Pain in the blog 4

I tried hard, I read a lot, I made some improvements, took some advice.
Visitors finally started coming - not in huge numbers but steadily.
I was therefore happy to see 3 comments from anonymous people saying they rally like/love/are impressed by my blog.
But there was something suspicious. Vague and not really related to the posts, these didn’t look like comments of my blog, but of A blog.
I noticed a small link in the bottom leading to a page selling something.
Is this supposed to be advertising? Is this supposed to be effective advertising?
I will never EVER buy your product, whatever it is.
Using an automated service to send positive comments to people just to get them to click on your website is just pitiful.
Thanks for the compliments though :)

My neighborhood

Writing about my suburban experience got me thinking about where I live now. We’ve recently moved into a new neighborhood, and immediately felt at home. It’s beautiful and alive, with the best outdoor market in Belgrade and some nice places to eat and drink at nearby.
But what I enjoy most are the little quirky details. Like the small shop I pass by on my way from work which always color-coordinates items in its window (see bad photo).
Nearby there is a stray dog that often sleeps on the roof of a car, and a while ago I saw a women parked on a corner, blowing soap bubbles out her car window.

In Suburbia

This weekend we left our apartment in the city and went to a friend’s house to take care of her dog while she is vacationing with her family.
I very much enjoy the greenery, fresh air, and the big bathtub. I never considered myself a dog-person, but the dog is nice, friendly and well-behaved and I realized that one of the most relaxing things I’ve done in a long time was walking the dog through the forest on a cool summer Sunday afternoon.
After that I passed out and slept for a whole 12 hours which for me is usually the first sign of being on vacation, although I’m not. Yet. I must be doing something right. I enjoy this.
I really like living in the city, and I don’t particularly enjoy the longer commute and the extra tickets I have to get for the bus, but the view of nature from the balcony, walking the dog and baby toys scattered around the house gave me a glimpse of how things might look one day in the (distant) future, and I think I won’t mind terribly when that day comes.

... surrounding areas

I’ve added some links to Reluctant Dragon. A collection of different formats with very different content, but generally an overview of things I browse through whenever I get the chance. Some inform me, some entertain me, some have inspired me, and some I wish my blog to resemble when it grows up.
I’ve been reading Belgrade Blog for some time. Their offer to exchange links was the first and very welcome, so now they share the BLOGS category with some other lovely bloggers. I just hope I can be as observant and insightful as the Desperate Serbwife.
BUILD is about something I enjoy – architecture - in the broadest sense, manmade or natural, great or small, good or bad, real or virtual. From the extremely well written BLDG blog on “architectural conjecture, urban speculation and landscape futures” to the much more down-to-earth Beobuild, a guide to actual construction in Belgrade with all its many flaws (these people are real enthusiasts, although the childish comments, obsession with size and hight instead of quality of buildings, and the occasional nationalist remarks can be quite annoying).
ARTS AND CRAFTS is a clumsily named design section covering fashion, furniture and much more…
And finally HELP! The friendly people who helped me figure out how this works.
There’s so much more that I like, so more links are sure to come.

Reluctant patriot

After days of anxiety the dreaded day has finally arrived. As a 27 year old male citizen of Serbia, I no longer have any legal means to avoid army duty and today I handed in my request for civilian service. As of September I will spend nine months in the service of “the fatherland”.
Apart from my absolute lack of confidence in problem-solving capabilities of armed conflict and the belief that a conscript army is complete nonsense, I have more specific reservations about my “duty” to the state. On a practical note, I wouldn’t want to spend 6 months in unsanitary conditions, being cold and hungry and in danger of getting killed if I accidentally stumble onto a hiding place of runaway war crimes suspects. I don’t believe in either the capability or the good will of the army to entrust them with my well being. Most importantly, I don’t think I owe anything to a country which has, with active participation of this very army, systematically undermined any prospect of normal living, forcing me, and everyone else, to undergo isolation, uncertainty and even bombs. Yes, some things have changed, but I think I had enough. Even civil service is too much, but unfortunately unavoidable. Who knows, maybe I will get to do something useful for the community, but the army hasn’t for a second considered how those of us who work and support ourselves are to survive all that time without pay. Fortunately, people I work for are flexible and I think I’ll manage somehow. In august I’ll know where I’m assigned and what my duties will be. This whole business is an upsetting waste of time and energy, but it’s out of my hands so I’ll just try and go with the flow.

