Smell of the past

Having my parents around is always nice ! Talking about many things and for me it always feels like being 'send back' to the Netherlands. With plenty of Dutch books laying around, lots of Dutch word of course, Dutch newspaper and some of the habits I complety forgot about.
(Erwin, do you have potatoes?) But first and foremost it is of course the smells, not of my parents, they still take a shower a week ;) But of Dutch food or better, candy.

I have been covering myself in crumbles of Eierkoeken, stroopwafels and spekulaas but also krijtjes, drop and nootjes, and to top it all off with a non Dutch candy of M&Ms !
Funny that those candies and particulary its smell eg saveur is making me think back of Holland. Of cold night ice skating, cycling through the rain with the support of the wind in the back, Sinterklaas avond with the family, and my time as a student when good Dutch snacks were the fuel every business student got its degree on.

The Netherlands has changes and I dont really think of moving back (ever) but those familar smells are good souvenirs of a country and family that is full of love for everybody.
Well that sounded rather sweet or even cheesy, but well we are taking about food and candy and in terms of cheese the Dutch are not that bad either !

The winner is...

big day today, I needed to verify whether I have become the new owner of 130 million, so I took my parents along to share in the excitement of the forthcoming verdict. Stayed in the line, waited my turn, number 1 in line didnt win, 2nd didnt win, now my turn. I handed the ticket and started focussing on the little screen of Lotto joy...."'rien" or in other words, you are a loser Mr Bos, again nothing.

Well I made a pact with the owner of the shop that next time it will be me. Moreover, I have participated 2 times now and didnt win yet, so accordingly to the law of Third time lucky it will be fine. She was ok with it, as long as I keep buying the tickets at her place and purchase the Saturday newspaper to continue her chiffres d'affaires...
Well, that is a small price to pay. So, lets sit back and relax and await the next price Lotto, to be rebranded into ; Erwins Lotto soon .....

The oldies are coming

Yep, we are approaching the National Bank Holiday, the most important one of the year....Erwin Bday, and the first present is of course the arrival of my parents. They have been driving over (I bought plenty of stuff last time in Holland and couldnt bring it) from Apeldoorn to Nice by the national routes of France and enjoyed their croissant and cafe in lost villages.
Yesterday my dad called if they could come over earlier, since the weather was really bad and cold and frankly he wished for sun and a little soft breeze, well, who can blame him!
So, tonite at around 19.00 I will put on my best behaviour and welcome them with champagne and flowers, or just a firm hand shake, still not sure...

However there could be a change of plan for tomorrow cos tonite I will participate in the Lotto draw, with a grand prize of 130 million euros! Maybe I will be jetting off to a tropical island tomorrow and leave my parents behind to take care of my plants... Dont worry FAB, Monday 10.00am I will be back :)

Well, I guess I better use my time to window dress my apartment to hide that I have been working a lot and didnt cater for my place....mmmmm, could I fit it all under the carpet?

Just chill to the music

Music is important, music is for everybody and it should be everywhere and with new technolgies we can now listen to the radio virtually (hhhaa) everywhere which is fantastic since for certain people it is the only way to get information and a little bit of entertainment.

Its latest exemple is Papua, they are now chilling to the beat of SaladFm and rocking to the guitars of KinkFM, the world is a big place but everbody needs music!

By the way, the picture is the actual people listening to it! Incredible but true !

Complaint

I dont like to complaint but.....what happened? Did we decided that we had enough sun??? That we are brown enough ? That we feel that rain might clean our cars and the lightning will give us reading light???

Its too early to get cold! But it looks like summer is officially over, too bad cos my folks are on there way to visit the 'always sunny' South of France.

I'll guess we should start ordering the wood for the fireplace, start knitting the jumpers and grease our skates cos winter is coming....

Or are the weather Gods just teasing us?? Let's burn some candles and make sure they won't !

Amsterdam HQ

Two days of Netherlands fun at the JuniorSenior Head Office, back to my roots :)
Under a grey sky with a nice little bit of rain I worked at the HQ on several interesting project and a mailing, all good fun but when lunch arrives its even funnier...

