Girls weekend in Berlin

Back in September myself and a couple of me dear friends’ decided to finally plan and go on a girls weekend together. Nadzyra and I were the ones who originally has been talking about this for years now and then we asked if Helen would like to come along and then it turns out that my dear friend Mary was able to come all the way from Montreal and visit me around the same time. So it was set. Of course we got to stay at the best place in Berlin because of my dear friend Andreas. We arrived semi late on Friday night and made our way to his place to settle in, only to end up sitting and chatting till about 3 am with Christiane.
Sat we started with a early morning hike for Helen and I up to the top of Victoria park which is actually quite a large hill from which you can see Berlin in all directions.
We then went to meet the other girls for Breakfast on the Bergmanstrasse and then set off into town walking from former west into the east, past checkpoint charley and down Unter den Linden past the museums, and Dom up to Alexanderplatz (checking out bike rentals for the next day) and back towards Kreuzberg for some dinner and to meet friends of Nadzyra's before heading out to a party that Jens and Susanne told us about.
Dinner ended quite late and we got to the end of the train stop to realize there were no more buses or trains in that end of town. So we walked, stopping for beers and such along the way. It was a pretty interesting walk, and we only got lost once. Finally arriving at the Ehemaliges Rundfunkgelaende, which translates to the former Eastern German radio and television buildings . And it was a cool spot as well. The part was held partly inside and partly out with the former bar and marble grand floors and stairs. Pretty neat. We stayed a few hours and then headed back to Andreas's for some sleep.
Sunday we rented bikes from Alex Bike Rentals and took the tour. down the Unter den Linden, under the Brandenburg Gate, past the Reichstag and then through the Tiergarten to the Victory Colum and climbed to the top.. to a even better view.
Back through the tiergarten stopping at the new Jewish Monument before stopping for another coffee at Starbucks and back to drop off two of the bikes.
We stopped at the Dom and Contemporary Art exhibit and climbed over the E=MC2 before taking a daring move and doubling Nadz on my handlebars and Mary on the back of Helen's. It was also quite a cool adventure. We went back for some great food at a fantastic vegetarian place on Meringdam.

Helen and Nadzy had to leave early in the morning but Mary and I had another couple of days to hang out. So after breakfast the next day we took the bikes along the Spree into the east again as I had never been through that part of the city. It was really neat. Then we ended up back near Prenzlauerberg and finally dropping the bikes off at Alexanderplatz again. After which we walked back towards Andreas's and met Jens and Susanne for dinner at the same vegetarian place as the night before; the food is that good!
On the Tuesday we just hung about walking even more through the city and taking in the sights.
It was a great weekend and so nice to know I have some really fantastic friends who are just so lovely. Thanks girls.

Sea U Site 2006

Over the last many years I have attended the Sea U Site festival.. in the past few years we have had continuous attention from the local authorities in the form of police (normal and riot) as well as dogs and helicopters.
This year was different once again... Thankfully closer than the last year's it was almost smack in the middle of what the Germans like to call The Bathtub of Berlin, Kuehlungsborn. Funnily enough the first 2-3 Sea U Site parties I remember were also held nearby.
We left Holland on Friday afternoon and as per usual drove for about 5 hours just to cross the border (What is wrong with this country) which should only be 200 klm across.
After that is was more or less smooth sailing to Berlin where we bunked down at Andreas's for the night.
Saturday was a lazy start and then we left Berlin for the north, 200 km north to Kuehlungsborn where we drove around lost for just a little while. We found the Bremer folks pretty quickly and set about setting up camp.
The weather was not the best and I am continuously thankful that I have a all season tent that always manages to keep me dry. Sat night was held inside one of the empty buildings with a bit of music and other catch ups. But I was really happy to go to bed fairly early and wait for morning.... which came with lots and lots of rain... in fact it rained so hard most of the morning we just stayed in our tents and waited for it to end.
Finally it stopped we headed out to see what was happening in the world of the Sea U Site 2006. It had far more building than the previous years if you don't count the gigantic building complex near Pora on the Island Rugen.
The usual gang from Bremen and Berlin and Hamburg were there, and it took some time to get into the mood but we eventually as the clouds and rain moved on.
It all seemed to move quickly but the day moved nice and slow.
danced a little, explored a little and watched a great sunset.. all in time to hang out a bit longer that evening and then head to bed just as the sun was about to make another appearance.
Monday was beautiful and I took my chances to jump in the water and swim in the Baltic sea, something that I try and do at least once a year.
The drive home was not that exciting and after stopping for some food and rest in Bremen was headed across the boarder to Holland.
The best part was, there was no police this year to bother us, kind of an anti climax though.

Fusion Festival 2006

The same as the last 8 or is it 9 years running I have been attending the Fusion Festival in Germany between the former East German holiday locations of Mirow and Wipperow around the Flugplatz Lärz. I love this place and besides the ever increasing numbers that attend this is still a very special festival and unlike any other I have ever attended.
More than less happy people running amock and having fun.I realizeee that now that I have left this way to long to log any really long important blog entry so you will get bullettt points:

it was really hot/ hotter than I remember ever in the past 9 years in June.

1. for the first time I a. took a warm shower b. swam in the canal c. visited the Goa dance floor.



2. only climbed 3 hangers



3. arrived by plane and train/ taxi.

