Merry Christmas

Well, my good friends :

a MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE

Winter Solstice

Today, my good friends, it is official the Winter Solstice - which means that it is the longest night-shortest day. So on the positive side : days will only get longer as from today... (do I already feel a touch of spring coming?)

Today we had a Christmas lunch together with some European-instution-offices here in Edinburgh (all two or three people offices - so it's nice to have the lunch together). The food was lovely and we had some wine and it took us untill 16 pm to get back to the office, so just in time to check the last mails, update the blog and go home!

It was again a beautiful sunny day and i know i always seem to rant on about it, but that is because it has such a positive effect on me. also because we are one floor higher - with a spectacular view (and lots more natural sunlight coming in) we (my boss and me) do not seem to feel as "depressed" (in the most light way of the word) by this dark winter-time...

and just as a demonstration as to how cheery we decorated our christmas tree, you can the see the photographic evidences here below! Merry Christmas everybody!

the music-box of Pandora

ok, i officially started the Kristof-is-in-the-xmass-mood-festive-season... i felt i was missing out on all the xmass fun - i still haven't had the time to visit the edinburgh xmass-winter-wonderland and german christmas-market... So i decided to take some action. Starting with my office : my background picture now is the most cheesy christmas-backgroung i could find (other suggestions are always welcome, i like to change)

And a new website i found is www.pandora.com which is i think a great thing. You give in a song or artist you like and the site creates a "internet-radio" with music of the same "nature" as your favourite style/song/artist... and if you type in for instance "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" then you can listen for ever and ever to all the favourite Christmas carols... which - i must admit - I have been doing since this morning...

I just read on the internet news that Fairy Tale In New York from the Pogues was elected in The Netherlands as most favourite xmas carol... but i had never heard of it... so what are your favorite Christmas carols?

victorious

Yesterday night, i ended up in a new pub here in Edinburgh, the Southsider - to pre-celebrate the birthday of Jodi - an australian girl i got to now during the catering sessions on saturdays with Helene's company. (Jodi's official bday party is on saturday btw). It was interesting to talk with her australian friends, and so i discovered that Aussies don't really have different dialects per region - which i found (boring as it may sound) highly interesting...

We also played a couple of games of - and now i have no idea how to say this in english - "table-football"! A game of which i am not a great fan because back in Belgium, all of my friends with whom i played it before, would always win... but yesterday luck was on my side - my great skills and the superb technique lead me to a glorious victory (or more probable : the fact that the three australian people probably never ever in their life played this game before helped a lot as well...)

Now it's looking forward to the xmas holidays. I have one week holidays between christmas and new year. Joris's mum will be visiting, as well as two friends from Belgium (will stay one night) and our good friend Ann is joining us for the Hogmanay celebrations! huray! let the party-season begin... (but not yet, because tonight and tomorrow night i am working with Joris in the restaurant)...

Wall to Wall

what a day today... at least if you are sitting inside behind a window... as my boss would say (and probably it is a very common expression) : wall to wall blue skies... not a single cloud hanging over Edinburgh today... very nice... the only down-part : i have got to shut the curtains here in the office because otherwise i cannot see my screen... (is that really necessary?)

Did a lot of cleaning this weekend and Karine moved out, so we have our spare room again... it is a bit weird because she has been living with us for a while now, and the room has lost its previous function, so it is a bit lifeless now...

i would like to make a whole chicken in the oven tonight, but have not really an idea how to start... i checked some internet-pages but nothing inspired me... i want to do something with lemon, lots of garlic an fresh herbs... all tips are welcome!

Back in Town

Well it is good and strange to be back in Edinburgh after one month of holidays... and a lot of things have happened during that month...
My sister gave birth to a healthy boy, Dylan, but you have read that already of course. I met up with lots of friends and family, went to lots of parties, met new people, had unexpected meetings with old friends, I played with my old band “kabaal” again (still feels great – I really miss to play in a band), went to see my old colleagues, had a mission with my boss in Brussels and we went to a reception organised by Scotland in the European Parliament… loads of very nice things… last weekend I came back and I immediately started working in alli’s restaurant, together with Joris, who is unfortunately having some back-problems…
It was a great month in Belgium, but yesterday-night it felt also good to be back in Edinburgh, Xmass-feeling is in full swing, the relaxed meetings with friends, Edinburgh castle…

it's a boy !

oh finally i get some time to update my weblog... and since i am here a lot of things have happened already, and of course the most important one : my sister gave birth to DYLAN, my god-child (or how do you say that in english...)
The baby is doing fine, is very healthy, weighs 3.8 kg and is very peaceful and quiet...
His website (in dutch) you can find here

Almost Home

Well, days are getting a lot shorter, nights a lot longer... thank god Idon't have to work in November :-)

Been doing, well, actually nothing this week. a bit of sightseeing with friends of Joris, sleeping late, catching a little flu, and now this weekend starting to pack my things to prepare for the big journey... next Tuesday Joris and I are leaving for London, to be present at the Flanders Remembers Concert organised by the Flemish Representation in London. Then on Wednesday I travel on direction Brussels and Joris returns to Edinburgh. Oh yes, the restaurant will re-open soon! Ali has bought the restaurant together with the former Chef, which means that Joris will probably work in the restaurant! So everything seems to work out at last... and it seems we have a spot again to meet all those wonderful people!
next I will be blogging it will probably be from Belgium!

