Semester 16 Chapter IX: Dark Rooms

Okay, let’s do this again. It’s Sunday morning but since I got up super early, I’m already through my workout, 12km run and a dog walk. After couple of days of cold weather, we’re steering back to summer so shit looks all positive and sunny. Feeling good in this motherfucker. Before going any further, I would just like to say that Kendrick’s silence after the whole Drake situation is disturbing. At this point, he either comes with something groundbreaking or the wait is not gonna be worth it. Cause Push-Ups is fucking bomb.

 

Anyways… Last week was petty cool. I still work a lot which is okay because summer is approaching and in my line of work, that’s the part of the year where many people take some time off so things tend to get a bit quiet. So I’m taking the opportunity to make a little extra. For the rainy day. All goes well tho. I also managed to go to dad’s trivia night on Monday once again and spend some time with my sister and nephew on Wednesday. On Friday, we met up again, this time also with our neighbor and his kid, and we went to a swimming pool. We got couple of those in Brno but my absolute favorite (and the one we went to) is in Kraví hora. It’s relatively new and modern but the best part is huge glass walls providing a pretty spectacular view of the town. Kids were enjoying it, we messed around a bit and I even managed to squeeze some actual swimming and a steam room session in. We wrapped the whole shit up at a Chinese restaurant downtown. Happy days.

 

Couple of hours later, I was on my way to another techno event. See, couple of years ago, they started doing these Bent parties. They take some inspiration from Berlin rave scene and apart from the regular techno sets, they provide playrooms and dark rooms for people who feel like taking things further at the spot. And honestly, I almost didn’t go. Never been to any of these, wasn’t sure whether I’d dig the vibe, wasn’t sure about what to wear… Nearly passed on that. Eventually, I decided to give it a shot tho. I like that face checking has become a thing when it comes to techno events. While waiting in a queue by the entrance they turned around a group of 4 semi-drunk guys who apparently had nothing to do with this culture. The bouncer just asked them couple of questions and promptly politely explained that they’re not getting in. Shit like that is super important. It makes these kind of events cool and actually much more pleasant and safer (especially for women) than your everyday normal getting shitfaced parties in all those generic clubs. So yeah, gotta give it to them… Throughout the whole evening I hadn’t noticed a single person that wouldn’t belong. For me, the party was pretty much like every other party. Got in, got on my frequency and spent the whole night by the stage. It was cool seeing some people with some crazy ass outfits, shit being a bit more lose than usual and everything being respectful and nice at the same time. When I found out they do these kinda of events in Brno, I was super skeptical. Thinking Brno is too small for it and it could never work. So yeah, I was wrong… Happy I went, cool night, shout out to the team!

 

Got home around 8am, took some rest, phoned some of my people and after lunch, I went to the swimming pool once more. Because they also have wellness and I felt like spending some time in saunas is the perfect plan for my after-party mode. It was my first time at wellness over there and it was beautiful. They have the basic sauna, finish sauna, aromatic sauna, salt sauna, hot tubs. They got some of those indoors and then they have to of them outside with another hot tub, again, over-viewing the city. Two hours flew by like it was nothing. And there were nearly no people. Wherever I went, for the most part, I had the spot for myself. Took it quite easy for the rest of the day and this morning, I felt fully regenerated, ready to do all of my regular exercise. I also feel not drinking alcohol does magic with this shit too.

 

So yeah, things have been going well… Feeling good about my decision to stick around for the summer… Some extra time with family and friends feels good. Hope y’all okay too. Shout out to all my ravers, vegans and runners! And all my readers too. I see y’all. One!

Highlights:

• Raving.
• Running.
• Wellness.

Semester 16 Chapter VIII: Spirit Of Prague

Hey y’all, here we go. Still got Drake’s Push-Ups on repeat and I’m not even a die hard Drake fan. And I’m still wondering where the fuck is Kendrick at. Like come on, this should have been over a week ago. Anyways, it’s Monday afternoon, I got one more class ahead, shit is good. Let’s get to this, tho.

 

Last week was cool. I was in Brno till Wednesday, not really doing much outside the usual. I went to my dad’s trivia night on Monday but outside of that it was really just work and some exercise. Wednesday evening, I hopped on a bus to Prague to take over one of my good friend’s apartment for couple of days as he was out of town and I needed a place to crash for me and my friend from the Hague. She arrived around lunchtime the following day and since it was her first time in the city, I turned into a guide for the next couple of days. And I really appreciate doing this here and there. Prague is fucking gorgeous and even though weather wasn’t really great, it was all really enjoyable. We did have some solid winter jackets and most of the popular sights weren’t crowded as most people were apparently staying in.

