Nice Shirt, Honey!

i was having another simple, but delicious Lunch in the * All You Knead * cafe @ Haight/Ashbury, in San Francisco, sitting solo in one of the spacious round booth's in fake leather, so much beloved by me. All this big space around me just for myself. A beauty of a young lady with bright red lips and dressed up all in blakk in a touch of art deco look, a purple shine in her hair, feminine walking her line past me leaving the cafe, she said “nice shirt, honey”. just when i was sipping on my root beer, me dressed in a red Hawaiian shirt.

Christmas time, Jeff Buckley and Halleluja

Christmas 05

In the USA there is a big debate going on. No more wishing to you Merry Christmas, but Happy Holiday and lots of new wording. Even president Bush, who calls himself a hard core Christian, doesn't wish you from the white house a merry Christmas, but a wishy washy something that sounds like blabla. Uh, he is a faky. If he would do a faky on snow skis, that would be great, but a faky on Christianity? Uh ah I'm not very religious, I'd rather be rokking and rolling, but if u call yourself Christian, then please keep to it. Uh ah I'm not very religious, I'm not really Christian, but i grew up in this Christian culture, but i WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS. Sears was the only company that wished you a very Merry Christmas. I spent part of my Christmas season in the Sonoma wine country, cocktail parties, dinners, always the best wine, good food, just a very enjoyable time in company of interesting and entertaining people from very young to very old. The brain topics rokked from Machiavelli, Zinfandel Wine, Stealth planes, spymasters.com, the beat of hip hop to the design of ultrafast multi use connections. And a small word to my sukking European counterparts: i was astound of the detailed knowledge about the world by many American friends i met. Now just one example: not only knew this person about the topic of a vote in Switzerland, he even told me how he would have voted!

Christmas day i spent in rainy San Francisco. My lunch was at my darling restaurant on Haight/Ashbury: * All You Knead *. During my Christmas lunch, as ever always a great treat for your tastes, all the while was playing Jeff Buckley and Grace, even so the restaurant is noisy. Oh gosh & oh god, what a treat. Next to oxygen, as Pitchfork.com so well defined, music is the most important ingredient to keep one alive, but besides 4 me: donuts, root beer, well done garden burgers, rokking & rolling, books, Zinfandel from the Wilson Winery, Yearbook the ski movie, snow and mountains, Hallelujah. I have never ever heard Jeff Buckley's music in a public eatery or drinkery. Here i am, enjoying my Christmas garden burger, well done, very cool customers around me, very stylish staff around me, one waitress had stockings on just to her the knees, small blakk pattern with lots of glitter in it, mini skirt in blakk, a tank top, so her rose tattoo on the back was in plain sight, just at the end of my lunch, one of my favorites by him started: Hallelujah. This is not a Christmas song, but it fit the day. I heard a lot of great Christmas music and I'm not getting tired of it. Many of them are very old melodies, time proofed, to glorify a peak religious event, composed by masters while giving their best. It's their harmonies that blow me, some of the most balanced music. And one of my all time favorites is : Phil Spectors Christmas music from the 70ies. From my hotel room i often could hear the saxophone by a black musician, always on the same street corner, playing Oh Tannenbaum. he played it many times, and i always loved it.
Today i walked from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin City. Out of downtown Sausalito, away from the tourist trap, at the * Sailor's Landing * i stopped for lunch. This is a very good restaurant, one of the few that have NO background music. What a joy. A great place to be. Great Californian style interior, wood paneling, lot's of windows, real table cloth with real cloth napkins, nice simple wooden furniture, great old fashioned wooden bar, nice clientèle, friendly staff, and a great hamburger with really good French fries for just 7 dollars, the glass of zinfandel wine by Coppola was more expensive than my meal.

