Kate Ryan – Evidemment: dedicated to those who lost someone, but continued loving

Antwerp singer Kate Ryan performing “Evidemment”: dedicated to those who lost someone, but continued loving. Did you?

[Kate performed near my home last summer and we briefly met. She still dedicates her music to the memory of her mother]

Free Belgian beer for everyone!

bollekesfeest beer festival Antwerp, Belgium - Aug 21, 2009

The annual Antwerp “bollekes” beer festival (http://www.bollekesfeest.be) was celebrated this year by a crowd of 100,000 during a three day weekend at the end of August 2009. The opening on Friday Aug 21 featured free beer, along with the entire city council and Mayor throwing chocolates in the form of small hands, an ancient tradition.

But before I happily continue posting more stories, I feel it’s time for a blog format make-over. Like Bob Dylan once said, “The Times They Are a-Changin’ “, with an ever increasing number of former regular readers exclusively focusing on social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter. I know, my hit-rate is still high at 300-400 daily visitors, with a blog counter almost reaching half a million uniques, but after three years it’s time for a format change. There’s no stopping Facebook, is there?

Parts of Antwerp Calling will be relocated to a Belgian network I’m already posting on for ages (in Dutch, the language spoken by my close friends & relatives), while I will focus on covering predominantly visual local stories at Antwerp Calling in English, whenever I find the time. I’ll make sure you will enjoy the updated format. See You Later, Alligator

The one breasted Belgian TV guide

Belgian HUMO TV-guide

If you’re American, I’m sure you’re familiar with TV guide, a publication that has probably been the best selling weekly in the US for decades. If you’re living in Dutch speaking Belgium, the equivalent is HUMO, the top-selling TV guide for over 50y.

And look what HUMO put on their cover last month: a model showing one exposed breast, while holding the other. Apparently they featured one short article stressing some apparent controversy surrounding the excesses in preventive breast cancer screening.

Caption: “Have your breasts checked”. Hey guys, it may be warm, but try to be honest: this is Belgium in 2009: using the oldest trick in the book won’t cut it.  My brother’s young daughter made a poignant remark upon watching this cover: “why is this lady only holding one breast daddy? “. Yes indeed, why is she?

[This post is dedicated to all those female ànd male tourists at the local 'clothing optional' beaches I frequently visit during the summer, tourists who conveniently forget that at a certain age, it might be wise to cover up. Obviously, I'm also catering to a part of my corporate audience obsessed with the word "breast". I'll try to surprise you asap with a witty, intelligent, artistic post that will leave you all gasping for air, but right now it's a hot day without AC in August - my brain will remain on stand-by for some time. ] [More seasonal bad taste pictures from Belgian TV guide Humo]

(video) And you really think Belgians can’t dance?

Video I shot during a recent family party in the Antwerp, Belgium suburbs. And you really believed Belgians couldn’t dance?
[Update August 2009: during the summer months I will update this blog only whenever real news from Antwerp breaks.]

Antwerp gay pride & Navigaytion 2009: drunken queens on a boat

Quote from the ‘Antwerp Pride’ website:  www.antwerppride.com (check out event promo video 1, video 2)
“The city of Antwerp, clubs, cafés, fetish bars, erotic shops, bookshops, museums, LGBT organisations welcome you and your friends to Antwerp for the second edition of Antwerp Pride. Join ten thousands of visitors for an unforgettable pride weekend in Europe’s gay harbour, Antwerp. The combined forces of the large gay community and the support of the city of Antwerp will ensure another exciting edition.” Europe’s gay harbour? Someone must be joking. (But even the Russians in the Ukraine covered it]

OK, take two, now without the “we just love an influx of 30,000 cash-spending tourists, and we would bend over backwards to attract them, even if they came from Uranus” PR:  ‘Antwerp Pride 2009 is a yearly gay event that focuses on its highlight, Navigaytion 2009, a commercial “drunken queens showing off on ten riverboats” event surrounded by numerous huge parties, an open air fetish & leather-scene show and countless activities where gay emancipation has long been replaced by cashing-in on the influx of gay tourists.

If you care for my 2008 Navigaytion pictures and video, feel free to check them out.  Just added: some 2009 shots

[Update June 27, 10 pm: I just returned from Navigaytion, having taken 300 shots from the elevated riverbanks. Blazing sunshine, friendly & wild, be it with much less visitors. I was overcome by a "I've seen this too many times" feeling: people enjoying the culture of unadulterated narcissism in open air. The crowded was mixed (though +90% gay) with a yearly 'let's peek at this weird gay zoo" part where a large crowd of tourists and locals gazed at (and photographed) the Navigaytion crowd from the elevated riverside terraces. At times, it became funny, though slightly embarrassing. Anyway, Navigaytion 2009 turned out to be a predictable, perfect carbon-copy of its 2008 edition. "]</

No more Belgian chocolates

“You must be mistaken”, I just said to my endearingly emphatic MD over the phone, “are you sure the lab didn’t switch the Vacutainer tubes?”. Having just had a routine medical, my bloodwork showed  alarmingly elevated LDL-cholesterol,  the type of fat that blocks your arteries. Sure, I had gained much more than a couple of Kg/Lbs, but if you ever would have met me, rest assured: I’m not exactly the proud owner of a “supersize me” body.

