Air France

Sometimes you discover a band that seems to come to you at the perfect time and place.  I think the name Air France is perfect for this band cause they sound like French love in the clear blue sky. This is an excelent achievement since Air France is a Swedish band. The music they make is a sort of trancy elektro pop, well, I actually can't describe their music, all I can say is that you really have to listen to their EP "no way down" which is also an excelent title cause Air France, please stay up there.

The great cigar smuggle

Tuesday very early in the morning my good friend, who wishes to remain anonymous, arrived on Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam Holland. He had spend two weeks at his girlfriend's place in Miami. In his lugage my friend had 40 cigars. 50 are aloud, dont mind the title of this post, mothing illegal is going on.

When you say cigars many people think Cuba and Havana being the cigar capital of the world. This is a very common mistake. The cigar capital of the world is Miami. After the Cuban revolution many plantage ownerws fled the country with the prices possesions, the seeds of the tabacco plant. With the embargo after the Cuban missle crissis no American could smoke Cuban cigars, or at least import them. In these 50 years without Cuban cigars the Americans didn't sit still. American's and Cuban immigrants imported tabacco from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and Brazil, they worked hard to produce good cigars. Families like Padron set a new standard in quality cigars.

My friend brought two boxes of cigars. Two brands we can't get here in Rotterdam. The highly anticipated CAO and the inmens populair Rocky Patel series. I was amazed by the care that was in the production of these cigars. Two beautiful boxes, wellcrafted, no exepeces were spared to safegueard the cigars inside. The Patels came in a classic wooded box. The CAO came in a luxureous Brazillian flad designed box. When I opened this box there was a little humipack inside. I couldn't believe. I know there is a special CAO cigar edition that comes in a box which is a humidor but still I was just amazed I saw this little humipack to safeguard the humidity of these cigars while traveling. I love to witness the love cigar companies put in their product. If you look at interviews of cigar families or look at the CAO site and watch the president of CAO tell his story you see people who love and enjoy their product themselves. To quote Fuente family "we make the cigars that we want to smoke ourselves". Then there are the aficianados who love to smoke. Cigar smokers aren't smokers like cigarette smokers who always complain how bad smoking is for their health and who always tell that they want to stop. Cigar smokers are smokers who enjoy a good smoke.

I added the cigars my friend brought to my humidor. Perfect timing, my humidor was almost empty, now it is full with good, good, very good smokes. Thanks buddy!

Healthy Lunch

Today I made a healthy lunch. The reason was that I haven't been eating a lot of vegetables lately and I always feel guilty when I dont eat enough of them. I dont like to cook, in fact I hate it. Now that my wife is in Japan I have been eating what I want and I eat at my parents every time I feel I need to eat something healthy.

Today I made this dish with a sauce, see picture. I got the reciepe for the sauce from my friend Joe. Joe, on his turn, got it from a Spanish lady. The whole meal includes chicken with vegetables and cream, way too much work for me to make so I made a simple salad to eat with it.

My version is healty and 100% vegetarian!

The reciepe for the sauce is:

5 garlick toes (I always use eight cause I love garlick too much)

2 peppers

pot of pealed tomatos

bag of cashew nuts (use 3/4 of a bag)

add some olive oil and vineger and mash it up with ablender, the result is a spicey full flavored sauce.

Very importand tip regarding GARLICK!!!

Garlick is delicious but the day after you stink, everybody suddenly is in a hurry to get away from you and when you speak the person in front of you makes a disgusting face cause your breath stinks! Well, to avoid this you cut the garlick toe in half, in the middle you see this grean or white pit. Take it out with the point of your knife or just cut it out is your piece of garlick is really fresh. This pit is the heart of the garlick and it is the part of the garlick your stomach has a hard time to get ridd off, this little pit is the reason you stink after eating garlick. Take it out, the garlick wont taste any different without it.

The reciepe for the salad is:

Iceberg lettes

red paprika/yellow paprika

Spanish tomatos

pour some olive oil over the salad and sprinkle it with fresh pepper and salt.

Dip the bread in the sauce and ENJOY!

