Monday 30 November 2009

Thin people more likely to be depressed

The Dutch Central Statistics Bureau reported today that slim people are more likely to be depressed than others. People who are very fat are also suffering from depression, however not as much as thin people. According to the study, the happiest people are slightly overweight males.

Monday 23 November 2009

Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat

I went to the musical Joseph and etc. yesterday and it was great. For some reason, the Dutch translations of the typical Broadway / Westend musicals are always very good with many contemporary jokes and puns in the texts, and this time was no exception. Add good acting and good dancing and a rather homo-erotic scene (not noticed by most in the audience, I'd say) in which the Egyptian pharaoh admires Joseph's well-sculpted body, and a perfect evening was guaranteed.
On Saturday we had our annual family dinner to remember my dad who passed away 16 years ago. It was good to be together although this time it was strange to remember my dad in the presence of my stepfather who we all know will most likely not be with us this time next year.
Went out with the gang on Friday night and had a great time. Fortunately, these days I know when to stop drinking alcohol and switch to water....
In other news, one of my bosses today mentioned (for the first time) the words "pulling the plug" in relation to the company. Either a miracle will happen or this game will reach its end-stage rather soon.

Saturday 21 November 2009

Ralph wins Youth Euro Vision Song Contest

14 year old Ralph from the Netherlands won the Youth Euro Vision Song Contest which was held in Kyiv, Ukraine, tonight. We haven't won the real one since 1975, so this gives some hope for the future.....

Wednesday 18 November 2009

An involuntary emigration from Singapore (or: not all Singaporeans are sweet)

In the 1980's, Mr Chang Ming See (now 56 years old) emigrated from Singapore to the Netherlands. He met a girl who became his wife, and after a while he started to rape her and beat her up badly. His wife went to the police and after a while Mr Chang was sentenced to 3 years in prison for serious domestic violence.
In the mean time, his wife wanted to divorce him and she was supported by her employer, a middle-aged Dutch couple, Jim and Jannie Schuiten who were running a sailing boat rental service in the Dutch province of Friesland.
On 23 August 1995 Mr Chang, after serving his sentence, went to the Schuiten house and murdered the couple with a knife. He stupidly left his watch at the crime scene, and this watch could be traced back to Singapore which made the work of the police easy. He was arrested a few days later and eventually (in 1997) sentenced to 18 years in prison for double murder. He appealed and in the Dutch idiotic legal system of the 1980's and 1990's (laws have been changed since) he was released (!) until his case could be heard at the High Court. Of course he disappeared and for 12 years nobody knew where he was hiding.
The two sons of the murdered couple never gave up and were constantly urging the authorities to keep looking for Mr Chang.
A few weeks ago, he was found in Malaysia (apparently he made a phone call to a Dutch friend that was monitored), and yesterday the Malaysians put him on a plane to the Netherlands where he will have to serve his sentence.

Monday 16 November 2009

Bullshitters

It is becoming very clear that many bankers have lost their jobs and are looking for ways to pay the mortgage and continue to have an extravagant lifestyle to which they have become addicted. My linkedin-account is getting many requests of former colleagues and friends-of-friends who are unemployed and seem to be desperate to find a job. I hate those people that would not even speak with me in the good old days because someone else was more important for their career, and are now sending me messages full of honey and asking me how I am and "we should have lunch soon."
My bosses have an unsual talent to attract these people who I call "bullshitters". In most cases they have never done anything useful in their professional careers and their only talent is - you guessed it - bullshitting. Our office is becoming a temporary refugee camp for these people and as permanent staff we are amazed how they are (ab)using the facilties to pick up their careers at our expense. I have warned my bosses but they think they know better so I have to endure these bullshitters until the shit hits the fan.
So I have another reason to be glad to currently work only 3 days a week - a schedule I could easily get used to and would be a nice interim - step to retirement. I am so glad now that I always lived below my means so when I lose my job I wouldn't really care. It is always good to have some fuck you money.
In other news, the trip to Istanbul was wonderful and this time the city made it to my top-10 of great cities. After my two-day work week last week, on Thursday I went to Paris which is now my #1 favourite city. ZA from Taiwan was on his first ever visit there so I re-discovered all the highlights of the City of Lights - the Louvre, we climbed the Eiffel Tower, the Sacré Coeur, the Arc de Triomphe - you name it. Add the French food and a nice new gay bar "Raidd" with a real shower cabin with cute strippers.

