Koos Fernhout

Been to Poland again

2011-12-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

affiche

2011-10-05T00:02:00.001-07:00

affiche, a photo by Koos_Fernhout on Flickr.

Now you can feel my black and white photos on a calendar...

2010-12-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

...but you can watch them too ;-)
Here's a preview of what you get when you buy my 2011 black and white photo calendar:

I am so happy with the result I am buying them for myself as well!
The Katowice railway station photo, as shown in my earlier post, is included too!

Katowice Railway Station

2010-12-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

Some of you might wonder why I keep going back to Katowice Railway Station.
Well. below's an explanation - by someone else:

"Brute from Katowice
They call me Brute from Katowice. At first sight I seem to be rough and unpleasant, but I have a soul of a poet. My days are numbered – I’m waiting for execution of death sentence. Unfortunately people didn’t appreciate me. I’m a railway station…
I was born in Katowice, Poland on the 4th of December, 1971. Then I was considered to be the most progressive railway station in the country. Unfortunately many people keep reminding me of the fact that it was the time of PRL (Polish People's Republic) and try to put stereotypical opinions into others head, for example such a drivel like I am a socialist building! That’s not true! I am a work of a late modernism, an example of Brutalism. I add immodestly that I am regarded as a masterpiece and rarity of architecture. There is no other like me in Poland and I have only a few brothers all over the world, but they weren’t built with such a flourish. I had a few fathers - Three Tigers – the famous Warsaw architects Waclaw Klyszewski, Jerzy Mokrzynski and Eugeniusz Wierzbicki, and I also owe a lot of genius engineer Waclaw Zalewski. Secretly my father is Felix Candela, who invented the mushroom alias umbrella structure. Among my forefathers is also the largest of the great - Le Corbusier, who gave the ground for Brutalism. This is after him I have a rough skin – texture of a bare concrete. For a while I'm gone. Nothing lasts forever; even a stone can turn to fluff. But maybe you mention me sometimes..."

So this is why I keep going back. If you want to go too, I must warn you it's too late. They are improving the place beyond repair, but with a much higher Return on Investment.

I have my own photos, but here are hers first.

You can find my photos here.

Abstractions book

2010-09-21T03:38:00.000-07:00

A new 46-page paperback by photographer Koos Fernhout!

Want to see more photos?
TRY THIS

I believe in colour - and in black & white

2010-09-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

View big

Silesia City Center Washroom

2010-09-14T14:26:00.001-07:00

Silesia City Center Washroom
Originally uploaded by Koos_Fernhout

A picture of a toilet space?
In Poland?
Sounds improbable, yet in this case we have an exception, I think.
The way the mirrors were set up facing each other asked for a photo like this, so I took it.

All about photography

2010-09-04T04:22:00.000-07:00

Another visit to my beloved Nord of France (2)

2010-05-09T04:04:00.000-07:00

After quite a bit of editing, here are 69 of the photos I took on the first of May in the North of France, around Henin-Beaumont.
Enjoy!

Another visit to my beloved Nord of France

2010-05-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a small selection of photos I took yesterday in the region around Hénin-Beaumont, a provincial town in Le Nord of France. In fact I covered a small circle around a pointy slagheap that dominates the surroudings, and forms a landmark along the highway between Lille and Paris.

The High Speed train races closely past it too, at a speed of 300 km/h. So closely and so fast, most passengers won't even notice it.

This is the fourth time I have visited this part of the region, and the slagheap has been hard to approach. Yet there are holes in the fences, but they've been discovered by the poorest of the poor as well. The people have created their bidonvilles, mostly consisting of rickety caravans around the artificial mountain, and somehow I feel they are territorial about it. I might pick up the courage some day to try and make contact. Not this time yet though.

I had the opportunity of watching two teenage girls throwing bottles to pieces against the rocks. They seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I have an ongoing fascination with level railway crossings. They seem to be energy points in the world around us.

The children in this picture illustrate the intensity of this level crossing. I don't think I've ever seen such serious determination in the faces of two five-year-olds. Heeding their parents' warning to cross the rails as quickly as possible, they came running across as fast as their little feet could carry them, loose shoe lace and all. It was a scene of great beauty to me.

The light was gorgeous, so I had a field day. I spent all Sunday editing the photos - there are 200 of them. So I can easily promise there is more to come.

The Last Saturday in March, 2010

2010-03-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

Yet another way to show photographs

2010-03-11T11:36:00.001-08:00

Where will it end?

My top 70 photos

2010-02-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

As decided by the viewers on my Flickr photostream pages.

Exhibition Time!

2010-01-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

10 of my photos will be on exhibition at an art gallery in Hulst, NL, near the Belgian border.
Here they are in a very short slideshow.
I am quite excited, because this is the first time ever that I put something on display, except electronically.
I made the background music myself, using Garage Band.
Enjoy!

The Canal de Roubaix / Espierres

2010-01-21T12:20:00.000-08:00

A lot of photos from 3 visits I made to a canal between Belgium and France, the Canal de Roubaix / Espierres

Cemetery - or cmentarz as they call it

2010-01-16T07:39:00.000-08:00

A cemetery I came across in Bedzin, Poland. It was briefly after All Saints / All Souls, which the Polish people celebrate elaborately, hence the many flowers. What strikes me here is the juxtaposition of industry and this burial ground.

Testing...

2010-01-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

Last night I took VallyP's camera while walking the dog along the river. The reason was we had a bit of doubt about the quality of the little thing, a Nikon P80. The verdict: a few adjustments to the settings and it is a really good camera, especially given its size.

After hitting the Play button, don't forget to click on the full screen link!

Just a few pics I took today, trying to catch the atmosphere at the shipyard

2010-01-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

Vind meer foto's zoals deze op LEK

A Day In Opole, Poland

2010-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

My most frequent contact on Flickr.com is Andreas von Königsdorff, as he calls himself. He's from Opole, the capital of the Silesia region in Poland.
He is especially interested in languages and history, and has frequently added comments to my photos reflecting this.

My interest in Opole was piqued, as was my curiosity to get to know the man in real life.
Andreas agreed to a meet-up in his home town the next time I was in Poland, and he would gladly be my guide around the town.

Thus on November 7, 2009, I took the train from Katowice and after a near 2-hour journey met him. A very pleasant and entertaining man indeed, he showed me places of interest, not only his but also based on the things he knew about me. We had a wonderful time. Halfway the tour we enjoyed a traditional Polish pierogi dish at a very pleasant restaurant.

Thanks a million, Andreas. You've been a wonderful host, and I'll be glad to return the favour when you come to see my home town.

Below is a slideshow of pictures I took in Opole.
Enjoy, and don't forget to click on the 'full screen' link!

Polar Bears Can Look After Themselves

2010-01-06T02:19:00.001-08:00

On the beach near Dunkirk, and in Bergues, the fortification

2010-01-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

We've made it a tradition: around newyear we go to the beach. This time we went to the north of France, near Dunkirk, and while we were at it, visited Bergues, an extremely pretty historic fortification.

Back at home, I looked up Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis, a film set in the Nord-Pas de Calais, and exactly in the place Bergues we visited yesterday. It's a hilarious and touching story, and for us it was a feast of recognition.
The most successful French film ever! Online it's without subtitles, but there is a dvd version with subtitles available.

See what this does

2009-12-26T13:10:00.000-08:00

On ongoing 'SUCCES' story

2009-10-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Defying direct sunlight...

2009-09-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

Be careful what you wish

2009-09-24T05:48:00.000-07:00

When I was about 14, our family doctor was a man in his early thirties, and I was deeply impressed by the way he looked.
I especially admired the rather pronounced vertical folds on both sides of his mouth, and I remember wishing one day I'd look like he did.

My wish came true gradually, and now I have had very similar folds in my face for a long time.

