Microbo and I will argue about what enthusiasm is in general, this because we both like to argue, both like debate and dialogue, and normally I think enthusiasm is a sign of stupidity. She doesn’t. I’m stupid. It’s not a knock. Love is usually stupid too, but how high does it rate on your priority scale? I like enthusiastic people, I’m just saying … enthusiasm and expectation, add ‘em up and what gets subtracted?
Anyway, this time a guy calling himself Chaos approached us and put us on to a nice wall in a local park. He put us on to it and pushed it to us, sharing his ideas that the work of these Big Geezers would offer some inspiration to artists and activists living in Budapest and motivate Graffiti Writers to seek out new lines. This is a big part of what this tour is about … and this time the collaboration was extended to this city … only pity, the wall is gonna come down in about a month, but hell, well that’s part of tour too … so temporary I’ve already forgotten half of it.
Later we’d do an interview on Chaos’ radio show. Interviews are never easy. In a way, they can only always be wrong and it is difficult not to betray the subject with the story … but the mood was cool, skinning and drawing and laughing …
The last day, I had a sort of surreal 5 hour bike ride with Landry. Check the pictures.
On our ride we found a protest against fascism that reminded me of a family picnic in an Ohio suburb, except that it was all fenced in and there were loads of cops around. We couldn’t be sure if this was to keep the demonstrators in or the fascists out. We entered neighborhoods where children stared at Landry as if he were a tall, long haired blond arriving in India a decade ago. To get to the point, there was plenty to stop and soak in all over the place. I’m just tossing images he didn’t share with the other snapshots here.
If you go to Budapest, after spending a few days in awe of her beauty and digging the remnants of a real bohemian vibe, get a bike and cross the bridge, then cross the other one … you’ll find the wall of fame, thousands of apartments crammed into skyscrapers and neon advertisements for companies who surely operate on the other side of the bridge – pretty fucking barren, and another place to find some beauty in Budapest.
Big Nuts. Skun up such fatty boys last night at the Wien Camping, Jakob and his friends were nice enough to welcome us with Russian Vodka and Austrian Schnapps, and the campers next to the Alfredo managed to turn off our electricity. Coskeun’s strategy is to wake up when the sweat soaks the pillow, turn it and take on the other half of his sleep. If I were a pillow now, turning me wouldn’t help. Wi-Fi was everywhere in Budapest, finding a connection in Vienna has been a little tougher and I can’t be bothered to take my time now. How come Budapest is more hooked in to the Internet than Brussels or Vienna? I wonder.
While on we wander.
Read the Big Geezers Tour Diary Part 1: Copenhagen
Read the Big Geezers Tour Diary Part 2: Oslo
Read the Big Geezers Tour Diary Part 3: Warsaw
Read the Big Geezers Tour Diary Part 5: Vienna
Read the Big Geezers Tour Diary Part 6: Bratislava
Fotos: Landry A.
Words: Harlan Levey
