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ONLY BE AMSTERDAMMER
Only Be Amsterdammer
Norah Jones in Amsterdam
In addition to being the name of one of the most influential and less popular bands as part of the explosion of punk-garage-grunge that came out at the end of the 80s and beginning of the 90s from Seattle, Mudhoney is a cult classic film of the genre known as sexploitation from the 60s that was shot in black and white under the direction of the incomparable Russ Meyer in 1965. A satirical story about people from the time of the Great Depression in the U.S., it was freely inspired by a novel by Raymond Friday Locke in which a cast of characters are drawn into a powerful torrent of primitive passions and raw emotions that aspired to provide a graphical representation of love, passion, lust and sadistic violence that is both cleverly caustic and parodic. Interestingly, Norah Jones, who will give a concert at the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdamon May 28 (http://www.carre.nl/nl/home), found out about the existence of this film shortly after working with Danger Mouse. He is the producer of her latest new album, Little Broken Hearts, which will be presented on her current tour, and the album Rome, a special tribute, partially composed by Daniele Luppi, to the Italian films of the genre in the 60s and 70s with their magnificent soundtracks with gifted artists such as Ennio Morricone, Piero Umiliani, Bruno Nicolai or Piero Piccioni. It was during the collaboration on this album that Norah Jones and Danger Mouse decided to work together on the next album of the singer fromNew York who was raised amidstTexas country music. With her band The Little...
Amsterdam without marijuana
Those were the years of the Flower Power Revolution of 1968, when university students from around the world were about to change the world with poetic slogans and fine sand beaches (supposedly) that were hiding under the urban paving.
Concert of Fanfarlo in Amsterdam
On the one hand, they only have two albums that have been released but have no videos of the latest one to be found on YouTube, and that´s hard, considering there´s everything on there. On the other, it´s not surprising that this music band, who belongs to the so-called indie pop trend and which was formed just a few years ago, has moved around environments that had nothing to do with the commercial madness that dominates the current artistic scene. The production of their first album (on vinyl!) was almost handmade. Despite all of that, Fanfarlo have managed to make space for themselves (a pretty big one, actually) on the international music scene with their mellow and melodic songs and lyrics that are just like those classic songs of the bands of the 60s, The Beatles included. However, what contemporary musician hasn´t received influences from the quartet from Liverpool? With only one album on the street, called Reservoir, and this second one that they´re promoting now, called Rooms filled with light, which is almost entirely unreleased, the London-based band lands in Amsterdam, in the popular venue Bitterzoet, on the 16th of May. TV fans, even if they´ve never heard of Fanfarlo, will have surely heard some music from these lads since they´ve played in popular TV series such as House or Grey´s Anatomy. Their songs have also been in films of the Twilight series. Regarding Bitterzoet in Amsterdam, I won´t repeat myself again and I will point the interested reader to the article published in this same blog on the concert of The Daisy Age in this same venue, an event programmed four days before this one, on May 12th. Here´s...
Rolling Kitchens in Amsterdam
Everyone knows that spring is probably one of the best seasons for travel inEurope. Not only can one find good offers for flights, but there’s also an end to the bad weather.
The Mother’s Day in Amsterdam
The new traveling families are not the same that used to be just a decade ago. Today, they are more cosmopolitan, inquisitive and curious. Any occasion is good to leave the house with the excuse of holding any event. Isn’t the Mother´s Day stated on the family calendar as a special day? Well of course. Wouldn’t it be a good idea then to take a weekend off to explore Amsterdam, the city of canals and bicycles? And if the family lives or is there by chance, you can also have fun with any of the events organized and are scattered around this educated and libertarian city. But when is the Mother´s Day celebrated? Well, depends on the country where you are, if you travel during the spring, you can even celebrate it twice. Your mom certainly deserve it, she has anyways made a great effort for you and will do more, even though sometimes you don’t understand why she is constantly moody. Your mother is the one who lays the foundation of what you really are and, like it or not, you will always be conditioned by her presence. That´s why moms have a special day in every country in the world. Dates are mixed and in some nations it matches in December, with the religious celebration of the Immaculate, as is the case of Panama, but usually it falls in the spring days of May: in Spain, like Portugal or Hungary, the first of the month, but more often it is the second Sunday in May, which in 2012 is the 13th of May. In Peru, Holland,...