What I hadn't realised was that the man was bald...

Meanwhile a few years ago my next generation said he hoped he would ever look like me.
Aww shame.
He is losing his hair rapidly now, but no sign of the desired skin folds.
As our beloved Sindy would say: 's Not fair!

Here's a very small post ;-)

2009-08-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Station for sale

2009-08-02T03:54:00.000-07:00

Imagine, twice every hour a diesel train comes past, a real level crossing nextdoor, the river Scheldt only a few hundred meters away. What a place to live!

No idea how much the Belgian Railways want for it, and how much it would cost to restore the building, but hey, I can dream, can't I?

Commuter train between Ronse and Ghent St-Pieters

Barge on the river nearby.

Change of weather

2009-07-07T14:49:00.001-07:00

Today, July 7 2009, we had a change of weather that was quite violent. Nothing unusual after weeks of glorious weather. Especially here in the South-West it comes on full blast with heavy rain showers and thunderstorms. A feast for the eye and the camera - as long as I keep the camera dry, that is.

Kermis in Westdorpe

2009-07-05T20:26:00.001-07:00

A 'Heartwarming' song from Minnesota

2009-02-02T10:30:00.000-08:00

Admitted, we shouldn't be complaining about the rather cold winter in The Netherlands.
Minnesotans are much worse off. So that's where this heartwarming song was produced.

Enjoy.

A relatively cold winter in Europe

2009-01-08T14:54:00.001-08:00

We are going through a spell of winter that we aren't used to in this part of the world.
Reason for Dutch cartoonist Stefan Verwey to publish this in a regional newspaper.

‘A lie can race its way around the world, while the truth is tying its shoelace.’ Twain.

2008-12-20T08:56:00.000-08:00

A real blogpost is home made. The advantage is authenticity. The blogger, however, is in a vulnerable position: who is he to say the things he says, and what is his underlying motivation.
It is for these reasons and because I think humanity is taken down the garden path on an immense scale, that for once I'll just paste into this blog the end declaration from the 2008 International Climate Conference, not to be confused with the IPCC:

Mar 05, 2008
The Manhattan Declaration - from the 2008 International Climate Conference

"Global warming" is not a global crisis

We, the scientists and researchers in climate and related fields, economists, policymakers, and business leaders, assembled at Times Square, New York City, participating in the 2008 International Conference on Climate Change

Resolving that scientific questions should be evaluated solely by the scientific method;

Affirming that global climate has always changed and always will, independent of the actions of humans, and that carbon dioxide (CO2) is not a pollutant but rather a necessity for all life;

Recognizing that the causes and extent of recently observed climatic change are the subject of intense debates in the climate science community and that oft-repeated assertions of a supposed ‘consensus’ among climate experts are false;

Affirming that attempts by governments to legislate costly regulations on industry and individual citizens to encourage CO2 emission reduction will slow development while having no appreciable impact on the future trajectory of global climate change. Such policies will markedly diminish future prosperity and so reduce the ability of societies to adapt to inevitable climate change, thereby increasing, not decreasing, human suffering;

Noting that warmer weather is generally less harmful to life on Earth than colder:

Hereby declare:

That current plans to restrict anthropogenic CO2 emissions are a dangerous misallocation of intellectual capital and resources that should be dedicated to solving humanity’s real and serious problems.

That there is no convincing evidence that CO2 emissions from modern industrial activity has in the past, is now, or will in the future cause catastrophic climate change.

That attempts by governments to inflict taxes and costly regulations on industry and individual citizens with the aim of reducing emissions of CO2 will pointlessly curtail the prosperity of the West and progress of developing nations without affecting climate.

That adaptation as needed is massively more cost-effective than any attempted mitigation and that a focus on such mitigation will divert the attention and resources of governments away from addressing the real problems of their peoples.

That human-caused climate change is not a global crisis.

Now, therefore, we recommend

That world leaders reject the views expressed by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as popular, but misguided works such as “An Inconvenient Truth.”

That all taxes, regulations, and other interventions intended to reduce emissions of CO2 be abandoned forthwith.

Agreed at New York, 4 March 2008.

Blame Canada

2008-12-09T12:47:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I read the weirdest things about Canada and the USA.
So weird I don't quite know what to make of it.
Take this movie for instance. Canada as the root of all evil?

Now I read that Harper has suspended Parliament! And then there is this strange article, about the US patrolling their border with Canada. Unmanned aircraft will be used. Not to stop terrorists surely?
Well actually it is meant to stop terrorists. They have tested it along the Mexican border since 2005 and what do you think? Not a single terrorist has entered the USA from Mexico since then, as we all know.

Normally I just might have said 'So what', but I have a few too many dear friends and even a brother in Canada.

Edit: This is my post that I published and then withdrew, the one Anne-Marie refers to.
To make easier reading, here is her comment:
"Koos, all you need to know is that the American government loves to blame us for the leaky land borders, especially after 9/11. I can tell you that as an air passenger, I always found airport security to be lacking into and within the US when I flew there, whereas Europe and Canada generally had the same higher standards. It all has evened out now, except you still find what Austin amusingly calls "security theatre" at many airports in the US (ie: it looks good but accomplishes very little in practical terms).

As for parliament, it seems out PM's pro-roguing manoeuvre has worked quite well in his favour. We have a new leader of the opposition, and things have been suspended until mid-January, where he hopes cooler heads will prevail and he can save his government from falling. His biggest problem is that he has acted like he's had a majority government and didn't think the opposition parties had it in them to fight back because they are essentially broke from the recent election and not terribly willing to head back to the polls. Nothing illegal about forming a co-alition, though, which blindsided him nicely. He is petty and partisan, and a bit of a control freak. Can you tell I didn't vote for his party? ;)
xx
AM"

Please meet the amazing photographer Aleksander Prugar

2008-12-04T13:43:00.001-08:00

No, the photo below isn't one I took, but those who are familiar with my photos had seen that already.
Neither is the man in the picture Aleksander Prugar, it is a photo taken by same Aleksander.

The subject is obviously a miner. *)
The photographer has published several series about miners and the mining areas in the South of Poland. Not only that; there is also a series about what it is like to live behind the huge ads that embellish the façades of Polish buildings these days.

Need I say I am in awe of Mr Prugar?
Maybe the reader of this blog has the time to see what this Polish photographer's take on Poland looks like.
You won't regret it, of that I am sure.

*) Alexander Prugar sent me a correction: the man is not a miner but a charcoal worker in Bieszczady Mountains.

News...

2008-11-28T11:25:00.001-08:00

And today's news is that I discovered I can easily upload photos from an internet cafe.
I suggest going back to my three earlier posts to enjoy the photos that now illustrate my little stories.
Do feel free to comment! ;-)

Alright, here is an example.

Pushing My Luck

2008-11-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

Today I had a real adventure. Through the 'back door' that everyone uses I intruded deeply into the dead forges area, the one I mentioned earlier.

Here is that back door, an open shunting area:

See, no fence between the streets and the railways.

Just when I had documented the most fantastic appliance - a device to tip a railway coal carriage sideways if not upside down, so as to empty it contents onto a conveyor belt - I was discovered by three serious-looking security men. Of course I attacked them furiously rather than to wait for them to attack me, but they must have had the karate black belt, or else I would have got away easily. They took me to their office and explained my rights in Polish, which was futile because I don't understand a word of Polish. This I explained in English, French, German and Dutch, but that was futile as well.

Then they pointed at my camera bag. Using only sign language now, I explained to them that this camera was very dear to me, that the lens was a present from family and friends for my sixtieth birthday, that the memory card contained over six hundred pictures, of which only about tweny taken on their premises, and that those premises were about to be demolished anyway so why all the fuss.

After all this explaining and their peering into my passport and mumbling 'holenderski'*), they more or less lost interest and decided to let me go.

