Almost Gone

The Storks have made the news, they are quickly becoming major celebrities. The three young are flexing their wings and it looks like they will be gone soon. They now seem to have people around continually, keeping an eye on them. Tonight they made both the local and the regional news, both clips are available online:

The Amsterdam news on AT5
Noord Holland News

Cycling in Amsterdam

For reasons of home logistics I start work very early these days. Cycling into work this morning around seven was very nice. Just a little chill in the air, lovely and dry, and hardly anybody around. It's lovely and quiet in the park that early in the morning, just a few people running, I heard a thrush singing and I could see the young storks standing on the nest. I don't think they will be there anymore this time next week. I love the park this time of the morning. And it is good cycling along the canal too, because there is precious little traffic.

Cycling in Amsterdam is not something simple. The rules, written and unwritten, are complex, and I can understand that the innocent tourist isn't aware of all of them. The cycle lanes seem very obvious to us, they are red, and they do have white bicycles painted on them, but sometimes they look a little like pavements, and if you don't have them back home you might think that you are supposed to walk there. You are not. Just as you are not supposed to cycle on the pavement.

Probably not all tourists know that ordinary traffic rules don't necessarily apply to cyclists here. For instance, it is customary for Amsterdam cyclists to ignore red traffic lights and just continue. It is not customary for cyclists to indicate where they are going, where they intend to turn a corner. Cyclists are in many cases allowed to enter a one-way street from the other direction, and even if that is not allowed they will. This may be confusing. I guess the rule is that you take the shortest way. These are just little things, and it does help to know.

I guess the best rule to remember is that cyclists are not expected to stick to the official rules, tourists are. Tourists on bicycles are expected to stick to the the unwritten rules for Amsterdam cyclists. I guess it is simple, really.

Harry

Like a great many other people all over the world I spent much of last week with Harry. I wanted to find out what was going to happen to him, whether he would be able to deal with Whatshisname, and whether he would live to tell the tale, so to speak. I was happy with the ending, it worked out alright, and it all made sense. I'm glad I got to read all of the book before reading the end of the story somewhere else. I'm glad that Harry never was too good to be true, and I'm glad that there are more shades of grey even towards the end. Things are not necessarily what they seem to be. I'll miss him.

Charlotte

Last Sunday I went to an exhibition of the work of Charlotte Salomon. I've seen her self-portrait so often, I knew the name and the face but I never really knew the story. I never realised she wasn't just a painter, and I didn't know the part her art played in her life, and how important it was to her.

She was born in Germany in 1917 as a Jewish girl, and had to flee the country in 1938. She went to her grandparents in France. Her grandmother committed suicide when the war broke out, and then she was told about the suicide of other family members, including her mother. She dealt with this by withdrawing into herself and by creating a series of works of art entitled Life? or Theatre? The series consists of over 800 gouaches. In 1943 she was deported to Auschwitz with her husband, just a few months after their wedding. She was killed on 10 October 1944 while she is four months pregnant. Her husband was killed on January 1 1944.

The art works are unusual and moving, they tell her story and recreate the people that were important in her life. Some look like very sophisticated cartoons, drawn in great detail, others are very simple drawings or pieces of text, and together they tell the story. She was very open and honest in her work, especially considering the time she lived in. The works on show at the museum at the moment are ones that were not included in her own final selection, she painted many more gouaches than she included in her own story. Standing there looking at the pictures it is hard to imagine that they were painted in the course of just a few years by a woman in her early twenties.

Most of the gouaches are available online at the Jewish Historical Museums website: Salomon at the museum

Summer in the City

I always cycle into work, and that means cycling in the city centre. That poses different challenges every season. In winter you need to be careful when it's been freezing especially in the park and on all the bridges.

Then in the summer, it's the tourists. In most countries people are not used to cyclists, so it's hard to know all the written and unwritten rules. And when it comes to cycling there are a lot of both here in Amsterdam. It seems hard for people who don't live here to understand cycle lanes, and to understand the fact that canals are not pavements but roads. And you get the tourists who explore the city on their rented red or yellow bikes. Or as someone called them the other day, "the yellow danger".

My favourite cartoonist, Maaike Hartjes, draws simple characters, which in can convey a lot of emotion and which she uses to create very recognizable situations. I very much like her stories on her relationship, and relationships in general, and all the things that she experiences in her everyday life. She is a great observer and she has a wonderful sense of humour. And she is a cyclist in Amsterdam. She know what that is like in the summer, and yes, this could be me...



1. Another green light!
2. The wind in my back and it is a lovely day...
3. Watch out!
4. Next time I'm simply going to run them over!!!!

