Though we both drank loads of beer on our trip (I mostly stuck with my beloved lambics), Keith was on a self-imposed mission to consume all of the Belgian Trappists.  Did he succeed?  Scroll down to find out.

• House beer at Chez Léon, Brussels.
• Hopus Blonde at A La Mort Sabite, Brussels.
• “Lambic Dégustation: Lambic Doux, Lambic  Blanc, Kriek, Bourgogne des Flandres” at A La Bécasse, Brussels. *
• Hoegaarden at Le Pré Salé, Brussels.
• De Koninck bolleke at Quinten Matsijs, Antwerp.
• Leffe Blond at Amadeus, Antwerp.
• Kwak at Café Métropole, Brussels.
• ‘t Smisje Wostyntje Tour Hauts Mosterd Biër at ‘t Brugs Beertje, Bruges.
• ‘t Smisje Dubbel at ‘t Brugs Beertje, Bruges.
• Abbaye des Rocs Brune at Le Corbeau, Brussels.
• Delirium Tremens at De Dulle Griet, Ghent.
• Trappistes Rochefort 10 at Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant, Ghent.
• Orval at Delirium Café, Brussels.
• Duvel at Chaff, Brussels.
• Chimay Bleue at Chaff, Brussels.
• Maredsous 10 Tripel at Café Le Fontainas, Brussels.
• Amstel at Brasserie De Roode Leeuw, Amsterdam.
• Westvleteren 12 at Café Gollem, Amsterdam.
• Westmalle Dubbel at Café Gollem, Amsterdam.
• Hertog Jan Weizener at Festina Lente, Amsterdam.
• Kasteel Donker at Café Brakke, Amsterdam.
• Leffe Blond at Café de Pels, Amsterdam.
• Duvel at Café van Leeuwen, Amsterdam.
• Charles Quint at Café Gollem, Amsterdam.
• Maredsous 8 Dubbel at Café Gollem, Amsterdam.
• Duchesse de Bourgogne at Silkbar, Amsterdam.
• Karmeliet Tripel at Café Gollem (Pijp), Amsterdam.
• La Trappe Tripel at Café Gollem (Pijp), Amsterdam.
• Leffe Brune at Silkbar, Amsterdam.
• Westmalle Tripel at Kingfisher, Amsterdam.
• La Trappe Isid’or at ‘t Arendsnest, Amsterdam.
• Texels Tripel at ‘t Arendsnest, Amsterdam.
• Stichting NH Alternatieve Bierbrouwers Maelstrom at ‘t Arendsnest, Amsterdam.

* Timmerman’s

We had originally planned to do day trips out of Amsterdam, same as we had in Brussels, but Keith and I soon came to realize that we didn’t want to wake up early to catch any more trains.  Instead, we leisurely made our way around the city each day.

Monday
Had breakfast at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels.  Three trains later — whoever said there were nonstops running from Bruxelles Nord is a liar — checked into Amsterdam’s Mövenpick Hotel overlooking the IJ, Centraal Station and the city.  After lying facedown on the bed for a while, roused ourselves to find dinner because apparently the Dutch don’t eat late.  Wandered down through the Old Centre, which was overflowing with drunken American, English, German and Irish tourists reeking of pot, and ended up at Brasserie De Roode Leeuw on the New Side, where I ate the most amazing piece of fish and Keith devoured veal meatballs, potatoes and these gorgeous little peas into which he mixed curries and compotes.  Finished the night with beers at Gollem, a tiny bar only slightly larger than my apartment’s bathroom.

Tuesday
Slept in a bit then found some lunch at Festina Lente in the Jordaan: taleggio, tomatoes and salami on a toasted wheat* ciabatta.  (If I lived here, I would come to Festina Lente once a week just to eat through their sandwich menu.)  Admired the café’s cat.  Commented how much the Dutch seem to love sandwiches… like me.  Drifted around the Jordaan.  Watched candy get made at Papabubble, then bought several Euro’s worth.  Checked out the clothes sold at Sprmrkt, all of which made me feel very fat and very uncool.  Smelled soaps at La Savonnerie and realized Amsterdam is quite beautiful once you get away from the sleazy bits.  Beer break at Café Brakke, where non-patrons have to pay €0.50 to use the toilet but petting the cat is free.  Hopped a tram to the Pijp for dinner at District V.  Happened to be “National Restaurant Week,” so ate the set menu of salmon wrapped in pasta with a tomato cream sauce; “friander kalfsoester” with potatoes, ratatouille and a delicious marsala potato gratin studded with rosemary; and a citron ice cream with lemon sauce and a brownie full of ground almonds.  (If you come here, check out the not-as-cheesy-as-it-sounds chandelier made of cutlery, sieves and serving spoons.)  Trammed back to the hotel.