Oh no, just one more thing sir, why that index finger you pointed upwards so rudely? That means 'one', I sign-languaged.
What great relief on their innocent but serious faces: 'one' in Polish is not index finger up but thumb up.

After promising I'd never make that mistake again, we shook hands warmly, and I was escorted to the heavily padlocked front gate, which was opened especially for me.

Here is that fantastic railway freight carrier upside-down turner:
Update: It is called a Wagon tippler

Play the movie below to see how such a Wagon tippler works.

*) Correct spelling thanks to Andreas | 虾猊食

Late edit (October 2009)
I found a very elaborate movie about the entire process of unloading coal wagons in Philadelphia on YouTube.

More pleasurable absurdities

2008-11-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

The Poles are collectively convinced that in their country more absurdities can be found than elsewhere, and maybe they have a point.
The river Wisla (Vistula in English) was to be made fit for navigation by barges.

It is one of those slow rivers that need locks and dams to create a navigation channel that is deep enough. Thus was started a project of canalisation. Any other developer would have started near the sea and work upstream gradually, or start working on all the locks and dams at the same time.
Not so in Poland though.
Only in the upper reaches there are now five or six locks and dams - and that's it.
The rest of the project was abandoned or maybe postponed, don't know.
Now this region cannot be reached from the sea and there is no connection with other waterways.
The locks are in perfect working order, and I saw maintenance people busy today.

It seems as if a barge could arrive any moment, and it is as if the lock keeper has his hand on the swith to start the lock operation.
But nothing happens.

The lock keeper must be in there somewhere...

Poland...

See also the photo group Only in Poland/

Grotere kaart weergeven

Upper Silesia Revisited

2008-11-24T10:38:00.001-08:00

I have mentioned this earlier, I am in Poland again! Yippeeee!

I am visiting the same region as earlier this year, the coal mining area around Katowice in Upper Silesia.
Why I came here in the first place? Listen and shudder.

Someone wrote that one of the darkest experiences in his life was leaving the spooky Central Station in Katowice and feeling the menacing presence of obviously unemployed dark figures on the badly lit station square.

Aha, I said to myself, that's the place for me.

And it is. I wouldn't mind living here for a few years. Heaven, sort of. I haven't seen any dark figures yet, but give it time.

This region has one of the last surviving interurban tramway networks in the world. This is the main reason for my visit this time.

Today I took the tram to Bytom, a place I visited in March when it was raining. That was good for the mood, of course. Now it was darker, colder, definitely stinkier than the first time.

I had a field day. Especially the smell of coal smoke is everywhere now - in Bytom, that is. I even discovered an old-fashioned coal merchant, loading up his horse-drawn carriage at one of the few remaining pits that are still active.

Oh, and that man who found Katowice dark, obviously hadn't been to Bytom yet.

Did I take pictures? You bet.

Anyway, that tram network is so vast that I'll need to go back to
Bytom tomorrow, Tuesday, to 'do' the rest of the tram riding in Bytom. I might even find out how to change to the line to Zabrze and eventually Gliwice. Strange as it may sound, the printed map of the entire tramway network here, which is listed
on the internet, picture of the cover and order number and all, isn't available anywhere at all. No sir, out of print.
Amazing Poland, amazing Poles and may this week seem endless.

Meet The New Boss

2008-11-21T14:13:00.000-08:00

Under The Old Boss about half the population felt it was necessary to hand over their liberties in exchange for a very urgent protection from terrorism.

After the election the other half of the population is now near euphoric that this terrible experience is coming to an end. There is new hope. Wonderful.
Will the New Boss repeal the Patriot Act? If so, why didn't he say so?
Will he make sure America is going to mind their own business instead of continually going to war? No, or else he would have promised so.

The new boss believes that Planet Earth needs to be saved. About half the population agrees with him. The consequence will be a further restriction of liberties*), which then will be handed over voluntarily, because people expect the very urgent protection from the danger of global warming.

I try not to be negative about these things. I'd much rather be gently amused, and describe the flow of events as "ding dong".

Maybe it is high time for me not to worry and just be happy too.

*) Just Google "Agenda 21" and the consequences of the IPCC studies.

Here is the Plain Truth, the Sharpest Possible Analysis of the Current Crisis

2008-10-09T14:41:00.000-07:00

Water towers: I love them

2008-07-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

My 60th Birthday

2008-07-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

My 60th Birthday

So much to blog, so little time

2008-06-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow (June 30, 2008) I'll be 60 and I must admit it shows in the pace that time passes. Yes and also in my face. So although I have lots of time it seems like there is very little of it.

Quickly on to the current affairs then: what started so well ended in elimination of the Dutch football team. Too bad, very sad, better next time.

But that's yesterday's news isn't it?
VallyP has given her report of the first half of the trip. I did the second half alone, which also meant half the fun. Much of that second leg was over wider waters, which I now know are not my cup of tea. You've seen one mile you've seen them all, when the waters are wider than say 500 meters.

Luckily de river Vecht more than made up for it. That is a stunning little meandering gem of a river from IJsselmeer to Utrecht, a city you cross through old canals like those in Amsterdam'.

Like Amsterdam, Utrecht has an elaborate red light district, not in houses, however, but in houseboats. Here are a few of them, neatly and uniformly arranged along the quayside of the river. And 'to keep the customers satisfied' they all have air conditioning units on the roof.

All the photos I took on that part of the journey can be seen in this Slide Show.

Back in the house Westdorpe I decided I needed some real photographic input, so I spent Saturday on my motorscooter for a visit to my beloved Maubeuge, a former industrial town on the river Sambre in northern France.

Here an example of the 180 photos I took there.

The rest of them can be seen here in a slideshow.

All That Good News

2008-06-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Firstest of allest, Val is back from South-Africa, the land that easily makes her look at least five years younger.

First of all, now the Irish have voted against further loss of souvereignty to the EUSSR. I celebrate that, although the rulers have enough tricks to have their way after all. But at least We, The People of France, The Netherlands and Ireland have spoken up against this Euro Nonsense.

Changing the subject to more Good News: the Dutch football team now steamrolls its way over standard tournament winners like Italy (3-0) and France (4-1). These are results unheard of in football history.

There has to be a twist.
Here it is: the Dutch mail order company Wehkamp.nl is a very active sponsor of the Dutch team, but not in the way of nourishing our own players, but by exhausting the opponent.
Watch this YouTube film and see how they weaken the French players by invading the team's hotel, using the best Dutch secret weapon: pretty girls!

As all wise football coaches say: no sex before the match!

Check out my Guestbook!

2008-06-04T02:47:00.001-07:00

Yet another way to view images: Slide.com

2008-06-01T21:39:00.001-07:00

'New' in our collection

2008-05-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

We found this wonderful little ship on the Dutch version of e-Bay: A ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEAR OLD small freight barge converted to a very handy, almost live-aboard mobile floating home, or pleasure craft if you like.

We are very busy finding a marina in the area where the house is. That may take a while, but we are confident we'll find a place where she's welcome.

Here is the rest of a series of photos I took of the barge when I went to buy.
And an extra photo by the former owner - but still the bow isn't completely visible.

Too many good things for one post

2008-05-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

May 8th was one of those days when just too many attractive images came up in front of my camera.
Here are three of my favourites of that day.

Some of the objects that keep attracting me are traffic mirrors. Here is one with an extra: the Human Factor, very unusual in my photos. Anyway I prefer them to just an anonymous car.

View it large

Another recurring theme is the railway crossing. This was on a busy line in Belgium*), so within minutes I could capture this passing freight train. An impressive experience.

*) Belgian trains keep left.
View it large

Here is a landscape photo that had it all in it, but that 'all' took a few minutes of Photoshop activity to appear.

View it large

All the photos I took that day can be found here in a slide show of the May 8th, 2008 images

Flare is a disadvantage?

