The Cannes Film Festival: May 20 The Delta Party Atop Californie Hill

Party for Delta

Determined to stay together tonight after last's night's mix up, Julie, Randi, Jeremy and I took a cab to the station--cab fare is what the driver says-7 eruos to get home from the same location/same traffic 14 at night pourquoi?

We arrived to find out that we weren't at the correct spot we stopped for coffee and then found out Susan, Melinda were on the shuttle someplace and it was more scurrying around Cannes. This time it was easy and we found the shuttle boarded. The driver took off in the direction of our villa. Jeremy said, "If it's the same size as ours we could have stayed home. well, it wasn't. It was at the top of Californie Hill and we could see the Croisette lit up-put in perspective

I never saw the house. The grounds were covered with tents, dance floor-scary-violin rock or 80's dance music

Now that my camera is kaput-the official diagnosis from the guy at FNAC I'll have to wait til pics are sent to me to show you what it was like

Later we went back to the American Hotel and saw the boys briefly. Josh and Sean look so sleepy and worn. Antonio looks so calm, I thinking he was temporarily removed from his body.

The Cannes Film Festival: May 19 :The Slience of Lorna Julie and I stroll the Red Carpet

The Cannes Film Festival: May 18thThe Screening of After School

Sunday morning in time for a 2PM screening, Marta and Ezra returned from LA and Susan and Randi arrived. With little or no sleep, Marta was prepared to step up and help in any way she could conceive of.
Julie had arrived the night before and her bag had been lost. She was on the phone having hr bags sent to Josh's hotel (yes, it was the Hotel California and the song is on their answering machine)
There was a taxi problem in Cannes and a location problem with the house-many cabbies had difficulty finding it even withe their tom toms.

After much ado, we sent the kids aka Jeremy and Addison to met the boys aka Josh, Tony and Sean an hour late.

Now there were five women dressing for the event. Susan said she'd drive so we could skip the cab problem and just deal with the traffic. We had no idea where we were going. Marta had been to the Palais before we left so she had an inkling. The traffic was so appalling and there was no parking that we could find that Susan let us out of the car so we could see our boys and take photos on the red carpet with them.

The Cannes Film Festival: May15-17th 5 Boulovard des Pins Preparing the house

Preparing the House May 15

Julie and I at the screening of The Silence of Lorna

Red carpet Silence of Lorna

Arriving 5 Boulovard des Pins on the Californie Hill in Cannes for the 2008 Festival

Ah, the joy of carry-on-- no wait after the plane lands and of course, I have my clothes. I made my way to information to get some. I didn't have a phone yet and most of the contact numbers were in my computer.
I saw two men standing near a cab and i asked if the cab was free. After some conversation, we determined that we were neighbors and they offered to take me there. They had to leave me in the driveway since Marta, Addison, Jeremy and Ezra were at the screening of Blindness. I turned on my laptop and opened Skype so I could call Marta. When she arrived to open the gate, this is what I saw.

Preparing the House May 15

It turned out that Ezra was cast as the love interest for David Ducovny's daughter in HBO's Californication. Marta had asked me if I would take responsibility of Jeremy and Addison so she could go to LA with Ezra. Even though I had never met either of the actors and I had seen their audition tapes--Jeremy's character is a sociopath and Addison's character uses bad judgment, I agreed.

The three of us would be together for three days before the rest of our housemates would arrive and we would prepare the house for their arrival. There were gifts and prizes and time off for good behavior. We learned where everything was in the house, Jeremy was in charge of everything electronic, of the pool and its unique alarm system that went off when someone dove into the pool if the code wasn't typed in and it reset if no one swam for 8 minutes. he was the architect of the fridge and the pantry and in charge of garbage disposal. he could elicit help from anyone staying at the house or visiting for one of our dinner parties. Addison was in charge of menu planning, shopping lists, labeling kitchen cabinets, recycling locations etc.

