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October 30, 2005
Haydns Schopfung fur Kinder
So this is my second photo shoot for another workshope. This time there was a workshop between some members of Tonkunstler Orchestera Niederosterreich and yes, more kids and their parents were allowed to participate this time. Unfortunately my german isn't so good yet so I wasnt able to speak much with the members or the kids but it was fun to watch and shoot.
Posted by Victor at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)
October 29, 2005
Monika, mein liebling
I took this after Monika and I went to eat at this place called Centimeter. You can order bread warm or cold with different types of toppings and you pay 15cents a centimeter. They have a nice selection of draft beer and also other food to eat. There are Centimeters all over the place. This night we walked to a new Centimeter on the Gurtel by Georg's house. He is in Italy with Tini. We've been having warmer weather and we wanted to take a nice walk to talk. Soon the cold weather will return and we will be turning the clocks back an hour too. :-(
Posted by Victor at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2005
Lugner City
Lugner City is a place where you can go shopping all day, go watch a movie and then have dinner afterward. Its like a mini mall. These places arent so common in Vienna but are popping up more and more these days. They have a late night, on thursdays, when the shops stay open as late at 9pm!! Its really radical changes usually the shops are closed by 6 or 7pm the latest.
Posted by Victor at 11:36 AM | Comments (2)
October 27, 2005
The Tunnel
Breakfast for 2.50 euro!! What a bargin. and there are always interesting people there. Its my new hang out after school. I'm speaking more spanish than I do back in NewYork. 6 of my classmates are spanish! and these two girls in these photos are Austrians that speak spanish!! My other friend Tini speaks spanish also. Adios!
Posted by Victor at 08:13 PM | Comments (0)
October 26, 2005
Fall
Its definitely fall. We've had a sought of Indian Summer. Temps have been about 20 degrees the past 3 days. Very nice. and yes Kev, we had a frosting already. haha. ;-)
Posted by Victor at 08:05 PM | Comments (1)
October 25, 2005
Mushrooms for Andrew
Andrew came over and we had a great evening just talking and drinking and he even played on our out of tune piano. So on his website he has a picture of a mushroom and so when i saw this mushroom I wanted to shoot it for him. Hope you had a good flight home. Send me a link to hear the radio Broadcast, I missed it. ;-)
Posted by Victor at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)
There's always a BARTY at the Orange Monkey!
Our friend dropped by before he went back home to Australia, many people that I know think I'm down under. I'm in Austria! Vienna! haha.
here is a link to his site : http://toysatellite.org/agarton/
Posted by Victor at 07:52 PM | Comments (1)
October 24, 2005
Gurtel Brau
A nice bar/lounge under the u6.
Posted by Victor at 07:20 PM | Comments (0)
October 23, 2005
Reflections
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October 22, 2005
Albertina
Went to Albertina today to see a Janus Kounellis exhibit. It was very interesting and fun to go see his photos. There was also an exhibit of photos taken in Wien from 1850 to 1914. There was a Rudolf von Alt exhibit. There was a preiview of an exhibit that will come in December of Egon Schiele.
Posted by Victor at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2005
Stadt Park & Johan Strauss
So today in German class there was a picture of a statue of Johan Strass in Stadt Park. So I decided to go and take pictures of the tourist taking pictures of the statue. I have to give credit to Martin Fuchs because I saw him do things like this on his blog. Martin is a friend of mine who in NewYork currently though he is originally Austrian. Any how I thought this would be more interesting than taking a photo of the statue itself.
Posted by Victor at 03:15 PM | Comments (2)
October 20, 2005
Victoria
For those of you who don't know, Victoria is my 10 year old daughter. The hardest part of my decision to come to Vienna was that I wouldn't see much of her now. I separated from her mother in early 1999 but because we all lived in the Bronx I enjoyed alot of time with Victoria. There were always times when her mother caused problems for what ever reasons when it came to scheduling time with Victoria but for the most part I worked around it and dealt with alot of nonsense. A couple of years ago Victoria moved upstate about an hour away. So began the slow decrease in the time that I got to spend with her. There was no co-operation from her mother and Victoria's and my time together began to be less and less. On top of it being less and less there was more resistance from her mother and at times from even Victoria. With out getting in too much details I think little by little I was weared down over the years of fighting and then later on having to compomise just to get a few hours in the weekend with Victoria.
