stefano giovannini | sharing pictures right away

Moving this to my own site

2009-04-03T17:09:00.002-05:00

Hi
I am moving these Journals to my own site using wordpress. just a step up in fanciness/flexibility and slightly more complicated...
check this http://stefpix.com/wordpress/.
will check if i can mirror it here as some sort of backup option - but you should go and check out the new version.

RSS feed available,

thanks
stefano

Vodou Damballa, East Flatbush Brooklyn

2009-03-22T17:29:00.003-05:00

click here for slideshow

Vodou ceremony in East Flatbush apartment. People were wearing green in honor of Damballa that can also be represented by St. Patrick or Moses. The space was too small for live drummers. Many young kids that were born in the USA. The only time I could use available lights was when candles were lit

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Lay over in Port au Prince, Haiti. Sept 2008

2009-03-11T13:43:00.002-05:00

Click here for larger slideshow on picasa web [60 images]

I just stopped a few hours and one night as a layover on my way to Jacmel to Santo Domingo. The Caribe Tour bus was comfortable, clean and food and drinks were available.

I took a tap tap "bus" to Delmas 33 - where I spent a night in a private home . The electricity was off for a few hours. I had been told in Port au Prince they have power for about 16 hours daily. seemed inconvenient but nothing compared to the situation I would face in Jacmel the following days.

People like to hang out on the rooftops at sunset and watch the sky at dusk. below the hill there is what they call the "bidonville" that can be translated into "trashtown".

The next day I walked down the street. I took photos of an upper class mom with her 2 daughters walking home from the baptist church.

There was a barber shop with a photo studio in the back. The photographer hand painted different backgrounds and used an old manual camera - I think could have been a Pentax K1000 or a Ricoh.

The camera had some problems and it was hard to have parts to get it fixed -
I thought a such an old manual SLR camera would be worth nothing in the USA but provided a mean of support to this guy.

There are a lot of kids with buckets that go to public fountains to get water. Very few households have plumbing. some have their own well and you can get water whenever you want, but for many a private well is a luxury.

2 locals showed me the view from a rooftop. They were really concerned about the illiteracy of the kids that lived in the bidonville. Elementary schools in Haiti are not free and some people have to choose between giving their kids food or education.
There are some volunteer programs to teach learn and write but it is never enough.

I went to the bus station to get the Tap Tap to Jacmel about 3 hours away.
An old school bus was not to full and i sat in the back.
It was about 1 PM and had to wait 45 minutes in it until it was filled to capacity.

I could buy some soda from vendors from the window -
it was hot under the midday sun.

When I came back from Jacmel, less than 2 weeks later it was almost 6 am.
after a 2 hour trip in a shared minivan.

I had 2 hours to kill waiting for the daily bus to Santo Domingo that I could not miss.
I asked 2 local kids to take me to the market -
wanted to buy a traditional straw hat.
we walked 20 minutes the busy streets. Got some street coffee and found a market that was already open.

They seemed to have a lot more stuff than in Jacmel.

Got what I wanted. Just wished I had more time to look around - explore more.

But I had to run back get on the comfortable bus.

Passed by what looked like an army fort or some outpost. It was the US embassy.

bushwick murder press conference

2009-02-26T16:32:00.006-05:00

click here for full size slideshow

a suspect in the killing of a ecuadorenean immigrant has been arrested. press conference in bushwick on the crime scene location. the family and authorities.

The victim died by injuries provoked by a beating with a baseball bat and beer bottles.Location: Bushwick avenue and Kossuth place, brooklyn ny

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NYPD 67th precinct + NYPD gala

2009-02-20T15:07:00.007-05:00

click here for full size slideshow

67 pct. east flatbush - lots of guns in the streets and club shootings. one female officer received an award. earlier in the month 2 teens held up a laundromat at gun point - she arrested them without shooting nor drawing her fire arm. Someone got shot 8 times outside a club after a fight. the captain talked about the drug dealing that happens in clubs. he did not want to name the clubs in question but with a grin he gave out the location's intersection. He said that the club smelled like you were in kingston. everyone laughed and he said "hey! i can't wait to retire and move to kingston jamaica! but here it is not legal" A kid on his way to school found a wallet with 500 dollar cash in it. he called his mom and gave it to the NYPD. he received an award and a cash prize. Senior auxiliary cop was wearing old style jacket. different fabric and more fitted than the current uniforms. more photos from ElCaribe in Mills basin. Police commissioner Kelly gave awards.

Operation Clean Bay. From Sheepshead Bay to Jamaica Bay. Brooklyn NY

2009-02-06T10:01:00.007-05:00

click here for a full size slideshow

On the day i felt was the windiest and coldest of this winter I went to
shoot a boat salvaging operation in Sheepshead Bay.
It was too cold for the divers to go underwater as some of their equipment could freeze. So instead of lifting a wreck an old abandoned boat was
towed to Jamaica Bay. There it would be taken apart as part of a program to keep the
bay clean from the pollution created by such wrecks.

People that could afford keeping and maintaining boats would just abandon them in the Bay facing no consequences nor fines
Fuel and hazardous materials would leak in the Federal park waterways.
William Dunphy is a 55 year old retired NY Fireman. He retired aster September 11 2001.
He says he knows all the waterways between Jamaica Bay and Montauk.
He told me He'd take me fishing sometimes.

It was about 18°F | -8°C without considering the 30 MPH | 48 km/h wind

Obama Inauguration Day, Brooklyn NY

2009-01-24T10:46:00.003-05:00

click here for full size slideshow

January 20 2009,
Obama Inauguration day.

photos from the courtroom at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
Then biked to 966 Fulton street to a seniors' center in Bed Stuy.
people felt proud and were dressed up.

Virgin of Guadalupe 14th st NYC

2008-12-13T11:39:00.003-05:00

click here for the slideshow

Virgin of Guadalupe
people spent the night in the church crowded over capacity
it was so rainy and humid that was hard to keep the lens clear

wish i was less busy and had more time -
did it in a rush

ate 3 tamales and had chocolate with corn
been swamped had to run to something from something

pix from HAITI to JAMAICA queens

2008-09-25T09:39:00.002-05:00

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photos from the last day

came thru immigration last night at JFK.

the officer asked me where i went i said santo domingo and haiti
he asked me what i was doing in haiti with some sort of absent bored
expression in his face.

i told him i went to photograph the situation there
he asked what is there to photograph.
"they have some problems down there" I replied -
"problems? what problems do they have in haiti?" he asked me.

---

the policeman i knew in Jacmel - he would come over to the stoop we
would all drink Clairin and Rum. Half a bottle for a US dollar.

He would tell me about Simon Bolivar and gen Pétion, the history of the
independence Latin America.

---
4500 photos - just imported 7 hours of video footage.
I need to edit organize.
I wish I had some solar panel to charge my Macbook.
if only Apple wasn't so greedy and would license the power adapter to
3rd parties - I wonder how I could plug my Macbook to a solar panel.

---

I felt respected in Haiti. No one tried to grab my money, no one tried
to put their hands in my pocket, no one tried to grab my camera.
they would ask me money to take their photo because they have this idea
that i would make a million dollars with that.

I told this woman that was selling food in the square that a million
dollar was her imagination. so she told me it was not a million dollar
US but a million of haitian dollars.

I asked if she really believed that.

everyone was OK - my french got more fluent and made it easier.

the kids that the hurricane rendered homeless started calling me monsié
stefan instead of "hey blanc!".

you walk the streets and the kids tell me "hey blanc!" and they are
happy when i look at them.

if i take a photo and i show it on the camera display they get really
happy. many probably dont see often photos of themselves.

----

many people like soccer - I am sure if i came with some AC Milan bootleg
jerseys many would be happy

---
At the hotel in santo domingo the guy at the reception was wearing a
Inter of Milan jersey.
I told him I like Milan AC.

the next day i found out he was from Jacmel himself and had been in the
Dom rep 10 years

---
I left jacmel at 4 am with the Tap Tap bus 150 Gourdes for me and 150
for my bag because it had to be on a seat. 7 dollars US total for 2.5
hours trip thru the steep mountain roads

I arrived in Port au Prince -
lot of slums
i got into a cab to the Petion-Ville section on the hill
I was early and I asked some kids to take to the market to buy a straw
hat and bag.

we ran because it was 15 min away - got a street coffee -
the marked looked like somewhere out of Africa.
but they had a lot of great craft for cheap -
a lot more stuff than in Jacmel.
wished I could stay longer

----

the border between Haiti and Santo Domingo is surreal.

a swampy lake flooded the road which is also filled with rocks.

they are digging and cutting the mountains to get rocks -
I saw that in Italy in Carrara where they cut the mountain to get marble.

---
going thru the dominican immigration and customs is a lot slower than
going thru the Haitian.

you have to get off go to a small building and go thru passport control
you then go back to the bus and get all your bags go back to the same
building for customs.
there are lines of people that overlap and cross and an old man tries to
manage them.

all the bags are opened and throughly searched.
when i reach the table the dominican female officer smiles at me and
just tell me to go -
i was the only white person on the bus and i was the only one not searched -
I was unshaven and had a dirty t short it did not matter.
the elegant upper class haitian-american mom and daughter befor e me had
all their bags searched

---

in santo domingo it felt strange to see store / restaurant chains -
electricity and so on -

i saw tourists
but when i was there 2 weeks earlier i was in a hotel by the bus station -
it was not much different than haiti.

in santo domingo the tourist part is really nice and clean - could be
miami or a fancy habana

after all it is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the americas.

but outside the that area the roads are crappy - there are latrines -
some beaches are filled with bottles.

people try to take money from you - they have less boundaries than in haiti.
they triple the prices if you are a foreigner.
I became friends with an italian that lives there and own a pharmacy
after a life managing/ owning night clubs in spain. he helped me a lot
with prices and finding me a nice cheap hotel.

the taxi driver tells me 800 pesos to the airport -
seems fair - when we are almost there he tells me mil-800 pesos 1800 pesos
i tell him he told me 800 i can give him 1000 because he waited for me 5
min.

he asks me 50 pesos for the toll
and i tell him the sign says 30 pesos

at the airport i then give him 900 pesos and he is fine with it.

in santo domingo there are all these armed guards with shotguns and M16s
in front of large stores and hotels everywhere.
in Jacmel I never seen anything like that.

some people asked me money for food
or the rasta guy at the beach that watched my bag while i went swimming
just asked me to buy a couple of beers for a dollar each while he told
me stories.

I wish i made it more to the mountains and to the Baissin Bleu waterfalls.
I wish I ate another lobster bouillabaisse for 5 US$ at the Cyvadier
Plage hotel

maybe next time.

I gave 20 $ to a woman that lost her house in the river and now had nothing
I helped the family I stayed at buy a generator.

I swam half a mile from the beach a couple of times to go to the bathroom

i met intellectuals - the former mayor jailed and exiled by papa doc
duvalier
and formerly exiled professor that loves his adoptive city of montreal

i met analphabets that showed me their ravaged homes filled with hungry
yet joyful kids -

I have met 23 year olds running shelters - I met people that ran art
studios and galleries -
i met vodou priestess and atheist people.

i saw no journalists no gov't officials , little help

---
in Santo Domingo apart the people hustling for money - I ran in 2
journalists with a black ribbon on their mouths.

The press is not free there they told me.

I bought a couple of haitian paintings on the street for $20 -
one reminded me of california artist Thomas Campbell

my trip to HAITI. prints for support

2008-09-09T11:44:00.003-05:00

MY TRIP TO HAITI

This Friday September 12 I will be flying to Santo Domingo and take a bus across the border to Jacmel, Haiti.

A month ago I booked a Jetblue award flight I needed to use.

In the past few weeks Haiti has been badly hit by 3 hurricanes that created damage and suffering.
I am thinking of photographing the efforts of an organization that is planting trees in the deforested country.
Document the realities of agriculture, education, reconstruction, arts and traditions.

Maybe teach students at a school and orphanage in Jacmel how to document the reality around them through photography, a tool that can create awareness; as a Haitian lawyer in Brooklyn suggested.

As I am self financing this trip [I am using a Jet Blue award ticket to the Dominican republic] I am trying to raise some funds for the extra expenses I will face. In Haiti I might face blackouts, possible food shortages, mosquitoes.

I posted 6 dyptich images on my website.
Photographs I shot in the past month or two that capture the essence of my summer in the North East.

The prints are available in
8x10 size for $23 each
and
11x14 size for $44 each
shipping and handling included.

here is the web page for this edition of prints

http://stefanogiovannini.com/triptohaiti/

There is a secure PayPal shopping cart that accepts credit cards.

The shipping will be handled directly by the lab - so I can just place the order with the buyer shipping address from anywhere I have internet access.

--
some of the expenses
I need to buy for instance malaria prevention pills [$90], bring with me lightweight emergency food like dried beef and power bars [$30], extra batteries and chargers, crank powered flashlight and radio, bus from DR to Haiti $ 60 each way and so on.

I may stay a few nights at this hotel [$45/night]

http://www.hotelcyvadier.com/page8.html>
> Our Hotel is also involved in social work in Jacmel in our School we have 300 Kids who benefit of free education.
> So yes if you want to share some of your shots we can always use the exposure.
>
When I come back around the 24th I may organize a slideshow somewhere.

