The crashing Antwerp transvestite

Don’t you love a transvestite show, right in front of city hall? Even more fun when they stumble on a slippery stage. [images: last night's open-air show by the Girlzz from Mask-ara, visibly not always as sober/stable on stage as expected]

The photo-wrapped gay Antwerp bar

Bars (whatever their clientèle) have one obsession: exposure. Without
‘a name’ there are no customers, no crowds, no revenue. The unique
Antwerp “Hessenhuis” museum/gay bar (I know, it’s an extremely
rare combination, but hey, this is Antwerp, Belgium) decided that photo-
wrapping itself in a huge canvas might provide some extra exposure.

It succeeded

Hit Me Baby, One More Time: 140,000 and counting

140,000 unique hits: time passes by ever so fast when you’re having fun.

A warm thank you to all 75,000 visitors who spent a part of their precious time to read my meandering thoughts on 200 different topics, leaving me their most valued 505 comments, along with 65,000 treasured pieces of comment spam.

Thanks you all for visiting, especially those who subscribed to my RSS feed. Obviously, I wouldn’t be here without your never ending quest for Sharon’s ‘nipple’, ‘legal prostitution’, ‘transvestites’ and ‘gay sex queens’. I’m really sorry I had to disappoint those in search of sleazy pictures or a plot to destabilize whatever government’s time you’re wasting during working hours

While I didn’t manage to put Antwerp, Belgium (pop 500,000) “firmly on the map”, I’m sure that ‘Antwerp, Ohio‘ (pop 18,000) and Antwerp, Australia can be proud of their larger sister.

And in the end, didn’t we all have fun? OK, let’s hit the road towards the 200,000 mark

Hands free blogging: any advice?

I never imaged it would happen to me, but I’m currently suffering from an injury that prevents me from using my right hand for typing.

It’s an old trauma that came back to haunt me, but it has never caused this much pain and inconvenience. Yes, I’ve just been in one of those wonderful MRI’s that made me feel like I was being prepared for a mission to Mars, but in all honesty, nobody seemed willing to give any predictions on whether this damage is temporary or not.

However, I did have some experience with speech-to-text software way back in the early years of this century, but for some reason I must have had a peculiar English accent that no software was willing to handle. With scrupulous attention to vocal details I tried to train it to my US/British/Dutch accent, but to no avail: most of the words needed manual correction. I’m not sure how much the current speech-to-text generation has evolved from its archaic predecessors, but all comment are more than welcome

Lost: the gay Antwerp EuroGames 2007 results

Last Sunday 3,000 athletes left Antwerp after a straightforward closing ceremony, devoid of frivolity, excess or exaggeration. To be more precise: devoid of any online results.

That’s right: five days later the final results of the athletes are nowhere to be found. The official Eurogames website is still appealing for volunteers to register before July 11. By the way: the organizers confirmed that participants who did not receive their medal really will get it, mailed to their home address.

Athletes who preferred to forgo Antwerp’s 3rd rate sport accommodation can look forward to Barcelona’s 2008 breathtaking venues that were used for the Olympics in 1992.

Looking at the big-boy neighbours might be the only antidote for the sheer, unfounded arrogance of this mid-sized town in Europe. Update: 400 Eurogames photos by benidormone at Flickr

Navigaytion 2008: drunken Gay Queens on a boat

Pick your poison: a town that really pretends to “care” about its gay inhabitants (but basically prefers cashing in on events like the Eurogames) or a 100% commercial gay entity that can smell the loot from a mile?

Let me make it easier: the city of Antwerp just decided to sponsor the 2008 edition of Navigaytion: a controversial, extravagant commercial gay event where “the sky’s the limit” dance club Red&Blue packs 10 party boats with an assorted variety of exhibitionist gay party queens from the whole of Europe.

Add gallons of Eristoff Vodka, a prime open-air dance location in front of the Antwerp cathedral and hey presto: another fine example of failed gay integration/ image building. Unless you feel that bus loads of drag queens along with the finest selection of Europe’s most exhibitionist 20-somethings suffering from pathological narcissism “support gay integration into mainstream Antwerp society”.

Take a look at the smile on the face of the organiser: [video in Dutch from ATV] and note the outstanding collection of freaky party queens among the 11,000 paying participants.

