#Belgrade Bridge Performance

[queer-geordie-nerd]

A nuanced and insightful interview with Mira from November 1996, in the middle of filming S4 of Babylon 5 - it touches on her war time experiences in Yugoslavia and the events that drove her from her home, and the similarities between her own life and that of Delenn. Once again, I am bowled over by the incredible integrity and courage she possessed:

STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND

It's the one subject that pains Mira Furlan to discuss. The one subject that invades her privacy. The one subject that so violates her very soul.

And yet, it's the one subject that can't be avoided.

Nearly five years to the day of this interview, Furlan left her homeland of Yugoslavia, which was about to be engulfed in a bloody and horrific civil war. Ethnic passions restrained by decades of Communist rule had been unleashed by its collapse. Fascistic Nationalists arose to take its place, many of them former Communists. In their lust for power, they tore apart a nation of disparate republics and peoples that had once been a dream of poets, intellectuals and writers.

As one of Yugoslavia's most prestigious actors, Furlan risked her life and fortune to perform in cities on both sides, in Croatia and in Serbia. She hoped that she could be a bridge of unity, a symbol of pacifism, a clarion warning what terrible price their country would pay for unleashing the war their leaders were about to start.

Except for her husband, Goran Gajic, no one supported her.

Her colleagues abandoned her. Nationalist demagogues threatened to have her killed. Anonymous death threats were left on her answering machine.

She could not go silently. Before she left Yugoslavia, Furlan picked up her pen and wrote a farewell letter to her country. The letter was published a few days later in Zagreb (the capital of Croatia) and Belgrade (the capital of Serbia), cities on opposite sides of the coming war. It began:

“I hereby wish to thank my co-citizens who have joined so unreservedly in this small, marginal and apparently not particularly significant campaign against me. Although marginal, it will change and mark my whole life. Which is, of course, totally irrelevant in the context of the death, destruction, devastation and bloodchilling crimes within which our life now goes on.

This is happening, however, to the one and only life I have. It seems that I've been chosen for some reason to be the filthy rag everyone uses to wipe the mud off their shoes. I am far too desperate to embark on a series of public polemics in the papers. I do, however, feel that I owe myself and my city at least a few words. Like at the end of some clumsy, painful love story, when you keep wanting, wrongly, to explain something more, even though you know at the bottom of your heart that words are wasted; there is no one left to hear them. It is over.”

In Yugoslavia, Furlan was a leading actress of film, television and stage. She appeared in over 25 films, and won two Golden Arenas for Best Actress, their equivalent of the Oscar. Among her acclaimed theatrical roles were Ophelia in Hamlet, Celimene in The Misanthrope, and the title role in Euripides' Helen.

Under socialist rule, the arts were state-funded. "Your star status didn't mean that you were making money. But there were other advantages. Money was not the main obsession. The absence of money gave you a certain degree of creative freedom. We had all the time in the world. Movies were shot forever. Theatre plays were rehearsed forever. I personally was bored with that; things were not quick enough for me. But you had the luxury of having time to explore, to enjoy the creative process. These were the few advantages of living in socialism."

The notion of "freedom" in the arts in a socialist country may come as a surprise to Americans raised on Cold War propaganda asserting the opposite. "With my generation, the Communists were dying off," Furlan said. "Their grip on the artists' community was not as strong as after the war (World War II), when you could be in prison for just saying the wrong sentence. So we didn't feel it. I grew up totally despising them - the so-called them - and not having anything to do with them. And they left me alone. So there was relative freedom. Theatre was free because no one cared, basically. It was so marginal to the cause of the regime that people were left to do what they wanted. Film was much more dangerous, thus much more controlled."

That started to change when the Nationalists came to power. "The Yugoslav Communists didn't have the force that these new Nationalists now have, because these new leaders feel that the world is starting from them. They're creating new realities, new history, new language, new values. There's always this passion in the beginning; as a citizen, you don't want to be touched by that passion, because it can cost you your life."

Life in the former Yugoslavia was a political lifestyle largely unknown to Americans. "It was a double life. People had their own private thoughts. Publicly, they behaved as was prescribed; the majority were members of the Communist Party. Opportunism ruled. I think all Eastern Europeans have that built in — no confidence in any government, in any politicians. But, a contradiction! When Communism collapsed, Nationalism was born out of the old Communism. Trained in opportunism, people easily converted from Communism to Nationalism. That's the irony of it. Nothing has changed. The same people, the same names. The same faces. They just converted, switched just like that. That's what's so ugly in that whole situation. You just watch it and cannot believe that people don't remember what they were saying just two months ago. They didn't learn anything. They actually jumped into the first trap, completely surrendering to those new Nationalist leaders that brought them only pain lsss and devastation."

“I have no other way of thinking. I cannot accept war as the only solution, I cannot force myself to hate, I cannot believe that weapons, killing, revenge, hatred, that such an accumulation of evil will ever solve anything. Each individual who personally accepts the war is in fact an accessory to the crime; must he not then take a part of the guilt for the war, a part of the responsibility?”

"Historically, there were all kinds of frustrations on all sides, among all the peoples of the former Yugoslavia. There was a general feeling that each of these peoples who lived together in the former Yugoslavia had been somehow abused by the others. And there was a lot of truth in that. Nationalism is always partly grounded in truth. The Nationalists' politics manipulated the existing anger and frustration of the people and put their emphasis on that, and that's how the war started. The new Nationalists, who were for the most part converted Communists, took all the media. Journalists, I think, and media in general, bear an incredible responsibility for what happened."

The Babylon 5 episode being filmed during this interview, "The Illusion of Truth," has some eerie parallels. An ISN news crew films a documentary on B5, only to use the footage in a propaganda film for President Clark's fascist regime. It's an allegory for how America was consumed by Senator Joe McCarthy's witch hunts in the 1950s. "Sometimes I'm so appalled by what Joe (Straczynski) knows. I happened to experience a witch hunt — as an object! — but it's nothing new. Old stuff."

Furlan drew the attention of the Nationalists after she travelled from her home in Zagreb, Croatia to Belgrade, Serbia to perform at the annual BITEF Festival. BITEF was an international theatre event attended by actors from across Europe. She believed that her participation was a statement that her profession should not be drawn into supporting any political or national ideas. She felt it was her responsibility to establish bridges and ties, "for the sake of something that would outlive this war and this hatred which is so foreign to me," she wrote at the time. But the political leaders in Croatia were furious with her — and targeted her as an example of what would happen to others who chose the same path. Fearful for their careers, if not for their lives, and perhaps even sympathetic of the Nationalist cause, none of her colleagues spoke up to defend her.

“I think, I know and I feel that it is my duty, the duty of our profession, to build bridges. To never give up on cooperation and community. Not that national community. The Professional community. The human community. And even when things are at their very worst, as they are now, we must insist to our last breath on building and sustaining a bond between people. This is how we pledge to the future. And one day it will come . . .

I was willing and I would still be willing to undertake all and any efforts, if the hatred hadn't suddenly overwhelmed me with its horrendous ferocity, hatred welling from the city I was born in. I am appalled by the force and magnitude of that hatred, by its perfect unanimity, by the fact that there was absolutely nobody who could see my gesture as my defense of the integrity of the profession, as my attempt to defend at least one excellent theatre performance.”

"People's behavior is mainly built on fear. People think, 'Let them destroy her but just leave us alone.' When the media went crazy in Yugoslavia, I was a good example. I was a perfect target. I was a totally unprotected woman. Woman, that's very important. The war propaganda was constantly in search of 'internal enemies' just to homogenize the people, and to put fear in their heads so they could manipulate them. It's interesting that the majority of the 'internal enemies' were women. It's a very misogynist culture. It's a very misogynist world. I happen to be partly Jewish, and that came into the picture nicely. And I was never very obedient in my life and career. I left projects that I didn't really believe in. I made some unexpected choices in my work and in my life. All of that got wrapped up - Liberal. Feminist. Whore. Jew. Everything. The media combined it into this juicy bundle and served it to the people, who devoured it."

Abandoned by her friends and colleagues, and living with the threat of assassination, Furlan and her husband left Yugoslavia on November 15, 1991 for New York. She left behind the open letter explaining her departure.

“I am sending this letter into a void, into darkness, without an inkling of who will read it and how, or in how many different ways it will be misused or abused. Chances are it will serve as food for the eternally hungry propaganda beast. Perhaps someone with a pure heart will read it after all.

I will be grateful to that someone.”

American life and culture were a difficult adjustment, both in her profession and her personal life. Furlan has found the acting profession, indeed the entire entertainment industry, radically different from what she knew. Unlike in Yugoslavia, she found that diverse acting talents in the United States were rarely appreciated, much less rewarded.

"It's a European tradition among actors. Serious actors build their career in the theatre," Furlan said. "It's a completely different thing in America. The theatre is so marginal. The theatre doesn't matter because it's not mass culture. It's not the money-making machine. So yeah, I've learned that. We had a crash course in capitalism in the toughest spot. Hollywood is probably the toughest spot on Earth that way, the most cruel. It's a struggle, it's a fight. It's all about publicity and agents and names. That's what I really hate about being an actor here. I hated many things about acting in Yugoslavia. I was frustrated, and felt hopeless as an actor in socialism. I hated many things there, but I really miss concentrating on my work, which should be enough ideally, and it's not. Here, it's just a tiny part of everything else. Everything else is much more important, and you have to do so much of it yourself because no one else cares. Doing stuff that takes away your energy and your concentration and your precious time. These telephone conversations with people who have no interest in you, who don't have interest in anything but quick and easy money."

Babylon 5 is Furlan's first major television role in the United States; in fact it was one of her first auditions. It was also her introduction to science fiction. "I'm completely new to this whole thing. I knew the basics of science fiction literature — Bradbury, Clarke, just general culture — but there wasn't anything remotely similar to this. I was shocked when I went to my first convention."

The similarities between Furlan's life and Delenn's travails are striking. But it seems that it's no more than an amazing coincidence. According to Furlan, Straczynski didn't even know about her personal history when she was hired to play Delenn. "He surprises me so many times. And sometimes I feel as if he's written something directly for me. But he didn't know anything about me. Nothing. When the series started, we talked and he found out."

Furlan was an only child, raised among adults in a family of university professors. What was it that led her into acting? "It was a game! I always wanted to study languages. I studied English and French when I finished high school. I did them together, languages and acting. I went to the Academy for Film, Theatre and TV, and the University. But it was the other part of me, the part that wants to play, that finally won over the serious part, the one who sits at home and reads and learns and does research. It started as a game, it started as 'Let's play.'

"When I started at the Academy, they always used me for comedy, for light, playful stuff. Then I did a play in which something clicked in me. It was an English play in a famous little avant garde theatre, with only me and another actor. It was a very heavy play about marriage, marriage in three stages, which ends with this woman committing suicide on stage. I was so much younger than the part I played, but it completely opened this world of reality in acting. It started a journey inward for me. Once you experience that, once you open up in that way - people talk about getting in touch with your emotions, that's what you do in acting. That's your main job. That's your profession.