The print sale will help me a long way - I have a Paypal Mastercard debit card I will use in Haiti - so each sale will help face unexpected expenses. The sooner the easier will be for me to get organized and deliver.
Anyway thanks everyone for the support.

Video: Friendly Border at Derby Line Vt. [rough edit]

2008-08-16T10:42:00.004-05:00

watch it full screen here
[by clicking the 4 arrow symbol that looks like an "X"]
or
on my Vimeo page
http://www.vimeo.com/1536602

Friendly Border at Derby Line Vt. [rough edit] from stefano giovannini on Vimeo.

The border between Canada and the USA separates Derby Line, Vermont from Stanstead, Québec.

On My way back to New York I stopped a couple of hours.

The border line separates 2 communities and sometimes runs across homes, libraries, stores.

In the past few years the border controls have became stricter and somehow creates a surreal situation for people that just live one street away from each other.

the border might just seem a painted line easy to cross, but there are cameras and sensors everywhere, You can't cross without reporting even if you have been living there for 80 years.

Boïs Cayman - Haitian slave revolt anniversary - Prospect Park

2008-08-12T17:17:00.006-05:00

22 images slideshow

http://picasaweb.google.com/stefpix/ProspectParkBoisCaManVodouCelebration120820081723/photo#s5233745261889961554

This Sunday August 10th some members of the Haitian diaspora in Flatbush
set a tent and a table with offering
by the pond near the Parkside and Ocean Aves entrance.
They were celebrating the anniversary of the Haitian revolution
that started between August 14/16 1791.

This festivity has been happening in prospect Park since 1990 with the
exception of last year.

Different people, priests and intellectuals
were talking in French and Creole about freedom and equality.

3 bands played at different times vodou and rara music.

home made food was sold

a french guy asked me for my email address so he could get some pictures.

the earlier rain made the event a bit smaller -
but everything went on until midnight or so.

from wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boukman

> Dutty Boukman was a houngan, or vodoun priest whose death was considered a catalyst to the slave uprising that marked the beginning of the Haïtian Revolution. Boukman was born in Jamaica.
> In late August of 1791, Boukman conducted a ceremony at the Bois Caïman and prophesied that the slaves Jean François, Biassou, and Jeannot would be leaders of a slave revolt that would free the slaves of Saint-Domingue.
> Soon after the uprising began, French authorities captured Boukman and executed him by beheading. The French then publicly displayed Boukman's head in an attempt to dispel the aura of invincibility that Boukman had cultivated. The attempt failed.
> Haitians honored Boukman by admitting him into the pantheon of loa (Vodou spirits).

prospect park bike race - helmet-less spill

2008-08-12T14:13:00.007-05:00

click here 19 image slideshow
http://picasaweb.google.com/stefpix/BikeRaceHelmetLessSpill120820081507/photo#s5233710900030431042

I was cutting thru prospect park -
every other Monday this group of kids from Mexico and Guatemala do a 5 loop bike race.

when i was a bike messenger i always liked the style of the central
American riders -
they usually had nice bikes - modern but not the latest and fanciest -

i know the short Mexican riders were the ones that would always outrace
me uphill on the bridge.

so i was happy to see a group of them at the park -
they had stop watches and a couple of camcorders.
they looked like an old school race.
I felt inspired and in awe.
they had many specialized allez and some trek - $1k road bikes - a few
with older frames.
after one loop i could not believe how fast they were racing -

to see these short guys pushing so hard reminded me of marco pantani on
the mont ventoux.

never seen at the park other riders sprinting like this for entire loops

one guy had to give up -
he had been doing music this year and he could not train 3 / 4 times a
week like the others -

he looked tired.

another one stopped and said one of them crashed on the other side of
the park.

i raced -
and it was the kid i took photos of at the beginning -

his face and arm were bloody - he was in shock but he was awake and aware -
the ambulances took a while.

i took some snaps wondering if it was the right thing to do -

some girl at the scene came to me and said it was disrespectful - but
his friends did not seem to care.

i felt if he had a helmet probably he would have had less injuries -
if you dont see sometimes you dont really worry.
from what i understood he used teh front brake when ended up on the drain cover - the bike skidded and he flipped over.

he had injuries on his arm that hopefully absorbed the impact on his head.

his bike looked just like had scratches on the handlebar tape -

i think probably they might have been going between 25 to 30 MPH in thet flat / slightly downhill spot.

when i crashed in 2005 i was in semi shock for 30 or 60 minutes - my
face was covered in blood and i felt my eyebrow was gone -
i would have not minded someone taking a photo of me
actually after a while i took some to see the damage - before i could
stand up on my own and walk home.

i helped the friends of the injured rider by giving directions to the
hospital -
the paramedics spoke no Spanish and the riders spoke little English.
they kept asking his name in a loud voice - as raising the tone would break the language barriers.
the injured rider could move his arms and legs and nod.

I remember when lance Armstrong's teammate and friend Casartelli died at
the Tour de France in the 90s

back then looked like no one was wearing helmets at the Tour -
Laurent Fignon with the ponytail in the wind.
after that it all changed.

pix crime scene

2008-07-31T13:56:00.003-05:00

slideshow 20 images
http://picasaweb.google.com/stefanog/Crimescene/photo#s5229252064356135458

a long day
i had to shoot a homicide crime scene at prospectpark.
maybe homeless fight - possibly gay sex and drugs or something like that.
there are some remote spots in prospect part with all sort of illegal
exchanges
-
rushed to the park then had to shoot a clinic and some dj s etc...
some neighborhood kids by the projects wanted me to take their picture -
mostly puertoricans and so young - they spoke gang lingo and they would
call me serial killah.

so weird i feel almost that som ehispanic kids are those that get less
education and less parent supervision,
they are too young to be in the street and wear no shirt and talk like
that -

the have no fear n a group and no sense of boundaries -

manhattan ave @ broadway.
one said some of them dont go to school

and after reading about all these gang related homicides in williamsburg
in the past few weeks

social services? social workers?

pix - awesome color | cop car crash | block parties | rara marching band |

2008-07-29T12:16:00.007-05:00

50 image slideshow

http://picasaweb.google.com/stefanog/AwesomecolorFlatbush/photo#s5228466328361282050

sometimes I shoot for local brooklyn papers for quick cash and bike exercise.
politicians / get togethers / news stuff.
-
during the summer block parties are the thing happening in brooklyn on sunny weekends -

i once attended a lecture by this photographer Bill Owens that made an amazing book called "suburbia"
from his newspaper work in the 70s
http://www.billowens.com/#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&p=4

these assignments remind me of that book.
-----
this saturday my itinerary included ft greene , prospect heights, canarsie, flatbush.

the more you get closer to the ocean the nicer the streets look.
green blocks - neatly trimmed hedges, yards with flowers and plants.

middle class gatherings that are more about sharing food, sitting in the yards, letting the kids play in the street.

the parties closer to the heart of flatbush
where people live in apartment buildings on narrower blocks
the music is louder - people drink beer -
the street basketball is intense
and i can see some of these kids eventually playing in a pro team in a few years.

- it is a good training for me sometimes to try to make something look exciting even if it is bland -
but i need always to get some shots for myself - the papers have not so much use for close ups / details or pictures where people don't look happy / smiling/ having a good time.
but i am always drawn to the details of the faces -
something that would look good full page maybe.
--
an undercover police car was speeding and crashed into a red car driven by an older man.
red and green gas spilled on the street -
no one was really hurt -
it could have been worse.
a cop had a taser gun on his belt -
and a regular gun too.
quietly the NYPD started carrying these yellow plastic electric shock stun gun
meant to disable people but sometimes produced lethal consequence.

---
there is an old dutch cemetery and victorian houses off east 21st st / church ave / flatbush ave -
looks like somewhere in northern europe - somewhere a few centuries old

--

i quickly rode to the knitting factory to catch awesome color -
was tired -
had to drink a late night coffee
and the show was tight and loud
a pixieish girl backstage was wearing some home made earplugs that looked like some fashion accessory
--
stopped by prospect park
the rara bands playing as usual -
now it is easier to take photos
people are not so suspicious of me anymore -
so i can focus on getting new shots - just find different ways - perspectives - approaches.

--
[here is a clip i shot]
http://www.vimeo.com/1418684

--
bye
stefano

Lil Rich RIP - victim of gang violence. Prospect Park Rara - Coney Island

2008-07-21T10:15:00.005-05:00

click here for a slideshow. 36-something images

report related to photos
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/31/28/31_28_bm_blotter_breakout.html
aftermath
http://www.pixxiestails.com/archives/2008/07/shooting_in_williamsburg_brooklyn_7122008.html

-----
unexpected -
biking to Manhattan
i make a different turn on

south 3rd street @ Havemeyer -

artist Kat is finishing a mural -
a few nights earlier Lil-Rich age 22 was shot in the face
for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

a fight between 2 groups started at the Giglio fest and the commotion
moved south.
Lil Rich walked to see what was happening
and got hit by a bullet shot by a 15 / 16 year old kid.
when he was on the ground they also tried to stab him.

His grieving neighbors said he was a good kid. not a gang kid - not a
drug dealer.

Ernesto a long time resident of South 3rd st told me there is still some
gang activity.

But nothing like 20 years ago when the whole neighborhood was divided
into Puerto Rican, Dominican , Black gangs and you could not go on the
wrong block.

Now there is tension between the kids of South 3rd and those of South 9th.

---

Prospect Park

I am tired after having rode all day in the heat to coney island -
Manhattan and so on and having shot the Siren festival for the Voice -

3 Rara bands are playing

The trumpet are made with sheet metal -
each trumped has only one note -
so some musicians old 3 or 4 in different length.

they have some sort of formation when they march.

a lady with a white headbands lights candles and incense
while a band is playing a Petro vodou tune.

---
coney island -

siren festival -
it took me longer than expected the stop at the canal street post office.

i have 50 minutes to get to coney island -
it is maybe 95 degrees -
and i get to the siren festival 5 minutes early
i rode as fast as i could in the scorching heat
sometimes i had to look down to let more air flow into my helmet.

i drink half a bottle of water and i pour half of it on my head and neck -
and i am up on stage shooting
the L-Carnitine has been a wonder -
i recuperate fast
i just wish i was wearing swim trunks rather than jeans
and i keep alternating Gatorades and beer
the music
it is better than last year
but Stephen Malkmus is so loud that i cant hear the music.

-
after the show -
wish someone could watch my stuff - and swim in the ocean -
but after all
coney island
the beach
looks like a dump
people leave all sort of trash.
i wonder how can they leave the beach like that.

4th of july - sonic youth / rara band

2008-07-06T14:42:00.002-05:00

click here for 99 photo slideshow on picasa

http://picasaweb.google.com/stefanog/July4thSonicYouthRara/photo?authkey=bKTqlQMLtxo#s5219743772306463042
4th of july 2008
between prospect park brooklyn
and battery park in lower manhattan

the radio predicted rain
and possibly storms

in prospect park
i was invited by the haitian rara band people for a barbecue -
it is early
i see trays with marinated chicken -
take a few shots

at 2 45 i start riding to manhattan to catch the feelies the opening band -

riding over the brooklyn bridge is insane with all the distracted
pedestrian tourists invading the bike lane

I get a crew pass from sonic youth's tour manager -
there are some issues with the passes -

the "artists" can't go to the VIP / guest section that has slight;y
better free food -
pulled pork and mac and cheese -
and with the crew pass I can go just everywhere!

the feelies look aged after all these years but they sound just the same.
after all they disappeared for 20 years or so.

sonic youth sound great
i like these summer open air loose and fun shows -
like a picnic in the park with old friends -
hanging out outside rather than in a cramped windowless room backstage
with too much bread and cold cuts.

at 8 I ride back to brooklyn hoping i can make it across the bridge
before they close it for the fireworks / safety.

I see cops and yellow tape at the entrance of the brooklyn bridge.
"i have to ride to brooklyn" i tell a cop -
he asks me for ID to prove i live there and
i am free to go.

the bridge is deserted and i see the macy's fireworks barge being pushed
by a tugboat.

I ask 3 cops if i can take their photo at the roadblock
but the captain tells me photography is not allowed on the brooklyn
bridge "because of 9/11].
he looks around for a sign to confirm what he is saying
but I can only see one that states "NYPD video surveillance on the bridge".
I tell him that probably every year the tourists that visit the bridge
take millions of photos and if i were a terrorist i would probably use a
concealed video camera instead.

I see a girl walking up on the bridge pushing a stroller with her kid to
see the fireworks.

I ask her how did she get thru
"my boyfriend is a cop!"
she replies with a smile.

prospect park
there are 2 big rara bands playing near parkside and flatbush avenue -
by the pond -

this vodou lady introduces me to some musicologist that is studying
haitian drumming -

there is a guy playing melodies on a regular trumpet -
sounds like a vocal part.
it gives some sort of jazz flavor -

--
i go to rehab - the new old club on avenue b and
3rd st

thurston moore is playing with 3 kids from northhampton mass -
2 guitars
2 drum kits

symmetric on the stage -
sometimes furious

feels like 2 channels of a stereo
competing and blending in

--
have to weed thru 12 GB of stuff 1300 images
down to 450 now -

been taking L-Carnitine supplement for a month
helps me focus -
helps me ride miles and miles with less fatigue
makes it all easier -
and i feel i dont need coffee as much anymore
energy without the nervousness and the crash of starbucks cups

I95/I75 STEFANO GIOVANNINI exhibition at MAX FISH

2008-04-03T00:35:00.005-05:00

more details on facebook

STEFANO GIOVANNINI -> I95/I75
PHOTOGRAPHS
@
MAX FISH
178 LUDLOW ST
NY NY 10002
APRIL 10 2008 | 7PM TO 9PM

RECENT PHOTOS
that capture what I saw and lived in the past few months.
photos that can draw some attention in a buy setting.
on tour - in the waves - grilled fish in a portuguese restaurant in montreal - vodou drums - kids - teeth - eyes.

