Out of Focus

Torino blues...

2012-01-21T18:49:00.000+01:00

Whilst scavenging the streets of the "Dam" area, Antwerp, curvy colourful stuff just catches the eye....
Nikon D7000

Visit to the family...

2012-01-03T17:22:00.000+01:00

Christmas evening events

2011-12-25T15:55:00.000+01:00

Don't let the end of the year bite you in the @ss, merry greetings and happy farewells for 2011!

Picture taken @ Zwijndrecht, Belgium, for christmas evening.

The wall of incomprehension...

2011-12-22T17:55:00.001+01:00

Thursday 22 december large chunks of the Belgian workforce were on strike due to reforms, in turn due to the economical situation that is in ... let's call it a dire state. As usual, it was a busy day to go shopping, even when there was no public transportation available to get to the shops... Hmmm...

Picture taken in Antwerpen, with Nikon D7000, f5, 1/100s, 52mm.

BatO bAtu

2011-11-24T01:25:00.001+01:00

Lazy monday night time, the air in the streets is pushing people down, the cold of the streetcar's tracks glistens as I look outside the window of Bato Batu. Barkeep, another please!

Temple of Doom

2011-11-20T18:38:00.000+01:00

Academie, Antwerpen

Emergency exit

2011-11-20T18:35:00.001+01:00

Park Spoor Noord

Going down..

2011-07-31T20:20:00.000+02:00

Shopping malls revisited

2011-04-12T09:40:00.000+02:00

Sometimes getting to the bare essentials can be disturbingly more interesting than the clean spick and span look shopping malls around the world share...

Play misty for me

2011-03-18T12:20:00.000+01:00

A foggy view on Antwerp's cathedral.

Flying Horseman @ Trix

2011-02-12T19:20:00.000+01:00

check out their website for upcoming events...

Still Life in a modern work environment...

2011-02-04T19:13:00.000+01:00

Kind of Blue

2011-01-12T15:10:00.000+01:00

Monday midnight at Muze cafe, Antwerp.

A new year begins!

2011-01-01T13:49:00.000+01:00

To all of you out there and in here, may 2011 bring you more than you wished for, and may you be caring for what you wish :-)

Out of focus in Japan

2010-10-05T11:57:00.000+02:00

Arriving during a heat wave in Japan with a huge jetlag one tends to be out of focus for a while. In a country where there is no room for compromis and where the people devote their energy on very focused purposes this can be intimidating, but then again the shock of certain powerful images will quickly bring you back to reality.

Sleepless in Japan

2010-09-17T14:32:00.000+02:00

Due to jetlag symptoms I can`t share the peaceful and fulfilling sleep of the commuters in Japan. Sayonara folks!

Diggin' for shiny dreams

2010-08-11T16:01:00.000+02:00

Ground control

2010-08-04T22:31:00.000+02:00

Seconds before the sky opened up, Lommel.

Silence is golden

2010-08-01T23:33:00.000+02:00

What happens in Amsterdam, stays in Amsterdam.

Time to put out the trash

2010-07-24T12:09:00.000+02:00

Tropic Heat

2010-07-15T12:34:00.000+02:00

Finally the days of tropic heat seem to have faded, now that the thunderstorms have arrived. Big goblets of rain sweeping the smog out of the air, accumulating in the gutters and swirling down pavements, into the underworld of sewers and buried gutters. And after a couple of rainy days the heat has tempered, the damp moist air has made room for a fresher, vibrant version. Hurray!

The Fog

2010-07-11T01:31:00.000+02:00

A shiver runs trough my street

2010-06-20T13:18:00.000+02:00

recordings

2010-06-11T11:33:00.000+02:00

Work in progress

the decay of recreational time

2010-05-23T12:00:00.000+02:00

Nature swings back in full colour as the sunny season finally seems to have claimed it's turf for the year. May it be a good year for that matter.

Light before the end of the tunnel

2010-05-14T18:50:00.000+02:00

Stuff that is far from inferior...

2010-05-05T23:55:00.001+02:00

Picture: D200- 320- stop 1.8- 1/40- 50mm Nikkor T 1.4

Grading: Picasa 3.6.0

Location: 'Alice Gallery', Brussels, Belgium

out of focus, the continuing

2010-03-31T00:25:00.001+02:00

Back to the roots of my blog lately, since I find my glasses annoying me from time to time. The sound of some old men playing some standards without becoming boring however hits me in the face, full colour. Knowing these men have been doing this for a long, long time and still put their heart into it every time they play make me a believer.