Wednesday
Had prebooked tickets to the Anne Frank House; showed up fifteen minutes early so we could grab ham-and-cheese croissants and coffee next door**.  Wrestled between depression, interest and anger while going through the house.  Ignored Keith completely afterwards at Broodje Bert, where I ate a toasted salami, onion and cheese sandwich (for barely over €5.oo) while I scribbled in my journal.  Shopped the Nine Streets.  Bought a rad bag at Margareth Mackenzie on Oude Spiegelstraat.  Helped Keith pick out a wallet at Hester Van Eeghen on Hartenstraat.  Scribbled more at Café de Pels while Keith drank beer.  Chilled out at the hotel for an hour or two before a dinner of snacks at Van Dobben, where the friendliest people work and recommend crazy-amazing things to eat like kroket sandwiches and a stack of salted beef and liver piled in between bread.  Ogled two  customers’ two massive dogs, then walked back to the hotel.

Thursday
Caught the water taxi to city hall, then walked to De Tokoman for some sensational Surinamese sandwiches and mango juice.  Still couldn’t believe how much the Dutch love sandwiches, and how much I love the Dutch for loving them.  Walked over to the Dutch Resistance Museum, also known as the coolest museum in the city and where we spent three hours.  Poked through Rembrandt’s house, which is set up to appear as though the artist just popped out for a sandwich (he was Dutch, you know).  Quick detour in the Bloemenmarkt, the flower market.  Beers at Café van Leeuwen.  Heard the weather was going to turn for the cold and windy, so conned Keith into shopping for a jacket.  More beers at Gollem, where I met the bar’s cat, then a traditional Dutch dinner at Moeders before catching our last tram of the night.  Beer at the hotel bar, then bed.

Friday
More awesome sandwiches and frites, this time at Morning Star, which just might be the cutest place ever.  Windy windy windy cold weather, so I wore my new jacket.  Visited the Amsterdams Historisch Museum, where Keith had to tear me away from the computer-generated map of the city’s growth over the past eight hundred years.  After cookies (koekjes) and appelflaps (kind of like  an apple turnover) at Lanskroon, trammed to the Pijp for beers at the other branch of Gollem with another cat before walking to the Van Gogh Museum, which is open late on Friday nights for film screenings, concerts and lectures.  Dinner at Burgermeester.   In spite of torrential rain, all the local bars were packed so we headed to the hotel bar for one last beer.

Saturday
Glumly trekked through the sunny morning and the Red Light District to get to the Museum Amstelkring and its spectacular church hidden in the attic, then to the Oude Kerk, the only cathedral I’ve ever seen with a wooden ceiling.  Trammed to the Albert Cuypmarkt in the Pijp.  Spent hours exploring the miscellaneous stalls and eating more Surinamese food, frites, cookies and an astounding raw herring sandwich.  Beers at Kingfisher before walking to the in-the-process-of-renovation Rijksmuseum, home to works by Vermeer, Rembrandt and Bruegel.  Indonesian dinner at Bojo, before beers at ‘t Arendsnest.  Trammed in the pouring rain back to the hotel to pack and sleep.

* The Dutch call wheat bread brown bread. I don’t think I can pull it off.
**Getting advance tickets online is a must. If you aren’t able to, plan on buying a snack next door at Bagels and Coffee; customers can use their computer and printer gratis, and therefore avoid the hours-long line at the Anne Frank House.

The term Festina Lente was first coined by Augustus Cesar and was his motto throughout most of his life.  It means simply, make haste slowly–or hurry slowly.  It means also to do things the proper way instead of hurriedly and heedlessly; to see urgent things through in a thorough manner.  Since Cesar, many people and organizations have taken the motto as their own including the  4th battalion 42nd Field Artillery.  Here is their coat of arms

Another person who used the phrase as his motto was Aldus, the inventor of modern publishing.  He even gave the motto a visual counterpart and used it as his own personal seal.  It is a dolphin coiling around an anchor and encircled.