STATEMENT
In the summer of 2007 I purchased an old Toyota from Craigslist.
I found myself traveling outside New York City. Mostly down on the I95 and I75 freeways to southern Florida.
I felt a sense of freedom by finally having a car and a green card.

Photos were taken over the past few months
On tour with Cat Power documenting life on the road. Riding the bike in the streets of New York from Jackson Heights to Rockaway Beach, from Park Avenue to Flatbush. In the southern part of this country I saw a lot of Veterans some showing pride some showing demons in their eyes. Young cadets with innocent faces seem to carry on the tradition. I wonder about what their gaze will be like in 30 or 40 years. In Miami I stumbled upon the murals in Little Haiti. An artist that goes by the name of $erge seems to have painted hundreds of places. The music of the Vodou drumming from the yards in the courts, the smell of spiced BBQ. I rediscovered the love for the Ocean.

At Max Fish I can not show it all. Just some glimpses before a larger installation. Photos you can see at a busy location when the sun comes thru the windows or at night when the lighting is darker and colorful.

OPENING RECEPTION thursday APRIL 10
Come for reasonably priced drinks and special priced photos.
I would like to raise funds with the sale of these 16x20 in prints for a trip and documentary project to Haiti and a book.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Stefano Giovannini is a self-taught photographer from Milan, Italy who relocated to New York City in the year 2000. He began taking photos as a teenager. Before pursuing his passion for photography, Stefano studied medicine for some years, but felt he would be happier elsewhere, doing something else. He has since worked for major and independent magazine publications in Europe and the U.S., including Nylon, Soma, Jane, Entertainment Weekly, as well as the Timeout NY guide, and many more, but he is probably better known in the U.S. (well, at least in New York) for his photographs of musicians, including Sonic Youth, Cat Power, DJ Olive, Luna, Beck, Blonde Redhead and many others. He is also increasingly well known for his web journals where his photographs of New York City are characterized by an impulsive, semi-anthropological approach.

--
Posted By stefanogiovannini to stefpix texts at 4/03/2008 12:35:00 AM

http://stefanogiovannini.com
http://stefpix.com
http://stefpix.blogspot.com

little haiti BBQ/The Yard

2008-02-02T12:12:00.000-05:00

40 images slideshow
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the BBQ on 2nd ave NE
finally the stylish looking woman that grills the chicken and the ribs
lets me take her photos -
she liked the couple of 4x6s prints of her storefront i gave her.

her son sells CDs and DVDs inside -
for 3 dollar i get a small plate of chicken spicy rice and beans and
spicy pickles.

haitians like italians like chicken legs more than the white meat.

i am surprised to see chinese green tea with low sugar for sale -
15 calories vs `150/180 calories of
sodas sweetened with corn syrup.

-- a cuban woman asks me if i am from argentina - she tells me i look
like i am from there -
she has a tattoo on the neck and a chihuahua in her arms -
i ask her what is she doing in the haitian neighborhood -
she says it is the only place where landlords let her keep her pets
without charging extra fees and deposit.
she pays 350 a month for a 1 BR apt.
---
a guy on probation asks me to make a call to the probation office -
it closed hours earlier - he seems not on top of it - i suggest him to call his lawyer and go the next day in person -
he has no money for the bus -
i give him a couple of bucks he did not ask for -
a soda and a RIDE.
he has the expression of someone with good intentions that made wrong choices in life.

---

at the yard hangout - that is how the place where people play dominos is
called
the chicken is getting marinated and kids are playing.

there are some free rooster -
african kind of chickens that are never eaten just kept as pets.

i drink a guinness and a couple of shots of these herbal haitian liquors
bois coshon [literally "wood pig"].

there is a 8 year old kid -
i met his 25 year old mother

he wants me to take pictures of him an d see them on the LCD of my camera -
i ask about his dad.
he tells me he passed years ago - he went to Haiti they chopped his head
off and never gave the body back.

--
riding back to south beach 8 miles away
it is very windy as usual
my legs spin a bit faster just a little tipsy and
still hungry
for pizza

temperature drop/surf waves

2008-01-02T23:23:00.000-05:00

40 images slideshow
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---

"aren't you cold?"

a bunch of different surfers kept asking me as i was swimming with my
camera at 4 30 / 5 pm today jan 2nd.

the waves were nice -
the outside temperature was probably below 55 - the strong wind was a
bit chilly
25 degrees F less than yesterday.
in the water i felt fine - it was certainly warmer than outside -
and swimming against the current - fighting the waves constantly keeps
you warmer than standing on a table.
i wish i got in the water earlier as the sun was getting too low on the
horizon -
and those 3 towers they built in recent years block large portions of
the sun in the last hour of daylight

the spots in the shade felt cold and i wished that south pointe tower
would just be demolished as an insult to the skyline - an insult to
tasteful architecture - an insult to the right of people to enjoy the
beach at sunset.

--
my underwater 240 dollar camera
i wish i got the pentax optio W30 instead of the olympus stylus 790 SW.

some reviewer from a scuba website wrote me that the camera I got looks
sexier -
but i'd rather have an uglier camera that does not have movie limits in
movie lenght and that is waterproof for 2 hours instead of 1.
what you do with it, substance, features feel more sexy to me than just
looks-
and i feel strange when people refer to some gadget as "sexy" -
or to a friend as a "buddy".
--
the colors are not bad - but i need to watch for droplets on the lens -
actually the pentax has a special coating that prevents water drops to
stick on it-

usually i to research what i buy -
i read an articke about smart shoppers that was really interesting

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/22/business/yourmoney/22money.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

well I just got reminded that impulse buy is not smart.

with a little research i should have found out earlier that the pentax
optio x30 is the fave camera among whitewater kayakers and paddlers that
post on related websites.

anyway my DSLR is way better shoots faster and has so much more tonal depth - a richer histogram.

---

NYrs Evei was tired - rode 120 miles the 4 days before -
with my camera on my neck -
it is not so much of a distance -
but also had been swimming a lot
and i had heartburn for days from the energy drinks i drank to drive
down here - the indian food - and some stress in my mind -

now back on smoothies - oats and grains - some cuban sandwiches -
i love publix - half a gallon of organic vanilla soymilk is just 2.79
and they sell frozen ruhbarb that i love blended with bananas peaches
apples OJ ginger and soy milk.

i don't iunderstand how florida orange juice is more expensive in
florida than in new york city.
doesnt long distance shipping cost a lot?
isn't real estate more expensive in manhattan?

anyway i love publix and wild oats is good too- although not as good as
food bazaar in brooklyn and wholefoods on houston street -

i wonder if there is some cuban market that sells great exotic fruit
like the chinatown market on rutgers and henry streets

---
so i just rested -
i went to swim at dusk on new years day -
the water was calm as a lake -
there was a dark rainy cloud..

---
a surfer was asking about my camera -
he told me miami is no good for surfing - you gotta go to south america -
he was italian as well i could not hear it in his accent and he could
not hear it in mine -
he works at this place la locanda

which means "the inn"
in italian

little haiti markets -> jimbos

2008-01-01T14:55:00.001-05:00

63 images slideshow
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map/route
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1521471

swam in the waves and in the early afternoon
rode my bike over the venetian way to downtown miami.

feels great having my own 2 wheels -
i see things in a different way and get to places faster.

and such a more accurate ride than a beach cruiser - the road bike goes
where i want to
and handlebar brakes feel a lot safer than pedal brakes.

--

downtown fancy hotels and fancy high rise condos -
with passed out homeless and crackheads just one block away.

so many here just drive to these gated dwellings.
just drop off their cars to the valet parking guys for a 15 dollar.
hard to see the poverty just around the corner.
--
On North Miami Ave there is a yard sale -
an older hatian guy and a younger Bahamian.
I ask him if I should go there with my free jetblue bonus ticket, but
mexico seems a more convenient option.
--
$erge, the artist, is painting a martin Luther King Mural on Martin
Luther King Boulevard which is 62nd st NW by the I95.

---

In the houses nearby some people just chill out drink beers and smoke
blunts on their porches

--

There is a market a few blocks down
some women sell vegetables out of their pickup trucks or tables.
pumpkins, turnips, macaroni is what they sell.
no fruit at all.

I switch to french when I kid asks me if i speak the language.
he lets me take his picture -
when i show some prints of the vodou ladies I took a few nights before
his mother and her friends let me photograph them.
it is always good to carry with me some 20 cent walgreens prints.

---
I love the architecture of downtown miami -
old buildings and new high rises blend and match
upscale and desolate -
empty lots
and sleek towers -

adjacent worlds apart.

---

on the causeway to key biscayne
it is already dark -
on Virginia key on my way to the dive bar Jimbo's
there are no street light but
the moon is bright and I can see the road ahead of me.

people are playing bocce on the most uneven field [?]

a south beach girl is getting drunk with her apparently german fling.

some latino photographer is shooting a semi naked latina girl wearing a
furcoat in the backseat of a convertible car.

---

my odometer says 28 miles - i get some 2 dollar bud lite can and 2
dollar smoked fish.
8pm ride back to south beach
36 miles total
my feet and my butt are sore -
my legs are ok.
need better cycling shoes and maybe padded shorts rather than swim trunks

cape florida-jimbos

2007-12-29T09:46:00.000-05:00

44 images slideshow
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44 images slideshow
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miami resolution.
20/30 daily miles on my bike.

here it is easy to ride a long time without stopping - there are some
climbs on the causeways
and the sweat on the back dries fast rather than turning into chilly
dampness like in nyc now.

yesterday there were too many jellies in the water to swim carefree.
i did touch a couple and i think i got stung on once on my foot.

last night rode to 77NW at the end of little haiti - looking for more
places to shoot - what has changed.
they opened and independent/hipster record store next to churchill's pub
http://churchillspub.com/
on NE 2nd av.
i get some Malta drink at the bodega -
there is a mass on the lot outside -
a young preacher talking in the PA about Jesus Christ's suffering to
save humanity.

---
today after a swim -
craving for larger waves i rode to Key Biscayne -
south of Miami Beach.

about 15 miles away.
such a different scene,
sailboats, kayaks
people riding nice road bikes,

in south beach i see mostly heavy and slow beach cruisers with rusty chains.

--
crandon park on
http://www.key-biscayne.com/kb/beaches/crandonbeach/beach1.shtml

http://www.key-biscayne.com/about/light.html

thick vegetation mangroves sailboats and quiet beaches.

ran into a curious raccoon and some turkey sized vultures.
some elder guys with telescopes -
they let me look at the sun.
just a fuzzy red dot in the telescope.
--
found that dive bar Jimbos on Virginia Key
had a Bud Lite and some smoked fish for 2 bucks -
they told me to come back sunday -
they have music and people start drinking in the morning.

it is on the waterfront surrounded by ficus trees
--
my odometer says 39.5 miles - gmaps says 37.88...
i think the odometer might be more accurate.

it was nice to get off the bike seat...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1515903

brighton beach - russian snack/turkish coffee

2007-11-27T22:16:00.000-05:00

47 images slideshow
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----
i biked on a rainy night and drove on a sunny day

i wanted to see the ocean and buy cheap fruit in Brighton beach

under the elevated train there is always a dim shade -
and intermittent noise

tin Brighton beach
mostly Russian and Caucasian [from the Caucasus] people
Turkish-like food
kosher yogurts
a lot of fruit and vegetable stores.

one starbucks
and no bars at all in sight,
--
from a food stand on the street
for 2 dollars
i buy a baked bun
filled with ground lamb meat and spices.
it tastes amazing but i eat it too fast.
i wonder if it is Russian or Turkish food -
it might as well be just from Uzbekistan,
--
i get an apple pastry and Turkish coffee at some old bakery.
one woman is wearing bright fuchsia lipstick and flashy watch and jewelry.

she speaks little English and she lets me take her picture...
another woman translates for me her question "do you like Russian girls?".

it is hard to give diplomatic answers to blunt questions sometimes.

---

on the boardwalk
it feels way windier and colder -
i wish i had a warmer sweater and gloves.

2 old Russian guys are playing chess on a bench

they speak almost no English

the larger guy seems to be going to win easily -
but he loses his queen -
i cant understand why he did that move-
and his game is over in a few minutes.

