The World According to Mrs B

A Mouser Photo-Essay

2012-01-24T00:55:00.000Z

8.30 am: Good Morning! Time to wake up?

10.20 am: Finally able to sleep on Mrs B's lap.

10.45 am: Lovely stretch, finally found comfy position to sleep in.

11.10 am: Mrs B had to put some wood on the stove and Mouser had to shift.

11.45 am: Trying out different sleeping position.

12.30 am: Still in semi-comatose condition.

02.00 pm: What's this? I spy lunch!

02.20 pm: What's for desert Mrs B?

03.00 pm: Afternoon nap.

03.12 pm: Deep sleeping.

03.15 pm: Afternoon grooming session.

04.00 pm: Afternoon sleeping session resumed in different location.

05.00 pm: 2nd Afternoon sleeping still in session

In Dreams

2012-01-23T09:35:00.002Z

I can tell what Mouser is dreaming about just by looking at the way it is sleeping.

Rita Gorr is no more

2012-01-22T00:22:00.000Z

Another star of the opera world has dwindled. Rita Gorr has died, the woman who made walls of various Opera Houses tremble.
I saw her last performance in Pikovaja Dama in 2007, my very first blog post.

Mirrors on shoes!

2012-01-21T10:03:00.010Z

And in other news today: a variety of pervs were caught at the Brussels Auto Salon.
A man was seen masturbating behind the wheel of a Suzuki.
Maybe he was just being practical and trying out to see how roomy the car really was? It's an auto salon. My guess is Suzuki wasn't the only stand to get a visit from him. Not if he was comparing small city cars...

Then a German journalist was caught while trying to take pictures under skirts. I don't know what journal or magazine he was working for (Matador?) but I don't think it was the AMS.

And here is the icing on the upskirting cake ... a man was caught with mirrors on his shoes.
Mirrors on his shoes! My guess is we're not talking about a very high shine here.
How to you go about your business as a mirror-on-shoe-wearing-perv?
You needn't worry about getting caught, everyone will be looking at the cars and the hostesses, no-one will be looking down at your shoes. What could possibly go wrong? It's full-proof!

Here's that perv-plan in full:
1) Buy a ticket to the auto salon.
2) Try and buy custom mirror shoes through the internet.
3) If no one will supply you, make your own.
4) Buy two small pocket mirrors, some glue and some elastic.
5) Cut elastic to right size, glue mirror to it. Repeat.
6) Go to the auto salon.
7) If using public transport, avoid eye contact with fellow passengers as to not break into a smile. You know what you are going to do very shortly. They don't.
8) Go to lavatory and put mirror contraption on shoes.
9) Walk over to car stand, stand near women in skirt.
10) Put foot out and try to catch reflection in mirror.

Here's some possible explenations how he probably got caught:
a) I bet his mirror got all steamed up and he had to bend down to wipe it.
b) He didn't manage to find hand mirrors and had to buy some second hand car mirrors. They made him stand out in the crowd.
c) The girls at the Suziki stand weren't wearing skirts and got a bit worried at someone standing close to them with a foot out.

If the mountain won't come to Mouser

2012-01-19T00:26:00.001Z

Mouser has been eying the birds fluttering about for a couple of days now. I put up some a bird feeder with seed and some balls with fat and nuts and strung them up all over the place.
I'm trying to get Mouser to eat the Speshul Kitteh Noms™ for some time now, but Velvet Claws has other plans. Yesterday was the final straw and it decided to go out and fetch its own food.
I was near the window studying for my Architectural History exam when I saw kitteh climb into a pine shrubbery and perch on one of the branches, right next to one of the balls.
Needless to say not one bird was going to fall for that one.
Finally Mouser decided it'd had enough after half an hour and came indoors to sleep away the hunger on my lap.

Cat-friendly exam

2012-01-18T09:27:00.005Z

So, cat-friendly architecture it was. Le Corbusier and Eisenman were the architects I had to talk about during my exam on Monday. All went well.
The professor didn't look too pleased with my critique about Stéphane Beel's boring architecture.
Really, who wants to look at a dreary wall when you've paid through the nose for 2 ha of ground?
I'm just being practical here. Not snobbish.

Apparently you have to like Beel because he's getting all the jobs for ~~renovating~~ destroying beautiful historical sites. Remember, this is the guy who robbed humanity of a clear view of the Rubens House in Antwerp by putting that pointless fish tank in front of it.

King of Belgium and Nightmares

2012-01-13T16:12:00.003Z

A striking picture in some online national newspaper of Albert II, King of the Belgians.
Has he been taking lessons in posing for pictures? I seem to recall an eerily similar pose adopted by Freddy Krueger of Nightmare on Elm Street fame.
They might be related. I think we should be told.

Cats & Architecture

2012-01-09T09:12:00.011Z

What is up with cats and architecture?
I've been cramming for my architectural theory exam and have been looking at quite a few snaps of houses.
Here's a few samples of the things I came across:

(C)At Le Corbusier's Villa Savoie:

(C)At Eisenmann's House III

(C)At Desmet & Vermeulen's House in Wetteren

(C)At the architect Marie Josée Van Hee's house.

Notice the cats subtly stalking the photographer from the roof:

In the kitchen:

In the garden:

Do cats smell good architecture when they prounce about?
Notice I did not post a single snap of a Stéphane Beel design.
That's because it is bad architecture. Cats avoid living in a Beel house. It is to boring, bland and minimalist. I think cats actually appreciate a nice promenade architecturale; which is obviously lacking in Beel's work.

Special hommage was paid to Le Corbusier for making kitteh-friendly architecture.
Proof:

Art napping gone balls up

2012-01-05T17:16:00.005Z

Remember the art theft of René Magrittes Olympia? I blogged extensively about thatover two years ago.
According to a Belga press release, the thieves simply 'returned' the painting after fruitless ransom negotiations with the insurance company. Neither did they manage to flog it on the underground art market, no buyer would burn its fingers.

I should point out that the article says the thieves knew how to disarm the alarm system. Unfortionatly the journalist missed the fact that the alarm is never switched on during museum opening hours.
So it still looks like professional thieves were commissioned to do the robbery, but the client wasn't really up to speed on the dodgy deal side.

So in my armchair detective fantasy world, Herr Director is still not in the clear...

Andrea Storm

2012-01-05T08:25:00.005Z

Mouser hasn't been out since the storm reached our shores and has been pummeling us with buckets of water and gusts of wind. Velvet Claws™ snuggled up to us last night, feeling quite safe having wedged itself in between Dr Livingstone and myself.
I opened up the curtain of the front room, there is Maximum Kitteh Surveillance™ (MKS) going on right now. Mouser is quite unsettled by this extreme weather.

I think all the mouse hiding holes must have flooded by now. I don't think soggy, drowed mice are really appetizing. Neither does Mouser, come to think of it.
We got tiny puddles of water in the conservatory, we need to seal up some spots that seem to have a pin prick of space so rain can seep through. But nothing like a proper flood or something.
The sanded riding area is a bit soggy at the moment. I think it has turned into quicksand right now.
Ah well, another day of cramming ahead, what better way to be inside and warm.

In a DeLorean

2012-01-03T09:03:00.001Z

Uli does not want

2011-12-30T18:44:00.002Z

Pneumatology ≠ pneumology

2011-12-27T08:59:00.005Z

I have this strange subject that, regardless what your field of study is, you are required to take it. It's called Religion, meaning and world-view. It bores the pants off if you're not into that kind of thing. Some theologist saying this and then another theologist not agreeing because of God knows what kind of reason.
The text we're using is larded with words like creed, revelation and eschatological.
Anyway.
I was reading through this bit of text on a certain Mr Jürgen Moltmann. I got through a paragraph but it didn't really make any sense.

It says (roughly translated): "In the third volume the insights from previous works are completed by reflections on ecclesiology and pneumatology."

I could't quite work out why a theologian would be remotely interested in combining religious studies with pulmonary diseases. Could it have been because of the crucifiction Jesus had a hard time breathing with all that water in his lungs?

It didn't make sense. None at all. The penny dropped quite late after a bit of confusion.
And then it dawned on me: Pneumatology is not the same as pneumology...

Belgium is no longer a country

2011-12-26T12:09:00.004Z

It has been lingering in the foul smelling air for some time now, but as of this week it has been made official:
According to the message I got on youtube, Belgium is no longer a country.
And if it's on the internet it must be true. :-/

The RTBF (the French speaking community's broadcasting corporation) has blocked me from viewing a trailer for Rundskop because I live in the Flemish speaking part of Belgium. Which is according to the copyright restriction ... in another country. Ironically enough the film was financed with money from the Flemish, Brussels, Walloon and Dutch governments.
And it is an international trailer.