2008-05-11T13:37:00.000-07:00

But first the Big News: VallyP and I have made a tiny little ditty for Dale, to celebrate the friendship we feel for her. It is appropriately called 'No Substitute for Dale'.

At the beginning of April VallyP gave me a very impressive wide angle zoomlens for my photo camera. Reading the user reports I noticed lots of praise except its tendency to show flare when pointing at backlit subjects.
For those who have no idea what lens flare is, I have taken this picture in very a very extreme backlit situation. In fact the sun shone almost straight into the lens.
Here it is.

View large version
This reminds me of the good old principle that a disadvantage is only that if you forget to turn it into an advantage. I think this photo looks stunning thanks to this so-called lens fault.

Sometimes a picture I have taken surprises me in spite of the very clear feedback that a digital camera has to offer.
This one had a dreamy quality that I hadn't really noticed at the moment of shooting. In fact to me it looks more like a painting by Carel Willink than a photo.
I sent a little thank you to up the authority in charge and here it is for all to see.

View large version

If you want to see more of my recent photos why not follow the link below.

Or the photos most highly rated by users of Flickr.com:

Reflections

2008-05-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

I can feel a bit lost in a tourist place among hoards of others carrying cameras. What on earth can one do to make a distinction from all these others taking pictures of the world famous architecture in stunningly beautiful Ghent, Belgium?

I did not want to go the easy route of not taking pictures at all until I was in the gloomy outskirts, which are always a great hunting ground for me.

Then a few very 'different' shop windows caught my eye. There were several shops carrying the most improbable knick-knacks. They in themselves were worth a few pictures, but they also reflected the world outside the shops - and there were my images of Ghent façades in a slightly different way.
Just what the doctor ordered.

Iffy weather

2008-05-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

What to do when the dog needs walking, we need some fresh air, but the weather is very instable? Just go out and see what happens. We took the car just across the border to walk along a nice canal called Langelede. We still had to endure some rain, but the reward was huge. The setting sun broke through the clouds and treated us with the most amazing play of light and shadow.

Luckily at least one of us had thought of bringing a camera. Below you find some of the images we were rewarded with.

In the end the rain stopped, and a very pretty countryside was shown in the warmest, richest light that nature has in store for us.

View it large

View it large

View it large

Quite often, the clouds themselves make a great subject:
This time was no exception.

View it large
This was our view from the back garden.

Southern Poland

2008-04-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

About coal and billboards

2008-04-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

In my previous post I mentioned coal and billboards, but then I couldn't upload pictures.

Here is an example of a billboard announcing that you can have your own billboard in the same place.

View it big

Here's a tram that hides its rather transformer-like looks under a layer of printed pvc advertising.

View it big

I noticed a surprising way to deliver coal in an otherwise very neat neighbourhood.
Just dump it on the pavement...

View it big

Sights and smells

2008-04-02T01:58:00.000-07:00

Those who have stayed in a Paris hotel probably know that the front may look great, but the view at the back can be quite horrible. Polish housing estates are different from this. As a rule the front looks horrible, and the back is a shocking wasteland of mud, cobblestones, burnt-out pvc wastebins (imagine the smell) and rubbish containers. Talking about smells, this is coal mining country where not all the pits are closed - yet. Coal is still used for home heating, so every now and then I catch a sniff of coal smoke. Nice if they don't overdo it!

Added to this, and changing the subject abruptly, here's a slide show I found. It's about The Who of course.

Here's Katowice on a misty Wednesday

2008-04-02T01:36:00.000-07:00

I have a few moments to spare before going out for new discoveries.

Billboards
The Poles are great believers in advertising. This seems to be connected with their fondness of the USA, which is understandable because more Poles live over there than in Poland!

Do you have a facade you don't like? Put a huge textile billboard over it. Do you have a facade you do like? Do the same as above. Shame to let the opportunity pass.
Same with trams. Cover them in printed pvc foil, perforated over the windows, and make a few Złoty announcing the latest offer in cellphones.

For Margie
Here's my cryptic answer to your question about pronunciation yesterday: say quickly "Oz witch I am" (Oświęcim for those who missed it). Jam instead of I am works even better, but somehow lacks the pun(ch).

Ohoh
Discovered I lost my printed form with the flight info.
No problem. Internet cafe, look up Wizzair.com, choose English version and Bob's your uncle.

A Quick One While I'm Away

2008-04-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

Can't upload pics in Poland, so here's a fave of mine from South Africa

Or view it bigger here
http://tinyurl.com/2mtau2

A fond memory of Poland

2008-03-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

Click pic to see Flickr page, or here to view the image Large

Visiting Poland last August, I came across this convoy on the river Odra. The towboat pushed the hull of a newly built tugboat backwards towards the sea port Stettin. The superstructure of the new boat lay in the barge at the front of the convoy, due to limited height of the bridges and locks. The helmsman of the towboat couldn't see over the convoy, but was assisted by a man on the roof behind him who told him how to manoeuvre.

Saturday I'll be flying to Poland again, to explore the waterways and the industrial area around Katowice. I am looking forward to that 5-day trip and I might come home with a few photos...

We thought spring had sprung...

2008-03-24T04:38:00.002-07:00

This morning, three days after the beginning of Spring 2008 we were surprised by this view from The House.

View it BIG

View it BIG

View it BIG

Image experiment

2008-03-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Netcarshow.com publishes sets of pictures on their site and then does something I find very clever. They say "embed [these pictures] on your site". So here we go. I think it is a brilliant idea.

The 2008 Presidential Election Results Leaked!

2008-03-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

As you all know I am often labeled as a conspiracy nut. Imagine then, my friends and faithful readers, my relief to find this video, floating barely noticed on the internet.

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

Now some of you may wonder why the Congress doesn't act to get matters in order.
Well, my friends, here's the answer.

Delicious Snacks Distract Congressmen From Horrors Of War
See? I'm not a nut. A bolt more likely.

Crossing The Icy Waters

2008-03-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

Inspired by a post by DaleF about cars crossing the frozen lake near where she lives, I looked up a photo I had noticed in Google Earth. It is the one below, showing a river crossing with no fewer than 8 traffic signs, all of which make perfect sense. The most obvious one is the blue one in Cyrillic letters saying that this is the river Pechora. Then there is the roman-lettered international STOP sign.

I wonder if my fellow bloggers will work out what the other signs mean...

Of the remaining six signs one seems to be redundant and another one only applies outside the winter season.
Have fun puzzling!

PS I found the original post here

Like mustard after the meal

2008-02-06T12:10:00.000-08:00

I know it's been two weeks now since we dashed over to Paris to see MargieCM and her wonderful bunch. Two weeks can look like an eternity, especially after VallyP posted her report the moment we got off the train in Rotterdam (next time wait until we're home safe and sound, ok?).

As usual I got distracted by all sorts of things, but at last here are some pictures I took in Paris.
So now that the meal is over, here is my mustard.
Val's posted the pictures with wonderful people on them, so I am free to do the views of buildings and -of course- canals.

Let's begin with a panoramic view from the window of the appartement they'd rented not too far from the Place des Vosges.

Then 4 images from the Canal St-Martin, a real navigable canal through the city. This area is something I discovered when I was 17. Since then, others have discovered it as well - to my regret, but then I can't blame them. The area is just magical, especially the parts you don't see, because over a distance of 2.2km / 1.4M, the canal is invisible from above. On top there is a boulevard where people from the neighbourhood go for a stroll, meet acquaintances and play pétanque.

As it is hard to produce images of the invisible, here are a few from the canal where it is visible to the naked eye.

You need to row with the oars you have

2008-01-30T23:24:00.000-08:00

The above title is a standing expression in my mother tongue, Dutch. It is a 'watery way' from a watery country, to say you need to make do.