We shopped in the local supermarket with a list so that we could eat as often as possible in the house to cut down on our expenses. Jeremy's rule of thumb when I asked what he ate, he said, I eat what Josh eats. Addison and I bought what we deemed girl food-artichokes, olives, beans, tomatoes-things Jeremy and Josh don't eat and boy food-a few frozen pizzas, hot dogs and salami (turned out to be bright red and was only tasted by one brave soul)

when the owner's son came over to fix the wireless and he asked if we needed a cater for a dinner party of 10, I said, "You're looking at us."

Friday night after we had visited the market and bought fresh spices, dried fruit, veggies, fruit, cheese, nuts, flowers and then went to Monoprix 1Euro90 (like out 99 cents store) we had gift bags for the ladies who would be joining us for the rest of the week and fixings for a sumptuous dinner.

The following morning. Addison and Jeremy were relieved of many of their duties because the press releases began.

Party for Delta

determined to stay together tonight after last's night's mix up, Julie, Randi, Jeremy and i took a cab to the station--cab fare is what the driver says-7eruos to get home from the same location/same traffic 14 at night pourquoi?

We arrived to find out that we weren't at the correct spot we stopped for coffee and then found out Susan, Melinda were on the shuttle someplace and it was more scurrying around cannes. This time it was easy and we found the shuttle boarded. The driver took off in the direction of our villa. jeremy said, "If it's the same size as ours we could have stayed home. well, it wasn't. It was at the top of Californie Hill and we could see the Croisette lit up-put in perspective

I never saw the house. The grounds were covered with tents, dance floor-scary-violin rock or 80's dance music

Now that my camera is kaput-the official diagnosis from the guy at Fnac I'll have to wait til pics are sent to me to show you what it was like

Later we went back to the American Hotel and saw the boys briefly. Josh and Sean look so sleepy and worn. Antonio looks

Goodbye Amsterdam

I've been obsessed with bicycles, traffic patterns, teeny cars, canals. Consequently I've taken many shots of the people on the go in Amsterdam--bike riders-the young, the very old (at least 75) men in suits, texting as they ride, women in platform shoes or tailored suits chatting on their phones, parents with children sitting on handle-bar seats (a small seat similar to the ones we used to take to restaurants to attach to the table when kids were small), back seats, or in wagons. My absolute favorite bike accessory is the baby windshield that attaches to the handle bars to protect the baby .
There are scooters, teeny cars, trolleys. I didn't see one skate boards. a few roller bladers dotted the park on Sunday more for recreation than for transportation. Gas is $12.00 a gallon!
I was amazed that not one bicyclists wore a helmet--they had their own lane (with a small barrier and cut offs and their own traffic lights that shine a green or red light through a bicyclist-they have no yellow lights. they're a bit more black and white than we are when it comes to traffic control. if the light governing you is red, you press a button and it will turn green. Turning left or even right is an art form.

The Chicken or the Egg-No Problem

Exit Speed

http://www.exitspeed.net/

A movie Julie made last spring is going to market at Cannes. You can see the trailer at the above website.

Jose's work

This will be a seven foot photo mural. Jose worked with photo shop to combine 5 pics done by another photographer's. in order to create the perspective, he added his brother in the center and added some countryside in the distance.

More to follow

Amsterdam feels like home

A slide show of the last three days
Today was Pentecostal Monday. So I've been in Holland 8 days and they've had three holidays. Everything was closed--grocery stores, offices, etc. it is the day that the holy spirit came done with tongues on its head to reveal the resurrection to the apostles in the languages of the world so that they could go out into the world and spread the story of Jesus. The Dutch were mainly Protestant-the Dutch Reform Church in Brooklyn on Flatbush Avenue followed the tenets of Luther and embodied the Protestant work ethic. A gentleman explained to me that during the 80 Years War (maybe the 1600?) many Catholics ended up in Southern Holland. The Dutch have always been a tolerant people and somehow the celebration of Pentecostal Monday worked its way into the fabric of the Dutch Reformed Protestants and became a national holiday.

