"I am sailing, I am sailing, 'cross the sea"

Last week I was invited to go sailing for six days in a row (24/7).

The aim was to sail the boat of a friend to the south of France. This would be too easy so we decided to round England as well.





Which meant non-stop sailing, night shifts, stormy weather, lot's of sun, dead tired after 6 days but quite the fullfilled person.







Sailing on the Spinaker (what's the English word for that?) through the canal is great fun. You have to remain focussed because the boat can trip easily..

At night you could see several constellations, satellites flying over, ufo's and when focussing enough the lights of UK and France on the side..




There were 4 of us on board and each had his own bedroom. But after 6 days of sailing the boat looked like a pigg-hole and there were some strange odours hanging around. I was ships cook too and managed to get only one person sick. But that could be because he ate my hamburgers too (and I sticked to cheese sandwich)..

Now I am having trouble gettin' up to speed back over here in Holland as we still are sailing that serious heat wave all together. I need a cold one!

Says the chimp to the poodle at G8:

Who said Dubya is a cowboy? He's a straight up gangsta! And what about his right to the point diplomatic approach: "You see, the ... thing is what they need to do is to get Syria, to get Hizbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over." This man is a scandalous disaster! And Tony?

- INSERT DEEP SIGH HERE -

190

At least 190 Indian people died because of seven deadly train blasts. Train cars packed with commuters were blown apart and television images showed ghastly footage of bloodied limbs and dead bodies in the wreckage. It was one of the worst such attacks in India in recent years.

My heart goes out to the families of the victims.

This post I wrote in January after visiting Mumbay:

"Several months ago I was invited to go on a business trip to Mumbay, India. It was the most impressive trip that I had in years. Yesterday, a blogfriend asked me about this trip and my feelings about it. I’d like to share my answer to her question with you because it evoked a lot of emotions again. You might know better than me that India is a country of contradictions between the majority living in extreme poverty and the ultra rich happy few. It’s also a country of beautiful and wonderful people as I’ve experienced.

One night we were invited by the Dutch ambassador to have diner in one of Bollywoods best restaurants named “Khyber”. We had diner being surrounded by various famous film-stars and well known locals. We quickly forgot about world’s misery and had a great time.

When we left the restaurant we were guided towards the bus when all of a sudden a litte beggar girl dressed in rags appeared in front of me. She had to be about five or six years old and had the most beautiful big brown eyes that laughed at me like little shining stars. The policemen yelled at her to get lost but I couldn’t resist to kneel down and look her straight into her almost hypnotizing eyes.

I asked her her name and she started to jabber words to me that I couldn’t understand. I opend my hands to her and she put her’s in mine. We then looked eachother in the eyes as if we were talking without words. All of a sudden she pulled back her hands and gave me a heartwarming hug that seemed to last forever. At that time I felt a feeling of compassion I have never felt before. It felt like both of us were at the centre of the universe. As tears rolled down my eyes, she all of a sudden stopped embracing me, looked me straight into my blurry eyes for a while and laughed at me with the same intensity as she did before.

In a split second she then dissapeared jumping across the street like a puppet on a string. I suddenly realized I wasn’t alone in this world and looked up at the rest of the group to find everyone crying. The ride back to the hotel was a quiet one with people snuffling and passing handkerchiefs. I looked out the window somewhat confused and watched Mumbay pass by, wondering what happened back there. I felt humble and man I felt alive.

Alive like I have never felt before…"


Please share some moments of silence with me..

Opposites don't attrackt!

When I grew up (stil do) I tended to think that being able to buy expensive goods was a sign of being succesful and having a house with a swimming pool was the ultimate goal to reach. Little did I know.. I had to learn the hard way and I guess I haven't finished learning on my 37th and that's ok too.

Today I took a test (try it yourself) on economic and social preferences and found myself at the opposite side of myself at age 26. Back then I was the Neo Liberal Authoritarian (upper right quadrant) and today the results position me between the preferences carried out by Dalai Lama, Ghandi and Nelson Mandela (I scored -5 and -3). Huh..Isn't that funny? In ten years time a complete change of mind and heart..(Am I a schyzofrenic?)

Now, this test is only a funny test and my name does not belong amongst those great persons in any way but one thing is very true: the testresult positions me at the opposite side of Dubya Bush. And guess what:

That's exactly where I want to be!

Namaste

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With all the power of my arms,
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With all the intelligence of my mind,
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With all the love of my heart
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I pay my due respect to the soul
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-Within you...

Happy birthday mr. President

"Let me just say this: it's a lot younger than you think,'' the president said yesterday as he accepted birthday greetings from a Canadian reporter during a news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
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Unfortunately hundreds of thousands did not reach the age of 60 in good health, worse: tenths of thousands dindn't reach the age of 60 at all. Thank you mr. President! Thank you so much...

Don't use in combination with alcohol!

Now did someone forget to check the boiler plate on side effects of his medicine prescription? Click pic or here.

Normally this Imam gets after Friday prayers and announces to the people:"I have good news and bad news. The good news is, we have enough money to pay for our new anti USA media campaign. The bad news is, it's still out there in your pockets."

I..

have been tagged by Veena from Toronto and have to reply on my blog so here goes:

I am thinking about...
.. finishing my studies before summer holidays, balancing out a new way of living and running the NY marathon next year.

I said...
.. "did I just say that?"

I want to...
..at least contribute something during my life, try out different ways of doing it and enjoy trying!

I wish...
..people would be more compassionate

I hear...
..airplanes flying over. Dang, they changed flight routes again..

I wonder...
..what happens if our mortal life ends.

I regret...
..having said things that sounded well at that time..

I am...
.. but a humble pilgrim, finding his way and smelling the flowers.

I dance...
..barefoot in the playground with my son.

I sing...
..quietly while playing the guitar, aloud when home alone and even louder in the car..

I cry...
..during a movie or a beautiful play, sometimes in real life too..

I am not always...
..easily satisfied..

I make with my hands...
..humble paintings, some music, the Ikea cupboard and too much memo's and reports..

I write...
..about happenings, people and circumstances in my life that surprise me and make me wonder.

I confuse...
..birth dates with telephone numbers. That's why I frequently call the wrong person too late.

I need...
..to enjoy the little things and give everything I have got to make things work

And finally...
..oh no, I am not there yet. Story continues. Thx for reading and take care!

Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
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So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens, bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests, ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

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But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
A savage place! as holy, and enchanted
As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
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And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this earth in fast, thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced:
Amid whose swift, half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain, beneath the thresher’s flail:
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And ‘mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
It flung up momently the sacred river.
Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
And ‘mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
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The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
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It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
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A damsel, with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
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Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song
To such a deep delight ’twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
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-- Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge --

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Hmm,

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"And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,

A mighty fountain momently was forced"

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That makes you wonder, right?

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After an intense Laudanum (opium) trip Coleridge’s Freudian symbolic words became some sort of mystical erotic paint.

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And the Abyssinian muse strumming her dulcimer finishes it to the three pillars of our life's pleasure dome:

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Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll!