TRAVEL DIARY

A weblog regularly updated by Jodi Rose.

  

VIEWING ALL POSTS FOR: AUGUST 2006

Thursday, August 31, 2006

9:38 AM
Posted by jodi rose

faith and goodwill

the bridges ARE singing

together

a love song

to the world

Sunday, August 27, 2006

12:06 PM
Posted by jodi rose

the gold coast remains as luridly opulent a monument to naked greed as you will see outside dubai. Haven't made it to the versace palace yet, but today we have planned a trip to paradise spa.
anything involving water and bubbles is good.
otherwise hibernating in usual fab philippa style, watched most of new series 'weeds' on dvd - very dark dystopic comedy about a suburban housewife who takes up dealing to get by after her husband dies. excellent cast - elizabeth perkins, mary louise parker - and shockingly funny dialogue. So that's the trash quotient, and a little bit of the most recent series of 'entourage' via one of the US writers tivo.

Mixed with reflection on how to live a more authentic life, make less impact with my environmental footprint, be more present and grounded everyday.
Nothing if not a juxtaposition of complete opposites.

Again find comforting wisdom in strange places - today it's from tina arena, ex child pop star who has reinvented herself as a french-australian chanteuse.
I love that phrase, 'reinvented herself.' I've tried it using shoes - according to the wisdom of a glasgow theatre director who commented that you can tell and build a character simply by their shoes - in particular those kick-ass red boots I picked up in berlin and had to post back to myself as excess luggage. Currently wearing in some chunky platform clogs with red flowers, and a pair of plain black heels still waiting to make their debut, in the uberjodi of the future. Ms International Bridge Consultant.

Tina says 'In Australia... 10 years ago I was a laughing stock. No-one wanted to work with me. But you've got to live through that transition... If you work hard enough, and if you stick at it long enough and believe in what you do, it's interesting how people come around.' Indeed, and once you are successful, everyone wants to be part of your story.
It's an incredibly privilege being able to operate in an international context, where people respond to the work I do, and keep receiving enthusiastic and supportive emails from people who actually want to help and take part in the project in various ways.
Very different to the slightly bemused australian art world attitude of mild interest mixed with disbelief at exactly how I'm managing to keep doing this. People keep asking - how are you doing this?
Persistence, persistence, persistence.
So, time to crawl out of this trough of decadence and get back on the bridge.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

1:28 PM
Posted by jodi rose

Walking along the beach thursday afternoon, I thought to myself, this time last week I was tramping around the streets of berlin dropping off bags of second hand clothes that had somehow accumulated even in constant movement. Anyone with ideas on how to live a minimal life, bring it on!
Managed to spend my entire life in Australia never having set foot on the gold coast, until now.

Very bizarre place. Such naked greed and total lack of style or sustainability. Looked up from the train around Nerang and had a physical shudder of revulsion at the hideous skyscraper monstrosities propogated along the coast. Up close, it's even worse. Grotesque displays of 80's greedier is better ethic - if it can be called an ethic in any way shape or form - think of the drain on natural resources, qld is in stage 3 drought restrictions, not to mention erosion, and they are literally ON the beach. Sand dunes, apartment blocks. Ugh. The strangest thing is how beautiful the coast is, miles of golden sands and clear blue waves stretching into the endless horizon... until you look back at the shoreline. Passed the local highlights on the bus in from Robina, the prestigious Bond University campus, Jupiters Casino, a high-adrenalin fun-fair with terrifying rides, and got out just before seaworld.
Strange mix of lifestyle retirees, tourists and holiday makers and all the people who live here servicing those industries - window cleaners must make a fortune. Everyone has their own swimming pool, just had a bizarre walk down tedder st after breakfast, shops and stalls full of mushrooms for some food festival, even a stuffed mushroom on legs. Yes, life IS too short!

