Black Friday…

Only 28 days till Christmas… thank the Lord for Internet. I’m already wearing one of my Black Friday purchases. A purple poloneck sweater which fits really good, and it was a gamble when I bought it pre-BF online.

Museum of the Month – November

What started at te hospital this morning, a first fitting of new shoes, ended at the Russian Court in the Hermitage along the river Neva  Amstel.

I went here with some friends from the Guild, they were waiting for me at restaurant Neva, inside the museum. After a cup of coffee we started at the Ballroom of the [...]

Just enough…

St. Martin’s Day is November 11, the feast day of Martin of Tours, who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that [...]

Sweet Treat…

500,000 million tons of cocoa beans enters the port of Amsterdam yearly, making it the largest end station of this commodity in the world. That’s 1/3 of the world production!
This year the first UTZ certified cocoa entered the country on Novermber 7, one of the reasons to start the Choca Festival on that date. This fest of the sweet [...]

Happy Hallowe’en!

 
Female short-nosed fruit bats have been observed performing fellatio on their partners during copulation. Mating pairs spent more time copulating if the female did so.
Read full article and see the clip [NSFW] at New Scientist
Cartoon by Sevens Heaven for NU.NL

Letter From The Editor…

I could tell you a tale of how all turned up here, but with the help of WordPress, a screen and a keyboard and a lot of thinking, researching, reading, ‘borrowing’ and typing it just happened.
Enough said.

Hey, how are you?

It’s been a long time but I’m back at Peter’s place for a long weekend. My keepers are away for the weekend, Peter hoped I would stay in Amsterdam so he could take care of me. And that he does, four times or more a day we go for walkies, he rubs my belly when [...]

Thanks…

250,000 visitors since I started this blog at the end of January of 2007, but also 50,000 of them who came to these pages since June of this year.
This is a week full of records anyway, a post I did in April of this year has been clicked over 13,500 times. My all time high month, last [...]

History Is Just Around The Corner… #1

Discovering the world didn’t stop with Columbus. While traveling the city I came past this wall painting on Van Diemenstraat. Mr. van Diemen [1593-1645] was the Covernor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Van Diemen’s nine years as Governor-General were successful and important for both the colony and the commercial success of the East India Company. [...]

On The Road…

Yesterday morning I was picked up by my “boss”. We visited some convention centers, to see if their lay-outs, technical progress and their prices would fit into our budget. First stop Zeist, just east of Utrecht. This location had all the things we wanted, surrounded by woods, great restaurant, a new hotel, and several halls we [...]

Down the…

The day started well, I woke up early, dressed and started the computer. Most days it’s the other way around, first starting the computer before getting dressed. After checking my mail and correcting some stuff on an other website [work related] I was ready for the day ahead of me.
First I thought it was a [...]

After the Deluge…

Luckily most of the buckets of rain came down during the night, so when I left home yesterday around 10.30 it was clear and a weak sun showed itself through the clouds. I was on my way to the Farmers Market at Nieuwmarkt [New Market], one of the oldest squares in town. All I needed was [...]

Stoopid…

I totally forgot I had a ticket to the theater tonite.
In Dutch we call that a B-lul, or more specified in my family they call it that.
Okay it was not that expensive and maybe I can get a seat for another night since I emailed them during the performance, and if that doesn’t work I [...]

The Sweet Taste of Something Bitter…

It has more to do with an empty brain, or no subjects to write about, no Daily Life, no Amsterdam, no Art. Maybe some time soon, depends on the weather, there’s still the Hermitage Museum along the river Amstel to visit…

Old Man…

To my younger brother Tom, who will be turning 50 today.
You are now an “old man” too. Welcome to the club of old folks in our family!
The life change started when you where born on September 20, 1959 here in Amsterdam. Down syndrome has never stopped you doing things, some even amazed us when you [...]

All time high…

My all time high of November 9, 2007 is broken. That day I scored 539 visits on one single day. It was shattered yesterday by 45 extra visits.
One of the main search engine terms lately has been ‘planets’ which directs them to Earth Day 2009. Other items are Dutch Architecture, Tuschinski Theater and Pumpkin recipes.

Man the Battleposts…

 Tomorrow, September 5th, the harbor at ‘t Sluisje in Amsterdam-Noord will be the scene of the commemoration of “the Battle of Nieuwendam” which happened in 1572. At the end of the Eighty Years War, Amsterdammers who were in favor of the Spanish fought a fierce battle with the heroic Nieuwendammer Geuzen. The pride of the [...]

Another Festival…

Amsterdam has been festival city for the last few months. Three weeks ago the Grachten Festival started which ended with the Prinsengracht Concerto, or as they call it the start of the classical music season.
Last weekend we had UITmarkt, in which UIT means going out, with modern music, musicals, plays, opera and comedy, or the start [...]

Loo With A…

I’m not sure if anyone of the advertising firm that’s located on this floor ever uses this loo. The ‘john’ is on the same height as the window and you have a wide view over the harbour and the Amstel Botel [white ship on the left] and this is NOT  a one-way window.
On the otherhand [...]

A Day in the Country…

As you can see I’m ready for my day in the country, one last snapshot before I’m off. It started sunny but became soon cloudy followed by a drizzle and to get finished off with buckets full of water. But let’s not get ahead of that.
I left at 11.00 while it was still sunny, driving [...]