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Stanford = Kemmel

Went for the first serious bike trip after the (sometimes busy) exam period yesterday. A great ride through my favourite corner of our country, de Westhoek ('the Western corner'): 110 km from Koekelare to Kemmel (Heuvelland) and back, via small towns and villages like Elverdinge, Vlamertinge, Bikschote, Esen and Vladslo (well-known for its German military cemetery and Käthe Kollwitz' statues 'The Sorrowful Parents') to name but a few.

The weather was excellent: not too hot and not too much wind, which enabled us to keep a steady but agreeable pace. An almost perfect day. Except for the puncture and the somewhat unforeseen fact that we were not allowed to climb mount Kemmel (a short but nasty climb) because of the Ypres Rally.

Now, of course, the latter was our fault. But what really spoilt it, was one of the volunteers for the race forbidding us to pop into Kemmel's bakery for a piece of rice cake. Even though we would have been on 'paid territory' for only a couple of minutes, "no is no." "But the policeman over there said it was not a problem." No way. And if we could bugger off , because "it's always the same with these cyclists." Something along those lines.

I don't think he's ever heard of the Stanford prison experiment, but he somehow gave me an awkward feeling. Put someone in a uniform and the power that comes with it, does take over at times...

Breastfeeding is said to be better, but...

Exams are marked, papers are read... life can return to normal. Just some end-of-the-year red tape to get through and posting should return to a normal rate as well. Let's start with this simple but great campaign. After all, I love English and I love great ads. I do prefer the real thing to a rubber dummy, but still...

[via coolzûr]

Found it...

Finally! I'd been looking for it for some time now. That's why posting was a bit low lately. That and the fact I had some troubles getting on my TypePad page as well as having an immense amount of marking papers to do. It would be nice if all that could come to and end. Reach some sort of closure. Peace of mind, at last. But I'm getting there. Want to have it too? Then click here. After that: nothing else will be the same any more.

Oh, I also spent the last two days at the IAOC conference in Brussels. Nice to bump into people like Philippe Borremans, Philip Young and Neville Hobson again, as well as meeting new people, mostly from the IAOC. It was a worthwile event, getting me to discover some interesting studies and (new) services. I did have some trouble getting used to the roundtable presentation system though. The great thing is that you have very close and direct interaction with the speaker and with other attendees. The pace, however, did have something of a speed dating formula. Admittedly, that allows for quite a bit of  quantity in a relatively short time. But personally, I remain an amateur of the slow, romantic dinner...

15 minutes minus 3 (the sequel)

If you really have nothing better to do tomorrow (11 June), if you happen to be in Belgium and provided you have access to cable TV (*), you might want to tune into Kanaal Z. If you can't guess why, allow me to refresh your memory...

(*) In other cases, you can still have a look afterwards here or here.

Shave everywhere?

[photo via sfist]

If you are a keen cyclist like myself, you have probably also wondered if you should shave your legs too, just like pros (and many amateurs) do. Why? There are several reasons. Personally, I don't do it. But I am curious to know how it would feel. Or look like. Silly? Poofy? Or is it true that it makes the muscles in your legs come out more? It's just: I don't have muscles in my legs. Well, at least not to the extent of a professional cyclist or well-trained amateur. Here's the deal: let me know what you think, okay? Write a comment or vote in the poll in the sidebar (mind: there are 5 possibilities -you might want to scroll down a bit). I might be tempted to go along with the majority :-) ...

In the meantime, check out the intro on this site. I wonder if they're serious. If not, it's hilarious. If so, it still is... [via Ads of the World]

She hates soccer

"Men steal precious broadcast time.
Men ignore us, pay attention no more to our needs.
Men are unable to communicate.
Men pay attention only to the ball.
Men all of a sudden seem to think they know all about everything.
Men grow ugly watching football. "

How about that?  Yep, apparently, there are some women who are not exactly looking forward to the World Football Cup. Want some more? OK:

"Romantic getaways have been replaced by jeering and other loutish and boarish behaviour over 22 men who have nothing better to do than running around on a field, kicking a ball back and forth for no apparent reason. Is that what separates us from the animals?" [via Coolzûr]

Personally, I think they're right. A man of intelligence does not watch football. He watches cycling.

Did I tell you I went to see the first stage of the Giro d'Italia, which took place in Seraing (that's right, in Belgium) this year? I think it might have slipped my mind. Anyway, I was able to shoot some nice pictures, like this one from the guy who would eventually win the race and who - if you ask me - stands a good chance of winning this year's Tour de France as well:

If you want to see some  more photos, you can always have a look on my Flickr pages.

Tyresome

KISS in practice - ads by Leo Burnett New Delhi.

[via Ads of the World]