Still, as I'm actually here to see Philippa, the surroundings are merely another strange backdrop to a few days of relaxation and indulgence. London - Zagreb - Bratislava - Warsaw - Main Beach. Queensland, it's another world. At least this is the slightly less garish part, a few beaches up from Surfers Paradise, with the rare older two-storey holiday houses still clinging desperately to the coast, although as the waves of development wash over them. More lying around reading to do, and perhaps another visit to the sauna and pool, then paradise spa beckons. Philippa promised we can go for tea at the vesace hotel - go for the extreme, I say. Although we got a little worried at how we were going to fit in doing nothing, with all this activity.
Back to bridges next week, last days of unwinding from jetlag.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

11:21 AM
Posted by jodi rose

a bit out of order here, but then life is never so linear as we like to think.
Had a fabulous sunday in Hong Kong, wandered along hollywood rd, most of the antique shops closed, but found a few art galleries, the old police station, fringe club (also closed), and Man Mo or Mo Man Temple. Oldest in the city, wonderful carved dragons and coloured stone roof, inside the hazy red smoke from hundreds of incense coils hanging in the entrance, and gorgeous altars with fierce looking Gods and beautiful silk hangings.
Bought a few lucky charms which had been blessed, and caught a taxi to the star ferry. Wonderful old boats, green and white stripes, stars on all the seats, and intriguing culture on the pier, bustling with groups of young women sitting on blankets, chattering, playing cards and showing off their shopping from the day. Skipped Tsim Tsa Shui entirely, got straight on the bus to the Cattle Depot Artists Village - such a great name, how could I not visit? Up in the north of Kowloon, got there as everything was closing, but the big gallery still open with changeover from a fascinating exhibition - charmed by three cultures? can't remember - of culture busting ad images, 'sound in the city' very cool posters and some videa I didn't watch, new show of graduate sculpture being installed. Chatted with an artist up a ladder hanging red tubular material in loopy balls, then walked down through almost deserted streets to eventually find the Kowloon city ferry pier, and made it onto the last ferry of the day. Chugged past tall metal dredging barges, all huddled together in hulking dark shapes, drifted through the constant orange haze across the harbour, dodging ships, speedboats, junks and other ferries, to North Point pier. Found my way back to the hotel on the tram to Happy Valley - didn't make it to the valley, but had been wanting to take the tram since I arrived - and flaked out for an early night. Managed to avoid the 'symphony of lights' skyscraper sound and light show that is repeated every night, and woke up to packing mysteriously expanded stuff into suitcases - yet again - and marvellous well-organised city check-in for my flight at the central railway station.
MTR to Tsing Yi and meeting the chief bridge engineers, who gave me a warm welcome, and were very curious about how exactly I planned to get sound from their monitoring devices. So am I, but I know it can be done! Expressed a desire to visit the bridge, and then another party from Chinese university showed up for their tour, so I joined them.
Drove along the typhoon-proof maintenance road inside the bridge, and then took the elevator right up to the top of the pylon. Clmbed a few ladders (which if you knew how much I hate them, would appreciate the gritted teeth and clenched toes involved) and then emerged out into the sky, looking over the islands (Lantau, Tsing Yi and Hong Kong), and down along the cables to the roadway. Extraordinary.
I am constantly in awe of the incredible generosity from people who have no need to give me access to these places, yet choose to. The lovely IT boy arranged a highways dept car to drive me back to the station, and only had an hour of wandering around the airport where I tried not to shop but was defeated by the beautifully designed tiny kenzo perfume travel pack. Ah well, at least it's miniature!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

11:03 AM
Posted by jodi rose

remnants from flight over almost dispersed by sunlight and dog walking.
threw out the rule book and decided to sleep all day, as stayed up on the plane watching movies the entire flight. seemed to work, had dinner with julaine, garry and helen, a few glasses of wine, some laughter and conversation then excellent night sleep, up bright, early and brimming with ideas and purpose. Quick walk with Nera to enmore park and coffee at the portuguese corner cafe, and ready for a new burst of focus and productivity. something in the virgin atlantic subliminal 'positive attitude' program seems to be working - generic relaxation music with almost inaudible voices whispering under it. All I could make out was 'it's ok to...' from a number of different people, but had me smiling on the plane, and even laughing a few times. Wonder what they're saying, if there is any propaganda in the feel-good messages. Ah, but there always is, you say.