So does that mean the international film trailer will only be available in the Walloon part of the universe?

Reasons Greetings from a profoundly confused Belgian.

Why am I not surprised

2011-12-21T09:39:00.002Z

"Friends haven't been doing anything new recently."

O RLY?

It's funny because it's true

2011-12-21T00:50:00.000Z

Just fancy that

2011-12-19T17:32:00.005Z

I'm the only living soul out of a class of, say 90 students, to recognize this man:

Professor: "Does anyone know who this is?"

I was the only to raise a hand.

Me: "It's Levi Strauss."

Professor aghast and pausing slightly: "That's correct. Very good... To be honest I didn't think anyone would know."

Me grinning like an idiot and feeling slightly embarassed at all the heads turning towards me.

Professor: "Tell me, how did you know it was him?"

Me, trying not to come over all sardonic or some other pedantic impression I was giving, said gingerly: "Erm, I recognized his -eh- face."

/facepalm.

All done!

2011-12-18T09:12:00.004Z

The room makeover has been completed. The radiator and borders are in place, Dr Livingstone has fitted all the electric sockets and switches.
Even the curtain rod has been installed. Unfortunately it had to be screwed to the wall some 7 cms higher. I say unfortionatly because the curtain was also 7 cms shorter and they were made to measure.
But then Dr Livingstone had the exceedingly brilliant idea of fixing the curtains to the rods with a novel system. Watch out IKEA, it will be patented!
He fitted small chains in between the gliders inside the rod and the hooks on the curtains. 4 links, that's all it took.

So here we are now, the definite 'before' and 'after' pictures.

It seems a shame to have to fill it with furniture now.
We won't be able to sleep in it until that nasty paint smell from the radiator has completely vanished.

You will be missed, blunt poet.

2011-12-17T08:10:00.002Z

I raise my ~~glass~~ bottle in honour of your life and works.

Room Makeover Day 6

2011-12-14T19:19:00.003Z

Well, it's white. From wall to wall.
The paint is on, all the ugly colours have been banished by the brush! Hurrah!
The wooden border is very elegant and looks better than the tiled ones.
It'll look very smart once all the tape has been removed, the floor has had a good scrub and the wooden border on the ceiling is in place.
Pfff. Just a little push and it's all over!

Room Makeover Day 5

2011-12-13T16:26:00.004Z

Yes, this is Day 5. And behold! The ugly orange smear marks have disappeared behind the wall paper! Three cheers for covering up ugly things!
The room has been papered all round and now just needs a lick of paint (and if need be there must be 2 layers of paint to hide the seams and blotches shining through) and the slotting into place of the radiator.
I'm concerned there's not enough space now to put it back and it will be right up close to the new wall.
But hey, it's nearly done!

Room Makeover Day 3 & 4

2011-12-11T14:23:00.006Z

Second round of sanding down and plastering the seems, and then for my Magnum Opus...

/drumroll

the spray painting of the radiator.

Two cans was all I bought due to tight budgetting. The main trick to doing this the right way is spraying on little layers. Not too heavy ones, they might form those 'tears' and we want a slick, clean and smart looking item.
Dr Livingstone and I had to move it away from the wall.
First up I sanded down the radiator with a medium sanding paper. Then I washed it down to get rid of all the paint and chalk. And then le moment sûprème.

It has been quite some years since I wielded a spray can for decorative purposes. After the first can was empty I went and had a drink, a cuddle and a breath of fresh air.
I didn't do the back of the thing, it is pretty useless since it is facing the wall and no-one will ever cast a sideways glance at it.

So from a very dull, dark brown, I now have a pristine white one. It says on the paint can it is white-white. But it looks a bit of a creme colour.
Anyway, I'm quite pleased with the result so far. It just needs to dry now and then reconnected once the wall paper and paint have been slapped on the wall. \o/

Educational Mainwaring

2011-12-08T00:55:00.000Z

I couldn't quite put my finger on it all week, but while watching a Best of Dad's Army DVD it finally dawned on me.
One of my professors (and I'm not naming names) has an uncanny resemblance to Captain Mainwaring of Dad's Army fame.
They might be related. I think we should be told.

Room Makeover Day 2

2011-12-07T21:27:00.003Z

This is day two of the makeover. All isolation plates are in place now, those around the window had yet to be fixed. And the first round of plastering the seams has been done! \o/

Mouser was in all states and darted out of the house the minute the front door opened.

Room Makeover Day 1

2011-12-06T18:59:00.009Z

This is Day 1 of Room Makeover part 2. Work has gone very well today. Here are some before and after pictures.

The wooden and stone plinths have been removed, the radiator has been removed, new places for electric sockets have been made. The remnants of shoddy building work from previous owners has been laid bare. The walls with isolation have been put into place.
Quite enough for one day!

What a difference already. The room is a little smaller due to the thickness of isolation, but when the white coats of paint will be on, it will look very different.
But, hopefully next week, it will be goodbye to that hideous decoration of the walls.

I don't know what kind of house-hobby-idea rock that pattern crawled underneath from, but it will be cast into oblivion very soon! It's some kind of horrific 90's sponge technique. Yes, it is that horrible shade of orange, there is nothing wrong with your computer monitor.

Mouser steered well clear of all the noise by hiding under couches today. But at the end of the day Kitteh surveyed the building site as a genuine feline health and safety inspector (minus hard had, hi-vis jacket and steel-nosed boots). That curious cat did manage to walk out of the room with dusty paws. Have to be on the look out when the painting starts. One little accident and we could have trouble with Pépé Le Pew.

Finally

2011-12-05T18:44:00.001Z

Mouser's bed-in protest seems to have worked.
We have something resembling a government.
Radio presenter Koen Fillet finally got to shave his beard after 320+ days.
Dr Livingstone said he'll not shave until this new government throws in the towel.
Or, I guess the price of razor blades drops dramatically.

Out of the door, line on the left, one cross each.

2011-11-27T20:29:00.005Z

Mouser's bed-in protest seems to have speeded up the negotiations, the formateur announced they had reached an agreement on the budget up till 2014.
Eerily enough, the press photo's show a vaguely familiar scene.
I seem to remember someone sitting in the middle being crucified a short while later.

Bed-in protest for quick Belgian government formation

2011-11-26T00:55:00.000Z

Bedroom eyes. My bed has eyes. Pretty scary ones too.
Oh wait. It's not monsters. It's just Mouser having a little bed-in protest for a quick government formation. We are currently 531 days without one after june 2010's elections. I think we have broken all intergalactic records by now.

The White Room

2011-11-25T18:39:00.000Z

Yes! The room is completely white now. But just not quite white enough. I think I should add another layer just to have it absolutely right. Light was failing before I could see it dried out. I do not want a hint of pink shimmering through!
And I have to paint the door too... But I need to buy another kind of paint first. And lift the door out of its hinges. And then sand the door down. It's an oak door, and extremely heavy. My guess is it weighs almost as much as myself...

Polly Filler

2011-11-24T14:12:00.005Z

No time to waste yesterday (I sound like an 80's Greenpeace slogan). I hurried back home to finish up filling up some holes in the wall. We're redecorating our former bedroom. This will now become an office and those hideous pinkish colours just have to go.
Unfortionatly Dr Livingstone put pollyfilla on some silicone leftovers and I can't fix it. There are bulges as huge as Mount Everest and I can't overlook them now I know they're there.
We put the fugly wardrobe on the internet and two Belgo-Turkish Copts came and dismantled it for us for free. Dr Livingstone heard them speak, he asked in is usual tacktful way: "What kind weird language are you two speaking?". The answer there came 'Hebrew mixed with a local Flemish accent.'
Apparently there is no Hebrew word for 'upper overlay'. You learn something new everyday.

Today is D-Day. The silicone is going around the edges of the ceiling, tiles and door and then the first lick of paint will be put on.
It is going to be an all-white office, with a simple cupboard with sliding glass doors. The same kind we've got in the livingroom.
Hope it'll be finished next week.

For your entertainment I've put up some 'before' and 'after' pictures of the wall where the brownish wardrobe was standing.
And also a picture of the very dubious shades of pink that are currently on the walls and screaming out loud to be covered with a nice and safe colour of pristine white.

Small book gems

2011-11-24T00:01:00.000Z

I managed to contain myself and put most of the books back I had picked up.
I walked away with just two!
One of the books is a guide to the South Kensington Museum. It is a catalog printed in 1897 and sold in the museum in that same and the following year.
It is in pristine condition and lardered with funny ads, nice crisp ground floor plans of the Science and Art museums. A true gem at only 3€.

