A few quick shots...

Just to let folks know...

My project, A Dinner Party, is almost complete. Here are a few images for you.

More to follow soon...

Friends in Europe... Part One

I've been back for well over a month, but I'm just now getting around to posting a bit here. My next few posts will be about the people I've met while being over in Europe.

Riccardo, Vefik, Eirik, and myself

At the Film Academy of Miroslav Ondricek in Pisek, I was enrolled in an International Film Studies program. I was the only student from the United States. There was supposed to be another from West Virginia State University, but circumstances changed shortly after I got there. My roommate, Vefik, was from Turkey. Above us was Eirik, originally from Norway but living in Denmark. Also in the program was Riccardo, born in Italy but spent most of his life in Germany. To top things off, we had George, from the country of Georgia.

It was an eclectic group, but we all generally got along. Also, of course, there was Iain and Anna.

On the tour I did with Dad, I met several people. Most were from New Zealand, but there were a few from Australia as well. Lots of fantastic accents. Dad practically adopted some of them. A group of Kiwis (people from New Zealand) bought him a Swiss Army Knife on his birthday. Several of us went to the top of Europe together.

I can't even tell you how many people I met in hostels. There are too many stories to list from that kind of a place. I didn't run into too many Americans, but several Canadians.

Also, I really can't write about this without mentioning some of my instructors over there. Namely, Jeremy Willis (and his wife, Dale, and their nephew Daniel) and Antonio Riestra. They were great.

Family Visits in Europe

I'll eventually have an entry about friends visiting me, and an entry about A Dinner Party, my project (I'll wait until we're closer to finished), but first I figured I should write about my family coming to visit me out here.

My uncle Craig Underwood, whose blog you should definitely check out (www.collaborationevangelist.com), brought his wife Patty and kids, Jordan and Myles, out here for a week. I had some things I had to take care of during the week, but I did get to see them quite a bit while they were here.

The first place I showed them was Old Town Square, which is absolutely overwhelming for your mind if you've never been. I've been there a thousand times at this point, but I think they were taking it all in pretty well. The old buildings are beautiful and spectacular, and it sometimes feel like you've been transported back in time, unless there's a big modern fair going on in the middle of it with obnoxiously loud music. The prices are as high there as anywhere else, but it's one of my favorite places to take a stroll, depending on the crowds. I'll never forget the first time Vefik and I stepped in there.

They seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We did the usual stuff. I showed them as much as I could. We went to the castle. I showed them Mala Strana, the most beautiful part of the city. We went to the John Lennon Wall. I went back to Pisek. They went to the Jewish quarter, and a few other places. They visited me, and then I went with them later on in the week to the zoo, which is incredible.

That's right, they let you hang out with the lemurs.

I thoroughly enjoyed Zoo Praha. I have to go back at some point. I haven't been to a zoo since Meredith and I went to Cincinatti a few years back. This is a huge place, with a random but good selection of animals.

I took Craig around the city a bit in the evenings. We hunted for statues by David Cerny (look him up if you haven't heard of him... he's absolutely insane) one night. We went to several shops around the city. Unfortunately, I couldn't talk him out of this:

But yeah, the Underwood visit was a good lesson in time management. And it was the first time in months that I was talking to someone I knew before I got here. AND it was my first opportunity to show off a city. Twas wondrous.

A week or so after that, my father and brother arrived. I was busy shooting during the first weekend, but they took on Prague without me. They stopped in Pisek and saw me, hopped down to Bratislava, then Vienna, and finally returned to Prague, where I met up with them again. I took them to the castle, Kutna Hora, Vysehrad, and Zizkov. They really loved it, from what I can tell.

Can't you see the excitement?

They got a pretty good sense of what a strange place the Czech Republic can be. Prague has such a macabre history of martyrs, wars, and the plague, but it's somehow an insanely charming city.

Kutna Hora's especially memorable for these guys. It's an hour away from Prague, so it's more of a genuine Czech town. And surrounding yourself with bones and not being terrified is an indescribable feeling.

See? No terror here.

It's weird to spend so much time in the company of strangers and then suddenly end up knowing a city well enough to navigate it, and then showing people you've known your whole life what it's like. It's like when you have different groups of friends that you hang out with but not all at once. When they converge it feels like worlds are colliding. That's kind of what it felt like. Not bad, just surreal.

When Dad and Chris left, I walked back to the bus station from Vysehrad. A lot of the Prague public transportation was down for a few hours because of the Prague marathon, which I walked right into several times.

Twas interesting.

Why do I never update this anymore?

I've been as busy as ever lately, trying to sort out school stuff, shoot my project, and greet visitors with a smile. My father and brother are in the region right now (in Vienna at this very moment), and my uncle Craig and his family were here a few weeks back. My project, A Dinner Party, is now in postproduction, and I've got a horde of visitors in the coming weeks.

