Monday, October 29, 2007

Teaching

Once or twice a year I teach a short course on Dutch urban planning legislation. Not the easiest of subjects generally. A lot of rules and regulations, and it seems to get more complicated every year. Today was my turn to teach again, and I had to present the basic principles in about three hours to a class of 14 people. The people taking part are all in some way involved in urban planning, some know a lot already, and some know next to nothing. Every time I teach this course it is different. Sometimes I have just four or five people and I get into detailed discussions on various specific aspects, that people have come across in the course of their work and about which they already know a lot.

Today I had a big group consisting mainly of people who are just starting out, and I spent most of the morning explaining the basics, several times. The questions kept coming from all over the place, and they were not always the kind of questions you might expect. By the end I was completely worn out.....

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Sunday and Small Corners

Some Sundays you just don't get round to doing much of anything. You write some emails, you tidy up all the stuff that has been collecting in different places in your room over the week, you listen to the radio. Jeremy Hardy was comedy controller on BBC7 today, and he played the Hancock episode about Hancock and his companions being bored stiff on a Sunday afternoon. There is some great comedy around. I very much like Jeremy Hardy anyway, and I like his choice of comedy. And Hancock did make some great programs, not without the help of Galton and Simpson, of course. But I digress.

In the end I went for a long walk to the other side of town, to Diemen, because that was where I had to be this evening. The weather was lovely, slightly chilly autumn weather. Along the way I took pictures of houses I really like, details of statues. I would normally be on a bike covering this distance, but walking all the way you see so much more. A tiny park next to a bridge with a row of statues of children, details in the architecture of certain buildings, a tree growing almost into a house. This isn't the centre of town, the part usually visted by tourists, but just outside. A good place for experimenting with a new camera. There is some very nice variety in architecture, and often when I cycle here I look at these houses. Not bad at all.





Saturday, October 27, 2007

Alan Coren

Long ago, in a previous life, I was a great fan of the News Quiz. I could listen to various episodes over and over again. This was the time of Richard Ingrams, Alan Coren and Ian Hislop. I loved the Way Alan Coren could just take off and tell one his wonderful stories. He had a great sense of humour, and I would laugh out loud regularly. I've rediscovered the programme, some new players, still a great many laughs, but no Alan Coren.

Last week Alan Coren died, and his News Quiz colleagues paid tribute to him this weekend. A lot of Coren stories could be heard again, and it made me realize just how funny he could be, and just how unique his way of telling a story was. He just seemed to be taking off without going anywhere in particular, but at the same time he always seemed to end up exactly where he wanted to be. And it still had me laugh out loud. So he will be missed by me too.

Monday, October 22, 2007

A Chill in the Air

Well, this morning it was time for gloves and a scarf again. They say temperatures went below zero last night. And the maximum for today should be about seven. So I guess we're heading for winter again...

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Luka in Paradise

Well, I went to see Luka again, this time in Paradiso in Amsterdam. Known locally as the temple of pop. It was once a church, and that is still very obvious when you're inside. The stage set as always, guitars, flowers, Luka seated again. The first half of the concert he used the Spanish guitar, the second half it was Rudy's turn.

He played a lot of new songs, some written about a year ago, some written during his recent German tour. And he sang a lot of old favourites, some unexpectedly. The second song of the evening was one of my favourites, about the uprising in Tibet, called "As I Waved Goodbye". I first heard this song shortly after it was written, when I first saw Luka in concert in Utrecht. At the time he still had the sruti box for accompaniment, which made it special. Then came the version on the album "Between the Mountain and the Moon", and now the accompaniment is on the guitar. He played a lively version yesterday, which I liked very much. And a beautiful "City of Chicago", a hard subject to sing about but it just is such a beautiful song. And good to know that both Christy and Luka sing that one.

He played a lot of old favourites. I was happy to hear "Exploring the Blue", still one of the most beautiful songs he's written. Two surprises were "Chiara" and "The Fertile Rock". He mentioned not having done "The Fertile Rock" for a while, which I knew, so I was surprised to hear him play that one. And "Chiara" is an old favourite, for the name, for the story behind it, for the lyrics and the passion.

He also did the songs that will always make me happy, the ones that make it hard for you to stay in your seat. One is "You Couldn't Have Come at at Better Time", the other one "Perfect Groove". He ended this one the way he ended the concert earlier in the year in the Amstelkerk with "Wave Up to the Shore", no accompaniment and no amplification. A lovely way to end a concert in a, former, church.

