Autumn in the park

Wonderful weather over the weekend. Sunshine. Cristal blue sky. Amazing autumn colors.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=299552&id=519882852&l=dd95834339

Concerts

Recently attended three excellent concerts.

First I was lucky to listen to Jamala in Cristal Hall. Jamala is something like Ukrainian version of Amy Winehouse. Powerful voice. Very energizing. More about Jamala at http://www.kyivpost.com/news/guide/chatroom/detail/84554/.

Next was Keiko Matsui concert. It was excellent in spite pf a small technical glitch with her keyboard during her first song. Something was wrong with her keyboard.

She was very graceful about it. In a very Japanese way. Once a technician fixed the problem - she loudly prayed to the keyboard to stay healthy during the rest of the concert. Very sweet. The prayer worked. It was a great concert. During the week I had to go with some colleagues for a client meeting. The meeting could not go worse. Following the meeting driving back to the office to ease the gloomy atmosphere I mentioned I was at Keiko's concert. Turn out the colleagues was too and enjoyed it as well. While we spoke about the concert the driver Gennady started to look for a CD. Found one - inserted it and it was her first CD Deep Blue. Gennady has not attended the concert but is Keiko's fan. 

Yesterday went to Kiev Jazz festival. First it was Oregon. This was very nice.
Relaxing. Classic guitar combined with soprano sax , bas and drums.

Lee Rintenour followed. Fell asleep and left early. No photos. Seems I am not such a big jazz fan.

Fun at Stedelijk

Some fun stuff in the Stedelijk temp exhibition:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=282772&id=519882852&l=0553ab5f16

A'dam Window Shopping

For some typical A'dam window shopping go to http://picasaweb.google.com/gordie26/ADamWindowShopping?authkey=Gv1sRgCOvdvKnnh9ftuwE&feat=directlink

Stedelijk

 After years of undergoing restoration the Stedelijk has a temporary exhibition. Even if the exhibition is only until Jan 2011 - I am delighted as the museum was closed for years. I planned to spend about one hour. I stayed much longer. Which is strange as due to restoration most of the space in the museum is empty. It is fun to walk through empty rooms. I indulged in a fantasy of being an artist. I wondered how would my work look on these crispy white walls.

The exhibition incorporates few videos. I found the most funny one from Lucia Nimcova. She filmed  people in some Slovak village doing physical exercises. For me the disturbing video is "Enjoy Poverty" from Enzo Martens which he shooted in Congo. There is some japanese project where visitors read numbers. One can apply to read numbers at the museum info desk. One should read one hour. I also liked project "Measuring the Universe" - the participatory work where visitors - if they want - can on any of four walls leave his or her mark of heights, name and the date of birth. It's kind of different dimension of Gauss curve - most of us are in the same height band at at that range the walls are black - while outliers' names and data remain very visible. I am not sure if all of it is art but I had a lot of  fun. Will post more photos via picasa.

A'dam

Last week have been in A'dam. Initially, the plan was to spend there just few days. But due to the work the visit was extended. The entire week was a running wheel of meetings. But I managed to enjoy the visit and spoil myself with few concerts, exhibitions and seeing friends. The highlight was seeing Adriana - a friend I have not seen for more than eleven years. It was fantastic to see her three kids and start to catch up. Last time when I met Anna - the oldest Ari's daughter she was two. Now she is a wonderful young lady. Many thanks to Adri and Alex for arranging a breakfast and the meeting. I got so excited during the visit I forgot to take photos. I'll make some next time.

Lost and Found on the airport in Kiev

 In May my suitcase never left Kiev while I went all the way to Kadavu. I wrote how unhelpful "lost and found" service was. Some have not believed there is no dedicated desk for lost and found. But it is true.

On the photo one can see a phone number an unfortunate passenger should dial. Good luck!
My experience with the phone is that the lady who answered the call immediately ended the call every time I started to report a missing suitcase. Good there are some instructions as these below!