Ten phone minutes later (yes, my doctor deserves a medal for patience and sheer dedication) I knew my days would now include a low-fat, low-calorie diet, no tasty Belgian beer, no succulent prime steaks and, probably even worse, no more (500g/one lbs of) delicious Belgian chocolates, a dietary inconvenience that will probably force me to make a detour to avoid the temptation presented by the numerous shops around Antwerp cathedral and city hall.

“OK”, I can hear you mutter, “stop whining, what’s the big deal, you spoilt brat?”. I do realize I may well be boring you, but I was getting ready to book an all-in, “book today, fly tomorrow” discounted last-minute vacation to the Med, one that obviously would have included lavish (as in “fat saturated”) buffets I would be unable to ignore or resist. Elaborate dining has always been one of the highlights of any vacation I ever booked. After a long, cold winter this vacation could have been the break I really needed.

Realizing that my only available travel partner is a notorious over-eater who “travels from the pool to the restaurant” (“no all-in buffets, no vacation deal”), I’m sulkingly sitting on my sunny Antwerp balcony, chewing on a celery stick,  still browsing the tempting Mediterranean “all inclusive” resorts.  With countless Europeans relinquishing their 2009 summer vacations due to the crashed economy, I had no idea “a silly bit of fat” had the potential to impact my holiday planning. But trust me, I’m still looking for a solution 

[June 20: Confession: sorry Doc, but I just devoured a Brussels waffle with lots of whipped cream. Still trying to convince my only available travel partner 'how great an active vacation without buffets would feel". He made a painful sound and grabbed something from my fridge. Probably the last celery sticks.]

Belgian beers: births and diseases at Google Squared

I love the innovation emerging at Google labs, but I cannot explain why Google Squared came up with this weird and somewhat amusing info about Belgian beers.  Quote: “Fetch and organize facts from across the web. Google Squared automatically constructs a table of facts”. Please note: I only entered the keywords as seen above.

Antwerp’s unofficial 2009 Summer Season Opening

Yes folks, it’s that time of year again: open-air pools, BBQs, the upcoming yearly one/two week vacation along the Med, long evening nights and obviously, somewhat less time spent in front of computer screens. But don’t run away now, I’ll make sure sure to keep on posting [disclaimer: intentional statement], even if the temps break the 100°F/37°C limit. To be totally honest, the chance of that happening is as remote as winning the Belgian state lottery in this rainy country by the sea

2008/2009 has been a pivotal year for both this blog and for myself.  Antwerp Calling dropped from 1,000 hits a day to a more modest 300 daily readers, predominantly caused by the massive success of social networking sites like Facebook and the multitude of Web 2.0 “I must be on it” applications like Twitter. Several of my once most loyal readers closed down their own blogs, one realizing a Pulitzer was beyond her reach, some just faded away or started financially more lucrative endeavours, with people I’ve never met in real life still leaving their much appreciated comments.  My personal life became a bumpy ride for a while, but at present I’m back in the driving seat.

Today showed the halmarks of an enjoyable Belgian summer’s day: 25°C/80°F on a leisurely Sunday spent at Antwerp’s left-bank beach and open-air pool. [My photo: an ice-cream stand on the historic Antwerp "plage" (French for "beach") at 4 pm]. I haven’t got a clue what the end of May felt like in your part of the world, but feel free to share.

Not available on Twitter, Facebook or WordPress

“Sure”, my dearest family members just told me over the phone, “feel free to use the pictures of Reinhartstein castle, the family reunion trip to the Robertville lake & dam and every shot you took during our three day weekend. But not on Twitter, Facebook or WordPress.” Since they managed to get their face on virtually all shots worth posting, I have to leave you with these rather generic images, pictures that hardly manage to evoke the atmosphere in eastern Belgium last weekend.

Privacy, it’s a weird issue, isn’t it? “Personal photo blogging is like leaving your home front door wide open while shouting “just drive in”: you lose all control”, my brother mentioned ever so polite. “Twitter? That’s like texting to the whole world. Facebook? Did you ever check how some of these ‘500-friend’ users handle their accounts?” Oh well, enjoy these first generic shots How do you feel about online privacy?

Belgian Gay MP marries male partner

Jean-Jacques Flahaut, Belgian member of parliament will marry his male partner next Saturday. The happy couple, who met in 2006, was congratulated by several government members, including the (Christian/Catholic) Belgian prime minister. Flahaut is the fist gay Belgian MP to marry after Belgium legalized same-sex marriages back in 2003.

You know, whenever I read these happy tidings I need to take a break, not sure how I really feel or whether I need to reevaluate my ideas about gay marriage. Like you may or may not know, I’ve been in a relationship with my male partner for quite some time. The past few years I’ve become increasingly uncomfortable attending weddings of straight friends, with one recent gay marriage in Antwerp making me want to leave early.

Facing up to my true feeling I realize I’m just like most of you: I’d enjoy that same kind of social acceptance that seems to be reserved to those who take the plunge, realizing that at times it’s all much more than a signed piece of paper and a big party. It can actually become a social entry ticket that reads “you’re one of us”.