Sunday Best Ocean Beach and Brunch

16dec05

today in my Sunday Best it was my Sunday Stroll with another short bath in the San Francisco pacific. It woke me up, but before I had coffee and a long shaped pastry with lots of powder sugar on top at the Garden House Cafe @ Clement, reading the Sunday times, writing a letter, mostly jingle bells songs in the background, then slowly down to Ocean Beach, admiring all the nice and simple houses with the most varied paint jobs along the streets. Again i saw there the same truck i spotted already yesterday from my bus ride, but yesterday i was walking without my camera, so today i took a shot of this van. It's a '52 Chevy, as the owner, Bob, 54 years young, explained. An old surfer since more than 40 years, he has 2 more of this car. He is a painter, and also surfs in Hawaii, where he has his own place. I asked him, where i could take a dip on the safe side and he gave good advice. It's like with snow skiing off piste, or freesking, it's good to know the local conditions. Still, nothing is safe. I had a good talk with him, good surfer scene @ Ocean Beach. Hopefully i meet him again. Today the waves were high, in the 12 feet range. I took another plunge into the water for few minutes, still a bit chilly in my blood i then slalomed along the beach through many, many, many dogs, mostly barefoot in the water disturbing many different seabirds searching for their Sunday best brunch. I saw the first pelicans diving for fish, just before the surf broke. I found a small shell, shaped exactly like the Shell shell, only mine is in white and grey and not yellow. At the zoo i got on the bus and made a different city tour with a couple transfers. I will not shower tonight, the all natural pacific essence on my skin is to precious for me to drain it back into the San Francisco bay. As it says on MUNI ads: only rain down the drain. While I'm hakking, i treat myself to two glasses of Fetzer Shiraz, two very laaarge glasses, now i don't see the pixels clear anymore.

Grrrrl T-shirt

a girl boarded a bus in San Francisco and on her blakk T-shirt it said in pink:

Paint more

Think Less

pAINT
mORE

...THINK LESS

and I followed her advice

New camera: POLAROID

For $90 on sale i bought a digit camera. Good for me, but not a good camera. Not as good as my kaput Nikon. i wanted some photos as memory. Better this than nothing.

Pacific skinny dipping

11dec05
i finally landed with my full body in the cold Pacific. That was one of my main goals on this trip. Living in a country without any oceans, but mountains and money banks, the sight of sand banks make my heart sing. The skinny dipping also turned into a long walk. First i boarded a bus out to the ocean beach. On the way i stopped for coffee in Richmond at Clement and 32^nd Ave. this coffee shop is so pleasant, very friendly service, great interior with nice home painted paintings, the * New Yorker * on the table, and Bing Crosby singing * I'm dreaming of a white Christmas * while i was enjoying my hot coffee, reading the bad news and the good news: the sunny weather for the next five days and writing a short letter. I got on the bus again, a young guy came in with a surfboard on Ocean Beach, it turns out that he is swiss from Moléson, spent 5 months in San Francisco, doesn't like it here at all, he is a showboarder, well then it figured to me his small mindedness. Tastes are different. Another guy came in, started to read a thick heavy book, but he always glanced over to the beach to check out the surf, and the waves were big. I asked what he is reading, he was at the end, it's Tolstoy, War and Peace. He said tomorrow the waves will be even bigger, so I'm going back to Ocean Beach tomorrow. Glancing out the bus, a Ferrari club was on the next lane, spiced with a Lamborghini and a Lotus.
I stopped quickly at the * Aqua * surf shop, nice shop, nice boards, nice staff, but no grrrrls. So where then are all these California surf grrrrls the beach boys were singing me in the sixties? But i flew to California so i can hit the pacific, and i wanted to try this at China Beach, so i started to walk. I passed Cliff House, the Palace of Legion of Honor, where Hitchcock filmed Vertigo, i walked along million of dollars houses with manicured greens, and there was China Beach, small, very few People. I checked out the water, the flow, the currant, the coldness, and with respect and precaution i plunged in. cold was the water, and powerful. What a rare feeling this is for me. In China Beach the waves are small, still they are powerful and can smash you right into the sand. Also I'm not a local and regular with open pacific water, i was careful. A couple of weeks ago, on a Sonoma county beach, a couple of people drowned there in a undercurrent. I didn't dare to swim, i just played, waded, and enjoyed the feeling of salt water on my skin, on my tongue, in my hair. At home i didn't shower, i want to keep the salty taste of my skin as long as possible.I walked over to Baker Beach, where * Burning Man * started. Barefoot on this great beach with great view of the golden gate, Golden Gate bridge toll plaza, and then i could walk all barefoot in shallow water to the Marina. The tide was so low. In the bus to Haight/Ashbury into my darling All You Knead place and i had again the same plate like yesterday, because it is so yummy, and all the while they had John Lennon singing! On the way to my hotel by bus, a Friday night crowd came in, it was a pure pleasure to see all these diverse people, styles, attitudes, class, and their excitement whats coming up for them tonight, this MUNI bus ride was way better than any production of Parsifal opera staged in Los Angeles by Avant-garde director Robert Wilson.
Now while hakking this, I'm supported by a bottle of Fetzer Wine, Vineyards Valley Oaks, Shiraz, California, vintage 2001, hey, believe me, not bad, and even so i had a great day, i still deserve it.

