Becoming Dutch - Part III - the application is IN!

It’s been a long time since I posted anything here. I have no excuse besides the usual things bloggers come up against – time constraints, other priorities, lack of anything interesting to say. The last time I posted was around Thanksgiving, while I was in the US. I survived the trip back and immediately got sucked into changes at work, holiday planning and DIY projects at home. But there IS NEWS regarding one big project….. becoming Dutch!

On 7 December we went to the Stadsdeelkantoor and officially became a Partnership. I’m still not sure what the difference is between getting married and having a registered partnership. I first thought that the registered partnership was a way for gays to become “legal”, but since gay marriage is legal here this explanation makes no sense. In any case, we chose for the registered partnership, and on December 7 we signed on the dotted line. We had 4 witnesses and to be honest we both wanted to make this as informal as possible, but some people just don’t listen! The abtenaar who was presiding over things tried her best to make it “special”, bless her, but it only became comical. For us this was a formality on the way to Dutch citizenship, and doesn’t change our relationship one bit. But yeah, it’s done and now we are even more official! We never would have done this except that it’s a requirement if I want to have both a Dutch and passport. And, by the way, in de Baarsjes its free on Thursdays!

This morning we went to the IND (yet again) so that I could apply for Dutch citizenship. At this point we’ve jumped all the difficult bureaucratic hurdles, so this final step was quick and easy. The only hard part was handing over 362 euros. And if they turn down your application you don’t get your money back. I had to show them my inburgeringscertificaat but everything else was already in the computer. The woman who helped us confirmed that I would be able to keep my US passport - no problem.

Now we wait! She said that it might take 6 months before I get a reply, but I expect it will be less. Once it is approved I will have to attend the official ceremony. And then we will throw a party!

One more step on the way to becoming an official Dutchie!

Beating Jetlag the Easy Way

Here I am in (not so sunny) California for the annual feast of Thanksgiving. It's 5:40 in the morning and I've been up for 2 hours. Ahhhh jet lag.

But I've found the remedy! It's simple.

Just don't fight it. If you wake up at 3am, just wake up, get up, make some coffee and read your email, or read a book or anything quiet so as not to wake the rest of the family. Then when Dad turns on something really horrible on the TV at 8:00 in the evening you can yawn and say you're jet lagged and simply head off to bed. This method is great for getting some quiet personal time and also not getting used to a different time zone completely which makes re-entry into CET much easier.

That's my plan anyway. We'll see how it works once the rest of the family descends on us this afternoon.

'Tis the Season

The U.S. is like a strange new country to me sometimes. I haven't lived here for 14 years and visiting California these days is more and more a curious event.

I notice now all the things Europeans say about Americans: they're all fat, everyone eats fast food all the time, shops are open all hours so no one gets much time off, they all complain about the cost of everything but compared to the rest of the world the U.S. is a bargain bazaar.

I come here to see my family and to shop. I have to admit that with such a short visit (10 days) I spend an equal time with both (and feel guilty all the while). The pre-Thanksgiving sales have started and I'm IN THERE. For someone living in Europe, you really can't comprehend the sales and the cost of things and it's just impossible not to buy buy buy just because it's so much cheaper than at home. I only came with one suitcase. Silly me, I should know better.

I've bought: an orange hoodie for 10 euros (great for Queen's Day), Levi's 501's for 25 euros, a 4-in-1 fleece lined ski jacket for 40 euros, and t-shirts and pants and that's only the start. I haven't yet bought the iPod or the running shoes. And I promised myself I wouldn't buy much this trip. I always promise myself this. And I always fail. And this time it's worse because it's Thanksgiving and prices are SLASHED and the newspaper arrives in the morning with 100 pages of advertisements calling on you to BUY and the TV ads are louder than the TV programs and nag you to BUY and I love Target and Penney's and Circuit City and everyone takes credit cards and really I'm shopping for the year and for DB also and I'm saving so much money!!!

Sigh. Today I promise I won't shop. Really. Unless suitcases are on sale.....

NIN at Paradiso

Yesterday DB battled the wind and rain and Saturday shoppers, biking to Get Records on the Utrechtsestraat by 10:00 in the morning, to buy tickets for Nine Inch Nails who will be playing at Paradiso in March. They are playing only 2 shows in NL, both in Paradiso, which is small. Really small. Cozy. Gezellig. Both shows sold out in 20 minutes. We have tickets for both shows. And we arrive home from 3 weeks in New Zealand the morning of the first show. I know. We are mad.

Dutch Cabaret, not just for the Dutch anymore

Tuesday night we went to see Sara Kroos at De Kleine Komedie. This was my second attempt at Dutch Cabaret this year and was much more enjoyable than the first (Jeroen van Merwijk). We know and love Sara as a Lama, and also saw her at the last Boom Chicago Late Nite but I had no idea she could sing! I'm still getting used to the fact that a one person comedy show in NL also includes singing. Cabaret is everything and if you can't do Cabaret you are not going to do a one-man show. And Cabaret in NL means singing, telling funny stories, telling serious stories, talking to the audience and generally maintaining everyone's interest for at least an hour at a time. No small thing!

I really enjoyed Sara because her jokes and stories revolved around people instead of around language. So much of Dutch humor involves plays on words and playing with the language, which for a foreigner who knows only a minimum of slang and expressions, it's almost impossible to follow. Sara's show was about our human-ness and our deep dark secrets. She was not falling the aisles funny, but entertaining and thoughtful and put a smile on your face kind of funny. And man she can sing! She belts it out and isn't the least bit shy about throwing her body around at the same time. Respect.

And speaking of Cabaret, it's not just for the Dutch anymore. Greg Shapiro is about to open yet another show - this time a one-man at the Sugar Factory entitled Greg Shapiro's Going Dutch. It runs from 15-17 November. Unfortunately I'll be travelling and won't be able to make it, but all you expats out there should definitely go and find out "How to ‘Doe Normaal’ in a country with an identity crisis".

Becoming Dutch - Phase II, Part 1, section iii

Yesterday we went down to the Stadsdeelkantoor to apply to become a registered partnership. This after the other paperwork necessary was done and about 4 months had passed. Four months! since we first went to the IND to apply for Dutch citizenship. Sheesh.

Anyway, it was a pretty quick operation yesterday. Review of existing paperwork. Pick a date to come back and sign the final paperwork. Sign here. We choose to come back on 7 December since it's a Thursday and on Thursdays marriages and partnerships are FREE! Otherwise we would have had to pay 200something euros. Are we Dutch or what.

Our next step is to find 4 witnesses to come with us to this official event. If it wasn't for the fact that we need to do this in order for me to be able to apply for Dutch citizenship we never would have thought about registering. A livingtogethercontract was enough for us. Now we have to drag 4 other people to the city office on a cold December morning in order to help me get to the end goal. Or just grab a few people off the street with promises of hot coffee inside....

Becoming Dutch - Phase II, Part 1, section ii

Back on September 28 I said to mark this date. The IND had one month to reply to our request to become a Registered Partnership. What the IND has to do with it I still don't understand. But nevermind, whoever does understand bureaucracy must be crazy. Well, surprise, surprise, the IND actually replied early. We received today our letter from the Stadsdeel De Baarsjes saying that we are approved and to make an appointment to come down and get hitched (sort of).

They were at least a week early with their reply, so maybe the IND is getting better.

DB will call tomorrow to make the appointment.

Once we're officially registered as a partnership (not sure how long that takes, surely not just a day!) we can go down to the IND (again) and fill in the paperwork for my Dutch passport. I'm seriously trying to hurry before they change the law about letting me keep my US passport. I expect it will take 6 months from the time the forms are handed in until I receive a (positive) reply. We'll be sure to take photos at the ceremony.

I will keep you posted loyal readers......

Bobo's at Boom

Friday night in Amsterdam 20 October at Boom Chicago was a special Late Nite show to celebrate Horace Cohen and Ruben van der Meer's 35 years of friendship. Tickets were only available to us no-bodies via the Boom mailing list email, and only if you reacted quickly enough. Most of the seats Friday night were occupied by friends and family of Horace and Ruben's and it felt like we had crashed a private party.

Before leaving home for Boom that night we watched Het Gouden Televizierring Gala which is the Dutch equivalent to the People's Choice Awards in the US. The final award was for best TV show. The 3 nominees were "Dancing with the Stars", "Gooische Vrouwen" (Rich Women), and "De Lama's". At the beginning of the awards show "Dancing with the Stars" was winning the votes. We couldn't have that! So we got out our mobile phones and sms'd our votes for "De Lama's". We love them. We watch them every week. Granted, they HAVE stolen some of their routines from Boom Chicago, as any Boom fan can attest to, but that's ok, there's plenty of laughs to go around.

In the end, "De Lama's" won the vote! Since one of the Lamas happened to be Ruben van der Meer, I expected him to show up late and possibly drunk, to his Boom event. After all, there was another celebration going on at a theater just a mile away from Boom now in progress.....

We arrived at the Boom theater about an hour before the show was to begin. As I said earlier, it felt like we were crashing a private party. And not just ANY private party. This party was full of bekende Nederlanders. DB spent the night telling me who was who and what they are famous for. This one a singer. This one a writer, etc. We were standing at the bar when Ruben showed up, right on time, smiling from ear to ear. As he walked past I said "Gefeliciteerd!" and he said "danke je wel". He was beaming.

The show started slightly late since Ruben was walking through the audience being congratulated by everyone he knew, which was most of the people there. Greg Shapiro tried in vain to tap his watch and point to the stage. Eventually "3 minutes to places" was called and the show began.

I have seen Boom Chicago at least 10 times in the last 4 years. I've lost count really. This is the 4th Late Nite show I've been to and it was by far the best ever. Ruben and Horace took the stage and were funnier than the first time I saw them together at Boom. They were more relaxed and were obviously having a good time. Horace won the "Da Do Run Run" game, but only because the Nazi General spared his life. During the Idols sketch Horace and Ruben dressed up as each other and Ruben's English has improved enough that he could do a reasonable immitation of Horace. Michael Diederich impersonated Horace's mom (was it really accidental that he picked her out of the audience?) and won the Idols contest. The players were really on that night.

There were moments of seriousness. Horace read a speech to Ruben that nearly had the audience in tears and I could swear I saw tears in his eyes as well, as he told about their 35 years being best friends. Ruben came out later, not having prepared any such speech, but not wanting to not say anything, improvised his own words to Horace. But just then the stage was taken over by Treintje Oosterhuis and Edsilia Rombley who sang toghether "That's What Friends Are For". The whole audience joined in. I thought the place would errupt into one giant group hug. And then the rest of De Lama's burst in and jumped on the stage. Ruben Nicolai jumped onto our table and walked the length of it to the stage, the table wobbling and shaking and spilling drinks. The show was over and the party began! Boom's fearless leader, Andrew Moskos, took the mic to direct everyone how to move about while tables were cleared to make way for dancing. De Lama's jumped up and down and sang "Kampionen" showing off the prize they had won that night.

I really hope that Boom was filming all of this as it was something special.

London in a weekend

This photo was taken from inside the Tate Modern museum, up against a window. People are streaming over the Millenium Bridge. St. Paul's cathedral is in the background. The photo was taken on 15 October at about 3 in the afternoon. The sun had just started to come out through the clouds turning the grey day a little bit brighter. You can see my other London photos here.

We spent the weekend in London, sightseeing and walking walking walking. Tate Modern was the highlight of the weekend. There is currently a special show by Swiss artists Fischli and Weiss. This show is worth the entire trip to the Tate. I tried to find a good link to give a feeling of their body of work, but couldn't find anything useful. They have done everything from photography, to sculpture, to video art. They have a wonderful sense of humor that made us laugh out loud, and a view of the world that is interesting and accessable at the same time. If you live anywhere near London, even if you have to fly, head to the Tate Modern. There is also currently an installation exhibit of tube slides of various lengths that kids and adults stood in long lines to have the chance to slide down. As it was Sunday, the place was packed with kids, so we were very happy they had these slides to keep them occupied!

I have two other impressions of London besides the wonderful Tate - the crowds and the cost of eating. London is so very crowded and busy it can make your head ache. Amsterdam seems like a provincial village in comparison. Only on Sunday afternoon walking in the backstreets of The City did we feel a little bit of breathing space from the crowds.

The cost of eating in London is truly amazing. In Amsterdam you can find cheap places to eat and still have reasonable food. Just head to any "Eet cafe" and you'll be fed well for 10 euros. Try to do this in London and you'll be set back double that. Sunday evening we had a pub dinner, dessert and 2 pints of beer each and the total bill came to about 50 POUNDS! Eating out 3 times a day, even at cheap-ish restaurants was quite a shock to the travel budget. Luckily DB's work paid for our hotel as he was at a conference Monday and Tuesday.

Another surprise was Saturday evening when we tried to get into a movie. We took the tube to Notting Hill Gate since there are a lot of movie theaters in that area. Every one we went to was sold out, some for days in advance. It seems that spontaneous movie going is just not done. Never mind trying to get into a West End show at short notice. A colleague of mine was trying to get tickets to a show and found out they were sold out til MARCH!

Lasting impression of London - a great place to visit, but bring lots of money and be prepared for the crowds, and plan ahead. Start early in the day if you want to try to beat the tourist crowds. In other words, the same advice as visiting any major city!

Google my life

Google is taking over the world, slowly but surely, and they are also taking over my tech life. It happens sweetly and gently, like falling in love. First it's the excitement of discovering a great new internet email service like GMail and falling so hard for it that you sign yourself up for 5 new email accounts in one week. Then comes Blogger, which you Dear Reader are currently enjoying vicariously through reading this blog. That's when the hook catches in your mouth and you start being reeled in, albeit smiling all the way.

I didn't even know I was being Google-ized when I posted short films on YouTube, but we all know what happened there.

Then it was Blogger Beta, and Google Analytics so I can see how many bored interesting and intelligent people are reading my blog.

And now today I've succumbed to Google News Reader.

I blame most of this Google-izing on TUAW who routinely post positive reviews about Google services and new things Google is up to. Such posts always make me curious, so I search around for more info, find even more positive input, et voila, I'm subscribed/signed up/Google-ized. It seems to me that Google has almost (almost) as much cool factor as Apple. If Apple had put half as much cool into .Mac from the beginning, they would not be struggling so hard to retain subscribers (like me, an ex-.Mac PAYING subscriber). Apple dropped the ball, and Google picked it up. Ah well, it's a big playing field.

So what's the next really cool thing Google will offer that would suck you in?
Integrate GoogleEarth with TomTom route planning?
Post your YouTube video on your Blogger blog just like you can post photos from Flickr today?
OS G?
Or, ten years from now people will wonder how Microsoft could have become such a big company. After all, if everything is free from Google now, why did we ever pay so much for so little before?

Grey skies above

It's been a while since I posted anything here and I'm starting to feel a: guilty (which is pretty stupid) and b: like I'd better continue this or I can just chalk it up to another thing started and not continued! Blogging is a committment!

It's been a very busy time at work (excuse #1) and I've had no energy at the end of the day to be creative or interesting. There have been family issues that needed attending to (a pretty damn good excuse) which took time on the weekends. And the last few days a migraine has attacked me (final excuse #3) which made me incapable of doing anything other than sit and wait it out.

Finally when I do start feeling better, and feel like looking at the computer screen for more than a few minutes, I get addicted to playing Sudoku Slam. I was pretty much over my sudoku addiction and the 5 various sudoko books sitting on the coffee table have been untouched for a while. But them TUAW posted a link to this sudoko website and I'm sucked in all over again. This site is great because it takes all the tedium out of the game. So far my best time at solving their hardest puzzles is 3:33. Not bad I'd say. But then I'm an addict and this only feeds me.

Also, since I'm feeling better and have a little time this weekend, I'm looking again into hobby type projects. One of those is ripping vinyl records into mp3's. Another one is making a cool ringtone for my Treo 650. Having looked around a bit it looks like Rogue Amoeba has the answers for both. And their company has a cool name.

When I was in California last (August) my mom had me help her set up some software and hardware to rip her records. We managed to make it work, but man what horrible software it was! This was the worst UI I've seen in years. Imagine Windows 95 type stuff. It works, but it ain't pretty. Thank goodness I work on Macs and can use software as cool as the hardware. Sorry Mom!

So, dear reader, now that I've given you some links to keep you busy, I'm off to do my Dutch homework and take home test, then to try my hand at Rogue Amoeba's toys.......

Becoming Dutch - Mandatory Ceremony

I just noticed on the IND website that after 1 October 2006 that the Naturalisation Ceremony is now mandatory in order to become a Dutch citizen. I think this is a good idea. After all, you should want to celebrate the event and make it an official kind of feeling. Otherwise maybe you shouldn't be doing it. Here's the official text:

The naturalisation ceremony on or after 1 October 2006

As of a fixed date in 2006, most probably 1 October 2006, it will be compulsory for you to attend the ceremony. Minors who were aged sixteen or seventeen at the time of the naturalisation request or option statement will also be required to attend. If you are invited for a ceremony taking place on or after this date, you will only become a Dutch national if you attend the ceremony. If you do not attend the ceremony, you will receive a new invitation for a future ceremony. You must attend a ceremony within one year of the decision being made; if you do not, you will not receive the Dutch nationality. Once the deadline has expired, you will need to begin a new naturalisation or option procedure if you still wish to become a Dutch national.

Becoming Dutch - mark this date

Yesterday DB took the filled in M46 form to the stadsdeel. He asked them several times to confirm that it was filled in correctly. You just never know with these abtenaars if they are paying attention. Anyway, the form was accepted and now all our paperwork is off to the IND for THEIR approval of our intention to become a registered partnership. Really I don't know what the IND has to do with it since I have a valid residence permit in my hands. But this is the process that has to be followed.

Now the clock is ticking. How long will the IND hold onto our paperwork? How long will it take them to look in their computer, see my name there, and put a rubber stamp on the M46? Normally this should take no more than a month. Mark this date and let's see!

Back to School in Dutch - night 2

Last night was the second Dutch language class with the Volksuniversiteit. The first one was all about politics. This class was all about having an opinion and the different verbal methods used to express it. Obviously, given these two topics, it's an inburgerings cursus as well. What Dutch person doesn't like to have a strong opinion about politics?

We also learned something that I doubt they teach in the official inburgerings cursus over at the ROC. We learned that when a person turns 50 they are said to have "seen Abraham" or in the case of a woman "seen Sarah". This means that you are older and wiser and should be listened to by those who have not reached such an age. Therefore your neighbors should then take notice when you tell them to pick their dog's shit off the sidewalk from in front of your house. Good luck.

You can buy or rent Abraham or Sarah dolls or wooden cutouts to put in front of your house to advertise the event to the whole neighborhood, the same as with storks at a baby's birth. You can also buy cakes decorated with Abraham or Sarah for your birthday party. And since this is the Netherlands we're talking about, you KNOW there will be a birthday party. Gezellig.

Best expression learned last night: Over smaak valt niet te twisten.

Biking in Amsterdam - Not for the Faint of Heart

On the website of the official tourist office for Amsterdam, it states that "the most practical means of transportation in Amsterdam is still the bike", which is true, but only for people who live here. This website, along with travel books, tv shows, and columns written by erstwhile travelers, tells the unwary tourist to "see Amsterdam by bike". This is simply wrong advice. Really. Take my word for it. Don't do it unless you have lived in Amsterdam for at least 3 months and have sat on the back of someone else's bike to get the feel of things. Otherwise you are a danger to yourself and others.

Amsterdamers use their bikes to get to work, to do their shopping, to take their kids to school and bring them home. They bike to the movies. They bike to the gym. Biking is a means to an end. It is not done for pleasure or because it's good to get exercise. Biking is simply the most efficient way to get around the city. Therefore, stay out of their way or you will get run over! This is especially true if you are a tourist, and is still true if you are a tourist on a bike.

Tourists bike slowly and are busy sightseeing or finding their way around. Nothing is more irritating than trying to get home from work and getting stuck behind someone on a MacBike who doesn't seem to understand that they are supposed to ride to the right side of the road/bike lane so that others can pass them. They don't understand that you shouldn't suddenly stop in the middle of the bike lane to stare gap-mouthed at some old building. They are then run over by the 10 bikers behind them coming at speed. Tourists from the US don't understand the right of way rules and run the risk of getting hit by cars and they also don't understand that just because a road is narrow it doesn't mean that there will not be cars on it (this goes for US people on foot as well). The really good thing about bad weather in Amsterdam is that there won't be any tourists on the roads clogging up traffic and causing accidents.

The above might make me sound like an agressive biker, but honestly I'm not. I'm a FAST biker, that is true, but not agressive. I learned that this morning on my own way to work.

Normally I leave for work from the west side of the city around 8:00 in the morning, heading into the city center. I pass by the inner ring road, I bike through the 9 Straatjes, smack into the heart of the city. This morning I left an hour later than usual and man what a world of difference that makes. I've never seen such agressive biking on the streets before. Even after living here for 3.5 years and owning 3 different bikes, this came as kind of a shock. Bikers were cutting each other off at every corner; racing to be the first to cut between the trucks blocking the road; crashing into each other because neither one wanted to give up the right of way. At 8:00 the streets of the city are deadly quiet and I only have to contend with the occasional delivery truck. This morning I had to defend myself against the young women in business clothes who had no intention of slowing down at the intersection even though she had a red light. One man ran his bike into mine because he thought he should go around the parked truck before me, even though I was ahead of him and we were all WALKING our bikes at that point because there was so little space left on the road. What's up with all this agressive behavior?

I bike home at the end of the day around 5 or 6 every evening. The roads are again crowded with bikers heading home, but it is no where near this hectic or crazy. I guess everyone has spent their energy for the day and can't be bothered to fight each other for road space at that point. I think I will go back to leaving for work early. It's easier on my blood pressure.

Amsterdam history in fiction

I'm in the middle of reading "Quicksilver" by Neal Stephenson. When I bought it, and its two sequels, I had never heard of the books or the author, but they are big thick books with small print - perfect! Now I can hardly put it down.

This book starts in the New World colonies, goes back in time to 17th century London, Paris, Amsterdam and various baronies in present day Germany. The characters range from Sir Isaac Newton, to Hooke, Leibniz, William of Orange, Louis XIV even. Plus a few fictional main characters who, if you aren't so up on your 17th century history like me, you don't know for sure they are fictional til you check it out.

This book is so well written that it makes history a fascinating read. Espcially when you live in one of the major cities. And who would have thought that William of Orange was so fond of blow jobs.

This last summer I also read "A Short History of Nearly Everything" which also has some of the same characters. If you are a science fan, and are also interested in European history, these books are fun reads and highly recommended.

Back to School in Dutch

The leaves are falling, the temps are dropping (a little), and the sun is too lazy to come up early in the morning. It must be Fall (or Autumn for you non-US speakers). And you know what that means - Back to School.

It was back to school for me last night when my latest Dutch class started. I say "latest" because I've taken 3 classes previously, although it's been 18 months since the last one ended. You'd think I'd be fluent by now, but nooooooo I still spend most of my time speaking English, reading English and thinking in English. Although the other day I couldn't think of the English word for "loopband" which had my mom laughing.

