This will not be a very funny post about “normal” things in Belgium. It is much more. It is a change in generations. Two very important friends in my life changing the relay. One will say goodbye, and the other one hello. It is just how life is, and apparently you’re allowed only one at a time. Probably this is for the best as coping with both would be quite impossible. Anyhow, the moment has come when we should introduce names to our discussion. They might seem familiar, I warn you. If not, no worries…you will at some point.

The second episode from “The Belgian Dream” is “The Belgian Bargains”. You will see just three examples of how business is done here. So, let’s get it started…with a simple click on the video bellow. And…enjoy!

Today is the first episode, the pilot one, from “The Belgian Dream” series. Every week, or every two weeks depending on producers, a new episode (based on real facts) will be posted. I am planning to associate each one a song (the soundtrack :)…)…at least till ACTA might be adopted…:(. Anyhow, we will see… In the meantime,…enjoy!...and don't forget to start the video...:P.

Most of you know, so this won’t come as a shock: I have moved to Brussels for a year!...(theoretically). Before transforming this blog into my journal for the capital of Europe…I will write some things about Bucharest. My home for the last eight years was not the best city, nor the cleanest, nor the most civilized…and the list can continue till God knows when. But…but it was my home…the place where I spent the best years (so people say in general)…and I loved it!...yes I love it! Some of you may ask yourselves (and other selves…:P…) why. Let me explain:

I love Bucharest even though it has a poor infrastructure and crossing it you may see yourself aging. And I didn’t say anything about public transportation. During the rush hours this may be the worst enemy for the morning shower, if you don’t sweat someone will sweat you…:).

I love Bucharest even though it has the beggar industry very developed. But I have to admit and admire its innovations. In order to stay competitive and alive you have to innovate. And that’s exactly what it has been doing for quite some time now. In the last couple of weeks in Bucharest, the buses from Dr Taberei revealed some of the best performances. I have to mention the lady that begged sitting on a bus chair (and actually people came and gave her money!) or the man that simulated an epilepsy crisis (I even wanted to start a clapping in that bus…:)…). For more references please watch Philanthropy (Filantropica). This movie appeared in 2002 but it is not outdated, it can be still used as the official course material…:P.

I love Bucharest even though it has many dogs wandering the streets. I hate dogs (except the one that my grandparents have and the “domestic” ones). In fact I am afraid of them (I was bitten during my childhood a couple of times I guess Freud was right, our personality is indeed shaped by the things that happened in our first years). The second reason is that I am allergic, a bit, to their skin…:).

I love Bucharest even though it has some people of a dubious behavior. But this no reason to panic. Every major city has this kind of problems, with various covers of course…:).

I love Bucharest even though many other things are not right.

I love Bucharest for the extraordinary night life. The parties in the old center, and not only there, with cheap drinks and good music (and occasionally with ladies dancing on tables…:P…). I guess I should also mention here the many concerts that take place there, right?...ok ok …and also the many concerts that take place there…:).

I love Bucharest for the many good people I met there…and for the many good friends I have there, which I don’t want to lose with my departure. And I won’t…well…most of them…:)… I will also mention here their good sense of humor. Life is tough in Romania. And it has always been like this. Probably the sense of humor kept us alive and always with a smile in hand…:)…

I love Bucharest for Steaua…which is a football club ladies…:). Even though now, actually for many years now, when it has some problems I am still supporting them. It’s like having an untreatable disease but manageable with pills. I guess you have to like football to understand this. So, please, don’t try if not…

I love Bucharest for some of architectural art pieces that are found there. Some of them even contributed to promoting Bucharest as the little Paris. And…the House of the People is the second biggest building in the world, the first being…another construction…:).

I love Bucharest because it’s special. I spent eight years there and not a single day I was bored. Things (and we are not talking only good things here) are always happening. But, you have to be Romanian to fully understand this. And even for us it’s sometimes very hard to comprehend everything (fabulous cars and poor roads just one of the many paradoxes).

Every piece of the puzzle is important!...(I would change some of the pieces…:)…)

But the story continues…in Brussels!

P.S. don’t forget to listen the song…:P…

If it’s August it’s holidays time!...:). After the immense success Sexy & Funny Tour de France encountered last year, now it’s time for new adventures. This year, due to mismatch of schedule, we decided to go on solo tours. Every “great band” does this once in a while. So, good luck Vali Costa and save some strength for the 2012 album. Miglando Marr will go west (and it’s not only for cheese, gaufres and wine).

The solo project proposed this summer is called “Le Conquistador”. A bit of French (for the Belgian and French part of the trip) and more Spanish (for the second bigger half). I am not sure what it will happen, but, to be honest, I don’t want. Sixteen days out in the west should turn out to be surprising…at least in theory…:). I will outline them when I will be back, in great detail (not like these paragraphs written in the last moment…:P).

“Le Conquistador” will live the western odyssey. Please check the official poster attached to this post. It contains the official gig dates, and the major cities. More dates are soon to be announced…:)…as not all contracts have been settled. If it happens we cross paths don’t hesitate to join…and buy tickets…:)). I think the poster says all about this trip. Remember the saying �" a picture values 1000 words? I hope yes…this will save me writing 1000 more words to this post…:P.

So this it!... Don’t lose your curiosity till I come back…:). Have to go now. The captain is calling for the last passengers.

Take care and don’t forget to smile!...:). 