Pain in the blog 3

On my journeys through the world of troubled bloggers I found out there are people with the exact (Exact!) same problem as me. The number 32 keeps reoccurring. Not exactly the answer to life the universe and everything else, but could there be a deeper meaning to this never-changing number of visitors to a website?
In the meantime, Blogger kindly replied to another of my e-mails, telling me that actually there is no problem, and that, to cut the long story short, time heals everything.
I also found friendly good people, who share their knowledge with others and with their help I’m embarking on a quest to bring my blog the eagerly awaited readers, and satisfy my curiosity on who they could be.
My experiment with spontaneous visitation has failed miserably. It seems this requires hard work. An offensive in blog promotion - a new challenge, a new experiment, a new adventure! During the day I’ve registered my blog with several directories, so I’ll be writing and posting, updating and pinging away and see how things develop…
I’ve also become a proud user of something called a StatCounter. So far, in the few hours since I installed it, nothing has happened but I confidently expect good things.
Well, counter is ready. Who will be my first officially recorded visitor?

Frustration

My almost proverbial optimism is a bit strained. Some people I know would probably try to convince me that I’m overreacting, but I just can’t help feeling as if a dark presence is looming somewhere above. I admit too, that I am nervous about other things and that in a few days I’ll feel better, but I have to express my frustration. There are bad things that we all know, have become accustomed to and live with, but at times they overcome me and I just can’t see the silver lining.
My latest surge of pessimism was sparked by a folk concert, of all things. The hundred thousand screaming fans startled me. What upset me even more is that I went out, while all this was going on, and the streets of my otherwise lively neighbourhood were deserted. Through open windows I could see the flickering lights of TV sets and heard Ceca as she poured into every single home. This is where Serbia is going. Where is everybody else?
The show, pompously announced as a grand spectacle, was in fact a bland recital where the singer in badly tailored haute couture clumsily paced left and right. But for people who do not know better it may have been a spectacle. And people still don’t know better. What’s worse, these people vote.
I can’t tell people what to listen to and who to vote for, it’s none of my business, but we can’t pretend that this is a proper democracy and that every choice is equally valid. Real music and musicians are not the same as the soundtrack of chaos and war in the 90s, criminals and war criminals. People who participated in, supported or instigated crime and conflict can not be seen as legitimate politicians. This weekend’s spectacle of silicone and cellulite is a picture of our past but could very well be the future.
Is it any wonder, then, that the radicals will almost certainly win the next elections? In the meantime, feeble attempts are being made to unite the “democratic block” against the radical threat. What democratic block? DSS are exactly the same as radicals, but afraid to say it in order not to lose even the small remaining following of people who are ashamed to admit to themselves that they are fascists too, so they cling to this symbolic “democratic” prefix. The democrats, on the other hand, have become slow and lazy after Djindjic was killed, trying so hard to be moderate and mainstream and appeal to the common people that in the process they have lost everything that had made them unique and appealing. The other so called “democratic” parties are not even worth mentioning as they are small and only exist to provide necessary votes for forming coalition governments, taking on new ideologies every time. LDP, GSS and their friends are the only ones with worthwhile programs and clear vision of a European future, but they are loathed by almost everyone and it will be years before they become a significant force in this country, if ever.
I also begin to change my views on Montenegro’s independence. I do still think that we could have had a better future together, but only if both sides are willing to work on it. And there is definitely no will in Serbia to resolve any important issues. Serbia is stuck, and if Montenegro is willing to work just that little extra bit harder they might actually see better days.
I only hope all my personal plans work out. Hopefully in a little over a year I’ll no longer be here and I’ll be able to criticise another part of the world, probably without getting too emotionally attached.