Searching Youtube for inland navigation scenes in Siberia, where they have about a milion miles of waterways, I came across this extreme case of making do. It seems there was no tugboat available to pull a pontoon with an excavator on it to a different place...

A Quote

2008-01-28T10:39:00.000-08:00

"We only understand 10 percent of the climate issue. That is not enough to wreck the world economy with Kyoto-like measures."
--Henk Tennekes, former research director, Dutch Royal Meteorological Institute

Henk Tennekes

This is not 'gezellig', but this sound needs to be heard against that well-oiled propaganda campaign by Mr Gore, the only person to ever receive a Nobel-prize for presentation skills.

Wedding Craig and Maryssa

2008-01-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

The wedding is not half a good explanation for being such an unfaithful blogger, but anyway. Here is a picture of Craig and Maryssa's wedding we attended in South-Africa. Clicking on it leads you to my set of 22 photos of the wedding.

If you prefer, you can go straight to a slide show.

Westland

2007-10-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had one of those magical outings that don't take long. We went to an area between Rotterdam and the North Sea appropriately called Westland and visited a village not so appropriately called Maasland.

Val managed the dog while I did my best not to only stop and take fisheye photos for panoramas.
The annoying thing can be that the travel companion always has to move away from the camera because it takes pictures all around.

Anyway, we saw a variety of the most wonderful scenes again, and cottages of dream quality, very traditionally Dutch and a feast for the eyes.
I took the panorama below because I found the colours of the private bridge so appealing, and the whole setting of the house so romantic because it sat on its own litlle island.

So here's the panorama. Don't forget to drag the cursor inside the image and use shift and control for zooming.

Or view the bigger size HERE

Point #3 about me: Panoramas

2007-10-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

A point that isn't new to blogland is I love panorama photography, see for instance the post preceding this one.
In a comment there I promised making a QuickTime VR panorama about the cube houses near where we live.
Here it is, made today - and feel free to ask why my feet aren't on it ;-)
And while we're at it, this is the best quality I have delivered so far.

Click and drag in the image to navigate. Press shift to zoom in, press control to zoom out.
Nice and cute and small, but why not click on this link to see it at a proper size?

Eight points about myself, like mustard after the meal*)

2007-10-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

It took Lannio's recent comment on this blog to make me realise that talking about something else is still talking about myself, which - believe it or not - I find difficult.
So instead of listing eight points about myself let's see if I can deliver eight points about Poland. I'll spread them ou over a number of posts.

1 You think there are two ways to show foreign programmes on tv, being 1: post-synchronise the dialogues to your own language, and 2: use subtitles?
Think again, because the Poles have a third way: let one (male) voice do all the talking including dialogues between women!

2 Now that it's allowed after the Communist regime the Polish people show a lot of affection for the American culture. Not surprising given the number of relatives they have there.Police cars in Holland and Germany tend to sneak around unobtrusively. Not so in Poland, where they use the most unnerving oyoyoyoyoyoy sirens - and they use them a lot! This makes Wroclaw sound like New York.
Here's a photo, taken in Wroclaw, but only because I say so. I bet your guess would be that it's somewhere in America

*)'Mustard after the meal' is a Dutch expression meaning 'that's a bit late and inconsequential'.

PS Here is a test: a QuickTime interactive panorama embedded in this page.
And it works! Use the mouse cursor to drag your way through the panorama.
Oh and by the way, I made that panorama myself. It has nothing to do with Wroclaw, but it is around the corner from where we live.

Wroclaw Central Station

2007-10-01T09:07:00.001-07:00

I spent a few hours of the night inside this station in Wrocław, the first night, and later came back to take the train to Kozle. Waiting time was over an hour, so I had the opportunity to take photos of two of these platforms. Later I discovered that they were so similar that with some serious tweaking I could mount them in a common frame. Here's the result.
Need I say "VIEW BIG"?
Or, while we're at it, HUGE? (13 megapixels!)

Here is a rather touching film about people in this station. Featured in it are some that I recognise...
(Added later:) Ouch! I thought I'd stated clearly that I'd found this film on YouTube. Turns out I was wrong. Sorry for the misleading non-info.

Every day I discover at least one excellent photographer on Flickr.com
Today's is someone calling himself gatorhank. Go see.

Wrocław (Wroclaw): A very unsystematic approach - but I like it!

2007-09-24T06:01:00.000-07:00

I wanted to tell you why I felt so attracted to Wroclaw, Poland, but why not tell you why you'd feel attracted to that city of fame.
I showed you the totally hilarious tram/bobsleigh film and thought it wouldn't get more impressive than that.

But it did.

Here is another Youtube film from Wroclaw where it seems every year on May 1st they assemble a bigger guitar orchestra than the year before to play Jimi Hendrix's Hey Joe.

Last year they reached the number of 1581 players. I don't know how many there were this year but if they organise the same thing next year you bet I'll attend - playing my modest little guitar along with all the other modest little guitars.
Let's see if I can drag VallyP over there with me (she plays the guitar as well).
Ad maybe my eldest son (he is a pretty good guitarist).

Any of you, readers of this blog, want to join in?

If you like to see crisp photographs (not mine), try this

Wrocław, the first night

2007-09-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be a quick sequel to the first instalment about a short trip to Poland, but The Sensational Steel Orchestra got in the way - and before that Valerie's new book Watery Ways, of course.

But here goes.

Maybe arriving at Wrocław is just like any other place on earth. Where are the pitfalls? I should have looked them up on the internet but failed to do so.
A fellow passenger and I find a taxi that takes us downtown through areas that can be described as mostly decrepit, but nearer the centre things brighten up slightly. Coming from a country where every square meter is used, I look in amazement how much land lies fallow here in Poland.

Public transport is good, and I wonder why I'm in a taxi. There is such a good bus connection between the airport and Wrocław, while nearer the centre we come across more and more trams.
Here is how the tramway system in Wrocław works, or is it? Anyway this video is a must see:

This seems like quite an effort, so maybe the taxi was the right choice after all.
In the end the taxi driver (sorry, no English. Nein, kein Deutsch!) understands my destination as I have it in print and delivers me at the hotel I booked in Holland.

The receptionists are just wonderful (blushing when I tell them so) and before I know I am at ease in the hotel room.
This doesn't last long, so I go into town as described earlier.

At ease? After such an exciting journey into the unknown? Don't think so. Just after midnight I'm wide awake an decide to go out and roam a bit. The camera is my best friend at the time, the light is sodium-based, so the colours are horrible and I change to black and white.
Here are the images.

The liveliest place is Wroclaw central station, but not on this platform at 2:20

The only rain (and I mean rain) occurred during the first night, when I was supposed to be asleep. The rest of the time I had the ideal weather.

Another black and white picture:

See my complete set of night pictures from Wrocław

The strangest orchestra you'll ever see

2007-09-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

And here's a slideshow of the annual harbour festival.

Extra Extra VALERIE POORE'S NEW BOOK IS OUT

2007-09-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

The title: Watery Ways

Here it is:

And here's a description:
(the back cover)

Find it HERE

Wroclaw, Poland. First impressions

2007-09-03T01:17:00.000-07:00

Never one to follow the guide on the well trodden tourist path, I'd feel barbaric if I totally ignored the historic city centre, so the first evening I go where the action is.
This is one of those sultry evenings that I yearn for so much in the colder seasons.

What I find around the ratusz, town hall, pleases me. The quiet murmur of tout Wroclaw and small groups of tourists from Spain, Germany and the US.

The prices in Poland are still in Zloty, and haven't crept up to euro standards, so being there is very affordable for us 'westerners', whether it's lodging, food or other products.
I find the façades really impressive and charming. This being the centre, the buildings are well maintained or in the process of restoration.
(As we'll see later, outside the centre the situation is much less favourable).