This is an introductory post in which I will explain how the things roll. Why all the pages and what’s next (in late September probably). Every week (and I pray for this) I will try to bring a new post… a new headline. I don’t guarantee that inspiration will strike weekly. That’s why, when inspiration is not home, I will write about trips / concerts I have done / seen. So…no more mumbojumbo. Let’s begin!

Posts. All new posts will be present here next to the glorious picture I called “The Conflict”…:)… On the right side it’s the links section. If you don’t know what’s up with them DO NOT BE AFRAID to access them. They are just one click away…:P. Among links there is also a countdown. It represents the amount of days till the next concert I am attending. And I guess this is all…oh…no…not to forget the song of the day. Each work day (I hope) it will have a new song…which I hope someone will like…:).

About me. This page was created just to reveal my story so far…well…a little journey into my life. It is based on true facts and I encourage you to read it till the end. Every picture has a name but I will make public only the last one’s: “Cheesoine”…:). Bon voyage!

Top13. Why the name?...don’t know. It just is the perfect number. Every song will hit every position. I decided not to use numbers but famous brands…:). It seemed more natural towards the number 13.

WTF. For WTF it turned out to be twins: Photo & Video. Both pages present Miglando Marr and friends…:)). Each picture / clip shares a little bit of his restless spirit. Take a look and if…hypothetical speaking…you don’t like what you see there, don’t ever go back…:). If you do, don’t hesitate to share. And the last thing…WTH stands indeed for what the fuck!...:).

Contact. You don’t have to be Sherlock to discover the purpose of this page. It is one of the easiest ways to contact / encourage / curse / bless / etc me. I will respond / call the police either way…:).

I hope I didn’t miss anything. It’s late and I really want to get this baby out…:). Ah yes, I did. The last page (until further ideas) will be “world pictures”… It is not ready yet, but it will be in September (this September!...). Not sharing anything on this matter anymore as I don’t want to spoil the surprise.

The last idea. This blog wants to bring the smile upon the reader’s face. We are better, healthier, persons when smiling.

Take care and don’t forget to smile!...:).

Good to be back!!!...

We didn’t see the ferocious Icelandic cloud. Anyway it would have probably felt like Bucharest…so we didn’t loose much. The only ashes we saw were on our great “mici” which were made by a dubious man. But…surviving till now (Tuesday), I guess we will have to thank that man for the great antibodies…:). We manage to close the ski day with a fabulous 15 minutes of sleep on a table waiting for the telecabin.

Enough with ski part… Let me tell what happened yesterday night (Monday). I was returning home from a late work and home made chocolate session. As it was pretty late I thought it might be a good idea to take a cab home. So I did. I entered a taxi car and said as always “Drumu Taberei”. We got off. After a few seconds the driver broke the silence with “What food do you like?”. This question awakened me from my thoughts. I said what the hell let’s play this game. I answered, of course, with “cheese” (the only type of food that goes with food…:)…). This was the moment when the talk started. After the warm up question, we got to the serious staff. “What music do you like?”. I really felt like going to meet her parents…:). I replied with “rock…basically good music”. The man had an MP3 player and he offered to put some Metallica or Rammstein. But the next moment a “strike of genius” hit him. He raised the bet…”Do you like club music, do you like GOA?”. (Goa is a form of electronic music that originated during the late 1980s in the state of Goa, India). So there you have it…I was talking to this man about a hippie movement in India which formed a new type of music. We still had three thirds of the road to drive. The man was prepared. He explained to me how GOA was present in Romania with two parties, one in Sibiu and one in Calarasi. We started with GOA classic. He started shaking his head and raised the volume to 53 (I don’t know highest volume but this was pretty loud). We had to raise the voice to understand each other. During the one minute GOA classic I discovered how this was made by hippies and how it was very different from MINIMAL. GOA changes the rhythm every 2 minutes. The lesson was interrupted only by the “Listen to this beat! This is native Indian!”. The next on the line was GOA trance. I also found a name Goa Gil (a well known dj). During the ride, I think I listened to five songs…but only the most important part of each other. He also told me a funny story. “Once, a boy entered my cab. And he asked me if I was listening to GOA. Then he said that with 1200$ (800$ for the flight) he went to Goa (in India) and he stayed there for 26 days. He said that Ibiza is shit comparing to this place…this Indian Vama Veche”. In the end the trip seemed too short. Another successful cab experience passed.

Enjoy and see you soon!

The last weekend from March was settled to be first weekend this year without skiing activities. Eleven persons, forming a multiethnic group (with Richard from Austria and Vali from Militari…:P…), begun the ascend (with the telestuff) to the Garbova House in Predeal around 1012 PM. The exact hour is missing because everyone was too tired at that moment to remember. We had to wake up at 05:30 AM not to get caught in the traffic (brilliant idea)…:)… And it’s a little frustrating after sleeping only 23 hours before…but the Sun Glass Party & Comandante is another story. Anyway let’s return to our story. The telesomething took us to a point from where we had to walk 3045 minutes on the beautiful forest…mud. We finally arrived…and had a well deserved meal, a meal that I will have to describe to you. Especially to the less fortunate than me who didn’t graduate kindergarten at their grandparents in the country side…:)… This meal was cooked from the animals that lived there, not in a farm with no light and a lot of stress (sorry (asking for apologies) Simona!...). That’s why it tasted divine…a taste that I find only at my relatives in the country side…the taste of food that is…:)…(sorry again…). But I didn’t tell you what it was…well…it was pork and polenta…but wait, the best is yet to come (this might shock you)…and cheese!... I have to admit, it was very hard to climb down from that 9th cloud.

