Meanwhile back at the gallery

Tabula Rasa - Miguel Robles/Arvo Part

2010-02-10T10:30:00.001+01:00

Beautifull dance piece, music Arvo Part

't Prinsepaard teamI produced by Nicky

2009-11-30T19:30:00.001+01:00

a nice impression of maddness, the girls and boys of Team 1.

Making of: the set of the new lego star wars movie

2009-10-27T11:44:00.001+01:00

We build a set for the next Star wars Stop motion Picture we are going to make. I could'nt wait to test it with some real lego figures.

'Impressie Prinsepaard' a slideshow with a filmfragment

2009-10-19T22:57:00.001+02:00

The music I used for this slideshow is the same as used by the C-team in their free style vaulting kur. The filmfragment shows the kids doing push ups and dancing, the boys, Twan and Arthur are dancing as enthousiast as the girls. The slideshow makes me smile all the time I see it, because all the kids on the pics laugh and look happy. The slideshow is used as presentation on the comming gathering at Ermelo.

Feller Buncher Blues

2009-10-15T13:48:00.001+02:00

Today I have the Feller Buncher Blues. To ride this machine through the town of Eesveen and randomly cut some trees here and there! And, when they irritate me, trafficlights, lantern-posts, and other upright things.
Just grab what you see, zzzhhhiiiiing, and drop it. Yes, the Feller Buncher Blues!

Vaulting in Lunteren

2009-10-13T10:03:00.000+02:00

Sunday was a long day. Up at 0700, feeding the horses. 0730 two horses loaded on the trailer, engine started at 0735, on the road to Lunteren with two horses, five kids, Hellen the trainer and Gerrit the driver. 09.30 arrived at Lunteren, a very nice riding-school. The rest of the kids arrived at 10.00, in total seventeen kids and about ten parents. Nicky and Twan started in the solo class, nicky in the C-class, Twan in the Junior-class. They performed very well, Twan earned the first of two points necessary for the qualification for the National Championship, he was very proud. On the (underexposed) picture you see him performing his handstand. He ended fourth out of twelve.
Next were the eight kids of the C-team. They started with their compulsory exercises and later on that day they performed an excelent free exercise and won the first prize in their class. The two E-teams also performed very well, they won the first and second prize in their class. 1800 all prizes were collected and the kids and horses were loaded again. 2030 the horses were unloaded and taken care of. 2100 we sat down and relaxed. A very well spend day!

WILLEM HENDRIK ZWART (1995) "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott"

2009-09-26T13:19:00.001+02:00

Played on the organ in the Bovenkerk in Kampen. Watch him check his sheetmusic while playing and the work of his feet on the feetregister. Sometimes I need the power of organmusic while I am working.

Great ancestors

2009-09-23T21:52:00.000+02:00

This Portrait-painting and the photo show a remarcable resemblance to eachother. The painting shows sergeant Gerrit 'the red butcher' Boschman, he was sergeant in the famous 'Rooifonteyn Garde' in the South African Boeren Army. The photo shows Gerrit 'red beard' Bosman, standing on the deck of the good ship 'Libertyn' on the Baltic Sea near Denmark. Somehow there is a strange flow of energy between the two. Where is my sable, I feel the need for a nice cut, there's a sabre-rattling in the air.

Flying at Hoogeveen Airport

2009-09-20T12:46:00.000+02:00

This is the Schleicher ASK-21, the twinseater used as the main trainingsplane at the flightclub hoogeveen (http://www.vliegclubhoogeveen.nl/). The plain is 21 years old, but still very good.
I flew saturday in Hoogeveen with nice weather. Getting my Gliders Pilot Licence is very time consuming, three flights on a day is the average. In Hoogeveen the planes are town up on a cable behind a motorplane to a hight of 1200 ft or 450 mtrs. That alows a longer flight than a cable start. To get your licence you need at least 100 flights, that is 35 days on the airfield.

Schooieren in Velsen Noord

2009-09-17T16:35:00.001+02:00

A you tube slide show, it shows Velsen Noord, the town I was born. The audio background, a cynical read bible study that reminds me of the christian reformed church we used to got to.

Learn how to fly...

