My brave, free-spirited, restless friend Gardi is all over the place. Literally. Born in Mexico, she lived in Chicago, Toronto, Paris, Sao-Paulo, Ramallah, (and possibly some other cities which aren’t listed here) and now she’s in Guatemala.
We met in Toronto, from which we both escaped in the midst of our graduate studies – but we keep the habit of meeting every once in a while. When she lived in Paris I stayed with her in her bohemian apartment in the Bastille (and managed to lose the key and therefore had to climb in through the windows in order to let us in), when she moved to Ramalla, she was a regular guest in my apartment in Tel-Aviv. Now in our post-academic lives, she’s been moving around and has the habit of taking me to trips with her. She writes the most lively descriptions of the people she meets, the adventures she goes through and colors the scene with so much excitement and panache that i’m always tempted to book a flight and visit her. No matter where she is.
“come Romimiku come” she tells me – “come for as long as you want” – she writes. And I am booking flights, making plans, rebooking the flights and changing the plans, because Gardissima is like the wind, and all over the place.
Gardi, all smile, and curls and sunglasses
These days Gardi is hanging in Central America – and i am so eager to see her. Getting the temporal-spatial coordinates and understanding where we’re meeting and for how long she’s planning to stay in one place could’ve driven anyone insane, but this uncertainty, I must admit, adds more excitement to the adventure.
So it all started in January. In reply to my email asking if I can come visit her in Mexico around April- I got this email:
(dance, dance, dance)
Yes MOTEK come!!!!! as long as you’d like; 2, 3 weeks whatever. I’ll scrape up and maybe I’ll go to the beach with you. And I’ll take you to Puebla. COME!!!
more soonish
muchos besos
g
The initial plan was Mexico City, Puebla (Gardi’s hometown), and head to the beaches – but then G had to move on….
Motek!!
Sorry sorry OK I’m bored here in MC and I want to go away and finish my book and it looks like the destination will be San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas for about 6 weeks; the problem is that Easter Week happens between the last week of March and the first of April which makes travel almost impossible logistically and financially and I’ll most likely go to Guatemala from San Cristóbal to see my friend francis from there. SO I PROPOSE THAT you join me either in Chiapas (before the end of march but if it is to early, the second week of april OR meet me in MC by mid april) SORRY FOR THIS MADNESS!!! and for not having concrete plans; this is what it looks like so far. It’s super cheap to fly from MC to Chiapas (about 250 dlls round trip) AND OF COURSE I’d be happy to come and meet you here in MC (and we’d stay in Miguel’s apartment) anytime around and after mid-april)
g
a Volcano in Puebla, Gardi's hometown
My response was:
Gardi bella
I have to admit that i’ve never heard about Chiapas before but San Cristóbal de las Casas looks beautiful
and i’d love to come meet you and hang out with you wherever you tell me
so the plan sounds great we just need to decide on the dates
yes – it will be easier to travel after easter – no problem with that – may even work for the best if we’ll plan to meet on the second 1/2 of April – can we meet in Chiapas and then hang out in MC?
could that work?
and how far from MC is Chiapas anyway?
i am excited!
Mexico City out – Chiapas in. I googled San Cristóbal de las Casas and loved what I saw. Started planning my trip when this email reached me:
I made it to Chiapas today San Cristobal is more charming than I remember; wayy more hippies, eco freaks, new age weirdos, yogies and zapaturistas than I exxpected: Hence the fact that I haven[t found a place to stay:I"m running away from them!!
So it's pretty much likely that I'm not going to Toronto in May[...] SO MUCH WORK!!!!!!!!
more soon guapa i’m exahusted
xoxoxoxoox
I’m so excited you’re coming I can’t waait to see you!
g
Hippies, eco freaks, new age weirdos, yogies and zapaturistas? Sounds like a party. I got really into this trip to chiapas but apparently G can’t stand them, and couldn’t find a place to stay. and then i got this email:
hey motek!!!
I can’t stand it anymore!!!!
