I'M BACK AND BARELY ALIVE
IN FINLAND, WAKING UP AND DRINKING TWO TALLBOYS OF CIDER OR BEER ISNT ALCOHOLISM, ITS JUST NORMAL.
AND I CAN'T HANG HERE. I CAN'T HANDLE THE WAY OF LIFE YET
SERIOUSLY, AMERICAN PARTY TIME IS CHILDS PLAY COMPARED TO WHAT GOES ON HERE... YALL BACK HOME ARE A BUNCH OF STRAIGHT UP KIDS TO THESE PEOPLE.
FOR EXAMPLE, I WAS WALKING HOME FROM SHOOTING THE OTHER NIGHT AND FOUND A WOMAN IN BUSINESS ATTIRE, MIDDLE OF THE WEEK, PASSED THE FUCK OUT OUTSIDE OF A BAR WITH PISS RUNNING OUT OF HER SKIRT AND JACKET ONTO THE PAVEMENT/HER FRIENDS WHO WERE TRYING TO PICK HER UP.

MY WEEKEND LAST WEEKEND:

DUTCH ARTISTS, FRENCH ARTISTS, ITALIAN ARTISTS, FINNISH ARTISTS, IRISH ARTISTS, SWEDISH ARTISTS, ENGLISH ARTISTS, CURATORS, ARGUMENTS, PATRIOTISM (IT TURNS OUT I'M REALLY PROUD I'M AMERICAN), HAVING TO DEAL WITH DRUNK OLD FINNISH DUDES CREEPING ON SOME PEOPLE I WAS WITH), A FINNISH DRINK CALLED "TAR" THAT TASTES LIKE BARBEQUE SAUCE, MYSTERY BLOODY NOSE, AN "AMERICAN THEMED" DANCE CLUB THAT FELT LIKE 1993 AND 1957, DISHONEST DUTCH GIRL, CROSS COUNTRY NIGHT TRAINS, WATCHING THIS DUDE PASS OUT AND BREAK HIS FACE INSIDE MY FRIENDS BAR, A HOT WINGS PLACE THAT MADE FOR THE BEST MEAL I'VE HAD IN ONE MONTH. ALSO: BAD WORK, REALLY BAD WORK, SOME SURPRISINGLY GOOD WORK I DIDN'T ANTICIPATE...

reiner riedler
and
albin biblom

whose website doesn't do the work "MECHKAR" justice. really stellar installation that somehow managed to not get overly sentimental even though he was doing that whole "sloppy borders, black and white, some polaroids, things pinned to walls and on top of each other" jimgoldberg flavored thing.
also, a really fucking great movie as well that worked really well with the images.

also had
A CONVERSATION WITH SOME GUY WHO WRITES CRITICALLY ON PHOTOGRAPHY IN SOME "MAJOR" PHOTO MAGAZINES (I HADN'T EVER HEARD OF ANY OF THEM) BUT HAD THE NERVE TO TELL ME THAT TOD PAPAGEORGE WASN'T A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER AND WAS RESTING HIS CAREER ON BEING IN THE RIGHT CIRCLES (YALE, WINNOGRAND, SZARKOWSKI). ARE YOU KIDDING ME? DID YOU NOT SEE "PASSING THRU EDEN"?
ALSO, SALMON SOUP (IT TASTED A LOT BETTER THEN IT SOUNDED) AND A PLACE TO STAY IN LONDON

beyond that...
french people were feeling my teardrop tat and nobody believes i'm american because they can "understand my english". i attribute this to my slowed down, semi-sedate california speak, but i guess to most non-english-speakers it just reads academic and clear. NICE ONE. i thought i was a mumbler.


the embarassment also continues with a backwoods sauna party in which all the curators and artists went for wine, real fancy catered dinner, and group sauna. i made the mistake of going out into the woods to make pictures at some point in the night and the flashes going off that were directed at all this pastoral beauty were mistaken for me (aka "the american guy") "trying to creep on/snap photographs of all the nude female curators and artists post-sauna and in the lake". this resulted in several women running through the forest, grabbing their towels, and also screaming as they ran past me and back inside the sauna. additionally, it meant stink-eye for the rest of the night from everyone who i didn't bother explaining myself to.
i probably SHOULD HAVE taken some pictures of all that nude wilderness action, i could probably make a career out of it.

NO BIGGIE RIGHT, IT HAPPENS TO EVERYBODY.
UNFORTUNATELY, I ALSO LOST MY DIGITAL CAMERA ON THE TRAIN THERE WHICH MEANS NO PICTURES

film pictures to come someday in the future when i have access to a scanner.


MY WEEKEND THIS WEEKEND:
weird shit
all i have to say is...
new friends, something called "longero", a bar called "never grow old", and a run-in with hell's angels. who the fuck knew that hell's angels existed in finland? in the US aren't they usually just closeted middle aged folsom street fair types? not here.
in finland they're the kind of guys who you get into a shoving match with because they're stomping someones head against the pavement and you can't stand by and watch an unconscious guy getting his head smashed so they spit on you and some girl and take off running as the cops arrive.
and they even just had an american style school shooting last week? really fucked up.

the only safe place is the sauna