Back in the game

I am almost 3 months in Czech, left Geneve behind with memories remaining. 3 months in the Town of Telc, swimming in booze, flying high and spending all my earnings away so fast. That is the reason of no fresh posts over here. All this funny shit is beeing capped so far by yesterday's High School Reunion Party.

Very pleasant and friendly meeting 10 years after leaving exam. It is great to see that all the people I spent my teenage with in one classroom are doing so great, spread to all imaginable kinds of businesses, services, whatever, proud parrents, succesfully and happy. I am proud of you guys, gud luck 2 yall in your next days. Looking forward to next reunion. :)

Quads

Delicatessen (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro / 1991)

Was that funny? Or not? I do not know, as I do not know wheather I like it or not.
3/5

Neither poster nor cover
Postava k podpirani (Jan Schmidt, Pavel Juráček / 1963)

Maybe it is best attempt of Kafka's atmosphere in film. Variration to The Process. Problem is that I consoder acting and behaving of the main character in this book totaly retarded. Comunist circumstances in this movie make it little more beliavable. I'm really surprised that there could be made this movie in that time. But I made it to the end only cause it was so short.
1/5

Intimni osvetleni (Ivan Passer / 1965)

Wonderful paint of the most ordinary life. Just feelings of the atmosphere. I do not like New Wave films a lot, but this exception proves the rule. Fifth point goes for the beauty of Vera Kresadlova and lovely and charming spontaneity of her character Stepa.
5/5

Paris, Texas (Wim Wenders / 1984)

Strong, slowly told story. My relationship to this film went the same way like the relationship of the son to his recovered father - surprise, expectation, dislike, finding and love. So emotive end after all that finding, meeting in the cabin and finding very themselves. Tears during last scene!
4/5

Trips

Wholetrain (Florian Gaag / 2006)
CZ dubbed

Movie about life of graffiti writers. Struggle between 2 crews and against law. Quite reliable I guess. I did not like their styles too much. :)
3/5

Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly / 2001)
Director's Cut, 2004

=-o WTF?!? Richard Kelly a) uses placebo to cure his sick mind, b) uses brutal strong mushrooms c) watches films by David Lynch too much d) a+b+c all together. This is so extraordinary film that I do not know wheather it is plus or not. I did not understand at all (I do not understand a lot of things in films by Lynch, but I like it in spite of it. Here I am completely unsure about anything :)
Btw. Correct answer is d) or p) or x).
?/5

Deal (Gil Cates Jr. / 2008)

Very good begin till the moment Alex leaves Tony. Than the story goes more and more predictable and in final scene I was pretty sure that Alex was folding best hand right at the moment he was throwing it into the muck. (I thought he had Ladies, but Rockets are more impressive of course) Shannon Elisabeth is pretty nice hooker (But Elisabeth Shue still rulez)
2/5

Building post

There is a huge discussion about design of The New National Library of the Czech Republic made by Future Systems, a studio of Jan Kaplicky, czech native architect living in London. This design won a competition but divided czech nation to Love-It and Hate-It halves. One say that it looks like terrible space spit being too agressive to Prague's look. The other say that it is beautiful and top modern architecture and if you did not like it you are conservative type livining back in the days.

How is my sick view? I love modern architecture and hate this design. :) I've been checking all designs made by Future Systems and it's simply not my cup of tea. There are only few of them I like - The Earth Centre, House in Wales, Naples subway and other few I find quite interesting - Hauer King House, Maserati Museum. But most of them look so artificial to me.

Btw. It is not a space spit, fools. It is Fry's meal of course. :D

In contrary of Kaplicky I love designs by Frank Gehry. This guy is an artist who makes huge sculptures in which people are living, working and having fun.

Sketches of Frank Gehry (Sydney Polack / 2005)

Very nice documentary by well known director who is not niether documentarist nor architect about well known guy who sculptures buildings.
4/5

Portishead - Third

There is still more than month to release date of Portishead new album and it is all over the internet allready. I was afraid a lot of this album - it is first studio LP after 10 years and almost no live performances and I was not sure wheather this reunion is not made for money only. But I have to say that there is no need to be scared. It is still the old good Portishead, but not the same - which is great. There is a progress, live instruments are making the music more complex. It seems as very natural next step after first 2 albums of electronic trip-hop and then played along with an orchestra. I've heard the album only once so far, but I'm sure that I'm gonna buy it (as well as I did all previous Portishead LPs).
Btw. This is very subjective opinoin, cause I'm huge fan of this group. :)

Portishead [2008] Third
comes April 28 (UK) and April 29 (U.S.)

