16 of us flew from the UK to Jonkoping, Sweden for the Street Fighter IV tournament at Dreamhack Winter 2009. Here is what happened.

Ryanair

Flying from London to Gothenburg.

I stood here for ten minutes waiting for her to move her trolley up so I could get some shots.

Shau

Femi

Chunkis, David & Zade. Sleeping on Ryanair is not a comfortable experience.

Say aaaaaah

The weather in Gothenburg was actually worse than in London. Wetter and colder.

Sweden

For some reason, Dreamhack brought the tournament forward one day from Friday to Thursday, so we had to rush straight from the airport to the event. We were pretty whacked when we got there.

Waiting for the bus

Some of my matches

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ryan Gutierrez (aka Gootecks, seated right) and Cami (behind players) were invited over from California by Dreamhack to do commentary on Swedish TV. We played some casuals with Gootecks.

Ramzi & Gootecks

Dawgtanian & Gootecks

F Word challenged Gootecks to a push-ups match – whoever lost the fight would have to do 30 push-ups. Here is what happened.

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F Word gets on all fours

And then tries to escape after one push-up.

Zak ‘The Beastman’ Bennet playing his group

One of Zak’s matches.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ryu was in the house, in F Word’s group.

Here is the main bracket after the group stages.

I had Ryan Hart in the first match; one of the three worst draws I could possibly get (the other two being Zak and Gootecks). Here is how our match went. Not great for me by any means.

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Ryan Hart took down the tournament for the UK, eliminating me, Afii and Zak in the process. It was inevitable we would eliminate each other when 14 of us made the last 32. Pretty good showing by the UK.

We were front row supporting our guys. We were on Swedish national TV!

United States of Kingdom

After the tournament, we had a 6v6 against the Swedes. Gootecks represented the UK and Xian joined the Swedish, to give us ‘The United States of Kingdom’ vs ‘Swingapore’. It was great fun and there was a lot of trash talking.

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Nom

The wall of microwaves. You could buy a TV dinner and heat it up here in 5 minutes.

Et voila.

Random guy. It seems a lot of my photos are slightly under-exposed. I need to get used to Leica metering.

This is Jadi, he has a pretty gangsta joystick.

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Some kind of card game going on here at 4am

Cami & Gootecks

Cami and Gootecks preparing for a podcast recording with Ryan Hart and Zak.

Waiting.

Breaking down what they are to discuss in the podcast.

Podcast time. Zak and Ryan had an interesting debate on the limitations of Street Fighter IV.

2nd place finisher Ho Kun Xian was really jetlagged.

Live studio audience

Xian is not very live.

Game over

The last night of Dreamhack, we grabbed a bunch of beers and played Third Strike until 7 in the morning.
Group shot of some of us, some of the Swedes, Gootecks, Cami and Xian before we all hit the road.

Cami & Gootecks still had the energy to climb a tank. Crazy cats.

Sleep

Getting the train back to Gothenburg to fly home.

We met Jenny on the way to Gothenburg; she was on her way to pick up her son from kindergarten. She speaks five languages but is not available for marriage. Sorry chaps.

The others were still in Jonkoping when we got to Gothenburg, so we waited for them at the internet cafe.

Is everyone asleep in Sweden?

Seems so, but some are still keeping busy…

Geeky stuff: Leica M6, Leica 35mm 1.4 Summilux, Kodak Tri-X +2. Panasonic SDR-H250 video camera.

Bonjour

Welcome to Paris.

SFII Sagat stage

Femi on the hunt.

Crepes

We stayed up until around 7am every day playing Street Fighter IV & Pro Evo, so people closed their eyes every chance they got.

Lawrence

Homeless guy.

Tournament time

Bushido Impact 9. We came to Paris mainly to enter the Street Fighter IV tournament. Most of us made it out of our groups into the main tournament bracket.

Here are some of my group fights. I play Zangief.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Zero2000 (Wes, right) vs Yamazaki (Olivier). Yamazaki is is the best Ryu in France.

Yamazaki vs Dawgtanian. Dawgtanian is very popular in France, known from his online matches. There was always a crowd when he was playing.

Jesus is a pad player

The King Sagat.