The evening was a classic in the mountains: drinks and music. We were not that drunk as the facebook pictures show!...

After some hours of sleep we woke up in the Sherwood Forest. Yes…the rain which turned into snow and the fog gave the high part of Predeal a Serwoodian look…or was it because of the bows?!…hm…:)… Second time to shoot a bow in my life…and a first one to use a real bow (when I was (really) young I used to make my own bows and hunt animals in my grandparents garden…with no luck of course…:(…). We really felt like Robin Hood & company.

The last meal was in downtown Predeal. I was the luckiest one at that table. No one else got a living (very cute) snail. The waitress really panicked and wanted to change my food. But…since the snail didn’t touch the cheese on the plate there was no problem…:)…

This was a really nice trip with a lot of great fun and two different days. One sunny and one snowy…the only common element being the sun…:)…

In the end…have a happy Easter!…and a great bunny (I never had one so far…an Easter bunny)…:)…

P.S. I started fasting yesterday. No meat, no eggs and worst...no cheese until Saturday night. But I promise I will fight it and survive eventually!… Nevertheless, you can mail or phone me for support…:)…

Good things…

The ski is phenomenal. Kaprun, Zell am See and the Kitzsteinhorn Glacer are the three regions where we skied. The many kilometers of slopes or enough for 6 days of unboring ski.

The sausages are great. And they have a wide variety. Needles to say that my favorite was kasekrainer (for those who don’t know…it has cheese in it!!!...).

The white beer (weissbier) is…is…simply…astonishing! More than Y0 Euros (same reason us upstairs…:P…) went on it…but it worth every penny!

The Austrian cities are impressive. Vienna, Salzburg and Graz should be on your list (and if they’re not…put them now!...). They all have a great combination between new and old, modern and…vintage…:P.

Bad things…

Every shop is closed at 18:00… A little hard to understand that because after ending the ski day at 16:30, and then going home and having a shower will result in no time for shopping. But we don’t question the German laws…excuse me…the Austrian laws…:).

Everything works too smoothly. There is no room for surprise. This tends to be a little annoying after a few days…:P.

The funniest story…

We were one night in Kitzbuhel and on the street we saw one ambulant shop…sausages ambulant shop. Our stomachs are easily fooled and stubborn…:). We were very amazed to find out that the lady that was selling them was from Arad. After a few minutes her husband came, a true Romanian too. He gave us an apple and…a bottle of wine. A very nice gesture that made us really proud to be Romanians!...:).

I will end this short description of 10 beautiful days. You will see more from the pictures on facebook or in some time here…on the blog…

P.S. The trip was extraordinary...only one thing away from being perfect...

This was the rendezvous point for the AIR concert. Ioana, one of the ladies of the group, tricked us and didn’t show. Never trust the women. They are the reason we don’t live in Heaven anymore…:)… Just joking as she a good alibi…:P.

                08:00 PM – Polivalenta Hall.

The gates were closed. A concert which was supposed to start and at which we could have entered since 07:00 PM (according to the ticket) had its gates closed and we all sat as a big heard at the entrance.

                09:00 PM – Inside Polivalenta Hall.

AIR started to sing. First of all I knew that they were French…so the gay appearance didn’t shock us…:)… (French people don’t get upset with me…but you are a little special…:P…). They sang pretty well. The funniest moment of the show was when the lead singer asked whether we know French and if we can sing with him. Then he started a song which contained only whistles…:)…

Friday 01:45 AM – My Place (near the Ghencea cemetery…:P…)

We started the trip to Moldova, after going twice to my place for my passport.

           02:00 – 03:00 AM – Somewhere between Bucharest and Buzau.

We hit an owl with our front window… The poor animal probably didn’t survive…but we did…and continued our journey to the land of Moldova.

           08:00 AM – Gura Humorului Monastery.

           10:00 AM – Gura Humorului Ski Slope.

This is a very bad ski slope. No day passes and the 15 minutes till top (through high winds) make everyone question their love for ski…oh…and not to forget the Moldavians dressed in jeans on skies…

           04:00 PM – Voronet Monastery.

It was the first time when I met the famous blue. The one of kind blue that is present only in Voronet…so they say. My engineer/economist eye saw only normal blue…:P…

           09:00 PM – Mes Amis Restaurant in Vatra Dornei.

After having a well awaited Moldavian meal we started to make plans for the second day…the trip to Ukraine. During rough planning a local wise guy came with his family. Mr Doru knew everyone in the bar except us. But he was a good man…he didn’t throw us in the street…:)…

Saturday – 09:30 AM – Vatra Dornei Ski Slope.

Apparently in Moldova people get up very late. The ski installation was set to open at 10:00. Despite the heavy snow we decided to wait no more and started the trip to the promised land…:P.

               12:00 AM – Moldovita Monastery.

Thank you Ioana for the precious information you gave us. What you have said was indeed true…:)… I got one long island away from forgiving you…:P. We met a nun which opened the church gates and let us in. She explained us all the paintings on the walls. That’s how we realized that most of them were the days of the year. I wasn’t malefic enough to ask her how did they do February 29th…:)…

               01:00 PM – Bucovina House.

