Revisited

No other actor has ever given me such incredible goosebumps. Doesn't matter if he is playing Keith Richards, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, Bob Dylan or John Keats.

lifestyle issue

Right now I do nothing else but sleep, read some books, drink tea and eat rice. When I am done with all that I read some more books.
It’s a holiday and there is nothing to do. I mean nothing, no working, no studying no stress, no cortisol. I think I like cortisol. When there is too much stuff to do, in the beginning all you get is a mere tiredness, but after a while when your body begins to get accustomed to stress, you work and go about the daily duties like a robot, not feeling any fatigue at all, as if sleeping 5 hours a day and running around like a madman for another 19 is the normal human condition. Or of course, you get sick, most probably you catch a cold (I read somewhere that too much cortisol weakens the immune system, or may be my parent told me so).
But now when there is nothing to do, when days are long and lazy and books of 900 pages are finished in 4 days, even the slightest “have-to-do” seems like an immense pressure. Like shopping, cleaning, drawing up a questionnaire. Impossible.
Pure slow life. May be a bit too slow for a 22 year old. But please, do not let me dramatize everything, these days of asocial bliss will soon be over. Classes will be resumed, meeting shall begin, new exchange student will arrive and I will be stuck in a whirlpool of never ending social and academic engagements, remembering those days immersed in literature, Chinese ginger tea and tasty brown rice. I know I should fill up the backpack with some clothes and stuff and head up north, explore some new cities, wander through villages and admire picturesque Asian landscapes.... because that’s what I do! But ...instead I just wanna lay in bed, read my awesome, newly-acquired Roberto Bolaño stupefying novel and nothing more. What do you call that? Getting boring? Getting old? Wasting precious days in Asia?
Only temporally. The giant hypersocial professional tourist monster of 2010 is yet to emerge.

Bombing up the place like you own it

The men who stare at goats

For the fans of war comedies. The men who stare at goats is not only featuring some of the best Hollywood actors but its also hilariously taking a stand against the war in Iraq.
However, the movie (and the book, accordingly) are somehow a remote contemporary version of Catch-22. Most of the lines could have simply sprung out of the mouth of Jossarian, Appleby or Dobbs. The absurdness of the war and war-related topics (psychological war attacks) .. Brilliant and unquestionably ridiculous at the same time. When the guy who picked up Clooney’s and McGregor’s characters in the desert and started bragging about the improvement of Iraqi lifestyle.... I just could help but think about Milo Minderbinder and his explanation about the syndicates and the how to make money by buying eggs for 7 cents a piece and selling them for 5. Enjoy, the movie is worth it and the cast is brilliant.

Winter mood

Enduring Love

A book about erotomania. Well-written. Intelligent. Sick. Found on a disty hostel shelf in Thailand.

More.

Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I am looking for this book. Amazon.com does not ship to Macau.

The red tapes

yeah well.. nobody is seeding the albums. so all I've got left is EmperiorLukeSteelRox's channel on youtube! Thanks mate!

Suburban Kids

Asian flavour

Inspired by Ani’s recent post about alternative ingredients I decided to explore the supermarket this morning after a 3-hour boring exam. The Asian supermarket is a scary thing. You can’t imagine what’s going on out there. There is an Indian section, a Japanese section, Middle-Eastern section and general Chinese stuffs. Don’t be surprised if there is little variety of cheese, bread or milk – they don’t eat such stuff. Normally, I’d buy some generic products to make a salad or a soup plus some hard to find dark bread (which comes in limited supply and is quickly sold out to hungry Westerners- I mean it happens in minutes and you have to fight for it hahah), but not today. Today, we are going to examine the debris of taste and smell. First, thing in basket: Indian yellow curry. A few weeks ago in Hong Kong I had the most amazing curry-potato-spinach-roti meal that every self-respecting vegan must learn to cook (not that I am a vegan). Second on the list comes tofu – I have never bought any packaged tofu before (simply because I don’t want to be frustrated again by finding out that the tofu I am eating was marinated in pig blood) but this one seemed decent and NOT marinated. Combined with young corn, sprouts and green beans in soya sause...mmmm! The rest was the usual – avocado (after 6 months in Central America I can’t live without it), lentils, beans, walnuts and tortilla bread. After filling the basket, I realized that I haven’t bought any dairy products (normally a must have) .. but oh well.. today will be a pure-protein, low-cholesterol day. The Asian supermarket hides many secrets. Just the variety of spices and mushrooms is scary, not to mention the hundreds of types of soy sauce, noodles and weird-ass-looking vegetables. I decided to conclude the experiment by buying a chestnut spread. Don’t know what to do with it and I am hoping that Google knows some interesting suggestions.

