my plane landed in paris. as soon as i touched down i went over to london for a couple of days. i'm not the kind of person that likes to see four countries in as many days, but circumstances that wont be reported here suggested otherwise. so i went from paris to london back to paris, over to germany, down through switzerland and over into austria in a matter of what seemed like hours.

it was the fact that i was driving a volkswagon convertible, most likely.

travel, when done in fast doses, takes on the same feeling as a hefty dose of methamphetamines. its a feeling a bit like adrenalin, but artificial and detrimental. its still fun, but surface, and inappropriate.

if i were only still more american i would have taken a larger camera.

the trip, really, began at ars electronica, a five-day festival of digital art that takes place each year in the town where hitler was born; linz austria. the food is ham and pork and bacon and schzveinfleisch and potatoes. the people have shiny red lips, white skin, no chins. the buildings have square corners, the bathrooms are a national obsession.

the festival was different from this. there were large toys to twaddle with, the occasional point of fascination, the consistent barriers of boredom, and the libinous fascination with the technology. "the dialogue," as with all contemporary art is so "Advanced" (read: obsequious) that it all fits together quite nicely. it doesnt make much sense to anyone, but this is part of the fun of it. the human likes to make sense of things.

i was travelling with two friends in a convertible. we drove down into italy to go to another art conference; the venice bienalle.