The huge table in the office is being transformed in a Fete de la Hollandais, gastronomy of a different kind; hagelslag, paling, filet americain, from Leerdam to Gouda, vlokken, muisjes, tosties, the only thing missing was a kroket :) Really funny to be back and have lunch Dutch style, now I remember what I am missing sometimes...and its all full of vitamines....
Back at the hotel I got into a 'fight' with the elevator. This elevator seems only to go up ...but would never come down, so after 5 full minutes it finally decided to open its doors for humble Erwin and while pressing the 10 floor button, the door closed and... that was it. It crashed... so I waited another 2 minutes, but nothing happened so I pressed the alarm. When pressing it, a voice told me I had pressed the alarm, excellent! but what is nexted? Another 5 minutes I was getting a but less patient, 2 square meters and no light have a bad effect on people.
Pressing it again, and again....nothing. Until another 2 minutes later the doors opened and I jumped out. 10 floor? the stairs? well ok.....

Next day the famous elevator had been closed for service and now 300 guests had to wait for the other one that seemed to like the idea of his colleague elevator and patience was the word we needed. When checking out the lady apologized for the lift, somebody will come to check it but we dont know when. MMMM, well in a hotel with 18th floor a but of exercise is not bad...
Although this did reserve me the right to order a large zak vlaamse frieten on the airport! YES.
Flying back was fine although I believe that Transavia will soon fold us in two to get even more seats filled. We are the tallest people in the world and have the smallest leg space!
However this time I witnessed a gentleman that was not only tall but also very big, he ended up using two chairs at the same time! Impressive!
Would he also like the Dutch lunch and Vlaamse frieten?

Fly me to the Moon

This morning I took the plane to visit the Head office of JuniorSenior in a tiny country called The Netherlands, which whom I am familar. I was flying Transavia who kindly pointed out that my bag was one kilo over weight, as handlugage so I needed to register it grrr, that meant a waste of valuable time. Anyway, entered the plane and started reading a book and eating a gevulde koek, dutch specialty, before I was distracted by a close neighbour.

A colleague traveller had just passed out and laying on his chair. The personnel freaked out and tried to massage the life back in him but for 20 minutes he remained fairly quiet. Than they hooked him up on an Oxygene bottle for another 15 minutes and he woke up and started to move a bit. His face was like somebody woke him up just before he entered the afterlife, which he luckily missed out on! Than they fed him medications and Coke (cola that is), and he decided to prolong his stay on planete earth for a bit more. Quiet scary to witness this but the personnel did a good job. It reminded me of a story of somebody that died on a long, cross the Atlantic flight, and they put him up in Business with a sheet over him. What else can you do? Flying has become a simple and relatively fast way of travelling but unfortunately not everybody is that lucky to tell their story. Peace!

Wednesday Ge-Haka day

The world cup rugby is being held in France and rugby is huge here. However I dont have a clue about it and to be honest I still need to understand the rules ... but so far I have not really known a keen interest. But as many French people tell me it is very intellectual and it has a great history behind it, and of course the French are favourites.
But when I had a closer look at things I discovered something that I really found impressive !
Apart from me being able to fit into one leg of these guys, there are teams from the pacific islands that have ways of motivating eachother that even would scare of Mr Ratelband or Mr Robbins. Its very impressive to see and to hear, but my God what if you were in front of them??
Respect gentlemen! It is of course an old Maori ritual and its almost a holy ritual, not to be made fun of. If you see them, you wont! I promise you.
If you are interested to see how it looks than check out the video and see what a confrontation looks like. So far this has been the most interesting thing I discovered in rugby...

Achtung Achtung

Yes yes, I am boring... I dont drink any of the alcohol beverages that people tend to appreciate. Well, sometimes a glass of bubbly or a glass of wine but well, its not really giving me the buzz like an espresso. But with all things, it seems you need to learn it...bad manners to be learned? well no Mr Traditional Bos, there are training courses that could help you out!

Interesting. Well, since I have your attention, I would like to recommend the ultimate training course, the best in the world....and it just started; The Oktoberfest in Munich, 16 days of Bavarian joy juice and if you are lucky you might end up wearing a lederhose too....

The event is world famous and lasts for 16 days during which 6 millions liters to be drunk...oufff

I guess that when you have attended such an beer orgy even moi will have started to appreciate beer... Cheers !

