A Slovenian In Uganda

Yesterday on Vest, there was a nice profile of Slovenian Miha Logar* and his beautiful wife/business partner Pamela Kanyunyuzi, founders of Ugandan-based free-trade workshop/tourism/education/multimedia company Edirisa. They are currently here in Slovenia conducting workshops and working with Slovenian students to educate them on the work and talk about developing new products.

See the interview below(which is mostly in English)& click above to read about Edirisa


*I'm gonna forgive him for calling his kids "our two little mulattoes", but only once. Good thing they live in Africa...

Trkaj- Poker Automat

Happy Monday!

The band is Trkaj (Knock), the song is called Poker Avtomat (Poker Machine), and I'm officially riding for this song. Yes, that means I (*gasp!*) really and truly like it.



Ker življenje je kot poker avtomat
Hočes vendar ven dobit
Treba najprej noter dat
Reven al bogat
vse ta teb je brat
nikoli ne pusti stat
Daj življenje notr
kaj boš tu ta rezultat
*
(my poor translation)
Life is like a poker machine
If you wanna get something out
First you must put something in
Poor or rich,
Whatever you get
Never let it go
Put it into your life
See what you get

Just Don't

Ok, I know that no one here has directly meant to offend me when using it, but the word just makes me absolutely sick to my stomach every time I hear someone here utter it. So, Slovenia, Europe, and the rest of the world. Here's the memo. Please watch it to the end.

Roma Women

Beautiful Amnesty International ad for Roma awareness. I hope this kind of stuff works. I seriously have some days where I lose faith in this part of the world. Sometimes I wonder, what chance do new immigrants have considering the way the long-standing "minority" groups are already treated? For now, I'm keeping the faith.

Swimming Cities in Slovenia

Last year The Captain and I saw The Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea, a beautiful art-scrap-flotilla created by the artist SWOON and other artists and friends.

This year, the group will be coming to Slovenia of all places, but they need help. They will be here in just a little over a month and they don't have a space to stay or build (someone here was helping them, but flaked). See images from their last two voyages and read their call for support below. All help is MUCH appreciated. You can write directly to the email below or email me.

Dear Friends,
Last year a group of artists/friends built sculptural raft boats and traveled down the Hudson River to New York City. This year some of those same people will build 3 large sculptural rafts to navigate the Adriatic. Their ships our en route to Koper, and they're looking for a place to build and friends to help and to house them. This is happening soon! Build in April, launch May 7. Please spread the word! If you have ideas for a friendly build location and housing for the artists involved nearby please contact info@swimmingcities.org.
Thank you so much!
your new friends,
the Swimming Cities crew

The Swimming Cities of Serenissima is a fleet of three intricately hand-crafted vessels that will navigate the Adriatic Sea from the Karst region of Slovenia to Venice, Italy in May of 2009. Designed by the artist SWOON, the floating sculptures are descendants of the Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea (Hudson River, 2008) and the Miss Rockaway Armada (Mississippi River, 2006 and 2007). The Swimming Cities of Serenissima are built from salvaged materials, including modified Mercedes car motors with long-tail propellers. For Swimming Cities, SWOON will collaborate with 30 artists from the United States. As the Swimming Cities move toward Venice, the crew will collect and install keepsakes in an ark-like cabinet of wonders that will be on display on the boats when they arrive. Once in Venice, the boats and crew will offer intimate performances that incorporate music, shadow puppetry, and story. The project is produced with the assistance of Deitch Projects, Paper Monster and Black Rat Press.

Miss Rockaway Armada (2007)


The Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea (2008)










SWOON's artwork

The Crisis of Credit explained

I know this a little off-theme for this blog, but I thought this short film was highly informative and something everyone should see.

I am of the firm belief that because of the nature of our market and the amount of exposure most companies here have had, Slovenia has only seen the tip of the iceberg of the financial crisis compared to many other countries around the world. But I think within at most half a year, things will dramatically change here. Needless to say, I am trying to spend conservatively, plant a BIG garden this year, and master the fine art of food storage for the winter months.


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.