My new classes are with the Volksuniversiteit which is a place for adult education where you can learn to paint portraits, to wire your house, to appreciate Italian architecture, take historical walks through Amersterdam, or learn languages, just to name a few classes on offer. I'm doing the NT2 (Nederlands als Tweede Taal - Dutch as a second language) course, which requires an itake interview of an hour to see what level you should be in. I ended up right smack in the middle of 9 levels. This basically means that over the 18 months that I didn't take any classes I skipped a level upwards. I guess hanging out with DB has had some positive effect. If I continue improving I can one day take the NT2 test, which I don't really have to do, but I'd like to do. Looks good on a cv/resume.

The other classes I took were at the UVA. I decided to try a different school because the UVA classes are overcrowded and I was less than impressed with the teachers I had. So far, after one night with the new school, I'm pleasantly surprised.

What did we learn in Day 1?
Today, 19 September, is Prinsjesdag. The Queen will arrive in Den Haag in her golden coach to deliver a speech and to present the government's direction for the coming year. This is somewhat ironic since the present government is limping along with a broken coalition. New elections will be held on 22 November to decide the makeup of the Tweede Kaamer and the new government and new Prime Minister. Harry Potter might be on his way out!

All this and more we discussed in Dutch class last night, all in Dutch of course. We also discussed various forms of government around the world.
And then we did grammar exercises.

Now, my question to those ROC administrators, who are charged with creating and delivering the inburgerings curses, is, WHY DON'T YOU TEACH THIS IN THE INBURGERINGS CURSES? I learned more in one night of a Dutch language course than I ever did in the foreigners integration course that is required by law for all newcomers. What a joke this is. Rita Verdonk, you have no clue do you?

Favorite expression learned last night: Nederland is klein maar fijn.

OKGO is OK to go

Last night in the Melkweg played The Hard Lessons, OKGO and Motion City Soundtrack. They were touring together through Germany, Paris and Amsterdam. Last night was the end of their tour. I would not have even thought to go to this event except for finding the OKGO treadmill video on utube and thought it was so cool that I was curious enough to go see them live.

My first impression, while waiting outside for the doors to open, was that I'd accidently arrived at a highschool dance. Was anyone there over 18? I'm sure everyone else thought I was someone's mother. This was not a good sign. And why so many American teenage girls? Did the bands charter a plane for them?

The Hard Lessons started the evening off playing "Rock and Roll". They covered all the genres - rock, blues, country ballad, etc. Imagine the Scissor Sisters but less polished. Continuing the high school theme, I gave them an A for effort and enthusiasm. Augie on guitar strutted his stuff and did his best to get the crowd clapping and singing, Ko Ko kicked her legs and showed off her mother's highheeled shoes. The Anvil was by far the best musician of the group, calmly and coolly beating the shit out of his drum set. Overall I gave them a C+. Keep working at it, get a real bass player and a real keyboard player, and you'll be fine. Of course if you visit their website, it reads as if they are the next coming of Christ's official band, but that's American marketing for you.

Next up was OKGO. As I said, they were the reason I was there, and the reason I dragged DB there. These guys better be good since I'm sitting among a bunch of teenage girls, whom I never even liked when I was one. At least they were a full band with 3 guitar players and drummer. And they put out some sound. The driving force is Damian who seems to have learned his stage presence from Pelle Almquvist and had enough boyish charm to keep even someone his mother's age interested. The music is nothing new or unique, but it's fast and fun and not at all self absorbed or pretentious. The musicianship is good enough to sound professional without being so polished as to be boring. In other words, good fun for an hour. The most fun part, and what makes them stand out from the hundreds of wannabees out there, is their willingness to practice until perfect their silly dancing. At the end of their set they played a song off their CD in background and the four of them stood at the front of the stage and danced. They were obviously having a great time doing it, and they were good at it too! The choreography is as corny as a barndance, but that's not the point. The point is that they CAN do it and they DO do it and everyone feels good watching them. Just check out utube for all the OKGO kids doing their own versions of the dances. B for music, A+ for the fun factor.

Last up, and headlining the evening, was Motion City Soundtrack. Will someone please tell me WHY they were headlining? I was so completely underwhelmed, no, even repulsed, that I nearly walked out half way through their set. I only stayed out of morbid curiosity to see if it could get any worse. Justin Pierre lost his voice and could barely choke out sounds in the end. The music was just so boring and the band so irritating. Talk about overacting! There was absolutely nothing genuine about their stage performance. The most irritating was the keyboard player who threw himself and his keyboard around the stage with such pseudo intensity as if his job was as difficult and important as brain surgery. Almost as irritating was Justin's constant bitching about the sound coming into his earpiece. And his talking to the crowd only showed him to be an egomaniac with absolutely nothing interesting whatsoever to say. We don't care about how cool you think you are Justin. Concentrate on making better music and you'll be better off. I have to report, however, that the crowd loved them. They jumped. They sang. They crowd surfed (although they let one poor girl fall to the ground and stopped the band in mid-song to make sure she was ok). But they are only 17 and can be forgiven for not knowing any better. In 20 years they will play this band's music and have fond memories of being young and naive. Think Rick Astley or Milli Vanilli.

Becoming Dutch - Phase II, Part I update

Yesterday we received a letter in the mail from the Stadsdeel regarding our request to become a registered partnership. See earlier post about all those details. DB thought that the Stadsdeel would review and approve MY paperwork, then send it all off to the IND for THEIR approval, and THEN it was necessary for the Stadsdeel to have HIS birth certificate in order to finalize the partnership paperwork. That would make logical sense. Why would the Stadsdeel or IND need his birth certificate in order to approve or deny MY paperwork?

But noooo.