The Guide to Free Food and Drinks

Free food and drink is everywhere. Opening nights, exhibitions, receptions… Having a friend who is flirting with a bartender also helps.
Last weekend was rather eventful in that sense, as if to celebrate the previous work week – the first week of regular blogging :)
It started with Friday’s performance of Macbeth by the Stockholm Dramaten theatre in the National theatre. The three hours of not too spectacular Shakespeare in Swedish, with some great performances, interesting dramatic solutions and amazing set design and lighting were followed by a champagne party at the excessively gilded upstairs lobby of the theatre.
Then it was off to a bar, where Ivan and I enjoyed our complementary cocktails as our friend was attempting to overcome her hesitation over becoming the other woman and finally hook up with the boy of her dreams.
Saturday’s rainy afternoon was the setting for a reception at an undisclosed western power’s embassy. More then eager waiters insisted that you help yourself to the gorgeous food, every time they walk buy. Not a problem, especially when you’re in canapé heaven. More drinking.
The night ended at a friends birthday party, again drinking too much, dancing and kissing and making a fool of oneself. Lots of fun!
Off course, in a sense, everything comes with a price. Sunday was a blur of hung-over couch-potatoing, and football watching, which admittedly, apart from the fading headache, is not that bad.
The best things in life are free.

Good Fortune

I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but in Serbia it is considered good luck if a bird shits on you. Such an omen of luck just happened to me as I was coming back from my lunch break. It wasn’t even under a tree, but in the middle of the street. A bird in flight simply dropped its lunch on my shoulder. I didn’t feel particularly lucky. It’s just annoying, if anything.
Personally, I am more inclined to view shit raining from above as a sign of misfortune, especially in this age of bird flu, but then, who am I to argue with superstition.
I wonder, though, what this is based on. Is it supposed to represent some sort of karmic equilibrium - that something good will now happen to you as compensation for being shat upon from the heavens? Perhaps it’s about probability? The chance of a piece of bird feces finding you of all people as it falls, randomly dropped by an indifferent bird and shifted by winds might indicate that you are somehow special? Most likely it is an idea conceived by people to comfort themselves after their favorite shirt was ruined by pigeon poop.
Maybe I am lucky. Good fortune didn’t leave a stain.
Could this be the luckiest town on Earth? taken in Venice, Nov 2005

Pain in the blog 2

In what might just become a series of articles, but is already a source of much frustration, I continue to wine about blogging. Last time I wrote about my writing troubles and the pulsating cursor at the end (strictly geographically) of an unfinished sentence which haunts my dreams at night.
I also complained about the lack of audience and its participation.
I’ll stay with this general subject for a while, but approach it from a slightly more technical aspect. I no longer have the instrument of measuring the lack of visitors to my blog. The counter in my Profile telling me how many people have read it, broke down, depriving me of even this modest and very vague but vital piece of statistics. At one point it simply stopped. At 32. I know what one might think - people just stopped coming. No. I had various people visit my page several times, just to make sure it’s broken. And it is.
Off course, I looked for help in all FAQ sections which referred me to support groups who referred me to Blogger help, who in turn referred me back to the FAQs…

Well, I guess I’m off for another round.
To be continued. (in)Definitely…

Rain

If it could only stop raining! I’ve been waiting so long for sun and the summer, and now it’s cold and it has been raining constantly for days. Will this ever end? Heating in June?!?! It’s just wrong. I want to sleep with windows open. I want to be woken up by sunlight. I want heat!