2009-09-16T09:53:00.000+02:00

The vaulting teams made pictures for the new web site http://www.prinsepaard.nl/ when suddenly gravity dissappeared! We almost lost the team. Now we understand where our cow has gone last year. We definitly have an abnormality in our meadow. It might be a gate to another universe!

A horse for the new website

2009-09-11T19:14:00.000+02:00

The newe website is online. I made an new image of the logo, its an animated gif file, the horse's manes and the gras wave in the wind, the man strokes the horse. I also made an icon that appears before the adress. Want to see? http://www.prinsepaard.nl/

Deep Purple - when a blind man Cries Video

2009-09-06T20:56:00.001+02:00

I have used this song in my new book. Chip plays it on the carrilon, as a message to his friend Sander. When Tom finds out what the lyrics are he wonders what Chip wanted to say with it. The well known carrilon player Auke de Boer is going to play the song on his carrilon in Groningen.

My dog loves the smell of gasoil...

2009-09-01T18:42:00.000+02:00

My dog Benno loves everything on wheels. He lookes a bit weird on the second pic, but he seemes to like it in the tractor, he has only a tine little place to sit.

Worried about the swallows

2009-08-31T15:22:00.000+02:00

I am worried about the swallows. They have a second nest, the little chicks are still in the nest. Will they make it when everyone goes to the south? I doubt it, their is so little time to grow some fat. A little tragedy is unfolding in my barn. It took me six foto's to catch the swallow, they are very quick and don't like it when you stare at the nest.

When the dollar falls...

2009-08-30T11:23:00.002+02:00

Just finished reading the book 'When the dollar falls...' A realy shocking book about the manipulations of bankers, governments and presidents. Everybody who has savings on the bank should read this book and be aware of the risk of losing their money.
www.alsdedollarvalt.nl

Eating Lobster

2009-08-28T11:15:00.002+02:00

Nicky had her first lobster in IJmuiden, Twan and I joined her, together we had a very tasty meal. We selected the lobster in a tank and then the cook boiled it and our brown lobster became pink. It was very good, but a little messy.

Vaulting Camp

2009-08-27T08:11:00.004+02:00

This weekend we organised a vaulting camp, the kids trained on the steel horse, the real horse and did some power training. They invented this dance 'do the workout' in which they did 20 push ups on the chorus of the song, counting out loud from 1 to 20. It was great fun to see them dance so spontanously. See more pics on http://nickelwickel.hyves.nl/

Our new Tractor

2009-08-25T21:42:00.003+02:00

Our new tractor is a Leyland, it has 70 horsepower and is well equiped with hydraulics on the rear and on the front. It has a frontloader to pick up the huge bales of hay we use, they weigh almost 300 kg.

The lighthouse of Breskens

2008-11-10T10:16:00.005+01:00

I created this apocalyptic view of the Lighthouse of Breskens for Peters Museum on his Blog.

With the picture goes the next text:

De zee was niet meer

Gebroken sta ik hier
Aan verwaaide vloedlijn
Het water is vergeten
want de zee was niet meer

geen mens of dier
ziet nog mijn lichtenschijn
oude raderwerk versleten
want de zee was niet meer

ach mens waar is uw stem
de zee rolt niet meer aan het strand

waar is het nieuwe Jeruzalem?
Er is alleen maar brandend zand.

En ik zag een nieuwen hemel en een nieuwe aarde; want de eerste hemel, en de eerste aarde was voorbijgegaan, en de zee was niet meer.
openbaringen 21.

Translated:

The sea was no more

Broken here I stand
high-water line long blown away
teh water long forgotten
cause the sea was no more

no man nor beast
sees my light to shine
old turningwheels wore out
cause the sea was no more

Ooh man where is your voice
the sea no longer washes the shore

where is the new Jerusalem?
there is burning sand, no more.

I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea was no more.
Revalations 21.

I never liked the idea that the sea had to dissapear for the new Jerusalem to come down out of heaven!

My first flight

2008-09-27T08:52:00.003+02:00

I had my first gliderflight in Hoogeveen. Michiel was my instructor and he learned me to fly my first turns. It was a great experience and in the spring of next year I will star my lessons for my license.

