DÉJÀ VU

Saw a report on TV yesterday about a bank robber in a town in New Hampshire (USA).

The guy walked into the Sovereign Bank in Plaistow and demanded money.

Nothing special you might think,... bu the funny thing was,...

Two weeks ago he did the exact same thing, in the exact same bank, wearing the exact same clothes and telling the employees the exact same things.

Two weeks ago he got away with some cash. This time however, he left the bank empty-handed.

Enjoy,

HK

JAZZ IN BREDA

On Saturday March 15 the MEZZ in Breda will once again be the podium for the annual Meeus Big Jazz Night, organized by some of my friend from Jazz Connection. (I posted about Jazz Connection earlier).

This year Jazz Connection will not feature their own musical talents on stage. The evening's line-up however, is another excellent one!

Two stages this year, with the Auratones and 4BEAT6 on the main stage, while the other stage features two top hometown Breda Big Bands.

The Nieuwe Veste Bigband - a 19-piece band lead by Hans Bloemen - features an incredible variety of music, playing Count Basie & Dizzy Gillespie, Atonio Carlos Jobim and blues licks and funk from the Tower of Power repertoire.

The Duchess of Swing Big Band is an "all-ladies" formation, with an impressive horn section. Big Band sounds as they should be performed! Singer Carrie Kortehoven adds the vocals.

One of the top-acts on stage is trumpeter Gerard Presencer who will play with the Auratones. Presencer played with the world's greatest artists (Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea in the jazz scene, but also in the pop scene with Jamiroquay, Robbie Williams and Sting, to name just a few).

The May Day Jazz Band will welcome the crowd upon arrival at the MEZZ and an interesting opening act by 5 sousaphone players (The Roomsouzen) will kick off the fourth edition of this unique event!

More information can be found on the website.

Enjoy,

HK

MAKE OUR GARDEN GROW

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) - photo by Steve Sherman

Leonard Bernstein is my favourite composer/conductor. I just love his music!

West Side Story is an absolute masterpiece.

Candide - a comic operette based on Voltaire's satire by the same title - is my favoutrite though! It opened at the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway on December 1, 1956 (after try outs in Boston and New Haven Connecticut). The Finale is the very best!!! "Make Our Garden Grow".

Here's the lyrics:

CANDIDE

You've been a fool

And so have I,

But come and be my wife.

And let us try,

Before we die,

To make some sense of life.

We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good

We'll do the best we know.

We'll build our house and chop our wood

And make our garden grow...

And make our garden grow.

CUNEGONDE

I thought the world

Was sugar cake

For so our master said.

But, now I'll teach

My hands to bake

Our loaf of daily bread.

CANDIDE & CUNEGONDE

We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good

We'll do the best we know.

We'll build our house and chop our wood

And make our garden grow...

And make our garden grow.

CANDIDE, CUNEGONDE, MAXIMILLIAN, PAQUETTE, OLD LADY, DR. PANGLOSS

Let dreamers dream

What worlds they please

Those Edens can't be found.

The sweetest flowers,

The fairest trees

Are grown in solid ground.

ENSEMBLE (a cappella)

We're neither pure, nor wise, nor good

We'll do the best we know.

We'll build our house and chop our wood

And make our garden grow.

And make our garden grow!

(The cow dies)

VOLTAIRE

Ah, me! The pox!

See & Hear it? Click here. A recording of a concert, conducted by the maestro himself in London, December 13, 1989 (3:37 minutes !!!!!)

Enjoy,

HK

WEIRDEST DREAMS !

"Sleep" - Salvador Dali (approx. 1937)

I have always dreamt quite a bit,... all my life.

Sometimes they were a bit scary, especially when things eventually became reality.

I used to have a notebook near my bed when I was young and used to either write, but most of the time draw what I remembered.

One of the craziest dreams was when I attended my own funeral. The funny thing however was that it was exactly the way I would like it to be...

Lately I have been dreaming the weirdest combinations of totally unrelated things. Long dreams too!

I usually have a hard time remembering what exactly I dreamt when I wake up.

Different dreams.... Some really funny, hilarious in fact. I even wake up laughing.

But this one dream has been coming back a few nights over the last weeks.

I found a new job and all I did was putting things in large Federal Express or UPS envelopes. Don't think it was letters I put in, but small notes, or pictures. Thousands of envelopes. Every single day. All of them to addresses abroad.

After work - on the way home - I always went to a church (which I never do in real life, except for visiting churches when sight-seeing) to attend mass, after which two angels take me home.

My house doesn't have any doors. I have no idea (or don't remember) how I manage to get in. I believe I walk right through the wall. On the doormat (strange, for there are no doors!) there are always a number of these envelopes I mentioned,.. "address unknown". The doorbell wakes me up.

This is only one example.

Enjoy,

HK

DON'T TOUCH MY BEER !!

Made a bunch of different little beerglass-signs for our band "De Rammen" for Carnival. They always come in handy when you leave your glass behind on one of the tables or on the bar in case of a sanitary emergency stop, or are simply talking to someone on your way to or from the podium.

We didn't use them all that much during the Carnival weekend, but I found two in my wallet last Saturday. They were quite a hit in the bar I went to.

Enjoy,

HK

QUOTE

Saw a few people last night wearing a T-shirt with a text I remembered from way back.

Quoting Benjamin Franklin:

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

Enjoy,

HK

A WEEK OFF

This week I'm off from work,... one of those short holidays.

Haven't made too many plans this time.

NO,... NO TRIP on the agenda either!

Had thought of going to Paris for another few days (where else?? haha), but changed my mind.

Time to rearrange some stuff at home.

Another holiday is coming up beginning of May, so might go somewhere then. I'll see.

There's a market in town tomorrow,.. fabrics only! Wil probably cruise the market for some time and check out what they have. Might get some ideas for a new costume.

Enjoy,

HK

BEAUTIFUL KIDS

By far the most beautiful kid I know right now is my cute little niece Ruby.
I posted about her earlier here, but could do this every month.

She's growing (up) really really fast.

It's incredible how fast that process with little children goes.

She's quite some character. Most adorable and learning quickly, and we're all enjoying her tremendously!

This little girl makes me realize even more how much I had wanted to be a dad myself!! Who knows... some day...

I never realized kids of this age would learn the language so easily. And her memory strikes me.

New words that she's only heard a few times are reproduced as if she uses them every day. Some time ago I showed her a roll of aluminium foil, and told her the name of it in Dutch... a word of seven syllables!! No problem!

Last weekend we (the folks and brother and Ruby and myself) went to the forest near Breda. I took a few cool shots of her there. Will do a full photo-shoot soon.

Enjoy,

HK