Every second of every day somewhere in the world a new conspiracy, big or small, is being hatched while work on others is being continued.Recently I was one of the many victims of a magnificent conspiracy. The conspiracy involved a farmers protest in my home country on March 11, 2023. A protest against a policy… Continue reading Victims of a Magnificent Conspiracy
Category: Miscellaneous
Perfection, beauty & shifting perspectives
Perfection can’t be wrong, can it? But perfectionism, obsession? Surely any form or degree of OCPD (Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder) is bad isn’t it? Ordering my cutlery drawer this way started a couple of months ago. I gave the pair of scissors a very precise place in the drawer: not only in its own compartment, but… Continue reading Perfection, beauty & shifting perspectives
Misplaced respect
No mistake: ‘Misplaced respect‘ does not refer to the Vietnamese buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc in the ‘featured image’.The video is about (Abrahamic) religions and changing views on the role of the US in history. A change that I welcome to a certain extent on the inevitable way to a more multipolar world, but that… Continue reading Misplaced respect
Botanic behaviour: the Monstera Deliciosa
Only those who viewed a considerable number of videos from this Old Dutch Painter could have seen it coming: a video with observations and experiments with this special house plant, Monstera Deliciosa, especially its aerial roots. And yes: its fruit is edible but you have to be careful!To be honest I never had the privilege… Continue reading Botanic behaviour: the Monstera Deliciosa
The very little known ‘Atatürk’
How coincidental do you want it?In October 1927, Kemal Mustapha gave a speech that lasted six days. Yes, Fidel Castro certainly fell short of that with his six or eight hour speeches. When I was preparing my book “IS, the Kurds and the Caliphate. Turkey: from sick occupant to paranoid neighbor”. [The footer contains a… Continue reading The very little known ‘Atatürk’
First Exposition
Cute. I showed some paintings in a nicely positioned booth at this exposition called Nationale Kunstdagen (National Art days) in Gorcum, but I was bothered by people who walked too close around the corner and so too close to the paintings. The organization found the graceful improvised barrier I added sufficiently ‘creative’.