Denmark

2008-09-07T15:56:00.002+02:00

Having coffe in Denmark. The hotel where we have coffee is over 500 years old. The Danish are very friendly people and they served an excelent apple pie. Danmark is member of the European Union, but they still have their old money, you have ot pay in Kroner, Euro's are not accepted. Very strange, since we are used to the Euro and the convenience of paying everyuwhere in the same currency. The Danes and the English are the only Europeans still not using the Euro.

Sailing another small boat

2008-09-04T20:56:00.002+02:00

With my good friend John I sailed this tiny little boat from Lauwersoog to Ameland and back. It was a wonderfull trip with excelent weather, lots of seals, and perfect wind conditions. We had a fine dinner on the Island and a few Palm bears.

The man and his horse

2008-08-28T18:16:00.002+02:00

A real man needs to have a horse. On this picture you can see me standing on our land with the horses on the background. Horses give me a lot of work each day, but I begin to appreciate them more and more. Our new horse, Sartre, is a male. He was castrated, so he is a gelding, but still he has male manners. He is big and clumsy, and makes a mess of his stable. But when you bring him his hey, he has this very sweet tender voice when he whinnyes. Rockhard outside, but sof and tender inside, just like his boss.

2006-12-21T15:20:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-11-22T22:23:00.000+01:00

The Muppet Show-The Swedish Chef

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

Biking weekend with John

2006-11-19T14:44:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-11-17T10:29:00.000+01:00

Harpoon Man

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

The new webcam

2006-11-14T18:25:00.000+01:00

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.

2006-11-11T10:28:00.000+01:00

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

2006-08-14T18:51:00.000+02:00

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

2006-07-02T13:19:00.000+02:00

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?

2006-06-30T20:57:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-29T20:38:00.000+02:00

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

Working as a team

2006-06-26T18:01:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-25T22:43:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-25T22:30:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-20T16:49:00.000+02:00

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...

2006-06-19T22:14:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-18T23:08:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-18T14:46:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-17T13:07:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-16T21:12:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-14T21:40:00.000+02:00

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

2006-06-10T19:34:00.000+02:00

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

2006-04-07T21:00:00.000+02:00

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

2006-03-10T08:57:00.000+01:00

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

2006-03-06T11:26:00.000+01:00

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

2006-02-08T09:57:00.000+01:00

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

2006-02-02T20:12:00.000+01:00

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).

2006-01-24T16:20:00.000+01:00

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

2006-01-19T19:27:00.000+01:00

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

2006-01-17T13:58:00.000+01:00

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

2006-01-16T22:09:00.000+01:00

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

2006-01-10T13:51:00.000+01:00

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

2006-01-08T16:26:00.000+01:00

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

2006-01-02T22:07:00.000+01:00

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.

At last, Langlaufen

2005-12-31T11:15:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago I got me a pair of beautiful langlaufskis from the internet for only € 15. They were standing there all the time in the barn staring at me, but no snow, no sir. Now at last, snow! But, the thaw was going to set in today! So, I got up this morning at seven and hit the snowy trails. For more details read my biking blog.
After an hour or so I found out why the skies where that cheap, the soles of the shoes got of completely. But hey, I am a son of a shoemaker, so I will glue them together again.

Folding papers

2005-12-30T17:26:00.000+01:00

The six tons of paper arrived yesterday. The papers are not folded by the printer. We use them as they are, but about 10.000 copies are send by mail or distributed on the counter of stores and therefor have to be folded one extra time. It is Christmas holiday, so this is an opportunity for the kids to earn some hard cash. And with the music and drinks it is fun tot do. This is a few hours work.

The voltige girth

2005-12-27T11:55:00.000+01:00

The Voltige competition team is very ambitious. They work very hard and win a lot. In 2006 the two oldest members of the team, Milou and Nicky, will start solo also. In 2005 they were third in the National Championships and in 2006 they want to come out again. The two competition teams that are trained by Hellen become more and more professional, so they need good material too. This year we got the new bigger horse Zazie that improved the results dramatically. Now they also needed a new harness for the horse. On internet they tried to find a used one, but that is very difficult.
A completely new competition harness with white girth and head-stall costs almost 1400 euro.

The team earned some money with demonstrations and had 300 euro in their savings account. They got 100 last minute euro’s extra and a donation from some grandparents. This was enough to do a bidding on a used girth on a German internet site. It all worked out and we went to Germany (a real voltige country) to buy the girth. On the picture we are in Emden in North Germany, where the girth was sold by a member of a well known German team. With this girth they became European champion and World Champion! A very inspiring idea!

