shots from Arosa, etc 12.28.08

self portrait [reflection] w/shop window santa & legs-Baden, Switzerland [stopping to get sebi]

hani pre-gig

in my room at the Grand Hotel Tschuggen, Arosa- post gig

the smoking lounge- grand hotel tschuggen- arosa

very large stained glass building from my window- Arosa- couldnt figure out if it was some kind of sport place, or church, or part of the hotel; shot from my room on the 8th floor

my morning breakfast tray

the view from my window this morning [Arosa]

portrait by sebi-outside the hotel- arosa- ready to roll

sebi and kelvin in Chur

streetcar zurich

entering Baden [were sebi lives]

[c] 2008 doug duffey

my boudoir shots

switzerland- december 24, 2008

[c] 2008 doug duffey

biel was a bust

self portrait while driving in biel- not happy

shots from downtown biel- where there was some kind of christmas market

after my GOOD morning, my trip to biel this afternoon was a bust. the traffic was horrible and people were driving like maniacs- and were rude!- on my ass 1/2 the time, or honking, or zipping around me like idiots. there was also no parking, as it is the day before the "3 holy days of christmas" when everything around here shuts down completely. there would be riots in america if everything closed for 3 days!

i finally found a parking place, which i don't think was legal, but other cars were parked there. i was paranoid about parking there but did anyway, and walked to the HIOB. 3 drunks were standing around a garbage can, smoking, babbling incoherently, slugging liquor from the bottle. i wanted to photograph them, but was afraid they might get aggressive. when i went to the stairs that leads down to the shop, it looked like they'd been pissing in the stairwell.

the whole city was like a circus- i saw tons of cripples and crazies- people whizzing by on hover-rounds and electric wheelchairs, old women rambling along talking to themselves [or was it blue-tooth?] drunks, stoners, weird characters, etc. too bad i was too stressed from traffic and parking to walk around and shoot stuff, bcause it was all SO george grosz!

there were no cameras or lenses- only 2 polaroids [i have about 10 already!] and an old point & shoot. i did see another autoharp looking thing... in better condition...but for about 300 chf! so... the trip was absolutely NOT worth the aggravation.

i'd planned to take some of my film cameras and walk around shooting, finishing off rolls of film i left here; but decided at the last minute not to. didn't feel like hauling the heavy metal cameras around. good thing, too... because i did not hang out long, nor did i want to. the energy was too chaotic, stressy and nervous; really bad vibes. merry christmas, indeed!

[c] 2008 doug duffey

bread and coffee

self portrait- reflection in a 2nd hand shop window- switzerland 12.22.2008

i finally went out today because i HAD to run some errands. miracle of miracles when i woke today the sun was shining, there was no snow on the ground or streets, or anywhere except way UP on the Jura... so i dressed, and jumped in the car, and hit the streets. it felt great to be out-i haven't been out of my hotel or the house except to travel to gigs- and as soon as the brown rice cooks, i am going out again.

it's amazing how good simple things like a sunny day- OR fresh baked bread and coffee can be. while out i got some incredible "pane rustico" [rustic bread] -came home and lobbed off a big chunk, made a triple espresso w/soymilk, rolled a DRUM cigarette- and am now happy as a clam. in the Migros [swiss wal-mart] the bakers were making bread by hand behind the counter, and nobody paid one iota of attention to them; mein gott, they are really ARTISTS!

i had hoped to hit the brocante/brockenstube and look for lenses/cameras- but found only 1 open. i really looked at a VERY old autoharp looking thing [as was another guy] but decided to pass, even though it was only 30 chf. it might've been an antique and worth some money, but i didn't figure i needed more old instruments i cant play... even though i could've just made/recorded weird sounds with it. but i did find an old small lino print making kit for a few centimes.

now, i am headed to Biel to the HIOB, since all the heils armee [salvation army] stores are closed mondays... and with the 3 days of christmas upon us [when everything in this region is shut down] today is my only day to get out and look.
[c] 2008 doug duffey

gud mawnin sick call

i decided to try and wake up at a normal time today... and stay up- even though i went to bed around 6AM- i've been on jet lag schedule for way too long; gotta change my clock somehow. i'm sick of feeling like Dracula!

i was installing programs on jackies' laptop [in german] from about 2-6 AM, after the monitor on her regular pc went out. i just hope the laptop works for her... and hope i can figure out what's up with the monitor; i tried two and neither worked.

i keep having sniffles and chills and hope to hell i am not getting a cold or worse- even though this would be the best time to get sick IF i have to, as i have the week off... but i dint get a flu shot before i came over. i am hoping to stay healthy and eventually get out and use some of my cameras i left here [see foto, below] and some i brought with me [not shown] this week.

