Where the Wild Things Are

Went to see this film last night in Amersfoort with Carin and Julia. From the trailer I'd seen last week I'd expected a lighter film full of stunning scenery but this was definitely dark and sometimes scary stuff. Well, dreams often are dark and scary, especially those which are in the heads of mixed up 9 year olds, so they got that right. It was clever how they got the muddled quality of dreams into the (vague) story line. One of the monsters with a male voice had a female name. Fears which started with a classroom story of how the sun was dying translated in his dreamworld into a desert landscape. All the elements of his real life were present but all jumbled up into a mixture which he sometimes felt he had control over for a while but which then just as suddenly could unravel into chaos. Definitely a film which probably reveals more on a second viewing - sometime in the future I'd like to see it again if it crops up on tv. Oh and it's definitely nOt a children's film. Julia (11) was old enough to 'get' most of it I think, but I suspect that for most 8-10 year olds (it has an 8+ certificate) it would probably not be coherent enough for them to be able to enjoy it. And any younger children would most likely just be scared witless by it.

Hier is een recensie van de NRC

Smoothie

Pear, banana, yoghurt, orange juice and ginger syrup.










And none of it even reached the kitchen walls - I'm getting better at this mixer stuff.

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Glass in Lead workplace

Since we went to the Tiffany Girls exhibition in April there have been vague plans to sometime maybe do some sort of glass-in-lead course. On Saturday there was an open day at a workshop place in Baarn so Janneke and I went along to have a look around there.










The plans are still as vague as ever but it was interesting to have a look at what is possible.

Bull Terrier Club Walk on Scheveningen beach

I'd heard about the walk via the online forum and went along to see this mass gathering of the clans. I knew I was in the right place when the first van I saw had a Bull Terrier logo painted on the side.










Saw a huge variety of animals and talked with different people about their dogs.











Great variety of colours - I'd seen brindles and whites before but the black/white versions and the tri-colours were new for me.
A young English Bulldog in amongst the Bull Terriers.










I really enjoyed my walk on the beach and seeing so many of these wonderful dogs together. I've been thinking of maybe getting a Bull Terrier as my next dog. Since my canoe trip last year with my 2 lodgerdogs I'd like to have a dog small enough to do the same with. However the full-size dogs are heavier than I'd imagined so I'm now thinking more along the lines of a smallish bitch or maybe even a miniature version. Met a few of those today and they're not as small as I'd thought they'd be. Around 20 kilo in weight, which is just about the right size I think.

The Marmite Crisps have landed!

Snow is back and Christmas has apparantly returned too, with the arrival of a parcel full of Marmite crisps. Showing remarkable restraint I have as yet only eaten one packet.

Huis van de Poëzie

On Thursday evening a part of the luxurious Karel V hotel was transformed into a House of Poetry. A number of bedrooms and function rooms became the setting for a variety of poetry readings.
The highlight of the evening was without doubt 'The Darkroom' where about 20 of us were handed sleeping masks to put on before we took our place in one of the bedrooms. Elsa and I got ourselves the best places on the huge bed (after having been jealous of the ones who'd got this ideal 'seat' in one of the other rooms earlier) and settled back onto the pillows in a room full of strangely penetrant esoteric scents. We put our masks on, the lights went out and the music and readings began. This time no 'live' poet but a recording, including Reve himself waffling on about Catholicism. What a wonderful voice he has. The last poet of the evening upstairs in the lecture room was also well-worth hearing. A high-speed hyperpoetess who could certainly teach some of the more draaaaawwwn out readers a thing or two about delivery.
I think my next Literary Outing will probably be to this new museum for which I picked up a few free entry tickets.