Logan Sama. Logan and I stayed up all night Friday and played 200-300 games vs each other, Zangief vs Akuma. That is my tournament stick next to him, with a custom Zangief faceplate.

Close up of my stick. My gamer handle is ‘WorstGiefEVER’. I play SFIV on PC, my gamertag there is JBARDOLPH if anyone wants to add me. I am improving all the time, so one day I will probably change from ‘WorstGiefEVER’ to ‘Maybe not the Worst Gief EVER, but still pretty bad’.

Zero2000 (Wes) in battle.

Dawgtanian vs StarNab. StarNab is an awesome Fei Long player. He is SG rank on XBOX (top league). This match had HUGE hype, and Femi got it on camcorder and commentated. Probably the most hype match of the day. Video below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bushido Impact 9 was a fantastic event. They are planning to run an event every month; it is a one-day event, so from the UK you could get the Eurostar there and back on the same day for £50. I will certainly be doing this again. The people we met were great and very hospitable (thank you Bushido), and we all look forward to seeing them again.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Geeky stuff: Leica M6, Leica 35mm 1.4 Summilux, Kodak Tri-X, Ilford Delta 400

Welcome.

The ground floor of the Tanzanian High Commission had been turned into an art installation.

Curators. Should have taken a shot of them from the waist up as well.

Out of the Tanzanian, into the Mexican.

My composition has gone to shit for some reason

I thought this was pretty cool.

Not to my taste, shall we say

Awesome charcoal painting by Annie Attridge

A bed blocking the path to the higher floors. Quite ironic sign, I thought.

Shark and maker of the shark, George Dulake.

George asked for a shot at the entrance to the embassy. I prefer the other shot.

It was interesting to see a squat/gallery, its inhabitants and their demeanour; the different way of life, and the enthusiasm about things most of us would barely even notice.  I question the futility of the squatters’ ways, though; they enter and occupy a building for an always finite amount of time before they have to leave and search for a new building again. Not always having water and electricity, seeking unused food from delis at the end of the day and doing flexible jobs to generate money every now and then. I think better understanding comes with spending extended time with a community like this – being a squatter for a night.

Maybe one day…

Geeky stuff: Canon EOS 20D, 24-70 f2.8 lens.

The journey

All the hotels in Pamplona were fully booked months in advance so Yassin and I booked a hotel in Vitoria, an hour’s train ride away. Vitoria is a 7-hour bus ride from Barcelona, where our journey started.

We dropped our bags, got changed and went straight to the train station. Yassin cut himself shaving and sported tissue on his face for the duration of the train ride to Pamplona.

Welcome to Pamplona.

The festival

We arrived at around 3pm on Sunday, the first day of the festival. The festival began at noon but unfortunately train and coach times would not allow us to get there in time for the start. Thousands of people were already there when we arrived and the entire place was rocking.

People were already quite hammered.

The toilets were 25 metres behind this chap.

We went exploring and ended up at a funfair, where I played a darts game and won a bottle of Negrita Rum. Here I am with said rum. On another note, I seem to look very camp in all the photos Yassin took of me in Pamplona.

The night before the first run

Because our hotel was in another town, we had to stay in Pamplona all night in order to make the 8am bull run. This gave us a lot of free time with nothing but alcohol and thousands of Spanish party animals.

Alcohol leads to drink driving….

…dancing on tables with strangers…

…and pictures of me throwing up outside. But we don’t want to see those now, do we?

Do we!?

The route

This is part of the route, a few corners away from the beginning of the run where the bulls’ pens are. The barriers are designed to allow runners to climb, dive under, through or over them to escape a clash with the bulls. There are also narrow vertical gaps in the barriers – big enough for humans to get through but not bulls. The barriers are placed into the ground on race days; there are special cavities in the floor they slot in to. This shows how seriously they take their tradition and the safety of the runners. Also, police and medics are stationed at every exit point to help where necessary. This picture was taken on Sunday so don’t worry, no kids took part in the run.

This barrier is on the first part of the run, about 40 metres from where the bulls are released.

The bull run

After shivering our way through Sunday night/Saturday morning, it was almost time. As runners were waiting for the firework marking the beginning of the run, people took up their viewing spots on balconies.

