Ever since May 2005 Alain Souchon has been one of my favourite artists. At that time I bought my Ipod and AN was so kind to copy his Ipod to mine. AN's Ipod had hours and hours of Alain Souchon so I ended up with hours and hours of him as well. This is one of his nicest songs: The Kiss.
The title of this song reminded me of a story by MP, a colleague who bought a house in a small village in France after he retired. He and his wife tried to blend in, so every Sunday they went to the local church. They noticed that all locals kissed each other, so MP, making small-talk, told his French neighbour: "Ici on baise beaucoup, n'est-ce pas?" Check your French dictionary for the two meanings of "baiser".
Monday, 5 February 2007
Alain Souchon - Le Baiser
Becel
A great commercial! In Dutch I like the text even better.
Volg het
Lucht het
Luister ernaar
Strijk er af en toe met je hand over
Verlies het niet te snel
Maar laat het altijd ergens vol van zijn
Laat het pompen
Open het voor anderen
Neem je geliefden erin op
En ook al heeft iemand het ooit gebroken, wees niet bang om het weer helemaal te geven En of het groot of klein is, van goud of van steen
Zorg er goed voor
Het is het meest belangrijke dat je ooit zult hebben.
Hou van je hart
Sunday, 4 February 2007
A sunny weekend
A quiet yet productive weekend. I had a slight flu so was not very active.
On Saturday, the weather was so nice that I couldn't resist jumping on my bicycle and go to the city. As so often on a Saturday, I had a coffee at SU's place. It was good to catch up after quite a while.
In the evening I was wise and decided not to go out. Instead, watched "Blast from the past" a very average movie. Brandon Fraser is Adam Weber, the child of an eccentric inventor and his wife. Following a bomb scare in the 1960s that locked the Webers in their bomb shelter for 35 years, Adam Weber must venture out into Los Angeles and obtain food and supplies for his family, and a non-mutant wife for himself. He meets Eve (Alicia Silverstone), who reluctantly agrees to help him out.
On Sunday, the day was spent creating space for the Singapore stuff that will arrive on Wednesday. It is amazing how much trash a two person household can collect over the years. For instance, I found out today that we have 53 towels........the oldest and dirtiest ones were thrown away! I also managed to select my dorkiest (hi ER) clothes which will be given to some charity soon. If someone here travels to Africa soon and sees the locals wearing un-fashionable 80's and 90's clothes, it means my leftovers have reached their destination.
At 6pm I made my way to April for the happy hour. To my surprise DAZ (the gay daddy, see an earlier post) was there. Still scouting for men and he didn't lose his appetite after fathering a child hehe. Also talked with WLM who is in a similar situation as I am: he lost his job, got a nice sum of money from his employer, and has decided to become a free lance consultant. Good to exchange notes.
Dinner at Thai Restaurant Bangkok was nice. Ate too much and have to be very careful or I will be seriously fat soon.
On Saturday, the weather was so nice that I couldn't resist jumping on my bicycle and go to the city. As so often on a Saturday, I had a coffee at SU's place. It was good to catch up after quite a while.
In the evening I was wise and decided not to go out. Instead, watched "Blast from the past" a very average movie. Brandon Fraser is Adam Weber, the child of an eccentric inventor and his wife. Following a bomb scare in the 1960s that locked the Webers in their bomb shelter for 35 years, Adam Weber must venture out into Los Angeles and obtain food and supplies for his family, and a non-mutant wife for himself. He meets Eve (Alicia Silverstone), who reluctantly agrees to help him out.On Sunday, the day was spent creating space for the Singapore stuff that will arrive on Wednesday. It is amazing how much trash a two person household can collect over the years. For instance, I found out today that we have 53 towels........the oldest and dirtiest ones were thrown away! I also managed to select my dorkiest (hi ER) clothes which will be given to some charity soon. If someone here travels to Africa soon and sees the locals wearing un-fashionable 80's and 90's clothes, it means my leftovers have reached their destination.
At 6pm I made my way to April for the happy hour. To my surprise DAZ (the gay daddy, see an earlier post) was there. Still scouting for men and he didn't lose his appetite after fathering a child hehe. Also talked with WLM who is in a similar situation as I am: he lost his job, got a nice sum of money from his employer, and has decided to become a free lance consultant. Good to exchange notes.
Dinner at Thai Restaurant Bangkok was nice. Ate too much and have to be very careful or I will be seriously fat soon.
The Best Quality of Life
I always enjoy reading those articles and studies in which some organization tells us which country is the "best". The studies are always subjective, but it is interesting to see which criteria are used to determine the attractiveness of a certain place. Today, I came across a study by an on-line magazine called "International living".