The letter states that so far the Stadsdeel is happy with my paperwork, but they won't go any further until they have his birth certificate in their hot little hands, and we need to bring the original copy of this letter with us when we drop it off. And THEN we have to fill out an "M46 formulier". This wasn't mentioned before and who knows what it's for. I just hope it doesn't cost money.

Since we didn't think it was important to hurry up with the birth certificate for DB, he applied for it online last week. It takes 10-14 days to get it in the mail so we should get it in another week. If we had gone there in person we could have had it on the spot. But what takes 15 minutes in person takes 10-14 days without someone breathing down their necks to get it done right away. Go figure.

The good news is that the Stadsdeel likes me and thinks enough of my paperwork to let me hook up with a Dutchie. Now it's up to the IND. A scary thought indeed. To be continued....

Apple non-event 12 September

Am I the only Mac zealot who is less than impressed with the 12 September announcements? As far as I can see the only really interesting announcement was earlier with the new iMac screen size and bump in processor power.

Maybe I'm especially underwhelmed because I don't live in the US and I don't have a credit card with a US billing address. Therefore I can't buy movies or TV shows via iTunes. I can't even SEE what others can buy once I log in because iTunes knows my story and blocks all the non-available content. What a rip off.

I can understand not selling the TV shows since the networks elsewhere in the world (like our lame NET5 for example) likes to buy the shows a year later than they come out, at a better price I guess, and show them piecemeal. Here they do really nasty things like get you hooked on Grey's Anatomy then suddenly stop showing the program half way into the season. Just stop. No explanation. No warning. Too bad. Tough shit. This is why I illegally download TV shows using Limewire. I'm forced to by the unprofessional Dutch networks.

But why doesn't Apple allow us to buy movies? Movies that have been released worldwide should be able to be bought worldwide. Why not?

As to the other "news", who needs another ipod mini? I have one of those already - a lovely pink one with my name on it. Why would I want to buy another one? I was really looking forward to a new Nano with more storage, or lower price, or video or something interesting. Now if I want to buy a black one I have to fork out for the highest price model. The thing that interested me about getting a Nano, when I have a perfectly good mini to use, is the Nike+ thingy that I can use to kick my running into gear. As a geek and tech junky, that Nike+ add-on looks really cool. But I don't NEED a new ipod to play music. Now, given this new non-announcement, I think I'll just look for a sale priced old Nano, in black, with the nice plastic finish that matches my white macBook and not bother with the new models.

Last, and maybe least, is the iTV announcement. Another non-interesting product when you consider that I can hook up my macBook to my TV, or simply get a new MacMini to use exclusively with my TV. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of wireless. I have an airport with airtunes that I use all the time. I'm now sitting outside on my roof terrace with my MacBook connected to the internet. But streaming to my TV? There are better and cheaper ways to get the same thing.

I hope next time Apple really has something to say when they build an event around announcements. Otherwise we will stop paying so much attention to them. Please please Apple don't become another Microsoft!

Advice to single men

If you are a single man in Amsterdam I know the best place to meet women. I discovered this yesterday when I went to the first Start to Run meeting in the Vondelpark. My neighbor and I need to get in shape, lose a little weight, and basically get off our butts once a week and get some exercise. I also have the goal of running the Dam to Dam race next year. So, off we went to the Run-2-Day shop on the Overtoom where the class begins every Saturday morning for the next 6 weeks.

I have to say, I was surprised to see so many people there (about 50) and nearly all of them women. Women of all ages. Women wearing close fitting workout close. If you are a single man I doubt there's any better place to meet women. You see them without all the makeup and artifice of going out at night. You see who whines and complains when asked to work hard. Who's in shape and who's not. Who's friendly in a non-threatening environment. So, guys, come on out and show us what you've got!

New photos on Flickr - Valladolid and Segovia

Seems a long time since I wrote something here but actually it's been about two weeks. Two busy weeks.
I have some new photos on flickr of our weekend in Spain (1-3 Sept). We went to Rutger and Esther's wedding in Valladolid. Unfortunately my camera battery was dead for the wedding itself (stupid me for not checking it beforehand) but you can see some nice photos of P's on his flickr pages. It was a nice weekend in a lovely Spanish city. It was especially nice to go to a Spanish city that has few tourists and doesn't cater to them. We saw how people really live, and I have to say, they live well. The food was tasty, people were friendly, the weather was perfect, the streets are clean and the air seemed so too. What more do you want?

Becoming Dutch - Phase II, Part I

This morning began Phase II of my journey towards becoming a Dutch citizen. At the beginning of Phase I (before this blog began), I didn't know if there would even be a Phase II, but I decided there should be and so here we go.

Phase I, in case you're wondering was titled "Getting a Dutch Residence Permit (Verblijfsvergunning)". This entailed several visits to the IND (Immigratie en Naturalisatiedienst) in Amsterdam, loads of paperwork, re-doing the paperwork, waiting and waiting and wondering if everything was ok and finally 4 months later receiving my permit. And actually feeling lucky that it was only 4 months when lots of people had to wait 6 months and more for their permits. This was just over 3 years ago when the IND was in an even worse backlog situation than they are in today, and when Rita Verdonk was just becoming a household name.

But I digress. This is about Phase II - Becoming a Dutch citizen and getting the passport and being able to vote. These are two big reasons for pursuing this adventure now. I want to vote in the country where I live and pay my taxes. I haven't lived in the US for over 14 years and I haven't voted in US elections in all that time. It doesn't seem fair to me to have a say in how a country runs where I don't live and it seems only right that I should have a say in NL. I'd also like to be able to travel on something other than an American passport, not out of fear but out of ease of movement.

But the main reason that I want to become a Dutch citizen is because this is my home. I live with a Dutchman. I've bought a house. I have a good job. I've learned (and am still learning) the language. I don't plan to return to the US. This is my home.

Part I entails first having a Registered Partnership (Geregistreerd Partnerschap) with my Dutchman. This was our first surprise since we thought that having a Living Together Contract (Samenlevingscontract) was enough. We got this contract drawn up when we bought our house 2 years ago. It wasn't a requirement, but the bank smiled more kindly on our mortgage application if we had it.