01 Silence
02 Hunter
03 Nylon Smile
04 The Rip
05 Plastic
06 We Carry On
07 Deep Water
08 Machine Gun
09 Small
10 Magic Doors
11 Threads

Not a gangsta lover

Once Upon A Time In America (Sergio Leone / 1984)
Director's Cut, CZ dubbed

I am not an expert in gangster movies (I've seen Bugsy and Bronx Tale so far), but this one was so boooring that I had to try really hard to watch till the end (almost 4 hours!). I don't mind of slow flow and long shots, but there has to be something what makes you enjoying/forgotting it. I did not find anything like this in this one.
2/5

Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese / 1990)

Expecting too much (again), getting much less. I find the end (drug addict and joining the Victim Witness Program for saving life) much more interesting than the rest of film. It seems ganster movie are not my cup of tea. I have to see if The Godfather is so unique being #1 on imdb.com TOP 250.
3/5

There were 2 more films I had been watching but did not held up till the end - Scarface (Howard Hawks, Richard Rosson / 1932) and Who's The Man? (Ted Demme / 1993).

Puzzle almost finished

The day I started this blog last big piece of our huge puzzle went down. Hopefully all the cables connecting all pieces togheter are gonna work properly :) It is so courageous to let a sickminded primitive do such kind of work :D But I'm pretty sure it's better than "italian job". If it is courageous to let me do cabeling, then it is suicide to let Italians. Have anyone ever told them that wires are not spaghetti? :D

Toxique

After pretty long time I've heard Czech LP which I really like. There are not many projects to be comparable to rest of the world. I mean that it can be played on any radio and listeners will not say: WTF?!? :) I confess that I do not check CZ scene very much so maybe there are other good guys, but not in radio playable music. I have not heard anything such good except Jan Muchow's projects, The Ecstasy Of Saint Theresa especially.
It's not toxique waste. It's just Toxique.

Toxique [2008] Toxique

01 Soul & Shine
02 Two Sides
03 Be Good
04 Honey
05 Clap Trap
06 My Dear
07 The Right Man
08 Remember
09 Naked Sculpture
10 Telephone
11 Bad Feelin‘
12 Count Ten
13 F*Business
14 So Into You
15 Story
16 Way
17 Bonus: Two Sides (radio edit)

Take it easy guys

It is nice when one likes his/her work, but do not forget - work is not everything. So do not stretch it too much and enjoy your lifes a little at least. It is always bad when someone notices your existence (?) as lately as you start to stink. :D

THX God It's Friday

Classic YP motto comes true after a week again and lil hint for me (it is more evident when written) - don't go to work tomorrow asshole :D Incoming weekend is in token of struggle. Housecleaning and laundering vs. nice cars. Plus I have to cook some meal to avoid meat becoming stinky as last time :) Shit. Rhyme for this weekend:

Life is hard, life is a struggle
no one wants to finish in bubble.

(To finish in bubble in poker tournament means to finish in the first not-paid place. F.e. if first 30 places were paid, the bubble is place #31. It is similar as 4th place in sports where gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded - In Czech this is called "potato medal"))

Skillful guys among us

Crazy pocket pairs

Another my love is poker. No Limit Hold'Em in fact. Hopefully I will get into the other variants too, but I try to master NL HE first. I am still studying that game and it seems to me the more I study the worse I play :D I play online cause here in Switzerland are very strict laws concerning gambling. You can play poker in casino only (not in card room), but swiss casinos do not offer Hold'Em play. :/

My so far alone live experience comes from $2/$5 game in Sky City Casino, Auckland, NZ during my christmas vacation. (Shut-outs 2 Jan &Eva! Take care mates!) I was confused of chips and pot counting and actually everything and dealer did not help me at all. Very second hand I was dealt Rockets and my hand reaching my chips was shaking as I had parkinsonism :D I played it so badly that I can not believe it so far. I should fold that monster hand on flop (there was a guy pretty sure holding 2 pair or set on the flop re-raising all-in initial better and I was third (last) to speak) but I went all-in without thinking. However I was lucky as hell, cause I caught set on turn and full-house on the river beating his nines full(!) and more than dubbled my stack. After 2 hours I quit with 4x buy-in in chips, which was pretty nice.

