Flux Capacitors, Fireballs, and Modern Life...

An obvious cult classic, and for all the right reasons... Back to the Future premiered 1985 October 26. I was living in Yonkers, New York, the oldest of three children (then), and had just celebrated my fifth birthday... Fast forward twenty-five years: I am living in Kaposvár, Hungary, the oldest of four children (Joey was born in eighty-seven) and just celebrated my thirtieth birthday...

Vissza A Jövöbe clearly ranks among the top of my favourite films of all time... it changed my life. McFly is an inspiration; I mean the dude rides his skate in the rain and never has any trouble skitching around town. And, Doc Brown... good for you bro! You created a time machine into a DeLorean... now that's function and style! Thanks to Hanna for letting me borrow the film.

Trying to keep it simple... Tonight was the first time since I moved to Hungary that I attempted to turn on the television (so I could watch the film)... however, I couldn't get the DVD player to work so I watched it on my laptop anyway. I didn't find the need for the air conditioner this summer and I still haven't fired up the heat in my flat. And, until tonight... never used the microwave. Whoa, microwave popcorn is strange but cool. Sometimes I feel like a dinosaur, but there's just something about microwaves that seem unnatural. I think I'll stick to the OG stove.

I had my first visitors come to Kaposvár this weekend. It was good to actually be in Kaposvár for the entire weekend... hmmm... maybe the first since I arrived in August. A few of the Fulbright gang came to check out life in the city of fountains / town of painters / coolest city in Central Europe: Kaposvár. David, Stephanie, and the three girls came from Barcs and Kent made the long haul from Debrecen. It was great to see them. True to Scaglione Family form, I cooked a legitimate Italian meal for everyone... We made our way around town, checking out Berzsenyi Park, Kossuth Square, the many fountains, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution Memorial (appropriately timed for the National Holiday on 23 October), and a whole lot more...

I finally went to my first European Football match... a home game: Rákóczi (Kaposvár) vs. Honvéd (Budapest)... the game was humdrum (ending in a 0-0 draw) but there was plenty of excitement at the stadium! Some fans from Budapest through explosives on the field (at our goalkeeper) during play, and the riot police had to come and dismiss the entire Honvéd fan section... with pepper spray and arms. Apparently this came as no big surprise to the football fans, and it has come to be expected from the visiting Budapest fans. The stadium was certainly well-equipped and prepared for such behaviour, so I assume it's standard business.

Ah, and in the Western World, it's so refreshing to see a couple new teams duking it out for the MLB World Series rings this year... I'm just relieved that I don't have to stay up all morning (games get done around 5:30am here) rooting against the Yankees or the Phillies... instead I'll pull for the NL team, the bearded, the kids... go Giants!

Street sweeping... Ah, yes, the one thing everyone leaves the house for in Hungary... to sweep their sidewalk! I swear I've never seen so many people out in Kaposvár. These are some photos I snapped with my phone just walking around town for two days... and I could've taken more! If there's a single leaf on the sidewalk, it must be swept... not by law, but by cultural standards. People will go out and sweep the leaves from the sidewalk everyday (or multiple times a day) if that's what it takes to keep a clean walkway...

Talk about modern life... check out the mail truck... so simple, so green.






On deck: I'm heading out on a Eastern Europe trick Thursday... ten days / seven NEW countries... it's gonna be a whirlwind tour, but I'm stoked! Transylvania for Halloween (Romania), The Baltics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), and Scandinavia (Finland, Denmark, Sweden)...

Alternative Art Lab: Kaposvár University.

For years, I've dreamt about teaching art at the university level... striving to be like my Papa... and now my aspiration is becoming a reality. I never imagined I'd be designing my own course in a fine art faculty in Hungary, but I couldn't be happier about this opportunity! I will be an adjunct professor at the University of Kaposvár, one of only a few fine arts faculties in the country. I will facilitate a workshop with 2D design students across many disciplines in November, and will teach my own course in alternative processes and experimentation in art next semester.

I love art and I love teaching. This isn't a full-time shift, by any means, as I love teaching high school students and plan to return to WRHS next year back in Denver... but, it's an important opportunity for me to grow as an art teacher, traversing cultures and interests.

I have always honoured the concept of creating a laboratory studio environment... encouraging discovery in art through experimentation... something I always hope to inspire in my students. My niche for this course is to recreate the essence of Studio 23, focusing on non-traditional techniques and approaches as a way to introduce my perspective as an American artist and teacher.

The first workshop is approaching quickly and I am busy preparing and recruiting. I'm organizing an International Art Exchange between university art students (my former Studio 23 students) and artists from Kaposvári Egyetem (University of Kaposvár). I think it's a really fun project and there is a lot of potential... experimenting with small format mixed media and building international relationships with artists across the world!

This is the course listing (in English) from the offerings catalogue...

ALTERNATIVE ART LAB

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is an experimental survey of alternative painting techniques in connection to perspective and process. Students will investigate a variety of materials and approaches, creating contemporary solutions to open-ended prompts. Directed exploration will focus on the use of layers to build compositions from the ground up and stimulate unique personal expression. Emphasis will be placed on developing a foundation of organizational possibilities in designing for the flat surface. Class discussions, demonstrations, and critique compliment the studio time, broadening understanding of design principles as a means to communicate visual language.