Friday was hot and only spent catching up with every one I knew
Sat was much the same only spent longer at the tower stage until long after dark
Sun was the lake stage as usual under the trees with all my friends having fun, the one strange note would be that Guddi and I went for a walk and saw that over in the parking lot was something on fire. many people did not notice but many more crowed to the top of the hanger near the tower stage to get a better look, thrubber necker'sss. And oddly enough it turned out to be someone I knew from Bremen who's camper/ home was on fire due to faultywiringg. Months later I found out that he lost almost everything he owned and was relying on the kindness of strangers to get him feed, clothed and fed for the months to come including my lovely German "parents" who have helped him in many ways. And to dissuade her from climbing the hanger we headed off in the direction of the Goa floor. Which was strange to say the least. In the past the only reason to go there was because they had the bestfalafell stand at the party.
At some point on Sunday night we secured a bottle of Malibu from Sabine and spent even more time wandering out Bar 25 and Datcha hanger
Arriving in Berlin on Wed evening and after a good nights sleep and a better breakfast headed for the train station to make our way there... a longish and hot journey via taxis and trains we arrived at the location.. same as every year.
Thankfully Gudrun, Sascha and Crew had already set up not only the camping place but also my potato beetle attracting tent. What does that mean exactly, well potatoe beetles happen to love the colours, orange, yellow and light green... my tent is two of the three.
We had a few drinks, and went for a wander around the land to see what was happening and what was new this year.
A somewhat early night Thursday because there was still 3 more days to go.
Friday we woke to another really really hot morning and went to test out the warm showers passing already a whole bunch of freaky people on the way and a very large pile of orange rinds. On the way back we ran into Frau Fox who I have not seen since the last Sea U Site.
Back for breakfast and catching up with old friends and of course the all important coffee to get my day going.
Did I yet mention it was HOT that whole weekend? Well it was kind of unbearable hot but thankfully there were showers and the nice Canal that you could swim in just down the road.
We did not do much on Thursday other than a few drinks and wandered around before going to sleep.

Sat morning started out really hot as well. after a nice glass of OJ (check out the piles of oranges) and then after a long wait for a refreshing shower we went to go and see what was happening
Sat seemed to fly by walking around and checking out the sights and sounds.

It seems so long ago now that I just can't remember all the details.

Needless to say it is a wonderful party with great people, almost zero agro and many many many things to say and do.

My favourite new thing? the new hobbit forrest habitat they built under the trees.
Sunday was just as hot, they sent in as usual the fire brigade to cool us down and it was just nice to hang out and spend time with my friends. On Monday it was hard to believe that we had to go and after getting dropped off at the train station only to realize that the trains only came every 3 hours or so, and it was a tiny little thing that could barely squish everyone on board. And then back to Berlin and the comfort of Andreas and Christiane's flats and hospitality.

Next year? I am taking a car!

Uit Festival Den Haag

Last Sunday I did a 2 hour workshop at the YogaShala studio which was wonderful, one hour of Ashtaga Yoga and one hour of Yin Yoga. My arms still are sore but it was well worth it as I was inspired to try new things and learnt new things as well. The owners of the studio were both talented and very good at what they did. All in all a really nice experience that I might be tempted to try more of.
Afterwards Helen and I headed over to the Uit Festival here in Den Haag. We went mostly because Circle percussion was playing and she had done a workshop with them in Spain just a few weeks ago. It is a troup of player of Japanese Kyoto and African Drums.
It was fun and very energetic and well worth a watch. We were going to go stick around and watch the poets sitting in the trees but we decided it was more important to eat.
A good weekend busy with meeting people and also sleeping long nights.

Guilty Pleasures

I have ot admit it, I really love watching Extreme Home Makeover it is just such a nice thing to watch families get what they deserve, it almost always chokes me up.... simple and sweet.
and apparently I am not alone http://youcantmakeitup.blogspot.com/2004/11/extreme-home-makeover-with-cry.html

more (Marillion) Lyrics

I just started adding new playlists to my iPod, it makes me wonder why I have not done this already ages ago.
My latest kick it listening to my Marillion folder, I have a whole Caselogic binder of Marillion CD's but the main albums I love I have put on my iPod, and am having such a good time revisiting the anthology... what a bunch of talented guys.. and so often I find myself thinking, 'Oh I haven't heard that one for AGES!'

More importantly than that I can revisit my life for the last 17 years quite often depending on which album I was listening to, but almost none had the affect of Brave on me....

one of my favorites from the CD:
.......
It makes you hungry and it makes you high
It makes you suffer and it makes you cry
It makes you panic and it makes you vain
It makes you primitive and sick inside
It makes you angry and it makes you blind
It makes you guilty and it makes you lie
Tied up and beaten
Spat out and eaten
Suicidal

Nothing's ever been as hard

Well I hear that were lookin' out to change my faith
You can bash me with your book of words, hammer me down
But you know that love can be as hard as six inch nails
Baby nothing else has ever been as hard as love

Hard as love


Visit Marillion.com for a better way of Life.. or at least to see some great photos (some of which are by me!). Under the band link and then photos you get a rotating bunch which is really nice to look at.

Gutters full of rain

I was riding my bike to work this morning (in the rain) and as usual had my iPod on shuffle. This song came on and I thought it was really beautiful as is so many of David Gray's songs:
From the album Sell Sell Sell.

GUTTERS FULL OF RAIN

A gutter full of rain
An empty picture frame
A house out at the edges of the city
Never noticing the war
'Til it's right there at your door
And suddenly your hands are bloody

I was seeking to possess
Now another girl's caress
Is on your flesh
The bitterness is tasted
There's nobody in your chair
No hand to touch my hair
The sun even the air seems wasted

Let it go now
Let it all slip away
And we'll start it all over again
Me like a million
Others before
Trying to make sense of the rain

In spite of all the shame
Sometimes I hear your name
I think of us when we were younger
Then I'm shutting out the noise
And I'm trying to hear the voice
That used to tell me love was stronger

Light another cigarette
But the one I got's still lit
I can't seem to keep my fingers steady
Never noticing the war
Til it's right there at your door
And suddenly your hands are bloody