Runs in the family...

The elder version of moi, although retired is still proving he has the 'skills to pay the bills' but chosen not to get paid for it anymore! Friday and Saturday will see the light again of the biggest Antics and other crap (sorry no offence hahah) to be sold to fund the Grote Kerk in Apeldoorn, an historic church that was to be replaced by a parking!

This event takes in hunderds of thousands of euros !!!! and de oliebollen are always the best!
Oh and Bos sr has gone virtual as well with his website for the church, check it out !

Have fun with all those oldies and becareful with the stairs ;)

Cruesli Cruelty

Everybody knows that breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. It will provide you with the necessary energy to be performant in your 35 hours working week...
Well, I have been rather bad in this area. My breakfast consist of a little 'pot de jaourt' and a coffee, and trust me in gets me going just as good! However, there are those moments in life when you start to doubt it all and make changes for the better of mankind...
Each morning now I get up (it does help) and buy a pain au cereal, and eat my breakfast with a nice coating of Nutella and maybe a jam of rhubarb, a glass of multi vitamine juice and a glass of water, and of course an espresso as dessert. Great, the only thing missing is the sound...miep miep and Roadrunner Erwin is off to score some more clients!

But I like to strive for more and take to another level... I purchased a pack of Cruesli, bio jaourt and some fruits. So when getting up now I prepare a bowl of cruesli with yoghurt and mixed fruits. Sounds pretty healthy and easy. But life is full surprises because in this ritual there is a slightly challenging factor I have realized. Those packs of Cruesli are filled up with raisins of hell, ROM (raisins of massdestruction) the ones that can glue you to a chair hanging from our ceiling.
I guess they help to prolong the process or make you chew more and chewing is important!
For me it means that my breakfast has become a hunt, a hunt for raisins, before and during.
First I emptied the pack in a glass jar, so I can see the f###ers staring at me. Than when I pour it I use my raisin kick ass spoon to filter them out and when I add the jaourt and fruits I give it a second check. This means that I am already quiet sharp and focussed before even having eaten it, would those Cruel Cruesli makers have thought of this?

Anyway, you are warned, having a healthy lifestyle is not easy, better come prepared! I can borrow you my raisins spoon...

Trains, planes and automobiles

When things are getting busy in the south, any type of transport is being tested. With the Formula 1 or a Yacht Show A LOT of people head for the Cote d'Azur and transform into a country where everything moves in slow motion. Yesterday, was an important day in Monaco with the Monaco Yacht Show and when I arrived at about 10 on the motorway, they had reduced the number of lanes, for works... interesting. Moving through the tunnel towards Monaco I ended up in yet another jam caused by...two lanes becoming one! (every morning 25 000 people coming in working in Monaco so reducing lines seems a strange decision) Getting closer to the event there are 5 parkings available and relatively close to the event. All 5 were full since 9 in the morning (the event starts at 10), I managed to park under the newly constructed jetty and walked for 15 minutes to the event. At least the view is great.

Getting to the event I waited for my meeting with my client. He came from Antibes by train, a smart move I thought. Well he arrived 10 minutes late but red like a tomato. He left home at 7, it only took him a bit over 3 hours!!! Trains were cancelled, capacity was reduced and one broke down. Of course he was standing the whole trip in a non airco area and the next day they planned a strike.

The same thing happens when it rains like cats and dogs or there is snow, weather types that are seldom present here and cause havoc. I was stucked on the motorway ones when there was a snow storm, the police closed the entrance and the exit, kind of hard to move on.
So, what is left over than? Well, you can always take the helicopter, its not that expensive and its only 6 minutes, and for the moment they only crash each 7 years ;)
Coming Monday all will be fine, with no events on, so we can get from A to B in normal times, YES!

See you in court...sort of

The current society we live in is getting more and more complicated and basic rights as Freedom of speech and religion are being limited by certain. Things get even worse ... At the tiniest of conflicts people use the famous phrase; 'See you in court!' With court cases against McDonalds for having served their coffee too hot or their food too fat.... But yesterday, Mr Chambers filled a court case that nobody has ever tried.... He has sued God ! In the court case its stated that he tried to contact God several times but he didnt reply yet. Come out wherever you are ?!