The second good Moldavian meal. Chicken breast with mushroom dish and…of course…with cheese. No good meal can exist without cheese!!!...:)… For desert a peach with jam and cheese cream did the trick…;).

               02:00 PM – Sucevita Fortress.

This is not a monastery. It has a church but this is a real fortress with heavy walls.  

               04:30 PM – Radauti.

They don’t like people in Radauti. We had to ask four people for directions until a lady stopped and talked to us. And all we got was that she was not from Radauti and she didn’t know where the border is…:)… After breaking into the Radautean circle of trust another man welcomed our company and gave us precious information. He pointed 2 directions for the border, them having 180 degrees difference between them…:)…

               05:00 – 06:00 PM – Ukrainian border.

Ukrainians are real scumbags. They kept us for more than an hour in the border, doing all sorts of controls and the usual “Do you have drugs and weapons?”…

               07:00 – 10:00 PM – Chernivtsi (Cernauti).

3 hours of enjoying a former Romanian city. We managed to get there just in time to get the traditional fridge magnet and to wonder the streets. We understood why the Ukrainians have the flag formed with blue and yellow. The explanation is quite simple: blue eyes and blond hair…:)…

Sunday – 11:00 AM Vatra Dornei Ski Slope.

A very old ski installation and a slope that starting the second half had a ranch like fence on the sides gave the trip to Moldova an unique flavor…

             05:00 PM Vatra Dornei ________ Restaurant.

The third good Moldavian meal and the last preparations for the trip back to Bucharest. Unfortunately they didn’t have enough cheese to make “papanasi” too…ironic isn’t it?...

             10:00 PM Sighisoara.

A perfect moment to visit the fortress!... The moment we set foot on this beautiful medieval town we were welcomed by the city joker… All he wanted were 10 lei… The beggary must have evolved different in the country side…:)…

This was my first trip to Moldova. It seemed ok, but I don’t think I can offer an objective opinion considering my Oltenian origins…:P. Anyway, nothing to complain…it was a great weekend afterall…    

P.S. I didn’t see any Ukrainian men…;)…

Haround 5 PM hwe harrived hat the Sala Polivalenta, the place hof the great fest. The place hwas very dark…because there hwere no lights…:)…hand very cold…hindeed ha very gypsy business. Hwe sat hat hour places, the hwhole height hof hus. Hwe resisted for more than three hours, henjoying the show hand some great hartists.

80% hof the girls hwere really nice. They didn’t seem gypsy nor virgin. hI had hanother hidea habout this show…but…hanyway… Hanother sad thing hwas that hwe saw many hwhite persons(Caucasian) hin the crowd…hand they didn’t come like hus… The rest hof the 20% hof the girls hwere represented by ha female(hI guess?!)…hI’m guessing because she looked more like Jabba the Hutt… There hwere times hwhen she hwas dancing hwhen hwe prayed the scene hould fel…Hwe had no luck…:(…

The hartists hwere hall there…Bogdan hArtistu…Sorinel Pustiu…Baby Minune…Liviu Pustiu…Romeo Fantasticu(hwhich did ha fantastic playback)…Fratii de hAur…Florin Salam…etc… Hwe heven listened to ha solo made by hAdi hEnergie…Hwhat helse can hI say… Hit hwas ha marvelous hevening…

Hafter the mega show…hI sensed hI had to do something for my moral sake…hand…hI bought myself ha new pair hof skies…Head…hand very chic…;)… Chris hwas ha true gypsy hand bought the same type hof skies…:))…

This was the year when I lived the best moments of my life…:)…which I will always remember…and also the worst…:(… which I desperately want to forget… During this year I found the thing that I was looking for quite some time. Unfortunately, this was also the year when I lost it. Probably I didn’t know how to keep it or… Anyway it is the way things work in our society and not all of them makes us happy…

This was the year when I made a lot of friends from different countries…:)… Roland, Vali, Marco, Sophie, Ioana, Cosmo, Sophie, Typhaine, Jean, Martina, Rachel, Jana…just to mention some names…:)…

This was the year when I attended a lot of concerts…and all sorts of other events…:)… It was a year full of concerts. I don’t know which was the best…but for sure it wasn’t Depeche Mode or AC/DC…:)… The craziest was for sure ZZ TOP. It’s not easy to stay 2 hours with a sheep smelling beard…:))…

This was the year when I started all sorts of projects…:)… The Master, The Blog, The Garbage Tree…and one which I rather keep for myself…:P.

This was the year when I made a lot of trips abroad…:)… The first one was in Rome(which is a great city). Although it wasn’t with the gang, it was among the best trips I’ve had. Novi Sad, Kotor(the place where Miglando was born), Budva, Dubrovnik, Belgrade fallowed. This was a special trip with special characters…;)… The last 2 trips were in Bulgaria Kaliakra and Bansko. Enough Bulgaria for a lifetime!

This was the year of the great parties…:)… Vama Veche & the intercultural parties…

This was the year when a lot of things happened and, more important, a lot of things were begun and need to be continued… 2010 didn’t start as I hoped(the late Santa Claus tricked me). I just want that Murphy’s law(what starts bad ends worse) won’t apply in this case…:). Only time will tell how 2010 will be, and if the plans and ideas will be fulfilled…we shall see... 

