My First and Last Article
In August 1997, after a killer interview and a two-week trial period, I was hired by Evenimentul Zilei as a desktop publishing operator. It was my first job in Bucharest. It was the first time I’d ever “played around” with an Apple Macintosh for more than a few minutes. My first encounter with an Apple had been sometime in the ’90s, in a newsroom—I think it was at Tineretul Liber.
But that’s not what I want to talk about. This is about the first and last article I ever had published in a newspaper. I was 19 and into rave music. One evening I found out I could get into a concert for free. This was back when journalists could get into almost anywhere without accreditation just by flashing their press card, and being a journalist was still something you could be proud of. Things have changed since then: journalists have gone hungry, and their status has become downright degrading.
As I was saying, I found out I could get backstage at a rave concert for free. So far, so good—the atmosphere was magical, and I vaguely remember, as if in a dream, one of the colleagues I was with punching some guy in the mouth for no reason whatsoever… Anyway, I made it to the concert and discovered that even “celebrities” are human; a DJ who’d come over from England even gave me a couple of records. I don’t remember much about the concert itself, possibly because I was a little tipsy after a few beers.
After the concert I went back to the newsroom hungover and slept in an office until people started showing up for work. That morning I found out I could write an article about the concert. So I did. I sat down at the computer in a new role: writer, not page designer. I fidgeted for a good few minutes; I remember feeling nervous and having no idea how to word my sentences. After much huffing and puffing, I cobbled together a few lines and proudly took them to Alex Revenco, who was head of the entertainment desk at the time. He glanced over the article and told me it was no good. He did encourage me to rewrite it, though; there were still two hours before the paper had to be sent to the printers. The previous night’s beers were still doing their thing, never mind the lack of sleep, but I rewrote the piece anyway. I took it back to Alex. Still no good. In the end, he cut two-thirds of it, rewrote half of what remained, and told me it was okay. I was thrilled.
You can admire the masterpiece below:
DJ Vasile and DJ Thomas Throw a Rave Party
Tuesday, March 10, 1998
On Saturday night at ROMEXPO, thousands of young people from Bucharest had the chance to meet MTV’s VJ Thomas and London’s DJ Deepart in the explosive atmosphere of a rave concert on par with anything in the West. Opening the party, DJ Vasile managed to show through his music that Romanian rave stands a chance of catching up with its Western counterpart in the near future. Before taking the stage, VJ Thomas told us that “he was pleasantly surprised by Romanian initiatives in rave and electronic music.” If you’re a fan of DJ Deepart, you can listen to him online every Friday evening at http://www.pirate-radio.uk.
The article can still be viewed here in the online edition of Evenimentul Zilei.
Comentarii din vechiul blog
ai scris foarte frumos si nici macar nu stiai atunci, ca intr-o buna zi chiar jurnalist o sa ajungi! la mai mare! prea multe beri insa nu cred ca ai baut, iti amintesti de concert, pe vremea aia un eveniment, asa ca mai important ca asta nu exista!
A iesit un articol super ok, la cate beri ai baut! :D … De scris tu scriai foarte bine si in liceu, imi amintesc de un poem si de niste eseuri foarte bine scrise de tine pe-atunci. Nu mai zic de muzica pe care o compuneai, evident, tot la calculator, cu melodie si orchestratie demne si azi de ascultat. Nu m-ar surprinde ca intr-o buna zi sa-ti redezvolti latura ta creativa si in domeniul literaturii si muzicii (poate chiar a filmului), nu doar a computerului ;) P.S. Daca nu ma insel, primul Mac l-am vazut la Mircea Nedelciu in birou, la Euromedia (Editura Cartea Romaneasca) prin anii ’94- ’95, care vorbea pe tema Apple cu Florin Iaru, alt impatimit al Mac-urilor.
@vergi: Mulțumesc pentru răspunsul tău. Să știi însă că nu sunt jurnalist. :)
MIe-mi place pe langa articol si poza postata de tine.Ce fatza de pushti teribilist aveai!
interesanta escapada in trecut. m-ai pus pe ganduri si incerc sa imi amintesc ce faceam eu prin ’98. Clar nu vazusem Mac!
Mmm, rave! Interesanta perioada in care vecinii mei veneau la mama sa le faca geci din fasul ala care era reflectorizant! Doamne si ce seri magice erau in R2 in regie! ;)
he,he! tati avea o vorba, domnule, tati incepea orice propozitie cu oricine vorbea cu domnule, eu la baza sint .. si spunea, ce era, dupa care ridea si spunea ce e in realitate, vorba cea mai draga, mic springer din galati, mare proprietar de zapezi! asa ca si eu am gindit asa, eu am facut filologia , la baza sint profesoara, in realitate secretara lui mircea, tu ai facut jurnalistica, tu esti la baza jurnalist si in realitate, esti cine esti! sau ce esti tu la baza??
PS am omis esentialul, ce poza nemaipomenita! model de tinar furios, generatia james dean!
ce vremuri..
hehe, uite ca am mai gasit unul biruitor de Quark Xpress :)) Ce mai vremuri. Am lucrat si eu o vreme ca tehnoredactor/paginator la un ziar, nu asa mare ca evz si am ramas indragostit de page layout… Apropos si eu am avut plete, pe care insa le-am dat jos exact in 1997, de atunci ramanand la “periuta”…
ce tinerel sfios erai:D
