2004 Liepos 22d. (ketvirtadienis).

(30/10. bkoz its th last of my rtkls ← lithol&, kompletn O, Im ^ th1

of th ssays I wrote whn I bgan h&n out my work. It woz th strt of a journey → bskure, nsgnpostdpath whch iz nly slghtly mor dscernbl in rtrospkt. I woz well long th way b4 I knew I woz on it & now Isuspkt it may b kumn 2 an nd. Im due 4 a change of stroke. Prhps I should b prayn (makin myslf sm-all) not writin (whch iz xbitionst). I note th@ I pasted it → my journal on 18/4/99. It iz titld

ART

(a 3 – let-ter word) :

“

The world’s a stage & every man a player – Bill Shakespyras. If actors areartists then we are all artists. Some more so than others; & there are various kinds.

(paragraph)

On the countless number of continuums that we could use as metaphors to talk about art I like the one where we spread artists along the line : decorative ……………….challenging.

(paragraph)

The decorator draws an intricate edging along the borders of alove letter bringing some extra beauty into the world of the receiver. Another decorator hangs lovely rural scenes on the walls to make the kitchen homely. An art collector putsan expensive wooden sculpture (Shona?) in the foyer of his mansion & for good measurea granite form (Henry Moore?) in his garden under the florida palms next to where the patio & entertainment area overlook the swimming pool.

(paragraph)

If I had been an artist I would have wanted to be at the other end of the line. The one where you challengeaccepted & habitual ways of looking at the world. I would like to take people on a journey through difficult terrain into unchartered waters. Great artists have done that.But they are very few. How do they do it? That’s the problem.

(p-aragraph)

An individualobserves the world through the window of his identity consisting of many components all joined together in a single whole as if they were pieces of coloured glass held together by lead sealing. Some major components are religion, tribal affiliation, so-cial status,sexual role, etc. etc. We invest a lot of ourselves in building the structure and thenmaintaining its cohesion. Serious damage to any one of the lattices can make the wholewindow fall to pieces. Rearranging the coloured shards is almost impossible and doneonly at large cost. Once we’ve joined the pieces together it is tempting to keep themfirmly in place ever after; from inertia alone. For the more tim-id the slightest challengeto its rigidity is taken as life threatening. The fundamentalist mind set is like that. Notethe reaction to Andre Serrano’s ‘sss-x-riced’. Or threaten the tribla identification of a people & they might ethnically cleanse you.

(paragraph)

So it would seem impossible tochange how a person views the world. On this model at least. Yet great artists dosometimes help us, perhaps by their combined efforts, to go on extraordinary journeys.

(paragraph)

If I were an artist I would like to be the person who loosens, a little, the leadseals that hold the shards together. That would be sufficient challenge for me. I like tothink that though most are born to build there is also a need for the occasional personwhose task it is to loosen structures, even shake them apart at times, or threaten to. Put in anoth-er way, I would rather rock the boat than row it. To do it well, which may simply mean to get away with it, may require a bit of style, a bit of art perhaps. A bit of wickedhumour, a bit of trickery, a bit of shock? (

(paragraph)

***********

(paragraph)

It should benoted that though in western culture notions about GOD & ART share a parallel history (prior to the post-modern era at least) they share other things too. Both are 3-letter words. Further, as students of arcane coincidences and devotees of trivial pursuit will beaware, both are imperfect reflections of the animal kingdom as GOD is an anagram of dog and ART is an anagram of rat.”

) 5.40pm. Im writin in room 203 (c ‘Vilnius (no 1)’ & ‘(no 2)’) inno 2 Latako g. (31/10. c left h& side (btween 11 & 1-4) of kuvr map of ‘Vilnius (no 1)’. Lso note th@foto on kuvr of ‘Vilnius (no 2)’ is takn from 16 (ie Rotu-šė, Menininku rūmai)) Vilnius. Im testn out‘Čepkeliu trauktine su Bruknėmis’ & I rekn its not az good az th uthr (c ‘→ (no 2)’ p16) bkoz its sweetr.Iv just kum back from a kavine in Gaono g. (@ 1 nd of it thr iz a PAMINKLAS (lithol& iz th l& of PAMINKLAI (…AI is th plurl)) whch reads : VILNIAUS GAONUI ELIJAHU hoo th waitrss sez (ftr nquiries & fone kalls in th kitchn) woz an mportnt Torah skolr (rabin-as) in th 1700s. Sh sez I kan findout mor O him @ th jwsh mzeum (hvnt cn th 1 in Melb.) & I mght br-eak my rule & do just th@

