Amat victoria curam!

Luckily at Art Rotterdam there were some nice photographs as well - like these from Kjetil Kausland about cage fighting.

At Art Rotterdam I found these art pieces: a..huh.. broom and ...bike?!

Eightmaps takes the names and ZIP codes of people who donated to the proposition 8 measure — information that California collects and makes public
under state campaign finance disclosure laws — and overlays the data on
a Google map. Visitors can see markers indicating a contributor’s name, approximate
location, amount donated and, if the donor listed it, employer. That is
often enough information for interested parties to find the rest — like
an e-mail or home address... which they do and are noe using to send some nasty stuff to people who supported 8 :-)

I really like Dawn French. Her role in the Vicar of Dibley is one of the best comic performances ever. So I enjoy this audiobook - which is hilarious also. I bought it as a audio CD - but converted it into an audiobook (for the iphone with audiobook builder).

Andre of Bruggeman motor Bikes send me this picture of the exchange of my Tenere.

Estimate only at 40.000 pounds...

Estimate only at 40.000 pounds...

It's something I always wanted - but never had: A Märklin model train. I guess I will never have it because it has filed for insolvency
after the failure of long-running restructuring efforts.A pity after more then 150th years. Banks were
unwilling to extend further credit, Märklin said.

Have a look at this video and you never want to do ANYTHING with the rabobank anymore :-)

Microsoft can't stand it of others have more success then they have - no matter what sector. So the come up with ludicrous idea's like the Xbox, Zune and now Songsmith. Like GuitarHero, Rock Band and Garage Band it is supposed to make anyone a musician... The original promo is so bad - it starts to get funny. As are the bunch of parodies of classic songs with songsmith on youtube. I couldn't resist and made this version of Slim Shady of Eminem...

I am always amazed when newspaper people are still clinging to the idea that nothing will change and that readers will want to read news in a paper news format with journalists eternally. Almost 30 years ago everybody knew something would change... Marque (home computer owner)

Apples' new iLife 09 and iWork 09 are really awesome!. I really like the new iMovie features, Garageband tuturials, Remote Keynote with the iPhone and Places and Faces in iPhoto. It makes computers a whole lot more fun :-))

Like every "family" in Holland Zomoto is collecting the stickers of the players of the soccer league. We already have a pretty good collection...

It took a couple of days before I knew what name to give to my new bike: But now I know it should be Black Camel.
Black because it is...huh... black! and camel because it can go miles and miles before it needs refueling and it can ride everywhere you want it to. :-)

I am been thinking where to go with my new Tenere. This is what I have in mind / planned...

1) WWI trip through Belgium and northern France.
2) Trip to German Thuringen (Weimar Colditz, Wartburg)
3) Nordkap - Sweden en Norway
4) Sierra Nevada - Spain
5) Agadir - Marocco
6) Yorkshire Dales - England
7) Aubrac - France
8) Washington State - USA
9) Chilean coast
10) Route 66 - USA

I collected my brand new Yamaha XT660Z Tenere this morning and went on a nice (but cold) trip arround the Lek river. So I came across the city of Nieuwpoort where in 1600 a famous battle was fought against the Spanish army (and won!).

This and dozens of other questions are being answered athe  the New Scientist "Last Word" Column. Its one of my favorite websites. It's a mix of wit, insight and scientific curiosa. TLW's most prolific answerer by far is one Jon Richfield, a retired
computer scientist in Stellenbosch, South Africa. His first reaction to TLW's riddles is often "No clue!" or "Who cares?"
Then "the next thing you know, it's 'Oh, well, let's have a go.'" This
has happened about 300 times...

One of the best stories of WWII: the devastation of the heavy water plant at Rjukan in Norway. The Germans made D20 in order to build an atomic bomb. Because of clever intelligence and outstanding survival technics the plant was destroyed. The movie with Kirk Douglas is mostly a fantasy, I am reading the book and viewing the TV series by Ray Mears called the REAL heroes of Telemark and it is still after all those years amazing stuff.

Eddie holds his first exhibition show at Naarden. Together with No he will show his collection for the next five days. It looks rather professional doesn't it?

Lois Pryce is quit a girl: she left everything she had to bike from Alaska to the southern Tip of Chile. She wrote a very funny novel about her trip in the style of Bridget Jones's Diary. I cannot wait for her second book in which she travels from London to Capetown.