Haight/Ashbury

10dec05
today was my first visit to Haight/Ashbury. I walked in from the panhandle side. The first sound i heard out from a delivery truck at the cross section of Haight/Ashbury at the red traffic light was from -> Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: Déja Vue. Not eminem but Déja Vue. This coincidence was powerful, one of my favorite albums. This play is better than any masterly directed opera. This is a true live opera without any Verdi influence or Modzart, performed just for me with many coincidences coming together at the right time. This invisible director staged a perfect welcome opera party for me. Without paying a steep opera style priced admission, this opera was my private own opera in full public view. Oh man. me as an ex hippie and still an old true hippie in my heart with sometimes very long silver hair, in my age politically not correct, out of a truck comes the orchestra playing a time correct soundtrack. I don't know if it was from a radio or a Cd. Right on i felt good and like at home, the good old days. What a welcome the original hippie town gave me, a better script than any from Hollywood. I walked the whole Haight on both sidewalks, up and down. I noticed a dog groom store, with heavy duty black dog collars and tons of the sharpest steel spikes on them in the window display, but it turned out to be not a pet store but a sado maso sex store.The best vintage clothing stores you find here, next to London in Camden Town. I had lunch at the *All You Knead*, i sat in a sumptuous leather covered booth in brown all by myself, my neighbor an old man in my age with a black t-shirt with huge green marijuana plants screened on it, lot's of plants, many posters on the wall, like the famous *the night birds* by Edward Hopper, or the *the runaway kid* by Norman Rockwell, out of which the ski brand K2 made a good advertising version for fat skis. I had the daily special: vegetarian burger with salad, and a root beer, it was very delicious, the greens very fresh, the burger tasty and rightly grilled, the salad dressing to my taste, all this for a bit more than 8 dollars. I have a very good time in San Francisco, this was another highlight.
For dessert i walked into the music store *Amoeba*, now this, for a music lover like me but tired of mega hits, this is heaven. Huge, and so pleasantly designed, unlike these super commercial music mega store filled with the newest billboard shits.. Amoeba has music culture, the mega stores have capital culture. I wanted to make a test with a music group i haven't seen for 30 years stacked live in a shelf as a lp or Cd in a music store. Now listen to this, this blew my mind, although i didn't let it show in my facial expression: i walked up to the information booth at Amoeba and asked the young guy: “where can i find *Pearls Before Swine*” ? This is a group from 1968, unknown even in 1968. As if this is the same question the tourists ask over and over again, year in year out, at the tourist information next to the turning point of the cable car at Market, he answered calmly and very well assured, without first much reflecting, without thinking who is this weirdo band, without checking first the data base in his computer, he just said: down there in the Rock section. Hey, are you still with me ???, hey thank you, and there was *Pearls Before Swine*, and many of them, Musicalicous! The staff at Amoeba must be very well trained, must have a big musical brain. I was impressed. I'm going back, i hope D.... is joining me.
hANS bOLLI :: pAINTER

iWino Report

by a Sommelier from San Francisco:
iDrink a lot more wine than iUsually do, but hey i'm in wine country, and i'm not driving a car but high in spirits, here comes iConfess:Montevina, Sierra Foothills, Zinfandel, 2001, Amador County
Fetzer,Valley Oaks, Shiraz, 2003
Arbor Crest, Syrah
Fetzer,Valley Oaks, Chardonnay, 2003
Wilson Winery, Healdsburg, CA, Old Zinfandel,
Buehler, Chardonnay, Russian River CA

Chlaus Walk

6dec05
Today i walked the Samichlaus walk, to honor all * die chläus * around me, roundtrip Union Square to the other side of Golden Gate Bridge. I started at 7.30am and was back at 4.30pm. great weather, many dogs and even more Chläuse. First stop in the morning was after one hour warm up at the Chestnut Street Coffe Roastery for my medium size coffe and the San Francisco Chronicle, i stayed there for about one hour, getting deeper into the headlines and some chlaus watching. then it was just going and walking and sightseeing and some barefoot walking in the shallow seawater and in the sandy beaches, to give my feet a welcome massage and a breath of fresh air. Because me feet live mostly in the dark ages in wintertime, their home is in skiboots. In the last 10 years, my feet had this real seawater pleasure only about 5 times, and then always just for a moment. Walking barefoot on the beach is not without, as a surfer at Ocean Beach warned me: pay attention to broken glas in the sand. So while walking in the sand, i concentrate what's in front of me, so there is not a lot of sightseeing while walking.
Being here and be able to do all those great things, i'm a lucky man.