Australia is good, in so many ways. The light, the air, the sunshine.
No matter how far I go or how long I stay away, like peter allen, it will always be my home country. I can never be from anywhere else.
Something lovely about that. The faint tinge of jasmine in the air last night, first buds almost spring, the sun shining warm and delicious. I remember why people love this place so much. After the pollution of Hong Kong, cold rainy Glasgow in midsummer, the massive neverending rows of apartments in Berlin, there is much to appreciate.

Definitely borrowing a dog more often, at least until I have a room of my own, if not an entire house or apartment - they are so good to hang out with, makes me happy seeing Nera gallop through the park.

Feel a huge burst of concentration and life-project admin coming on. The lists are out, and it's all waiting for me to get working so everything can fall into place.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

3:38 PM
Posted by jodi rose

surrendered my lip balm to security at london stansted in extremely trying air berlin transit involving going through international passport control, dashing around the terminal to fast track and then back out to the plane in exactly same place just in time to get back on. security guard in berlin was cute, when I took off my jacket he said - 'is that all?' and look a little flustered when I asked, 'well, what else do you want me to take off?' to the amusement of those in the queue.

shepherded into the unacompanied minor's herd by ground staff at hong kong airport, who then abandoned me at passport control. sat next to 15 year old coming home from visit to his father in jersey, who told me the new biometric passports for hong kong residents let you scan yourself into the country, one door opens, enter thumb for matching and then you're in. Very James Bond, I commented. He then expanded it to iris scan and voice matching, but I think was joking - imagine the data storage you'd need for all those sound files. I like the idea of just leetting yourself into the country. They're so flimsy and arbitrary-seeming, these national borders. Just whack up a plastic lectern and put on a uniform, and everyone falls into mass hypnosis. Although the men with guns are a deterrent from trying to deconstruct the notion of nations.

Oh dear, jet lag evident in terrible puns. Hotel room is fab, king size bed, small bath, very spacious, although the staff are a little supercilious in that fancy hotel manner - guess they can tell I only paid half price on the internet, no matter how friendly I am. Swimming pool not open, lunch buffet fab desserts, tiny portions served in shot glasses and soy sauce saucers. Off to explore now, taking the star ferry to tsim tsa shui, trying to find the cattle depot artists ranch, maybe see the symphony of lights. Meeting tomorrow with the Hong Kong Highways Major Structures Department, Bridge Health Senior and Chief Engineers, to share experiences of bridge vibrations. Can't wait!

Thursday, August 17, 2006

5:22 PM
Posted by jodi rose

no-org blog? exhibition opened this week, singing bridges included.


machines for singing
Listen to the subtle, complex and delicate sounds of a building singing in brighton.


schallmachine06 miniature concerts at fed square melbourne festival


time to get on the plane now.
bon voyage!

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

8:18 AM
Posted by jodi rose

finally made it out of the city and into a tent. if there was an award for wonkiest tent, I would have won hands down. have you ever seen a conceptual artist try to put up a tent? yes, crooked and amusing.
kept the rain out though, and provided entertainment for all around.

goldmund festival, on site of previous camp tipsy, which in turn took place in an old east german scout - student camp. very cute old wooden shacks along the shore of kleiner lake wukensee, near Biesenthal. Adventure getting out there, no idea where I was going or exactly how to get there, even with printed instructions from bvg. Realised I am a control traveller - like to know where I am going and how to get there, really freaked me out to be on a train to Straslund not sure if it would actually stop at bernau or keep going. although it said it would on the sign, and thankfully it did. strange abandoned looking station on the edge of berlin, long wait for the bus with a german family also on their way to the festival, not allowed on the bus with their dog, so caught a taxi. I wandered along the lake with another bunch of young berliners heading we knew not quite where, but found it in the end. Wonderful set-up, hammocks, lounge room and bar along the waterfront, beach volleyball, outdoor chess and a teepee, pizza oven, another bar with lounges at the stage, and 500 very good-looking people wandering between them - uber hip with a scruffy edge. Music largely folktronica, with some twisted country in the morning and johnny cash /velvet underground while I was swimming in the lake. Fabulous pontoon with rope to get out to a floating barge with fireplace in the middle, another lounge suite, and coat rack for the obligatory nude swimming. Dancing to world music, lying in hammock watching light patterns on the leaves, admiring the three dimensional trees (they had light projections that created wierd new shapes) and talking nonsense with torben, derek, alex, jasmine, ian and various random people until nearly dawn. Drifted along to the lake-side lounge sunday morning for fresh lemonade served to me by a pirate, and a sleepy fruhstuck, then delivered home to my very door by the lovely theo, who makes loopy electronic dance music, driver bands around in his truck and dj's at the kaffee berger. Monday spent in post-festival haze, returned tent to seamus, realised that I am about to leave the country and started panicking trying to cram all this stuff somehow accumulated back into one piece of luggage. and a laptop bag. hmmmm. times like this I wish for a tardis.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

