OBAMA WON!!!!
see the way things went down here
and the Bruce Springsteen song has never been truer... I am very proud of the country I come from today - we managed to elect the first African-American President in US history and just having him in office will change the face of relations and influence for the US the world over. in a good way. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. President-elect! Thoughts and prayers are with you now more than ever - you are going to need it ;)

EDIT: to all of my chicagoans - i hope you had the time of your life last night! could there have been a more exciting time to be in chicago other than this? well, maybe the world fair of 1893, cubs winning the world series in 1908, the fire (not good) or perhaps that time radiohead played for free in grant park in 2003... either way, i am really really jealous and hope you enjoyed the sweetness of the victory to it's fullest ;)

Election Night!!!

Alrighty friends, compatriates and celeb-junkies!

Election Night is here! On the European continent, it is now almost 8pm and there is a buzz of people all over the city looking for the bar or house or screen-only-used-for-video-games-on -a-regular-basis that they intend on gluing themselves to until 3 or 4 in the morning. In this way, we can do our small part to rally support for all of you in the US that are fulfilling your American rights and duties. Update to come tomorrow on who the winner of tonight's major decision will be! Complete with pictures and hopefully some videos ;)

In the meantime, I have updated the picasa pictures and there will be more coming of Halloween and some times out with friends from other corners of Europe!

here are some live feed sites for you...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2008/nov/04/uselections2008-twitter
http://www.ustream.tv/
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/cnns_election_night_plans_99141.asp

have a great night, happy voting and GO OBAMA!!!!

on a lighter note...

I have to briefly pay homage of the only celebrity blog that i follow.... mr. www.thesuperficial.com, you have saved me from many a too-serious moment with great and much-needed laughter at the expense of celebrites that enjoy exploiting themselves. everyone that enjoys sarcasm with a side of crass, please check out this site. i promise you will thank me for it later.

today's post complements the post I just made about the elections... some things are just too good to pass up. please excuse the language, but anyone who makes americans look this ignorant can be spoken of in no other tone. so we'll let it slide this time.

'Heidi & Spencer, Goddammit...

More: 2008 election , Heidi Montag , sarah palin , Spencer Pratt

Before everyone births a walrus, I've been avoiding these two like the plague. That said, I've been bombarded with e-mails today alerting me to Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt's latest, and most shitass, photo shoot yet. In an obvious effort to get my attention, the Douche Twins posed in Sarah Palin shirts while holding a shotgun, six-pack and Harry Browne's book "You Can Profit From a Monetary Crisis." This, of course, comes extremely close to meeting condition #2 of my criteria for post-worthiness:

However, to show that I'm not an unreasonable man and for the sake of journalist integrity, I will make the following exceptions in allowing you on this site:
1. Heidi wears a bikini.
2. Heidi covers her topless chest in maple syrup while stumping for Sarah Palin at a Klan rally.

Granted, there's no Aunt Jemima or Klansmen, these two asshats couldn't be more gay for Sarah Palin if they started throwing Bibles at poor people. Anyway, to all my conservative readers, feel free to thank Heidi & Spencer for officially costing you the election. In fact, you can pinpoint the exact moment John McCain loses in these pictures: Right when someone forgot to load the gun. Smooth.

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Update on VOTING!

this just in...

It is NOT too late to register to vote in some states!

You still have time to register to vote in:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, , Illinois (military voters only), Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin (military voters only)

The deadline for Guam is today October 24th!

And if you were already registered to vote in a state, it may still be possible to request a ballot. Check OVF's State Specific Voter Information: https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/state-voter-information-directory
See the same pages for options to send your forms or ballot to your election office too.

For those of you who just received your ballots and want to return them as quickly as possible, go to https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/overseas/ExpressYourVote.htm
to take advantage of "Express Your Vote" to FedEx your ballot home at a reduced rate from Europe -- and at no cost at all in some regions.

courtesy of marina.... thanks for the info! Sadly, most of the people that I have talked to here in Amsterdam have shirked their responsibilities and chosen not to cast their votes. If you are one of the darlings that DID vote, comment and let your beautiful voice be heard! perhaps it will serve as an encouragement to others for action in the future... at the very least, it will encourage me ;) thanks friends!

