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 ) :

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.

Declare independence

As a responsible parent, it is probably not a very good idea to be using the F-word in front of my children. And since I am not 100% sure they do not read this blog, I am not going to use it out loud. But you get the picture, right? So: there!

No, not you, dear reader. But you, Yves Leterme, and all you politicians who have put our country in the state it's in today. A state in which a lot of Belgians (like myself) have to explain to the people they know in the French-speaking part as well as abroad, that we are not all short-sighted, self-centered, nationalist bigots who lack any form of historical perspective or solidarity. And I have had it. I am fed up with it.

So cut it out, Yves. Not only do you not have what it takes to get this new government on the rails, you are also not the statesman I want to see running this country in any near or distant future. Your simplistic pre-election propaganda has brought you a lot of votes, that is true. But you knew full well you could never live up to your promises once the elections were over. You do know what that makes you, don't you? What's that, you're saying? You're not alone in this? Of course not, but you are our self-proclaimed future leader. So forgive me if  I take the easy shot.

After all, I don't blame the thousands of Flemish men and women who have voted for you. Nor the media who keep feeding them mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows (to use a quote from Trainspotting) and political programme formats who steer away from any form of nuance. No, I blame you. As a politician, you should be dealing with the 'polis': the city (well, in Roman times that was), the state, the nation. Not with your own career, not with the electoral success of your party. But with nation and the people who make the nation. All of them.

That's more easily said than done? Absolutely! Mine is a judgment lacking every little bit of pespective? True! But then why, I wonder, did you make it all sound so simple before the last election day?

Anyway: you have made certain groups in our little country dream out loud of Flemish independence more than they ever have before. And however much in favour I am of good government as you call it, that is just taking it one step too far. To more or less quote Björk (of all people): "I will not let you do that to me". I know: what seeing one video  from Later with Jools Holland can lead to...

[Via zrlnd]

Help

The larger part of this post is exceptionally in Dutch. It contains a mail I received today, regarding the precarious situation of Jan Gevaert - a wonderful chap who used to run the Kokodril restaurant/café in Ghent.

He moved to Tanzania about a year and a half ago and was settling in really nicely. Unfortunately he got shot earlier this month and his condition is not looking really great (more updates on Jan's blog). Also, his family is confronted with a great many medical costs, so hence the appeal to everybody who knows Jan (and, logically, is probably Dutch-speaking):

Beste

Je krijgt dit bericht i.v.m. de situatie van Jan 'Koko' Gevaert.

Zoals je wellicht weet is Jan zo'n anderhalf jaar geleden naar Tanzania getrokken met het plan zich daar te vestigen. Ondertussen is dat vestigen daar zo ongeveer gelukt en was Jan bezig met zijn integratie.

Op 9 september is Jan in zijn huis in Arusha overvallen. Bij deze overval is één schot gelost dat Jan trof in de halsstreek. Dankzij het alerte optreden van zijn bezoekers (piloten bij Flying Medical Services in Tanzania) is Jan overgevlogen naar het Aga Khan ziekenhuis in Nairobi.

De toestand van Jan evolueert intussen niet zo gunstig. Na zijn aankomst in Nairobi heeft men gewacht tot de toestand wat gestabiliseerd was om te opereren: bij deze operatie hebben ze de inwendige schade bekeken, een aantal zaken kunnen herstellen én - tegen de verwachtingen in - de kogel kunnen verwijderen. Dit was dus goed nieuws. Kort daarop is echter een infectie opgetreden. Om deze infectie tegen te gaan krijgt hij zware antibiotica en werd hij vandaag een tweede keer geopereerd. Het resultaat van deze operatie moeten we nog afwachten.

Jan ligt al de hele tijd op de afdeling intensieve zorgen, is sedert maandag voortdurend onder sedatie om zijn lichaam toe te laten meer te rusten en ligt intussen aan de beademingsmachine ... Geen geruststellend nieuws.

De ziekenhuisfactuur loopt ondertussen zeer hoog op...

