Milk!

13:08 mareku 0 Comments

Gus van Sants' Milk is a moving picture about (the real story of) Harvey Milk. I really like James Franco as Harveys' lover Scott. The whole seventies atmosphere is great - I even like James clone mustache ;-) 

Teyler Museum

05:27 mareku 0 Comments

The Teyler Museum is the oldest museum in the world. It is a science museum that started as a state of the art Science Lab when Holland was still a top notch destination for scientists. Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Lorentz, Kamerlingh Onnes and even Newton al worked in this place. It one of my favorite museums and especially the huge batteries (Leidse Pots) and the famous Van der Graaff Generator.


Xmas tree

05:20 mareku 0 Comments


Sundays' Best: Top 10 news pictures of 2008

07:40 mareku 0 Comments


Hmm..

07:43 mareku 0 Comments


Christmas dinner with the two sisters

06:56 mareku 0 Comments


Christmas with Mel Torme

07:34 mareku 0 Comments

This is great story by Marc Evanier about Mel Tormes' Christmas Song...


I want to tell you a story...

The scene is Farmer's Market — the famed tourist mecca of Los Angeles.  It's located but yards from the facility they call,
"CBS Television City in Hollywood"...which, of course, is not in Hollywood but at least is very close.

Farmer's Market is a quaint collection of bungalow
stores, produce stalls and little stands where one can buy darn near
anything edible
one wishes to devour.  You buy your pizza slice or sandwich or Chinese
food or whatever at one of umpteen counters, then carry it on a tray to
an open-air table for consumption.

During the Summer or on weekends, the place is full of
families and tourists and Japanese tour groups.  But this was a winter
weekday, not long before Christmas, and the crowd was mostly older
folks, dawdling over coffee and danish.  For most of them, it's a good
place
to get a donut or a taco, to sit and read the paper.

For me, it's a good place to get out of the house and grab something to eat.  I arrived, headed for my favorite barbecue stand
and, en route, noticed that Mel Tormé was seated at one of the tables.

Mel Tormé.  My favorite singer.  Just sitting there, sipping a cup of coffee, munching on an English Muffin, reading
The New York Times.  Mel Tormé.

I had never met Mel Tormé.  Alas, I still haven't and now I never will.  He looked like he was engrossed in the paper
that day so I didn't stop and say, "Excuse me, I just wanted to tell you how much I've enjoyed all your records."  I wish I had.

Instead, I continued over to the BBQ place, got myself a
chicken sandwich and settled down at a table to consume it.  I was
about
halfway through when four Christmas carolers strolled by, singing "Let
It Snow,"
a cappella.

They were young adults with strong, fine voices and they were all clad in splendid Victorian garb.  The Market had hired them (I
assume) to stroll about and sing for the diners — a little touch of the holidays.

"Let It Snow" concluded not far from me to polite applause from all within earshot.  I waved the leader of the chorale over and
directed his attention to Mr. Tormé, seated about twenty yards from me.

"That's Mel Tormé down there.  Do you know who he is?"

The singer was about 25 so it didn't horrify me that he said, "No."

I asked, "Do you know 'The Christmas Song?'"

Again, a "No."

I said, "That's the one that starts, 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...'"

"Oh, yes," the caroler chirped.  "Is that what it's called?  'The Christmas Song?'"

"That's the name," I explained.  "And that man wrote it."  The singer thanked me, returned to his group for a brief
huddle...and then they strolled down towards Mel Tormé.  I ditched the rest of my sandwich and followed, a few steps behind.  As
they reached their quarry, they began singing, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..." directly to him.

A big smile formed on Mel Tormé's face — and it wasn't
the only one around.  Most of those sitting at nearby tables
knew who he was and many seemed aware of the significance of singing
that song to him.  For those who didn't, there was a sudden flurry of
whispers: "That's Mel Tormé...he wrote that..."

As the choir reached the last chorus or two of the song,
Mel got to his feet and made a little gesture that meant, "Let me sing
one
chorus solo."  The carolers — all still apparently unaware they were in
the presence of one of the world's great singers — looked a
bit uncomfortable.  I'd bet at least a couple were thinking, "Oh,
no...the little fat guy wants to sing."

But they stopped and the little fat guy started to sing...and, of course, out came this beautiful, melodic, perfectly-on-pitch
voice.  The look on the face of the singer I'd briefed was amazed at first...then properly impressed.

On Mr. Tormé's signal, they all joined in on the final lines: "Although it's been said, many times, many ways...Merry Christmas
to you..."  Big smiles all around.