Back home again

In mid June I went home again for the 3rd time in under 12 months. This time for my friends wedding, as they had asked me to take photographs for them already last year when I was home in Aug.
I met Jen at the company we work for several years ago in The Netherlands because someone who knew us both recognized our accents and suggested we met. The rest as they say is history.
I took my dear friend Jacco with me as he was also invited to the wedding and needed a vacation so it all worked out perfectly. We arrived to a wonderful warm and typical June afternoon, made our way to my brother's house near (funky) Main street, picked up his keys from the designated place and went there to chill out for a while, after getting freshed up we went out to find some food and promptly ran into my cousin Brownwen, which was nice cause I hardly ever get to see her.
After some good food at the Foundation (thanks for the tip Cuz), we went to get some supplies and ran into Eric (the brother) on the way back to his apartment, had some wine chatted and then slept as long as we could.
Friday in Vancouver was spent walking around on Main Street, downtown and Denman Street checking stuff out, shopping and showing Jacco around, English Bay, the downtown vibe and stopped for ceasers and beers at the Cloud 9 Revolving Restaurant on Robson Street. And headed back to grab some food and more drinks. I think after some very frustrating trials we ended up eating at Habit (I think that is what it was called) it was actually very good and nice to really catch up with my brother.
What's a Caesar you ask, not not a Roman emperor or a small Scottie Dog on the side of pet food, this is a wonderful and typically Canadian drink. Clamato Juice is the main ingredient and then comes vodka, Worcestershire and tabasco sauce the rim is slat lined and garnished with anything form celery to green beans. Sometimes it is also made with a horseradish juice as well, but I prefer the regular extra spicy version.

On Saturday after my now traditional soya latte at Soma's I took the bus up to Whistler for the Hen night while Jacco stayed behind and had a few drinks with Merlyn and friends before heading off on his own and exploring the exciting Davie Street night life.
Arriving in Whistler I picked up some drinks and headed for the cabin that the girls were staying at.
I already had met Anita before on a visit to Holland a few years ago but it was nice to meet the other contstants in Jen's life. Sushi for dinner and went to meet Merlyn's sisters who had just arrived in Canada and were due to arrive on the next bus from Vancouver.
Back to the cabin to get ready for the night out at Buffalo Bills.
I had not been there in many years, in fact since the first band I ever worked with played there over 14 years before, where we had certain Tommy Lee visit us in the back stage area but that is a story for another time.
The night was fun but surreal, a little like being in Temple Bar in Dublin with all the other stags and hen nights happening there. But good 80-90's music and a good laugh, a few of us left around 2 and went back for more lounging and drinks.
In the morning we went for breakfast just down the road and I headed back to get ready to head back to Vancouver where I was to meet Jacco at the Ferry Terminal at Horseshoe Bay. Whistler is a typical ski resort but very beautiful and teaming with people all year round. I can only imagine what might happen in 2010 when the winter Olympics are there.
After some minor delays we met at the Ferry and headed across the straight to Vancouver Island where I was born and raised but more importantly where my folks call home.
It was of course so great to see my folks again, being the very coolest people in the whole wide world.

Monday we went to Victoria because I had a bit of ca.gov administration to do, and also decided to do some whale watching so I called the Orca Spirit Adventure company and asked if they had seen any whales and they said that the day before Jpod had been spotted in the area. I knew it was a sign, being the title of the new Douglas Coupland book.
We headed out of the harbor towards the San Juan islands where it has been known they would most likely be. I believe it was the same pod I saw last year on the ferry just after I said good by to Sylvia for the last time. There are normally about 20 whales in the pod on that day only around 10. But spectacular non the less, they were beautiful and seemed quite undisturbed that we were there, one in fact decided to impress us by swimming under the boat and later breaching out of the water, I think soaking the 2 kayakers that were very near to him.
That night we headed back and had dinner and a good soak in the hot tub under the stars. On Tuesday I had made an appointment with the best hairdresser in the world, Paul and my very good friend as I wanted to look pretty before the wedding, so my parents took Jacco on a hike along a ridge that looked down the Goldstream estuary in one direction and the Gulf Islands in the other, while I got to be pampered and catch up with Paul. Later we would meet at Ferris's Oyster Bar and Grill for some yummy grub before heading home for the evening.
Wedensday was our last full day there, so we went on a wine tasting tour of the Cowichan valley with my parents and lunch at Vigneti Zanatta vineyards. Of course buying and tasting good wines along the way. We started at Glenterra where he had some interesting whites on offer, his new batch would not yet be ready until the end of the summer, so we said good bye and headed towards Blue Grouse where we tasted some nice reds and one very good Black Muscat which I bought. Then we headed to Vigneti Zanatta for some lunch, and in the end ended up tasting many of the wines with our lunch so we did not end up doing the tasting, I took home with me a couple of bottles of Ortego and a bottle of bubbly that sounded too good to leave behind. Last but not least we headed to Cherry Point where I was due to pick up some more Black Berry port which they do very well. That evening we had some family friends over for dinner so that I could catch up with them and sadly my last day at home was far to quickly past.
In the morning Dad made me pancakes at my request (he makes the best in the world) and they drove us back to the Swartz Bay ferry terminal to head back to Vancouver. We had been invited to Jennifer's parents house for a BBQ that night and I thought it was a good idea to meet the whole family before showing up at the wedding and not knowing who anybody was.
Several hours later via car, ferry, coach, sky train, sea bus and transit bus we made it over to North Vancouver and headed up to her parents house where we got to meet her family his family and all the lovelies who had come from near and far to celebrate with their friends on their happy day.
It was of course very relaxed and very west coast style along side all the different accents from Australia, South Africa, England, Ireland and Holland. Several hours later Rob (the godsend) gave us a ride back to Vancouver to pick up our bags and dropped us off at Eric's place.