3-1

2010-03-29T21:49:00.000+02:00

After a certain amount of beers it seems wearing glasses doesn't help anymore...

Wilrijk cemetary

2010-03-09T17:12:00.000+01:00

Back to the future

2010-03-06T22:19:00.000+01:00

Found in front of the Opera building, Antwerp...

Long distance

2010-02-17T14:33:00.000+01:00

Standing guard, an invitation to call someone, someone far away, to hear a voice from a different time and place.

Keeping track

2010-01-29T00:10:00.000+01:00

Black and white photography

2010-01-25T13:40:00.000+01:00

One of the advantages of colour photography is that you can turn black and white thinking upside down with a simple click. To be honest though at the time I took the picture I wasn't doing so because the lady was having the laptop bag and filling in a crosswords puzzle while the guys in white were rolling a luggage carrier around, but just because I liked the mood. Now I enjoy the fact I can read more into this shot, but then again, world press photo material it ain't ;-)

Rainy streetside

2010-01-09T18:33:00.001+01:00

Sometimes when I walk around in this city, this tiny city with it's big ego's in it, all I can see is the stuff that people try to look away from. Does it make me sad? Does it make me angry? Is it making me cold and hard and numb? None of the aforementioned, I just see...

20.10

2010-01-02T18:05:00.000+01:00

A new year, "out of focus" wishes you a lot of crisp and clear wishes!

light in times of darkness

2009-12-24T15:59:00.001+01:00

As the days have considerably shortened over the past months, one can't shake a gloomy feeling overtaking while walking from one shadow to another. Streets filled with people running from one crowded bus station to another packed giftshop. Holiday greetings passed from one stranger to another with the same enthusiasm as one would hand out coupons filled with the promise of free coffee to go along your double burger... Yet in times like this one can also find a peculiar kind of comfort, not just in the snow spread thin on the roofs and certainly not in the chimes and tunes comig from one too many a christmas-themed shop, but in the absence of loved ones that are not amongst us (anymore). For it seems that those we miss make us enjoy the ones who are around us all the more, and this, I find, is what makes christmas worth all the running around. But that's just me of course...

jungle city

2009-12-18T16:52:00.000+01:00

A drive by shot that somehow makes me want to visit this hidden Metropolis, a city of the world hidden behind the scrubs and bushes of a cold sidecurb...

Dark fruit

2009-12-06T19:12:00.000+01:00

The days are so short this time of the year.

Big E.

2009-11-20T12:39:00.000+01:00

Industry of love...

2009-11-16T13:16:00.000+01:00

The mending of broken hearts and the insertion of butterflies in the stomach is now in good hands.

alienate me

2009-11-02T13:26:00.000+01:00

The Freshmaker

2009-10-26T19:12:00.000+01:00

As a wise man once said, too much of anything still is too much.

bread and water

2009-10-07T13:43:00.000+02:00

There is a time for feasting and there is a time for fasting. So here I am once more at the guest quarters of the castle of Mariagaarde, living in a place where time only passes when one looks at the clock. Bread and water, basically, is all you need to clean mind and body of all the stress and impressions of our hectic lifes, however I am happy to say there is a bit of soup and tea invlolved as well. Greetings from the ever so quiet town of Hoepertingen.

Meet the locals...

2009-10-06T16:54:00.001+02:00

As I walked around in the local village I stumbled upon the cemetary which left me with the unmistakable "verfremdungseffect" only cemetary's of local villages can leave you with...

The Emperor's clothes

2009-09-20T18:35:00.000+02:00

still life, fast food

2009-09-09T11:25:00.000+02:00

Sometimes all it takes is just a moment of your time to see the stillness hidden in that order of fast food.

street corner

2009-09-02T19:54:00.000+02:00

The Rug

2009-09-02T19:46:00.000+02:00

This rug has had its fair share of feet and food, without ever complaining or desintegrating so I just wanted to give it a little place here. Thank you rug.

Waiting for a friend

2009-08-21T18:39:00.000+02:00

BBQ in the open...

