Queensday traditions

Amsterdam
Wear orange




Check this years' Queenstheme at Blaffende Vis













Dance at Tabac's tunes











Stroll the street party scenes - like this authentic house-party










And as a rule, the company is always good at Q'night/day

Toedangamam

Amsterdam

For you foreigners: every year, at midnight - when Queensday starts - café/bar De Blaffende Vis (The Barking Fish) shows its Queensday theme. This year its Toedangamam (Please mom, please go) anticipating Queen Beatrix to step down and let her son Prince Willem-Alexander take over.

Seek out the differences

No soy Hemingway

Madrid









Went out with friends of André to dance salsa and cumbia in an all-Cuba club in Madrid - with lots of Hemingway memorablia.

Viernes Cultural en Madrid

Visited André in Madrid last weekend. He is leaving in a few months time, so it was a bit of a goodbye visit as well.

The weather was cold and rainy - but Madrid has enough to offer. Long lunches at Lateral for example, and then the exhibition on Dutch Design in the former slaughter house.

And a beautyfull exhibiton on human slaughter in the State museum El Prado: Goya en tiempos de Guerra - or: Goya on war. It was a bit startling to notice that since Goya drawn his sketches on the Napolean wars, the uprisal in Madrid and the takeover of the Spanish Inquisition - that human cruelty and brutality hasn't evolved a single bit. Progress? I don't think so.

Kleine klootzák

Sorry, this is only funny in Dutch.

Mijn moeder hoorde een jongetje ontzet tegen zijn moeder roepen 'mam, mam, hij riep "kleine klootzak" tegen me.... Heel kindvriendelijk hoor, de Efteling ;-)

Sweet Fifteen

Amsterdam. Edith from Colombia came over for a short visit and we passed the day lunching, talking, drinking, talking, shopping, talking and finally: diner, with a lot of talking. Martina 'won' a ticket for a diner for two at Fifteen. We had a good laugh about it because, apart from the free welcome-cocktail-from-the-house and a nice bottle with olive-oil from Fifteen's Italian supplier, we also got a check that was 150 euro's too much. But that put aside: we had a lovely evening, with delicious food and the best service ever. Friendly, fresh and young (yes m'am - and you have a damn good view from your table 'een verdomd goed hoekie').

Edith and Martina

Life is not a basket

Sometimes life gets too much for me - and even the most insignificant things can infuriate me to the max.

Today this S&^*&d F*((*%g basket was the culprit. It took me 75 minutes (....) to unpack the thing, to get all the stupid parts in place and attach the stupid thing to my stupid bike. The result is a half-tight/half-loose/half locked basket. And a bag that only fits in sideways... The stupid manifacturer of this stupid thing has the stupid thing patented... How about attending a workshop on how to write a decent manual! p a t e n t e d Hah! Who would even want to produce the stupid thing under his f^&(*g license.. The inventor of the thing should be life-sentenced to attach the stupid things personally.

Welcome Timo

Timo entered the world on April 3rd. Mother Ika is enjoying some quiet time while mother Pauline is organising the 'beschuit-met-muisjes'

... was a rose

Amazing, how long it takes for a rose to lose its beauty:

Party for charity

Our Rotary-club organized a party for charity. Ilse won a ticket to Istanbul.. hm, that was not the charity I had in mind... Jacowies keeps the faith though. Click here, see what I mean?

Office humor

How bored can you be if you need to invent usb-missile launchers for your computer at the office... (but I must admit that I find it very funny..)


Somebody should offer this person a job, talent's going to waste!