Queensday in Amsterdam
The 30th of April is Queensday in Amsterdam, the birthday of the Queen Mother. Despite that it´s special in Amsterdam, this festival is celebrated throughout the Netherlands with open-air parties and covering everything in orange. The first celebration of Queensday was on the 31st of August 1885, with the birth of Queen Wilhelmina. In 1949, sixty-four years later, they began to celebrate the birthday of Queen Juliana, April 30th, as a tribute of her coronation. Today, Queen Beatrix still celebrates this party, keeping the tradition in her mother´s honour. The party begins around 7pm and the city goes onto the streets, with everyone walking around Niuewmarkt and the Jordaan, open spaces that start the party on the street. There are plenty of parties, street salesmen, activities for children, DJs for young people and adults and classical music concerts. To summarise, there are activities for all ages. One of the most curious activities of this day is that you can buy all sorts of second hand objects because everyone has the right to go on the street and sell whatever they want, transforming the city into one big flea market. For that, many people set up stalls in the parks, on the sidewalks and even on the roads, and sell sweets, books and various interesting objects, because nobody pays tax on this day. The canals are full of boats of all shapes and sizes, where people celebrate Queensday (Koninginnedag in Dutch) with music, dancing and drinks. However, if there´s something that makes it special is the distinctive use of the colour orange. You can see people in orange wigs, t-shirts...
Health and travelling to Amsterdam
When we prepare a trip abroad in advance, there´s plenty of daydreaming involved. The expectancies are ever present and that´s because the human being lives in the future a lot. Planning the places we´ll go to, the great time we´ll have and, to summarise, the thrill of the moments before the trip are pretty much all the occupies our mind. However, on a trip, like in any other time in our lives, setbacks are never far away. Losing a suitcase, an airline strike or falling ill are pretty common things and being prepared for them is the key to not frustrate ourselves and be well prepared for it. For example, if we´re enjoying a few wonderful weeks in Amsterdam and we catch the flu due to the difference in temperature, it´s important to have a doctor´s contact phone at hand to make an appointment, know the hospital addresses and also where the different pharmacies are. The webpage of the Dutch Health Office can be very useful, so writing down all of this information can be of great help. www.government.nl/ministries/vws#ref-minvws Another good piece of advice for travellers is that if they have a more or less serious and prolonged illness and are also receiving treatment for it, it´s important to have all the paperwork on our state regarding the illness and our medical records given by our doctor, because in case something happens, it´s important that the doctors can have direct and fast access to everything regarding our health. Bear in mind that you might not be able to explain yourself correctly, so you need to add this paperwork to your...
Rufus Wainwright in Amsterdam
The American-Canadian singer Rufus Wainwright and his band will perform a concert on the 27th of April at the Melkweg in Amsterdam. This presentation is part of the launch of his new album that will take place during April. Rufus Wainwright was born in Rhinebeck, New York, in 1973. He lived in an artistic environment, since his parents Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrige were folk singers. When he was 6, he began playing piano and started touring at age 13 with his family. Rufus was able to develop an eclectic musical style far from the currents of fashion, since it covers trends ranging from lyrical to the strains of the Parisian chanson of the 50’s and with a strong reminiscent of the genre. In different interviews he has repeatedly said that when he began his career, he believed that success meant being different, but eventually realized that it was actually the opposite and that he should concentrate in a single musical category. The truth is that his method has worked and as a result he has built a solid career. His work on soundtracks for several films has been highly praised, performing the music for the Martin Scorsese´s Aviator, Moulin Rouge, Shrek, Brakeback Mountain, among others. He has also performed songs for product announcements, such as the first men´s fragrance Antidote by designers Voktor and Rolf. Breaking all the schemes, in 2007 he performed a recital reinterpreting Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall in New York, filling and receiving public acclaim. Subsequently recorded an album on this presentation. The following year he announced that he would start a tour to...
Exhibition: Dreams of Nature in Amsterdam from Van Gogh to Kandinsky
The exhibition “Dreams of nature. Symbolism from Van Gogh to Kandinsky” is under way since February 24 and you can enjoy it up to the 17 of June 2012. Visit this fascinating exhibition and get carried away by dreams and visions of the artists of the time. The exhibition includes a large number of artists, from precursors of symbolism, such as Whistler and Böcklin, Mondrian and Kandinsky, who provided the impetus for major twentieth century movements like surrealism and abstraction. The works of painters such as Monet, Gauguin, Van Gogh and Munch, along with lesser known but equally great Eastern European and Nordic countries artists will be presented. Symbolist artists are meant to evoke visions and dreams, rather than reflect reality as it presented before your eyes. This was a reaction to the increasing industrialization and materialism of Europe. Symbolist works reflect the feelings of pessimism and fear and a desire to mythology and spirituality. The works in the collection include major symbolists such as Paul Gauguin and Odilon Redon. Moreover, Van Gogh himself is often seen as one of the first symbolists. The rhythms and energy of nature, and the bonds of the people with the land, are typical symbolist themes, which also concerned Van Gogh. The exhibition of paintings by Van Gogh, “The Sower” and “Wheatfield With A Reaper” play an important role. More than 70 poetic and evocative paintings of nature from the period that range from 1880 to 1910 will offer a new perspective of this fascinating movement. The landscape is the medium used by artists to represent their dreams, death, society, science, modern age, the...