When we came home they had to try it, although it was almost dark and it snowed. They are all very happy. Jazzy jumps on the galloping horse with her hands on the new girth.

The last sold advertorial

2005-12-23T14:04:00.000+01:00

There are always people who want to hav a last minute advertisement. The one I got this time came in only 12 hours before delivery of the files at the printer. We fixed it al in time. I donated half of the revenues of this last minute advertorial to the saving fund for a new voltige girth for the competition team of the prinsepaard. They need a new very expensive girth. Luckely we found one on e-bay in Germany. The other half I donated in my own saving fund for my bike. I bought it in Winschoten from a nice old man. It has a nice sexy aluminum frame. Now I can return Johns bike.

So much to say, so little time...

2005-12-21T16:01:00.000+01:00

This beautifull woman is the covergirl of my new product,
'The Watersport Krant'. I worked day and night for three weeks, but now at last its finished. 24 pages, an attractive magazine and a nice profit.
In januari we are on two boatfairs to distribute the paper that wil be printed next week in a circulation of 100.000 copies. That is 6.5 tons of paper that will be delivered here 29 december.

That good old Sinterklaas

2005-12-04T12:21:00.000+01:00

In Holland we celebrate the birthday of Sinterklaas (Santa Claus, although he is not the same as the US Father Christmas). He brings us presents, 'pepernoten' (gingerbread cubes), and chocolate letters. Each present has a little covering rhyme that has to be read aloud. This rhyme usually concerns the persons mischief. Nicky reads a rhyme about her MSN habbits in relation to her homework. Sometimes the present contains a surprise for the one who gets it. Very common are packages that are hidden somewhere in the house or barn. Twan got this knight because of his obsession with knights, vikings, wizzard kings of angmar and all the weaponery they wear. He made a complete arsenal of weapons at the pottering club with daddy.

A one horse open sleigh

2005-11-27T20:07:00.000+01:00

Danita, our good old Shetland Pony, loves to make a sleigh-ride with the kids. The children that come for Therapeutic Horseriding with Hellen are absolutely delighted to ride the sleigh. Twan loves to ride also, although he thinks he is almost to old to have this kind of kids fun. Climbing our mountain is the best part of the ride.

Willem

2005-11-21T16:42:00.000+01:00

Here she is, "Willem", you can clearly see the resemblance to her father. Together with her three little brown brothers she is waiting for a new boss.

The Marine Equipment Trade Show

2005-11-16T18:17:00.000+01:00

The METS in Amsterdam is the worlds leading show in Marine Equipment. On this show my title "Watersport Krant" is represented by BAAS. They are very busy selling the advertisements. I meet lots of people over here with new products to write about. Some amazing innovations are shown.

The unknown father

2005-11-13T19:10:00.000+01:00

Benno, my dog, became father of 9 young puppys. I didn't know, until yesterday. I visited Cor and found this nest of puppys, fel in love with one little cute pup and heard that my dog was responsable for the 9 little fellows. Now I have to deal with this deep feeling I suddenly got for this beautiful black and white lady with deep brown eyes. Oh my, Hellen doesn't like dogs at all, I had to fight for Benno, now I have to fight again. But now Twan and Nicky are on my side. We already have a name...

Why a phone shouldn't be used to take pictures

2005-11-08T21:24:00.000+01:00

You press the button, but you didn't intend to shoot the picture. Sometimes you remeber the moment, like the day I wanted to take a picture while driving from behind the wheel.. Sometimes your kids mess around before a mirror. This one I don't remeber, but its obvious that it was taken on board the boat, as was this one, showing someones foot. The floor is always a fine subject for a picture, and the furniture or the waterhose in the stable. And last but not least, the out of focus and out of frame faces of people, mostley your narcistic daughter trying to make a self-portrait. For some stupid reason all these pictures are saved on my hard disk. Now they even made it to the internet!

Submission for the Alchera Project

Digitizing Rickie Lee Jones

2005-11-08T19:39:00.000+01:00

One of my all times favorites is Rickie Lee Jones's number The last chance Texaco. I have started digitizing my old record collection and found this beautiful number between Jimmy Hendrix, Alice Cooper, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Pink Floyd. The Last chance texaco has this dreamy sound and beautiful lyrics. Now I can hear her on my I-pod. But something is missing, all the tics and hisses from the record are digitally cleaned and now it seems to smooth. I miss the clicks and pits.

