Category Archives: Audio

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Meet the Neighbors #3

And now back to the irregular series, here on the communique, where I focus on two particular bloggers on my roll and explain why I read them. And today’s victims are none other then Big Monkey Helpy Chalk, and world famous Bitch Phd.

Ladies first, so let me tell you about Bitch Phd and her blog. Many of you are anonymous bloggers, because you know how tricky the trade-off can be between writing honestly and offending or betraying offline friends. Maybe you’d love to talk about who you secretly desire at work. Or maybe you want to curse out the boss, your neighbor, whomever. Or much simpler — you want to talk about things without people knowing your real identity. Well Dr. B is one of the world’s most famous anon bloggers, as she writes about her wonderful child pseudonymous kid, her husband mr. b, and her boyfriend ol’ whats his name. Oh yes — one of the factors that probably keeps people glued to her blog, the good dr challenges old fashioned monogomous values.

I honestly don’t remember how I found her blog, probably from some other academic blog, but the beauty is that hers is not annoyingly academic. She writes about all things that come to mind, with a special focus on the things she experiences as a mother, wife, professor, activist, etc. Oh and the nice part for me is that we often chat and swap advice. Even if I haven’t been doing it very often lately, I love chatting with BitchPhd and trading stories with her.

Which leads me to the man behind BigMonkeyHelpyChalk, Rob Loftis, as it was through dr. B that I found his blog, just as it was being born I believe. Right away you have to notice the title — what the hell is that — you wonder? It is, I believe, the first words ever uttered by his daughter… Big Monkey, Helpy Chalk. It is also worth mentioning that he is also an academic, yet he writes in a style that engages most anyone – no ivory towers on his blog. Among the other reasons I relate to his blog; he too has horrendous sleeping patterns.

There you have it, two more check marks as we roll down my list and meet the blog neighbors! See you next time (cue my theme music)

Working Culture

I never had much of a full time job in the states. It was more like lots of little ones that kept me running in a million directions at all time. In Portugal I was a full time slob and working with some fantastic people for a very evil corporation. And at the fishtank its a whole different story …. and even though you’re not supposed to talk about work, I gotta say the place where I work is like a family. Well, a family where people occasionally resign and move on… but still.. a family.

So some of the family decided we’d busted our asses for the brains of the netherlands today, and we deserved an evening in the park. Oosterpark to be exact. So we grabbed the left over fancy food from the fancy events of the day, I grabbed my frisbee, and we sat at that park from 6pm to 12am. Toronto’s most famous chef in exile was there; incedentally, he was in the movie PCU or something like that, as — yes — a frisbee player. So of course he and I threw the disc around and he gave me the tips I need to impress the frisbee feminina, if I decide to go that route.

But the best part of that evening was as it was almost pitch black, and the park has few lights, and we decided to play frisbee in the dark. It sounded something like “ok… here it comes bicyclemark…. THUMP… — OWWW MY EAR.” A whole lot of that in between drinks and hysterical laughter.

I mention all this for a higher purpose. Work culture. You probably have some where you live. Maybe you bowl… or have dinners together. Maybe you’ve got a softball team or yearly picnic. Here in Amsterdam, this is how it is for me; a big family of people who are VERY social and can often be found out in the middle of the night together throwing discs at each others’ heads.

Oh AND — HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOMA. I love her so.

Haiti and Jamie

Two things on my mind this evening, which is basically toast from my new and improved job responsibilities at the fishtank. While it might mean more income, it also means I’m tired and grumpy at the end of the night. Not that I didn’t find time to practice frisbee with le Big Jim, who’s in town from Paris, as well as another friend from New Jersey.

First off, concerning a place in the world I worry about and follow closely; Haiti. For those not keeping score at home, there is still a coup d’ etat in power, which took power with the help of unknown American security forces who kidnapped or smuggled (depending on who you ask) president Aristide into exile. Now the illegitimate government is charging the former prime minister with some big crimes. No shock there; take power by force, accuse your enemies of murder. Case closed. Maybe the only ones I like in all this are the Brazilian peacekeepers.

Second, more personal and promotional. Mr. Known Universe himself – Jamie, has published his novel. Not only that, as a frequent flyer between Brooklyn and Amsterdam, word on the street is he’s coming back to our fair city this summer. Jamie is a good human, a good writer, not to mention a dam good photograph maker. Online ordering is, of course, available.

AudioCommunique#36 – Being a Man

AudioCommunique #36(mp3)

26min+, 64kbps, 12Mb+

* Editors Note: Still not sure why or how I messed it up, but Nicole Simon’s voice is different then what you hear. Go listen to UsefulSounds and you’ll see! Maybe I can pretend I disguised her voice because Im a dangerous podcaster and Im keeping my sources top-secret.

This show looks at the concept of “being a man” in today’s society, and all the bullshit that goes into it.Show notes