Waitin' on a sunny day

2007-09-25T08:52:00.000+02:00

OK
I was convinced to move my blog to wordpress

www.drej1981.wordpress.com

Guess things happen that way

2007-08-21T08:19:00.000+02:00

It was Friday, the 10th, and me and My Beautiful Girl were coming back from the beach, in Pula, were we had our vacation for few days, and we got caught in a heavy rain, because, when I saw the big black cloud coming, while we were lying on the beach, I figured, in my eternal wise mind, that the cloud will go away.

Well, it didn't.

We caught a bus, so we wouldn't have to walk for another 20 minutes in that rain.

Weather was really bad, trust me.

We thought it wouldn't stop.

And we were preparing to go to a concert, that was happening that night in open air.

I thought: „Well, it's not gonna happen...“

The rain eventually stopped, but the clouds were still surrounding us, and it was kinda scary.

But, nevertheless, we got dressed for the concert, and we went there.

With a camera.

CAMERA.

“No, no, you cannot take that in with you!”

“OK, but what can we do?“

„Leave it in the car“

„But, we don't have a car.“

„Well...“

And than that blank look, you know, the look that only people from security have...

So I ran to our home, for those few days, and left the camera, walked for a mile and got a Coke, and I did all that in 10 minutes.

I was soaking wet when I got there, and My Little Bird, said „Well I'm going to get you a handkerchief“.

I needed like, 20 of them.

She went, came back in ten minutes, sat on the ground next to me, and said : „Can you see how the rest of the people dressed“

I started fainting out. I knew what's going on.

She was in a amazing black dress, and all of the rest of the folks were wearing jeans and shirts.

So I said, through laughter, and hoping it'll all end up like a joke, „Do you wanna go home a get your jeans?“

She said( silently )„Well...maybe, we have like 30 more minutes.“

As you can guess, especially if you're a guy, she went.

Twenty minutes passed.

Some guy and some girl appeared and the guy started singin' „Guess things happen that way“.

I was trying to get in contact with My Girl, but She was on the phone.

The guy that was singing was M Ward, and the girl was Ravi Shankar's daughter.

My girl appeared while talking to her best friend on the phone.

I hugged her.

Everything was OK...

And somebody said when he saw her “Is this Norah”?.

And believe me, people , My Girl is much more beautiful than that…

He played couple more of more songs with her, like Willie Nelson's „Permanently lonely”, and “One life away”

And then she left the stage to, hm , get dressed, who would have thinked :0)

And then he played one instrumental, and an amazing version of Bowie's “Let's dance“

It was amazing

Then the concert we all waited for started. The people from Czech Republic were singing next to us. Not too loud, luckily, most of the time...

Anyway, the concert was great, started with Norah on guitar playing new version of „Come away with me“ and finished with „Don't know why“

More about the time we spent in Pula later...

Don't we look nice?

2007-07-25T07:54:00.000+02:00

Well, Milica and me are now together for only a year, and we have 2,5 year-old little girl,
as you can see in the picture, and Laci, no arguments, please :0)
We went to one church in Sombor, Vojvodina, on Sunday, Laci was preaching there , and we were singing couple of songs, and in our free time we were playing with Lea, who calls Milica:
"Mimi" or "Mimica", and I am "Andej", or "Adej".

And we had a good time, it was a good service.
And when we were leaving people wished us a blessed life for us and our little girl.
Well, we started to laugh very hard, but it's not such a bad idea,
and now it's on the internet so it must be true

So Laci, when can we pick her up?

P.S I don't want to confuse anyone, so, for you who don't know, Lea is our pastors' and his wife's(of course :0)) child, who we love very much

Son of Beast

2007-07-24T09:48:00.000+02:00

Not Erik, my nephew, but the B.C.Rich guitar
:0)

Summertime...

2007-07-17T10:38:00.000+02:00

...and the living in easy...

it's too hot to write anything else now
Later

It's going down!