Pink Martini

I know Pink Martini almost exactly 5 years now, since I was studying in Finland with Maria – who introduced me to this amazing band. They are an eclectic mix of musicians, with their main base in Portland, USA. Although the band is centred around the pianist (could be the lost son of Elton John) and the diva-style singer, every musician has its moment of glory and contributes to the unique sound of this band. They bring a mix of traditional folk songs from around the world, not afraid to perform songs in Italian, French and even Japanese, combined with their own jazzy songs.

So yesterday night they were here in Edinburgh, and all dressed up in true Pink Martini-style (or at least something we think that is) we (that is my new friends Audrey and Jodi from New Zealand and Australia and Patrick) went to see them performing in Usher Hall. And they rather easily lived up the (high raised) expectations… I was a bit worried, because I had almost dragged the others to the concert – none of them really knew what they were up to… but it turned out really really well… Maybe just a bit too short… and I wished Maria was here to enjoy it with me... and joris off course as well, since i hooked him up with Pink Martini as well... ah...

On The Move

The last two days we - I really should say I - have been moving offices... we are moving one floor up to our new office. Main advantages: windows! Whereas we now only have one little window, with my desk as far from the window as possible, we will have one wall of windows, with my bosses desk and mine each next to this wall... and the view...ah the view is wonderful... we will oversee the south-west-side of the city, with its beautiful Pentland Hills and can even see Murrayfield Stadium... I will try to post a picture as soon as possible! and now: back to the boxes

Corpse Bride

What a weekend… on Friday night… hmm… on Friday night I… hmm… can’t seem to remember what I did on Friday… oh yes… it all comes back to me now… falling asleep in front of the television with Amelie Poulin… nice very nice

On Saturday, after an excruciating work-out in the gym, I had some drinks at Emilie’s place and then went out with Patrick. Sunday then… aaah sometimes I really love Sundays… doing absolutely nothing… sitting/hanging/sleeping in the couch in front of the television… the only reason worth leaving the house was to go and see Corpse Bride, the new animation film from Tim Burton.

Now before I continue I must confess one thing: I have never seen “The Nightmare Before Christmass” … shame on me… I hear that it’s a classic animation film…
Anyway, lured by the prospect of seeing… euhm… hearing Johnny Depp play alongside this wonderful crew of British actors such as Emilie Watson en Helena Bonham Carter, I found myself watching this new movie.

And I really liked it. It has everything what in my eyes a good animation needs: a good story, going from a to b, a playful musical score and lots of witty humour. But (yes there it is, the “but”) the creators seem to fail in one aspect, but rather an important one. They seem to fail to create empathy. And this I think has two main reasons.

First of all I think the movie is too short… by the time you really get to know the characters and come to like them, the whole thing is over.

But more importantly the story seems not able to decide with which character to sympathize… should you feel sorry for Victor (yes, that’s Johnny Depp) who accidentally marries a dead woman? Or for Victoria (a tribute to Victor and Victoria) who looses her fiancée to a skeleton? or maybe for the Corpse Bride because she cannot seem to get the love she so longed for…? As a result you seem to watch the whole film as an neutral outsider, who can enjoy all the things he sees, but wonders why actually he is watching…

But on the whole, a very entertaining film though, maybe something to rent as a dvd and watch on a rainy Sunday…

oh bugger

aargh... am very moody and grumpy this morning... i discovered (while already being late for work) that the window of my car got smashed... again. It is (if I at least didn't lost count) the fourth time they have smashed our car window. Now our street is notoriously located on the edge of a bit a rougher area in Edinburgh... but four times… and nothing is stolen, just for the fun of smashing… at least there was a little police notice on the car that they had noticed and to call them to make a statement… just what you need on a dull Tuesday morning isn’t it…

closing time

A thing happened last Friday night and it left all of my friends here in Edinburgh a bit homeless... our favourite bar where we all met up every weekend (and during the week as well), which had the best Thai food in town (in the neighbouring restaurant section) has closed down... On friday afternoon I heard from my friend that that night would be the last one...

