Archive for May, 2009

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InSe9MVo6uA[/youtube]

My locked on repeat spring soundtrack is the sweet ghazal Hangama Hai Kyon Barpa by Ghulam Ali. After a little googling, I found out that the words come down to:

Why all this commotion?
All I did was drink a little.
I didn’t rob anyone,
I didn’t steal anything.

I don’t want the drink,
that makes my heart forget(her)
what I want from this drink
is to enjoy the pain in my heart.

A, spot on the sun, it is the marvels of nature
see these idols call me infidel
it must be Allah’s will.

The second best thing to shopping abroad is visiting obscure little foreign or exotic shops. Traditionally, we have quite al lot of Indonesian and Chinese stores in Holland. Since the seventies we have more Turkish and Morrocan stores and since the advent of Polish workers, we have Polish stores with very strong beer and … gherkin soup.

Most interesting to see Malvina Reynold’s “Little Boxes” covered by Victor Jara. Both Malvina and Victor have left us more than 30 years ago, but apparently they still have enough to tell us. Is it time yet to pick up tye dying or macramee?

My father is going through a rough patch. He was moved to the intensive care unit this morning, but seems to be stable now. Mother is waking, with her brother.

© Giannandrea Boiani       

As my father is battling one of his severest bouts of depression ever, it seems, I recently retold him the wonderful story I heard on http://www.themoth.org/  by Andrew Solomon: Notes on an Exorcism.

One of the secret reasons I keep on taking D-tours and byroads when I visit my parents is that on the Frisian countryside, it is customary to greet one another. As a pedestrian you say “hoi” (actually Geert Mak described dozens of variations) and on the bike or in the car, you simply flip your index finger and slightly nod to each other. It is something dearly missed in the West.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnAvqmQn_1U&feature=channel[/youtube]

I am happy to report that someone has posted episodes of Shaktimaan on youtube. Actually, the leader is the best part, but the series caused a lot of media attention when children set themselves on fire or jumped off buildings, hoping that Shaktimaan would save them.

Pages from a Dutch prayer book for kids from the early fifties.

Why do most utopias have so many intrinsically dystopic qualities?