This place is too full with the tecnojjipis, ecotourists, zapatourists, gringos handing out glasses to the indians and doing their teeth, organic restaurants, yoga joints, fair trade joints… and not that tthe native population really benefits from all of this; it’s ridiculous; I found a place to stay but it won’t be free till next week maybe wednesday, maybe friday (!!!) SO my best friend from undergrad Francis offered me to come down and help me find a place in either antigua, guatemala city or somewhere in the jungle (sounds SUPER GOOD)
So I might just do that… when you come I can meet you in San Cristobal (it’s a 12 hr sharut ride); Or meet you in Mexico City (i’d take a flight from Guatemala to MC it’s too far) From MC to Sancris: I left silvia’s house at 10.35, late to take an 11.25 flight i made it and by 2.30 I had a hotel and was sitting down enjoying lunch. You fly from MC to Tuxtla (1.30 mn) and then take a sharut from Tuxtla to San Cristobal (1 h)
g
So it turns out that Chiapas is filled with hippies,”handing out glasses to the indians and doing their teeth”… I guess that’s a good enough reason to move on.
and Antigua is the next stop. Jungles, Volcanoes, adventures – i am in. I love her emails, all energy and caps lock, and exclamation marks. they set my imagination on fire, though i have to admit that my travel agent is a bit exhausted…
Nevertheless – when this email reached me -i really didn’t care anymore….
“hey guapisima!!
Was thinking of you all day
got into Antigua Guatemala last night IT IS GORGEOUS… Yes Antigua is BEAUTIFUL and the places to go to as well; I’m at the very feet of one of the volcanoes (it’s ashing, like my volcano back in Puebla)… 2 others are VERY close.”
ay Gardy! - "The last picture is me below the entrance in antigua to the women's prison'"
she says that the weather is heaven (4 seasons everyday: winter in the morning, night, spring between 10-12, summer 12-4, autumn 4-7) and that she’s already mapped out all the Hippy hangouts around so she knows what to avoid – it’s going to be great, I can feel it. hopefully – no women prisons will be involved…
When i was a teenager – i wanted to know everything about everything – especially about movies, books and music. I used to store so much info in my brain – so many names, facts, trivia bits, songs lyrics, you name it – i wonder how my head didn’t explode. In the past, I used to have a good memory – It was important to me to know artists’ discography, filmmakers’ filmography, writers’ bibliography and the possible connections between them (filmmakers that made music-videos or musicians and writers that made movies were a special treat). Today, l often feel like I don’t know my right from my left. As my friend @SageeB puts it: If someone asked me a while ago what is the most important thing a culture journalist needs, I would have told him a good memory: you have to remember tons of information about musicians, producers, actors, directors, writers, authors, publishing houses, you name it. If someone asked me the same question today, I would say that a journalist, any journalist, needs an Internet connection, and that’s it.
Whether or not I agree with Sagee, it’s obvious that the Internet, and Internet technology, allows us today access to information beyond anything we knew before. But how does technology affect the way we remember, forget and especially store things in our memories? How embedded are our memory contents in our daily actions? and to what extent our daily actions reflect (and even reinforce) our dependency on technology?
chasing the internet is hard to do
Is it the information overload prevalent in the Digital Age that makes questions of accessibility and storage (terms emanating from our interactions with computers rather than from a psychological, or even cognitive discourse) relevant to our day-to-day conduct?
It seems that the more dependent we become on the technology around us, the lazier we get (or even stupid) and it is commonplace now that our gadgets, and our online “hang outs” and databases, have become extensions of our brain. On these satellites prosthetic memory pieces are easily accessed, usually to supplement, but sometimes to replace real memory access.
I no longer bother to remember which actor played in which film as IMDB has all this info available for me. Same for albums info (release dates, band members, etc.) thanks to websites such as AllMusic.com that keep track of discography for us. I sometimes feel that I can clear my memory from those trivia data pieces, and yet – whenever I need to stretch my brain and dig out a piece of meaninglessness data – I am so proud of myself!
pieces of what
It seems to me that nowadays the online world, on our computers or the cellular sphere (which no one can deny becomes increasingly connected, almost always-on), has become the heir of so many basic skills that we used our brain for not so long ago. Here are a few examples of how our “convergence” with the internet and with digital surroundings have been affecting our inner dealings.