2mrrow uthrwize Ill hav 2 wait till I get back 2 Melb. & read th Opaedia Jud-aika @ th St8 Libery) whr Ihad a beer & a pl8 of ŠALTIBARSČIAI. B4 th@ I vzitd th chapl in th Aušr-os Vartai (Gates of Dawn) 2c if I kould spot any mrakls bkoz I hav noticed peopl thr akt az if they r in a rapture & az I woz passnthrgh th g8s this mornn draggn me suitkase I sor a guy turn O & † hmslf koz he had gon ndr th shrine(2 th holy vrgin mary). I ddnt wtnss a mrakl but read th@ th pope haz don8d both hiz

RED

& his

WHITE

skull kaps 2 th shrine 2 sgnl hiz dvotion. Thr iz a book 4 pilgrms 2 sgn but I ddnt. @ 3pm Irang H 2 giv her th no 2 O back (koz its miles cheapr 2 O from Melb 2 lithol& than th ←) & w torkd 4nearly an hour. I m gettn homesik & sh klaims sh wants me back uthrwize shs On up th ‘hire-a-hubby’service. B4 th@ I had a beer (maža (300) tamsaus) & fried bread (if u hav it u kant eat nuthr greezeemeal on th same day az its nuff x itslf 2 make your skin ooz greez) wth garlk in th kavine x thArkikatedra-Bazilika

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2 get back → th swng of th Vilnius lifestyle. B4 th@ I got 100 US $s & 30 eurosin dreadfl ntcip8n of th 10 hrs Ill hav 2 spnd @ th Moscow airport on my way home in a weeks time.B4 th@ I chekd if ŠUjLoSnKaIsS had h&d on ‘29/4/04 – 1/5/04’ 2 Karolina Masiulytė-Pal-iulienė(30/10. c ‘Vilnius (no 2)’ p13) @ th frnch lnguage book shop & he sed he had but kouldnt gran-tee shwould read it so I got his +rss 2 send my lithol& pieces 2 him so he kan read em. (its hot & ste-amybut my short sleev shirt hznt dried yet from whn I washd it in th h&basin). B4 th@ Vaidas had dr-opptme off @ th Ukmergė (c ‘→ (no 1)’) bus st8n but a guy spottd I woz goin 2 Vilnius & ffrd a fastr trip (uget this @ most majr rail & bus termnls) 4 8 Lt (wth 5 uthr pssngrs). B4 th@ Vaidas had put in a littlbottl wth a piece of ppr on whch I had writ a sekret note → hole he had drilld → top of th BOBAs (c ‘→(no 1)’ & ‘→ (no 2)’) head whch reads :

“The BOBA was made x Vaidas (Vaidotas in full) ŽVI-RBLIS (Passer domesticus) during June & July 2004 on a trip from Melbourne, Vic.Australia. I, John Arūnas ŽIŽYS, was a witness & helped carry her 2 her present lok8n. I 2m from Me-bourne but my fathr woz born in th Ukmergė

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. a…ž. PS Th haus was built xVaido grand-fathr.”

Ncdntly it woz a magnfcent chievmnt az 4 men kouldnt hav liftd th BOBA but wmnaged 2 do it wth a riketee h&kart V found in th shed. It woz a struggl. B4 th@ I 8 h&fuls of red, & of black SERB-ENTAI (c ‘→ (no 2)’ p16). B4 th@ I 8 sausage (it woz named KAIMIŠKOS LAUKTUVĖS /KAIMIŠK-AS SERVELATAS & it had a pretty pik of a vllager bringn good stuff on hiz hors drawn kart→ city pe-opl & in small print it sed “nauja technologija “(new teknolgy) & “experimentinis gaminys”(xprimntl pr-dkt) & Vaidas had bght it x mstake koz he threw hiz piece → cindrs koz it tasted like thstuff u x in ny sprmrkt in Melb xpt it had mor salt in it 2 suit litho taste buds & it woz wfl & nxious & ataste of things 2 kum wth th rrival of modrinity but I 8 it koz I woz hungry) on rye bread wth 2mato(striktly litho koz az very1 here knows they r much tastier (but go off quikr!) than th ½ price spansh1s), kukumbr, onion & dill (KRAPAI) 2 whch Iv bkum +iktd. B4 th@ I had a wash in th Šašuola rivr 4 thlast time evr mayb (c ‘→ (no 1)’ p4). B4 th@ I had a good though short nghts sleep durin whch I woz1drn O Sai Babas prdktion of th xakt time whn he would die th@ Vaidas had told me O th prviousevnn x th LAUŽAS. What dffrnce duz it make 2 his writns & sayns should th prdktion turn out 2 b falssince I woz thinkn th@ th meann of th lnguage iz a sepr8 m@r ? Sppose a bad man sez sumptn trueO human nature duz it turn out 2 b fals koz he woz a bad man? Or if a very good man (eg saint) sezsumptn rdkulous duz it turn out 2 b true just koz it woz sed x a nice guy? Or r bad guyz (az Rumsfeld(5/11. met GEO-RGE-KcOoTnZABASIS ((c ‘→ (no 1)’ p6) sez his rtkls r sent 2 Rumsfeld, Bush, &Cheney & klaims th yanx hav fast-trakt most of hiz rkommnd8ns) @ th st8 libery ystrdy whr he hadbrought in hiz book (4 lgal dposit) xortn an n10sfk8n of th war on terrr & rguin th@