---
prospect park a few days earlier -

Chinatown markets

Baxter street bail bonds -

the usual intimidating angry signs you always see in nyc

hurricane noel / swim

2007-11-01T09:52:00.000-05:00

33 images
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hurricane noel off the florida coast
40 mph winds

the weather changes every 15 minutes sunny and windy then gloomy cloudy rainy downpour.
on the beach red flag and no one allowed in the water flag.

the only few people are surfers and bums.

the homeless of miami beach don't want to send their nights in the shelters in downtown miami.
"full with crazy crackheads"

i drive from the beach to the city -
some streets are flooded -
i help my friend download her travel photos to her iMac G5.
so slow - just because Apple for years sold computer with insufficient RAM to do anything but write letters and emails.
60 dollars in memory would compensate for years of slowness and frustration -
the view from the high rise is stunning - the bay and the fog moving in fast.

at 6 30 i go to the beach
some very big waves - but the whole ocean is tumbling and rolling.

it is hard to swim - the wind just pushes me south.

very few surfers try hard - but too many waves one after another -
there are no lifeguards -
this time
it is too much of a challenge and too little fun.
i could stay longer and try harder -
but the blisters on my toes turned into woulds -
the fins rub on those.

hurricane swells/miami beach

2007-10-30T12:34:00.000-05:00

50 something images
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2.5 days

50 something images
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Tuesday morning

there is an hurricane not far from here - somewhere near the island of
Hispaniola.
i went to the beach in the morning -
big or huge waves one after another -
not many surfers in the water.
too windy.

it looked more scary today -
like no gap no peace between the swells

the current felt strong and violent
like a river
if i stopped swimming i would find myself 100 yards south just in a few
instants

i saw a small Portuguese man of war -
i decided to swim back
the wind was very strong
a couple of big waves crashed on me violently -
and i knew i just have to let go
and wait until i can see and feel where the bubbles go
---
Sunday/before

life guards bugged me
wouldn't let me swim past the surf
so i swam in the surf
sand and salt in my eyes

cool couple with kids
i am sure they don't watch TV
the kids are happy
the mama wears a ramones cap

many women with silicon in their chest
just laying on the beach
i don't know how looking so artificial can be attractive.

24 block swim in the riptide
the lifeguards threatened me not to go past the surf
dehydrated salty mouth and face and bloodshot eyes and blisters on my toes
too much sand in the water.
past the breaking point is so much easier and nicer to swim.

my eyes burn for 2 days - i need drops
and iodine tincture on my toes.

--
in the park by the beach
some bums
collect ripe coconuts with a pole and a bin
it will pay for the cheap
beers they drink out of cans
morning day evening

1333 miles - nyc->miami drive 1

2007-10-10T11:43:00.000-05:00

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80 images

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brooklyn to miami
1340 miles door to door

gas station in NJ.
toilet is broken -
attendant tells me to “pee pee” on the corner.

motel on exit 97 Goldsboro NC.
40 bucks incl tax discounted sat nite price.
got a coupon booklet at some gas station
VA MD NC SC
and sleep at half price.

no starbuckses on I95 anywhere south of Virginia.
only energy drinks
found a gonji berry one that tastes good

florida oranges sold at gas station -
a bag of fruit advertised for a dollar is just 3 oranges in a plastic bag.
i try a sample - too many seeds.

NY miami 19 hours actual drive - just some stops to fill the tank - pee
- and coffee.

by driving i saw a lot more - places i considered to visit -
and all without having to rush to the airport with the stress of missing
the plane.

no need to book a ticket find a place to park the car -
get a cab or get the subway to the airport
security
cab from destination airport
--

on the beach
surfers waiting for swells that come not very often -
just choppy waves - just strong wind waves.

in miami
went swimming
it was very warm -
you do not have to think it twice to jump in the water -
i went to the boat-limit buoy
it was very windy -
many waves and currents - high tide as well

a couple of ecuadorenans had to be rescued by the life guard -
she told me 15 people had to be rescued -

---
spencer tunick shot a bunch of naked people at the sagamore hotel.
he left my name at the door - but i did not make it on time

i needed beach massage swim rest my back from the 19 hour drive.

italian restaurant - authentic upscale food.

some friends took me to the sagamore hotel
spencer tunick shoot after party -
i asked my friends if the fake blondes with short dresses were hotel
hookers -
but it was just the miami style - apparently.
there was free champagne -
it was nice to drink.
but after 2 days swimming and under the strong sun -
at night i feel like observing and being quiet.

at the sagamore there is so much cool art.
a wall of elliot erwitts - another wall of winogrands -
old school photographers printed smaller size than today -
i saw a tony oursler piece as well.

i wonder who is the clientele -
the music from the PA is very boring and generic
across the street an old store with handwritten prices.
uniforms and other outfits

body works - free medical

2007-08-02T12:19:00.000-05:00

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44 images

flushing ave between Broadway and Kent
for so many years a stretch of bumps, cracks , potholes
narrow lanes.
the most direct way from Williamsburg to downtown Brooklyn

i should call someone at the dept of transportation
and ask how any years it will take to get it fixed.

---
Sara Roosevelt park on Chrystie and grand.
free health check up
weight / height / waist
blood pressure sugar cholesterol.

every year in Chinatown different non profit organizations
provide these free screenings and offer support.
when i register for the tests
the person filling my chart ask me if I am 34
I tell him I am 40 and not a citizen.

they draw my blood from my middle finger -
the total cholesterol is very low
just 150 -
the omega 3 fish oil i have been taking seems to work wonders -
and the blood pressure is good too -
especially after a brisk bike ride in the sun and a coffee+milk+sugar.

to qualify for free health insurance in nyc
you must make no more than 851 dollars a month - gross income.

strange that they do not offer something sliding scale -
something in between the everything free
and the 300 dollars a month of healthy ny.
---
I miss living in Chinatown / Lower East side -
there is a strong sense of community.
chinese families leaving their doors open and the kids playing in the hallway.
they would often cook but nothing smelling heavy and fried.
the nights were quiet -
no music blasting from the streets or the hallway.
on every block
more vegetable and tropical fruit available for less
and 700 ml. bottles of cold green tea
with low or no sugar for just a dollar
--

3 guys on bikes
they wear the same jersey and boy scout faces
they are from Minnesota
and biked to Manhattan all the way from buffalo.
fund raising money for Ukrainian orphans.

---
i am happy of the new wireless odometer/speedometer i got from nashbar.com
no more guessing game on how fast or how many miles.
i can climb the Williamsburg bridge at 17 mph uphill.
with my heavy backpack, camera and chain around my waist.

----

looking for used cars -
old cheap
toyotas or hondas -
there is some auto bodywork in greenpoint.
this guy takes old beat up cars and put them together from scratch.
he is going to put together for himself an old mercedes that looks like scrap for the junkyard.

nyc bike ridin mid july

2007-07-21T00:20:00.001-05:00

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50 images

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50 images
july

riding around the city
cleaned and lubed the chain

the L train does not run on the weekends -
people rush to get on the shuttle bus
packed like a sardines can

steam explosion in midtown
there is mud
con ed is fixing the pipes around grand central station

lisa levine store party -
mariachis and free mojitos on the street

someone has a funny looking dog -
like from an old star wars movie -
half a pug and half something else

cat power at mccarren park -
my friend leesaw bought a usps truck and converted it into a mobile juice shop

old and new buildings -
soho looks more and more as a tourist trap -
too many people on weekends -

miami rainstorms

2007-06-17T09:02:00.000-05:00

slideshow
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40 images

riding the bike to the city of Miami
to take photos
after the rain
some sun -
but then rain again -

puring rain - soaked wet -
i should have been wearing my swim trunks -
it is actually fun.
then the sun is out again and then rain -
you can see blue sky above bal harbor to the north and dark stormy sky
over south beach maybe 7 miles away.

many streets are flooded -
i see an old coppertone ad - wonder if they still make those,
in the hot weather it does not seem to matter that much.
i noticed there are some green small parrots -
feral or originally from here?
s

pix rainstorm - vodou temple

2007-06-14T14:24:00.000-05:00

70 images or so
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lost my cell phone at 8 a on the beach
went to walk the dog and swim.

some puertorican woman found it and she will wait for me.
\need to get to her place before 1 30.
it was just 12.35 when i realized my phone was not wit me.

she lives in little Haiti NW 51st street.
strange coincidence.

there are 5 kids living in her house.
i give her 20 bucks to buy some ice cream for them.

---

a botanica on 54th st has a vodou temple in the back.
paintings on the wall -
knives - skulls - jars.
the girl tells me about the gods.
st lazarus is always by the entrance protecting the entrance.
mary is the goddess of love
and st patrick and st george i think - both represent the god of war.
i am surprised she shows me all this.
some photos on the wall showing some rites in haiti.
old women wearing colorful purple dresses.

---

i see a guy painting some words on the wall - he turns -
it is $erge
in the art gallery district.
i give him some prints - it makes him so happy/
“oh man you are good - these photos are so sharp“

i tell him he could paint on canvas or boards and try to sell his
paintings -
he only paints these walls
in a few years will chip away -
would be nice some of his art could travel to different people and places.
---
a guy sells produce from a van in the street
I buy a mango for a buck
i feel thirsty i get a coconut for another buck.
he cuts a hole with a machete -
i drink the water -then he cuts it into pieces -
i eat the pulp.
---
it is hot sunny and humid.
i see dark clouds drifting south.
the sky turns gray and i see lightning -
a huge rain / thunderstorm soaks everything -
i have to wait 45 minutes under a roofed shelter.
i eat the mango with my hands -
it is very juicy -
buy i can wash my hands and my mouth with the rain .
the storm halts for a few minutes
i ride to chef creole -
order a sea bass
10 bucks for a whole fish with a lot of rice beans sweet plantains.
it is still raining - 45 more minutes.
the streets are flooded.
if i did not have a camera and a cell phone on me -
would just be nice to ride a bike in my swim trunks
---

kids are styling their hair in the street -
i ask if i could take their photo - i am documenting little Haiti - i add
“we are not Haitians!“
they say no then they say yes.

---
cemeterycometary
i ride thru the downtown cemetary
some tombstone bears the name “Crist“
I get on the Venetian way -
fancy homes - bougainvilleas and jaguars.
but after all in Miami
bougainvilleas are everywhere
on the rich homes and on the poor homes -
some beautiful color
that can be afforded by everyone here

pix girl boxer+sunday mass in the park/

2007-06-11T13:14:00.000-05:00

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I got some 4x6 prints at Walgreen's -
to drop off to some people i encountered and let me take their picture.

the photos look quite good - very saturated colors and glossy paper -
I need to make the images a bit cooler.
so different from the labs in NYC that usually mute the colors.

the night before I was in the gallery district - openings - people were
dressed up.

the same area not at 3 pm of a Sunday is deserted like a ghost town -
just bums from around here and the mission and the church.

a guy from Georgia is carrying 50 pounds of corn starch in a bag on his
head.
he is 53 and has no fat at all - just skinny an d muscular.
he tells me to be careful around here - to not turn left -

i tell him i am going to little Haiti - so i will take a right turn.
he has no idea he has never been there,
--
I go to the restaurant Chez Anouse -
i give them the prints -
the owner is happy and thinks my photos are also funny.
he seems educated - he tells me some stuff about Haiti / Santo Domingo etc.

i take some photos of his young daughter
she puts on a nice elegant linen jacket

---
i run into a girl i shot a few days before -
she is hyper she is at her friend's and friend's mother place -
they are just sitting in the yard and chilling.

they are not Haitian - geechies [?] from Ohio.

the other girl used to be a boxer -
\she now has some missing front teeth -
knocked out a year ago at some game -
a dentist is taking care of that for cheap -
about to leave her mother asks me if i can bring her a Pepsi.

all the stores are closed -
i find willy's open -
i buy 3 cans and some bananas -
the guy asks me why i am taking pictures.
he has seen me around the hood.

bring back the sodas the mother tells me i am a gentleman.

take their picture and go -
it is very very hot and humid -
but now i am used to it -
just would like to swim off the heat tho.

i got the bike fixed - now it goes so much faster [the brake was too tight[
and although i like road bikes - i appreciate the basket for my bag and
having the brakes on the pedals makes shooting while riding [as i often
do] easier.

I find the Jamaican restaurant with the murals i shot the last time in
Miami -
they remember me
it is good to show them what i have photographed.
these guys are potheads and i smell the marijuana scent all around.

---
i go to the park where they have a huge outdoor mass -

it is the celebration of that wedding where jesus made the miracle when
they ran out of wine.

so all these people are also re enacting that episode as some sort of
impromptu play.
they are catholic - they say - nothing to do with botanica stores and
Voudou.

some think i am from the Miami herald
i can see some disappointment when i tell them i am doing this for myself -
independently

lil haiti/gallery openings in wynwood

2007-06-11T13:06:00.000-05:00

slideshow 60 or so images

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the ocean is dead calm -
on weekends there are way more people on the beach in south beach -
i miss the fun of the wave swells

swim quickly and i think - it is better i ride downtown and reshoot stuff i missed or that was at the wrong time of day with the wrong light

i go to the I95 junction over pass and shoot $erge's parrots.
a guy with a beard and dreads walks up to me with a smile and says "Hey I am $erge, the artist!"
i tell him i know he is not!

the light is great - still i haven't made it here in the morning when the sun light hits the west side of the avenues.

i need to meet some friends at wynwood - the gallery/design district-
but i am a bit hungry
i go to chef creole -
there are no prices on the menu - most people just order by sitting in their cars.

i get some crab creole-
it is good - but it is the worst thing to eat before going to some gallery opening -
it is such a mess to eat and that melted garlic butter makes the mess even worse -

i am checking some art
not great stuff after all -
nothing that i can really be able to appreciate a lot -
a few things here and there -
and there is no booze - almost nothing at all -
after hour on the bike i am thirsty - and i want something cool to drink -
water and beer -
i run into Ernesto with his friend - we cant seem to score any drinks -
they go to some bar and i go to this gallery complex -
i get some Bacardi soda too sweet fro my taste -
someone tells me to go and check KMan [as Kendall Man]
i kinda like his work
i walk to my bike to ride back to south beach -
i see the homeless people belongings in the streets -
there are police cars patrolling the streets for the art lover safety.
some people walk with alcohol containers in their hands from gallery to gallery street to street - but the police turns a blind eye.