There were a lot of runners. Most of the people pictured here (us included) were kicked off the course so the authorities could dry the road to help everyone’s grip (including the bulls).

A bunch of us ran back to the start and climbed onto the course again.

Shortly before the start of the run and we were ready to roll. After this shot we split up; I went to the front to sing with the guys who start the run, then realised I didn’t know the words. The newspapers are used to distract the bulls from you if necessary, though some try to tap the bulls on the nose with their newspapers.

Yassin made a short video of the mayhem while running.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I didn’t take any shots or movies during the race but here is a shot of Yassin taken by Maite Hernández from sanfermin.com. As you can see, he is pushing some poor bastard in the way to save his own skin. It’s every man for himself out there.

The aftermath

The below image from sanfermin.com shows the route and the injuries from today’s run. The run starts on the left of the map and goes uphill. The fourth injury logo on the map is where the bulls passed me. Between the two buildings on the map where you can see a number of injuries is a hotspot where you can be very exposed to the bulls because of the corners. When I ran past that point a guy was face down on the floor unconscious, rescued a few seconds later by medics and taken to hospital.

Because we positioned ourselves early in the race we didn’t make it to the Stadium before they closed the doors. Next year we’ll be sure to make it inside.

The bull run was the most exhilarating experience of my life, something I’ll never forget and something will definitely aim to do again next year. If you plan on going, make sure you get a hotel in Pamplona and make sure you book 6-9 months in advance. If I had to sum up the San Fermin festival in one word it would be:

Bonkers.

Here is a video of the bull run itself.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Labas

Lithuania is below Latvia and Estonia. This was my second trip to the former Soviet Republic; a Baltic state with the friendliest of people and a love for basketball. For this visit I checked in to Vilnius’ Apia Hotel which I will certainly recommend to others, unlike the hideous hotel we were subjected to in December.

I arrived on Saturday night and went out with my friend Lina (I must get a photo of her next time). I got back to the hotel at 5am. Two hours of sleep later it was time to get a bus to Trakai; but not before cheese and meat pancakes. A man has morals.

Trakai

Trakai has peculiar graffiti.

This bin appeared to be the tourist information point. Fortunately I knew where I was going.

Trakai has a number of lakes, and in one of those lakes is this island castle.

Close up shot with the Nokia N95

You can get to it via boat, pedalo or bridge. I chose the bridge.

The inside wasn’t terribly interesting, but it’s still worth a visit.

Karaites can be found in Trakai. Karaites are an Ethnic minority originating from Baghdad, of which there are not many left in Lithuania. There are some Karaite kitchens in Trakai; they serve (among other things) pasties called Kibinai. I had a Pork Kibinai (Kibinas su kiauliera in Lithuanian). Looked like a Cornish Pasty, tasted delicious.

Europos Centras/Parkas

Europos Centras means ‘Centre of Europe’. The French National Geographical Institute declared this point, 25km north of Vilnius, the geographical centre of Europe. I went to have a look.

I got a minibus to Europos Parkas, 17km away from Europos Centras, since the Lonely Planet guide I had did not offer directions to Europos Centras.

No cars allowed in the park. Gotta walk 1km through the Pine trees.

There’s a lot of outdoor art here; one piece was made by Tei Kobayashi of Fujifilm. I know Voigtlander Bessas are made by a Mr. Kobayashi. Could these Kobayashis be one and the same???

Near the restaurant in the park I came across this, marked on the map given to me by the park attendant as Monument of the Centre of Europe. The small pyramid-looking object represents a central point, and around it you can find the distances to different places from that point. After seeing this I became very confused and assumed this was Europos Centras.

Long way from home.

The park restaurant was quite strange. Of the menu I was given, none of the hot dishes were available and they didn’t have all the ingredients necessary for the salad I requested. They did however, have the ingredients for a delicious Greek salad…

…and ice cream with warm tart. I didn’t like the beer.

Vilnius

Vilnius is currently my favourite city in Europe. It will be the European capital of culture next year; I highly recommend a visit.

Full English breakfast with a Long Island iced tea. Now that’s what I call a breakfast. I left Cozy ever so slightly drunk after this.

