Slovenian Meets Louie

Hilarious to see this on one of my favorite shows! So random.

Lovely London Town

Last week, your fateful narrator took a lovely jaunt to the dreary but sparkling and wonderful London. It was food, friends, family, more food, and fun! Here are some images from my wanderings.


early morning Camden


massive amounts of donuts in Camden Town


(for you dad!) a weimaraner on the counter of a laundrette in Croydon


pieces of the Parthenon at the British Museum


at the Palm Tree jazz bar in Dalston where the cutest little old lady was on piano


something greasy and huge in Camden


the Lord Mayor's Parade - an old and annual tradition


a narrow London street


Camden Lock - the Horse Hospital side


celebrating my birthday at the National Gallery's cafe - two free scoops of ice cream!


a performance at Institute for Contemporary Arts


cupcakes at Old Spitalfield's Market


me under a rainbow in ASDA's car park - Mitcham, Surrey

Culture Day of Shame

One of my pet slogans for this country is "Slovenia: Underachieving in our Underachievement", and today I was given just another reason why that is.

I went to a friend's house today for a little visit. Her teenage son came into the room and I asked him how school was going. He informed me that today was Cultural Day at school and they'd all gathered in a hall to watch...wait for it.....

Gran (muthaf%&#in') Torino.

If you have not seen this movie, here is a synopsis. Clint Eastwood plays Awful White Supremacist (which is, curiously enough, what he plays in real life too). A nice Asian family (Hmong, to be specific) moves next door. Awful White Racist has a negative interaction with the son of the Asian family. Awful White Racist then takes on the son as a helper and tells him and his family awful racist things. He continues to be awful and racist until someone (probably angry at the incredibly racist, infantile, and horrifically stereotypical way that people of color were depicted in this awful racist film) finally shoots him. The End.

Here is the 2 minute version of the movie



Slovenian School Systems - A Bunch of Dimwitted Underachievers Committed to Churning Out the Next Generation of Underachievement --- For You!

Real Cool Slovenia

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No sooner do I get home then I discover that not only is my favorite singer Jose James coming to Ljubljana but so are Sinead O'Connor and David frikkin Byrne!

My dear lord. What is going on? I am not sure, but you won't catch me complaining. Just off to queue up and spend all my money on tickets!

Update: I also see that CocoRosie, Royskopp, Morcheeba, and Medeski, Martin & Wood are on their way. Welcome, welcome all!

Dar Fur: War for Water

Slovenian writer and activist Tomo Križnar, who I've briefly mentioned before, recently premiered his documentary Dar Fur: War For Water here in Slovenia. The film has been getting a lot of press and even showed at Cannes Film Festival. The Captain and I are planning to go see it this week. Here is an older version of the preview.



Also, if you are in Slovenia, there will be a benefit concert at Festivalna Dvorana this Wednesday (5th November)featuring such great talents as Vlado Kreslin and(my favorite) Maša Kagao Knez.

The Unseen

Image via WikipediaOn Friday, we went to the Pankrti (legendary Yugoslavian punk band) show in Kranj, but we ended up doing everything but actually seeing Pankrti.

This weekend was the end of Youth Week in which all the students were celebrating the end of the school year and the graduating high school students were going wild in the streets celebrating their graduation (matura). I did not enjoy being a teenager and for that reason I don't really like being around teenagers. Needless to say I was on edge all evening.

On top of that, I am just feeling like New York has ruined me for fun quite honestly. I have just given up on seeking out most of the sorts of things I enjoyed in New York City (going out to see live music, going for dinner and drinks with friends, going to gallery shows). It just isn't anywhere as good. I'm trying to stay positive though, so guess I'll just focus on sunny days, sitting in the garden, and the taste of good cheap ice cream -- hippy junk like that... but oh thank God we finally got our plane tickets to New York. I can't wait!

Anyway, here are some pics from our jaunt around Kranj.

The Champions

Yesterday we trekked over to Kranjska Gora for the Vitranc World Cup. I'd hoped to go on Saturday to see Magnifico, but the Captain couldn't make it. Anyway, this marked the first time I've ever seen anyone ski. I mean I've seen skiing on television but never in person. It was pretty exciting, though watching one of the contestants wipe-out made me pretty content not to try it myself. Though I've been informed that if I want to keep my spot in this family I will indeed have to ski. I am going to resist as best I can, but if the going gets tough, I will park myself on a kiddie slope.

Anyway here are some more pictures.











After Kranjska Gora and a bit of light hiking, etc., we went to this weird gostilna that had fair/decent food....











... and two live bears in a cage! It was really off-putting. I know I eat meat and all, but I still do think that animals should be treated with some dignity while alive. The state of those bears was just pitiful. I don't know if what the "owners" are doing is legal in this country, but if it is then someone should pass some law against it. If it is illegal then they should give those bears their freedom immediately. Yikes!

Zoran Predin...Live!

Yesterday was yet another concert. The Captain is really classing up my life here with all these great outings. Zoran Predin is a really fun musician (spanning pop,rock, and jazz) with this killer smile and great energy.That night he was playing with an excellent Dixieland swing-type band, with one of the best jazz guitarists I've ever seen. Predin's subject matter was sort of random (one song was about removing pigeons from Venice) and sometimes outright bizarre, but the performance was still top notch. Unfortunately, it seems The Captain and I are getting old, and when the theater director went back stage to beg the band for a second encore, we had to race out. No offense to Zoran, we just needed to get to bed!

Anyway, here are some pics.








His son, Rok, on the left hand side.

Here is a little video of him doing Sonček je with a big band.


Alcessa, are all the best musicians from your part of the country?

Hotel Rooms and Stuff To Do In Them

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I've been oddly uninspired. But, in the interest of holding your interest, I've decided to post my favorite Slovenian music video to hold your attention for a moment.

The song isn't that great, but I still like it anyway. Compared to most of the drivel that comes on the radio here, it is absolute genius. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss American radio stations. Oh dear.

Jan Plestenjak & Lara - Soba 102 (Hotel Room 102)



I'll be back with something better a little later.

Vlado Kreslin ...Live!

Last night was my first official Slovenian concert. We went to Linhartova Dvorana (our beautiful local performance hall) to see the very great Vlado Kreslin, who I would describe as a Slovenian Bruce Springsteen. He was described to me as a Slovenian Bob Dylan, but I don't really care for Dylan much so I vote Springsteen.


Vlado sings

Anyway, apparently he wrote a book about his life and touring, so the concert featured him singing songs and interspersing them with humorous excerpts from the book.Sadly, between the fact that I only have basic level comprehension and the fact that he was speaking in a strong northeastern accent*, I could barely understood anything. Nonetheless, it was nice to be there and Vlado was fantastic. He played without a band, but was so gripping that it was more than enough.


Vlado reads


Here is a video of him doing one of his songs: Nocoj Igramo za Vas (Tonight, We Play For You)



*Oy vey! Remind me to tell you about all the drama with accents and dialects here. For such a small country, it is a big headache!