Yesterday I went to my third consecutive Museumnacht. And, as always, it was frenetic. The hardest part is to decide what's unmissable, and plan a route which allows you to get to them all without wasting too much time moving from one place to another. A valuable trick is to avoid queues. If there are too many people queuing to enter, it's better to move on to somewhere else: there are so many open museums, and life's too short, and the night is even shorter. 7 hours sound a lot, but they run out quicker than you plan, and you have to plan that. So, among others, Foam, Artis and Geelvinck were simply skipped. What was left:
- failed attempt to find the Huis Marseille (nobody noted down the address...)
- Archaeological museum
- Huis Marseille (this time with the help of the brochure with the correct address). Very interesting, if a little shocking, exhibition about refugees around the world
- Nederlands Instituut voor Mediakunst (a letdown)
- City archive (been there 2 years ago, yet always a pleasure)
- Skipped Hermitage because of the queue
- Portuguese synagogue. When candle-lit in the night it's spectacular.
- VOC ship
- since it was 0:45, made a second attempt at the Hermitage, and this time the queue was shorter! 2nd tip: leave the most crowded places for last, so you get there when most people are already sleeping. Hermitage is a beautiful museum: new, light, spacious... the only letdown is the collection: it was mostly a description of the tsar's times, with no "real" art. Time to plan a trip to the real one in St.Petersburg.
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Some people visit porn sites
I, instead, go to Funda. So many objects of desire can be found there. I look at each one, look at the pictures, and dream of what I would to with them if only I had them. And, when looking is not enough, I ring the agent to book an appointment, so I can be by the object of desire, even inside it. And, of course, dreams stay dreams, and I cannot have any of those. For how long?
Sunday, May 03, 2009
In memoriam
My father has died.
Everything happened quickly and suddenly. According to what I heard at the phone, he was riding his usual Sunday morning bike ride, when he fainted for unknown reasons. He had a heart attack several years ago, so some heart problem is one possible cause. When falling, he hit his head on the road. He was transported to the nearest hospital, Lucca's, but he died some hours later.
He was 63. I spoke to him yesterday, and we spoke about normal things. We actually spoke about my mother, not about him. There was nothing to worry about him.
It is hard to think about good things in this moment. One is that he suffered very little. He was perfectly OK in the morning and dead in the evening.
First news came at about 12PM, he was in the hospital, but nothing about his conditions. Then less than reassuring pieces of news throughout the afternoon. Then the horrible news. It was so much news, and so fast, that I was not really realizing anything about what was happening. I only cried 20 minutes after I heard about his death.
When he left home for his ride he left his PC on. On Skype, he is still online.
Everything happened quickly and suddenly. According to what I heard at the phone, he was riding his usual Sunday morning bike ride, when he fainted for unknown reasons. He had a heart attack several years ago, so some heart problem is one possible cause. When falling, he hit his head on the road. He was transported to the nearest hospital, Lucca's, but he died some hours later.
He was 63. I spoke to him yesterday, and we spoke about normal things. We actually spoke about my mother, not about him. There was nothing to worry about him.
It is hard to think about good things in this moment. One is that he suffered very little. He was perfectly OK in the morning and dead in the evening.
First news came at about 12PM, he was in the hospital, but nothing about his conditions. Then less than reassuring pieces of news throughout the afternoon. Then the horrible news. It was so much news, and so fast, that I was not really realizing anything about what was happening. I only cried 20 minutes after I heard about his death.
When he left home for his ride he left his PC on. On Skype, he is still online.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
A piece of heaven for sale
Forgetting to say that my former piece of heaven is now for sale.
I don't know why I feel bad (just a little) about that.
I don't know why I feel bad (just a little) about that.
Privacy in a public blog
There are several reasons why this blog does not get updated, if not sporadically.
The main one, of course, is the novelty effect (the lack thereof). It is not the newest coolest thing anymore.
Then, writing a blog is ultimately a waste of time. And, lately, there are other wastes of time competing with this. Facebook (it is a waste of time, but I'm spending (too much) time on it these weeks), the old classics Google Earth and Google Maps (Street View is the ultimate violation of privacy. That's why it's so cool)...