On Friday morning I met with Merlyn for a quick coffee up the road at JJ Beans to discuss some photography business then Jacco, Eric and and I decided it was time to go back downtown and see some culture before more shopping in Kitsilano. We headed to the Vancouver Art Gallery where there was two special exhibits, one called Raven Travelling and the other a retrospective on one of Vancouver's most famous architects Arthur Erickson. It also just so happened that there was a pow wow out front of the gallery to celebrate National Native Heritage week, tepees and a large stage for performances were scattered across the lawn. The best part was that I finally found a Raven ring to go with my wonderful collection of First Nations art. I found both the exhibits really great, I love Native West Coast Art and some of the items I had seen before only not in such a nice collection, and the history was also quite interesting because the Haida were one of the first to recognize that commercializing their art would bring more money from the sailors and other traders from Europe, sadly what they did not know that these same people were coming along and cutting down their totempoles and stealing their history once the Dominion had passed the Indian Act and forbidden the natives to celebrate their potlatches and other important dances. Thankfully these things are slowly changing and in particular the Haida are gaining back their traditions and pride along the way. The exhibit about Arthur Erickson was also very nice, he has built some of the most recognizable buildings in Vancouver but also apparently around the world. It was quite nice because as I was leaving the art gallery I actually saw him on his way in to give a private tour of his collection. Jacco and I both decided to buy prints in the gallery gift shop and were more than happy to contribute to the fine artistic talents of the First Nations peoples.

I then needed to get my Lululemon fix and pick up a new (grapejuice) Scuba Hoodie for H. We of course needed to eat some more great Sushi down the street on W4th Ave after also checking out another shop with more things for Jacco to buy after all this hard work we headed across the street to visit Eric at his job at Hell's Kitchen for a couple of drinks. Apparently we both managed about 8 pints of beer each and a few shots (not that we ordered any shots mind you) and feeling more than a bit buzzed by the time we left. Both of us with nice big bags of shopping tucked under our arms.
On Sat of course was the day of the wedding and since all of us were more than a bit tired from the day before it was a lazy beginning to the day. The wedding was not going to start until 5pm but we still had to make ourselves presentable and get back over to Deep Cove in North Vancouver.
We went for breakie/coffee and a nice walk up Main street checking out all the 2nd hand shops and other nice things. I headed back ahead of the boys, knowing it would take me a little more time to get ready than them. Then we headed over towards the North Shore again. I went to the hotel to see Jen and take a few photos and the boys headed to Deep Cove. Then I headed there as well with a separate taxi to make sure I could suss out the place.

The Deep Cove yacht club is a cute little place, which was perfect for the amount of guests and for both the ceremony and reception/ dinner after wards. It was a wonderful party, and beautiful ceremony and a great bunch of people to celebrate it with. It was also really great that Eric could use the D100 to take photos at the wedding, while I used the D1x. It was awesome that it worked out the way it did.

Sunday was a little melancholy because we knew that we were almost about to leave, Eric had to work early but Jacco and I decided to head into town again and rent bikes to cycle around Stanley Park, it is a beautiful and very large park that has ancient forests, beautiful beaches and wildlife like crazy. Of course Sunday is not the best day to do this kind of thing in Vancouver, as it is always busiest day of the week in the park. But it was still very nice, relaxed and nice to get some exercise. Later we met with Eric down in Yaletown for a few beers at the brew pub and then headed over to False Creek to catch the Aquabus across to Science World where we could just walk up to Main Street. We had planned on getting back to Granville Island to see a show related to the Jazz Festival but somehow ended up running late and missing it entirely. But we did manage to get some food at Bin 942 on Granville Street, which is always good for a unique taste of BC's best small plates. Eric was determined to make sure our last night was a good one, but somehow we made a few bad choices on where it was hip to go. First down to Gastown, was dead as a doornail, then over towards Granville by passing the Railway club where we stopped for a beer and then up to Granville, it is so strange because there used to only be one club on Granville for the longest time, and now there was many. BC also has a few very archaic liquor laws, one being that if you have a food license then you cannot stand up and have a drink even it it is called a pub. We went to one place had a couple of beers, and a couple of shooters (again Eric's idea) Jagermeister and Gold Schlager. But quickly decided it was time to get the hell out of there when they announced that they could not serve more than 2 drinks per person if we did not order food, but she could give us our bill and we could then order 2 more drinks per person and so on and so on.. IMHO a totally stupid and idiotic the way that province is doing things, I have said it more than once, Canada and the States could learn a thing or 10 from the European countries. We end up with some mix and sat again at Eric's place having some drinks and talking about how great it has all been and yet so quick it was hard to imagine that we did not just arrive.

On Monday we got up went for breakfast at a really cool breakfast joint near Main and Broadway (before my last coffee at Soma's) and then headed back to Granville Island to actually see some touristic things. Sadly it was all over to quickly and we had to head back to get our stuff and head to the airport. Said good buy to my brother and jumped in a cab home. It was strange because it felt in some ways that I was gone for over 3 weeks and other ways like I had never been gone. but I knew I already had my next adventure lined up for the next day after I arrived back which was the Fusion festival in Germany. (more photos to follow)

Edinburgh

Last weekend I visited Edinburgh for the first time... and already it has made it onto my top 5 cities in the world. More updates on this entry to come shortly but I need to get some work done first.


and back again, I just typed all the info one would want to know about a weekend in this great city and I lost it all... What a bummer.