So ultimately I thought it would a good time the way things were going anyway to take a break from the negativity surrounding that scenario. It is very emotionally draining.
Even so I know that there is a bond with Victoria. We've had many good times and we still have good times ahead of us. I really miss her. I call her on weekends but manytimes I get an answering machine. My emails go unanswered too, but I'll just keep writing and calling and it will be ok. Victoria is a great little girl. Here is a picture this past summer at my Bronx apartment. We were playing a lot of chess this summer. I taught Victoria how to play chess at the age of 3. It took some years for her to reach a level that she is aware of attacks on her pieces and I can see her trying to trick me or attack me. We have driven to Florida about 4 times. We drove to Canada last December and to Washington D.C. a couple of year before. We spent alot of time in central park and we still have two buried treasures there. We also spent alot of time in Orchard beach walking through the nature trails and at the beach side as well. She plays soccer too and her Gameboy.
Posted by Victor at 04:19 PM | Comments (3)
October 19, 2005
Heinz
Heinz is a friend of Monika and I. He always comes out good in photos I take of him.
Posted by Victor at 02:43 PM | Comments (1)
October 18, 2005
Work shop at Festpielhaus St. Polten
One more from the workshop I did. My photos will be given to the press at a press conference tomorrow at Festpielhaus St. Polten. Its very cool.
Posted by Victor at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2005
Dinner with friends
So an old friend of Monika's named Andrew was in town from Australia and another friend of her's, Dieter, that she went to school with invited all of us over to his house for dinner. After a busy weekend that I had at first I wasn't going to join them but as the evening came nearer and I got hungrier I decided to go. I'm really glad that I did. First off, getting there was an interesting bike ride into a neighborhood that reminded me of New York City. We were riding and all of a sudden I got the feeling of the Bronx. I was never scared or I never felt like we were in danger but the neighborhood changed. It was kind of desolate, the buildings suddenly weren't the beautiful colorful buildings that I've become accustom to seeing here. Block after block were these grayish bland apartment buildings. There were dark shadows and figures scuttling around the corners. The way the cars were parked even reminded me of New York City. Not much room in between them. I half expected to see a drug dealer on the corner or a bodega around the next turn. This neighborhood I think is the 4th district and behind Sud Bahnhof ( south train station ) There was even this sought of urban park we had to cross through to get to Dieter's house. There was graffitti and I heard some guys playing basketball ( on a sunday night at 8pm )
Entering the building we were met with the enticing oder of good home cooking and I inwardly hoped that was coming from where we were going. As we climbed up and we got to Dieter's door we realized it was. Dieter's apartment was very interesting an big compared to other apartments I've seen. He has an office space, a living room (with a cool collection of Cd's and records!), he has two balconies. On one balconies he grows vegetables and herbs that he uses to cook and on the other he grows flowers. He cooked a vegetable dish with soy sausage. It was a little spicy and very good. On the side was bread and a cabbage salad. It was very delicious and perfect for one of the coldest nights thus far this fall. Andrew is a electronic musician. We listened to one of his cd's that I enjoyed. We also listened to a group called Kraftwerk. I really liked this and Dieter had a copy ready for us to take home. Monika, Andrew and Dieter were all friends or involved around the time that they were experimenting with virtual space and how it could be used in different ways to enhance, share and change the creative process. We discussed how that has come along and then we went on a tangent of online gaming communities and then into philosiphical discussions of whether or not we are always alone regardless of our physical surroundings or situation. We even touched on religion a little bit. I have to say it was one of the best evenings I've had in awhile. It was a good ending to a great weekend.
Posted by Victor at 02:25 PM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2005
Kelly, Chris and Monika & the Bone room.