8:14 AM
Posted by jodi rose

tacheles house, zapata cafe thursday
human elephant - joy division meets kraftwerk

white trash, fast food - diamond lounge friday
minit - new order meet sonic youth
bob dylan goes electric moment - taxi driver 'they're that electronic duo aren't they' me 'yes, but they were playing GUITAR!!!!' shock!
not horror. lovely hearing torben sing, very fuzzy atmospheric guitar

sydney reunion with tony, clayton and anthony in the audience
conversation about 'living the dream' older established cultural nomad who said, no it's a nightmare!. aha. not only me. relationship hell = constant travel. endless trams around berlin as bicycle too wobbly.

getting into the friedrichshain vibe, whole lotta brunching going on.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

3:38 AM
Posted by jodi rose

Did I mention that Johan has a selection of Moomin cups in his apartment - it makes me very happy to drink my tea with Snufkin or Little My.

Slowly creaking back into a sense of purpose and focus.
Woke up early - really, 8am and got up instead of drifting back into vague not-quite-sleep, did yoga, went for a walk - all those things I promise myself. Don't feel completely bright-eyed and sparky for it, maybe the three coffees in two cafes after the walk negated some of the good effects (!) but far more on-form than previously. Finished reading 'Around the World in 80 Dates' - fabulous! Inspirational. Of course also research for travel/memoir writing. Really, wishing I had thought of that instead of this art caper. Ah well, I wouldn't have had the chutzpah to just go on dates, you need a smokescreen in most cases I find. Or is that just insecurity? I am always open to dating advice - in this case, feeling good about yourself and taking risks/leap of faith being the one that stood out for me - and doing my best to be open, present, honest, available and all the things I would like in another person. Do unto others, as they say.

Either way, I actually do genuinely enjoy my chosen vocation, when I get some work done. Which today I managed, writing 3371 words of my American Farm Chapter 2002 in a few hours this afternoon.

Amazing how productive you can be when you just sit down and do it.

Valubale advice from one of my writing correspondents (is that a tautology? writing as in career and correspondent as in email) who said, in the words of her multi-published friend 'the queen of horror' "you have to let yourself write crap for the first draft". And also quoted Peter Carey who says that writers often imagine being published will quell their fears and self-doubts, but just wait, it makes no difference.

It seems like this slow, creaking ship of fools has managed to avoid the worst of recent rocky waters, and having painstakingly slowed down and changed course, is almost ready to go full-steam ahead again.
But not quite....
Continue to practice my german with the tram lady.

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

8:20 PM
Posted by jodi rose

How much do I love the bbc world service?

Woke up this morning, roughly the same time as yesterday - which I hear is a good thing, in a program about a documentary film maker and his insomnia which becomes the subject of his latest film. No matter how little sleep you've had, just waking up at the same time helps create a regular rhythm. Then use the extra hours in the middle of the night to get serious, complex work done, and during the day when everything is vague and fuzzy it's time for the light lifting and general duties. He talks about living in a state of permanent jetlag, like being in another time zone, all the time.

Before that, a fantastic program about writing and the creative process, produced and hosted by Hanif Kureishi with plenty of insight and some useful tips about the difference between writing as literature and therapy. the main one being having a receiver or reader which changes everything. so, I'm almost on top of that one after all this practice ;) Still struggling with structure and form but promised myself would have fun with collage and word play today. nothing serious.

