For days now Jablan, Lazar and I are spending evenings in a classroom near daycare in Zmaj. Editing the big documentary, now extended to 30 minutes. No editing table for 16mm, so it's mostly a manual process, stop the projector, take the tape out, eyeball the spot, splice, glue, press, next. Then re-run it through the projector to check the result. Staying almost til midnight. The trees in the street have grown big over these ten years, the crowns are almost down to my head and reaching over the street, it's so shadowy at night when I go home.
We are also doing the sound, mostly Jablan speaking. We once tried to engage Sarča's father, who was an orator of some fame, but gave up after a single trial. He used to do speeches for the party or some other mass organization, so he didn't have a normal voice, he had one for an audience of hundreds. Can't have that in a movie.
I'm getting to do some physical work on the garage. After cutting the cherry (my doing mostly, at least the upper branches) now it's the foundation of the new shed - old shed with the outhouse is gone now. I've never worked so much.
Two letters from Melanija. In first, she tries to convince both herself and me that it's a "no, no and no". I replied, calling her bluff, saying that I'm reading her as a book and this autosuggestion isn't working on her and even less on me. To which she replied "why did I go into extremes? Because I didn't know how to position myself, do I love you or not. Sometimes it looks as if I do, and then I immediately give up on it. Must be something, this has never happened to me, to have it endure so long.". More confessions, and "thanks for the reserved space in your heart". And later "there's a probability that I'll understand you 100% in a year or two, but then I do understand you already, just playing crazy a bit". It's amazing, to have this kind of a peek into the thoughts of a thirteen-year-old, to travel back three years, on the other side.
Sneca had a birthday, but didn't celebrate, her grandmother died recently. We sat on the roof of their building (they finished moving), alone at 21:30, nothing happened.
23rd, the third spool of "the progressive" came from the lab. We had to send those to Kodak's lab in France, which meant filling a lengthy customs declaration, printed in french and serbian, but in heavy legalese, so I mostly had no clue what do most of the things in it mean, and which of the entries are mandatory and which cover some cases that don't apply here. It was complicated, but on the other hand it was a serious thing that I was now able to do. I acquired a skill, hey. And since most of the instructions for various pieces of equipment, chemicals or material were in many languages but all foreign, I'd read those in as many languages as I could manage, finding similarities and differences, gathering meaning circumstantially. Yup, knowing russian and english helped a lot, but those texts weren't always correct, being written by someone hungarian or romanian or east german, or in case of russian made stuff, the english text was sometimes ridiculously wrong. Or at least some word would be used in an unusual meaning. Not that I learned to speak any of those languages, but I was becoming able to glean bits of meaning from them, and then improve that knowledge later. Still waiting for the fourth roll to arrive - of course, we sent them all together, and of course they returned one by one. Then when it arrives I can start editing.
Last night we finally completed that big documentary.
And I saw "MASH" movie, which was a really weird comedy at the time. The war in Vietnam was still in full blow, and this was among the first movies which openly mocked the system. Well, among those that we could see. Went with Veca and Sneca.
24th, the fourth roll came and ouch, what a tape these four are. Can't even properly scratch the backside, glue won't take. Fucked me up and down. But managed by the evening, somehow. Even recorded the sound (whatever we used, don't remember). At the same time, Teja and Jaca (actually all four of them) were in the daily room. I mostly can't stand them, the uncle is a stubborn Bosnian (or Likota?) who is always right about everything. So I'd drop by the living room, have fun with them until something grates on my nerves, then rush back to my room and see that the glue didn't catch. To kill myself.
Projections tomorrow. By words of Pop, "city is full of cunts".
The screening went badly, the six people didn't have places to sit... but never mind, these are all over.
When Jablan ("notice the clouds! can't fail a shot if it has good clouds on it!") and Lazar return from Germany, we'll screen the big movie to the president of the municipality (aka mayor) and the managers of various enterprises, just to show off and hope to get some financial help in the future.
Tejka came to the idea to ditch Pišta ("to give him the shoe heel"). Luckily, I was in the other room, probably editing, so I didn't have to listen to all that, mom did. Both mom and I were in the mood for mockery, so we started telling her how we won't be going to Zadar, but to Biograd (na Moru) instead, which did her completely. Then we refused to come visit her folks in the evenings (we truly couldn't), to which she froze, angry as hell. As mom said after, "what good is she to us, when she comes only when she has something to complain about?".
On vacation I seriously think of hitting on Sneca... On the western front, more letters exchanged with Melanija, but now I don't know whether she got the last one, as she should be on vacation already.
Last day of the month, Nikola Nešković played both long songs of Korni grupa. Haven't heard them for a while, it's been almost a year. Of course, they could publish an album with just those two songs, and of course it will not be published.