And then another surprise as I unearthed a catalogue of the Salon d'Anvers of 1855. I worked on the Salon on 1843, I bought this as a little memento. It feels like I stole it from the archive and now treasure it like some art thief who steals for pleasure.
A stamp on the inside does tell me it once belonged to the collection of the Antwerp city library. I should wrap it in some protective paper, the back is half torn and it is an annoted page. This rare thing set me back just 10€, so I stayed below the 20€ threshold I had agreed with myself.
And I managed to save on a train fare this morning, as the conductor failed to show up. So I have permitted myself to spend an extra 3,90 + 7€, if I have some more time to spend idle amongst volumes of knowlegde.

The Irony Elephants are back

2011-11-23T00:07:00.000Z

I was trying to remember the title of the Agatha Christie novel I am currently reading. It has the word 'elephants' in the title.
So my memory come up with 'Elephants never forget'.
A good title by any standards, but not a novel by written by Agatha.
The book I am really reading is called 'Elephants can remember'.
It is obvious that ze little grey cells are not what they used to be...

Books & Boots

2011-11-22T17:37:00.005Z

I could not help but linger in front of the disgarded book section in the faculty library.
I picked up yet another book for some public transport reading. This time I found a neatly bounded hard cover volume (all black, no letters on the cover). It is called The Battle for Modernity and neatly groups the social movements and denominations in Europe since 1830. This is volume 10 in the Kadoc-studies series. It should give me some extra background info or some little sparks for new ideas for my big paper I'm writing on and should be due around June.

And I went on a double shopping shoe spree when I headed over to the store to get some copy paper.
I bought two (!) pair of boots (the kind Dr Livingstone likes) and a new wallet.
That'll be enough for the rest of the decennium me thinkst (shoe-wise).

Tomorrow there is a book sale at the University Central Library and I might browse around...

Looking at the title of this little blog post; would that be an idea for a bookshop come shoe shop? A walhalla for the educated woman? You already have these coffee-bookstore things.
Why not shoes and books? I think I have just coined the brand name right here and now. Books & Boots. Oh wait. My google-fu just came up with the Richmond Walking & Book Festival 2011.
Right.

Moar Books

2011-11-21T20:24:00.004Z

I'm all keyed up for the book sale on the 23rd and 24th. I picked up a leafled as I was leaving my faculty library on Thursday evening.
The Central University Library is selling off their double or irrelevant volumes. Maybe I can unearth a little gem. Who knows. I must however agree with myself on the maximum amount I ~~am willing~~ shall allow myself to spend.
There is no place for new books. And actually no money come to think of it. I think the only ones I am allowed to buy are the ones we can chuck into the fire to keep warm this coming winter. Those stupid petrol prices keep going up. Where's a good recession when you need really need one?

A scolarly day

2011-11-17T21:13:00.006Z

I had a lovely day today: all my time I had today was spent immersed in books, history, architecture and paper writing.
I feel elated and don't really know why.
The train ride was spent by further reading the Loving Frank novel, the connecting bus ride was the same.
The an architectural theory lecture on a fascinating architect I seem to have a faint memory of having seen some of his work: Juliaan Lampens. His puristic concrete architecture has a very Japanese feel to it when seeing '70's grainy pictures of the house he built in the late sixties/early seventies.

Then I dashed to the next lecture on Costume History. Don't know why but the professor just had to mention he heard a rumour Kate Middleton is pregnant. Makes you wonder what strange pre-occupations these academic scolars have...
Right. I missed professor emeritus Guy Delmarcel's book sale on the 4th floor of the faculty building during lunch hours.
I did manage to buy a book at the library sale (a steal at only 1€!) on Religious experience and aesthetic experience from professor J. J. Aerts' personal library (known for his psychological-anthropological approach toward literature and authors).

Then I spent a couple of agreeable hours finishing up a paper on the Pavilion of Catholic Life at the 1935 World Fair. Fascinating building designed by little know Belgian architect Henri Lacoste.
Will blog on that building in a seperate post.
Then I had to attend another lecture at half eight on Gothic churces in China. Again fascinating stuff.
And to top it all off: I found a book I had ordered on the doorstep. Luckily it hasn't rained today and this time the postman didn't try and stuff it all the way down the letter box. My guess is it was non too flexible and decided it would be best if he just left it out in the open instead of putting it in the car port where it would be safe in case of rain...

The book in question is Ingenieurs en Architecten op de drempel van een nieuwe tijd (1750-1830) by Dirk Van de Vijver. I'm hoping to get some inspiration out of it

Anyway, I'm growing sleepy and just waiting for Dr Livingstone to come home. He's had a decorator in and paint the walls of the workshop all nice and white.

Loving Loving Frank

2011-11-16T21:10:00.003Z

I'm really loving Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. I was sucked into the book and nearly missed my train stop on the way back home this afternoon. I'm half way through till now.

A man came to measure up the windows and front door. He's making us a quote for new ones, which will save us quite some money in a couple of years. We want to have the whole house isolated so we can cut the costs on heating and so on.
We're doing it in phases as we still haven't won the lottery or found a duffel bag stuffed full of euro's on the doorstep left by an anonymous philantropist...

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

2011-11-15T07:11:00.004Z

The lecture finished ten minutes early on Monday so I managed to pop into the book shop on my way to the bus. I was looking for a Boudewijn Büch book on Goethe, but they didn't have any.
On my way out I skimmed a row of fiction novels and found a very cheap copy of Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It's a novel about the love affair between Mamah Borthwick Cheney and architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
It was recommended to me as a little light reading by a professor of architectural theory.
It'll last me a couple of bus rides I guess.
I'm have a hard time concentrating on reading school stuff because of all the pointless banter all around courtesy of all my fellow passengers.

A little friend

2011-11-14T01:11:00.000Z

An unlucky Jay flew right into our double glazing and was quite dazzled by the experience. I picked him up, to steady him, Dr Livingstone said I was no good and took him with his bare hands to keep the poor bird warm and recover from the huge smack and woozy feeling.

It sat quite stil and did not fight or struggle to free itsself rom his grip. He then sat down in the garden and stroked it. Its eyes were alert, its pupils reacting to movements and it seemed all ok. No serious concussion, maybe the bird experienced a slight headache, but it seemed fine.
It flew out of Dr Livingstone's hand and perched on the chair next to him and then flew, not in a complete straight line I might add, into a nearby tree. It struggled to perch on a branch but then flew away reassuringly.

Train (ed) dog

2011-11-13T21:00:00.005Z

My grandmother is in hospital after a fall. She's having surgery on Monday to mend her hip. She was quite comfortable in hospitable, her leg in traction to keep the break nice and aligned for the surgeon to fix it.
I visited her Saturday, the train on the way there was packed with people.
All of them speaking different languages. The guy with the dog was talking Japanese on the phone, in front of me a Tunisian living in Brussels was speaking English with two Turkish girls studying marketing and engineering, behind me some Germans were either arguing or having a normal conversation (sounds alike in tone of voice to me). Across from me two Russians students, behind them Polish folk, and behind them very loud Spanish people.
They were all talking, everything went crescendo. It was very hard to concentrate on the reading material I had brought with me. If they were talking languages I can't understand, then I would have managed but I just gave up after 1,5 pages and nodded off. I slept the whole ride just up to the terminus.
The dog belonging to the Japanese guy was sprawled on two seats and seemed to be all relaxed and comfortable.
Right up until the train conductor janked him off.

You are all remembered

2011-11-11T11:00:00.000Z

At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, the Great War ends.
The First World War left nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded, with Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary, France, and Great Britain each losing nearly a million or more lives. In addition, at least five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure.

World War I was known as the "war to end all wars" because of the great slaughter and destruction it caused.

Presentation Time

2011-11-08T19:24:00.005Z

At the university today I had to give a presentation on the Antwerp Salon of 1843. It's an exhibition much like the more famous counterparts held in Paris.
It went well, had positive feedback and a few laughs, which is always good. It was great fun researching the subject. I love the nineteenth century. It's so alike today, but yet so different. And the newspapers are always a bundle of laughs.
Art critics are very very harsh when it comes to reviewing some art works. 'He could have saved himself the trouble. What a waste of paint'-kinda stuff.
Some quacks have very big advertisements claiming to -among other things- cure most known diseases.
Which is interesting.
And false.

Meh. Need rest now. No more blogging today.

