Amazing Acrobat Children

Check it out!

Another Theater Lesson

A few months ago, I posted a video showing how stage managers tape out a floor for rehearsal.  Now I present with you a lesson in lighting focus.  Enjoy.

Hubby Hubby Ice Cream

I have always loved Ben and Jerry’s favor “Chubby Hubby.”  It contains CHOCOLATE COVERED PRETZELS FILLED WITH PEANUT BUTTER!!!  But now, I present you another reason to love this ice cream.

For one month only, Ben and Jerry’s has renamed and repackaged this yummy concoction to celebrate Vermont’s new legislature allowing Same Sex Marriage as of September 1, 2009.  So let’s all grab a pint this September and raise a spoon of “Hubby Hubby” to same sex marriage in Vermont!

While you’re at it visit the Freedom to Marry website.

Check It Out – Animal Cam!

From the flickr blog.  Museum of Animal Perspectives.  So cool.

The City of Light

Destination Paris!

Marshall and I wanted to start our vacation in Paris because our friends and co-workers were performing in a show with Catherine Lara (solo violinist).  The music is beautiful and the show (produced by Dragone and directed by Giuliano Peparini) is spectacular.  But more about that later.

Day One

Back to the beginning.  Marshall and I took the train from Brussels to Paris after Emily and Mike left to fly back to the USA.  We arrived at Gare du Nord and set off to our friend’s apartment nearby where we would stay for a few days.  We were a little tired from the fire incident the night before and decided to explore the surrounding neighborhood on foot and leave the more adventurous exploration for the coming days.  We found a nice park with some cute duck-like birds and a gazebo thingy with a good view.

A lovely view of Sacre Coeur and the evening sky

A tired Marshall takes in the view

Day Two

The next day (Sunday 21 June) we managed to be much more adventurous.  We were fortunate enough to have arrived in Paris just in time for the Fete de la Musique.  Live music in the street, live music in the parks, live music everywhere and all the time.  Each corner we turned, we encountered another free concert.  Reggae, doo-wop, marching band, pan flutes, DJs spinning.  You name it, it was somewhere waiting to be discovered.

Our first stop was the Hospital Hotel Dieu. Part hospital, part hotel, this building is located right next to Notre Dame cathedral and has a lovely courtyard with a beautiful garden.  We sat and listened to the music for a while and then I spotted a smurf at the other side of the garden.

Papa?

Read more about the Hospital and the statue here.  The site includes links to photos of various other costumes this statue has worn throughout the years.

Anyway, after the Hospital we headed past the Notre Dame du Paris across the bridge (Pont au Double) and to the Jardin du Luxembourg.  We passed more music of course and stopped a while to listen to each group.

The World Famous Notre Dame du Paris - pretty, isn't she?

After the garden, we meet our friends for crepe and coffee.  I had a Crepe Citron which is a crepe filled with sugar and doused in lemon juice.  Very tasty, I recommend it highly.  We made plans to meet again in the evening to check out a Brazilian drum circle near the Hotel De Ville.

After our snack, Aya, Marshall and I headed to the Eiffel Tower to enjoy the surrounding green area, eat a baguette (so very very French of us)  and lay in the sunshine.

Aya and Marshall and La Tour Eiffel

Day Three

While all of our friends were busy at rehearsals for the show, Marshall and I set out for more exploration in the city.

First stop - The Opera House - Palais Garnier

The Stravinsky Fountain by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle

Read more about the fountain here.

The Pyramid at the Louvre

My favorite sculpture at the Jardin des Tuileries - Lichtenstein's Brushstroke Nude

Day Four

Our last day in the lovely city of Paris!  After days of outdoor wandering, Marshall and I decided to go indoors and see some art at the Musee d’Orsay.  The museum was originally built as a train station, but as train technology developed, the building could not accommodate the newer larger trains.  Now the building is home to thousands of paintings and sculptures as well as furniture and a scale model of the Palais Garnier (opera house).

A view from the roof of Musee d'Orsay

After the museum, we met Lionel, Cecilia, Sita (all Dragone folk) and Sita’s parents for dinner before the show.  Cecilia introduced us to a drink called a Monaco which is beer and grenadine.  It is bright red and quite sweet (even sweeter than a Crepe Citron).