My dear Hotel Neighbour

What a big ass. I have never seen him, i don't know who he is. Luckily. To be politically correct, i just say this: he talks forever on his phone, loud mouth, singing voice, always the same topic for ages: women. he never says a name, but: i know! i know! i know! i know!, what i say, do you know what i mean, what! what! what! what! Very true, Very true,Very true, i agree with you 100%, oh yeah!! uh!! oh!! UH man !! uh man !! i know! i know! i know! i know!
I have to go out to buy Oro Pax or go out to Hyde into the Hideout bar and get drunk. even better would be a really good powerful sound system in my hotel room. this guy with his high screaming voice turns my silver hair into grey. Thank you brother.

No Men with cell phone and car keys in their hands

oh what a relief, since I'm here i have not spot a man with a cell phone in one hand, holding the car key in the other hand and at the same time scratching his crotch, and all this on public land in full view of the public. not in the streets of San Francisco. in California, in the USA, you don't brag about your car when you are a local. not that California would brag about their cars, oh no, California has the highest and most beauty full auto culture in the world, but on a different level, on higher level. In Europe, the locals don't do that either, but ..... Those men can't get enough with a cell phone in one hand, holding the car key in the other hand and at the same time scratching their holy crotch while strolling the streets. This is their status culture.

Linmar Boat San Francisco

29nov05
this is a beautiful old boat.
on my walk yesterday from San Francisco to Marin City, where i took the bus back to the city, i walked in Sausalito by at Baotworks. they were just adding the last touches of finish in renovating a boat, the Linmar San Francisco . a worker told me, that the boat is about 70 years old, so it's from the thirties. what makes the look of this vintage boat so great, is all it's wood, combined with some brass. wood is my darling material when it comes to building and giving a you a comfort feeling. the lettering *Linmar San Francisco* in gold is nice. there are thousands of big boats in the bay, but this is one of my favorites. a wine tasting tour with reds from the Wilson Winery in healdsburg would give it a classy style: what a luxury boat ride. i wish i could have seen the interior. i still don't have my Nikon camera, so i couldn't take a picture. today morning the boat is gone into the water and also the first day of hard rain since I'm here, so I'm not going out to Sausalito. i congratulate the owner, of which i have no idea who he is, of this nice renovation, and with his good taste doing so to preserve a historical boat.
the walk took me about five hours. it was my third walk from SF over the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County. i also stopped to paint a small masterpiece with Crayola crayons: red, blakk & pink.
I did not have a camera at that time, the day after i wanted to take a Photo, the Linmar was gone from the Boatworks in Sausalito. The info below is from the website.

(The 78-foot Motoryacht Linmar was built by New York Launch and Engine in 1933. Designed by Ted Geary. Owned by David and Lynn Olson. Based at Mariner Square, Oakland.)

Golden Gate Bridge Walk

23nov05
Yesterday i day tripped in a walk from San Francisco to San Anselmo over the Golden Gate Bridge. i wanted to make a long distance walk one way. And it turned out good like this:i started early in the morning at 6.30 from my hotel at Union Square to Marina. At Chestnut Street i had my first long break for morning cafe with 2 Donuts and morning paper news, then along the water over Chrissy field with many stylish old buildings, watching Surfers,to the Golden Gate Bridge, over it, with signs warning in white on blue, that jumping off the bridge can be fatal and tragic, from where i spotted few sea lions, down to Sausalito on Alexander Ave, where i broke off a small branch from an eucalyptus tree as a souvenir. At the Sailor's Landing i stopped. Along the waterfront and passing houseboats to Richardson's Bay, where i saw my first two pelicans, with lot's of other wild habitat, into Camino Alto Open Space on fire roads, where i got a bit lost, then down on Summit (note on Summit: not up but down! ) to Larkspur, where i stopped for goodie yummie cake at the best local Italian bakery with steep prices. Then through Ross in my beloved Shady Lane passing Shady Lane 34 to San Anselmo at 5pm. With Golden Gate Transit back to the city. Great long, long walk, great day, great view from Camino Alto Open Space over to the city.
except on freeways i walked on all tops available: black, earth, soil, soft, hard core, autumn leaves, heavy traffic streets, quiet streets, on the San Francisco Bay Trail, on bicycle roads, fire roads, and few times on real hiker trails. all this in very pleasant weather, in shorts and sandals. I had a book in my bag, but i never had time or envied to open it. such can life be: good.

Homeless in San Francisco

is sad in the whole world, in all urban areas. as pleasurable as city street walking in San Francisco can be, seeing some of the bad cases in human destiny makes me feel sad.

The worst is homeless children.