Mock Pantheon

2011-11-07T18:16:00.006Z

I had the most boring lecture this morning. I've never known anyone able to give such an uninspiring lecture on Dante and his Divine Comedy.
So I had some amusement staring up at the ceiling of the auditorium. It's located in the former Jesuit College. The neo-classicist auditorium was built in 1824 after a design by Hensmans. It's a kind of mock Pantheon. Less ambitious in being semi-circular. Here's a blurry picture I took with my phone out of boredom.

Hey! I almost sound like a real student!

Stasi HQ

2011-11-06T08:25:00.005Z

I firmly believe we have the world's most nosiest neighbour. As soon as even a leaf falls on the driveway, she's out lurking behind some shrubbery or peering out from behind the drapes.
She doesn't know we can see her. Especially when it's dark outside and her livingroom is lit up like a Christmas tree. We can see her staring silhouet.
Dr Livingstone is now even playing with this. When we come home from work or uni, we need to stop in front of the gate to open it. Now he stops just a few meters in front of their house and waits until he sees the curtain shift.
Even when we got up a couple of Sundays ago to watch the F1 (the circuits at the other side of the world have inconvenient tv hours) we got to hear: "You guys were up nice and early today. I saw the woodstove burn."

It's even infected her slow son. When we're out stargazing, we can see him fumbling about in their garden ajoining the chicken shack. He thinks we can't see him, but he carries a small torch with him.

/facepalm

It's like living next to the Stasi headquarters.

Four basset hounds and a concrete mixer

2011-11-05T08:43:00.004Z

Rude awakening this morning around 6 am. Some truck with stuff in it for concrete flooring started up just a couple of meters from our doorstep. At that time I was just in the middle of a dream. I was riding the bus to uni and a lady next to me got up to give room to another lady getting on the bus with four basset hounds. They all jumped up on the seat next to me.
Then I woke up.
I'm guessing what might have happened next. Possible scenarios:
1) Hounds slobber all over me and I'd have to change seats.
2) One of them bites me.
3) One of them comes and sits on my lap and I can't seem to shift it because it is staring at me with that über-sad look.
4) The bus has a head on collision with a concrete truck jumping a red light.

Books! Blogging! Blimey!

2011-11-04T20:17:00.005Z

Hello everyone!

I've been out of the blogging loop for some time. I've hardly had time to gasp for breath once in a while.
I'm back at university, I've had a spell of heart trouble, we've been doing all sorts around the house, we've been busy at the workshop etc. etc. etc.

Best to start blogging again once in a while.
And my first post in a long time will be about ... BOOKS.
How could it not be?
I had a spare half hour before my next meeting for a talk I'm giving with two fellow students, so I strayed into a bookshop.
I got away with:
1) Barry Pitt, Zeebrugge: Eleven VC's before breakfast. A book on the Raid on Zeebrugge in 1918.
2) a book on Belgians in Somalia during operations in the early nineties
3) a book on an evolving borough from the mid 19th century up till the 70's
3) The bedside book of chemistry by Joel Levy. A book on -er- chemistry. I know, I'm a freak.
4) Michel Peeters, Beelden voor de massa: kunst als wapen in het Derde Rijk. A book on art and how it was used as a propaganda tool by Nazi Germany.

I did manage to update my LibraryThing now and then. Which I also other books too that are compulsory reading this semester.

Belgian Wheelchair Rugby team secure place at 2012 Paralympics

2011-10-07T12:09:00.004+01:00

The Belgian Wheelchair Rugby team has secured a place at the 2012 Paralympics today.
England defeated Poland this morning and so Belgium is through.
So far at the European Championchips in Nottwill, Switzerland Belgium has pummeled all teams they played against (Finland, Netherlands, Austria and Denmark).
The toughest competitor is yet to come today: Sweden. Let's hope their Ikea chairs are missing some bits or wheels come off.

So now on to the medals!

Currently the Belgian wheelchair rugby team is 7th in the World Ranking.

The doctor is in the hospital [literally]

2011-08-17T21:59:00.008+01:00

A solemn apology for the lack of posting, but my life has been turned upside down lately.
Well, the doctor was in the hospital last week. And kind of discharged himself at the same time, on account of driving himself completely bonkers.

Dr Livingstone got home all right last time; the week after my last blog post. He was extremely exhausted, but not entirely different from previous month-long-stints-away-from-home-working-20-hours-a-day-for-4-months-on-end.
And when he got back we worked some more; a full week in our own workshop over here.
And on Friday we closed the shop early (well, actually two hours later than we planned) and went on a small get-away-weekend. Just the two of us. No computer with us. No hassle. Even telephone at a minimum. \o/
It was all relaxation, Hefeweiβ Beer & jummy Schnitzels as far as the eye could see (=Sunday).
Had lovely dinners and relaxing walks, even the land lady of the place we stayed in lent us her dog for walkies in the evenings. We saw foxes and deer while having a stroll in the German countryside. What strange shapes of heads these German cows have, so unlike the ones over here. My one big ambition in life not yet fulfilled: To stroke a cow. They always tend to shy away from me. [I haz a sad]
They did present me with my own private cloud of insects. A handful of irritating flies hovered above my head for about 300 meters until we reached the cover of the forest. Much to the amusement of Dr Livingstone, much to my chagrin.

So after a lovely 8 km walk on Saturday morning, some lovely hot Goulash soup and excellent coffee and a rummage around the local discount supermarkets we had an early dinner (Schnitzels und Hefe) and an early night. Utter and complete relaxation.

Dr Livingstone had a turn for the worse on Sunday morning. He started coughing up blood. I drove back home and we went to the emergency room at the hospital. Last time we were there they sent him home with a pain killer without even examening him.
Funny how you mention the word 'BLOOD' and they immediately take you seriously.
Within 1 hour he had had some X-rays taken, a heart monitor diagram, some antibiotics, anti-bloodcoagulants and the right diagnosis.
And Dr Livingstone thought they would just send him home again with some pills.
They kept him in for FIVE whole days. It was necessary because he had had a lung stroke and still has severe pneumonia. 'Normal' people would be kept in for at least two weeks.
So he's home all right, and at work at the same time. He fooled the doctor into believing he won't be lifting any stuff and be relaxing for at least two weeks.

Fat chance. Luckily, or should I say unluckily, one of his colleagues crashed his car about 100 meters from our shop and Dr Livingstone kindly lent his car to him. So he needs to be driven around. That was the deal. No driving cars for two weeks.

Today we just discovered Dr Livingstone had been taking an OD of anti-coagulants (that was the reason his sight was all blurry and he had a hard time remembering things).

As I am typing now, he feels calm now, a bit better then when he heard the news he had had an OD. He is sitting in his super deluxe armchair which we bough a couple of days ago to make him more comfy.

Will post an update on how he is feeling and how things are here once we have shifted this work load that has been piling up and weighing down and hovering above us like Damocles' Sword.

/teletext-type blog post

Summer Film Camp 2011

2011-07-24T00:22:00.000+01:00

I'm off for an entire week to summer film boot camp. I should probably leave out the boot notion, but it really is a survival of the fittest to sit through every lecture and every movie seven days in a row. The first lecture starts at nine sharp and the last film usually finished around midnight. It is not uncommon to hear someone snore their head off during a movie. After day three your feet start to swell up from all the sitting down. Over the years I've managed to devise some sitting techniques to endure all the movie magic. This year it's in Antwerp. This twice yearly event had been hosted in Bruges in years gone by. So I will have to devise a new sitting strategy because I'm not familiar with the seating arrangements in the theatre.

This will be my 8th Summer Film School I will be attending. I feel like a veteran. And I do feel a bit guilty too. While studying in Brussels (waaaay back in the nineties) I used to attend the Film Museum every night, read the glossy magazines, bought second hand books on cinema, worked on film sets. I ate, slept and breathed cinema.
Over the years, moving to an area where most movie theatres are over 15 kilometers away (and expensive), my movie going experience has dropped to an alarming rate. So far this year (or last year) I haven't even set foot inside a cinema.
So this week is very important to me, to keep connected to my very first love for images.

I will have to face up to the music and decide how to spare my strenght. I will be driving to Antwerp every day, so I will need to be alert and wide awake before venturing onto the roads.
This means I will have to skip a movie to get safely home. When in Bruges I could just skip a movie I'd already seen and have a nap in my hotel room. This will be an entirely different challenge.

David Bordwell will be lecturing on Storytelling strategies in 1940s Hollywood. His morning lectures have been very entertaining and enlightening and no doubt his seven Dark Passages-lectures will be of the same high standard I have heard over the years.
He blogged about the Summer camp for cinephiles in 2007 and in 2009.

This year the umbrella theme is Art & Painting. Lisa Colpaert, Tom Paulus, Wouter Hessels (freshly appointed director of Cinematec) and Steven Jacobs will be lecturing on a wide variety of themes i.a. tableau vivants, art documentaries, interiours and landscapes.

After years of whining I finally get what I asked for: A Greenaway movie! Three cheers for the Vlaamse Dienst voor Filmcultuur!

I don't think I will have time to do any blogging during the coming week. Or even a couple of days after that. Dr Livingstone will be home!

Nature's answer to LED

2011-07-23T00:52:00.000+01:00

I got my tripod out to make some decent long exposure pictures of the glow worms in the front yard. They are amazing. The only trouble is they do not sit still. The female Lampyris noctiluca waves it luminous behind about to attract males. On a 30" exposure it just blurs.

The F.A.R.T. to the Rescue!

2011-07-22T00:57:00.000+01:00

I neglected to start Dr Livingstone's car and drive it for a bit while he's out on the road. So it failed to start (obviously). The alarm system had drained the battery. No sweat, just had to open up the hood, connect the battery charger and leave it overnight to charge.
Alas, the bonnet wouldn't open. I thought it was just me at first matching all the stereotypes: blond, female.
So I had to call on my neighbour to help. He showed up with his wife, their son and daughter in law and his best friend.
The bonnet did not budge. But then he borrowed my flashlight and took a look at the lever which opened up the bonnet.
The wire had somehow broken. Great.
So I had to call the roadwatch people to help out. They showed up two and a half hours later then announced.
My guess is they were having a threesome in the truck at a layby somewhere.
It was a F.A.S.T. truck (Files Aanpakken door Snelle Tussenkomst); an acronym which translates loosely into Tackling Traffic by Fast Intervention.
I will call them F.A.R.T. from now on. The Flemish Automobile Rescue Team.

The King's Speech

2011-07-21T08:20:00.002+01:00

The King's Speech was something almost worthy of an Oscar. I ran it through wordle and here is the word cloud it came up with.

Most used words are:
Onze (Ours)
Alle (All)
Land (Land)
Regering (Government)
Europese (European)
Europa
Nieuwe (New)
Samen (Together)
Burgers (Citizens)
Moeten (Must)
Recht (Right)

Surprisingly he only used België once.

The Party Crasher King

2011-07-21T00:01:00.000+01:00

King Albert II of Belgium, delivered a landmark speech yesterday. Today we celebrate our National Holiday and are officially 402 days without a government. Very touchingly he expressed his anxiety about all Belgians suffering under this and the impact it has on the image of the country on a European scale.

Surprise in all media about the body language the King used, wildly gesticulating with hands. This is what he also probably looks like while enraged with his son Laurent.

Alas, no one has noticed the similarity between the King of the Belgians and The Party Crasher in the excellent John Badham movie The Hard Way. I think everyone must be told.

Stimulating ambiguity

2011-07-20T00:22:00.001+01:00

I went to Leuven on Monday, to read the feedback my professor left for me concerning the paper I'd written. It was very flattering I must say. He called my piece 'wayward & original'. Wayward. Hmmm. I shall send him an email to ask if that was a good or bad thing. Don't want to shock these academics too badly.
And congratulate him on his little photo exhibition. I will omit the fact one of his cadrages was a little off and he'd have done better reworking his Nests picture.
Meh. I can do this too. Chuck in some poetry for good measure. These are the kind of pictures I was taking in a dilapidated harbour twenty years ago.
Maybe I should.
I could give him a few pointers in the pictures area. I'm a trained old skool pro. He's a clever professor with a camera during a sabbatical.
I can be a Renaissance woman too! Havat you!

The Methodologies of Art

2011-07-19T00:26:00.000+01:00

Another book arrived in the post last week. I have only read thirtysomething pages of Laurie Schneider Adams The Methodologies of Art and can see plenty of things going awry. This is not a book I'm going to enjoy very much, as I'll get more and more frustrated as I progress.

In her preface she talks about the prolifiration of methodologies, but I am lacking a small side note to this: stressing that not all methodologies are equally 'scientific' or are masquerading as scientific.
She draws an analogy to the interpretation of dreams. 'Works of art, like dreams are multiply detemined'. Ok, I smell parapsychology right round the corner there. I do hope it was poetic license and not to be taken literally.

In the first chapter Adams tells the reader that all methods reinforce one another'. Again, this could very well be the case, but not all could pass the rigours of scientific research.

Anyway, I'm going to delve deeper into this book, and see if I can read on without bias.

The humanities have always teetered on the edge of 'pure' academic (=scientific) research, but it is just that fine line that needs a bit of scrutiny.

I have written on skepticism and art history before, maybe I should do a full length paper about it.

Passed

2011-07-18T00:23:00.000+01:00

I forgot to mention I passed all my exams this semester and will be finishing up my bachelor next year and hope to progress on to the next level.
And finally finish my graduate in Antwerp, which has been hanging in the ropes for some time. I just need to write up a paper and that's it. I'll give it a good think around, maybe I can combine it with the research I'll be doing for the university next semester.
Already looking forward to putting on the white gloves again and rummaging around in musty archives.

Belgium Bastards

2011-07-17T08:41:00.006+01:00

Right. I will commence blogging once more. I have just had a 5 day visit from my 83 year old grandmother.
I though she would only stay 2 or 3 days tops, but she stayed almost a full week.
Maybe she misunderstood me when I said I'd be in Belgium from the 11th 'till the 16th; it implied she could pick some dates in between those days. I had to work anyways, except on Monday.
So when she rang me up to confirm whether or not she'd be coming two weeks ago she said: 'Right. So I'll be staying with you from the 11th up until Saturday.'

I could hardly tell her she couldn't stay that long. She wasn't any trouble really, except when she fell over in the middle of the night and I had to pick her up. I had already, as a precaution, removed all possible tripping obstacles. And there are no stairs in the house she could fall off. But she still managed to stub her toe on something and tumble over in the bathroom.

She even accompanied me to the workshop in the morning. On the way there I bought her a newspaper, which she read back to front. Even the street where I live was in the paper on Wednesday due to some vandals spray painting over some roadsigns and a toad. Honestly. Must be those groups of children camping here.

Anyway, granny got on with Mouser like a house on fire. On Friday I brought her home around midday and planted her in the garden. When I got back from work Mouser was lying next to her in the shade, keeping an eye on things.

Sometimes she's very funny, in a Blackadder-sense: being old and annoying people by pretending to be deaf. She's not deaf, really. Her daughter (my mother) insisted she'd wear hearing aids. So she went and bought them. She just pretends she can't hear 'your mother's whining and moaning'.
Sometimes she's very annoying. And blatently racist. Like out in the open. Like pointing to black people and then (in a very loud voice) hurling abuse at them in the most appalling. Then I try to navigate her away from the people she is focussing on.
Not very easy as she's a very slow walker, so I tend to spin her around so she's facing the other way.
Depending on which group she concentrates on she either calls them spaghetti eaters, rag women, tree climbers or riffraff.
Yes, she is the most intolerant, politically incorrect gran on the planet.
But she can be a bit rock & roll at the same time. She washes down her pills during meals with beer or other alcoholic beverages if they are at hand.

This is what I do on Sundays

2011-07-10T00:38:00.002+01:00

Yes, this is what I do on Sundays. Climbing up remnants of wood that have been shaped to look like a machine. Making sure all the loose bits are hammered into place, the axis is lubed with pig's belly fat and looking out for wood worm activity.
And that's just the first half hour.

And yes, that is part of my leg about 3 meters off the floor and 12 meters off ground level. Not bad for an acrophobic I might add.

Moar books!

2011-07-07T00:44:00.000+01:00

I have been a very naughty girl. I had to console myself after having those appalling exams. Two of my four books have already arrived. They're all architecture and course related. One of them is an obligatory read next semester. But I'm guessing here. None of the courses I take have summer reading.
So, on a quest to broaden my mind (or clutter it with unnecessary details) I surfed teh interwebs and ordered some at my favourite online bookstores. The ones I ordered cheap from Holland have arrived. One being delivered at 8.30 pm. Strange hours for a parcel service. But anyway, two books added to my Librarything.
Architectuur en kritiek van de moderniteit by Hilde Heynen has an endorsement on the sleeve by Kenneth Frampton. I attended Heynen's architectural history of the 20th century classes last semester. Frampton 'Modern Architecture a critical history' was obligatory reading.

The other one is a liber amoricum for Ed Taverne called De Stad edited by Mieke Dings.

Two other books are making their way from the US. I don't expect them for another week or so. They were the cheapest editions I could find anywhere.

One Door Down

2011-07-06T00:13:00.001+01:00

I decided to do some odd jobs around the house. I've cleaned the stables, weeded and cut some overgrowing greenery in its vicinity. Someone is coming to look at them, hope we can rent them out.
I've also mowed the lawn and a bit of the meadow behind it. And I've had to dig a bit so the fence opens up without too much difficulty. Mouser and Bonnie came and went to scrutinize my labour.

Now I'm sanding down some fugly doors. The people who lived here before us tended to favour dark brown over pretty much everything else as a colour. I dub it Granny Brown™. It's a very sombre colour and absorbs so much light. The rest of the house is more or less ok. Luckily they had it redecorated in whites and lighter shades, but the doors remained untouched and are dreary. It is a pity to remove them or paint them over in a light colour. I examined them more closely, they're high quality oak.

So I decided to sand them down to their natural look and just give them a coat of non-colouring varnish. They're fairly easy to sand down on the streight bits. The little corners and bends are tedious and make my elbows go sore.
I've managed to machine-sand four little doors up till now and managed to finish one by hand-sanding.
It seems like this chore is never ever going to end. But I'll have to finish it no matter what. Don't want to be stuck with a mix-and-match closet. But the result is pretty amazing.
Some people remarked at how much better they looked already.
They could of course have said that to just to be polite. I hope they did it just to encourage me.
As I said, these are the small doors. There's four more and they're about 1.5 times longer.

Green LEDs in the flowerbeds

2011-07-05T17:21:00.005+01:00

What an awesome sight. After I figured out what it was.
At first it scared the life out of me. When I was letting the roller blinds drop I noticed some faint light through the window. It was in one of the flower beds. It looked like a green LED. My first thought was: 'We're being spied on' and there is some remote transmitter thing hidden among the flowers.
Then I opened up the door to see what it was when I noticed about six more of these strange green light dots! OMG we're surrounded.
Then it finally dawned on me: Fireflies! Luckily my paranoia settled down.

Lampyris noctiluca. Smashing. I fumbled around for my camera and took a 30 second exposure photograph. Alas the only light is from the street lantern so the picture looks decidedly orange.

This was the first time I've seen them here. It's only the first season in this house. We didn't have any at the old house, probably because the farmers there sprayed everything with insecticide and killed off everything, including this species.

It was only the second time I've ever seen them IRL. And that was last year when on holiday in the Eiffel mountains.

Finished

2011-06-24T12:31:00.007+01:00

Got back from my last exam just on time to see the Kuznetsova-Wickmayer game at Wimbledon.
Mouser is also watching it from an uneasy angle. A lot of moving about always holds kitteh's attention for at least 10 minutes or so.

You have the right to remain...failed

2011-06-21T19:39:00.005+01:00

I honestly thought these things only happened in Police Academy movies or to the bad guys in the A-Team series.
Some boys in blue were heading out to a robbery not far from Antwerp.
They decided to take the tram lane because the regular road was too busy.
Only, they failed to notice there were works going on and the men had just poured out some fresh concrete. Needless to say they got bogged down after a few yards.
I can just imagine the embarrassment they experienced when they called it in.
And the scorn they will have to suffer for years to come...

Gríma DSVD

2011-06-20T00:03:00.001+01:00

I must be one of the few people on the planet that hasn't seen the complete Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
Eight years after the last movie came out I have finally seen the first two episodes. Friday was The Two Towers one.
It struck me as quite funny to see that Gríma Wormtongue is a dead ringer for Channel Zero lead singer Franky De Smet Van Damme.
If they are by any chance related, or share the same hairdresser, I think we must be told.

Von Klemperer Kokoschka stays in Ghent

2011-06-19T00:10:00.000+01:00

In the Nazi-era restitution of art news corner, The Museum of Fine Arts in Ghent has decided not to return 'Portrait of Ludwig Adler' by Oskar Kokoschka to the heirs of Von Klemperer.
They argued that the Jewish banker and Dresdener art collector Victor Von Klemperer was forced to sell the piece under pressure in 1937 and they filed a case to recover the work on the grounds of historical circumstances and international treaties on the returning of looted jewish art.

The City of Ghent had an independent commision, chaired by former president of the Studiecommissie en de Commissie voor de schadeloosstelling van de Joodse Gemeenschap van België, look at the claims. According to them Von Klemperer was not pressured to sell the work.

On the basis of this advice the painting, which was acquired legally by the Museum in 1989 will not be returned.

Picture credit Zeldenrust.

Happy Birthday dear blog

2011-06-18T00:57:00.003+01:00

4 years in the blogosphere today. What has happenend during the last year?
- We've moved house (again) and become houseowners, which is probably the biggest thing that could happen.
- Dr Livingstone's back and other skeletal bits and bobs have taken a turn for the worse.
- My bookcollection has grown (but not much).
- I've spent some lovely hours in the archive browsing through relicts from the past
- We still have no government after the elections in 2010 and we'll probably end up being the record holders of the entire universe [after Nepal]
- I haven't used the folding bike I bought back in October, my elbows still are not ok and I'm not even able to carry the thing a couple of meters.

What's coming next year?
- Finishing up two degrees in Art History.
- Dr Livingstone is negotiating a status quo for his aching body by going swimming three times a week.
- Refurbing a room or two and/or part of the garden.
- Helping out dear Dr Livingstone in his shop. The soldering art historian.
- Writing a lot of interesting papers and spending more time in dusty archives.

\o/

Ensor drawing stolen in The Hague

2011-06-17T00:35:00.000+01:00

News outlets are reporting the theft of an Ensor drawing The triumph of death (1887) from the Communal Museum in The Hague.
A spokesperson euphimistically described the work as 'missing' rather than 'robbed'. 'There are different possible scenario's. The case is now in the hands of the police'. The piece was found missing on Friday.

It is pretty embarrassing for them as the pencil on paper drawing (22,5 x 17 cm) was on loan from the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp who purchased the work from Brussels art collector Marcel Mabille in 1952.

Bloggers are journalists?

2011-06-16T00:50:00.001+01:00

In the news yesterday: A blogger who was dragged into court for calling a businessman a white collar criminal has been acquitted of libel. According to the court a blogger is a kind of journalist.

Actually he wasn't acquitted, the Court of Appeal ruled it could not judge a media related crime as it is not authorized to do so. So the first conviction was overturned.
Which leaves the business man with a choice: he can file his complaint again and then it will be tried by the Court of Assize. Which is rare, as press-related cases are very rarely tried before a jury. It just costs too much money to start up the procedure and magistrates are busy enough as it is with tons of other stuff.

So in a sense, what we should be looking at here is:
1) Why is a blogger seen as a journalist? Does that give him special powers? I think the blogger's lawyers 'don't shut up the freedom of the press'-line worked in this case, as the judge followed the same reasoning in his summing up.
Which is problematic at best, considering the context of the wording of the ruling isn't known. News outlets only copy the 'blogger is journalist' line. [Which, incidently, is something I'm doing too, just to direct a bit of traffic to my blog].

2) Why is this reported in media with the headline 'bloggers are journalists' when the judge clearly stated they are some kind of journalist. It is not the same. Anyway, the ruling isn't actually a ruling it has just dismissed the case, it will not have any impact irregardless if the lawyer of the defendant seems to think so. He is playing it up a bit me thinkst.
If the outcome was negative he would have got on his high horse and shouted that the freedom of speech had been tainted.

But in fact, the ruling from the first court seems correct to me and the judge in the Appeal Court played it safe.
If you are venting an opinion you are entitled to do so, but to publish it is something different.
Actually the plaintiff should prove, when bringing his case to court, he has actually suffered damage because of the alleged slander.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but that is what I can remember from my media-ethics classes. It does not suffice to just go: 'I've been insulted'. That is how the stupid British Libel laws work. Not here.

I don't know the details of the original case but I'd like to find out.

George Friedrich de Wever

2011-06-15T20:14:00.003+01:00

Slap a wig on him and you wouldn't notice the difference! It is uncanny how Bart de Wever, the man famous for using Latin expressions, resembles Georg Friedrich Händel, the man famous for setting Latin words to music.
Are they by any chance related? I think we must be told.

I found the image in one of Dr Livingstone's old study books on music. I chuckled when I first saw the section on the baroque composers.
I had an exam on musical history today. It went quite well considering I have damaged hearing. So I couldn't really tell if the instrument we had to recognize was a french horn or a trumpet.
Oh, and the professor said I did Mahler an injustice by ranking him as the more conservative composers in the romantic period. I told him Mahler really wouldn't have minded since he is long dead.