The city is fab for so many reasons, culture, beauty, walkable, and just stock full of Rebus references.
We started by arriving on Friday to a really nice a bright day, found our hotel and headed into town for a look around. Already you could tell like the rest of Britain it was being invaded by students of the ESL persuasion. But no matter it was impressive from the get-go.
Each morning we would leave our hotel and walk up the street to the large multinational coffee shop for our fix, and wandered on from there.
Staying in New Town was a great central location and quite easily the best place to access all that Edinburgh has to offer.
We walked around New Town, Old Town, up near the castle, the citadel and even up Authurs Seat to nearly be blown off the top. But what a view! Leith down one side and the castle and city jutting out on the other. On the way down the hill we went past the new Scottish parliament building, apparently a very sore subject due to the cost of the project.
We tried to go for seafood in Leith but found it was some bank holiday (a concept almost unknown to the Dutch government) and could not find a place to go, so headed back into town to eat at the hotel, which actually turned out to be a really fantastic meal, 4**** at least!
We found some great curry and even some mediocre pub food (you win some you loose some)
Took the whisky experience for what it was and explored under the city in Mary's Kings Close. What a crazy thing to have whole city streets buried beneath your feet. On a note for those whisky tasters out there, I recommend going to a good pub and asking for some recommendations, the tour was really hokey and touristic. We also visited the Scottish museum which was fantastic as well, only it was too big to take in all at once and we barely got past the Neolithic and Roman times before it was decided outside and the current history was beckoning.
One of the highlights was coming across the final parade of the Scots guard. This prestigious company was being decommisioned and this was their final march down Princes's Street after a 350 year old history.. It was emotional and fantastic to watch.
On the Sunday we wandered along Leith walk to the modern art museum, I found the walk to be much more exciting but hey it was so beautiful outside it was well worth the trudge. And before you knew it we were on our way back to the lowlands. A fantastic weekend break, a walkable city, so you don't need a car and more than a zillion pubs and eating establishments to choose from.
I really hope to explore more of Scotland in the future, it is a wonderful country full of history and

The New Pornographers

Over a week ago I went to the Tivoli de Helling in Utrecht to see one of my favorite Vancouver bands, The New Pornographers. I was really excited to have the chance to see them as I really love their happy sound and play their CD's on a pretty heavy rotation on my iPod.



I liked the fact they were all so relaxed looking, and found it funny to watch the drummer Kurt Dahle do his magic when remembering the last time I saw him was many many moons ago when he played with Age of Electric on the Vancouver/ Canadian scene.

And A.C. (Carl) Newman the lead singer/ guitarist I have not really heard since my brother sent me a Destroyer album ages ago.. but very cool anyway. They played a great set, full of energy and had a whole lot of people dancing and jumping to the music. I was very sorry that I missed them the next day when I was in London, but at least I got to see such a nice dynamic show for a Sunday evening.

I won't go into the details other than to say it was sad that so many people were there because they thought that Neko Case was going to be playing with them as she was on the CD's. But as I discovered fairly quickly she was on her own tour of Europe. In fact I saw her 6 days later in Rotterdam Nighttown Theater. It was a very sweet show and I loved the fact that none of her songs were over 2 min long.

Banksy

Check out this website, and buy his book if you like graffiti and intelligence mixed into one. He is really great! And it is a good read too!

Ministry of Sound

This last weekend I flew to London to attend a birthday party of someone I have never met, but who's reputation had well proceeded him from his time spent in The Netherlands.
Arriving Friday night it was enough to find the hotel, grab some grub and hit the sack.
Sat was a beautiful day and window shopping was in order, walking around Oxford street buying some sketchers and generally enjoying the time and company. I even got a temporary tattoo and was told that it would last up to 7 days, it looked pretty real but sadly I am not sure if lasted 7 hours, so if you are ever tempted by a temporary tattoo on Oxford street give it a pass or make sure it is not one of the bigger ones.
The plan for the evening was to go and meet everyone at a tapas restaurant Salvador and Amada
have some food and drink and then move onto the Ministry of Sound, where Ryan had arranged for a VIP room for the group. The tapas bar/ restaurants was full of party goers but fun non the less. And we were signaled it was time to leave when one of the friends got on the table and gave us a dance...
I have never been to a large club like that before, but have to say if you are going to do it, do it right. VIP room, hostesses and the ability to get away from the very loud speakers on the dance floors. The DJ of the night was alright, apparently a old favorite from the beginning of techno/ house scene but I can't say I was all that impressed.
But the evening went on until it was time for us to go and beat the sun as it was rising, a few hours sleep before having to check out and spend a few more hours wandering around the city. At least the sun was out. We walked a huge loop from Holburn, around Covent garden, up Neal Street, found some breakfast, down Shafsbury Ave, up Tottingham(sp?) Court Rd, some more shopping for Eugene and then popped into the British museum for a peek. Ended up at the aboriginal Peoples wing with lots of Northwest Coast Indian artifacts which was really nice to see, a little taste of home. Afterwards we went to find food and ended up at The Ultimate Burger, which was good when we ate but somehow was still with me hours later. Oh well, all in all a really nice weekend, very relaxed atmosphere and great company.

Motel Mozaique

The Friday after I was back from London, I had a plan to attend the Friday night at Motel Mozaique with Jacco and friends. It was the beginning of one of the very few bank holiday long weekends here in Holland but a nice way to start it.
The evening started with a massage, I know that might sound strange but they were on offer for free and I could not resist.
Then we headed over to nighttown to see a strange band which I Battles which was mostly instrumental but interesting non the less and then in no particular order we saw We are Scientists who I thought were kind of boring after a while, Emilinia Torrini, from Iceland. She was wonderful and interesting and told the best story of being on tour in the states and their strange bus driver which was completely believable. Every bus driver I have ever met are some of the strangest people I have ever met, Mogwai, which was quite boring but worth a quick look. Then it was time to head home to the Hague and catch up on some sleep.

London calling

My work sent me on a couple of really nice training courses a few weeks ago. I got to study Adobe Photoshop for a whole week and a project management training course as well.
Aside from being put up in a luxury 4+ star hotel in the centre of the city I was finally able to really enjoy the city while I could afford it.
I was staying on the south bank where I could see the parliament buildings across the river and the London eye down my side of the river.
I walked a huge amount and went to the National Portrait Gallery, The Tate Modern and saw some great places. I also managed to window shop till my feet hurt and my eyes were blurred.
I had my favorite coffee every morning and really sucked up the atmosphere.
I saw a few old friends and had the feeling that more than a few ghosts were gazing over my shoulder while I was re-experiencing it.
It was really great and lucky me I am back this coming weekend for a birthday party and MoS and a few weeks later am going back for another training in Illustrator.
Lucy me!