The Spell Checker
I heard several people say that in a few decades no one will know how to spell anymore. As spell checking becomes more and more popular (it practically runs on every software/web service we’re using), more automated (it can already offer just 2 or 3 options), and more and more advanced, we can ease up on remembering the exact spelling of words. Google Wave’s spelling feature, for instance, can even handle a sentence as tricky as “Iceland is an island”, even if it has two type-o’s: “Icland is an icland”
i have a spelling chcker. It came with my PC
AutoComplete
On top of forgetting how to spell, there’s another skill we’re losing. This one is actually not a big threat to human civilization as spelling, but it’s an alarming trend. Especially because it is so distracting and adds to the noise we are already surrounded with whenever we’re connected. Algorithms included in automated search reflect the popularity of the concept of “wisdom of the crowds”. We come to rely on what other people know, or search for or “just” interested in, and features like “AutoComplete” reflect that. I like to consider the “AutoComplete” as a direct access into the collective memory, in a way.
Having written and researched so much about the ways public and private memory shape and intersect, I am fascinated by this feature. It is merely an addition to the old faithful search box, where when a user begins typing a search term, several completion options (the popular options) are presented. The “AutoComplete” has become a “must” feature in most websites and is considered a “hot” trend in the search and UI worlds. And it’s not limited to words – images can be added too.
This is really a trifle, and still it changes the way we access information stored on our and on other people’s brains.It is in memories’ nature to evoke new and potentially different emotions every time they are recalled. and I can’t help wondering what will be the consequences of relying more and more on collective memory? Will we ever “stop to remember”, will we bother to complete things on our own? “AutoComplete” has also been on the focus of many jokes - they’re even selling merchandise.
and carriers
You AutoComplete me T-shirt
Phone Numbers and Cell Phone Memories
Evidently, it’s not just the Internet that encourages us to clear room in our heads for details we no longer need to store in our minds. Our handheld devices memories do that too.
I can’t remember the last time I memorized a phone number. It was probably years ago – It surprises me that I still know by heart the phone numbers of most of my childhood friends. Isn’t it awkward that I have all those numbers in my head of flats where the parents of my elementary school friends may or may not live?
I find it even more awkward that I never bothered to memorize the numbers I use most frequently, those belonging to my friends today. And why would I want that? They are all safely stored on my cell phone and whenever I want to call them I simply dial. No need to store them in my head to.
Our cell phones have more memory spaces than we do (at least effectively…), so we can simply rely on them to supply us with the details we need.
It seems to me that nowadays the online world, on our computers or the cellular sphere (which no one can deny becomes increasingly connected, almost always-on), has become the heir of so many basic skills that we used our brain for not so long ago. Here are a few examples of how our “convergence” with the internet and with digital surroundings have been affecting our inner dealings.
The Spell Checker
I heard several people say that in a few decades no one will know how to spell anymore. As spell checking becomes more and more popular (it practically runs on every software/web service we’re using), more automated (it can already offer just 2 or 3 options), and more and more advanced, we can ease up on remembering the exact spelling of words. Google Wave’s spelling feature, for instance, can even handle a sentence as tricky as “Iceland is an island”, even if it has two type-o’s: “Icland is an icland”
I have been working for over two weeks now on a post following my presentation on how the 5 Senses are simulated online and on the relationship between sensual experience and interface.
While I am somewhat overwhelmed with the numerous examples and the immense details i have to plow through when it comes to simulating senses online (and the reasons why taste and smell are so much more difficult to represent and replicate on any interface/ machine) – I started thinking about a new project – submitting a paper to a special issue of the magazine “The Philosophy of Computer Science” dedicated to Minds and Machines (scheduled for Fall 2010).
The call for paper (CFP as academics like to call it) lists no less than 27 topics – but question no. 7 immediately grabbed me:
“What kinds of things are digital objects? Do we need a new ontological category to house them?”
Thinking about the ontology of digital being and on “digital identity matters” as some researchers already put it, threw my brain into a conundrum and started that tickle that i guess i am addicted to.
After sometime i realized that even though i may not know much about Computer Science i am rather familiar with digital beings and i’d love to think about how they occupy space in the world, the relationships they hold among themselves, and the differences between digital and physical objects.
I’d like to do a George Perec inspired exploration – and to move from smaller objects (or spaces) to larger ones. Georges Perec was a French writer and a structuralist who experimented not only with language and content but also with form. For example, he wrote a book without the letter E (La Disparition), a 500 words long palindrome and composed crosswords for living.
