Sky december 30th, around 17:00, near Udenhout

Can you tell how cold it was from this picture? It was freezing so hard that i was reluctant to take of my gloves and open my jacket to get my camera, but the way the setting sun was lighting the clouds in different ways was just too appealing not to capture

Combined 2

Another combination of 2 things i adore: orange and pillow

The inverse mist of time

Both an uncle and my (step)grandma have memory issues, and what strikes me about it, besides the sadness of the situation, is that it is chronologically opposite to mist. In mist, you can see things close by, but far away disappears. With people, it seems like they can't remember what happened yesterday, or even 5 minutes ago, but what happened in their youth is still pretty clear. I associate it with those pictures where what's in front is all blurry and out of focus, but the background is clear, like this one

Deep Highlight

One of the best experiences for me of 2008 was seeing the Arch. The Arch is the upper part of an opening in the Blue Hole, Dahab, Egypt. The Hole itself is about 90 meters deep and surrounded by coral and rock, but at one point about 56 meters down, the rock opens and there's a passage to the open sea. To see this passage and its Arch with the most incredible blue light shining through from the open sea, you have to dive 50 meters down, and i managed it this year. I hung there a bit in amazement and felt the pull to swim through, but i would probably have not survived that, so i went back up. This video is of William Trubridge, the first man to swim through the arch (60 meters down, 30 horizontal, 60 back up) without fins and without a suit (with speedos, though; the whimp).

Optimus Fireplace

My aunt's fireplace has been captivating me ever since i was a little kid. Maybe because it looks like a Transformer head, but in any case, when i visited on Monday i finally got the opportunity to photograph it.

Combined

This picture combines 4 great elements: Roman Holiday, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, and Vespa



(source: http://moviegoods.com/ )

The plural of Doberman

... would that be Dobermen?



Found this pic on Flickr but played with it a little. Original was here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kellywarrick/3143178402/sizes/o/

Portuguese Water dog

This is the Portuguese Water Dog. Contrary to evidence below, it can't actually fly, but i bet it can mop up the floors pretty rapidly. Hence the name?



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmitchell/3136021377/sizes/l/ )

Cool little car

Always thought it'd be pretty cool to pimp wheelchairs and vehicles for handicapped, just as in Silver Bullit by Stephen King. Never thought it'd be this cool

Another statue of my dad

Loek Schönbeck, artist and former graduate student of my dad, made this statue of him. I don't know why he went with this shape, if he wanted to put in the 'C' of Cornelis Verhoeven, or wanted to give him a natural distance from what the statue seems to be observing, but i always enjoyed it and this morning it was particularly beautiful in the glorious light that flowed in.







Loek's site can be found here: http://www.lucinus.eu/

Light in my room

First signs that the sun is making a comeback

Gotye

This is "Heart's a mess" by Gotye:

Note on the Angel Oak

The previous post got the following response:

" Jack Gescheidt said...
I came across your website/blog posting about the Angel Oak (AO) and thought you should know she is in jeopardy and could use your help:

The Angel Oak is currently threatened by a multi-acre 600-housing unit development. While developers claim they won't cut down the Angel Oak itself, they WILL clear cut thousands of trees and hundreds of acres of the surrounding buffer forest and filling in a wetlands that supports wildlife. They do not even mention this in their plans, but instead say only that they won’t kill the Angel Oak.” They either don’t understand or won’t admit, that the surrounding forest has for centuries protected the magnificent Angel Oak from weather and too much human attention (climbing, graffiti, fire risk, et. al.) It is not just a solitary living organism, but an integral part of an ecosystem now facing this major threat,

The massive development will inevitably, eventually, lead to the death of the Angel Oak tree, be it in years or decades is impossible to predict.

A website with more infornation about this disaster in the works has been set up by locals: http://www.savetheangeloak.org

Visit it, sign up for email updates, sign the petition, and help preserve the Angel Oak Tree—and the surrounding forest it is a part of—for many more human generations.

Sincerely,

Jack Gescheidt
Founder, The TreeSpirit Project
jack@treespiritproject.com
http://www.TreeSpiritProject.com

December 25, 2008 1:52 AM"


Any being this wonderful needs to not merely survive, but thrive. Please click here to help.



