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Welcome to my Blog! Anybody, providing he knows how to be amusing, has the right to
talk about himself. - Charles Baudelaire In 2013 I started a series of photo albums on Blurb.com, named '36Exp' (a subject adressed in 36 exposures, a reference to the exposures on most common rolls of 35 mm film: 12, 24 & 36.). The books can be ordered directly from the Blurb.com website.
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DANGLING IN THE TOURNEFORTIA - CHARLES BUKOWKSI | BOOKS
![]() Charles Bukowski is one of America's best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose, and many would claim its most influential and imitated poet. "This poetry book is more for the fanatic than the connoisseur of Bukowski’s work. It is sandwiched amongst his fire in the belly writing of Burning in Water, Drowning in Frame (1974), Love Is a Dog from Hell (1977) and his intense and diverse philosophical ruminations found in War All the Time (1984) and The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992). Dangling in the Tournefortia was published when Bukowski was fifty-nine years old and his reputation was clearly established and growing exponentially." [23DEC11]
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LEVEE TOWN by SONNY LANDRETH | MUSIC ![]() Only when I had bought the various Eric Clapton's Guitarfestival 'Crossroads' dvd's (2004, 2007, 2010), I became acquainted, and fascinated, with this slide guitar wizard, Sonny Landreth. 'Levee Town' has the following artists performing: From www.popmatters.com: Sonny Landreth was born in Canton, Mississippi, but soon after, his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, before settling in Lafayette, Louisiana. I am sure I will buy more of his music and hope to see him play live some day. www.sonnylandreth.com [23DEC11]
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SCRAMBLE MAGAZINE | AVIATION ![]()
[21DEC11]
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AVIATION LETTER | AVIATION ![]() Aviation Letter, issue Dec.2011- a one off production with colour pics! From now on slightly reduced in size (19x14cm) for reasons of postage costs. This is at the moment my prime source for news & sightings of propliners. Aviation Letter is facing somewhat declining number of subscribers, no doubt having to do with all the information available online. This monthly magazine was first published over 43 years ago, to enable the enthusiast to be informed of aircraft sales, leases, colour scheme changes and operations. www.aviationletter.com [21DEC11]
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BILLY CONNOLLY'S ROUTE 66 | TRAVEL I am a big fan of this guy: William "Billy" Connolly, Jr., CBE (born 24 November 1942); he's a Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname The Big Yin (The Big One)! His first trade, in the early 1960s, was as a welder (specifically a boilermaker) in the Glasgow shipyards, but he gave it up towards the end of the decade to pursue a career as a folk singer in the Humblebums and subsequently as a soloist. In the early 1970s he made the transition from folk-singer with a comedic persona to full-fledged comedian. As an actor he has won recognition too and was nominated for a BAFTA; The Boondock Saints in 1999. In early January 1994, Connolly began a 40-day World Tour of Scotland, which would be broadcast by the BBC later in the year as a six-part series. It was so well received that the BBC signed him up to do a similar tour two years later in Australia. When this was broadcasted on the BBC I was hooked! The travel documentary combined recordings of his comedy performance en route and his humor, and that particular chuckle of his, brougt tears in my eyes of laughter. I was hooked!!! That formula was repeated for several BBC programmes, but his Journey To The Edge Of The World, touring Canada's entire north coast from east to west, did not allow for comedy gigs en route but did result in an excellent ITV travel documentary. We saw him in the streets of Vancouver, B.C., engrossed in conversation, so we did not bother him. This blog is about another ITV edition: Billy Connolly's Route 66, travelling the most famous road in the world. Again no comedy gigs enroute but it did reunite him with his trike (May 2011: Connolly suffered a broken rib and a gashed knee when his motor trike rolled on top of him while filming for ITV - he returned to filming a week later). "Get your kicks on Route 66!" Chicago to L.A., 2.500 miles. A magic trail through the heart of America, land of broken dreams and hollywood endings... To quote Billy Connolly: "A story of America, written by the people, for the people; a tale in tarmac, of Presidents and paupers, cowboys and indians, diners and drive thru's - framed in a landscape of a 100 movies and a soundtrack of the greatest music in the world: Rock 'n Roll!" Billy meets lots of people, sees lots of things; add to this his unimitable comments with that charming Scottish accent and his chuckle... Simply wonderful. www.billyconnolly.com Wikipedia [16DEC2011]
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SNOECKS 2012 | BOOKS ![]()
[15DEC11]
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RAY BONNEVILLE in PARADISO | MUSIC ![]() Ray Bonneville played the Paradiso in Amsterdam (Netherlands) on 04Dec11. He was promoting his latest CD, Bad Man's Blood. He can be classified as a unique guitarplayer (described as “loose, darkly funky vibe” by All Music Guide - listen to him on the YouTube links below), a style all his own; he has performed with such blues luminaries as B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Robert Cray. In recent years he's become a fixture in the Americana scene, since moving to Texas, becoming one of the go-to session players for artists like Ray Wylie Hubbard, Mary Gauthier and Eliza Gilkyson.
