Author Archives for Ellen

Terribly happy

Worked on the Rotterdam clip today. Calling it Buildings and bridges. I like that name. First i thought of the name Two bridges, but well, there are three bridges in it, and also many buildings. So i will not use that name. I do need tomorrow to get the order of the clips right.

Already thinking about the next clip. I’m thinking of filming people. Brrrr. A bit scary. But still, i think i can get it done. I’ll start tomorrow with filming. And saturday on the market. Sunday in the centre. And next wednesday the Drie dwaze dagen (Three foolish days) will start at the Bijenkorf. It’s busy usually. I just checked the opening times, on Wednesdays the shops open at 8.00. So yeah, right now i think i should be there and film.

I don’t know what i will be doing after that. It depends on how my next video clips will be received. So far it’s pretty quiet. It is difficult for me, really. Because to me it is not quiet at all. I feel totally enthused about these clips. I can not believe i only started making them halfway September. To me it feels like so many things are coming together. The music, the filming, the editing, the ordering. I love it. I do know i’m still at the start of this. I do know i’m not young anymore. But i do know with every week i’m making a step forward. Absolutely.

So yeah, i’m happy. So terribly happy.

Published on October 15, 2015 at 6:00 by
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Exfoliant

Around two months ago i ordered the Uncover Exfoliant 1% Salicylacid. It is my first exfoliant ever. I chose the Uncover brand because it is setup by dr. Jetske Ultee. I do read her blog. Her tips on skincare are clearheaded. Dr. Ultee is a dermatologist, she writes about different skin issues and has a clear view on what good skincare needs. I do trust her opinions.

I started out using the Exfoliant once every three days building up in a few weeks to once every two days. It is a transparent clear gel which you use in the evenings after you have cleaned your skin, before you go to bed. Since i do not use make up usually, i only wipe my face in the evenings with a bit of water.

I do think my skin is changing a bit. It does seem to me it is more sensitive now. Last week i got a light burn from the walk i made along the beach. I had used a sunscreen before i went to the beach, but the walk lasted for around five hours. I should have brought the sunscreen with me and apply it again after a few hours. I wasn’t red from the burn, but my skin did puff up a bit and started to peel in thin layers. Right now my skin isn’t bloated anymore. It is still tight and it feels like i should add cream to it a couple of times a day. I haven’t used the exfoliant for a week and a half now. My skin is exfoliating by itself as it is, so i think i should leave it for another week.

In the two months i had used this product, i did feel that it had an effect. Over the weeks I did notice some red spots on my lower cheek slowly getting less visible. And even though my skin is quite soft as it is, and i don’t have many breakouts, it did became a bit softer and clearer. So yes, it is a good addition to my skincare routine.

I do want to use the other Exfoliant too, the one with 8% glycolacid, for a normal till dry skin. But it does depend on the condition of my skin, since the one i got now, with 1% salicylacid, is better for a sensitive skin.

I do have a good sunscreen for my face, a Clinique face cream with SPF 40. I will investigate comments about other sunscreens more. I do need to pay more attention to this. With using the exfoliator and the changes in my skin, it is getting more important to me.

Published on October 14, 2015 at 6:00 by
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Searching for Mr Right

I had taped the album Colossal Youth from the Young Marble Giants. I did enjoy playing it. Lots. This song i always liked, but there was also something withholding me from confessing that. I don’t think i ever was searching for mr Right. I was searching for my work, searching for something satisfying to do for a living. I always felt i would simply bump into mr Right one day. I still feel that. So i don’t think about it much. Well, a bit. Maybe. At night. 🙂

Searching for Mr Right – Young Marble Giants
Searching for Mr Right
Waiting up half the night
Feeling like I’ll be dead
Before I’m old
Teaching myself to be
The Young Untold
How can I hope to be
Someone for you to see?
Blind as the Fate decrees
I will go on
Teaching myself to be
The Young Untold
Am I in vain tonight?
Lose you against the light
Who can you be
Mr Right?

The original

A life version

Published on October 13, 2015 at 6:00 by
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A Sunday walk

Today i made the same walk as the one i did for this website the very first time: A walk in Rotterdam: Noordereiland. This week I will make a new video clip about Rotterdam and it’s two main bridges the Erasmusbrug and the Willemsbrug over the Nieuwe Maas. Today i walked over the Willemsbrug and the Noordereiland. Tomorrow i will walk along the Boompjeskade, the Erasmusbrug and the Wilhelminapier to Hotel New York.

I haven’t decided what music i will use for this video clip. My thoughts are going to Brian Eno and David Byrne, the one album i have My life in the bush of ghosts or a song from Daft Punk. In my mind i do have this rectangular view of the clips i’m making. Following the old view on the demolished train bridge, using sky views on the bridge, slow horizontal views on the shores of Rotterdam. This does give me ideas for the music, but i need to listen more.

The walk took me longer than i anticipated. I had planned to sing a song today. Hopefully i will sing one tomorrow.

Writing a bit more after having something to eat, lying on the couch, watching Heel Holland Bakt. I also listened to some songs from the Cinematic Orchestra. It does feel a bit too quiet to me. And then my eye fell on this song from Chris & Cosey. Re-education through labour. I always had a soft spot for this one. So i’m trying this. Tomorrow i will listen to other songs. David Holmes is an option too. But hmm.. this Chris & Cosey one might work.

Bye bye!