A great pity, because the bar was our meeting place, where, since June this year a lot of sociable events have been taken place. We got to know Matthieu and Leslie, Maite, Rory, the people from BBC Scotland, the Scotsman, the regular guests, some artists (and free tickets) during the festival period, Mam and Cheng, Thomas, Kat, Sarah, Karlos, Morgan, too many people to sum them all up.

So where do we have to meet now? Where can we find a new bar, with the same privacy we had, with the same cheap beer and the same cool people? Difficult...

dance the night away...

Katrien and Elise have left Edinburgh today... a bit of a shame that the weather just these days was so awful, because for tomorrow they say it is going to be a lovely time. Anyway, it wouldn't be Scotland if the weather was always sunny and nice...

Tomorrow night I can go to the gig from Soulwax/2ManyDJs in Edinburgh. A friend of Joris has put me on the guest list because she knows the sound engineer. It should be pretty exciting, but the only down-part is that it is not really a gig, but more like a upgraded-live-performed-dj-set and that usually means: late at night… and since I will be working on Friday and Saturday evening for Alli…

Tonight I am going to the gym again (damn I should be going more often…) and then afterwards drink away the rain at Alli’s bar…

and so this is xmass...

The big master plan 2005/2006 has unveiled itself... the time of being decisionless (as being described in a former posting called “being Edinburgh”) is finally over… at least until spring 2006.
So what is the outcome? Well, we will stay a bit longer in Edinburgh but I arranged with my employer that I don’t have to work during November. (a gap of a month between my two yearly contracts) so no pay, but no work either! That means that I can be with my family when my sister gives birth to her third child of which I will be godfather (or –mother as some dare to say)… I am very excited to go back to Belgium to meet my family and friends again.

December will then be a very short month, with only three months to go until Christmas holidays… and then the new year begins… time just flies by… Merry Xmass and a Happy New Year!

ain't no mountain high enough

Last weekend we went up again to the highlands with two visiting friends. It was already a while ago since I travelled all the way up to the Glen Coe Region in the Highlands. And although very cloudy and a bit rainy, it thought it was a beautiful day and it showed the Scottish nature in all its splendour.

Again some very eventful days are ahead of us; this morning our friends left Edinburgh, tomorrow Joris is leaving for three weeks to work in France with a theatre company and next weekend two other friends are visiting me. Then in November - assuming that Brussels HQ will give its authorisation – I will have a one month holiday (I will leave a month between my old contract and my new contract) and will head for Belgium to visit my friends and family and more importantly be present for the birth of my sisters new baby, for which I will be godfather!

Have a Break

These last weeks I have found out that actually I am getting rather addicted to KitKat's... It all started a month or two ago, seeing a friend eating the chocolate-crunchy-biscuit and thinking... hmm.. how did that taste again? And it all ended at sneaking out the office around 11 (and round 15 o'clock again if the need was really high) to go to the shop and buy a KitKat. And although Joris brought a 5 kg bag of Chocotoffs (oh my all time favourites!) back from Belgium, still the KitKat-temptation has not dissapeared.... Don't you just love chocolate! ok and now time for a break... time for a...

back in town

after their week in the highlands, Joris and Wendy returned to Edinburgh today - leaving Ruud behind at Prestwick Airport for his travel back to Belgium. Today I granted myself a little bit of an extended lunch break and I went to have lunch with Joris and Wendy in the Baxter's Shop in Ocean's Terminal with view over the Forth... very nice indeed, although my motivation to work this afternoon has gone down... but it is Friday, so a few more hours and the weekend can begin!

practicalities...

after a convenient bank holiday yesterday, I experience my monday-morning mood on a Tuesday. only advantage is that the working-week will be over sooner!

Joris, Wendy and Ruud left the house this morning round 6 o'clock (i guess, because - of course - i was still sleeping) to go on their trip to the Highlands with as target the Orkney Islands. Pity that i cannot join them (no holidays left) but fortunately the nice sun in town here in town eases this feeling a little bit. Had a bit of a crazy weekend, with - i seem only to recall - lots of eating and parties...

Did a lot of thinking as well this weekend and, step-by-step, the big "masterplan for the 2005-2006" is shaping itself... but before I give away too much clues about what might happen, I need to figure out some more practicalities to make this plan work...

J-Day

J-Day today... The weather-gods are celebrating with me the return of Joris on this beautiful Island this morning by giving us a clear blue sky, but rather cold temperatures (feels more like a nice december-morning or so). Joris will be accompanied by Wendy and Ruud. Tonight I arranged to meet up with Joris's old collegues in Alli's restaurant.... Monday is bank holiday here so probably we will go out on a excursion somewhere in the highlands... hurray!