But there is another factor. Privacy. So, why does privacy matters in a blog that can be rad by anyone? Well, for some imperscrutable reasons, the process of creating the post is private, even if the completed post itself is not. I feel shy/embarrassed/add your favourite lame excuse here writing a blog post with someone in the same room. That someone obviously couldn't care less, but anyway. Nobody said human beings are simple things.
Incidentally, the latter's one reason why I spent so much of my life in front of a computer (Commodore 64, then Commodore Amiga, but with my faithful 64 on one side, then a 486 which was my introduction to the wonderful world of PC. The rest is history).
Incidentally again, I grew more fond of my fellow human beings with the years. That changed me from a pathologically shy person to a shy/very shy person with occasional moments of extrovertion, and even some friends.
Enough incidents. The long period with no posts has not been uneventful. Job-wise, I did some sort of jump into the dark, by moving departments within the company. So, I stopped being a well-known and respected member of the old department, and started being the new guy in a department I didn't know deeply. Eventually, I slowly discovered that I was not so well-known or well-respected in the old one, and I wasn't so new or unknown in the new one. What happened after simply made me think that the jump in the darkness was actually a good idea.
Still job-wise, the company I work for is less rich than it used to be. There was a downsizing in January. It was incredible to see that the fired people were accepting their fates, while the people who stayed were more emotional. One would have expected the opposite. But everything was so sudden and unexpected, therefore one could expect the unexpected to happen.
About Dutch life: I begon an inburgering language course. The purpose is to turn a foreigner into a burger, that is a citizen integrated into society. A little hard (6 hours a week, all during work days), but great fun. And my Dutch starts to suck a little less. Still a long way before becoming a burger. Also, I got my first fines. Once I went through a red light with my bike, and a police's motorbike was standing there. The second time, my bike lights stopped working shortly before a place where policemen were waiting. And, of course, they resumed working shortly after.
The main one, of course, is the novelty effect (the lack thereof). It is not the newest coolest thing anymore.
Then, writing a blog is ultimately a waste of time. And, lately, there are other wastes of time competing with this. Facebook (it is a waste of time, but I'm spending (too much) time on it these weeks), the old classics Google Earth and Google Maps (Street View is the ultimate violation of privacy. That's why it's so cool)...
But there is another factor. Privacy. So, why does privacy matters in a blog that can be rad by anyone? Well, for some imperscrutable reasons, the process of creating the post is private, even if the completed post itself is not. I feel shy/embarrassed/add your favourite lame excuse here writing a blog post with someone in the same room. That someone obviously couldn't care less, but anyway. Nobody said human beings are simple things.
Incidentally, the latter's one reason why I spent so much of my life in front of a computer (Commodore 64, then Commodore Amiga, but with my faithful 64 on one side, then a 486 which was my introduction to the wonderful world of PC. The rest is history).
Incidentally again, I grew more fond of my fellow human beings with the years. That changed me from a pathologically shy person to a shy/very shy person with occasional moments of extrovertion, and even some friends.
Enough incidents. The long period with no posts has not been uneventful. Job-wise, I did some sort of jump into the dark, by moving departments within the company. So, I stopped being a well-known and respected member of the old department, and started being the new guy in a department I didn't know deeply. Eventually, I slowly discovered that I was not so well-known or well-respected in the old one, and I wasn't so new or unknown in the new one. What happened after simply made me think that the jump in the darkness was actually a good idea.
Still job-wise, the company I work for is less rich than it used to be. There was a downsizing in January. It was incredible to see that the fired people were accepting their fates, while the people who stayed were more emotional. One would have expected the opposite. But everything was so sudden and unexpected, therefore one could expect the unexpected to happen.
About Dutch life: I begon an inburgering language course. The purpose is to turn a foreigner into a burger, that is a citizen integrated into society. A little hard (6 hours a week, all during work days), but great fun. And my Dutch starts to suck a little less. Still a long way before becoming a burger. Also, I got my first fines. Once I went through a red light with my bike, and a police's motorbike was standing there. The second time, my bike lights stopped working shortly before a place where policemen were waiting. And, of course, they resumed working shortly after.