2007-07-02T07:19:00.000+02:00

Well, that does it.
My room is facing the sun, and every day at 4:30, 5 in the morning sun wakes me up, in a very malicious way, and of course it ruins my day, 'cause I have enormous headaches after that, and I can't stand that anymore.
So I've decided, that I'll do something about it, and not something short-term like switch rooms , or move my bed so it doesn't face the sun, but something long-term, like, maybe turn it off( like Mr.Burns in Simpsons :0)).
I'm not sure what do I have to do to get to that point, maybe I'll have to join the Scientology church, or maybe some of the major parties, I'd even become a communist for that!
Anyway, Sun, be prepared!

Death Is Not The End

2007-06-29T10:27:00.000+02:00

I don't know what would the Man himself now say about this song
but, for some reason I find this song very comforting.
You may say it's naive, and not up to his standards,
and you may be right, but I find the Real Truth in these words

If you're a Dylan fan, you'll know where to find it
If you're not, but you're willing to straighten up your ways :0)
you can find this on 1988 "Down in the Groove"

And of course, if you're not too familliar with his work, please don't start with this album
Anyway, I hope that some of you will find these lyrics comforting as much as I do

When you're sad and when you're lonely and you haven't got a friend
Just remember that death is not the end
And all that you've held sacred,
falls down and does not mend
Just remember that death is not the end

Not the end,
not the end
Just remember that death is not the end

When you're standing at the crossroads
that you cannot comprehend
Just remember that death is not the end
And all your dreams have vanished
and you don't know what's up the bend
Just remember that death is not the end

Not the end,
not the end
Just remember that death is not the end

When the storm clouds gather 'round you,
and heavy rains descend
Just remember that death is not the end
And there's no one there to comfort you,
with a helpin' hand to lend
Just remember that death is not the end

Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end

Oh, the tree of life is growing
Where the spirit never dies
And the bright light of salvation shines
In dark and empty skies
When the cities are on fire with the burning flesh of men
Just remember that death is not the end
And you search in vain to find just one law abiding citizen
Just remember that death is not the end
Not the end, not the end
Just remember that death is not the end...

My hometown( My city of ruins)

2007-06-11T08:36:00.000+02:00

The Town I'm living in was wounded 16 years ago. It was raped, mutilated, and eventually died due to fatal wounds.
3 months of siege, and 6 months of most horrible war destroyed My Town totally.
Vukovar died in pain in November of 1991.
It was dead for a lot of years, and it's slowly resurrecting now.
I didn't think it will, I must admit.
I've spent my most important years, years from 10-19 in Novi Sad. I usually say I grew up there.
As a kid I couldn't understand all that shooting, bombing, running to the basement at night.
When my family left just before the siege, but after many fights we survived through, we watched everything on TV, and it seemed so unreal.

We saw destroyed buildings that we cared for, we saw bodies on the streets, blood, we heard about lot of people getting killed. Friends. Family. People we never knew.
I think it wasn't really real for me 'til I was 12-13.
Then I started realizing that the place of birth, and childhood doesn't exist anymore. It was painful and I never made peace with that.

It's hard even now, to see how it's destroyed. To hear stories of people that lived through all of that, and saw everything no one ever hopes to see.

I still don't know why it all happened. And I'm not talking about politics now.

I know that God gave us free will, to live or die, sin or refrain from sinning, let live or kill.

I especially don't understand that part;

Why did He give us free will to do that?

Anyway, I love my town, I loved it then, I love it now.
It's a small town(50000 citizens then, 35000 now) for those who have never been here, but it was really good for living, and I hope it will be again someday.

I don't know when... but I hope it will be soon.

Hurt doesn't just go away easily, but I hope that God will give us strength to rise up.

Here are few wise words from the Boss

“Now with these hands
I pray lord
With these hands
For the strength Lord
With these hands
For the faith Lord
With these hands
I pray Lord
With these hands
For the strength Lord
With these hands
For the faith Lord
With these hands...“

Livin' on the road, my friend...