Nynke

Last night it was time for a different kind of music again, Nynke Laverman appeared at the Concertgebouw. A different venue, not some big smoky hall with people standing around talking and holding a beer in their hands, but a sophisticated hall with some 1200 people sitting down very nicely. Audience behaviour wasn't quite as bad, though I still ended up among peopl who insisted on talking even while Nynke was singing, and who were checking their phones every once in a while. I really don't get that. But no smoking, at least, and a very comfortable seat.

I've seen Nynke a few times before. I first saw her when she played "Sielesalt", Salt of the Soul, a few years ago. I'm not sure why I went then, I'd heard about this singer singing Portuguese fado's in Frysian so when I read she would be appearing in Amsterdam I decided to go. The lyrics were actually translations of poems by a poet I admire called Slauerhoff, a poet of the sea, the poet of longing, put to music by Custódio Castelo, originally for Cristina Branco. The songs were put together by Nynke to create a very moving fairy tale. After Sielesalt she made "Maisfrou", Latin American music telling another story, creating another atmosphere.

Last night she didn't play either piece, but she gave a concert, singing songs from both and some other songs. I guess this gave her more room to play and she seemed to be enjoying herself. It's a wonderful place to perform in, I guess, with a great atmosphere and great history. I once saw Ravi Shankar play there, and later Cristina Branco. Nynke seemed to feel at home here, and she gave a good and varied concert.

The Concertgebouw is a little unusual because some of the seats are up on the stage, and that is where I was. You look into the audience and see the performer from the back for some of the time. I quite enjoyed sitting there though, I liked the perspective.

Fell Off His Bike, Man

Yes, he can do it too....

The Best

What could possibly taste better than fresh strawberries, on a bread roll, eaten out in the Dunes on a Monday afternoon?

Edward A. Wilson

Tomorrow would have been Edward Wilson's 135th birthday. He died before he turned 40 though, and he celebrated his last birthday way down south on the Antarctic continent. He died out there, in March of the following year with his Polar companions Captain Scott and Birdie Bowers on his way back from the Pole.

I first found out about Edward Wilson when I found a very good copy of his "Birds of the Antarctic" at the Dutch Arctic weekend. I had never heard his name before, I just saw the words "Antarctic Birds" so I opened the book. I instantly fell in love with the man's drawings, they are beautifully simple and accurate. He was always after truth as well as beauty, and that shows in the drawings. I especially like all the little sketches that weren't really finished.

He was an unusual man too. He worked many hours, both in England and when he was in Antarctica, and sometimes he would work standing up, just to make sure he wouldn't fall asleep. He was dedicated in everything he did. He went with Apsley Cherry-Gerrard on the Worst Journey in the World, to try and find the missing link between reptiles and birds in the eggs of the Emperor Penguins.

He was a man of his time, and he shot many of the animals he loved, though he was also one of the first naturalist artists to draw from life, rather than stick to dead animals. He was one of the first to start the move for Penguin conservation at a time when penguins were still killed to provide fuel.



He was a religious man, and it was religion that shaped his life. He held his own church services in the Crow's Nest while on board the Terra Nova. He was uncle Bill on board ship, the one the men turned to if they needed someone to trust. He was open and cheerful, had a great sense of humour, but was at the same time a very private man.

I like the man, because he is a man of contradictions. He loved the natural world, but he killed birds for scientific reasons. He was a religious man, a man with a great sense of humour, and also a man with quite a temper at times. I like the fact that he has his flaws, he wasn't a saint, though I believe he was a good man. And I like the fact that we share a birthday.

Library

The city has built a new Public Library, a huge building, almost right next to the Central Station, on the Oosterdokseiland which is being developed. I borrowed some books on the 6 June at the old library, but had to return them to the new one. So I guess I helped move some of the inventory.

I went to the new library today, and it is big. You can see that from the outside, and you keep that feeling once you get inside. It is light and open, and there are 6 floors. It all looks fresh and new, there are many places where you can sit down to read, many computers to use, and a lot of books. I like places with a lot of books.

From the restaurant up on the 7th floor you get a great view of the city, I could even see my office from up there, and you can see as far out as the Zuidas and the Arena. The restaurant is a franchise, I guess, it's big and fairly luxurious. It's a good place for a restaurant, with such a view.

I feel a little nostalgic for the old library though. Not quite so big, a little old and worn, but on the Prinsengracht, to my mind much more in the centre of the city. And there was a small café where you could buy a good coffee for very little money and just sit and read a newspaper.