And not just from them.  I looked and at all the tables
surrounding the impromptu performance, I saw huge grins of
delight...which
segued, as the song ended, into a huge burst of applause.  The whole
tune only lasted about two minutes but I doubt anyone who was there
will
ever forget it.

I have witnessed a number of thrilling "show business"
moments — those incidents, far and few between, where all the little
hairs
on your epidermis snap to attention and tingle with joy.  Usually,
these occur on a screen or stage.  I hadn't expected to experience one
next to a falafel stand — but I did.

Tormé thanked the harmonizers for the serenade and one of the women said, "You really wrote that?"

He nodded.  "A wonderful songwriter named Bob Wells and I wrote that...and, get this — we did it on the hottest day of the
year in July.  It was a way to cool down."

Then the gent I'd briefed said, "You know, you're not a bad singer."  He actually said that to Mel Tormé.

Mel chuckled.  He realized that these four young folks hadn't the velvet-foggiest notion who he was, above and beyond the fact
that he'd worked on that classic carol.  "Well," he said.  "I've actually made a few records in my day..."

"Really?" the other man asked.  "How many?"

Tormé smiled and said, "Ninety."

I probably own about half of them on vinyl and/or CD.  For some reason, they sound better on vinyl.  (My favorite was the
album he made with Buddy Rich.  Go ahead.  Find me a better parlay of singer and drummer.  I'll wait.)

Today, as I'm reading obits, I'm reminded of that moment.  And I'm impressed to remember that Mel Tormé was also an
accomplished author and actor.  Mostly though, I'm recalling that pre-Christmas afternoon.

I love people who do something so well that you can't
conceive of it being done better.  Doesn't even have to be something
important: Singing, dancing, plate-spinning, mooning your neighbor's
cat, whatever.  There is a certain beauty to doing almost anything to
perfection.

No recording exists of that chorus that Mel Tormé sang for the other diners at Farmer's Market but if you never believe another
word I write, trust me on this.  It was perfect.  Absolutely perfect


(I myself now own 85 CD's by Mel Torme (and two with Buddy Rich..) - So I am almost there! )

Hmmm...

00:12 mareku 0 Comments




Me in Quote

07:54 mareku 0 Comments

Floris Muller did an interview with me in The Quote where in he applies for a career at Zomoto. Unnecessary to say that he does not get the job dressed liked that ;-). Nice article though...

Just an other guy in a dress

08:49 mareku 0 Comments

Pope Benedict made some ridiculous comments in an end-of-year speech to senior Vatican staff. Defending God's creation was not limited to saving the environment, he said, but also about protecting man from himself.

It is not "out-of-date metaphysics" to "speak of human nature as
'man' or woman'", he said. It came from the "language of creation,
despising which would mean self-destruction for humans". Gender theories, he said, led to man's "auto-emancipation" from creation and Creator. "Rain forests deserve, yes, our protection but the human being... does not deserve it less," he said. Translation: Gays are a disaster for humanity...

So Beni is really out of touch with the rest of the world - or perhaps he is talking about himself: let's face it: here is a guy who always wears dresses, likes fancy hats, has a couple of thousand cute boys around him and ... let's not forget paid hundreds of millions to victims of pedophile priests...

Change I really can believe in...

09:19 mareku 0 Comments


Helloooo Mr. President!

04:03 mareku 0 Comments

Celebrating Xmas on Hawaii.

Sundays' best: top ten conductors

08:13 mareku 0 Comments


  1. Leonard Bernstein
  2. Herbert von Karajan
  3. Sir Georg Solti
  4. André Previn
  5. Sir Simon Rattle
  6. Harmut Haenchen
  7. Bernard Haitink
  8. Aaron Copland
  9. Michael Tilson Thomas
  10. Danny Kaye ;-)


Diet

09:14 mareku 0 Comments

December is diet month - My goal is to loose about 8 kilo's (fat I hope..) and to go back to 85 kilo. After two weeks I am halfway - so just on target! :-)) If only xmas wouldn't be in December...

Cologne

08:55 mareku 0 Comments

We went to pick up a photograph which Eddie bought at an auction in Cologne. The city is still one big building site and especially the river site with huge new modern buildings is great.

Xmas Dinner

08:45 mareku 0 Comments

At the very nice restaurant "Te Pas" we had a wonderful Christmas dinner with the whole Zomoto Team.

I think I stay in Bed today...