Published on October 12, 2015 at 6:00 by
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Quiet and loud

I finished reading the Harry Potter books today. Right now i’m reading the critical reviews on amazon.com. Don’t get me wrong, i like the Harry Potter books. I do realise Harry Potter himself is sort of a blank figure, someone to invest your dreams in, someone general enough for the audience to identify with. All the other figures in the books are more refined, more one-sided developed. Harry is like us all, a person with many different characteristics.

Well, i’m giving myself time to think about these books. I did enjoy reading them again. And the story did really pull me through, up until the end. I don’t know which one is the best, which one is the worst. I don’t know yet if i like the films better than the books, or the books better than the films.

I’m gonna enjoy the rest of this day. I’m a bit tired. But also happy. Yes! In a quiet way. I think i’m gonna listen to some music now.

You enjoy your friday. Enjoy the weekend! See you again on monday.

Published on October 9, 2015 at 6:00 by
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The Beach

This Sunday, 4 October, i made a walk along the beach between Scheveningen and Hoek van Holland. The past days I got this video clip together made of clips filmed during the walk: The Beach.

The music is from Kraftwerk. These are not songs i knew that well. But i did have them in my iTunes. They are from the in 1977 released record Trans-Europe Express: Franz Schubert and Endless Endless. It does fit with the beach and the waves and the sea and the birds and the sky.

I do hope you will enjoy this clip.

Published on October 8, 2015 at 6:00 by
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The Greatest Love of All

Whitney!

In the late 80s i had a love/hate thing with Whitney Houston. I did buy her first two albums. I did try to sing along with her songs. She was very beautiful. She had a great voice. She was something completely alien to me. I simply couldn’t imagine what her life was like, how she could be happy with what she was doing. I even made some works with her portrait photocopied. I had this link between Whitney, me and the painting the Girl with the Pearl earring from Johannes Vermeer. I made drawings of all three.

My Whitney obsession did fade away over time. I was shocked though when i saw the pictures of that time she was so skinny. I was also shocked when i heard she had died, in 2012.

On my MIX playlists i have one song, Saving all my love for you. A few months ago i listened to some more songs from her and this one stood out for me. My version is not so technically advanced of course. I still like it.

The original video clip

Published on October 7, 2015 at 6:00 by
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A day of work

I still feel the walk i made yesterday. Nothing too bad no, just some small aches. It also does feel like my face has a burn. An itch. It does seem to me that tomorrow all will be fine.

I did do a bit of work on the clip The Beach. I picked the music! Kraftwerk. Yay! Franz Schubert and Endless Endless. They are listed as two songs, but they move into each other seamlessly.

I imported all the clips i made yesterday in iMovie. I gave them names like zand (sand) and branding (surf – really?) and vogels (birds). The clips for this clip are longer than the previous clips i made. I had this idea of using a longer transition between the clips before i started filming. I do like the clips i made. Happy with them.

I watched the clips, put roughly on the timeline, together with the music. I got tears in my eyes. It’s not done yet. Not at all. But the clips together with the music is full of magic to me.

To be honest with you, i do not understand why i haven’t started making video clips before. But i also do see that all the previous work i’ve done has let me to this. The walks i made this year. The drawings, photos and interactive work i made earlier. It all has fed me. It all has taught me small things and big things.

This time is a time of joy.

I will treasure it.

Published on October 6, 2015 at 6:00 by
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A walk along the beach

Today, Sunday 4 October, i made the same walk as i did early April. I walked from Scheveningen to Hoek van Holland. The same route. I left this morning around ten, arrived at the beach around eleven thirty.

In Rotterdam, when i left, it still was very misty. I did start to see a bit more sun in the train on my way to The Hague. And when i arrived at the beach, it was a full blue sky. It did get a bit more cloudier during the afternoon. The weather overall was great though. Around 19ºC, a bit of wind. Lovely.

Halfway when i sat down to eat a banana, i took of my shoes. I walked the rest with my bare feet, mostly through the water. It wasn’t that cold. There were some people swimming! Not that many, but still.

The early parts of the walk i spend filming. I do plan to make a beach clip this week. Since the rest of the week the weather will be more windy, cloudy and rainy, i decided to go to the beach today. I usually sing a song on Sunday, but this week it will be later in the week.

And yes, i’m tired! With the rests i took along the way, i spend around five hours on the beach. I did love the water and my bare feet and some little talks with people along the way and the sun and the sound of the waves and the birds.

A good day!

Published on October 5, 2015 at 6:00 by
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My house

My House, the new videoclip. I filmed the clips for it Tuesday and Wednesday. Making a choice for the music was a bit harder. It was not self evident from the start. But this song i finally picked from Prefuse 73, One Word Extinguisher, is a steady favourite. I did make a list of instrumental numbers on Monday. Some Kraftwerk, Brain Eno, Daft Punk, Beastie Boys, Senor Coconut in there. I did a search for instrumental numbers and picked some of those for the list. Just to get to know them a bit better. For future reference.

I did use transitions this time. Dissolves. I pushed around the clips to moments which are specific in the music. But i didn’t want it to get too complicated. It’s not a complicated clip. I should watch all three i made so far over the weekend and make comparisons.

I do love my cats, Mieke and Muis! I know they should lose a bit of weight. I do feel guilty they can not get outside. I sometimes wish that would change for them. But still, they do seem happy to me. They do fight a bit sometimes, but usually they sleep together and purr lots.

Enjoy the clip!

Published on October 2, 2015 at 6:00 by
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