This year seems to be a little different…everything. It’s not because I’m older…it’s just that I don’t feel the same Christmas spirit. I have a feeling that Santa won’t bring me what I asked for…and it was not a Porsche…:)…it was just something that it is not very hard to do… Anyway…I will still keep a very close relationship with him. I understand that he is going through a crisis…and I will be happy with whatever he brings me. Nevertheless, there is still some time until the 25th(today being 24 :) )… He might pull it off…;)… Anyway, he knows he is welcome anytime…not just this night…:P.

So…to sum up everything…have a great Christmas with your families…and with your loved ones…    

We had to present a project at school. We should have finished presenting at 6:20 PM, but due to some “problems” we presented with a delay of 3 hours and 40 minutes. During this time we organized ourselves as a team and made a project. After the presentation, which went really well, Caru cu Bere was the next destination. It was last Marco’s Caru cu Bere… A very nice meal and a very interesting fact at the end…when for 400 lei we left only 6 lei as tip…true gypsies!!!...:). After Caru cu Bere we wanted to do something really nice for Marco. We wanted to make him to feel like a wiseguy(cocalar in Romanian). We took him to Twice. It worked!!!...:).

Tuesday.

Just a quiet Ota…Marco’s last Ota…and a nice(probably the best) mojito…and soup…:).

Friday

Christmas party in Tan Tan… 90% of the people there was with someone. Practically it didn’t matter that I was the sexiest around…:))…The only good thing was Suie Paparude which performed really well.

Saturday.

Pancake party in the evening. At this party there was a Norwegian guy present…a Norwegian which brought a Norwegian cheese…a Norwegian cheese which was brown. It was called Brunost. No one liked it…thank God!... I could take the whole piece with me…:P. And I did. I took it later to Pub24(a place which I visited after 3 years and which remained the same :( )…and to a student party in U2(a dorm house not the famous band ;) )…and then home…

Sunday.

I was very happy to find that I was not banned on the Ghencea stadium. I can go anytime and express my “love” for gigi…  In the evening I did my first(hopefully not the last) Guinness World Record application. My the Record goods be with us…:).

Monday.

Monday is the ugliest day of the week!...

Tuesday.

A very great Simple Minds concert…and the news of the AC/DC concert next year on May 16th …yes I know, a great way to celebrate my birthday :P…

The party was really great. All the people were present. France, Belgium, Romania, Spain, Serbia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Germany, Latvia and Estonia were the countries present at this reunion for the big blond. Red/white wine, beer and vodka were the stars, beside Marco of course, of this party…:). I have to make a confession. Saturday night was the night of the Old Niculae (great translation, isn’t it?...:P). He got me something…a scarf with SK Tirana…yes….the well known Albanian football club…:P. I am very lucky to have good friends travelling to Albania… :). The party lasted until 3 AM. This was the moment when the headquarters moved to Control. Marco’s last big night in Bucharest ended around 5 AM(that is when I left home :P). The party still continues as we speak…:).

Anyway…it’s been very nice these almost 6 months now…all the parties….all the concerts…all the Vama Veches :)… I will stop not to get to sentimental. I wish you good luck and prepare the rooms, and the cheese of course, for the moment we will land on Lille…

Take care old gypsy…I meant friend…:D.

It’s fun doing all sorts of things and having a very active life…but at the end of day there is something missing…probably the most important thing. Life cannot be complete without it. But…doing everything to achieve this may not be enough…or worse…it may produce more damage than good. It may not be the proper moment. The proper moment may never come. It’s very complicated to be fulfilled, and you have to be indeed very lucky. Some hope remains after all trials…but in parallel with living the today’s life and the years that no one will bring back.

A few days ago I did a NMR to my head. By the way I have the brains like the every other normal person. I have proof!!!... :). After almost 20 minutes they brought out of the “cage” and I thought that it was over. But…instead of saying to me “you can stand” he said that “we have to administrate a contrast solution because the doctor saw something”. It was almost an hour before finding that it was a false alarm and I was fine. I can’t tell you what thoughts ran through my head during that hour. It’s a pity that we need experiences like this to realize how short life can be and how every moment should be lived at full speed. I really enjoyed the bus ride and the falling leafs after this experience. It’s perfect to have everything in life. If not…it definitely worth fighting for it. If still not…then…it may not be your fault… So…time will tell, time but not wasted time… :).

P.S. The W.A.S.P. concert was really nice!...  

Last weekend was one of the most interesting weekends. The football on Wednesday, after a very long period, was the perfect start. The many months of not playing had severe repercussions on me…but I am proud to say that I still have “the touch”…and the meanness when playing…:P.

Thursday was the special day…the bachelor party. Nothing special happened. We had a few drinks at a friend’s house. Then we went to the Candy Shop. Nothing happened. Very good for a press release, isn’t it?...:)).

Parov Stelar was the big concert that took place in Kristal…a place where a bottle of water is 2.4 Euros. The concert was marvelous, a very good live performance by this Austrian band. After the concert was over, half of the people present left as result of the music with no words returning.

Saturday was the Toothbrush Party at Pierre’s. A lot of good fun, with multicultural environment in a big house. Oh…and not to forget the great Belgian play list. I found there some “great” music that I always searched for with no luck…:).

Another premiere happened on Sunday. After recovering from the long weekend I got an invitation to attend the final of the BCR Open. This was a first for me, and it’s a shame because I’ve been living in Bucharest for six years now…:(.