2009-08-02T12:00:00.000+02:00

Sometimes things just work out different...

commuters blues

2008-10-06T18:14:00.001+02:00

When I find myself waiting at a bus stop or tram stop, I can't help but study the faces of all the people passing by in these vehicles of mass transit. Going from some vague point of origin to an even blurrier destination, since I don't possess any clairvoyance yet. All I see is the moment in time in which they pass by, and even in that frame of time things all seem to be out of focus. Somehow it is as if by using public transportation your identity becomes a little bit less defined, you become part of the big system of trams, buses and trains moving in all kind of directions. It is as if one gives up their self to become an interchangeable figure behind a window that moves trough space. Of course for the people sitting on the bus perception allows them to think of space moving around them and I can only imagine how out of focus and interchangeable my face must have seemed to them while they moved towards their specific destiny...

Magic hour

2008-09-28T23:24:00.000+02:00

Antwerp, riverside...

Summertime yet again

2008-07-08T14:19:00.000+02:00

It seems to be a returning thing, this summertime thing. I'm thinking of doing a studies about it.

Sihanoukville Sunset

2007-11-21T06:41:00.000+01:00

I have stranded myself on the once tranquil beaches of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, but after three years the changes have been so dramatic, I can't help myself but apreciate Alex Garland's "The Beach" even more as before... No matter what in these days of widespread travelling and thanks to not only guidebooks but more and more often the internet and its users all the little patches of paradise on this planet rapidly turn into hubs of paradise seekers and with them comes the opportunism of investors looking for fast cash return and cut-throat profits... I am not blaming merely other people in general, I am part of this system I realize, and because of the changes in Sihanoukville I just became more aware of the impact we are having on our world... Some changes are for the better, and you can't ignore that local people benefit from tourism and all that, but unfortunately it's mostly the rich who make the big money. What else is new... By doing my laundry at a local place that returns it maybe not as clean as the in house laundry from luxury hotels I sincerely hope I am helping the local small investors a little bit... And after witnessing how the girls selling fruit on the beach have changed from teenagers with fruitbaskets on their heads into freelancing "travel-companions" wearing fake Dolce Gabbana sunglasses I find it almost impossible to look at the new kids selling fruit and smile innocently at their efforts to sell their ware...

City hopping again

2007-10-28T13:49:00.000+01:00

Well, I have been fasting for seven days now, only to be having lots of clenasing drinks and, oh boy, cleansing colemas... Anyway, more of that on my other site, click here
Soon I will move to the south of Thailand and I will be keeping updates on a more regular basis, until then folks!

Empty Space

2007-08-31T19:13:00.000+02:00

There are places in our minds, places that seem empty but yet are not void of meaning. Like a ghost town, there is no one as you walk around in it, yet in all the things you see you feel the absence of a former presence. These ghost towns exist not only in abandoned places on this earth, but we can find them in your minds, when we wander far enough astray from common thoughts and ideas. When we make it to the place where there seems to be no logic yet in its absence we feel some kind of order to the thoughts we have there. Like reading a book that speaks of things we never experienced yet we immediately understand what the author is telling us. In absence our feelings become a presence in these places, unoccupied by memories our fantasies can strive here. A place were dreams are made without the wish to dream of dreaming...

The fall of the wall

2007-07-13T17:55:00.000+02:00

When thinking about things from the past it feels like there is always this wall standing between the moment in the past and the memory of that same moment. For us time is like a one-way street and this street is constantly moving under our feet so that we are never in the same place twice. But our brain collects data every moment (well, every moment when we didn't indulge ourselves in excessive amounts of drugs or other toxins...) that we live. Thus, we are able to remember things that happened in the past and sometimes we are even able to experience echoes of smells or feelings, a certain sound perhaps. But in doing so we also become aware (sometimes painfully aware) that we will never experience that memory again. Actually, I started wondering if that is true. Because, the main reason we know this is a memory is because it is squeezed in between a whole lot of other memories that happened before and after this moment. So maybe if we just remove all the memories from our mind we come to the core of time, to the core of being. Maybe if we remove all memories from our mind we are at all our memories at the same moment. Better even, there is no moment, there is nothing. In a way we are at all the points of time at the same time, and we experience all those moments continuously, but only when we become aware of this we find ourselves in some point of time. And when we find ourselves in a certain point of time we don't have access to any other point of time. Not that I suggest we are time-travellers, but maybe I am suggesting it. Maybe I shouldn't even be writing this down because every line I write is a new point in time and makes me live from moment to moment. Hmmm.. Well, you'll have to excuse me now, I'll be off to the place behind the walls for a while ;-)

TRANSIT Happening 08/06/2007

2007-06-16T17:37:00.000+02:00

Well, what's there to say, too bad you missed it. ;-)

this is not a rose

2007-05-14T12:31:00.000+02:00

Head and shoulders...