I am an idiot...

Muddy trails

2005-11-05T20:16:00.000+01:00

Riding the ATB in the fall has more fun, everywhere muddy trails and no walking tourist crowds. A problem is the darkness. I almost got launched because I forgot the pole that closes off the road. Didn't have the light with me because I hate to use it and think I don't need it. How arrogant, yes, folks, that’s me, always overestimating myself, until I am launched to reality and find myself lying in the mud...

Sisters

2005-10-31T10:07:00.000+01:00

My mother and her sister Willie, the last of the family generation of my mothers side, on the other side there is only one member of this generation alive, the sister of my father Janny. The two sisters having breakfast squabble about anything like little sisters do. They giggle and chatter about their old boyfriends and how they kissed behind the church. Watching old familypictures one suddenly realizes that in a few years nobody remembers the names of the people on these pictures anymore. What do we know of these people, how did they meet, what did they do, where did they live?

How fragile we are...

The suit...

2005-10-27T19:03:00.000+02:00

Working at home has its advantages, one of them I cherish is that there is no dress code. I can work naked if I want. As a matter of fact I sometimes do find myself working in the middle of the night or very early in the morning wearing my night outfit which is nothing more than my skin.
I like wearing casual clothes while working, shorts when its warm or whatever I found lying next to my bed.

I hate the usual white-collar outfit, the suit and tie so I avoid occasions where I have to wear it. When wearing a suit my own children suddenly call me sir and I walk the street unrecognized. On the picture you see me on such a rare occasion, visiting the Busworld Exhibition in Kortrijk, Belgium, for the presentation of the new book about Prevention of Back Aches for bus drivers and other people with a sitting profession. On the picture you also see my good friend John who wrote the book.

Computer garbage

2005-10-21T18:56:00.000+02:00

I hate to throw things away, especially when they still work. What you see on this picture are computers, printers, monitors, modems and other computer stuff that I kept, but now will be thrown away. Most machines still work, there are actually 2 laserprinters, some apple computers, and a lot of broken monitors. There is an elektrical typewriter to, do you know what that is? A keyboard and a printer without a computer. Everything is obsolete, too slow, too small, or superfluous. Some monitors still have stickers with phone numbers on it or access codes. I still have a brand new toner cartridge for the apple laserprinter. I never use it anymore, I have one color printer in he network and that’s enough. The computers I work with run under Apple OSX and windows 2000. The computers you see here are far too slow or too small to even run the operating system. But hey, I don’t want to throw them away, I used to work with this stuff, I made things with these machines, books, magazines, newspapers, I earned my living with this pile of junk! So, come and get what you want, you can have it!

Lilys and freesias

2005-10-18T19:08:00.000+02:00

These are my favorite flowers. The lily’s because they are absolutely beautiful, and the freesias because they smell so good. I often buy them together, they form a fine bouquet.
Flowers amaze me, they smell good, they have stunning colors and they grow for no other reason then to grow and be beautiful and propagate the race. In fact, I don’t know no other species that shows its reproduction organ in such a proud manner to everyone who wants to see it, although, some people I know...

Chestnuts and Brussels sprouts

2005-10-16T19:58:00.000+02:00

Today we found lots of chestnuts in the forest. I love chestnuts with Brussels sprouts, or roasted chestnuts, so I made a beautifull dish with pork chops, Brussels sprouts and chestnuts. I cook the sprouts and the chestnuts together. The chops and the nuts with a wild sauce on a dish make a real good meal for a dark cold night in the fall, after a long hike in the woods. And, what you pick or find in the wild always tastes better!

Fixing bikes

2005-10-14T11:19:00.000+02:00

Fixing bikes is a returning job when you are a father. When the days are getting shorter the kids need their lights, so daddy has to fix them. It gives me a strange feeling of satisfaction to do so. I like fixing things, I am good at it, and mostly, I feel very fatherlike when doing it.
More and more I get the feeling that things appreciate being fixed. Like they feel they are taken care off, just like kids feel that you love them and take care.
When sailing, this feeling is overwhelming, because a sailing-boat has a mind of its own and if not treated right it can actually kill you, but when you treat her with love and care, she will save your ass when things are bad.
I am very good with boats, I love them, I feel they want to be treated right and I have developed the skills to do so. Maybe I am more of a thing man then a person man. I usually understand things better then persons, not to mention women. They really puzzle me, including my own daughter.

