Museum Boijmans van Beuningen is the museum i have visited the most. Even before i went to art school in Rotterdam i visited exhibitions. Over the years it has transformed, of course. But in essence, it is still the same museum.
The outside space.
The place where you can hang up your coat. That i forgot to take the key with me didn’t really matter in the end. When i left at 5pm, and tried to get my coat to come down, someone who worked there came up to me and unlocked the cord. He had seen the coat hanging unguarded.
Ugo Rondinone
Rainbows, clowns, shoes, light bulbs, candles. I enjoyed the work of Ugo Rondinone. Especially the clows. All the eyes closed. All quite pensive. All with little black hats, colourful suits, socks. Sitting, lying by themselves. With suits made with cloth of sprites, stars, shiny blue, squares. All strangely quiet.
The collection
After Rondinone’s exhibition i drank a coffee in the paviljon. I talked with Arianne for a while, someone i met in the museum. About all different sorts of things. After she left i read the Rondinone’s booklet. I went downstairs from there and looked at a design exhibit. I went the up and the left way after the paviljon and walked past cabinets, candle holders, doorknobs, chairs and vases from the 16th century till now. At the end i went the way up and saw Martin Assig’s drawings. Some 19th century the Hague paintings after that. When i wanted to start on a bit of modern collection, i was told it was 5pm already and the museum was closing.
I’ll be back. Not sure how soon, since i would like to see a new main exhibit when i go again. Since Rondinone is until 29 May, it might be a while.
Tomorrow i will go to Museum Boijmans van Beuningen.
This evening i will watch The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Last week it was the first movie, but halfway i went to bed. Curious how it will be tonight.
Jess Glynne I noticed Jess Glynne last year. I love her voice. It is fierce.
I also like it that she writes her own songs, alone or in cooperation with other people. Not Letting go, the song from Tinie Tempah featuring Jess Glynne, is one of my favourite songs of last year.
You were something I can’t replace
You made my heart work
You make me stronger
I’m not letting go, I’m not letting go
You were something I can’t replace
You made my heart work
You make me stronger
I’m not letting go, I’m not letting go
Jess Glynne is still in the early stages of her career. I hope she keeps up and keeps on working hard and find the right people to work with. Go girl!
Carly Rae Jepsen To be honest, Call Me Maybe, 2012 best-selling single worldwide, completely passed me by. I simply had other things on my mind. Yes, sometimes the years pass me by and i do not notice what happens in pop music one bit.
I just watched some Idols clips on youtube with her in it. So young.
And yes, i actually do have to listen to all her songs. Damn, its a bit scary to admit i haven’t yet. I should. I know. It is just, the few songs i do know of her i do love. This world map is not all about the people i cherish, but also about people i think play a role in the world constellation. Not sure i’m saying it right. Simply, it is a very casual map of my view on the world. People playing a part in public life. On the other hand, it is also people i like. Hmm.
Anyway, i like Carly Rae Jepsen! I like her songs! Yay!
Selena Gomez Quite the business woman. Born in 1992, she stands on years of experience: acting, singing, philantropy.
Honestly, i had to think about adding her to this list. She is incredibly beautiful. That is a given. That doesn’t mean she is a awesome talent. I might be wrong adding her. I know. But there is the fact that i do like her. I mean, Taylor Swift is on this map too, and i like Selena more than Taylor. Not sure why. I should meet them both to really say anything about them truthfully.
Anyway, i do like her songs.
Still feeling a bit sick today. Well, a bit of a cold. Nothing too bad. I hope!
I did go out for a short bit and did some shopping. It wasn’t cold. But it will get a bit colder. Sunny too! Like, for the next two days, all bright and sunny.
I didn’t do a lot today. Played a bit of vanilla warcraft. Together with a new player. She (or he) was nice. We did a quest together in Loch Modan. We made a good team.
I was thinking of this meeting i had with a stranger on the road last Saturday. She asked me why i was walking the tightrope thing. I said it was a practice. And while i said it i almost fell of. The first time ever. We talked for a bit after that. She was nice. A bit damaged.
And then ooh! That little boy! I was eating a sausage bread and a mum and her son came sitting right besides me. The little boy, around four five years old i guess, was scared of the birds. Most kids are not scared at all. They run up to them and chase them away. But this boy dropped some of the fish on the ground. A pigeon tried to eat some of it, but he chased it away. I got a bit upset. I got to the ground, picked up the food and threw it further away. It just felt so mean, to have this food on the ground, which birds love to eat, and then chase them away from it.
