Fun: December 2007 Archives

'Turn into, hope I do, turn into you' - Yeah Yeah Yeah's, Turn Into

This week on Monday I had a day off from work, kids and life. Rare, huh?

I went to see the Andy Warhol 'Other Voices, Other Rooms' exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

See, I told you I'd do more things! This is more things, right?

The exhibition was interesting. There was some of Warhol's printed work, letters, pictures, including the famous Queen Beatrix image.

Some of it was a little incomprehensible. Some art is incomprehensible.

I guess that's what makes it art, right, and not just stuff that any somebody can produce?

I like looking at it, but don't expect me to find a huge and deep meaning in everything I see. Only some things.

Nevertheless, the films were interesting. Outer and Inner Space especially.

The discomfort on Edie Sedgwick's face when confronted with her own image was, in turn, discomfiting to watch. The first thing I thought of when I watched this was how desensitized we are to images of ourselves. We see ourselves all the time in photographs. We see ourselves in videos. If we use the web cam we see our own image as we talk to others. We're oblivious to the fact that it's us, it's our essence up there on the screen. Edie Sedgwick wasn't oblivious.

She was clearly uncomfortable, which when you consider her exposure to media and print at the time, just makes me realise even more how over-exposed we all are now.

The other video that grasped my attention was Mrs Warhol.

It seemed so ordinary, so commonplace to watch Julia Warhola (Andy's mother) teach Richard Rheem to iron a shirt. The domesticity of it was touching. I found myself remembering my grandmother ironing. I also realised how much of her is in me, especially the ironing part. I know virtually no other women who iron, and none who iron compulsively, like I do.

Many of the Warhol films seem to centre around domestic life.

Precursors of Big Brother, I suppose.

I think we want to watch other people's domestic life to convince us that our own domestic life is ok. That there's nothing wrong with us, no huge flaws in how we're made. 

Being the ultimate-at-home-voyeur. It's like being a teenager and checking out the other girls' boobs in the shower to make sure that yours are ok. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with it, but it feels a little shameful.

And my ultimate conclusion isn't anything new or astounding: Warhol just did it first, with great aplomb.

For more Warhol stuff, check out WarholStars, and for more Edie Sedgwick (isn't she just bee-yooooo-ti-ful?), watch Factory Girl.

'It's not having what you want, It's wanting what you've got.' - Sheryl Crow, Soak up the Sun

Bzzzz! Over here!

We went to see The Bee Movie today.

I enjoyed it, mostly because it was just fun listening to Jerry Seinfeld again.

The plot has enormous holes though. Enormous ones. You could fit elephants in them.

Be prepared to have lots of mental spackle/wallfiller/polyfiller/glue/whatever you want to call it to allow you to leap from one plot segue to the next.

Some of the moments are cool though. The Bee Larry King skit is pretty awesome.

Funny thing though, a tear slipped down my cheek and disappeared into my t-shirt when the montage of how everything was going to be ok again to the Sheryl Crow song (in the youtube clip up there) came on at the end of the movie.

I guess I'm a sucker for happy endings after all.

'So Eleanor put those boots back on
Put the boots back on and run
Come, come on over here' - Franz Ferdinand, Eleanor, Put your Boots On - watch the clip, fab artwork!

Yes, I know that's a lame title up there, but I just had to had to had to say it.

Forgive me. Please?

A few weeks ago I went to a party in Amsterdam.

The theme was 'nothing says christmas like sushi & wine'. Guess who was a sushi virgin?

Well, not any more! Loved it, really loved it.

Came home, told the man-at-home about it constantly for a few weeks, then bought all the stuff and today we made our own badly-executed maki rolls.

I didn't even know that there was a Asian supplies store just around the corner from my house until my sushi epiphany.

If you need anything Indonesian/Japanese/Korean and you live in Amstelveen then Toko Kaya is there just for you. They speak great English and if you want to make anything just ask them and they'll find the ingredients for you.

So what did we put in our maki rolls?

Too much wasabi!  And there was no sake to take off the edge, and no wine either...

We used avocado, spring onion, mango, yellow pepper, carrot and sweet omelette.

No fish, because the salmon we bought was deemed unsuitable by the cat.

Did the kids eat it? Yes, they did!

Say hurrah for some all-round sushi approval in our home tonight.

'The girl with crimson nails has Jesus round her neck' - U2, Vertigo

The Internet Anagram Server, or I, Rearrangement Server is a wonderfully hilarious thing which I wouldn't have known about if I didn't read Charlotte. She of the Chatter's Bowel and Bloat, Wretches.

So I did mine, as you do.

Ash in Amsterdam comes up with some mighty fine sexual innuendo*.

Here're my faves with added free-association sentence completion:

Ashamed Martin's left the establishment.
Madam Tarnishes everything she touches.
Marinated Smash doesn't taste very nice at all.
Aha! Masterminds at play.
Madame Hart Sins and regrets.
Radiant, Smash Em, and go!
Madam Hears Nits and groans at the idea of nit capes, nit shampoo and combs.
Madam Ash Insert other here.