Monika's friend Kelly was in town from Germany with her husband on an organized tour. Saturday they had a break in their schedule and so we met up with them. We walked around Stephans Platz, stopped in the Wanner store, and then had a bite to eat in a nice Italian restaurant. Chris is in the military and is in a base in Germany. We went in to Stephans Kirche and they had a tour of the Catacombs underneath the Cathedral. So we waited about 15 minutes and then went on the tour. There were no pictures allowed but I sneaked one of the bone room. There are a few mass graves down there from when the Big Plague happened but also there were a few plagues at different times also.
Posted by Victor at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2005
Work shop at Festpielhaus St. Polten
This is Jim Vincent, the Artistict Director for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. I met him on Friday when I went to shoot a workshop done by the education department at Festspielhaus St. Polten. This was the first workshop out of five that will be done this season. The new education department is headed by Susanne Hofer. I was very excited to meet the dance company and have this opportunity to shoot them as well as how the kids interacted with them. I first was interested in seeing their performance back in September when I saw that they were going to be performing a piece by Susan Marshall, Kiss. I had seen some of her work at BAM when i worked there. After asking Jim about that piece I was looking forward to seeing it even more. This even marks a first for me. The first time I was hired to shoot photos as a professional. I was very nervous but after meeting the Dance company I felt very at ease and the rest is history.
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Work shop at Festpielhaus St. Polten
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Work shop at Festpielhaus St. Polten
Leading the second group of kids was Monica Trogani, the Rehersal Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
Posted by Victor at 07:16 AM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2005
Countryside Scenes
At least once a week Monika and I ride bike from St. Polten to Wein. I really enjoy the tranquillity of these rides and the scenery is amazing too.
Posted by Victor at 04:59 PM | Comments (0)
Countryside Scenes
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Astrid "Obi wan Kanobi"
She is a "forcefull" rider and co-worker of Monika's that joins us in our bike rides sometimes. She patiently awaits in the back of us until we hit the big hills. Then look out as her youthful and well trained limbs pull her a head and leave us in the distance cursing under our breath.
Posted by Victor at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
Susanne
Susanne, another one of Moinka's co-workers who joined us on one of our bike rides.
Posted by Victor at 07:28 AM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2005
Tribute to Alexander Wunderer (1877-1955)
Monika's father, D.I. Robert Wunderer gave a speech about his grandfather Alexander Wunderer, who his youngest son is named after. In his speach he spoke of his grandfather's love for music and attention to being on time. Robert talked of his childhood memories when he visited his grandfather. Alexander Wunderer was a composer of music. He played and taught the oboe. He was friends with composer Franz Schmidt. Alexander Wunderer composed the pieces played this evening called " Die Jahreszeiten in Ober St. Veit." After his marriage ended Alexander Wunderer spent three years at Ober St. Veit. There was a woman he fell in love with and they would have their friends all come over and play music together. These three years there and their romance inspired his composisition. Die Jahreszeiten in Ober St. Veit means the the seasons of Ober St. Veit and this series of composistions are songs that tell of the four seasons in Ober St. Veit.
Posted by Victor at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)
Tribute to Alexander Wunderer (1877-1955)
Posted by Victor at 01:48 AM | Comments (1)
Tribute to Alexander Wunderer (1877-1955)
Afterwards we went to Cafe Wunderer. I thought that was very fitting. However there is no connection, besides the common name, to the restaurant and Monika's family. :-)
Posted by Victor at 12:55 AM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2005
An Apple a day
I saw my friend Martin's Photoblog today and it makes me a bit homesick. German courses is a bit difficult for me right now and I'm a little discouraged but don't count me out just yet I will continue studying and giving it my all. Also developing relationships takes work too and everyday life takes work. I think the cold weather here now is making me a little blue. Mornings and evenings are really cold ( 6 degree celsius ). At least its sunny during the day it will reach 16 degrees celsius. By Sunday it will drop to 4 degrees celsius. Brrrrr. Well thats it for the weather forecast. To see Martin's Photoblog you can go to http://newyorkphotoblog.com
Posted by Victor at 07:33 AM | Comments (1)
October 11, 2005
Madredeus!!!
