OLD NEWS
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NOVEMBER TWENTY FIFTH TWO THOUSAND SIX IÕve been really, really sick for the past two weeks. I
went to work on Tuesday and ended up hunched over throwing up hearts into a
trashcan near my desk. It was the high IÕd been looking for. Thankfully, I am
feeling a million times better now. Yesterday I was well enough to watch
skate videos with a bunch of dudes, and tag on the train with MKB. Also, I am going to New York next week [Dec 1 – Dec
6]. People should call me. I lost my cellular phone and all of the numbers
inside of it. BUMMER. It is two pm and I am in my pajamas listening to Ciara. Love, Martine |
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OCTOBER TWENTY FOURTH TWO
THOUSAND SIX I'm shooting a video this
weekend entitled, White People Be Like, Black People Be Like. It will be up on this site shortly after, maybe.
Also, I made a new zine. If you want one, you should e-mail me your address. This weekend I was in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There was lots of bro-ing down. First, I was called an
"underground undergrad," then I danced on the moon to Baltimore
hard house with Norwegians. I also decided that Paul Cowan is the next big
thing. Watch out for him. I apologize for the mediocre
update. I really just wanted to put up a picture of this sweet console [by
Scott Reeder]. Love always, Martine |
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AUGUST FOURTH TWO THOUSAND
SIX SAUNA PARTY '06 I am back in the United
States and it feels amazing. It took twenty-one hours to get back to Los
Angeles. Thank you American Airlines. From now on, I'm flying in my private
jet. We were stuck at JFK for seven hours. My last week in Finland was
lackluster. I had to move houses, my train pass expired, I was broke, and
there was no one to take me anywhere. I spent most of my time watching
whatever English-language films came on television. The highlight of my week
was watching The Bodyguard. On Monday I decided to risk
it and I rode the train to Helsinki. After five weeks of never being asked to
show a ticket, naturally, the day I ride without one they ask me for it. I
got fined 66 euros. I left Finland the next day. Thanks to all the Finns who
put up with me this past month. If you ever come to Chicago, you're welcome
to stay with me. Love, Martine |
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JULY TWENTY FOURTH TWO
THOUSAND SIX SAUNA PARTY '06: WEEK FOUR This week was extremely mellow. Asia came
to join the party at the Rommi House. Baby A [this is how I am supposed to
refer to Asia from now on] and I started our Finnish language course at the
University of Helsinki. The class is taught by the scariest looking man
alive. He name is Tarmo. We've only got a week left and it's hard to take the
class seriously. I feel bad because me and A just laugh the entire time,
while everyone else is desperately trying to learn the language. Plus,
Finnish is so gnarly. My favorite word is either "rakastaa" or
"vitu" ["love" and "fuck" respectively.]. I'll
talk to you in Finnish if you ask me to. On Thursday we made
breakfast: pancakes, eggs, bacon, orange juice, etc. They called it
"American Style." My host day was fully into it. He's not supposed
to eat bacon because of his cholesterol, but my host mom made an exception
for the day and he was psyched. The next day they left for Amsterdam and
Katariina, Baby A, and I were left alone. We were supposed to go to
Stockholm this weekend, but all of the cabins were full. Also, my friends
were AWOL so we didn't have anywhere to stay. Instead we went to the library
and rented some movies [Monster, Paper Moon, and Melinda Melinda]. The summer
rains started and we busted out Helsinki Monopoly. Our neighbor
Petteri/Michael [who spend the last year in Oregon on exchange and misses the
US] came over and ruled Monopoly. My strategy is to break up everyone else's
monopolies, and it really annoyed him. Eventually, he got his hotels and I
landed on them one too many times. I had to sell all my properties to the
government. It hurt because I was killing it for a while. I owned the water
company and the electric company. Sunday was the best day of my
entire time here. We went to play tennis. Apparently, Finns love tennis. The
courts were packed. At first, Baby A and I were not feeling the game. We were
having a very chill P.E. style match and then suddenly one of us hit the ball
a little too hard, and we got serious Wimbledon-Venus-Serena. We were amped.