“Since theterrorists have decided to fight the ‘infidels’ by the laws of the jungle, they should alsobe prepared to suffer, and to die, by the laws of the jungle … no civilised human rightslaws should protect this murderous mass of fanatics who are determined to bury civilisedlife”

(8/11. Con, a 4mr SBS drektr & hoo haz bn an djudik8r on th = Pprtunity Board Trbunal in Vikddk8s th book → hiz muthr &

“to all mothers who may have lost or who might lose their sonsand daughters in this war against terror”

)

would hav us blve) lwayz rong & good guys (eg Bushor th pope) lwayz rght? I woz thinkn O

th prdktion x

JESUS OF NAZAR-ETH

th@ th O az w know itwoz O 2 fnish & he woz mstaken but very1 he preachd 2 woz dead wthn a genr8n & their O hadfnishd ndeed. Prhaps they wdnt hav listnd 2 him if he hdnt sed th O would finsh & he nly sed it

would so they would listn koz it really would 4 thm & he knew it finshs 4 very1 but they sort of think they go on 4eva

bkoz they hav kids etc. So mayb he woz sp-eakn nly 4 thoz 4 hoom it fnishs(az it did 4 him) az thoz hoo think they go on 4eva mght az well stay happy (HA! HA! HA!) az they r koz theyv got it. Good on em I say. I woz lso thinkn O Brigitas lettr wh-ch sh had persnly h&d 2 SaiBaba koz it woz writ in komprhensibl (Brigita is sane) sntnces but sh wo-znt xpktn (& ddnt get) annswr ← from th holy man but mayb woz spektn a mirkl. But if Sai Baba duz mirkls why go all th waywth a lettr 2 india ← ozziel& since a guy like th@ should b abl 2 hear what u ask in ozziel& koz of hismrklous hearn or iz it he kan nly do sum mirkls but not uthrz & needs a writ lettr 2 giv an nwrit rspons.U got 2 dmit it gets pretty konfuzin whn u start thinkn 2 much O mirkls in your sleep. I lso got up O x 44 a piss (& 1ce 4 a shit) koz of all th soop (& sum beer) I had had durin th day. Yes, I m goin in rverse← Vilnius & from here ← Melbourne.

