Brussel Vlaams (?)

Vandaag in de FNAC van de CITY2 in Brussel Centrum

aan de kassa gekomen, moe geïrriteerd van het vele slentervolk, tskokvol cadeau's;
je bent al fier dat je je "ronde" hebt afgewerkt en haast jaloers op de Kerstman die tenminste rendieren tot zijner edele beschikking heeft:

een al even vermoeide kassierster kijkt me dwars en bijna ongelovig aan:

zij: -oui?
ik: -goedenavond
zij pakt mijn gerief en zwiert me een paar zakken toe en begint driftig te "scannen"
(ik ben ervan overtuigd dat ze géén profiel opmaakt van haar klanten, en toch denk ik dat elke klant bij de kassa op zijn minst naar waarde wil worden geschat omwille van de uitgekiemde koopstrategie die hij/net succesvol beëindigde waardoor hij niet als de zoveelste consu-mens wil worden behandeld...)

zij: - deux cents cing euros et vingt cents...
ik: - dank u; kan ik met bancontact betalen?
zij: - oui, insérez votre carte...
ik: - hier?
zij: - oui, là....
(ik druk mijn code in... terwijl zij mijn waardevolle cadeau's zonder pinken bijéén smijt in een paar lelijke zakken)
zij: - bonsoir
ikke: - merci'kes hé, bedankt en nog een Zalig Kerstfeest
(ik storm woest buiten, op zoek naar de manager, want voor een dikke 10.000 oude knarren zou je toch iets of wat meer service verwachten...)

-- Brussel hé, tweetaligheid troef, vooral als het altijd van dezelfde kant moet komen -- volgend jaar beter? wij hopen het in elk geval met heel onze meertaligheid...

Listening to: Arsenal - Oustides (*****/*****), toch gekocht hoewel de FNAC te duur was...

ozone pollution 2005

ozone pollution 2005
Originally uploaded by wacondah.

Dutch scientists are putting together remarkable maps showing pollution over Europe and other regions of the globe.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4512464.stm

In Flanders, a lot we suffer ...

Hooverphonic AB 2005-12-10: ich ben droevik

DSC01873
Originally uploaded by wacondah.

Hooverphonic's concert was amazing. Great set, great acoustics, great band.

Minor irritating events that un-thrilled our party: concert was a bit too short, and sounded a bit to sterophonic-sterotyped. If you were in for an improvising jam, you'd better go see Prince... Geike has a great voice, and is endearingly timid and shy; but with the great band and support from the audience, she could at least have adressed us in Dutch... More Photos here

the same goes for Madonna's latest song "Sorry" in which she translates the word into 88 languages: Sorry, Lo siento, je suis désolé(e) and then "ich ben droevik" - a disgrace to the Dutch language. a bit more research would've been greatly appreciated.

Darwin's Nightmare: IUCN reaction

Addendum to earlier post. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature reacts to the Oscar Nomination for Darwin's Nightmare (download their letter here)

IUCN feels strongly about the false accusations...

Now, what is your view on this?

Global Warming

The Montreal Meeting on Global Warming, Climate change generates a massive flow of reports illustrating the effects of industrialisation and population growth. Some key elements are now admitted by most scientifics, based on empirical evidence from over the past decades. No one today can deny the increased "weather disasters" such as flooding, an exceptionally heavy hurricane season, heat and cold waves are the result of massive alterations in the earth's atmosphere; below some articles....

12/06/2005 (Source: Water Tech News Watch)
In Europe, more deaths and illnesses because of the climate

Europe - The effects of global warming upon human health have been noticeable in recent years, reported Maria Neira and Roberto Bertollini -- directors of the World Health Organization''s global and European Health and Environment Departments, respectively -- at the United Nations climate change conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The European heatwave of 2003 cost more than 35,000 lives, while major floods in Europe between 1995 and 2004 directly affected 2.5 million people. Higher average temperatures have also encouraged the spread of Lyme disease, the parasitic disease leishmaniasis (transmitted by dogs) and tick-borne encephalitis into northern Europe and mountainous regions where they''ve never appeared before. Allergies are now more widespread because high-pollen season lasts ten days longer, on average, than it did 30 years ago.