MATERIALS

Acrylic or oil paint, stretched canvas, gesso, gel medium, collage media / found objects, oil pastels, ink, small printing block / carving tools, textiles / fibres

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Franky Scaglione is a American artist living in Hungary on a yearlong Fulbright Scholarship. Mr. Scaglione comes to Kaposvár from Denver, Colorado, where he teaches high school painting and university-level studio art courses. He received his BFA from the State University of New York, Fredonia and MA from University of Denver. His passion and experience in alternative artistic approach is the inspiration behind the nationwide Vans Custom Culture programme in the US. Mr. Scaglione co-created this multimedia fashion event with Vans to include over 360 schools nationwide and is seeking to expand into the international spotlight. During his residence in Hungary, Mr. Scaglione will work as an art teacher at University of Kaposvár and Munkácsy Mihály Gimnázium.

Bratislava, SLOVAKIA: Fulbright Roundup.

Always finding an excuse to travel, I was beckoned to Slovakia by the supposed Vizsla World Championship... The presumed Vizsla show (according to my savvy interpretation of the Hungarian language, and decoding of the Hungarian Vizsla Club Site) was to be in Senec, a neighboring city of Bratislava. Well, I never did see the Vizsla exhibition, and I never did confirm that it actually took place... but I had a great time with some friends in a new city regardless!

Bratislava, the former capital of the Kingdom of Hungary, and the modern capital of Slovakia, is a cool city to spend a short weekend trip. It was cool to catch up with our friends from the Czech Republic... we had plenty to catch up on and Bratislava was the perfect meeting place for us all. We got in Saturday morning, met up at the train station, and hit the town running...

After a bomb little lunch, we took to the streets... saw the Castle, window-shopped some art galleries, surveyed the dozens of sweet street sculptures (including the paparazzi), and made our way to the city centre. Of course, like every proper European city, there was a festival programme shaking out around the centre fountain. There were Solvak dancers, musicians, and artists filling the square.









And, I couldn't resist... even though I don't speak much Hungarian, I just had to experiment with the credibility of the Slovak State Language Act: the officially banning of minority languages (ie. Hungarian) within the Slovakia borders... I'll have to explore the depths of this tension in a future journal or essay... it's far too great of a topic to spit out now, but many Hungarians have very strong views / feelings about the once-Hungarian (and considered still Hungarian to many) neighboring lands.









Speaking of Hungarian border discrepancies, I did discover an epic cheese shoppe! I know... they have nothing to do with each other, but that's the beauty of the segue. The folks at Cheesy Bratislava were super kind and insisted on, not only giving me lots of fine cheese samples from around the world, but helped us book a hotel room in the city centre with a hot rate. I can't say all the people we met were this nice, but this couple hooked it up! Oh, and I couldn't get out of there without buying a few hundred grams of 6-year aged Dutch Gouda!

Emily and I took a drive to Senec to see if we could track down the Vizsla show, but had no luck. We did find Sun Lakes though... and that was pretty entertaining. There was this really famous (at least locally-famous) lobster restaurant in the middle of the lake. I asked a local where the lobster comes from, and he said in his best English... "from the restaurant... it's in the restaurant." Cool. So, vizslas were nowhere to be found except this one we came across back in Bratislava... but they had no idea what I was talking about with the exhibition either... some World Championship...












We had a great night too... it started with a traditional Slovak supper, progressed to drinks at a retro pub with a hot Rockabilly act (The Cellmates, busting out all the hits from Cash to Elvis to Buddy Holly), and escalated into the underground club scene late night... I have to admit, my friends had some pretty good moves, and it was a challenge trying to keep up all night. By about four:am, I couldn't suppress my monkey psyche any longer; I just had to climb the fountain in the city centre... it was worth it. Thanks to Calan, Emily, Brock, Kent, and Emily for a good little getaway...

'Tis The Season: Falling Colours.

Back in Kaposvár, Autumn is upon us... and there is plenty to see and do with the never-ending festivals and new discoveries of my hometown. I just wanted to post a few stray photos from daily life to paint a picture of the Hungarian countryside during harvest season... I start with this tree at Berzsenyi Park, next to my school... and wander amiss from there... Enjoy.

This is the bridge outside of town, on the way to Budapest, just before Lake Balaton. If not for this recent upgrade a couple of years ago (thanks to the EU motorway relief efforts in Hungary), it'd take twice the time to get between my flat and the capital...

Last weekend there was a Gesztenye Fesztivál (Chestnut Festival) in a neighboring village. My friend Petí (Kaposvár native, living in Budapest) was back in town visiting his family and took me to the festival to show me what all the hype was about. Turns out that the Hungarians will find something to celebrate every weekend... this weekend was the party for chestnuts... chestnut soup, chestnut beer, chestnut desserts... roasting them on the open fire... on this wise...