08:57 mareku 0 Comments


Cute

02:24 mareku 0 Comments


Merry Xmas

02:51 mareku 0 Comments


Lisa can Swim

13:05 mareku 0 Comments


ms. Dionne Warwick live! in Amsterdam

13:04 mareku 0 Comments

Yesterday evening I finally saw Dionne Warwick live on stage in the RAI Amsterdam. She sang all her famous tunes and as a bonus, her eldest son, David Elliot (also the drummer), sang a few songs on stage with his mother.The evening started of with Sabrina Starke and a few numbers of her debut album "Yellow Brick Road" which wasn't that good actually...

Sundays' best: Top 10 worst technology predictions of all time

07:11 mareku 0 Comments

1. BRITAIN DOESN'T NEED TELEPHONES

Made in 1878 by Sir William Preece, chief engineer at the Post Office.

'The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys,' he said.

2. X-RAYS ARE A HOAX

Lord Kevlin, President of the Royal Society was clearly unconvinced when he made his comments in 1883.

3. THERE WILL NEVER BE A BIGGER PLANE (AND IT ONLY HELD TEN PEOPLE)

The maiden flight of the Boeing 247 took place in 1933.

Speaking after the happy event, an engineer reportedly said: 'There will never be a bigger plane built.'

The world's biggest plane is currently the Airbus A380 can carry up to 853 people.

4. TV WON'T LAST

Darryl Zanuck, 20th Century Fox movie mogul was responsible for this clanger back in 1946.

He claimed the technology had a short shelf life because people will 'soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.'

5 HOMES WILL BE CLEANED WITH NUCLEAR HOOVERS

Back in the 1950s, Alex
Lewyt, president of the Lewyt Corp vacuum company, claimed it was only
a matter of time before nuclear power was used in the home.

'Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within ten years,' he said.

6. LETTERS WILL BE DELIVERED BY ROCKET

'We stand on the threshold of rocket mail,' said U.S. postmaster general  Arthur Summerfield in 1959.

7. COMPUTERS AREN'T FOR HOME USE

In
1977, Ken Olsen, the president, chairman and founder of Digital
Equipment Corp (DEC) claimed there was no reason for anyone to want a
personal computer.

8. YOU'LL ONLY EVER NEED 640KB OF MEMORY

Bill Gates's first entry into the chart with his 1981 claim that no personal computer would ever need huge amounts of capacity.

He has since denied making the statement,,,

9. WE'LL KILL SPAM IN TWO YEARS

... though there's no doubt he said this one.

Speaking at the 2004 World Economic Forum he claimed a solution was in sight.

10. THE iPOD WILL BE KAPUT BY NEXT CHRISTMAS

And rounding off the technology hall of shame is Sir Alan Sugar.

He made his claim in 2005, telling an interviewer: 'Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput.'


And we can make that a very long list... What about "Newspapers will always be there" or "Television is here to stay" or even "New cars will never be sold online..." ;-)

Nice shoes

01:49 mareku 0 Comments


Remember the Hempel

23:39 mareku 0 Comments

This photo reminded me of so nice nights Eddie and I spend in the very same (cage) suite at the Hempel in London years ago. The Bed is acually  fixed to the ceiling :-))

Andreas Baader

23:57 mareku 0 Comments

Because of the whether I spend a lot of time at the movies these days. An other great movie is Der Bader Meinhof Komplex, from the makers of Der Untergang. It tells the story of the Baader Meinhof gruppe - a terrorist organisation in the 1970s in Germany. I remembered the history vaguely - but this movie really gives a pretty good insight in how these  guys became from a modest protest organisation to a complete out of hand gang of lunatics.

Winter in Wartime

23:52 mareku 0 Comments

Martijn Lakemeier plays Michiel van Beusekom in the movie after the famous book of Jan Terlouw about a boy in the last winter of WWII who finds an English pilot in the woods and tries to help him escape. Martijn is terrific and the movie itself is very good - the fun part is that most of it is shot in Lithuania... - because of the snow.

Gay Tango a hit in Buenos Aires

23:46 mareku 0 Comments






Buenos Aires has become a very popular destination for gay travelers.
According to Hector Aguilar, an architectural historian who gives
lectures for Lugar Gay, "It now rivals Rio as the gay destination in
South America." Last year, Buenos Aires hosted the first Queer Tango
Festival, which drew about 500 people from around the world.

Andrew & Alex are getting married!