Regardless, I did do a bit of travel in the last few months within the Czech Republic, and I haven't posted anything about these places. Some of the stuff's been in and around Prague, and other stuff's been a bit further.

Around Prague, a few weeks back, I was able to go to a party for the Czech TV station called Nova. It had students from schools all around the Czech Republic. Free food and drinks, plenty of people, and a spectacular location for a party: right on the Charles Bridge.

I had some time that weekend, so I decided to go to a place I'd heard about for months, but never dared to go before: Kutna Hora.

This is the legendary bone ossuary where they turned a pile of plague and war bones into art. There's nothing like it anywhere else, and it's a little bit creepy and a little bit funny. If you're ever in the area, it's one of those things you mostly have to see to believe.

They say that the chandelier holds every bone in the human body. I'm willing to take their word for it.

Best. Signature. Ever.

I was able to befriend two nice Australians who were doing their own tour of Europe before entering the real world while I was there. By the time we were out of the ossuary, we had all decided that the only word for that place is "bizarre."

The following week, the Czech film Normal premiered in Prague at the Lucerna theater. My Cinematography instructor, Antonio Riestra, was the Director of Photography for the film, and he got Eirik and me into the premiere. It's a pretty disturbing storyline about a serial killer in Dusseldorf, but it's a pretty solid film. And the premiere was quite spectacular.

Shortly after that excursion, I went off to Moravia with Iain and Anna, two friends I have from Pisek, who live there. Iain's from Canada and Anna's Czech. They showed me the glorious eastern side of this place. It's beautiful. There's a different feel to Moravia than Bohemia... it's just a more relaxed area.

While we were there, we went to Olomouc.

Olomouc is a very old city, famous for its bizarre statues involving dolphin love:

Couldn't explain this if I tried.

It also has an astronomical clock, sort of like Prague. This one's a bit different:

I prefer Prague's, but this one doesn't have thousands of people gawking in front of it while ignoring the pickpockets in the crowd, so I guess they're even.

Olomouc is quite beautiful, but this was right before Spring really hit us, so it was raining like crazy for a while that day. Iain and Anna suggested that we go to the local mall, which provided hours of entertainment with bizarre Czech advertisements, ice cream, and a giant chocolate egg that we adopted.

I was kind of taken with this egg. It was 60 Kc, which is about $3. We split it between the three of us, and took care of it like it was our own. On the train back to the area where Anna's from, we took several photos of myself and the egg, which disturbed the other passengers on the train. We recently started eating it, but it didn't endure the heat of the last few weeks very well.

Graffiti in Europe

I've been telling myself that I'd write this blog entry for months, but I've finally started. My apologies for the delay... I've had the idea in mind for quite some time. This isn't so much about a specific trip in my adventure as much as it is about observations about graffiti.

In the US, graffiti is usually considered a bad thing. It's vandalism, it's rebellion, and it's completely inappropriate in most settings. There are places where it's expected (skate parks), but for the most part it's pretty offensive. When I cross a state line and see graffiti (I'm looking at you, New Jersey), I can't say I feel very welcome.

While the attitude here isn't exactly pro-graffiti, it's more common and acceptable. I've seen all sorts of graffiti, no matter what city. Sometimes it's playful, and sometimes it's serious. We'll start with the playful.

These are both in Pisek, the city I spend most of my time in. The monster eye is on a walkway. It's not really graffiti, but I love it. The other one is definitely graffiti, but I couldn't tell you what it means. It really enhances the location, though.

In Vienna, I saw this. It was next to a children's playground. No thoughts on this either.

While I was doing my travel throughout this continent (late December, early January), Israel had launched a military campaign on the Gaza strip. Over 1,000 people died, mostly Palestinians. Several nonmilitary targets were destroyed. While I understand the need for self-defense, I don't think it's offensive to say it's a bit extreme. It was met with a great amount of protest on this side of the world.

This was in Barcelona, slightly more than a week into the conflict. A few weeks later, in Venice, I saw this:

Free Palestine, Free Israel.

I think that sums up the problem of conflicts like this. Both sides are stuck in this conflict and it's oppressing them both.

But it's not just international situations that had topical graffiti. Shortly before I went to Athens, the police had shot a fifteen year old boy. The reaction was extreme, resulting in violent protests and the destruction of numerous structures. It went beyond Athens, and affected the entirety of Greece. When I arrived, most of it had ceased but unrest was really strong. I got to see the aftermath.

This is in downtown Athens, Greece.

I think this piece of graffiti summed up what people felt like in late December:

I think nonviolence is an admiral protest quality. If you want something changed, it should be done passively. Anger and violence tend to be the reason people want things to be different anyways.

One of the best examples of nonviolent protest was in Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. The fall of communism here resulted from the Velvet Revolution, a series of protests that essentially reformed the oppressive system without any need for violence. It's one of the most civil government reforms I've ever heard of, and it shows the potential for progress without bloodshed.

