Sofiski's Adventures

Italy and back

2008-08-01T09:23:00.002Z

Torino

Battles!

Tuscany

Casa Canonica, Santo Ippolito: www.casacanonica.com

Lucca / Orbicciano

Back in Casa Canonica

Vallee de la Vesubie, Cros d'Utelle
Chez Amalia!!!

Gilette

Climbing in Amalias backgarden

Ellaaaaaaaaaa!

NEW!!! Festival Kosmopolite / Day 3

2008-06-24T17:12:00.000Z

Streets of Bagnolet

Stencil History X

Walls

Open Space

The end

NEW!!! Festival Kosmopolite / Day 2

2008-06-24T17:04:00.000Z

Open space

Stencil History X

Walls

NEW!!! Festival Kosmopolite / Day 1

2008-06-24T16:54:00.003Z

Stencil History X

Walls

NEW!!! Festival Kosmopolite / Vernissage

2008-06-24T16:19:00.001Z

Massilia / streets

2008-06-05T13:56:00.002Z

Dead rats - NOt the same one!

Graffs

Dog called vixen

Gallery opening with Remi and Nathalie @ La Poissonerie

Massilia / everyday life

2008-06-05T13:53:00.002Z

views

Local Irish pub!

Massilia / Parc de Montredon

2008-06-05T13:50:00.002Z

Where I go meditate...

Massilia / La Friche / Radiobike

2008-06-05T13:49:00.002Z

Massilia / La Friche

2008-06-05T13:44:00.002Z

Back in europe!!! / Massilia / Apartement

2008-06-05T13:43:00.002Z

Massilia
>> aparte

Gerard, mon colocataire!!!

soso

Back in Europe!!! / MAssilia / journee en mer

2008-06-05T13:43:00.001Z

Journee en mer

Back in Europe!!! / MAssilia streets

2008-06-05T13:42:00.000Z

streets

Back in europe!!! / Massilia / Carnal de l'estaque

2008-06-05T13:41:00.000Z

Carnaval de l'Estaque

Back in Europe!!! / London

2008-05-13T13:20:00.010Z

\\ LONDON //

NEW!!!

2007-12-14T04:33:00.002-01:00

Sorry, not much going on here for a while: been busy organising my party:

SoopaSakanaSonora

XX

NEW!!! Life. A vida. La vie.

2007-09-20T22:54:00.000Z

I'm gonna write a bit about Life.

Life.

It will always surprise me how life can be so good, and yet can be such a bitch to you. And that's why even though I am 30 (31 on the 9th November!), I am still a baby when it comes to learning and to be wise.

I left the association.

It was a very good experience as well as a very bad one.
I got the opportunity to (at long last) do what is part of my masterplan: teach, share my skills with other people, kids- who wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to do so.

Thing is, I got USED by Selma, the director of the association.
YES: she gave me the opportunity, but at which price? She treats people as if they are sub-humans.
I will not use this blog to dirty her name: I am not a vengeful person.
I am simply very very sad that things did not work out, BUT, as Franca (Guido’s mum) told me: the important is that the kids got that opportunity.

So I moved out of the association.
Found a new place with Elicia in 2 de Julho, great little house, nice views on the sea from the 2 terraces where I have been doing yoga most mornings.

You would think that this new situation would have been my saviour, and that I would be now growing into a beautiful rose of happiness.

But no: our landlady is mad.

Ok: that’s part of life, and I really do think that we are ALL mad, that there are just varying degrees of madness, and that in fact madness maybe isn’t a negative thing.
(Apart if you kill people)
I believe that there is a scientific name for the condition of our landlady.
So far, I don’t think she has killed anyone, but she is VERY aggressive. And also bi-polar.
So one week she will be cool, then you will become her worst enemy.

That was my case, when after being really helpful to her –setting up internet for her; scrubbing my own house when it should have been done before we moved in; cleaning terraces, picking up HER dog’s shits (that’s Elicia’s official job here.)- she then started to insult me “ bitch”,”liar”, even threatening to hit me.
Why? We think it’s because she didn’t like it when I came to talk to her about her and her kids safety as well as our own, when she said she would get a gun.

So, we’re moving out again! We had 4 days to find a house, and just yesterday, out of nowhere our guardian angel appeared and offered us, well, suggested her house to rent, because she is going travelling.

Tomorrow we’re moving in, after what has been 2 weeks of extreme madness, we even got our light cut out. Michelle is becoming a star at cooking in the dark.

So, you’d think I’m probably really depressed after all this shit.
Well, thank fuck for my friends is all I have to say.

PHOTO TIME!

At "home" in crazy lady house...
We actually did a "cleaning" of the house when we moved in, with special herbs and praying and all... maybe we need to work on that a bit more huh!
Our altar.

Burning the herbs

Lavelee Michelle

Sticking images

Michelle and I decided to be teens again, and went to this crap "rave" where our mates from Ministereo Publico and Lord Breu (literally "Lord of Darkness"), dubstep DJ were playing. We got there after a fucking trek to find people sleeping there.
Thats why there no pictures of the actual partying...

ASSSSS

This last photo is of rubbish just being thrown out in nature. There isnt much education about pollution here, so I'm gonna do some graffs with ecological messages from now on.

Til then, I've been practising with my new friend, muse and the other member of our new "SoopaSakana crew : Aia, from Denmark - aka "Prem".
yeay!

...batteries ran out, so I'll post photos of my finished piece soon.
Here's the original drawing:

and the one for the previous graff:

yep, aia got me back into drawing big time:

Emos

Sofiski character

Jacqui (ex-"crazy french lady's house" mate)'s leaving do!
We love you Jacqui, come back!

Princess Jacqui herself:

(doing what she does best)
Yoruba

Yoruba and Elicia

Yours trully.

After that small yet nice gathering, Michelle and I went to meet up with the boys from Ministereo Publico, at the recording studio where Raiz works, to do a night session.
It was grrrrrrrrrreat! I quite like being a semi-manager, giving my support to "my" artists ahahah!
(OH: by the way, I have started manageing an afro percussion band, got Michelle the job as a singer with them! ...more about that VERY soon!!!)

1 am: Waiting outside for studio to be freed...

MC Jeff being silly

Ru$$o and Raiz

Going in: the proof that we're in a top studio aight?

more proof

Michelle, MC Jeff from LA, Ru$$o

Raiz setting up

The ladies:

The boys:
Ru$$o, Fael, Vandal

Ru$$o

Vandal

dFrance

Fael on the dex

Raiz

Raiz and Rasta

MCR, Rasta and Murilo

Will post the mix when it's done.

Well, next will be:

Moving to new house; looking for courses; looking for volunteering projects; waiting for my mum and Philippe to arrive (early November) and take them to the Paradise that is Morere and last but not least: planning on coming back to Europe early December!

Mil beijos para voces XXX

NEW!! Let's NOT forget

2007-08-06T02:07:00.000Z

I was doing some searches on the internet about what I would like to put in my soon to be out fanzine.

Those images reflect my observations that humans, in addition to being very ignorant beings, tend to forget stuff really quickly, however shocking it may be.