No Smoking Culture

I like it. no cigarette advertising. Europe has, when it comes to smoking, become like a third world country. even the working people hardly smoke, like on construction sites i see few smoking. i walked by at lunch break at a construction site on Market Street, with many construction workers sitting side by side on the sidewalk leaning their backs on the wall, none of them smoked. so it's not like in england, where a minister defied the pleasure of the poor and one of their few pleasures and let them have their smoke, not to ban smoking in public places. California is proof with good information and regulated policies, you can reduce smoking. I'm open for social concerns, but when it comes to non smoking politics, only the right wing politicians look to that.

Zinfandel

Zinfandel Wine Country, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, CA
19nov05
I feel good, i don't need sports bars, sitting in my hotel room with the police sirens in the foreground, I'm drinking an Estate Zinfandel, Wilson Winery, 2002, Dry Creek Valley, Sawyer Vineyard, in a glass i bought for one dollar in a Goodwill store on polk street, and on this glass is engraved in a stylish font: Healdsburg Lavender Festival. I bought this glass before i tasted this wine, which is the present from Diane. Even no one sees me in my room, I'm dressed up in a classic style for this strong wine, I'm handsome as the devil, as the line of Kevin Costner goes to the boy in the movie *Perfect World*. Again it's funny that the glass and the wine are from the same place by chance. When in California and drinking red wine, if i can, i will opt for Zinfandel. All other wines they grow in Europe, but not Zinfandel. Still this might be the California grape, i guess so, that this is the grape in southern Switzerland they re imported 100 years ago, after a disease killed the local grapes, and is called now: *AMERICANA*. In Switzerland, this Americana grape is not for wine making, but a table grape for eating, small berries, very sweet with a soft skin, a very delicious grape, my favorite grape besides *Muscat De Hambourg* of Provence and the white grape *Chasselas*. All other grapes for eating have no chance to these 3 varieties, all other grapes are in taste boring. A good ripe Chasselas has golden cheeks, most other white grapes are uniformly green, light green, dark green, it doesn't matter what green, but green and never gold. And as plane green they are, they also taste plane boring. Chasselas is a superb tasting grape, and they also look visually appealing, i never understood how people could buy these plain boring white grapes in a uniform green color.

This is good wine, says a man not in a grey flannel suit, this is what it says on the label:
our Sawyer Vineyard is located on the bench lands off West Dry Creek Road near Bradford Mountain in the Heart of Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County. We are a small family owned and operated winery specializing in hand crafted small lots of carefully selected grapes. Come visit us at our tasting room in our historic facility, one of the oldest bounded wineries in California.


Stylish Zinfandel Wine Tasting And Football watching in the Heart Of Zinfandel Country.
i did id with great pleasure. Thank you for the wine, prost Diane!

Best Meat

A gay guy passed me and his t shirt said

Best Meat

Dr. Luke Linuxwalker

16nov05
Hey Linuxwalker,finally i'm in your Apple country, your favourite compu land. der Apple store ist nicht weit weg von meinem hotel. der laden ist in einem eigenen gebauede, in den farben und im aussehen wie die silbrigen powerbooks. immer viile leute dadrin, in diesem stylischem apple store. bei einem G5 haben sie so eine kleine tisch hi fi anlage aufgebaut, aber es toent wie im neuesten kinohaus mit der besten dolby anlage. eindrueckliches tonerlebniss.
hey und Google ueberall, auf tshirts, als sponsorwerbung am fernsehen bei PBS, das ist so was wie DRS 3, nur eben fuers fernsehen, so mit hochgradigen programmen fuer kulturell interessierte und gebildete leute, so etwa wie du und ich.
hey, und um gewicht beim reisen zu sparen, habe ich fuer meinen lappitop das elektrische kabel zuhause gelassen, auch weil ich dachte, es braucht hier wegen der anderen elektrospannung sowieso ein anderes kabel, darum kaufe ich es mir in den USA, aber meine sorgfaeltige vorausplanung hat sich als reinfall entpuppt, denn so ein kabel kostet saftige $100, waerend ein transformer adapter nur etwa $14 kostet. nun aber, eine bude mit Acer habe ich hier in San Francisco noch gar nicht gefunden. da ist ein laden, Compu USA, so gross dass man unser grossmuenster ueber nacht leicht darin parkieren koennte, der hat vor allem nur HP, Apple und Toshiba lappitops, von Acer keine Spur. ich kann es mir selber fast nicht glauben, in einer der computer hochburgen der welt finde ich kein Acer zubehoer.
alles was ich jetzt auf dem compi getippt habe, ist auf der hotel internet station, und die ist meistens besetzt, denn es gibt nur eine fuer alle gaeste. immerhin gibt es diese eine. so kann ich fragen wie es dir so geht im schweizerland. ich, uch, ich flippe fast aus vor freude hier sein zu duerfen.
hANS bOLLI :: pAINTER