And from my real name?

A Seemlier High is impossible to achieve.
Geisha Leer Him for a little Dutch-Japanese action.

* Did you know that the word innuendo doesn't not translate to Dutch at all well. The English-Dutch dicitonary translates it as 'insinuatie' which is altogether too strong. Insinuation has bad connotations in English, where you use it for something horrible or dirty, or seedy.

But innuendo? That bantering, flirting thing we do for fun? Suggesting one thing whilst meaning another?

Dictionary.com taking the entry from the online etymology dictionary says:

1678, "oblique hint, indiscreet suggestion," usually a depreciatory one, from L. innuendo "by meaning, pointing to," lit. "giving a nod to," abl. of ger. of innuere "to mean, signify," lit. "to nod to," from in- "at" + nuere "to nod." Originally a legal phrase (1564) from M.L., with the sense of "to wit." It often introduced the derogatory meaning alleged in libel cases, which influenced its broader meaning.

Or alternatively, if you believe it and as a Dutch person once told me, very tongue in cheek, with innuendo firmly in place,

'We don't do that here in Holland. It must be an English thing.'

'Think of all the fun I've missed, think of all the fellows that I haven't kissed, next year I could be just as good, if you check off my christmas list.' - Pussy Cat Dolls, Santa Baby (I really like this version).

Me: An Ipod dock so I can never have to change a cd again, and then nonsensically Fiction Plane, Leaf and The Killers cds (favourite song on this cd is Glamourous Indie Rock and Rock). Tell me why I didn't download?

Him: Guitar Hero Legends of Rock III: So he can pretend to be a guitar god.

Littlest One: A Playdoh clown thing which mama (that's me!) won't know where to put when he's done with it.

Biggest One: A K'nex rollercoastery thing and ditto above.

Forget peace, love and charity. It's all about the gifts! Isn't it?

'We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back.' - Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run. Suzi Quattro video.

I was just reading Tom Venuto's blogpost about holiday fitness and this phrase really struck home.

'Your expectations will become your reality. What are you expecting?'

He's talking about what we expect from ourselves with regard to sports. If you say 'oh it's Christmas, everyone gains weight'  then sure, you'll gain!

It's true for life too, not just for sports. What are you expecting?

Positive thinking and ruthless honesty get you where you're going.

Me, I've just been in the gym and I'll be there again on Boxing Day. I'm expecting to come out of the holidays fitter and leaner than when I went in.

I don't expect any less.

'And so this is Christmas and what have you done?' - John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Happy Christmas (War is Over) - watch the clip!

...the beautiful ice outside, a killer training session with my favourite trainer (who pushes me harder than anyone else and seems to know exactly which way to push me to get that last ounce of determination out), drinks at Nina and Chris which was fun fun fun...

I never used to drink, more out of fear than anything else I suppose, but fear is something best left far behind, don't you think? I took them some japanese snacky things and a very festive bottle of wine.

The name got me. Who doesn't like something called Luna di Luna? Doesn't it sound and look faaaaabulous? Of course, Chris and Nina & Milla are fabulous, which is why they got the bottle. 

It probably tastes a bit crappy, so no doubt it's the wine you open after the other eight bottles are empty... but it looks so pretty. See the pink one? Valentine's Day anyone? Sometimes image is everything ...

Today I'm planning my menu for Christmas Day, baking some sugar cookies* with the kids, going swimming at the gym, trying the new treadmills again. The gym has Technogym equipment but the old treadmills were old and they new ones are new and they are so smooth and they have MTV and TMF! 

The tv channels were limited on the old ones and TMF got kicked in favour of news. So this is the best Christmas present ever. I'm so in love.

Oh, you want the cookie recipe? It's from Nigella, who taught me how to lick a spoon lasciviously and with feeling ... but really a sugar cookie recipe is just a sugar cookie recipe.

Nigella's Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
Makes 30. Double the recipe.

For the cookies

90g butter, (don't shoot me, but I prefer margarine)
100g sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp imitation vanilla extract (yes, I know, it should be real vanilla extract, but what can I say, I grew up cheap)
200g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

For the icing

150g icing sugar
food colouring

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Cream butter and sugar together in the food processor until pale and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and pulse.
5. You could add some lemon zest to the cookie mixture, yum. Or some koek-en-speculaas kruiden, or some gingerbread spice. Whatever you want really. What not add wasabi? ;)
6. Form the dough into a ball and then press into a disc and leave it in the fridge, wrapped in clingwrap for about an hour.
7. Sprinkle surface with flour.
8. Get stepladder and stools for children. Try not to fall over stepladders, stools and children.
   