Oh well. It is over and done with.
This week i will be going to the Ugo Rondinone exibit in Museum Boijmans van Beuningen here in Rotterdam. I do plan to make a whole day of it. Hopefully i will feel good enough Wednesday. I used to visit it so many times, especially when i was at art school. I did go there a few years back. I still love the place.
Anyway, it is the end of today. I wish you a happy Tuesday. Do something you like. Smile to a stranger. Say hi to your neighbour. Look up at the sky.
I have actually turned a bit sick for real. My throat hurts. I’m dizzy. My temperature is up a bit, 37,5 around 5pm this Sunday – its bound to get higher during the evening. I’m really tired.
Yesterday evening, Saturday, i watched Twilight with pleasure. I have seen it before, but did enjoy it again. One thing though, i would be so turned of by the cold feeling! I can not imagine falling in love with an actual cold dead person. Brrrr. Even if he looks as dreamy as Robert Pattinson. And that glittering chest does nothing for me either.
Anyway, on to the food of the day, homemade chicken soup. It is the second time i’m making this. Saturday i bought all i needed on the market. When i got home i put on 2 liters of water, added the chicken, added the outer leaves of the fennel, half a large carrot, the green bits and outer leaves of two leeks, finely sliced pieces of the stem of broccoli, the outer three stems of celery, two leaves of a herbal plant whose name i can’t remember, and i’m simply too tired to really go search for it. I let it cook on a low temperature for around three hours yesterday. Let it cool and stay outside the fridge for the whole night.
Today i got out the chicken, got all the meat of it and put the meat back in the soup. I also took out all the vegetables and threw them away.
The bones i gave to my cat. He was curling around my legs the whole time i was cleaning up the chicken. 🙂
I had fennel, leeks, celery, carrots, french beans, onion, garlic, small tomatoes i got in London. I also added a hot pepper, slices of ginger, the whole bunch of tarragon, a bit of rosemary. I had tasted the soup before i added a bit of salt, around two teaspoons.
I added all the veggies to the soup, sliced quite fine. I added around two three tablespoons of olive oil, a bit of fine spaghetti i have lying around still. Half an hour later, done!
Espcially with the cold i’m having, the pepper and the ginger do add a bit of needed zing.
I need some rest. I had a bit earlier this week, Monday i slept in. Tuesday a bit too. Tuesday i wrote the Scritti piece. Yesterday i didn’t feel good. Today i feel better. But my head is still going rush much further than i want it too and it’s simply too much to keep all in and wow how i long for an uninterrupted night of sleep and no i don’t get that at all so damn.
pfff …
Tomorrow, sorry, that is today, Friday, for the ones reading this, i’m going to my mum. Walking from the train station to her house. Looking forward to that. Right now, Thursday evening, i feel my arms almost shaking with tiredness.
I guess that happens to someone who fullfills her dream she had for thirty (really? no, not thirty.. say twenty, i didn’t think of giving these drawings to Green at all when i was younger) – twenty years.
Today i’m calling in sick. I haven’t been feeling too good since i got back. In the bus i actually threw up. I was so surprised. I had just eaten an apple. It just came flying out. I felt a bit better, but when i went down towards the driver it came again. The whole night i sat besides the driver. I didn’t get sick again, but i did need some fresh air at times.
Today it’s almost the same. I simply want to lie down on the couch and hope i don’t need to throw up again. I’m gonna get in early i’m sure!
The gig
I arrived the day before the gig. Since i picked the cheapest way possible, a coach, which also took the longest time to get to London. Including the trip on the train – first time! – around 9 1/2 hours. It all went good, i knew how to get to the place i had booked through airbnb, a large sofa in Camden Town. Only a short five minutes walking away from the Roundhouse.
The next day i made a walk to Hampstead Heath, not too far away. I visited Kenwood House, had a soup for lunch and got back to the sofa around three. Time to get ready! A short shower, put on my new leggings, and i started to do my make-up. Nothing too much, basically what i wore for my new selfie. I also applied the Écorce Sanguine nail polish i took with me. Finally i put on my red dress. A great opportunity to wear it for the very first time! I used my hair straightener to try to fashion my bangs a bit. They do curl up really soon.