I am looking forward to live play in CZ, poker is in boom there. I am expecting more tougher players there than in Auckland (there was a heaps of limpers) but I shall see.

Here is very nice illustration how this game can be beautiful and cruel at the same time. It is video of a crazy hand played during Party Poker European Open III. 5 out of 6 players are dealt pocket pairs! Great read and laydown of Kings! (although it would be winning hand) and Aces beaten by Ladies on lucky river.

Turn your brain off

Surf's Up (Chris Buck, Ash Brannon / 2007)

CZ dubbed

So cute and cool that I can accept that easy cliché story. "Time hole" movie - there does not exist time (and anything else) during watching. :) 4/5 goes for original version (which I have not seen, but for sure it is much more better)) cause I have to cut down one point for CZ version because of dubbing translation. "Kuře Joe z Pardubic" is horrible with respect to the movie. Big Z ruleZ. 8) Z is for Zurfing.
4/5

Superbad (Greg Mottola / 2007)

CZ dubbed

Dumb teenage moralizing comedy based on shit-n-fuck humour. One extra point for cops' and McLovin's nite ride, that was awesome :D If there were not the cops I would not watch till the end I guess. Without them it would be really superbad.
3/5

Swiss watch

12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet / 1957)

Oh geez, how I love this flick! Every single second! Nothing surplus, nothing missing. If you have good script and know how to shoot it, there is no need of billion bucks worth computer tricks. Just 12 men in one room. How could be such non-action, conversation based film so thrilling? (Another one is Who's Affraid Of Virgina Woolf? by Mike Nichols, 1966) Btw. George Voskovec starring here is CZ immigrant, very popular CZ stage actor before WWII.
5/5

La Môme (Olivier Dahan / 2007)

Almost unbelievable life story of Edith Piaf. Born on sidewalk, grown in whorehouse, singing on the streets for living, reaching the sky and shining like a star, drug addicted and dying alone. Full throttle edgewise life. Marion Cottilard as Edith is absolute, nevertheless I was amazed more by Edith's life than by the movie.
Btw. Last year, when I was in Grasse (charming town), I did not know she had died there. Now I am not sure whether it is good or not... :/
3/5

Transamerica (Duncan Tucker / 2005)

Very unusual story about respecting the individuality and finding mutual understanding among family members and people in general as well. Tragicomedy & originality themselves.
4/5

Last month in Geneve ahead

Today I know for sure that my appointment won't be extended any more and it means that my work on The Atlas Experiment at CERN and stay in Meyrin, Geneve, Suisse is over by the end of March. So I won't see Czech national soccer team playing against Portugal and Turkey here in Geneve in June as I supposed to, as well as I miss another June event - Fête de la musique. A 3 day in-city open-air music festival which was really nice experience last year.

So the last big event I am gonna visit (and which I missed last year) is 78th International Motor Show. I have never been on such huge motoristic event before (I've seen veteran car rally finish in South Park only) so I am looking forward to see some magnifique cars.

Hopefully the last month here will be nice and Mt. Blanc will show its beauty along with whole massif of Alps visible from here when it is clear weather.

Movie lover

I love films and I am gonna to write here some notes about those I have seen. I prefer to watch them with original sound - the atmosphere of movie is more or less always decreased when dubbed. For more I try to improve my english by watching english speaking movies, cause understanding makes me problem. Turn off the lights, the film begins.

