SuperGranny

This post is devoted to creativity and how it can not only bring joy to our loved ones but also to the creative world in general.
  The link to the blog which featured these delightful photos, entitled "Mamika", does a beautiful job of  relating the back story leading up to the photo session.  I will just say this...Frederika is indeed a super woman and her dignity and beautiful complexity shine throughout this series.  Please, you owe it to yourself to click the link and enjoy! x
www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/grandmas-superhero-therapy-18

Soundtrack of Life

basilica beats

"That echoed voice lied to me with its 'hold on, hold on, hold on hold on"...  Neko Case sings 'em, I take them to heart.  These lyrics belong to a song that is part of my precious inner soundtrack, the music I brought along to Budapest, which continues to shape the way I perceive this city.  

  The following is my mixed tape of songs that have been with me, heart and soul, as I continue to get around here in among the blocks and beyond  .... a current top twenty.

She Cries Your Name- Beth Orton

Seaweed-the Gits

Super Stupid-Funkadelic

Portland, Oregon-Jack Black and Loretta Lynn

I'll Keep On Holding On-The Action

Madonna of The Wasps-Robyn Hitchcock

Now I Wonder Why-The Church

Keep The Streets Empty For Me-Fever Ray

Shake Some Action-The Flamin' Groovies

Janelle Monae-Cold War

Daniel Johnston-Held The Hand

For Real-Okkervil River

Smokin' Daddy-Freakwater

Honeychild, What Can I Do-Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan

Rise Up With Fists-Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins

The Rover-Led  Zeppelin

Goddess on a Highway-Mercury Rev

It's A Fire-Portishead

Calvary Cross-Richard and Linda Thompson

Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Your Grievances-Daniel Johnston

Budapest Grotesques

Szechenyi Fűrdő

Somewhere between the animation aesthetic of Robert Crumb and Chuck Jones lies the art of Marcus Goldson.  His work depicts with absurd glee the people, lives, and loves of Budapest.

  So much of the appeal lies not necessarily in the skill of his work, although Goldson's skill is more than ample.  This artist has a keen eye for detail, the kind of detail that sets the quirks of this city apart from any other European capitol.  And while this city is thoroughly European, it is also distinctly Hungarian,

naturally, and Goldson, while sketching out these peculiarities with an obvious adoration of Budapest, holds nothing back in his depictions.  Consider the picture above.... not only is this man much too massive for his tiny banana hammock, but he has also made sure that he will not run out of that ubiquitous Hungarian brew, Dreher. The spirit of this piece rings absolutely true to a certain slice of Budapest culture, and it is depicted with such perfect, loving humor.

Anyone who frequently patronizes public transportation in BP has definitely seen a version or two of the three grande dames depicted above.  There is a sort of over the top elegance that many of the communist generation possess.  One sees these ladies and suddenly realizes where Zsa Zsa Gabor comes from!  These three remind me of a vivid, aged version of the Three Fates.

 So much is going on in the picture above...obviously.  But this pic is chock full of commentary as well.  Beginning with the bottom left hand corner....this piece is apparently supposed to be presented from the view of the guy lighting up. Smoking is a given in Budapest. Better get used to it.  Some public places offer separate smoking sections and even fewer forbid it altogether, but, smoking is seemingly a national past time.  I think the people, in general, are so intense they need a cig every now and then just to calm their minds down, to be able to focus.

  The smoker has on his table the ever present blackberryish device which says in the window SZIA..."szia" is a casual way of saying either hello or goodbye to friends.  It is used when cooing at cute animals as well.  Cosmo hears it all the time.

  Dogs (kutyak)  are ever present in Budapest...there are about 400,000 of them in a city of a million and a half.  Many of them seem to be incredibly street wise, particularly those who cruise the streets of Pest off-leash.  The kutya in this pic is on a leash and happily wagging his/her tail as he/she cruises along with the human, elegantly dressed in boots, of course, and a clever hat.

 Hungarians are not subtle...they speak their minds in words and actions, as this older lady, clutching a bag printed with the essential faux animal skin, is demonstrating.  Her wine bottle, headed for the drunk who has been marinating in Dreher and has not yet completed the process, barely misses it's mark but sends a painfully clear message....don't fuck with me, sonny.  Her dog appears to be floating like a balloon above a Turkish shopkeeper as the couple in the balcony glare at the action below.

  Flesh is out and proud in BP, regardless of physical shape or condition.  I like that...and the woman shopkeeper in the picture is letting it all hang out.  Got boobs?  Flaunt them, by god, even if your back has boobs too!