It also says God has caused "fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects and the like."
Furthermore God has caused "calamitous catastrophes resulting in the wide-spread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants including innocent babes, infants, children, the aged and infirm without mercy or distinction."
Chambers also says God "has manifested neither compassion nor remorse, proclaiming that defendant will laugh" when calamity comes.

This must be a complete new chapter in the ever growing number of silly court cases in the USA, and he is trying to make a point here, by underlining the often strange claims being made.

In any case I would highly recommend to verify what he has been eating the night before... although I am not implying anything bad....dont want to get sued!

Kiwi inner beauty

Its about time that I use this blog to support the case of the Kiwi. This fruity friend from overseas and named after a good looking New Zealand bird, has really been ignored by the fruit eating population for many years, with no good reason. Ok, I admit the outside is not very promising, a hairy coat with on each side a part which looks like a spider with a bad haircut. But when sliced in two, its beauty speaks for itself. By the way the translation of Kiwi means strange fruit, for sure not his fault.

Furthermore, it provides us with a wise life lesson; that inner beauty is more important !
But he doesnt stop there, this fruity weirdo provides us with vitamine A and E, big is Mr Big Vitamine C, eat a Kiwi a day and you will grow old with no problems...apart from getting a bit more hairy...

So, I would like to say hail to the Kiwi, for providing us with so many vitamines and pleasure for the tongue and still maintaining a modest figure among its fruity friends. Remember that arrogant Banana you had a while ago, proclaiming its vitamine C value by showing off his shape, or that Star fruit! You call yourself a Start but you taste like a watery apple, please give me a break.

I advocate (...) the use of Kiwi for children of all ages, young successful entrepreneurs and of course those old grannies (..) pushing their Rollators ! Let have a kiwi! I just had one, no I will have another one! I will healthy, I feel good, apart from the feeling to start shaving...
Bloggers all over the world unite, grap a kiwi, slice it in two, admire its beauty and than enjoy it!
Apples are for boring people! Remember, the kiwi is your friend.

Midnight Poison by Dior

Each time Muse releases a new cd I am surprised again. The music rocks and the lyrics are intelligent and live they are simply unstoppable. This music makes my creative juices flow (oh yes!) and makes you want to jump and scream like its Woodstock all over again. What an energy and skills out of such a skinny man (hahah there like him on this planet) But what I never understood it that this music has never been used for a commercial cos it would work very well. But hold your horses, the creative people at Dior have heard my complaint and hired, Wong Kar Wai to direct it and Eva Green to star in it, I guess money was not really the issue. Even more so if you look how long this commercial runs! Thumbs up people at Dior, lets rock ...and smell good!

Not for your Garden

The British National Museum in London has recently opened an exhibition that you cannot afford to miss! It is titled The First Emperor: China's Terracotta Army. It explores one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century, giving an insight into China’s First Emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, and his legacy.

The exhibition includes a number of the world-famous terracotta warriors from Xi'an, China, which were buried alongside the First Emperor in readiness for the afterlife, as well as some of the most striking recent discoveries made on the site. In introducing the idea of a unified state and effectively creating China in 221 BC, the First Emperor of Qin created what is today the oldest surviving political entity in the world.

The exhibition runs until the 6th of April 2008 and costs 10 pounds. Go and book online NOW!

Parking Nice style

Having spend the last 7 years in the South of France I have had several culture shocks but one that remains to get me angry is the way people park their car. It seem that there is no specific rule to park the most important thing is to stop where u need to be and than leave your car.

This can be for 1 minutes or several days and its seems the police is not too much bothered with it. Even stronger than that in the South they have created a new style called 'double file' with is basically parking your car next to an offical lane of parked cars and created another lane. Its really nice and a good idea, only when you are parked in the official line you will have difficulties to exit it...

Yesterday I was waiting in front of a traffic light on my way back home. Light turns green and nothing happenend. I waited patiently but flashed my lights, nothing. A klaxon maybe? well why not... nothing changed. I step out of the car when a realized that the driver was no longer in the car. He left to buy a newspaper and fags! When he decided to come back, there was a whole line of cars waiting. He looked at us, got in his car, not too fast of course, and drove away, just in time to pass through Orange and making us....wait a bit more! Nice!