So the photos that I took for the after party of the Madredeus concert are now being used on the Fespielhaus St. Polten website. The link is on their main page. I am so excited because it is the first time that my photos are being used in anything! On Friday I will be photographing one of five workshops at St. Polten this season. The workshops are part of their new Education Department that is headed by Susanne Hofer. This is the link for there homepage. Click on Zur diashow to see my photos http://www.festspielhaus.at/
Or you can try this link as well:
http://www.festspielhaus.at/2738_DEU_HTML.htm
Posted by Victor at 11:44 AM | Comments (1)
October 10, 2005
First Day of School
Today was the first day of school for german courses at the university. There are about 6 spanish speaking persons in my class 3 from spain and 3 from south america. That makes us the majority in the class. Its very interesting to me to find spanish speakers here in Austria. So far my instructor whose name is Brigitte like Monika's mom has spoken to students in english, french, and of course german.
Posted by Victor at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
A girl named Jo
This is one of my classmates, Jo,the only other person from america. She is from Utah and is here in Austria until December. She sleeps in a basement where they teach Karate at, but she only pays like 50Euro a month. She Worked last year and saved up money to come out here and take german courses. She is really laid back and down to earth and pleasure to talk with. I think its nice to have an american to talk with. It reminded me of home.
Posted by Victor at 12:15 PM | Comments (1)
October 09, 2005
Barty Time
So the bar was finished and Monika came up with the idea to have a " Barty " to celebrate and break it in. Actually we always planned to have a celebration but not to call it a "Barty". So it was very nice friends, family and neighbors joined us for a grand ole time! Some people brought us spirits others just good cheers. One of our neighbors Eva brought us a delicious cake. There were even children allowed but as long as they promised not to drink.
Posted by Victor at 07:48 AM | Comments (1)
Barty Time
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Barty Time
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Barty Time
Here is Mama, Briggite.
Posted by Victor at 07:40 AM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2005
Finished Bar
Tada!
Posted by Victor at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
Finished Bar
Posted by Victor at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2005
Breakfast with Tini
So my friend Tini came over today for breakfast and then we were going on a hunt for nice soaps for me. Tini is the girlfriend of Monika's bestfriend Georg. She has just finished getting her masters degree. She knows how to speak and read German, French, Spanish, English, and Portuguese. She also knows how to read Sanskrit. She will have her Doctorate when she is 26 in two years. She is one of 3 sisters and also one brother.
Posted by Victor at 10:28 PM | Comments (1)
Tini on Mariahilferstrasse
Posted by Victor at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)
Maroni Stands
As me and Tini walked around I saw this stand and Tini explained to me that this time of year the Maroni stands start poping up all over the streets. Maroni is the Austrian word for chestnuts. You can also get these patatoe cakes at the stands.
Posted by Victor at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)
Tini in Occitane
Tini and I walked through many shops and stores looking for soap for me. I was trying to find an oatmeal soap bar. With no success I settled for an Olive soap with olive tree leaves in it. We found this at a store called Occitane. They use plants and natural ingredients in their soaps and other products.
Posted by Victor at 06:53 PM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2005
Post Office
I don't know if the banks are the first place that came up with their system of having people lining up, but I have to say it is the best. I kringe at the thought of line. Europeans wouldn't know the concept of line if it bit them... well you knowt the rest. Any how Monika ended up in the wrong line as many other lines churned out customers happily headed home after their work weeks. We even tried to do the " you stand on that line I'll stand in this line" trick to see if we got done quicker. It seems I ended up in the wrong line also.