So this is an example of how to remind us NOT to forget, in image format. All from this website:

The Memory Hole

33/ Mutirao Boca do Rio: beach, graffiti, guitars!

2007-07-22T17:57:00.000Z

...aaaaaaaaaaah and relax!

Yesterday was fun, jumped on da bikes with Jorge and went to Boca do Rio (about 40 mins ride) first to jump in the sea, then chitchat with bar owner Eloys (spelling??), who plays some good music there (quite rare these days, all you normally hear from those bar shacks is dreadful Pagode)
Then we went to check out the boys from Ministereo Publico, and the graff action that was taking place to decorate the walls of a school.

I hear it's not so sunny in Uk, so here's some sunshine for yaz!

Bar de Eloys

Jorge and Eloys batendo papo

Da bike

Jorge rasta stylee

Marcos Costa in action

Kid's drawing

Iara

JAck

Julio's

Aia

A kid posing...

Yep, the kids were really awesome, and just wanting to pose!

Big kids:
Me and Jorge

Jorge and I

Russo on da mic

Dudoo on the mic, Raiz on the dex

Another school, pretty far out!

On way back, passed the wall that got graffed for the Mutirao de Acaraje, and which I didnt have a camera to take photos:

Back in Jorge's house, in his workshop (he makes acoustic and electric guitars, violins and other musical wonders...)

...i'M OFF TO SEE Jorge play in the reggae band Tribo do Sol.

Ciao!

32/ Preparing for and hosting the venue of the Governor of Canada

2007-07-17T20:42:00.000Z

Yessss.
So here it is: photos of us getting into action to do all the organising of the visit of the governor and her entourage.

Part of it, was producing a TV spot which basically shows what the Association is about -I'm gonna compress the video for you, and will upload it soon,.,.,... produced by yours trully, filmed by lavelee Eliciana and edited by the people at TVE...

At the association:

One of my students, Lorena

Renata, who used to be a student here, and is now a teacher

In Piraja, where my students are from:

Praca do General Labatut

The big day!:
My students gettign ready for action

People from the Canadian government

Clothes made by the women who took part in the project "Mulher Rendeira", which trained them to saw clothes.

Table top by Julio from the Nova Ordem crew, painting by Jeck.

Table top by me, view on the garden.

The benches.

Table top by Core, painting by Jeck.

Another table top painted by me (I tried to keep the same style as the benches)

Exhibits from the exhibition "Bahia, singular e plural" about Bahia's folklore, lent by TVE.

Federal Police.

Food prepared.

The musicians.

Paulo Rogerio from Midia Etnica -it was raining a bit.

The inauguration sign.

The TV spot.

Renata.

The national Science adviser of Canada -on the left.

Selma's folks: Sr Jose e Dona Floriz.

Ladies

MArcio

THE ribbon

The governor and Selma

The newspaper cutting!

...
Ffeew! What a day! (I actually did not sleep the night before!) The governor is a very nice lady, she sang and danced... very positive day that rewarded all our hard work...
I've had a week off, working on my own design stuff -trying to make some dough. Then we getting back into action to start planning the programmation of the cultural cafe.

Next on your screens: website online, with video uploaded!

XX

31/ Mutirao Itinga: graffitiiiiiiiii

2007-07-05T03:08:00.001Z

...These past 2 weeks, I've been and am still busy organising the Association for the visit of the Governor of Canada, this very Sunday. (ranges from: producing TV ad, doing website, decorating tables, printing t-shirts.......)

But, I took some time off last Saturday to go join the fellas from Ministereo Publico who were playing at a graff event organised by Bond.

I took advantage that they were artists around to give them table tops from the Cafe to paint... Picking em up tomorrow: should be interesting!

But so, images of them and the NEW looking association soon.

For now, pix of the Graffitis!

The building being graffitied (??*&%): an NGO called Rever.

Core:

Core's shoes:

Dudoo off the dex:

Eliciana giving a go at the malabares:

This girl bought this iguana to release him into nature:

the kids selling the iguanas...

Ladies

Bond's kid, learning fast:

Bond's missis

The dudes from Nova Ordem crew came up with some cool masked heads on phone booths concepts

I'm mutating!

Ramses

Sins

Zika

Mine!

The "karaoke" sound system

Those dudes were wanting to play basket ball so hard, they got the welding gear out to fix the basket!

Thats aaaaaaaaaall X

30/ Hot Bread!

2007-06-20T20:36:00.000Z

Well well, how lucky are you! 2 posts in 2 days!
comme vous etes chanceux! 2 messages en 2 jours!

Photos of the bakery in progress, as promised:
Les photos de la boulangerie en progres, comme promis:

For updates on the bakery, see the Cafe's blog here:
CAFE's BLOG

29/ Life at the Association Arte Naif / la vie a l'Association Arte Naif

2007-06-19T15:20:00.000Z

Hi there!
Salut!

Well life moves on.
La vie suit son cours.

I am not really going to Eli's bar anymore, blame it on personality clashes!
I still did an appearance for the "Festa da lua cheia" (full moon party), as I have after all designed the bar sign, the flyer for the party, and would even have played there, had it been better organised...

Je ne vais plus vraiment au bar de Eli, il faut porter le blame a des differences aiguues de personnalites! .. J'ai tout de meme fais un effort pour apparettre a la "Fete de la pleine lune" qu'elle avait organisee, vu que c'est quand meme moi qui ai fait: l'enseigne du bar, le flyer et j'allais meme poser du son -si tout cela avit ete mieux organise!

Alan

Eevi

Margaret, Camila, Elicia

Margaret

Smigol breakdancing

Good news is: I have moved to the Association Arte Naif!
La bonne nouvelle est que j'ai demenage, et que j'habite desormais a l'Association Arte Naif!

It all started when I met Selma, who created and runs the association, through my friend Fernando, at a party. Told her that I wanted to do social projects as well as teaching my design skills... Shortly after that, she phoned me and offered me to work with her.
Tout a commence quand j'ai rencontre Selma (qui a cree et qui dirige l'assoce) lors d'une soiree de mon pote Fernando. Je lui ai fait part de mes plans de vouloir faire des projets sociaux / educatifs a travers mes aptitudes artistiques... Peu apres cette soiree, elle m'a appelee et m'a offert de travailler avec elle.

The Asociation offers arts and craft courses to people from different background, such as: sawing, bakery, painting ...etc
l'assoce offre des cours artistiques et artisanaux pour qui est interesse: couture, boulangerie, peinture...etc

Sawing room
La salle de couture

So I started teaching Graphic Design to kids from 15 to 21 years old!
The course is part of the "Caminhos da liberdade" (Ways of freedom) project, which basically consists of making the youth of 4 different bairros of Salvador (which played an important role in the cultural history of Bahia) aware of their cultural heritage through the arts.
J'ai donc commence a enseigner le graphisme a un groupe de jeunes de 15/21 ans! LE cours fais partie du projet de "Caminhos da liberdade" (Les chemins de la liberte), projet qui consiste a rendre les jeunes de 4 quartiers (qui ont joue un role important dans l'histoire de Bahia) conscients de leur heritage culturel, a travers les arts.