It is getting dark, and anyway I have left the camera in the hotel. Now I am just taking in the impressions. The photos here were made during the following days.

Here the centre as seen from the footbridge of the Mary Magdalene church's twin towers.

Here's another one from the centre: the Mary Magdalene church watching its reflection in a modern building's mirror façade.

Can anyone tell me what NIE PARKOWAC means?

In my book a visit to a foreign city is not complete without a seeing the railway station, so here it is (much more later).

A useful general link about Wroclaw

Here is a satellite view of Wroclaw, with its amazing maze of waterways that I found so appealing.

View larger map

About this blog - a Manifesto of sorts

2007-08-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

This kettle is boiling over, but I'm not a banana tree. In other words, the thoughts come up and become long discourses about freedom, bullying people by way of psy-ops like 9/11 and SARS; the silent integration of Canada, US and Mexico already accomplished and nothing your representatives (can) do about it - in other words these three countries have stopped existing as such; our strong Dutch 'no' to further European integration and the way the 'constitution' has now been 'rewritten' (96% of the text has remained the same) and now a new referendum is no more needed.
Not to forget the Al Gore hoax, of course.

All the above spells 'conspiracy nut', so that ends the debate, and we can go back to our tv's and have ourselves amused to death and scared witless about subjects like terrorism and climate change, handing over our freedom in the process.

So what to do now?
Well, how about some beauty as I see it.
Val went West while I flew to Poland. After a day or four I came back with loads of impressions and over a thousand digital photographs.
A few thousand of the older work can be seen on Flickr.com, and I'd like to make this Blog a jumping board to my photos on Flickr.

Be prepared. A lot of beauty passes in front of my camera, and I capture a lot of it!

Here is an appetiser. It is in Wroclaw, Poland, where I spent so much time around August 25, 2007.

This is the sort of pictures I assemble when super wide angle is still too narrow an angle. I stitch them togerther using several wide angle images - in this case 9 of them!

Show Me The Law

2007-07-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

With fascination I follow the developments around civil rights in the USA. As a rule people accept the erosion of their liberties, because they think it makes them safer.

That would be a great subject for a post, but there is more.

People are now sent to jail for non-compliance with IRS (income tax) regulations, although these regulations seem not to be backed up by a law.
During the court procedures the defendants ask time and time again to be shown the law on which the income tax is based. That demand is consistently overruled by the judges.
So now the weird situation is this: not the law is the basis of the jury's verdict but the opinion: 'we all pay income tax so why should they not'. On the basis of this opinion the tax lawyer Irwin Schiff (77) was sentenced to 30 years in jail.

Shall we welcome him at the prison gate when they finally release him at the age of 107?

Dave Vonkleist explains the situation in a song.

Here's a link to Ed Brown's video blog. Ed has declared that he'll rather die than go to jail.

Val's 'new' Vespa

2007-06-03T11:13:00.001-07:00

She wanted a real scooter to get the feel of scootering. She saw the Vespa PK50 and said "That's real".

The scooter is over 20 years old and pretty tame by today's standards - all the better for someone who's never ridden a motorised two-wheeler.
Here is a short film of her test-riding the Vespa for the first time.

Climate Change Is Here To Stay

2007-05-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

The Wettest September Ever!
The Mildest Winter Ever!
The Driest April Ever!

And now the ultimate extreme is coming up.

Going outside during this month of May I realise time and time again a that there is a certain familiarity about the weather. This is exactly the type of weather one expects in May in this part of the world. In fact it feels incredibly normal. So if this goes on, May 2007 will go down in history as The Most Normal Month Of May Ever!!! Be very worried, because this proves that climate change is here to stay, permanently and constantly.

The important news: yesterday I visited a tugboat rally in a small town not far from where I live (Vianen if you want to see it on a Google aerial photo / map).
I took no pictures, just a bit of film of a fascinating old piece of machinery they had on display.
Enjoy!

About love in different cultures

2007-05-12T01:37:00.000-07:00

Copied from a post by Dijedon

There is a beautiful deserted island in the middle of nowhere where the following group of people are stranded:

2 Italian men and 1 Italian woman
2 French men and 1 French woman
2 German men and 1 German woman
2 Greek men and 1 Greek woman
2 Bulgarian men and 1 Bulgarian woman
2 Irish men and 1 Irish woman
2 American men and 1 American woman
2 British men and 1 British woman

One month later on this absolutely stunning deserted island in the middle of nowhere, the following has occurred:

One Italian man killed the other Italian man for the Italian woman.

The two French men and the French woman are living happily together in a "menage a trois".

The two German men have a strict weekly schedule of when they alternate with the German woman.

The two Greek men are sleeping with each other and the Greek woman is cleaning and cooking for them.

The Bulgarian men took a long look at the endless ocean and one look at the Bulgarian woman and they started swimming.

The Irish began by dividing up their island, Northside and Southside, and by setting up a distillery. They do not remember if sex is in the picture because it gets sort of foggy after the first few liters of coconut whiskey, but at least the English are not getting any.

The two American men are contemplating the virtues of suicide while the American woman keeps on talking about her body being her own, the true nature of feminism, how she can do everything that they can do, about the necessity of fulfillment, the equal division of household chores, how her last boyfriend respected her opinion and treated her much nicer and how her relationship with her mother is improving. But at least the taxes are low and it is not raining.

.AND...

The 2 British men are still waiting for someone to introduce them to the British woman

Don't forget to thank (or blame) Dijedon, not me.

This week on the shipyard: BEREZINA

2007-05-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

The owners, of the former steam tugboat Berezina, FairNature, want to use the boat for promotion of low-emission propulsion and creative solutions for energy issues.

A promotion tour is being planned to eastern Europe, down the Danube and up the rivers Dniepr and... Berezina, the boat's namesake.
Am I jealous to see someone else start on my dream journey? Yes I am.

The steam engine was replaced by a tiny 6-cylinder DAF diesel engine in the aft - hence the undersized propeller.

The Film is ready!

2007-05-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

Great relief today: I have finished making the videofilm I said I was going to make in December!!!
What's more, the friends to whom I promised I would do this, love it.

Months overdue, but now I am a very proud and happy man.
Below is the film as it can be seen on Youtube - in two parts because the total length exceeds the regulatory 10 minutes' maximum. A high quality dvd version will be produced for promotional purposes.

Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

Let's see if this is worth trying

2007-05-01T09:07:00.000-07:00

It is a small series about a rather dismal place on the Belgo-French border.

I am testing this for the first time in Blogger, so let's see what happens.

A pic of Sindy and a song by Pete... for Grace

2007-04-27T01:40:00.000-07:00

Blogger Grace told me she was inspired by me to do new things with her blog.
She loves dogs and The Who.
That in turn inspired me to publish this picture of our dog Sindy, and to embed a lesser known song by Pete Townshend called 'Sleeping dog'.

This song is only partly about the dog, and mainly - I think - about Meher Baba.

Hey, that's Good!

2007-04-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

This morning I was talking to one of our neighbours about what it is like to come across a particularly clever bit of writing, or hear an especially pleasant piece of music, only to realise it's your own writing or you playing that music. We'd both had that experience.
She asked me if I'd ever had that feeling about my photography and I said yes - but then I could not come up with any examples.
Later today, going through my collection it happened: 'Wow, good work!'

Here they are, three photos I took in March 2006. They could have been someone else's work, but they are mine and that makes me a happy man.

My question to you who are reading this now, have you any examples of such work? I would like to hear about it. Hmmm, is this the beginning of a series of taggings? Handy way for me to avoid them: I tend to panick when I get tagged.