The morning's programs started with a very inspiring collaboration between the Honey Bee network and MIT Fab Lab, exploring the instrumentation and fabrication divide as opposed to digital divide in developing nations, which have a very different need for technological tools and applications. Also the implication of personal creativity using technology in 'over-developed' countries, instead of tech being something done to you, it is a tool you can use and manipulate.

So, that's enough repackaging of world media, a few more emails and then out for a morning coffee with Derek at la tienda del barrio on niederbarnimstrasse. and brief walk to get the sense of going to work before coming back to the computer screen. Really need an outdoor job. Time to get back on the bridge. Hong Kong coming up!

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

9:14 AM
Posted by jodi rose

From SoundTransit - a collaborative, online community dedicated to field recording and phonography:

'We are proud to host Mazen Kerbaj's improvisation/ field recording
Starry Night excerpt - recorded on Mazen's Beirut balcony during the first night of the Israeli assault on Lebanon.'

"a minimalistic improvisation by:
mazen kerbaj / trumpet
the israeli air force / bombs

recorded by mazen kerbaj on the balcony of his flat in beirut,
on the night of 15th to 16th of july 2006."

Mazen Kerbaj was born in 1975 in Beirut and lived there since. His main activities are comics, painting and music. His blog contains writings, drawings and sounds created under the threat of Israeli bombs in Lebanon.

Please share this material with anyone who might be interested in a
first-person account of what is happening right now in the Middle East.'

(Thank you to Derek and Sara)

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

9:10 AM
Posted by jodi rose

floating

falling

failing

*

another bizarre conversation juxtaposition
neural transmitters rhythmic priorities vs 20th centure dandies
too many fleamarkets feather boa shoes hat electrical impulses
then suddenly everyone disappeared. wandering cafes alone
still not really here no focus can't be with people can't be alone
listening to bbc world service the nightmare continues
what does it take to bring peace? even for a moment. somewhere.

Sunday, August 6, 2006

7:08 PM
Posted by jodi rose

sunday morning. up early for fleamarkets.
dinner with sara, derek and jasmine at hundertwasser cafe last night,
fantastic to not leave the 'hood. spend an inordinate amount of time negotiating public transport - hoping to find the bike of my dreams.
rain has settled in for the weekend, sudden cold snap - a relief after all that brain melting heat, but slightly difficult wardrobe adjustment.
talking with sara and derek last night about the stress of life on the road, she commented that it feels like what you are doing is always disappearing under you. yes, dissolving away as you step on to the next foothold. ah well, the art career nomad is still heavily privileged.
we know, we know. seems like a time where everyone is taking stock, charting the next steps of the path, refocusing. now, out into the world.

Friday, August 4, 2006

9:42 AM
Posted by jodi rose

so easy adjusting to berlin state of mind. never go to bed before 2 and don't get up until at least 12. the state has noticed the vast population of artists in the city with a monthly public transport card that starts at 10am every morning, recognising that many people don't work normal hours. although really, the streets are almost dead until at least 3 in the afternoon. and jasmine tells me that it's perfectly normal, nothing opens until 12. am almost ready to give in and become a complete night-owl.
went to an art opening tonight that involved dancing in the window and conversation about fassbinder, interspersed with cute pony-tailed miss kittinish girl who invited me to dance then said 'I really like your...style.' very friendly. A glimpse of the decadence the city is famed for. Ran into some festival friends from helsinki and vilnius, going to catch up with them at the mile long beer festival on the weekend, hope to find a second hand bike at flohmakt to escape the tyranny of the night bus. learning pronunciation from the tram lady who announces each stop, and curious about really learning the language properly, to see if I can actually express myself and have a personality. Moments of lucidity in english, getting somewhere, but slowly. May as well be writing this proposal in german. And now that old famous sound artist who does work with bridges has gone and miked up the millennium bridge and the sound is played as you walk into the tate modern. damn, the friend who told me was quite incensed, but that's Jodi's work, was his response. Ah well. I'm sure there's plenty of room for many interpretations of the sounds of bridges. And my symphony will be heart-rendingly poignant. eventually. It's all there, simmering away.