Before I forget..

A few minor stories that slipped through the cracks..
When I find the camera cable I promise I'll go back and illustrate these blogs.

Firstly was a strange, alien interlude during my birthday-traipsing that somehow slipped my mind when I wrote the birthday post only to burst bright and luminous in my mind as soon as I switched the light off to sleep. It was a kind of Hunky-Parker Demon Headmaster experience (who, incidentally, I now picture as Jack Straw) combined with the zombie brain melting that happens when you get absorbed in the zooming starscape of old screensavers. I've been giving my new Italian acquaintances this blog but sometimes I think that they will not follow half of what I say you know..

To try for a more material description then of a fairly abstract experience-
I think just after visiting the eco-alt craft store RE(f)USE I was noticing a lot of huge bright FUTUROMA signs on the buildings until there was a whole series of them alongside one stately looking building. So I was walking and looking at the posters until I walked past an enigmatic glass door. Enigmatic because behind it was a long empty marble corridor and nothing connecting it to the signs outside. I decided it would be harmless to step in and enquire- I eventually reached a desk with two young receptionists who spoke little English but pointed to the left. Another long corridor- tall and red, this time reminding me of the surreal labyrinthine tunnels Willy Wonka led people through (in the 70s film)

There were posters on the walls of this corridor describing Futurism and 'the confusion between man and machine' and that the futurists' prophecy of the mechanic man is complete: man uses machines as a prosthesis of his mind and extension of our mental possibilities.

So far so Star Trek.

I know that's a lazy reference but I gave you the Demon Headmaster before so give me a break :)

Ok so I eventually reached a red enclave and got pointed into a dark room by a lone bellhop. This is where the screensaver stuff comes in- basically it was like a movie hall but with randomly placed leather sofas dotted with a few zombified people staring at a giant glowing, eerily intoning, musical mosiac square. Plus some pile of glowing rubble beside it. Feeling foolish but willing to submit to the noise, I sat down and waited to see if anything happened.

Well it was mind-numbingly boring- the glowing mosaic pulsed with light and strange otherworld sounds and slowly shifted colours. I wondered how long the other people had been sitting there enraptured, and why I was still sitting there staring at this silly square. But still I watched and listened to the mechanized music and thrilling shift from electric blue to violet light and emerging kalaeidoscope as if the day wasn't beautiful and sunny and a-wasting. It required the catalyst of a newcomer to our Matrix cocoon to jerk me to my feet. If the artist wanted to avoid 'the abyss of abstraction to which academic music arrived' I'm afraid he failed miserably.

(All quotes from the 'PRESENTISM: Time and Space In The Long Now' leaflet)

This stuff builds up so much! The other couple of things were also just in passing- a conversation with a French Save the Children guy and also I went to see Slumdog again with my new teacher friend Valeria. 'Valeria' is the aunt's new favourite word, replacing 'sopracciglie folte'. The guy Vincent was doing the subscription gathering gig which is always difficult especially if the conversation starts with either an apologetic or an abrupt refusal. However we met Vincent and his comrade Jin outside and let them into the building. I was going to get the lift up with the aunt but decided since the guy spoke English and was a traveller doing good work, it would be a pity not to converse a little. My aunt sometimes despairs and thinks I wouldn't recognise a smooth-talking con artist if his jacket was lined with gold watches, but I like to think charity workers are more likely to be humanitarian types with a vocation than criminals.

This Vincent was full of movie recommendations from the get go- political stuff like Road to Guantanamo and Michael Moore docs. He also wanted my opinion of a couple of Urdu songs he had on his flashy Nokia n96 phone. He lived in Dubai or somewhere and said he really loved it there which kind've surprised me cause I generally had the impression that the Emirates were quite decadent and dull. He made an interesting point though that I hadn't considered before- that it's a good sign that the citizens are enjoying the wealth of such an oil-rich country. He said that there are other resource rich countries like Nigeria which don't allow the wealth to filter through to the public, so corruption keeps the people poor.

The aunt is curious to see what the cinema experience is like so we might go on Sunday. My wild ways are clearly corrupting the household- the bengali community will possibly be shocked by such bold behaviour but she can always use me as an excuse. On Monday I may take Valeria round the asian shops to check out saris and sparkly things. Look at all this cross-culture stuff I'm facilitating! ;)

Ok that's enough old stuff.
There are two posts to come. One all about today's eventful events (trip to the grand mosque! A new busker-buddy! Other new friends! One of whom knows my family from Aligarh, India to Cambridge, UK, Sarajevo, Bosnia to Dhaka, Bangladesh! Protest in the People's Square!)

Also coming: a series of street graffiti photos.