2007-06-01T08:16:00.000+02:00

I'm really disappointed with the music "industry" these days.
I mean they call it INDUSTRY!
Isn't that just horrible?
I just read something about Lynyrd Skynyrd, and, I don't know, road rock stories are so romantic, aren't they?
16-17 year old guys, in the middle of nowhere, learned to play instruments, take someone's van, and drive to some "Battle of the bands" or whatever.
And if they're good enough...well, it's a history now...
All that touring, being on the road, loud guitars, friendships. Band being one family.
(Just to make sure, that everyone understands, I'm not talkin' about Lynyrd particularly, I just used them as an example.)
And of course there were so many bad things , like alcohol(I mean, too much of it), drugs, promiscuity, but it could and it can be different.
Now record companies try to invent a band that people, or mostly teenagers, will listen.
It's just wrong...
So, here my plea, if anyone wants to form a band, but like a real band, not the "wepracticeeverytwomonths" kind of band, quit you're jobs and follow me. :0)
To make music and play it.
I know this cry is in vain, but I had to try.
Tours, roads, friends, rock n' roll...OK, and beer,but in moderate, I don't need drunk, depressed musicians around. If you don't behave yourself, you'll get non-alcoholic one, and there's nothing more awful than that.I'll be a tough boss.

25 'til the end

2007-05-30T12:23:00.000+02:00

I'm turning 26 in few days. I refuse to do that. I just made peace with being 25 years old and now I have to change everything again. And the same thing happens every year.
Not this year.
Not because I'm vain, but I'll be closer to 30 than 20 and that scares me.
This stops now.

One more list

2007-05-23T10:18:00.000+02:00

This is so not important, but I'll still do it 'cause I don't update my blog that often, so I'm tryin' to fix that but I don't have much to say...

So here's a list of songs that are running through my head these days

Radiohead-Nude
Procol Harum-A Whiter shade of pale
U2-Miracle Drug
Miles Davis-Time after time
Jeff Tweedy-King of carrot flowers
Grateful Dead-Ripple
Dead Kennedys-Kill the Poor
M Ward-Chinese Translation(thanx,Jackie,I can't stop listening this one!)
Keith Whitley-I'm no stranger to the rain
Ben Harper-She's only happy in the sun
Beck-Everybody's gotta learn sometimes
Modest Mouse-Parting of the sensory
Uncle Tupelo-No depression
Son Volt-Circadian Rhytm
The Replacements-Bastards of young
The Be Good Tanyas-In my time of dying
Ryan Adams-A kiss before I go
Mavericks-Blue moon
Jimi Hendrix Expirience-Manic depression
Nirvana-Even in his youth
Lambchop-Beer before the barbican
Bonnie Prince Billy-I see a darkness
Bruce Springsteen-I'm going down
The Shins-Kissing the lipless
Wilco-You are my face
Eric Clapton-Next time you see her
Van Morrison-Into the mystic
Cream-Strange brew
The Stranglers-Golden Brown
Tom Waits-I don't wanna grow up
Dylan-Every grain of sand

I could write more, but it would've been a long list

and I know this is a strange mix
some of the songs I probably won't remember that long, but now I like them

I hope you find something you like

The Moviemaker

2007-05-21T07:35:00.000+02:00

Martin Scorsese(or Marty, as Rob( de Niro) and me call him) is one of my heroes.
There are many reasons for that, and I will not talk about all of them now.

Sometimes I just can't understand why is he using that much violence in his movies.
I can understand sometimes, but I think that in most cases he just wants us to feel sick.
And sometimes I do feel that way, literally.

I love his movies. "Goodfellas" is one of my favorites, and
there is one I don't wanna see ever again, and that's "Cape fear". If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about.
Of course, I love "No direction home", and not just for Dylan, but I like the way that the movie is made.

And now I'm comin' to my point, and here it is.
Music in his movies is just perfect.I saw "The Departed" last night,and it shocked me in some scenes, but music just perfectly fits in the entire movie.