San Francisco Ocean Beach

after i killed my feet with brand new shoes, as a man with lots of experience and wisdom i didn't brake them in slowly, no i went straight city street walking for hours for two days, my blisters begged me to give them a rest. so i bought a muni day ticket, muni is the public transport system in San Francisco, i first rode a couple of times the old trams, beautyfully restored machines from old times, rolling legends. for lunch i went to a vietnamese restaurant, *aux delices* on polk. for desert i rode out by trolleybus to ocean beach. when i saw the beach, my pulse went wild. i almost run down to the beach passing Cliff House in a hurry, which hangs on a great outlooking spot overt he pacific. and finally my toes could dip the pacific water after 9 years waiting. it felt good, i also splashed my face with cool pacific water. in the last 9 years i have been in sea water just once in england, Ludlow Cove in Dorset. oh and the weather is so great, just shorts and sandals, as a wage i bought for my feet sandals. on the sand i walked barefoot, mostly in the water. this natural foot massage felt good. my feet cried of joy. on the beachwalk i looked out for sand dollars, but they were all broken. after a half hour, i hit a spot and there i found about 20 sanddollars, i struck it rich. they are all in my hotelroom now, drying. i walked for more than an hour to Pacheba, when at already 5pm was my first powerful sunset since many years, then very moved i boarded buses back to downtown, while the Rolling Stones and Metallica blasted their rock concert nearby on the bay, probably very loud. official ticket prices were from $150 up to $2000..... ! in the sixties i was a huge Rolling Stones fan, i still adore their early stuff with Brian Jones, i saw them live in London, in the Royal Albert Hall about 1965 with the Yardbirds, Ike & Tina Turner, today i prefer: Patty Smith, the day before she played at the *American Music Hall* to honour 30 years of *Horses*, (*Born To Run* by Bruce Springsteen is also 30 years old). now this is a concert i wish i could have heard, it was sold out long ago. she even gave a rare poetry reading at the *Balboa* some days ago.
hANS bOLLI :: pAINTER
15nov05

San Francisco

The following posts have been written in 2005, published now.

wE cAN dISAGREE aBOUT tASTES

bUT lISTEN tO tHIS ::
i'M a pAINTER, tHESE aRE nICE pAINTINGS aND eACH oNE mAKE mY hEART sING. aND iT' S a gREAT tHING tO sPLASH cOLORS aROUND. fREERIDING wITH bRUSHES mAKES mE fEEL gOOD. iT fEELS gOOD tO bE iN tHE aRTS. sO lET'S rOKK 'n rOLL ::

I PAINT THREE TOPICS ::
-ABSTRACT
-FLOWERS
-HEARTS
MOSTLY I PAINTED ABSTRACT, MANY FLOWERS, FEW HEARTS.
While most paintings and computer screens are wider than tall, my paintings are the opposite :: longer than high, and hAVE tHE sAME dIMENSIONS ::
3 PARTS HIGH
2 PARTS WIDE. I PAINT IN TWO SIZES ::
MODESTY AND BIG MOUTH
MODESTY ARE MY SMALL WORKS.
BIG MOUTH IS TRYING TO PAINT THE BIG PICTURE.
ALL MEASUREMENTS ARE IN CM.
MY small WORKS ARE 27x18.

MY BIG PICTURES ARE 122x81.

MY PAINTINGS ARE PAINTED ON industrial PAPER.
THE SMALL WORKS PAPER IS HIGH QUALITY PAPER MADE FOR ARTIST'S USE, MY BIG MOUTH WORK IS PAINTED ON PAPER MADE FOR INDUSTRIAL PURPOSE, USED ON CONSTRUCTION SITES, WHERE I GOT TO KNOW THIS KIND OF PAPER FIRST. as I LIKE INDUSTRIAL STUFF.
MANY OF MY PAINTINGS COME WITH A DARK TOUCH, each ARE BLACK GROUNDED INSTEAD IN WHITE.
MOST SMALL WORKS HAVE BEEN DONE IN PASTELS, FROM FABER-CASTELL, SOME SENNELIER, WINSOR & NEWTON.
THE BIG MOUTH IN ACRYLICS, FROM LASCAUX, FEW WITH WINSOR & NEWTON, REMBRANDT.
I LIKE THE SQUARE SIZE.
I LIKE MY PAINTINGS HANGED SINGLE, DOUBLE OR TRIPLE. IF THREE HANGED NEXT TO EACH OTHER, IT GIVES A DOUBLE SQUARE, WHICH I LEARNED FROM VAN GOGH. HE STARTET TO WORK WITH THAT DOUBLE SIZE FORMAT AT THE END OF HIS LIFE.
fRAMES ::
ALL MY WORKS COME UNFRAMED.
IF YOU LIKE THEM FRAMED, I LIKE THE FRAMES TO BE SQUARE.
I RECOMMEND FOR SMALL WORKS SQUARE FRAMES 40X40,
FOR THE BIG PAINTINGS 140X140 OR LARGER, as 150X150.
NO GLAS NECESSARY. IF YOU LIKE ART BETTER UNDER GLAS, it is optional.
--> tHANK yOU fOR rEADING tHIS aND cHECKING oUT mY wEBSITE aND bUYING mY pAINTINGS. fRANKLY, nO fIGHT, pLEASE aGREE wITH mE, i'm tOUGH, i pAINT pINK, sOMETIMES. tHANK You fOR yOUR tIME.

