To get in the mood, while 2006 slowly turns into 2007 worldwide:
LIVE VIDEO
webcam with streaming + still frame images from downtown Antwerp (skating in front of City hall)
[Update 2008: this cam has been physically removed, nobody seems to know why.]
This Antwerp branch of the ING bank is convinced that 2007 will be just “bright”.
If I look at their latest consolidated profits I’m convinced you can trust them.
[My cell phone photo: ING bank tower, Singel, Antwerp, Belgium, Dec 06]
Anyway, I’m posting this early, just in case the wine prevents me from typing anything that makes sense during these last days of 2006 
BTW: the almost hidden Corinthia Antwerp Hotel in the background is definitely not ‘downtown’ if you were actually looking for a convenient location near the historic Antwerp downtown area.
Enjoy the holidays - may 2007 provide you with lots of events worth blogging about.
It must have been the warm summer of 99 when I met Alexei, a Russian student who spent one year in Antwerp. Alexei was everything most metropolitan Europeans no longer are: extremely hospitable, blessed with a rare warmth and generosity that only small town Russians still possess. He made me laugh trying to teach me some basic Russian expressions written in Cyrillic.
Way back then Antwerp still had its original “Falcon” square, a place where sailors from all over the world shopped for everything they couldn’t get in regular stores. The nearby red light district completed the picture. Until recently the “Falcon” square used to be one of the rare places in Antwerp when an original red star decorated one of the buildings.
When Alexei moved back to small-town Russia, we kept in touch. Until my mail started bouncing: I assumed his ISP went down - tracking him by phone or mail also failed as he moved frequently.
Anyway, I wish I could find a way to get back in touch: Alexei has been a close friend for years, I just hate not knowing what happened to him or being able to get in touch during the holiday season.
For all of you who speak Russian, and for Alexei:
Широкий простор для мечты и для жизни
Грядущие нам открывают года.
Нам силу даёт наша верность Отчизне.
Так было, так есть и так будет всегда!
(translated 
Wide spaces for dreams and for living
The coming years are promising us.
Our faith in our Fatherland gives us strength.
So it was, so it is, and so it will always be!
—
Take care Alexei, wherever you are.
My diving school upheld their annual tradition: a Christmas dive in the old stone quarry at Incourt, Belgium, whatever the weather, whatever the temperature. If you’re not familiar with scuba diving: imagine exploring the bottom of a 20m deep, (+60 feet) freezing cold lake, only protected by a thin layer of neoprene. Most of the ‘brave’ really needed the hot drinks afterwards Enjoy my cam-shots:
Christmas eve 2006 unexpectedly turned into a most unusual experience.
While starting the less than traditional reindeer roast (yes, some of us eat them, with cranberries ) my diving instructor/explosives de-mining expert got an urgent call: two Vietnamese army trainees were in need of some immediate attention. I obviously volunteered to assist during this “Christmas Evening emergency”, which turned out to be a simple transfer from the Brussels military hospital (where they were housed, ever since most of that huge hospital basically closed down) to the Air France check-in counter in Brussels South, where the Thalys high-speed train connects Brussels with one of Paris’s airports. Their final destination was Hanoi, Vietnam, a 14 hour flight on Christmas eve.
The whole experience turned out to be real fun: due to a persistent fog covering much of Belgium, traffic in and around Brussels was a real nightmare. Driving a Belgian army emergency vehicle had its advantages though: traffic cops nodded with understanding when they saw the familiar Dovo (de-mining) sign. The two Vietnamese trainees also insisted on wearing their military uniform, adding even more decorum to the whole event.
During the ride I was utterly amazed on how bad their English actually was - I still wonder how they managed to acquire any additional knowledge about complex de-mining techniques while training in Belgium. However, they did manage to make abundantly clear that they regretted not having seen ‘real snow’, but neither have I - it last snowed in the 50’s during Christmas in Belgium
Well, they both did seem very pleased being able to return to Hanoi (currently sunny at 25°C/80°F). Wish I could have left foggy metropolitan Brussels, lit up like one gigantic Christmas tree, but ever so, well, “metropolitan”, with a most unpleasant freezing point fog covering its skyscrapers. Some shots from a couple of hours ago (downtown Brussels):
Take care, “Nguyen ba hung” - I’m pretty sure you will have more fun in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Anyway, I’m off to the kitchen, taking care of a not-so-traditional reindeer roast.
