Dancing with the stars

Saturday night. A couch, a lot of tea, a lot of cookies. And....

Dancing with the stars!!

With Ron Brandsteder who I actually find funny and sympathetic.
With Stars I do not really know but who are a star anyway.
With beau-ti-ful gowns, make up, lights, fake smiles and a strict jury.

I just love it!

grijp haar groente, neem haar fruit

I once heard a song on the radio in the car. I actually pulled over to listen and strained my ears at the end, praying for the dj to mention the singers name. He did and in no time I was at the ill-named freerecord shop, gleefully paying for an entire album just to own that one song. I told everyone who wanted to hear that I had discovered a new singer, or at least a great song, but scorn was my due. Corny was the word most heard. Pathetic a good number two. And yet to this day the song strikes a chord with me. So when safe from other people's ears, I will stand in the living room and roar along, or whisper along as the emotion takes me. And afterwards I am embarrassed that tears flowed, but in the moment itself, it was exactly what I wanted...

Salvation

This town is't big enough for so many musical styles.

You can run but you can't hide. 'Cos sooner or later, boys, a man has got to face THE MUSIC.

And the music is not rock. It is not that terrible noise they call 'house'.

And it is certainly not the R&B all them young people listen to.

The music that will stir your soul, rock your bones and fill the hearts of the righteous with the love of Jesus is of course... BLUEGRASS.

Decent people (with a decent hair-do, for that matter), playing a decent piece of music to some decent words.

And YES, that music brings me to tears. YES, I find truth and comfort in there. YES, it makes me feel at home. YES, it made me realise that I was 'drifting too far from the shore'. But now I have returned to the House of Jesus, now I have been SAVED.

Blessed be the banjo! Hail to the fiddle! Hark the mandolin!

And I hereby declare that I will kill every theatersportsperson that - upon the suggestion 'bluegrass' or 'country' - cries out 'Yee Ha' and starts a pitifull imitation of riding horseback.

Playstation is for kids

Our Jasper is eleven and obviously plays with a playstation. There is a soccergame we play together, cause its more fun with two people. But I can’t stand losing and so sometimes when I am at home alone or everyone else is in bed, I’ll switch it on and practice. If someone comes in, I immediately switch it off and pretend I was doing something else.

R.H.

Help me...

I need help.

Not that I am helpless.
No, I am an intelligent, capable, healthy adult young man.
I am self-supportive, I'm a fast learner, I'm independent.

And I hate that.

Because 'being helped' is one of the most precious experiences I know. I love someone 'taking care of me'. Even if it is just with the small things in daily life. Someone teaching me how the coffee-machine works for instance. Or someone advising me to take my raincoat with me leaving home on a cloudy morning. Or people ringing me up to assist me posting something on a blog. Of course, I can do all these things by my self very easily. But when I am 'looked after', I feel safe, warm and so intimaly connected with that certain person - the helper. A bit like a child feeling protected by his parents.

So very often, I just pretend to be ignorant. Or unaware. But it is actually THEM that are unaware. Of the fact that I just pretend to be helpless...

But still, help me, folks. Help me.

The Real Cookie Monster…

.....lives in Hilversum, NL

Forget the fake blue Muppet

This is for real: whenever I have to write a longer piece on my PC, which might include something “creative”, I tend to:

1: drink way too much coffee

2: eat too much biscuits.

I start with three. Because one is nothing, two is a start and three gives me some of the 'creative fuel' I say I need (I justify my cookie consumption by telling people that it is indeed necessary for the ‘creative process’……)

Favorites include: San Francisco (natural, meergranen and whole wheat), Maria biscuits, Knappertjes, Theebiscuits.

Used to eat Digestive as well, but I quitted once I heard how many calories per cookie they had.

Recently: Verkade made a big mistake: they’ve put the calories per cookie on the front of the package!!!

Knappertjes: 25 Kcal per cookie

San Francisco Naturel: 36 Kcal per cookie

So much for future variety….

Two for one

Yes, I am guilty.
Guilty of loving The Carpenters.
In the 90's I regularly listened to the radio program 'muziekmozaiek' of Willem Duys (consider it another guilty pleasure). It was broadcasted every Sunday morning between 10 and 11. I simply couldn't resist the way Willem used to introduce each new song. With his warm, deep voice he would always recount some personal details of the performer. It was during one of those Sunday mornings Willem exposed me to "Top of the World" and "Close to You". I was sold. Especially after learning from Willem that Karen Carpenter had lived a tragic, anorectic life that eventually led to her even more tragic death....

Watching pictures

When I am walking in a city, or better still in a village, and I come by the window of a photographer with pictures of local people on display I can't resist stopping and looking at them. I especially like wedding pictures of ugly people.

Also I really like watching pictures in newspapers and such of people getting handed a prize, like a bicycle or a giant cheque. Always gives me a giggle. Click the picture to giggle with me.

My dirty dozen

1 time london 11 times Utrecht and still craving for more.
It just makes me happy.

First session - code name 053B

Dear O.

Arrived in Amsterdam for assignment. Weird city. Weird people. Excellent target.
The group works in English. They start speaking English the minute they enter the theatre (some don't). They are NOT very disciplined. We will teach them. In time.

Indians! Deep questions from Great Buffalo. Can't hear the whole story as the airco keeps being switched on and off. Afraid of being caught when some girl suggests the ceiling is coming down.
Escaped by means of a 'coffeeman'. Note to get rid of him soon.

Not too much plot. Just listening. Repeating words from the other player. Nothing suspicious so far.
Girls play men! Should be forbidden immediately! Why are there girls in the group anyway? The director tells them to TRY not to play cross-gender. He's a softy. Note to get rid of him too.

Teamvertegenwoordiger -whatever that may be- is Tom. We should keep an eye on him. He knows things. He talks to the board.
Robert's not here. He will be next week. But then Susanne's not here. Hmm. There's something going on.

Montage. Give the scenes time. Let them breathe. Players don't end them themselves. They do establish relationships. Hmm.
Homework. 'Bring a character with you'. Dead or alive? I can't tell. I still hide in the ceiling.

More homework. All members write a guilty pleasure in the blog. Aha! There we are. A blog. Note to get rid of that.
One blogpost per week. Minimum. True or fiction. Not necessarily (or necessarily not) taboos. What would they write about us?

More next week. Insha'Allah.

Pony Stickers

Dear G. Pleasures,

I am 28 years old and have an huge weakness for pony stickers, specially when there are glitters on the stickers. Do you think it might seem unprofessionally when I put them on my work equipment like laptop, agenda and blackberry?

Moonlight

I Love Roxette

Hi. I'm Rod and I love Roxette. Roxette is a guilty pleasure of mine. I love their songs especially when I am driving. They have the simplest lyrics and a super catchy Swedish tune. This song is called "listen to your heart" and I'm pretty sure it's about listening to your heart when you have to make decisions because your heart knows best.