Posted by Victor at 03:34 AM | Comments (2)
October 05, 2005
Wednesday Night
Wednesday is one of my basketball nights. So this wednesday after playing we went out to eat at Pizzeria Venezia on Praterstrasse by the Nestroy pl. station of the U1. Wolfgang, Mattias, Martin and myself went to eat some delicious italian food. We ate, drank, talked, teased our lovely waitress, and laughed. Our ages ranged from 30 to probably 50's. ( I don't want to offend anyone ) I will hopefully be doing interviews with my basketball mates in the upcoming weeks. I got this idea of interviewing people that I have become friends with from my friend Martin. He interviewed me one night at home while we were eating dinner and drinking. He designed my blog site and now lives in my old flat. You can read about his adventures at newyorkphotoblog.com
Posted by Victor at 08:26 PM | Comments (1)
Wednesday Night continued
After I left the basketball group, I decided to walk for awhile because I was going to meet Monika and her volleyball group (she plays volleyball on wed They finish later than I do. So I walked toward Mariahilferstrasse Until Monika called me and told me where they were going. In the mean time while I crossed the Danube canal I took this picture of the risenrad.
Posted by Victor at 12:05 AM | Comments (2)
Wednesday Night continued again
So Monika called and I rode my bike the usual way around the ring, but at Museum Quarter, instead of jumping on Mariahilferstrasse, I went along the MQ and up a couple of side streets till I ended up on Westbahn Strasse (this street leads to Westbahnhoff) I met the volleyball group and then Eric joined us later. We met a nice little greek place called Arnes.
Posted by Victor at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
October 04, 2005
Tini's graduation & Julia's Birthday Party
Tini's sister Tessi, played her violin as everyone sang a song for her. This was the rehersal downstairs from the party. If tini noticed the mass exodus I'm sure she was told that everyone had to go to the bathroom. Must have been the schnitzel.
Posted by Victor at 12:22 AM | Comments (2)
Tini's graduation & Julia's Birthday Party
It was a great time with Tini's family and friends and eating and drinking.It was at a wine house that has a reputation of having great wine. Here is Tini giving Julia her birthday cake!
Posted by Victor at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2005
MC Joyce Muniz
So Festspielhaus St. Polten will be using my photos of the after party for their website. As soon as they do I will post a link. It will be the first time someone is using my photos for professional reasons! I recently was asked to be the photographer for the wedding of two of our friends which will mark my first gig as a photographer. I am very excited about these things. So in this photo is the girl that was singing with the DJ mixing records on saturday's Madredeus after party. they were both great and they got everyone dancing on the dance floor.
Posted by Victor at 02:03 AM | Comments (1)
DJ Scheibosan
This was the DJ of saturday's Madredeus afterparty.
Posted by Victor at 12:15 AM | Comments (0)
October 02, 2005
The Unofficial Bar room Openning
So the bar is 90% finished and we couldn't resist but invite a small group over to have a few beers and snacks. Me and Monika spent the early part of the day painting the bar. Then Alexander ( One of Monika's brothers ) helped us bring the refrigerator from their grandma's old apartment. It was a great evening of drinking talking and eating. What more could you ask for with such great company. This is part of the small group that have made my time here very fun and interesting. We are planning for this upcoming weekend to have an official Bar room openning. I can't wait!!
Posted by Victor at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)
The Unofficial Bar room Openning
This is Ebby and Claudia, they are engage to be married just like Monika and I. Its great to see another couple in love!!
Posted by Victor at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2005
Madredeus!!!
This is Teresa Salgueiro the "Gesang" of Madredeus. On Saturday I went to St. Polten to see Madredeus ( a Portuguese group ) at the Festspielhaus St. Polten. It was an amazing night of music. I had only heard one of their albums that I downloaded from a friend of mine, Martin Fuchs ( http://newyorkphotoblog.com )
He is a big fan of Madredeus and unfortunately for him, he is in NYC on a 6 month stay working for Magnum Photos. As it would be I invited his girlfriend Karin and her son Fabien to go with me. They enjoyed it alot. Karin explained to me that she used to play Madredeus to Fabien when he was just a fetus in her womb.
After the amazing concert there was a nice after party and the fans and performers mixed and mingled to the sounds of DJ Sheibosan and Jane Muniz.
Posted by Victor at 11:31 PM | Comments (3)
Madredeus!!!
I forgot to mention that me and Monika sat in the first row with the representative from the Portuguese embassy. Sorry Martin. ;-)
See their website: at http://www.madredeus.com/
Posted by Victor at 08:51 PM | Comments (2)