very cool job

Some people get to make photo's under ice for a living.



(found here: http://www.norbertwu.com/faq/REF0015.JPG )

Shoot no moon

As i attempted to shoot a wonderful moon through the branches of one of the trees in my backyard, i missed completely again, but one of the photo's turned out not so bad. No idea where the moon went, though.

a weighty issue indeed

In the long line of highly inconsequential personal experiments, such as ridiculous facial hair growing (ongoing, new variation is the simple but still hard to follow-through upon 'no shaving at all') and longtime peeing (PB of 2 minute 6 seconds), a small success was booked yesterday.

I wanted to reach 85 kilos this winter, the heaviest i'd ever been. My previous best was 82, but that was before freediving, and took a lot of tedious going to the gym and drinking horrible shakes afterwards. This time i wanted to do it through lots of eating -a novel idea. Since i'm built like a nail and have the metabolism of a nuclear powerplant, it's hard for me to gain weight, but with dedication and perserverance, not to mention beer and icecream, i managed to get over 80 again, after being 76 by the end of freediving season.

Got stuck at 83 for a while, but then my friend Stephanie visited me for a great 10 days and she cooked for me, good good big big meals, some of which consisted of about 50% butter, and yesterday, the day before she left, i went to my work's digital scale, prayed to the god of lard, and got on:



Obviously, i cheated. Since it's at work i can't really strip before getting on the scale, but not only am i fully dressed and accessorized (phone, wallet, 2 sets of keys etc), i also purpously weigh myself before going to the bathroom, and yesterday, i drank a lot extra before getting on.

Still, i think i'm heavier than i ever been, and poetically enough, i feel lighter. I'm in a pretty good mood lately. Also feeling big, in a reassuring way. Feels nice to have more bulk -even if it's probably mostly gut-bulk. There's an edge to being lean and in competition shape that i don't miss at all. So i might go for 90 now. Damnit, that would involve cooking. And some truely heavy beard growing.

a possible van Gogh

If this sky was done by van Gogh, he was in a watery mood that day, but the swirls are definitely in his style

Candlelit

Liked the way the shape of this candle-holder played with the light

Home-grown

If ever a house was to grow out of the earth in a natural way, the roof might look a bit like this

T

Will have to stop drinking coffee again soon. Not that i mind tea; i like tea, but i love coffee. The only thing i love about tea is how the color swirls through it if you gently move the bag in the glass

Whomping willow

Well, actually, this is a Lime tree, so it could be the Lacerating Lime. This tree grew out of another Lime tree that has been standing there, in the centre of Oisterwijk, since before 1388, when it was first mentioned. I sat underneath it without getting whomped or lacerated, but it looks like it could pack a mean punch.

Hometown

Strange not to live there anymore

error

Wish i'd come up with this joke:



(notice the page number?)

Pawed

My parents' dog Pollux pawed me in the mouth yesterday as i joined her for a nap on the carpet

Documentary 'The Cove'

This documentary, now playing at Sundance, is about how Japan treats its cetaceans. It contains some horrible images of the slaughter that goes on, some which are in the trailer:



On the site there's thankfully also an example of the beauty of these creatures:

http://thecovemovie.com/mandy-with-dolphins-movie/

Combined 3

Underwater, guitar, and obviously, a rocky background



(found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clashed/3204716157/sizes/l/ )

Park benches

In The Hague. Really liked the design of these benches

Table of liberty

The crown of the Statue of Liberty was on my table last night

Swedish delight

One of the airiest and loveliest cities i've visited so far is Göteborg. The streets are wide, lots of parks, great architecture -a mix of Western, Eastern and some Russian, it seems-, almost disturbingly beautiful people, and yes, it really is this colorful:



(found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazygus/3212003339/sizes/l/ )

Time

Barely have any



(found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericfreitas/3212377728/sizes/o/ )

also it burns stuff

The barely dormant pyromaniac in me is lovin' this



(found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kh-67/3210970346/sizes/l/ )

More rain than bow

I wonder how this happened



(found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donphoto/3196005731/sizes/o/ )

Theatrical ovals

Was at the Royal Theatre in the Hague this weekend, where i met some striking ovals

Mosaically

This mosaic on a street in The Hague seems very happy

Knot with tree

I wonder what happened here; it's a bit like the Elephant man of trees. I find it absolutely gorgeous

Mertran?

Through freediving you can find interesting new sub-cultures. For example, i didn't know there is a mermaid sub-culture, but once you come across it it figures there would be one. A bit more odd and wonderfully deviant is the male mermaid subculture, so not merely mermen, but men who want to be female mermaids. I know of 2 here in Holland; there are probably loads of them out there.