Polaroid Camera

11nov05
Since my Nikon won't work properly, i bought at Walgreen's a brand new model Polaroid digit Camera for $90 on sale. Nice price. Still it pisses me of that Nikon is so unhelpful. This sale price of the Polaroid digit camera is great, still it ads to my unnecessary costs.Today on my Chlaus walk it's the first time i could chronicle one of my walks in pictures. But i only can take 24 pictures, then the memory is full with a lower resolution. The Nikon seems that it can load pictures endlessly. I bought another camera, so i can memorize my stay in San Francisco.

iHallo S&C from San Francisco

iHallo darlings SueD&ClaudiaR
ich wollte dir, euch schon lange antworten, aber es klappte hier nicht alles, i have so much to tell u, so much goes on through my head, it's rokk 'n roll pure. ein sms habe ich erhalten, ich habe rausgefunden, man kann mich erreichen, aber ich kann nicht antworten. ich sitze hier am hotel compi mit internet anschluss, der aber ist meistens besetzt, und als ich mal dran war, ganz am anfang, ist meine antwort als email an S nicht rausgegangen, und ich habe ihr ein halben wahren roman geschrieben fuer die katze.
hey sisters, zuerst einmal viilen dank fuer deine, unsere freundschaft, fuer das denken an mich, fuer viiles mehr, fuer die gastfreundschaft, es macht ein leben reich, jemandenwie S&C zu kennen. ich habe mir neue, stylische, very upper class american looking shoes gekauft, brogues genannt, und erfahren wie ich bin als weiser mann, statt zuerst sorgfaeltig einzulaufen, machte ich damit instant long city street walks, jetzt habe ich die boesesten blattern an den fuessen. gestern nacht erreichte ich das hotel nur noch in der schleichensten geschwindigkeit, ich humpelte nur noch dahin. die schuhe sind vielleicht zu eng. heute muss ich denen eine pause geben, leider, denn ich kann kaum ruhig da sitzen.
ich war gestern in marin county mit der ferry (ich vereiste nach usa mit einer dicken winterjacke), und ging zu fussweiter bis nach fairfax, 80 degrees out there!! mitte november. im second hand store habe ich mir shorts gekauft. 2 books habe ich mir gekauft: *Zen and the art of motorcycling maintenance*, und *interviews with american artists*. ich kaufte immer schon viile buecher in den USA, meistens aber lasse ich sie da, leider, wegen dem gewicht im gepaeck. wie hast du C das lesen oder die kultur der buecher genannt: kultur der langsamkeit? dear sisters, hey, if i could, i would not come back. i love it here, und ich bereue es, dass ich in den letzten 20 jahren nicht mehr zeit in den usa verbringen konnte. street poverty ist hier schlimm, massiv, sehr traurig, ich habe sogar ein kind, homeless mit dem vater, in der nacht in einem shopeingang schlafen gesehen. ab morgen habe ich ein auto fuer eine woche reserviert, $140 eine kleine kiste in der woche, mal sehen ob der trick von Daezze mit den travellers cheques klappen wird. wenn noch kein schnee in den bergen auf den strassen liegt,moechte ich auch nach Lake Tahoe abrokken, sonoma county, marin county, uch, i'm so exited. als ich ankam, hatte ich keine geduld, ich wollte alles machen, schmecken, sehen, sofort, was ich seit neun jahren vermisste: ich trank Root Beer, Dr.Pepper, donuts, hamburgers, Zinfandel Wine (wine is rather expensive), es war nicht die gesuendeste lebensweise fuer langlebigkeit. i will cool down. apple pie while sitting in a red leather covered booth will be on it's way.
hey C&S, you are darlings, sorry i don't miss you!

