St. James Infirmary

One of my favorite blues songs. I find Hans Theessink's version a bit better, but the version I found on youtube has very poor quality of sound and video. Feeling a bit bluesy today...

Let it snow...

This weekend brought first snow blanket of the season to us. There were few snow-flakes on several occasions before that, but only in a really small dose. And this time we got a fair share of that. True- it won't last for a long time- first snow of the season rarely does, but it's still really beautiful outside. First sign of mother nature taking a well deserved rest for next 3 months... Enjoy it people- I know I am. Bon Hiver!!!

Starčevačka tamburica 2007

For second year in a row our tamburica group attended Starčevačka tamburica festival in little town of Starčevo in Serbia. The festival itself took place on the 3rd November- on Saturday. This year we decided to do some more sightseeing of Belgrade, so we departed Vinica in early hours of Friday. By the time we arrived in Belgrade it was already late morning.
Our guide did a great job in showing us most interesting sights in Belgrade. We only had one afternoon, so the tour was short, but we still managed to see Tito's mausoleum, Marakana stadium (and next to it house of Svetlana Ražnjatovič), the temple of St.Sava and Belgrade fort with Kalemegdan. In the evening we took a stroll in center of Belgrade, where we rounded the day with sampling of Serbian cuisine in a joint on Skadarlija street. Mouth watering experience. ;-)

Paying respect to el presidente

Confluence of Sava and Danube rivers

Most of Saturday we got ready for the festival- recovering from previous night, practising, and doing the sound check. The festival itself was even better than last year- great tamburica bands (from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia, Romania, and Hungary) and great players. I was particularly impressed by two prim players of bands from Osijek and Hungary. The first prize and prize of the public went to "Vojvođanski tamburaši" band from Novi Sad. I'm glad to say we performed even better than last year- the public was especially moved by the song "Ko te ima taj te nema", which they co-sang with Gašper. Altogether great-night! After festival all bands went to dinner, after which Kumanovski tamburaši and later ourselves provided entertaining.
What to say for the end? Damn I wanna go back. :-) The time's ticking slower back there. And with such a great entertainment and kind people who wouldn't want to come back...

Viniški tamburaši at the festival

Wedding - English style

As such things happen- I'm again a bit late. It's been almost 3 weeks since Natalija & Dan's wedding, and I promised I'd write something about it two weeks ago. Well, here it is. Better late than never I always say. ;-)
Let me start by saying I don't generally like weddings. Saying "I do" in front of a minister and huge crowd of people- half of which you don't even know, and signing a paper doesn't make relationship any stronger. If relationship is bound to fail it is going to fail anyway. And if it is bound to last it's gonna last. I always perceived wedding as a show and big party for relatives. Sure- if you're traditionalist and you like such things it's OK. If not, and you're doing it just to make parents happy- don't do it. It's not the end of the world, and nobody's going to die if it doesn't happen. ;-)
Natalija & Dan's wedding was event I really enjoyed though. One was able to see, these two were having fun, they invited close friends and family and took great care in organizing it. And they really care about each other. There was a protocol as it was still a wedding, but everything went so smooth and without unnecessary stress and anxiety. Like a really close ceremony and dinner party among friends. I even loved church ceremony- it was short, and for the types of weddings I'm familiar with- really unorthodox- among prayers and hymns English translation of Slovene love song and Apache wedding wows were read. Even priest helped by chasing any possible stress with making funny faces. ;-)
The reception afterwards was also memorable- great speeches, loads of emotions, great band, and afterwards great party. It was really easy to fit in, and catch up with people you haven't seen a long time, and meet new people.
What I didn't like was the closing time. ;-) At midnight music stopped& we had to leave. Back home the party would last till early morning and even a bit longer. You can't have everything though. As our flight was due in the morning I was able to catch at least some sleep, although we did some extra drinking at the hotel.
What else to say at the end but - I wish a long and happy marriage to Natalija and Dan.