Author Archives: bicyclemark

New Place

Goodbye Bicyclemark ranch… hello to the Bicyclemark HS. why HS? cause that’s what it says next to my postcode… and it stands for huis. which, shockingly, means house in dutch.

Amsterdam for non-Dutch means constant moving. This is apartment number 5 or 6 for me in the span of three years. Every six months is my average, and for an expat.. that’s not atypical. We exist on the cusp of society. In a shadow world, where housings costs more, and reading dutch contracts is nervewracking. So we don’t read them… I think.

So I must say goodbye to the ranch. Where I lived in three different apartments in the span of 1 year and a half. Goodbye to the garden where Ive raised begonias, impatients, and a flock of angry pigeons. Goodbye to centrum amsterdam, where every morning there’s a bum on your doorstep sparking up.. and bidding you a good day. Ah the memories. Perhaps Ill one day be a centrum kid again, but for the forseeable future, BM is an Oud West kid. Where turkish bakeries are plentiful, gardens grow in the back AND the front of the building, and the list of available wi-fi networks is mouth watering.

Responsibility

Soon the comments on this blog will require peacekeepers or national guard troops to keep things from getting out of hand. Obviously I sparked some emotion yesterday, and all I can say is — if you’re not angry.. then you’re not paying attention.

If there’s one person I look to for alot of information and understanding of what’s going on in New Orleans, it’s the mayor. Prior to this tragedy, I knew nothing about him. I still don’t know what his politics are.. .and honestly.. I don’t care. His behavior has gained my respect and attention. I just saw him on the BBC literally calling the response from the federal government Bullshit! He also comdemed all the media and politicians (read-theprez) flying over head and snapping photos instead of actually getting to work and assisting in the relief effort.

Speaking of the Beeb…. I’m a trained media critic, and I must say – I never expected – the coverage of the BBC has been excellent. What makes it excellent? They’re asking REAL QUESTIONS. Instead of just regurgitating white house press releases or the usual media mantra of infotainment, Ive heard several BBC reporters ask US officials the following great question:

Is this a case of the United States having been so obsessed with fighting terrorism that they neglected to address the basic needs of the country?

— ding ding ding—- EXCELLENT QUESTION.

And besides that the BBC has been openly critical of the bad preperation and known problems with Lousiana’s coastal infrastructure. And for that, I highly recommend you use them as a source for information instead of the pathetic CNN and whatever else shows you pretty graphics and exciting music.

Oh and one final point. There is something very wierd about watching a president who spends billions upon billions on invading a country, ask people to send cash donations. I’m not saying its bad to donate, I’m saying I get a wierd feeling in my stomach when I watch him do it.

On the Bayou

You may start to see a familiar theme running through my posts lately, but this stuff is festering inside my brain and its often a point of view that I think is completely absent from public dialogue.

Sure enough today we’re talking hurricane K and nightmarish conditions in New Orleans and Alabama. – Now the way the big media companies paint the picture, it’s basically a huge disaster and lots of people need help and if you could dial bla bla bla and donate to red cross dot bla bla. And that’s basically the tone of the reporting; show images of people on roofs waving… pleading for help, show brave pretend reporter in front of pile of rubble, switch to gwbush struggling to read the statements they wrote in crayon for him. The whole time you can tell he wishes it was a war speech cause those are the only lines he knows by heart.

And so that’s it right? Nothing else to do if you’re the media and the public. WRONG.
It is more than time to ask WHY. Since they didn’t investigate before this happened, the fact that the state of Louisiana had its emergency funds and infrastructure funds cut to help pay for the Iraq quagmire, needs to be exposed. Not to mention the fact that between 35 and 40 percent of the Alabama and Lousiana national guard is in Iraq distributing freedom by the barrel of a gun. This is not just a freak act of nature, this is a deliberate and criminal camapaign by the federal government and their insane crusades around the world, which leaves the nation unprepared for emergencies.

Oh, and just one more note, as you channel surf and watch all the bullshit reporting.. take note who is most effected by all this. The POOR. Look at the people standing on their roofs, I don’t see rich white people standing ontop of their mansions… no.. it’s poor people who are normally completely ignored all year long. Well, except when they appear on one of those COPS shows. And then they condemn the looting. If my family has no water or food, and no sign of being rescued for days.. you can bet I’ll be looting my local supermarket as well.

Here’s one blogger’s angry take on it. And here’s another worth checking out.

Look Deeper Beslan

As the first days of September are upon us, I’ve been remembering this time last year, during the Beslan hostage crisis. Last night I watched a documentary on BBC1 which consisted primarily of interviews with children who survived, images from the seige, and english subtitles. To say that it was a sad documentary would be an understatement, it was terrible… the stories I mean.

You have to picture it, 10 year old Russian children with these very serious and depressed eyes, telling about what happened:

“After one of the explosions, I was in a pile of rubble, and I could hear children under me… the couldn’t breathe.. they were being crushed.. we all tried to reach out hands out so that someone might grab us and pull us out..”

or

“I was sitting on my mothers lap, we were desperate for water, and then suddenly there was an explosion, and my mother was gone.”

Of course it was a terrible thing that happenned, you don’t need me to write that. But one thing that is not talked about, that bothers me about the Beslan seige, is that the media never talks about how the terrorists became terrorists. Meaning – there is no discussion of Chechnya and what the Russian government and military has done to the region and its people. As usual the seige is excessively simplified: evil terrorists just want to destroy schools and children.

Obviously these children were innocent. Obviously schools should never be used as pawns in armed conflict. But it is also ridiculous to act like these terrorists came out of nowhere and mother Russia is a peaceloving nation. My point – Grieve and remember the terrible thing that happened one year ago in Beslan. BUT — also recognize and condemn the terrible things that have been done by the Russian military in Chechnya.

Maple Leaves

What is it about Canadians? Stay with me here—

I can’t resist the friendliness. The coolness. The relaxed; good-heartedness; so many of them bleed.

Not only here in Amsterdam, but all over the world, I have Canadian friends that I adore living outside their home country. They are often the ultimate expats. They blend in. They speak the local language when necessary. Lots of times they have a parent or a loved one who is probably from that country.

Whichever the case, I have a thing for Canadians- I just like them. Even the bad ones… I think I like them too. But I do have to ask, in a generally curious way, how did they get this way?

All these things traveled through my brain yesterday, as I stood there smiling and swaying to the music at Paradiso. Thanks once again to Toronto’s Finest Chef in exile, I was watching one of my favorite bands ever – The Stars. Even this group, in all their popularity and success, even they seemed lovable and down to earth. I wanted to climb on stage and invite them over for dinner. Again.. that oh-canada magic.

Speaking of which, I miss my brooklynzoo… who now lives in Berlin, and I fully intend to visit.