The Earl of Slander

Не мога да обясня защо публикуах предното послание. Чета тази книга, толкова засмукваща и детайлна, създаваща ужасно визуални картини в главата ми. Паланюк е майстор на съвременни гротескни герои. Историите в книгата ме вдъхновяват по странно тъжен начин. Репликите ми се изострят, стават по-иронични от необходимото, точно както преди. В хладилника има домат, глава лук и половин кофичка кисело мляко и видът им ме разсмива, все едно и аз влизам в книгата. Превръщам се в модерен, стандартен, трагично-обречен персонаж. В книгите на Паланюк щастливият край е условен, романтиката е тъжна, думите могат да те накарат да помиришеш мухъла по стените на посредствени жилища и евтини мотели. Чета и си мисля за посредствеността около мен. За ежедневния стремеж да се отдалеча от нея, който само при четенето на Паланюк, ми се струва адски безслислен. Не ме разбирайте погрешно, книгите му са страшно добри, но има нещо ужасно и реално в тях, ужасно реално, рисуващо картини от свят, който не е толкова чудесен. Не толкова, колкото се опитвам да се убедя, че е, всеки ден.

"If you love something, set if free. Just don't be suprised if it comes back with herpes" (Haunted, Chuck Palanhuik)

The Beach

“We all travel thousands of miles just to watch TV and check in to somewhere with all the comforts of home, and you gotta ask yourself, what is the point of that” (The Beach)

I vaguely remember how it all started. When was the first time, the first trip, the first sublime tiredness after a full-day travelling? Perhaps it was that first trip to Sofia completely on my own when I was 14, perhaps it was the years of hitchhiking the dusty roads of Bulgaria. I don’t know. But now it is traveling, only traveling and it will be mainly traveling in the future. It is not a luxury anymore, is my study, my work, my daily-round. With both its pure pleasures and commercial crap. We do not feel the impact and weight of our decisions until only after when the “damage” is done. And so it happened, somehow, due to processes that I do or do not control, that two weeks ago, I was standing on the beach of The Beach. Right there where the movie scenes were shot. No matter how many pictures I upload, it won’t be enough. Standing there, my feet soaked into the blue crystal waters, naked, at 8 a.m., I couldn’t help it. Tears started rolling down.
In tourism we are selling dreams.
Standing on the beach was a dream come true.
I don’t even remember when I first saw that movie, but I know I have always wanted what Richards was looking for. And then I found it and I am still living the dream.
Never listen to anybody who tells you that they don’t come true.
(and yes there were sharks in the water, just like in the movie)

Damn I am in love with those Australians.

Dusk // Dawn

March 2009: a group of ambitious, adventurous Finns embark on a long mysterious journey from Helsinki to Tokyo. The goal - the filming of a short sitcom of about 8 episodes, each 20 minutes. The main character - Nipu - a Nissan-Datsun on the brink of fatal dissolution travels around Central and East Asia to eventually reach its final destination in Japan in September 2009. What happens? Even I don't know. We are all waiting for the masterminds, currently enjoying the pleasures of "civilization" to bring out the final, edited cuts. Until then... check out the trailer! Congrats Miikka, Toni and crew! Its gonna be a grand finale for this four-year NHTV-Breda...lets call it "crap" that we are doing!

Post-Thailand state of mind

Its time. We must begin again. Anew. I am slightly overwhelmed of the idea that 2010 will be better, more extreme, more life-changing, more creative and weird than 2009. Judging by its very beginning traveling will be part of it.
I know that all I wished for at the Countdown Party will happen. I will make it happen .
Fast-life is good but slow-life may be better.
Less thinking about yesterday and tomorrow and more focus on now.

India.

I want Edinburgh to be as welcoming as Breda was 4 years ago.
Everything must run its course. And now my first night home (?) after the amazing 3 weeks of holiday around South East Asia I can close my eyes at peace and know that I am exactly at where I need and want to be, no matter what my emotional, homesick being is telling me sometimes.
2010 will be even better.
(this is how Thailand enhances positivism and life-loving moods, or it may just be the vitamin D overdose :)