the Code

Blasphemous as I am, I used the evilest day in history to go and see the anathemised religious pulp-fiction block-buster, as I didn’t get what all the fuss was about. I mean, even if Jesus had a wife and kids, and it ever came out, I didn’t really understand why it would “devastate the foundations of mankind”. It’s not as if Christianity opposes marriage. Anyway, how would anyone be able to prove it? Based on hidden symbols? If you are looking for symbols, chances are you will find them. If one tried, one could probably find evidence that Jesus had a twin brother, who was actually the one married to Mary Magdalene, and crucified by mistake, so that when Jesus appeared, everyone thought he resurrected…
But details of the theory (any theory) are irrelevant. After actually seeing the film, which is, by the way, flat, badly constructed and visually unappealing, I realized that it’s not the story of this mediocre film/book that presents a problem. It is the basic principle of having theories, in the first place. The Christian church (in all its forms) is founded on a version of alleged events many many years ago - events which can themselves never be checked or verified. If you allow someone to dispute a part of this story, the whole story is in jeopardy. Whether someone is the direct descendent of JC or not, isn’t important. (It could never be proven, as there are no remains, and even if there were, how could you prove they really belong to Jesus, or his wife? Anyway, by now, he would have thousands of descendents all over the world, not one single heir.)
Therefore, what the fuss WAS about, is that regardless of whether Jesus existed, and whether he was the son of god, everything that happened after him was the work of men. So theories, such as the one in the film, do not necessarily question divinity of Jesus but the divinity of the church. The film reminds us that at certain points in history the church selected which scriptures to accept or reject, designing a mythology which suits its purposes. The church is a dogmatic structure within which thinking itself is a problem - the right to re-examine. It also reminded us that the church is, among other things, a powerful interest group, a political force, a financial giant, and as such uses any means to protect itself and its various interests, at the expense of anyone who stands in the way, with no more moral justification than others who do the same. So while I don’t believe in any of this anyway, and think this film is quite weak and most probably full of historical inaccuracies and deliberate misinterpretations, I kind of like the underlying tone of separating faith and religion and seriously questioning the other.

V for Vendetta

On this symbolic date, when the world could, I’m told, come to an end, a short story about one of the better films I’ve seen in a while and things which pose an actual threat to our society.
I expected V to be entertaining, as it was, but the serious and mature outlook was quite unexpected … and very welcome. The film elevates itself far above the typical black-white Hollywood action films. I guess the strong critical references to western societies could shake up a lot of people, primarily in the US, where many of the issues the film deals with are controversial or even taboo. There is a tendency in the world to be superficial and people, especially many Americans, tend to be too touchy about certain subjects and less wiling to discuss them.
But the film is wonderfully universal in condemning oppression in all societies – from obvious references to fascist states to Western democracies struggling with issues of privacy and human rights under threat from conservative governments on one side and dangers like terrorism on the other. More close to home, it is reminiscent of Serbia in the 90s – the sugarcoated TV reporting, the propaganda machine spreading fear and mistrust, the divide-and-conquer tactics of maintaining power by creating enemies everywhere. Consequences of this period are still painfully present and as destructive as ever.
I see this film is a warning that all our actions, or lack there of, have consequences, that as in the famous poem by M. Niemoeler what happens to others eventually reaches us and in the end there might be “no one left to speak out”, if we do not speak out against injustice. If the likes of DSS, the orthodox church, and other conservatives in Serbia and elsewhere had their way I can easily imagine Ivan and I being dragged out of our bed in the middle of the night and disappearing.
I have always been an optimist and hope the world will come to its senses, but with so much human stupidity I have to be worried about the future. Wasting of resources, greed, double standards and false morality are pushing people into ignorance, fear and hate. That makes the warning more powerful and important. This does not just happen in distant countries in a distant time. The film shows what our own societies could mutate into. And in a globalized world, there is no standing aside. A Faithless song says “Whether long range weapon or suicide bomb, wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction … we need to find courage, overcome, inaction is a weapon of mass destruction”.The key issue is individual responsibility. I’m not happy quoting politicians, but as the assassinated PM of Serbia said, paraphrasing JFK: “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for yourself“. Nobody is going to help us if we do not help ourselves. And responsibility never ends. In a country where the power of people and its ability to push change was so evident, we must not forget it now, as we slide into conservativism and bigotry. “Remember, remember, the fifth of O… November”. Staying silent must not be an option.