2007-03-07T11:29:00.000+01:00

After a long period of settling down at Basecamp Belgium again (which involves mostly psychological stress-reducing skills and endurance in the art of living in a fast-paced-result-oriented society /as opposed to a society where the way you do things to get results matters just as much on a personal level) I can feel that itch again, the one that spells "exploration" and "inspiration". Yet I do not plan on travelling the globe again, as last week I have seen my old world from close-up. I was working the streets for a casting that involved African, Asian and Latin people, and most of those streets where in Brussels. This city has never been my favourite one in Belgium (of course being a real "Antwerpenaar" this will come at no surprise to many of you ;-) since I feel it has a certain emptiness to it, and not just because half of the city flees away every working day at 5 pm. Brussels has this metropolitan character to it, the one that makes it both a place where people from all over the world work and live, as a place where anonymity means people can just wither away and no one will miss them. Roaming the streets intensively I bumped into many a homeless person, whom seem to live under stairs or in dark corners of the same buildings where people are running the world. It made me wonder what my place is on this multi-faced globe of ours. And wonder is what I do. I hope I will wonder and amaze for a long long time, because it seems to give me some kind of quiet in this world. Not knowing exactly what it is that brings me here, in this life, it can also be a way of living. As long as I can find inspiration in exploring both my local habitat and the world out there, I know that things will be fine. As long as I have that curiosity I will just as happily stick out my head to see what moves the crowd around me as I will look at my belly to see what moves me.

Crossing borders

2007-01-19T08:43:00.000+01:00

Seems like Thailand is slowly becoming one of those countries in the world where the reign of terror can bear fruit... Security checks at shopping malls, bored looking young army boys patrolling around bus stations and government offices, people eyeing other people and deciding whether or not that is a bomb in their bag or just a smelly durian... But that is just a small part of daily life. In general people go on about their daily business, shopping is still the number one favourite pastime for inhabitants of Bangkok, the buses are still joyfully overcrowded and after giving your bag a suspicious look people will still give you a nice innocent smile as if they never were suspicious at all... I will miss this place, with its bombardment of sensations, its colourful pallet of smells, sounds, and lights.. The bustling activity on the streets where every available square meter is used to its fullest potential. Time for me however to go and make myself a busy man again in the fine Kingdom that is Belgium. Ah, Belgium, where fries are fries, wether it are french ones or decent ones, with its tasteful beers (it's a good thing our monks aren't Buddhists, or we wouldn't have our precious Orval's and Grimbergen's and Leffe's...) and its delicious chocolates. Where people like to complain about the weather whether it is cold or hot, where people tend to worry about things that haven't even happened yet... Yup, I think I am going to be just fine coming back, after all it's home... Just let me have one more fruity toast before boarding that plane to Home...

Before the winter...

2007-01-01T13:04:00.000+01:00

Wether they fall in the name of Freedom or the name of Terror, people fall when chaos strikes in daily life. No matter what colour of skin or religion one has, as a victim they join a long list of kindred that leave black spaces in the hearts of their loved ones. To the latter I wish this year to be a healing and kind one, and to all others I wish to find kindness and warmth in your hearts, so that there will be no more black spaces to be made...

Home is a place were we can feel familiar with ourselves...

2006-12-28T11:03:00.000+01:00

One can be restless whilst sitting on the same chair at the office every day just as easily as one can shift from side to side on a bench in the transiberian train.

Searching for Major Tom...

2006-12-19T15:01:00.000+01:00

The truth is out there, but the food is to good to go looking for now... Lots of crunchy greetings from the country with the fresh baguettes...

Tic tac tic tac, time goes on...

