Queens Day 2011 (Koninginnedag, 30th April, Amsterdam)

Em portugues leia aqui.

Last year I posted about my Queen's Day in Amsterdam with lots and lots of pics  in an orange overdose.

This year it will becelebrate on the Saturday but probably will be posting fewer photos - if any at all. I will go to the Vondelpark with another family and our kids will be selling some of their toys, books and other stuff. Yes, the Vondelpark is completely reserved for the kids selling their stuff and playing tricks !

Here below, an agenda of what to do in Amsterdam on the Saturday 30th of April:

Leidseplein:
(from 11am to 8pm)
AIR and American Hotel will bring a podium to the Leidseplein where you can enjoy house, electro and tecnhno music. Free entrance. Line up: Freddy Spool, Tettero, Rubix, Bart B More, Riptide, Prunk, Sjonnie Disco, MC Dan Stezo. Free entrance. www.air.nl

Museumplein / Museumsquare:
(from noon to 9pm)
Radio 538  promises the performance of many topartists and the famous 538's dj's (Edwin Evers, Jeroen Nieuwenhuize, Ruud de Wild, Lindo Duvall, Niels Hoogland, Tim Klijn, Jens Timmermans and Barry Paf).
Programme/Line up:

3J's, Afrojack, Alain Clark, Ben Saunders, Bløf, Dazzled Kid, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, Di-rect, Eva Simons, Finalisten X-Factor, Frans Duijts, Gebroeders Ko, Gerard Joling, Glennis Grace & Xander de Buisonje', Guus Meeuwis, Inna, Jacqueline Goveart, Jeroen van der Boom & Leonie Meijer, Jurk!, Krystl, Lasgo, Lawineboys, Quintino & Mitch Crown, R.I.O., Racoon, Sander van Doorn, Sidney Samson, The Opposites, The Partysquad, Vader Abraham & De Mosselman, VanVelzen, Waylon, Wolter Kroes, Armin van Buuren  www.radio538.nl

Jordaan:
* Cubanse Son   The band is called "Septeto Trio Los Dos" and it brings to the area of Jordaan many dancing rythms, latin power, trompeta Cubana, tumbao en percussions. In their site they claim to be "one of the most popular latin bands in Holland". Come to the Jordaan and decide yourself !  http://www.triolosdos.nl/

* Cafe' de Blaffende Vis:
Address: Westerstraat 118, Jordaan
Line-up:
Patrick Verheij 12:00
Katrin Koegel 13:00
Guest performance of Miss Sherry Daynne 13:30
Ella Wonder 14:00
Handsfreet/m 15:10 - 16:50
Los Zandt/m 17:00 - 20:00

Rembrandtplein:  
Oranje Nacht Straat Festijn  (live entertainment) from 7pm to 9 pm
Address: Reguliersdwarsstraat 108-114 (corner of Rembrandtplein with Thorbeckeplein)
Line-up: DJ Bart, ZRobert Leroy & Friends, Henk Dissel & Mike  www.jantjesverjaardag.nl

Westerpark:
Loveland Queensday Afterparty  (8pm to 5 am)
Entrance:  € 22,50
Address: WesterUnie (Klönneplein 4-6)  www.loveland.nl
Line-up:
Westerliefde: Michel de Hey, Arjuna Schiks (LIVE), Marnix, Michael ‘Ille Bitch’ von
Westergasterras: Presetone, Marcus Gehring, Ken Abel
WesterUnie: Sébastien Léger (FR), Ramon Tapia (BE), Secret Cinema, Remy, Egbert (LIVE), Juan Sanchez.

Of course there is much more to see and do than I have listed here above. But hopefully this post can give you some ideas. Below, some videos to give you an idea of Queens Day, if this all seems new to you. I have to laugh when on the Dutch press it is said that "Queen's Day is the largest street party in the world with one million tourists coming to Amsterdam" (Hahahahahahaha! Hellooooo ! Have you ever heard about Carnival in Brazil ? One million tourists ? Oh, really ? Actually that's peanuts ! In an Eurocentric view of the world probably one million vistors is a lot  though. Only Salvador, in Bahia, receives for the Carnival 2 million people everyday during one week). Well, enjoy the vids and have a nice weekend !

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You gotta Twitter (Tem que "twitta" )

Bilingual post (English / Portuguese)

If you wish to follow me on Twitter I am there as Greetings From Holland @AnnaGFH.
I have been extremely lazy to start it before - but I have succumbed to the evidences.
I am not so sure I will become a big fan, though. Well, a girl gotta try it, anyway.
Below, a video from a Brazilian programme called Comedia MTV ridicularizing the Twitter and its users.
It is hilarious, it is a parody, it is in Porutugese - so be warned !
(Hey, and do not forget to follow this blog clicking on the right side of this page).



Quem quiser me seguir no Twitter estou como @AnnaGFH. Recomendinho.
Relutei, menosprezei mas agora vou dar uma chance para testar o poder do Twitter.
Se voce não está no Twitter lembre-se de seguir meu blog clicando no lado direito dessa página, brigadão ! 
Nos planos da minha tuitagem não vou incluir muitas abobrinhas ou coisas muito pessoais... Sim: cultura, promoções, sorteios e sugestões turísticas. 
A partir de agora tambem vou sempre tentar incluir um botão de Twitter no final de cada post.
E vamos twittar, vamos forrozar !  

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Othello & Desdemona

Leeanna Walsmann as Desdemona,Wayne Blair as Othello.