12/07/2005
Climate: The Inuit charge the USA

Arctic Region - At an international climate change conference being held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the Inuit people of the Arctic formally accused the government of the United States of violating human rights by refusing to cap greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. "Climate change is destroying our environment and eroding our culture," said Sheila Watt-Cloutier, head of the Circumpolar Inuit Conference, who has appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The traditional hunting-based economy of the Inuit is suffering from the melting of polar icecaps and permafrost and a resulting decrease in seal and polar bear populations. Scientists have warned that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as other parts of the globe and that the glaciers may vanish by 2100 unless the rate of global warming is reduced.

EU domains on Sale

EU_onSale_2005-12
Originally uploaded by wacondah.

Starting December 7th, 2005 EU domains are up for reservation during the "Sunrise Period".

! Note: you can only make reservations if you're a trademark holder or institution with enough credentials to claim yours. The public at large will have to wait until March 2006 to try to get their favourite spot.

Reports from yesterday claim Tens of thousands of demands for registration coming in. the Top 10 list of keywords called for were: sex (of course), hotel, travel, jobs, hotels, casino, poker, golf, business, shopping, porn, music...

Keywords... that matter; or a reflection of our present state of consumption...

I can think of another list: politics, government, union, solidarity, democracy, citizen, peace, ...

Darwin's Nightmare

This documentary should be on everyone's "to watch - seriously" list. aexplores the African Continent's worst dreams, - Heart of Darkness -style.


Reading: P. Roth: the Plot Against America
Listening to: Led Zeppelin: How The West Was Won [LIVE]
Thinking:

California's water system might have been invented by a Soviet bureaucrat on an LSD trip.
Peter Passel, New York Times, February 27, 1991

Last picture: EU Domains on sale

Vitaly Samoshko wint Publieksprijs Klara 2005

In Gent heeft het radionet Klara van de openbare omroep enkele prijzen uitgedeeld. Dat gebeurde in het kader van de eerste Staten-Generaal van de klassieke muziek in Vlaanderen, een ontmoeting van klassieke musici, componisten, concertorganisatoren en beleidsmakers.

Toon Daems (53) uit Schoten won als eerste laureaat de Klara-Compositieprijs 2005, die naar aanleiding van 75 jaar radio was uitgeschreven.

De opdracht: een nieuwe compositie voor pianotrio schrijven als hommage aan Mozart. De Klara-Carrièreprijs, een soort Lifetime Achievement Award, ging naar Huelgas Ensembledirigent en -stichter Paul Van Nevel, die met respect voor de authentieke partituur de Vlaamse polyfonie nieuw leven inblies.

Voor de jaarlijkse Klara-muziekprijzen waren veertig cd’s genomineerd.

Het Jef Neve Trio won de jazzprijs met It’s Gone, Stefan Winter haalde het in de categorie wereldmuziek met Cuadernos de Mexico, drie cd’s met veldopnames van volksmuziek uit Mexico gebracht door zestien verschillende solisten en groepen.

Als beste klassieke cd van het voorbije seizoen kwam een opname van Vivaldi’s Orlando Furioso door het Ensemble Matheus uit de bus.

Luisteraars van de muziekzender konden via de website of de post ook stemmen voor twee publieksprijzen.

Die voor de beste Vlaamse productie ging naar het ensemble Zefiro Torna voor hun cd El Noi de la Mare, kerstliederen uit middeleeuwen en renaissance.

De Oekraïense pianist Vitaly Samoshko (winnaar Koningin Elisabeth-wedstrijd 1999) ging aan de haal met de publieksprijs voor beste internationale cd 2005 voor Etudes voor piano van Alexander Scriabin.

AquaFed - The International Federation of Private Water Operators

"AquaFed is an association set up to connect international organisations with private sector providers of water and sanitation services.

Aquafed brings together over 200 water service providers operating in 38 countries worldwide."

Camille & Thomas

DSC01810
Originally uploaded by wacondah.