2006-12-17T15:15:00.000+01:00

Amazing how fast one loses track of time in the country of Tuk Tuks...
Thanks to partly the excellent musical taste of Mr. Lippe and the other part to a Chinese made uncontrollable tapeplayer (speed varies depending on tapelength, battery power and general position and location on the globe...) I have spend some hilarious moments at the riverbanks of the Mekong. Cheers!

The bordertown of Mukdahan and its provincial city Ubon Ratchathani proved drastically calmer and cheaper as Bangkok, but the clashing of cultures was just as appalling. Novice monks in full orange robes playing "shoot em up' games in the internet shop while shouting commando instructions at each other, that was a first one even for yours truly... Across the river is Savanakhet, city of heaven, located in the land of the lotus eaters, where life goes into a stroll and rushing is considered bad manners.

Asian sayings, part one...

2006-12-04T09:48:00.000+01:00

Just when you thought the owl (He looks awfully familiar for those of us who used to watch "De Fabeltjeskrant" don't you think) was gonna spread some childishly comforting words of wisdom he comes up with this ZEN stuff.... Anyway, if you need a drink after curfew in Bangkok this saying is awfully correct unless you know where the owl lives...

2006-11-24T08:19:00.000+01:00

The difference between Buddhist temples and Muslim ones is that requests made by the religious inhabitants from Buddhist temples are considered open for negotiation and the latter ones are not even considered to be a request... How I wish on times like these that the ever compassionate Enlightened One would make a mental note and make sure the wheel of incarnation stopped at, oh say, "circus-elephant-with-funny-coloured-hat-and-flatulence-complex". Or would that be to elevating in ways? I'm sure his humour is as kind as his wisdom in cases like this...

Shit Happens...

2006-11-19T10:38:00.000+01:00

After catching yet another illustrious and stubborn bacteria that settled in on my airways and clogged up my breathing like the traffic clogs up the streets in Delhi I decided to head out towards one of Thailand's quieter places, yet not to quiet. After Manila and Bangkok it was on to Ko Samui. Not as crowded and noisy as Phuket but busy enough to survive a week of fasting and cleansing. Yup, I finally decided to give it a go and do some actual cleaning up. All those days spent in cities inhaling exhaust fumes, drinking dubious alcoholic beverages and eating not always in the better places around, I figured that seven days of abstention of solid foods would not harm me. So I ended up in The Spa Resort, a calm and alternative place to spend your time usefully. Or just spend time. The reason I chose The Spa Resort amongst many options around here was that it was one of the cheapest ones that still looked genuine and professional, and that they weren't like those in-your-face kind of places that used to pollute his planet during the 90's. You did not have to be a convinced veganist or being able to walk on burning coals to take part in their program, and so far the only hippie I spotted turned out to be a local Thai fisherman that had just staggered out of sea before heading home and cleaning up. I felt at ease. I felt like I had a choice being here. Good. I needed that. And I also realized I needed the fast. But I have no idea how I will feel in two days, when my system has actually begun to get rid of all the toxins I have been gathering over years of drinking and eating greasy burgers and lots of Belgian Fries... Hmmmm, Belgian Fries....Grrrggrrggrrr... Ahem. So, ok, maybe it won't be easy, and certainly there are parts of the program that scare me (for instance why is everybody always walking by the swimming pool with a big bucket filled with coffee-colored water and a tube and bottle of vaseline tightly gripped in the other hand while looking as if a fleet of plundering Vikings is gonna board the beach any minute now? And what does all that talk about colemas and the benefit of enemas pinned on my bathroom wall mean? Well, I will certainly meditate on that tomorrow morning. And any place where the staff is wearing a uniform that says "SHIT HAPPENS" can't be that bad. So off I go!

Drifter with a purpose...

2006-11-13T15:51:00.000+01:00

After a while one gets accostumed to crossing borders, but one must never grow used to it. There is too much meaning in going from one place to another, too much stories that grow there...

2006-11-13T15:35:00.000+01:00

South cemetary blues...

2006-11-03T14:19:00.000+01:00

Transitional rooms

2006-10-30T11:07:00.000+01:00

Spending time in airco rooms...