"That's why I miss theatre. That's the beauty of doing theatre. You are in touch with the greatest writers of world literature. Their thoughts, their characters. That's unbeatable. That's a pleasure in itself, no matter in what way it forwards your so-called career. I miss film. I miss having time to try things to discover subtleties, layers, little things. The comforting thing on Babylon 5 is Joe's writing, which sometimes touches the depth of the classic literature."

If Straczynski were to ask her to write a B5 episode, what story would she tell?" I have an image for some reason of the set for The Wizard of Oz. I'm in the middle, kind of a Dorothy figure. On one side is G'Kar, and on the other side is Londo, and we walk towards some incredible adventure. Having them on each side of me would make me feel strong and protected, and I would dare to go anywhere!" She suggests that her cat could play Toto, and we agree that cats are very Minbari.

Babylon 5 is fiction. But much of that fiction is rooted in reality, the reality of our 20th Century. It's easy to turn off the TV each week at the end of the hour, put away the popcorn bowl and say, "Aw, that couldn't happen here." But it has. It does. And it will.

Delenn is a fictional character, but Mira Furlan is not. It's easy for a fictional character to risk her life for a cause. For a living human being with friends, family, and a successful career, that decision is much more difficult. Fiction often poses for its characters the question, "Will you sacrifice all for what you believe?" In the fictional world of Babylon 5, that question is, "Who are you?" Reality rarely presents any of us with that challenge. Few of us will ever know what our answer would be.

All Mira Furlan ever wanted was to experience the pure joy of acting, the inward exploration of her soul, and to share that exploration with her audience. But history forced her to explore down unseen paths, paths of darkness, the same paths that took countless lives in her homeland. History demanded, "Who are you?"

Mira answered, and suffered for it. She and Goran have started a new life in America, strangers in a strange land. Their experience reminds us that life may one day demand a test of our integrity. If it does, let us hope that we are equal to their courage.

[vintage1981]

Celebrating Jacqueline Pearce

Jacqueline Pearce is a British actress best know for playing Servalan in all four series of Blake's 7.

Born in Woking in the south of England, Jacqueline Pearce trained at the British stage school RADA and at Lee Strasberg’s Actors Studio in Los Angeles. 

Her TV career began in the 1960’s with regular roles in the ITV Play of the Week as well as appearances in shows such as The Avengers and Armchair Theatre.

She starred in two Hammer horror films, The Plague of the Zombies and The Reptile, filmed simultaneously in 1966. Other film roles include Sky West and Crooked, Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the River and How to Get Ahead in Advertising.

Roles in the 1970’s included Rosa Dartle in David Copperfield, Claudia Haswell in Couples, and Anna Rupius in Vienna 1900. But it was in 1978 that she was cast in the role for which she would be ever known.

Servalan was the Supreme Commander of the Terran Federation in Blakes 7, the TV drama devised by Dalek creator Terry Nation. The character was only expected to appear in one episode of the saga, but Pearce’s electrifying performance ensured the character would survive far longer than the title character, appearing in all four series.

A cold, calculating, ruthless sociopath Servalan’s main aim was to destroy the crew of the Liberator and the relish with which Pearce played the character ensured she would remain a fan favourite for the series duration. 

Her Doctor Who appearance came in 1985, playing Chessene of the Franzine Grig in the Colin Baker story The Two Doctors. She later appeared in a slew of Blake’s 7 and Doctor Who audio adventures for for Big Finish Productions.

In 1991 she played Miss Pendragon in the Russell T. Davies series Dark Season. She also appeared in series such as Casualty, Doctors, Daniel Deronda and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

Her theatre work included West End appearances in Harold Pinter’s Otherwise Engaged (Queen’s Theatre) and JB Priestly’s Dangerous Corner (Garrick Theatre); Shadowlands; Tom Stoppard’s Night and Day (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry) ; and her one woman show A Star is Torn.

Jacqueline relocated to South Africa for several years, initially to care for orphaned monkeys, before recently returning to the UK. Her autobiography, From Byfleet to the Bush, was published in 2012. 

Jacqueline Kay Pearce, actor, born 20 December 1943; died 3 September 2018

[opticandmasturbation]

The memoir LOVE ME MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD: Stories about belonging by the late Mira Furlan, the Yugoslav-born star of Babylon 5 and Lost, has been published for the first time in English. Already one of the bestselling books in 2022 in Croatia and Serbia, the autobiographical work tells the story of Furlan’s remarkable life and creatively acclaimed career—along with the poignant and terrifying account of how her principled stand against the ethnic carnage that tore Yugoslavia apart in 1991 led her to leave the country with her husband, the director Goran Gajic.

Before leaving, Furlan wrote “A letter to my co-citizens,” considered by many to be one of the most powerful anti-war essays of the last century and a historic document of the situation of an artist in a war. It was published in the newspapers on both warring sides of the conflict.

In that piece, Furlan wrote, “I know and I feel that it is my duty, the duty of our profession, to build bridges. To never give up on cooperation and community. Not the national community. The professional community. The human community. And even when things are at their very worst, as they are now, we must insist to our last breath on building and sustaining bonds between people. This is how we pledge to the future. And one day it will come.”

A fierce media campaign against her continued, leading to her being fired by the Croatian National Theatre. Her main “sin” was starring at the Belgrade International Theater Festival, where the antiwar production of “Theatrical Illusions” (Corneille) was chosen to be in the main competition of the festival. (She had been performing the play for a year prior to the outbreak of the war.)

Furlan begins her book with the history of her family in Yugoslavia, a country that no longer exists. Part Jewish, part Croatian, Furlan grew up never feeling the strong pull of ethnic nationalism that lurked beneath the surface of the communist society. Born in 1955 in Zagreb and recognized early on for her extraordinary talent, Furlan achieved fame as a star of film, TV, and the stage across all of Yugoslavia by the late seventies.

Furlan and Gajic emigrated to the United States, settling in New York City and starting a hard immigrant life. After a rough adjustment, Furlan was cast in Babylon 5, the cult science fiction television series. She later appeared in Lost and many other television shows and stage productions in Los Angeles.

Furlan explains that she conceived the book as a letter to her son, saying, “He is the one to whom I want to tell this story: the story of his parents and their tortured country, the story of a life that had been torn apart by uncontrollable forces, the story of a continual search for identity, purpose and direction in difficult circumstances, the story of emigrating to a foreign place, of lives being torn into pieces, of fragile nature of friendship and love, of heartbreaking losses, of new beginnings, of expectations and disappointments, of America through a lens of a foreigner, of a woman’s experience in the acting profession practiced on two continents, of the fleeting nature of fame.”

She then remarks, “And while I’ve been trying to answer these unanswerable questions, toiling over words in a language that is not mine (although I audaciously pretend it is), something very strange has happened: you have grown up. Not only that: America has become a different country, a country ominously similar to the place we once left in horror and despair. There is no doubt anymore that the forces that chased us out of our own homes have won a global victory. We fought those forces once. Now we feel tired. We are exhausted by repetition.”

And, strangely enough, this book is becoming a different book. It is no longer a book of memories of a distant place and a distant time. It is becoming something very different: a plea to America and the world.

—amazon

[gozel]

https://www.academia.edu/20063352/DJing_Radio_Karaoke_Conviviality_als_Nebenprodukt_transkultureller_Musikvermittlung * *

DJing, Radio, Karaoke. Conviviality als Nebenprodukt transkultureller Musikvermittlung - 2012, Binas-Preisendörfer, S., Unseld, M. and Arenhövel, S. (Eds.), Transkulturalität und Musikvermittlung, Peter Lang, Wien, Stefanie Alisch ( Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Medienwissenschaft Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin ) - - - ----- "  Finglish Karaoke – Eine partizipative Gesangsperformance Vom 21. November bis zum 7. Dezember 2008 fand in Berlin die First In-ternational Roaming Biennial of Teheran  unter dem Motto „Urban Jealousy“ statt. Die unabhängig finanzierte Veranstaltung wurde von den Künstlern Serhat Köksal (Istanbul) und Amirali Ghasemi (Teheran) mit dem Ziel ku-ratiert, die Biennalisierung im internationalen Kunstmarkt zu kritisieren. Eine Maßgabe der Kuratoren war, dass die Ausstellungsbeiträge klein und leicht genug sein müssten, um mit dem Handgepäck in Billig-Airlines transportiert werden zu können. So kam es zu vielen Sticker-, Video- und Performance-Arbeiten auf der Teheran-Bienniale, die in Istanbul, Belgrad und Berlin Station machte.

  transkultureller Musikvermittlung das Erreichen einer Conviviality Culture zu formulieren, die ja gerade über ihre Beiläufigkeit funktioniert. Insofern lässt sich Conviviality auch nicht gezielt erzeugen, sondern kann als Effekt eintreten, als ein Nebenprodukt bei Projekten transkultureller Musikver-mittlung entstehen, wenn jener „liberating sense of the banality of inter-mixture” (Gilroy 2005: 150) spürbar wird.

 Im Musikarchiv des Iwalewa-Hauses erinnert ein Plakat an die Teheran-Biennale.14  Mein inzwischen dreijähriger Besucher diskutiert es immer wieder gern: „Der Schwanz von dem einen Dinosaurier ist ein Bagger. Was kommt aus dem Schwanz von dem anderen Dinosaurier raus?“ „Eine Erdöl-Pipeline, da fliießt Öl durch, das benutzen wir zum Auto fahren und heizen“. Der Istanbuler Künstler Serhat Köksal, einer der Kuratoren der Teheran-Biennale, hat das Plakat entworfen. In seinen audio-visuellen Performances als 2/5 BZ arbeitet er mit Slogans wie No Cultural Pipeline, No Energy Dialogue, Gegen die Bridge oder NO Touristik NO Egzotik, um glo- bale Macht- und Interessengeflechte offenzulegen, die gern mit einer Rede vom Dialog zwischen den Kulturen begleitet werden (vgl. Alisch 2011). In der Unterhaltung mit meinem Besucher bleiben wir bei den Baggern und Dinosauriern, bei den Platten und Buntstiften. Als potentielles Reservoir kollektiven Wissens bietet sich das Musikarchiv zur Bearbeitung durch Projekte transformativer Musikvermittlung an. Sowohl Radio-und DJ-Workshops als auch partizipative Karaoke-Perfor-mances könnten es zum Klingen bringen, für die Allgemeinheit zugäng-lich zu machen und es so in den öffentlichen Raum hinein wirken lassen. Durch unsere spielerisch entstandenen Archiv-Abende sind bereits einige Transformationen angeregt worden. So wird das Musikarchiv kollektiv hörbar gemacht und als Raum für Musicking-Sessions markiert. Die Tat-sache, dass ein Kleinkind ästhetische Entscheidungen trifft, lockert Alters-hierarchien auf und nicht zuletzt mildert diese Form der transkulturellen Musikvermittlung den Kulturschock zwischen Kreuzberg und Bayreuth etwas ab."

...