2004 Liepos 23d. (penktadien-is).

It may b my specialkondtion I kanot sleep in th cities (Kaunas, Šiaulia, Vilnius) of lithol&. My ngh-br (dont like th sound of hiz koff) in 202 kould hav th same prolbm az he uzed th toilt verytime ftr I uz-ed it. Ystrdy H wozworried O Bens sleepn p@rns (24 x 24) , th@ Dan woznt doin 0 & th@ I had bn so konfuzed in my‘Vilnius (no 1)’ rtkl. Hope sh duznt looz no sleep ovr it koz az soon az I get back I ntnd 2 talk her →rtiremnt & w kan go travln in th van 4 long trips 2 th Flindrs Ranges, tropik queens-l&, Eyre pninsla,etc etc whr w kan c@ch up on az much sleep az w need & 4get verythn xpt me writn & her new foundhobby of growin & mayb dntfyin orkids. Sh lso sed sh rranged th bdroom, shs teachn Dan 2 paint thmpty rooms @ th back of th Ivanhoe haus, & shs gettn her hearin tstd koz shs good az deaf in 1 ear & x th time I get back Ill b married 2 a littl old lady wth a hearn aid. 8.00am & I m goin 4 a krap, brushme teeth, & a showr – my nghbr in 202 wont like it….Went 2 hav nuthr look @ th PAMI-NKLAS (of hizbeardd head) of Gaonas Elijahu whch iz nly a kupl of 00 yrds from th rstrnt Iv bn eatn @ 2 c if Idmissd nythn. It turns out he had livd on th site of th haus on th knr nxt 2 th PAMINKLAS. L8r I skd thgrl in th frnch book shop whr th jwsh mzeum iz & thr r 2, 1 @ 12 Pamėnkalnio g. & 1 @ 10Naugarduko g. Ill go thr l8r in th day. On th way I passd th wndow of th LIETUVOS GYVENTOJU GE-NOCIDO IR REZISTENCIJOS TYRIMO CENTRAS & here iz a komplet list of th books on dsplay in thwndow (31/10. I hadnt noticed thr woz nuthr dsplay wndow facin Stikliu g.) : 1) ‘The Unknown War :Armed anti-Soviet Resistance in Lithuania in 1944-1953’. 2) ‘Tuskulėnai : (egzekuciju aukos ir bude-liai) 1944-1947’. 3) ‘Esame’ x Stefanija Ladigienė. 4) ‘With a Needle in the Heart (Memoirs of Former Prisoners of Ghettos and Concentration Camps)’. 5) ‘President Lithuania : Prisoner Gulag (A Biogra-phy of Alexandras Stulginskis)’ x Alfonsas Eidintas (c ‘Vilnius (no 1)’ p4). 6) ‘Siberia Mass Deportat-ions from Lithuania to the USSR’. 7) ‘Karas Po Karo : War After War’. 8) ‘Whoever saves one life ….(The efforts to save Jews in Lithuania between 1941 and 1944)’. 9) ‘A State within a State? Jewishautonomy in Lithuania 1918 – 1925’ x Šarūnas Liekis. 10) ‘The Anti-Soviet Resistance in the BalticStates’. 11) ‘Genocidas (Lietuvos Gyventoju Genocido ir Rezistencijos Tyrimo Centras) Rezistencija2004 1 (15)’. 12) 3 vols of ‘Lietuvos Gyventoju Genocidas’ : AŽ 1939 –1941 (I Tomas), AJ 1944-1947(II Tomas), KS 1944-1947 (II Tomas). Then I read th ‘Lietuvos Rytas’ ovr breakfst. Thr iz a majr rtkl Oth hotel ‘Šiauliai’ I had stayd in whn I woz vzitn jŽuIoŽzIaSs (c ‘Šiauliai’) whch I mght nklude (31/10.ddnt) in my ‘Šiauliai’ piece (whch H tells me sh haz typed). It sez th dansh NATO troops hav shftd out(2 Panėvežys 80ks away ← their

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) bkoz it iz nsafe : th fire fghtn gear iz noprabl koz th metl fittns havbn stoln x metl thievs (c ‘Šiauliai’ p2); their kommndn ffcer, kaptn S M Madsen, sez in th kase of a firesoliders in th uppr storeys would hav bn kondmnd 2 die bkoz th fire xits wer naild up; & since leavnthey hav found out th watr is nfektd wth

LEGIONELLA PNEUMOPHILA

. Nuthr rtkl rports th@ a pollshows th@ ovr th last 3 yrs lithos hav bkum mung th most ptmistk peopl in urop. (just met Mr 202. Heiz germn & woz komplainn th@ th old man @ th frunt door duznt speak any nglsh xpt 2 say “hullo hul-lo” mayb & he iz srprized such a man iz mployd 4 th job). I m goin 2 wash me ndrpants in th h&basin& go look 4 th mzeum …. On th way I met KAaRlAgZiIsJA (c ‘Melbourne → Kaunas’ p7 & ‘Vilnius (no1)’ p2 & ‘Vilnius (no 2 )’ p12 &13) in Vilniaus g. talkn on his mobile 2 KEdSaMnIiNuAsS in Melbournergnizin th Jumbo Jazz vent in sept. Whn they fnshd I took th mobile & skd Danius 2 pass on my rgard-s 2 Jane, hiz parnts, & S&AdNrIeGwA (31/10. goin 2 a bbq @ hiz place on nov 19

on th kkasion of him kompletn hiz PhD). I knew I woz in th vcinty of The Jwsh St8 Mzeum of Lithuania whn I kame † a