The anchor (holds back and ties down a ship) stands for slowness.  The dolphin stands for speed, the fastest and in its motions the most agile living creature.  The circle stands for eternity.  And he explained festina lente as, “the right timing and the right degree, governed alike by vigilance and patience, so that nothing regrettable is done through haste, and nothing left undone through sloth …”

These two words hurry and slowly, which are normally opposite, create the perfect motto for every fireman.  They are the words that every fireman arriving on a fire scene should remember.  When flames are showing and civilians are yelling for you to help or to move faster.  When you hear the approach of the 2nd and 3rd due trucks and everything is urging you forward it is the absolute necessity of slowing down, absorbing the situation and scene that will save your life and the lives of your crew members.

To see urgent things through in a thorough manner. It is impossible to grasp all the things that must be seen and comprehended on a fire scene if you are excited and rushing around.  This is not to say that we should move slowly on the fire scene, but allow ourselves the time to choose the proper course of action and then move quickly and safely to complete it.  There is no maximum amount of time that is allowed for this, only that you’ve resolved the problem as you’ve trained for and that no one was injured in the process.

To that end I’ve always maintained that timing your drills creates firefighters that are more concerned about speed than taking in the whole picture and being able to adjust immediately to the most dynamic and volatile environment that you and I will ever encounter.  Sure, timing your drills creates muscle memory, but are you creating thinking firemen that can adjust as situations change?  I think it is more important to drill for benchmarks and drill repetitively on those same benchmarks altering them slightly each time.

In the end, Festina Lente is a motto because it is something that no one ever truly masters, but spends a lifetime practicing.  It is probably the most difficult thing that any of us will ever do when we pull up to a fire–slow down before we speed up.

-George

Fully Involved House Fire Aer 2, Res 2

Nonostante mi trovi in un’età non più freschissima ho scoperto che si può dialogare con molte persone attraverso la rete. Aiutato in questo, per le parti più squisitamente tecniche, da un figlio che trascorre gran parte del suo tempo al computer in pratiche a me spesso ignote. L’occasione è troppo ghiotta: il mio esordio nel campo della narrativa, con un libro che ha per titolo Festina lente, in senso grammaticale un ossimoro, ovvero un’espressione composta da due termini di significato opposto tra di loro. Nella fattispecie significa “affrettati con calma”, almeno sul piano letterale del termine; in realtà Festina lente può rappresentare quasi una filosofia di vita: fai le tue cose per tempo ma ragionaci sopra, non sciupare le occasioni ma usa il buon senso. Con l’amico Angelo M. Ferrari, che si è prestato a questo breve botta e risposta, cerco di evidenziare il senso di questo mio impegno.

“Come mai un titolo in latino? Non corri il rischio di apparire troppo snob?”

“E’ vero, un titolo simile potrebbe sembrare un po’ provocatorio. In realtà è stato accolto con curiosità ed interesse, molti mi hanno detto che si sono avvicinati al romanzo spinti dalla curiosità. Leggendo il libro comunque si capisce che non v’è nulla di snobistico, si tratta di una storia che ha profonde radici nella realtà odierna del nostro Paese”

“Cosa ti ha spinto a scrivere un libro?”

“Inizialmente la cosa è partita come sfida con me stesso. Io ho iniziato a collaborare con un giornale quasi trent’anni fa, mi sono iscritto all’Albo dei giornalisti, ho continuato poi a scrivere articoli e brevi racconti. Però un romanzo è un’altra cosa, è un impegno che ti coinvolge totalmente. Ti ci dedichi ore ed ore rubandole alla famiglia, agli impegni, allo svago. Poi, quasi all’improvviso e dopo tre anni di lavoro, ti trovi con in mano trecento pagine alle quali riesci a mettere la parola fine. I primi commenti di qualche amico fidato sono stati positivi, ho impiegato altri sei mesi a limare, affinare, aggiustare. Infine ho contattato diverse case editrici, ho trovato molte porte chiuse. Però alla fine ce l’ho fatta, mi ritengo molto fortunato. Migliaia di persone hanno nel cassetto romanzi, poesie, raccolte di scritti su di ogni argomento ma non hanno avuto questa possibilità”

“Domanda quasi obbligata: si tratta di una autobiografia?”

“Le autobiografie lasciamole ai cantanti, ai calciatori, ai partecipanti ai reality show. E le raccolte di barzellette ai comici”

“Allora cambio domanda: quanto c’è di te in Festina lente?”

