| 01.30.05 (8:13 am) [edit] |
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The crow boys are three juvenille bronze crows who were born out of a love of crows and molten metal. They began their lives as an idea for an art project, the project was this. In order to scare pidgeons away some restaurants in Germany used to place plastic models of crows / ravens around their establishment. Then... I made three wax crows which were covered in the silica covering that was used for the lost wax casting process, then ta-da after the pour I had three crows. (this is the very simplified version as it's a wee itty bitty more complex than this...) the crows whenthey were done, patina'd and polished looked a lot like three juvenile crows, a bit small a bit scruffy and somewhat thug like looking for mischief. They are able by some grace of bronze god-ness to stand ontheir own two feet in perfect balance and they do look like crows. These three bronze crows ( made black by a vinegar process) now stand out on the balcony where I can see them from the bed. I move them about almost daily as whim dictates, and they are cool to look at. if I can ever figure out the picture process for this blog thingy I will host some. in the mean time, be excellent to each other.
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| still, bathed in pastel |
| 01.27.05 (3:50 pm) [edit] |
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No wind. it just stopped. Today the sun shone and the mountains in the distance are vanishing in the hazy sunset light, that is a cloudy gold/pink/purple colour. THere is something surreal about living here, like the colours are often faded and washed out, like the world is somehow sliding away. In Germany it was shades of grey, constant clouds and often, more often than not, wet. But definately grey, here it's pastels. The houses and the sky, all pastel, like some romantic artist got the job of colourist for Tessin. It's very pretty. It hardly feels like winter, although it is cold. The sun has a warmth and the light here is intense, almost painful. I like the now time which is after the sun has gone behind the hill but the day still has light. Cannot imagine this place in teh summer, must be pretty blinding, no wonder sunglasses are so popular here. The crow boys generate interest from the local birds who don't quite know what to make of them, they move but they are still, go figure. oh well... until then be excellent to each other |
| when the wind blows, or living in the shadow of the Foehn. |
| 01.26.05 (9:49 am) [edit] |
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So, it is windy here, a constant loud creature that rattles the blinds, shakes the house and sweeps away the clouds. Foehn, the name for winds that sweep down off the leeward side of mountains, dry and usually warm for days on end. Also known to many of you CDNs out there as Chinook. And so it has been windy here, is windy here and the wind is not warm but cold except it is dry and while I find it cold it's keeping us warm, dry and with out clouds. You can read about Foehn effects here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/under standing/fohn_effect.shtml" title="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/under standing/fohn_effect.shtml" target="_blank"http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/... It means that every day we have mainly clear skies and sun, and wind :) It's very pretty here. The full moon nights have been an especially nice treat as this brilliant white winter moonlight shines through the atrium glass roof and illuminates everything. The crow boys love it. And slowly we get used to the noises and routines of that which lives around us. At 10:10 pm the lights from the second lanst flight into Agno airport can be seen from the den, we watch as the plane comes into land from the Italian side of things. Mailman comes between 7-9 in the morning. the wind is endless and howls constantly making something up on the roof rattle like the coffee maker when it is just finishing up brewing. Lunchtime I make salad. Or soup. today is clean the house day. smells like bergamot and cleaning stuff. The insurance guy comes in this afternoon. I am almost finished my studio and can get back to work andthe especially great news is that on Thursday we get DSL. YIPPIE, flat rate and broadband. in the meant time it's back to the cleaning. easy to see the dust in the sunlight! Until then, be excellent to each other! |
| So where does the money go??? |
| 01.22.05 (8:57 am) [edit] |
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It seems that somethings are more important than otehrs. I read this and it was deeply saddening. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6853009/" title="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6853009/" target="_blank"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6... bye bye hubble. until then be excellent to each other |
| in the shadow of the mountain |
| 01.21.05 (4:47 pm) [edit] |