6 miles to go
it is nice to ride on the venetian way - a long bridge over small residential areas -
the ocean breeze and all the trees around.
some girls are fishing on the bridge -
with gold jewelry on.

little haiti/ocean drive

2007-06-08T12:59:00.000-05:00

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overcast morning turns into sub tropical day -
a medium swim to the the far out buoy.
---
i gotta go meet $erge the painter at 3 in Little Haiti 9 miles away.

I ride down Ocean Drive -
tourist spots
loud music -
pilgrimages to the Versace Villa -

a man drinking beer from a Poland water bottle.
he got tattoos from prison -
2 and half years in prison for stealing a car.
“we all make mistakes”.
he has been out 90 days no jobs for him
“I eat out of garbage cans sometimes”
goes to the Labor Pool every day.
he likes the weather here he is from Chicago

---
midtown Miami -
the sky turns stormy again -
dark clouds down the horizon.
---

a guy at the deli calls me “paparazzi“
I tell him I ask people if I can take their picture.
he is an artist. he destroyed all his paintings.
“you can make new ones“ I tell him.
He asks me if I know Vincent Van Gogh.
he takes off his hat and shows me his ear he cut off himself.
---

I text serge I am running 15 minutes late -
he meets me at the car wash with his moped then he gets his old rusty car and takes me for a tour.

seen most of them -
I tell him I could have not done it without a bike.
“oh man - you have been around!”

he takes me to his home -
he seems very upbeat and outgoing -
when I ask him how old he is
he turns more somber.
his 2 kids are stuck in Haiti - can't get Visas to come to see him in the USA.
He was born in Haiti -
came to the USA as a kid - grew up in Corona Queens.
he did not like the cold weather.
never studied art or painting -
just made art since he was little.

Serge has a green card - but never applied for citizenship.

I suggest he could get his kids to the US if he just became a citizen.
Better and faster way to sponsor them for a Green Card
He has no idea of the process - has no internet no email.
I tell him I will help him - look for some non profit/pro bono immigration organization that could help him with the paperwork.
I know well how this kind of anxiety feels.

his art on all these walls sooner or later will disappear -
baked and dried by the sun of southern florida - e
roded by the frequent rainstorms.

the only way to see it is to come here -
he does not paint on canvas or wood -
he could not be farther from the glam of the art world
with the posh art galleries of midtown miami just a mile away.
---
I saw a glossy hip hop video on TV and $erge's painting on the background -
just come and go. nothing for him.

---
I walk into a bodega -
the woman in blue looks at me with a severe look -
I want to buy a black mary+baby jesus candle -
I like the voudou mix music she is playing.
I go to the ATM and get some cash
the music is only on tape -
i don't remember the last time i used a cassette player.

i buy the candle and i show her what I am doing.
she smiles at me and puts her hand by her heart.
but no pictures inside.
---
there are dogs roaming the streets and chickens and rooster.
a woman points at a dog and tells me “look she has 13 nipples”.
---
Serge had told me people here are afraid of cameras -
may it be because of religion or immigration issues.
a lot here came on rafts - illegally.
the police raids and deports.

---
I brought with me a small album with prints
not the best ones - just a few scattered ones from a few months ago.
if i show that and I speak to the people with the French i learned at school they open up more - sometimes they let me take the picture.
some kids - maybe dope dealers - don't like that at all .
---
I get a flat by the Toussaint Louverture statue.
no bike stores for miles -
a girl at the air pump tells me to buy a patch at the gas station.
then some auto mechanic guys have the tools to take off the wheel
I realize that a beach cruiser bike that brakes with the pedals is a pain for fixing a flat.
you need a wrench AND an allen key as well to take off the wheel.
---
Haitian Creole
looks like french spelled in a different phonetical way -
like “brudda” for brother or “dahzit” for thats it.
---
Chez Anouse restaurant
murals inside and outside painted by Dominique -
the owner says that guy is fast, he paints fast.
2-3 hours for the whole restaurant.
---
At the Car wash owned by $erge's brother - there are always people hanging out - playing fast games of domino.

I take the portraits of these 2 young sisters and a cousin -
they all look so different n their outfits.
the blue contact lenses look so amazing and real
---
riding back just 15 block away or less
the “design district”
looks like an hybrid between Soho and Beverly Hills.
but built all at once
new restaurants
and so many signs filled with real estate language and quotes -
security guards patrolling the streets
I keep on riding
and it all reminds me that movie Zabriskie Point.
The billboards the poor the rich the desert -
escaping.

$erge the painter

2007-06-07T10:54:00.000-05:00

slide show 22 photos [long shooting day]
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slide show 22 photos [long shooting day]
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I met $erge.
he came with his old car filled with cans of colorful house paint.
he said hello to everyone.
like a star of the block. he was happy and flattered someone wanted to get to know him -
positive energy.
but it was raining -
and hat is the point of shooting colorful walls on a day that colors are muted
and there is too much rain for my cameras.
so today he will take me for a tour.
---

I thought about shooting the contrasts of Miami
the reality of people that just shop buy stuff.
young girls with Gucci bags and big SUVs in Bal Harbor.
the fancy car people show off a luxurious life -
and pay valets 25 dollars

Haitian ghetto
they make it beautiful with what they have
colors - art - craft
ladies wearing awesome outfits and colors -
old beaten cars but beautifully painted yards
and having fun in the yard -

the art
the saints and the madonna
as gods and goddesses

i could shoot the contrast of opposing worlds
but it is harder to turn the camera onto those that try hard to impress.
but i don't want to just romanticize the poor -
as it is something exotic -
and i am taking a package tour in it,

somehow little Haiti is to Miami what Chinatown is to new york somehow -
in some way.
self contained worlds where it i hard to fit in
very different -
but a parallel urban
reality within a city

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little haiti/ biking downtown miami/looking for storefronts

2007-06-04T17:12:00.000-05:00

slide show 90 photos [long shooting day]
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Little Haiti Sunday

hot semitropical day.
on Sunday
the beach is crowded
the ocean is flat.
it would be more fun with the waves and the riptide
or some snorkeling gear

just a quick swim
then
ride the cruiser bike over the venetian way bridges to downtown Miami.

looking for more storefronts to shoot -
little Haiti - the north side of town.

lots of places are closed -
wonder if it is because it is Sunday
or because it is past 6 pm.

not many people in the street.
the light changes a lot because of the clouds.

if the light is good on the east side of the street -
it makes it hard to shoot on the west side.

for some places i should come back in the morning.

thousands of little bugs swarming.
in some places it is hard to see and ride the bike.
i have coconut oil sun protection over my face and arms
and all these little motes get stuck on.

i see some chicken freely roaming the streets -

a crack head woman both friendly and hostile
“i am on crack - do you have a dollar? what if i took your camera? you
want to take my picture? what about if i suck you? do you want to see my
tits? you must be a terrorist, you have a camera! go back to south beach. “

i gave her a dollar then she gives back to me then she takes it again.
it is like talking to different people at once.
someone now evil then sweet and vulnerable.
just inconsistent - a roller coaster of thoughts and actions.

the ghetto in Miami looks poorer than anything i saw in new york.
so many people asking for a dollar -
a lot of alcoholics and toothless crack heads in the streets.

76th and 6th av. it is not really little Haiti anymore.
mostly auto mechanics and car body shops.
there are beautiful murals at hidden corners.
--
further down
st mary cathedral
from afar i thought it could be a mosque -
the blue and white tiles.
i see the coral bricks at the entrance.
services in english / creole / spanish.
--

i head back to the 50s
there are people bbqing in the backstreets
i hear priests delivering their sermons thru loud sound systems -
i look inside churches i see women kneeling and covering their faces.
i hear hip hop and i hear voodoo music.
and there is smoke and scent of grilled meat everywhere,

i stop at an auto mechanic.
3 young Haitian kids pose for me.
they tell me where to find more nice wall paintings.
the tell me i am covered by these little bugs.
--
there is a car store that sells music.
i smell pot being smoked inside.
--
a elder woman is dressed up.
a bum eating from a styrofoam plate on some bench outside .
i say hello and she smiles.
she has jewelry, broken shades, style.

--
not many Asian people in Miami.
i see just 2 Chinese restaurants
where the food is cooked and served by black Haitians.

---
it is hard to photograph people here.
even if friendly most they don't want to have their photo taken.
i see some women dressed up walking out of churches .
awesome colors and hats

but most of the times
they just say no.
--
i have to ride 10 miles back
stop at target
with a beach cruiser you cant go too fast and
after 6/7 miles the wide seat rubs on the inner thighs.
just not so comfortable for riding more than short distances.
--
inside Target
feels like a different world
and a wind chill from the AC.
-
i m riding the venetian way
it is 10 pm 78 degrees and 80 percent of humidity.
there is breeze from the ocean.

i stop at Walgreen's and buy a 12 pack of beer.
after 22 miles - i am tired.

surf/sunset miami beach

2007-06-03T14:23:00.000-05:00

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Miami Beach - pre tropical storm

after a day of continuous rain
the sun comes out -
some clouds and showers come and go.

in the morning the ocean is rough
there is a red flag
and waves one after another - not so good for surfing-
looks like when the Mediterranean is stormy.

i go for a swim - the rip currents feel like a river and
the sandy bottom is very uneven
shallow and deep a few steps apart

the lifeguard blows the whistle at me -
when i get out of the water
he tells me he does not want people to swim too far out -
even if you are a good swimmer.

---
i skip Mexican dinner
i just want to go in the water before the sun sets.
no more lifeguards after 5 and i bring my fins -
i swim past the surf and the surfers to the buoy.

it looks amazing
the waver are longer and taller -
some push me up and i feel 10 feet above the beach level -
i dive to see how long i can hold my breath.
i come out and i hear "Stefano"
and it is Paulo surfing
catching some good waves.

--
I should have bought one oft those 300 dollar underwater camera enclosures.
to take the pictures i wanted to take but i haven't ye taken.
-
I swim until before dusk -

just to catch some shots from the beach.
i wrap a plastic shopping bag around my camera - the lens sticking out.
wade in the water and shoot .
-
wait until dark
i hear the sound of the waves
loud and louder
and i realize it makes me happy
to hear that to be there

700 miles on I 75 - miamibound/tropical storm approaching

2007-06-03T14:19:00.000-05:00

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atlanta-miami 700 mile drive

3 am motel 8 somewhere in northern Florida.
70 bucks for the night she says

Motel 6 was forty I reply.

she goes down to 50.
all about coupons and haggling.

king size bed -
the window is sealed -

cant sleep until 5.30
hit the road at 11 am.

no starbucks strong coffee
breakfast at 7-11
caffeine shot creamer
high caffeine content.
if i had known
would have skipped the crappy coffee in the styrofoam cup
just drank 2 shots of caffeine creamer.

stay on I75 skip the turnpike -
90 extra miles
hit the west coast traffic -
Tampa/Ft Myers

black insects - flies or winged ants
hit my windshields like snowflakes in a snowstorm
it is cloudy
83 degrees outside.
Vasectomy ads
signs

hit Naples
turn left on the Alligator alley

the highway thru the everglades.
makes it worth the extra miles.
I see burned trees and green grass red leaves.

i wish i could stay
but hertz needs my car in 2 hours

in the middle of nowhere - i can't see a building down the horizon
always like it here.

i make a turn to everglades city - but it is too far away
maybe some other time.

in Miami it starts raining
and feels like an hurricane is approaching
no time for the beach
just rest
the past 2 nights
not much sleep

2007-05-31T09:49:00.000-05:00

slideshow
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ride and fly and drive

1000 miles in 24 hours- ride and fly and drive
glasshouse
dude alone on stage -
he would sing 10 sec melody in the mic - then it would loop
and sing on top
was kinda cool

chris johanson plays bass in a band
i remember when we listened to PiL's metal box at some art gallery

--
took photo of the pilot
asked first
she wondered and the flight assistant said - “i think it is ok, we let kids do it“

maybe i just had a better camera?
--
suburban area look like some toy miniature construction -
unreal curves and clone stamped houses

--

bbq in atlanta
the waitress was friendly when i told her i came from nyc.
“i live there too - in philly!“
i asked why she was working while on vacation.
maybe i should have asked if nyc and philly are kinda the same to people down here.