Iwalewa Evi'nin müzik arşivindeki bir afiş Tahran'ı anıyor Bienal.14 Şimdi üç yaşında olan ziyaretçim hep bunu tartışıyor yine şöyle: "Bir dinozorun kuyruğu bir kazıcıdır. Diğer dinozorun kuyruğundan ne çıkıyor?" "Bir Petrol boru hattı, içinden petrol akıyor, onu sürüş için kullanıyoruz ve sıcaklık". küratörlerinden İstanbullu sanatçı Serhat Köksal Afişi Tahran Bienali tasarladı. görsel-işitsel olarak 2/5 BZ olarak performansları Kültürel Boru Hattı Yok gibi sloganlarla çalışıyor. Enerji Diyaloğu Yok, Köprü Karşısı veya Turistik YOK Egzotik YOK, glo- güç ve çıkar ağlarını ifşa etmeyi seven bir konuşma ile bunu yapmayı seven kültürler arası diyalog eşlik eder (cf. Alisch 2011). İçinde ziyaretçimle yaptığım konuşmanın ekskavatörlerine sadık kalıyoruz ve dinozorlar, tabaklar ve boya kalemleriyle. Müzik arşivi, kendisini potansiyel bir kolektif bilgi deposu olarak sunar. dönüştürücü müzik eğitimi projeleri aracılığıyla işlemek için. Hem radyo hem de DJ atölyelerinin yanı sıra katılımcı karaoke performansları mances onu seslendirebilir, halka açık yaşanabilir hale getirmek ve böylece kamusal alana etki etmesini sağlamak. Şakacı bir şekilde oluşturduğumuz arşiv akşamlarımızda, şimdiden birkaç dönüşümler teşvik edilmiştir. Müzik arşivi böyle kollektif hale geliyor işitilebilir hale getirildi ve Musicking oturumları için bir alan olarak işaretlendi. Gerçek- yürümeye başlayan bir çocuğun estetik seçimler yaptığı şey yaşı gevşetir hiyerarşiler ve son olarak bu kültürler arası ilişki biçimini yumuşatır.

[kimengelen]

Belgrade Bridge Performance 15 February 2020 | 5:00 p.m. Branko’s bridge, Serbia

[amesstm]

trips to Europe

A/N: this is inspired by my own study abroad to Berlin :) Then I got stuck in Amsterdam on the way back to the states so that’s why I was gone for so long haha

part 1 | part 2

A trip to Berlin with Gojo involves black clothes on the daily. He has the whole week planned out for his outfits and for you two to match. The two of you soon realize how bad of a decision it is to act like you’re on a runway when it starts raining all of a sudden… yeah, the weather app didn’t catch that part. Once night falls, you both go clubbing, in the typical all-black outfits - at least once to know what it’s like before feeling drained after 20 minutes and walking out. You both spend the night at a cozy bar with good beer, just talking about the beautiful city and what you’ll do the next day.

A trip to Amsterdam with Nanami involves you two going on boat rides down the canals and taking aesthetically pleasing pictures everywhere. The tulip fields have never looked so gorgeous. He’s too quiet to say it, but he loves the pictures where you’re not smiling directly at the camera. It’s a candid shot of the most beautiful person he’s ever seen simply enjoying the flowers. When it’s nighttime, you bite your lip and look towards your boyfriend. He looks towards you worriedly, “what is it?” “Do you want to go to the red district?” He sighs and puts his nose between his fingers in disappointment. “Hey! Gojo would want to go!”

A trip to Prague with Toji involves enjoying the scenic beauty of the old architecture - whilst chastising him for drinking too much Czech beer. He gets swept up in the drinking scene because of how different it is from Japan. Of course, he finally gets it under control but “the beer is cheaper than the water!” However, you do enjoy the city with him. He makes for an amazing model; but he is also a horrible photographer. “Toji! This photo of me on the Charles Bridge is so blurry!” You pout as you look through all of the pictures you took on your very nice, very elaborate camera. “It was foggy anyways!” “But the pictures of you are fine!”

A trip to Belgrade with Yuji involves enjoying the nightlife in Skadarlija. You two love listening to the Serbian musicians, even though you don’t know what they’re saying at all. The traditional food and street performers livened up the night. Yuji smiled brightly at you before taking your hand and dancing with you in the middle of the street. Before the trip, you really thought that it was a bad idea to take a dart and throw it at a map to determine your trip. But Yuji never disappointed.

A trip to Budapest with Megumi involves relaxed strolls throughout the cities. He loved seeing the Gothic style architecture, especially at the Parliament Building. The best part of this city for him and you, though, was the spa culture. Since it was considered the ‘spa central’ of Europe, you both had to go to Szechenyi Baths. Megumi sighed in relief as he felt his body relax in the thermal bathhouse with a strong arm around your waist, “finally, it’s so peaceful.” You chuckled, “Just don’t fall asleep otherwise you’ll wake up wrinkly.”

A trip to Paris with Nobara involves a lot of shopping. After all, Paris was well known for the fashion - and what better time to do it than Paris Fashion Week? You and Nobara attend fashion shows sporting your best outfits. Miraculously, you two were able to fake your way into coming off as top and up-coming models. somehow you two sit next to literal celebrities and outrageously rich people. “ah, this piece comes from Foyles and Hatchards. it’s very niche and they’re becoming very popular.” You watched Nobara flawlessly lie; in reality, she was listing off bookstores in London.

A trip to London with Getou involves high tea at a shop close to Buckingham Palace. “Darling, if you try to kiss the cheek of one of those guards, I’m leaving you here.” You cheekily didn’t answer but smiled like it didn’t bother you. “Never mind, I don’t like that look. you cannot stay here without me.” You did end up getting a picture with one of the guards, from a respectable distance. Getou gets the grand idea to look at the Royal Jewels. Honestly, you wondered what it’d look like if he wore some of those earring pieces. Frankly, your boyfriend might as well have been royalty himself.

A trip to Rome with Inumaki involves all of the famous tourist attractions. Somehow, you two managed to find the Trevi Fountain empty - at 6:00 am in the morning because you both needed gorgeous photos. You two take amazing photos before tossing coins into the fountain. Once it’s a proper time in the day, the Colosseum was a must-see. Around lunchtime, you eat at La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali. Then, it was getting gelato by the canals. “Babe, will you love me no matter how much pasta and gelato I eat?” Inumaki doesn’t answer your question.

extra note for Gojo! The clubbing scene in Berlin can be very casual compared to clubbing in the states. The Berliners love their neutral colors, usually opting for all-black outfits. I felt so out of place with my bolder colors haha.

extra note for Toji! I do not know if it’s true for the Czech Republic but if it’s anything like the other European countries I went to, the water given at restaurants is not free and is sometimes more expensive than other beverages.

there’s other information I can give about my experience that inspired a lot of what I wrote, but I’ll try to keep this short. Cheers!

©amesstm on tumblr // pls do not plagiarize, steal, or repost my content w/o permission!! BUT likes & reblogs are highly appreciated :)

[city-of-ladies]

Jeanne Merkus - The “Joan of Arc of Serbia”

Jeanne Merkus (1839-1897) was a rich Dutch heiress. Her father had been Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). Orphaned at a young age, she was adopted by her father’s brother, a vicar, and became a devout Protestant. Jeanne was also shaped by her discovery of feminism and socialism. She thus started to distribute her fortune among the poor and the sick.

Jeanne’s first military experience was in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war. She was present during the Prussian siege of Paris as well as the ensuing insurrection of the Paris Commune in 1871. She was maybe one of these women who stood on the barricades and took care of the sick and the wounded. In 1872/3 she made a trip to Jerusalem.

By mid-december 1875, she had joined the anti-Ottoman rebellions in Herzegovina. Her motives were religious, she wrote in her memoirs:“I did not wish to nurse wounded soldiers, but to help liberate Christian people, and also Christ’s land, from the sovereignty of the Turks”. Her goal was thus to liberate the Balkans from Muslim rule and ultimately “recapturing” the Holy Land.

Jeanne carried bandages for the wounded and gave ample proof of her fighting abilities. She skillfully mined bridges, lured a pair of Turkish soldiers in an ambush, tried to blow-up a Turkish fortress on her own. Because of her boldness, the enemy nicknamed her “The red devil”. She was one of the bravest fighters during the battle at Ljubinje in 1876. She was, however, captured by Austrians on Turkish soil, but later liberated.

In March 1876, she headed for Belgrade in Serbia, a country who supported the insurrection in Herzegovina, even if it meant going to war with the Ottoman Empire. Dubbed the “amazon of Herzegovina” and the “Joan of Arc of Serbia” Jeanne was a major financial benefactor to the Serb war effort. She was thus able to refuse a traditional female role as a nurse and was allowed to fight in the ranks. She wore a uniform adapted from the local men’s dress, with a Montenegrin cap over her curly long hair and a man’s cape slung across her shoulder. Lieutenant-Colonal Gruka Miskovic, who was at the beginning skeptical of her presence, would later say that she was a “shining example” of courage in action. 

(Jeanne Merkus in uniform, unknown artist)

If Jeanne was unique as a foreign woman, she was certainly not the only woman to fight in this conflict. Stana Kovačević notably disguised herself as a man in 1876 to follow her husband. According to press reports, her husband was wounded and “it became apparent from her grief for her good comrade, that she was a woman”. She was awarded a silver medal for her bravery. Vukosava Nikolić and Draga Strainović also did the same. Posing as a young volunteer, Draga had almost been rejected from the army due to her youth and appearance, but would later prove herself “very energetic” in performing her duties. Anonymous women also managed to get accepted in the army, though there is no concrete proof if the thought or not.

In June 1876, Montenegro also declared war on the Ottoman Empire. According to Jelena Lazarević, a feminist from Serbia, Montenegrin women followed the men, clad in military uniforms. She notably mentions the siege of the Turkish fortified town of Onogošt (Nikšić), where they courageously pulled wounded men behind the firing lines. A notable female fighter was Andjelija (Andja) Miljanov who, in 1876, by the age of 17, started to fight dressed in male clothes. A Viennese newspaper of October 12, 1876, gives the following description of her:

“Vojvoda Marko had no sons, and therefore he is accompanied by his daughter, who graduated with distinction from the Girl’s School in Cetinje. She is tall, lithe and slender and accustomed to all the heavy fatigues of a mountain war and jumps in her opanci (traditional leather footwear) like a chamois from rock to rock. Yet, she is a heroine as well. On 14 August, she had, under the command of her father, at the battle of Fundina, distinguished herself so much that the Kuči honored her with a very beautiful “puška” (rifle) as a token of remembrance of that day. In this battle she was all the time standing in the first lines during the deadliest fire, and participated in the memorable charge by the Kuči men against the Turks wielding a shiny sabre.”

Jeanne’s presence in the ranks greatly impressed foreign newspapers, but also shamed local men. She also expressed her preference for a republican government and criticized the Serbian commander-in-chief. This led her to be dismissed from the army. Jeanne then headed for the Danubian principalities (Modern Romania) where Russia had declared war on the Ottoman Empire. She offered her military services, but was only accepted in the army as a nurse.

After the fight ceased, she tried to go back to Jerusalem, but was faced with hostility because of her involvement in the Balkans. She fell into poverty and her family managed to bring her back to the Netherlands, where she died at the age of 57 in a Protestant nursing house in Utrecht.