This weekend, I hope there is going to be, besides the wedding, parties and other fun activities, the trip to the doctor. The noselift, the surgery, will then follow… So I will expect all to the hospital with oranges and bananas…:))…  

First of all I want to apologies for not writing for so long…the end of a great summer, although it started really badly, was too much for me. But I survived…:). You should have known about the last great weekend in Vama Veche, the departures of Marta and Veronika, the ugly Steaua Dinamo match, the night clubs, the bicycle descends in Comarnic and the fall where I could have broken my neck but got away with only a few scratches and so on… Anyway I will try not to let this happen again.

This weekend had two celebrations, one good and one not so good. The first was the anniversaries of Sophie and the second was the departure of Roland (or Rolando), the man who has feelings. Joyful and sad, the weekend begun on Friday with the trip to the casino and it continued with B52.

Saturday was scheduled the party for Sophie, at Rachel’s place (thanks again for the warm welcome). But, before the party, we knew that we had to do something to keep Roland busy, in order for Marc, Vali and the others to buy presents. We had to buy him, and Sophie, a present, didn’t we?... So, I took the lucky straw. And I took him to the movies, his first experience like that in four months of Romania. I chose the perfect movie �" Inglorious Bastards. Yes…the one in which Jews are killing Nazis. I’m glad to say that he took it quite well…:P. He even laughed. Of course, when they spoke in German and no one else from the theatre understood but a good laughter is always a good laughter…:P.

The party that fallowed was good. It had a tint of a wurstel carnival or of a polytechnic party, because of the concentration of women among men, but it was ok. After eating the great food prepared by Sophie, drinking some drinks and a few hours passing by we decided to play the “I have never done” game. The game after which you turn to your friend and say “Bitch” and he/she responds with “Look who’s talking”…:). But a game perfect for knowing each other better…:P.

The night ended around 7:30 AM with another meal made with everything that was left in the fridge. Five people on the balcony watching the sunrise. After sleeping six hours we woke up, Roland and I, in the same house, and, after preparing a very delicious due formaggi pasta in the microwave oven, we started to do a little bit of cleaning in the German way…eins, zwei, eins, zwei…

Evergrey finished a very good weekend with their concert in Silver Church. The one Finish and four Swedish boys made a real good show and yet another concert was added…

Auf Wiedersehen Roland…

Bon anniversaire Sophie…

P.S. It’s hard to say goodbye to a friend…but this is not goodbye…;).

The first Tif Fest(Tif = goodbye party for Typhaine) started on Saturday. It was an intercultural mix: French, Romanians, Germans, Belgians and…Brazilians. We had really good food cooked by Typhaine, Sophie and others... Oh…and of course, I almost forgot, Roland. His onion pie made quite a sensation…:). The moments of delivering gifts and receiving hugs were present throughout the whole party.

After a while, the party moved to B52. There, the party animals, within us, took the place of the shy people that we all are…:). After the clubbing time(that always passes very quickly) we had to head home…and we did.

The second Tif Fest was on Tuesday. The Spanish people were very kind to host us for, and the other foreigners/Romanians. One of the “attractions” of the evening was a black drunk/smoked American. This party was yet another good evening filled with drinks, good mood…a very good time…

On Wednesday we was at the long awaited Madonna concert…us, and 69997 other people(as they said 70000 people attended this event). It was not quite what we expected due to the dust, due to the many people that were probably at the first concert of their lives, due to Madonna, due to other stuff that are not in my mind right now…but it was ok…:).

Typh…Soph…we will miss you…and don’t forget:

    la souris est sous le lit…

    la chat est sur la table…

    la singe sur la branche…

Day2…We were still on the road. Near the border we encountered a taxi car left in the middle of road. It was involved in an accident that almost took it in the Danube. We arrived in Vrsac in the morning. After a two hours sleep we headed towards Novi Sad. Before reaching Novi Sad we had to pass through Zrenjanin. This was the perfect moment to make a flat…:). After changing the wheel and finding a vulcanization station, we had probably the most unsafe meal… We finally arrived at Novi Sad and after a few hours of sleep we, the ones who didn’t go to the wedding, went out to take the pulse of the city. I don’t know about the city but one thing I can tell you for sure…it has a great population…at least the feminine part…:). We were lucky to witness to attend the show performed by the Serbian polo supporters…Serbia…Serbia… The night ended with the walk on the road we called Beba Kids…a road full of night life…

Day3…After the first night sleep in this trip we went back in the city for souvenir hunt and breakfast/lunch. At noon we had to take the cars to the train station. On the road to the station we encountered a red lada with four persons and a Kalashnikov. All our jokes about Serbians weren’t so funny anymore…:). After letting the cars at the train station we returned to the city, a part with a taxi and a part with a local bus. We had time to take the dinner and one last pivo(beer) before reaching the train. In the berth, before going to sleep, we sang and had a lot of fun. The only strange moment was when a Serbian, probably gay, motorbike rider came to me and said that this will gone a be a long night with problems…good problems…:|.

This week brought a very interesting experience. No...two interesting experiences...:). On Saturday I had to attend a baptize for one of my friends child. This took place in Focsani…yes in Moldova. An oltenian in Moldova you might say, but I was not alone…

I got in Focsani at noon. My friend picked me from the train station and took me to a gas station where I had to stay for more than an hour. I was in the company of four unknown persons. They were very silent. Interesting yes… It got more interesting when the moment I had to change cloths came. I did this in the parking lot and having only one hand available…imagine that!... I managed. I even put a nice tie around my neck.