Personal Jesus

On Sunday night I went to see Depeche Mode in Rotterdam. It was the first time in 13 years they have played in Holland so it wasindeed worth the late night and little sleep I got from it.
They started by playing this fantastic music at the beginning after the opening band The Bravery (from NYC) finished. I saw at least 5 people come up and ask the security to ask the sound engineers what was playing.. it's on their website people! But for those of you who care this was a mix from
Touring The Angel 2005/2006 - Pre-Show Music
After the opening act, but before the band take the stage, the venue hasbeen filled with a special pre-show DJ set recorded by Martin. Due tonumerous requests, here is the track listing of the mix set.
01 - "Vegetables" - Audion, SuckFish
02 - "Winter Green" - Lawrence, The Absence Of Blight
03 - "Rebird" - Metope, Kobol
04 - "Hot Sugar Candy Apple Taffy" - Heartthrob, Minimize to Maximize
05 - "Lost In Sound" - Alex Smoke, Incommunicado
06 - "Sinsentrikken Ut I 2 Spor" - Woody McBride, Demosessions May 2002
07 - "Cooling The Plasma" - Rene Breitbarth, With A Little Luck
08 - "33" - Metope, Kobol
09 - "Yak" - Motor, Sweatbox
10 - "The Dancing Box" - James T Cotton, The Dancing Box
11 - "An Army Of Watt" - T. Raumschmiere, Blitzkrieg Pop
The show was very good and the crowd amazingly enough was really into it.. One of the best Dutch crowds at a concert I have ever seen. I was never a huge DM fan,But can they rock, and I have rarely seen a front man with such boundless energy as Dave. However if I can add an amendment to my entry the one thing I meant to mention was Martin's contribution to the concert. There is no denying he is a very talanted songwriter and guitar player but the man CAN'T sing and should not sing ever again. Each time he did I was ready to run screaming from the venue.. I can't beleive that some people were well into it, perhaps hey suffered from being tone deaf as well... I guess the rest of the entertainment made up for his ego's need to share his voice with the rest of us.
I danced so much I was drenched with sweat which is such a good sign that the concert was amazing and great. Got back home and went straight to bed as I had to get up really early to catch my flight to London first thing for a week and a half of training.

Dublin

Two weekends ago I went to Dublin for the weekend. We flew from Rotterdam to Dublin with Transavia airlines (I love cheap short flights) and arrived Friday in the mid afternoon and headed towards the city to find our hotel. My first impression was of construction and more construction and just how typical cities and towns in The UK and apparently Ireland look like compared to the Typical Dutch, French or German cities of the European continent.
After finding our hotel which was just the other side of Trinity College we dropped our bags and headed out to find a drink and have a look around and ended up at for some great home brews and burgers. And after a few samples from their menu of beers we decided to go and look for more drinks in the Temple Bar area. Which is not hard to do. We sampled the Temple Bar but got bored of waiting to be served another pint of Guinness, found our way to another bar up the street and had thought about going to Spirit later but after going back to the hotel decided to call it a night and get a early start Saturday. First impressions of the night life. Everyone is quite friendly but very drunk, loads of Hen and Stag parties and I mean LOADS down to matching hats, shirts or blinky things around their heads... Scary! And you cannot turn around without hearing U2 being played, either in pubs, bars, restaurants or wherever.
Got up reasonably early, found a decent Breakfast and after that a decent coffee and then decided on the Photography Archives and Photography gallery. Which also happened to be on the same square as the wonderful Meeting House Square market held on Saturdays. The Archive was small but quite interesting, sadly the photo exhibit was closed but his book store wasn't which was very impressive, G even picked up a Holga which he has always wanted.
After that I had read about Cow's Lane market just up the street that has apparently the best of Dublin's designers and artists, it was closed for winter.. so we decided to keep wandering, found a Oxfam bookshop and had a peek in, bought some books for really cheap and kept wandering in search of Dublin City Gallery - The Hugh Lane gallery that was in the guidebooks. Got across the river, through the retail temptations, well almost through as I had to stop at Boots for my favorite brand and hiked a hill to find the gallery closed for renovations... are you picking up a trend? So we decided to pay homage to the Guinness factory. Stupid of us for not reading instructions and ended up walking the long way to the actual Storehouse museum. But at least at the end of it and the €14.50 *BIG RIP OFF* you at least get a pint of Guinness. It was not that the factory was a waste of time but you pay less going to way more exciting places and get so much more out of it. I personally did not feel it worth the money. Then both of us exhausted decided to head back to the hotel to freshen up before finding some food and later some fun.
Our second night we finally found a place in Temple Bar that was open and not packed for food and had some Irish Stew, after we headed over to the Octagon in the Clarernce Hotel for a couple of cocktails. Check out the link if you are a U2 fan, the band own the hotel. The cocktails were very yummy and some were very expensive up to €25. After this we headed over to the Spirit night club which was highly toted by the Time Out travel guide of being something between new age and fantastic. I liked the multi level concept of different music on each level. Women in for free men have to pay €20. They had go-go dancers male and female along to the latest in Euro-(trash) trance, Mid level was R&B and lower was (IMHO) the best music, as well a chill room/ Drum & Bass. We stayed for a few beers and hours and then decided that it would be just as useful to be asleep.
Sunday was not really time for anything, just get up, ready, find breakfast then coffee, a little window shopping in the expensive department store Brown Thomas and then headacrossoss the river to the bus to take us back to the Airport.
Oh and I forgot to mention that the six nations rugby was on as well, Ireland vs Italy. There were many Italians in Dublin that weekend.
Getting back to the Hague left enough time to relax a little before meeting with Jennifer for dinner and a quick catch up before hitting the hay. A very nice weekend despite everything we wanted to see seemed to be closed up for winter, I guess it is a good excuse to get back over there at some point.