My course was to teach them how to do CD covers, using the themes of: freedom, empowerment, independence, and autonomy. The CD covers will be used for the music demos produced by another group of kids from the same bairro. The project includes: Design, Jornalism, Music production, Fashion...
Mon cours fut de leur apprendre comment faire une couverture de CD, en utilisant les themes de: liberte, empowerment (partage du pouvoir), independance et autonomie. La couverture de CD sera utilisee pour les demos de musique produites pas un autre groupe de jeunes du meme bairro. Le projet inclus:design, journalisme, musique, mode ...

Some of the works produced by my students:
Quelques travaux de mes eleves:

I have also moved to the Association, being skinned -as I have not been taking on any more design jobs + being working full time here voluntarily.
J'ai donc demenage a l'assoce, n'ayant plus vraiment de thunes: j'ai arrete de rechercher des taf design freelance + je bosse ici a plein-temps.

The Association was originally funded by the government of Canada, who bought the house and financed the bakery: yes, you heard right: a bakery is currently being built, the course has already started, and the food produced will be served in the Cultural Cafe. All the construction works are almost done, and it feels great to be part of the whole process!
L'assoce fut originellement sponsorisee par le gouvernement du Canada, qui acheta la maison et financa la boulangerie: oui, c'est bien ca: une boulangerie est en ce moment meme en construction, le cours de boulangerie a deja commence, et la nourriture produite sera servie dasn le Cafe Culturel. Toutes les constructions en cours sont presque terminees, et je suis super contente de faire partie de tout ce procede!

What will be the kitchen:
Ce qui deviendra la cuisine:

The outside bit:
Dehors

The Bakery's oven:
Le four de la boulangerie (enorme!)

The Computer room:
Salle des ordis:

The governor of Canada (equivalent to the UK's Prime Minister), which by the way is a Black woman from Haiti, is coming in July to check the whole project, with her entourage, TV etc etc...
Le gouverneur du Canada (l'equivalent du President de la Republique), qui au fait est une femme noire de Haiti, vient en Juillet pour visiter le projet, avec tout son entourage: TV, journalistes, etc...

Meeting with the people from TVE:
Rencontre avec des representantes de la chaine de TV bahaianese TVE

It's all happening here!
As well as opening a cultural Cafe -where the food made in bakery will be sold, and which will open thursdays and saturdays, with music, art, debates, film projections... there is also the gallery. Both of which I am helping to co-ordinate.
Ca carbure donc ici!
En meme temps que d'ouvrir le Cafe Culturel, ou la nourriture de la boulangerie sera vendue et qui sera ouvert Jeudis et Samedis avec une progammation artistique, musicale, debats, projections de films... il y a aussi la gallerie d'art. J'aide a la co-ordination des 2!

Planning!

Meetings!

(Selma and Professor Miranda, who teaches bakery!)

We invited artists to help us decorate the stools used in the cafe:
Nous avons invite des artistes pour nous aider a decorer les tabourets du bar

Selma

Fred (a designer and friend, check his site here: LSF DESIGN

One of Fred's stools:

Margueritta (Fred's mum but also professional artist + art's teacher)

One of Margot's stools:

Marco Antonio (Selma's boyfriend, architect and artist)

One of Marco's stools:

One of mine!:

Selma's world famous Yaki-Soba to keep us going!
Le Yakisoba de Selma pour nous donner de l'energie!

This saturday we had the pre-inauguration, invited friends and artists to check the space out and shoot some ideas at us. In 2 weeks, I set up an exhibition with the theme of Yemanja (orixa of the sea) which included: organising the different exhibiting spaces, looking for artists, and a lot of stress!
But we were all really buzzing as it is a NEW start for all of us: times are changing!
Samedi dernier fut la pre-inauguration du cafe et de la gallerie: nous avons invites amis et artistes pour leur faire decouvrir le lieu et leur permettre de nous suggerer leurs idees.
En 2 semaines, j'ai organiser l'expo avec le theme de Yemanja (l'orisha des mers) ce qui consistait a organiser les differents espaces d'expo, rechercher des artistes, et beaucoup de stress!
Mais nous etions tous super contents: c'est un nouveau debut pour nous tous!

Yemanja

Photos from students of the FACOM (Communication School)

Awesome art by Sol Bahia

Massai necklaces by collective Mama Luta

My students' works!

Friends of Selma doing some improvised dancing

I also invited awesome violin player, Jorge... He first turned up at the wrong house!

And then made his way to ours with his friend Geronimo!

The participating public!

Thank you to all the participating artists and to everyone who turned up: next step, the first baked breads, organising cultural events, and the coming of the Governor of Canada!
Merci a tous ceux qui ont participe et qui sont venus! prochaine etape: les premiers pains! Organiser d'autres evenements culturels! La venue du gouverneur du Canada!

XXX

28/ April and May: animals, nature and pasta sandwiches.

2007-05-25T05:04:00.001Z

Yes YEs!!!!

I'm back on the keyboard to give all the fresh and not so fresh news...

Well, since the last post a lot has happened:

Elicia (who left back to US to sort her student VISA, but who is back tomorrow, after more than 1 month) and Eevi adpoted a cat.
He was christened by Eevi, and now responds to the name of: Smigol. (Yes, taken from the "My Precious" creature from Lord of the Rings) That's because, when Elicia found him outside the door, he was only a tiny little wet shaking thing!
He is now a fully grown teenager, and his favourite past time is to attack feet.
Here's some pix of him when he was still all fluffy and cute:

That last one is with Eva, Cari's lady dog. She is a real lady, check out those beautiful eyes:

And this is the beautiful (and crazy) owner: Cari, who when she's not painting eva's paw nails red, is a live statue:

Cari, Eva and me (guess the right order...)

Yessss, that's defo a bit of double-chin here, but what do you expect when I get urges like pasta sandwiches?

mmmmmmmm...

...My big highlight in April was that Isla -pronounce Aila- (who I used to live with for 2 years in London, before I came over here...) arrived from Venezuela and stayed for more than a month! It was lovely to have her around, Isla is such a positive brilliant and inspiring English rose!

Whilst she was around, she got stuck straight into working as a volunteer at the orphanage (she is a teacher by trade) which was really motivating for me, to chat with her and get her ideas on board to my own social projects...
But of course, her visit wasn't all about work...We did a fair bit of hanging out with Eevi (in fact them two became very good friends, in the time they spent together whilst i was being busy working on all the projects, the slackers!)

In the streets of Barbalho:
Soso

Isla

Eevi

We also hooked up with new friend Rob, whom I met via myspace (Rob's myspace)... we ended up hooking up, the 1st night being gradual debauchery from Pelourinho to Circo Picolino...

Rob, a great man: awesome to have met you!

But we're not just about getting really pissed and dance like fools, hell no!
We also went out of Salvador (thank the lord for thaT) and go check out some nice quiet nature in Bahia.
Our friend Tarsis (who in his spare time makes wooden toys) took us out to his favourite spot: Santo Antonio, up on the Literal North, where we camped in the sand dunes... happy days...