I continued to drive back home when I arrived close to the gate of my residance. And oh joy, there was a car parked, blocking the access to my residance. Although it was a small smart car, the driver had dissappeared from the planet. I kept my patience but just behind me was another driver getting less patient and hitting his horn like there was no tomorrow.
The problem was that the entrance is in a bend street which would make us soon major obstacles as well as dangerously close to the boulevard, where many Fernando Alonsos where testing their engines. But great, from nowhere the lady appears looking at us with this similair look I saw before... The person behind me kindly thanks her for making him wait ... She looks at us and replies; well I think you should respect it that I want to do my shopping and since your entrance is not often used it should not be a problem to let her use it. Do we want rent for it?

And some more words, that I didnt knew yet but according to the reaction of the other person, seemed to be rather rude.... She drives off and the driver behind me offers her a concert of his klaxon and waives her off in a one finger matter. Its a strange habit here but I start to understand the ritual that involves parking here.

The importance is finding the best place and than basically ignoring all other circumstances that could cause problems, the most important thing is parking! Which by the way explains why a garage here costs the price of a nice car...
On the other hand, who cares, the road is ours ! Parking is fun ! Nice Style Parking is funnier!

Rich Richer Richest

Oh dear, having spend one whole day in the blazzing sun in Cannes during the Cannes Yacht Show it has come as a clear message....its easy to be poor but hard to be rich!

When being rich you need apparantly to show it ;
Driving to the event in your Bentley, dressed in strange coloured trousers and dito shirt you will enter a the salon, looking like you hate to be there. You walk straight to the most loudest stand and ask what they have in stock that nobody has and what is priced at a level that makes certain African countries survive another year...
Moving on, the rich person accompanied by a tall, preferable blond girl, half his age and not French, if you catch my drift, AND a 4 legged friend. A tiny animal that seems to be a dog but is still looking to be confirmed having the size of an ant and the height of a kitten.

They move swiflty on to the outside area where the toys are being lined up from small to larger to super large, obviously they are only interested in large. Approaching the stand, a huge 100 square meter area with model hostess and VIP entrance for the happy few. Leaving their Prada and Gucci loafers on the Quai and entering the world of floating castles.

First question to ask, The price. Quickly adding the words...'dont you have something bigger and faster" while lighting a Cuban cigar. The sales person or broker is ready to start sweating and work their magic to an audience that really seems to be hating being here.
Can we have Versace trimmings in the bedroom? Can we get more gold? Can we get the same coulour as the Bentley? You know, the obvious questions to ask when being rich and bored...
The broker is ready to prostitute himself, provide the white powder or deliver the yacht tomorrow to get them to sign...Which they of course not do, cos next week there is the Monaco show and its far more cooler to say you both a yacht in Monaco than Cannes.
So the increasingly depressed couple gets of the yacht and move further on, a la recherche the things bigger, bolder and hopefully more expensive.

Clearly in their world everything is image and needs to be big with the only expection.....the dog!
But well, it should fit in a Louis Vuitton bag... Oouffff I am looking forward to Monaco....

Blogs suck!

Some of the readers of this blog will know by now that JuniorSenior stands for New Generation Advertising Agency. An agency that is creative and like to have fun too. Currently we got ChupaChups as account and we went back to basic, providing the client with one simple USP -> pleasure.

So, we have now started to roll out a campaign on the internet, television, billboards and radio with the message that is clear ; ....Sucks! Yes, a bit cheeky but good fun and our best example is the new website, simple and effective www.chupachups.nl have a look and use the freebies, you will soon notice that you get addicted to it and its not even bad for your teeth! Have fun and make sure to spread the word!!

Yawn

I certainly hope that this blog doesnt give you the Yawning feeling but actually this is not bad at all. Recent studies have come up with a good theory for Yawning.
Yawning doesnt promote sleeping it delays it! Why, basically the brain overheats after a long day of work (for some) and its needs to get rid of this heat by yawning, it therefore cools the brain! Sending cool blood to the brain serves to maintain optimal levels of mental efficiency.