Circles of light

2005-10-10T16:07:00.000+02:00

As circles of light form before my very eyes they emerge as figures through the skyes and twirling in my mind they seem to say the things I see will go away but fear forms knots all down my guts because I know I am going nuts when circles of light form before my very eyes and emerge as figures through the skyes while twirling in my mind to say the things I see will go away as fear forms knots all down my guts because I feel I am going nuts while circles of light form before my very blue eyes and emerge as strange figures through the blackening skyes the rage through my mind making the things I see form knots all down my very guts while I am sinking in circles of frightening light

Submission for The Alchera Project

looking down my own dead body...

2005-10-09T22:35:00.000+02:00

Alas! Its my dead body I see
No sounds of sorrow, no mourning
No tears they shed for me

Alas! Its my corpse they handle there
No prayers or speeches
No words of comfort I do hear

Alas! Its my own funeral I go through
No preacher or service
No ceremonie, what do they do?

Alas! Just students around my naked self
No coffin, no peacefull grave for me
No final restingplace, just a cold white shelf

The Alchera Project submission

Picking pears...

2005-10-09T21:45:00.000+02:00

Our peartree carried a lot of pears this year. After pruning the tree, it recovered from the peartree disease, and it gives a lot of very good and tasty stew-pears. I cook them with sugar and some secret ingedients to a pulp and sift it to a very oldfashioned tasting pear-sauce. I personaly love it and so do the kids.
My brother Harm and his wife Marijke visited us today taking grandma with them. They helped picking the last pears.This is the result of our hard work, four buckets, that's fourty pots of lovely pear-sauce.

Click on the picture to see Nicky as Japanese Manga Girl

2005-10-05T23:17:00.000+02:00

What the world would look like if Japanese Manga Cartoons where realistic.
Here you see the results of a photoshop contest with that theme. Too late to sign in, I decided that Nicky would be my victim. Click on the picture to see the result.

Have a crap on the 'puts'...

2005-10-03T19:10:00.000+02:00

This summer we sailed on the ha 97, a traditional sailing ship that was used on the 'Suydersee' to fish on eel. Usualy these ships don't have a toilet on board, but 'Wopke' the owner has two daughters, and they refused to sail with daddy without a toilet, so he had to install one.

We never used the toilet, we are so used to have a crap on the 'puts'(that is a bucket on a rope, used to get water to wash the deck) that we didn't miss the toilet. I always find it remarkable how fast people get used to simplicity.

Not yet on the cover...

2005-10-01T13:00:00.000+02:00

Bert realy did his best but Midi is a magazine for women in their fourtys and they like to show some wrinkles. Smooth skinny models don't belong in this magazine. Nevertheless its a great honour to be on this page together with Ivo Niehe and Frits Spits, both famous radio and tv personalities in Holland.
Next week we will know if Hellen made it to the cover.

Ain't that something? My bitch a covergirl? What would be the T-shirt text?

If you can read this, the bitch is modelling...

The Master and his Apprentices

2005-09-30T06:54:00.000+02:00

The Master Carpenter overseeing his apprentices, Bart and Michel, and not on the picture: Sven, Robbin (with 2 B's), Twan, Jacco, and little Mart.
They all admired the wooden toys of Twan, that we brought as examples of what can be made by an attentive and diligent apprentice.
The Master works as a volunteer in the communicty centre. As usual all the doors where locked and nobody knew where to find the keys and the (well-payed) social worker that would be there to open the door wasn't there.

A horse and a wife...

2005-09-28T17:55:00.000+02:00

A horse and a wife,
a fork and a knife,
thats the way you spell real life, ride on...

or was it

a knife a fork
a bottle and a cork
thats the way you spell New York?

With this cocaine running around my brain
I realy dont know what I meant to say with this picture
Salvador Dali climbing the step-ladder to
paint one of his light paintings perhaps?

Or is it Bert Strootman trying to make the picture that will win a prize?
Or is it Bert, just doing his job,
taking pictures for MIDI, a famous dutch magazine?