I found the new library a little overwhelming, and I only went to see a small part of it. I'll go and see a little more next time. Looking at the little plan I took there are a lot of intriguing places to explore. So, to be continued.

Bird Names

Birds can have the most exotic and beautiful names, and some I'd love to see simply because of their names. I'd love to see a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker some time, or a California Quail, and what does a Hairy Woodpecker look like? Or a Bar-bellied Woodpecker? The Slender-billed Flufftail sounds beautiful, but I have no idea what it looks like. And what exactly is the difference between a Rufous-necked Foliage-gleaner, a Rufous-tailed Foliage-gleaner, and a Rufous-rumped Foliage-gleaner? What's a Pilotbird? Or a Pipipi?

I know what Noddys look like, and yes I'd love to see them. That means more sailing... Then there is that great bird, the Blue-footed Booby, which really is Blue-footed, it looks wonderful, as wonderful as its name, but I haven't had a chance to see it yet. There are so many different lapwings and plovers, again with the most fanciful names, and I know they generally look elegant and beautiful.

I know what an Inaccessible Island Rail looks like, I was very close to the place where it lives, but I am highly unlikely ever to get a chance to see it. The same is true for the Tristan Moorhen. They sound wonderful though. And I guess anything with a name containing Tristan, Nightingale, Inaccessible, Chatham, Gough, Kerguelen, Crozet sounds promising to me. I know where to find them, I've read about all these places, these remote islands, and I'd love to visit them all some time.



And I'm lucky, because I've already seem both the Flying and the Flightless Steamerduck. I've seen Avocets, some of the most beautiful birds I know, but I haven't seen the American Avocet yet. I've seen Black-legged Kittiwakes and heard them call their own name. I've seen the beautiful Adelie penguin at the place where it lives, and I have seen the mythological Wandering Albatross, the Sooty Albatross and that extraordinary Light-mantled Albatross. I've seen Wilson's Storm-Petrel, that tiny bird that lives on the roughest oceans of the world. I've seen White-crested Elaenias, Fire-eyed Diucons, even more beautifully described by the Dutch "Vuuroogmonjita". I've seen the Cape Bulbul, a lovely little bird, but I know there are many more Bulbuls out there. And I've seen the Thorn-tailed Rayadito, a small bird as beautiful as its name.



For some birds I know the Latin names, rather than the normal ones, like the Anhinga anhinga, commonly known as Anhinga (?), the Tadorna Tadorna, commonly known as the Common Shelduck, Nycticorax nycticorax, commonly known as the Black-crowned Night Heron (talk about a beautiful name), which I've seen on three continents.



There are nearly 10.000 different bird species in the world, and I've seen only a few of those. I'm not one of those birdwatchers who will chase species just to be able to add them to my list. There are some birds I would love to see though, because they intrigue me, because they look so beautiful on pictures I've seen or in documentaries, because they are part of literature or mythology, or simply because they have such a lovely name.

Then again, there are birds I can sit and watch over and over again. Seeing the first Godwits come back here in the spring, the first Swifts at the end of April, seeing Woodpeckers or Avocets, Stonechats or Wheatears will always make me happy. It's good to keep dreaming as well.

Khadak

I went to see a film about Mongolia the other day, called "Khadak". I had a feeling I might not be able to understand it fully, so I decided beforehand I wasn't going to try. It was a moving film, and it was beautifully filmed. I heard it described as visual poetry, and that is what it was. Some of the images made a great impression, like the way the film opens, a beautiful picture of a young woman counting. There are images of a tree on the plain, filmed in such a special way. You can feel the sadness of the film, the alienation, the depression of the city. I felt connected to the characters, even in such a strange environment.

A few years ago I was given a small pouch by someone who had just visited Mongolia, and in this film I saw that this has a special purpose. The men in the film shared a small flask, and that was kept in just such a pouch. Nice to know.

Reni Was Back

I went to see Reni Laine in the Melkweg last night. She shared the bill with Martin Gabriel and Ralph. It was good to see her and David again. She played another very lively set, playing songs from the American Baby album, and some new ones, which I enjoyed. I liked the new haircut too. She was easily the most interesting of the three acts that appeared on stage last night, and it was good to see her doing so well. She played "American Baby" especially for Paris Hilton....

It was a slightly unusual concert, really, a showcase for three acts, and the Dutch act, Ralph van Manen, appeared to have invited a lot of family and friends, which made for an unusual audience in the Melkweg. They were obviously not regulars. Reni had to make an effort to get people to come closer to the stage because most were a little shy. What I also noticed was that the Dutch audiences seem to get more rude all the time. Some people seemed to talk throughout the evening, even during the quiet songs. And then the mobile phones. You could see the little lights flashing throughout the evening, and people walking out to take the call. I just don't get that.