-
got on the I-75 south at 10.30 pm
dont need a map
could have driven to miami in 1 shot if i found a starbucks on the way.

the only one i saw was on the way to savannah - on a different highway.

if i drop off the car more than 29 minutes late
hertz will charge 250 dollars

makes it worth to buy rather than rent a car

indo-pak / gehry

2007-05-23T12:59:00.000-05:00

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Indo-Pak Qns. 23-05-2007 04:08

69 images slideshow
http://picasaweb.google.com/stefpix/IndoPakQns230520070408/photo#s5067670822545597890

Tuesday photos
riding to jackson heights
shoot the indo-pak-bangla hood.
straight up greenpoint avenue
the truck route from brooklyn to queens.
irish-korean-Ecuadorean-indian
hoods

eat at kashmiri joint.
the cook is from nepal.
tibetan heritage.
family of sherpas -= sherpa is th last name

i was tired of frank gehry -
but his new building looks good at night.
big windows and color changing lights.
i found out my UPS guy does not put the name on the note- just the initials.
i forgot to put air in my tires

back to NYC + a flashback

2007-05-12T10:06:00.000-05:00

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back to brooklyn/nyc 12-05-2007 10:55

williamsburg - around the corner from where I live
there is a school.
camouflage makes you stand out in the urban landscape.

I see these kids sitting on the steps -
they look so young, they are joining the air force.
one looks just like a boy.
i ask him how old is he
“I am 15! how old do I look?“
he says.

----
I get a slice of spinach / fresh tomato pizza at the Mexican joint down the street.

the guy that works there has a black eye.
I ask him if he is ok - how it had happened.
I just saw him delivering a pie to my building and i held the door for him the day before.
he looked fine.

he is reticent - he says it was someone he knew.

then he adds - this guy wanted 300 dollars from the register and punched him.
“did you call the police?“ I ask him.

“No I don't like the police. I know that guy he has been to prison - I don't want him to get into too much trouble“.

---
subway shots -
going home after errands - getting ready for the European week long tour

Cat Power Tour/Thru Swiss tunnels to Italy then to NYC

2007-05-10T18:34:00.000-05:00

click here to proceed to the slideshow [if you click the image you will go to the "contact sheet" gallery

thru switzerland/Milan to NYC

direct link to slideshow

London -

In the UK they call “Parma Ham” what in Italy we call “Prosciutto Crudo” which I learned in school to translate as “Raw Ham” in english.

Parma is where they make one style of Raw ham. I think sweeter to the taste than the one they make in San Daniele.

if I speak english I feel Parma Ham is more accurate than Prosciutto.

but after all the word for computer in italian is “calcolatore” or “elaboratore elettronico” but everybody just says “computer”

German/Swiss border

we have to wait 45 minutes to have the paperwork and passports checked.

if you drive by car it would be a minute but with a bus filled with equipment there is more bureaucracy.

we walk to a restaurant on the side of the road. Eizabeth said they have great food.

No one speak english. the aging waitress is wearing a python printed miniskirt.

some truck drivers are drinking a liter of fresh draft beer.

the sandwiches look really miserable,

just old drying sliced cheese and some old ham.

they said it is a holiday - I have no idea.

it is still raining but not pouring.

I should have had wurst and kraut in Heidelberg

---

Luzern CH

In the backstage there is a plate of cold cuts - the cheese - Gruyere is rich and amazing.

the promoter orders some thai food for everyone. thai food just like the night before in Heidelberg Deutschland.

Thai food in german speaking countries seems rather bland and boring.

I wish we had Rösti and sausages and kraut and red cabbage fondue.

promoters assume bands like thai food made for people that don't know about thai food.

i always like local better.

touring with a band you end up sitting in the backstage and eating eating eating -

sitting on the couch for a while and get up and eat more of whatever is there.

I feel when I get back I need to ride 20 miles on my bike every morning. not as a commute just as an exercise.

----

Milan

people have lunch breaks -

they all do. editors at magazines - investment bankers - video producers - construction workers.

all represented between 1 and 2 pm at bar magenta.

first course - 5 euros all inclusive.

I have a tuscan kind of barley with pesto.

there are more people wearing suits in milan than the average in nyc.

not as many as at some park avenue starbucks - where everyone wears nice suits.

the suits in milan look good - a bit on the conservative side - the tie knot a bit too big, but nice suits / fitted right indeed.

---

S.Gotthard tunnel - CH

we stop at the last large gas station before the tunnel under the mountain that separates Canton Uri from Canton Ticino in Switzerland.

there is a small river that comes down the mountain

i roll my jeans up and take my shoes off to wade for a good spot to take a photo.

it looks so amazing and peaceful.the water is ice cold and my feet turn very pale and i feel my toes getting stiffer.

it is still raining a bit.

we get back on the bus -

after 11 miles inside the tunnel under the mountain -

on the other side the sun is shining

and the temperature rises from 14 degrees celsius to 27 degrees.

from the end of the winter to early summer in 20 minutes.

---

Milan - Malpensa airport

the airport is far from the city - but there is an express train shuttle for 11 euros -

fast and convenient.

by the airport I see the snow capped rocky alps.

I check in with the 11.40 flight with delta.

if you fly to the USA or Israel you have to go to the end of the airport and go thru a security pre screening.

there are paramilitary cops everywhere with big automatic rifles and submachine guns.

----

On Delta flights they charge you for wine and beer -

just one included with the meal -

feel I am back in the USA - where alcohol is a big deal -

---

Malpensa Airport

Airport food is simple and good.

Cappuccino + fresh warm croissant + fresh squeezed orange juice 3.3 euros

a sandwich with ham - robiola cheese - rucola 3.4 euros.

once at JFK I was starving before getting on a plane I got some cold stale wrap for 9 bucks.

wish they had more fresh food at US airports - fresh key lime pie in florida - pumpkin pie in nyc.

or at least Katz's or a Taco truck cook instead of McDonald's at some airport lounge.

In Flight

looking at the Alps is always awesome -

a long wide strip of rocky and steep peaks you can't see the end.

I see the eternal snow on the glaciers and some easier mountains to climb.

feel I should go to the dolomites someday.

the plane is still climbing and there is turbulence - i hear the trays and the silverware shaking and making noises - I see the wing outside flexing up and down.

on the other side of the atlantic I can always see the land when flying above Labrador and Newfoundland.

it looks amazing - endless horizon - rocks and snow.

I see only one town below - a port by the ocean.

another place I want someday to put my feet on.

if i had a car and time and cash - maybe some summer month long trip

JFK

having flown Delta there are more US citizens than euro tourists at the immigration.

and it takes longer to go thru than if I had no green card.

feels good to be back, I like the air train - quiet and filled with natural light.

I see the jamaica bay swamps

makes me wont go for a bike ride to rockaway beach.

cat power / end of tour in milan

2007-05-08T20:42:00.000-05:00

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Europe4 Milan1 08-05-2007 02:54

i rearranged added new images

Milan is sunny after rainy Switzerland
May feels like May again.
the tour bus drove by the 3 apartments I lived at from 3 to 33 years old.
the driver had the wrong street name in the GPS - so I got a free tour of my past places.

pastries and coffee at sissi's after a few days of just instant coffee.
orange peels covered in dark dark chocolate.
--
dropped off my suitcase at my brother's apt
fabrizio gives me a ride with his girlfriends audi convertible.

outside the club -
the sun still shining at 8 pm
the catering is good
but the sound is not great.

there is peanut butter - " american nutty" brand.
i wonder if it makes sense.
---
after the show we end up at bar magenta
2 bottles of wine and parma ham -
i see old friends - there is not enough time to talk to all.
a local established popstar that makes good wine on the side - picks up the tab for all of us.

--
the tour bus leaves for bologna and rome
i stay in the city where i was born - the city i dont call home anymore.

I see things i was not able to see when i lived her -
that is the beauty of leaving - the beauty of traveling.

---
i do a medical -
just to check about the cough i had for a week
just pollen allergies and too much sudafed irritated my sinuses.

need hypertonic wash and cortisone spray.
no infections - no disease - everything is fine.
ekg and blood tests - all good
the doctor tells me "just eat a bit more meat!"
dont get enough B12 just by vitamin supplement pills.
---
parco sempione is so beautiful
dark burgundy colored leaves and all sort of trees -
people playing football and basketball"

this polish artist made an installation in the park -
a huge floating replica of his naked self.
children are amused -
just some old wino is complaining.
it looks amazing the way it floats and moves,
would they show something like this in central park nyc?

----

I have goodbye "aperitivo" at le colonne di san lorenzo with fabrizio and his friends -
i like this place - in the spring and summer you are just outside - no cars - just hanging out drinking wine / beer / mojitos by the oldest remains of the old city.

inside the bar this burly guy says :"still here!?"
he was the local promoter at the cat power show.

as
i walk outside this girl comes up to me with a smile
and says hello.
so unexpected -
I remember her!
so many years ago now
she used to work at this pub not far from where i used to live here.
attractive Brazilian from rio grande do sul.

a one way ticket to nyc knowing i was not coming back to live in milan.
she was going to travel around the world - live in london and in Brazil.

she was the last romance i had in italy. she was fun - i knew we were going to different adventures.
we crossed and life changed a lot just after that.
it was a fun good - goodbye
feels from a semi-different era

she just moved back to milan.
small world - many coincidences,
----
cocktails to go
young kids that on a park bench.

---
glad i left -
glad i dont live here anymore -
too many people i saw here just like getting caught in a trap

i can just appreciate being here for a while -
i walk around
i remember the good things of the past
i know i have moved on/elsewhere

cat power tour 2 - heidelberg

2007-05-04T15:24:00.000-05:00

click here for link to the slideshow

Europe 2 NL - D

from eindhoven to heidelberg
night drive.

europe feels a lot smaller than the united states

drives between cities are usually 3 hours - sometimes 6.
you gotta wait to leave to not get too early to the destination

in heidelberg now
beautiful old german town - untouched by ww2 carpet bombings.
the first time I see in germany old cobblestones and old bricks.
churches that are not post war replicas.

everyone goes to sleep at the hotel
it is 10 30 am
I walk around -
I see dogs playing by the river.
I hike up one of the hills that surround the town
steep ascent - on Philosophensweg - the philosopher's way
it feels so peaceful and quiet.
an old man with crutches is walking up the hill - slowly but determined.

on top
I find myself in a forest -
just trees - breeze - birds.

the vegetation is different than the east coast of the USA.
I don't know how -
but it feels familiar. I have been in woods like this many times before.

I feel up here I need no computer - no mobile phone.
but I take my cell out of my pocket to look at the time.
I walk down and bump into the venue.
walk back to the hotel-
a couple is getting married.
I hear people speaking italian - german - english - korean.

Cat Power Tour: London - Brussels -Eindhoven

2007-05-04T14:23:00.000-05:00

click here to go directly to the slideshow

JFK to Heathrow

Took a Virgin Atlantic flight.
2 hours stuck on the tarmac - 3 lines of planes waiting to take off.
the person sitting next to me says with a smile "I hope we don't crash - it is always dangerous when planes take off one just after the other".
there is a baby crying. she says it is so hard to travel with babies. she gives a sleeping pill to her 3 and 5 years old when they travel.
European airlines give you unlimited beer and wine for free, and I don't ever need to say "no ice please" when I ask for water or tomato juice.
no ice by default!

London

haven't been there in so long.
I never really liked it back in the day -
I never felt a connection.
This time I see diversity and beauty.
in Kentish Town at the forum.
I run into people I know from new york.
Stuart touring with his bad Childballads -]
Wendy James that used to be in this band Transvision Vamp.

I take a walk to Camden Town to see how it has changed since I last was tehre maybe 15 years before.

A beautiful dog on some guys shoulders.
an Icelandic Sheperd.
A junkie couple owns it.
sucha beautiful fiery dog.

the girl praises his fur -
and his testicles so soft.
I videotape a bit
they thank me for the attention.

Camden town gentrified - many banks
I see the same restaurant I went to the last time I was there
---

Brussels
looks like France -
feels familiar. I have been in Belgium on a school trip when I was 15.
I can't remember much.
but it feels like Europe -
it feels familiar where I come from.
the buildings the cars.
I imagine myself living in a place like this - but it is only the memories.
not the present.

---
Eindhoven
feels like a small town.
everything looks new -
everyone is riding a bike.
heavy frames with fenders.
they don't seem to ride in a hardcore way as in London.

I don't see much.
we have to drive to Germany at 3 am

at the club café I feel bored.
I order a Leffe dark on draft -
2.5 euros
it tastes amazing.
beer that tastes fancy as a great wine.

miami again / apr 2007

2007-04-22T23:28:00.000-05:00

click on the slideshow button

Miami2 17-04-2007 23:41

Miami 13-04-2007 14:16

shuttle bus to miami international airport.
i see his knee bleeding
his wife takes a napkin and cleanses it from the dripping blood
he looks like he is 69
she looks like she is 64 - maybe.
some would say that she used to be good looking -
but can't she be just good looking now -

they own a condo in key largo. a house and horses in west virginia.
splitting the time.

they got a scuba certification.
70 dives in the past year.

i look at them and think i wish i can be like that when i reach that age,

i ask how deep they go if they just use air or they dive with nitrox.

shipwrecks and stuff - nitrox certification.
too bad they are not on our same flight.
back to new york.
american airlines - bring your own food - crappy snacks - 3 dollars apop.
---
i ride a cruiser bike from south beach to criteria studios -
15 miles northwest on the mainland - 149 and w dixie -.

just after an hour swimming in the ocean. 7ft waves - no one allowed without fins or a board.
they told me in hawaii it is different, the lifeguard dont worry so much.
--

i ride up us 1 / biscayne -
to 2nd avenue -
i see a lot of stores painted by serge -
the haitian artist -
i stop and take a picture of the storefronts i like.
there is a strip of cheap motels with their signs damaged by the hurricane.
the sun is too low on the west side - the wrong side -
so i will have to do it some other time.

there is a restaurant with bob marley and haile selassie painted on the wall
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haile_Selassie_I_of_Ethiopia

i get a gatorade and have to explain why i am taking the picture of their restaurant.