I was always amazed by the great original movie music,
and the good usage of already recorded songs also,
and this guy's pics are a great example for that.

So if you haven't discovered that yet, I would recommend you to take some time and do it

Not so bad times...

2007-05-18T10:18:00.000+02:00

There are so many things that make me mad, in my life , and in this world in general.
Money, people who control the world, weather, snow in the middle of the summer(ok,this didn't happen here yet, but I heard that somewhere did...),
then, people who don't understand what I'm sayin' , so I feel like I have to speak louder, but I really don't , so it's better if I keep my mouth shut,
and just keep on destroying my guitar, in Neil Young's way.

Of course there are more things that bother me, wars, nuclear weapons,breaking of guitar strings, schools, proffessors, different languages, expensive beer,
and Shania Twain's CD's havin' the same price as CD's with actual music.
I really don't think that's right,
and I think cheap beer, if not FREE, is a basic human right.
I'm kinda mad today, but there are lot of good things actually happenning.

God is still present in my life, and I still don't understand his patience,
and understanding

I have a girlfriend, wonderful in many ways, and I'm very much thankful to God for her patience too...
And there is something else...

My friends' and pastor's and occassional co-drinker's wife is pregnant.

Their first kid Lea is crazy,monkey-like,very, very smart, and she can get from me anything she wants.
I would do anything for her, even when she's not being too good.
Just don't tell her that :0)

So another one's comin' and I can't wait to meet him/her

Congratulations Nemeths, I'm really happy for you...
We're all waiting...

Chelsea Hotel no 3

2007-05-04T07:19:00.000+02:00

I'm a music fanatic,I must admit,and I'm not ashamed of being one.
When I bought Leonard Cohen's "Greatest Hits" record,I emphasise RECORD,
played it on my gramophone(turntable,if you will),
I was amazed.
Combination of his guitar and voice, that's becoming deeper and darker,
with every song,
wow, it was a kind of a revelation for me.

On that record there's one song I just had to listen over and over again.
It was "Chelsea Hotel no 2".
On the cover he says :
"I wrote this for American singer who died a while ago.
She used to stay at Chelsea, too(...)".

Later I found out it's about Janis Joplin, and their "affair"...
For you who don't know it,it's a very cruel song, in my opinion,
and I don't like to think about those words too much.

So I took the liberty to make a cover(that's not finished,if I might add)
and call it "Chelsea Hotel no 3".
I'm sure Cohen wouldn't mind...
(I believe that he would be my fan, if he knew about me :0))

But this version is free of any negative meaning,
it has many mistakes,and the sound is not too good,
but I still hope you like it.
My friend Chris offered me to publish it on his blog
(which is, I have to say,no offense to others,
the best blog I've ever seen)
and I'm glad he did.
Here's a link www.passivemomentum.net/blog
(maybe it's not really a link,but that's the name so just type it)

OK
That's it
Hope I didn't bore you

p.s.Chris thanks for your words on your post,
and thanks for posting this
Read you...

That's the girl...

2007-05-03T08:54:00.000+02:00

Sretan ti rodjendan,Milice...
(which in translation from Northern Ugandese means "Happy Birthday,Milica")

My nephew Erik

2007-05-02T08:05:00.000+02:00

Teethless,teethless,teethless
Is that a Neil Young song? :0)

We never change

2007-04-24T08:54:00.000+02:00

This kid here is(was) me 11 years ago.That old guy :0) is my friend and guitar teacher at the time Jan.
Do we really ever change?
Are faces, bodies do, of course...
My hair is mostly gone,I don't even care anymore
But do WE really change
I think that kid in the pic was thinking the same things as I am now...

Jan,hvala za sliku
to je nova godina 1996,zar ne?

Our first year together

2007-04-18T08:37:00.000+02:00

Today's a big day.
Our first anniversary
She has served me well,and she's been good to me
I dropped her few times,but nothing happenned,no consequences
No bruises or anything
She puts up with everything with me,
when I'm nervous,
or I just had a bad day,
I just throw her to my bed
or somewhere in the room...
Noone else could stand my behaviour
But she doesn't say anything,and when I need her she's there again...
I can't belive that
And when I want her to shut up...