I decided to celebrate the resurrection with a sacrocranial aroma therapy massage. This is my second treatment from Yogatha, an amazing yoga teacher and healer who left Italy when she fell in love with a Dutch man and settled here. In the short time I have known her, she has helped me with my practice of yoga and with relaxation. her studio is around the corner from Steven's apartment.

All the traffic pictures in the slide show are from her corner.

When I left her studio, I wandered into a new nail salon still under construction. Certainly before I leave for Cannes, I should indulge in a manicure/pedicure. A handsome, young Asian man greeted me. Two men were working on the facade of the building-one turned out to be his father. The quiet woman inside was his mother. He showed me his state-of-the-art pedicure chair and proceeded to tell me how he would transform my feet. We chatted a bit more and struck a deal for tomorrow morning. His mom is Vietnamese--his dad Chinese. His mom left Vietnam after the war and went to Hong Kong where she met his father. They fell in love and came to Amsterdam to raise their family. I can't wait to have my nails done and hear some more of the story.

I came home for lunch since I was only around the corner. I made a salad with avocado, mango, pepper, walnuts, apples. I took my lemonade, some bread and cheese and some corriander olives and went to the park for a picnic. I decided to have my picnic in the shade so I went up to the terrace of the film museum's cafe. The service isn't very good in most places. Maybe there's no incentive to hurry up and get to the next customer since tipping is very hit or miss. At the cafe, it's best to stand in line and get your own coffee then find a seat. Your table has a number and a waiter can bring that coffee to you, but it takes forever. I have bussed my own table there on more than one occassion. Today the only seat in the shade at an occupied table. I asked if I could sit and the guy looked up and said yes. I logged onto my computer and began to work. Before long, we were talking and some three hours later when I left to meet Steven for the movies, we had covered global warming, the joys of travel, politics in America, Holland, love, meditation, music. He showed me his videos on Youtube-he's a musician who plays the digito
I showed him Josh's videos and Julie's imdb page which posts RestStop2-now out on dvd. The girl can scream. I'm going to order it later.
Steven and I went to see Navario a Luis Bunuel film that won in Cannes in 1959. I have to admit before I got here and read about the Bunuel retrospective, I had only seen his later films-Belle Jour, etc I didn't even know he was Spanish. His ironic element of comedy find a way into this unrelenting Jesus story--the film is quite amazing.

After the movie, Steven and I walked over to Leidensplein-a canal away from where we are and had dinner at the Palladin-a very elegant restaurant with wonderful food and service. I do like service-excellent service. I had a traditional Dutch meal-white asparagus, smoked salmon and a hard boiled egg with a rich dressing on the side. Coffee ver krig which means wrong coffee--coffee with milk since the Dutch drink it black.

We talked about many things and finally focused on articles of impeachment for bush and prsecution of some nature for his cronies. Hey the world court-war crimes, class action. When we got home, Steven said we should call Nancy Pelosi's office. He called DC but it was after 5 so he was undaunted. he called her California office. The link below is a letter he wrote the following morning and posted on his website mostlyoped. It's a good read.

Pelosi's Choice and Legacy : ----By Steven P. Delco, May 13, 2008

A weekend in Amsterdam

After a fun-filled week traipsing around town, I dedicated the weekend to some R&R. Before I left I downloaded some Sean Corn yoga DVDs onto my laptop so I started the day with one of her sessions, made a healthy breakfast, drank lots of the lemonade-cayenne pepper concoction, listened to Ann Lamott's book, Blue on my iPod. No need to rush, I've walked all over the city more than once.

Steven and I went marketing. We walked to the Arab market for vegetables, a fan. There really isn't any air conditioners. I tried to get taps on my new shoes, but found they only use metal taps here so I'd have to put a new sole on first--oh well. I'll have to wait til I get back to NYC to visit Toscana's and take care of my shoes. At home I replace the taps every six months and the rest of the shoe is fine.

We were really in search of a clear shower curtain--something simply. We searched and searched and found garish heavy vinyl polka dot numbers. No Bed, Bath and Beyond here. I emailed Bed,Bath and Beyond only to find out that the shipping would be prohibitive.

