It's over...

That's it... the campagne's over, much has been done, much more could have been done but that's the way it goes. I've done my best and I'm feeling so frayed beyond belief I could probably impersonate a three-hundred year old tapestry by now.

Click here for an enlargement

The famous Bayeaux scene, depicting the passing of Halley's Comet and the demise of King Harold in the face of the Norman onslaught...
A tragedy, a liberation, a watershed by all accounts...

 

Need sleep, will get it right now and will call in late at work tomorrow... The advantages of flexible working hours, if I can sleep properly tonight at least... :D

Yes, it's a no (?)

In their own referendum yesterday (May 29th), the French people have spoken and have decidedly made clear that they are not to be taken for fools, all efforts of their government to the contrary.

Leaving Jacques Chirac looking more like a whipped dog than anything else...

 

A group of German artists seemed to have understood what was going on last winter and got the message across well, as seen in these pictures made in front of the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin.

Just pointing out a little known and somewhat unused approach.

 

Perhaps a pipe-cleaner as well for a little late spring-cleaning. Damn, now he's got me thinking of Mary Poppins.

 

Here in Holland, the no-campaign is in full swing, despite all the efforts of the government, media and even the trade unions to push the yes-vote. Partly because of all the wheeling and dealing, the peddling of half-truths and politicians being seen as either blissfully ignorant or blatantly manipulative at times they shouldn't have been... sigh...

It's been a long day and a very busy week with meetings, distributing pamphlets and a crisis in the local party committee on top of everything else as well... damn, we didn't need that...

Slept well last night, probably the first time in months I've managed to sleep for more than 5 hours a night and felt a little better for a change.

Those wanting to act the goat need not apply...

 

Just one more day to go, feeling ragged and above everything else I've lost my voting card, seem to have misplaced the silly thing.

Hmmm... if she says no, does she mean yes? If you can't convince 'm, confuse 'm...

 

Time to sleep...

Spot on buddy ;-)

 

A little time out

It's getting busy, and it's going to get even busier in the next few days, right up until next week Wednesday, June 1st when a referendum is to be held in the Netherlands to ask the Dutch people for their support for the proposed European Constitution.

I guess I won't be blogging as much as I would like in the meantime, the issues at stake are serious ones and need to be adressed carefully.

Hmmm, I think they mean it somehow...

 

As you may know, I'm a member of the Dutch Socialist Party, and a fairly active one as well nowadays. Before I go any further though, I think a little explanation is in order here.

When I say socialist, I mean as in pursuing social policies and politics in which human dignity, equality and solidarity are the guiding principles. Many people, when hearing the word socialist, think (or say)... "Are you guy's communists then?" which has been a pretty common perception ever since WWII. I can be quite definite about this, the answer is NO. The Socialist Party embraces a democratic framework, which is probably the only one thus far that can guarantee some free speech and civilised discussion of the issues at hand.

The core values and goals of the Dutch Socialist Party.

This evening I've been out distributing folders in the area... just done our street, some 100 addresses or so, after having received some 600 or 700 to be delivered to mailboxes throughout the suburb.

Oh dear, Holland seems to have disappeared...

 

There are several main issues the SP has with this referendum:

- the Prime Minister has already signed Dutch acceptance of the Constitution, without any form of consultation with the electorate (echoing the introduction of the Euro incidentally, but that's a story for a different time). Although this referendum is supposed to be consultative and not binding, the major players in the government pledging themselves to respect the voters wishes, all sorts of double agendas seem to have appeared, scare tactics and dubious manoevering have been taking place to push the government position on to a population that hardly knows what's going on yet.

- Dutch citizens have hardly had the possibility of acquainting themselves with the issues involved... a serious lack of documented information is at their disposal and we have to rely on what we're being told, rather than being able to judge for ourselves.

- government funds are being appropriated to push the "yes" vote, a rather cynical exercise since it seems that at least half the electorate is going to be voting "no" but see their tax money used to put forward the other position.

- a much greater chance will exist that national sovereignty will be bargained away for the "European good" (read industry, big business and vested interests).

I'll leave the ranting and raving for some other time, there's lot still to be told... sigh...

It's getting late and I need my sleep... slept badly last night with much coughing and feeling half-dead by morning.

You're kidding... now, again...?

 

Have a nice (rest of the) day... Bart (feeling frayed)

Dead serious

On my way to and from work every day, I pass a chapel fairly close to Central Station in one of the oldest parts of Amsterdam. By now the surroundings are pretty familiar and yet once in a while I get to wondering about why buildings were built and ornamented the way they were at the time.

The door, who knows what you'll find behind it...

(the sign on the door is silly, b.t.w... it says, "Entrance via the hotel")

 

It seems pretty macabre and a little scary for the uninitiated, but the facts of death and mortality were very close to the 15th century people who lived in the city. Famines, epidemics and disasters loomed large and the people were always painfully aware of their own natural insignificance. I've seen a number of chapels like this, one with the inscription "Lord have mercy on us" (in Latin, then) right here in the city of Hoorn.