Little Men

Sometimes I wonder who that little man is, sitting in his office all day checking all these hundreds of thousands of websites for MacAfee, and who keeps telling me which sites are safe to visit, and which will annoy me with lots of pop-ups and messages I don't want. I like him. I think he probably has an office next to the other little man who keeps sending me updates very regularly. They must be pretty busy down there, I think they have a lot of customers to look after.

Nostalgia

My parents are trying to clear out their attic so I'm moving my old stuff out of there. It's a tiny attic so getting my boxes out is a challenge in itself, and then there is the question of what I will actually find in those boxes. To a great extent I know, but I don't know it all. My old dolls are all up there, some other toys, papers and old scrapbooks. Sorting through it all brings back a lot of good memories for me. Playing with those dolls with my friends for hours on end. Postcards I got from my dad when he was at work in another town and couldn't be there during the week. And postcards I got when I was in hospital for a week when I was about 11 years old. Lots of things I made when I was in school, like a small knitted snowman and a purse. And football memorabilia from way back when I was a staunch supporter of the Dutch national soccer team in 1974. Or rather when I supported a player called Johan Neeskens. Some of the things in the boxes I knew about, others I thought had vanished long ago, and some I haven't found yet.

I started out by sorting out my old Barbie dolls. I have quite a few, all vintage now, but they have been played with a lot, so they would not be considered collectible. I liked seeing them again though, because they brought back a lot of good memories, and that is the only thing that makes them really valuable for me. I played with these dolls for hours with my friends, and we lived whole imaginary lives, creating homes and other environments for the dolls to live in. I still have some of the old clothes, my mother knitted a lot of clothes for my dolls. So I still have lots of knitted dresses, capes, sweaters and trousers. It must have taken her a lot of time to make all of them, but they were greatly appreciated. Then there are the little shoes, coathangers, gloves and even lingerie. It's been good fun sorting it out, but then I guess I need to think of what to do with them. For now they will get a nice home in my attic.




I checked my old photo album and found a couple of pictures of me with the dolls. One of them tells me that I got a couple of dolls on my fifth birthday. And, by the way, I still have the pram too, it's still up in the attic.




And that I cherished them enough to hold them all with me for the next Christmas picture.

Bright Eyes Again

I got to see Bright Eyes here in Amsterdam last Wednesday night. They played at the Melkweg, a big venue, which seemed to be sold out. A big crowd in The Max. I've been listening to the latest album, Cassadaga, so much, I know all the songs, and I was very much looking forward to the concert. And I wasn't disappointed.

Conor and the band all wore white suits, a mixed band of men and women, a lot of people on stage, and a great variety of instruments, including cello, violin and flute.



I was way up at the top of the hall, so I sometimes had trouble seeing everything, but I could hear everything very well. And I had brought my binoculars, which helped. It all sounded very much like the album, which I liked in a way. though sometimes it is nice if a concert adds something to the album. Still, considering the arrangements of the albums, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound. I was amazed by the sound of Conor's voice, which managed to send shivers down my spine again, the way it also does when I listen to the albums. There is a haunting quality to his voice and his songs, and it can be hard to get them out of your mind. There seems to be a Bright Eyes song in mine most of the time these days.

Deaf

I'm deaf in one ear, and have been for as long as I can remember. I don't know if I was born deaf or whether I became deaf from the many ear infections I had as a child. The specialist doesn't agree with himself on that issue. He operated on my ear when I was ten, but couldn't solve the problem at the time. He said then that it was caused by scar tissue from the infections. He also told me to come back once I had grown up, he might be able to help me then. When I did, however, he denied ever having operated on me, he could find no scar, and he told me I'd been deaf since birth after a very short inspection. I was stunned and went for a second opinion. The other doctor couldn't determine the cause of my deafness, but did confirm that there wasn't really anything he could do.

For me being deaf has never been much of a problem. In fact, it was only discovered when I was about ten. I knew I had one ear that didn't work, I just never knew this was not the same for everyone. I thought everyone had one good and one bad ear. When I was at school my hearing was tested sometimes, but initially always by someone whispering in one corner of the room, and me being in another corner with one ear covered by my hand. Apparently not a very good testing method. When the testing method was changed and I was given headphones and had to listen to beeps coming from a little box, suddenly it turned out I was deaf in one ear. No surprise to me, I was just surprised other people had two ears to use.