Zürich – LonDoN - San Francisco

In the plane from Zürich to London they served some wrapped snack. I asked the steward what it is, but i did not understand him, so i asked the neighbor sitting at the other isle, who i also knew that he didn't know reading from his facial expression, he answered with a smile: something to eat. That was funny, i just liked him, so after that we chatted a bit. They were two on the way home, he as a former iranien to England, the other to Glasgow. They changed planes in ostrich coming from ?Mumbai?, working in oil, on an oil platform, on a small island off west Africa, populated by half a million people, they own 10% of all oil reserve in the world. But it belongs to the wrong people, he said, they were on a 24 day leave, having worked 24 days. he was Arab looking, custom official picked him out right after leaving the plane, the real custom check was later, they picked him there out again to check his luggage, whereas me, a *white* person and non citizen of the Uk, could pass easily.
in London in drizzling rain first thing i hopped on a red double decker bus to Camden town market. i love the locks there, the water, the bridges, the boats. It's bustling, tons of people, it's commercial but the good vibes give the rules, i love the old furniture there, the leather sofas. One guy has a stall there with just wooden tools. busing then to hampstead, it rained now, so i started to check out the pub scenes. Great English institution, these are the old pacesetters for todays lounges, only the heavy smoking pisses me off, in all of London i found only one pub with a really good and fair non smoking designated area. I did more city street walking, also by bus. It still rained, i wear geox shoes with holes in the sole, but they started to leak. My geox shoes are not waterproof. So i ended my city street walking. Next morning i went for a stroll in bishops garden, then along the Thames in putney. in the morning at home i went early for my morning shit, which worked out fine, because i was training for next day, my flying day to San Francisco, i hate to go to the toilet on a plane, usually i don't have to go early in the morning, more so in england where i drink tea and not coffee, so i did a little bit of shit training, so i will be in good form for my flying day, but the toilet after flushing did not sink, that stinking brownish water came slowly up, i was shocked it would overflow. Here i was treated to stay as a guest in the poshest of all London, in an exquisite apartment building with Mahogany wood paneling and the rolls roys auto dealership right around the corner, and that stinking brownish water full of my shit was on its way to overflow posh Mayfair and in the afternoon my flat owner would arrive from abroad finding the flat underwater with some shitty floor liquids. . . So please let me stop here about my English flushing problems in London ...
Still i managed for a boat ride on the Thames to Greenwich, where i checked if the 0 meridian was properly positioned. It is. Flying day from London to San Francisco. I booked this flight 2 and half month in advance, already then i did not get a window seat. This is a big problem for my personnel well being, I'm a painter artist, my job is looking, staring, in a car, on a motorcycle, train, plane, with or without open mouth, I'm a first rate voyeur, i have flown to San Francisco many times, 30 to 50 times, i always had a window seat, during the flight, ¾ was overcast, not england, all of Canada, landing over Sonoma and Marin. Zinfandel walk hotel 2 marina and back. Petaluma , balboa cafe nach der ankunft im flughafen von SFO machte ich zwei riesen laute juchzer vor freude, my soul was jumping to the moon.
i had a window seat, not at the checking in though. i booked my flight in august, 3 months ahead, and all window seats were already gone. without window seats i was down. I'm a first class voyeur, this is my profession, non stop looking. 11 hours not be able to be a voyeur, ugh, oh no what a perspective for a painter. only in the airplane, shortly before take off i spotted an empty window seat, so i asked the stewardess if i could change seat and it was ok with her. i was in heaven even before we were in heaven. most of west england i could see, so Scotland, then it started to be overcast, of Greenland i could see for about 10 minutes, but that was impressive, white glaciers on and on, then of Canada just a white cover, approaching the USA it started to clear up, first snow in sight, Idaho was white, and before Oregon a bit, many volcanoes, then northern California, ugh then it went all so fast approaching San Francisco. the plane flew close to the pacific, along tomales bay. Sonoma county, Marin county, napa, some reservoir lakes, which i bicycled many times long time ago, mount tamalpaias was the only place i could spot for sure before spotting the Golden Gate Bridge. i was finally here were i wanted to belong.
since i had only hand baggage, i was the fastest through customs, even so US Customs are the toughest with their questions, but they have my understanding. hopping on a door to door shuttle, soon after i made my first stroll from downtown hotel to the marina. at the *Balboa* cafe i tasted my first *Zinfandel* wine. on solid ground coming from heaven, i still was in heaven. thank you for being in San Francisco.
Etwa 09Nov2005, nicht mehr sicher, denn mein Blog stürzte mal ab, kann auch eine Woche früher sein, ich flog immer mitte Woche, meistens am Dienstag und blieb für rund 3 Monate in SFO. Auf Februar wieder Arbeit in der Skischule Flims/Laax.