...well...

I just turn down the volume

:0)

Proud to be Ruthenian!

2007-04-10T09:41:00.000+02:00

I'm proud to say that I've found out that the Magnum himself,
the Man with the Moustache,
One of three fathers of the same baby,
Monica's boyfriend etc.
is of my ethnicity,
Ruthenian(or Rusin,Rusyn).
I'm thinkin' about forming a Ruthenian club in Vukovar called Tom Selleck,and we'll contact him and he'll make a great comeback.

There are not many of us,and we have to help each other

Tom here's a hand,take it...

If you want to find more about my people go to wikipedia and type in Ruthenians or Rusyns

(Post)Modern life

2007-04-02T08:59:00.000+02:00

Mp3 players,Ipod's,things to keep us from hearing other people.(this is hypocritical I know).
Magazines,articles how to improve yourself for your wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend.
So we would be accepted...

Books on how to be a better a person,to believe in yourself,lookin' in the mirror everyday and saying :"You are a wonderful person,I love you"(silly,ain't it?)

Trying to look like a rock/movie star.Model.
Being thinner,and thinner.Trying to be someone else...

Alienation,alcohol,porn,illegal,drugs,legal drugs.
Antideppressives.Pills to help you cope with everyday's life.Help you function.
Sleeping pills,downers,alcohol,things that help you get away.To release you from pain.

"Morning after"pills.
Do anything you feel like without consequences.
There's no such thing as sin,anyway.
It's a Vatican scheme.

Don't think about life just live it.
Do anything you need to survive.
Cheat,lie,steal.Everybody's doing it.
If you're not, you're gonna get screwed.
You don't want that...

Safety alarms,dogs,guns,bats,knives.
Fear for your own life...

Don't talk about your private life.
Nothing personal.
Don't let people intrude.
You could get hurt.

I'm not sayin' anything new,I know.
I'm not a preacher,and God help us all,I'll never be...

But is this the life that Our Creator wants for us?
Is this the life we want to live?
Is this the life we're livin'?
Sometimes,unfortunately I do...

In my opinion everything we need is:
the Word of God,the One who gave us free will to do wrong or right...
Who went through agony for us...

We also need some love for our neighbours.
Being with loved ones;wives/husbands/girlfriends/boyfriends/kids/parents.
Each one is equally important

And some rest from this dark,insane world.
And music(good music...)
And to keep it simple...
To go back to essentials...

Proverbs 4:10-27

Spot the difference

2007-03-22T10:50:00.000+01:00

Not too late

2007-03-12T09:18:00.000+01:00

I always liked her music
From the moment I first heard her,I thought:"Man,she has to be the best singer in the world!".
She probably isn't...doesn't really matter
I have like a 800-1000 albums.Not kidding.And I got most of it before all this internet stuff.
Maybe 10 or 15 are female singers.
Joan Baez(which I'm not a fan of btw)-Diamonds...
Carole King-Tapestry
Diana Krall-OK,I have all of her albums
Vonda Shepard-Songs from Ally McBeal
Bessie Smith-Collection

Four of of those female singer albums are Norah's
You know I'm not misogynic or something like that,it just happenned that way,beacuse of all the guitar stuff etc etc

Her albums, I listen very often
When I started knowing my then future to be girlfriend "Come away with me" came out.That was in 2002
So there's that special connection too.(sorry if this is too personal...)
All of things she does are just so great,and make me so peaceful,don't know why(yeah,I started with titles...)
Anyway,I'm talking about her new album,which I reccommend to everyone.
Don't expect same stuff,she's been listening Tom Waits too,apparently
OK,I don't wanna spoil it for you
Just listen to Norah and...I don't know do anything you feel like

I'll probably just lay down and disconnect from the rest of the world for a while...
Lost in music,I think that's the expression...
We all need it sometimes

Here's one verse for the end

"And time won't pass us by
And you won't tell me lies
someday we all have to die
...but not now...