Georges a un chat
The first item that i’d look at will be the autograph, from there i’ll move to letters (or e-mail to be more specific, including spam), folders, books and finally – libraries. Initially i wanted to write about songs and images as well, but they’re less textual based and the topic is already huge.
There’s also a song i like, which is just perfect for this post – it’s conveniently called “Folder” (!) by a band called “Plastic Operator” and the animated music video for the song was directed by Pete Circuitt.
a “proper disclosure” following the Plastic/ Paper post
In fact I still have some CD’s at home. Nothing close to my pre-Toronto days collection (R.I.P)
Pits on top
My friend @EBurcat noted lately that a post is always something that comes after the fact. Looking at what’s left from my CD singles collection i am amazed by the irrelevance of something like a single in the age of music files.
Once upon a time I had over 10000 CDs in my house. My (ex-) boyfriend and I each worked for local branches of record companies (me – Universal Music and him Sony/ Warner Music) so obviously we both had a HUGE CD collection (although we were both obsessive CD buyers even before working in the music industry). I had a “modest” collection of about 1000+ CD’s and he had some 10,000 (not including vinyls). Those were the days when people were still buying CDs, and I remember how exciting it was to rush home from the record store and peel off the plastic wrap to listen to an album for the first time.
I
Derrida, Trauma, Photography and all that Jazz
D (my ex) LOVED things. HE loved buying CD’s almost as much as he loved listening to them. He loved possessing rarities and limited editions and had an amazing collection. Working in the radio and in the local music industry for years and being a music-head from birth, more or less birth (his earliest childhood memory: hearing “Breakfast in America” when he was about 1 a year old and pushing his crib towards the radio) – enabled him to have a magnificent collection.
Sebald Sebald Sebald (in English, Hebrew, German) but also some Dellilo, Foer, Hemon
In fact, our study walls were covered with CDs. One of the first things D did after moving in with me was to put up shelves (with some help from @OshikErnst), turning our study into a music room: a realm of CDs sorted alphabetically, but also by genre (Jazz, soundtracks, boxsets. Hebrew, etc). It was a very impressive “Wall of Fame”.
Freud, Lacan, Foucault and Art Catalogs (curated by Leah A)
We’re talking about the early 2000’s here. People were still buying CD’s, Napster was popular and music downloading and sharing were only beginning. What an age of innocence…
Did you know that the Hitler Bio can be helpful in preventing small-talk on airplanes? (a genius plan devised by my sista) - try it - it works!
The shelves and CD sorting were a project that lasted several weekends. When we decided to move to Canada it was clear to him that he was taking his collection with him. My task was simpler. I took only my favorite CDs and anything we had two or more of (I remember finding 4 copies of the first Destniy’s Child album…)ץ The rest was given to my younger sister who “inherited” the flat, our furniture, and the rest of our abandoned belongings (including the empty shelves in the study).
Still in Search of Lost Time
A year went by. My sis also decided to move to Canada. But she didn’t ship her belongings (nor did she have a massive CD collection she couldn’t part with – she’s got a more pragmatic attitude in some realms of life). A. threw away all the plastic jewel cases, bought a big CD case and kept only the discs themselves with the booklets. She brought it with her to Canada. Even today whenever I visit her, my heart still aches at the sight of my former CD collection.
from Dosto to "Nails" a contemporary Lit Mag
I still have BOXES filled with CDs and books in Canada. It’s been 2 1/2 years since I moved back to TLV and I still can’t bring myself to ship them back. I’m not sure why. I clearly don’t have anywhere to put those boxes, but it’s not that. Somehow I believe that if I haven’t opened those boxes in such a long time, I might as well live without them.
Bleak(er St.)
In my first years of traveling back and forth between Toronto and TLV I imported my most of my books back. I used to carry heavy suitcases filled with books, ask my family to help me carry, had to beg and befriend Custom Officers in order to avoid paying overweight fines.
Funny/ Weird Detective Novels and Some Poetry
But I never “imported” my CDs. They’re still there. And so is my stereo. I guess the two go hand in hand and that I now listen to music only from my computer or iPod, and my music collection is more virtual than physical. As Dylan put it – the times they are a-changing.