References:

Grémeaux René, “Alone of All Her Sex? The Dutch Jeanne Merkus and the Hitherto Hidden Other Viragos in the Balkans during the Great Eastern Crisis (1875–1878)”

“Jeanne Merkus - the fatal muse of "Nevesinje gun"”

West Rebecca, Black lamb and grey falcon

Wheelwright Julie, Sisters in arms, female warrior from antiquity to the new millenium

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#24)

#24: Mor ve Ötesi - Deli (Turkey 2008)

“Beni büyütün, ağlatmayın, Sahte düşlerle oyalamayın,”

“Raise me, don't make me cry, Don't waste my time with fake dreams.”

This song plays some importance for me personally—I wrote a research chapter between Turkey and its struggle to get into the European Union, which was part of a larger paper (see page 45 of the document for my writing) on Turkish-U.S. relations. The overall paper discusses about how the latter's working relationship deteriorated over the past decade due to differing policy goals and Turkey's rising authoritarianism; the EU was a small part because it could give a hint to what Turkey's immediate Western neighbors were doing to help the situation.

Since this hinted at this tension, I had to listen to it. And it’s an awesome song, filled with power and thought.

I particularly like how dark the soundscape was, especially with the verses and Harun musing about whether he belongs in a specific place. Based on the whole atmosphere, if I didn't read the comments, I would assume it took place in an abusive relationship--not necessarily a physically violent one, but an emotional one. One partner was making promises on how they would be better and grant the other everything, but the other knows their habits and doesn't want to buy into their nonsense anymore. He also showcases this with his performance style--teasing the audience, acting sarcastic through his body gestures and his face, and the intensity in his voice. He's mocking the audience--did they think they got into his mind?

That said, the bridge was also fantastic--here, Harun confronts the entire situation, noting how everyone around him was "sane", while he himself was "insane". If the people who suggest the EU-Turkey relationship is right, it's very apparent here. Despite Turkey's best attempts (and their non-attempts sometimes, haha), they're considered "not European" enough to join their clique (interesting considering how much the Ottoman Empire impacted European history). The tension really rauches up towards the final chorus--I'd imagine I would just scream out just after the final "I am insane...". It's just cathartic after realizing your lack of worth in society.

Arguably, this and We Could Be the Same (#26) deal with the same themes of belonging, wanting to be one, and dealing with others. Whereas the former was more optimistic, and is pretty explicit about romance, Deli is darker, yet more cerebral. You're in a tenser situation, in which everything is at stake, and it's weird because it was released two years earlier!

Plus, I grew to love Mor ve ötesi's discography as well: I listen to Uyan the most, but I also enjoy Cambaz, Anlatamıyorum, and their covers of 1945 and Sultan-ı Yegâh. Definitely one of Turkey's best rock bands, and for good reason.

Personal ranking: 2nd/43 Actual ranking: 7th/25 GF in Belgrade

[natasa-pantovic]

A beautiful mind

Entertainment Books August 9, 2020|Ana Matkova|

4 min read

Nataša Pantović and her son Andrej at the launch of the novel Tree of Life: A Journey into the Field of Dreams in Valletta 2019.

Seated on a panel with her fellow writers, Maltese-Serbian novelist Nataša Pantović has been known to use slam poetry to perform her poetic body of work.

Like her prose, the improvised words, tribal music, percussionist sounds, lengthy ‘aum’ chanting, are neither too preposterous nor too earnest but endlessly curious. A bridge builder between East and West, following ancient archaeological findings, she often dives into historic settings more than 2,000 years back in time.

In her novel, Ama: Playing the Glass Bead Game with Pythagoras, the 52-year-old author makes a bold swerve into less-travelled territory. She chooses for her protagonists  Ama, an African priestess, living in China’s Macao in the 17th century; Ruben, a Portuguese Jesuit priest; and Fr Benedict, an Orthodox Christian.

The book explores the rapidly-growing Macao, its changing sights, sounds and smells from different perspectives, from that of a bat to a goddess to a spirit. Its miracle and its enigma are within the worlds of inner alchemy of the Age of Enlightenment.

Can you tell us about Ama: Playing the Glass Bead Game with Pythagoras?

Both Hesse and Tolstoy were my first spiritual gurus. Through their deep insights and soulful messages, for the first time I experienced the world of spiritual growth and deep contemplation. Many artists have inspired my writings, the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Lao Tzu and Giordano Bruno.  Pythagoras lived on the crossroads of civilisations, as I see us, and he has given us his fascinating research into music and numbers. With my deep respect towards ancient worlds, Pythagoras with his ancient Egyptian mystical knowledge had to be my protagonist.

In your novel, you follow the famous reform of the Chinese calendar during the 17th century. Can you tell us about your research?

I started writing this as a 17th-century novel. In this novel, it was easy to write from the point of view of the main character, a priest or Ama’s mother or a man without a name or a goddess, Lilith.

Holding up a mirror to society of ancient worlds can be fanatical or too obvious within the storytelling environment, so I had to break the rhythm with myths, with art, with dreams

I wanted to bring in the many first-person singular voices, starting with an animal ‒ a bat, as a story-teller, moving to Pythagoras, to people who meet Ama within the setting of her coffee house. This narrative framework is 50 per cent inspired by the ‘yin’ mindset; dreamy and emotional, and five per cent factual, male and mind-driven.

What is it within this black main character that fascinates you so much?

Ama lived with me for 10 years before I knew I would adopt two kids from Ethiopia, yet Ama as the main protagonist of the story has decided to be black.

Was Athens black at the time of the ancient Greeks or was it full of Slavs that during the Dark Ages were not allowed to have their own European history?

All my characters do have strong political, ideological and moral commitments, their ideas are ground-breaking; it is a science against the Church, male against female, East against West conversation.

Holding up a mirror to society of ancient worlds can be fanatical or too obvious within the storytelling environment, so I had to break the rhythm with myths, with art, with dreams.

This novel is, of course, about the search for truth, but from the goddess perspective, about love and union, of the priestesses that have given us the first commandment “Do not kill...”

In this novel you explore the Age of Enlightenment, and ‘Western’ ancient Greek philosophers. Can you talk about your use of the Eastern concept of ‘mindfulness’ in this context?

There are a number of ‘instant happiness’ gurus out there, I do not believe in a ‘get rich in a day’ message, but I do believe that if we learn how to listen to our soul, we will be able to live our highest potential.

We live in a rapidly changing world.  When I was born in Belgrade in 1968, at the time of no TV or internet, the population on the planet was one billion. Now they say it is seven billion.

The changes I have seen during my lifetime are huge. Emotionally, mentally and physically, we have to adopt different behaviour patterns, not just to survive, but to thrive without abusing other social groups or animals or endangering planet Earth.

The next stage, the stage of cultural life, is beyond the knowledge of more than 90 per cent of the population.

Having a percentage of the population that neither collects objects nor watches TV, nor reads newspapers, that is still capable of thinking, un-hypnotised, to appreciate art, or dance or sing, and is able to think creatively, is a part of my research fascination.

Nataša Pantović is a Maltese-Serbian novelist, management consultant, adoptive parent, and ancient worlds explorer based in Malta. Ama: Playing the Glass Bead Game with Pythagoras and other books by Pantović can be purchased on Amazon.

Sunday Times interview with Nataša Pantović A Beautiful Mind https://natasa-pantovic.tumblr.com/post/629614127622537216/a-beautiful-mind

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.29

708 – Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time (Traditional Japanese date: August 10, 708). 870 – The city of Melite surrenders to an Aghlabid army following a siege, putting an end to Byzantine Malta. 1009 – Mainz Cathedral suffers extensive damage from a fire, which destroys the building on the day of its inauguration. 1261 – Pope Urban IV succeeds Pope Alexander IV as the 182nd pope. 1315 – Battle of Montecatini: The army of the Republic of Pisa, commanded by Uguccione della Faggiuola, wins a decisive victory against the joint forces of the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Florence despite being outnumbered. 1350 – Battle of Winchelsea (or Les Espagnols sur Mer): The English naval fleet under King Edward III defeats a Castilian fleet of 40 ships. 1475 – The Treaty of Picquigny ends a brief war between the kingdoms of France and England. 1484 – Pope Innocent VIII succeeds Pope Sixtus IV. 1498 – Vasco da Gama decides to depart Calicut and return to Kingdom of Portugal. 1521 – The Ottoman Turks capture Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade). 1526 – Battle of Mohács: The Ottoman Turks led by Suleiman the Magnificent defeat and kill the last Jagiellonian king of Hungary and Bohemia. 1541 – The Ottoman Turks capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom. 1728 – The city of Nuuk in Greenland is founded as the fort of Godt-Haab by the royal governor Claus Paarss. 1756 – Frederick the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years' War in Europe. 1758 – The Treaty of Easton establishes the first American Indian reservation, at Indian Mills, New Jersey, for the Lenape. 1778 – American Revolutionary War: British and American forces battle indecisively at the Battle of Rhode Island. 1786 – Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers, begins in response to high debt and tax burdens. 1807 – British troops under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeat a Danish militia outside Copenhagen in the Battle of Køge. 1831 – Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction. 1842 – Treaty of Nanking signing ends the First Opium War. 1861 – American Civil War: The Battle of Hatteras Inlet Batteries gives Federal forces control of Pamlico Sound. 1869 – The Mount Washington Cog Railway opens, making it the world's first mountain-climbing rack railway. 1871 – Emperor Meiji orders the abolition of the han system and the establishment of prefectures as local centers of administration. (Traditional Japanese date: July 14, 1871). 1885 – Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first internal combustion motorcycle, the Reitwagen. 1898 – The Goodyear tire company is founded. 1903 – The Slava, the last of the five Borodino-class battleships, is launched. 1907 – The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers. 1910 – The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910, also known as the Japan–Korea Annexation Treaty, becomes effective, officially starting the period of Japanese rule in Korea. 1911 – Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California. 1911 – The Canadian Naval Service becomes the Royal Canadian Navy. 1914 – World War I: Start of the Battle of St. Quentin in which the French Fifth Army counter-attacked the invading Germans at Saint-Quentin, Aisne. 1915 – US Navy salvage divers raise F-4, the first U.S. submarine sunk in an accident. 1916 – The United States passes the Philippine Autonomy Act. 1918 – World War I: Bapaume taken by the New Zealand Division in the Hundred Days Offensive. 1930 – The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St Kilda are voluntarily evacuated to other parts of Scotland. 1941 – World War II: Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is occupied by Nazi Germany following an occupation by the Soviet Union. 1943 – World War II: German-occupied Denmark scuttles most of its navy; Germany dissolves the Danish government. 1944 – World War II: Slovak National Uprising takes place as 60,000 Slovak troops turn against the Nazis. 1949 – Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. 1950 – Korean War: British troops arrive in Korea to bolster the US presence there. 1958 – United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 1965 – The Gemini V spacecraft returns to Earth, landing in the Atlantic Ocean. 1966 – The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. 1966 – Leading Egyptian thinker Sayyid Qutb is executed for plotting the assassination of President Gamal Abdel Nasser. 1970 – Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War, East Los Angeles, California. Police riot kills three people, including journalist Rubén Salazar. 1982 – The synthetic chemical element Meitnerium, atomic number 109, is first synthesized at the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany. 1991 – Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party. 1991 – Libero Grassi, an Italian businessman from Palermo, is killed by the Sicilian Mafia after taking a solitary stand against their extortion demands. 1996 – Vnukovo Airlines Flight 2801, a Tupolev Tu-154, crashes into a mountain on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, killing all 141 aboard. 1997 – Netflix is launched as an internet DVD rental service. 1997 – At least 98 villagers are killed by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria GIA in the Rais massacre, Algeria. 2003 – Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, is assassinated in a terrorist bombing, along with nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf. 2005 – Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, killing up to 1,836 people and causing $125 billion in damage. 2012 – At least 26 Chinese miners are killed and 21 missing after a blast in the Xiaojiawan coal mine, located at Panzhihua, Sichuan Province.