Look at the despaired expression on my face having to go back to Salvador! It says it all really!

Another trip saw us travel for 7 hours in a bus to arrive to the magnificence that is Chapada de Diamantina. I highly recommend that anyone who visits Brazil goes there: it is now at the top of my list of possible places where I would like to live.
The photos really don't make it justice.

The whole trip was quite an experience, having started by being robbed of my tent and mobile phone and Isla's favourite jumper by 2 guys on a motorbike on our way to take the bus!

But that was a great lesson, as we ended up meeting a group of very great guys, 2 of which (the brothers Naum and Tiago Bandeira) happened to have some land in Capao, offered us a tent to camp in on the set up of their campsite, where we had some of the best food I have eaten since Italy... We hung out with them the whole time, they shared with us their favourite local spots (Rio Preto, Cachoeira da Fumaca): Naum and Tiago, Joao and his dad, Tiago, and Pri: it was a fantastic and magical experience!

Tiago happens to be an amazing samba singer and guitar player, I could have listened to him sing and play for hours, by the campfire...

Naum just wrote a book -which Joao did the design for- about undiscovered Prehistorical paintings in Chapada, check his website HERE

Amazing people in an amazing place...

... Back in Salvador, Eli, the landlady from my old house (!yes! I've moved out, more about that in a bit) and Tarsis decided to open a bar downstairs from the house, with the name of "Maria Bonita" (from the real story of the gaucho cowlady gangster woman)
Here's a few shots of Isla's last night there, just before she got her cab (boohooooooooo... I really didn't want her to go! Come back Islaaaaaa!!!)

Orders taken from the bar!

A few days after Isla left, the laveleee Ben (from Ryhthmic Uprising , whom I met when I first arrived in Salvador) came over! Woohoo! Once again, it was a breath of fresh air to have him around, and get inspired by the awesome work he does (Rhythmic Uprising is "a documentary project that seeks to empower a movement of artists who are using local traditions to elevate the quality of life for at-risk children in the culturally rich region of Bahia, Brazil" ...Ben's own words...)

He also does great impressions, such as: "pretending to be on the phone"

The landlady

The cheese vendor

The cheese eater

... Now, Ben's left, Isla's left, and I have moved out of Eli's house to the house of the Association "Arte Naif" I have started to work for: it's about 5mins from Eli's house and bar, so I get to see everyone a lot!
My new house is lovely, and it's nice to have people around to visit, like my ex-housemate Chike or eevi and her sis Silva...

This is the start of my new life.
Selma, the woman who created and coordinates the Association is a very inspiring woman: since I have met her, my plans of social, educative and creative work have come to life, and I am now a Graphic Design teacher for kids from different bairros of Salvador, as well as helping out daily at the Association, and helping out other social projects with Design...

Next blog: all about this new start!

XXX

27/ Lots of good things to come!

2007-03-13T11:49:00.000-01:00

Hello hello!

Been a hell of a long time it seems... I haven't got my camera repaired yet, so that's why I've not been firing photos at you!
Ca fait bien longtemps que je n'ai pas ecrit... Je n'ai toujours pas repare mon appareil photo, c'est pour ca que je ne vous ai pas bombarde de photos!

Well Carnival has gone, Thank God For That!
I escaped to Arembepe, in a hippy community called Aldeia where Janis Joplin used to live!There is a really nice Rio where you can go bathe -I recommend "Birthday suit" stylee!
Le carnaval est fini, merci mon dieu! Je me suis echappee a Arembepe, dans une communaute hippie appelee Aldeia, ou Janis Joplin avait une maison!
Il y a une riviere tranquille la, ou on peut se baigner -je recommende le style "a walpe"!

In the house of Morto where I was staying...
La maison de "Morto" ou j'ai creche

Came back to Salvador and only went as far as Praca Castro Alves, to chill to my homies from Ministereo Publico's sound: (You can see me with the turquoise head scarf / little dress number on the right!!!
Je suis revenue sur Salvador apres qques jours, mais je ne suis pas allee plus loin que la Place Castro Alves, ou j'ai dance au son DUB et Reggae de mes amis de Ministereo Publico... (Vous pouvez m'apercevoir rapidos en bas a droite: je porte un turban et une petite robe turquoise!)

Right now, I'm quite busy helping out different projects -artists, associations- voluntarily: doing graphics stuff mainly, but also translations, and a bit of computer training at ACANNE, a capoiera group (thanks to Ben@Rythmic Uprising: check his site HERE. This dude is the dudest.)
En ce moment je suis occupee avec differents projets -des artistes, des assoces- en benevolat: je fais du graphisme principalement, mais aussi des traducs, et un peu de formation d'ordi a ACANNE, un groupe de capoeira (merci a Ben de Rythmic Uprising: regardez son site ICI. Il est super cool comme mec.

When I'm not busy cremating my brain cells in front of the computer, I try to do some more hands on stuff. So last Saturday, I went to Sao Rafael to paint a wall for the International Day of Women and did my 2nd graff! was funfun!!!...
Quand je ne suis pas occupee a me cramer les neurones devant l'ordi, j'essaie de faire des activites plus "manuelles"... Samedi dernier, je suis allee faire mon 2e graff pour la Journee Internationale de la Femme! C'etait bien cool!!!

Chilling with the girls before departure...
On se relax avec les filles avant le depart

In da bus with Slam
Dans le bus avec Slam

Sketching it up
Petite esquisse

"Respeita ou Se foda" = "Respect or fuck off"

To see the whole wall and the other graffs, click HERE
Pour voir le reste su mur -et donc les autres graffs, cliquez ICI

...Now I'm preparing to move to Boipeba (the paradise island of which I have been posting photos): gonna make a move in May to participate to a project that my friend Camila is setting up. Helping out doing the website (quick preview HERE + doing arts workshops with a conscience, using recycling with the kids from the island. CAN't wait!
...Maintenant je me prepare pour mon depart imminent a Boipeba (l'ile paradisiaque dont j'ai deja poste des photos sur ce blog): j'y vais en Mai pour participer a un projet que mon amie Camila organise. Je vais aider a faire le site (jetez y un coup d'oeil ICI + a faire des ateliers artisitiques/educatifs pour enfants, en utilisant du recyclage... j'ai hate!

Also waiting for Isla to arrive from Venezuela. She should be arriving shortly, so I'm thinking of taking her to see a few places and generally looking forward to catch up with her!
J'attends aussi l'arrivee imminente de ma copine Isla (avec qui j'ai vecu pendant 2 ans a Londres) qui se pointe du Venezuela. Je vais l'emmener decouvrir des coins tranquilles, et j'ai tres hate aussi de rattraper le temps perdu!

Beijos para tudos! XX

26/ House decorations

2007-01-30T11:47:00.000-01:00

Ok, so here are the pix of the decorations I did in the house of Eli where I've been staying since Xmas...