This is the result, a horse and a wife, thats real life, ride on...

Trampling the green garbage container

2005-09-27T14:42:00.000+02:00

Sometimes weight can be usefull. In our town the garbage is seperated in a green and a grey container, the green for compostable waist, the grey for the rest. The man and the dog are not to be waisted, they just ad their weight to compact the green litter. The dog jumps in on command. He would jump anywhere, if I tell him to. He loves jumping on haystacks, on trailers, anywhere. Now I mention the dog, he is on 4 out of 10 pictures.

Vertigo

2005-09-26T10:39:00.000+02:00

I am afraid of heights. Hitchcock's film "Vertigo" came out in 1958, my year of birth, maybe thats the reason. I hate climbing up the scaffold to fix and paint the gutter. The view is beautifull, but I dont care about that. All I feel is this sinking feeling in my gut, this vertigo.
And why do people walking and cycling by feel the need to shout things only they think are funny?

On the cyclepath downunder they pass, shouting their wits to me, while I am clamping to the scaffold and paint the gutter.

Gutterman!

2005-09-25T20:24:00.000+02:00

Water kills our house. Through this broken tile, the crack not visible from the ground, water dripped on the woorden roof underneath, dripping and trickling further on the planks of the gutter and soaking everything.
This is the result, after removing all the rotten wood, a beautifull hole.
This means a challenge for GUTTERMAN! And there he is, on his scaffold, the one and only gutterman in his beautifull white coverall! Can you fix our gutter GUTTERMAN?

Corrections by fax...

2005-09-19T16:40:00.000+02:00

The faxmachine became obsolete when internet and e-mail was used by almost everybody. But still, the fax is used by some people so, I keep it in order. This week I recieved almost 40 metres of fax, containing all the pages with written corrections of the book I worked on.
Thisis whats left, a box of paper and several empty beercans.

Long time no see...

2005-09-17T20:33:00.000+02:00

Hi guy's, its getting darker and so we get inside earlier. We worked very hard here. Got a new horse, got a new piece of gras land that needed attention, the voltige team won the third prize in the National Championship, that meant a lot off work too. I finished two books and started writing another. So, we where pretty buzy this summer. Oh yes, we have sailed two weeks and had a lot of fun.

But now, back again on the internet, hope I will find the time to write and work on the blog.

The Greatest Voltige Show on earth...

2005-07-02T22:28:00.000+02:00

More than 150 people watched the annual show of the Prinsepaard. The children from age 6 to 16 gave away a perfect show of almost 2 hours. On the websiteyou can see more pictures. Bert Wijers also send some pictures.
It was a lot of work, but it payed of!

Six centurys of salt water through my genes...

2005-06-28T13:51:00.000+02:00

Pieter Moorman had a school-project about the VOC, the first company ever to be financed with stocks and during almost 200 years the wealthiest and most powerfull trade company in the world. The class organised a trip to the Batavia, a real wooden build replica of a VOC trade ship that sunk on a reef in Australia.

On the picture he explaines some details about the ship. I was the main sponsor of the project, I supplied the tickets. (I got them free with a beautifull barter deal with the Batavia ship-yard.) I also drove one of the cars with kids.

Standing on the main deck I felt the salt water running through my vaines and genes. I felt very at home on this deck and wanted to sail away, searching for treasures, pirates, slaves and trade. I wanted to command the crew in the mast setting the sails. Damn the British and to hell with the Spanjards, lets sail to the Indies!

Another dead owl

2005-06-26T18:33:00.000+02:00

Beautifull blazing and biting I held this owlschick in my hand two days ago. It was pushed out of the nest as every year one ore two chicks are. The real struggle for life is everywhere around us. Today I found it in the barn dead. The mother sometimes brings the fallen chicks a mouse, but the chicks in the nest go first. It is complete and has a wingspan from almost 60 centimeters. A beautifull bird. At night I watch the parents fly in and out, very silently and smooth.

The next party, a beach party?