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/artjom83/2296844121/sizes/o/ )

Angel Oak

This tree, the Angel Oak, stands in South Carolina, and is estimated to be 1400 years old



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22858200@N05/2456358589/sizes/o/ )

Christmas card

Designed this christmas card; if there's a list, i think i know which side i'm on

Mist

It was misty and purple last evening. Tried to capture it

Flatcoated

Okay, if i do get a dog, it might also be a flatcoated retriever



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackdog_whitedog_us/2589496739/sizes/o/ )

Logo

This logo is on the glass of bus stops in my area. I think it's a logo, but nevertheless, i like it

Eyes of light

On saturday i saw these lights shining through branches, and noticed how that created a circular effect. It almost looked like the eyes of a mechanical beast with natural skin. A bit like the terminator.

last light, shortest day

Yesterday was the shortest day of the year, and all day it looked like the sun was not going to show itself at all, but it did gave the sky a farewell kiss

Bodysurfing

One of the skills i'd like to learn in the next few years is how to bodysurf underwater. I'm far too uncoordinated to manage on a board above water, but i might manage below the surface



(source: http://davehomcy.com/ssp/gallery/dh/lg/bodysurfing.jpg )

Beech

One of the most intact and impressive beeches i know stands in Vught, a little village near my hometown. I was there yesterday, and though i most enjoy it when it's in full leave and the branches are so full they almost reach the ground, in the stark contrast of winter it is mighty still



It has a knot with so many rings on it that you can see that the knot itself is older than most of us

Pallas cat

Saw this picture of the Pallas Cat, a wild cat living in Asia, also known as Manul. It's about the size of a house cat, but the ears are placed lower, and strikingly, the pupils are round.



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66164549@N00/2959752612/sizes/l/ )

It reminded me of Greebo, Nanny Ogg's cat in the Discworld series. Then again, he's described like this: "To Nanny Ogg he was merely a larger version of the little fluffy kitten he had once been. To everyone else he was a scarred ball of inventive malignancy" so he probably looks more like this one



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/szmytke/275555550/ )

Orca a bit foreshortened

Endlessly impressive and gracious and inspiring



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/71096517@N00/327890917/sizes/l/ )

Orca not foreshortened

Though i find the idea of holding marine mamals captive nightmarish, this picture is rather dream-like



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiiri/258602597/sizes/o/in/photostream/ )

Shoot the moon on the move

On the way back from Belgium, as a bit of an experiment, i tried to shoot the full moon from the car, just to see how those pictures would turn out. One of the most interesting was this

Orca foreshortened

Foreshortening is an art. Well, actually it's a technique. I'm not sure if all technique works, even if it works, though. This is on one of the walls of the pool in Huy. Foreshortened, for better or for worse.

Bridge

Went to a competition in Belgium this weekend. We crossed this bridge, and i couldn't refuse the Rain man urge to snap a picture.

Ashtray

Visited a friend of the family last friday and noticed this ashtray. Fell in love with the design, how it's functional and logical and seemingly simple yet artistic and different and on second glance complicated. And the texture of the thing was wonderful, too, with some solid weight behind it. It played withn light sweetly, as well. He doesn't smoke. Neither do i, but this, i want to steal.

If Pollock had designed a dress

it would probably looks something like this



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fre_natae/3094820851/sizes/o/ )

More Dean's Blue Hole

Here's a pic of William Trubridge, dropping headfirst into the abyss. He's been down 86 meters and back up there, without fins. Probably has done more in training, but isn't telling. Oh, and pulled himself down the rope to 108. I'm always itching to go deep again, but seeing these pics makes the itch worse in the most pleasant way



William's site is here: http://www.verticalblue.net/

Staircase

The stairs in my new place are a bit tricky; narrow and steep. But carpeted, so if i ever take an involuntary drunken ride down on my ass or elbows, i hope to survive. Visually compelling, though

Orange

These are my curtains. They've moved with me to 4 houses, and brought orange to all.

Waffles

My hometown is known to have the best waffles in the country. This stall is not the one who sells them, but it has better lights

Hallway

Such great light this weekend, and it was bouncing around my oddly proportioned hallway so playfully, that it didn't matter this pic ain't sharp

Hamstering

Might start a new collection, as i'm slowly giving in to my habbit of hamstering, and would like to give my new place a bit of an orca-theme

The fallen Fireplace warrior

My fireplace looks like the helmet of a fallen warrior, full of a menace which is now impotent. I sometimes expect it to start glowing and talk in heavy metallic tones to me. If it does, i might have to move, again.

Glass

Finally had time this weekend to explore my house visually. It has some interesting lines and features. The front door has this type of glass, which from afar looks a mess, but up close is fluent, especially when the light hits the right way

Lafforgue again

Eric Lafforgue keeps amazing me. He's put up quite a few pictures of his trip to Ethiopia, and all of them are wonderful. These really jumped out at me





(check out his page on flickr here )

Art or Chinese?

This has been in my father's window for as long as i can remember, and since he passed and it passed on to me it has been in my window. It raises the above mentioned eternal question

New shower

Am thinking about installing this shower. Might not fit in my bathroom, though



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mommyneen/538129113/sizes/l/ )

More wall poem

Roughly translated:

A man thought

A man thought:
when will i for once
for one minute not
think of her?

Now?

He sat down
and thought one minute
not of her

Then he got up
and walked on
thought on
on and on
without pause
of her

On the other side of town

My mom lives in the modern part of town. It has it's own esthetic, which i find a bit less charming but especially in the right light can be very beautiful