it's official - harry potter books are crack

so i have been sick for a couple of days (coming off a long couple of weeks :) ) and my friend's house that I am staying at has all of the Harry Potter books. i needed something brainless and entertaining to nurse my sickiness and i didn't feel like rotting all day in front of the tv - so i chose Harry Potter. I love the movies, and this is my first stab at reading the books. I tell ya, they are crack! I seriously can't put them down! i know this has been the plight of many a reader before my time with these terrifically popular and mildly controversial books, but seriously... at this point, i need to get through the rest of them as fast as possible so that i can be done and become more addicted to answering emails (yes, in the wake of the Harry Potter adddiction, quicker responses have waned). they are really great though, and i relish the idea that i will havve read the final two before they come out on the silver screen. in other news, projects are coming, proposals are being written and exhibitions are being created. but this is way more interesting for the moment. now, to find a new series for the next time i fall ill... any suggestions?

this is all her fault, by the way... thanks a lot, ms. rowling!

salmon salad

As many of you know, my greatest love in this city resides at a place called 'Puccini' - a sweet little cafe behind the University of Amsterdam and just before you hit the Waterlooplein market. The salad served at this place is one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. Seriously - no exaggeration. This salad has been the 'reset' button for many a moment in my life here in Amsterdam. When you come out to visit, please please please make sure that we go there to expereince this culinary wonder. If you are not able to make it out here for whatever reason, here are the main components:

baby field greens
1 small quartered tomato
1 quartered hard-boiled egg
4 sun-dried tomatoes
2 halved artichoke hearts
handful of seed mix (pinenuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds)
2 blanched asparagus spears
filet of smoked or fresh (but cooked) salmon
dallop of creme frâiche/dill/pepper/salt/paprika mix

Toss the lettuce, SDT and seed ingredients with a simple white wine vinagrette (dallop of whole-grain mustard, bit of honey, salt, pepper; mix together and add 2 Tbsp of white wine vinegar. then add 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil while stirring all the other ingredients). Around the edges of the salad, place the artichokes, tomatoes and eggs. Place the salmon atop the salad, with the asparagus spears crossed over it. Finish with the dallop of creme frâiche mixture and a bit of ground pepper. (can you tell I have had this a couple of times?)

ENJOY!!!

Presenting...

As promised, here is the cast of the oh-so-talented people that were involved in the 'Geboeid' production that is now going to tour Holland and beyond...

Suzanne Marx - Senior coreographer and Director. More coming from her soon... very lovely woman that had the vision for this piece and surrounded herself with very talented people to pull it all off beautifully!

Francis Sinceretti - Dancer in the role of the Shiek - part of the Nationale Balletacademie and the Nationale Ballet in Holland. Classical background and was hemmed into the 'hip-hop' fold very well

Martin Tint Barnes - Dancer in the role of the 'Love interest' - from Manchester, England, has been here in Holland for 2 years and is with the ISH dance company - amazing perforrmance and the first queation I got from people was 'how does he do that with his body?'... seriously, watch for this guy...

Sarita Keilman - Dancer in the role of the 'Turkish girl' - recently graduated from dance academy here in Holland and is very soon coming out to LA to fulfill a scholarship with the Millenium Dance Studio! I will be contacting some of you soon to hook up with her out in Cali! Extremely talented girl - watch for her as well...

Martin Buter - Assistant Director and Advising - my dear, dear friend that really helped bring polish to the show and can visualize and insert powerful emotion into an already good performance, thereby making it magical. It was great working with him and I sincerely hope there will be more of that to come.

Streamer/DJ Alec Smart (Gary Shepherd) - Very talented DJ that mixed the music for the show, held it together and applied that push to turn it into a great preformance. He does other shows, parties, all kinds of projects - great man to have on your side.

Maximillian Erhardt - Harpist - another darling friend that brought the blending of the classical with the 'hip-hop' feel and made it WORK. From Germany, he is in his final year that the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and will be a world-famous harpist before you know it.

Rosa Ana - Rap and Song - this girl is fabulous - wrote the raps that glued the whole show together. Like other rap divas, she owned the story and made it come alive with edginess and glamour. More coming from her very soon as well...

Kirsten Schötteldreier - Soprano - a sweet woman from Germany, she has performed in operas here in Holland, Germany and Italy. She is pursuing more productions like this and was very kind to work with.

And Beyond... - Yoland and Brigitte - Costumes - These girls have a great place in the middle of the red light district and made innovative costumes that worked really well for the show. Check out their stuff @ www.andbeyond.nl

Overall, it was a lovely production, very privilaged to have worked with these people and I wish them all the best in their upcoming endeavors. They are going to tour around Holland and I am hoping to join them, but we will see if that ends up materializing.... More to come (of course)
pictures of the production will be on picasa soon...