[insanityclause]

The nominees for the 20th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards have been announced.

The WhatsOnStage Awards are the only major UK theatre awards in which the audience are the judges.

All professional productions that began between December 2018 and November 2019 are eligible in 21 of the 25 categories, with four exceptions – Best Regional Production, Best Off-West End Production, the Equity Award and the Best West End Show category, which will be rebranded for this year's ceremony, with more details being announced imminently.

This year, the nominees for the nine creative categories (Choreography, Costume Design, Direction, Graphic Design, Lighting Design, Musical Direction, Set Design, Sound Design and Video Design) have been decided by an independent panel of industry experts appointed by WhatsOnStage. Their shortlist will then be voted on by the general public.

In the acting categories, the Best Actor in a Play Award sees previously nominated Andrew Scott, alongside Matt Smith, Wendell Pierce and Laurie Kynaston, up against 2015 award winner Tom Hiddleston. Hiddleston's co-stars Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox were also nominated for their performances in Jamie Lloyd's Betrayal in the West End, with Ashton facing off against Claire Foy, Hayley Atwell, Sharon D Clarke and Juliet Stevenson in the Best Actress Category.

The musical categories were dominated by & Juliet (13 nominations), while Jamie Lloyd's production of Evita at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre was nominated for eight. Both new musical Waitress and the Hope Mill Theatre's revival of Mame were nominated for seven.

The Old Vic received 13 nominations, the most of any producing house, with its production of Present Laughter receiving eight nominations. Nominees were recognised from all over the country – with shows in Manchester, London, Leicester, Sheffield and on tour featuring in the list of nominees.

Voting closes on 27 January 2020, with the winners being revealed at a ceremony at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 1 March 2020.

Details about replacements for the Best West End Show category will be revealed soon.

Voting for the winners is open now

The full list of nominees:

Best Actor in a Play, sponsored by Edwardian Hotels

Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre Andrew Scott – Present Laughter – The Old Vic Matt Smith – Lungs – The Old Vic Wendell Pierce – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre Laurie Kynaston – The Son – Kiln Theatre / Duke of York's Theatre

Best Actress in a Play, sponsored by Tonic Theatre

Claire Foy – Lungs – The Old Vic Zawe Ashton – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre Hayley Atwell – Rosmersholm – Duke of York's Theatre Sharon D Clarke – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre Juliet Stevenson – The Doctor – Almeida Theatre

Best Supporting Actor in a Play

Alexander Vlahos – Peter Pan – Park Theatre Charlie Cox – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre Hareet Deol – My Beautiful Laundrette – A Curve Leicester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Everyman Theatre Cheltenham and Leeds Playhouse co-production Hammed Animashaun – A Midsummer Night's Dream – Bridge Theatre Giles Terera – Rosmersholm – Duke of York's Theatre

Best Play Revival, sponsored by JHI Marketing

Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre Present Laughter– The Old Vic A Midsummer Night's Dream – Bridge Theatre Lungs – The Old Vic

*note from me: Tom didn’t win in 2015; David Tennant did

[libidinaleconomyberlin]

Participants

Benjamin Noys is Professor of Critical Theory at the University of Chichester. His research focuses on contemporary Continental theory, cultural politics, literature, and avant-garde and popular culture. His books include Malign Velocities: Accelerationism & Capitalism, The Persistence of the Negative: A Critique of Contemporary Continental Theory, The Culture of Death and Georges Bataille: A Critical Introduction. He also edited Communization and its Discontents and has numerous essays on topics such as anti-critique, the aesthetics of financial crisis, drones, time, Ballard, vampies, neurosis and Brexit. 

Hannah Proctor works on revolutionary psychologies, communist neurologies and red therapies. She’s broadly interested in intersections between left-wing politics and psychology, histories and theories of radical psychiatry, and emotional histories of the Left. She’s currently a fellow affiliated with the ICI Berlin. Her forthcoming book, Psychologies in Revolution: Alexander Luria, Soviet Subjectivites and Cultural History, situates the innovative cross-disciplinary clinical research of Soviet psychologist and neurologist Alexander Luria in its politicised historical context. She is also working on a book project for Verso on the psychic aftermath of political struggle. She has an ongoing project on femininity and hardness – with the working title 'Stone Femme.’

Leon Brenner is a post-doc fellow at the University of Potsdam, specializing in the fields of Lacanian psychoanalysis, contemporary French philosophy and autism research. Brenner has previously worked on the subject of Alain Badiou’s theory of subjectivity and love. His doctoral dissertation—conducted at Tel-Aviv University and the Freie Universität, Berlin—concerned the subject of autistic subjectivity in psychoanalytic thought. Today Brenner works on the subject of the anthropological philosophy of autism at the University of Potsdam's institute for philosophy. He is a founder of the Lacanian Affinities Berlin group (laLAB) and teaches courses on the subject of psychoanalysis in Berlin.

Kerstin Stakemeier is a Professor for Art Education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg. She has been teaching since the early 2000s in the fields of political, art, cultural and media theory, art history and on topics of artistic and political theory and practice as well as modern, postmodern and contemporary history of exhibition practice. With others she is the initiator of the long-term exhibition, magazine and discussion project Klassensprachen / Class Languages (from 2017). She has published, among others, "Painting-The Implicit Horizon" (2012) with Avigail Moss and "Power of Materials/Politics of Material” and “The Present of the Future“ (2014-16) with Susanne Witzgall. She writes among others for Artforum and Texte zur Kunst. In 2016, she published Reproducing Autonomy with Marina Vishmidt.

Jule Govrin is a philosopher; her research is situated at the interface of political theory, social philosophy, and aesthetics. She holds a PhD from the FU Berlin on the history of the theory of desire and economics. She investigated how the notion of desire is linked to economic theories in the history of philosophy. She currently works at the Philosophical Seminar at the European University of Flensburg and investigates the relationship between authenticity and authority in the political history of ideas of modernity and late modernity. She is the author, in German, of Sex, God and Capital: Houellebecq’s Subjugation between Neoreactionary Rhetoric and Post-secular Politics and, in addition to her academic work, is also active as a journalist, e.g. for »ZEIT Online«.

Luce de Lire is a ship with eight sails and she lays off the quay. A time traveller and collector of mediocre jokes by day, when night falls, she turns into a philosopher, performer and media theorist. She loves visual art, installations, video art etc. She could be seen curating, performing, directing, planning and publishing (on) various events. She is working on and with treason, post secularism, self destruction, fascism and seduction – all in mixed media.

Samo Tomšič obtained his PhD in philosophy at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and is currently research associate at the Humboldt University in Berlin. (Although from next week, he will be a Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg.) His research areas comprise contemporary European philosophy, structuralism and poststructuralism, psychoanalysis (Freud and Lacan), epistemology, and political philosophy. His publications include The Labour of Enjoyment: Towards a Critique of Libidinal Economy (2019), The Capitalist Unconscious: Marx and Lacan (2015). Plus two edited books, Psychoanalysis: Topological Perspectives: New Conceptions of Geometry and Space in Freud and Lacan (ed. with Michael Friedman) and Jacques Lacan. Between Psychoanalysis and Politics (ed. with Andreja Zevnik, 2015).

Dominiek Hoens is a philosopher and doctor of psychology, and teaches philosophy of art at two university colleges in Belgium. Recent publications include articles on the logic of the Lacanian ‘not-all’ (in Crisis and Critique) and on Lacan and Pascal, and a chapter on Lacan in the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Psychoanalytic Political Theory. Currently, he is co-editing with Sigi Jöttkandt a special issue of their journal, S, on Duras and Lacan.

Julie Gaillard was recently appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of French & Italian at the University of Illinois. She was previously a fellow at ICI Berlin. She co-edited the volume Traversals of Affect: On Jean-François Lyotard (Bloomsbury, 2016). Her current research continues her investigation of Lyotard’s work and its import at the crossroads of philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature, arts, and politics.

Daniel Tutt is a Professorial Lecturer at George Washington University. His academic training is in philosophy and religion with a focus on contemporary continental philosophy, the history of philosophy, Lacanian psychoanalysis and ethics. His interests include Marxism and post-Marxist thought, contemporary social and political movements, political Islam, Islamophobia, Islamic philosophy, historicism and the philosophy of history and post-Lacanian thought. He has published articles on Badiou, Zizek, Islam and contributed to the recent edited volume, Sex and Nothing: Bridges from Psychoanalysis to Philosophy.

Adriana Zaharijević combines political philosophy, feminist theory and social history of the 19th century. She is a senior researcher at the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory at the University of Belgrade, and an assistant professor at the University of Novi Sad. She is the author of more than sixty articles and two books, unfortunately not (yet) available in English – Becoming Woman (2010) and Who is an Individual? Genealogical Inquiry into the Idea of a Citizen (2014). Among other essays in English, she has a forthcoming paper on Robinson Crusoe, invulnerability and bodilessness.

Sami Khatib is an Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at the American University in Cairo. Sami's research spans the fields of Aesthetic Theory, Critical Theory, Visual Arts, Media Theory, and Cultural Studies with a special focus on the thought of Walter Benjamin. He is a founding member of the Beirut Institute for Critical Analysis and Research (BICAR). His ongoing research project “Aesthetics of the ‘Sensuous-Supra Sensuous” examines the aesthetic scope and political relevance of Marx’s discovery of the commodity form. His publications include articles on violence, pedagogy, the aesthetics of real abstraction, temporality and Walter Benjamin.

Jason Read is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern Maine. He specialises in the areas of Social and Political Philosophy, 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy, Critical Theory, Philosophy of History, Spinoza. His two books are The Politics of Transindividuality (Brill, 2015) and The Micro-Politics of Capital: Marx and the Prehistory of the Present (SUNY, 2003). He has many articles and book chapters on topics including work, affect, precarity, Balibar, ideology and Althusser.

Vladimir Safatle holds several international appointments. Primarily, Vladimir is Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at University of São Paulo. He is also a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley. Invited professor at Université de Paris VII (Department of Psychoanalysis), Paris VIII (Department of Music), Toulouse (Department of Philosophy) and Louvain (Department of Philosophy). Fellow of Stellenboch Institute for Advanced Studies (South Africa) and formerly responsible for seminars at Collège International de Philosophie. Vladimir is the author of Grand Hotel Abyss: Desire, Recognition and the Restoration of the Subject (Leuven, 2016) and many further texts in English, as well as Portuguese and French. He is responsible for the new Brazilian edition of Theodor Adorno's complete work and is a coordinator of the International Society of Psychoanalysis and Philosophy. He has published essays on Hegel, Adorno, desire, servitude, democracy and Lacan. He is also an outspoken critic in Brazilian media of Bolsonaro and the turn to far-right politics.