I Had a week or so of fun, getting creative and buying paint and all, and the next step would be that I do the terrace, but you know what, I aint got enough dough to buy all this latex paint and spray thang, so its gonna have to wait for one major design client to give me LOTS of cash, yeah?

The bathroom:
Elicia did the mosiac work, and I did all the finishing paint work

The kitchen:
Who never wanted to paint their fridge, huh?
Pinel and Boob from the EGS crew turned up and did the fridge:
Boob's side (with our lovelee new housemat from Finland, Eevi):

Pinel's:

And I did the tribal thang:
(even the blender got a touch of pinkage!)

The entrance:

The stairs:

Slam from the EGS crew turned up one afternoon, grabbed some brushes, and came up with some mad plant designs:

Switches!

I also stuck some great kite paper with a buterfly design on it, and added some light shades made out of coco shells (i think).

Upstairs:
Got a bit crazy with the freestyling

My "masterpiece" (well, the piece I spent most time on):
A trunk that was very boring, and that got the gothic makeover:

Windows...

And finally: my Monster piece... (had to make one!)

Fun fun fun!

25/ (well old photos but new to you)

2007-01-23T21:18:00.000-01:00

Yes! well you know, my camera is fucked, something to do with SMART cards i think... So as I got the laptop back, I got all the photos I had taken since my arrival up to the CRASH point...

So we gonna do a bit of time travelling in the next few blogs...

Here are some of when my friend Michelle and I went to this church where they had the 1st Black saint...

The beautiful Michelle

Weirdness.

XX

24/ (more) Graffitti as promised

2007-01-23T20:51:00.000-01:00

Here you go, you lucky "rapazes" and "garotas"!

Some very cool stuff, mainly from the 071 Crew (Zero Sete Um) who happen to be best mates -even family with my new homies from Ministereo Publico... Check them out!!!

Think this is from DIMAK

Some cool stencils used for Ministereo Publico's decorations when they're playing

This is Denis Sena (not from 071, but very cool: his site

DIMAK

FAEL

Some Fela action

Check out the 071 crew fotolog here:
0 7 1
Word up.

23/ Party at my Eli's house (my new home)

2007-01-11T20:52:00.000-01:00

Yes, festive season has started. The festa do Bonfim was horrible for me: too many drunk people (at 9am, I think it's a bit hard to handle) under a scorching hot sun, but hey, gotta learn: next year if I'm about, I'm staying in bed!

Photos of last Saturday's party, at my new house, a casa d'Eli, with the dudes from Ministereo Publico on the decks and on the MIC, lots of cachaca to drink and lots of herbal goodness!

Chique, our new housemate from DC and Marcia

A cute couple

Dudes from Ministereo Publico:
Dudoo

Dudoo and Lucas

Eli

Elicia (poseeeeeeeeeer!)

Gorgeous ladies of the house

Aooowww, Elicia and Jorge

Eli and friends

Marcia

Louisa, Paulinho, Marcello

Half of Marcello;s head and Louisa

MCssss!
Lucas with some delaaaaaaaaayyy

Mc from Kernel Panik

Ricardo (has been housemate)

Friend of Slam, Slam (from EGS crew), and meeeee (check out the awesome 70s bathing suit!!!)

Kate and Chique

An essential ingredient to having fun... growing on the roof terrace.

XXX

22/ Xmas photos

2007-01-10T17:37:00.001-01:00

Salut a tous et toutes...

Qques photos de Xmas avec Elicia a Morere:

We did some horse riding with some dumb ass horses who only knew one direction in which to go... Naaaah, really they were sweet, just a bit stubborned, we had a laugh.

Look Tommy! : my fisherman friend Felipe from Boipeba caught this, I went to his house to say hello, bought this red fish off him for 5R$ (defaulting the expensive lobster) and MADE FIRE and cooked it. was big. was good.

We did a 4hrs or so trek in the island, in flip-flops, under scorching hot sun. respect the girls. or are we just dumb asses?

Bon, sinon, moi, je me remets doucement des festivites...

Nouvel an => 2 jours non-stop de techno/DrumNbass/reggae/ragga/jungle en haut d'une colline, dans le Parc de Sao Cristovao. Y avait meme 2 artistes du cirque Picolino (avec qui je vais bosser) qui faisait des acrobaties!

PHOTOS ICI
Merci au Kernel Panik crew, all the way from Italy!

Semaine derniere, Eli (chez qui j'habite desormais... J'ai bouge de chez Matteo, dont Eli est l'ex) est rentree de Brasilia sans les 2 jumelles, et emballee par la joie de voir sa maison toute decoree par votre chere et tendre (+Elicia dans la salle de bains, qui nous a realiser 2 superbes mosaiques... PHOTOS tres bientot), a decided de faire une festa! Ouaaaaaaaaaaiiiis

Donc du coup, j'ai demander a mes nouveaux copains de Ministereo Publico qui posaient le son reggae/ragga au nouvel an, si ils pouvaient venir, et super sympa ils ont dit oui!

donc succes total + on remets ca bientot...

Demain, c'est ferie! (y a des jours feries tous les mois ici, c'est trop fort).
C'est la Festa do Bonfim / Oxala.
(pour ceux qui lisent le portuguais: ALLEZ ICI
En gros:
Va y avoir du people, tout le monde habiller en blancs, des sound systems a droite a gauche, de la folie ca c sur...

XBisesX

21 / Ch-ch-ch-ch chaaaaaaaaanges!

2006-12-30T22:37:00.000-01:00

Lots has been happening in 2006, innit?

Right now, I've been busy redecorating the house where I'm staying (I've moved out of Matteos). It's great fun, I've got total freedom over the artwork, let's hope Eli likes it when she comes back (-* PHOTOS very soon. That's if I fix my camera, which decided not to work anymore.

ON THE OTHER HAND: I got my computer back! WOOHOO! after more than 2 months, bloody hell. been good cos Ive had to find other things to do, but its soooooooo gooooooood to have my baby back.

I officially gained 5kgs since I'm here, thats 1 kg per month, so I'm now stopping all the crazy stuff, and back to healthyness...

I found an orphanage where I could organise art projects with very young kids, thanks to my new friend Elicia, kids are ace there, cant wait to start. Think: macaroni necklaces and collages with leaves!

Gonna (finally) start collaborating with tPicolino circus school, after I decided to talk straight with Anselmo, the director, and not bother going via other people...

Went back to my paradise island, this time with Elicia. was very chilled. did some horseriding with some crazy horses. lots of swimming. lots of walking.

and tomorrow, will celebrate the coming year with a hopefully decent mash up in a park, Drum n bass stylee.

Beijos a tudos!
PAZ
XXX

20/ Condomblé

2006-12-13T15:21:00.000-01:00

Saturday I went to my 2nd condomblé ceremony.

I have not really talked about my 1st one.
This is a bit of a private discovery for me, but I think it's a good thing if people know about it.

Some of you might know that one of the reason why I'm here is because I want to develop my spiritual side, as I believe it is as part of life as the Mental and the Physical side...

To cut a very long and interesting story short, Condomblé is the African "religion" which has its roots in BENIN -where my dad is from- and Nigeria where its name is "Vaudun", and has been brought to Brasil (Condomble), Cuba (Santeria), Haiti (Voodoo) during the days of slavery.