The Registered Partnership is a bit more "legal" and this is the required paperwork in order to even be ABLE to apply for a passport. Now, this only applies of course if you are legally in this country based on living with a Dutch person. Or we could just get married.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Anyway, we went down to the Stadsdeelkantoor (city administration) this morning to fill out the paperwork. They took my birth certificate and my divorce papers. They took copies of my passport and residence permit. They DIDN'T take my partner's birth certificate. Since he was born in NL he has to get a NEW birth certificate (instead of using the 3 year old one he has) so we have to go after that now.

What happens now? The Stadsdeelkantoor has to approve my paperwork. THEN they have to send it all off to the IND and THEY have to approve it. All of this should take about a month. And that's just to APPLY for a registered partnership, which should take another couple of weeks to be final. And only after THAT can I go to the IND and apply for a passport.

Some people say that it's too easy to immigrate here, that the government lets people in too easily. I say that the bureaucracy alone is daunting enough to keep out those who are not stubborn enough or strong enough or supported enough to get through it. And besides, with the cost of all this bureaucracy (over EUR 400 or $450), it ain't for the poor either (but that's another topic....).

Amsterdam Uitmarkt

This last weekend was the Amsterdam Uitmarkt. This event celebrates the opening of theater season in Amsterdam and takes place in the center of the city. It's over now, but info can be found here (in Dutch, and frankly a pretty crappy website). We walked around and looked at a lot of booths that were handing out literature - not too exciting really. If you want to see something actually HAPPENING, you need to check out the schedule and wait in line to get into a theater. We saw a 20 minute modern dance performance that I liked and DB found boring. Ah well, that's why you go and try things out. You don't spend any money only to find out it's not your thing.

Too bad the weather wasn't very good. We got SOAKED biking home in the afternoon. Typical! August has been the wettest year in 100 years here. July was the hottest in 100 years. Maybe the winter will be the coldest, which would be wonderful for ice-skaters.

Can't we all just get along?

You could say I'm naive. It wouldn't be the first time I've been called that. I thought that I could walk into work with my new MacBook, which will run all the required software better than the computer that I've been given to work on, and all would be fine. I did expect to have to do some convincing, but I didn't expect to be told, basically, to get that thing off the network.

It's not that anyone has a problem with Apple products per se (ok, my boss has a THING about Apple, and it's not a positive THING), but it has to do with standards. Company standards. Control. Efficiencies. Safety.

Let's be honest. If any IT department really thought about it, if they wanted efficiencies and safety they would give the entire company Macs and throw the PC's into the bin where they belong. But noooooooooo we have to standardize on mediocrity.

I naively thought that we could think outside the very big beige box.

I need to start my own company...........

LowLands 2006 - survived the mudbath

LowLands was this last weekend - 3 days of music, street art, video, theater, sun and rain.

Friday and Saturday were beautiful, Sunday it started to rain and rain and rain.

Best artist we saw (imho): Massive Attack
Best food: pancakes with bacon, cheese and syrup
Best venue: XRAY
Best survival technique: good friends to share it with


There are more photos on flickr and movies (mudbath, kunstlicht, xray) on youtube..........

News from Home

I've made it back to Amsterdam from sunny California, jetlagging and culture shocked. I haven't called California home for over 14 years now, and sometimes I'm not sure which place seems more foreign to me, CA or NL. (more about that in upcoming posts...)

I won't be writing here for a few days because I'm going to LowLands this morning and won't be back til Monday. Unfortunately, as I'm writing this it is raining outside so this might be one of those epic mudbath festivals that I've only seen photos of. Ugh. I'll have photos of my own on flickr on Monday. Last year's photos are already up there.

By the way, after posting my last entry about the Blogger Beta, I was included in the upgrade program. HA! I have indeed upgraded this blog, but haven't had time yet to play with the new options. I was also included in the Blog of the Day, which is pretty cool for a new blog I'd say.

Blogging Blogger Beta

So, Blogger's new version is now in beta but I can't upgrade yet. Darn. I bet it's because I don't have adsense enabled on my blog. Probably all those people get to upgrade first. But the new functionality looks very cool and very welcome indeed. I've been looking for java scripts to do some of the things that the upgrade will do automatically, thank goodness cuz I'm no scripting guru and can barely find my way through my html template.

Details are here. Hopefully it will be rolled out to all us existing customers before too long. And like the Buzz says, if you just can't wait you can create a new account to try it out. Hey! That means all the new people have better blogs than ME!

By the way, I was going to change my template from the one provided here by Blogger, but after playing with one of those free templates (see my list of them in a previous entry) I've decided to just modify the official Blogger template. The html code in a couple of these I tried was soooo messy that I would have spent half my time just cleaning up their templates before being able to use them at all. I guess that's why they are free on the web.

I did manage to make a cool header image though (see above). What do you think?

Technorati

Technorati Profile

A Parallel(s) Universe

As you can see from this screenshot, I sucessfully installed and am running WinXP inside my MacBook. I feel so dirty.

The installation process was straightforward. I haven't installed software that came with an actual printed instruction book in a very long time. Thanks Parallels for including the book! There's enough you need to actually understand in order to install the software and run it correctly, but with the book at hand it's no problem.

The next step is to install our company ERP system (Navision) into the VM (virtual machine), see if I can install and connect to the network using the company VPN, and connect to the company remote desktop. If I can do all those things then I've successfully set up this new MacBook to work in a Windows corporate world that includes software that has no Apple equivalent (like Navision). I won't be able to do this for another week or so, so stay tuned for more info on this experiment.

Now, back to that Spider game....

MacBook - I'm in love

It's been a while since my last post. I've travelled half way around the world to visit family and at the same time pick up my new baby - my MacBook - and I'm in love.