Breughel: The Triumph Over Death

(Click image for an enlargement)

 

And why not... when you get down to thinking about it, life is always something that at best hangs on a silk thread. Silk is strong, so very strong but can break at the most unfortunate of moments. You have no choice, you are left in despair at your own inability to control the most elementary of all moments in your own life.

Time out...

 

But why worry, I ask. You know it will come, you know it is inevitable and you know that every mortal will face the same moment... The End.

 

"The basic impact of the experience is the same whether you believe in reincarnation or not: it is the discontinuity of what you are doing."

Chögyam Trungpa, Rinpoche

I don't fear death in the slightest, never have actually and perhaps always have had an unhealthily curious interest in what death and dying are all about. I'm particularly attracted to Buddhist philosophy on this subject, concerning the endless cycles of life and death which like day and night alternate with each other.

The next phase...

 

That's all there is in the end, though we don't really want to admit it. To quote a Dutch funeral text "Today our dear ..... passed away unexpectedly" to which I'd answer, why unexpectedly, you know it's going to happen some time, if anything it's just the timing that sucks.

The Goon Show

I had a couple of lovely responses to yesterdays post, both as comments and by email.

The one thing that immediately sprung to mind after the second or third one, was the legendary comment by Harry Secombe (alias Neddy Seegoon) in the Goon Show:

"Well, well, well... three holes in the ground"

 

* * * * * * *

 

The Goons, Spike Milligan, Peter Sellars and Harry Secombe in better days, begin 1960's

 

The Goon Show was onee of the series I grew up with during the 1970's, and although the series was pretty old even then it never failed to get our age group rolling in fits of laughter. Some of the episodes well remembered:

The Great Wurlitzer Race

The Dreaded Batter Pudding Hurler (of Bexhill on Sea)

The Booted Gorilla

For those unfamiliar with the Goon Show, take a look here.

This was the start of a new generation of British comedy, stimulated by each other and the BBC, producing the most wonderous nonsense ever... The Two Ronnies, Morecombe and Wise and The Monty Python show amongst others.

The Two Ronnies

 

Morecombe and Wise

 

Monty Python's Flying Circus

 

The world has never been the same since (thank heavens)...

Dead-end day

Hmmmpf, despite all the efforts to the contrary, I wake up with a raging headache, grumpy kids and a nagging wife. Damn, wish I could just bury myself somewhere...

 

Not much to report at the moment... the coherence level is down below zero at the moment and I'm glad I can even type right now.

Just a couple of pictures taken a few days ago at the canoe club, just a few minutes walk from here. Katie's entertaining the idea she might want to become a member next August, after the summer holdiays.

 

 

I'm off, hope to find me a hole somewhere

The Marriage of Cinderella

Later in the day, in the main square in the heart of the city, a performance was given by a youth theatre group who performed a musical version of Cinderella.

 

Nice costumes and very good acting by the large group of children, there must have been at least 50 or 60 of them.

 

It was also a wonderfully warm afternoon, and everybody seemed to be in a good mood and enjoying themselves.

More photo's can be found here. They weren't quite what I'd liked them to have been, badly uninspired and a bit headachy but there's a couple of good shots in between.

Rhönrad pictures

As usual, the Rhönrad lesson on Saturday morning. Katie's doing very well and progressing admirably, for me it's often a bit of a chore when suffering from the dizziness still afflicting me occasionally.

Couldn't concentrate all that well this morning, too much nonsense swirling around in my head again and worked up to an enormous headache in the course of the day. I'm feeling a bit off colour this evening. Just hoping it's not a flu... don't need that at the moment.

 

 

 

 

More (and better) pictures made in March can be found here

Mae West, revisited

"Is that a double-sided lightsaber in your hand, or are you happy to see me?"

Trivia time (1)

Did you know that there was more chance of you're being killed by a falling coconut than by getting bitten by a crocodile?

 

Something worth remembering when in the vicinity of a disgruntled palm tree :D
(was wondering where the last bit of my pig joke had gotten to... seem to have found it LOL )

"Listen, I've got a catchphrase,…'mind that coconut!'"

 

Feeling happy

Once in while something happens at work that give you the feeling that it's pretty worthwhile after all and not just a way of scrounging up some money to be able to live.

Last week I designed a cover for a book being written by one of my clients, a physiotherapist who is actively involved with dance productions here in Amsterdam. After a few, totally uninspired days I got my act together and managed to present a design that we all thought had potential.

Click here for an enlargement

 

I didn't know it at the time, but one of the leading Dutch choreographers would be writing the preface to the book and would also be present at the presentation. To my amazement he was genuinely enthusiastic, complimented me on what he felt was a good approach and got me all embarrassed in front of everybody.

I hate it when they do that (but secretly I love it, I guess) :D.

Changes

Only one thing never changes,
that all things will change.
- Tibetan proverb -
meaning... nothing ever stays the same. The familiar dissolves into history and we're constantly readjusting ourselves in a present which is just as transitory as life itself.


It's odd really, we remember a lot of things the way we think they were, but looking back at pictures or sharing recollections, it seems that our memories are just as faulty as we are, things get romanticised, that which was so very important seems now trivial and others which were unobserved and outside the field of attention have come to play a leading role in our lives.