It enables people to communicate with the forces of nature and of the universe, the "orixas" (pronounce = orishas), by using rythms and dance to put people chosen by the orishas into a trance and be "ridden" by the orishas.

So at a ceremony, you will see the people who have been initiated, singing, dancing around a pole to the rythm of the drums.
Each orisha has a specific song, rythm, and dance to call him/her.

Photos by Pierre Fatumbi Verger, le plus bresiliens des français.

Saturday, I believe all the orixas came down. Needless to say, it was a very powerful experience.

19/ PARADISE AND BACK

2006-12-09T12:00:00.000-01:00

I think I've found a place that you will like.

After weeks of stressing out with work/no work, weird atmosphere in the house, and generally a sense of claustrophobia from a very packed city, I decided to get the fuck out.
Had a chat with my friend Marcello who knows the region quite well, and he directed me towards Boipeba.

He scribbled the directions on a piece of paper, it goes a little something like this:
"Get a boat from Salvador to the island of Itaparica, then get a bus to a village, then get another boat, then get a tractor, and ask for Lucas, you can camp at his gaff."

Ok. So that's what I did.
The trip is about 7 hrs, but felt more like 4 as it was split into different parts.
I arrived in Valenca to take my 2nd boat (lancha)

I hooked up with a "guide", who guided me to the shop so I could buy a torch, and then I offered him coffee, cerveja and a bit of a chat (+ a good tip) to say thank you.
He reminded me a bit of you, Alfredo, very smiley guy, look:

Then bought ticket
, and boarded the boat, and off we went, VERY slowly on the dark waters of the rio.

Very calm, peaceful journey.

Pirates of the Carrebeans like...

When we finally arrived in Boipeba after a 3hrs journey, I didn't get a tractor as there wasnt any running at the time(about 5pm), so I walked from Boipeba to Morere, accompanied by 2 guys who happened to be walking home too (they do this everyday, a 40mins walk to go to the village to sell their stuff to the tourists).

When I arrived in Morere, after this little trek on a sandy path, I arrived from the top, and found this resort that was being built. By a Frenchman called Dominique. Family business, one of his son is the chef the other the manager, his wife, the administrator, and he's the designer...
Anyways, he kindly invited me to stay in of the unfinished bungalows, for free.

Which I did.
The resort is pretty nice, very high end of the tourist trade, very designy interiors. So I didnt exactly fit the picture when I arrived all sweaty with my rucksack and tent, but still, I appreciated the hospitality, and fell asleep under the rays of the moon...

Woke up to this:

Then walked down...

... to meet my hosts

Gibi, Chris and Jean-Paul's dog

Chris and Jean-Paul who own a posada in Boipeba and where there to visit.

Check their posada here:
Posada Horizonte Azul
They're very cool.

I then left them to it (they all had to go to Salvador to do business) and went off to find a place where to camp.

There is a lot of land to buy, if you ever get tempted

The house of the don of the camping

The don, a fisherman

Gatinhos do camping

Ben, I hope you're proud of me:

Cooking up some hot stuff

An ant drinking from my foot

...
So after I'd set up everything, I went to explore the place a bit, and set off for the BEACH! Which I never do in Salvador, cos they're packed, and noisy...
Set off from the beach outside the camping

Pontizinho

You get some amazing nature out there, beautiful flowers which attract the most pretty birds

Some weird nature too

And then, the beach... Which I had to my self... Awesome

A silly crabby

Went to visit Boipeba, but this time took the beach trail rather then the interior.
Twas very hot indeed

Just so nice to be in nature...

One hell of a bbq

Chairs up to avoid the tide

MAMAN ET PHILIPPE, ca c'est pour vous:

(j'avais pas de thunes pour en manger, mais la prochaine fois ca fera partie de mon budget!!!)
One hell of a beach

Fishermen

Went to visit Chris and Jean-Paul in their possada

And finally, the little harbour of Boipeba.

I'm now back in Salvador, with only one thing on my mind: when do I go back?
XXX

18/ My 1st Graff!!!

2006-11-28T18:09:00.000-01:00

Word up!

The graff scene is cool out here in Salvador, there are many talented artists...
Here's one from near my house:

I have met a really cool crew of Graff, whilst walking down the street: Bigu, Llama, Edilson and later on Marcos Costa. They were painting a wall for the "Dia da Conscienca Negra" which I was on about the other day.

(so they are not vandalising, its the prefecture which asked them to do some art...)

And Bigu invited me to do my 1st graff! Woohooo!
Bigu

Bigu's missus, Jaciara

Edilson

Edilson mixing it up

Tito Llama

Me checking it all out

Llama capturing it all on negatives

And finally!
My 1st and hoepfully not last! (bear in mind i arrived late, so they didnt have much colours for me to play with!)

What a day!
XX

17/ Touristy views

2006-11-23T14:09:00.000-01:00

Doing a bit of the tourist thang, to show you what it looks like ou there:

Terreiro de Jesus, where all the tourists hang out. Took this at 4am, when theyre still sound asleep

Barbalho, the barrio next to where I live. This is a shop where they sell...electrical goods

Monday was the "DIA DE CONSCIENCA NEGRA", a kinda "Black History day"... There was a big street hangout, with sound systems and all... This was up my street:

...XX

16/ FESTA time!

2006-11-23T13:49:00.000-01:00

Well! did a small festa this weekend! (kinda for my birthday)

Started by doing some small decorations "mexican style"

Sabado, 2pm, churrasco time, but first water games:

Matteo and Marcello

Marcello warming up

Mmmmmmm....

Close up of... Alice or Beatrice???

Yours trully!

Mr Lewis!

Paolo and Rui

Rui rootsing it all the way

Fernando, a man of many talents

CARNE!

Slam cutting it fine

The host!

Eli and Marcello

Marcello

Friends of Eli (cant remember their names)

Egs Crew (visit their site here: EGSCREW)

Aleisha and Californian girl (forgot your name too! soz)

Fernando, Paolo and Josh

The day after, I got up after everyone (yeay, didnt have to clean up!!! ehehe) and found meat being cooked, cervejas being drunk, and all the rest til I passed out again...
View from my terrace

Navarro, Eli's neighbour...No comment (though the look on the menina's face says it all!!!)

XX

15/ Miscellenaous

2006-11-14T19:21:00.000-01:00

Its been raining hard...

A plastic bag. awesome.

14/ Dessins / Drawings

2006-11-14T19:14:00.000-01:00

Quelques dessins que g fait depuis mon depart de Londres...

Creatures mystiques comme on les aime...

Ma main

Hear me NooooooooooW!

Un orisha

Un punk

Moi

Un surfer qui etait dans un bar

Dans le train pour aller a Brive chez Mamie:

...

13/ Atelier d'animation

2006-11-12T15:07:00.000-01:00

Et voila encore plus de photos!