Warm Colors Work for ME
D’s CD collection is probably even bigger now (he works in the music industry in Canada). My sister is a proud Torontonian technophobe and doesn’t have an MP3 player. She doesn’t even use the mobile phone i left her (in Canada), she likes using Public PayPhones (for crying out loud!)
I keep some of the books here - just because i like their color
So, I engulf myself with books. Writing book reviews for Walla! sure helps, I got tons of books for free, but i am running out of space. Maybe Oshik can come over and build some more shelves for me…
It's beyond my understanding how come i have 3 copies at home of Sacks' Musicophilia. So i keep 1 by the bed - just in case
I know that i am partially to blame for the Rain Forests ruin. But isn’t paper more eco-friendly than plastic?
(quote from pack) all herbal supercritical mental clarity
I found “Neurozyme” on the shelf at the Whole Foods branch in Toronto. Been taking it regularly for almost a year now. It’s herbal. It’s supposed to help me focus. It doesn’t work. YET I keep taking a pill or two whenever I remember. I really like the name. Yes, you can either call me a sucker, or an optimist.
Make coffee
makineta
and while waiting for the coffee to be ready i do numerous other things like
Organize my books according to color pattern
colour scheme library
i am not that obsessive. i have another library with more books NOT sorted according to color. In fact, it has so many books, it’s no longer possible to see the original organization system…( LOL). I also like to
Make lists
tasks lists and action items
i love lists. They give me a fake sense of control. you write a list, you erase it after an action was taken, or a task was performed. hallelujah. But what happens when some items aren’t cleared and dragged from list to list to list? then it’s chaos again. bummer.
Turn off Twitter
shut down Twitter. bye bye TweetDeck
No. 1 disruption factor. so fun. so addictive. I <3 Twtr but it’s bringing me down – it’s the epitome of the information overload. quick, dynamic, friendly, hypnotizing. Log off is the only way to resist the thirst for knowledge and the desire to chat/ play with my friends that Twitter incites in me.
Become Invisible
invisible. invincible. or maybe just wishful thinking
I remember fantasizing about becoming invisible when I was a kid. This could really happen nowadays. virtually, of course.
Unplug
not killing the messenger (just putting it on hold)
Change status to Unavailable and disappear from the face of the earth. hmmm, or not, merely from the IM.
Swim
this suit was meant for swimming
laps. 40. or at least 30 minutes of swimming. no cell phone. no google. no gmail. no work. no twitter. no nothing. just boring monotonous laps.
and if all else fails…
Try to sleep more
sweet dreams are made of this?
I found out that on some days the battle is futile. it is just impossible to concentrate, to write, to keep my mind in one place and ban it from roaming and criss-crossing several paths simultaneously. on such days (if i am lucky enough and don’t have to be productive) i just gaze, daydream, or hang with my friends instead of looking for focus, mental clarity and ways to avoid procrastination.
(there’s another version of “Lost Cause” video. Universal ban embedding it. that’s a shame. looking for an alternative version was also a way to avoid focus… i guess i am mixing productivity with procrastination)
There are only 2 places i know how to get to in Jerusalem without getting lost. “Stardust” a bar owned by my friend Avii and Yad VaShem – the Holocaust Museum – where i conducted a visual research in 2006. Every other destination in this city makes me disoriented.
My friend Gardi now lives in Ramallah. Last year she did research there for her dissertation (entitled: ‘”Before our Eyes: Les mots, non les choses. Jean-Luc Godard’s “Ici et ailleurs” and” Notre musique”‘) and now that her dissertation is finished (w00t!) – she’s back in the middle east. Since Israelis aren’t supposed to roam Ramallah and it takes three hours (!) to get to TLV using public transportation we often meet in Jerusalem. Our regular spot is the notorious “Kikar Zion” which she calls “ATM sq.” because of all the banks that are located there. My disorientation and troubles getting to Jerusalem are nothing in comparison to what she has to go through in her voyage from the occupied territories into Israel.