Have a peaceful Christmas eve, wherever you are
It’s almost Christmas, and I’m off to indulge myself in the true Christmas spirit.
Like most places in Europe, Antwerp (Belgium) is a quieter place on Christmas day.
For many of us, the spirit of Christmas has been reduced to a wild shopping spree, a weird time to max out our credit cards and eat until we drop.
For some people it’s a religious experience, a time to contemplate.
For most inhabitants of this planet Christmas means nothing at all.
Before I take a short Christmas break, I would like to thank you - all of you: my +26,000 unique visitors who kept on reading this blog, even when I had almost nothing substantial left to write about.
Obviously, Christmas wouldn’t be fun without the nice folks who tried to deliver over 4,000 pieces of spam-comments during 2006, an unwanted gift that ended up being auto-deleted, although a few must have been kind of funny.
Enjoy the turkey, and no, I really don’t want anything from this gift list
Dedicated to the memory of 655,000 Iraqis and the 2,949 members of the US military who died in Irak. (Music: Leonard Cohen]
[Video credits: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz8WV233w_Q]
There’s no need to panic. I’m still as gay as I ever was or will be. Unfortunately, my local bar no longer is. I know, while everyone’s counting down to Christmas, I’m boring you with stories about a gay bar in a town you will never visit.
[my picture: KBC-Bank tower, Antwerp, Belgium, phone cam-shot while shopping for groceries tonight, December 19, 2006]
Anyway, follwing the “increasing integration of gay men into mainstream society and a correspondingly decreased taboo” (..) my cozy local gay bar has embraced the more affluent metrosexual market (”a heterosexual, with homosexual tendencies”).
Imagine being surrounded by David Beckham clones while having a drink, or even worse, the overdressed, blatantly narcissistic and Dirk Bikkemberg obsessed Antwerp metrosexual incrowd.
From Mark Simpson’s “Meet the Metrosexual”: (quote):
“Well, perhaps it takes one to know one, but to determine a metrosexual, all you have to do is look at them. In fact, if you’re looking at them, they’re almost certainly metrosexual. The typical metrosexual is a young man with money to spend, living in or within easy reach of a metropolis — because that’s where all the best shops, clubs, gyms and hairdressers are. He might be officially gay, straight or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference. Particular professions, such as modeling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport, seem to attract them but, truth be told, like male vanity products and herpes, they’re pretty much everywhere.”
Don’t count me in,
I’m definitely not an international-standard narcissist, nor do I like their company
We all know that “video killed the radio star”, but is blogging really killing parts of our real life social interactions, or rather enhancing these experiences?
It may help to differentiate between the type of blogs I’m talking (well, typing) about. Major A-list bloggers like ex-Microsoft’s Robert Scoble obviously have a wealth of fascinating experiences to share, but the largest part of the +100 million blog sphere is just plain boring.
Microsoft’s hugely popular “Windows Live (ex-MSN) ‘Spaces’ cotton-candy approach to blogging is a prime example of ‘white noise’, an empty fluorescent candy wrapper around a lot of thin air.
Some blog platforms (MySpace, for instance) are even claiming they are “creating communities” - but (do correct me if I’m wrong) aren’t communities supposed to be real life entities where people exchange real life experiences, instead of creating “virtual friendships” based on questionable foundations, with conveniently located personalized ad-banners?
In a way, aren’t many of us just providing free daily copy for corporate-US owned mega-sites, who are only in it for the money?
For many people, a significant part of their leisure time is spend typing away countless messages in a tiny MSN (now “Windows Live”) chatbox window, while flirting on yet another dating box (around 50% of al males online), topped off with posting some trivia about their dog.
Take away their internet connection and they go through a cold-turkey withdrawal experience, facing a gaping void.