I realise I have posted this last one before - can't find it though

Don't touch that dial, here's another dedication... for Anne-Marie

2007-04-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

For those who wonder who Anne-Marie is: she is a warm and entertaining personality from Toronto, Canada with interesting stories to tell. On top of that she is a gifted and prolific writer, who is now in the middle of writing her second book

I discovered the barge bearing the name ANNEMARIE yesterday (Thursday April 19 2007) when I took the scooter for a ride in South-West Netherlands, later finding a disused water tower in a place called Axel...

In disused water tower near Axel, NL, looking up

...after which I headed across the border into Belgium where I took the pictures below - and a lot more that you'll find by clicking on the photos posted in Flickr.

Magic Realism is an integrated part of day to day life in Belgium...

...and so is the sugar mill in Moerbeke, which can be found right next to the town hall.

View a slideshow of my most recent photos

Daffodil for Dale

2007-04-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

This is for Dale who feels she is like a daffodil in the snow.
Here's the Daffodil, famous Dutch car of the DAF brand.
It came with a special daffodil vase.
Couldn't find an image of one in the snow. Sorry...

In love at first sight

2007-04-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hard to guess what the size of this object is, so I'll tell: about 1 meter (3ft) high and some 3 meters (10ft) wide. Found this gem in a dyke along the river Linge in Holland. No sign to say what is means, no clue about context, so it's obvious: this is art for the art's sake - and I love it...

See where this picture was taken. (opens in a new window).

40 years ago this year?

2007-04-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

The real My Generation by THE WHO - for those who wonder where THE ZIMMERS found their fabulous hit song

Another controversial view

2007-03-12T05:26:00.000-07:00

Apple computers have long been my favorites; Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, some sort of personal hero
Here's a parody about the presentation of a new product.
How I know it is a parody? Because the comedian is loud, a sure sign that we are supposed to laugh.

Reply to the comments on "Reasons for grave concern listed"

2007-02-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

Hi all,
Sorry all for reacting so late. Our internet access has been extremely wobbly since Sunday morning.
This comment is bigger than my average post so far, so it seemed a good idea to make it a post in its own right.

Anne-Marie
I wish I knew a way to achieve the things you mention in your comment. I agree 100% with you.

Erik-Jan
Below a set of links that will work for you. I tried to get the films to play with Internet Explorer, but one has to wait until the whole (part of the) film is in.
Better alternative: get yourself the Firefox browser and you'll wonder why you've ever put up with that quirky IE.
Dale,
I forgot 1984 but had I thought of it I wouldn't have mentioned it as a passing fashion. Big Brother is my personal main concern (here I agree with angela@desmogblog), followed on its heels by nuclear disasters (see http://www.elenafilatova.com who lives relatively close to Chernobyl). These are the only two things that could send me shivering into the bilges, not muslim terrorism, not bird flu, and not climate change, caused by human behaviour or not.
I missed you too, Dale... Sorry, this was not 3 weeks, more like 6.

NB Elena Filatova states that the UN now downplays the risks of nuclear energy (and the number of Chernobyl casualties to a few dozen instead of several thousands).
This seems to hang together with the UN opinion on fossil fuels.

Dan L
Thank you for your message of support, and the mail with the interesting link
My message to you without becoming too specific (I'll loosely quote your great leader Thomas Jefferson): If you sacrifice your liberty for security, you'll end up losing both. As you've seen above, I agree with Angela on that subject. I sincerely hope that's the bigger fish you mean.

Quoting Desmogblog, my comments in brackets:
..."serves as a great example of the fantasy world [bad] the FOS promotes"
..."notorious climate change skeptic [bad] Sallie Baliunas"
..."Hansen et al. that were published in the highly regarded [good] Proceedings of the National Academy of Science"
..."controversial [bad] paper by New Zealand academic Chris de Freitas, published in the Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology at a time when his brother, Talisman Energy geologist Tim de Freitas, was the editor [very bad]"
..."only nine appear in a peer-reviewed journals. And numerous of these [how many out of nine is numerous?] do not support the FOS contention that climate change remains unproven."
..."pieces by the Hockey-stick obsessed [bad] Ross McKitrick, appearing in the right-wing [very very very bad I suppose?] Fraser Institute Forum newsletter"

Maybe I am allowed to paraphrase a quote on Desmogblog :
When you can't stand people agreeing with your opponents in a fight on principle, the next best thing is producing facts about them that you know people won't like. That's what Desmogblog is doing.
Angela, your comment shows the same tendency of discrediting the messenger instead of refuting the message: "the "Friends of Science" are now a discredited [bad](and re-organized and re-named) source, noted for their public relations slant." [bad]

Do you really think the average scientist now gets funding for research that aims to refute the current wave of believers' reports? That's the meaning of my remark about the financial side.

I have very little time for your level of debate, that now introduces 'extreme' climate change.

I prefer people who present their case without attacking messengers. And that is why - again - I recommend viewing the 5 film parts that are brought to us in a calm and - dare I say? - more academically dignified way.
BTW the makers of that film believe in global warming like you and I, and in global cooling too, for that matter. We just seem to disagree about the causes.

Below the 5 parts of the movie Climate Catastrphe Cancelled.

Quicktime
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Windows Media
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

They're all parts of one movie.

Reasons for grave concern listed

2007-02-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

Just recently I tried to list the reasons for grave concern that I had seen in my lifetime - and which I now look upon as just as many fashionable doom scenarios. That list was all but exhaustive.

How about this?

The post-war years of bad weather: nuclear tests.
Already mentioned: 1972 the limits of growth. The worst of which was expected was to emerge in... 2000, thank you very much.
70s and 80s panic, we're heading for a new ice age. Forgotten.
Followed by acid rain and forests dying. Forests look better than ever.
The hole in the ozone layer. Still there at the end of every summer, like it may have always been, before we started measuring.

And now that terrible CO2. Studies have shown that in the atmospere there is 0,04 volume percent of CO2. It is argued that a fraction of this fraction has to do with human activity.

Go see the fascinating films about climate change at the Friends Of Science site, and see if we need to be concerned about climate change.

This might upset some people of good will

2007-01-31T14:24:00.000-08:00

After saying I might be off for a week or three and then staying quiet for about six weeks, here's a new beginning with a quote (if you don't like quotes, read on from the point below: "But what's the point of the above paragraph?"

"The record cold of the decades of the 1890's, 1940's, 1970's, 1980's and most recently the bitter northern hemisphere winters of 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003 argue against the occurrence of harmful man induced climate change (global warming). Also Winter 2000-2001 and 2004-2005 in Siberian Russia, as well as Winter 2004 in Antarctica were the coldest in recorded history. And let's not forget that January 2004 in Boston, MA was the coldest January in 111 years. Grand Forks, ND set it's all time record low of -44 deg. below zero F, Fosston, MN also at -50 deg. below zero F and Saskatchewan, Canada saw minimum temperatures fall to -62 deg. below zero F, all in Winter 2003-2004.

But what is the point of the above paragraph? It is to demonstrate that for every short term global record warm weather event that is heralded in the media as an example of global warming, there is a counter balancing global record cold weather event, usually ignored by the media."

I need to do this because at some point in my musical background I vowed not to be fooled again. So when I see the fooling done big time, Al Gore, the United Nations and the European Commission all paying lip service to the Greenhouse Effect*), the least I can do is quote someone who, I think, has his facts in order.

*) Hallowed be its name

Time Out For 3 Weeks *)

2006-12-07T05:03:00.000-08:00

It's time to hold my horses in Blog- and Flickrland and concentrate on the making of a film I promised to a good friend months ago.

It's a fact of my life that I have no options but going full throttle or not at all. One might say it's one of my 9 weird points.
Sorry for this, I'll miss you all too!

*) Note:
...or as much longer as necessary or as much shorter as possible (that's the wording of our government when announcing public works).

Arquennes, Belgium

2006-12-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

From the country where surrealism was invented.

See where this picture was taken.

PS I couldn't help posting the following image, found at
http://www.kn4lf.com/globalwarminglie.htm

Conveying the mood of the season

2006-11-27T09:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a movie I made last week, featuring a barrel organ in a Rotterdam shopping centre.
Sinterklaas songs are uptempo and cheerful.
After december 5 the organ grinders replace their punchhole playbooks by the much more solemn and syrupy Christmas repertoire, that we then only have to endure for 3 weeks!

Just discovered: there is a film about Santa Claus where the connection is made with our Spanish Sinterklaas. The film is called Nicholas of Myra and the trailer can be viewed here.

Following the encouter with the barrel organ I went to market. As usual really lovely colours and patterns...

Why we have such a brief Christmas season

2006-11-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

Every year mid-November Sint Nicolaas, aka Sinterklaas, gathers his colourful assistants around him and travels by steamboat all the way from his episcopal palace in Spain to the Dutch and Flemish*) children he loves so dearly.

The good old holy man needs his huge army of helpers because the period from mid-November to His birthday on December 5 **) is a very busy period.
Mind you, the long journey over sea is only the beginning. His official arrival in Holland is a very elaborate affair with a cacophony of ship's hooters, singing children, a speech by the mayor and a ride on the white horse across the city to greet as many children as possible.

But then the real work has yet to begin. Every night when the children are asleep he gets on his horse and rides over the rooftops (!!!) to deliver small presents through the chimneys for children who have been good. Don't get me wrong, his assistants lower themselves through said chimneys and do they moan and complain? Not at all, they don't notice the difference because they are all black! Once in the house the Zwarte Pieten (every assistant is called Piet, pron. Pete***)) collect the carrot children have put in their shoe as a treat for the horse and a small present takes its place.

Now you may wonder how does Sinterklaas know if a child has been good or bad? He has his huge book with the names of all children in it and a brief description of their characteristics. Easy.
The Zwarte Pieten carry heavy bags that have two functions. On arrival they are full of sweets and presents, and when empty come in handy to take bad children to Spain, a country from which, as we all know, there is no return.****)

December 5 it is time for the actual celebration of Sinterklaas's Birthday.
This takes place in the evening and there is no employer who refuses their staff a few hours off early to be able to have a proper pakjesavond (boxing evening).

Hot chocolate and all sorts of traditional sweets are served, the children and grownups alike sing Sinterklaas songs, and then there is a knock on the door (we sing "Hear Who Knocks There, Children?"). If Sint can find the time he comes to deliver the presents personally, reads what he knows about the children (and grownups too), is served a glass of Dutch genever and then hurries on to his next assignment. If he can't stop by personally he just delivers the bag, knocks on the door and is around the corner before you can say Pietjepuk (Dutch for Jack Robinson).

So this is in brief the traditional Sinterklaas celebration in Holland. No wonder the shops where the Good Holy Man buys the presents, know better than to start the Christmas frenzy before December 5. Sinterklaas would be deeply offended and that just would not do, would it?...

Before saying Sinterklaas looks very old please remember two things:
firstly his age is counted in the hundreds of years and secondly he can be very impatient about grownups whose vices are written in his book.
Sorry I had to pinch this image, only small children and a tv crew were allowed to come near the good holy man.

PS Of course this is a nationalistic view. For an unbiased description of the Sinterklaas phenomenon read Invader Stu's blog on the same subject.

*) Te Flemish area includes a tiny bit of northern France, where some still speak what is essentially the Netherlands language - and many celebrate Sinterklaasfeest.
**) Some claim the correct date is December 6.
***)The In the Basement concert was on December 5, 2005. It featured Rachel Fuller and Pete Townshend - there is no such thing as coincidence, Dale.
****)Unconfirmed rumour has it that bad children are used as base material for the special Sinterklaas treats called "pepernoten". I personally think this story was invented to stimulate good behaviour.

The welcome to the steamboat from Spain is a noisy affair.

Blogger's Block

2006-11-19T04:05:00.000-08:00

Attentive readers are sure to have figured it out: blogger's block has (had) me. New posts don't come easy or not at all.

It would be a shame just to give up now, especially after the warm support I received from several readers who must have sensed something was brewing. So watch this space and expect a new post within 24 hours, about how in Holland and Belgium we keep Santa Claus at bay at least until December 6.

Until then I suggest you follow the FlickR link under my profile. FlickR is a godsend, because it can make a much greater number of pictures easily accessible. Besides, if handled properly, it makes connecting with people with specific interests much easier.

So have lots of viewing pleasure, FlickR is a true treasure trove of interesting images.
There are disadvantages too. It takes much time to tag, describe and post the images properly, and in Holland FlickR is not a word we use in public.

Kitsch is a beautiful wor(l)d

2006-11-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

They never fail to touch me, these shop windows or market stalls filled to the point of overflowing with sweet, romantic colours. It's just about everything the taste police would like to ban, and I wouldn't like to be caught owning such things.

Yet I find them irresistibly charming and I regret the many times I forgot to take pictures of that colourful abundance. Luckily at least I have taken six pictures of these lovely items.

What? Is it really more than two weeks since my last post? Bad blogger, bad blogger (beats head against the wall).

What a pleasant encounter - again

2006-10-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

It has been said before that in this corner of blogland we find a very friendly atmosphere. Earlier this year this led us to a get-together with Anne-Marie, who was visiting Europe, and could fit in a visit to Rotterdam with her travel plans seamlessly.

There are more people we'd like to meet, and I expect we will in due course.
For some it will take a while; British Columbia for instance, and Holland are quite a few miles apart. However, one of our really faithful visitors and commenters, Erik-Jan, lives only an hour's motor bike ride away.

Yesterday -Tuesday- was the magic moment. Erik-Jan arrived on the quayside and he had found us effortlessly, thanks to his attentive study of all the posts we had done about the Oude Haven in the course of time.

Here Val explains to Erik-Jan about her new entrance hatch.

Meeting Erik-Jan confirmed an opinion we have built up: even in writing you will always show a true image of yourself.
And since Erik-Jan's writing has always been very pleasant, it turned out he is a very pleasant man: thoughtful, modest, gentlemanly and unassuming and nobody's fool at the same time. In brief, our kind of man.

We gave our special guest, a died-in-the-wool professional photographer, the grand tour of our harbours - and walked Sindy in the meantime.

We've already made a plan to meet our special guest again in January, when the Luxor will be on the slipway for underwater repairs.
If there is any possibility at all, we want to go see what Erik-Jan's nautical activities in his home town Naarden are about. His site is in the Dutch language, but the images tell a great part of the story.

And now for our next explanation about ttraffic signs

This strange, scratchy traffic sign, don't know what to make of it. Probably means no neckless roundheaded men in black allowed here. Well, sounds useful, doesn't it?
(Not to Val's daughter Jodie, who passed the theory part of her driver's license test. Congratulations Jo).

Says Gypsy Noir:
"that sign means duck your head theres a black ball about to hit it.."

Rache said...
"...How about 'Walk carefully or your head will fall off'?"

Ahvarahn said:
"...but be careful, that sign worries me a little; it could mean: no dumping of handless, footless, almost-headless corpes? there may be a sinister lot near that sign, i'd stay clear if i were you :)"

Baz said...:
" Beware of black nudists without a neck. "

Lannio said...:
" Beware of neckless, handless, footless humans. They want to circle you. "

Erik-Jan said...:
" Do not lose your head (too often). "

A Study of Red and White Poles

2006-10-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

We went to Turnhout in Belgium just to get away 'from it all'. There we walked along the canal, and noticed these red and white poles, very clearly marking the place where one can easily climb out of the water if necessary.

I suppose the next time we'll need to publish a Study of Red and White Czechs ;-)

Ever noticed what the Polish flag looks like?

No joke, it's red and white.
Guess it was all meant to be...