Visiting a new born baby and trying on hats

Today I went to the home of my colleague and friend Arnoud and his girlfriend, Janette, to see their baby girl Noa. What a pretty child. She was sleepingw hen I arrived. When she woke up I got to hold her. I shouldn't have done that cause holding a child always makes me want to have another baby and we already have three childeren. Four will definatly be too much.

Ginji was trying on my hats, he got a hold of two and he was wearing them. My black hat he even wanted to wear outside. He was sitting on the back of my bike wearing my black hat, taking it of, putting it on, waving it around, it made him too happy. He had a very busy day.

After visiting Around and his girl I cycled pass the best chocolaterie in my town. I had to stop and buy some of my favorite chocolates. I couldn't resist, I already ate two, this is all that's left.

At the end of the day Ginji was so tired that he fell asleep while studying from his Japanese Anpanman book.

In Bruges

I had this movie on hold for quite some time now. Today I deceided to watch it. I was amazed. The movie was shot in Bruges (Brugge, which mens bridges) Belgium. The movie featured Colin Farrel en Brendan Gleeson with a small role for Ralph Fiennes. I am not a fan of Colin Farrel, in fact I daont care much about him. In Bruges he was amazing, this film really showed his qualities as an actor. I wish he would play more of these parts. Brendan and Ralph were amazing like they always are. What was so cool about this movie was that they shot the midevil town of Bruges beautifully. Sine Belgium is our neighbor country and the fact that in the days Bruges was build Belgium was a part of Holland, made it all look very familiar. There were some very funny and mean jokes in it. Especially by Ray, Colin Farrel, who seemded to hate Americans and who couldn't s top fucking around with the midget, hell, he even does some karate of the midget. I recommend this movie to everyone who wants to see a really special and when I think of it, pretty disburbing film shot in a city that hasn't been shown very often.

Summer's here

Hot hot hot, too hot for my standard. I did all the things I had to do this morning before noon. Then I made Ginji's bad on our balcony. He has been in it for one hour goofing around with water. I smoked a cigar while watching him play and wondered "why is it so hot?".

The Lost Boys

Today it is hot in Holland. I had to take my son Ginji to the hospital to let the anestheist check him out cause in a few days he needs to take an MRI, fully sedated cause he is too small to lie still. Anyway, before the MRI Ginji was awith my dad so I had some time to eat. I deceided to watch the eighties movie "The Lost Boys". I donwloaded it recently together with the new Lost Boys movie "the Tribe". I had seen the Lost Boys when it was released in 1987. I most honestly say that I never have been a big fan of the eighties, not even when I was living in the eighties. It was all to clean, too much Stock, Aitken & Waterman, too much overproduced music, too much stupid movies. I finaly found peace with the release of  Nevermind but that's another story. Seeing The Lost Boys today it felt like watching a movie shot today, bright colours, goth, punk, all was there, very funny to see. Looked cool, I gues the eighties weren't so bad after all!

The Dark Knight

Well, today it was my turn to go and see Batman, The Dark Knight. I heard and read so much good stuff about this movie so I really had high hopes for this movie. That is usually a bad sign cause it will 99 out of a 100 disapoint. With The Dark Knight this wasn't the case. What an amazing movie. I thought it was better than I expected. It looked great, great acting but most of all I loved the characters. The theme of the movie was choice. The Joker, amazing role by Heath Ledger, was in my opion an oppertunist, he was the archetect of his own sick expiriments. The Nolan brothers and Goyer wrote an extremely daring story for this movie. I think the whole theme of the movie was ever deeper than meets the eye in the first place. Much, much, much kudos for Chris Nolan for making a Batman film truely DARK! 

I'm a cowboy, on a Rody horse I ride

Yesterday evening I just had to grab my camera. Ginji was hopping around on his brothers Rody horse. The horse is named "Lollie".

Sindolf's one year aniversary

Today, the 23'rd of july it has been a since I went to France to pick up my new best friend. Sindolf, just like Thor, a Saarloos Wolfhond. Sindolf was seven weeks when I went to pick him. For one year now he is living with us. In this year he caused a lot of comotion. One time he ran away and we didn't knew where he was untill the next morning when I called the animal shelter. Seemed that the animal ambulance picked him up and placed him in the dog shelter. None the less Sindolf is a supe sweet and friendly animal. In his year with us he never got in a fight, he is always happy and he wants everybody to like him, for that he does his utmost best.