2006-10-11T10:24:00.000+02:00

What to think if your psychiatrist starts a conversation with you about quantum physics? I mean, I'm paying the man to do some voodoo on me and he starts going star-trek on me! But then again he is a very talented shrink, and I'm glad he doesn't try to use the book on me because even if I didn't study for psychologist -or god forbid social worker- I do know when people are mind-fucking ya instead of mind-healing ya. And he did have an interesting point somewhere about how reality that pours into my brain trough my eyes, ears and other wee senses is being created only after I give a meaning to what comes in. In a way we all create reality based on what we think we are seeing and feeling and all, but truth is we just give an opinion to ourselves of it. Many actions and intentions of others we have to guess abuot, and some peopel guess better at what the true meaning is than others. Now, if I'm not in one of my paranoid moods then I'm also someone who mostly figures out stuff correct. But then again, I also always have a little voice telling me that maybe I'm not wrong, but then again there could be other reasons or intentions. Based on how we think other people think we react on the things they do. So you see it's quite important somhow to get a good idea. And I literally mean a good idea, because in my opinion, if you perceive people to be of good intent somehow they react to it. Not the die-hard hustlers and con-men of course, but most people will also sense this and in a way their reaction will be adapted to yours. It's like when you smile instead of looking like there's a lemon stuck up yer rear end, notice how many strangers will pass by and smile back? Anyway, I'm gonna grab a bite I feel like feeding my inner child and all the other guys in here ;-)

2006-07-11T00:33:00.000+02:00

Angels rise where people fall......

2006-02-13T22:26:00.000+01:00

I feel like a fish in the water these days! Freelancing as an assistant-producer, assistant-director I seem to get just enough work to get on the road again! So this lil' happy fish is going to be saddling up again soon! Join me on my other blogsite starting from 14 march to see what kinda stuff moves my world. See ya all!

Leave the buidling...

2005-11-14T20:24:00.000+01:00

Why would people wanna believe Elvis is still alive when there are so many colourful events just behind the corner?

A plate full of Plato. (warning, written after subject was exposed to hours of zapping)

2005-10-24T02:40:00.000+02:00

The more I am working as a freelancer in the lucrative world of producing advertisements the less I feel like being a filmmaker. And yet I prefer making a living on a shoot for some famous or less famous brand than getting a regular job and really make some steady money. Because at least it still feels like I'm close to the movies. Close to what it was all about. I wonder if maybe it wouldn't be better to steer away and do something entirely different just to stimulate the need to be making a film again.A real film, not a product. I want to get out of the cave, away from the play of shadows on the walls, and look into the sun again. Next time someone screams "ACTION" and the cameras are rolling I want to feel a heartbeat, a pulse, any sign that there is life in what we are doing. Even better, I want to be the one that whispers "action", and may life be screaming upon me, I will not back down, I will not yield, only the essential matters. I will be standing there, burning my eyes staring into the sun and remembering. Not what it can be all about but what it is about. What it is. What is. Essence.

2005-08-27T15:00:00.000+02:00

As I was walking across acres of industrialized earth I noticed my feet getting lighter and lighter. I got the impression one of the steps I was going to take would lift me up from this place and I would just walk into the sky. Nothing would stop me. Nothing could stop me. Well, yes, one thing could. Gravity.

There's a limit to everybody's sky...

2005-08-21T16:02:00.000+02:00

Being tall gives you an advantage when taking pictures like this. While both my feet are planted firmly on the earth in order not to tip over, I get to see quite a lot of what's going on in the sky without getting a stiff neck. It's how I also like to dream up new adventures: lots and lots of dreamy stuff but with a sense of reality at the bottom of it so it stays within reach...

Another day in public spaces...

2005-06-22T11:35:00.000+02:00

Well, spring may be over by now as summer seems to be in full swing but there's still something in the air reminding me of what spring is all supposed to be about...

Spring is in the air...

2005-05-21T03:26:00.000+02:00

There is something different about being in the same place again... The people are still the same, the city is still the same, there have been no mentionable cultural, architectural, or historical revolutions that have changed the face of my homeland, and yet I feel out of place. It's difficult trying to focus again on the details instead of the big picture. And it seems like the changes are hidden in the details.

I didn't feel like a stranger coming home again, but I can't make myself feel at home at the same time. It's like part of me has never been away for seven months and the other part can't come back. I just hope this spring will bring a couple of damp and raging thunderstorms, it would be the perfect place to feel at home...