At two o’clock we went to the church. The church was near the gas station but the road to it was long as we took only wrong turns...:). The ceremony in the church was very interesting. You have the chance to attend one do it… I wasn’t in the other parts of the country as this was my first event of this kind, but in Moldova this ritual is special. I won’t tell you what happened there. I won’t ruin it. You have to be there to catch the priest saying that the child should be a “madular”. This word is sometimes referred with the meaning of bone. But no one knows this meaning. A most popular meaning is dic..:). So you really have to see this...:).

The party was pretty lame. As a hunter (hunter=a male person without a girlfriend) I was very disappointed. Only an underage, not the prettiest and with parents single girl was present. So…yes…I had to eat, drink…

I am very proud of the gift I had for the baby… As it was a boy, only one gift was suitable… a muffler with Steaua. Babies need to be taught from an early age...:). One more thing to mention about the party �" the godmother...:). She was a right choice for the baby…and for everything else... :).

On Sunday I did something that had to be done. I won’t get into details. It went perfect if you’d ask me. It was a work of a few weeks, but it worth it…even if its result may never come…

And good news, on Monday my left hand got alive again…no more PTO for it...:).

Friday came with a night to the Novotel Casino. This was my first time in a Casino…and it was lovely…:). Of course, I lost 15 lei but having a beer, two cigarette packs, one extraordinary meal and a very good time with my French friends and Vali made it worth. At eleven o’clock we headed for B52 to celebrate the departure of Sophie and Carine to France. Although a sad moment, we took it ok.

Saturday we met at twelve to go to Vama Veche: Marc, the blond “gipsy” driver :) Vali and Sophie, me and Roland, the German boy and his twelve beers…:). From here we a had a very nice five hours trip…till Vama.

What goes in Vama stays in Vama. I will break this rule, just this time, and tell you that I sprained one of my left hand finger and…France is really nice…:).

We left Vama on Sunday at noon and arrived in Bucharest around eleven PM.

This was a great weekend. Goodbye Sophie…we will miss you…

Thank you: Typhaine, Vali, Sophie, Roland, Marc, Ioana, Cosmo, Gigi, Jean, Oana, Pierre, other French and Italian people…:).

P.S. It’s not so easy to do everything with one hand…:).   

Day 1 – We arrived just in time to see The Snails performing their last song. After a short break Patrice got on stage. At this point dark clouds were gathering. As an irony, they attacked when Patrice sang their main hit – Soulstorm…:). We all got wet and had to go home to change. I went at Vali’s. Thank you Vali for the gay pants and the wide Tshirt. Good thing I had my flag with me…:). We returned just in time to see the second half of the Killers concert.

Day 2 – This was one of the most awaited days as Motorhead was to perform. No rain bothered to show. After a few beers and some uninteresting troops Motorhead got on stage. The circle of death started in front of the scene got us very quickly near the stage. It was a great performance by the old Englishmen. I must tell you that at the end of this concert I caught one of the guitar picks thrown in public. It will stay next to the ones from Gammaray and In Flames…:). The last band performing was Moby. Starting this day our group got larger. We were: Romanians, Serbians, French, Austrians and Germans. The night ended with the already usually trip to Ota.

Day 3 – The main attraction of this day was, for me at least, the performance of Franz Ferdinand. This is one of the bands I really wanted to see performing live on scene. And they did a great show. The last performance of the evening was Orbital. We didn’t understand what they were singing or how many songs they sang but our multicultural group had a great time. We just hope no one saw our dance…:). This was the first evening to try the silent disco – a discotheque where you can listen the music in your headphones. After another two hours of great fun we decided to go to shaorma. The only problem was that we had only a ford fiesta for eight persons. And we did it in Romanian style – three in front and five in back.

Day 4 – This was the day of Santana. He is a very good guitar player but his music is not quite no1 in our tops…:). This was the day when we tried the Heineken refrigerator. We drank a beer at minus eight degrees dressed in short pants and equipped with a Heineken jacket. This night ended with the silent disco…and a long walk till Unirii…:).

Day 5 – the Manowar day. As this hardest day of Bestfest, or the aftershock as they called it, our group got smaller. It also was the day we weren’t the only ones having a flag. At the beginning of the Manowar show one of the organizers took our flag, he asked for it of course. They didn’t have a flag for the chief organizer who was to be awarded with the balls of steal…:). So we had no flag for Manowar, but it got on stage. During their show one of the generators failed twice. Despite of this, it was a great show. The most fun moment of the show was when two Bulgarian ladies got on stage and received a cool reply from J M about their presence in Romania…:)….(quote: so you came to Romania to get fucked real hard). Anyway this was yet another memorable evening. Oh…not to forget about the flag…:). It remained at the Emagic producers and I got it on Tuesday…signed…”To our brother Costin, Hail & Kill, J M… So…no guitar picks…just a signed flag…:).     

After several full weeks, the chill weekend followed. This came thanks to my parents which came visit me all the way from the beautiful town of Bals. My fridge got alive again as it was filled with several types of food. It was fun, but doing nothing crazy left a bitter taste.

This is about to change, as this week the concert marathon knocks at the door. Five full days of real good music. This year, Bestfest promises to outrun itself. Let’s hope this will be the case. Anyway, I’ll see you there, all five days. If this won’t cure me…probably nothing will…

Placebo performed very well live. The audience was formed especially by misunderstood teenagers, boys and girls… This was yet another concert we couldn’t miss. It had only one weak point – the KFC meal afterwards.