I hadn't played tennis since I was about nine years old and my form was
raunchy, but it was fun. Tomorrow we have to move
houses and I'm sad. I've been with the Rommi's for four weeks and they've
treated me like their own. Rakastaa, Martine |
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JULY SEVENTEENTH TWO THOUSAND
SIX SAUNA PARTY '06: WEEK THREE This week I had a drawing
class on Suomenlinna, the sea fortress and tourist hotspot. The commute took
two hours. The first day was extremely dull. After that, I realized that I
shouldn't start drawing until after lunch and the six hours would fly by. The
class was entirely Finnish and the teacher didn't know how to say much in
English. The critiques were a breeze. She would just wave her hand over an
area of my drawing and say something similar to, "This part, I
like." On Friday I went with
Katariina and her friends to the bar Yano ["thirst"]. We danced to
all the hot tracks. "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira was a crowd
favorite, as was "In Da Club" by 50 Cent. The girls were pretty
crunk, and I enjoyed watching them do vodka shots and flirt with guys. Paolo and Lisa [from the Echo
Park Film Center] were in town doing a film tour, accompanied by The Snow
[Hilary and Pierre]. The screening was great. People seemed to be enjoying
the films and there was a man in the audience who looked at least a hundred
years old. He was wearing trek sandals and just generally ruling. After the
screening we went to the bar owned by the Leningrad Cowboys and a dude named
Yki [ooki/icky] was trying to HOLLA at me all night. Yki also introduced us
to his brother Sampo, who was a "film director." Sampo and his
friends had gotten their music video on MTV Europe and they were all very
European-Hollywood. Yki was a benevolent fool, who was shit-faced and kept
asking me if I liked airplanes and if I had been to the top of the Sears
Tower. Once we all got back to the
apartment when they were staying, I just listened, while Paolo, Lisa, and
Pierre got into and intense debate about art, art making, populism,
communism, coddling, and telling people they suck. Also, let it be known that
Lisa Marr hates Belle&Sebastian. The next night they made a great Italian
feast. I brought Katariina and she said she had a good time. I only have two more weeks
left in Finland. Love, Martine |
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JULY NINTH TWO THOUSAND SIX SAUNA PARTY '06: WEEK TWO On Monday I dragged Katariina
with me to see Animal Collective play [with Islaja] at the Tavastia. It was
an amazing show. They played all the hits for the Finns. I guess they save
the slow-trippy-extended-jam-sesh for Chicago. The next day I went with my
host family to their summer cottage in Turku. We were there for most of the
week. It was off the coast of the Baltic Sea and surrounded by forest.
Despite the beauty of nature and all that, I realized that I cannot live
without the internet. My host family was super chill at the summer cottage
and spoke about 95% Finnish during our stay. It was really rad because I had
no idea what they were talking about. I mostly slept and listened to music
and wrote e-mails to be sent at a later time. I also sat on the shore a lot
and watched the sun "set." Once we returned to the city
it was back to all culture, all the time. I visited Turun Castle, Ainola,
former home of composer Jean Sibelius, Ahola, the villa dedicated to Juhani
Aho and painter Venny Solden-Brofeldt, the JŠrvenpŠŠ Art Museum,
Halosenniemi, former home of painter Pekka Halonen, and the cabin where
author Aleksis Kivi died. I also went to the library and got some hot Finnish
Music. Yesterday Asia and I went to
a party. Aalti [the host] asked everyone to speak English for us and for a
while people actually tried to. Finland is still cool, but I was way less amped about the
wilderness this week. I start class tomorrow and I hope it doesn't suck.
There are more pictures, click my HESBURGER meal to see them. I miss most everyone. Love, Martine |
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JULY SECOND TWO THOUSAND SIX SAUNA PARTY '06: WEEK ONE The Midnight Sun is a trip!!!
I keep waking up at four in the morning because I think it is later. There
are at least twenty hours of sunlight. It is amazing. Also, thank you Wendy
for the eyemask. It is a lifesaver, for reals. I met the mayor of JŠrvenpŠŠ
on Wednesday. He didn't speak much English and gave us a painful speech about
the town. He was embarrassed about his English and explained that in school
he'd learned German instead, so I spoke some terrible Finnish to make him
feel better. He gave Asia [the other student] and I passes to all the
museums, tickets to Puistoblues, and books about Jean Sibelius. Puistoblues was fun. I got to
see Finns going wild and see Buddy Guy perform. Today we went to the summer
cottage [mškke] of Sampo and Marianna [long-time friends of my host family].
SO RAD. Sampo's family has owned the land since the sixties and built the
house out of the trees from their
forest. It was beautiful. I rowed a boat for the first time, ate a
lot, and went in the sauna. Bottom-line: Finland rules,
HARD. Click the picture to see more. Love, Martine |
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JUNE TWENTY FIFTH TWO
THOUSAND SIX From here on out, this
website is what we'll call a "work-in-progress." In two hours I will be on a
plane to FINLAND to listen to black metal and ride bikes. I still haven't
packed. It's terrible. I'll be back in Los Angeles in August, and back in
Chicago in September. Luckily, Finland is digital.
Check back soon for picture from SAUNA PARTY SUMMER '06. I will probably miss you, so
e-mail me or download SKYPE. Love, Martine |
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JUNE SIXTH TWO THOUSAND SIX This site is not completely
done yet. My most recent prints have not been documents, and are hanging out
in storage and I'm not ready to show my newest video. They will be up soon,
until then check out the other gems I have to offer. Right now I am listening to
Destiny's Child. Beyonce Knowles is dumb as a rock, but damn she can sing. Also, I'm back in Los Angeles
and I never want to see another Lakers jersey again. Love, Martine |
© 2006 MARTINE SYMS