Moonfish

2005-04-29T11:39:00.000+02:00

As I was lying on my back on a beach somewhere at the end of this journey, stars filled the cloud-dotted sky and I am pretty sure I saw a fish swimming by in the pale moonlight. I am not sure what it all means and even less sure if drinking whiskey out of a bucket is really a good idea, but one would be safe to say that going home is not a thing to look reluctantly upon. At least there the clues make sense in a no-nonsense kind of way. So there I was, drifting away on my own cloud of clueless daydreams, propelled into what felt like a goodbye by a dazing brain and lots of alcoholic fuels. It didn't feel wrong, it didn't feel right. It just happened to be that way. Anytime soon now I will glance down on these clouds and realize that they belong to a different sky for the people down there. I will set foot again on my beloved birthground. And then I shall look up once more to see those omnipresent stars shining upon whatever piece of earth I happen to be looking up from...

Holiday Burn-Out Warning!

2005-03-24T14:47:00.000+01:00

Warning, it has been suggested that some people will suffer from a Burn-Out Syndrome Class C due to over-exposure to non-stress-situations, long sleeping sessions, exotic food, exotic drinks and even more exotic dancers. If not treated, the typical Burn-Out of this type may result in severe chronic laziness, brain-blocks and the inability to look for an interesting job. Please stay alert and refrain from prolonged holidays if you suspect you may be one of those people. That will be all for today...

2005-03-01T15:20:00.000+01:00

Rest in rage Mr. Thompson, rest in Rage...

2005-02-14T10:39:00.000+01:00

Be forewarned that Thai cooks tend to pack a lot of sugar into the bread around here, enhancing the universe old chain reaction of oxygen-fuel-heat-combustion. That is what I found out when I forgot to take out my sizzling toast from the china-made toaster. (The reason I bought it was because it was the cheapest one available, the reason it was the cheapest was because no matter what number you choose for the heater, the result is the same, and of course the spring mechanism which only works if you jump-start it yourself before your bread starts turning black.) I soon found out that apart from turning black, Thai bread will spontaneously start giving of very yellowish flames of about 30 centimeters high when you persistently keep on reading that page-turning homicide-thriller instead of jump starting the spring mechanism in cheap Chinese toasters. Anyway, it made me look up from my book and thus allowed me to get out of the house for a little trip to the internetshop. All well that ends well. (I wonder if I unplugged the toaster before leaving my apartment?)

2005-01-27T06:11:00.000+01:00

Have I ever told you about these two guys standing guard in front of the temple and getting hot so they decided to put a more casual outfit instead of all these heavy breastplates and shields and stuff, and then they started to worry about getting purple spots on their legs from standing up all the time so they decided it would be better to take a seat and then since no one would know they were supposed to be guards they just started a casual conversation? Well, I might tell you some day, but for now I'll just show you this picture of two guys talking about some story involving two lazy guards and a temple.

2005-01-27T06:05:00.000+01:00

It seems like mother Teresa is having some competition here...

2005-01-21T11:28:00.000+01:00

Just another Irish pub in a Muslim country... (Note however that the concept most Europeans have of Muslims doesn't include humor....) (My point? Ah yes: these people know how to have fun and could easily melt the scary feelings scared little old grannies and grandpas in pampered Europe have just with their smiles and good manners!)

2005-01-17T09:13:00.000+01:00

A familiar sight for anyone travelling alone. Empty hotelrooms, waiting to be momentarily occupied, bedsheets crumpling, washing sinks with a speck of soap on the rim and a hair in the drain, chairs gradually filling up with dirty socks, sweatstained shirts and yesterdays underwear... And allways this daylight creeping in, reminding you of the fact that out there is a strange and unfamiliar world waiting. No matter how hard you try to make yourself feel at home, as long as that window is there you are reminded by this dim light bringing with it all those new sounds and strange odours that home is a place far away...

2005-01-17T09:05:00.000+01:00

I often wonder what I would be thinking about sitting on a bench and growing old. I mean growing old as in "beyond retirement". Will there be noisy grandchildren with plastic RayGuns in the background? A smiling and rimpled wife holding my rimpled hand while she's feeding crumples of bread to the ducks with her other hand. Or maybe it's just me. An old man, a bench, lots of clouds and lots of memories. I wouldn't mind growing old, as long as those giant clouds are there to tower over my little head filled with all this little memories to keep me in perspective. Yup, and old man and his bench, that's all it takes to grow old properly...