After a few rounds of roasted chestnuts and an autumn chestnut beer, we went to Lake Deseda back in Kaposvár. Deseda is just what I need near my home to taste the wilderness... and I have it! We crossed paths with a few like-minded folks escaping the city for the afternoon... taking advantage of the fresh autumn air and still lake water...


I finally found the local BIO shoppe (health foods and organic goods) after a month and a half of looking... turns out it's right down the street from my school... people just didn't know what I was asking for at first. The people are awfully kind, but don't speak English... so it's always an adventure there. Oh, and most people in Hungary drink their milk from a cardboard carton that sits on a shelf for a while (weeks, months, years even?)... but I found this milk dispenser in town. I bring my own bottle, fill up 1.5 liters, take it home, boil it, and cool it back down before drinking... it may seem weird but it's delicious fresh-local-organic! Great discoveries in the world of healthy choices...












One of my students, Péter Tárkányi, plays bass for a great local band: Catfood. I had a chance to catch one of their gigs the other night at a rad little Kaposvár dive called the Angus Music Club. I was totally impressed with their sound... well-rehearsed and all original. They did play one song I recognized... The Beatles' Hey Bulldog. Of course, this was a pretty wild throwback, sending me into a retrospection of the Mind Caravan days... when we played this tune. Classic. It was great hanging with everyone and seeing Petí shine in the limelight!

I continue to spot Hungarian Vizslas all over the city... It was difficult to handle seeing them at first, but now I feel a sense of comfort when I see the beautiful red dogs... I miss my Luna more than anything, but for now... the company of her distant relatives will have to ease the separation. The one peaking under the fence makes me laugh everyday! He is my neighbor... a big dude and hates my skateboard... he barks like crazy every time I pass him (everyday) and doesn't let up until I'm out of sight... not exactly like my taciturn Luna, but for some reason, consistently amusing.

Sludge Spill: Getting Better All The Time.

It's 4:23 in the morning in Hungary, and as I stay awake listening to the Sabres season opener and tracking Phish's setlist from the Austin City Limits Festival... I just wanted to comfort all of my concerned friends and family, that the ecological catastrophe of the red sludge scenario is improving greatly!

I am very thankful for all of your concerns, and relieved to hear that we are working our way out of this incredibly-unfortunate disaster. As a resident of Somogy County, I was not directly affected by the spill, but there is a significant emotional strain that the people of Hungary are enduring and I can only hope that it will ease soon...

Apparently, the concentration of toxic metals entering the Danube has dropped to the level allowed in drinking water, appeasing fears that Europe's second longest river would be significantly polluted.

From Yahoo News: Monday's reservoir break at an alumina plant dumped up to 700,000 cubic meters (184 million gallons) of sludge onto three villages, government officials said, not much less in a few hours than the 200 million gallons the blown-out BP oil well gushed into the Gulf of Mexico over several months. The red sludge devastated creeks and rivers near the spill site and entered the Danube on Thursday, moving downstream toward Croatia, Serbia and Romania. Monitors were taking samples every few hours Friday to measure damage from the spill but the sheer volume of water in the mighty Danube appeared to be blunting the red sludge's immediate impact.

Test results released by Hungary's disaster agency show the pH level of the water where the slurry entered the Danube was under 9 — well below the 13.5 measured earlier in local waterways near the site of the catastrophe. That is diluted enough to prevent any biological damage, Interior Minister Sandor Pinter said. Despite the apparent good news, the risk of pervasive and lasting environmental damage remained at the site of the spill, with Greenpeace presenting laboratory tests that it said showed high concentrations of heavy metals in the sludge.

Ópusztaszer: First Hungarian Settlement.

On the second day of our Csongrád County tour, we visited Ópusztaszer, the site of the blood-pact, in which the chieftains of the Magyar tribes settled the Capathian Basin, forming the Árpád dynasty in the late 9th century. Today, a national memorial park and museum commemorate the site.

The highlight was definitely the Feszty Panorama, one of the largest paintings in the world! The Feszty Panorama is a cyclorama depicting the arrival of the Hungarians to the Carpathian Basin in 895. Painted by Árpád Feszty and his fellow artists in 1894, the panorama is 1,760-m2, and features close to 2,000 persons! Perhaps the coolest part of the cyclorama is where the two-dimensional painting of the rotunda transitions seamlessly into a three-dimensional installation. I accidentally took a photo of part of the exhibition.

I ran around the open-aire ethnographic collection, breathing in the lifestyle of true-to-life 19th-century manner. I got pretty distracted and found myself more engaged by my interaction with the sheep and epic bronzed mustaches of Hungarian leaders...


































I think this is the inspiration for Wolverine's adamantium claws... and maybe the inspiration for his chops too...

Pogácsa making was fun... even got my hands in the mix, but these ladies are the masters...



















I had an interesting conversation with a master leathersmith, József Csizócki... interesting mainly because he spoke no English and I speak just as little Hungarian... but I was fascinated by his work and he was able to show me some technique and the classic Hungarian motifs of his craft.

And, this sign... at least they tried to translate?