DON'T READ THIS

According to Human Events these are the Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries:

1. The Communist Manifesto
2. Mein Kampf
3. Quotations from Chairman Mao
4. The Kinsey Report
5. Democracy and Education
6. Das Kapital
7. The Feminine Mystique
8. The Course of Positive Philosophy
9. Beyond Good and Evil
10. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money

Honorable Mentions include:
The Population Bomb by Paul Ehrlich
On Liberty by John Stuart Mill
Beyond Freedom and Dignity by B.F. Skinner
Reflections on Violence by Georges Sorel
The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Madness and Civilization by Michel Foucault
Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead
Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader (???)
Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
The Greening of America by Charles Reich
Descent of Man by Charles Darwin

Interesting list to heat up the fireplace although my pick would be The Holy Bible and -Quran ex aequo on numbers 1 -20 !!

Mea Culpa

I must have been the worst bartender in Amsterdam lately and all of you must be raging thirsty. You see, the thing is, that my service provider got bankrupt and I lost the home internet connection. Besides that, I have been redecorating my home last weeks. The glassroom has become a small atelier with several painters easels and a lot of charcoals, brushes, knives and other handy tools. Now when I get home from work, I cast off the monkey suit, poor myself a nice glass of Ott Rosé, open the garden doors, smell the fresh summer air, put on some Motown music and let creativity flow. You may check out AtelierDA for some first results if you like..

Click here for a short visit to ATELIER DA

Next to that my drum teacher is getting me up to speed and making me exercise some difficult stuff. I have been following lessons with Cesar Zuiderwijk from the Golden Earing, (e.g. Radar Love) for the last half year now and his valuable tips and tricks are really starting to pay off. We have exercised drum strokes, Snare drum techniques, Double Bass Drum Techniques, Hand & Foot Coordination, Drum Fills, Drum Solo Techniques and so on. Sometimes we just play together.

I started out with lessons from students from the Amsterdam conservatoire but that didn't work as I am to pigheaded and self-willed and definately don't want to read notes. But when one of the best European drummers says your technique sucks, it just sucks. No discussion possible. 'Guess that's the only way it works for me. Next week I will get a new Internet connection so my virtual life can get back in order and CafeDA will be the most enjoyable (Bush bashing) virtual Amsterdam cafe again.

Until then...take care my friends and enjoy the weekend!!

"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!

Women and politics

I hear the weekend knocking on the door but first this: This morning our prime minister Balkenende had to go to the Queen to seek a dissolution of parliament. This came as most MPs were dreaming of another dissolution — the summer recess. Hah, no holidays here for a while. Dutch Diva's rule, parliament collapses!

As I said BEFORE, Former Liberal MP mrs. Ayaan Hirsi Ali (or is it Magan) "..leaves Holland with a trail of social political damage behind her ". Little did I know that the fire was only starting. Whoever said Dutch politics is boring and full of back-room deals should have watched Dutch television this week.

Mrs. Verdonk (yes, the one I wrote about over HERE) , who was hoping to be elected to lead the Liberals VVD, cast doubt on whether Hirsi Ali was a Dutch citizen. In fact she even proclaimed that Ayaan never was granted citizenship because she provided false information. Then she lost the elections.

Enter mrs. Femke Halsema, the leader of the green-left GroenLinks. She tabled a motion of no confidence in Verdonk which then was supported by mrs. Lousewies van der Laan, the democrats66 leader.

To make a long story short, result is that we now don't know if we still have a parliament.

I say these prima donna's broke the political glass ceiling for sure. Hell, they even broke down the entire building!

Wild thing..

Here's some advise for all the ladies in the house: don't waste hubbies precious beer on housekeeping...

click picture or here:

Back to work now, busy week ahead! Enjoy!

Khalil on Robbie Williams:

Then Almitra spoke again and said... "And what of Robbie Williams, master?" And he answered saying: I forsee that DA from CafeDA will be invited to one of his (extremely fast sold out) concerts in the Amsterdam Arena. "But by whom will he be invited master?" And he replied with the words: He will be invited in the sky-box of his favourite accountancy firm!. "But master, will DA enjoy the show?" And then he said: Oh yes, knowing DA just a little bit he most certainly will enjoy looking at all the beautiful dressed up girls that are getting more and more excited along the way. Yes, believe me DA will enjoy himself because the ratio woman/men will be like 80/20 and the dreadful sound of the Amsterdam Arena won't even bother him..

