Eerste bericht

De komende weken zullen we (waarschijnlijk) aandoen:

Bangkok
Kanchanaburi
Ayutthaya
Sokuthai
Chiang Mai
Pai
Koh Samet
Bangkok

Denis Johnson – Angels

Denis johnson - angels

Angels. Not really. The story of 2 alcoholic drifters working their way through life. Making a habit of taking the wrong, or rather, no, decisions. Dark, like Jesus Son. Bukowski-esk, but I find this one darker and more pessimistic. People are tested, while in Bukowski, they make their own choices. And there is a bit more humor and relativizing in Bukowski.

And people do not get raped in Bukowski like in here.

A Houston family. A low social standing. All three brothers from 2 fathers follow the wrong path. Sex, drugs, alcohol, violence, crime. And all incapable of finding a way out.

The book has a marvelous ending.

Beautiful.

Ed van der Elsken, street photographer in love

I visited Ed van der Elsken’s retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum. Van der Elsken is chaotic and distinctly extroverted, an expressionist. His films are messy and experimental. The exhibition was impressive, but mostly, it was a lot.

I came down the stairs with a full head. The book De Verliefde Camera is the catalog of this retrospective. In the introduction, Hripsimé Visser, the catalog’s compiler, calls the work vibrant and dynamic. Surely that seems like an understatement. The book gives an overview of Van der Elsken’s work chronologically.

Paris, street photographs. Then, a series called A Love Story: Love on the Left Bank. The photographs in this series are large areas of black, little light, and stark—more lust than love.

Then Africa. Again, rather dark photos. Where the story is anthropological, in my opinion, Van der Elsken was much more interested in the aesthetics of black people. Close-ups of Negroes and Negresses, and I don’t mean that as a swear word, but as an indication of the style of the photographs. Photographs that are not about life in Africa as their subject but much more about the anatomy of the African man.

Sweet Life. Van der Elsken at his best: street photographs of everything that comes in front of the camera that he finds interesting. Here, Van der Elsken measures up to William Klein and Robert Frank.

Amsterdam. There are street photos, reportage-style photos, and portraits. Again, the individual photos are the strongest. The street photos are of everyday things.

Eye Love You. Color for the first time. Everyday scenes. Topper: a photo of elderly ladies with sunglasses and in neat dresses photographing two Negro children as if they were at the zoo. The vicarious blush comes to your cheeks.

Japan. Again, the street photos of someone who takes unfettered pictures of everyday subjects.

Ultimately, Ed van der Elsken was primarily an excellent street photographer who tried to make ends meet through his photography. His street photographs are world-class.

Een Klein Leven, een dik boek, laat maar

Mishandelde jongen wordt als volwassene onverbeterlijke zelfmutilant die zijn hele leven anderen tot last is niets positiefs bijdraagt en na uitgesponnen verhaal uiteindelijke zelfmoord pleegt.

Blijft irritant.

Vreselijk overschat boek van Hanya Yanagihara. Een Klein Leven.

Niet lezen.

Vagabonding – een klassiek reisboek maar niet in het Nederlands?

Verrassend…
Ik “las” Rolf Potts’ Vagabonding een tijdje Vagabondinggeleden in de audio versie. Dat was naar aanleiding van een opmerking in een Tim Ferriss’ podcast (weet niet meer welke).
Vagabondig gaat net zoveel over rezien als over filosofie, lifestyle, waarden in het leven, ethiek. Het is een wonderbaarlijk boek.
Ik begijp niet waarom er geen Nederlandse vertaling is.
Het book is volgepekt met interessante ideeen, gedachten, practische advieen en levenswijsheden, zonder te prediken of schoolmeesterachtig te worden.

Luister ook de Tim Ferriss met Potts kan ik aanraden. A blast, zoals Ferriss zelf zou zeggen.

Unshakeable – food for the mind, the wallet and the millions

Tony Robbinis Unshakable

He did it again. I do not think there is much in this book that he had not discussed (extensively) in Money Master the Game.

But, as opposed to Money, this book is more concise (which is not much of an achievement; I wrote about this earlier here; Unshakeable is a revelation of briefness compared to Money).

The book is very clear on where not to lose money: taxes, fund fees, and services that add no value. It is also evident where to invest in a diversified portfolio of low-cost index trackers, bonds, and real estate. Do not invest in gold or so.

And a very important thing to learn is to stay calm. Stock markets dive every so many years. When this happens, stay in your seat and do not move. Because as often as they fall, they rise again. Losses are made by people who get nervous. These are the opportunities for calm.

If there is one conclusion from this book in one sentence: get conscious about your investments otherwise the financial institutions will get away with your savings.
That’s the conclusion, so if you want to read more, go ahead. The book’s proceeds go to the noble cause of feeding the world (Tony feeds millions/billions, when not on the phone with presidents and multibillionaires all the time), so if not good for your wallet, the investment in this is good for your mental well-being.
But expect lots of words for not so many ideas. These are good ideas, but conciseness and humility are not Tony’s forte.

Hugh McLeod: Ignore Everybody

MacLeod describes how he built a creative business out of his scribbling on the back of business cards.

Separate topics on learnings from his creative experience. Very inspiring and practical.

Do it for yourself. Nobody cares.

If you have got the creative bug, deal with it. It is not going away.

Start blogging.

Great book. Great title. I wish I had thought of that.

Gapingvoid.com.

The #1 little BIG thing (Tom Peters)

Rereading Tom Peters’ Little BIG Things.

GREAT how he has chosen the first little BIG thing to be The Loo!

A shiny toilet tells everything.

(Also notice the Discipline that these pages breathe.)

(And yeah, go fix your voicemail message (#2 little BIG Thing).)

Why Coupland reminded me of Booch while reading the rollercoaster novel All Families Are Psychotics

All Families Are Psychotic is a journey through the chaotic events of a family get together.

I love these books from Douglas Coupland where the story brings you semi-random from one idiotic hilarious episode into the other. Btw why does Douglas Coupland remind me of Grady Booch? Both seem a bit scruffy outliers in their worlds – is how I would describe it in an instant answer without much further thought. It the same thing that attracts me in Haruki Murakami’s novels – the semi randomness of the events that lead the protagonists(s) through the story. The story is the way.

Grady Booch on the Future of Software Engineering
Booch

I believe my family is psychotic, but this Drummond family excels at it. What starts off as a family event around daughter Sarah’s jump into space – she’s an astronaut, develops into a wild road movie, with lots of collateral damage. So take Coupland’s title with a touch of salt, but it’s a great rollercoaster read.

Coupland

While you are at it also read Coupland’s Player One which has a similar cadence.

I your more have time to shred also read Murakami trilogy 1q84.

Erich Maria Remarque – Im Westen nichts Neues

(All Quiet on the Western Front)
Incredible story about a German soldier on the Western front in France during the First World War.
Young men are mangled and deformed by the atrocities they experience in the trenches.
People die like flies. Soldiers must leave their wounded mates in the no man’s land between the fronts. From the trenches their hear them cry for help.
That same atmosphere as Celine’s Voyage au bout the la nuit.
Still, Remarque keeps some form of distance to the story, while describing the horrors of the war and the trenches. He analyses without becoming personal. Numb, dull, demoralised.