We stopped for coffee which comes in cups the size of cappuccino cups. Each cup is made individually in an expresso-like machine. Heavy cream comes on the side if you like milk. They use an espresso machine that has a coffee. There are no free refills.

With our coffee, our waitress gave us a little abragodo-a tiny creamy custard topped with fresh whip cream that served in a teeny parfait dish the size of thimble. Our waitress told us that this tiny dessert was served in every one's home when she was growing up. We bought some fig-walnut jam to take home with us.

In the evening we met some of Steven's friends at the Prik--a cafe/bar for gay men. I met his friends Ken, a handsome American expat and Vlad, a Russian expat dancer who own several bed and breakfasts. They ordered the newest iteration of a Mojito-lime and some white liquor they swore wasn't rum and rose procecca. Vlad talked about Madonna's upcoming tour and the outrageous ticket prices-$200 for floor seats. I didn't tell him that Frank paid more than that when he got those tickets for Claudia and me. Kevin and Sonny joined us. They also own a a bed and breakfast in Amsterdam. They've been together since college. They took a semester abroad in Greece in 1973 and never went back to the states to live. They lived in Greece for 19 years. Later Steven and I went to dinner at Top Thai with Sonny and Kevin when Ken and Vlad had to go back to welcome their guests.

So sorry I didn't take any pictures.

Sunday morning started with the New York Times

Happy Mothers' Day

http://www.artgallery.lu/digitalart/women_in_art.html
Marta, a friend from Teo sent this as a tribute to women through the ages

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day
And i thought hallmark invented it!

Flying Elvis Video part of Eyes Wide Shut

Give peace a chance

1953 a vintage store

It's all about comfort

Ways to pass the time


Looking into the Birkenstock window and seeing the world

The Parking Lot in Front of the Stock Exchange

This is the BeurB, the stock exchange of Amsterdam- if you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the ticker tape is running across the top of the middle window. At then end of the day, men in suits and women in wildly inappropriate shoes ride home from their day at the office, talking and texting on their phones. Their bikes are practical because after all, they park on the street. There's a pedestrian lane, a bike lane, a trolley lane and a car lane with traffic signals for all.


Click the pic to check out the bike rider in his suit, texting.

Observations

Keep your eye on the hook.

The man is tying a bag of cement to the pulley so that it can be hoisted up.

It's because of narrow staircases like this that people use the pulley system to move in and out of apartments, renovate and so on--no elevators




This is a shopping mall

a monument at the Dam Square where people paid their respect on Monday for Liberation Day

A Walk in Vondel Park

Just out the door and across the street is an entrance to Vondel Park and the Film Museum. Vertigo, the musuem's cafe is open until midnight. People are still riding their bikes through the park at that time. These bikes are mostly beat up English racers or Schwin-like bikes from my childhood that are rigged up to transport all of your needs. Men in suits, women in platform shoes, small children in seats mounted on the handbars, large saddle bags draped over the back wheels. People talk and text as they ride. Alas, there is no cup holder--at least that I've observed so far.



Bike riders in Vondel Park





















I've been looking for the things to do in addition to taking in the sights and have found some places to practice yoga. Right on the edge of the park (on the 5th Avenue side where all the swanky stores are) is de Roos--a New Age Center that has 10 yoga classes a day, astrologists, massage therapists and so on. I'm off this morning to sample some yoga and an organic breakfast.

Last night I went to a yoga class around the corner from Steven's. Yogatha teaches in a studio that holds six that is in her apartment. She asked the others in the class if it would be all right to teach in English. In an hour and a half, we did about eight poses. Her focus was breathing through the spine (or the chakras) The intention of my breath and not my flexibility moved me through the series, allowing me to open up.

I went to the Bible Museum today. I've always been fascinated by comparative religion--our need for a supreme being or beings that gives some credence to our existaence and our need to belong to something that sets us apart from others. The museum was created by Reverend Schouten in 1860 He was wanted to give historic weight to Bible stories. There are archaeological finds from Egypt, a model of of King Solomon's Temple and a bible collection that dates back to 1453. there are this lovely aroma rooms where you can lift the lids on jars and smell the essence fragrance and read the reference to it in the bible.
The current exhibit about religious diversity in Amsterdam is a photo-narrative profiling 10 teenagers. They shared their connection to their faith-Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhist, Hindus. Photos of celebrations, charitable work, etc for each young person stretetched out along a wall create a mural/collage/mosaic of the tapestry that is Amsterdam.

Later that day, when I was rambling around, I stumbled on the Buddhist Temple that was described at the museum. I haven't visited and churches or temples yet, but I climbed the steps and lit a candle.

Drinks at the American Hotel

Here we are solving all the world's problems over chardonnay. Dimintri is a friend of Steven's from Bulgaria who settled in Amsterdam several years ago. This beautiful art deco hotel offers an ideal ambiance for intimate discussion.
A word about service--waiters don't seem very interested the guests. Tipping isn't a customary practice. When we flagged the waiter down to order another drink, he told us that it was last call and we had to be out in a half an hour--did we think we could drink fast enough?
I asked another waitress at the Stedjhil Museum about tipping. She told me that some people tip, but not like Americans--everything is so expensive that people don't have money for tips or she added maybe what people say about the Dutch is true (she was Dutch) and that they are cheap. Ah, I didn't think about the idea of Dutch treat

Arriving in Amsterdam

Rebunging my belongings once I was off the plane was exhilarating because I knew I would breeze through customs and emerge a free woman--no waiting for luggage or worries of bags gone AWOL. I couldn't find Steven. I didn't have his cell phone number written down. I walked around a bit then sat at a coffee bar to wait. After 40 minutes I took out my computer, logged on to the airport wifi and sent him an email hoping he had a blackberry. No go. I checked his email and found a cell number for him. By the time I found a phone about an hour had passed. i called him and he was on the subway on his way back to Central. He was at the airport at Arrival Area 2. We both had looked around and had missed each other. It's a ten minute ride so he hopped on the metro and came back for me.

A subway and a 10 minute trolley ride took us to his place-- a bright 2 bedroom apartment across the street from Vondel Park-- 10 foot windows, SW exposure keeps the apt light filled. the sun doesn't set until 9PM here.

After a little regrouping, unpacking and snacking on delicious bread and Gouda, we left for a neighborhood tour.

Clutching my carry-on

I approached organizing for this trip the way I have approached developing a unit of study or a piece of writing. Each day I worked on my lists, sorting through my belongings, calling my fashion consultants, Margie, Jeanne, Thais and Leslie, playing dress up at Susan's, shopping for the necessary missing pieces.
Josh had suggested "story boarding" my outfits. I'll just say I stopped short of that. Margie buzzed my hair and I packed my wigs for a bit more versatility. I bought straps for my suitcase to cinch its bulging waist and bungie cords to secure my backpack to the suitcase. I filled a fannypack with my ipod, phone, tiny wallet and a passport holder with a note from my doctor. I layered my clothing. Really layered my clothing.

When I arrived at JFK, a young woman helped me at Aer Lingus' self check-in and suggested I check my bag because it looked too heavy. I told her I couldn't and she let me go. Thank god, I put all my liquids in plastic bags, but I didn't read the information carefully-2 quart-sized baggies-one for drugs and the other for products. Let's just say I had a few gallons of product and I had bought the bottles at Bed Bath and Beyond that you can fill up yourself. Well, the federal government wants officially labeled bottles so those were confiscated.

After a lecture and a sample of what my bags should look like in the future-the security woman gave me two bags and put some of my things in them. After inspection, she returned all but two of my items to me. She wasn't smiling when she looked at a half used tube of hand cream that had been 4 ounces and I said-"Can't be more than two ounces now." She pushed it back in the bag and said "That's not how it works." I was a nervous wreck, ready for a debate, but decided that smiling, nodding and thanking her for her understanding was the better route.