----

i spend many days in a recording studio
lots of ac and no windows - it could be anywhere -
the music is great
but i sometimes miss the nature outside.
--

when i go to the beach the waves are beautiful
i run into paulo -
hit on the brow by someone else's board.
no stitches - just bandage and krazy glue.

---
a marine
with a malt liquor can in his hand
a marine's always a marine -
so they say
i always see a marine with booze in his hand and faded tattooos on his arm
---

i swim to the buoy before sunset before driving to the airport to catch a plane to nyc.

a week before i was in montreal quebec
it was beautiful and it was freezing
miami and montreal
as far as you can get from the average united states east coast average city.

Bingo - Little Haiti2- Airboat2

2007-01-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

click on slideshow if you get to the page with the white background

bingo-lil haiti-airboat

slideshow

Last days in florida - hard to leave
getting as much done - experienced - lived as i can
it is always hard to leave what you love.

feeling like a kid - enjoying what i wanted to enjoy 30 years ago.

bingo
we drove and dressed up
10 miles north still on the beach
strip mall
what miami would look like if the latinos and the caribbean people did
not move here.

we dressed up and the old people had fun at dealing with our carelessness

an old polish woman spoke german,.
she learned the language in a concentration camp in germany. holocaust
survivor.
her accent was yiddish not polish.

we left and someone asked if we were celebrities.
we dressed up -
i got a nice pinstripe grey suit the day before -
i was coming home from the beach.

---
i went swimming before sunset. 7 foot waves. 2 hours in the water.
swam into my surfer friends alejandro and paulo.
they tell me i should take photos of surfers from the water
inside the breaking waves
i can be in the water like a fish paulo says.
i dont need a board
i can freedive and feel ok -

stayed after the sun set - dusk my fave time of day, someone saw a
dolphin jump out of the water.
as the night was falling i swam to the buoy were a people were fishing
from a boat. they left as i approached.
i wish i had a water[roof camera. the best photos i could not take -
being in the water in between the waves and look at the sky - look at
the pelicans diving in the ocean with a orange sky as a background.

---
rode the bike to little haiti. this guy serge seems to have painted
every store. there is a woman with an umbrella crossing the street - i
point the camera at her and she runs away,
i am waiting for melissa to pick me up with her pick up truck to go to
the everglades on my last day.
anyway - i need a bike to take this pictures
i was driven around - i rented a car -
but you cant stop as easily when you drive - you dont see as much
-
and when you walk you dont see as much anyway - you cant go fast and
observe as much as when you ride a bike -
even some heavy slower beach cruiser.

there is a restaurant - garden of eatin -
no fast food - 9 was yearning for a sandwich.
brother and sister -
he says he is from ethiopia.
"your face is wide for an ethiopian - i tell him"
we were slaves -
his sister is from haiti.
i ask her what's up with all these haitians not wanting to be photographed.
it is the voodooo she says - if you take her picture - you can put a
spell on them.

---
everglades -
there is a dead trees forest
we stop -
at a shooting range -
air pistols and high caliber precision rifles with a bipod
the noise is deafening sometimes

we go to the indian reservation -
small airboat
40 minutes ride -

we go to the island where the indians used to live
they were never defeated never surrendered because the white men armies
could never march thru the swamps to get them.

so the driver of the airboat -
he used to drink everglades artesian water -
he would spike it with gin to kill the sulphur taste,
he nows just like to ride his airboat at night after work and drink a 6
pack in a swamp.
--
mmm
i like all this stuff - makes it hard to leave

nyers in milan - night out - sunday

2006-12-03T21:11:00.000-05:00

click here for 50 images slideshow
http://picasaweb.google.com/stefanog/NewYorkersInMilanNightOutCemetery/photo#s5004480401574486866

thumbnails here

new yorkers in milan - night out cemetery

I went to the new auditorium it did not exist yet when i moved to nyc -
looked fancy

we had dinner at some trattoria down the street - via conchetta.

john zorn was playing the next day at 11 am with mike patton
gregor had a ticket for me but i ended up sleeping and resting
strange to see all these new yorkers in milan

corso di porta ticinese that was like the east village of milan -
now is filled with these people like on bleeker street on a saturday night

my favorite ice cream place is gone -
but my favorite local churches are still here

---

i wish i had a bike when i lived in milan -it is so much easier than nyc
to get around -
but here i am happy to have a mountain bike
as there are so many streets with cobblestones and intersecting rail
tracks, you may get stuck in with skinny tires.

---

i go to the cemetery to bring some flowers -
there is a statue of an angel with the face of a scared girl
and there is dust on it -
and i kinda love it
---

my old friend fabrizio gives me some gorgonzola and salame and wine.
he distributes very good wines to restaurants and expensive 1500 euro
bottles to wine collectors worldwide.
he does not make a lot of money but has a nice large cozy apartment and
the wine he offers is always very good not cheap

pix - storage - GQ- dj olive - fog - wine

2006-12-02T15:08:00.000-05:00

many photos all of them as a SLIDESHOW - click here

gallery here

train-storage-djolive 02-12-2006

took the train back to venice/milan from opicina -
the last italian train station before slovenia-
border police checks passports on the train.

my aunt [dad's brother wife] shared the trip with me

i haven't seen her for 8 years and i appreciate her earthy matter of
factly point of view on life -and our complicated family relations.

it was a slovenian train and there was the service guy with the food
cart - he spoke basically no italian and had funny spirited eyes

we drank wine and fruit juice.

back in milan i realized i lost my ipod on the train - fell off my pocket.

went to my younger brother place - where i am staying now.

he was on his way to a 2 week trip to india.

he told me to detach myself and let go of material things -
he said some good words that helped me not being pissed off.

i went to the park where i used to go as a child -
there used to be waterlilys and gold fish.

it was still beautiful
at 10 am there was a passed out bum on a bench - that drank 2 cartons of
wine.

an old friend just became editor of GQ - the italian version.
he likes my email journals and he thinks he would like to have a monthly
page of that for the mag.

the way they have meetings in milan is way different than in nyc -
it was good
and it seems likely i will have six pages on the february issue
and some nice euros in my bank account soon,

---
saw my old friend chiara -
she does promotion / publicity
and she says many miss my photos

she wants to get me jobs and fly me here -
now that i am free with a green card it feels god to come here make some
cash go back to nyc.

---
dj olive [gregor] is in milan - he is playing a gig with this guy harry
cane .

greg was doing some gigs in switz / france on his own and everyone else
got flown from nyc for this one gig

it is funny that i see him here while he is away from nyc from nov to march.

we go to la bettola di piero -
an old milanese restaurant - one of those pre gentrification that are
disappearing -

good hearty food -
great cheap cold cuts
i enjoy the food -
but the harrt cane people probably like something fancier.
i talked to chan m. she told me toremember to go to bar magenta and la
bettola di piero just beforre i left nyc...

---
greg and myself went to this old bar taht has teh best sandwiches of milan -
wild boar / deer / caviar etc

i had a glass of my favorite italian wine
Lagrein from Süd Tyrol
just 3 euros - in nyc the equiv would be 10 dollars.

well
i was pretty tired - tipsy
existentialist / fun talk - but i just wanted to lie in my bed.

---

had to go to this town monza 10 miles out of milan where my stuff is
stored -

on the bus there are 2 gypsy [roma] women
everyone hates them - exterminated by the nazis -
now are just nomadic people no one wants in their town.

they look perisan or afghany -
i love their skirt - but i know they are suspicious of non roma people.
---

went through old mementos
things to get rid throw away and just keep teh important stuff.

i see the photo of my mother - she died at 34 -
i leave it there safe but i take a photo of it for nyc.

i know i need to stop by the cemetery tomorrow bring some flowers -
after i went to the cemetary with my uncle to my grandparents i kind of
found some sense in it -
when i made no sense in it -

i only liked the cemetaries in scandinavia like in copenhagen where next
to the kerkegaard grave there was a mother with a stroller + a topless
girl sunbathing and some people having a picnic and drinking wine.

---

i go to a wine store i buy a bottle of barbera [1 liter] for 3 euros -
they have some nice lagrein - but i want to manage to buy a bottle only
with the coins in my pocket.

the wine store is from 1898 - one of the oldest in the city

they told me the shelves are the original ones from the 1930s

they are in perfect shape -
the same wood that they use to build sailboats.

---
i gotta run dj olive put me on the list
the world is small

Trieste / Opicina - last bike ride to sinkhole

2006-12-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

many photos in this SLIDESHOW

thumbnails below

Trieste/padriciano 30-11-2006 20:23

went down to Trieste sunny warm day - feels like springtime -

see the large synagogue get a coffee in the Viennese style cafe
where an elderly woman is writing a philosophy treaty -
typewritten pages she corrects with whiteout and pen.

I walk by the Serbian orthodox cathedral with magnificent mosaics

it is 11.30 am
i walk into a cafe to get a coffee or something - 2 distinct women order a glass of red and a glass of white for 1.5 euros -

--
my uncle drives me uptown for lunch his big country house with a rocky garden

--
in the afternoon he takes me to the cemetery where my grand parents rest and he shows me writer Italo Svevo's tombstone whose real name is Ettore Schmitz and is Trieste's most famous writer

it feels weird being in a cemetery and i wonder how my uncle feels being 78 and youthful but knowing most of is life is behind him

----

On the last day I ride the bike 3 towns to find a place where to check the email -

in the small village in the middle - trebiciano - i see really old houses cut in stone
one woman walks out in the street and i want to take her picture -
she is worried about her clothing but that is what i really like -

she lets me take a few photos -
she tells me of the beautiful 100 year old house that is abandoned -
i wonder how much it costs it would be a shame to let it crumble.

the woman now insists so much about taking me into her house and make me some coffee - bu need to go get ready to catch the train.

she insists - i wish i could go in but I need to ride fast.

the air feels so clean and pure -

before going to my uncle's i stop by the wood nearby
to take a look to the sinkhole maybe 600 ft deep -
there is a fence around -
it is plenty of these sinkholes here -
deep wells to underground rivers or water basins

careful not to fall into

there is a very tiny short man hanging up the laundry outside his house.

he has huge underwear = especially for such a small man
but those briefs would be too large for a giant

Train Milan to Trieste - biking into Slovenia

2006-12-01T06:27:00.000-05:00

many photos

in this SLIDESHOW

thumbnails below

Mi-Trieste-Slovenia

went to pick up a cleaned lens -
the old photo repair guy i assumed that passed away is still alive -
i took his picture -

waning craftsmanship - fixing old camera in the new digital age of
replaceable circuit boards -

took the train to Trieste via Venice.

I could get a really good sandwich at the train station for 2.9 euros
and you can buy and drink a can of beer for 1.5 euros -

Trieste is a small sliver of coast in the north east of italy.
Trieste + the surrounding area was Austria-Hungary until 1918 - then
Italy took it.

after WW2 Italy just kept a small chunk and a big part of the province
went to Yugoslavia.

Now my uncle has a big house in a small village a few Kilometers from
Slovenia.

all the stores have signs in Italian and Slovenian -
It is a piece of europe at the crossroads of different cultures.
Slavs and Italians and Austrians and a large Jewish population.

my uncle took me on a local tour on his VW Golf -
in the afternoon I took his mountain bike and rode a few Km across the
border to Slovenia -

there is a farm with free range chickens and turkeys getting ready for
the Xmas slaughter.

here they still let them roam freely - eat freely.

Casinos are not legal in Italy [with a few exceptions]
so in slovenia first thing you see when you cross the brder is a casino.
my uncle had also showed me a so called "massage parlor" and he hinted
with a smile there is more than just plain massages going on there.

I ride to Lipica [Lipiza] where there is a horse farm -
a particular breed of small horses.

in the area there are a lot of signs remembering the partisans that died
in world war 2 -

the countryside is very rocky - a high plain that reminds me of
missouri's ozark mountains or ireland's connemara.

they can't really grow much produce -
and there are many craters -
just underground caves/rivers roofs that collapsed and trees started to
grow.

you cant really see it in photo but many are quite deep and steep.

--
my uncle tells me that traditionally the Slavs lived on the hills
and the italians on sea level.
in the evening he drives me down to the city -
some down hill streets are way steep - something like S Francisco =
it must be hell to ride those streets uphill with a bike,

I see the serbian orthodox cathedral - the greeek orthodox cathedral and
the largest synagogue I have ever seen - a lot more monumental than
anything in NYC.

there is the austrian style area - a perfect grid of streets with
pedestrian areas and beautiful 18th century buildings
there is the jewish quarter called ghetto [ghetto is an old venetian
language word that means the jewish area - without todays' connotation
of impoverished/inner city slum] with tiny small streets -

There is an old store that my uncle knows - that sells everything -
people find hard to believe that in New York there are stores just like
this.
when people here think of america - they think of modern//new /
technological.

