No Copy

The end

UPDATE

The comments so far have been truly heart-wearming. I had never even expected anyone would miss posts on this blog. But then again: you are all such polite people, so I can see the reason behind your expressing what you have until now... ;-D

Still, it feels good as it is right now. And it would seem I'm not alone with this 'feeling'.  According to a recent future report by The Future Laboratory "a growing minority of overloaded consumers are phasing out their virtual selves and returning to face-to-face socialising," as you can read here for example. So yes, I'll be sticking around on the web but when I say something like "see ya", that would be IRL preferably!

Christmas holidays, the new year in sight. Time to relax a little. Spend time with family and friends. And... try and catch up on the many mails, requests, notificiations,... that I have been receiving lately. Via Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, Scarlet mail, work mail, Flickr, Facebook, Netlog, Twitter,... Not to mention the good old post cards that seem to be flooding our snail mail box (thanks to everybody who sent us one - we're working on sending one back to you).

Perhaps it's the melancholic feeling I always get at the end of the year. Perhaps it's the lack of sunlight during these short days and long nights. But frankly, I'm tired. The web is a great thing, but I get the impression mankind has not evolved to the extent that our brains can cope with it all. Or at least, I haven't...

So no wonder people are shutting down their blog, are pronouncing the bankruptcy of social networking (found via Netlash) or are setting up a Facebook group that illustrates the same feeling of being fed up with some of the web2.0 overkill... Personally, I'm also going to take some time off blogging. Perhaps I'll pick it back up again later, perhaps I won't. But I am going to take some time to think about how, where and when I'm going to shape my 'online identity', if any.

I am not unplugging the internet, mind you. But this blog is probably going offline soon. It was a great tool in helping me to get to understand the blogosphere phenomenon. And it has introduced me to a great many wonderful people. I am not going to sum them up. I'm afraid I might forget some... But I'm sure they know who they are.

So thanks to them, and thanks to anybody who has ever visited this blog or commented on it.  All the best for 2008 and see you soon. IRL or online...

This one's for the road (tacky? who me? ;-D ) :

Cannonball?

Kim Deal has announced The Breeders will be putting out a new album in March of 2008. Their  fourth full-length will be titled Mountain Battles and is to be released on 4AD, the label she started out on as a member of Pixies.

In an interview with Rock Daily, Deal revealed the band — which now consists of herself, twin sister Kelley, drummer Jose Medeles and bassist Mando Lopez — has been recording on and off for the past five years with Steve Albini in Chicago as well as Erika Sharkey and Manny Nieto in Los Angeles and her Dayton, Ohio, hometown.

Deal says the new album doesn’t deviate far from the Breeders’ classic sound, though there were more moments of experimentation. I, for one, am already looking forward to it. Hope it impacts like uhm.... a cannonball? :-)

Notice how "fresh" Kim and Kelley still look in this video. A big difference with when I last saw them perform, at Werchter somewhere in the 90s... Word has it drugs and alcohol were involved. Shame!

Bruxelles (see you in...)

The EuroBlog 2007 conference is still fresh in my mind, if only because our college was an active participant in organising it (as part of our Leerstoel Jos Willems) and I had the opportunity to be sitting "in the front row" of the event.

Still: it's time to move on. So here's the call for papers for EuroBlog 2008. And you know what the good news is (at least from a Belgian's point of view)? The 2008 edition takes place in... Brussels! That's right: Brussels, Brussel, Bruxelles...

Paris, Texas

Earlier this year, a former colleague of mine moved to Paris. If you want to learn more about the stuff expats are confronted with (for example because you are dreaming of moving to Paris too), it might be good idea to read her blog, at least for a while (in Dutch).

The biggest problem seems to be the quality and the price of accommodation. It is, indeed, amazing how big the amounts are you have to pay for a place in the city of lights. This is one of the billboards we noticed while we were taking a short city trip to Paris last November (finally managed to update my Flickr account too, by the way):

Not exactly motivating is it? There are some real estate cowboys running the place, if you ask me. In that case, I think I prefer the real cowboys from Paris, Texas... Does it surprise you this reminds me of one of the better films AND soundtracks of the past few decades?