Born in French Canada and raised in the United States, he writes from his experience as an immigrant, Vietnam War vet, taxi driver and bush pilot, drawing inspiration from the many places he has called home—Montreal, New Orleans, Colorado, Arkansas, Alaska, Boston, Seattle and Paris, France. He now lives in Austin,TX. http://raybonneville.com [08DEC2011]
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SOLAR by IAN McEWAN | BOOKS ![]() Finished Ian McEwan's novel Solar, finally! Seldom read such non-compelling book, a struggle! The story is about Nobelprize laureate Michael Beard whose best work is behind him; a womanizer, in the process of winding down his 5th marriage, when he finds the lover of his wife dead at home. Beard makes the most of the scientific papers left by the dead man, a theory in alternative energy sources. Beard is unethical, clumsy (but hardly comical), lacks self dicipline in everything, he becomes obese, his flat is a dump, to recuperate he stays with another lover. This is something that cannot last, but Beard remains in denial of everything and the world until the very last page. The really boring thing is that the story is captured in his mind-set, a boring man going on about his struggles, wifes and lovers, and a lot of scientific bla-bla. This book is published as 'Winner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse for Comic Fiction', incredible. That prize has lost all credibility. Not enough humour in this book it to fill ten pages. Avoid at all cost. [07DEC11]
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GURF MORLIX @LEIDEN (NETHERLANDS) | MUSIC
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www.GurfMorlix.com [04Dec11]
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TSARINA ESRA | DARK ALE 'Tsarina Esra' is a handcrafted beer, a fine dark ale brewed by Dutch brewery 'DE MOLEN' (The mill). Described as a good Baltic Porter, with a rich taste and long roasted range; touches of chocolate and coffee, rather smooth with an oily bitter and creamy finish. beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/ [03Dec11]
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VROEGER KON JE LACHEN - S. CARMIGGELT | BOOKS
The name 'Carmiggelt' stems from Scottish, Carmichael. My wife's family is linked to the Carmiggelts.. Wikipedia on Simon Carmiggelt [03DEC11]
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NATHAN HAMILTON in AMSTERDAM 21NOV11 | MUSIC ![]() I've been visiting Mr Hamilton's gigs since I saw him play in 2006 at the Blue Highways Festival in Utrecht(NL). Nathan Hamilton, a singer/songwriter from Austin(TX), was promoting his new CD 'Beauty Wit and Speed' while Michael Fracasso has his latest, 'Saint Monday', to promote. Both I can recommend, while I enjoyed also the purchase of a Live recording at John T Floore's Countrystore of Nathan Hamilton preforming with No Deal. When I bought Hamilton's 'Tuscola' CD it was like an epiphany! Man, that music threw me! It was followed by 'Six Black Birds' ANd 'Receive', both with strong music, ideally suited for performing, but 'Beauty With and Speed' seems to me moving back to 'Tuscola's' song writing and that isn't bad at all; the CD is beautifully produced, a bit jazzy in places but others definitely Americana music. Listen and buy! The crowd at the Cinetone was much thinned by a dense fog, resulting in a traffic advise to stay at home! But the music was excellent and even saw a guest appearance by Gurf Morlix, who was enjoying a night off but nevertheless picked up a guitar and took to the stage! Those who weren't there certainly missed out! ![]()
LINKS: [25NOV11]
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DEEP SOUTH by SALLY MANN | PHOTOGRAPHY DEEP SOUTH shows a collection of exquisite, ethereal landscape photographs by Sally Mann. Many of these photographs are produced with the 19th century collodian process plus a variety of toning techniques and capture what Mann calls the radical light of the American South. She became inspired for this project when she found glass plates (glass negatives) taken around her town by a returning Civil War veteran. Technical imperfections, such as light leaks or scratches on negatives, echo the accidental, chaotic workings of time. From ghostly images of historic battlefields to painterly visions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and her native Virginia, Mann's landscape photographs transport the viewer to another time and place. These photographs move light years away from Photoshop perfection, but show nevertheless perfect photography! sallymann.com website. [19NOV11]
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HET ZIJN NET MENSEN - JORIS LUYENDIJK | BOOKS ![]()
Joris Luyendijk, his website (in Dutch) [14NOV11]
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WONDERS OF THE INTERNET ![]() Today I received this email: "My name is Elias Wakefield. 2 Days ago I was going through the glove box of my car and found this CD, hidden under a lot of papers that I had not gone through since I purchased the car. The CD was labeled Alaska and each picture had 2007 Shaun Lunt on it. After googling 'Shaun Lunt' and learning of his tragic loss, I was curious if you knew of a way to give this CD back to his family?" In response, due lack of ever having had dorect contact with teh family, I suggested to attempt contact through website of the Shaun Lunt Memorial Fund" I hope my Tribute Page will have helped to get the CD to the family. [04NOV2011]