I bought a white MacBook, 2 GB processor, 60GB hard drive, 512k RAM. I also bought 2GB RAM from OmniTechnologies on eBay which I installed myself. The installation was a piece of cake except that I had to push those babies in there HARDer than I though I needed to. It's not an obvious "feel" when you have them seated in far enough. But second try was fine and now this thing SCREAMS.

What do I like about it?

1. The feel of the keyboard. It's a perfect feel as far as I'm concerned. The sound is also nice, no loud clicking noises. I was actually afraid that I'd find the return key too far away but I hit it correctly every time so no problem there. This new type of key is a huge improvement over the old iBooks. A+
2. The glossy screen. I wasn't sure about this change since I'd never worked with a glossy screen portable before. I'd never even seen one in action. But I really really like it! I haven't had any problems with glare and I've used this thing outside already. The colors are gorgeous. Also the resolution of 1280 x 800 is a perfect combination of visibility and ease on the eyes. Even though this scree size is smaller than my old iBook, and smaller in height than my ugly Dell work portable, what I can actually SEE is more and brighter and more defined. A+
3. Speed. I haven't yet used this machine at work with my huge Excel files, but I'm sure, with what I've seen so far, that it will blow away my Dell piece of, well, you know. I must warn you though that you have to upgrade the RAM from 512 if you want to get anywhere. With 2GB this thing is FAST. With 512 I tried to watch a ripped DVD movie which was saved on my hard drive (using VLC) and it just couldn't show a smooth video. Now with 2GB of course it's fine. This has to do with no dedicated video RAM in this machine, but as long as you pump up the standard RAM memory it's not a problem. I'm not really a gamer so I don't have any info on whether it will run video intensive games with this much RAM installed. A
   
4. The usual Apple small touches that make the experience great. Like the magnetic power connection. Like the larger and easier to use trackpad. Like the snap close of the lid. Like the look and feel of the power button. It's just all so NICE. A+

I haven't mentioned anything about the ability to also run Windows here because although I've bought Parallels software, I haven't installed it yet, and I haven't installed Bootcamp (which I probably won't do). Once I get time to install Parallels I'll write some comments about that. It was necessary for me to get this software in order to have a hope in hell of using this machine at work (need to run some Windows only software daily).

So here I am in California, visiting family, but all the time wanting to spend more time with my new love. I'm anti-social. I'm a jerk sitting in front of a computer while my parents are talking to me. What can I say? I'm in love.

Tech addicts unite!

Well I did it. I couldn't resist any longer. The addiction is too strong, the need too great.

I filled up my shopping basket on Amazon.com and pushed the BUY button. On the way is a MacBook 2GHz White, Parallels software, a Kensington flat keyboard, an external 250GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM to install myself. The MacBook has a $100 rebate offer so how could I resist???

My idea is to show up at work carrying my new baby, plug it into the network and get started! Then dump that Dell piece of crap that they gave me to work with. Ah! To work on a Mac all day! I can't wait! Hmmm, I wonder what our IT director will say?

Blogger templates

I've been searching the web looking for cool Blogger templates to use. There are quite a few out there, but nothing that fits EXACTLY what I'm looking for. No surprise really. I mean, how can a complete stranger create just the perfect blog template for ME?

Here are some sites with nice looking templates, for free:
www.isnaini.com
www.ehsany.com
www.geckoandfly.com
www.blogskins.com
www.pointoffocus.com
www.bloggertemplates.org
blogger-templates.blogspot.com

If you know of more, please tell!
My next job is to pick one and try it on......

Blog about Blog

This is the 4th time I've started a blog. It has become clear to me that what I like most about blogging is the technical aspect of setting it up. At least that's true so far. So, I might as well blog about blogging. It might even be helpful to others.

First, I have to say there are some nice reviews out there about different blog tools that are available. Here's a really good overview. There are other tools out there (like iWeb for example) but they are either new or very niche and not included in this person's review. If I find other comprehensive reviews I'll list them here too.

For me the criteria for chosing a blogging tool are:

1. Free - I used to have a .mac account (see previous post about changing email address - I dumped my $99 a year .mac account) but I want to take advantage of all the free tool out there.
2. Editable - I want to be able to use templates from 3rd parties. Or edit my own.
3. Flexible - I want to be able to easily change setups as my blog evolves.
4. Simple to use and setup - I don't want to have to code everything by hand.

I'm now trying Blogger because it seemed to fit best into my criteria. It's not a perfect fit (I still have to understand html and css to REALLY make the blog my own design) but it's pretty close.

My next move is to personalize the blog with a 3rd party template. Then to modify that template with my own header image. And then some additions for categories.

Editing your tech life

I'm in the process of changing email addresses. I've had my old one for so many years that I really didn't realize what a pain it is to change! It's worse than moving. When you move you know who you need to notify - everyone who sends you something in the mail needs to know where to send something the next time. And the post office will help by forwarding your mail for a period of time so you don't miss anything.

When you change your email address sometimes you don't know what you don't know. Does my bank have my email address or not? I don't remember. They don't email me, but you never know if some day they might want to. And my frequent flier company. Oh damn, what about my credit card company? Maybe I don't want them to know. I'm sure someone somewhere will fall off my list and will never contact me again. Which can be a good thing too. How to lose an old boyfriend - oops! forgot to let him know that my email address has changed.

The good thing about this is that I should stop getting really annoying spam, at least in the short term. I did a stupid thing and gave out my one and only email address to shopping websites and that's when the spam started. I should have made aliases that I could easily kill, just for shopping. Now I know better.

My new email is with gmail. I'm giving Google a go. Gmail and Blogger. Let's see what Google can do for me for free what I was paying $99 a year for on .mac. I'll write soon with a gmail review once I've been using it for a little while. So far, so good.

What? Not another blog attempt?

Let's try a free blog service and see if this works out!
I'll have to get some links up here right away, otherwise you only have ME to entertain you.
More shortly.....