Ik dacht dat ik het nooit zou zeggen maar, voor mij heel even geen kaas.

Ben weer terug na een week van overdaad in de Dordogne!

Benelux tour

Antique feet in Ghent

Above my workspace

Next to the couch.

• Miss Pettigrew lives for a day - Winifred Watson: Excellent! A really pleasant 1930's story about a poor governess who ends up spending the day with a nightclub singer. (the Rdam library has a copy)
• No and me- Delphine de Vigan: Also a pretty entertaining read. "Lou Bertignac has an IQ of 160 and a good friend called Lucas, who gets her through the school day. At home her father cries in secret in the bathroom and her mother hasn’t been out of the house properly for years. But Lou is about to change her life."It sounds like a childrens book and it reads like one too. Well written anyhow. The story is mostly about the developing friendship between Lou and a homeless girl and how she tries to save her homeless friend by taking her in. (Rdam library)
• Several Heinleins. Especially Double star and Citizen of the galaxy were good. Here he focuses more on human interactions than technology. I used to read a lot of SF as a teenager but had gone off it.

It was a good Metropolis although I was thoroughly knackered afterwards. Also the busiest Metropolis Festival in years. Especially the line for the toilets will haunt me. Women standing in very long lines for every two mobile toilets there were while the men had to pee right next to the line in those open cross shaped toilets. Apart from that the usual; walking around from band to band, eating things that are bad for you, meeting up with friends, hoping the beer you're drinking will not lead you to have another ghastly toilet visit.

Saw:

• Phantom Four & The Arguido (good, especially the keyboard players wobbly keyboard was a joy to behold)
• Kurt Vile & the Violators ( not bad but his off key singing didn't get to me. My attention waned after 3 songs)
• Lola Kite (Good, nice bleeps. I stood a little too far off to get fully in to it)
• Grouplove (Very good, energetic and every single band member was talented enough to have their own band)
• Pioneers of Love ( I quote a friend: " I like this song, I bet it's a cover." She was right.
• The Vaccines (Good)  I believe I liked Grouplove and Phantom Four best)

A bit overeager on the toothbrushreading today.

Huiskamerkunst (en ander vermaak) op Noordereiland

• DVD: You will meet a tall dark stranger: I'd heard this one was not good at all, but I disagree, I quite enjoyed it. Even Allens recent films seem to be recorded about 20 years ago, something I find very soothing. In this one I especially enjoyed the old couple, one with mid-life crisis the other with spiritual delusions. (Anthony Hopkins & Gemma Jones).
• Series: Nurse Jackie, there's a new season.
• Series: Doctor Who, need I say more?

• Oranges are not the only fruit: About a child who's raised by her fanatically religious mother to become a missionary. Thankfully the child has lesbian tendencies and the book has a light tone. Zadie Smith must have been inspired by this book.
• Previous Convictions by Temprell. This one has good reviews but i didn't like it. The main characters are two sisters, one who thinks she's haunted by her father, Cherry, the other sister schizofrenic, Jackie. Jackie is obsessed by Cherry's gay TV presenter husband and goes on a murder rampage. The book makes more sense than my short description here. I got through it but wasn't much charmed.
  
• Koken met Karin, zonder pakjes en zakjes: A cook book in which Karin proves you don't need ready made meals and sauces from packets. She's taken the best selling microwave meals and " Wereldgerechten"  and shows you how to make them by yourself, quickly, efficiently and naturally much better and tastier. Most importantly to me, the book looks good and reads well. I recommend it for lazy chefs.
• How I Lived a Year on Just a Pound a Day, Kath Kelly. Like the title says. A school teacher decides to live on a pound a day, excluding rent. Pretty interesting to read how she manages it. The book has rather an informal diary-like tone. Regretfully, like all the newly converted, she starts preaching a bit. Not a really good read but an interesting story.
• The Day of the Triffids. Classic SF. Highly recommended.

On My way to birthdayparty

Het lijkt zo lief, de rattenvoerplaatsen van Rotterdam.

Vanmorgen in den vroege vroegte afgereisd naar Grafisch Lyceum Utrecht om gastles te geven inclusief presentatie. Leuk!

Met op de terugweg wat mooi wildbreiwerk langs de grachten.

Vandaag gekocht. Niet alleen prachtig vormgegeven maar ook zeer leuk geschreven.

• After you'd gone - Maggie O'Farrell : A whodunit without much doing. Very good!
• My lover's lover - Maggie O'Farrell: A ghost story without a ghost.
• Dexter is delicious - Jeff Lindsay: Entertaining as always
• Monogamie voor beginners - Yvonne Kroonenberg: I never knew she was so much fun to read. I'm reading the lot now, they're like a nice little snack in between.
• The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home. I had a quick read through this one. It's  interesting and new at the Rotterdam Library. For instance; it's better to spread out the nice things in life, in that way you have more happiness overall than when you take it all at once. The author, Dan Ariely, is the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT.
• Insignificant Others - Stephen McCauley. To me McCauley has the wit of Oscar Wilde combined with the atmosphere of Murakami. But then that's me and I really like all his books. The Insignificant Others of the title stand for the boyfriends on the side the couple in this book have. McCauley's books are more about what the main character muses on that what actually happens.
• Audiobooks: A lot of Karin Slaughter while drawing.
• 

• That touch of mink. Comfortable, old and it has Doris Day in it.
• Fantastic Mr. Fox. Finally! And i loved it. Wonderfully crafted. All Wes Andersons films have very interesting making-off's. He gives a lot of artists a lot of work.
• The life aquatic, also by Anderson. This is my least favourite Anderson so far. Once again the decor is beautifully crafted and the dialogues are as weirdly amusing as ever but the story's too wobbly and the film could be more compact.
• The King's Speech. I'd obviously heard this one is very good. Still I was afraid that it would be a little too much costume and drama, it wasn't. A terrific film that has it all, another great one for Firth and a really good role by Geoffrey Rush. It even made me a little more sympathetic to the monarchy. 

•  True Grit  - Coen Brothers- Score 4/5 : A bit like a mix between a Disney Road Movie and  the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Surprising and good.
• Black Swan - Score 4/5 : A Must-see. Made quite an impression, couldn't stop thinking about it for days. Hadn't noticed Winona Ryder in it till the end credits.
• 

Shampoo in the Portugese supermarket.

Mind the shark. At a supermarket in lissbon.

On My wishlist. Hope i can get it in english.

Film - Love in a puff .score:3/5
"mis de aftiteling niet...dat hondje..."  "Ik zou er bijna voor gaan roken." "Dit festival maar 1 film gezien waar niet hevig in gerookt werd, zou het door Madmen komen?" "Licht, luchtig en aangenaam." "Goede karaoke outfit."

Since 2007, the Hong Kong health authorities have implemented an anti-smoking law that bans people from smoking in all indoor areas, including offices, restaurants, bars, and karaoke lounges. Office smokers now have to take their cigarette breaks on the streets outside, which has led to groups of smokers from the same building bonding together in cliques known as "hot pot packs." In an alley packed with loudmouth co-workers spreading the daily gossip, Jimmy, a mild-mannered advertising executive, meets cosmetics salesgirl Cherie. An awkward flirtation ensues amidst their afternoon nicotine rush.

Het werd een hele mooie avond.