Our society (at least in Antwerp, Belgium, my small part of the world) has become extremely individualized.
We no longer know our neighbours, but we do know the whole virtual world.
Are our “online diaries” basically an expression of this increasing lack of real world interaction?
While the average Antwerp citizens have collectively caught the ’shop until you drop syndrome’ during this cold week before Christmas, some people are not so lucky. About 15% of Antwerp is officially poor, with about 5% really depending on basic state welfare to survive. 
No tree, no 500 EURO worth of gifts (the average grand total a local household spends during the Christmas season on gifts only…), often no heating and a limited supply of power and food.
If you consider that the Antwerp metropolitan area houses almost 1,000,000 people you can do the math.
The past two years I did notice that more people are becoming homeless, with people actually sleeping in my groundfloor doorway when the temp drops below freezing… Most of the ‘new poor’ are spending the coldest nights in shelters while walking the streets with torn clothes, wearing all their belongings in a plastic bag.
Which reminds me, last summer some women in Antwerp deliberately walked the streets with torn clothes and only a plastic bag - but I assume they called it a fashion statement, or a full-time job
It’s 02.00 am and I’m outraged. I just returned from the downtown Antwerp police tower, assisting a shocked close friend who was assaulted with a knife by three Moroccan juveniles while returning home near Antwerp Central station. He escaped the ordeal with some minor cuts and the loss of his wallet.
OK, it may all sound very trivial, but this is the 4th attack by migrant youths on a close friend within six months.
Twenty years ago, when we were assaulted it was by local white trash, now the entire impoverished Eastern block has dumped its street criminals on our doorstep. “Let’s unite Europe”…
The police officer who (ever so slowly..) processed the statement noted that the entire Antwerp railway station area (including parts of the predominantly poor Muslim/Eastern European migrant borough of Old- Borgerhout) showed a alarming street crime rate at night, making it almost a no-go area after 10 pm. The nearby (temporary) police station has been closed.
When my shaken friend dialed the emergency operator on his mobile phone, a friendly voice advised him to wait, as all patrol cars were busy due to a chronic lack of resources at night..
You know, I’m no longer surprised that people vote for extremist parties, with their promise of a ’safer Antwerp’.
One day after Belgium’s public RTBF-TV shocked the nation as they broadcasted a completely fictional but extremely convincing news bulletin portraying the live break-up of Belgium, Philippe Dutilleul, the director of the fake newscast presented “Bye-Bye Belgium” at a Brussels press conference tonight. ‘The making of’ the worst joke ever to be produced by the French speaking Belgian minority public TV broadcaster was basically a very low key event.
RTBF-TV is a public-tv station, funded by taxpayers. After shocking and insulting half the nation, this politically instated “Public TV director” now cashes in on his own tasteless joke. “Bye-Bye Belgium” is available from Labor Publishing, in French only.
There is definitely something wrong with the attitude of some people in this country…
A quote from Australia’s
Herald Sun
—
“Belgians reacted with shock and disbelief when a state television channel announced that the Flemish part of the country had declared independence and that Belgium was no more.
To back up the report during prime time evening viewing, the channel RTBF showed “live” footage of trams blocked at the new “border” and interviewed real-life politicians welcoming or denouncing the unilateral move of independence by the Flemish Parliament.
In fact, the whole exercise was a spoof, intended only as a thought-provoking introduction to a television debate on the question which has long divided the two halves of Belgium, French-speaking Walloon and Dutch-speaking Flanders.
“Belgium Died Last Night” screamed Le Soir newspaper today, while the daily Libre Belgique headlined: “The Fiction that Shook Belgium”. The overwhelming majority of viewers were completely taken in and the television’s switchboard was jammed by panicking callers, while political leaders used the same word - irresponsible - to slam the stunt.
“It’s very bad Orson Welles, in very poor taste,” Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt’s spokesman told the national news agency Belga, recalling the 1938 radio adaptation by Welles of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, which caused widespread chaos, with thousands of Americans believing the Martians had invaded. “In the current context, it’s irresponsible for a public television channel to announce the end of Belgium as a reality presented by genuine journalists,” he added.