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DIRTY DUTCH POLITICS | HUMAN RGHTS
![]() Mauro is an 18 years old kid who has been living in The Netherlands for the past 10 years. The Dutch, who claimed for generations to have embraced the multi ethnic society, have a failed immigrations system which kept this boy for 10 years waiting for a residential permit. No excuse for a failed immigration board who kept this boy waiting through his formative years. No historic conscience for decades of profitable slave trade so efficiently and expediently performed by the Dutch during the 16th and 17th century. Mauro has got to go. [30OCT2011]
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HEIDEGGER AND A HIPPO WALK THROUGH THOSE PEARLY GATES | PHILOSOPHY
![]() The authors Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein demonstrate how humor allows us to express our fears about death while defusing anxiety. Succinct accounts of Kierkegaard's notion of embracing angst, Schopenhauer's notion of undying... But one finds also quotes by Groucho Marx and Woody Allen. Plenty of jokes to lighten the load on this philosophical quest to the edge of the pearly gates! [26OCT11]
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CIGAR BANDS | COLLECTING ![]() Fell from a long forgotten book: 2 cigarbands. When I was a kid I was collecting these, quite a common thing to do, like stamps collecting. The top one has 'Boneka Cigars' on the label. Not sure if that is still going on, should be a lot less with smoking banned in so many places. [26Oct11]
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EEN JOURNALISTIEK GEHEIM ONTSLUIERD | JOAN HEMELS ![]() This book, written in Dutch (not sure if published in English at all), is about the structural influences in Dutch journalism during the First World War from Vienna, Austria-Hungary. This was done through cunning manipulation of news items and 'public relations'-stories sent to the news desks in The Netherlands. Robert Saudek, from Czech origin, was assigned to the task to influence Holland (which remained 'neutral' in WWI), win over the public opinion and in this way also spread propaganda beyond the Dutch media. Prof. Dr. Joan M.H.J. Hemels (b.1944) went through the archives and documents in Vienna with a fine comb and managed to unravel this carefully designed plot. Journalists could apply with the Austrian-Hungarian Kriegspressequartier for a permit to visit the frontlines and provided embedded warreports! Dutch military officers were allowed the same facilities. Another striking item for me in this book was to read that the Dutch produced cocaine on a large scale for both sides of the front! Most newspapers and Press Agencies became under the influence of 'spindoctor' Saudek, money and information came hand in hand, as a result the news showed favourable accounts of the German-Austrian war effort. When WWI ended in 1918 there were no efforts for self reflection in the Dutch media, this episode was quickly forgotten or perhaps even hushed up. When referring to 'Austria-Hungary' I refer to the empire which saw its dissolution in 1918, a realm which comprised modern-day Austria, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and parts of Italy, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. [Wikipedia] [23OCT11]
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ILFORD BLACK&WHITE | PHOTOGRAPHY ![]() Cleaning up a drawer I found two photos I submitted during the 1980s for use of postcard; the top one was taken at an Indian Trading Post, tprobably somewhere in New Mexico. The postcard deal did not work out, but the photo was published in a magazine. The other was taken in Tombstone,Arizona and I like the way the steel-and-chrome motorcycle replaced the horse in an otherwise Old West-style photograph! The Ilford Delta film was my favourite at the time (when you had to shoot B&W to get a B&W photo!). [21OCT11]
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OCCUPY MOVEMENT | SOCIETY ![]() The grassroots movement started by the Occupy Wall Street people, on Sep.17th in Liberty Square, now have the world in protest against bankers, financial institutions, large corporations and governments who caused the world wide economic crisis we find ourselves in. The bankers persist in giving themselves fat bonuses and government officials keep meeting in expensive hotels, not presenting the banks with the bill, tackling their lack of morals, but instead taxing ordinary people for the required funding. The OWS movement (http://occupywallst.org/) have seen their protest echoed all over the world on all continents. What will this bring us? Will politicians listen or defend the bankers and multinational corporations, and discredit the protesters perhaps simply dismiss them as rioters, hope it will blow over? A true test for democracy and a timely evaluation of capitalism. Not since the Vietnam War and the Flower Power movement we have seen such protest spread on a global scale, people standing up for ideals and a better world. I admire their determination and wish them well. (Photos found by googling for images on the subject) ![]() [17OCT11]
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INUKSUK (INUKSHUK)
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Petur P Johnson wrote me: "We have similar things in Iceland. they are called 'vörður' and were used for marking mountain paths and trails; they were very
useful when walking across vast lava fields in low cloud or fog!" [15OCT11] |