JSBach - Passacaglia BWV 582/1 - Karl Richter - Organ

Der Richter Kerl, der machts Mann! Ein richtiger Spieler, wie auch mit seine Fusse anfangt mit das Grundthemen von JS Bach. Ein fabelhaftes stuck.

The Muppet Show-The Swedish Chef

The Smorgass Board of health will get him one of these days!

Biking weekend with John

John and I getting ready for a weekend mountainbiking. It was nice weather, cold but dry and we had a beautifull ride through the heather, the pine woods and moors from Ruinen to Norg. When we arrived in Norg the Hotel was totaly booked with skaters for the Dutch Championship. Then we had to ride another 10 Kilometers through darkness and cold rain to the next hotel.
I wrote the poem cold harvest moon after this weekend, inspired by the moon that greeted us just before arrival.

Harpoon Man

He is so gay, I heard he has breastfed on his daddys nipples.

The new webcam

The new webcam makes better pictures and video. On the other blog I posted a video, on this still you see my new grown beard.

Leon Redbone

One of my favourite singers, I thought I owned the only copy of his album, until last week, when I entered a restaurant with a very good friend. There they played songs of Leon Redbone. It became a very special evening with good music, a very good meal and sparkling wine and conversations.

Sailing the little boat

The little boat with it's little captain, Twan. The kids learned to sail it very fast, because we already sailed in the "Black Pearl" a lot. We had both boats with us behind the mothership, so everybody could sail as much as they wanted. We also sailed at night in the dark, that was very special.
Here you see Nicky at the helm.

Rudder, mast and other fittings

To make it a real sailing boat some essential fittings are needed. The rudder and centre board to keep the right course, the mast to support the sail, the sheet blocks and all the other small but important details.
On this picture the black striping and the details of the mast are visible. Here you can see the rudder with flexible aluminum joystick.

What's in a name?

The name on the boat. It means little boat in Chinese. Xiau Chuan. It looks very nice on the boat. I am going to put a black stripe on it and another layer of lacquer. Its almost ready!

the first layer

The first layer of lacquer makes the hull shine beautifully. It also smells very good. We are almost done.

Working as a team

The epoxy dry's rather fast, so Nicky and Twan work on both sides of the boat and I work on the bowside. The epoxy forms a hard layer and gives a lot of protection against water. The boat will be more out of the water then in it, but it will keep the boat in good shape for years to come. The kids are both very eager to go and sail with it. We have a beautifull dvd on which some pro's show what they can do with an Optimist. That is a lot. See on www.optisailors.com

The name of the boat

The name of the boat had to be a Chinese name. Twan has this China obsession and we decided that little boat in Chinese would be a good name. Jaap studied Chinese, so we asked him for a translation. This is what he returned, xiao chuan, little boat. I made on the computer a design of the characters on a red field, just like a Chinese stamp. The name is sealed and we attach it to the boat with epoxy.

ready for the first layer of lacquer

The boat is completely sanded and ready for the first layer of lacquer. We are going to use the same epoxy raisin to lacquer the boat, because this gives a very good and hard protection.

Sanding the boat

After sawing off the lips and joints that are superfluous now, the hull has to be sanded inside and outside. I have some really heavy equipment for this job. I use a rotating sandingmachine, but the real stuff is this belt sanding machine. It has this powerfull motor and a roundgoing sandingbelt, it is amazing how fast this machine works. The dust you produce is overwhelming, the mask, goggles and earprotection I wear are absolutely necessary. After a while everything is covered with the dust. On the picture you see the light of the cameraflash reflecting on the dustparticles in the air.

24 hours later...

The epoxy needs a few hours to dry, but it needs longer to harden realy wel. 24 hours later we remove the clamps and admire the result.
This is how it looks inside.

Working now, sailing later

Nicky and Twan working together in great harmony. They both are very keen on working together to prevent one working longer then the other, thus preventing that the boat will be more the other ones boat. They are very aware of the fact that they have to share the work now and share the sailing later.