Jans familie heeft er ondertussen al heel wat contacten op zitten met het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken en met de ambassades. Een vraag aan BuZa of er beroep gedaan kan worden op de zgn. Steunkas voor Belgen in het buitenland werd echter negatief beantwoord. De steunkas is helaas leeg.

Daarom deze oproep: we willen Jan en zijn familie steunen. We kunnen hopen, bidden, positieve stralen doorsturen, maar we kunnen ook onze portemonnee open maken.

Snelle beslissers kunnen een bijdrage storten op rek. nr. 063-9549628-13 met de vermelding "steunkas Jan Gevaert". Dat geld gaat integraal naar Jan en zijn familie.

Denk aan alle fijne momenten die je ooit in de Kokodril / het Kokokaffee meemaakte en haal boven die bankkaart!

Het steuncomité beraadt zich momenteel op andere acties, dus hou je mailbox in de gaten.

Alvast bedankt,

Wim

p.s. Stuur dit bericht naar zoveel mogelijk mensen door.

Note: Wim (Maertens) is, if I'm not mistaken, Jan's friend and 'business partner' in the Stan and Stone safari company.

So sad

Benny Vansteelant
Eightfold world champion, fivefold European champion duathlon
19/11/1976 - 14/9/2007

'Unbeatable Benny' has met with his final defeat. Way too soon. So sad...

Long way to the top

Today saw first practice of the new basketball season for these two. I guess it's a long way to the top ... :-) :

100%

I wonder what will happen next? After all, my LinkedIn Network is now 100% complete! Do I get a prize? Will I be contacted by a dozen of hot super models? Am I finally on my way to everlasting success? I'll keep you posted...

       

Build your Network

Your Network is

                                                                  100% Complete                           

                                 

What can your LinkedIn Network do for you?                    

Learn more.

Note: 100% is, as far as I'm concerned, one of Sonic Youth's finest:

The future's so bright...

I do not normally post for niche audiences, but I would nevertheless like to dedicate this post to all the recent graduates who might be reading this blog (if any).

  [photo]

If you really want to make sure your online past (including pictures you'd rather not see get out in the open) does not haunt you when you start applying for a job (which is probably just about now): read this post by Eric Eggerton on Common Sense PR. Excellent advice if you ask me :-) ...

Enjoy the holiday in the meantime. It may be your last long one... unless you decide to get a job in education of course. :-)

Superstition (revisited)

Holiday mode. Still. Besides, writing posts on Friday the 13th is bad luck. Remember? So this is,  once again, NOT a post... Careful out there!

Don't stop now

"Don't stop now." It's a phrase I have been repeating to myself a number of times over the last weeks. Don't stop blogging, even though I have wanted to. The reason? Too much work. "Don't stop now." Don't stop reading, that is. Students' final papers, portfolios and a number of other assignments. That's why it's been awfully quiet on this blog for some time. And it will remain like that for some weeks to come.

[photo]

Anyway, luckily there is music to keep me going. Like the brand new Crowded House single. "Crowded House? I thought they split up ten years ago?" You're right. But a couple of months ago, they got back together again: Neil Finn on guitars and vocals, Nick Seymour on bass guitar, Mark Hart on piano and harmony, and new recruit Matt Sherrod on drums. There have already been some gigs, there was a webcast some weeks ago, and now there is a new single. What it's called? Right: Don't Stop Now.

[photo]

Produced by Steve Lillywhite , "Don't Stop Now" features the new Crowded House line-up plus a guest appearance on guitar by the legendary Johnny Marr. It has been announced as "a melodic tour de force, a hook-filled gem that gets better with every listen." You know what: I tend to agree... Just listen here, and tell me what you think.

On 2nd July, Crowded House will put out 'Time On Earth', their first release in over 10 years. The long-awaited new album contains 14 songs and, in old Crowded House tradition, the album cover features a Nick Seymour painting. Something to look forward to. If only because by then, the reading will have been finished...

 

Note: personally, I think Crowded House have always been underrated, especially by the so-called 'real' rock fans who think minor chords are for softies and who disregard any band that writes songs where melody is more important than riffs. Too bad: because as far as I am concerned, Neil Finn is one of the finest song writers of our times. But you have to be willing to listen with an open mind, of course...