But why do we do it for no reason when other people do it? Ever noticed it, even thinking about makes me yawn already. Is this normal Dr Bos? Well, yes it is. Another study showed that contagious yawning indicates empathy. It indicates an appreciation of other people's behavioural and physiological state.
In normal words, it basically means that if you yawn at somebody you have a high social empathy, you care about this person. Nothing to do with boredom.
But bear in mind that psychology students yawn more than engineering students.
Funny, I always thought that already...but for the wrong reasons!

The human body is full of miracles and actually the majority is more positive than we think but in any case its keeps a lot of scientist busy working, so no boredom either!

Give me a Break

Living in the South of France and being part of the culture has some negative sides... especially in terms of the cinema and television, cos all is in French. The funny thing is that I have the feeling that they only have two voices in english so every person sounds the same and frankly The Simpsons in french or Scrubs...doesnt work at all! However on an evening of general boredome I switched on the television and watched, what turned out to be the 3rd episode, of an american serie I didnt know at all.

Short story? Ok, two brothers are in the same prison, one innocent and the other willing to go through great lengths to proof that. They need to escape, how ? Well brother 2 has his body covered with tattoos..which are the escape routes but hidden.
Obviously they cannot leave alone and have help of some of the least friendly people in the prison, one of them called T Bag...

Yes I agree, when reading this...you think, my god those Americans have had too many free refills of Coke ...in their noses. But from the first minutes you are hooked! The acting is great, the story lines are original and intelligent and you just hate it when the episode is over. I have seen serie 1 during which they prepared their escape and Serie II will focus on them being on the run. The fact that its is in french is not even bothering me and I highly recommend to watch it.

In addition the actors are relatively unknown, so no start crap just good actors.
So, I trust you on switching to M6 this Thursday and watch Prison Break serie II!
You are in for a ride and trust me, its really cool!

Free at last

Its the age of new technolgy and not having a WIFI internet high speed broadband connection is like driving a Porsche with a Fiat Uno engine, not possible!
So, after some research about access, speed, installation kits and of course the price. I decided to pick the one and send in the form to get hooked up. The packs currently on the market even offer telephone and television services at very competitive rates. This morning I received the pack and the welcomes letter.

Dear Mr Bos, welcome to Free telecom, we are glad you have decided to pick us as your operator. I was stunned, I was choking on my coconut cookies, felt a strange urge to laugh.. As some of you might know I have been with Alice (no love connection here) since 2 years and happy with her services. This letter I received was in connection with a demand I made....5 years ago ! Did this letter took so long to deal with or did La Poste delivered it first in every town of France before putting it in my letterbox?? So many questions and so little answers.

The miracles of the French economy and customer service are close to biblical proposion...you cannot see if you just have to believe in it! Maybe my lost cheque is taking the same tour and will show up within 5 years from now oh llalalal You gotta love the french !

Das Boot

The coming two weeks the Cote d'Azur will be overcrowded with boys and their toys eg Yachts!
First the Cannes Plaisance will kick off with the smaller versions up to 20 million euros and than the next week it will be Monaco at the Monaco Yacht Show for the Superyachts with the super rich. It is generally very warm during these days and the best business is being done in Cannes, Monaco is just the place to show that you are the best and still alive :)

Which makes it a fun two weeks during which JuniorSenior will use their Popeye strenght to catch the best fishes indeed of some communication help! Of course we will try to behave us as VIPs with access to the VIP lounges, chauffeur driven limo's, cocktails and parties, the usual game to play when hunting for clients ;)

Its a strange world the Yachting industry. Buy a yacht for 20 million euros and be prepared to pay 15% each year for maintenance and that excluding the fuel and crew and the 'parking' for your toy, as my father calls it; Owning a yacht is like throwing money in a hole in the sea!
A wise man !

But its clear in this industry Image is very important and they way you present your company even more sooooo we should come in handy!

So, if you are interested in meeting us, than catch us either in Cannes or later in Monaco, we will be able to provide with a cool flyer and some Rocket Fuel!
Ahoy and see you later.

What I do on a day off...

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Click Rich

These are hard times; petrol has become a luxury product, a tomato is sold at cocaine prices, illegal bread seller in the street, smokers travel 100km to buy theirs fags, yes the world is getting poorer and we all have become victims. BUT, tonite at 1 in the morning I have find a solution...