I now know that my deafness can't be cured, and that is okay. I know that are disadvantages to this, but I've lived with those all my life. I need to be extra careful in traffic because very often I can hear traffic approaching, but I don't know from which direction. I can hear birds singing when I'm out walking, but again, I don't know if they are ahead of me or behind me. I don't know what stereo sounds like, and if I'm on the phone I can't hear what goes on anywhere else. At parties or in big groups I'm a little lost because there is too much noise for me to deal with. There are advantages too. If there is too much noise at night, and other people can't sleep, all I have to do is turn over on my good ear and I can't hear anything.

A couple of years ago I discovered that my deafness influenced my life and my development in more ways than I had realised. I had some problems with my shoulders and arms and had to have some physical therapy. The therapist discovered that I was a little crooked. Somehow we came to talk about my being deaf, and she then concluded that was a reason for my being crooked, I always turn my ear to the person talking to me! This is so simple, and nobody thought of it before. Now I know about this I can see myself doing it. If I walk on the "wrong" side of someone, that makes me very nervous, so I can be seen dancing around people to get to the right side so I can hear. And sometimes, if I cannot be on the right side of someone it happens I don't hear what is being said, so I don't reply, and that can be very rude. I try to tell people about being deaf, but I often forget, because it is so natural to me.

Being deaf can also give you a sense of being on the outside, of being shut out. I often have to make an extra effort to hear and it doesn't always work. If I have a meeting for work I like to make sure I get there on time so I can choose a place to sit where I can hear all people present. I don't even think about it anymore, it just comes naturally.

Opening Hours

I had dinner at a Malaysian restaurant yesterday. Why would a restaurant have such opening hours?

Storks

I have storks breeding in my backyard now. I don't know if they have done that before, not in recent years anyway, but they seem to be successful this year. There actually are three young in the nest and they seem pretty big now. They will probably fledge soon. I know there are quite a few storks breeding here again now, but it is very nice to have these big birds breeding right in the middle of the city.

I sat and watched them for a while yesterday afternoon, and seemed to have ended up in a spot where some homeless people hang out. There was one man sitting on a bench to my right, who probably has some kind of disorder. He was talking to himself, gesticulating violently, but not doing any harm. On the bench to my left were three or four men, drinking beers and talking about the storks and the other birds. At some point one of the men put his beer on the bench and turned the other way. Just at that moment the man from the bench to my right walked over, took the beer, and walked back again, looking very innocent. After that the men on my left got into a heated argument about disappearing cans of beer. It was an interesting debate, because one of the men seemed into psychology and he was telling the others how to let go and relax. Then a woman turned up to join the man, and later a black man joined them. These two then got into an argument about money lent and not returned. There was a lot going on in the space of about an hour, but it never felt uncomfortable somehow. We all just sat there, all minding our own business, while a lot of people walked past to have a look at the storks on their nest.

Close to the nest you also get a good chance to see Gray Herons trying to catch a meal. They are much more common here maybe, but still very beautiful. City birds, that you will sometimes find in the middle of the road. Schoffies.



For some really nice pictures of the storks, check:
LEXsample

Fell Off the Bike, Man

I managed to fall off my bike again this morning. I'm getting good at this. I'm still not sure what happened because technically I wasn't even on my bike. I had stopped, coming down off the skinny bridge, to give way to another cyclist, who then stopped to give way to me, and before I knew it I had fallen sideways and hit a little post on the side of the bridge. I was lucky it was there really, or I would have hit the ground. Now it was just my bike hitting the ground. My bike did hit my left shin bone, just on the spot where the ship's ladder hit me last January.

I still have my cold, and almost no voice, I think my brain, my eyesight and my coordination have left with my voice. Things, like doors, keep walking into me. I'm just an easy target at the moment. I guess.

I guess the other cyclist was lucky this morning that I still have no voice, I might have been less than nice. But just now I'm not even sure who is supposed to give way there, no other cyclist has ever stopped there for me. So I might have said something to someone who was actually doing it right and who was being nice.

On my way home this afternoon I had a good look round the crossing there, and yes, I do have the right of way there. Good to know.

Keeping Still

I am minus my voice at the moment. I have a cold, and my capacity to speak is almost zero. Some might say that is nice and peaceful, but to me it is just pretty frustrating. When I try to have a conversation on the phone I have to limit myself to three minutes, then my voice gives in. Not very friendly, but I can't help it. The most frustrating thing is not being able to sing, I don't usually realise how much I sing. Last night I sat and listened to Donny Osmond in concert in Wales, and he sang all my favourites and I couldn't sing along. And again tonight at the Concert for Diana he turned up again and sang Joseph and I had to keep still. It's just not fair.