Their list of Best Quality of Life for 2007 is as follows:
1. France
2. Australia
3. Netherlands
4. New Zealand
5. United States
6. Switzerland
7. Denmark
8. Italy
9.Luxembourg
10. Argentina
To produce this annual Index they considered, for each of 193 countries, nine categories: Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.
Let's see if I agree with these categories:
Cost of living: yes, obviously this is important. If a country is fantastic but you can't afford to buy stuff and get necessary services, it become less attractive.
Culture and leisure: very important, but how to measure? I am sure that if you speak fluent Finnish there is lots of good culture in Helsinki. For someone moving in from another country, choices may be much more limited. One reason I like Singapore over other Asian countries is the availability of "culture" in English.
Economy, Environment are obvious. There must be an opportunity to make some money, and clean air and water is a basic human need.
Freedom: I didn't realize how important freedom is until I moved to a non-free country. The ability to speak your mind, protest, strike, start a political party etc. makes you feel better. Even if you don't see a need to exercise these rights very often. The fact that you are free to do so definitely improves the quality of life.
Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate are obvious again. But especially climate is very subjective. And how to measure for countries like France and the USA which have huge regional differences in climate.
I was kind of surprised to find the Netherlands so high on the list. Perhaps the constant complaining about everything that is a national trait of too many Dutch people has influenced my opinion about living here. As well as the impenetrable bureaucracy that has become a nightmare in too many government organizations and companies.
Their list of Best Quality of Life for 2007 is as follows:
1. France
2. Australia
3. Netherlands
4. New Zealand
5. United States
6. Switzerland
7. Denmark
8. Italy
9.Luxembourg
10. Argentina
To produce this annual Index they considered, for each of 193 countries, nine categories: Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.
Let's see if I agree with these categories:
Cost of living: yes, obviously this is important. If a country is fantastic but you can't afford to buy stuff and get necessary services, it become less attractive.
Culture and leisure: very important, but how to measure? I am sure that if you speak fluent Finnish there is lots of good culture in Helsinki. For someone moving in from another country, choices may be much more limited. One reason I like Singapore over other Asian countries is the availability of "culture" in English.
Economy, Environment are obvious. There must be an opportunity to make some money, and clean air and water is a basic human need.
Freedom: I didn't realize how important freedom is until I moved to a non-free country. The ability to speak your mind, protest, strike, start a political party etc. makes you feel better. Even if you don't see a need to exercise these rights very often. The fact that you are free to do so definitely improves the quality of life.
Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate are obvious again. But especially climate is very subjective. And how to measure for countries like France and the USA which have huge regional differences in climate.
I was kind of surprised to find the Netherlands so high on the list. Perhaps the constant complaining about everything that is a national trait of too many Dutch people has influenced my opinion about living here. As well as the impenetrable bureaucracy that has become a nightmare in too many government organizations and companies.
Saturday, 3 February 2007
Talking Cock
Singapore's funniest website is Talking Cock. Sometimes it surprises me that they are still allowed to operate. One day they will go too far and will be closed by Singapore's o-so democratic government.
From that site:
After criticism that the Singapore Girl’s image is outdated, Singapore Airlines has unveiled its replacement – a model that truly represents the modern Singapore woman and her place in society.
From that site:
After criticism that the Singapore Girl’s image is outdated, Singapore Airlines has unveiled its replacement – a model that truly represents the modern Singapore woman and her place in society.
A dream
I am on a huge cruise ship on a relatively small lake. All the ship can do is cruise for 5 minutes, turn around and go back. And again, and again, and again......
All the passengers are in the showers. Below deck, there are thousands of showers and when I finally find an empty shower, I realize that I forgot my towel.
A weird selection of my friends and relatives is on-board. Nobody recognizes me and I am alone.
I decide to walk from the back to the front of the boat via a narrow gangway. The ship almost capsizes and everybody is looking at me. Who is that fat guy?
I sit down and look at the beautiful scenery. Three boys come and sit next to me and one of them touches my knee and indicates to follow him. I can't be bothered.
My brother arrives, together with one of my girlfriends from University that my mother liked so much. They don't see me and they are discussing a way to meet without my brother's wife and the girl's husband knowing.
Last scene my brother is talking to the rent-boys.
Thursday, 1 February 2007
A Singapore day (2)
Later AN texted me informing me that he had just left Spizza the restaurant just next door to my old apartment. I thought how he must have gone to Backstage after eating the pizza and in my mind I just took the same route.
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