“C’è molto. Le emozioni, i sentimenti, le esperienze di quasi cinquant’anni di vita. Però tutto è mediato dai personaggi, le situazioni, i nomi, i luoghi non sono reali ma inventati. E’ una storia a tratti toccante e a tratti drammatica, il protagonista cerca di capire perché il suo migliore amico è stato trovato ucciso da una overdose”

“Un nuovo giallista, allora. Sinceramente non se ne sentiva la mancanza”

“Di gialli se ne scrivono già fin troppi, molti poi sono truculenti, pagine e pagine di morti sbudellati e di autopsie sanguinolente. E poi troppa brutta televisione ci ha abituato o al commissario tutto d’un pezzo o al maresciallo da operetta con il cuore in mano. In realtà scriviamo e leggiamo gialli per esorcizzare le nostre stesse paure”

“Se non è un giallo di che si tratta?”

“C’è una componente noir, questo sì. Ma è un artifizio letterario per aiutare il lettore e tenerne desta l’attenzione. Il protagonista cerca di scoprire la verità e si scontra con i problemi dell’Italia di oggi, primi fra tutti l’ipocrisia e la falsità, e trova arrivisti grandi e piccoli, meschinità d’ogni tipo. Per fortuna accanto a lui c’è una presenza saggia e discreta, un vecchio professore, il suo insegnante di latino del liceo. E’ la figura più limpida di tutta la storia, alla fine mi ci sono quasi affezionato anch’io”

“Ultima domanda, anch’essa di rito: il prossimo libro è già in cantiere?”

“Un paio di idee in testa le ho. Però è meno semplice di quel che possa sembrare, devo leggere, documentarmi, ideare i personaggi e una trama credibile, intrecciare le varie vicende. I miei tempi di lavoro purtroppo sono abbastanza dilatati, sono arrivato a pubblicare il primo libro a quasi cinquant’anni. Vuol dire che prima che compia i cento uscirà il secondo. Spero, per quella data, di rivederti”

VideoArte en Canarias inaugura hoy 24 de octubre los Ciclos de Cortometrajes VideoArte en Corto, que periodicamente presentaran la obra de cineastas canarios.

En esta ocasión estará dedicado al cineasta tinerfeño Cándido Pérez de Armas que actualmente recide en Barcelona donde a desarrollado parte de su trayectoria profesional. Próximamente dirigirá la serie Madavó para la Televisión Canaria.

Entrevista a  Cándido Pérez de Armas en el Festvial Ateneo en corto 2007

El Ciclo incluye una amplia representación de sus cortometrajes que día a día iremos mostrando en este espacio, pero que podrás visionar permanentemente en la sección de Cortometrajes.

PROGRAMA

24 de octubre

Emigrante  VER

Su primer cortometraje

25 de octubre

La Caja de Colores  VER

26 de octubre

La Burbuja  VER

27 de octubre

Y al final…  VER

28 de octubre

Marionetas  VER

29 de octubre

Pipas o Patatas  VER

Primera y segunad parte

30 de octubre

Mi mundo perfecto  VER

31 de octubre

El Cazador de Sombras  VER

1 de noviembre

Festina Lente  VER

Ciclo VideoArte en Corto Cándido Pérez de Armas

Del 24 de octubre al 1 de noviembre en VideoArte en Canarias

.ro
Grăbeşte-te încet

Latină: More sundial mottoes
Festina lente

How much wisdom to learn from the motto of Augustus (the first Emperor of the Roman Empire) – ‘Festina lente’ [hurry slowly]…I was reminded of it today … and it was a day one is up to call it a day.

Arvo Part rarely ever slips up on any of his releases, and this collection is another great release. It comprises mostly of renditions of Fratres, some of which are arguably necessary for the piece to have everything it has to say gotten out, but some are a little less exciting than others. We all know which version of Fratres succeeds the most completely…The solo violin on track two is probably the most crystalized emotion of all of Part’s tintinnabuli pieces. However, other versions are also interesting…Cello and Piano and String Quartet are also nice renditions. But the album is exhausting to listen to all in one place. There is such a thing as too much Fratres, even for Part fans. The other three pieces in the collection are equally as notable and could have been given as much attention. Festina Lente is a wonderfully tragic piece, while Summa is a bit more abrasive but equally emotional. The collection is clinched with the classic recording of Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, probably the finest tintinnabuli piece. Part composes simply wonderfully here, cascading the strings down towards a watery abyss where all of our emotions rest; fear, sadness, happiness, anger, love. It is all consolidated at the bottom, and it is a pleasure to reach it. This might not be the best Part collection to date, but fans of Fratres who want to hear the piece given more attention couldn’t go wrong with this.