The four seasons in Dutch, with English translation
lente or voorjaar - autumn
zomer - autumn
herfst or najaar - autumn
winter - autumn
Well, there have been 6 consecutive sunny days! So, that's not too bad.
zomer - autumn
herfst or najaar - autumn
winter - autumn
Well, there have been 6 consecutive sunny days! So, that's not too bad.
Monday, July 07, 2008
A sign of life
The frequency of posts has dropped dramatically lately. This does not mean that nothing happened. It only means that I'm lazy.
Summary of what happened.
Summary of what happened.
- 1st-5th May: Paris, guest of a friend who lives there. Marvellous city.
- 18th May: visit to Brugge (or Bruges. In Italy, the French spelling is generally used. Which does not make sense, since it is in Flanders. But French is more familiar, or better less unfamiliar, to Italians). Excuse was that my friend Nicola went there to the TERENA Networking Conference. Fine city, fine company.
- 31st May: went to Naples, to be present at the marriage of a friend. I had never been to Naples before. It is a city with a bad reputation, considered as one of the unsafest in Italy. Innumerable stories about how drivers disrespect traffic lights are famous. And the waste problem is world-famous. Well, I found it a beautiful city. True, many streets of the centre are not in the best state. But nothing I haven't seen also elsewhere. True, the traffic lights near Beverello pier (where ferries to Capri and Ischia leave) are chaotic. But elsewhere it's OK. True, I saw some people whose look was not reassuring. But I was not harmed nor robbed by anyone. And I even walked around the old center between 4am and 6am (long story. To cut it short, when a hotel says "reception open 24h", it does not mean 24h. Or, maybe, the 24h are not all in the same day). True, there was some rubbish around. But not that much (admittedly, in the outskirts the situation was worse than in the centre). The marriage was fun, everyone was happy, and the bridegroom's speech was not boring! The day after, short visit to Capri. Marvellous island, small but with a savage beauty. The sea is almost as beautiful as Sardinia's (I'm still a proud Sardinian). Only downside: the pizza was not the best I ever eaten, it was only good.
- Beginning of June: Elisa came back
- Throughout June: European football championship. Italy didn't do too well. But I wasn't too unhappy (the same cannot be said of some other Italians who live here), it deserved what it got, and anyway it beat France. Disappointments: Netherlands (after such a splendid first phase), Portugal (ditto), semi-final Germany-Turkey (Turkey deserved more). I also discovered what happens when Turkey wins a match. The Turkish community is numerous, and the Turks themselves behave in a very Mediterranean way (which is the same as Italians behave). Therefore, thousands of people around, honking cars, flags, fireworks... And the square near my house was the centre of celebrations. Unbelievable, even more chaos than in Italy.
- 3rd-6th July: Rock Werchter. Loads of big names: Lenny Kravitz, Moby, Neil Young (incredible energy for one who looks like my grandfather), Beck... And of course Radiohead. Sigur Ros were surprisingly good. It was also an experience because of the camping: fun, the tent was waterproof so the rain wasn't too annoying, the mattresses were surprisingly comfortable. Not many people were sleeping, judging from the constant noise.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Amsterdam, Turkey
I came back home and, in the square next to my house, a group of people were cheering because Galatasaray just won the Turkish football league. This says a lot about the ethnic composition of my neighbourhood.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Povera patria
Did I ever say that I was proud to be an Italian? Well, I was wrong.
The only thought that the majority of my fellow Italians gave their votes to a liar, a crook, someone who pretends to be a libertarian and actually invokes state intervention everywhere (as long as he is the state), makes me sick. And makes me want to stay abroad forever (why not?).
Causes? Many. The control of the media is a big reason. The fact that the opponents are often old, afraid of real innovation, and costantly quarrelling with each other, is another one. So, all in all, the future of my own country is bleak.
The only thought that the majority of my fellow Italians gave their votes to a liar, a crook, someone who pretends to be a libertarian and actually invokes state intervention everywhere (as long as he is the state), makes me sick. And makes me want to stay abroad forever (why not?).
Causes? Many. The control of the media is a big reason. The fact that the opponents are often old, afraid of real innovation, and costantly quarrelling with each other, is another one. So, all in all, the future of my own country is bleak.
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