the biggest black case [bottom] holds my Cosina, which is one of my favorites; i have about 4 of them, and buy every one i find. i've also been finding some killer lenses for them over the years.

i've been experimenting with B settings at night [mostly in new orleans] w/a nikon - and think some shots around Bern or Zurich could be very cool- i like to shoot people moving, which makes them looks like ghosts, but the buildings stay stationary- and the train stations and streets might be just the ticket; very titarenko. but... it's sooooo cold. i'm a wuss when it comes to cold. [below: my soymilk, for my coffee, which i keep in the window refrigerator!]
anyway, time for more espresso/soymilk and cigarettes- time to wake up and move- eat vitamins, and maybe even dig around for magazines to begin chopping up to start making collages- a nice indoor sport- which i can shoot with my digital camera or scan... and stay warm.

[c] 2008 doug duffey

en route to the gig- in luzern

a mini shot of the hotel astoria lounge

[c] 2008 doug duffey

i'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

well... i'm still crazy. jackie picked me up in biel around 2:30PM this afternoon- and then drove us home. i'd gone to bed at 4AM but woke at 6AM in zermatt, and began packing and getting organized to take the taxi to the train, and then the train to visp/bern/biel. it was a long trip. but beautiful to see everything white and frozen from the train; everything looked sugar coated, very mystical and magical... frozen trees, everything covered in snow, even the air was hanging with frost; looked like vintage christmas cards... i shot a lot of digital fotos from the train, through the window which was flecked with rain drops, or thawing snow?- which made them even more 'vague'- which i think, once i gray-scale them, and enhance the levels, will look great.

en route a' la maison, yesterday, jackie reminded me that i have a solo gig at the Astoria in Luzern tonight! i had completely forgotten, and was thinking/hoping i had the week off, after going through jet lag [which i am obviously not over!] for a week in high altitude and thin air! oh well, time to call on the inner spirit, which never fails me.

we had some coffee- then later, vegan pasta and salad, watched some of "cold mountain" [which seemed apropos] and i said, 'i have GOT to go to bed- i am exhausted'- so hit the sack before midnight... BUT... then woke, wide awake, at 4:30AM... couldn't go back to sleep... so, decided to just get up.

so i dug through my stash of cameras in my room- and found i'd left a ton of great ones here- especially some of my beloveds: a cosina; a kowa; and a few russian leica copies, and medium format agfas. thank god, i didnt bring all [from home] that i had planned to: i brought the Nikon, some digitals, polaroid sx70, a few video cameras and toy cameras. but, way too many considering i have these here, and KNOW i will acquire more, while here. guess i'll just leave a complete 'copy' set here, and most of my clothes [which are getting too big anyway] so i can haul some treasures home.

i also pulled out "les liaisons dangereuses" from my book case to read over the next few days; set up my laptop and wrote a few emails home; smoked [god, what luxury- after 7 days in non smoking zermatt!] and finally went upstairs and had a peanut butter and zopf sandwich and came back and began blogging.

it's 7.30AM and i am NOT sleepy. i don't know what will transpire. i just went upstairs and made a double espresso with soy milk... and am having another smoke... [which does not make sense if i plan to TRY and sleep]... am going to turn on Arte [the german/french Art channel] without sound a try to zone out...

one more gig, then a week off to start working on some collages, some photos, editing a lot of my old writers tapes [some of which i transferred to a 1.5TB external hard drive before i came] and possibly begin recording some solo stuff with my beautiful old hand made piano from 1880! now.... to TRY and sleep.... too much stuff in my head...

[c] 2008 doug duffey

bern to biel

shots between bern and biel this morning [december 17th]

[c] 2008 doug duffey

bern haupt bahnhof

off the train from zermatt- and lighting up! sebi and rootie going on to Baden- me to Biel- but they hung around to help me get all my [too much] merde onto my train before catching theirs, god bless 'em!

and... away we go

[c] 2008 doug duffey

down from the mountain- zermatt to bern

our 7 night gig at the Hotel Style in Zermatt ended; so this morning we were all up early, packing and leaving- these are some shots of the ride down/through the mountains from zermatt to bern.
above- last shots of my balcony this morning! it had been snowing all week, so the snow kept encroaching!

sebi outside the train window- zermatt train station

me with my ticket, in the train- shot by sebi- too early!

rootie on the train

ticket, please

men working as we left zermatt -COLD!

st.niklaus - big santa!

various shots from the train

[c] 2008 doug duffey