A great symbol of the nonviolent protest was the John Lennon wall of Prague, which started in 1988. It was painted over, but it just kept getting more graffiti anyways. It's very ideological, and it's been commercialized a bit these days (there's a John & George restaurant nearby with ridiculously high prices for Prague), but you have to admire the beauty of the place.

When Obama was here (yes, I went), he spoke about nuclear disarmament. If it can be done, it would be awesome. That doesn't mean it's easy. Philosophically speaking, I try to define myself as a pacifist, or at least someone who tries to pursue pacifism. While I know most people would say it's a dream, I'll justify it with a quote from the president in that speech: "When we fail to pursue peace, then it stays forever beyond our grasp." If we're not looking to stop war, how will it ever end?

From Czech to Slovakia

So after going to all of those places throughout December and January, would I still love the Czech Republic? Would I feel the same way about Prague as I did before?

Of course. This place has become my home in the last few months. And while I miss the US a lot nowadays, it's hard to stay homesick when you've got such a beautiful country around. And Prague's a city that changes every time I go there. It's like the stairs in Harry Potter.

It's quite beautiful at night, especially the Mala Strana and Charles Bridge areas. And the castle. And Old Town Square. And even the hidden places. Really, the city just has a great charm.

Shortly after returning, I ended up wandering in Prague. It's such a lovely city. A few things had changed since I last went there. Specifically, they put this up in front of the Rudolfinum:

Also, they took the beer ad down from behind Charles IV.

I'm sad to see the Pilsner ad go, but I did find it to be an extremely random place for that.

Also, I found another random spot that amazes me with its historical context. Franz Kafka, famous writer of The Metamorphosis, The Trial, and tons of other stories and novels is a Prague native (which is quite common knowledge and he's unavoidable in the city). He considered himself an Austrian Jew, because this was before Czechoslovakia. What I hadn't realized was that he hung out with another Austrian Jew that taught in Prague for a year:

You know, Einstein.

So, since I hadn't read any Kafka ever, I bought his complete stories. I've read a few since then, and they were quite good. Especially The Metamorphosis.

I also went to his museum, which is just as much about Prague as it is about him. It's wonderful, and it's one of the things I recommend to do in the city if you ever get a chance. It gives you a real sense of what's going on in his head.

But yeah, Prague's as great as ever. And school's up and running for me. I'm working on my semester project, which should be fun and challenging.

So over the weekend I ventured out of the Czech Republic to Bratislava, Slovakia. While the Czech Republic and Slovakia were once Czechoslovakia, they've been separate for almost twenty years (1993). Bratislava, the young capital, has not been treated kindly in movies (Hostel, Eurotrip). This is a shame, because it was a very nice city.

The weather was like that the entire time, but it wasn't unbearable. They recently adopted the euro, but things weren't as expensive as other euro countries. I stayed for two nights, enjoying the random quirkiness of the city. It's very understated, kind of quaint.

One of the first spots I went to was the Bratislava Castle, near the Danube river. I've been to two other cities on the Danube (Vienna and Budapest), and it's interesting to see what kinds of places pop up on this long river. The castle itself is under renovation until 2011, but the grounds around it were free to explore, and it's got the best view of the city.

Yes, that's a UFO.

After that, I walked to the bus stop and went 10 km outside of the city, to the Devin Castle. This place was quite excellent.

It dates back to Roman times, was built up to prevent Turkish invasion, went through a few families (including the notorious Bathory family), and was eventually destroyed by Napoleon. Now, it's a beautiful ruin of a castle. It's very different from most castles, at least for me.

This was an old Christian church that dates back to the 400s at the castle. I know it's not much, but it was kind of cool.

Yeah, it was pretty empty.

The castle grounds were empty, and the north tower (which has a museum) was closed for renovations (go figure), but for 1.30 euro (plus .70 euro to get there) , it's still a good deal. Plus, there's the view of the Danube and Morava rivers meeting.

It's kind of hard to see, but there are two rivers there.

Also, I got an Aussie to take this picture for me:

(I won't even say what I'm thinking)

So yeah, I wandered back to Bratislava and went looking for statues.

I found some. And then I found some more.

Yes, Bratislava's full of great (and random) statues and monuments. This isn't even close to all of them, but these were my favorites. And a lot of them were just there without explanation.

The city's quirkiness and calm state made it a nice little getaway city. It's very close to Vienna, and it's not far from Prague or Budapest, but it's a distinctive place. I'd go back in a heartbeat.

Also, I feel that I should give a shout out to two things back in WV that are completely unrelated to me other than that I know the people involved. My friend Eric does an online comic called Rantin' & Raven that's very cool. You should check it out at http://rantingraven-guero.tk. Also, my friend Angelo has put together a zine in Huntington called Monster Clutter (http://www.monsterclutter.com) that covers just about everything under the sun. And it involves monsters, so that's always a plus.

Until next time, Ciao.