This blog is the start to get things turnaround! Yes indeed, U, U the reader, yes u, get up from the couch, get behind your screen and react! Dont hesitate, u can change the world and its simple and painless! How you will be asking yourself. Well dear blog reader, go to the top page of this blog, move your mouse of the screen, dont be scared its not hurting him, move up higher, a little more, YES. There it is ! The little block on top of the page, you are close to save the world and make at least one person life more positive and easier.

Are you ready, shake your arm and move your fingers. OK, NOWWWWWWWWW CLICK ON IT, as fast as you can as often as you can! Yes, blog reader, dont let your tennis arm stop you, click for God sake and make somebody happier. Did you manage to do so? Well than dont forget to repeat this World Changing Gesture at least 3 times per day! After meals of course, to reduce the risk of a hunger attack. It is statistically proven that bycycle riders are particulary good at it but they use of course EPO (Electronic Push Operators) which might be considered to be cheating but THINK saving the world and I will forgive you.

You now know that you can make a change, Use it, CLICK IT, the owner of this blog will be greatful. And you will feel better!

This message was brought to you by the Clickers Anonymous.

Rat Race

It will be short today :) Important meeting this morning in Monaco, lots of emails and the phone doesnt stop ringing, things to do, things to read, to prepare, many meetings for next; a real rat race BUT its great to be part of it. Boredom is not in my dictionnary and will never be.
It is a privilege to be busy (productive of course) when you are doing something u like and the people you work with and clients feel the same passion as you do!

A 9 to 5 is not for me, I think i have never had one day in my working life that was 9 to 5 and that has been like this since 9 years! After having studies a long time and starting to work you soon realize that this a different world, were everything changes fast and clients even faster, adapt or do something different, but in any case, Love what you are doing, cos this will reflect on your work and business relationship and you passion and professional approach will convince them that his progress is save when working with you!
It sounds simple and it is but it can be stressful and tiring but when you stick to it you will succeed!

Take this piece of humble advise and use it! You will see it works and its great !

PS Joining the Rat race doesnt make you a Rat!

Apple for the thirst?

Always at the edge of technology and design, here is the latest Ipod version with Wifi and many other cool gadgets, just for info, my birthday is within a month ;)

Check it out http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/

Blog Bday

Happy Blogday ! Its official ! Today my blog is celebrating its first month and I reckon that this should be rewarded with a new National Blogday, or Free Blogchampagne for everybody.

Kabouter Blog? Blog Party?

But seriously, has it changed my life? No, not really, I am still that strange Dutch man with even stranger hair & often strange t shirts buttttt Its fun. Everyday a little story, some people commenting on it, expressing myself librement and its therefore stimulating my creativity.

Although my audience is captive (thanks fam B, Mme A etc) it should grow so I am planning on buying a full size billboard campaign to raise my stakes... The World is mine, well maybe just mention the blog to some friends...cost effective :) I intend to inform the world of my exciting life (or lack of it) for the rest of 2007 and than we will see, maybe a referendum to decide to continue or to stop... difficult decision, but for the moment its been all fun & games as they say on the other side of ze water.

Of course I am open for suggestions, maybe you want me to make a film, sing a song, breakdance or participate in a rollator race (Oma can I borrow yours?) Or I can post my latest recipes or maybe a drawing of me line dancing ???

Well I guess I have enough nonsense to produce to rest me a lifetime :) Hope you enjoy it, its just the beginning. A plus

French Banks part 3

A miracle has happened ! Today I got a letter of the bank with a statement that show the incredible amount of 185 euro credit. Well, how exciting.... It is ! Cos this account has been shut down for over 4 years and I never knew that the power of French Banks is so strong that they can wake account up from the death ...

So this morning I had a quick meeting with them to close it (again) and surprise surprise they were not be able to goes there was a payment made with it to another account of which they dont know the whereabouts hahahaha I hope it belongs to me and had the latest lottery winnings on it !! The lady from the bank will get back to me asap, which means either in three weeks or never.

Needless to say that my big cheque has still not being found back and even the notary office is starting to give me the same silence treatment. Well, lets stay positive and celebrate the 185euro and buy some lotto tickets with it, maybe I get lucky again.
But this would leave me with a difficult issue... Which bank would be the bank to take care of the money?? oh lallaalal what a scary thought!