This morning we went walking and I took some snapshots of him. On the way he met some of his friends and he was goofing arround with them.

Cohiba

Well, what a sunny afternoon, nice and warm (finally summer?) not too moisture outside. A perfect day to light up my Cohiba that has been in my humidor for several weeks now. This is the second Cohiba I smoke in my life. I live in Holland and unline the US we dont have the embargo of Cuba, none the less I prefure the Dominican cigars, I know, some call me crazy but I like a Cuesta Rey, the Griffins, Davidoff. I also love the Nigaracuan cigars like Padron and José Marti. Today I took a bold step and light up the Cohiba. The Cohiba is THE cigar of the revolution. After the revolution in Cuba Fidel Castro noticed his bodyguard smoking this heavy, full smell and flavored cigar. Fidel wanted to know what the hell his bodyguard was smoking. Upon asked the boduguard told Fidel that this was a cigar that was made by his friend. Fidel went over to his bodyguards friend which resulted in the brand Cohiba. It is a cigar smoked by the revolutionaries Che Guevara, Fidel and Raoul Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos. It is one of the most prestigue cigars in the world. I found it full of flavor, strong with a fresh aroma. I have to admit that I dont think this cigar is worth the 14 Euro I paid for it. I rather smoke a 4, 5 or 6 Euro Dominican cigar. Still, I enjoyed it... made me feel a little like a revolutionairy sitting on my balcony while reading "Le Feu" by Henri Barbusse.

I know, it killed Elvis... but

Thir morning when I was out walking my dog I suddenly felt like eating something I haven't eaten in months... peanutbutter banana sandwiches. I love 'em! They are great and good for you. In Holland we have this huge variety of bread, we are kings of choice when it comes to bread. The selection of Dutch bread is huge, besides that we have more choice of foreign bread, we have the French bread, the Italian bread and we have the real Turkish bread (delicious). Personally I think French and Italian bread are best when you eat French or Italian cheese. Turkish bread you should eat when you have a döner sandwich or with some nice olives and fetta on the side. For peanutbutter I love to choose plain white Dutch rolls (broodjes is what we call them). I bought four broodjes, laid a thick layer of Calvé peanutbutter on them (really the best peanutbutter in the world, Skippy eat your heart out) and put slices with banana over it. After I did my shoppings I walked passed this really nice shop we have in our shopping centre, it is the place where they sell the genuine Belgium Callebout chocolate. I bought two big pieces.

Peanutbutter banana sandwiches are great. Elvis loved them too, that in combination with a lot of pills, chocolate icecream and the fact that he liked to bake his toasted bread in butter before smearing them with peanutbutter meant the end of the King!

Spoiled cats!

These are our cats, well fed, nice shiny fur and a happy look on their snouts. I bet they are the only two cats in the Netherlands who eat Japanese Bonito flakes, (see bag). They love it. My wife's sisters occasioanally sens over a bag of Bonito flakes from Tokyo. Bonito flakes are very thin, dried pieces of fish. In Japan they, for example, finish their okinomiyaki off with some Bonito flakes. Personally I rather skipp the Bonitoflakes on my okinomiyaki but then again I am not a cat, neither a fish lover.

Ordered the iphone

Today, after calling some shops to ask if they have an iphone in stock I came to the conclusion that it was sold everywhere in Holland. I picked up the phone and I called t-mobile sales to apply for a subscription and a new iphone. It went fast and the lady on the other end of the telephone line was very friendly. I got the 16GB 3G black iphone. It will take 6 weeks for the iphone to be delivered to my house. I have to admit that eventhough I have to wait 6 weeks I am pretty damn happy I will get this baby!