Francophone socialist party leader Elio Di Rupo told Le Soir: “At a time when our country is rocked by separatist leanings, it is irresponsible and anti-social to make people believe that the Flemish have voted for independence.”
The fact that the programme was on state-funded television also rankled. 
“This programme is irresponsible. It totally discredits an institution that the French community has put a lot of investment into,” said Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders. At the beginning of the broadcast, RTBF displayed a message at the bottom of the screen “this is perhaps not a fiction”.
That too was an echo from the past, recalling “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”, or this is not a pipe, the title of the painting by Belgian surrealist master Rene Magritte. But half an hour in, at the demand of the minister for audiovisual affairs for the French-speaking community, Fadila Laanan, the message “this is a fiction” appeared.
“I find it questionable to use such a tactic, which frightened people unbelievably,” Laanan declared. She said that she herself had received a number of panicky calls and text messages. The channel invited viewers to text message to say whether they had been fooled, and according to early results, 89 per cent said they had believed the programme in the beginning - and six percent continued to believe it even after the message saying it was a hoax.
The special number given out at the beginning of the programme was flooded with over 2600 calls during the nearly two-hour spoof and the television’s website crashed.
Even some ambassadors in Brussels admitted to being taken in and sending back messages to their respective capitals, according to the president of the Belgian Senate.”
—
More worthwhile news coverage includes a video report from EuroNews, Bloomberg News, FlandersNews and obviously every source that carries the Reuters feed. BTW: The US CNBC-Europe network broadcasted the fake “independence” feed as Live Breaking News overhere. American networks just love countries that are breaking up
In the mean time, let’s unite by singing the Belgian national anthem, in our 3 national languages : Dutch, French and German (and yes, this is Jo Lemaire, and definitely not Sharon Osbourne trying to sing)
OK, so far the Belgian King has not yet left the country, although his dear son (Prince Laurent) is involved in a very real, very dirty and still ongoing major financial scandal.
Make sure to check back soon: the scandals in this tiny European kingdom are getting juicier day by day
[This post got 247 unique hits within its first 12 hours online, most of them non-Belgian]
Video: “Consent” by Jason Reitman, a sad reminder how messed up the dating scene has become.
Well, not everywhere
Much to my dismay, these huge bones are currently on sale at Antwerp’s main Christmas market, right between tasty Belgian chocolates and other quality confectionery in front of the Antwerp Hilton.
They were obviously aimed at dog owners (’hey, let’s get Rocky one of those huge juicy bones for Christmas’) but I felt rather disgusted watching this appalling display while eating my Belgian waffles with whipped cream.
Basically, I’m amazed that this Antwerp street vendor gets away with such a gross display of animal remains.
Maybe someone can help me out: are these the remains of a sheep, a cow or maybe something else?
In a somewhat pointless effort trying to avoid the ongoing 24/24 Christmas rush engulfing the Antwerp City downtown area, I decided to spent a couple of nights at home - quietly reading a book.
Stephen McCauley’s “Alternatives to sex” had gotten quite favorable reviews. The novel’s protagonist, William, alternates between two obsessions: cleaning his house and engaging in computer dating, activities he labels as “makeshift anxiety management and fatalism of the better-get-it-while-you-can variety.” Obviously his computer-driven promiscuity brings him to squalid rooms with a multitude of weird partners. For some of us, that must sound familiar.
Real affection is no longer an viable option in William’s Y2006 world: in an “alternative to sex” his weird but real world relationships never cross a cynical friendship border (”Friendships have a way of enduring while romantic relationships go quickly from a dreamy ‘I can’t live without you’ to a hopeful ‘Maybe he died in his sleep”).
Which bring me to my main question: can single gay men really be “just friends”?