He gave me a funny look. I don't know if that was a bad thing or not.

Dog biscuits

2011-06-12T00:53:00.000+01:00

Finally made it to the hairdresser this week. I had been postponing it due to lack of time. Dr Livingstone told me I had waited long enough to have it done again and told me accordingly I looked like a chav.
That seemed to work, it prompted me to pick up the phone and schedule an appointment...

Miel was his usual charming self, coming up to me and grunting to receive a cookie that comes with the drink. He must be the cutest bulldog I know.
Come to think of it, he has the character of a cat: Likes to hang around you, but sits at a distance; is curious about everything but only comes when he feels like it.

Mouser is a pushover

2011-06-11T00:38:00.000+01:00

Or should that be pussover?

Boom boom!

Here kitteh is trying to push over a tree while having a little rest from resting all day.

Human noms?

2011-06-10T00:34:00.000+01:00

Apparently I'm fun to hang around with. Two Garden Panthers™ seem to think so and grace me with their company now and then. In an eerily similar fashion. Maybe Mouser and Bonnie are trying to lure me into a false sense of security and haven't decided yet when exactly they'll be eating me.

Panthera gardengnomus

2011-06-09T00:26:00.000+01:00

A rare specimen of the recently discovered Garden Panther (Panthera gardengnomus negra) feeding on its pray. This species, spotted throughout Northern Europe, thrives in its natural habitat in suburbuban Flanders. Known for its impertinence toward garden furniture, this soletary hunter is known to manipulate the Homo sapiens urbanus and taunt the female Canis lupus familiaris from next door.

Police release images of MAS horn thief

2011-06-08T16:20:00.002+01:00

Today police have released CCTV footage showing the thief who boldly stole a powder horn in the new Antwerp city museum MAS on May 26th. It seems art theft investigation looks very inefficient and slow and does not seem to be a priority. Two weeks after the theft took place pictures of the culprit are distributed and they are appealing to the public to identify a man and a woman.
Also what puzzles me: the report in the paper mentions the thief walked up to the horn, removed it and then hides it under his jacket. He also had a back-pack. This begs the question, why are visitors not requested to leave their coats, bags etc. at the cloakroom?
Watch out for those OAP's, they could use their appearance to lull security guards into a false sense of security. This thieving eminence grise does not look like David Niven or Pierce Brosnan, but he's just as effective as the fictional characters they portray in features or Stéphane Breitwieser for that matter.

The ones that didn't make it

2011-06-07T00:47:00.000+01:00

The title of today's post sounds like something from World War II, but it's about birds.
Last month, when I didn't have time to do anything but slave over those papers there was a couple of Parus major nesting in our carport. The little hatchlings crying out for food all day long. I don't know how many hatched in total, but there must have been three or more, because, sadly, three fell out of the nest with two day intervals. They were already done for, so I couldn't put them back. You can see the rapidity of arrested growth between the tiny cadavers.

Feeding the Jay

2011-06-06T00:15:00.000+01:00

I noticed some Garrulus glandarius (Eurasian Jays) hanging around the garden about a week ago. I start my study cycle each morning about half eight in the conservatory. I put down bread now every day on the fence so they can have a nibble. It's mostly just one solitary bird checking everything out.
They're very shifty, just like magpies. I decided to get the camera out and take a few snaps while drinking my first cup of coffee. No sooner had I started waiting in true paperazzi-style and three (!) of them showed up. I got some nice pictures, I even shot one through the screen and it gave me a lovely Marlène Dietrich effect.

Antihydrogen Atoms Trapped For 1000s

2011-06-05T19:12:00.005+01:00

Or 16 minutes and 40 seconds. Enough for a cookery show to produce a three course meal and maybe enough to finally have a break-through to help answer the question why we live in a matter universe and not an antimatter one.

The question I'm most concerned with is, if we can, in a not too distant future, harness antigravity so I don't break stuff when it slips from the hand and is attracted to the floor. And have teleportation. And loads of other cool stuff.

Kitteh Jungle Gym

2011-06-05T00:07:00.001+01:00

I don't know what's wrong with the kittehs. Mouser went ballistic too yesterday morning. Must be the odour Bonnie left behind or something.
They love those chairs for some strange reason. It's being used as a kitteh jungle gym. I have a picture of Mouser just before it slid through the gap at the side and fell off.

Hot, hotter, hottest

2011-06-04T12:55:00.006+01:00

It is nearly 2 pm and the temperature in the conservatory has already reached 34ºC. Yesterday it peaked at 38ºC. It's currently 29,3ºC in the shade outside. That's where I'm at. I managed to keep the house inside at a cool-ish 24ºC. Without airconditioning or fans. \o/ If it'd be isolated (ceiling, walls, windows) it could probably be kept even cooler. Mind you, I didn't really open up all windows during the night to let the night air in. Because that'll also let in all the midges. And Dr Livingstone is not here to get stung in my place.
Mouser is also inside the house, reposing on a bed. It doesn't want to come out at all. Usually Velvet Claws is in the kitchen in a flash when the fridge door is opened. But not so now.
I wish I was be able to have a nice lie down in my hammock right now.
But no. I need to get through the First World War and the Interbellum. Bleh. I hope I'm all done by this evening, then I can finish up Music History tomorrow.

Impertinent cat is impertinent

2011-06-04T00:20:00.002+01:00

Apart from Mouser this other cat, Bonnie, roams around the garden too. I hadn't seen it in a while, but yesterday afternoon it was back with a vengeance to get some attention.
Making a lot of kitteh noises and jumping on seats which is out of bounds, even to Mouser [Kitteh has been trained not to do that kind of thing].

I had to shake the chair ferociously to get that darn Bonnie to jump off it. I couldn't overturn the cushion because it would hiss and lash out at me with its Super Sharp Claws™. It really clung to the chair. I managed to take a snap of the cat hanging on to the arm rest while I was trying to remove the Garden Panther™.
I also took a shot of Bonnie while kitteh was rather miffed at having been ousted from the sitting implement.

Lazy cat is lazy

2011-06-03T07:40:00.006+01:00

Not much going on here. Me cramming for the upcoming exams. That's about it.
Getting up, bucket loads of coffee, some things on people long dead, more coffee, sleep.
I'm already lagging behind my study schedule, no thanks to that annoying illness which has lasted up till Monday. My head is starting to clear up, but tissues are still on the table at arm's reach.

Mouser has granted me the privilege to grace me with its presence and hang around within strolling distance. When I'm in the conservatory teh kitteh takes up half of the bench. When it's too hot, Mouser goes and sleeps under one of the shrubberies just outside so it can still see me. Yesterday it did engage in stalking some pigeons and brought me two mice. Saves me giving Velvet Claws dindins I'm not supposed to give.

Anyway, I should be getting back. I need to do a 100 page chapter today. Joy.
I hear yelping at the front door. I expect that'll be another fresh mouse for brekkers.

Royalty in the carport

2011-05-30T00:07:00.000+01:00

The lovely climatis is in full bloom. When we came to live here I didn't notice it at first. But now it is bringing forth wonderful bright pink flowers and attracting loads of bees to match. Now correct me if I'm wrong here, but this variety is called 'Comtesse de Bouchaud'. So now every time I have to take the car out I need to curtsy.

Crammed

2011-05-29T00:55:00.001+01:00

I have proof our house is not the only place that is crammed with a ridiculous amount of books.
I was on the fifth floor of the faculty library. There is not enough room to navigate the shelves. You have to walk in sideways to get at the book. And then you need to bend through your knees and squat in a very inconvenient manner if you want to reach for a book if it is on the bottom shelf.
I had to take a picture and post it here -for added dramatic effect- because no one would believe me if I just mentioned how small it was. The yellow notebook is A5 format. It leaves just a little space left and right of it. A4 fills up the entire space. That's how small it is.

Theft from new MAS museum in Antwerp

2011-05-28T00:51:00.003+01:00

The MAS museum in Antwerp has barely opened its doors and already a thief has been active on the premises. The theft of a power horn was reported yesterday afternoon by one of the guards. After teh discovery they upped the security and 'searched the visitors'.
Qudos to the thief for nabbing that horn. It was child's play really. No alarm, not in a lockable display case. And apparently no guards around to see someone meddling with an artefact. Director Paul Depauw said: 'We now know what the critical points are and how we have to deal with the public. There will be extra camera's and also 'do not touch'-signs. Some of the objects will be moved behind plexiglass walls'.
Sorry to roll my eyes here, but I seem to recall an article that appeared in The Economist not two weeks ago where Depauw says: “if you don't take care of objects, who is going to tell us stories about the past?”

