Street Art

When you walk from the Amsterdam Central Station towards the OBA (the city's public libray), you pass by a big new hotel, a huge Chinese restaurant on water, you enjoy the beatiful views, and before you reach the bridge taking you to Nemo...

You find this.

Ápparently, it seems to be an interpretation of Noah's Ark.

Only in Amsterdam...

A Question of Taste (Decide yourself)

Above: Rene Froger. As he gets olds, he could easily be in the blog "Men who look like old lesbians". (Rene, hon, you should fire your makeup artist and your hair stylist.) He is the only hetero of the trio, b.t.w..

Singer and presentator Gordon. Photo: kickfm.nl. Now and then he has some cat fights with Gerad Joling. Well, how much credibility has a guy who at age 19 tried to commit suicide taking a bunch of vitamins ?

Gerard Joling. Photo: nltracks.nl I think from the three he is the most sincere and genuine. But... He is always too busy promoting hair transplant and complaining about Gordon. How cool is that ?

It is incredible how De Toppers are immensely popular in the Netherlands. Men and women, young and old, hetero and gay, foreginers and cloggies, millions of people love them. Now and then during my fitness I have to stare at two large televisons while Gordon, Rene and Gerard Joling are performing (I cannot run away, damned !). The song "Rood" is unbearable, aargh !! (The problem when you understand another language is that it is not background sound anymore. So you understand things you preferred you had not. But well... what is heard cannot be unheard and what has been seen cannot be unseen. Aaargh !! ) Incredible how even some nice lyrics of Marco Borsato can become something cheap in their mouths.

De Toppers in Concert here. That's exactly the video I compulsorily have to watch twice a week while doing cardio on the step machine. I close my eyes for a while but I cannot block my ears with my hands. (Actually some people in the fitness center are already commenting on my back that I am this kind os weird girl that sometimes exercise with the eyes closed).

Pay attention to their clothes, their acting, the dancers and judge yourself. But, hey ! Maybe you like it ... who knows ?

See you next week !

Chu chu hua !! (Tsjoetsjoewa !!)

While ago my son arrived home singing and dancing very oddly: with stretched arms and thumbs up, tong outside his mouth, shaking the hips and with his feet turned to inside. Saying "chihuahua" or something like that. When I asked him why he was doing that he replied: "I learned from a friend, he has put some music on... chihuahua is so funny !". I found it completely nonsense and told him to stop that. Everytime he re-started doing it I forbade him to go ahead.

Today my 3 year old girl had a ballet lessons (or "peuter dans") and the teacher taught the kids how to perform a "chu-chu hua" song. The mothers had to perform it as well. I almost exploded laughing about it when I looked around and saw kids, teacher and mums with the tong outside doing it.

I have asked other parents about chu chu hua and everyone knew about it - and would promptly start performing it with the tong hanging outside the mouth. Apparently, it is a huge hit in the NL - and I was the last one to hear about it.

Humpf !

Video here. Or in Spanish here.

Op je plaats

Streek je armen

Vuisten maken

Duimen omhoog

Schouders op

Hoofd omhoog

Je billen naar achter

Voeten naar binnen

Tong naar buiten

(Bleargh)

Tsjoetsjoewa

Tsjoetsjoewa

Tsjoetsjoewa wa wa ...

(Do not try at home when in company of witnesses)

Spring Cleaning - again !

The weather is getting better by the day, people in my village are starting new gardens and cleaning their glass windows. I keep reorganizing my drawers and giving clothes away for a good will. Besides that, I try to remove my junk thoughts as well...

Trash: things we put away. Things: trash that we keep with us.

O tempo anda melhorando pela Holanda e vejo que as pessoas já mais ou menos começam a refazer os jardins, limpar os janelões de vidro... Eu continuo a reorganizar minhas gavetas, minhas caixas, desfazer-me de roupas. Procuro também eliminar alguns pensamentos.

“Lixo: coisas que jogamos fora. Coisas: lixo que guardamos”.

My-Your-Our Trash [Lugar de Lixo é no Lixo]

Since the temperature has gone higher I have noticed these ads at bus stops. In a first moment I did not pay much attention and even did not get the picture. Early in the morning, a bit asleep to go to work, no patience to check posters or small letters of texts... Then I started to see it more and more. It is a bubble gum. A chewed buble gum on the floor with a lovely fucsia bow around it. The text says: "do not make of your trash, a gift to other people". Mmmm. Summer means more tourists and more people celebrating life on the streets... therefore more trash.

"Do not make of you fag a gift to someone else". I like such campaign A LOT because it is very visual and goes straight to the point. It is well humoured and calls a lot of attention - however I think it could be more useful to tourists if it was also in English.

Desde que as temperaturas começaram a subir na Holanda eu venho percebendo esses cartazes no ponto de ônibus aonde vou todos os dias esperar meu cascudinho. A princípio não saquei o que era essa mancha rosa com um lacinho fofo na cor fúcsia. Lendo o texto achei bem legal: "não faca do seu chiclete um presente para os outros". E também: "não faça da sua bituca um presente para as pessoas". Para meio entendedor meia palavra basta, né galera ? Essa campanha é necessária porque agora na primavera verão a Holanda recebe mais turistas, há mais gente nas ruas e mais lixo é produzido. Vai direto ao ponto com bom humor e chama bastante a atenção para a falta de educação de algumas pessoas. Moral da história: lugar que permanece limpo não é o que mais foi cuidado mas o que menos se sujou.

Trash Container # 9

For cats and dogs lovers...
And I never get tired of being surprised.

Trash Containers # 8

When I was going to my yoga lessons today I spotted these ones with a spring theme. I think yellow and green are the spring and Easter (meal) colours. For a Sunday Easter brunch with my in-laws we will be preparing asparagus a la hollandaise (with hard boiled eggs, potatoes and ham) as starter. I will be posting more about Easter bunnies on Sunday. So keep tuned !

Trash Containers # 7

Something different: a sticker with nature as theme. Actually, this one I find interesting. Maybe my preferred so far. The container owners did a very good work cos they used the whole surface area of the contanier for the print. Like a wall paper. Good job indeed, and I noticed later that where they keep the container in the backyard helps to camouflage the object.

Trash Containers # 6

I have already seen maaaany gnomes in Holland, but never such a large one on a trash container before !

Trash Containers # 5

It is indeed time for a spring cleaning (de grote schoonmaak).

Trash containers # 4

Stickers for your trash containers are (cough-cough-cough !) a hot-hot-hot item in 2009 ! You can choose from a wide selection such as horses, cows, cats, dogs, gnomes, flowers, butterflies... They can match all tastes.

Trash containers # 3

I prefer to make no comments !

Trash [stickers] #2

The post about containers stickers was one fo the most succesful of this blog so far (although people preferred to make compliments about it to me personally than posting a comment in the blog). I had an appointment at the hairdresser on the Bilderdijkstraat (A'dam) last week and spotted the referred stickers being exposed in the Blokker. Now you know where to find them !

TRASH [stickers]

In the village where I live, householders have to separate their organic from inorganic trash (in respectively green and gray containers). It is weighed on and paid by kilo.

I have come at the end of the day back to home and couldn't figure out which container belonged to me and which to the neighbour. It happenned some times and it was annoying, especially during winter evenings.

Therefore, we decided to put small-discrete stickers on ours.

Can you guess which ones are them ?

CREA-TERREUR

Why-oh-why some people do think these dolls peeking inside of homes are cute ?

I have seen such creatures spreaded in different parts of the country.

It seems the home owners followed the same "how to be creative" sort of course and decided these dolls, gnomes, whatever were funny and sweet and cute...

Creative terror.