Finally, it was showtime at the Palais des Sports.  The show was beautiful and new acts (including a hand to hand act featuring Michal and Pawel; a flamenco solo for Ana and a contortion act) had been added since the original production in Belgium.  It was great to see our friends in action and great to hear the music live.  See photos here and here (scroll down). Congrats to all on a great show.

We went out for drinks on the Champs Elysees following the performance.

In front of the Arc du Triomphe

More photos from this trip can be found here.

One Last Night

A few days before we at the City of Dreams Project all went our separate ways, I asked Julian (one of our automation dudes) if he would miss his temporary home here in Belgium.  He responded, “Yes, I will miss it so much that I’m going to burn it down so that no one else can have it.”  Witty, right? Funny, right?  Remember those words.

After our trip to Amsterdam, Marshall, Emily, Mike and I returned to the Bubble for one last night before setting out for good.  Mike and Emily had to fly back to the USA the next day and Marshall and I were heading to Paris to visit our friends and see the Catherine Lara show.

We had a few last minute things to take care of.

I did laundry

Marshall buried his spider plant Jeremiah in the shade for safekeeping

Then we had a nice little dinner and drinks on the terrace.  This was an event more peaceful and serene than I had experienced in the last six months as we were totally alone in the studio (locked of course) and adjacent apartments.  Only the [subtle] roar of the train to keep us company.

Toasting our final night in the Bubble: Mike, Emily, Marshall and Me

Does it look like my head is disappearing into the sky or what?

Okay, celebration and sunset aside, the real meat of the story happened later in the night.  We were chilling in my apartment, packing the newly clean laundry and gathering last minute items, prepping for the immanent international travel.  We had some candles burning to set a mood.

Suddenly. Emily [calmly] says, “Fire.”  I say, “What?”  She says, “Fire!”  Sure enough a paper bag containing the last few slices of bread from our favorite Frenchy has ended up too near one of my vanilla scented votives.  The bag is officially on fire.

Marshall (my hero?) picks up the flaming bag and heads for the window.  I manage to stop him, thinking of the curtains and the world of flammable elements outside in general.  At this point, Marshall’s arm hair catches flame and he drops the fiery paper bag onto the floor and runs shrieking to the loo.

I quickly stomp out the fire but not before some [significant] damage happens to the carpet.  Of course, said damage is conveniently located right in the doorway between the hallway and the living room. We contemplate moving the sofa to cover the damage, but ultimately decide that a sofa wedged into a doorway is slightly less than subtle.

At least no one was [badly] hurt.

Marshall sweeping up the ashes

For the record, I emailed the appropriate people to inform them of the accident and accept responsibility.  At this point it has been only two weeks shy of 3 months and I have received no response to the holes in my carpet.  I wonder if this means I am not in trouble after all?

Anyway kids, don’t try this at home.  You could burn some valuable arm hair or some cheap Ikea carpet.  And remember the words of Julian, “I love it so much . . . “

My ‘Dam Vacation Kicks Off

After nearly six full months of intensive training and formation, the City of Dreams Project was ready for a VACATION!  Many people opted to go straight home to their countries of origin, others of us decided to see what else Europe had to offer.

Marshall, Emily (his sister) and Mike (her husband) headed to Amsterdam on the morning of my official last day of work.  In the evening, I hopped on a train to meet them in the “Venice of the North.”

'dam fun

The next day, summer was in full swing and the sun was shining.  We decided to (eek!) rent bicycles to explore the city and see Vondelpark.  Now, I only learned how to ride a bike a few years ago for Burning Man and am not the most comfortable rider.  Amsterdam is famous for its crazy (read: kamikaze) cyclists and I was too petrified to bike on my own there.  However, this did not stop us.  Emily and Mike each rented a normal adult bike and Marshall and I hopped on a cute red tandem.

tan'dam bike

Our first stop was Museumplein, home to the Van Gogh museum, Rijksmuseum, the Concertgebouw and, of course, the i amsterdam sculpture.  We climbed all over the giant letters and Marshall did a handstand.

