prahahah

just trying some new tech stuff out!

just saw this on another blog - just cool.

ZULU SURFRIDERS (a promo) from Carlos Francisco on Vimeo.

U Bahn

overhetij festival site

So whilst in amsterdam, I met up with the guys who run a festival called Overhetj.Check out their website www.overhetij.nl
the site is just over a river from the central station. They give young theatremakers a platform to create site-specific work in very exciting, raw spaces.
Aside from the festival, the area is used by numbers of artists who have begun a Kunstad- an arts city. They create their own work space from inside this huge warehouse that was once used to build ships. It's really exciting to see how they use the space.

jut realised i posted my cows twice

that's cos they were so fabulous and gave me therapy. dis die waarheid people, cow therapy - it's all the rage in the netherlands.

more oerol pics

oerol - lekkerrrr

So I am back in Amsterdam after a fabulous week of trekking around Tercshelling island.
Oerol festival is baie special. En ek het my taal gepraat die hele week - heel goed!!
Almal verstaan - en dit was baie snaaks om in afrikaanse to dink.

everyone says lekker en pragtig as they cycle on their hired bikes around through the forests, beaches, fields of cows, horses, sheep and pigs. En daar is kuns everywhere - art everywhere.
It's really inspiring and I'm very glad to have been there. I met some incredible people, made some very good contacts, saw some fabulous inspiring theatre and chilled out in beautiful scenery - exactly what was needed.

highlights:
- going to see the Peer Group performance.
They'd miked up the surrounding hills and planted various lights around the area. We sat and watched a dance and light show with live music interacting with nature. A full moon rose above a field of cows whilst seagulls flew overhead and a sound - scape echoed over the hills and sand dunes. It was so incredibly beautiful.

- Tuig
A giant wheel situated in the forest. The audience sits on either side of a structure that comes to life revealing how we can get caught up in a nine-to-five world. Beautifully told with minimal text and a set design that comes to life through a series of hanging strings that when pulled reveal a lounge room, a bookshelf and even a gas fire. So concise and beautiful.

Slem Opdrift
Silloughette structures on the beach that are being moved from East to West over the period of the festival. Each figure has a quote about time. When you move the figures, you have to walk backwards draging the figure in the sand. It's s beautiful concept speaking to how we can't tell the future but can keep moving forward leaving traces of ourselves on earth as we do. Amazing.

a cup of chicken soup and some chips

still think the chicken soup in zagreb was the best.. but this one was pretty good too.
I'm roadtesting - pianos and chicken soup.
think i saw people on the amazing race today. bizaare and amusing.

In De Waag

you look left then right then left again. then you take your first step out onto the road only to almost be run over by yet another cyclist. This one is carrying a ladder and is about to get to work across the canal, through the traffic, over the tram tracks and next to the little old lady who is also riding her bike and taking her grandhcildern in the same bike on some flimsy seat that looks like it's going to break. and of course there are no helmets being worn, because this is Europe. Protective headgear... never.

but it works somehow and people seem to be really 'living'.

So I'm in Amsterdam. the land of red lights, curtains, chips and mayonnaise, weed, mushrooms, Van Gogh, Anne Frank and Bikes. Dis lekker om Afrikaanse te praat. Ek verstaan almal en probeer met my taal but inevitably get caught out when I just sound simple.

I'm onto my third cup of coffee today. And it is just coffee, this time. I'm sitting in De Waag. some famous old building that reminds me of being in Constantia. I feel at home here - bring on those shutters, gables, wood panelling and old Kerks.

tomorrow I am off to Terschelling Island. A small island up north where thousands descend on the small space for a week of culture, mayhem, theatre, forest walks and music(I'm guessing)
I'm pitching a tent. Yes people, me, a tent, and my sleeping bag, which will finally get some use on this trip. Who would've thought it sat in my bag and looked pretty until now.

More news on the side of the trip.

faces

Walking through the Jewish museum in Berlin, you come across this installation that memorializes the Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. It is an uncomfortable feeling standing on and walking over so many faces. Such a simple idea and execution yet such a powerful experience.

berlin

memorials

recap - cesky krumlov & berlin

So I've had an eventful week. Family has been the focus of it all. But whilst all of that has been happening, I've been to a beautiful little Czcech town "Cesky Krumlov' and Simon and I have since come through to Berlin - a city that reminds me of a cross between Brooklyn and Melbourne. Very cool indeed.

We went rafting down the river last weekend, which was amazing.

Simon's just left for the rest of his trip and I stay on in Berlin till next week. I think a visit to a few memorials are in order.

in memory