Gardi and i met in Toronto about 6 years ago. We were both misfits in our departments, constantly struggling with (what we considered) the ongoing attempts of both Academia and Canada to put out our fire. Gardi fled to Paris, slept in the Bastille area but technically lived in the Centre Pompidou Library and set up a Latino circle of thinkers and artists. I found refuge in New York, which I visited every time I could escape Toronto and finally moved back to Tel-Aviv, seeking distractions by working in the local Internet and hi-tech industry while completing my dis.
I always look at Gardi with awe and admiration. She’s fearless – a professional world-traveler, unbeatable border-crosser, and a sworn continent-hopper. She travels the world with her pink suitcase, laptop and inquisitive gaze. Her stories from all over the world always make my eyes widen, my head spin, and often confuse me – make me want to cry and laugh simultaneously. As one of her profs said – every word in her dissertation is written in passion. I told her that sometime it seems like she’s one of the characters in Roberto Bolaño’s Savage Detectives – a book she gave me as a gift.
gardi spotted at Havara checkpoint
Identities, Bios, Abouts
Since both of us have been teaching @ the Visual Culture Center in the University of Toronto (VCC) – and we’re quite familiar with the issue of (dis)location and identity we talked about it last time we met.I am fascinated with the way ppl nowadays describe themselves online and in the way online and offline personalities interact (and intersect). I come across many over the top descriptions on Twitter and bloggers’ “About” pages which make “go hmmm…” Take for example this guy’s bio - “Zebra Crossing, Brooklyn Play, Starving Artist (Trader Joe’s), Reluctant Yogi, G Train Distruster, Other Stuff”. Or this one – “Bio Seeker of truth in 140 characters or less. Scientia potentia est. Tweet me a cool fact the world should know. I will RT it. Freelance writer at your service.” And I haven’t even mentioned all those “Guru’s” and the people that are “obsessed” about things (as if there’s no other option, you either don’t care about something or obsessed about it).
It looks like everybody’s trying to be so unique and eye-catching but in face they aren’t saying much. A friend of mine even described Tweeter as the place where everybody try so hard to show how unspecial they are. This could be part of the game of online/ offline and may go with the territory (esp. on Twitter with its 140 characters). But it’s interesting to see how people openly define themselves while seeking a recognition of sorts, or maybe just “followers.”
“Leave it all behind, again”
After our talk Gardi emailed me. Her take is more philosophical:
“Maybe “where we are/been” defines us? I feel sometimes detached from any roots (…), kind of like a nomad. But I don’t like the romantization of nomadism because it is actually very hard to be one (especially with the ‘wrong’ papers)… dunno also like a subject of globalization while refusing to buy into the ‘wired, virtual community’ of globalized sould because that presupposes a homogeneizing mindset… I told you I dig the first line from Bolano’s Manifesto: “Leave it all again.” Which is really hard… although more and more, I’m finding certain stability and continuity in my work (while again, being weary that this stability will be homogeneous with the environment I’m in).
In a way this struggle to NOT fit in helps us “leave it all again.” The quote Gardi refers to is “the true poet is the one who is always abandoning himself. Leave it all behind, again. Take it to the road.” Leaving means resisting belonging. Taking it to the road refuses stability and denies us of the comforting fantasy that identities are stable, that they are not shifting. Being reborn, constantly “abandoning” oneself may be an act of a (true) poet, but it is so so difficult. Going against the stream may mean opposing the “homogenizing mindset” but it seems that for most people the question is less substantial. The flux of identity and the grip of Social Networks turned us all into teenagers, dealing with questions of identity, self-definition, self-expression and trying somehow to pass as someone special, or at least as non-conformists.
Just got back from from Koh-Tao, a small island in Thailand – also known as the divers island or the turtles island. It’s close to Koh Pangan and Koh Samui and was somewhat deserted – it’s off-season so there weren’t too many people around.
Turns out there isn’t too much to do in Koh Tao if you’re not into diving (or chilling) – in fact I met someone who fled the island after three days. She said she was really bored…
i don’t get it -how can you be bored here? i could gaze forever (ok, for days) at the waves of this blue ocean.
