in the port of Amsterdam

I'm back in Amsterdam for a few days. I did spend a lot of time in Amsterdam a few years ago. Its a very compressed city, with the energy lines created by the concentric canals that force much of the life into a small area. I was previously based by the Damrak, which is a central and bustling pedestrian area that drives from the train station to the centre of the city. Every visitor to Amsterdam will walk some part of the Damrak.

The turnover of tourists on short breaks through Amsterdam is huge. With the pretty network of canals, the unique architecture, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank's house there is plenty for normal sightseeing.

Amsterdam also has de Wallen, a famous central red-light district. These "Hoerenbuurten" are common in Dutch sea ports and the one in Amsterdam is always busy with sightseers. De Wallen is also the centre for the Dutch Koffie shops, which, along with coffee, sell cannabis.

This time I'm staying in Heerengracht, right by one of the main canals. Here's Amanda singing a bawdy tune about this buzzing city.

Amsterdam

ps and in the post below, I've added an original version.

Jacques Brel

Naomi's comment prompted me to add this fantastic version of Amsterdam sung by its writer, Monsieur Jacques Brel.

java glitch

I notice the javascript formatting on rashbre central isn't working properly today. It looks as if leiderlich mein server in Germany ist kaput. I will merely drink coffee and ignore for the moment.

UPDATE: I sent a message to the helpful folk manning the engine room and they reset the misaligned sprockets. Should all be working again.

connections

I thought I'd try a post using words from today's most popular global technorati tags. Some of my blogroll celebrities have tried this in the past.

With George Bush in the USA speaking about iraq and iran there is much feedback from democrats on the continuation of the bloody war.

The environment is unseasonally warm and we can view flickr scenes of people shopping for fashion as well as upgraded versions of iPods and other gadgets.

Some are waiting for Apple iPhone to be released and even for Monday's Microsoft Vista with its heightened DRM although many expect an mp3 backlash like the way that rock and indie music with guitars have made a come-back.

Much of the new technology is made in China and this represents the emerging superpower. Of course, today's children take most of this for granted, with wii and playstation access to the internet, sometimes by firefox linking to a blog, youtube, yahoo, google or wikipedia.

I think thats enough links for one day.

happy clappy

Regular readers of rashbre central will know that this site normally spins positive and has 'there is fun going forward' as something of a catch phrase. So the recent posts about bad weather and broken down trains are something of an abberation. But of course, there is a reason for this, best expressed with the formula:

( [W + (D-d)] x TQ ) / (M x NA)

This equation is broken down into seven variables: (W) weather, (D) debt, (d) monthly salary, (T) time since Christmas, (Q) time since failed quit attempt, (M) low motivational levels and (NA) the need to take action.

I know you are all recognising this as the familiar depression formula, used to calculate the most depressing day of the year, which is somewhere between Monday 23 january and yesterday. Here in the Northern hemisphere, days are getting longer after 21st December, but the cyclonic weather systems have started to take their customary hold in January, bringing low, dark clouds and this year high winds and then snow to Britian.

Most people have broken their healthy resolutions six to seven days into the new year and many of us have eaten our way through the remaining Christmas chocolates and the content of the fridge.

Not to mention the suction sound from the emptying of the bank account, the prompt arrival of the credit card bill and the long delay since that early pay cheque in December. Why even the TV characters of East Enders are throwing themselves out of first floor windows.

But there's no place for Seasonal Affective Disorder around at rashbre central. We are all singing, dancing and prancing as we realise the rest of the year will be getting better and better.

Out with the bad and in with the good.

britishness?

I see "testing for Britishness" is back in the news in the UK at the moment, with new study materials due any time now, although there's a creeping internationalisation like the recent removal of the little crown from British pints, in favour of the CE symbol, which is French for Conformité Européenne.

The test includes a question about the distinction between, "the United Kingdom" and "Great Britain". Similarly, the date of the last successful invasion is known by many as 1066, but the date of the last failed invasion in 1797 (the French tried it), is probably known by a much smaller minority. And although some people will know about the Act of Union in 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, I'll bet a lot more people don't know anything about it.

So maybe the questions about how to pay a phone bill, or "which National cricket team do you support"? will be used as part of this strange screening process. Or perhaps a trip down the pot noodle mine

In the mean time, pass the HP.

tags technorati : rashbre britishness british

wrong kind of snow

London has received its first snowfall of the season and, yes, the trains didn't work properly. For London commuters, this is not a surprise and the two cliches for travel disruptions are, in Autumn, "leaves on the line" and in Winter, "wrong kind of snow".

So today's light dusting caused Network Rail to admit that if there had been more, the electric point heaters would have switched on. And they would have used more anti-freeze on the switchy bits. So the 'loose wet snow' pressed between the points caused them to jam and not switch the tracks.

"When you get extreme weather conditions there will be disruption," the spokesman said, referring to the overnight sprinkling. Good to see the senior executives have just been paid bonuses for the improvement in reliability.

OTA Wordless Wednesday

lost in the casino
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Tag: Wordless Wednesday

Juke Box Brits

One of the best specimens of a mammoth with its huge tusks was found in 1860 in the area now known as Ilford, Essex.

Popular urban myth is that Queen Elizabeth I crossed the river at Ilford and named it an 'ill ford', although Ilefort existed from Saxon times and in the Domesday book, known as Hile-ford - a ford in the River Hile (now the River Roding).

Fast forward to pop music times and Ilford became the centre for the Britannia Music mail order business, eventually leading to a series of annual awards, known as the Brittania Music Awards, subsequently shortened to 'The Brits'.

Nowadays, Ilford and Britannia Music (now of Jersey) have nothing to do with the mammoth music industry and Mastercard sponsored event which is a precursor to the American Grammys.

So here's the Brit Juke Box of nominations; check out any of the 40 plus tracks.

tags technorati : rashbre brits grammys jukebox

awash

My fence panels destroyed by the wind are nothing compared with the stricken container ship "MSC Napoli" off the coast of Devon at the moment. Apart from the 3,500 tonnes of oil, there are 2300 containers on the ship, which could take a month to remove individually.

Some 200 have already fallen into the sea, creating some interesting flotsam and jetsam being washed up on Branscombe beach, including a consignment of 50 BMW motorcycles, which seem to have been assisted from the beach by various members of the public.

In scenes reminiscent of Moonfleet, there were people on the beach looking for interesting items which are supposed to be described on a special form for the Receiver of Wreck. Barrels of wine were amongst the items washed up, although the L'Oreal beauty products were probably easier to carry.

tags technorati : rashbre ship msc napoli wreck

last Sunday's stroll

Paris, France - on the Strip

Venice, Italy - at the Venetian Hotel, with its indoor canal and gondolas

Beijing, China - in the Bellagio Hotel

Hotel Corridor, looking like something from da Vinci

Indoor shopping, with the Mall's control over day and night-time

The Strip meets Flamingo Road, Nevada - showing a more American perspective

wind

October and March are supposed to be windy months in the UK, but now we are getting an unseasonally mild but very blowy January.

I retrieved two blown out fence panels before I'd even unpacked from my USA visit yesterday and neatly stashed their remains behind a wall for shelter.

By this morning, because of last night's further high winds, one panel had scattered itself around the nearby grass again. It looks as if I will be doing some involuntary gardening today.