Clamping

Some parts can be clamped with glue-clamps, but some have to be tightened by other means. On the picture you can see we used some heavy weights, such as a toolbox and the welding transformator. We also use ropes and belts with clever pieces of boards and planks.
On the picture Nicky is working on the triangels that strengthen the four corners of the boat. We also put in the little blocks where the fittings are going to be screwed on, such as the pully block for the main sail sheet and the floating bags.

Sopping the epoxy

Twan is sopping the epoxy on the wood. This is the first real part that will be put in with glue. I had a quarrel with Nicky who had to make the glue by putting the two components together. Everybody has to wear plastic gloves and the glue is weighed on an electronic balance. I warned her not to spill any of it on the delicate balance, but she can't do anything without making a real mess, so I could forsee what happened. She spilled the glue on the balance and I yelled at her. She yelled at me and disappeared with tears in her eyes. I am such a stupid bullying brutal dumbo. Afterwards I appoligized to her and we hugged. Boatbuilding should be fun, not a quarrel. I was very much ashamed of myself.

Mixing and glueing with epoxy

The boat will contain no nails or screws, we use epoxy. Epoxy is a raisin with hardener that can be used to glue and to laminate with glassfiber or other materials. It works very easy and smooth, but you have to be carefull, it is very toxic and dangerous for your eyes. When everything is on its place, we use clamps to keep everything fixed together. But first we have to know what should be fixed where and in what order.
Twan is reading the manual. Where are we going to start?

putting the puzzle together

All the pieces of the boat can be put together like a jig saw puzzle. Specialy added tabs and slots make it easy to form the hull. On the picture everything is put together without any glue, just a few tiestrips and you have a boat.

Boat building

40 years ago I found in a librarybook a drawing of an Optimist, a new model sailingboat, specialy designed for children and for easy selfbuilding.
Somehow the decision to build this boat was made and with a list of buildingmaterial and my savings we went to "Ome Riekelt", who was a building contractor.
We bought a lot of mahogany, special waterproof two components glue, and a special material, a sheet of waterproof "masonite", to form the outside.

With my father I build this boat, now I repeat history, we got ourselves a building kit for a brand new Optimist. In the following posts you can see how it is build by Nicky, Twan and myself.

Raising money

Ronald Luning and his big truck, he sponsored the team and in return we took his picture. The kids had the drive of their life and Ronald had lots of fun.

Removing a tumor

Danita, our oldest and wisest Shetland pony had a little tumor, right in her armpit, exactly the place of the surcingle. This caused little wounds and irritations, so the tumor had to be removed.
The normal procedure is to give the horse a light anaesthetic that puts the horse in a light standing sleep, and than the local anaesthetic is given. We asked the veterinary to use just the local anaesthetic, because we lost the foal of Danita, Okkie, a few years ago, in a light operation (he was castrated). The foal died because of an allergic shock when he got the light total anaesthetic. We didn’t want this to happen to Danita also! She always behaves very well and we trusted her to stand still and be good. And so she did!
She was very brave and didn’t move a muscle when the vet cut out this big hole, removed the tumor and stitched the wound. The vet did an excellent job, he used five stitches and sprayed a gay silver wound spray over it as a fishing touch.

Boat Shows

Four weeks of boats hows, finally the end. This morning I unloaded the last stuff and started my normal life again. I think I gained a few pounds of weight, I didn't make it to the scales yet. It tears you appart this work, all day talking to people in a noisy and busy exhibition hall. No time to ride my bike, no time to eat properly, not enough sleep. I feel I need a break, I have to become clean again inside, mind and body. Always wearing the suit
, I was happy to put on my boots this morning. But it was very rewarding to be there, I met lots of good people, customers, heard a lot of news, rumours and gossip, so there is a lot to write about.