35th Rotterdam International Film Festival

I have a few hobbies that I really enjoy and one of them is films, I have been to more than a few Film Festivals in my life but none more than the Film Festival in Rotterdam.
Last week was the opening of the 35th annual Film Festival in Rotterdam. Now if I am not mistaken I have been coming to it for at least the last 4 years, It is a world class festival with usually a huge variety of films.
To date my record is 16 films in 8 days, I have just beat that record. 13 films in 3.5 days. Sadly that average is also countered by the fact that I have walked out of 4 of those films this year as supposed to 3 years ago when I only walked out of 1 of 16.

My friend Jacco always volunteers his time for this festival and when he is not working we often either plan to see movies together or we end up choosing the same movies for our picks to see.
My first movie was on Friday afternoon called The Fishes fall in Love, a first time feature by Iranian director Ali Raffi. I really liked this film it was sweet, well shot and showed a real insight into the day in the life of Iranian people from a poor coastal town. Of 5 I gave it a 4.
Next was the French Film Alex. A typically French film with long quiet pauses and minimal dialogue. Not my favorite film but worth the time I spent watching it, and the acting was really quite good. also a 3/5

Saturday was a little earlier than I wanted but I made my way into Rotterdam for a movie at 10:15. Ode to Joy a Polish movie made by 3 different directors. In fact it was 3 mini movies in one. It could have been shorter or 3 shorts but I really liked it,the mood and the style and the stories as well as the acting, there are some very talented actors from Poland. 4/5
The second movie was cocaine Angel a American movie that was kind of pointless but I guess interesting, there was no real plot or end to the story other than an excess of drugs are B.A.D. 3/5. Klimt was number 3, with John Malcovich as Klimt. It was shot in such a way that we were supposed to see how he might see the world, but again I just did not get where the story was going, there were lots of people coming and going from the story and much of it in a psychedelic way. I actually left the film before it was over because I was not getting any feeling for it and was annoyed about the inconsistency. 2/5. Then Jacco and I met up for Bubble the new movie from Steven Soderbergh which was a neat premise of going to some nowhere town in America and getting people to act who have no experience. It was not a bad movie, but nothing amazing 3/5.
After a few hours of having a bite and waiting for Jacco to finish with his movie I then met with Jana and Nico who had come down for another movie that in hindsight I maybe should have seen instead of our next film. Living and the Dead. A British movie where the synopsis sounded really interesting and the Director was quite funny, the movie started alright the plot interesting enough but.... then it when all went horribly wrong, seriously wrong and after not much longer we left, it was just stupid 1/5.

Sunday thankfully was a later start. 13;15 I met Jacco for Mutual Appreciation. another American Film which was done in such a way that I was not sure if I liked it or not. the people were annoying 20 something who had nothing better to do with their lives than hang around and talk about things. I guess it was fairly close to reality but strange enough on it's own. 3/5. Opal Dream was next, a sweet Australian Movie that actually made me happy to go and see it because the plot, acting and direction was good enough to make me want to vote higher than 3. It got 4/5 because it was pretty much the nicest film I saw at the festival so far. A good family movie about the importance of having imaginary friend. Writing on the Earth was another Iranian firm, which I really did not get. The director before hand said that it was told in the language of film and not a conventional way.. He was right. I left because it was just to strange for me to get my head around. 1/5. And last for my Sunday night was Mary about the story of Mary Magdalene and an actress who gets obsessed with her. It had a great cast but a shit story, I really did not get it over all. And was sad that I was not ticked up in bed instead of being bored and confused.

I took Monday off from the FF but Jacco found me two tickets for two movies on the Tuesday that I really wanted to see. Look Both Ways, another Australian film which was getting great reviews. I loved the idea, the plot and the actors were all very convincing. I recommend this movie to anyone who would maybe like to think about the bigger picture. The last movie was one I was interested in because it had Donald Sutherland and Ralph Fiennes (Yum) and many other very respected actors; Land of the Blind. I might have liked it more if it moved quicker. It was so convoluted and mixed in it's plot, it was just not a great movie. I left just before it ended because I would rather have caught my train than the last of few min of such a movie it just was not convincing enough for me to stick around to know how it ended which I am fairly sure I know anyway. 1/5.

All in all probably one of the most disappointing lineups for the Film Festival that I have experienced. Perhaps we will have better luck and a better line up next year. In fact the only big name movie that premiered at the Film Festival in Rotterdam was Brokeback Mountain, which as most of you know is not only nominated for Awards but also caused quite a stir with it's homosexual content. I watched it last night (Feb 12) and indeed it was quite interesting and well portrayed by both Jake and Heath. When the movie finished I thought to myself even if that was supposed to span 20 years from the 1960's such bigotry and hatred of the unknown still exists. A very good movie! 5/5.

Paris

Last weekend (well it was when I wrote this intro) I went to Paris to see the special exhibit of Klimt, Schiele, Mosser and Kokoschka at the Grand Palais museum gallery.

I have been wanting to see some of Klimt's work for sometime now and it was the last 2 weeks of this special exhibit. It is one of the major advantages of living in the Netherlands, the proximity to so many other wonderful countries.

Anyway arrived by the fast train on Friday late morning and made our way to our hotel in the Latin Quarter, dropped off our stuff and then decided to head down towards the Grand Palace where the exhibit was being held to see what the lineups would be like and gauge if it was worth waiting for. The weather was crisp and sunny and as we arrived we noticed that that line up was not even a 1/4 of what we expected so we joined and after about 1.5 hours got into the exhibit.