'damstand

The next stop was Vondelpark for some monkey business.

I am hidden behind some 'dam leaves

Somehow, we made it back to return our bikes in one piece.  Marshall and I banged up our knees a little on the low handlebars of the tandem and I vowed to learn to ride a bike good enough to survive traffic in the future.  (Please do note that for the remainder of our travels together when Marshall wanted to ride a bike, he went off on his own and I sunned myself on the beach.)

Emily had heard of a “museum” called House of Bols.  It is a sensory overload that takes you through the history of Bols Genever (which is kind of like gin, but not exactly) and Bols Liqueurs.  There is music, there is video, there is a rainbow hallway where you sniff flavors from little perfume bottles and there are the requisite free drinks.

rainbow hallway with 'dam funhouse mirror

Emily takes a sniff from the 'dam mystery bottle

Once they ply you with 1 free cocktail and 2 free shots, they send you into the “Flair Booth” to test your bartending skills ala “Cocktail.”  Marshall and I might not be Tom Cruise, but I think we got some skills.  See our video here.

During our wandering Marshall noticed that the Amsterdam Yellow Clog in Dam Square was missing!   However, the next day on our way to the Van Gogh Museum, we found it in another part of the city.

Marshall and the 'dam yellow clog

All in all, our short trip to Amsterdam was lovely and a nice way to end Emily and Mike’s visit to Europe.  More photos here.

And I leave you with a photo of a bird for Elise.

Elise can you identify this 'dam bird for me?

I Hate Nature and I Love Olde English Comedy

Okay, I don’t personally hate nature.  In fact, I like it quite a lot.  I like to explore it and photograph it.  But more than that, I like to watch it on TV.  One of my favorite TV series is the BBC’s Planet Earth.  I like it so much that when I packed up my life to move across the pond, the only DVDs I brought were Planet Earth and the Blue Planet.

However, I want to promote a young comedy troupe started by a few former students of mine at Bard College.  They are witty and funny, they are Olde English Comedy.

Here are two videos for you to enjoy.

Ducks, naturally

Several years ago I made the bold prediction that same sex marriage would be totally legal and recognized in the United States by the year 2010.  I was hopeful; I was positive it could/ would/ should happen.  Although I think I may have been a few years ambitious with my prediction, it will happen and it has started to happen.  Despite setbacks like Prop 8, several states are changing their legislatures to allow and recognize same sex unions.

Dark blue=legal, medium and light blue=some restrictions

I am proud to say, that I currently live in a country where same sex marriage has been legal for more than 6 years.  In Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, and Sweden a marriage between any two partners is equally recognized.  Many other countries have civil union laws similar to marriage and are showing America and the world that marriage is a human right for all not just for the heteros!

blue=same sex marriage legal; yellow=under consideration; red=not legal

Other countries that recognize gay marriage: Canada, Australia, South Africa, Nepal, Israel. (not necessarily a complete list)  Many others are working towards legislation to recognize or perform same sex unions.

In response to recent legislation in New England, Pat Robertson made the following [insane] comments.

In response to his ludicrous statements equating homosexuality to bestiality, the comic duo of Garfunkel & Oates wrote a beautiful song called Sex with Ducks.  Which you can download for your listening pleasure here.  Or watch the video below.

yeah, ducks . . .

Planckendael Zoo (including Name That Bird edition 5)

Exqi (the documentarians) planned a trip the Planckendael Zoo in Mechelen for our group.  About 20 of us (artists, technicians, and families) met early on Sunday (19 April) to take a boat to the large zoo/ animal park.

Once at the zoo, we split into groups and wandered around the park (trailed by a camera crew, of course).  All in all, it was a really fun day.  We got to see lots of cool animals and birds (Elise can name them for you).

A rare specimen indeed

Upon request from the camera crew, we played in this boat. (Andy, Lidia, Me)

Lazy Camel

Gibbons!

There were also two BABY giraffes, but I didn't really get a good picture

Now for the birds.  Go Elise!

There were in fact more birds and more animals.  Find them here.