Pain in the Blog

This is not how it was suppose to be. I didn’t plan to post once a week.
But writing is proving to be much more difficult then I though. First of all, I never can find the time to do it, as I’m always busy with something else. Then, it’s hard to convert the flood of ideas on any given subject into a coherent piece of writing. I sit down and thoughts rush out, filling my screen with words and beginnings of sentences. But putting them into order and making sense of it, without writing a novel every time is almost painful.
Then self-censorship kicks in. One of the points of starting to write in the first place was examining the balance between private and public (or accessible to the public). And now, I’m having trouble with it. In the last few days important things have happened which will have huge effects on my life, provide material and inspiration and eventually give a whole new meaning and purpose to this blog. However, for now, I still feel they are too specific to let them loose on the internet. At this point I don’t want accidental visitors to (be able to) know who I am, however unlikely it may be, having in mind how huge the world is.
It sound insane. Such paranoia is unjustified (or is it?). In order to lose your privacy there needs to exist an interested public. This blog HAS NO audience. Sure, there have been some visits but nobody leaves any comments, and I have no idea who you people are. I’ve mentioned I was writing a blog to some friends, but deliberately didn’t want to spread it around yet. I wanted to see what happens naturally.
But maybe it would be good to have a couple of friendly regulars. Maybe it’s time for an offensive - getting an audience, establishing a style, determining a level of familiarity with potential readers.
I hope, in time, writing will come more naturally. I’ll pour regular amounts of well-constructed thinking into neat well-written posts on a regular basis to the delight of friends and unknown readers around the world. In the meantime I’ll try and post more often and be as interesting as I can. Thank you all for coming.

Serbie et Montenegro: null points

Last week was big. I lost my right to various “up to 26 years of age” discounts and changed my country of residence without even moving.
On a lighter note (or harder, in this case… note, that is), a group of people in monster outfits complete with bad skin, battleaxes and batwings got flowers and kisses from a gay Greek in a golden suit, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.
Are these events even related?
In what I guess was a form of protest against a contest that is so bad that it became trashy cool, a Europe oversaturated with sequence overwhelmingly voted for a bunch of freaks. I guess it’s ok. Anyone’s dream can come true. These guys are not sinister, they’re just ugly. No self-respecting satan-worshiper would ever enter Eurovision, let alone blow kisses to the audience. In the end it’s just show-business.
And as interesting litmus test of society, that it is, it was Eurovision that recently brought to the surface everything that was rotten in my country. The scandal in the national final between Serbian and Montenegrin representatives resulted in withdrawal from the competition.
Serbia and Montenegro did not compete this year, and it never will, as it does not exist any more.
I believe both countries will eventually turn out right, but I am sad. Emotions fueled by unconstructive politicians have once again got the better of us. Instead of trying to resolve our problems, in an ever uniting world, we keep disintegrating. Politicians on both sides keep saying this changes nothing, so why then was it necessary to spend millions of euros on organizing the referendum? I heard on Croatian TV that Yugoslavia had no chance of surviving because such a union did not make sense, so why are all its former members in such a hurry to unite again with each other and everyone else in Europe. I saw a report about some illiterate people from a Cetinje slum saying they will vote for independence because their community might get a shower and toilet, perhaps a bus line to the center.
Excuse me? Am I the only one who thinks there’s been a mix-up?
As so many times before, politicians on both sides have manipulated people into believing that, once again, someone else is to blame, and that, once again, we need to take care of just one more outside problem so we can finally get to work on important internal matters. Once again their laziness and incompetence to produce results has been covered up by stories of patriotism and historic events. It is waste. Fortunately, this time, unlike other recent senseless brake-ups in the region, it will not include a waste of life.
Serbia and Montenegro have only themselves to blame. With or without each other both countries need to WORK - on their economies, on facing up to their pasts, on fighting corruption, on changing their frame of mind…
OK, people, there you have it - a clean slate. What now? Is anyone going to do anything, or are we on to the next excuse?
I wish us all - all the best.
The bottom line is, living in Belgrade for 27 years now, I have so far lived in 4 countries.
The vote in Montenegro was, despite of official shock, predictable. Voting in Eurovision was just as unsurprising.
In the years to come I expect Montenegro will give Serbia douze points (and vice versa). Who knows, maybe it’s that extra boost that we need to win.
And then, my friends and I can watch the event live in Belgrade Arena. Hopefully this year’s upset is not a trend, I expect Eurovision to go back to its roots. Next year it will be as gay as usual, I’ll be a year older again, living in Serbia, going on holiday in Montenegro.

