after fflux woke up and got into his suit, he tried to call ffRED on his mobile phone as planned the evening before, he couldn't get through, but continued his way to Berlin Alexanderplatz to catch the regional train to the airport. Meeting time was 5:00 at the railway station and after the train took off seven minutes later, fflux startet to get worried. After dozens of attempts to call and wake up his colleague, who probably didn't hear his alarm clock, fflux rushed out the trainstation and knocked at the next available taxi cab window, the small baldheaded driver stared at him, being pulled back into reality so suddenly from his nap and fflux asked him to quickly drive to ffred's home. Having arrived there just minutes later, fflux rushed upstairs through the open house door and rang the doorbell a dozen times, trying to call ffRED simultaneously on his mobile - no chance. He tried it a few more times, took a glance at his watch and decided to leave. It was already too late to catch any city train in order to arrive at the airport in time for check-in, so he directed the chubby taxidriver straightaway to Schönefeld Airport. His mobile phone went hot from his final desperate attempts to pull ffRED from his cryogenic sleep. Forty euros lighter, fflux ordered a rip-off priced coffee and checked in the equipment. At the security check, the tired lady kindly stated that it would not be possible to take the coffee through to the boarding gate. What a funny start of the mission, fflux thought and sipped his hot coffee, sitting under surveillance next to the bored border policeman on duty.

Finally seated inside the airplane, the mobile switched off, fflux dozed away while the nervous stewardess went through her list of security informations. The sunlight srtived fflux's eyes, waking him up and his first sight were the beautiful green hills, the midterrean sea on the horizon and the plane descended towards Rome. St. Peter's Dome, the collosseum, the aqueduct and ancient city walls were visible between the beautiful sand colored houses and puffy trees, shining in the morning sunlight. The airplane finally caught ground right next to the horse race track in Ciampino and fflux got off the airplane. His baggage was the second one on the BAND and he was able to get out of the tiny airport building quickly to finally catch ffRED on his phone, who was angry, sorry and desperate, not understanding how he was able to not neither hear his alarm clock, nor the two-hours lasting phone rings and the doorbell terror and now would have to stay in freezing cold Berlin, while fflux was enjoying the italian sun.

fflux got his destination informations from ffred and caught the next shuttle bus from Ciampino to Stazioni Termini. The bus ride was shaky, but he enjoyed the italian speaking people around him and the sights along the trip, rushing past dumping grounds filled with rusty Fiat and Volkswagen wrecks from the last decades, pine tree forests, the mountainside shimmering dusty on the horizon, while they drove through the sympathic pastel red and yellow houses deeper into the chaotic traffic jammed heart of the ancient metropole.



Finally arrived at Termini, fflux had to figure out the maze of the underground metro station, fight with the ticket machine and took a ride with the graffiti covered train through the tight and dark tunnels to Furio Camillo, where he instantly found the Flyer communication office.



A long walk through the scary staircase up to the office ended in a typlical media office, crammed with cables, posters, street art and self made furniture. fflux met gianluca who was puzzled because he expected =ff= to be two artists, and not just one. The story was told quickly and the reactions were as expected, laughing, shrugging, head-shaking.

They chilled a while at the Flyer office and fflux connected to the internet to talk with ffRED about the future of the italian job. fortunately a cheap flight for the same evening could be found and booked. Gianluca, one of the LPM organizers crammed fflux, two VJs from serbia and another italian vjane into his tiny car and drove them like crazy through downtown to the Linux Club - the location of LPM. The club has a nice techie atmosphere, with many flat panels growing on long organic tubes coming out of the walls, red plastic space seats, ubuntu linux terminals everywhere, and a long serpent shaped bar. The locals where very busy, measuring out walls and spaces for the zillions of projection walls that were supposed to be put into the rather small room. Fflux did some socializing with the local DJs and visualists until Gianluca finally took everybody out to find a place to eat. Most pizzerias and focaccierias were closed during the afternoon, but they found a small place with a free table and very good tasting focaccias. It was a bit strange to sit outside the small bar, eating and drinking, and right behind fflux's head were two petrol pumps - the place seemed to be a bar and petrol station at the same time. They went back to the Linux Club and fflux decided to take a walk through the neighborhood to buy some tobacco.

The streets were rather big and jammed with evening traffic and fflux enjoyed the smell of gasoline, mixed with pine trees, coffee and italian snacks. Wandering through the streets, looking at the pink-orange-bright blue evening sky, passing by small butcher shops and car repair shops with jacked up old rusty cinquecentos, bored mechanics sipping beer, mafiosi grandfathers discussing and gesticulating wildly, the atmosphere was very inspiring. After he finally found some tobacco halfzware and papers at a tiny cigarette shop owned by a skinny and obviously homosexual pretty boy, fflux tried to find the way back to Linux Club, through small alleys and across gloomy railtrack bridges, and suddenly arrived back at his destination, a bit surprised from his sense of orientation.



After spending another few hours bored t the Linux Club, wastimg time by surfing the internet, rolling cigarettes and talking with the serbian VJs, the clock finally moved towards 8pm anf fflux went on the metro to Termini to pick up ffRED who just arrived there with the airport shuttle bus. The reunion ceremony was short and they caught the next metro to the Flyer Office to meet Mitja and pick up the stuff fflux had left there upon arrival.

After some time of relaxing and socializing with Mitja at the office, gianluca and the other LPM organizers came back from Linux Club to the office and =ff= got introduced to Bram, a dutch audiovisualist living in Berlin, who would be their flat-mate during the LPM. Valeria took the three to their accomodation place, a small appartment close to the Flyer office to leave their stuff there. They continued rightaway to Plaza St. Lorenzo in the heart of the old city center, which is supposed to be a great area with nightlife, bars and restaurants where lots of young people meet at night. It was a pretty area next to the huge citywall, the streets were narrow and crammed with cars and there were lots of student people on the streets, chattering and having fun. The destination was a large pizzeria called "Formula 1" and the whole LPM group had grown to ten people. All sat around a long table, under posters of Ferrari formula 1 cars and being watched by a rather young Michael Schumacher grin from the wall across the room. Beer was served quickly and =ff= got help with the variety of funny sounding pizza names by Mitja. Fried starters were served, olives, fish and rice-balls filled with mozzarella. Like in all public areas in Italy, smoking was prohibited inside the pizzeria, so there was a lot of movement into and out of the place to the street, where the smokers met others in the cold night. The pizzas were really great and of course espressos and high vol. liquids topped off the whole italian dinner. Everyone continued to a nice wine bar and later to a small bar with annoying high speed drum'n'bass and flickering visuals. Antonio picked up =ff= and Bram to take them back to their flat, but on the way they had to pick up Ivar, a portugese artist, from Termini. Ivar could not be found around the area, so they circled a couple of times around Termini, shouting his name and scanning the alleys. Finally they found him and Antonio drove to the flat. The evening was closed adequately by Bram, fflux and ffRED with a final round of schnaps in the scruffy kitchen of their accomodation place and along the way they invented a new chapter of street-art called "stamping." More about this new avantgarde artform will be spread to the world soon. The trio hit the sack and dozed away quickly....zzzzzzzzzzzz