C'est comme ça

"Nous avons la tristesse de vous annoncer la disparition de Fred Chichin, des Rita Mitsouko, survenue ce matin, des suites d'un cancer fulgurant qui l'a emporté."

(photo)

For those whose French is even rustier than mine: Fred Chichin, co-founder and guitarist of les Rita Mitousko, a slightly eccentric and colourful French pop/rock band that, as far as I am concerned, is among the best that France ever produced, died of cancer this morning. Catherine Ringer will have to carry on alone from now on. Still, it probably will never be the same.

But hey... c'est comme ça:

BTW: if you didn't know them (that well), they are definitely worth checking out. Too bad Fred won't live to see the day you all turning into fans.

Silence is sexy

Let me introduce you to Piet, a colleague of mine:

Piet is a very nice chap. A quality which is excellently captured in this photo, wouldn't you agree? I think so. The photographer is another colleague of mine, Steven.

Now, it's Steven I really wanted to talk about in this post. He is, well, more of the quiet type. Great sense of humour, though, and a great photographer. So if you ever need one: contact him.

Steven is also a music fan, They Might Be Giants and Einstürzende Neubauten being two of his favourite bands. The latter I totally understand. The former... well, I guess it's a matter of taste :-}.

Anyway, we went to see the Neubauten in Brussels a couple of years ago. Great experience. And hence the reference in the title. Steven is, after all, perhaps the rather silent type. But just for the record: I do NOT find him sexy...

 

Domino dancing

Did you watch Domino Day last week? I did. Well, parts of it. But since the kids were holding the tv set hostage, I had no choice but to watch too. Funny how thousands of falling domino stones can fascinate people to such great extent.

I wonder what the Domino Day builders would have to say about this great commercial for one of my favourite brands ever (in terms of communication that is, I'm still acquiring the taste, even after all these years :-) ). Yep, good things come to those who wait (via Arvind):

I seem to be having a Pet Shop Boys period, wouldn't you say? Strange, because I never really liked them when they were popular. Anyway, they did make great video clips, even though they were slightly homo-erotic:

It's a sin

For once, the category for this post is 100% ironic. I couldn't agree more with Maddox (found via bnox):

Somehow reminds me of this 80s dance floor filler (great video, by the way):

The kid's alright

Former Belgian basketball player Pieter Loridon (aka The Bomb, Antwerp Giants #11) is sick of the media portraying youngsters solely as being either agressive, or antisocial, or alcoholic, or anorexic and so on (as you might have noticed: so far, I did'nt get any further than the letter 'a').

  [photo]

The result of his frustration: www.theokgeneration.com, an organisation for kids who are OK and who are proud to be so.

I would be lying if I said I used to be a big fan of his (he played for the wrong team instead of the right one, after all :-) ), but he was a great player and he's never been afraid of ventilating his opinion in an outspoken fashion. For that, I tend to respect him. This time too, I can see his point.

Are there any other similar projects abroad as well, I wonder? If so, let me know. After all, I too believe the kid's alright:

Doctor doctor

Most women have a thing about shoes. Normally, I don't really understand why. But on the other hand: I seem to have something with Dr Martens boots and shoes. Whenever I need a new pair, I almost always seem to turn to Dr Martens. Admittedly, I have been unfaithful in the past, but I just keep coming back to the brand that, it is probably fair to say, was one of the first to be adopted by a very large audience without spending huge amounts on marketing and advertising.

Recently, Dr Martens have launched a new website, which, in my view, looks really great and in line with the brand. Currently, they are also running a 'design your own boot' contest. I don't really feel the need, because I prefer my boots in plain black. But still: if you feel creative - have a go...

BTW, does anybody remember this 80s classic? Let's face it: the hairdo was a lot more dangerous-looking than the music...