I had posted a small message on the facebook group that i was going to be at the Roundhouse around seven and was fine meeting anyone. Tschië replied she would be there.
The waiting began. I drank a gin and tonic, said a brief hi to Rhodri and Dicky from the band sitting in the main bar. I listened to a rap singer outside the room, chatted with Tschië about the upcoming gig. I felt ok. Sort of. A bit nervous.
I went inside. Supporting act Rory Butler was singing.
I had a great seat! A row or two up from the ground floor, looking straight at the stage. See the picture at the top of this post to see my view. The only picture i took. I didn’t want to record anything, i simply wanted to enjoy the show and not be distracted by it.
After a short break the lights went on and everybody got in to get to their seats. It was busier than i thought. Good thing!
The band came up. Green had some trouble getting the strap for his guitar on right. He got some help from someone from the back. I had to smile. They started to play. The “Sweetest Girl”. I love that song. Love love love it.
The set was a mixture of every stage, every decade Scritti has existed. Some new songs too! A day late and a dollar short i do have, but i haven’t listened to it that much. I liked it. Brushed with oil, Dusted with powder has grown for me over the years, great song. Jacques Derrida and Asylums in Jerusalem! Petrococadollar is one of my faves. And of course Wood Beez and Absolute. And, i have said it before, but will say it again, some new songs!
The audience got more enthusiastic over time. Some people even stood up and danced. The little stories Green told before each song were charming. I might have known half of them, but who cares about that. At the end, the band got a standing ovation. We knew they were coming back. I mean, i could see the pages with lyrics texts on his standing desk. They should come back!
Two new songs in the encore. Slow Deceit and Willard van Orman Quine.
And then it was over.
And now, yes …, pfff …, a bit of a wait. I bumped into Green’s wife Alys just outside of the venue. She actually recognized me. I did talk to her a bit when they performed in Amsterdam in 2006.
In case you don’t know, haven’t read any other articles on this website: i did want to give Green drawings i made thirty years ago, 8 February 1986. When i made these drawings, i was still studying at the Technical University in Delft. I only lived in my own apartment in Rotterdam for two months. I always felt i should give these drawings away. I had given them away twice before, to my then current best friend. They both gave them back, i’m sad to say. I remember talking with friends about giving these drawings to Green ten years ago. They adviced against it. I listened to them. I don’t think i was ready then, to be honest. But this year i do think i was ready, with me working again on lfs.nl and ellenpronk.com after that, almost unknowingly – just a tiny little knowing somewhere inside – preparing myself, going ahead with the things i want to do.
It was nerve wrecking. I could see the people flooding him and asking for him to sign albums, asking him for a picture. I could see a sort of unease in him. It was very hard for me to approach him. I did get another gin and tonic. I tried to get to Green, but he was sidetracked by other people. I was thinking to myself, i could walk out. This was too much. I hadn’t calculated in all the other people wanting something. I realized i wanted something too.
Green sort of stepped in my view and said something to me. To be honest, i don’t remember what he said. He looked a bit tired. But it did give me a lift. Of course straight after that other people confiscated him. But i felt a bit happier. Alys stood close by. I told her: “I want to give Green a present”. I took the box out of my bag. She looked at it.
And there he was again.
I said to him: “I have a present for you.”
I gave him the box.
“Should i open it?” That is what he said. I think i opened it for him. My mind is a bit blurry.
It is like, you have these dreams about what you want. Little dreams inside your mind, you can hide inside. Hide away from other people. Little dreams nobody knows about. All for yourself.
This moment, it was nothing like one of those little dreams. It was more. It was really happening. A bit uncomfortable. A bit out of it. A bit sidetracked. Real.
I could sense his surprise when he saw the first drawing. And the second. And the third. He then stopped looking. He asked for my e-mail address. I got a card from my bag. An old card.. On the back i had already written my new website url. I wrote my e-mail address above it. “Is that you?” he asked. I think i nodded. He talked about sending me some drawings he had made.
And then it was over. I walked up to the bar and ordered another gin and tonic. A double this time. I walked back and saw Tschië sitting at one of the tables on the side. I sat besides her. She had seen what had happened. There was a half bottle of white wine standing on the table, which i grabbed. Just before a bartender wanted to get it. He smiled. And we got a glass of champagne from Rhodri. And then the bar closed.