Camille turned 1 year old on November 4, 2005. It's been an incredible ride together with Mama and all our friends and families. Becoming a parent, changes not only your sleep schedule, your behaviour, but your mind... and your insight, your care and caring and also your "stewardship" responsibility.

Camille: thanks for making me want to be a better man/dad/friend!

"Stercus accidit" (shit happens)

Reading: The Plot Against America - P.Roth;


Stopped reading:
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susan Clarke:

bored after 150+ pages, decided to put the book away. A part from the nice cover - a white crow on a black background - there's not much to say about this BORING book

finished reading: the Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson:

after 2+ years of reading, finally completed the 3-vol. opus M. by former SF writer Stephenson turned guru of the 18th century. Will thoroughly miss Jack Cock-eyed Shaftoe and Eliza Countess de la Zeur, but Newton, Leibniz and their companions of the Royal Society even more. A thrilling ride, a fantastic story and great insights in the birth of banking and the intertwined rise of science and alchemy... A must-read for any real Renaissance-(wo)man, a fantastic primer on the revolutions of the Sciences...

Listening to: Millionaire (*/*****), Latest by Franz Ferdinand (**/*****), Admiral Freebee (****/*****), Uri Cane Bach Goldberg Variations (*****/*****)

Thinking: "Stercus accidit" (shit happens)

Last picture: Set of Pictures compiled: 1 year in Review: Camille 2004 - 2005

Welkom Jolien

geboren, November 14 2005: proficiat aan Hanne, Dirk en hun beider families!

Bike to work or not?

Over the past years I've taken the habit of ditching the car more and more often, and to jump on my run-down bike for the short trips (from/to work in Paris until last year- around downtown Brussels from this year).

appearantly, I wasn't the only one wondering if this was/is a healthy activity, sucking up exhaust fumes at 20km/h and what's more "biking the risk of getting hit by monster traffic"...

GRIST has an interesting discussion and concludes that "biking wins over all mechanized transport".

So .. get out there, you bums, get some exercize: but be prudent and make sure your brakes work, you wear a protective helmet and fluorescent jacket, ankle straps to keep your trousers from getting snatched by the chain.... yakayakayakayaka....

In my opinion: it's great to de-stress, but the risks are important, but then again, not all of us have showers at the office...

Brussel Blogt

Brussel is een collectief blog rijker... en houdt dus grote kuis... go check it out

Thinking: Une grand-mère qui meurt, c'est une bibliothèque qui brûle.
Travelling: Stockholm, Paris, Barcelona
Last picture:

Moleskin veneration

This is Moleskinerie, a blog dedicated to the proposition that not all notebooks are created equal....

We are not afraid !

Post a picture of yourself with the message "we are not afraid"!
show them terrorists what you've got!

"If the shit hits the fan... let's bomb Mecca" - says US congressman

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo's office on Sunday tried to clarify remarks the congressman made on a radio show that the U.S. could threaten to "take out" Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalists were to attack the country with nuclear weapons.

Campbell asked Tancredo how the country should respond if terrorists were to strike several U.S. cities with nuclear weapons.

"Well, what if you said something like - if this happens in the United States, and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites," Tancredo answered.

"You're talking about bombing Mecca," Campbell said.

"Yeah," Tancredo responded.

The congressman went on to say that he was "just throwing out some ideas" but that an "ultimate threat" might have to be met with an "ultimate response."

Tancredo released a statement Sunday evening in which he said he was simply trying to figure out what the United States could use as a threat to deter future attacks.

"Among the many things we might do to prevent such an attack on America would be to lay out there as a possibility the destruction of these sites," he wrote. .

Les Etats-Unis en chiffres

http://www.reseauvoltaire.net/article16678.html

Interesting facts on the USA from a bizarre source

Alternative Travel Scenarios

For all those backpackers out there: eat this....
http://www.latourex.org/

Westfleteren - Best Beer in the World

Westvleteren is beste bier ter wereld

De toonaangevende biersite RateBeer.com heeft de trappist ,,Westvleteren Twaalf'' uitgeroepen tot 's werelds beste bier. Duizenden bierliefhebbers uit meer dan zestig landen namen aan de stemming deel.