At first sight they obviously can, but in my own experience the liberated male hunting genes often skillfully manage to cross the “no sex please, we’re just friends” barrier. Obviously gay men can still “just be friends”, but many gay (and straight) single men are confused: the thin lines between sex, friendships and more profound emotions have eroded, while online dating opened a real Pandora’s box. A recent study indicated that up to 50% of men in a relationship engaged in regular “friendly online chat”. The gay community at large used to have an image problem, with promiscuity always remaining a prominent visible issue. Cyberspace changed that notion completely: now half the “straight world” is exploring the limits of “just being friends”.
In my experience, online dating may have its limited virtues, but it can just as easily turn into a gigantic virtual playground with no rules, no boundaries and a neverending stream of “virtual” success stories - and real life break-ups…
And trust me, I’ve been there
[my pictures: Antwerp, Dec 9 2006 - streetside cafe near City hall - skating fun a couple of hours later]
Due to my exorbitant spending on liquor and men during this early festive season I’m recovering from several “minor incidents”. To be more precise, one incident involved a lot of broken balls - but rest assured, the only one broken where those in the Christmas tree 
. Anyway, during these ‘festive days” a close friend gave me a piece of advice worth considering after yet another man tried to mess with my feelings lately. You may be familiar with the phrase “Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts - Don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours” (a quote from the “Sunscreen Song”).
She advised a more “invasive” approach though: “don’t be such a whiner, you should have just whacked him straight into his balls - getting hit in the nuts serves him right”.
Guess these no-bullshit lesbians really know how the world turns 
Have an emotionally safe holiday season.
When former Vice President Al Gore gave a long list of doom-and- gloom statistics in his movie “An Inconvenient Truth” most inhabitants of Antwerp just nodded.
We knew.
Unlike most places in Holland, Antwerp is a port city without basic protection from the sea. Once every year the river connecting the historic heart of this town to the Atlantic floods the quays build by Napoleon in the 1800’s.
The only protection we have is a 3 feet concrete wall with sliding doors, lining the ancient riverbanks in a rather symbolic way. A major storm would simply flood this town’s flimsy protection, causing a huge disaster.
When Antwerp mayor Janssens opened the Christmas ice-skating village in the poring rain a couple of hours ago, he joked about the unseasonal high temps. After I finished my free drink courtesy of the Norwegian consulate, I couldn’t help but notice the rising river water on my way home along the riverbanks.
One day you’ll watch me on TV, on my rooftop balcony, while news helicopters zoom in on a “save us” sign.
Stay tuned.
[My picture: Antwerp Christmas ice-skating, poring rain at 12°C/60°F, Dec 8, 2006]
Impressive, isn’t it? You’re watching the XGL interface, running on a Linux machine. It can show every visual eye-candy VISTA even can’t when running on regular PC hardware, while Microsoft Vista requires huge hardware upgrades and very expensive graphical cards to achieve this kind of performance.
The best part of it? It’s free.
You know, in some countries (Belgium included) Santa Claus is coming to town, twice. That’s correct, we celebrate the arrival of “Sinterklaas” on Dec 6th, while celebrating Christmas Dec 25th.
The English “Santa Claus” is probably an alteration of the Dutch Sinterklaas, from Middle Dutch Sinterclaes, or Saint Nicholas (source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Santa+Claus)
His official birthday was Dec 6th, so the Dutch (Northern Belgium and Antwerp included) still celebrate his birthday with gifts and a figure not really showing much resemblance to that jolly fat old man with a white beard and a red suit who visits on Christmas eve.
My picture left: “Sinterklaas” in the Antwerp Hilton Shopping Center, Nov 29, 2006
Anyway, in Antwerp, Belgium, Santa Claus is coming to town, twice.
At a certain ago it’s no longer wise to show off your body.
I can witness that sad fact every summer, when droves of nude German sun seekers flock to the Dutch beaches, where almost anything goes. But it the end, gravity cannot be beaten.
Sharon Osbourne is a woman who likes to push the limits: while exposing her reconstructed brand new breast, she forgot her age: take a look at her wrinkled hand - showing an ‘older’ woman, holding her exposed ‘new’ breast.
OK for me, but the whole image is still kind of pathetic.
Hope I don’t end that way, showing my nipples all over cyberspace, aged 60
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[image: Canadian Salvation Army] 
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