Mission accomplished. I have actually done it!
Encore
A little encore. Yes. When i got back to the place i was staying, there was a gate, closed. I was told about it. I tried to open the lock, but there was a metal plate before the keyhole. I went over it with my fingers, couldn’t feel anything. I shook the gate. Damn.
I walked back to the Roundhouse, thinking i could call Nana from there. I have no service on my phone in the UK. When i got close to it, i saw some people walking from it. Rhodri was there. I sort of hooked up. Not sure what i was thinking to be honest. We ended up in a cafe closer to Camden Town, where Green was already. He actually tried to talk to me, but i was a bit thrown by not being able to open up the gate. I think i scared him away. Sorry Green. When the bar closed, two girls went along with me. They couldn’t open up the gate either. One of the girls, Virginia, said i could sleep at her place in Highgate. So yes, that is what i did.
The next morning i walked back, it was only an hours walk, not that far. Of course, the gate was open now. I did check the lock. And now, in clear daylight, i saw there was a tiny flip which made the metal sheet move up.
*sigh*
Setlist
The “Sweetest Girl”
A Day Late and a Dollar Short
Die Alone
The Word Girl
The Boom Boom Bap
Jacques Derrida
Oh Patti
Brushed With Oil, Dusted With Powder
Asylums in Jerusalem (first ever live performance)
Skank Bloc Bologna
28/8/78 (first ever live performance…)
Medley [I Wrote This Song For Today, You Don’t Love, Hair Pull, Slyday Morning, Two Years Ago, Mother Succubus, I Wrote This Song For Today (Reprise)]
Petrococadollar
Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)
Absolute
Encore: Slow Deceit
Encore: “Willard Van Orman Quine”
Clips The “Sweetest Girl”
The Word Girl
Oh Patti (Don’t feel sorry for loverboy)
Reviews The Guardian slightly shambolic, wholly endearing From freshly minted synthpop to punky B-sides from the 70s, Green Gartside celebrates his band’s eclectic repertoire in a gleefully ramshackle show
Blackcountryrock It was one of the happiest gigs I’ve attended in a long time.
Today, Monday 8 February 2016, i got home again. Parts of me were very happy to see Rotterdam again. To see my cats. To sleep in my own bed. Other parts are amazed about how quickly it all went and already misses London.
First of all, i had booked an apartment through airbnb. I searched for a nice place around the Roundhouse in Camden. This place, a Large Sofa in Camden Town, drew my attention. The photos of the place look great, the reviews on their place are glowing. I did worry about the lack of a private room, but decided to leave that feeling and made a booking. So glad i did!
The round curved mirror in the center of the house.
A look into the biker place setup.
A view from my bed on a sunny sunday morning.
The big brown bear sitting at the end of the sofa.
Nana and Paul and their cat Kuti.
I made a few walks during my stay. On Friday i walked up to Hampstead Heath. I got into a conversation with a dog walker, Simon. When after a while i said to him i was going to a Scritti Politti gig in the Roundhouse, he mentioned the Sweetest Girl and quoted a bit from the song. Great! Up on Parliament Hill i went for Kenwood House. I had visited this house before around fifteen years ago. Afterwards i got a leek and potato soup with bread and cheese in the Steward’s Room, part of the house.
A great tree somewhere on the Hampstead Heath.
On the top of the hill (i think 🙂 )
Sunday, the last day of my visit, i went to Liverpool Street and made a walk past my old apartment, Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane, where i got a Cream cheese and smoked salmon filled bagel from the Beigel Bake, up towards Arnold Circus, Hoxton Square, up north along Hoxton street and then a walk past the Regents Canal up until Angel.
The old place i lived in for seven months in 2000/2001, Wentworthstreet 37b.
I noticed Jess Glynne last year. I love her voice. It is fierce.
To be honest, 
Quite the business woman. Born in 1992, she stands on years of experience: acting, singing, philantropy.
I could sense his surprise when he saw the first drawing. And the second. And the third. He then stopped looking. He asked for my e-mail address. I got a card from my bag. An old card.. On the back i had already written my new website url. I wrote my e-mail address above it. “Is that you?” he asked. I think i nodded. He talked about sending me some drawings he had made.