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So, it is later now and after doing the cleaning thing, who ever thought there would be a joy in cleaning pink Italian marble floors and green Versace Tiles??? Sun warmed parquet wood floors and glass??? Somehow when the house is brand new there is a need to keep it that way, although the nasty nail hole in the studio wall says otherwise, guess nails for the pictures are not the answer…. This place is strange in its own way. Especially weather wise, we are the middle , the eye, the dividing line. To the South is Italy and mountains that are rounding to hills rounding to soft landscape filled with olive trees and pastel colours, from our bedroom we see this vista of hills that want to called mountains and the colours that leaped from a Parrish painting. When clouds come from the South they stop at these hills and leave us bathed in the warmth of January sun. The sky is as blue as I have ever seen, if I had eyes that blue I’d be an anomaly. To the North we have the rest of Switzerland which we are divided from by mountains that climb and wish to be one with the sky, snow covered and jagged. When the winds come from the North west they are warm ( at least so far) what they call a Fuen, this eerie warm wind that whooshes its way around and sweeps the clouds from the North ( or South Germany) but the mountains stop them and they sit, sulking, grey and restless. All day I watch out the picture windows vapour trails of jets going somewhere, they criss cross the sky like ethereal quilters, the sunlight making them brilliant white or pastel pink depending on the time of day. The in between the silence is broken by the sound of Dash-8 engines revving up or down depending on whether or not they are coming or going. The sounds seem to split the air and echo from side to side of this valley. I hear trains as well. Short and sweet during the day , long and endless at night. That and the wind that sweeps down from the NW. Making something up on the roof skitter and rattle like the claws of rats running willy nilly on hard wood. The house shakes, shuddering as if it is unused to the caresses and un certain of how to best deal with them. As the day light fades the lights come on. The small towns across the way from us, long-wise in the Valley twinkle like the stars that will follow twinkle. The moon already nearly full, shedding cool white light on all. It shines down through the glass atrium roof of this house and lights my way down the stairs. In the house by myself I feel a bit like a marble in a tin can, round and round with no real purpose, as I said before we are at a stalemate with the unpacking because of the need for book shelves. Ikea provides those when we can work our way around the limited open hours. The sun light is almost gone, twilight almost here, the deep orange glow in the southwest talks of a clear cold night, but I wonder if the wind persists and the sun’s warmth now gone, if the dark heavy clouds that trundle over the mountains in the North will prevail and tomorrow we will have grey maybe rain or snow. It doesn’t smell like snow though. It smells like false spring. Even alone I am oddly at home here in a way that never seemed to take shape in Ahrensburg. The North German flat, and the never ending grey was foreign to me and I never found a way to become one with the place. I do miss the crows though. Here there are hills, and snow and things that I inherently seem to understand. Here the land speaks to me. It ebbs and flows like a tide and the colours and the light are a language I learnt as a child. While the native tongue here is foreign to me, the land whispers stories I already know part of. The loneliness will subside, Italian can be learnt and people will come and go in and out of my life as they always have. But there is a slow awakening of other things here, stories and songs, a longing to create. I miss my work at ACER and my friends there but I will have other things here to keep my busy. I guess writing a journal will be one of them. Until then be excellent to each other. |
| whine |
| 01.21.05 (9:49 am) [edit] |
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title says it all. So it is our third week here in the middle of rural Switzerland, next to Italy in the mountains. Still no broadband internet ( god our lives are so hard ( note the sarcasm)) and I am miserably lonely. ( again) how does this happen? It's weird. The unpacking is slow slow slow. We need to get a multitude of bookshelves and other things to complete the ability to get stuff out of theboxes and into things instead of dumping everything on the floor, but it's hard to get to the shops during work hours as it seems we have stepped back in time to shop hours that are just plain useless. Trying to get things accomplished is really interesting, getting medical insurance has become a bueorcratic nightmare. Shopping is an adventure ( try driving via Italian rules, everyone thinks they are a race car driver and no one feels the need for rules of the road..indicatort lights??? nope don't have one of those in my car.... think I will turn left NOW! The worst of it is though, the loneliness. I am not much of a go out meet people any more,and it is especially hard when you don't speak the local language yet ( that will come, I learnt German I can learn Italian) but it's slow and tedious. Been there done that etc.... I know taht I amlucky and thingsare good, in fact they are very good, and in light of things that have happened to other peoplein other parts of the world complaining is a huge luxury but I am gonna do it anyway. moving sucks. I am sick of it, I seem to spend my whole f'ing life living out of boxes and dealing with stuff like rotten plaster on the walls ( means we can't hang any pictrures until we find something that will stick into the walls with out bringing down great chunks of plaster. Marcus is away till Sunday and it feels like forever, we have no tv, no understandable radio and I have no idea what is going on in the world. Sporadic internet via dial up and that's it. but the weather is mostly nice and teh views are stunning. until then be excellent to each other! |
| still alive |
| 01.18.05 (3:24 pm) [edit] |
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limited internet, it's snowing today the move went okay miss everyone though hope to be back to normal by February hugs to all |
| Appealing for help |
| 01.03.05 (5:02 am) [edit] |