În tren. Lângă mine, în dreapta, locul e liber. Aceasta îmi întăreşte faptul că sunt singur. Am pornit cu stângul: mi-am uitat telefonul mobil în cameră. Blestemată fie graba! Soluţia salvatoare a venit din partea unei amice cu care am venit la Gara de Nord pentru a lua trenul în direcţii diferite (ea spre Harghita, eu spre Mangalia). Amica aceasta a mea avea un telefon în plus şi mi l-a împrumutat până săptămâna viitoare când va reveni ea de acasă.

Sper ca misiunea mea să înceapă cu dreptul. Nu am decât să îmi cumpăr o cartelă cu număr în reţeaua Vodafone, să mă apelez pe mine însumi la telefonul uitat, să răspundă unul din colegii de cameră, să îmi rog unul din colegi să îmi transmite câteva numere importante din agendă şi să mă anunţe dacă e ceva urgent.

Trenul cu care călătoresc e un tren rapid dar numai în ritm de rapid nu se mişcă. Se pare că trenul a frecventat orele de latină pe care le-am evitat eu prin chiuleală şi a învăţat expresia „festina lente”, expresie ce se traduce prin „grăbeşte-te încet” şi, fiind sedus până la pierderea din vedere a misiunii sale, aceea de a se mişca rapid, se mişcă fascinat de expresie.

La capitolul condiţii de călătorie, nu am ce comenta. Pot spune că mi-aş putea conecta laptopul la priză, iar distanţa dintre scaunul ocupat şi următorul scaun, cel din faţa mea, permite şi picioarelor lungi să stea lejer fără stresul datorat unui eventual spaţiu îngust. Vagonul în care mă găsesc nu e compartimentat. Călătorii ocupă nişte scaune stacojii dispuse ordonat, ambientul fiind bogat cu aer condiţionat. Trenul continuă să înainteze sub dictonul latin “festina lente”. Staţionează aproximativ 20 de minute în Gara Constanţa şi, după o oră de mers, ajunge în Mangalia.

Orson Whales from Alex Itin on Vimeo.

Though universally denominated a dolphin, I nevertheless call this book-binder’s fish an attempt at a whale; because it was so intended when the device was first introduced. It was introduced by an old Italian publisher somewhere about the 15th century, during the Revival of Learning; and in those days, and even down to a comparatively late period, dolphins were popularly supposed to be a species of the Leviathan.

- Moby Dick, Herman Melville

Melville and the book, recalling Aldus Manutius…

Severine Doré, de blinde zangeres die in 2002 deelnam aan de preselecties van Eurosong, brengt binnenkort een nieuwe single uit. Ze haalde destijds de finale met “Wherever you’ll be”. Severine is intussen 30 en werkt als frontdeskmedewerker in een hotelketen in Brussel. Met haar nieuwe single “L’Amour en qui je crois” hoopt ze haar muzikale carrière nieuw leven in te blazen. De single wordt op 13 juni voorgesteld op de Festina Lente, die dan aangemeerd ligt aan de Napoleonskaai in Antwerpen. De single is een vertaling van het nummer “She’s Every Woman” van Garth Brooks.

Festina Lente

Make haste slowly

Aldus Manutius

My notes:

I have found this saying very useful when I tend to double over in excess zeal for anything new.

Image: Waynet

Mi hanno voluta curare.

Mi hanno guardata indossando le lenti della compassione, della preoccupazione e quante volte, della riprovazione. Mi hanno sezionata e messa sul vetrino, ingrandita mille volte. Non avrebbero potuto vedermi, altrimenti. Sapevano di me, dal profumo che emano da quando ti ho incontrato. Il gusto agrodolce di un pomo rosso sotto al sole inclemente. Condannata ad avere caldo, ad una perenne estate e poi di colpo, di nuovo al freddo, al ghiaccio che disegna incongruenti fumi nell’aria. Questa altalena incurabile che mi regala febbre. Questo disfacimento lento che non arriverà a compimento.

Hanno provato a misurare la mia anima lacerata, l’ombra perduta, i sogni sanguinanti. Mi giravano intorno come squali e poi scappavano, come conigli. E fermo nel letto giaceva il mio corpo, mentre il cuore nero correva da te, una volta ancora, a farsi stringere dalle catene, per un segno, un fiore solo, che t’avrei fatto cogliere nuovamente, la volta successiva.

Guarda come trasformo la Morte che mi hai lasciato in Vita, guarda come non puoi nulla, guarda una volta ancora quanto anche tu sia debole nella tua forza. Come siamo simili io e te, povero bambino mio.

-per te. Cuidate mucho-