Hier, j'ai fait un atelier d'animation, ça dure 3 jours, donc jy retourne aujourdhui et demain!
Le site: QUINZENA ANIMADA
Ma co-equipiere, Amanda:

Mauricio qui organise l'atelier

Pedro, mon co-equipier

Animation d'un capoeiristo, par Pedro

Le zootrope...blabla machine qui permet de faire des animations

Photos en vrac

This one is for Tommy:

Les filles:
Alice

Beatrice

Toujours a la maison d'Eli:

Kool graff dans la rue

12/ A lot of Eli and street vendors

2006-11-11T15:08:00.000-01:00

AAAh, I got into uploading mode... been chilling ALL week, as its my birthday.. been taking it easyyyyyyyyy.

So, been hanging out a lot with Eli, at her house.

(sorry about the calçinas...)

Awesomer toothpicks (cure-dents!)

Eli making her orishas out of papier mache

The end results:

Eli playing the berimbau (instrument you play when you do capoeira)

Aaaaaaaaaand more of Eli:

Aaaaaaaaaah, aint she gorgeous!

Every Tuesday, it's a street festa, where local bands play. Geronimo is one of them, one huge guy with a feather in his hair, and who plays awesome music (from samba to reggae via forro)with his band...

On the way there, walking down with Paulinho:

View from the middle of the stairs:

...I'm starting to be a bit more courageous with taking the camera out in the streets (before that didnt really want to be seen as a tourist who cant help herself... now i kinda know when is a good time or not)

Hey its Xmas soon!

You see lots of those guys around, selling fresh fruits from the back of a van

Next to my house, theres a street with a few furniture renovators. Awesome work they do, particularly this guy (forgot to ask his name):

A view from my terrace onto the streets

Me on the terrace looking sombre, with the FRO

and with the PLAITS

BEIJOS X

11/ Salvador - Where I live

2006-11-09T14:05:00.000-01:00

ok, so ive got a bit of time on my hands, so throwing a few piccies at u, so u know wagwan:

The door of my new home:

The hallway -painted by my landlord who also lives there, Matteo:

My bedroom:

The view from my bedroom onto the Largo de Santo Antonio:

The kitchen:

The nest door neighbour's who doubles up as a bar sometimes:

Paulinho chilling by the front door

Churrasco time!

matteo, Ellie and Paulinho

One of Matteo and Ellie's girls (they're twins! Dunno if this Alice or Beatriz!)

Leather things market (bought a pair of sandals there for 20$R, the sole is made of tyre!)

Next door stall sells herbs where i buy some aloe vera and other mystic thangs:

Gang of street dogs:

Handpainted sign -you know my love for them!

Streets...

More soon! XXX

10/ Por que no photos?

2006-11-09T12:55:00.000-01:00

Yes. ok, I'm bein really bad at updating this. Or lazy, I don't know. All I know is that I still don't have my laptop (yawn) and also that all the photos that were on this blog have been removed (cos they were hosted on my old company server...) soooo, tomorrow me think I will come back here and upload photos from my camera, so I get the ball rolling again!
...
It's my birthday today! Been chilling all week, though had to finish some design project... (Been mad working without having my computer handy, trying to find machines to work on!) ... plan of the weekend: was gonna have a party but we'll do that next week, as there is a gig on Saturday (kindof a mini reggae festival), Gladiators are playing! AND I'll be going to my 2nd Condomble (for those of you who dont know, its an African belief in forces of nature, spirits and deities...) ceremony, this one is a big one. ... Also gonna help Ellie to make salgados (savouries) for a feria (fair) in Ribeira, and getting my hair plaited again (letting the Fro Grow, meu irmão!)

Ah yeah, and tomorrow gotta go to the Federal Police to renew my VISA!

right then. til tomorrow!

BEIJOS! XXX

09/ Eu nao estou morta!

2006-10-09T17:54:00.000Z

People! Pessoas! Les gens!

Ne vous affolez pas, don't panic! Je suis toujours vivante, a Salvador de Bahia... J'ai eu quelques problemes techniques: mon ordinateur a decider de mourir, alors la il est en reparation, et si tout va bien je le recupere dans 1 semaine, avec TOUTES les photos que j'ai prises depuis mon arrivee au Bresil...

Computer decided to crash, with all the pictures I had taken since my arrival in Brasil... If all goes well I should get it back in a week!

I have now mived to a house in Largo de Santo Antonio in a huge house of a friend, which he will make into a possada (hostel)... it's great, I got a huge room, moved in yesterday!

Will keep you all posted,

LOVE XXX

08/ Guyane Francaise, here I come!

2006-09-10T01:59:00.000Z

...I left Paris quite knackered at 6am, with hardly any sleep, my mum and Philippe drove me to the airport... I think we were even too tired to be emotional!
Then Gilou came right to the waiting lounge, as she has a SPECIAL pass, yes sir, because she works for ADP (Aeroports De Paris)... Awesome!
So we waited together, and then it was time.

The plane was one huge monster, one of those with 3 alleys of people.
I slept most of the 8 hrs. Did a bit of work, tried to practice my Portuguese in my head (...sim senhor!) and then we were there!

For those of you who still don't know where it is that I have travelled to, here is a quick map: (I'm in Cayenne)

...First thing that struck me: mostly everyone was Black! And that's a first for me: I've never lived somewhere where white people are a minority! (if you don't count Dalston!!!)
Paradoxically, the person who picked me up is white! His name is Patrick and he's the neighbour of Sylviane who has been my hostess of the mostess for the past week!

So we drove to MONTJOLI, where we then met with Sylviane at her house.

My bed:

Morning after, I join Patrick by his swimming pool.

He's very good with DIY and all, you kinda have to be out here...
...Me under the glaring sun...

I then set up my computer on the terrace (Patrick's house in the background):

The terrace:

The view:

Off to the market...
Sylviane looking very glam

Patrick picking up a chair to do some "recup"

The market, with its beautiful colours and smily people:

Another day, we went to the beach, which is 2 mins away from the house:

This strange fruit is called a "Couzou"... taste a bit like passion fruit...

Teachers working very hard:

Sylviane made those glasses: see, teachers are very inventive!

A beautiful house

A silly doggy

Patrick in front of his house:

Sylviane's house:

Patrick showing me a coconut tree flower

...Sylviane's shoe collection:

Hairdo

...Went for a bike ride, after reassembling THE bike, VERY hot!
You pass a lot of these dudes who sell watermelon on the road:

Ace kitsh advertising for a garage:

Sweet little house:

The lady from the sweet little house, Mrs Acapa and her dog Canelle:

The view from Mrs Acapa's house:

And a little handpainted road sign:

Love it...!

And finally, today, Saturday 10th September,we went to "Fourgasier" 1hr away from Cayenne, in the Natural Parc of Roura... Nice and refreshing...
(photos are crap though, because my batteries were dying)

I love posing...

Voila!
I'm off to Salvador de Bahia on Monday!
My itinary is: Cayenne / St Georges by taxiCo (minibus) then cross the river in a small pirogue boat in 10 mins to Oiapoque in Brazil, then catch a 4X4 ride to Macapa where I will stay the night. And then I fly from Macapa to Salvador via Belem and Fortaleza...