Thursday 5 November 2009

Going to Istanbul

Tomorrow morning I will be going to Istanbul for a long weekend. I have been there before in 1991 (?) with EW - I don't remember much of that visit, and in 2001 (?) just one day for work - that time I remember I had "met" someone on gaydar and he came to my hotel. He was very young and cute and we talked for a long time, I think he wanted something but I decided he was too cute and young for me.......yes, I know it sounds unbelieveable......
Anyway, this time I want to see all the monuments and mosques and churches and palaces, and fortunately the weather forecast is good (20-22C and partly sunny) so it will be fun to just walk around.
Just in case I checked the gay Istanbul website and read the following:
Despite the caricaturized historical image of Turkish men in the western countries as dark-skinned men with big mustaches and big bellies, Turks are actually very European looking and beautiful race, definitely more white then the Spanish if not Italians or the French. Do not be surprised to see blond men with green eyes, if not many. Turkish people have no language or ethnic connection with the Arabs except the religion and its cultural influence. In fact Turkish people are partly hybrid because, various nations lived together under Ottoman Empire rule such as Bulgarians, Serbs, Greeks, Jews, Arabs, Kurds, Georgians Armenians etc and its been a land of immigration because of its geographical position like a bridge between Asia and Europe. Probably for that reason Turkish men are admired internationally by gay men from various nations including Americans, Europeans, Arabs, as well and Japanese and other nations of far eastern Asia. Especially the new generation boys and young men are very attractive who grew up with the pop images of private televisions. They know how to wear and how to act very well, even if they come from poorer families.

And one of the gay bars is described as follows:
Originally a she-male club, but definitely not a typical one in comparison to other ones in Istanbul. Words are not enough to describe this 5 storey bar/club. Packed with a compilation of transvestites, semi-transvestites, male prostitutes, queens but overwhelmingly with hundreds of horny young boys ready to screw anything (call them bi or straight) coming from ghettoes of Istanbul especially on Saturday nights. Some gay men who like such rough boys would also go here comfortably. Watch your wallet and do not expect to be highly esteemed. It can be really fun to see the place once, because it must be one of its kind in the world most probably.

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Män som hatar kvinnor

I was discussing ways to save some company money with my bosses, and I quickly volunteered to work a bit less, so from now on I will only work 3 days a week and have every Wednesday and Friday off! Great!
Today I went to see the brilliant Swedish movie Män som hatar kvinnor ("Men who hate women"). It is based on Stieg Larsson's famous novel and it didn't disappoint.
The movie tells an intelligent story: a journalist and a troubled young female hacker works together on resolving a 40 year old mystery involving a disappearance, murders, Nazis and a dysfunctional family. The films story is very exciting and puzzling (for those that haven't read the book) and the pace is steady with some really tense situations. The investigation part of the story is excellent. Although it is 2.5 hours long it is never boring.
The parents' guide on IMDb gives some clues about what to expect:
Lisbeth Salander is forced to suck an older man´s cock.
Lisbeth Salander gets anal raped in an extremely brutal scene.
Later in the film we find out Lisbeth Salander is bisexual when she wakes up with another woman, full nudity is seen of Salander including her breasts and buttocks.
In one scene, Salander is trying to dominate Mikael Blomqvist by forcing herself onto him while getting penetrated, breasts visible.

A man gets a dildo plugged up his ass while trying to shout, then he gets a message written on his body with lots of blood streaming out.
There´s a flashback seen twice in the film where Lisbeth Salander burns a man alive, the second time we see the man burning to death.

Highly recommended movie!

Sunday 1 November 2009

This is it!

I went to watch "This is it!" yesterday and I must say I was not disappointed. OK, the movie has probably been edited to show the "best" of MJ, but what comes across is that he is a very talented and professional artist and musician, and a genuinely nice guy.
Despite having numerous assistants and directors to help him with everything, MJ is clearly in charge and tells his people what he would like to change and improve. Furthermore, having his track-record and success he could have become lazy but instead he wants things differently all the time, saying "this is why we have rehearsals".
He also appears to be very nice and patient with everybody, a bit too soft for me (saying "I love you" and "God bless you" every two minutes) but watching this still I was convinced that he was a good person.
Go and watch it if you can.