For every favourite I heard there was one missing, but that is simply because there are so many songs that I love. I can understand why there was no "Delirious", I would have loved to hear "Black is the Colour". The elusive one for me is "Don't Be Afraid of the Light That Shines Within You", but that one I certainly didn't really expect. It was good to see him again.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

The London Stage



Alex Jennings is appearing at the National Theatre at the moment, playing the lead in "Present Laughter", Garry Essendine. He is brilliant, of course. The play was written by Noel Coward and is a sophisticated comedy. The reviews are mixed, about the play, but the critics agree with my opinion of Alex's performance. His timing is perfect, he's very funny and great for the part. He worked very well with Sarah Woodward, playing Monica, his secretary. Her dry, understated comments worked very well.



I went to see hello to Alex after the performance, but my timing wasn't quite right. Falling down the stairs meant that Alex had hurt his foot and had to limp to his taxi. I didn't want to take up any of his time, but he came over to talk to me, and he was very nice.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Wilson in Cambridge



Edward Wilson was a student in Cambridge in the 1890s, he was at Gonville and Caius college. So when I went to Cambridge I had to go and see where he lived. The entrance to the college isn't as obvious as that to some of the others, and that says a little about the college. It seems a little smaller, and certainly more intimate... I liked the atmosphere in the courts very much, the intimacy and the trees and the flowers.

I knew Wilson had a room over the gate, I just couldn't remember which gate. or rather I didn't really know there was more than one. When I went to ask at the Porter's Lodge they couldn't really help me, but one of the porters said he would try to find out while I wandered round the college. I walked through the second gate to visit the chapel. That turned out to be small and intimate as well. Knowing about his strong faith I am convinced that Wilson must have spent much time here as well.



Walking back from the chapel I could see the porter coming towards me. He'd been checking his history of the college for Edward Wilson and had found his name, but not which room he'd been in. As I was on my way to the Scott Polar Research Institute I promised to check out where the rooms were. I did, and found the reference in Wilson's biography "Cheltenham in Antarctica".

Later in the afternoon I went back to the college to talk to the porter again, and as I walked into the porter's lodge he was very happy to tell me he'd found out exactly which rooms were Wilson's by talking to the man who wrote a book on the history of Caius, professor Christopher Brooke! We had come up with the same information! Wilson lived over the Gate of Virtue, right in the centre of the college, next to the Chapel.



Wilson made a drawing of the Gate from the other side:



Then the porter really surprised me by asking me if I wanted to have a look at the rooms.... He got on the phone to the present occupant, and she agreed to let me see the rooms. So I went up there, along a very old spiralling staircase, and was admitted to the rooms. There is an inscription over the fireplace, stating that Edward Wilson lived there from 1892 to 1895. The fellow who now lives there also let me climb up to the roof to enjoy the view from the top of the gate. A very lovely private balcony. I had only expected to be able to see the rooms from the outside, and to be given the chance to have a proper look at them was very special. I am very grateful to the friendly people at Gonville and Caius College.

I didn't have my camera with me, so I couldn't take a picture, but I did find this one of the room at the time when Wilson lived here:

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Falling in Love


I sort of fell in love with Cambridge when I was there. It is a beautiful city, with a lot of different environments. The areas around the centre have their terraced houses, the centre has its shopping streets and colleges, and there are tourists and students everywhere.



One of the things that really struck me were the bicycles everywhere. Almost as many as we have here, but mainly of a different kind. More helmets, nowhere to place your bag. And they really are all over the place. Cyclists in Amsterdam may create chaos, it's a different kind of chaos in Cambridge. Here cyclists have their own lanes, and very few use pavements or footpaths, but that is different in Cambridge, bicycles are everywhere. At some point I felt the way some tourists must feel in Amsterdam, you feel like you're always in the way of a cyclist. And they come from the wrong side too...



It's the colleges that provide a kind of peace and quiet within the city. The green, wide open space at King's COllege, the intimacy at Gonville and Caius, the silence within Magdalen early in the morning. Most of the colleges have their own chapel, really good places for a little peace. I ended up attending evensong at the King's College Chapel, beautifully sung and very restful.



There are a lot of interesting small restaurants as well, and you don't end up going to all the usual places. Some are to a great extent aimed at tourists, but it doesn't really feel that way. Not a bad place for a vegetarian.



And then there is the range of museums. Art at the huge Fitzwilliam, fossils at the Sedgwick, Polar history at the Scott Polar Research Institute, and there were a lot more I simply didn't have time for. This is the kind of city where three days isn't really enough and you wish you had a lot more time to take things in. I guess I have a few reasons for going back.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Seabirds?

I was out on a boat to see the seabirds. I've had to revise the definition of seabirds though, as the ship was visited by a lot of tiny seabirds. I had one climbing up my trousers, and one landing on my wrist just as I had my arm close to my face to take a picture of other birds just a little further away. My telelens wasn't much use really for much of the time. Though I did get a few nice pictures. Of the Goldcrests...