05.11.2008 - It is a strange & funny feeling to resume your life to a couple of things you can carry in a bag when it comes to leave your home indefinitely... I'm pleased to take with me a few thousands dollars worthy Blues collection, my laptop & 2 photo cameras...and one book of a few hundreds unnecessary books I've read or owned. I'm leaving but I might come back some day. You are on your own now, be good!

05.09.2008 - Upset about the natural catastrophe in Myanmar/Burma... And angry because of this: "Bill Gates announced that the Gates Foundation would donate $3 mill for relief efforts and provide software to help reunite family members separated in the cyclone in Burma". In a dictatorial regime like theirs (plus they don't have energy because of the cyclone!), they now need food & water, you ignorant piece of shit!!!

I'm using Pentax cameras on both digital and analogical. Generally speaking, I think digital pictures are just a preview for the real photography which is made on film. I'm glad you guys like the analogical shots I submitted!

I recommend a wonderful web gallery with photos from Transylvania made for a Hungarian exhibition: [link] Realistic, sad but sometimes full of humor.



@ Romanian devmeet, 23-24th of February 2008 at Bucharest

The bad smelling, overcrowded capital city of this controversial country of mine got me thanks to a few good man. The weather was beautiful (17C and sunny). It was a great weekend with two days of walking & talking until my legs were starting to beg me to stop. We took a lot of pictures, here are a few thanks to journal and me (yeah, I still can't believe my pictures are the best, damn it!) -> [link]

The list with the people I've personally met is long, some were intimately friendly meetings (with some magic in the air), the rest was public devmeet-like. Here are in the order of their appearance: (sorry about the rest of the smoked deviants at Lucky13 late in the evening I haven't talked to!), then .

I/we walked around for more than 15km a day but it was fun. I almost forgot my life is a lonely avenue and I felt so blue. Thank you guys, this will be hard to forget!


@ DEBBIE DAVIES & COREY HARRIS live shows at Sighisoara International Blues Festival, Romania, 16th of February 2008

You can't be happy if you are not able to understand (your) suffering! - this is my conclusion over my whole experience of 30 years of living. And similarly is what the Blues is all about. I just realized I was going holding hands tight with the Blues all this time. Well, I am listening this music for more than 13 years but last night was a moment of high spirituality. First, it was COREY HARRIS, a true rastaman not the commercial trendy hip-hopers you know. He found the roots of Blues traveling everywhere in Africa and impressed the audience of the festival with some Robert Johnson acoustic covers while he had tears in his eyes.

Then, DEBBIE DAVIES who's probably the best female blues guitarist presence in the world right now (nominated for the best contemporary female blues artist at the 2008 Blues Music Awards), got the crowd in the mood. She said: "People can only keep you down for so long, until then is your time...it's just the way it works." Check my video -> [link] The pictures are up on my Flickr account.

At International Blues Festival in Sighisoara, audience gone crazy clapping hands and shaking legs. This is happening when a few good man do the right thing (i.e. good music) and they make you feel alive with all the pain and the joy you can have. I personally regret I missed TATRAI TIBOR Band but I give you some samples of his music here. At his 50th years old anniversary concert, when he played with B.B. King at Budapest in 1997 and a song with no lyrics that can heal any soul.

I had a little chat with the artists after the show, took a lot of pictures including personal pictures with them and got their signature on my program sheet. Mike Nunno the bassist of DD gave me some good technical advices for more than half an hour making the band waiting (man, you are great and have a wonderful tone on that funky axe!). But I can't forget Debbie's words replying to me. "I have all your albums and I am listening to you a lot, please keep playing the blues for us". She smiled naturally and replied to me: "You are so kind, please keep listening the blues for us". Such a great moment!

The extreme weather conditions of traveling back or even an imminent car accident haven't scared me. I've found my inner peace I needed so much. There is one eternal love to me: the Blues and the good understanding it spreads around. Don't be a fool with the denial, the Blues is the healer!


