A photoshop miracle

I discovered this wonderful blog by Clothilde Goubely a few days ago. Incredible tasteful mix thanks to photoshop. Check it out !

Best wishes for 2009

Filip Jordens does Brel

A few weeks ago I went to see Filip Jordens with my wife. I saw him a couple of years ago and was amazed by the perfection of his Brel repertoire. I feared a bit that a second show would be overkill, but he made some major changes - a lot of songs less known but still amazing work - to keep it fresh. He is Brel, no phoney or melancholic stuff. If you have the chance don't miss it. It makes you wish you were born some decades earlier. (I also went to see the Piaf musical 3 weeks later, with Liesbeth List in the main role. I'll spare you the details, but she did miss her lines 6 (!) times. I should have known: a Dutch production on a french singer - sounds like trouble).

Comics imported.

I've always been surprised how much space my comicstore dedicates to US comics. I'm already pretty anoyed with all the space manga's been taking in over the past 5 years, but I was secretly hoping it would be at the cost of the US comics, not of our traditional "Franco-Belge" offer. To me, the guys who buy their weekly/monthly dosis of superhero comics were just a bunch of immature readers. I considered the few comics I have myself - Sin City, Dark Knight Returns, Hellboy.. - as guilty pleasures.
But then I noticed that in my favorite magazine, Bodoï, there was a monthly contribution on US comics. I started reading those pages - In fact, I litterally read every word in that magazine - and started to get interested. The 2007 Civil War event from Marvel really got me curious. But since it was about superheroes like Spiderman, I still thought of it as juvenile stuff.
When I was watching one of the spiderman movies with my wife, I couldn't help noticing that even if it's dumb entertainement, I couldn't get enough of it. I guess that when you get older, have long days at work and long evenings with the kids, dumb entertainement is just what you need (shame on my Sint Lucas background).

During lunch with my sister (hey Sas, a true blogpost on you after all !), she told me she was travelling to NY in the next few weeks. We discussed the opportunity that she could bring me some comics - not only did I save on the transport costs they'd charge me in my belgian comicstore, I'd also win on the dollarrate that was extremely low at the time.
I placed a carefull order of 5 comics - taking in consideration that I've got almost no room left on my bookshelves. Some safe stuff - Hellboys I was still looking for - and the Civil War TPB (Trade Paper Back for those who aren't familiar with the lingo).
With my colleague Mr. Gueuningck, I had long discussions on wether or not to start collecting US comics. I had the same discussion with Tom VH some years ago on launching myself in French comic books. If I hadn't chosen to do so at the time, I would have saved a lot of money and closetspace - not to mention the time I wasted on reading all the stuff- , but boy would I have missed out on some spectacular reading. Nevertheless, Mr. Gueuningck and I proposed to split the risk by making orders together, so we both would have great and medium stuff, without having to purchase all of them alone.

The kick was great. I felt as if I discoverd the Holy Grail. Knowing that there is an immense catalogue of great books just waiting for me.. You should know that for my Franco-Belge collection, I have to wait until the next issue is published - often having to wait for more then a year. I haven't felt this sensation since I started my collection more then 15 years ago.I did some serious research on the web - looking for recommendations from affectionados, scrolling through the complete Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image catalogue. I spend at least 24 hours behind my wife's laptop to compose a best-of wishlist. I don't think she was really happy with all the time wasted, knowing that it would also lead to much more time spend reading all the stuff I was ordering.My sister dropped by the Midtown Comics shop in NY at her first visit (check it out Sas, 2 drawings on you in one and the same post. Who would have guessed.). I contacted the store to see if I could place orders with them for my sister to pick up. Brian of Midtown Comics (check out their website: www.midtowncomics.com) was of great help over these last few months. Not only my sister, but almost everybody she knew that was going to NY and coming back to Belgium was involved in these import-transactions, all for my sake. - Via this way, I'd like to thank Steph & Gilly once again for their help.

The total amount of US comics stuffed away in flightcases this year is 32. I saved about 5 euros per comic. But now I really do have 2 new problems:

- I'm constantly looking out for persons going back & forth to NY.

- I've got no room left on my bookshelves.