I then went on a quest to get to the Vilnius TV Tower. This took me through a park and then through what can only be described as dense forest. Fortunately I met these guys and they led me to safety and the TV tower. From left to right: Karolis, Ilevus & Evelina.

The TV Tower. For some reason photography is not allowed in the tower. Not even on the viewing platform. There is a rotating restaurant on it, so you get an ever changing panorama as you eat. Good stuff.

14 people died at the TV tower in 1991 at the hands of the Soviets. Some were crushed by tanks, some were killed when the army fired live rounds into the crowd. There is a memorial at the base of the tower for the fallen.

I found a clip from a documentary on youtube showing some video of the event.
This video contains some grisly images.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Fined

I decided not to traverse back through the forest on my way back to central Vilnius. Instead I hopped on a trolleybus but wasn’t sure how to buy a ticket, so kept the money in my hand for the conductor. To my horror the trolleybuses don’t have bus conductors (the normal buses do) and a ticket inspector mercilessly fined me 20 Lt on the spot. A ticket is normally 1.40 Lt (about 35p).

Bastard.

Back to Cozy. Lasagne and a fruit cocktail for lunch. Good stuff.

Užupio

The unofficial republic in Vilnius is changing.

December

April (need a lens hood)

I returned to the derelict area to have a more detailed look.

Previously

Now

Some people don’t like change. Sometimes you’ve just got to accept it.

The graffiti continues.

I was surprised to see this in Lithuania. I doubt there is much support for this kind of ideology here; it was probably made by someone for the sole purpose of offending people.

The Užupio constitution. This 41-point document contains such gems as:

3. Everyone has the right to die, but it is not an obligation.
12. A dog has the right to be a dog.
30. Everyone has the right to have brothers, sisters and parents.
39. Do not defeat.
40. Do not fight back.
41. Do not surrender.

Old Užupio

New Užupio. The man on the balcony was hammering some new planks in, when one came loose and fell onto the people below.

Vintage Užupio

The Museum of Genocide Victims

This building was formerly the KGB HQ in Vilnius. The basement was set up for torture rooms, execution rooms and a prison.

The duty officer’s room. Prisoners’ papers were registered here. To the left you can see a control panel, used for contacting guards, raising the alarm or contacting the cells.

This is the guardroom. The scales were used to weigh food parcels, sent for prisoners by their relatives. There was a weight limit the parcels had to adhere to. Not every prisoner received parcels from their family; some were not permitted to receive anything at all. Prisoners received paltry portions of food from the KGB and 1 litre of water a day.

Solitary confinement cells. These corridors are fairly narrow but I still think I could have made a better shot of this.

The padded cell. I’ve seen some things in my time but this is a monstrosity. It was used for prisoners who “resisted or were deranged with torture”. Prisoners would be placed in straight jackets when taken to this room.

They were allowed to use the toilets once a day. Pretty shabby.

Shower access was once a week.

I didn’t take any photos of the execution room. It’s very different now to how it was when they left it. The museum has put in a raised glass floor to preserve the original, and there is a TV & video player in there (wasn’t running at the time). If you visit Vilnius then this is a must see, if only to see what we humans are capable of doing to one another.

The most astonishing thing is there are still secrets to be found here; when the KGB left, two rooms in the basement were set up as a doctor’s room and library. When the musem had to repair the heating they realised the floor in the rooms was false. The floor actually sunk and had a small platform in the middle on which to stand, around four inches above the ground. They would fill the floor in ice cold water and put prisoners in the room for days, making them stand on the platform if they wanted to avoid the freezing cold water.

Cathedral Square

I’m not into religion, but this cathedral is damn gorgeous.

And big. Why are cathedral doors so big?

The end….?

During the writing of this blog I made the foolish mistake of upgrading my laptop from Vista Home Premium SP1 to Vista Ultimate SP1. During the upgrade, windows decided to clear everything in my user folder and desktop. I’ve subsequently lost hundreds of documents, files and folders, making me unable to finish this blog entry. It might have been held up for weeks so I felt I should post it now. Hopefully I’ll be able to post the rest shortly.

Viso gero!