Todd McGowan teaches theory and film at the University of Vermont in the US. He has just published Emancipation after Hegel: Achieving a Contradictory Revolution (2019). His previous books include Only a Joke Can Save Us: A Theory of Comedy (2017), Capitalism and Desire: The Psychic Cost of Free Markets (2016), Spike Lee (2014), The Fictional Christopher Nolan (2013), Enjoying What We Don’t Have: The Political Project of Psychoanalysis (2013), Rupture: On the Emergence of the Political (2012, with Paul Eisenstein), The Real Gaze: Film Theory After Lacan (2007), and The Impossible David Lynch (2007).

Yahya M. Madra is an associate professor of economics at Drew University, Madison, NJ. He has been a member of the editorial board of the journal Rethinking Marxism since 1998 and served as an associate editor of the journal between 2010-12. He specialises in the History of Economic Thought; International Political Economy; Political Economy and Cultural Formations; Psychoanalysis and Capitalism and Current Heterodox Approaches. He has published and co-authored articles on various issues in political economy and on the history of recent economics in edited book volumes and a number of academic journals in English and Turkish. His first book in English is LATE NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMICS: RESTORATION OF THEORETICAL HUMANISM IN CONTEMPORARY ECONOMIC THEORY from 2017.

Ceren Özselçuk is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul. She has recently published and co-published in journals such as South Atlantic Quarterly, Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, Rethinking Marxism, and in edited volumes. She is on the editorial board of the journal Rethinking Marxism and also its current managing editor. She and Yahya are working on a book manuscript related to their talk today. She is also developing research on the associations among populism, neoliberalism and neo-conservatism, with a geographical focus in Turkey, and interrogating the relations between populism and contemporary forms of authoritarianism and violence, on the one hand, and the role of populist identifications both in democratic as well as neoliberal transformations, on the other.

Merritt Symes (www.merrittsymes.com) is a video artist who creates audio-visual “resonance machines” from both found and original footage. Her short films are concerned with creaturely lives, uncanny affinities, impersonal intimacies, the unraveling of forms, and the spaces between things. Dominic Pettman (www.dominicpettman.com) is Professor of Culture & Media at Eugene Lang College and The New School for Social Research. His numerous books include Sonic Intimacy, Creaturely Love, and Metagestures (with Carla Nappi).

Margret Grebowicz’s writings on mountaineering have appeared in The Atlantic, The Philosophical Salon, and the minnesota review, and she is currently writing her next book, Mountains and Desire, for Repeater. She is the author of Whale Song (Bloomsbury), Why Internet Porn Matters and The National Park to Come (both Stanford), and co-author of Beyond the Cyborg: Adventures with Donna Haraway (Columbia). She teaches philosophy and environmental humanities at the School of Advanced Studies, University of Tyumen, in Siberia.

Ania Malinowska is Assistant Professor at the University of Silesia, Poland and former Senior Fulbright Fellow at the New School of Social Research in New York, USA where she was working on a research project “Feeling(s) Without Organs. Love in Contemporary Technoculture”. She is a coeditor of (with Karolina Lebek) Materiality and Popular Culture. The Popular Life of Things (Routledge 2017), (with Michael Gratzke) The Materiality of Love. Essays of Affection and Cultural Practice (Routledge 2018), and (with Toby Miller) “Media and Emotions. The New Frontiers of Affect in Digital Culture” (a special issue of Open Cultural Studies, 2017). She has authored many papers and chapters in cultural and media studies regarding love, social norms, codes of feelings and technology.

Matthew Flisfeder is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Communications at The University of Winnipeg. He is the author of Postmodern Theory and Blade Runner (2017), The Symbolic, The Sublime, and Slavoj Žižek’s Theory of Film (2012), and co-editor of Žižek and Media Studies: A Reader (2014). He recently completed his new book, Algorithmic Desire: Towards a New Structuralist Theory of Social Media. He is currently working on a project that examines the aesthetics, rhetorics, and ethics of new materialist, posthumanist, and accelerationist theory.

Ben Gook is an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Humboldt University, Berlin. He is also an honorary fellow at the School of Social & Political Sciences and the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions at the University of Melbourne. His books include Divided Subjects, Invisible Borders: Re-Unified Germany after 1989 (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2015) and the forthcoming Feeling Alienated: How Alienation Returned in Contemporary Capitalism (Cambridge UP, 2020).

[mexicaneurolover]

Eurovision 2009 my top 42

Hello, and welcome to another episode of this ESC top series, and I go back to May 12, 14 and 16, 2009, when the 54th edition of the contest was held in Moscow, Russia, after Dima Bilan’s victory in Belgrade last year. 42 countries took part, while San Marino withdrew and Georgia was disqualified because of a breach of the contest rules, Slovakia returned to the contest after their last showing in 1998. This year is known as the one when the juries returned, making 50% of the final score together with the televote, this year it was only implemented on the final, but in next years they were introduced on the semis as well. The contest was won by Norway and Alexander Rybak with the song Fairytale, making this their 3rd win overall and also he set a record number of points and a record for the most 12 points, so it was a very smashing victory. Also the stage was so stunning and big, I love that stage so much. And now, let’s review the songs!

1st Place: NORWAY/Alexander Rybak-Fairytale (Real Placing: 1st-387 points)

This guy has one of my favorite songs of all time, and it’s timeless, the music is so pretty, the lyrics resume my love life and he’s so cute, the performance is a truly fairytale and after many listens throughout the years, I never get tired of it. 

2nd Place: FRANCE/Patricia Kaas-Et si’l fallait le faire (Real Placing: 8th-107 points) 

This is such a masterpiece, her voice is so wonderful, I’m in love with it and her pronunciation, the music is like something out of a French movie, and it’s stunning, the performance is perfect and she’s such a classy singer. A lot of passion and feeling in this song, 

3rd Place: ICELAND/Yohanna-Is it true? (Real Placing: 2nd-218 points)

Well, this song is so heartbreaking because of the lyrics, her voice is so good, the performance is cute with that dress and the background, the music is so pretty and it’s a very enjoyable song, such a precious ballad and Yohanna is so beautiful as well. This in 2010 would’ve been better, sadly, that’s just a fairytale, and she was beaten by a fairytale as well. 

4th Place: UNITED KINGDOM/Jade Ewen-It’s my time (Real Placing: 5th-173 points) 

A magical ballad out of a Broadway musical, her voice is simply angelic, the music is stunning, beautiful, the staging is gorgeous, she’s beautiful and it’s the best UK entry of the decade for me. This has a very nice building and it finished with class and elegance. Simply beautiful. 

5th Place: AZERBAIJAN/AySel & Arash-Always (Real Placing: 3rd-207 points)

This is what I call an Azerbaijani song, this mends the damage they did to myself last year, this song is catchy, modern, dancy, it’s such a perfect song and it has ethnic sounds as well. They sing nice, the performance is so wonderful and I’m in love with it. 

6th Place: ESTONIA/Urban Symphony-Rändajad (Real Placing: 6th-129 points)

This is one of the songs I use to concentrate before my studies, the music is so magical, her voice is so beautiful and calm, it’s like a fairy, the staging is pretty and wow, I always feel out of this dimension with this song, it’s so relaxing as well. It’s one of the best Estonian entries in the world. 

7th Place: SWEDEN/Malena Ernman-La voix (Real Placing: 21st-33 points)

LA VOIIIIIIIIIIX, this lady is such a charming person, her smile is pretty and the song is so good, it’s one of my fave songs from Sweden of the late 00′s and her voice is such a delight to listen. The music is so schlager and that’s what makes me love it. Her dress is so beautiful and yeah, Sweden was underrated that year. 

8th Place: TURKEY/Hadise-Düm tek tek (Real Placing: 4th-177 points)

Wow, this song has an ethnic style to it and Hadise is such a perfect singer, also she’s stunning, the performance is everything and the düm tek tek part is very catchy and I enjoy it so much, I loved it since the first time I heard it and wow, it’s charming. 

9th Place: SPAIN/Soraya Arnelas-La noche es para mí (Real Placing: 24th-23 points)

Oh come on, this song is very good and finished second last, the music is enchanting, her voice is good, wish I could say the same to the backing singers, but it’s a nice song, the lyrics are good, and the performance is okay, surely this is a very catchy song. 

10th Place: ARMENIA/Inga & Anush-Jan jan (Real Placing: 10th-92 points)

Armenia again serving quality, this entry has a lot of ethnic sounds, the dancing is perfect, they sing so well together and this feels like something out of the desert, the staging is so clever and effective and it’s such a lovely song, JAN JAN 

11th Place: GREECE/Sakis Rouvas-This is our night (Real Placing: 7th-120 points)

Again the Greek god is back, and with an amazing song as his last attempt in 2004, not the result he wanted but this song is so good, I love the music because it’s very modern for the time and the performance was so good and epic. 

12th Place: ISRAEL/Noa & Mira Awad-There must be another way (Real Placing: 16th-53 points) 

A very powerful song with a deep meaning, these ladies surely have nice harmonies and the music is so beautiful, also ARABIC AGAIN IN ESC, it’s so nice. I enjoy so much the bridge before the last part, it’s simply stunning. 

13th Place: PORTUGAL/Flor-de-lis-Todas as ruas do amor (Real Placing: 15th-57 points) 

A cheerful and happy song, also the stage is so colorful and beautiful, her voice is calm and sweet and that makes the song so enjoyable, the music is so stunning and it’s one of the most calm songs ever. 

14th Place: MALTA/Chiara-What if we (Real Placing: 22nd-31 points)

Aww Chiara is back for a third time, and even if I think this is her weakest song, it has a lot of beauty and the music is so perfect and good, her voice is, as always, stunning and out of this world and she’s the only one that can fill a big stage with only a beautiful voice.  

15th Place: MONTENEGRO/Andrea Demirović-Just get out of my life (Real Placing: 11th SF1-44 points) 

Why this failed to qualify, the music is so good, her voice is amazing and the performance is simple but charming and effective, I always dance to this one and IMO one of the best Montenegrin entries on the contest. 

16th Place: BELARUS/Petr Elfimov-Eyes that never lie (Real Placing: 13th SF1-25 points) 

Another epic and nice rock song, his voice is so cool and the music is so powerful and inspiring, the performance is amazing and full of lights, also THAT STEADICAM SHOT IS EPIC AND PERFECT. It’s one of my favorite songs that year and IMO this deserved the final, but there were many amazing songs. 

17th Place: MOLDOVA/Nelly Ciobanu-Hora din Moldova (Real Placing: 14th-69 points) 

SUCH AN ENERGETIC SONG AND I LOVE IT, her voice is such a pleasant trip, the performance is happy and catchy and the music is perfect, one of my favorite Moldovan songs ever. This makes me want to go to Moldova and dance there. 