----


Malcom X (Spike Lee / 1992)

I was watching till the end only cause I wanted to know his story. I've heard a lot about Spike Lee's films (I've seen only The Inside Man so far - great one) and I've been expacting too much I guess. I was just following the story as if it is pure documentary.
2/5

The Great Debaters (Denzel Washington / 2007)

Another movie about Afro-American history. Contrary to Malcom X I say just - Wow! I have been watching without breathing. The Great Debaters is greatly shooted great story (based on true). Nowadays there are freestyle MCs battling for respect, trophies and money, back in the days of this film there were well prepared debaters battling for respect, trophies and a chance to change the world. What a flick, big up Denzel!
4/5

Flåklypa Grand Prix (Ivo Caprino / 1975)
[Pinchcliffe Grand Prix]
EN dubbed

"Well, well! String me up and stuff me in a hen-coop!" :D Greatly old skool puppet animated film.I prefer dubbed version here because when reading subtitles you do not focus on the picture fully what is crutial here. Simple good-vs-evil story, but millions of details in each shot make it spectacular. And Ludwig (Lambert in EN) - an always scared hypochondriac mole wearing hat, scarf and rucksack - is the biggest killa for me. :D
4/5

Jigureul jikyeora! (Jun-hwan Jeong / 2003)
[Save The Green Planet!]

The most unique film I've ever seen I guess. I recommend to have no information about this movie before watching. It is hard to describe anyway. Extraordinary mix of all genres in one flick. Be ready for surprise.
5/5

Ed Solo vs. 50 Cent

Ed Solo & Skool of Thought vs. 50 Cent ft Justin Timberlake and Timbaland: Sludge Technology (She wants it) - Prodee mashup

This mash-up kills me for few days already.

Sick mind strikes hard!

Well, my first post concerned a thing (music) I like. Let's have a look on the opposite. What I don't like (as lot of people I know) is getting up to job in the morning. To be in the job at 9AM is much more better than 6AM as it was in Czech, but it is still a mission. :)) But what I really don't like, actually WHAT SUCKS REALLY LOT (when one reaches his job of course, especially after oversleeping and then speeding as hell with no breakfast), is to find out that it is day off and almost no one is there!
Merde!!
First I thought it is some kind of holiday or something, hard to say, cause here in Switzerland there are lot of public holidays held in some parts of country only. Especially here in Geneve is everything completely strange :D (I'm kidding now of course.) Then I thought it is maybe a day off at CERN only, but my houselord was at home in the morning too, so it has to be something bigger :) When I came home my desktop calendar told me IT IS SATURDAY!!
Sick²!
In Czech we say something like this: Nothing warms your heart better than disaster or bad luck of other person. So feel free to laugh aloud. :)

OK, let's enjoy the weekend. Hopefully the rain will stop at least for one day. Otherwise it is gonna be a 2 day film festival. Either SUNday or laptop-fullscreen-home-cinema.
Btw. Is anyone able to explain me why is rain ALL THE TIME the heaviest near swimming pool and soccer ground in Meyrin? :D

Let's go sick!

What a perfect day for starting my blog!
29th of February - a day which almost does not exist :)
So nothing matters when this blog dies, cause it almost was not born.
Sick day!
And why sick mind? Simply cause it is :) Heaps of strange and sick thoughts flying inside and some of them hit this space since today.

I can start with something I like. If you ask me what kind of music I listen to, I am gonna answer instantly - black music. Rap, RnB, jazz, funk, gospel, soul... whatever style, but groovy black music which has feeling and balls.
Few days ago I tried to put togheter list of my most favourite LPs. I mean LPs that I love to listen from the very beginning to the very end, no skiping. There is not so many such albums (some of them are compilations, to be exact). The result was following (in order of release years):

The Doors [1967] The Doors


The Velvet Underground & Nico [1967] Banana cover by Andy Warhol


Lalo Schifrin [1973] Enter The Dragon (Complete Score)


Björk [1993] Debut


Nirvana [1994] MTV Unplugged in NY


Alanis Morissette [1995] Jagged Little Pill


Maria Joao Pires [1996] Frederic Chopin - Nocturnes - 2CD


The Prodigy [1997] The Fat Of The Land


Portishead [1998] Roseland NYC Live


Björk [2001] Vespertine


France Gall [2001] Long Box - 3CD


Paris Combo [2001] Living-Room


Ojos de Brujo [2002] Barí


Amp Fiddler [2004] Waltz Of A Ghetto Fly


Aaliyah [2005] Ultimate Aaliyah - 2CD


Dixxx [2005] Dixxx


Platnum [2005] Rock Me


Dudley Perkins [2006] Expressions (2012 A.U.)

There are not many "black" albums, are there? :D Female singers kick my ass much more obviously.