2005-06-19T20:06:00.000+02:00

The day after. Another party, Nicky's birthday-party. Let's use the tent again! There's only a slight little problem, the party-animals decided that sleeping on a party was not their idea of having fun. So after the usual formalitys and a brief introduction around the table the party became a real beach party. Playing volleybal, eating, drinking, kissing, chasing horses, and playing more volleybal at four in the morning, and having breakfast at six in the morning and playing more volleybal.
Members of the party-gang were Yvonne, Jenna, Angela, Britt, Caspar, David, Willem and Nicky. Because of messing with sneezing powder David ended in the swimming pool, cooling down as you can see.

A Pyama Party

2005-06-18T15:06:00.000+02:00

A pyama party in a tent, a birthday party can't get any better. The flags guide the way to the tent. And what do you do all night? Messing with fire is always entertaining for little boys. This is the gang, from left to right, Job, Gillian, Lars, Stan, Wei Lei,Twan, Stijn, Alwin and Robin. The party was given by Stan, Job and Twan.
The next morning breakfast with daddy's pancakes. Looking very sleepy, but being a man at night means also being a man the next morning!

Our new old boat

2005-06-16T18:53:00.000+02:00

This is our (Twan and Me, Father and Son) new project. This is a very special boat, called a 'Leukothea'. It sails, with a sloop rig, you can realy row with it and it has a beautifull round shaped hull, in Dutch we call it a 'vlet'. It's very seaworthy. We use it as a tender and for fun, and to learn how to sail and row. I hate to see little kids in rubberboats with an outboard engine, looking bored, making noise and learning nothing. Give them a boat like this and they learn everything while playing and fiddling around. We debatted a long time about the name and the colour. The one followed the other, it will be black with yellow stripes, and the name will be 'Black Pearl'. And yes, we have a pirates flag.

Never intended to make...

2005-06-15T13:14:00.000+02:00

By accident you press the button, or it's still on timer, or whatever, but you didn't intend to shoot the picture. Sometimes you remeber the moment, like the day I wanted to take a picture while driving from behind the wheel.. Sometimes your kids mess around before a mirror. This one I don't remeber, but its obvious that it was taken on board the boat, as was this one, showing someones foot. The floor is always a fine subject for a picture, and the furniture or the waterhose in the stable. And last but not least, the out of focus and out of frame faces of people, mostley your narcistic daughter trying to make a self-portrait. For some stupid reason all these pictures still stand on my hard disk, using precious space. Now they even made it to the internet!

What do I do to make you love me?

2005-06-13T19:29:00.000+02:00

Artist: Anupama Bagwe

The gallery of your mind
Still hangs on
Without your smile
It came out strong

The color of your thoughts
From the canvas it came to me
Not prepared I was
Not allowed to see

Now I long to stare
But nowhere you are found
Just the shade of paint from where
I feel that you ‘re around

The tears I felt
Where they yours to shed?
The pain I saw
Do I have to forget?

The picture of your mind
Still burning on my soul
Wondering if we’ll ever meet
And make each other whole

The Deer, The Car and I...

2005-06-12T10:32:00.000+02:00

I met this Deer on a beautifull evening on the road to a party where I was going to. The Deer didn't survive our meeting. All I saw of her was a brown flash. I heard a big bang and that was that. This was not the meeting I had in mind.

The Car is made in France and as everybody knows the French have a lot of style, but are not very practical. This also affects their way of building cars. Their cars are beautifull styled, but technicaly not very practical. Beautifull solutions for problems, but nothing easy to fix. And a lot of plastic. This is what needs to be fixed.

And I, whell, I have to repair another car. The parts that need to be replaced cost alltogether almost 600 euro's. So with a lot of glue, polyester, tape and pieces of leather I will tinker everything on its place.

it runs again

2005-05-23T19:02:00.000+02:00

It runs again, yes, I put in another engine, because the old one could not be fixed. It runs again, better than ever! I got help from Cor and from Niek. It went in faster than it came out.

Use what you have

2005-05-03T20:10:00.000+02:00

My father was a shoemaker and he learned me to use the tools and the materials you have to fix something. In every odd-job we did he used a little piece of leather. Not intentionaly, but just because it was always at hand. Now I am a publisher, I make newspapers, so why use wooden blocks when there are plenty packs of unused newspapers to stuff under the car? I want to overhaul the engine of my van because the distributionbelt broke and some valves are bend. The engine comes out downunder the car, so the car has to go up. With lots of packs of newspapers and a hydraulic jack the engine came out.