18th Place: ROMANIA/Elena-The Balkan girls (Real Placing: 19th-40 points)

Wow, this song is so nice, it has a fresh feeling to it and the music has nice elements, also she has a nice voice, it’s a very cute song and I love the Balkan girls.  

19th Place: FINLAND/Waldo’s People-Lose control (Real Placing: 25th-22 points/last) 

Why this finished last? I love this song so much, but maybe I love more the studio version, the performance here is so cool and I love the projections. Their voices are good but not the best, but the music is so epic and I like it. An undeserved last place. 

20th Place: CROATIA/Igor Cukrov & Andrea-Lijepa tena (Real Placing: 18th-45 points)

Hey Igor... I mean, this is a very lovely song, the music is so charming and he has a very nice voice, also Andrea is a very talented singer and I’m so amazed by this song, at first I thought it was boring but now I like it, such a nice entry. 

21st Place: ALBANIA/Kejsi Tola-Carry me in your dreams (Real Placing: 17th-48 points) 

The music here is one of the best things ever from Albania, I enjoy it so much, her voice is so special and the performance is quite weird but I like it, I’m hypnotized by that bridge and also, I feel so guilty because this is very low on my top. 

22nd Place: UKRAINE/Svetlana Loboda-Be my valentine (Real Placing: 12th-76 points)

SVETLANA <3 she’s so stunning, the music is so nice, it’s so powerful and memorable, also her voice is so good and the performance is quite weird because there were many things happening at the same time, still, I like this song and it’s one of the entries that I always remember from this year. 

23rd Place: GERMANY/Alex Swings, Oscar Sings-Miss Kiss Kiss Bang (Real Placing: 20th-35 points)  

One of my guiltiest pleasures ever, this entry has everything, a nice singer, the performance is so pretty and cool, the music has a mix of classic elements and modern touches and Oscar is cute. I don’t know why but I can’t stay still while listening to this song. 

24th Place: BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA/Regina-Bistra voda (Real Placing: 9th-106 points)

THE INTRO OMG <3 it’s so good, the music is so relaxing and beautiful, his voice is so amazing and it’s a very nice entry, love the Balkan elements and everything here blends perfectly. I’m so mesmerized by this song, and I feel so bad because of putting this so low. 

25th Place: ANDORRA/Susanne Georgi-La teva decisió (Get a life) (Real Placing: 15th SF1-8 points)   

This song is so good, the music is charming, her voice is very nice and the whole package is so pleasant to hear, I’m so happy because of this song, it’s so nostalgic as well and sadly this is the last Andorran song to date, which is a shame because they were very good. 

26th Place: CYPRUS/Christina Metaxa-Firefly (Real Placing: 14th SF2-32 points) 

Another lovely and cute ballad, she’s so beautiful and cute, the music is subtle and the performance is beautiful, her voice could’ve been better and the last part it’s so epic, I love this song as well. 

27th Place: POLAND/Lidia Kopania-I don’t wanna leave (Real Placing: 12th SF2-43 points) 

A lovely ballad, her voice is so stunning, as well as the performance, the music is so cool and wow, I’m in love with her, this is a beautiful song and I’m in love with this song as well. 

28th Place: SLOVENIA/Quartissimo feat. Martina-Love symphony (Real Placing: 16th SF2-14 points) 

The music here is so cute and lovely, which makes the 80% of the song and I like it, maybe her voice was a bit off key here, and it’s very sad because it could’ve lifted this song to the sky, overall this entry is very enjoyable and I can imagine it being played live instead of a backing track. 

29th Place: RUSSIA/Anastasiya Prikhodko-Mamo (Real Placing: 11th-91 points)

WHAT A VOICE DOES SHE HAS, the music is so deep and the meaning of the song is very sad but I like it, the performance is quite creepy but it’s effective, I can’t place it higher because I like more other 28 songs. Also Ukranian on a Russian song... interesting. 

30th Place: DENMARK/Niels Brinck-Believe again (Real Placing: 13th-74 points)   

This entry isn’t bad, but I’m not so fond of it, also this reminds me of another song, his voice is quite good and the music is nice, sadly I can’t connect with it and it’s a bit flat though. 

31st Place: SERBIA/Marko Kon and Milaan-Cipela (Real Placing: 10th SF2-60 points)  

Oh this is such an interesting song, his voice is so deep but enjoyable, the music is lovely and catchy, also the performance is so colorful and cool, it’s one of my guilty pleasures ever. 

32nd Place: SWITZERLAND/Lovebugs-The highest heights (Real Placing: 14th SF1-15 points)  

This is a very lovely song, the music is cool, but the voice of the lead singer could’ve been better, also the staging is stunning, it’s one of the songs I can’t decide properly which place will it be on my top, I like it. 

33rd Place: IRELAND/Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy-Et cetera (Real Placing: 11th SF2-52 points)

Awwww pure nostalgia, this song is like the music I heard those years, her voice is good and the music is so perfect, but still I struggle to remember this song at all. 

34th Place: HUNGARY/Zoli Ádok-Dance with me (Real Placing: 15th SF2-16 points)

Oh of course I’ll dance with you.. ehem... well this song is interesting, the disco sounds are nice but his voice could’ve been better, also that outfit it’s quite hideous, not one of Hungary’s best attempts ever.  

35th Place: FYR MACEDONIA/Next Time-Nešto što kje ostane (Real Placing: 10th SF1-45 points)

This is a very decent song, but I can’t remember it instantly, I love the music and the voice of the lead singer is good, still, I think this needed a better hook. A nice average rock song. 

36th Place: THE NETHERLANDS/The Toppers-Shine (Real Placing: 17th SF2-11 points)

A entry with potential ruined by a mediocre beat and the performance isn’t very good.They could’ve been better. The only thing I remember about this one is the DJ behind because it’s adorable. The rest... meh.  

37th Place: LITHUANIA/Sasha Son-Love (Real Placing: 23rd-23 points)  

I see why this is a nice song, the music is lovely and the verses are good, but the chorus ruins this song, also it’s a bit boring after many listens and that makes me feel sad about this one. 

38th Place: CZECH REPUBLIC/Gipsy.cz-Aven romale (Real Placing: 18th SF1-0 points/last)

This entry is funny? The music is interesting and the staging is very good, sadly I’m missing something in this one and turns annoying after a while into it, his clothes are lovely, I want that costume so badly. 

39th Place: LATVIA/Intars Busulis-Probka (Real Placing: 19th SF2-7 points/last)

This performance is the proof you need to never drink energy drinks before hitting the stage, the music is interesting and the chorus is very good, but the verses ruin this and overall makes this entry messy and weird. 

40th Place: SLOVAKIA/Kamil Mikulčík and Nela Pocisková-Let’ tmou (Real Placing: 18th SF2-8 points) 

A sad return for Slovakia, the music is charming, but I’m not fond of her voice so much because I think it’s a bit annoying and screamish, also I think that the chorus has a messy melody and progression, that doesn’t match the verses. 

41st Place: BELGIUM/Copycat-Copycat (Real Placing: 17th SF1-1 point)

Oh an Elvis tribute, but sadly this is a bit bad actually, the music is quite good but this didn’t work on stage, because it felt empty and cheap, his voice is nice, but I can’t put this entry higher. 

42nd Place: BULGARIA/Krassimir Avramov-Illusion (Real Placing: 16th SF1-7 points)

Oh this song is a complete mess from top to bottom, the voices are very bad, the music sounds a bit cheap and the staging is so weird, I always want to forget this song because it’s very bad, nothing here connects with me. 

[chaletnz]

Belgrade: Day One

I arrived very late to my hostel in central Belgrade welcomed back to the sight of more Cyrillic letters. I realised that I didn't even know which kind of alphabet the Serbian language uses. This was reason enough to go for a free walking tour the next morning! After my free breakfast - that was actually amazing because it was just a voucher to get a breakfast dish from a nice restaurant up the road where the owner of the hostel knows the owner of the restaurant and arranged a good deal for us! I went for the "eggy bread" with clotted cream and got something like less sweet French toast which was delicious but the portion was huge! I'd also ordered a mocha so by the time I'd finished I was waddling to the meeting point for the tour! Our guide was a sweet local girl called Jovanna who gathered us together at the clock tower to tell us the first good news of the day - the National Museum had reopened its doors after a 15 year closure, and the art gallery was also opened again this year after a 10 year closure. She also gave us a back story of the city of Belgrade; situated on the confluence point of two rivers it was the site of 114 battles which resulted in the city being destroyed 20 times. We walked down the oldest street in Belgrade which is still a pedestrian only street filled with traditional Serbian style restaurants that has become an "artistic" area of the city. We stopped outside the old house of Serbian poet Đura Jakšić and there Jovanna told us about the traditional foods of Serbia such as the pepper spread ajvar but more interestingly, she told us about the live musicians that played in the restaurants. Apparently there was a whole system for it that everybody just knows, the musicians go table to table and also you which song you want played and they'll play it loudly as you enjoy your meal. Tipping is the protocol and there are three methods on which tips are accepted;

1. The money can be rolled into a ball and thrown into the trumpet.

2. The money can be carefully placed between the folds of the accordion.

3. The money can be stuck onto the sweaty forehead of any of the performers and if it sticks until they've finished the song they can keep it. If not, they weren't sweaty enough!

Jovanna opened her backpack to reveal a plain plastic bottle filled with a whiskey coloured liquid which she introduced to us as "Serbian moonshine" or a homemade rakije. This one had been brewed by a friend of hers with honey added for sweetness. She poured us all a generous shot and we had our first alcohol in Belgrade together at 11am. Around the corner my question from last night was answered as we were educated on the topic of language. I did already know that Serbian is the same language as Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin but the difference in Serbia is that the Latin alphabet and Cyrillic alphabet are used equally and interchangeably. To Serbian people there shouldn't be any difficulty from one alphabet or the other and it's the same language after all, just two ways of reading and writing it. Latin alphabet is becoming dominant because of the advances in technology that have increased the use of Latin characters on the internet and on computer keyboards. As a result to combat this and practice preservation of the Cyrillic Serbian language, all official documents and texts must be written in Cyrillic. Around this neighbourhood we saw a lot of portraits painted on walls and Jovanna told us they were famous Serbians who supported the local football team from this area. Our next stop was the crossroad which was the only road that connected the two rivers and this became the trading route. It also had a church, a synagogue and the practically named Flag Mosque which had the important duty of raising the flag at the five Muslim prayer times each day as a signal for the other mosques in the area. We walked up the hill to the Belgrade fortress; it had been built originally by the Serbs, then reinforced by the Ottomans and finally reinforced again by the Austrians, and there are traces of each of them left. From a hill at the top inside the fortress we could get some amazing views over Belgrade and see where the two rivers meet, and get our first good look at Great War Island. The island is covered in bushes and trees and is home to many species of bird, developers want to turn it into the usual hotel, restaurant, shopping complex but due to the fact it floods every year this is too impractical. The island was the historical "middle ground" on the First World War and gave headway to the troops arriving after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand which is said to be the catalyst event that sparked the entire war. A monument has been built as a memorial to all fighters in the war regardless of uniform - the statue is naked. From our viewpoint on the hill we could see Belgrade's main bridge which came under threats of bombing during the war. Some brave citizens designed tshirts with targets on them and stayed on the bridge for four days so that it could not be destroyed. During this time several bands would come and play music to keep the protestors entertained and as a result this area near the bridge is now home to a network of bars and club with live music. After the walking tour I went on a sort of street art search with a guy from Melbourne called Pete. We wandered all over the hip districts to find the coolest murals and then went for a gyro each for lunch. We were a bit tired so we went back to the hostel for a rest and Pete poured us each a glass of beer from the big 2 liter plastic bottle of it that he'd bought for about 1 euro. It wasn't too bad considering the price! We sat on the rooftop and chatted until it was almost dinner time, leaving just for a few minutes to pick up some ciders from the supermarket. Our dinner was a home cooked Serbian style feast prepared by our host Dragan (he had been slaving away in the kitchen for about 3 hours to get everything ready. There were salads, spicy sausages, spicy rice, roast chicken, potatoes, and beans among the many dishes served to us. My personal favourite dish was the rice, I don't know what herbs and spices he put on his secret recipe but it was so tasty!