Isn’t that what being gay is fundamentally all about: booze, drag queens and dancing like there is no tomorrow? Way to go Antwerp - I assume someone will be laughing all the way to the bank

The lesbian runner - Antwerp 2007 Eurogames

This lesbian 50+ runner was so visibly euphoric, having won the Antwerp
gay Eurogames city-run, July 15, 2007, in blazing 32°C/95°F sunshine.

Eurogames 2007 Antwerp: The gay children’s choir

Children of gay parents came on stage to perform in the “children of gay
parents choir”: Eurogames closing ceremony, Antwerp, Belgium, July 15,
2007. Do you have a similar choir in your neighborhood? I don’t think so
Check out this photo link from the Czech republic (great personal shots)

Mr and Mrs Antwerp 2007 gay Eurogames: make sure to be young

While returning from the Antwerp gay Eurogames 2007 closing ceremony just a couple of hours ago, it struck me that the Belgian GLBT movement suffers from the same subtle but ever so present pitfalls in achieving their emancipatory aims as the society at large: their relentless focus on youth.

Whatever the age of the gay/lesbian competitors, in general they were young. Whatever the activity that was on offer, without being young you didn’t stand a chance, especially during the youth-only oriented nightly parties. Whatever your age as a viewer, the projected image was “young, pretty and outgoing”.

OK, there were some older runners who won medals, a ceremony that was handled as fast as possible, off-stage. Too many “old wrinkled faces” might have upset this celebration of (gay) youth.

For a movement that carries the slogan ‘equal rights for all’ as their main reason of existence, they conveniently forget to mention that “for all” does not include the older part of the (gay) population.

So much for equality.

[my photo: Mister and Miss "Antwerp (gay) Eurogames 2007". She looks positively astonished: "me, really?". The criteria were very basic: be "young and cute"]

Cashing in on the Antwerp 2007 gay Eurogames

Look! It’s a gay car! There: another gay tourist: sell him something that makes him look stupid, as long it’s in pink

Antwerp turns pink: gay EuroGames open to a huge crowd

I just returned from the opening ceremony of the gay EuroGames in front of Antwerp town hall, a moving experience showing just how liberal Antwerp can appear to be when there is cash to be made from the double-income-no-kids gay/lesbian tourist. Local newscasts stressed that all hotel accommodation was booked to the limit, while shops were suddenly discovering a rainbow flag as a sure fire way to get a slice of the “gay Euros” being spent. It all became rather embarrassing when town officials like VLD’s Ludo Van Campenhout made no effort to hide what these games were all about: gay image and gay cash. Quoting dear Ludo (City Alderman and MP): “It’s ‘evident’ to be gay in Antwerp” [he said that twice, some native English speakers laughed out loud ] . Don’t think so, Ludo.

The ever so pink opening event pulled a large crowd, in addition to the 3,000 athletes from all over the globe who are participating in this 4 day happening. Btw: I wonder how you feel about these gay games: does your local gay community still need its separate games, as being gay in sports continues to be an unacceptable issue? Anyway, enjoy my first pictures [click to enlarge]

Indymedia photo coverage: arrival of the teams - opening party in front of city hall. GVA Eurogames slideshow.

Flanders official holiday July 11: celebrating the Battle of the Golden Spurs

A quote from Wikipedia:

“The complexity of Belgium is evidenced by the country’s four ‘national days’.
The national Independence Day is observed on 21 July in honour of when King Leopold I ascended the throne in 1831.
But Flanders [the Dutch speaking majority] also celebrates the Flemish Community Holiday on 11 July, while Wallonia [the French spreaking minority] celebrates the Wallonian Community Holiday on 27 September. “

“The Battle of the Golden Spurs (Dutch: De Guldensporenslag, French: “bataille des éperons d’or”) was fought on July 11, 1302, near Kortrijk in Flanders. It is considered one of the main reasons that Dutch is the language spoken in Flanders [Belgium] today. The day is remembered every year in Flanders as the Flemish Community’s official holiday.”

My pictures of the celebrations in downtown historic Antwerp will be posted asap. I noticed that Flanders National public TV built a large stage right in front of Antwerp city hall for the celebrations tonight, I will try to get as close as possible

First shot of the July 11 preparations in front of Antwerp City hall, taken at 6pm.

The show goes live on national public TV at 8pm, rather unusual since Brussels is the traditional venue for the July 11 celebrations. Online streaming is unfortunately not available.

The picture can be clicked for a larger version over at my Flickr collection.

I will try to get more shots online, but with rather violent showers being predicted I’m sure nobody really cares to see close-up shots of wet locals pretending to have fun watching artists nobody ever heard about

[my image: preparing the crowd for the 8pm Flanders Day, July 11]

Antwerp welcomes Gay EuroGames, July 12-15

From July 12-15, Antwerp welcomes the Gay Eurogames, or to be more precise: the largest GLBT sports event in Europe. For full details, please check out the official programme [pdf]. More than 3,000 athletes from over 40 countries are coming to Antwerp to play sports, to fraternise and most of all: to have fun. I will make sure to have photos online asap, in spite of the predicted rainy weather

[image credit: Antwerp 2007 EuroGames]

Antwerp: a weekend getaway

Summer in Antwerp often fails to impress me. I guess many cities basically lack all those ingredients that turn a summer into an experience most of us associate with the “best season of the year”.

Obviously, Antwerp has open spaces and artificial open air pools, but few inhabitants who can afford to leave this town will ever try to convince anyone to spend too much time here during July or August.

I got a lucky break this weekend: a (diving) couple invited me over to the Dutch coast, with its unspoiled beaches and charming small towns. Even the weather improved drastically: I enjoyed two days of glorious sunshine - I even returned home with a tan.

[My image: a fish salesman on a quaint antique bike, in front of a Southern Dutch marina, July 7, 2007]

“You’re too old to be on the Internet”

I’m sure virtually all of us are familiar with the Nielsen Netratings: those nice folks who like to know anything you’re not willing to make public. I stumbled upon one of their pop-up windows while surfing around today, but unlike most of us, I didn’t close their intrusive window, wondering whether they would drop me if I told them is was no longer a 30-something consumer. Look at the result if you claim you’re retired:

If you’ve reached a certain age, Nielsen Netratings basically feels you should no longer be on the internet

Antwerp: rebuilding a city

Building Antwerp’s MAS maritime museum tower, expected to be finished in 2009

The 4th of July Antwerp fire

No US “independence day” celebrations on the 4th of July in Antwerp, Belgium: torrential rain with a huge downtown fire messed up the day. I considered trying to get my own cell-phone video on YouTube when the news broke [this blog supports uploads from a mobile], but the popular 3gp cell-phone video format appeared unsupported on YouTube. Any suggestions (conversion?) most welcome. Anyway,Di spotted the third party video before I did

A local news channel had the fire covered online around noon, soon afterwards an almost tropical downpour hit Antwerp

Antwerp fireworks: alone in a crowd

“Don’t blog when you’re feeling down”, a friend once used to say - a piece of advice that I pretty much kept in mind when posting on Antwerp Calling. And although the past few days have seen a seemingly countless number of events to keep me busy, I began to realize that I’m trying to fight a battle I can’t win. OK, let me first pick up where I last left you-all.

Friday June 29 saw the grand Antwerp riverside fireworks, opening the “summer of Antwerp“, a two-month festival of activities for all those who cannot or are not willing to leave Antwerp during the summer. However, many inhabitants do spend the summer abroad, leaving behind a city filled with tourists and those still stuck in town.

The fireworks were, well, ‘just a huge display of fireworks’, although a ‘madly in love’ couple almost reenacted their wedding night right in front of my very eyes, making me feel somewhat uncomfortable. “Oh, my big tootsy-wootsy” the rather large man on the ‘red’ picture kept on calling his female companion, who responded with some apparently appropriate heavy breeding breathing when her male partner/husband/whatever started a detailed account of all the carnal pleasures yet to come. Yuck.

Anyway, I found myself back in Holland last weekend [my image: billboard showing the perpetual battle to prevent Holland from being inundated: marina near Goes in Southern Holland, 50 km north of Antwerp], along with several divers and their ever so perfect wives and children.

The weather was OK-ish (21C/70F with more sun than inland Antwerp], the food just perfect (Indonesian cuisine never lets you down) but my ‘nostalgic’ mood soon turned into a “wish I could turn back time” feeling.

To put it plain and simple: I actually felt alone in a crowd, surrounded by all those “perfect couples”. Obviously, I know they aren’t, but make belief is a game we all tend to play when social events require us to keep up appearances.

While smiling politely, I suddenly realized how profoundly I missed my old house, my dog and the almost perfect world I shared with my ex in the wooded suburbia I had to leave behind without ever revisiting. The past really came back to haunt me, and it scared me how much I actually still want(ed) to “turn back time”