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This letter came to me from my good friend Andrew S. thought I'd share it. ------------------------- ------------------------- - ------------------------- ------------------------- - An appeal to all True Newfoundlanders at home and abroad. As you are all surely aware, the earthquake and tsunami in Asia has devastated the lives of a great multitude surrounding the Indian Ocean. Many of you have already heeded the call and given to various charities, and I thank you for it, as do the literal millions who will soon receive this desperately needed aid. Though the outpouring of aid has been great from both public and private sectors, there is much to be done. If every Newfoundlander at home and abroad gave a mere $10, together we could raise over $10 000 000. What would $10 buy you right now? Consider the gifts you gave and received this holiday season, or the festivities that you enjoyed this New Year’s. In 1929 the world came to Newfoundland’s aid when one cold and dark November night a 7.2 magnitude earthquake created a tsunami that rose up on the Burin Peninsula. Whole houses were swept into the sea. Twenty-seven Newfoundlanders lost their lives. The world helped us then. It is time that we all return the favor. My charity of choice is the Canadian Red Cross: www.redcross.ca. Otherwise, please visit Duleepa’s website at: www.dups.com. There you will find both Canadian and international donation links. Please pass this letter on in print or online to any Newfoundlanders you know. Thank you, Andrew S. ------------------------- ----- ------------------------- ----- repeat from two days ago... Donate to Tsunami relief!!!! Canada: Canadian Red Cross 1-800-418-1111 CARE Canada 1-800-267-5232 UNICEF Canada 1-877-955-3111 Oxfam Canada 1-800-466-9326 Doctors Without Borders 1-800-982-7903 or 416-964-0619 Germany: "Stiftung RTL - Wir helfen Kindern e. V.", Stadtsparkasse Köln (BLZ: 370 501 98), Konto-Nr. 15 15 15 15, Stichwort: Flutopfer Asien "Deutsche Welthungerhilfe", Sparkasse Bonn, (BLZ 380 500 00), Konto-Nr. 1115, Stichwort: Erdbeben Asien. "Aktion Deutschland hilft", Bank für Sozialwirtschaft (BLZ: 370 20 500), Konto-Nr: 10 20 30, Stichwort: "Seebeben Südasien" "Ärzte für die Dritte Welt", EKK Bank (BLZ 500 605 00), Konto-Nr. 104 888 880, Stichwort: Seebebenopfer "Oxfam Deutschland e.V", Bank für Sozialwirtschaft Köln (BLZ 370 205 00), Spendenkonto 13 13 13, Kennwort: Seebeben "Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe", Postbank Stuttgart (BLZ 600 100 70), Konto-Nr. 502 707, Kennwort "Erdbeben-Südasien"; "Caritas International", Postbank Karlsruhe (660 100 75), Konto-Nr.: 202 753, Kennwort "Erdbeben-Südasien" "UNICEF", Bank für Sozialwirtschaft (370 205 00), Konto-Nr. 300 000, Kennwort "Erdbeben Asien" SOS-Kinderdörfer: Deutsche Bank München (BLZ 700 700 10), Konto-Nr. 111 111 1, Stichwort: SOS-Südasien "Kindernothilfe": KD-Bank (BLZ 350 601 90), Konto-Nr. 45 45 40 Sie können auch telefonisch spenden (Spenden-Hotline des "Aktionsbündnis Katastrophenhilfe" (DRK, Caritas International, Diakonie, Unicef)": 0137 / 36 36 36 the amount of people dead is the same ( pretty much as if an entire city vanished,,, say like metropolitan Halifax. )Hard to fathom so much death and destruction and it's somehow even harder to fathom that it's not man made. have a few less Tom Horten's Coffee today and drop by your local bank. every little bit helps. until then, be excellent to each other. |
| nutty weather |
| 01.02.05 (8:05 pm) [edit] |
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Jan 2nd and we are having huge thunder storms, with rain 100km/h wind gusts and hail, plus some snow thrown in for good measure. Some farewell weather I guess..... I wanted some snow but this beats the cake. we are down to th wire now. as much sorting and sifting and tidying as we can before the packers / movers come. The fish are in their new house, until we pick them up in a week and half. Poor fish they get more stressed than I do. I am just tired and so is marcus, we now are just wanting to be done with this. Of course as I sit here whining a TV programme is on about the Tsunami catastrophy and I think we have it so good. Tomorrow we go to the bank and donate money towards the relief fund, somehow it doesn't seem enough, but every little bit counts I guess, we can't do much else right now. Remember to tell your loved ones you love them. You never know what is around the corner. It's a funny old world sometimes. until then be excellent to each other. |
| a knife in the dark |
| 01.01.05 (8:42 pm) [edit] |
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Well just when I thought our estemed neighbours couldn't get any lower than to spread their shire's business cards at our event held deep in the heart of our territory, which they fought bitterly over when we split for months on end, now we found out that they have decided to hold an event also deep in our territory with out asking or informing us. I have to wonder what the point of defining shire borders is , if no one respects them? I have to ask myself what the point is of playing in a society that prides itself on honour and chivalry when all, it seems to me is, really a sharp knife in the dark driven deep into the back. What is the point? That they have many members listed as from their shire who live in our lands is also seemingly beside the point. What is the point? I would really like to know when fairness and honour are lost, when lies and deceit are a way of being, what is the point? What -is-the-point? Might as well not bother. I guess these are questions no one can answer. Seems to me in this world the dark side is slowly winning out. until then be excellent to each other if you can. |
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moon phases |