[kimengelen]

Bridge-Performance: Advanced Health Attack, Belgrade Bridge Stories Showing at 24hours, The Wall Space Gallery, Scotland, 24 April 2020, Organised by #SHIFT_ibpcpa

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#230-221)

#230: Dschinghis Khan -- Dschinghis Khan (Germany 1979)

"Die Hufe ihrer Pferde, die peitschten im Sand Sie trugen Angst und Schrecken in jedes Land Und weder Blitz noch Donner hielt sie auf"

"The hoofs of their horses, they lashed in the sand They carried fear and horror in every country And neither flash nor thunder stopped them"

One of my favorite songs to jam to is Boney M's "Rasputin". A disco-influenced song about the life of "Russia's greatest love machine", it's energetic while telling that of a myth. I mention this because Dschinghis Khan is compared to this often, in all the ways.

Only this time, it's about the great conqueror Chinghis Khan, who took over the whole universe (and lasted for a very long time). From how he struck fear across the steppe to fathering seven children in one night, he is seen as the embodiment of masculinity.

While entertaining, sometimes I'm put off by the gimmickry. It can be argued that it wouldn't age that well today, because it can be seen as culturally appropriative or mocking Mongolian culture. But for what it's worth, it's enjoyable and still a classic today.

Personal and actual ranking: 4th/19 in Jerusalem

#229: Louisa Baïleche -- Monts et Merveilles (France 2003)

“Oh, mon amour Où es-tu, mon amour?” “Oh, my love Where are you, my love?”

A definite case of love at first listen for me—Monts et Merveilles is a calming ballad, albeit with sad lyrics about the end of a relationship. The instrumentation is quite nice; it reminds me of songs that stood out on the charts during that time. It also had the "ethnic style" percussion in the bridge, which made me think that France Televisions wanted to mix what worked in the last two years (ballads) with the ethnic sounds from the 1990s (as Louisa is half Kablye, an Algerian ethnic group)

Despite it, it got a pretty low result—though it may be because 2003 was a stronger year songwise compared to the two years that came before it. Or it maybe because of the hair getting into her face that took away from the experience...

Personal ranking: 5th/26 Actual ranking: 18th/26 in Riga

#228: Hakol Over Habibi -- Halayla (Israel 1981)

"הלילה, הלילה, יהיה זה הלילה נאמר דברים שלא אמרנו מעולם"

"Tonight, tonight, it will be the night We’ll say things we’ve never said before"

On a random note, whenever I would search up Idan Raichel's "Hakol Over", Hakol Over Habibi would be one of the first search items that pop up. I would completely ignore it until now, when they actually participated in Eurovision!

That said, Halayla is very groovy song which plays with the disco vibe of the 1970s and the highly energetic choreography that would define 1980s Israeli Eurovision entries. The instrumentation is quite awesome, with the mix of piano, strings, and I think accordion setting up the vibe. (And it switches well from minor to major and back again , which can go awry when done wrong).

The members seem to have a ball on stage, and Kikki looks beautiful in her dress, which was fitted that way because she was pregnant at the time!

Personal ranking: 5th/20 (though it jumps around often...) Actual ranking: 7th/20 in Dublin

#227: Wind -- Laß die Sonne in dein Herz (Germany 1987)

"Manchmal bist du traurig und weißt nicht warum Tausend kleine Kleinigkeiten machen dich ganz stumm Du hast fast vergessen wie das ist, ein Mensch zu sein Doch du bist nicht allein"

"Sometimes you feel sad and you don’t know why Thousands of little reasons are making you dumb You nearly forgot what it’s like to be a human being But you are not alone"

Wind has the interesting distinction of participating three times and coming in second twice out of those three. The first one, "Fur Alle" was seen as such as a big contender that there were bets made against it winning. And then it didn't.

Laß die Sonne in dein Herz didn't come that close to winning in 1987, but I can argue it's the better song of the the three.

It catches you right away with the reggae influences, which creates a relaxed vibe throughout the song. It builds up well with every key change--it does get repetitive at times (especially with the choruses), but never boring. And while it shares a similar theme to Fur Alle, it doesn't come off as either derivative or charitys-single like.

(That said, I did grow to like Fur Alle eventually, but this one was more instantaneous.)

Personal ranking: 7th/22 Actual ranking: 2nd/22 in Brussels

#226: Charlotte Perrelli -- Hero (Sweden 2008)

“This is a story of love and compassion Only heroes can tell.”

The better Charlotte song, in my opinion. The song she won with, “Take Me to Your Heaven” is a complete vintage track, almost influenced by ABBA-nostalgia going on at the time. “Hero” , while still on the same schlager vein, modernizes the production a little bit, to the point I imagine it would be a good pop song of that era.

Alongside that, Hero has some compelling lyrics, one which could summarize the hero's journey in general. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody were to write a Eurovision jukebox musical, they would use this in some format.

That may be the case on why l like it better, but it could also be because it should’ve done better in the contest. The fact the jury wildcard saved Charlotte is a reason why they're around, but the fact there was a wildcard which kicked out the actual tenth placer (North Macedonia's Let Me Love You) could be totally flawed too.

Personal ranking: 6th/43 Actual ranking: =18th/25 (with France) in Belgrade

#225: Carlos Paião -- Playback (Portugal 1981)

“Podes não saber cantar nem sequer assobiar, Com certeza que não vais desafinar, Em play-back, em play-back, em play-back,”

“Maybe you don't know how to sing or even how to whistle But you won't sing out of tune for sure, In playback, in playback, in playback”

This is so modern and infectious it’s unbelievable. From the introduction to Carlos’ biting lyrics to the choreography, it makes one wonder why it got neglected in the voting. 1981 was a strong year, sure, but this song is definitely one of the best of that field.

Playback, as the title suggests, is about the pervasiveness of lip-synching in the music industry. One day, nobody will have to learn how to sing because the playback will save them. They can all focus on the performance without taking note of the song.

It's eerily relevant to Eurovision today, considering we don't use live music anymore and backing vocals can be mimed. I have mixed feelings about the latter, because one side argues it allows different genres of music to appear, but the other argues it reduces artistic credibility. I prefer having live vocals; if a delegation wants to use them on the track (e.g. looping), it should be on a case-by-case basis.

Maybe that's why it somehow made the ESC250 the last two years...

Personal ranking: 4th/20 Actual ranking: =18th/20 (with Turkey) in Dublin

#224: Emma -- La mia città (Italy 2014)

“E dimmi se c’è davvero una meta O dovrò correre per la felicità”

“And tell me if there really is a destination Or I have to run for happiness”

The black sheep of Italy’s post-comeback output, and coincidentally the only song completely chosen internally. That being said, La mia citta is still a good song, and for me it’s better than some of the fan-favorites out there.

Admittedly, I prefer the punchy verses to the chorus, with the latter reminding me of something out of P!nk's discography, but I revel on Emma’s energy and her letter to the city of Rome. We have struggles about the place we are from, but still try to sing its praises when we can!

The staging was a bit tacky at times, but I did like the aesthetics of it—particularly her laurel wreath. Her costume had a good concept also, but is also overdone it in terms of the bejeweled top.

(As for the Sanremo winner that year, Contravento, it feels like a bit of a grower. The clarinet intro really takes one in, but there has to be a whimsical, sweet staging to accompany the hopeful song. Had they done so, a left-side finish would've waited for them)

Personal ranking: 6th/37 Actual ranking: 21st/26 in Copenhagen

#223: Brigitta -- Open Your Heart (Iceland 2003)

“Everything you share with me Turns a little darkness into light And that is how we’re meant to be Truth will keep the light shining brighter”

Also known as, the woman who originally came from Husavik! The difference is that Birgitta was the lead singer of the group Irafar. Open Your Heart reminds me of songs that end up on DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie) soundtracks—it can actually work in the end, but also in the beginning to introduce the characters and/or their circumstances. The random running order really helped it with being first, haha! Beyond that, it's an optimistic song, helped with the guitar influences which ground it in the era. Plus, the production and lyrics add to this feel, encouraging even the shiest to open up their feelings. Also, I like the flowery aesthetic that Birgitta has, from one in her hair to the larger one (which I think is real?) on her microphone. Personal ranking: 4th/26 Actual ranking: 8th/26 in Riga

#222: Tomas Ledlin -- Just nu! (Sweden 1980)

“Han vill dra iväg, kanske ner till Paris Och hitta äventyret på något vis Inte sitta här på stans konditori Och låta tankarna, bara fladdra förbi” “He wants to go away, perhaps down to Paris And find adventure somehow And not just sitting here at the local café Just letting the thoughts flutter by” The 1980s saw the genre New Wave come to vogue, and Just Nu was a valiant attempt on the genre, especially considering the direction Eurovision would go later. From the opening notes, I got the punkish notes from the instrumentation, and the lyrics definitely add to the feeling of being free from societal expectations, crying out "right now"! (which is funny, because I learned Romanian at one point and nu means no in the language. So I keep thinking it's "just no!" against conformity) Tomas also shows quite the attitude on stage--he just struts into the stage with a boyish charm and kickstarts the song. With his looks and usage of the microphone stand, he portrays this rebellious character well, though the orchestration could’ve been improved with the strings and flute. Personal ranking: 2nd/19 Actual ranking: 10th/19 in Den Haag

#221: Lea Sirk -- Hvala, ne! (Slovenia 2018)

“Moje ime je Lea in/Za vas imam nov lik!” “My name is Lea/ And I have a new character for you!”

I love the opening lines for this song—it immediately sets the tone and has a strong statement alongside it. She's Lea, and she won't let anything down on She asserts that she can’t be sold out, and has a great attitude to accompany the trap beat, which reminds me of a K-pop song for some reason. The staging fits the song to a T--though it didn't need any changes from the NF, haha. As for the fake break, I don't have any strong opinions on it, but it definitely kept up interest for the song. A nicer touch was the Portuguese line in the end. Either way, it was a surprise qualifier in its semi that year, and it was one surprise that I greatly welcomed. Hvala da!

Personal ranking: 8th/43 Actual ranking: 22nd/26 GF in Lisbon