Saturday, December 26, 2009

Thing

My feelings about Home...



I love Those Dancing Days!

p.s Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Friday, December 11, 2009

Place

The courtyard of the MACBA, the contemporary art gallery in my old barrio, Raval. I love this place in the summer, it is crawling with all sorts. The pavement sizzles and the Paki's are selling ice-cold Estrellas ("sexy beers") for a euro twenty-five.
Sigh* I'm now back in Vancouver, freezing cold Vancity. Don't get me wrong, being home and with my family again is wonderful, especially when it's constantly sunny for the first week of being back. But there are times like these, when I'm sitting at the computer with a tuque on and a fleece bathrobe AND a poncho on top of my PJs, wishing I was sweating in shorts and aching for AC in Barcelona. Just sayin'!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Place

Sutton Coldfield. A rockin' place in the West Midlands, only rockin' because my awesome (or "arrrsome" hilly likes to call it) cousins live there.
After a rather horrible experience being late for my train in Bath, I eventually made it to Birmingham where my lovely cousin Sarah and her dad Alan were there to pick me up! The week that I spent with them, mainly consisted of eating and laughing. A feast awaited me at their house where all my cousins from this part of the family were there on that first evening (see picture below of Sarah and I stuffing our faces with cheese cake).

Sarah also managed to get me an extra ticket to see a La Roux concert! That woman is amazing live. Then afterwards, Sarah and her girlfriends and I went out on the town. The town was dead (Wednesday night), but we managed to have a great time dancing and I had my first end of the night cheesy chip/curry chip experience before heading back in the cab.
Being awesome at a bar:

At La Roux:

Another carb-y delight awaited me at the Annual German Market in the centre of Birmingham, a VWEINER!!! :)
At the German market:

S and her mom, Hilly took me to this wonderful festivity one night where we had hot dogs with delicious mulled wine and had a carosel ride.
On my last day, my lovely Auntie Hilly (more 2nd cousin I guess...) took me out for cappuccinos and gigantic slices of cake nearby and a walk through this beautiful park in Sutton, where we got the chance to chat and enjoy the much appreciated sun. That night we went to see S's bro, my other cousin, Robbie's performance at this fancy hotel. Him and his act blew me away. What talent, and shall I put it bluntly, what BALLS! To get up there, sing and dance in sequins for a crowd of crabby, half-dead group of senior citizens (p.s i was nearly run over by a speedy guy on his wheelchair en route to the WC) on a nightly basis, takes some, or at least perseverance, especially when you know you've got more than enough talent to do something better. Well it was great. He's a real performer and people loved him, plus I got a shout out! (and an applause from the audience for coming all the way from Canada! haaha).
Robbie "the show-stopper" Holland:

In the hotel:

A real highlight was being able to spend a day shopping with my Auntie Vera (she's my dad's aunt). She is one inspiring person. She is 84 and still dancing every weekend with her "just friend" (boyfriend) at the local jiving club for seniors. She volunteers at the local hospital, she cares for her family, her friends, complete strangers and is just a ray of sunshine, despite the pain she's had to deal with in life. Why can't people her age (heck, ANY age) be as wonderful? I hope I can get to that age and still be as happy and optimistic as I am at 22. Plus, she's got a hilarious way of making a rather raunchy and totally inappropriate story sound, dare I say, classy? Haha... some of the things that come out of that mouth... Shocking!
I miss these guys and wish I could see them more.

The ladies out for lunch (Tiffy, Vera, Me, Hilly)


The park:

Person

My dad and I

Here is a funny...
Taken from a series of comments on this photo from my facebook...