The weekend finished on Monday with an extraordinary performance by AG Weinberger in Silver Church. It was my first time to see this unbelievable artist.   

These full weekends are pretty efficient in my tentative to keep me as busy as I can. But their effect is not quite what I hoped for…unfortunately. I will not lose it…though…

On Sunday the real adventure begun. We arrived at Comarnic around 10:30. The team got set and around 11:30 me, Ana, Costi, Dea, Chris and Ionut started our ascend from Poiana Stanii. We, of course, started with a quick geocache. After this, a long way fallowed till we reached the base of the Piatra Craiului Mountain. Along the way we recruited two new persons: Maria and Teo, her 9th grade son. Oh…not to forget about the Ciculics, a whole race of imaginary heads with shovels. The walk till the cross was pretty hard, mostly because on the left we always had the precipice. It was a pretty scary sightsee. The Costila relay followed. At 7 PM we finally reached the Babele chalet. It was the first time for me to see the Sfincs and the old ladies…:). After a quick meal (oltenian sausages and cheese) and a good talk with two foreign ladies (from Austria and Germany), we started our descend on the Jepii Mici path. This is a very steep walk and filled with many crosses… The night arrived, but we still had a long way till Busteni. Fortunately I had my new flash light with me, which is very cool except the fact that it has written DYNAMO on it…:).  We encountered no bears or other animals that could hurt us. Lately, all the bears moved to the city. We saw them in Sinaia enjoying a tasty dumpster.  The night ended at 2 A.M. after a “great” shower…:).

On Monday morning the rain cut all our wings. But we struck luck when the sun took charge of the things. Having half of day passed we decided that only reasonable thing to do, and not to waste all the day, was bike riding. We were equipped with two bikes, one car, protective equipment and… and two girls…. It was very fun riding the bike on the slopes through sharp curves and cow shits all over the road… The reasonable conclusion of this day was: I have to get a bike. All this extraordinary weekend end with the acquisition of a Comarnic famous cheese roll… perfect I say… but not quite… right. But this is another story and maybe it will be covered in a future episode.   

May the Ciculics be with you…

On Saturday night we went at the party held in the Architectural University. This is a great event, where the party starts at the entrance where at the queue you could listen the music played on the big Hammer. Inside, the party was practically divided into five smaller parties, each party having its own music, drinks and migrating people.

It was an ok weekend, the first after a cool period. But… yet again… nothing seems impressive in these days… especially now when life threw me on the open market… without my will…      

This is the moment when I should focus on a stable workplace, try to escalade the corporate hierarchy (be the one with the company culture), get married and think of a child, end each week with the market visit on Saturday and the Sunday barbecue or visits to relatives, forget or slow down the football matches and the rock concerts, and... and lots of other familiar activities. I don't think I will embrace this behavior too soon. I still have some more life to live before crossing the road...and losing my identity. It will happen, no doubt about that, but not now...and not so hard, I hope. Anyway enough with these distant future somber assumptions...:). Let's celebrate!

P.S. The big party will be announced later and will probably take place on the beginning of June.

Now a few words on what this post is all about. On Tuesday, with a few friends (Chris, Ina, Deia, Mada), we went to the Medrano circus. This was the first time to interact with a real circus…live. Of course, my whole life tends to be a circus, but that doesn’t count. It was fun to see the extraordinary interpenetration between old and new…between dancing horses, giraffes, tigers and the sphere spinning motorcycles. It was very entertaining. Medrano will perform only until may 17th (one of earth’s greatest days :) ) . So hurry! It’s not a chance to miss. A chance to see the circus not as you see/feel it every day. The only drawback will be the pity that the wild bests (animals) will inspire you. That’s sad but…that’s the life…and unfortunately not only in the circus world…

To sum it all up and to remind everyone "What happens in Vama Veche stays in Vama Veche!"

For further details read Chris.

These tiring three days ended in great style…with another rock concert. This time it was Anathema with Celelalte Cuvinte as opening act. There were almost four hours of pure rock, a show in which the englishmen put the crowd on fire…or on sleep. It was the perfect end for the three glorious days.

The week is not over yet as May 1st is around the corner. There will be another three full days. But this will be covered next week with the hope that we will all return from Vama…alive… :)

Easter, the holyday our lord rebirths every year. In nowadays this is the moment when we go to church at midnight, take the holly light, then rush back home (or to the various discos and clubs) and, this evening and the two days following, eat the food for the seven weeks fasted. This is also the moment to send predefined phone messages starting with “Fie ca…” and containing words like: light, soul peace, hope, angels…(very good market strategy by the mobile phone companies).

This year was a little odd, because during the two weeks of Easter, the catholic and orthodox (it’s bizarre that Jesus revives twice a year in similar religions), National Geographic presented the Christian Bible series. This TV programs presented the newly translated Gospel of Judas. The Gospel of Judas gives a different view of the relationship between Jesus and Judas, offering new insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Unlike the accounts in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, in which Judas is portrayed as a reviled traitor, this newly discovered Gospel portrays Judas as acting at Jesus' request when he hands Jesus over to the authorities.

Under the influence of these facts I tend to admit  great man this Jesus.

For more info please refer to http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel.