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Experimedia
This section is created for personal (non business-related) subjects, such as blogs, links to private photo galleries and things that interest me in general. It will contain stuff in English, as well as in Dutch, and possibly even German or Schwyzerdüütsch. Only time will tell…
If you are specifically interested in the Dutch language, you might want to check out my Dutch Page and see if it has anything to your liking. You’ll find stuff there like columns, poetry, samples from my translations and a taste of my own novels.
For comments, please send me an e-mail
Think different...
“Freedom depends on the free thought, free speech and freedom of action of individuals. No one can control our thoughts, but it is easy for the government and the powerful to control our speech and actions. The basic tool they use to do this is fear—fear of saying or doing something controversial that could hurt our career or have us ostracized from our peers, or even get us put into prison or executed/murdered. The government and powers that be know the vast majority of people will succumb to fear. They know the power of fear. They also know that if enough people are no longer controlled by fear, the game is up.
Because fear is central to governmental authority, governments want to nourish and preserve anything that helps them to keep fear alive. One of the biggest proponents of fear is “revealed” religion. All of the revealed religions use fear on their followers. They all teach that disobedience to their dogmas and rules will result in eternally burning in Hell or some other form of pain and suffering on the disobedient individual’s part. Being inculcated with this fear-based mindset in matters of religion only sets a precedent for us to fall victim to fear in other aspects of our lives. This gives a huge boost to governments around the world.”
Robert L. Johnson
Jean Michel Jarre Carré
March 25. Went to see Jean Michel Jarre in Carré Amsterdam. It was 33 years ago that I had been to the “Royal Theatre” to see the (then) magnificent Genesis including Peter Gabriel for their “The Lamb lies down on Broadway” tour, after which Gabriel left the band.
After seeing The Cure’s brilliant show last week (see below), JMJ was a nice evening out with my good friend Rolf, although a bit disappointing at times, and, music-wise, sometimes even boring.
Jarre himself, although not a great live player, behaved like he was God’s gift to music audiences. Some of the stuff he did, was too loud, drowning the rest of the band, and at moments just sounded wrong, especially when doing the thing with the “curtain rail”, as Rolf called it. The songs from the album Oxygen were less interesting than I remembered, although many of the sounds were awesome. It was also very nice to see all those old machines on stage – heaven for vintage synth lovers! Anyhow, after a while I decided for myself that Equinoxe is a way better album.
The big chill was the encore. One short track. Around 10:00 pm we were outside again.
One other thing I would like to mention, is, that JMJ certainly wasn’t worth the money I paid. 102 euros for some 90 minutes of music. The Cure was 34 euros for 3 hours and 15 minutes.
Check out some pictures here.
Arie en Loes married 55 years
March 19. The day after the Cure concert, we went to Capelle a/d IJssel because my parents were married 55 years. It was a wonderful family day with a great meal at famous fish restaurant Kaat Mossel in Rotterdam (I still think Kaat Mossel was actually a guy!) Shame my sister Mieke and her husband Urs couldn’t be there.
You will find some pictures here.
The Cure, Rotterdam Ahoy, March 18, 2008
March 18. Went to see one of my favourite bands of all time, The Cure. They gigged Ahoy, Rotterdam. It was sold out completely. They played for 3 hours and 15 minutes. The show was awesome, and they did most of my favourite songs. The second encore was most of their first album: Three Imaginary Boys!
Check out some of my pictures here.
Some recognition, finally!
I am finally getting some recognition for my work. All the big international mags are now sporting cover stories on Wave World, me and my accomplishments.
Check it out here.
Weekend London
On the weekend of November 6-8, Kristin and I went to London, to visit her half-sister. She stayed in a hotel, and I visited PunkDISCO. Awesome time.
You can check out a selection of pictures here (London General/PunkDISCO), and here (visit Juliana).
Weekend Elburg
On Saturday, October 6, and Sunday, October 7, 2007, we had our traditional “Van Santen Weekend” (OK, it was only the second time, but we are planning to do this again).
We went to Elburg, a place we used to visit some 40 years ago, when my parents, my sister and I were on vacation in ‘t Harde.
We had great fun, and enjoyed some true oldfashioned nostalgia: broodje paling, de Dellen, ‘t Harde, and we did a nice trip through the forest. Oh – and of course we had pannenkoeken!
You can check out a selection of pictures here
De Hufters Live at De Wacht
On july 1st, 2007, De Hufters’ played a live gig at the 10th birtday of Café De Wacht in Arnhem, the Netherlands.
Check out the gallery for pictures.
De Hufters new videoclip
I did it again. I took my photocamera to the rehearsal, shot some video clips and edited them into this music video. It’s definitely better than the other one, so I guess there is still hope for me as a film maker. Might as well upload it to Youtube then…
MySpace: cool or boring?
Wednesday, May 23, 2007. After seeing everyone getting websites on MySpace, I decided to make a couple of my own. After all, it’s a great means of exposure for some of my bands and projects!
If you don’t know what MySpace is, Wiki says: “MySpace is a popular social networking website offering an interactive, user-submitted network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, groups, photos, music and videos internationally.”
See for yourself if you like it:
De Hufters. Dutch alternative pop/rock.
Solipsist Paradise. Intelligent Electropop/Dance.
Sandarach. Ethnic Fusion.
Modern Management. Alternative New Wave.
Pbalris. Personal MySpace website.
Turdey
Tuesday, May 22, 2007. I decided to embed the Turdey video. It’s great fun, but don’t watch it áround dinner time!
Videoclip
Friday, May 19, 2007. Today I made my first videoclip. OK, it’s just a tryout, but it’s still sort of cool. I shot some youtube videos on my computerscreen with my Sony DSC-N1 camera. I did my best to shoot everything with as much blur as I could possibly get – so it’s not a mistake: it is ART.
I used the free Windows Moviemaker software to edit the clip. It doesn’t have many options, but that was exactly what I needed. The music I used was Modern Managements Dancing in the Bunkers. You can see it here.
Old Family Pictures
Sadly aunt Jo is no longer with us. But she left us many beautiful family pictures from the past.
I scanned a couple and did some Photoshopping to tidy them up.
If you are interested, check here
A Day in Arnhem
On Saturday, May 5th (Bevrijdingsdag, in the Netherlands), I went to Arnhem to meet with an old friend and go to the Roger Waters concert in the Gelredome. Here are some impressions.
- Joost (B.) and me went on where we left 10 years ago. Cool!
- The Rijnkade is a nice place to have a couple of beers in good company.
- The way Arnhem is being vandalized by its own city council for a 20 year “renovation project” is close to criminal and another example of the way our country is being ruined by incompetent administration. Why do we still agree to pay taxes?
- The Gelredome – which is in fact just a consumption factory providing bread and circuses, bathed in loads of fatty food and unhealthy drinks – is way too large for concerts, especially if you’re some 200 metres away from the stage and 30 meters above it! A cost-benefit analysis teaches us that for the 55 euros we paid, we could have bought ourselves a copy of Pink Floyd’s Pulse DVD plus loads of beer and snacks and have a great night at home with a lot more to see.
- Nevertheless, Roger Waters still rocks when he’s doing Pink Floyd songs! One of my favourites was Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun. Lots of Wish you were here, Animals and an integral version of Dark Side of the Moon as well. You’ve got to love Waters’ cynical voice, which sounds like it’s anouncing the end of days. Shame he’s not in PF anymore.
- Wageningen during Bevrijdingsdag is crazy.
Check out some visual impressions.
Fulco's Party
Fulco’s 50th birthday party, on Sunday, April 29, was a hoot! We also did a gig with De Hufters.
Check out the gallery for pictures.
Rehearsal at Perry's office
De Hufters’ rehearsal at Perry’s office for a gig at Fulco’s 50th birtday party on Sunday, April 29 2007.
Pictures taken with the Sony DSC-N1 at 800 ISO. Come on feel the noise!
Check out the gallery for pictures.
Dresden: eine Stadt mit Geschichte
From March 30 until April 3d, Kristin and I went to Dresden (D) to visit our good friends Steffen and Birgit. We had planned this for years, but somewhow it never worked out. I’m glad to say it did work out now, and it was great!
You can check out a selection of pictures here
Gastronomy: some like it haute
Saturday, March 24th, 2007. The wife and I were invited to dinner at Gaston & Irma’s, old friends from the Rijnsteeg. (If you are interested in the history of this student apartment building, please check out my photoreport rijnsteeg 1978-2006.)
Gaston is a chef. It’s not his daytime job, mind you, but it might as well be. This man is definitely one of the most gifted amateur cooks I know, and I’m sure the food he makes can compete with that of the best restaurants I’ve had the pleasure to visit.
Leisurely dancing around his huge kitchen unit, meanwhile effortlessly avoiding the blue toy car his son was racing around the house, Gaston conjured up some magic dishes that I would like to share with you.
Apart from the carefully selected wines that were served with every dish, the five-course dinner was composed of:
- Marinated raw tuna with oyster mayonaise on a bed of fried, thinly sliced potatoes.
- A beautiful salad of broad beans and asparagus, dressed with tarragon and truffle.
- Baked brill on glasswort with a creamy saffran sauce.
- A wonderful selection of goat cheeses.
- Orange cannelloni with white chocolate mousse and homemade coffee icecream.
If your mouth is watering now, I fully understand.
Check out some pictures of this gourmet meal.
Comics
Check out some funny comics here