My right arm

My other arm is inked by Pete Schröder. The time we started this arm he was working in his shop, Shipwreck Tattoo, at the Nieuwe Binnenweg in Rotterdam. Pete had worked together with Nico from 25 to life at the Inkstitution. I choose Pete to do my tattoo cause I love his style. He uses pastel colours which look beautiful in a tattoo. This arm took us quite some sessions. Duting my right arm work Pete closed his tattoo shop. We had two sessions at his old shop, three at his house and the last session was at Tattoo Jan where Pete worked as a guest. I still feel I need some more ink by Pete to finish this arm but unfortionally he is abroad for two months. Good news he is comming back at tattoo Jan for some more work!

The magic of Electric Pick - part 2

And yeah, I can't keep the result of this beautiful tattoo to myself. Here it is!

The magic of Electric Pick - part 1

On the 3'rd of july I was one of a total of three lucky bastards to have an appointment with Nick the Elelctric Pick when he had a quest spot at Nico's 25 to life tattoo parlour in de Pannenkoekstraat in Rotterdam. I had followed Nick's work for quite some time since I accidently stumbled upon his work while  checking out tattoo pictures online. I was totaly amazed by his style and his use of colours. When I saw Nick would be tattooing in Rotterdam I send Nick an email. He got back to me asking if I could settle things with Nico. So I did. I went over to Nico's very cool shop in de Pannenkoekstraat and I made the 100 Euro downpayment for my session with Nick. On the 3'rd I cycled to my appointment when I saw two dudes covered in tattoo's. One I recognized as Nico, the other one had to be Nick. I stopped and introduced myself to Nick. I immidiatly had the feeling this was a nice guy. We started talking while walking to the shop and he asked me what idea I had for my tattoo and where I would like my new tattoo. The idea I had was three samurai kids batteling an evil monster while riding on their Japanese zodiac signs. Nick suggested if it would be cool if the kids were the zodiac animals and instead of a monster they would be crushing this evil robot. Oh yeah, I waas definatly into that! Nick made this really cool drawing on my arm. Then he scratched the first lines of the whole drawing and then the real work began. For 5,5 hours Nick stuck his needles in my arm. The result: AMAZING! The tattoo isn't fineshed yet but hopefully we will continue this cool piece of art in Copehagen at Conspiracy Ink.

Ginji Loves

My son Ginji loves to climb and watch my collection of collectible toys and old lp's that are on the closest. Every chance he gets he sneaks into my computer room and get his kicks. On this picture he gets caught!

Thor

Can't have this blog without paying tribute to my best friend with who I spend twelve of the best years of my life. His name is Thorgal Afi de Louba Tar, he was a Saarloos Wolfhond, a Dutch breed, mix of a German Sheppard and  Rusian Wolf from Blijdorp Zoo. This race was created in the 1920's by Leendert Saarloos. He wanted to create a good and strong dog to guide the blind and to work as a police dog. In that he failed. The wolf in this dog make them hard to train and they dont attack on command, they reather run. What Saarllos created was man's best friend pur sang. A super sweet and beautiful dog/wolf. In the 1970's the race was acknowledged by the Dutch kinological society.

I am proud to know that Thor was there when my family came together. He was there when I met my wife and he was there when my childeren were born. Unfortionally a dogs life is short compared to the life of us and in june 2007 I had to say goodbye to my best friend.

Doomsday

Yesterday I was relaxing at home. My wife with two of our kids on family visit to Japan, my other kid was at school and there wasn't that much else to do except to watch a movie. I love movies, anything is fine, horror, action, drama, if it is good and if it doesn't irritate me it goes.

The movie I watched yesterday was Doomsday. I had seen a trailer of this film a few months ago but I wasn't really sure what it was about. I kicked back, turned on the dvd and let it roll. I never have seen so many different movies in one. First I felt like wtaching 28 weeks later, then dawn of the dead, later on it was Mad Max hopping on a train to kingdom of heaven to end again in Mad Max. Most funny thing was seeing good old Bob Hoskins making it all look like "who framed Roger Rabbit".

I liked this movie, that is what a movie is about, liking it or not and this one absolutely did it for me. Sure, nothing new, have seen it all before but it was just cool seeing it all again in one film. Recommend it? Hell yeah!

Hello to you all!

Just starting my own world here!!!