I received a postcard recently. Not a very special one really, but it got me thinking. It was made sometime in the 1950's, of the train station I go to every workday morning to catch the train.


Click here for an enlargement
It dawned on me that the photo, as well as having being made some 50 years ago, might just as well have depicted something on another planet. On the surface it's so recogniseable and familiar, but the whole mood is totally different. Compare it to the following photo, and decide for yourself which you would prefer.


Click here for an enlargement
Am I getting a bit too nostalgic?

*************************

Once in a while, there's a poster that catches my fancy. Sometimes funny, sometimes thought provoking, sometimes sad.


Enough said, methinks...

Gollum's song

Probably one of the most tragic figures in any book I've ever read is Gollum. The first time I read Lord of the Rings, somewhere in my teens, I disliked the character enormously for his hideous obsession and his treachery. A creature torn between self-loathing and the ultimate quest for power the ring would give him again.


Yet, after having re-read "Lord of the Rings" more times than I care to remember, he's become a figure that grew in my perceptions and I learned to see the last flickering remnant of the creature he used to be, and grieved for him.

Gollums song is deep, so deep and so haunting... he tried so hard to be good, to return to the life he once led but couldn't, his mind poisoned by the One Ring.
Here's a very good writeup on Gollum


The song itself was sung so beautifully by Emiliana Torrini, the first time I heard it in a theatre, together with Eldest Daughter and a friend, I was absolutely transfixed in my chair... I didn't know what hit me and it left me in tears afterwards.

Gollum's Song

Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say goodbye
Don't say I didn't try

These tears we cry
Are falling rain
For all the lies you told us
The hurt, the blame!
And we will weep to be so alone
We are lost
We can never go home

So in the end
I'll be what I will be
No loyal friend
Was ever there for me
Now we say goodbye
We say you didn't try

These tears you cry
Have come too late
Take back the lies
The hurt, the blame!
And you will weep
When you face the end alone
You are lost
You can never go home

You are lost
You can never go home

The role of Gollum was played so excellently, a unique combination of excellent acting technique and total affinity with the electronic and imaging techniques used to map Serkis' actions to the character of Gollum.
Andy Serkis'Official Website

In some ways the song and the film cemented Gollum's character in my mind. I feel he's one of the three major players in the whole book and film cycle... Frodo, the Ring and Gollum, bound to each other whilst acting out their own destinies. In the end, the Ring was destroyed, Frodo survived and Gollum found the peace he'd denied himself through his obsession.

Isn't that something we all could learn from Gollum, today?

---

Mr Fixit

I occasionally need to help colleagues with problems that crop up in the course of the day. Some of them here, some of them from different locations. Always nice, you get to chat with people again and catch up as well under the guise of doing something useful and productive.

And sometimes we get something done as well :D

It's a bird, it's a plane

it's Bicycle Repairman...

Occasionally I get asked the silliest things though, like...

When I've applied colour management to my document and try to print it on a black and white printer, the prints come out with a heavy screen and the text just breaks up...

to which I'd ask,

If you're printing in black and white, why do you need colour management?

Sigh, where are the real superhero's when you need them...

Ok, just one of the candidates, out of many...

Faster than a tall building, smarter than a speeding bullet,
oh... it's Supergrover

Sideshow

Listening to a little Eminem while working this afternoon. Bit noisy, rather raucous but exceptionally funny in his own way.

One of the few rappers who can keep up with a difficult rhythm, with startling results occasionally.

Ladies and gentlemen... presenting the Eminem Show, with a rather intriguing story line from beginning to end, a collection of personal recollections, slights, personal, sexual and social frustrations.

Tearing away the curtains of mediocrity and self-indulgence...
take it away boy.

I like the way he knocks the established way of doing things, perhaps he's doing it in the wrong way but who am I to judge his personal field of reference. I'm not all that shocked at his messages because I think words can only hurt you if you let them...

Or should you just duck as they fly by...

What's wrong with ruffling a few feathers once in a while, even though the material is considered foul.

Although other Eminems are also welcome :D

Many happy returns

The Crown Princess of the Netherlands, Princess Maxima celebrated her 34th birthday today.

A picture that says a thousand words.

I'm not particularly a royalty fan, I tend to have a vague dislike to this lot for their rather haughty attitudes, although some have tried better than others to break down the facade.

Rather nice portrait, together with Crown Prince Willem Alexander.

Her most endearing quality is one of being as genuine a person as protocol will allow... spontaneous, caring and sometimes just taking the trouble to bend the official rules a little. Perhaps a bit of the Diana effect kicking in here.

Hmmm... the eye's have it...

She got off to a bad start here in Holland... although the people loved her from the beginning, there was a lot of fuss about her family background. Her father played a minor role in the military junta governments in Argentina in the 1970's, something that's not much appreciated on anybody's resumé these days.

Wedding shot, just for the record

One of the results of the nonsense was that her father was officially refused permission to be present at her wedding on February 2nd, 2002. Her tears, before and during the wedding ceremony, which had visible Argentinian elements, earned her the total trust and respect of the nation.

Congratulations, my dear...