Have a great weekend my dearest virtual friends, enjoy the now!

Khalil on marriage..

Then Almitra spoke again and said... "And what of Marriage, master?" And he answered saying: You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days. Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. But let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love. Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together. For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Now this is just wonderful isn't it? I've been pondering on marriage and relationships lately as I am not the best example in making them work. I believe there is a big difference between unconditional love for a child and love in a mutual relationship. I think - and don't get me wrong, I don't rationalize everything- that an adult relationship has got more economics in it. What's the return on investment? Is the relationship balanced? In a relationship 1 and 1 should add up to 3, not 3/4. I say unconditional love doesn't exist in human relationships (besides the parental). There's always the "what's in it for me issue too". And that's ok..or is it?

Hawking to earthlings: Get the hell out of here!

Yesterday, one of my all-time favourite scientists - dr. Stephen Hawking - visited the university of Hong Kong where he said that humans must establish a base on the moon and colonize Mars within the next 40 years if we're to avoid extinction from global warming or another flaming end catastrophe.

"It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species," Hawking said at a news conference in Hong Kong. "Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster, such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers we have not yet thought of.

"We won't find anywhere as nice as Earth unless we go to another star system," he added.
Space enthusiasts said Hawking's vision is achievable.

I think it is good Hawking blows the whistle because our planet is indeed being exploited without regard to the consequences as long as profit is assured and we don't need a big meteorite or another Katrina with the US prez Dubya at the helm to get totally ruined.

And I wouldn't mind exporting W Shrub with his prattling minions who personify the putrid decay of a bloated and corrupt political system, to a big black hole at the extreme other end of our galaxy.

But unfortunately this brilliant modern Noah forgot to mention that the best way to use space as the ultimate lifeboat is to go there without any human galactic refugees at all.

Operation Iraqi freedom

Prez Shrub was briefed by his top war mongers --ehh commanders -- Monday about how to deal with violence in Iraq as senior national security advisers gathered at his presidential retreat to chart how to help the newly named government in Baghdad.

After two days of hard labour, the culmination of the long and heated discussions in camp David is as follows: Operation Iraqi freedom means Iraq must be free of Iraqis.

Bush endorsed the views of his advisers. "I thought your assessment of the situation in Iraq was very realistic and I think your recommendations to us on how to win in Iraq - to have an Iraq that can govern itself, sustain itself, defend itself - BUT WITHOUT IRAQIS - your recommendations are valid," the president said.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt's advice to Iraqis who see TV images of innocent civilians killed by coalition troops: “Change the channel”..

Leaving Oxford

"And that sweet city with her dreaming spires, she needs not June for beauty's heightening"

-- Matthew Arnold --

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Oxford University has got 39 colleges. The Said Business School is located at Templeton College.

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Our class was 45 vp's, cxo's and directors from 21 countries. Good discussions and great professors that lecture at Oxford, MIT and Harvard.

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These weeks students attend their finals. Students attend these finals wearing "subfusc" - formal academic dress -. Fellow students smear them with flower and everything else they find in trashcans to congratulate them afterwards..

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I had a great time and met some wonderful new friends from Dubay, Quwait, South Africa, New Zealand, USA, Australia and Europe. Now I'll go dust the tables and put the chairs outside.

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CAFEDA has to be opened again next monday. Drinks will be on the house, spread the word!!

Hogwarts

Christ Church is famous not only for its beautiful cathedral but even more because of its role in the Harry Potter films. The dining hall (right) at Hogwarts gives you the impression as if you are part of the movies yourself.

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Sheldonian Theatre opened in 1669. It was modelled after the ancient Roman theatre of Marcellus and is used for degree ceremonies as well as for concerts or lectures.

Blackwell's is said to be world's largest and famous bookshops (and expensive I might add :-) and is spread around Broad street with five shops.

The right picture is the famous "Bridge of Sighs". around New College and into Queen's lane.

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This was fun..Back to Amsterdam now..