News

Hi all

Do you know how René Descartes disappeared?
Sitting in a bar a lady asked him: “Do you have a cigarette?”
He responded: “I think not.”

What better way to undertake writing again with an existential and metaphysical pun.

Hi all

Last weekend Sanne and I were in New York after three weeks of visiting friends and family in The Netherlands. A late kind of honeymoon you could say. There was some delay and a lot of turbulence involved, so by the time we got to our hotel we just crashed. The jetlag had an upside when we woke up before sunrise so we had a whole day to visit The Big Apple. Just before we took a stroll through Central Park it started snowing. Beautiful. I think I counted several hundreds of grey, black and brown squirrels there. I love those little rodents, Sanne thinks I’m suffering from the "Chip-‘n-Dale"-syndrome.

The little snow had turned into a real blizzard later. So when we were waiting outside for the rush tickets to the Fuerzabruta-show, we felt like a popsicle. But the wait and cold were worth it, it was a spectacular show. All action took place in, around and above the audience. People running through walls, walking the walls Matrix-style, adrenalin pumping dancing and music. The part where scantily clad girls were jumping and playing around in a huge plastic pool just centimeters above our heads was just breathtaking.

Oh, and there was another thing that struck us. We saw several hundreds of New Yorkers without pants. They were just wearing their nicest pair of undies. Maybe it was some kind of flashmob, we don’t know. But I do know that looking at them made me even feel chillier. What can I say, I’m glad I’m back in 20°C California.

Next week I’ll play a sectional in Pleasanton. There must be some material to craft a bridge story from.

Hi all

Here’s to the bright New Year
And a fond farewell to the old
Here’s to the things that are yet to come
And to the memories that we hold

Hi all

I don’t understand, everybody here in California is happy it’s raining. Yesterday (my birthday actually) the American weathergods decided I should feel at home a bit, and showed they are very capable of delivering Dutch weather. Yay me!

Here’s a picture of our bikeroute through San Francisco on one of the last sunny days. First we took the BART to Embarcadero Station (the blue line) and from that point it was uphill, via the Golden Gate Bridge to a vista point where we had lunch. Amazing!

Hi all

I have arrived in the US without troubles. 

Sanne and one of her friends picked me up at San Francisco airport and together they asked me: "Why did you bring rain along?". To me it felt like typical Dutch weather, but rain is a rare thing here outside the rain season. Oh well, right now it’s shiny and a comfortable 21 degrees Celsius.

Sanne took me to Berkeley Bowl Marketplace. I’ve never seen so much fresh fruit and vegetables crammed into one place. I couldn’t stop drooling, too many flavors and impressions. I felt like a kid in a candy store. 

I think I’ll feel at home quite soon.