@ Romanian devmeet, 15th of December 2007 at Cluj-Napoca

It was a wonderful snowy day yesterday! I got there right in time after hitchhiking 70km on a frozen road. But it was all worthy! We made a lot of nice pictures (check my gallery for the latest photos). Here are the people participating on the devmeet in order I knew them before that day:
See you later mates!


@ SCORPIONS open air live show in Hermanstadt/Nagyszeben/Sibiu, ROmania, 10th of November 2007

Briefly, it was a crazy day starting for me at 5 A.M. and ending at 9 A.M. next day. But despite of the cold cold weather - raining in the morning, heavy wind at noon and snowing late in the night - I liked the people I've met, most of them DA's artists or simply friends of mine. We got some pictures and walk on the streets looking for an empty spot in the overcrowded medieval downtown.

The Scorpions were sounded awful (they sounded better in the 90's as far as I remember), the Romanian band in the opener was too lazy in my opinion and been already frozen when I met , I decided not to take pictures and go hide in a warm and friendly pub for a very personal devmeet with a few of my friends including . Love you guys!

In conclusion it seems Romania is not ready yet for big scale shows like these with Deep Purple at Bucharest or Scopions at Sibiu. If you want to check this on your own, next time be there! Cheers!


@ A.G WEINBERGER live show in Clausenburg/Kolozsvar/Cluj, ROmania, 27th of October 2007

A.G. Weinberger, who is probably the premiere bluesman of Eastern Europe & the only Romanian musician ever nominee for a Grammy (in fact, not just for one but for seven categories!) has performed live at Janis Pub downtown Cluj city. The Blues is still a new product on Romanian market but the audience was enthusiastic all the way! Too bad because of the small venue with its bad ventilation and the low light conditions. Well, I took 65 great pictures but only with the help of my flash: shame on me for making the band almost blind. Some of the pictures are up on my Flickr account.

I am a big fan of A.G. but you already know that. Well, we had some chat and it looks like Romania is on the way to European & global integration by now, which means a lot of crappy music and a lack of strong culture. Maybe this country takes only the bad things from abroad, who knows. Here is an earlier article in Romanian about this topic -> [link]

Anyway, the Blues is still here but too sad we don’t know for how long. You are welcome to come and take it, share it with the people you love – because A.G. Weinberger and the whole Blues tells the truth and nothing but the truth.


@ JETHRO TULL open-air live show Hermanstadt/Sibiu, ROmania, 30th of August 2007

OK, the end of August was both awesome and crazy for me! Searching for my Zen mood, I’ve decided the last moment to go and see Jethro Tull performing open air live in downtown Hermanstadt/Sibiu, Romania. I just followed my heart and got the best chance to get in the big old city. I did not pay for the Audi A4 ride that took me from the side of the road but I had a chat about photography with the young driver who was so thankful in the end that he refused to take my money.
In Sibiu I captured some great images with the medieval architecture, I met and my good pals who accompanied me for 5 days on the seaside and a 15 hours of hell ride on the train way back to Transylvania. We had great moments of joy together at the JETHRO TULL concert. Ian Anderson (harmonica, flute, vocal) & Florian Opahle (guitar) started with the “holy” Blues, as a decent honorable thing to do for a real rock band who respect his musical ancestors. Then they mixed in their own way classical themes (Mozart) with progressive rock of 70’s and contemporary electric sounds. Freaking awesome show! I loved especially the guitar sound of Florian Opahle (yeah, Gibson rules!).

Following the show right before midnight, we stayed a few more hours to eat, drink and share thoughts in a medieval area: F. Nietzsche and the world’s dis-order nowadays was the main theme. Like I said before, we usually have some serious philosophical talk against any kind of dogmatism – anybody attending these should be prepared for the toughest but most friendly criticism regarding commonly used (cultural) ideas. Later in the night we almost fall to sleep on a rusty dirty train (yeah, I know that’s the common picture around here when you are short on money) but got home in the morning to transfer my pictures and show them to you. Enjoy them here and pay some respect!


