Luggage

Our language, our souls' only treasure,
We stuffed in the suitcase
Next to the family album,
And off we went to tilt it at the windmills
Beating the chilly Dutch air.

(Ferida Duraković)

Jobs

Hope to meet him at least when I cross over, though one can never be sure what we'll cross over to now that he's gone there.

Home

1. What was the name of the country in the south of Europe that fell apart in 1991?
a) Yugoslovakia,
b) Yugoslavia,
c) Slovenakia.

2. What was the name of the inhabitants of that country?
a) The Yugoslavs,
b) the Mungoslavs,
c) the Slavoyugs.

3. Where do these people, whose country has disappeared, live now?
a) They are no longer alive,
b) They are barely alive,
c) They have moved to another country.

4. What should people who have moved to another country do?
a) They should integrate,
b) They should disintegrate,
c) They should move to yet another country.

Transylvania

At the lake Bâlea, atop the Făgăraș Mountains
Carpatians, Romania

A leave taking

A video announcing A leave taking, the debut solo album by Bill Ryder-Jones (2011). The forthcoming album was inspired by Italo Calvino's novel 'If On A Winter Night A Traveller'.
In order to listen to 'A Leave Taking Soundrack', press here.
The above video is directed by the very same young photographer/video artist whom Gem showcased here a year or so ago: Adeline Mai.

A soundtrack to a weekend

A music video for 'A Thing For Me' by Metronomy: the band from Devonshire (UK) behind the Mercury Prize nominated album 'The English Riviera' of this year.
The song above is from 'Night Out', Metronomy's preceding album described by the band as 'a soundtrack to a tumulous weekend' (2008).

Li Lately

This is the latest in the series of videos by Lykke Li.
The song, Sadness is a Blessing, is from her recent 'Wounded Rhymes' album.
The man appearing in the video is Stellan Skarsgård, an well known Swedish actor.
Directed by Tarik Saleh.