I was really anxious; I could feel a pounding in my chest. Once through security, I had to repack my bags. I sat down at the gate and felt the eyes of some people near me on my bags. Clearly I had more than most people around me--much more and now I was in bag-lady mode rearranging all my things and sweating so I was removing my fleece, my shrug, my sweater until I comfortable in two tank tops.

Sandy had given me this great backpack with wheels that I'm using as my pocketbook. It's heavy as hell and I've draped my raincoat over my shoulder with an air of casualness in order to camouflage the size of it as I drag my wheelie behind me to board the plane.

My doctor has given me a note indicating that I needed the bulkhead seat and the booking agent at Aer Lingus promised me that as of the booking date there were no babies seated the with me.
When I boarded the plane, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had all four seats to myself. All my gear--luggage, raincoat, boots went up above.

I had to change planes in Dublin so once again I gathered up all my things and bungied them together. I dragged my belongings through passport control and round what seemed to be an endless circle until--guess what--I had to go through security again. I actually used 10 plastic bins for clothing I had to remove, plastic bags I had to take out, laptop, boots--no lectures in Dublin--just a big mess to reamass. Once again I was repacking. This time when I got on the plane the flight attendant eyed my bags and said I'd have to check one. I told her about my medication and that I would have to look through my bags. I had the first seat on the plane. I stowed my wheelie overhead and tried to stow my backpack under my seat but flight attendant said that space was for the person behind me. So while others boarded I stowed my backpack in the over head compartment and went back to my seat. Mission accomplished!

Day Two and a half

I've been planning and planning with friends and family--guidance and playing, borrowing evening bags, getting insight into the nuances of carry on, the truth about the weather in Amsterdam, and health concerns.
Did you know you're allowed to carry on an umbrella, food and reading material in addition to your carry ons? Does 100ml=3 ozs? Contact lens solution comes in 4 ounce containers-of which I have three-Back to CVS for the airlines size. So much to consider.
In my search, I have found many things that had gone missing--a skirt I bought in LA in September and never saw until yesterday, some errant sunglasses. Still MIA, my most recent glasses-the ones with the best correction.

Heads up

I decided to write my way through the next month. A little mental gymnastics to start the day now that I actually exercise every day. Why not? It's a rainy April Monday and I don't have to alternate-side my car. I'm finishing my packing, correspondence with insurance companies, hospitals, the MMRF, New York City Department of Finance, Citibank so I have time or the need for some diversion.

I will be taking my laptop to Amsterdam and Cannes with me so I'll be in touch. I'm still working on Skype and will have a number once I figure it out.
I'm leaving May 3rd and will be staying with my dear friend Steven in Amsterdam. Jessica, Joanne and Faygie had to cancel for health reasons, but you all know me, it will be fine.

I spent 10 days in Amsterdam nearly 40 years ago when Patty and I backpacked through Europe. We hitched from Paris to Florence. Along the way we met a Dutch girl named Maritza. When we arrived in a pensionne in Florence, she scooped out the Noxema from the blue jar and unwrapped a bar of hash. She said this would cover her traveling expenses. I have to say I was running a fever and didn't sample her wares. However when we parted company, she gave us the key to her sister's apartment in Amsterdam. Boy, those were the days. Patty and I stopped in Paris, stayed at a little hotel where the owners nursed me back to health. An old doctor made a house call and told me my blood pressure was so low I should be dead. At least that's how I translated it. He gave me some powdered medicine which I took three times a day. By the time I got to Amsterdam, I was in the bathroom for the entire day, doing what I hadn't done once in three weeks. Imagine I forgot all about it. Boy can I hold things in. You think it's related to denial?

So we got to live in Amsterdam, shop in the market, cook our meals. We even bought fabric and made dresses. I bought a full length tapestry coat I still miss today. Patty inspired the designing. It was fun to play with her. she had such a vivid imagination.
We spent the days pouring over Van Gogh, Chagall and Rembrandt. I don't remember much about the drugs--maybe we skipped them which I have to say, I'll be skipping this time.

I head to Cannes on the 13th and will be there until the 25th. There will be lots of pictures