Victory Day

Very happy with how Tuesday’s rally in Republic Square turned out - a beautiful spring day and lots of progressive and positive thinking. Although organized by political parties and against the current government, I really did not perceive it as primarily a political event, but as support for a certain set of values symbolized by Europe Day - the day of victory against fascism.

With rising conservativism and an unwillingness to confront our own horrible recent history holding the country back, many of the values which form the backbone of a modern civil European identity are in today’s Serbia under stress or in danger, and it was encouraging to see so many people coming out to support them. I was thrilled to see rainbow flags fluttering freely in the center of Belgrade. And though it was not a huge, revolution-starting, parliament-storming army of people, it was a good start. Perhaps we don’t need revolutions any more. We need evolution. Belgrade is a tough crowd to motivate, people are tired and skeptical after too many years of gathering in the streets. I would like to believe this was the start of creation of a unified Serbian civil society which will eventually take center stage and turn this country into what it could and should be.

Pictures from the internet – forgot my camera

tata

My dad is feeling better and last night I could finally sleep.
After difficult surgery last week he can now move on his own, and might even be going home soon. He still has a long way to go. He is a bit lost and it’s difficult for him to speak. I don’t know what to say, so I just smile and hold his hand.
When I first saw him after surgery, pale and gasping for air, I thought he was going to die. I felt helpless. I was so sorry for him. When did my father become this old man? After I left the hospital I couldn’t calm down for days, although he was recovering. I guess it was one of those moments when you realize that people you love won’t be around forever, or maybe even for long, and you cry for them, and you cry for yourself, and you cry until you don’t even know why anymore.
My dad rarely says how he feels, but the other day, when no one was there he kissed my hand. I know.

Belgrade Design Week 2: Reaction to Karim Rashid

I completely agree with Karim (can I call you Karim?) that design has become democratic, either through the possibilities of customization of products and services or at least the increased ability to choose due to hyper-production.
He articulated some of the things I feel about the importance of expression – how so many people who are unhappy say it is because of a lack of creativity in their life. I felt that. I felt that I missed some of the creative outlets I used to have, which I have had to give up under pressure from obligations and assignments. That was the basic reason for starting this blog.
Everyone is a designer, he said, and I really believe it is so. And I think it goes beyond that, I think everyone is an artist, or at least can be. Now this, of course, opens up the problem of definitions, that if everything is art, maybe nothing is, but I do not agree that art is dead. It has taken new forms, penetrated all segments of life, and I think is as relevant and alive as it ever was.

Basically, Karim spoke in big bombastic statements but I fail to see how that is reflected in his work. How can you say that brands are dead, if you are yourself a brand, and anyone and anything can become a brand. We could say that the meaning of brands is changing that they are reinventing themselves, that brands too have become dynamic and even democratic.
He also criticized designers, especially fashion designers, for drawing from the past. But if design is democratic and we all live, as he said, in a digital age and are aware of our choices, then if we STILL decide to CHOOSE something from the past, we make it contemporary. If someone likes it and uses it, it’s fresh and new. We make the design contemporary not the other way round.
A complete break from the past, using strange shapes, digital prints, and painting everything pink and silver does not in itself make something modern. In fact, Karim’s design to me even seems a bit retro and seventies.
Karim Rashid is a skillful craftsman, but for me it is design for the sake of design, aestheticism and fashion. It has no background story, no justification. No context, no relevance.

On the other hand I was completely blown away by Ross Lovegrove - an amazing and inspiring man who deserved every minute of the standing ovation he got. It was one of those moments when you believe you see things clearly and say to yourself: from now on I’m gonna recycle, and …eat right and… fight for justice! He really demonstrated how design can be so much more than superficial form. That it can and should innovate and educate and be visionary. Thank you Ross!