Boot Holland

I left this morning with this pile of junk to Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland, to build the stand for the Boot Holland. This event is the first in a row where my "Watersport Krant" will be presented. The public can sign in for a free subscription. After a few hours the stand
was almost ready. The lettering and the prints are the finishing touch that complete it. This stack of papers is what its all about.

Posing for a new outfit

The voltige competition team found a sponsor who provides a new trainingsoutfit for all the team members. Twan is posing in the new outfit, with the photograph we determine where the logo's will come.
With his best smile he looks like a real model. Here he shows the gym outfit in the team colours.

The "Fiets-Gil-Gitaar" (Bike-Scream-Guitar).

For music class Nicky had to make a new musical instrument. She made, with a little help of daddy, a musical bike. I fixed a tin can on it like we used to make every saturday before Whit Sunday, we called it "Luilak", Lazy-Bones. The children got out bed very early and woke up erveryone with a lot of noise. The rope you see on the picture contains a little white spirit and vibrates when you ride the bike. The frequency varies with the speed, so when you drive faster the tone goes up to a whining sharp terrible sound. Nicky's best friend Nikki danced on the schoolyard on the tones of the "Fiets-Gil-Gitaar". The class went crazy when they heard the bike and Nicky scored a 10 (an A).

Cooking Class at school

I volunteered today to help with cooking class on school. As always I was the only father, but I am used to that. We cooked a real Dutch meal, mashed potatoes with vegetables and bits of backed bacon. In fact there where four different stews, “Zuurkool” (mashed potatoes with sauerkraut), “Hutspot” (mashed potatoes with onions and carrots), “Boerenkool” (mashed potatoes with kail) and “Andijvie Stampot”(mashed potatoes with endive). In some stews backed bacon is traditional and in others smoked sausage. Our group cooked “Zuurkool”.
Twan enjoys the fact that I help cooking, but he didn’t want me to wear my chef’s hat! The kids learned to peel the potatoes and cut the bacon. After this hard work it tasted good!

My great great grandfather and his dog

The father of my mothers mother, my grandma's father, holding his twin barrel shotgun and posing with his beloved dog Pollo. He always had a dog. Frederik Willem Te Strake. My brother Willem was named after him, I think. He died at the age of 88, my brother at the age of 21.
My family developed a sudden interest in its roots, its ancestors, its past. We feel a deep love for each other, although we find it hard to say. I am a very happy man, having such a family and I know I should behave more like the family man I really am inside.
I tried to make a similar photo with my own dog. I don’t own a shotgun, so I used a whip. And my beloved dog Benno refuses to look into the lens when I tell him so.

Five guilty pleasures

Five guilty pleasures, just five. I have a zillion guilty pleasures, because the more guilt, the more pleasure! But I know that these pages are also read by people that are under age, so...
nr 1.
Buy a sack of "Trekdrop" (black liquorice) and eat it all within the hour.
nr 2.
Enjoying the next day when I have a crap that it's all black!
nr 3.
Fart loud and accusing everybody else.
nr 4.
Writing dirty poems and limericks.
nr 5.
Call people names out loud and yell at people when I am driving my car.

So, do I feel guilt? Not really...

Horses

Feeding the animals is one of the little daily jobs when you live on a farm. Here they wait at the fence for their lunch. I am feeding hay because there is not enough grass in the winter. Benno is always a great help.
After feeding them, their stables have to be cleaned for the night. They produce an enormous amount of shit, this is one nights production!

Cat

Kwibus, one of our cats. She wishes to be worshiped, as all cats want. We are allowed to stay in the room, because of our warm laps and the hands that crawl behind the cat’s ears. I fight a daily battle to prevent the cats to stay in the living room. I lose because the kids spy for the enemy and open doors when I am not around.

Coupe Soleil

A barbers family session, Hellen gives us all a coupe soleil. I get 15 blonde strands, Nicky gets 15 blonde strands and Twan one blonde forelock. Hellen puts the Hydrogen Peroxide in my hair with protecting alufoil.