Yes, and who is responsible for taking care of the objects and telling stories?
How can you not notice the critical points before opening. Never heard of a risk assesment?
And the measures that will be taken; they're as useful as fitting an alarm to a house that has already been burgled. Or, to use Tom Flynn's expression: that will be as effective as installing an ashtray on a motorcycle. Or in Blackadder's: as useful as a cat flap in an elephant house.

Tragic as though it is, this goes to show (again) the sheer naieveté Belgian museums have concerning thefts from public musea. Putting up 'do not touch'-signs. Will you believe it.

x-posted from The Art Detective blog.

The night has eyes

2011-05-27T22:26:00.004+01:00

I'm being guarded at night. By a female tawny owl (strix aluco) no less. She's been making enough noise outside the window to wake the dead. I'm not letting down the blind, I might frighten it away. How I wish Dr Livingstone was here to hear it, he is really keen on the winged little predators. Mouser not so, as they're eating all of its favourite food.
They're going to have to battle it out who's on the top of the food pyramid.

New life

2011-05-27T00:02:00.001+01:00

Just like at the last house, there are horses on the other side of the fence. And as of last couple of days +1 horse to be exact.
There had been a lot of ruckus going on one night, in the morning when I opened the gate to drive the car out, there it was: a brand spanking new horsie. Its hooves are still pristine white. Poor dear is asleep every time I glance outside.

The new cow in town

2011-05-26T00:41:00.000+01:00

I was a bit startled to find a cow on the Ladeuze square on Wednesday.
A socialist trade union had organized a spot of Crap yourself rich, proceeds would go to the Cancer Fund.
At 1.30 pm the beautiful beast was let out of its box.
When I came back from class around 4 it still hadn't crapped.
Never in my life have I ever seen so much people stand in expectation of a cow doing its business. Really.
It must be like watching wallpaper dry.
Honestly. If you were a cow, would you be able to go with all those people looking at you?

Sebastian Skywalker

2011-05-25T01:52:00.000+01:00

Ok, just one more Star Wars lookalike.
Luke Skywalker and Sebastian Vettel.
Looks like the Red Bull Racing Team has been using The Force to win all those Grand Prix.
The International Automobile Federation probably have got a rule for this.

Quick lookalike

2011-05-24T01:28:00.000+01:00

Same hair, different decades.
Joelia Timosjenko and Princess Leia.

Too busy for anything

2011-05-20T16:59:00.003+01:00

No new posts since last week. Too busy doing stuff. I'm ~~finishing~~ starting a paper on Magritte which is due on Monday. And finishing another on an early sixteenth century panel, which is due on ... Monday.
So no rest for the wicked.
I finally managed to do some shopping today, which was long overdue, since I hadn't bought food since Dr Livingstone was home. Well, except for that loaf of bread at the start of the week.
I've been doing the full student experience this week, even eating at the student restaurant.
And subsequently having a gruelling cold and germs to match. Bleh. I hate being around that much people.
Anyhow. I'm going to resume my creative writing, shove some healthy fruit and veg down and then finish the day with a nice detective on the telly.

Happy Birthday!

2011-05-13T08:17:00.003+01:00

Happy Birthday Dr Livingstone!

I posted you a blog entry but blogger ate it.
Blogger had issues on Friday and all posts I made disappeared. So I had re-post birfday greetz.

The Politics of Traditionalism in French Art (19000-1914)

2011-05-10T19:14:00.004+01:00

Just got back from an entertaining lecture by Neil McWilliam on the politics of traditionalism in French art (1900-1914).
I was familiar with the work of Emile Bernard just up to the point he left for Africa. This because I had recently read 'The Yellow House'. What I didn't know was how Bernard's work evolved from the cloisonist to the idéalist style he later defended within his favoured approach of art (dubbed traditionalism). Very enlightening and very elegantly worded by Professor McWilliam.
I refrained from asking a question as I didn't want to make a complete arse of myself in front of my two professors who organised the lecture.
I don't know why but throughout the words Marcel and Proust leapt to mind...

Book worms mice

2011-05-07T18:35:00.004+01:00

I made my way to yet another faculty library to get some books -well, duh- for my paper. Looks like they haven't been read much at all over the past 100 years. They're the type that has pages that had to be sliced open before you could start readig.
The sides look like there have been mice at it.

Metallica in the library

2011-05-05T07:14:00.005+01:00

When I was strolling from the faculty library to the central library, the belfry was playing. Every Wednesday during lunch hour sweet tunes emerge from the tower. Not your some unknown music, but the musician manipulating the bells adapts contemporary pop songs. Yesterday, during my brisk walk, I heard 'Killing me softly' by The Fugees and an excellent 'Nothing else matters' by Metallica.
The library is absolutely dead silent (except on market days), but when the big bell is struck you can feel the sound going through the whole building.

It's .... another book!

2011-05-04T07:07:00.000+01:00

I brought this beauty of a book home with me on monday. Het Vlaamse Wandtapijt by Guy Delmarcel. The student club had put in an order for a massive amount of this work and was able to sell them to us at a discount. A bargain at just 15 €. It's sold out at most bookstores.
I'm taking a course on decorative arts next year, and it was recommended to us by a professor.
I'd say tapestries are one of our most successful export products to date. That and vertical windmills.

Statler & Waldorf at the archive

2011-05-03T20:03:00.007+01:00

I was at the Mechelen city archive today working on my next paper due at the end of next week. Very friendly people. The reading room is in an attic. Tables are shoved underneath the sloping roof. So tall people like me need to be cautious not to bump our heads when standing up or moving around. I bumped into a roof beam, although I managed to dodge most of it. I didn't hit it head-on like Dr Livingstone hit our glass door last month.

The archive opens up at half past eigh, I got there around quarter to nine, traffic was slow. Next to my working area were already two pensioners hard at it. They were reading aloud to each other. They were like Statler & Waldorf.

Anyhow, I ordered tons of archive material to thumb through. I was halfway into a box of stuff and found something of interest. I'm currently doing research on a cycle of 25 paintings on the life of Saint Rumbold.
I discovered a missing tableau. Hurrah!
Alas, that was not really the focus of my angle. I was writing about them from an iconological viewpoint, more specifically the nachleben of some panels in 19th century building 'restauration'.
Ah well, can't win them all.

A colour orgy

2011-05-02T00:11:00.000+01:00

If someone knows what these flowers are called, please post me a name. There are three stunning bushes which I can see from the living room and kitchen and are all of them sporting three different kinds of coloured flowers. One of them is the bush I so drastically pruned earlier this season. In the old place there were lots of these kinds of bushes and they used to blossom two to three times a season. The only thing I know about these coloured bee traps is that I am allowed to prune them just after they've flowered.

Greetings from the garden

2011-05-01T00:03:00.000+01:00

A very lovely surprise when I opened up the front door to let Mouser out. A solitary flower greeting me in the morning.
All prim and white, slightly glistening with morning dew.
It exceeded all expectations of what would come out of the buds I posted on earlier. I thought they were going to be some king of ordinary orange or pink. But this pristine white bloom is so pretty. If I were a bee I'd choose this one to gather pollen. It has these attractive folds. Nature really outdid itself again.
Pitty Dr Livingstone is not around to see them.

The Veg Patch

2011-04-30T06:52:00.004+01:00

This is how the veg patch has evolved after some time. Some leaves are appearing on the berry-stick-things and the onions are rearing their heads. Still no sign of the potatoes, they should be on the right. Well, they are on the right, underground. My guess is they've already been eaten by earth worms and ants. A big, short rain and hale storm swept of this part of the country yesterday, so it got a good drenching. All the plants need ~~some~~ massive amounts of water. Some even have drooping leaves.

From studying to soldering

2011-04-29T21:01:00.005+01:00

It's back to fixing stuff for the mo. I handed in my paper this morning. Finally done with it. It turned out to be a good 46 pages of full text and I added another 9 or so image mash=ups. My eyes are a little sore from staring at the computer screen.
Ah well. All in a good cause.
Now on to the next ones. I have just under three weeks to write up another two. Wish me luck.

Grassplantation gone wrong

2011-04-28T21:23:00.000+01:00

Dr Livingstone's grassplantation has gone awry. It hadn't rained in a fortnight and it has gone all brown. Hopefully it will start to grow again, after the few drops we've had over the last two days. It isn't much, bit it might spark a bit of life into the bits of lawn, now looking very much like crude band aids.