Milan - La Belle Aurore - Vasectomy couple

2006-12-01T06:25:00.000-05:00

30something images here

in this SLIDESHOW

Gallery of thumbnails

Milan 26-11-2006 20:23

I went to " la belle aurore to check my email again.

the owner / bartender keeps asking what camera should he bu -
he has already some 700 euro Leica digital .
he says i am cool and he does not charge me -
not that a 2 euro glass of good italian red would break my piggy bank.

closing time he shuts the gate and everyone starts smoking.

take some pictures -
of italian bitters.
Jägermeister is way too sweet even when chilled -
so I go for the alpine / italian Braulio from a town on the alps on the border with switzerland .
brings back memories of long ago and it tastes like a good medicine that probably many hate.

I go there just to check my email as there are not many hotspots here and cappuccino or coffee after 5 makes me feel too speedy.

there is a youthful 40 year old girl that talks about this beach in tuscany that looks like polynesia - the sand is white as talcum and the water looks pristine.

there is a bicarbonate factory in the town that dumps in the sea and after years the brown sand turned white.
bicarbonate is not toxic and she tells me i should see it.

her husband looks a bit like mick jones/ mick harvey and says he wants to go home and fart as his wife is giving him a blow job.

they have 3 kids and he got vasectomy.
his wife Cristina is happy she says she can now have a better sex life and not worry about getting pregnant-
she says his semen after the operation feels and smells the same.

but in italy i find out vasectomy is an illegal method of contraception so the guy had to find a surgeon friend and lie that he needed it for some sort of infection.

Cristina says all her friends in Germany after 2 kids they all get vasectomy and she cant understand why in italy it's so much harder.

i find out her 2nd son has the same birthday as myself and she really gets curious.

---
cell phones in italy are way more evolved than in the US.

everyone here has fancier ones - UMTS / next generation.
if I call a friend that has the phone off or off signal range I get an automatic text message when they turn it on or come back within range.

i guess here cheating wives and cheating husbands cant really lie easily when their phone rings...
a bit stalkish - but i like it - you just ring someone and you dont need to leave a voicemail message.

i bought a sim-unlocked world phone with blue tooth -
so for 10 euros i can use it as a wireless modem fro my computer even if i am on some eurostar train or on some mountain vllage.

there are not many hotspots here but GPRS / GSM modems are way more common

--
i go and visit my old friend arianna - she just bought a nice 1 BR apt on the canals - cheaper than a studio in brooklyn.

---
i walk into an irish pub near my old place -
porta romana -
everyone is british inside -
drinking pints and watching Live on TV the english premier league soccer game.

---

there is a persistent fog in milan - it reminds me of all the years i lived here -

makes me happy new york more
sometimes when you get away you realize why everyone that moves there
cant leave.
tomorrow i am taking the train with my uncle go to his house near slovenia -
pine trees and white carsic rocks -
the wind blows often -

an isolated place at the crossroads of italy - eastern european and germanic cultures

Milan - typical Saturday - fascist politicians

2006-12-01T06:21:00.000-05:00

better look at the related images as a SLIDESHOW @ picasa albums

gallery of thumbnails

Milan 25-11-2006 02:06

in milan the sun sets half hour later in the day than it does in NYC.
it makes a difference - just a bit more of daylight to get things done -

one night i woke up at 2 am and fell asleep again at 6 until 8.

my uncle gave me a couple of xanax -

wine could not make me sleepy -=
last night popped one
i felt warm good and mellow -
could not read anymore - woke up ok and the rainy day did not bother me - at all.

toilet here have 2 buttons for flushing -
the half flush for pee
and the heavy flush for people that have really grown up kids to drop off at the pool.

i saw one like that at the Canadian bookstore in nyc - mcnally robinson -
i guess canadians and italians are into conserving water -
but actually in NYC so many don t even bother to flush public toilets that maybe more flush water is conserved in the US.

I ran into a national neo fascist politician on his way to a speech near the duomo -
heavy sicilian accent and populist rethoric.
the fans looked old or dumb young right wing kids.

the mountain bike i borrowed broke the 30 Km/h speed limit for sure -
i saw only one guy with a nice roadbike and he was wearing an outfit.

most people that ride bikes here are women - ride leisurely -
city bikes
with baskets + kid seats + fenders etc

how can you go fast like that?

anyway here it feels a lot more relaxed to ride around -
cars seem more respectful and aware of cyclists -
the speed but slow down near you and change lane to pass a bike.

old people enjoy eating at mcdonald's
overall it seems a city where older generations have more of a grip on power.

a chinese girl
wants to sell me everything
a lighter a flash light etc
etc
99 cent store items here go for 8 [EIGHT!!!!!!] euros

she speaks no italian - but she is friendly -
i ask her how much a nail clipper is and she sys FOUR!!!!! EUROS FOUR!!!!

i buy some massage tool
she is kinda flirty and lets me take her picture

when i show her she smiles and keeps punching me on my shoulder ...

she understands Xie Xie but no Do ze...
i assume she speaks mandarin...
I ask her if she is from beijing/fujian/ guangdong/hong kong
but she does not understands what i am saying
after a senegalese guy sells me a travelogue book with pictures "7 days in dakar"
\5 euros
he tells me he hasn't sold anything today.

i ask him why he came to italy and learn a new language when he could have just gone to france.
he answers that it is a lot easier to be an illegal immigrant here than across the alps.

i gotta go this bar
my favorite milan bar "La belle aurore" is closing

they have wifi from somewhere and they treat me -
and the wine is just 2 bucks a glass
but they close at 2
stefano

Milan's Chinatown / Vito Acconci /Dark Roast / Smokers

2006-12-01T06:19:00.000-05:00

watch the photos at
SLIDESHOW @ picasa album

as a gallery of thumbnails

Milan 24-11-2006 20:23

i went to milan's chinatown
via paolo sarpi

more clothing stores than food/restaurant joints
every chinese business has the word "trading" on the sign

I went to a place were they roast and sell coffee
i had a marocchino
the half way between a cappuccino and an espresso macchiato.

you can get house blend 5 euros per kilogram
1 Kg=.56 pounds
1 euro = 1.28
coffee can be way cheaper than nyc [you can do the math as i did]

espresso tastes better here
i looked at all the roasted coffee
and nothing looks nearly as dark as a "new york" french roast

they all look brown no coffee here looks as dark as charcoal as in nyc -
burned.

anyway
espresso is 70 cents - cappuccino 1.2 - or less
vito acconci gives a lecture at galleria illy -
i am happy to have a videocamera -
up close - while he talks about following people in the street and taking their pix

\
italians are uptight about having their photo taken -
not used -
egyptian family on new style tram stuck in traffic has no problems with my camera

colorful trucks sell focaccia panini and beer to go/

larger scale than LA's taco trucks

i like the signs - graphical road signs -
i always liked visual symbols

in america you have to spend time reading
here you just see it - no need to speak the language.

transsexual tv hosts interviewing people out in the street

borrowed a mountain bike -
a lot easier more relaxing than riding in manhattan -
less potholes and drivers seem more respectful and aware of bike riders -
they may drive fast but they dont drive close to you.

but beware of cobblestones and crossing tram tracks.

i like this bar i went a few times
la belle aurore -
old style bar -
2 dollar glasses of red and in the daytime they make money on coffee and cappuccinos

at closing time they lower the gate and they all smoke

Milan - art opening - recollections

2006-12-01T06:15:00.000-05:00

look at the 70 pix here
as a slideshow
http://picasaweb.google.com/stefanog/Milan231120062023/photo#s5000672664538710034

as a gallery

Milan 23-11-2006 20:23

ran into old friends -
old people waiting for the bus
i stepped on a dog turd

drank cheap wine -
ate horse meat tartar and drank venetian sparkling wine
complementary of the old bar tender

old guy selling cold cuts -
he's been doing it for 65 years and he is 78 years old

old friend opened art gallery -
there are hookers across the street talking to each other in some east
european language.
people park on intersections - buses get stuck

maybe i will extend my stay

go to a town on a hill near trieste to visit my uncle -
he has a bike i can borrow and slovenia is just 3 km away -
i can just ride across the border and see another new county-
there it looks like the ozarks in missouri -
carsic rocs underground rivers
stalactites and stalagmites caves

in milan i like the cheap hotel signs -
seedy places for drugs deals and hookers
names like montecarlo - acapulco san francisco -
who knows if they will be still be here in 20 years?
i went to my old block
they built new condos around the block

i went to an old repair shop to get a lens fixed -
a man still doing the job in the back -
2 days - 80 euros -

i remember his partner old man with kind eyes -
the last time i saw him he could only talk with a machine he had to hold
on his throat -
i see his pictures on the wall -
i dont need to ask to know he has passed away -

i ran into people
haven't seen in ages
borrowed a bike - the city feels smaller -
i am happy to live in new york -
i see things in a different way -
i like to visit here
but being here makes me appreciate new york more
what there is granted here is an extra

but at leat here in milan public toilets are way cleaner and usually
people flush.

Pix - Rainy Night+Sunny Day in Milan

2006-12-01T05:50:00.000-05:00

gallery of images

Milan 22-11-2006 14:10

SLIDESHOW [way better - but you can always click "slideshow" from the gallery page]
http://picasaweb.google.com/stefanog/Milan221120061410/photo#s5000205362618433554

drizzle -
weather like in nyc - just feels not as cold
old friends to see - more than i thought
one thought we last saw each other 4 yrs ago but it is almost 7.

wine bars -
twice as much as in nyc - nice large wine glass -
4 euros no tipping needed - no tip involved
and you can drink outside -
there is a ledge just out the door.
i forgot in italy you have to pull to get out
push to get in -

america is words
italy is symbols
for traffic signs -
the bus stop shows you the waiting time -

people talk about political parties rather than political programs -
it is more like talking about sports.

an high school mate bought two buildings and sold renovated fancy apartments -
he became the honorary consul of cyprus -

strange -

i like visiting here -
i like not living here anymore -
i want to see more - soot with the awareness after a restoring sleep -
jet lagged

----

the rest in a slideshow here

in milan rain stopped -
blue sky sunny 66 F day

turkish truck got stuck in a small street of the old part of milan -
an old man with a dog in the bike basket
I asked what her name was

"Laika", -
like the first dog sent in space by the soviets that died of hunger or suffocation I knew.
the guy had 3 dogs one after the other -
all called Laika all mutts from the shelter

high school best friend bought a 3 level attic with 2 sun decks and a jacuzzi on the roof.

if it was in nyc it would be 1.5 million $?

at bar magenta now
a glass of nice wine in a nice glass is 4 euros
next to me there is a table with wall street types getting drunk -
actually they are americans - maybe wall street guys from wall street
all in blue/pinstriped blazers

i saw my 78 year old uncle i haven't seen since 1999
he had a hip replacement - but he still goes skiing on the alps and takes boat trips

corso di porta ticinese -
my favorite ice cream shop is a real estate agency

there is a tabacchi store that sells rolling papers for hash joints - expensive beer to go and if you want something else
you can get for 3 euros a mojito to go.

it is nice in milan you can walk and drink a beer as in nyc you were walking and sipping a snapple -

people at happy hour seem to eat more the free food rather than drink the half price drinks

i like toilets that have a foot pedal to flush.

bikes here are crappy -
less sporty than the bikes in nyc.
heavy beaters with squeaky fenders and excessive weight all over

went to some art fair -=
everyone looked old and conservative

one stand has the most unlikely installation -
some old baroque paintings hanging next to schnabels and warhols -
\hard to look at

--
there is a building where Ho Chi Min used to live and a restaurant on the ground floor where he used to eat.
I read somewhere he might have been a dishwasher in paris - or maybe he was a student there
before he became a revolutionary [or was he a terrorist?]

Lybian gas station Tamoil -
Qaddafi is the owner of the company -
they won a prize for their daisy shaped symbol.

--
i have a camera and a panasonic 3 chip videocamera
it is hard to use both
it is like being married to 2 women at the same time and you can't decide.

but maybe the motion camera needs a lot more of thinking and dedication
the still camera feels like a natural extension.

pix NYC to Milan jetlagged

2006-12-01T05:39:00.000-05:00

SLIDESHOW here
check some pix on the above link-

below thumbnails gallery

NYC-Milan jetlag 21-11-2006 09:55

jetlagged cuz i left at 6 pm and got to milan at 2 am NYC time -
look for a local cell phone sim card - find a citibank atm where i can get euros for cheap =

fancy pastry shop -
amazing croissants only .9 cents - in nyc would cost 3.5 bucks and be not nearly as good -
i notice things i used to NOT notice -

the weather is grey and overcast -
i have the jetlag daze - 24 hours with no sleep -

alitalia sucked but the wine was free - and made the uncomfortable seat more bearable -
the tv screen was fuzzy - i thought my eyesight got suddenly worse -
watched the latest spike lee movie - i knew everystreet in it.

i watched the fog of war on my macbook - and i realized my eyesight is still 20/20

6.5 years later - mmm
strange
but i lived here 33 years -

cappuccinos are so good. 1.20 euros - they are not overheated over steamed like in nyc -
the coffee is more smooth - less bitter than in nyc -
in NY only at nobu i had an espresso that tasted like t tastes here
and at some cheap pizza joint on bedford where a southern guy
from irpinia makes it himself.

I like the courtyards and the communal gardens here -
i need to rest and get around shoot more.