The picture is a bit more traditional



Photo by Annie Leibovitz, found here: http://www.disneyfied.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/ariel.jpg

Friedpod

My friend Nadine made this great picture of two girls



Her stream on flickr is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/friedpod/

Another glorious morning sky

Whoever designed this one wasn't afraid to use a dollop of pink

Alien/urban

Something about this picture reminds me of the work of H.R. Giger, him of Alien fame



(found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/superbaka/3196295960/sizes/l/ )

To think

Had a dream about my dad this morning. Woke up missing him, so here is a quote and a picture of him at his sharpest.

"To think is to be involved in life to the brink of one's identity; it represents the biggest challenge a person can undertake and is an expression of the strongest vitality." - Cornelis Verhoeven.



Photo by Roelof Kauffmann

Thank you Dan!

My friend Dan thought the following should be here. As evidenced, i wholeheartedly agree (provided my heart is whole)



(source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/tweetmeme/2eec0v7jpg/ )

Orca power

It probably cost this guy (from the look of his dorsal fin i'd say it's a dude) no effort to get into this position, but look at the water splashing up and you can tell how much speed and power he has. I'm endlessly impressed by these creatures



(source: again Cereal Killa, http://www.flickr.com/photos/90595065@N00/ )

Itsy bitsy widow

It be itsy bitsy deadly, too



(black widow, shot by Cereal Killa, http://www.flickr.com/photos/90595065@N00/ )

Lion

This is a sketch Rembrandt did. What i find particularly brilliant about it is how he managed to portray menace even in this laying pose:



(source: http://consultant.ur.ru/sunstranger/Lion,%20Rembrandt.jpg )

Combined 3

Wood, lines, orange



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciue/3194023470/sizes/l/ )

Rain arrows

After a seemingly endless stream of BS on my facebook and in sms's to friends, finally a line wandered into my head that's worth blogging. It could be the last line to an epic poem, and i already suggested that William Trubridge should write it with me. Of course, he's hesistant to do so, since it would involve disastrous amounts of absinth and opium to complete, and i think he's in training for something, probably a world record. Bastard.

The line goes: "it follows naturally that there are more rain arrows than rainbows"

The picture that i think goes with it best so far is this one:



(sources: the recesses of my messy mind and http://www.flickr.com/photos/kika23/3013503230/sizes/o/ )

Bow in bow

I very much enjoy the composition and colors in this picture



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pizlara/3178491851/sizes/o/ )

a bit more flying

Here's a somewhat more serious attempt at flying a.k.a. 'dynamic with fin'. I sorta look like a rubber-wrapped banana, but you can tell how good my fin is by how straight it flows through the water. Have been wanting to use 'Feel flows' by the Beach Boys in a freediving movie for ages.

Tiger, no shark

William Winram dives with Tiger Sharks, but i wonder if anyone would dare diving with this one?



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/manpsing/2723441287/sizes/l/)

Zara Jay

Came across this:



On the blog of a Canadian girl called Zara Jay, which is http://nerdasaurusrex.tumblr.com/

Here flickr stream is worth dipping your toes in too:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zarajay/

Ridiculously glorious sunrise

The sky was overdoing it this morning

Orca -why?

In the line of oddly named products, i came across this last saturday:



It tastes about as good as it's drawn.

Playing with my monofin

One of the reasons i got into freediving is because it is as close to flying as i know how to get. Here's an example of a flight of about 50 meters, me just mucking about, looking pretty ridiculous and feeling pretty great:

Orb

This to me is a sweet reminder that -even though my feet seem permanently frozen- spring's next



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jane_garratt/3169412455/sizes/l/ )

Frosty branches

With all the mist and cold going on yesterday, the branches this morning were covered in frost

Lights in an elevator

The ceiling of this elevator tends to make me dizzy in the most wonderful way

Pretty pool

Completely useless for freediving, but one of the prettiest pools i've ever been in was this one, the Széchenyi Furdo, a therm in Budapest.



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hettiemcfarlane/1340921143/sizes/l/ )

Wolves

(source: http://www.missionwolf.com )

Play morning misty for me

This is the view i had this morning when i opened the curtains of my living room

Blouin in the wind

This is Cara's classification of animals by awesomeness. I heartily disagree with her for the most part; everyone knows that orca's and wolves are the most awesome animals



More of this at Cara's site here

The inner life of Dobermen

This is Rusty, the most melancholic looking Doberman in the Western world. Buddy Camper (in the background) can take or leave melancholy and mostly leaves it, so Rusty seems to take his portion as well



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyanna/3169263733/sizes/l/in/set-72157612185199868/ )

Lovin' crocs

Can't stop giggling because of this picture:



(source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/misschocolatenovi/1007549793/sizes/l/ )

New super PJ's

Because the RS1 suit is a bit too cold to train in for long periods and definitely no good for diving outside, i got the Orca Sonar as well. It be damn fine



(source: www.orca.com )