Food for Thought

Are French people obsessed with food? Is the eating of smelly cheese a health issue? Will they drink the grapes out of each vineyard? Important questions I guess, since I am living here and try to adapt to this tough lifestyle... What does food mean for Dutch people?

Simple, lets take lunch... you have 30 minutes to push a number of sandwiches through your system and basically get over your hunger feeling. Not very poetic nor interesting, Dutch people feel the need to eat not the need to experience the food. What does food mean for the French? Not so simple, its an experience, an art de vivre even a joy, the picking of the ingredients, the choice of the menu, the way the table is laid out, the smell the color, ok ok we get it; it is important!

Well, yes and since 30 minutes will just be enough to discuss the starter, French people take generally 2 hours to lunch. A little bit of wine is often shared to stimulate the not so good French winemarket and is a mere sacrifies ...

A typical lunch is shared with people, love ones or business people, during which each ingredient, its origin, way it was prepared etc is discussed in a lengthy matter. Participants defends their regions of origin, 'our Fromage is far more smellier than yours' is often heard.
It seems like working is something that is scheduled around a meal and is of none importance than just be able to settle the bill.

I have been observing this behaviour as a consultant of the National Geographic and I have to say, it surprises me each time cos French people tend to refer to each ingredients or meal as 'the best they ever had'. Obviously until the next day....
I do believe we can learn from them and appreciate food in a way better than just something that fills the stomache to something that add to the brain too!

Although I will not let food become the spokesperson at my dinner table I do enjoy hearing the stories and seeing their passion. Clearly it has had an influence on me. When I got back from New York awhile ago a (French) friend picked me up from the airport and asked me how the Big Apple was. My first reaction was without thinking.... My God the food is sooo bad!

He took me in his arms and said the magical word ; Erwin, welcome back in France, you are French now !

Football Fantasy

The transfer market has just closed and in the nick of time, OGC Nice signed their biggest player ever. Reknown for its creative skills, speed and excellent strategic ideas, Nice now has a player that will make a difference!

Originally from Amsterdam this player has become a global player and creates a whole generation of new players that will provide creative solutions in a game that is sooo old but never tiring! Curious to get to know this player? Have a look at his website http://www.jr-sr.com/ be ready to be surprised!

Birthday Boy

Today I just wanted to say to the world... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD !!! Finally getting the chance to ride the bus cheaper, get into the museum for half price and many more cost saving ideas to finance the botox cream... just kidding, we are BOS people, we dont get Rimpels!

Well, papa, have fun and when you come to visit I will get you some spicy fish at the Barachois with a nice petite punch, but if you prefer I can get you a Happy Meal too :)

Dikke kus van je zoon en geniet van de dag ! Het gaat jullie goed ! PS Neem gerust een koekje!

Politics Ban

There are a number of subjects to be avoided on a blog; Religion, Politics and Sex, although the last one seems to make the internet a success story... However I would like to blog a bit about Politics. Not for what they believe in or stand for, the varies in any case upon the wind or economic interests but on the way they promote themselves.

Recently I read a very interesting article that underlined the importance of the Look of party members, statesmen ect. Bush being a cowboy and that shows off in his way of running the country and currently Sarkozy. Spending some times with the cowboys wearing a blue blazer and Dockers, according to this article 'he remained professional in a laid back manner' in other words he is closer to the people but a professional president. So, image seems to be everything even in politics. So how would those Italians deal with this I wondered. I mean the country where Image, Look and being Cool go hand in hand. I decided to walk around and have a look at the party poster displayed in the street. It was a feist for the eye; pictures in black & white of candidates, glowing teeth sponsored by Colgate, beautiful women BUT the best of all was Mr Bianconi. He managed to capture my eye and stopped me from sleeping...

His campaign is so strong it makes u want to take steroids to beat him ! His slogan is 'Tolleranza Zero' I guess this speaks for itselfs. However he mastered the Image part and created his own nice... 'I will be your spokes person' but added another dimension. Something like...'Look me in the eyes, the eyes, the eyes....... brrrrrrr

Politics and Image have become scary and I would like to say... Tolleranza Zero to all Politics on logs ! Have a look at the picture and judge it yourself, dont look to look, he might bite you!