10:07 mareku 0 Comments

In the latest DHW episode Andrew and Alex announced that they are getting married :-) Bree will do the catering of course... It also zeroed in on Alex's past as a gay porn star...
It was
touching to see Bree take a little bit more of an interest in Andrew's
personal life, after ignoring it for so long. Or as Andrew said last
night, "Not every boy can say that his mother is willing to rent gay
porn for him."
Before all that, though, the dinner party Bree threw was perfectly
Bree-ed out and humorous. "Look at you two, sitting so far apart.
Scootch over!" she encouraged Andrew and Alex, trying to show that she
was totally fine with them being together. And then this little funny,
but totally throwaway line: "Now, who would like a strawberry
daiquiri?" Yes, Bree, because the gays love a good strawberry daiquiri!
Always!

Do French men lie about their penises?

03:13 mareku 0 Comments

More than 10,500 men across 25 European countries were asked to
measure their penis by the Institute of Condom Consultancy,
based in Singen, southern Germany - and the French came out (literary) on top with a claimed
average length of 6.09 in (15.48 cm). This was 1.2 in (3! cm) longer than the Greeks, who had the shortest average measurement in Europe.

So are French guys really that large (and the Greek so small) or are the Greek just the most honest. My experience is that on average Europeans all have the same size... ;-)

Sundays' best: Top ten stupid gifts - as seen on stupid.com

03:48 mareku 0 Comments


1. Screaming Chicken, The World's Most Annoying Toy:
This rubber chicken doesn't squeak or squawk. It screams.
2. Wealth Redistribution 2008 Holiday Ornament:
This tree ornament announces that the ornament that used to be there has been removed and given to someone who needs it more. The Redistribution Holiday Ornament will let everyone know you're spreading the wealth whether you want to or not.
3. Mini Guitar Hero:
This miniature version of that mega-hit game is barely 6-inches long but you can still rock out to songs by Queen, Cheap Trick, Nirvana, and The Police.
4. Potty Putter:
Why waste time on the toilet, when you can use it to get ready for the fairway? Potty Putter contains everything you need for an exciting round of golf without leaving your seat including a putting green for around the toilet, mini putter, flag stick and two golf balls.
5. Wasabi Flavored Gumballs:
These potent little green confections offer an intense explosion of wasabi. Strangely, the gum is actually delicious.
6. Men's Underwear Repair Kit:
In this troubled economy, don't throw away your old underwear but repair it with the Men's Underwear Repair Kit. This handy, inexpensive kit provides everything you need to get your unsightly undershorts back into presentable shape.
7. Obama "Yes We Can" Opener:
Every election spawns some interesting products, but this has to be one of the stupidest. To Obama fans, the "Yes, We Can" opener, seizing on his campaign refrain, could be a treasure.
8. "How To Tie A Tie" Tie:
Still struggle with your tie? This stylish tie has simple knot-tying instructions printed right on the front. Just follow the six step-by-step diagrams and you'll look as dashing as George Clooney in seconds.
9. 2009 Dog Poop Calendar:
Each month features a spectacular landscape or breathtaking tableau, but somewhere in every shot there's a pile of dog poop. Distasteful? You bet it is, but the contrast between the beautiful photography and dog poop is remarkable.
10. Pole Dancer Alarm Clock:
When the alarm goes off, dance music plays and disco lights flash. At the same time, a buxom blonde dancer gyrates around a pole under the spinning disco ball.


Santa was in Town

09:07 mareku 0 Comments

We were waiting for Santa Claus to visit us at No&Go. Luckily he came and brought nice presents and true poems...

 














Go Homo

10:26 mareku 0 Comments

Right-wing conservative groups have often accused gay people of having
an agenda to promote homosexuality. In response to this, the UK’s Gay Times decided to run an interesting recruitment campaign: selling homosexuality to the straight community. 6 Posters were made. among this one  by Leo Burnett, Chicago.

New Abdellah Taïa novel

11:24 mareku 0 Comments

Une Melancolie Arabe is an account of the author's early years when many young men arround him have turned to homosexuality, which they consider simply
an alternative practice. "But it was different for me," he
says. "I was serious about it." ;-) - It is a great book.

Hairy Harry

11:14 mareku 0 Comments


US car makers still don't get it!

04:05 mareku 0 Comments

Last time the "big (?)" three arrived in Washington to ask for $ 34 billion in bailout they came with their corporate jets. This week they came with their hybrid cars - But have a close look: The Chrysler isn't being made anymore after they shut down the assembly plant in Newark, Del. The Ford is still a huge - unsellable SUV and the Chevt Maliby hybrid is an ugle as it can be... I hope the park their cars way out of site of capitol hill - because with these wheels they won't get a dime...