 

Over the 4 days, we covered basically everything there is to cover plus I took her to my favorite vegan restaurants, cafés and bars… And an exhibition in Rudolfiun on the Ukraine war... Pretty full program. When I dropped her off the railway station Sunday evening, I proceeded to meet up with one of my bros and we hung out for couple more hours. Got back to Brno at around midnight.

 

At this point I’m still figuring out where to go and what to see over the summer but I’ve got some ideas and I’m sure it’s gonna all fall into place when the time is right. I hope y’all doing well as well. Sending some love to everybody reading. One!

 

Highlights:

• Prague.
• Catch-ups.
• American Fiction. Really enjoyed that movie.

Semester 16 Chapter VII: Anti-social & Trippin’

Hey guys, here we go again. This time a bit later buy hey… Eventful weekend. Got the new Future and Metro on, getting ready for some work, feeling good in this bitch. Speaking of Metro and Future, rap game is exciting these days. Kendrick fucked it all up, J. Cole responded and promptly apologized and removed himself out of the situation (I kinda feel sorry for the guy), and we got a response from Drake (which is actually good) and another diss from Rick Ross (also good). It’s fun, it feels healthy (meaning nobody’s gonna shoot anybody over this, it’s not a Biggie/Pac thing), the music is fire and I can’t wait for Kendrick’s next contribution which now 100% has to come. I’m team Kendrick and I’m sure he’s coming with some heat. This might be the most exciting rap battle since 50 Cent was bullying everybody 20+ years back. Good days.

 

Last week, I wasn’t really social. Felt like taking some time off. Plus I had a lot of work. I spent most of these evenings in reading and watching Shogun, the new FX TV series. It’s a really great watch. And visually it’s just gorgeous. Makes me even more excited about my September trip to Japan. My Prague bro came to visit on Saturday to do some trips. Something that we do here and there as a mental hygiene. Time well, spent, some amazing places, lotta material to process, shit still resonates. We met up with some people on Sunday, biked around the city and surrounding villages, had some dinner at this Asian spot, happy days.

 

Today, I went for a massage. Me neck has always been a bit cracky and sometimes it feels a bit tensed. And I know that massages help as I went to couple back in the day. Found this spot around the corner, booked a session, it felt great, gonna try to make it a monthly thing. So yeah, that’s about it. Didn’t really take any pics last week, it is what it is. Anyways, hope you guys are doing great, sending love everybody out there, shout out to all my readers. One!

 

Highlights:

• Layers.
• Pedals.
• Rap.

Semester 16 Chapter VI: Talking My Shit Again

Okay, I’m gonna start with some hip-hop shit. I love what Kendrick Lamar is to the culture. I love how non-conventional he gets on his albums and I got so much respect for topics he brings up. Plus he’s a fucking skilled rapper. I also enjoy when he gets on his cocky shit and ignites some beef here and there (the thing he did in Control back in the day was insane). It was such a treat hearing his verse on Like That couple days back. And as I’m listening to this new J. Cole album while writing this, I realize how difficult is keeping up with him. I mean, I got nothing but love for Cole too but damn. He’s not seeing him. Energy-wise, flow-wise, catalog-wise, content-wise… This whole stir is super entertaining tho. Some healthy competitiveness in rap is beautiful. I think Royce once said that if you rap and don’t think you’re the best, why the fuck you even do it. And that’s exactly what’s going on over here.

 

To change the topic, over the past couple of days, I’ve been on some documentaries about North Korea. See, once in a while, I feel like catching up with what’s up with that country and it never disappoints. It’s like an extremely elaborate art-piece worked out to perfection. In the worst way possible. The fact that that shit is still afloat is mesmerizing. It looks like some medieval horror-core travesty with rulers that are gods in a very literal sense. No food, public executions, hackers, selling drugs, but also whole lotta nuclear weapons and hydrogen bombs… You wouldn’t believe. My favorite part was when they found a direct connection between concentration camps in the country and basically all fast fashion retails. Like China actually bypasses sanctions and there’s a good chance that your Zara, H&M or Armani jacket was made over there. Go fast fashion! Gonna give myself some break now but I’m sure that when that time comes again, I’m gonna be staring at some new shit with the same amount of disbelief as I always do.