Koh Tao
I took an open water diving course which turned out as lots of work. Not only do they force you to do all kind of exercises under the water (to ensure you don’t drawn or choke underwater) but you have to calculate the pressure level by juxtaposing the depth and the time you want to spend diving. Needless to say, all i wanted to do is to look at the fish and the corals… Luckily I had a very patient instructor who didn’t mind me whining about how much i hate math and how confusing all these numbers are. I actually thought i am going to fail the test (yes, there’s a test too…)
So, diving – it’s everything i thought it would be and more. Other than the QUIET of being underwater – the most pleasant surprise was feeling really really stupid on the first underwater practice. It felt like i got hit in the head – i never felt so idiotic, slow, unable to process things in my life! that felt splendid. We had to do all kind of exercises – take off the mask, take off the tank, look for your oxygen supply, float on surface, below water, etc – but those first moment of stupidity were bliss – even repeating the instructor’s example was too demanding for me – i couldn’t put it together! – i totally loved it.
other than that i realized that some of the diving thumb rules can be easily applied in everyday life:
* never stop your breathe
* watch where you go
* (and my favorite) – if it’s very ugly, very pretty, or doesn’t flee from you – don’t touch it
There was a whale shark hanging around one of the corals – but i never got to see it (good!) so the only dangerous fish acc. to the experts was the giant triggerfish
could be dangeours
From the description of the warning signs that the giant triggerfish gives you before attacking (just like a drunken bully) – it doesn’t sound too threatening – and yet – i don’t recommend staying around if one of them decides to attack:
1) it swims fwd and bckwrd around you
2) it stops and stares at you
3) a special pin pops-up b4 attack
(this is the final warning – and time to leave)
can’t wait for the next dive. pro’lly in Sinai.
ps – S*O*R*T*E*D is an acronym for all that you need to remember before you actually get underwater
don’t know what’s going on lately – but TLV is going through a very narcissistic phase. must have to do with the 100 anniversary celebrations that commence on Saturday. Nevertheless, it feels like a megalomaniac, Mediterranean version of Xmas – there are lights and weird new constructions that pop-up randomly around town
like this one @ the docks
the see-through studio @ sunset
music-videos channel Vanity Fair
the local ego-tripping culminates around the city hall. last nite i happened to pass by during rehearsals. it was crazy
lighting up 100 yr old TLV
turns out that there was a group of some 100 high-school students, all wearing safety helmets. they were sitting quietly, patiently receiving orders from a person who hijacked the sound-system, shouting her throat off over the microphone.
TLV celebrating 100
suddenly, the loudspeaker gave the kids an order and they all started moving, swarming towards the stage
preparing to march
that was my cue – time to go. never been too much into high-school kids anyway (esp after being a counselor @ the scouts), and the chaos and the noise were becoming unbearable
marching band
TLV's younger generation preparing for the celebrations
but the surreal scene with the kids wearing safety helmets reminded me of this crazy mesh-up of Radiohead and a marching band from Arizona. horrendous? great? not for me to decide
Alma was very impressed by Lindsay Seers works in the Altermodern exhibition at the Tate. She said that the way that Seers works with photography is exceptional, raved about the way she uses her body as a camera. No wonder i was intrigued.
The Return to the Blue Star
I didn’t really know what to expect, and wandering around the Mile’s End park was discouraging. Finally, when we got there it was totally worth all the hassle and misery we went through on our way. We were both stunned by ” It has to be this way.”
It Has To Be This Way
The gallery owner insisted that we’d watch the exhibition in the “right order” – he therefore took us into the dark corridor, and led us (using a flshlight) into a big, blue star-shaped edifice, where a video was screened. In the video, a Latino man tells us about his love to Christina – the artist’s sister – who disappeared after suffering from memory loss. The video is eerie, disturbing, disorienting. Kind of weirded both of us out. The second part of the installation is screened on a a small TV monitor, accompanied with two sets of headphones introducing the story of Queen Christina whose body was dug out from her grave for medical inspections. Historians were debating whether she was an hermophrodite. All this was presented in a very cold, scientific manner, presented together with pictures of Greta Garbo as Queen C and oadditional portraits of the late, rather ugly, poor queen.
I was so impressed by Seers’ work and the ways themes she presented intersect with my interest in Sebald and topics i dealt in my dis, that this will be only the first post in a series. There’s so much more to say about Seers, her thought-provoking exhibition, her step-sister Christine, memory-loss, and the way she uses archives, haunts museums and manipulates her audience that is so evocative of Sebald.
Still in Search of Lost Time