1) In which we Serve
2) Dambusters
3) Bridge of the river Kwai
4) Lawrence of Arabia
5) The great escape
6) Colditz
7) The Guns of Navarone
8) Casablanca
9) The heroes of Telemark
10) Von Ryans' Express

We had a lovely dinner with our dear friends at Scarlett Restaurant. We talked about life and the ups and downs that are involved.

A US Airways plane with 155 people on board ditched into a chilly
Hudson River on Thursday, apparently after striking at least one bird
upon takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport. The pilot was the first ever to land a commercial plane successfully on water...

Just installed Pinger: This new app manages and communicates with contacts on the
iPhone as well as Twitter, Myspace and Facebook friends. You can see the IM status of your contacts and Pinger will give
the option of calling, texting, emailing or IMing them right from the iphone: all in 1 single app - FREE :-))

TV commercial for the new Honda Fury motor cycle :-)

George Bush is almost gone - Hurray!. He's trying to spin his way into history with leaflets like "Highlights of Accomplishments and Results". It won't work... OK I see one thing this man did actually right: He was the first statesmen who spend money on Aids. So let's hope that Obama will change everything expect for that.

I thought it would be fun to record my 5K runs at the gym. Whenever I am not training with JohnJohn (usually 3 times a week) I go and run - so on average 4 times a week at least 5 kilometers. This being my first Kodak Zi6 HD test movie (in the dark and inside) it does not give a good impression how good this camcorder actually is... especially while I edited this movie in iMovie08 with its limited features. Cannot wait for iMovie09.

Francesco Cavalli wrote this opera in 1662 so quite a while ago, but is still fun to see and nice to hear. The Dutch Opera in direction of David Alden made it into a very enjoyable hour or two - then we realized the opera would last for an other two hours - which is way to much, so we called it a day ;-)

1) Fight Club
2) Street Fighter
3) Rocky
4) Matrix
5) Enter The Dragon
6) Troy
7) American History X
8) Casino Royal
9) Gladiator
10) Attack of the Clones (Yoda ;-) )

Seems like a fun movie: Fighting with Channing Tatum.

Chuecatown is yet an other hilarious spanish movie. Pablo Puyol (Victor) works in a real estate agency in the well-known Chueca
gay neighborhood of Madrid. He hides a terrible secret: he makes apartments
available for sale by murdering the old ladies owners that live in
them. Then, refurbishes and decorates the apartments to sell them to
gay couples with high purchasing power. His ultimate objective is to
transform Chueca into a kind of London Soho area.

A sweet-faced lad devoted to a fluffy white toy terrier, whose other
closest pals are an inseparable couple of detectives in bowler hats,
and whose only serious female friend is an opera diva... So Tintin must be gay according to Matthew Parris in his latest time blog.

I could not resist: I bought the Kodak Zi6 Camcorder. It's compact, it's HD (60 frames), it is a still camera and... it's so cheap! Thanks to the ridiculous low British Pound This baby is under a 100 euro. Incredible. All the reviews are wildly enthusiast - so I cannot wait to receive my Zi6.

Now that we at it: This new song from White Lies is also great, reminds me of Depeche Mode back in the eighties.

I played this song from Empire of the Sun at least a hundred times already and it's still awesome!. Like the album as well. (video shot in Shanghai). TIP: on the Walking on a Dream website you will find this FREE Sam La More Mix 12" MP3 Download of Walking On a Dream :-))

While I was viewing "That's Entertainment I, II & III" I was wondering what I think are the best musicals:
1) American in Paris
2) Singing in the Rain
3) Gay Divorcee
4) Royal Wedding
5) Broadway Melody of 1940
6) Swing Time
7) Shall we Dance
8) Barkleys of Broadway
9) Damsel in Distress
10) Silk Stockings

So most are Fred Astaires - but top are Gene Kellys'.

There's no such thing as a pink ceiling according to Kevin de Wolf (22) from Price Waterhouse Coopers. This "token gay" is elected PWC young professional of the year and set up a gay network within his company. Let's see how high he can climb...
In the mean time I am thinking of switching accountants.

Bill Maher made a compelling/funny and serious documentary about religion. I like the fact that he is so blunt with the people he is interviewing, He makes a good case in arguing that religion is dangerous in a way that it makes people to believe in absolutes in stead of trying to doubt certain things. The scenes in Amsterdam are particulary funny :-)

I am reading the excellent biography of Rudolf Nureyev "Life" by July Kavanagh. It is one of the best biographies I have even read. She really knows ballet and has intensively research Rudolf life so one can have a intimate view of this greatest dancer ever.

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 ;-) 

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.