Okay, back to my adventures. Last week was kinda back to normal. Lotta work, lotta work-out, daily runs, but also I managed to catch up with sis couple of times. First time seeing each other after that family vacation so it felt a bit overdue. I also spent a morning with my former flatmate from about 13 years ago. Lovely hangout. Also, one of my students was visiting Brno and he suggested grabbing some coffee since we’ve been looking at each other on a screen for about a year. I’d never done this before but it was actually cool. And I’m grateful for working with nice people. Like it’s not just about the actual teaching, it’s also that the vibe during classes generally works. Which always reminds me that, in that sense, I’m exactly where I belong.

 

On Friday, I caught up with my rave bro. We went to this Fraktal event and once again, we pretty much closed the club around 8am. It was a really good party, shout out to everybody involved and all the djs. Love. When I finally made it home, I nearly canceled on my fried with whom I’d arranged some Saturday afternoon hangout and extensive Sunday morning run. After sleeping some of that party off, I decided to give it a shot tho. The weather has been very summery and I really didn’t feel like killing the whole weekend on the couch. I mean, I love the weather but I also know that in April, it has no business being like this. We’re on a fucking highway to hell in this bitch. Anyways, I grabbed my bike and went about 20km to my friend’s place. It woke me up and by the time we were chilling with some beers later on (still non-alcoholic, still on it), I felt back to normal. The morning after, we did a bit over 30km, we did it under 3 hours and it was fucking gorgeous. Some deer, some rabbits, nature was spectacular, sun was shining… We need to gear up a bit (like these water sacks and shit) and next time, we’ll aim at marathon. You can kinda do 30km with no water but those extra 10+ km would be really fucking uncomfortable. We’re on it tho.

 

After that run and some lunch, we patched one of my bike’s inner tube which I managed to puncture and then I was on my way back. Stopped by at a store to get a new tire as it was absolute shit and got some extra tubes, lights and some kits to be more self-sufficient on the road. Got back home, had some more food with dad (since we burned over 3000 calories in the morning, it was only right) and then just chilled. Finished this 3 Body Problem series which was not too bad and I don’t have much else planned for the rest of the day. Hope you guys are enjoying yourselves too. Sending love everybody out there. One!

Highlights:

• Bikes.
• Runs.
• Rap.

Semester 16 Chapter V: 8.5 Euro Water

Hello everybody, here we go again, this time from my lovely hometown of Brno. Having reasons to travel around is great. I’ve toned it down a bit over the past couple of years. At the moment, I don’t necessarily aim at moving to the other side of the globe and set up a new life over there as I appreciate my little circles around here too much, but I still love to switch places. And last week, it was The Hague, it was Amsterdam, it was Prague and now back to this motherfucker. So without further ado…

 

I like how I’m getting used to the Dutch scenery. All these bikes, canals, parks… It’s all becoming very natural and familiar at this point. Plus the sea. I’ve said it couple of times before: I honestly believe that access to sea improves quality of life. You don’t need to swim in it; just walking around it, smelling the air and watching the waves does something to your psyché. So last Monday, we went out to this beach bar. I still wasn’t warm enough for us to sit outside but hanging out by the beach felt great regardless. The rest of my Hague stay felt chilled too. Some walks, some coffee, happy days. My friend went traveling on Thursday, I spent one additional night and Friday morning, I was on a bus to Amsterdam.

 

And that was also really good. All that catching up, coffee and good food. We watched Poor Things, too. A really good movie. Oh yeah, and I managed to do two of my regular runs over there. I’m sure I’ll be back sometime soon. Friday evening, we went out for dinner to this hummus place. See, I like The Netherlands but when it comes to bars and restaurant, it’s a bit painful. I mean, I’m doing well (knock on wood). Work goes well, rates make sense, all is good. But being financially pretty fucking good in the Czech Republic equals to being sort of kind of okay-ish in Netherlands. So yeah, some pita bread with hummus cost you about as much as some fine dining experience where I come from. The best part was the water tho. They charged 8.5 Euro for a 0.7 liter bottle of sparkling water. Which is probably the most expensive water I have ever drank. More power to them!

 

Saturday evening, I was on a bus to Prague and I spent the whole Sunday over there. My friends were doing some graffiti on this wall so I just stuck around hanging with my current tattoo artist and her dog. And boy oh boy, was the weather beautiful. See, in Netherlands, there was no way for me not to wear a winter jacket outside. In Prague, I was happy in short sleeves. Proper summer. We got some drinks later on and around midnight, I arrived to Brno.

 

It’s Easter Monday now, I got a little bit of work today but not too much really. Hope everybody is well, hope y’all feeling okay, you keep it positive and you don’t entertain bullshit. Sending love everybody out there and shout out to all the readers. One!

Highlights:

• My people in The Netherlands. 
• My people in Prague.
• Got myself a ticket to Japan for September. Tokyo, here I come!