2008 Creativity Competition - Make A Connection With A Tree Or A Plant

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So, you would like to complete your collection of John’s solo albums, you never had a RHCP single on vinyl or you’d fancy having a print of a concert photo that you can frame and put somewhere in your place? And you have some talents, too? Well, read below and you might have a chance to win one of these cool items:

1. 1x DC EP [CD]
2. 1x A Sphere In The Heart Of Silence [CD]
3. 1x Hump de Bump single [7" vinyl single]
4. 2x Inside The Veins Of Velvet Groove by Martin Roach [book]
5. 5x A 30×25 cm print of the so-called I-M.net signature photo, the one I took in Vienna in 2006

I bought all of these myself. No one else is sponsoring the contest this time, so the fiasco from 2007 won’t be repeated and every winner will get a scan or a photo as a proof that their item has been sent.

If there’s anyone who’s feeling generous and who’d like to donate their spare goodies to the competition winners, contact me and make sure you’re a responsible person who will send the item to the address given once the winners have been announced.

This contest is dedicated to a friend of mine who passed away on 09th May 2005, exactly one year before RHCP’s Stadium Arcadium hit the stores. As the most of you hopefully know, there’s a limited edition of the album packed in a black box, and there are little messages frome each of the band members. Click here for a reminder of what John has written. I remember crying when I read that, as the third sentence hit me like a bullet, as the deceased friend was a lombardy poplar tree. His name was Milan, he was with me for 22 years of my life and this contest is dedicated to him. Before I go on with the requirements, I am kindly asking you not to skip the following paragraphs. It is highly recommended to read my and Milan’s story

Lombardy poplars (Populus nigra sp. italica / Populus Pyramidalis) are hybrid trees, male clones, they’re as pure as can be, they reproduce from cuttings and, if loved and cared of, they can live for at least 80 years. They need a lot of water. They’re very flexible and their tiny heart-shaped leaves trebble at the touch of the weakest possible winds. This species developed itself spontaneously in Lombardy, Italy, from the black poplar (Populus negra) which was brought to Europe from Asia. Lombardy poplars are widely used as decoration plants in parks, for their breathtaking beauty.

Milan was a lombardy poplar that somehow got to grow outside of people’s gardens and yards, in the peaceful D**** P******* street, near the centre of Beograd, Serbia. People who are nearly 70 years old at this time claim that he was there when they were playing around as children, at the dawn of a new era, right after the World War II. He lived for at least 80 years himself, he was trimmed once in 1990.

As a resident of this neighbourhod, I also grew up with Milan, as I could see him from my living room’s window. When I’d jump, I thought he was jumping along with me, as I had no idea that trees were not moving and I believed he was omnipotent. I gave him a name as well, he was probably just a “tree” before that. He was always present at key moments of my life, the first story that I’d ever written had him as the key character. Some of my first drawings ever were of Milan. I learned to love trees through my out-of-this-world friendship with this being, and I was practicing my writing at the same time. When my grandmother died, Milan was there for me, although he never said a word. When my cat got hit by a car and killed, Milan was the only witness. He was there for both my elementary and highschool graduation, he was there when I lost a year at the university twice in a row, he was there at one of the biggest disappointments in my whole life, roughly three weeks before his execution.

At about 11:00 on Monday, 09th May 2005, Milan was gone for good. An elderly resident of the nearby old house, suffering from dementia somehow managed to assure the people of the responsible department that the tree was about to crash over her house and kill her. When she passed away herself, three months later, everyone realised the horrible mistake behind this move, but it was too late. The offspring that Milan’s remainings were trying to make into a new tree were first physically damaged by careless people and then the winter’s cold killed them and they never tried to bring Milan back to life again. Three years later, I can only confirm that he’s dead and that he’ll never be a part of this world’s reality again. However, his legacy is there, nearly all the people who grew up with him are alive, able to speak and able to turn their feelings towards Milan into emotions and, as long as there is spoken word and inspiration, the emotion will live on.

Thanks for reading this.

Please, proceed to see what’s the goal of the competition and if you qualify to enter it.

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