Kids that didn't suffer from the tidal wave...

2005-01-10T15:37:00.000+01:00

These two minors collect plastic bottles and beercans out of the garbage from the busterminal in Luang Prabang, one of the world-heritage cities in the world. They have been doing it for years and they will continue to do so until the oblivious surpluses of glue will enter their hard lives. They don't have a clue what's going on outside of their little garbage-world, but then again, if you have to make enough money to eat and support your alcoholic father at the same time, making as much as 5 eurocents a kilo, nobody blames you for not taking part in the world's biggest donation-rush. Well, here's to all you hard working kids out there that didn't make the news! May the purse of Mrs. Sushi or the belly-pouch of Mr. Burger lay hidden under the next empty beercan, and may your nights be filled with all the dreams a kid can wish for.

Owen! Owen!! Owen!!!

2005-01-01T21:09:00.000+01:00

I wonder what Owen has to say about that...

2005-01-01T13:33:00.000+01:00

I realise I didn't tell you all my Lao-adventures (Including my stay in Dusttown, aka Vang-Vieng or the City of the Back-packing-Lotus-Eaters and my encounters with Rat, aka Trippin'-Overstayin'-Indian and Vegas, aka Drinkingmyselftodeath-Lao-Chick). So I figured I would just put up this little panorama for you all to get a grasp of how many untold stories we all could have back there in good ol' Lao. (Think of them as the mountains in the background there, waiting to be climbed...)

2005-01-01T13:23:00.000+01:00

In these days of wireless communication messages fly trough the ether at the speed of thunder. No strings attached. Makes you wonder about how Blogging would be if pigeons and wires were all our ways of communicating. Not really. But it got me this picture though.

2004-12-29T13:32:00.000+01:00

Hey hey!!! Seems like I made it! Yup, today I am 25 years old, and still as bald as I was when I turned 18. Jippiej!!! To all you out there somewhere on this planet: Chok Dii Khap and Live long and in Protsperity! Crisscrass...

2004-12-13T12:22:00.000+01:00

old and new meet during Loy Kratong in Chiang Mai...

2004-12-05T08:05:00.000+01:00

Sangklaburi, bridge to Myanmar...

2004-12-05T08:04:00.000+01:00

It is rumored that karaoke isn't what it used to be, but this empty Karaoke hall proves Unesco has to act, and act quick, before a completely unique style of entertainment quietly dies under the succes of omnipresent Black-and-White-Movies from the thirties! We cannot allow this!!!

2004-12-05T08:00:00.000+01:00

It is quite disturbing to walk around in one of the even busier than usual areas of Bangkok (SIAM SQUARE) and suddenly stumble upon a desolated alley. One is inclined to walk into one of the empty houses, climb the dusty stairs and sit down next to the window, waiting for the clock to strike twelve. One imagines seeing a tall slender man walking in the street with his hands on his belt, ready to draw. On the other end of the street a small husky man adjusts his hat, comfortable knowing the sun is behind him, making it harder for his opponent to read his face. It is an advantage, 'cause he hardly looks as fearsome as his adversary, staring upon this silhouette before him without the slightest display of fear. As the last bell is emptying it's metal sound in echoes down the alley, the only sound left is that of the wind pushing rubbish around the pavement. The two men put themselves in position, feet at shoulderlength, hands on their guns. The moment they have both been waiting for ever since yesternight has dawned upon them. It is time. And then, out of nowhere, a strange and unheard sound fills the street, both men look to the source of this frightfull hurl as it nears them. A strange carriage is closing in on them, but no horse is to be seen... Is this one of the devils tricks? And why do all the letters on the billboards are looking so funny, the tall one asks himself before being forced to dash ungracefully into one of the garbageheaps. He nearly got himself killed by this devilish carriage, swooping the street and driven by some strange kind of Indian. The small man helps him to his feet, this is not a time to quarrel.. They both look towards the end of the street, where the strange sound slowly fades away. Tuk-tuk\tuk-tuk\tuk-tuk\tuk-tuk it goes and then all is quiet again...