In the next weeks, I'll share with you some reviews on the best comics I've ordered these last months. Hope you'll enjoy that.

Bye Bye Bodoï

I started reading Bodoï in 1999. I was still a student then, and now I'm a working father of 2 children. Each holiday, hospital visit, business trip, trainride.. Bodoï always accompagnied me. But last october I received the news that they abandonned their paper publishing. Luckely, Bodoï continues as a comicportal on the web. I must say that even if I regret the paper version, their site does answer my appetite for comicnews. As we say - Bodoï is dood, lang leve Bodoï.
Visit it here.

Elmo wins

Journey to the East

The soundtrack for the show "Monkeys Journey to the West" was released some weeks ago. I had high hopes for this new album from they guys behind Gorillaz, but my expectations were not completely met. A fine album, no more. Check out the animation Hewlett made for the olympics.

A blogpost for my sister

Monday, 8 P.M. My Sister calls me during dinner. ".. is there any chance you'd make a blogpost about me ?"

Tuesday, 8.30 A.M. I'm driving in my car, talking to my sister who's in the same traffic jams as me. She asks: ".. did you have the chance to think about that blogpost ?"

Wednesday, during my coffee break. A quick call from my sister, to let me know she didn't miss her flight. ".. I'm really curious to read that post about me".

Thursday, 15 P.M. During another passionate meeting at work, I have a quick chat with my sister. "I just had another look at your blog. It's been a while since you posted. But I have an idea on who you could do a post, if you want." (in the picture, all other colleagues are imaginative, except Mr. Gueningck)

Friday, 19 P.M. I'm rounding up at work, when my sister calls me to see what's up for the weekend. I tell her I hope to find the time to prepare some blogposts, in between shopping for groceries, playing with the kids and spending some times with my wife. (I should also add: and reading comics). I promise her I've foreseen the post about her afterall.

So sis, this was your post. Hope you enjoyed it !

Drawings for Sinterklaas and Zwarte piet

Elmo did his very best to color these 2 drawings made for Sinterklaas. I'll show you in one of the next blogposts if it had any impact on the number of gifts. But I must say he's been extremely nice these last 2 weeks.

Roller Derby

Some months ago, I read in the newspaper about an underground sport: Roller Derby. When you read the rules of the game it looks like fun - and it's a girls-only sport. I got curious and searched for some videos on YouTube. That was quite the surprise.

How we sleep

Since a few weeks, life is back to normal in our bedrooms - meaning everybody sleeps where he or she belongs, except Mone. But for a while, I was having the bed all to myself - that must have been from since I was single more then 12 years ago.

Meanwhile, Saskia and Mone where camping in Mone's room. Saskia proposed this arrangement the day she came home from the hospital, and since it's not wise to argue with a woman who just gave birth, I felt I better accept it. What a man has to do to please his wife..

Holiday memories

Baptism invitation

Members Of Marvelas

A good friend of mine plays the bass in the superb funk#?@! group Members of Marvelas. Check them out this summer at different festivals this summer. Or have a peak at their funny performance videos on youtube.

Life as it is

This is how daily life looks like for me - Saskia has her hands full as well.

I wake up early in the morning because Elmo gets out of his bed and comes to my room. Sometimes he gets up middle in the night, sometimes he lets me sleep untill the alarm goes of.

While he eats his breakfast (the same ritual as before) I make his lunch for school. I grab a bite myself somewhere in between. In the meanwhile Saskia takes care of Mone.

His school lunch looks a lot more healthier then what I eat: some fruit, his can of water (or milk), his sandwiches and a cookie for dessert.

At 8.20 he walks to school with his mom. Its a 2 minute walk, of which one minute is spent saying hi to the bunny that lives halfway the traject. I promised myself to drop him off once a week, and so far I met that promise (even if it means arriving after 9.30 A.M. at work).

No changes in the traffic jams, however. One of these days I'll dedicate a blogpost on my hours spent in traffic, since it has become an important part of my life - sadly enough.

When I get home at about 7.15 P.M., I find my wife exhausted and my kids alive and kicking. Normally Elmo has already eaten his dinner, so he is ready to go to bed. But sometimes he took a nap in the late afternoon, and then you can't get him in bed before 9 P.M.