9. Roll out dough to about 1/2 cm thick and then allow children loose with cutters.
10. Bake on lined baking sheets for about 10 -12 minutes.They should be gold on the edges and a little soft still in the centre.
11. Take them off the baking paper and cool them on a rack.
12. When they're cooled mix the icing by adding about half a teaspoon of water at a time to the icing sugar. Colour as desired. Have m&m's, sprinkles, nonpareils, and all kinds of other decorative things handy.
13. Avoid fingerprints in the icing.
14. Allow to set and then give them to your friends and neighbours on Christmas Eve.
15. Get many many brownie points for being such an organised mother. Heh.

So what are you doing between now and Christmas Day?

I have a free day tomorrow with the kids in the daycare so I plan to do something completely different.

A museum, a day trip, a drive... something different and fun.

I'm in love with two sisters
Only weapons can decide
Whose bed I share tonight
And the cold mister mister
He has got me in his sights
If he shoots me down
He has every right
- Fiction Plane, Two Sisters

I started thinking recently about the evolution of my musical tastes.

I was a child of the 1970s so I grew up with those compilation albums with the barebreasted and starry nippled women on them.

Other Southern Africans will remember, Radio Jacaranda and 702 anyone? Too lazy to go and look for examples, but if you were there you'll remember.

My mom and dad had a predilection for country singers, who begged me not to take my love to town, crooned that my beauty was beyond compare, with flaming locks of auburn hair, and whined about four hungry children and a crop in the field ....

My aunt was single in the late 70s so she was singing to a different tune... her name should have been Mandy. Abba was telling her to be a Dancing Queen and thanking her for the Music. Later, her boyfriend was a rocker, and she was climbing his Stairway to Heaven and Learning to Fly.

In the mid-80s when I was a teenager I was Thriller'd, Radio Ga-ga'd, Woken up before I Go-Go'd and wanted to be Like a Virgin in my fingerless gloves ...

In the early 90s I was practising my charms on unsuspecting boys in clubs wearing a Black Velvet dress.

Please Forgive Me was the soundtrack when I lost my virginity to my friend's boyfriend.

Fast forward a few years for me to identify strongly with Papa Don't Preach, but that's another story.

It was the Summer of '69.

It Must Have Been Love played when it was all over.

A new boyfriend and Friday, I'm in Love!

Later on Nothing Compared to Him.

I Lost My Religion along with everyone else and I really wanted to be a Shiny Happy Person.

A few years passed and then everything was Ironic. I would have done anything for love (but I wouldn't do that). I worshipped for a while at the Wonderwall.

When I met my husband, Hootie was singing I Only Wanna Be with You and when I got divorced from my ex he wailed 'Let her cry'.

Falling in Love was indeed Hard on the Knees.

I tried Not to Look Back in Anger. I wondered what a Champagne Supernova was. I tried to be One of Us.

Republica had me Ready to Go. Later on I really wanted to be an American Woman. A lot of the time I felt like a Zombie. I wanted to believe I was Gorgeous.

Now I'm Hung Up, crushing on Mr Brightside, I don't feel like dancing, I'm Crazy and I'd like to be telling it like it is to Mr President.

I could slip into a Plain White T, I'd like to Waltz in LA and I don't want to Fall to Pieces. I worry that I might Bend and Break, I want to be Grace Kelly, I wonder if this is As Good as it Gets, wish I had a Crystal Ball, and then I decide to Relax and Take it Easy.

*Oh, you want plain simple instructions? Listen to the Plain White Ts, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Keane, Mika, Moke and Beth Hart, Jeff Buckley and  Fiction Plane and you have my current playlist.

Heaven forbid you end up alone. You don't know why. Hold on tight, wait for tomorrow, you'll be alright. - The Fray, Heaven Forbid

Last night I had the good fortune to be invited by a friend to see an English-language comedy improvisation group, easylaughs, at the Crea Cafe Theatre in Amsterdam.

Before we start, let's remember I'm a suburban girl. I live a 15 minute tram ride from central Amsterdam, but it might as well be Berlin.

I'm not renowned for visiting Amsterdam in the daytime, let alone at night.

All that's changing of course, in the interests of beating the inexorable lure of the sofa, the tv, and downloaded portrayals of other people's lives.

Sometimes a mid-thirties crisis can be a good thing.

I lost my train of thought there for a moment, sorry, thirties again. It happens more often than I'd like.

This was my very first time at an improv show and I'm a convert. The easylaughs group is howlingly funny. It's easy to see that they're comfortable with each other, they know where their strengths and weaknesses lie.

The best bits for me were the song improvisation: improvising lyrics and staying in tune is an art. I can't remember all of the skits, but there was one with the words 'pigeon' and 'striptease' as the starting words,  which made me lose most of my mascara.

Go as quickly as you can to see this group. The venue is small which makes it more intimate, the group actually mingle in the intervals, and the price is reasonable.

Oh, and right now Amsterdam is beautiful at night.

It's cold, the lights glisten on the water and the rain smudges through the light from the streetlamps. It can be surprisingly clear or blanketed in fog. Either way, it's an experience.

I can't see any good reasons not to go.