Monday, January 09, 2006

My computer is back

Dear Friends

We had another one of those wonderful weekends in Belgium.
Went out to see the rest of the disused part of the Canal du Centre.
This is the region where Vincent van Gogh spent some time working for the poor. It is still a poor area, but with its own beauty.



Made two rather sketchy GarageBand demos, on one of which I play acoustic guitar and mandolin. However, it is sooo sketchy, it's one step below a demo. The working title is Borinage.mp3

Took a video of a sensationally lit cooling tower in Drogenbosch, near Brussels. Here is a photo of the same tower. Inspiring? Wait 'til you see the video (see links below).


Here a <1 href="http://www.rivergirl.nu/music/koeltoren4.mov"> QuickTime movie (QuickTime 7 needed, get QuickTime at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/).

15 comments:

Anne-Marie said...

Koos,

Glad to see you enjoyed your Belgian weekend. Petit monde, indeed. I figure that if we could find every translation of Tintin, we could determine the most common surname in every culture!

Cheers,
AM

Dale said...

Hello Koos

I am glad you had a good time in Belgium. My dad worked in the sugar industry & used to take business trips there all the time. I'm not sure where he visited, though. (I should find out).

Welcome home & all the best for the new year.
Dale

Koos F said...

Hi Dale
Nice new subject, the sugar.
If in Belgium you buy a cup of coffee, it mostly comes with paper-wrapped sugar lumps, from Tienen / Tirlemont, same place in Flanders but Dutch and French names. This info is part of my encyclopaedia of not so useful facts ;-)
Like to hear if your dad confirms!
Love
Koos

Dale said...

Hi Koos

Thanks for the response. I will ask my "sugar" Daddy (LOL) if that is where he went.
BTW he really is my father...

The name Tienen does sound familiar, although I grew up in Montreal, which is very French.
I am so-so bilangue & I think that I can get by with my cross between Quebecois & Parisienne learning.

I will ask my dad (if I remember).
He still lives in Quebec.

All the best to Valerie.

Thanks so much.
Dale

P.S. What captures my interest so through our blogging community, is the way we learn about each other in such an international way!

Koos F said...

Yes Dale,
That's exactly how I feel.
And very grateful for it too!
Love
Koos

JoeBoy said...

Koos,
The MP3 sounds great. Glad the computer is back and in order. I have not been to your blog in a while, so I will have to stay awhile this time. The guitar sounded great.

Koos F said...

Welcome Joeboy, make yourself at home and stay as long as your broken arm allows you to. What a bad luck, I don't envy you.
Wonderful to get to learn about fellow do-it-yourself music lovers. I am now listening to Ben Kweller, who's audibly having fun!
Love
Koos

ernie said...

Reaaaaaaaaaaly lovely Koos! :)
hope you write more n more n more!

grtz Elke!

Marietta Zervou said...

Hi Koos!

The cooling tower video is so soothing... I could watch it for hours! With nice music on the background, it would be so cool!

I like the demo too. Keep going it sounds great!

xoxoxo
M

Koos F said...

Hi Marietta and Elke
I'm off to beloved Belgium within the hour.
Will spend part of weekend on developing background music for the collingtower movie.
Have a wonderful weekend all of you and watch this space!
And thanckx for the lovely comments.
Love + xoxoxo in stereo
Koos

Mary Beth said...

Hi Koos!

The MP3 sounds great! I also love the cooling tower lights - very beautiful and soothing, like Marietta said. I think it would be wonderful with a music background. I've always found lights set to music to be fascinating. We were in Boston one time during the US Independence Day and their fireworks are set to music by the symphony. I can't imagine how much work must be involved in getting that just right! It's really a thrill to watch in the end, though. :)

Dale said...

Dear Koos

The cooling tower lights are an interesting way of diverting one's thoughts on nuclear power...
LOL
They ARE beautiful, though.

No matter where one goes in the world, beauty is there. We just have to see it.

Thanks for the comments & well-wishes.

Love
Dale

Anonymous said...

Ayup, Koos. Imagine putting lights on a cooling tower!!! Why can't Sheffield do the same. They'd probably find people driving off the viaduct to their deaths...now there's a way of getting rid of congestion....Happy New Year to you and Val, old lad.
C & T.

Anne-Marie said...

Hi Koos,
I hope you're enjoying your weekend in Belgium. I think the lights on the cooling tower are beautiful. Thanks for sharing the photos with us.

Cheers,
AM

Koos F said...

Hey there Chris!
What leuk to see a comment from you. Very lekker and gezellig! I'm (Val)writing this instead of Koos but it's really from us both. We've just come back from Belgium again and the cooling tower lights are still on, so maybe it's not just a Christmas thing and they'll stay there to lure people off the highway, hopefully not to their deaths tho'. It's been a gorgeous weekend with incredibly blue skies and bright sunlight - for me just like a Jo'burg winter's day. Always tough to come back, but coming into Rotters and seeing all the city lights reflecting off the river is also beautiful. Take care, all the best with the new position and hope to see you soon.

Love from us both
Val

PS Koos just muttered something about taking a pic of R'dam at night for everyone to see, so watch this space