Belgrade Design Week

Note to myself: I really have to learn to post these things on time. I drafted this weeks ago…

For a week in late April I’ve been buzzing around events related to the newly created Belgrade Design Week, a showcase for Serbian design, and an overview of global trends in design and branding and how they affect us locally.
The whole thing was well organized and fun and brought together international design stars and local unknowns, huge multinational agencies and aspiring artists and introduced Belgrade to new spaces like the recently opened Superspace gallery in the refurbished 1930s industrial warehouses on the Sava waterfront, where every night the people mingled, champagne in hand, looking across the super-sized river to the lush trees in New Belgrade and the shining Usce tower. It was a new and unusual view, not the Belgrade I’m used to - what I imagine of Brasilia - a modern city in a rainforest.
The low point, although morbidly fascinating, would have to be the opening panel when six biggest international advertising agencies in Serbia presented themselves and their work. The overwhelming intolerance, malice and envy suffocated any notion of a neutral ground where professionals could meet and exchange ideas. These guys obviously have nothing to learn from each other.
Was it possible that those people really believed what they were saying? I guess if you repeat something enough, you might actually start to believe it. One by one, the obnoxious six kept saying their presentation would be completely different and continuing to say how their agency is the best, biggest, most creative, and extra-superfantastic. Naturally they were all exactly the same.
Fortunately, the event kept getting better, with interesting presentations, constructive dialogue and some truly inspiring moments.
The segment about Belgrade really got me thinking, and if I can get organized, hopefully I will be able to post some of my ideas and projects in the near future.
The closing - design superstars day was great, Karim Rashid’s presentation drew a huge crowd… This deserves a detailed review (as soon as I get my notes organized).

Cardio Agriculture

This weekend I went to my cousins’ vineyard not far from Belgrade. After a lovely spring morning in the sun and a good breakfast under the blossoming peach trees I was asked to help out a little bit.
It seamed like fun in the sun, so I said yes. The task was simple – collect bundles of twigs scattered every few meters between the lines of grape vines along the steep hill and stack them up at the bottom. Walking uphill in the soft earth I felt, so much more clearly than in the gym, my glutes and thighs doing something right. Ideas started to brew.

A hillside in Serbia, less than an hour’s drive from the capital, perhaps overlooking the swelling Danube, breaking its banks from the melting snows of Europe. Fruit trees in bloom. Sunshine. 25 degrees. A rustic cottage at the foot of the hill. A vineyard, but , oh, so much more – an agricultural fitness centre.

Account executives, and PR managers running uphill in an aerobic lower body workout, under the watchful eye of a fitness trainer. Running again down hill working their upper body as they go, with a bundle of twigs in each hand, breathing the fresh air, tanning in the sun. A balanced training, monitored by professionals. Guests take turns to avoid exhaustion and maximize the positive effects of the workout. A high protein – low carb lunch follows with fresh fruit and home-made herbal tees, in the evening - sauna and a massage, and a good night’s sleep. On Monday morning, guests are back at work in banks in New Belgrade and advertising agencies in the city center, refreshed, firm and fit.

The best thing is that the work has been done. The vineyard owners have successfully transformed the back-braking low-paying job into a lucrative business. All the benefits from the vineyard are still there, with the additional profit from fitness tourism added in.

But this is just the beginning - the first step of a much broader sociological shift. A new form of manual labor. Seasonal workers all over the world no longer illegally crossing borders but coming from urban centers, perhaps flying abroad for the weekend on business class, to take part in the harvest. It is the birth of cardio agriculture. And it doesn’t stop there. You don’t have to work(out) in the field. There’s cardio construction and cardio industry. How about sweating away those extra kilos in a foundry? Or cardio-mining for the more adventurous?

The shift opens up a whole new catering sector centered on the wellness industry! Former manual laborers move up into the services sector. Many become well paid trainers showing their former bosses how to properly do jobs they used to be exploited in.

Everyone is happy.