Sisters Are Still Doing It For Themselves

Posted on Friday, 5th May, 2006 by ianmacd

I forgot to mention that Jo and I went to see the Sisters of Mercy at the Melkweg last Sunday. That was the fitrst time either of us had seen them since the late eighties, when we both still lived in England.

It wasn’t really the Sisters that we used to worship, though. Oh, Eldritch is still there, but his long hair and hat are gone. In fact, all of his hair was gone; he’s shaven-headed these days. The shades were still in place, though. Has anyone ever seen this man’s face? He can still suck his way through a pack of cigarettes on stage, too.

Dr. Avalance was still there, too, as invisible and reliable as ever, thumping out the beats. No bass player was present, but there were a couple of good guitarists, apparently Chris May and Ben Christo.

The Sisters haven’t released a record since 1992, although they keep threatening to do so. They played quite a bit of new material, so a new record would be nice.

Apart from the new material, the set contained a few surprises. The Sisterhood’s Giving Ground was performed, for example, along with a lot of material from Floodland.

The omissions were surprising, too. Nothing at all was played from First And Last And Always. And, if I’m remembering correctly, the only older tracks played were Anaconda and absolutely storming versions of Alice and Temple Of Love, the latter of which was the part of the encore.

For the first few minutes of the gig, I wondered whether I’d be able to say afterwards that I had really seen the Sisters Of Mercy, because it was almost impossible to actually see them. There was so much dry ice pouring off the stage, that visibility was down to a few metres. Occasionally, the shades of Eldritch, contrasted against his gaunt complexion, would slide into focus from within the fog, and then sink as enigmatically back into it.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed myself, I must admit. I used to worship this band, but had lost touch with what their progress since I moved to Amsterdam in ’91. After the Under The Gun single in ’92, they pretty much disappeared; or so I had thought.

The sound was very good and Eldritch still has great stage presence. I’ll definitely go to see them again the next time they’re in town. Let’s hope there’s a new album before either Eldritch or I pass away.

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Where In The World?

Posted on Thursday, 4th May, 2006 by ianmacd

From my well-travelled friend, Zain, comes this article about the sad state of geographic knowledge in the US. Not only is global geography desperately poor; the full report demonstrates that the average 18 to 24 year old American doesn’t know much about his or her own country, either.

Some choice findings:

“Told they could escape an approaching hurricane by evacuating to the northwest, only two-thirds could indicate which way northwest is on a map.”

“Despite nearly constant news coverage since the war there began in 2003, 63 percent of Americans aged 18 to 24 failed to correctly locate the country [Iraq] on a map of the Middle East.”

“Seventy percent could not find Iran or Israel.”

“Half could not find New York State on a map of the United States.”

“Nine in ten couldn’t find Afghanistan on a map of Asia.”

“Fewer than three in ten think it’s absolutely necessary to know where countries in the news are located.”

“Only 14 percent believe speaking another language fluently is a necessary skill.”

And the conclusion:

“”It’s discouraging that so many young Americans have so little understanding of the world.”

And that’s an understatement, since the rest of us have to live in that same world that young Americans (who — make no mistake — become older Americans) care so little about. Indeed, one has to wonder if the foreign policy makers of the US would fare any better in the survey.

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Getting Warmer

Posted on Wednesday, 26th April, 2006 by ianmacd

Today was nice and warm, at least until the late afternoon. I went out in shorts for the first time this year.

We biked through the Vondelpark to the exit near the Kinderkookcafé (Children’s Cooking Café) and made our way to the Porcelein- en Kristalhuis on the Overtoom.

The purpose of our visit stemmed from the fact that we’re close to choosing a set of new cutlery to last the rest of our lives and then on into posterity; the proverbial family silver, you could say. Sterling silver cutlery is expensive, however, so we have to be very sure about the style we eventually choose. After all, we’re going to be looking at it for a long time to come.

After a spot of lunch and a quick visit to Jacob van Wijngaarden, a travel book shop, we biked back through the park and then went on a diversion to Pisa in order for Sarah to sample the city’s finest ice-cream (in my opinion, at least).

When we got back home, an outdoor scene for the next series of Keyzer & De Boer Advocaten was being filmed on the stoop of Emmalaan 21. We stopped to watch several takes of a scene that involved Pim (Porgy Franssen) and Maarten (Daan Schuurmans) hanging up a sign outside the office, whilst Nina (Henriëtte Tol) looks on and supervises. Keyzer & De Boer Advocaten is a really good series, which sadly can’t be said for most Dutch drama shows, so it’s fun to see it being filmed just around the corner from where we live.

Rounding out the end of the day, the Albert man turned up and delivered our groceries, so we’re stocked up again in time for Sarah’s folks to descend on us this coming Friday.

Yesterday, we had a cleaner come in for the very first time. She was like a tornado and did a really nice job on the place. It still feels kind of odd to have someone else do our cleaning, but the convenience is undeniable. I hope she’ll be available for some time to come.

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Eloïse’s Seats

Posted on Friday, 21st April, 2006 by ianmacd

Speaking of furniture, we also bought two seats today for our little bundle of joy. They’re not in the house, though. No, these are for our Pack Max and 995 bikes from the Fietsfabriek.

With summer now well on the way and Eloïse now large and strong enough to cope with the rigours of a real seat, this will give us an element of freedom we haven’t enjoyed before. For example, Sarah will now be able to bike with Eloïse without requiring me to be present. She doesn’t feel comfortable with the 995, a.k.a. a bakfiets, so the child seat on the Pack Max will allow her to carry Eloïse using a bike to which she has grown accustomed.

On other occasions, we’ll still use the 995, but now we no longer have to place a child’s car-seat in the trough. Instead, we have a proper bicycle seat affixed to the bench. The only disadvantage of this system is that it will be much harder for Eloïse to sleep whilst being biked around, but we’re just going to have to see how that works out in practice.

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Couching Our Progress

Posted on Friday, 21st April, 2006 by ianmacd

We ordered another couch today. Like the one in our living-room, this one will be coming from Forma in the Utrechtsestraat. Sarah and I both really like the stuff in that shop and find ourselves going back time after time. The guy who assists us, René, is always helpful and objective, too. It wouldn’t be half as much fun without him.

The new couch will be positioned in our sitting-room with its back against the window, so that the view from the living-room will be into the body of the couch. That should serve to provide the room with definition, framing the room and making it feel less open and chaotic than it is now.

We expect to order some armchairs tomorrow, once we’ve made a final choice about colours and material.

We’re still on the lookout for a wooden-framed glass table and a sideboard to complete the sitting-room; plus the never-ending search for the perfect lighting, but we’ve kind of postponed that element of the furnishing for the time being. It’s very hard to concentrate on so many things at once.

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