Ewan- oooh it was cold!
October 18 at 10:44am ·

Jessie - you can tell by the smiles.. natural but very stiff. im surprised your glasses lense didn't crack! brrrr!!!
October 18 at 10:54am ·

Ewan - off topic. Did you ever go to that photography show in ...Arles?
October 18 at 10:59am ·

Jessie - haha random question, no marcelo decided to book a flight to istanbul for that week that we were thinking of going. so i just hung out in barcelona and looked at photos on the interent instead. next time!
October 18 at 12:05pm ·

Jessie - p.s i just watched the first 2 episodes of Dexter season 4!!!! ahhhh he's back!!!
October 18 at 12:06pm ·

Ewan - any squirrels in those episodes? Like hanging from wires?
October 18 at 12:13pm ·

Jessie - hmm... nope not yet. but the funny white haired guy from third rock from the sun is the baddy in this season!!
October 18 at 12:54pm ·

Ewan - John Lithgow?
October 18 at 4:13pm ·

Jessie - yes! he's pretty creepy
October 19 at 2:39am ·

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Thing

Capa Fina (in English: Thin Layer)
Jessie McNeil
2009


here is a little experimental video I made in Barcelona... there's more of my stuff on my art blog:

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Places, People and Things

SO Sorry that I have not put anything up in the last month!
I've been sort of traveling nonstop. What a ride.

Lets recap:
Lewes (Sussex), as I mentioned before, is gorgeous. Even when it was rainy and dark, I just stayed cozy inside with Rupert the dog or chatted with my wonderful Aunty (actually 2nd cousin) Tiina and her husband Mike. I felt so at home. Lots of tea and delicious food was consumed.




London:
I went there for 2 day trips. I wished for a couple more days to see some more art galleries, but here just wasn't enough time. I saw the V&A and was inspired by the wonderful jewelry exhibit, ate my first hearty beef + ale pot pie in ages in the opulent museum cafe. Then Tiina and I saw some ice skaters and dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum and continued on to experience some more feasts for the senses at Harrods. Lions, Tigers and Bears. Oh my!






The second day I took the train in by myself (exciting!!). Out of Victoria Stn, I jumped on the tube and heard some great buskers playing some very moving and spirited highland-type music with fiddles and guitar. Saw a sweet little toy museum, recommended by my friend Despina. Zipped over to the British Museum only to see one exhibit on ancient Maya to realize I was going to be late for the open day at Camberwell School of Art. Grabbed a Pret-a-manger turkey sandwich and lemonade and then quickly began my rather stressful journey into Peckham. Rather dodgy... Well I JUST made it off the bus and into the school for the start of the tour. Well, I was disappointed with it and wished I could have seen another school instead, while in London. Oh well. The ride back to Oxford street was fantastic! The #12 bus goes over the Thames and right next to Big Ben and Piccadilly Circus! Cool! My heart was up in the sky, until I saw the price tags in TopShop. That store on Oxford St... my god. A shopaholic's paradise. If only I wasn't so broke.



Then up to BATH!
Bath was rather boring the last time I was there with my school. But this time around, my fun cousin Rosalie (Rozzi) lives there and was able to show me a great time. The weather was brutal, but staying indoors was fun. Hanging out in her flat watching one of my new favorite shows "Misfits" on her bed eating carbs and candy, singing and dancing to wonderful cheese at the local hotspot with Rozzi's fun girlfriends, or just going out to sweet little coffee shops and window shopping in Ted Baker or catching a flick and experiencing exploding popcorn (lol)... it was just perfect. I wish I could have stayed there longer. Rozzi is such a sweet and funny person, I could just see us living together in London or something.. NON STOP GIGGLE FEST.






Then on my last morning there, my luck with trains and public transportation, kind of stopped.

Because I wanted to take some pretty photos of Bath on the one sunny day I was there, I was late for my train. I missed it by ONE minute! While I trying to swim upstream with my large bag (no lift), and about 50 people to dodge, my train was leaving the platform. PANIC PANIC!!! The sweet guy working at the turnstile saw what happened and wrote something on the back of my ticket allowing me to get onboard and travel north without having to pay for another ticket. THANK YOU!

I love train travel (except for the lugging of the luggage, or sitting next to an annoyingly chatty or stinky person, of course). It lets you have time to sit and contemplate life, look at the beautiful world outside or just take a well needed nap.

to be cont'd....

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About Me

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Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
No, I didn't come to Barcelona because of THAT movie. (although it did fuel my obsession with this city, slightly). First time living away from home, away from Canada... Thinking it's gonna be an adventure. I want to share my ups and downs with you during my European get away, so enjoy. :)