Merritt Janson as Desdemona and John Douglas Thompson as Othello, photo Kevin Sprague

Eamonn Walker and Zoe Tapper. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Othello on the big screen: Irene Jacob and Lawrence Fishburne

I just woke up desperate for some Romeo & Juliet. Why do I need a sugar boost, and Romeo & Juliet, I have no idea. If you don't have a clue about what I am talking about, have a look on the pic below:

Romeo & Juliet are simply put: a slice of guyava paste and a slice of white cheese, typical from Brazil countryside. If you ever visit Brazil or a Brazilian restaurant in your country, do not forget to check wheter this is on the menu. It goes very well with coffee (Iago ?). In Amsterdam you can find "Goiabada" in Finalmente Brasil shop. I have to stock some more of it !

But because Brazilians are a creative people in the kitchen, they experiment several other ways of playing with the guayva paste and the white cheese. One interesting variation of Romeo & Juliet above: a condensed milk pudding with a thick guayava syrup. Below: a cheese souffle with hot guayava sauce.

Below: Romeo & Juliet crepe. It is stuffed with cheese and... yep, you guessed it right: topped with guayava sauce.

Oh, well... I guess by now you can find what the main ingredients of the Romeo & Juliet ice cream above are...

Being impossible to find some guyava paste ad Minas cheese in my neighbourhood (come on, I have been living the last decade in Holland, remember ?) I decided to please myself with a toast topped with plum jelly and a slice of Dutch goat cheese.

It is not exactly a Romeo & Juliet but... It tastes wonderful ! Yes, it does !
(Creativty is indeed the mother of all inventions.)
And so Othello & Desdemona were re-created and re-united in the kitchen paradise.

****
Cara de pau minha ? Pode ser.
Ah, eu não sou do tipo que fica com desejo e não faz nada a respeito !

E olha:

## quemnãotemcãocaçacomgato ## 

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WOW OH WOW I AM BEING INTERVIEWED BY WHIPPED CREAM

Pinch Me! I MUST be dreaming.

ME???!!!

Yes Me. L.J. Holmes will be interviewed on WHIPPED CREAM on May 3 and I'll pontificate

most brilliantly in an ALL DAY chat on their website on May 4th. A day DEDICATED, to ME...can you believe it?! (I see you snickering over that

...cruel, really, really cruel!)

What WILL I find to talk about? Boring

little me? Hmmm.

Okay, I can heat things up by talking about what it feels like to get the number one hottest cover at Muse Publishing so far...You know THAT one up there.

(I won't blame you for taking another look.)

I can talk about my very first ever release SANTA IS A LADY that took an astonishing

FIFTH PLACE less than six weeks after it released in the 2010 Preditors and Editors Readers Poll. 

I can talk about having a daughter who lives with me and is a Best Selling Author. Have you READ her amazing world Artica with the release of

FROZEN? Not to mention her

P.E.A.R.L. nominated suspense, mystery, romance

THE LIGHTHOUSE?

See, I can talk about being a writer and sharing it with my writer daughter. Is that not

symbiotic or what?

Oh and I am sure I can talk about lots of other things, like

Muse Publishing

and the TWELVE CONTRACTS I have with this

exploding from the pack new e-Pub.

Here's the urls

http://www.longandshortreviews.com/WC/interviews.htm
 so you can find me on both



May

3rd for the interview,






and

4th for the unscripted, oh my,




chat.


http://groups.yahoo.com/group/whippedcream2 


TWO dates?

WOW!

Happy Easter ! (Vrolijk Pasen) [Feliz Pascoa]

(Leia como os holandeses celebram a Pascoa clicando aqui.)

My Easter celebration was like that :

A friend who lives in Alkmaar passed by on Friday and brought me daffodils. I love splashes of yellow in my living room !

I have bought these flower arrangements at the local supermarket. The box with chocolates was a present from another friend who had passed by last week.

This afternoon we visited my in-laws. In their backyard pie and ice tea were served...

For those following my blog for a while, my sister in law is not new around here.

And her husband arrived later, during the end of the afternoon bringing his mother. Yep, just in time for some caipirinhas as apperitif. My in laws will drink caipirinhas all year long, before a Christmas dinner, during parties and barbecues. During formal and informal occasions. (Actually, Brazilians people will not do that !)

His mother has passed the 90 y. old. Her first impression with a caipirinha: "Mmmm... lekker fris, hoor ! Mag ik straks nog meer ?" (Fresh & delicious. May I have some more ?). She dispensed the straw and drank it all at once.

While the kids were looking for chocolate eggs hidden in the backyard, the grown ups started preparing the table for the early dinner.

What's on the Easter menu ? After a cold velouté d'asperges (asparagus soup) I have prepared and served in small glasses we inaugurated my in laws tepanyaki grill plate with courgette and fish/shrimps. I marinated the salmon and the cod in sesame oil, garlic, lemmon juice, mustard and some parsley.

My father in law pauses for a caipirinha.

And my mother in law finds such an occasion an opportunity to use her French vintage plates. Sooo cute.
My s.i.l prepared a salad with mango and wine sauce that made the perfect side dish. Some more aioli, bread and rose' wine please !

There were still some spare ribs in the fridge but my mother in law started saying: "Should we go for more ? There is also a dessert brought by Anna". To which I replied: "To the hell with the dessert, bring the real food to the table ! Yes, spare ribs please !" But then the rest started saying: "Er... it is okay." It is always like that, I have an impression that Dutch people prepare too little food for guests. On the other way, when they go to Brazil they get extremely happy and satisfied from seeing so much is served and offered.

The weather has been great for this time of the year. Almost a summerish sphere !
Well, that's how the Dutch celebrate their Easter (or sort of): a discreet brunch or late lunch with the family. The eggs are tiny and brought by the Easter bunny - but also chickens are a strong symbol during this time of the year. My in laws are not religious - so no mass or rigid rituals.

How was your Easter ?

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