   Check out the irreverent art of Marcus Goldson at his website...his talents are not limited to BP alone.  He creates wonderful city scapes and pictorals from all over the world.  Szia! x       http://www.marcusgoldson.co.uk/

Down Around Batthyany Ter and Back up The Castle

street art intrigue, Batthyany Ter

I was down at Batthyany Ter the other evening...nothing unusual about this, I'm there quite often.  BT is the main public transportation hub in Buda, the other being Moskva Ter, on the other side of the castle.  My cousin and his wife are in town and as we took the sneaky stair path from BT up to the castle, we were inspired to snap some photos in and around the ter (square).  Here are mine....have a look. x

golden home, first flight

looking down from a flight or two upstairs

 old man, carefully sorting papers of some kind, looking like a sculpture, halfway up 

rosy dusk, up in the castle

Hungaricum Via SF MoMA

Eva, pursued by the camera

My friend Dean has an excellent blog devoted to his city, San Francisco, and its gorgeous peculiarities.  Currently showing at SF Museum of Modern Art is a film issued by John Lennon and Yoko Ono called Rape (with a Camera). A young Hungarian woman named Eva is featured in this film.  I will say nothing more.  If you are intrigued, please follow this link, you will be so glad you did. x  btw, just wave the cursor over the bottom of this post and the link will reveal itself....
 http://fleetinghouse.blogspot.com/2010/11/eva-majlata-1968.html#links

Dreamscape

Hawthorne Boulevard, as seen from Mt. Tabor, active cindercone

I have an incredibly active dream life...I work all kinds of things out in my dreams. My sense of place is extremely sensitive and this sense is only heightened within my dreams.  

  When I moved to Portland, Oregon three years ago, the city set itself up distinctly in my dreams.  Dream Portland was easy to identify...bridges, bikes, and green.  Real Portland felt like home immediately and Dream Portland was a place of refuge during my nightly adventures.

  Now that I live in Budapest, this city has not fully revealed itself to me in my dreamscape...Dream Budapest is a collection of exaggerated snippets from Real BP....tiny shops in which no one speaks English, art nouveau buildings of my brain's design, a circular Metro station, etc.  I actually do dream a bit in Magyar.  

  In my dreams, I am sometimes visiting Portland, which seems to be right next door to Budapest (or through some looking glass or behind some barrier).  

   The other night, after not hearing from her for weeks, I dreamt about my friend Stacey.   The week before, I had spent some time in Dream Portland looking for her, trying to call her, always missing her. I needed to see my cat, Zissou, who is staying with her while I am away, and I needed to know how she was doing.  Very frustrating, and dream frustration makes me very emotional.

  I finally received a nice, long email from her.  She described how much she missed me, how she was bonding with  Zissou, and how much comfort he gave her.  It made me feel so much better.

  That night I visited Dream Portland again, this time went straight to her house, gave her a big hug, and picked up my kitty and held him for a long time.  Oddly enough, she lived just next to Óbuda...I could see the city's pastel storefronts from outside her living room window.  From her back yard, I could see the ampitheater....but we were nonethe less squarely  in Portland.

  My two cities have become one within the infrastructure of my dreamscape....will  Dream Budapest ever secede and come to full fruition within my dreams?  I'll let you know later....I'm getting sleepy....zzzzzz  x

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Treehugger Dan's

 This evening, I walked across Margit Hid (Margit Bridge), with my buddy Debra, in my black shit-kickers, into Pest, to hang out at Treehugger Dan's Bookstore and Cafe.  Dan's sells used  books printed in English, sells his own brand of fair-trade coffee, and hosts music and art shows at his shops.

   I have been to Dan's tiny store on Csengery Ut and instantly felt at home among the piles and piles of tomes, all reeking of that heady, old book smell.  That scent, mixed with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee spiked with notes of black and herbal tea, is one of my favorites...so comforting, so absolutely right. I recently went there with Debra to check  out a small but impressive showing of colorful photos from the Middle East and came away with three old National Geographics and a new (to me) novel that I will start after I finish my current read.  One always needs a back up.

  I did not know until recently that Dan had another shop on Lazar Ut, this one much bigger, big enough to house a bar and a smallish music venue.

  Debra and I have an earnest desire to find a home, our tribe so to speak. We found it at Treehugger's Lazar location, humbly tucked into the narrow cobblestone street, amongst the expats (British, German, American, Middle Eastern, etc.) and the Hungarians who love them.  
 I had read a tiny bit about the band featured this evening, a group of three incredibly talented young men, wielding nothing but three guitars and a small gift box used for percussion, who call themselves Random Chocolates. God, I love lo-fi creativity. They performed a delightful mixture of  original and cover tunes in an intimate and vibrant setting....acoustic versions of Led Zeppelin, Smashing Pumpkins and their own gorgeous compositions.
  Deb whispered to me, a few minutes into the first set, "I think we've found our home."
  Yes, indeed.