Should be fun! I arrive in Salvador on 13th at 6PM where I'll be hooking up with Michelle. Til then XXX

07/ LA FAMILIA!!!

2006-09-10T01:15:00.000Z

Family goodbyes at a restaurant bar near my sis in the 15e... All the cousins were there!
Regis et Fidele,

Gilou looking wild!

Alain et Philippe,

Fleur et maman

Young osteopath to be: Erwin,

Gerald, Michel et Regis,

I love my mum! (even though I look like a clown!!)

And finally a bit of action:

06/ Leaving Montargis for Paris

2006-09-10T00:32:00.000Z

Okaaaaaaaayyy... Not been on the blog for a while! hey: been busy flying 7000 miles or something, you'll have to forgive me!
So where was I?
Oh yes, leaving dinner in France with my homies.
Then I had one last dinner with my mum and Philippe,

we drank the Ti Punch (pronounce: Tee Ponch), to put me in spirit (local aperitif in the French Carabeans)

which is a very warming drink, which is a good thing cos it was very SHITE weather at that point in France, I even had to take my furry hat out!

... I took a bit of time to set up THE bike

...thinking of giving it a name: I mean, it's been a real drag getting it accross, and now I'm stuck with the bugger: a bit like a wife or a husband if you know what I mean. So a naming celebration for the bike there will be. More of that later...

PARIS!
Lovely Paris! ... I chose the Point Ephemere for my Parisian leaving Do, if you ever get a chance to check it out, it's well nice: huge old factory, by the canal, nice staff, good vibe, good programmation, what more shall I say?...
So that night Saul Williams was playing, and my Parisian friends -and my cousin Fleur and my sis- came for a drink or two...

Nathalie and Fleur

Virginie

Phane and Cecile, Ugly Groupies Massive!

Saul and CX TroniX in action

Crazy French MC

Mayhem on the dancefloor...

...from there, we said our goodbyes to Phane

Mathieu looking smug

Phane being a pussy and abondoning us

Cecile

Go on, have a swift!

... and then Cecile, Mathieu and I went to meet Maxence, where else but at: La Fleche D'Or! (well: they all live next door to it...and it opens til 5am...)
Taga sticker

Aow, Mathieu looking very boyish there!

PULLING FACES COMPETITION!

This guy had a tatoo on his leg...

...
The day after, I saw this ace door:

05/ Montargis Leaving Dinner

2006-08-28T21:46:00.000Z

Well, this weekend (26/08) I organised a little dinner at my mum's house (she and Philippe went away...)with 3 of my very good friends: Gwenaelle whom I've known since I'm errr 10 or something, Virginie, the same and Michael since I'm 15. So, yeah we've been through the ungrateful age together and yup we've done a lot of pretty stoopid things like err getting very drunk and making fools of ourselves... ... WHEN WILL WE LEARN???

Let me introduce you to the one and only: Michael!

Magic glasses!

Having fun with da camera

Training for Ombres Chinoises (shadow puppet)

BBQ Meister

The Beauties: Gwenaelle (on da left) and Virginie (on da right)

Eggs

More eggs

... ...

Beautiful Lighting arrangement by Virginie (hey: that's her job!)

Checkin' if da boy is doing a good job

Poseuses

WHAT?

Aow

CHAMPAGNE!

Now that's disgusting. But I thought I'd share it with you!

..oh dear...the heat is on...

Errr... I don't know who this dude is...

Think Wayne's World

Montargis awesome kitsh:

Nice one. Je me suis bien marrer les gars! Cimerrrrrrrrrrr XX

04/ Montargis by night

2006-08-28T21:09:00.000Z

...Derek et moi avons passe quelques jours ensemble a se balader dans Montar ou nous avons grandi, c'etait marrant de redecouvrir cette ville! Bien des surprises!
...hanging out with my new homie in our hometown!

We started from Les Closiers, which is where the swimming pool is and where there's a lake where we used to go do water sports when we were kids...

We passed the Rowing Club

and arrived in town, where believe it or not they sell 24HR freshly cooked pizza from an automated hole in the wall: Awesome! ... but we didn't have enough cash. Damn! good to know though: You can't get a beer at that time but you sure can get pizza!

Town stuff

Quartier de la Pecherie where we were followed by a stray kitten who needed much attention

THE church

kool shop

Croissants at 5am!!!

... sweet!

03/ Foret de Montargis

2006-08-28T18:13:00.000Z

The town where I've spent my teen years is called Montargis. You would find it a rather beautiful town, if you were not to be a bored teen and would know how to appreciate the IMPORTANT things in life (lol).

I went for a bike ride in Montargis forest with an old acquaintance of mine from back in those days: Derek, the brother of one of my best friends here Michael. I had not seen Derek for... woah: 12 years or so... Lovely day spent with him and with Amelie and the kids (Michael's family...)

All the photos I have put up on this blog (apart from Nice) have been taken on my NEW camera which was given to me by my super stepdad: Philippe! R.E.S.P.E.C.T., dedicace a FIFI!!!:

Derek...

and the rest...

02/ Paris avec Cecile, Maxence, Rose et un peu DreyBoy

2006-08-28T17:24:00.000Z

Weekend du 20/08... Je suis allee rendre une courte visite au Golden Couple de Bagnolet: Cecile et Maxence, et leur charmante fille Rose (qui se laisse enerver facilement par les slips oranges) ... ... ... Soiree a La Fleche d'Or, ou Drey (!!!) nous a retrouve all the way from London, on etaient bien petes comme des coings...

01/ Leaving Do in Dalston, Landann East End Massive

2006-08-28T14:03:00.000Z

ok, I'm posting this with quite a lot of delay, but it hadda be done: Thx to all that came to my leaving do, it was a proper send off. We even got a death threat by ONE unhappy neighbour...
here are the pix ... (If u took some, pliz could u send over and I'll upload them taXX)

00/ My arrival in Nice!

2006-08-11T17:10:00.000Z

Well well well...

I arrived in Nice on Saturday 5th August in the eve, after cleaning up the house, sorting out all my stuff, and by 2.30pm, jumped into Drey's van and waved goodbye to the house, Sheila, Cyrille, and Mess (who escorted me on his bike to the end of the street). Emotional...

So I landed in Nice airport and was picked up by Pascal and Celia , thank god for that as I had my TANK (bike) with me... And then we went to where Pascal, Amalia and their beautiful daugther Ella

live: very very beautiful countryside, on top of the Var valley in Cros d'Utelle..kinda looks like this:

(FACT: the drummer of CAN lives down there by the river where I went for a swim...yup)...

Amalia is a complete nutter! (I aint got pictures of her yet) But a good one! We did so much stuff in 4 days: hiking, climbing (well: i watched her fly on the climbing wall), canyoning with Pascal

(here is his website if you ever want to go throw yourself in rivers in South of France: CAMP 4),

and VIA FERRATA with Alex (Amalia's bro) and Ama: this is the route we took

and this is how it looked like (I grabbed those from tha Net, as i didn't have my camera yet):

Yup it was high!