Live on...

Albums for rainy days

2007-03-08T09:57:00.000+01:00

In place where I live March is the month of rain.
So here's a list of some albums that seem to be made for those days
And some of them don't really fit into that category,but I see them like that
It's not in order,and it would probably be different some other day.
But,today it looks like this

1.Djordje Balasevic-Naposletku(if you don't know this guy ask Rob)
2.Leonard Cohen-Ten new songs
3.Iron and Wine-Ou endles numbered days
4.David Gray-A new day at midnight
5.Norah Jones-Come away with me
6.Radiohead-The Bends
7.U2-How to dismantle an atomic bomb
8.Bob Dylan-Another Side of Bob Dylan
9.Bruce Springsteen-Devils and Dust
10.Damien Jurado-Reherseals for Departure
11.Leonard Cohen-Greatest hits
12.Colpplay-Parachutes
etc.

and here are some rainy day songs

1.Jack Johnson-Banana Pancakes(too obvious I know)
2.U2-Bad
3.Balasevic-Nevena
4.Leonard Cohen-The Faith
5.Dylan-Dark eyes
6.U2-Miss Sarajevo
7.Tom Waits-Hold on
8.Coldplay-Sparks
9.Dylan-When the deal goes down
10.Neil Young-Birds

Sorry for not putting in Rainy Day Women... :0)

All things must pass...

2007-03-06T10:34:00.000+01:00

These days are hard for me.

I'm not focused on anything as I would like to be.
We all have problems,hard times,and times that we think that there's no way out.

That's probably cause we don't see the whole picture.
God does.I forget that.Very often.

I'm glad that Lord(and my pastor too)know that I'll screw up.Many times.
I often think that I should not do things I do,like leading worship,cause I don't feel worthy to do that.And I'm not.

But God didn't choose saints.
He probably wouldn't find any on this earth.
One of my friends told me that he can't understand how can God use people like us at all.
And I can't either.
I'm just thankful that He is.
He helps me through people around me...all you friends that are far away from here(thank God for internet too).

And he helps me through music and poetry
Last couple of days were so crazy that I thought I'll explode or escape...

God talks through Bible of course...
But He gave me these few words from Paul Simon this morning:

"Many's the time I've been mistaken
and many times confused
yes,and I often felt forsaken
and certaintly misused

Oh,but I'm alright,
I'm alright
I'm just weary to my bones
still,you don't expect me to be bright and bonvivant
so far away from home,
so far away from home

And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
or driven to its knees
But it's alright,alright
for we lived so well so long
still when I think of the road we're travelin' on
I wonder what went wrong
I wonder what went wrong..."

This helped me a lot today

I hope I didn't depress you all

And the winner is-the Departed

2007-03-05T09:37:00.000+01:00

I laughed so hard at this.Although it's not really funny.It's from Croatina Magazine called Feral Tribune.It refers to ICJ's verdict for Bosnia,and him dying before the end of trial in Hague.I'm him comitting suicide.OK.Doesn't matter.
But the pic is funny

Invitation to all

2007-03-05T08:55:00.000+01:00

I like listening to other people's thoughts,so everyone comment anything you like.OK?

me stupid

2007-03-02T12:31:00.000+01:00

I'm aware of mistakes I've made in writing but still don't know how to use this,to fix it.I'll learn

Well,well

2007-03-02T10:52:00.000+01:00

Seems that I have a blog.Millions of you asked me when will I start all of that(cause,you are probably tired of my "wise" comments,so here it is.
I don't know will I have time,or patience to write anything.But I'll try.If anyone cares.
I don't have a prepared topic now,cause this is all so sudden,so you'll forgive me.
OK
That's it for now

and it'll have to be in Croatian and English and I'm to lazy for that
so I don't know does this have any sense at all

Later

Andrej