@ Fanfest Festival, Rosia Montana, Alba, ROmania, 24-26th of August 2007

This time I took my Pentax, which means no more loneliness for me! Some of the pictures taken are here. The best of them are showing up here on DA too, like Petra Michael A. - THE OTHERS & Alex C. - ROCKHOUSE & Catalin Mocan - KUMM & Luiza Zan - SLANG.

I met some funny and smart people: Maria, Roxa, Ionuca are just some of them. Watched and listened live some very good Romanian bands (ordered by their emotional impact they got on me): Slang, Travka, Kumm, RockHouse, The Others…

And finally, I entered a big lake and had a long swimming time with Remus (the friend who drove our car full of metal heads there).


@ Romanian “wildest” seaside resort, 8-13th of August 2007

Been on the seaside was fun at a given moment. I especially liked the trip that was full of adventure: hitchhiking with a truck for around 500km is crazy! Then a 5 hours stop in Bucharest to meet someone special – but I got sad in a strange way I never did before. Well…even more interesting was the 200km bus and taxi driving in the night, the meeting with the sea at midnight. I have met some good friends there but with a lack of organizing skills. This fact and boredom + the heat made me leave that place after only 5 days spent on the “wildest” Romanian beach. People make me sad as usually: that place was like a human flesh market ([link]). The same way I left home for the trip I have decided in the last moment to come back after I obtained peace in the middle of the sea on a quiet morning.

I watched live on the beach one young band Za Duff and I loved it. But I decided to not attend the 4th edition of Stufstock Music Festival held in Vama Veche because of the poor conditions they were assumed to be (too expensive and too crowded with crazy people who use to get drunk and then fall on people tents or just steal their money & beat the hell out of them). For the money I saved, I get 3 days of swimming at Tarnita mountain lake back to Transylvania and another 3 days of good music with Fanfest Music Festival at Rosia Montana, only 100km far from my hometown.


@ Felsziget/Peninsula Festival, Tg.M., ROmania, 26-29th of July 2007

Last weekend of July of 2007 was so great! I had the chance to get to Tirgu-Mures, ROmania for a day to see the Felsziget/Peninsula Music Festival. That was an earlier wish but only this year I got the more needed spare time to go there and also the opportunity to see live some Romanian & Hungarian Blues. Well, I like to take concert pictures as well, but you already know that. Those pictures seem to me the most difficult to take with all the crazy lights and dynamics on the stage and the moving crowd. Therefore, I need inspiration, fast working and some luck. Last time I took pictures like these I was in NYC at Joe Bonamassa & B.B. King shows. I guess I am a lucky person; or a hard working person; or both.

This time it was my honor to put on my camera Deák Bill Blues Band from Hungary and A.G. Weinberger from Romania. A.G. is the bluesman I have been listening since my student days when he held blues radio shows as the biggest promoter of Blues music in Eastern Europe in the last 10 years. Just visit his webpage agweinberger.com to get an idea and to listen some of his songs. He played many classic songs like "I Just Wanna Make Love To You" and "Guess Who". After the concert, I’ve met him personally and we had a little chat about the Blues – and came out I’m not the only living Blues encyclopedia in my country, which makes me proud!

Another nice surprise at Felsziget/Peninsula Music Festival was to meet some really nice people from : (with the best Romanian blog about Romanian bands & Peninsula 2007 so far -> [link]) & & and other friends, blues lovers or just fine people. I took many pictures (with A.G. Weinberger, Deák Bill Blues Band, Cargo, Slang) I will post from now on. Here is one with the beautiful Rocsiii. First set of concert pictures is uploaded at Flickr featuring A.G. Weinberger. Deák Bill Gyula, Cargo & Slang added!

Well, everybody had a great time at Felsziget/Peninsula Music Festival. One thing I’ll never forget is more than 5000 people belonging to ages from 14 to 64 danced on and enjoyed the Blues – and that’s because the Blues speak the truth and nothing but the truth. Cheers!

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Now playing: Tino Gonzales - The Blues is where I live
via FoxyTunes