It was wonderful, I knew already much of Klimt's work but to see it in real life, the subtleties and softness of the colours was breathtaking. I also was fairly familiar with Schiele, and was impressed with also his abilities. Having known nothing about either Mosser and Kokoschka it was quite interesting to compare their works to their masters. The exhibit was done in quite an interesting way and provided the viewer to experience several themes of their painting.

What did disappoint was the fact that the exhibit catalogue came only in French, not one other language, and there was not a lot of posters or other merchandise for the Klimt items. But I got to tick off my list one of my favorite artists and also intrigues me to want to go to Vienna and see more of his works.

As we left we decided to go shopping along the Champs de Elysees take some photos of the Arc de Triomphe as it was getting dark and then head back towards the Latin Quarter and look for some food. Which we found in a cute little restaurant with really nice service.

Saturday morning we decided that having not been to the Louvre it was time to go past and see if it was perhaps worth trying to get it, because every other time I have been in Paris I have been put off by the very long line ups. We walked straight in to it's wonderful and open entrancfe hall. I must admit how interesting it was to overhear several Dan Brown refrences from others in the line. Having decided on which wing we would tackle of the Louvre's 35,000,000 works of art we headed towards the Egyptian wing within the Sully wing. It was impressive but in my taste to many fragments, then again considering that I have seen much Egyptian stuff still standing more or less where it was left 3 thousand years ago I guess one could get blase about the whole thing. And after that we decided to go and check out a few Italian masters, as we came into the hall voila, Botticelli and a few paces further Da Vinci, and Michelangelo. All impressive and all to much. I think we might have been in for 2.5 hours and that was more than enough it was time to get out in the sun and cold and explore more Paris.

Walking through the Jardin des Tuileries towards the entrance we then headed into Madeleine and just poked about looking at the things the caught our eye. Eventually we gave up on trying to find something that we wanted to eat and sat down, as it turned out we were sitting across the road from the Grand Palace, exactly where we started from the day before having somehow taken a few to many left turns. Decided to go back to the hotel freshen up and then go out again for food.

On Sunday we did not really have a plan other than perhaps more wandering so we took our bags to the Gard du Nord and wandered to Montmartre for some breakfast and coffee and a hike up a little hill. The View is impressive but in some ways I prefer the Montreal version to the Paris one. After a few more hours we headed back to catch our fast train back to Holland. It was a wonderful weekend of relaxation and culture and exactly what I needed.

Abigail's Party

Happy New Years everyone. I have been really lame this holiday season with hardly any Christmas greeting via postal services or email and for that I am sorry if anyone feels hurt or offended it has just not crossed my mind.

To continue; My last few days at home in Canada were spent in Vancouver with my older brother Chris, his wonderful partner Freya and my dear friends Jen and Merlyn.
As I was only there for a couple of days we made the most of it. I arrived in the evening of the 27th from the Island. Met up with Chris and went for a sushi dinner on Davie street, it was not that good but passable. Then we had a couple of cocktails and back to his place to watch a movie. Freya got in from her shift around 2-230 and we opened a bottle of wine and next thing I knew it was 430 in the morning.
The next day we went over the bridge to Yogapantsilano to look for some Lululemon yoga gear for Helen that I did not get in Victoria on boxing day after standing in line to shop.... Now I can't remember if I have talked about this brand before but it was created by a couple of genius people in Vancouver; who as legend has it met snowboarding on one of the local ski hills and decided that there was just not enough good Yoga clothes in the world. So they created a monster. This brand can be seen on so many bums, heads and shirts you would not believe it unless you saw it.
The crazy thing is that the products which are really quite expensive are really really good and well made with high durability and tons of wash and wear... Anyway this is not an advert my story for the day goes like this. After some window shopping we went for more sushi before both Chris and Freya went to work. I would meet with Freya later when she got off her shift and not long after Chris would join us before we headed on a cocktail and small plate tour of a few choice restaurants.
I wandered around the city and then made my way back to kits where Freya worked to try some of her wonderful cocktail inventions at Abigail's Party where she got to invent the cocktail list which you can find via the link on the title. She is great!
Check these out... Dangerous Liaisons: Woodford reserve bourbon, vanilla bean infused Cognac, sweet vermouth, chilies, honey. Directions: sprinkle chilies at the bottom of glass, take ice cubes, pour bourbon, cognac, sweet vermouth and then the honey, which will slide to the bottom of the glass and stick the chilies to the bottom giving you a sweet and spicy kick...
After we went back across the bridge to Nu, where their friend Jay worked as the bartender and cocktail chef. He fed us with some great cocktails and food and wine, then back to their place for more wine with some of the rif-raf we met at Nu. Next thing we knew it was 4;30 again.
The next morning I was a little worse for wear and slipped out to get some coffee and fresh air. Back to the apartment and after the other two woke went for a walk downtown and the other two went to work while I waited for Jen and Merlyn to meet up and we went back to Kitsilano to Hell's Kitchen where Freya works as well. Some great ceasers and food a few more drinks and then Jen, Merlyn and I got some beers and went to Chris and Freya's place for some more drinks and chats before they left and I finished packing.
The morning came all to quickly and I was up and getting ready to go and catch my ride to the airport. Chris came with me and had some breakfast and I jumped in a cab to get to the airport.
The flight was uneventful although I got little sleep and arrived in Holland to really cold weather and preparations for New Years eve. I was supposed to go to Bremen for the night but I could not imagine getting on a train for 4.5 hours and then partying all night. So I stayed in the Hague and went to a house party of some friend who live smack in the middle of town and brought in the New Year with some fine drinks and friends.
Now back at work, it was a great blur of a memory to be home for the holidays to hang out with my family and friends. Sadly I did not get to see everyone I would have liked to but I guess you can't win them all.
On a side note I was watching something on the BBC and it was a guy talking about his favorite TV and music and one movie he mentioned was Abigail's Party I guess it was a cult classic.