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
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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
Monday, May 12, 2008
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
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
Sunday, May 11, 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
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
Friday, May 9, 2008
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!
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!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)