After a short bedtime story, he lies down to sleep, while I keep him company and read a comic.

And then, finally, I get to play a little with my lovely daughter.

As you can see, there isn't much time left for anything else. Saskia & I are looking forward to the holidays 'cause we really need it.

Life as it was

Our day rithm has changed a lot over the past months. This is how it looked like until easter of this year:

Each morning I go downstairs to wake up Elmo. I make sure I'm all ready for work myself, because once he's up, there is no more time left for anything else. He is hardly awake and when he is, he is often angry because he just isn't ready for the day yet.

He eats oatmeal for breakfast - always from the same bowl, and always with the same blue spoon. Don't you dare serve him anything else !

Getting dressed is the hardest. He loves his pyjamas and you need to negotiate with him to convince him to get changed - offering chocolate in the negotiation will often do it - or else there is always the "hard way".

Then I drop him off at the "Kindervilla". He's always very kind to me when we are in the car, but when we get near the kindervilla he gets suspicious. Once inside he yells that he wants to go to Brussels (because that is the place to be in his imagination, and his Meter Jaja lives there, so it must be paradise to him). The last 4 weeks that he went to the kindervilla, he cried as he just didn't want to stay there.

The next hour and a half I spend in traffic jams.

I get home around seven after a hard days work, and we eat together and talk about the day. Elmo has the coolest way to sit in his chair - just check out how he sits back with his arm over the edge.

At ten PM Elmo is still jumping around while Saskia and I struggle to stay awake. The living room is by then transformed into a battlefield full of toys.

Then he drinks his bottle of milk ..

And after a last bedtime story (or several of them), I get into bed with him until he falls asleep. I wake up in the middle of the night and find my way to my own bed. Often he calls me in the night, so I more or less spend my sleeping time in 2 different beds.

The first week of February: the "stippeltjesweek"

I'm a little bit behind with my posts (about 4 months, actually). So, I pick up where I left you: beginning of February. This post is about one of the most emotional periods in our family life - don't worry, I won't make this an emo-blog.

Our daughter Mone was born and the day she came home from the hospital, our family was finally reunited. Saskia and I were really looking forward to our first "family feeling" - we kind of felt like a couple with a kid before, instead of a real family.

But after the first night at home, Elmo got ill (varicella). He called it "de stippeltjes" (the dots)

My dad picked him up from his kindergarden and kidnapped him for a whole week. We really missed the little fellow - it was the first time he was gone for more than 2 days. And with all the emotions due to the birth of Mone, we didn't know how to feel - somewhere between guilty and pleased because of the peace and quiet at home.

We talked on the phone every day with my parents, and the stories seemed just horrible. The first days he didn't really mind being sick, but then it got worse - I've never seen the varicella so bad. By coincidence we got a publicity in the mail about a vaccination against varicella that same day. Man, did we feel bad.

So I decided to go and visit him, which turned out to be a bad idea. I saw how my parents did their very best to take care of him, but the whole ritual of cleaning his wounds, covering them with cream and powder.. it was just as if you were forced to torture the little guy. He tried to be brave but it was just too painful. When I saw it, I was totally shaken. It was the first time (and the only, so far) that I felt like I was failing him because I wasn't there when he needed me.

I put him to bed and lay next to him. Because it was getting late, I had to sneak out of the room and leave like a thief in the night. He woke up when I was leaving, and yelled out for me. I could still hear him when I was driving of. I felt like a traitor, but decided to minimize it when talking about my visit to Saskia, so she wouldn't feel as guilty as me.

It really got me thinking about how important Elmo has become to us over the past two years. The next days we heard that he was getting better, but the empty feeling inside didn't go away. We decided not to visit him, since it looked like it did more harm then good. We made the best out of it and focussed on little Mone who was only about 10 days old at the time.

When I finally got to pick him up, he was all chearful. And driving home, I think I saw my mom getting a little emotional - Elmo is truely a heartbreaker.

What a homecoming it was ! Saskia and Elmo were so glad to reunite, that we could finally start that family-life we were all so hard longing for.

It took about a day before Elmo tried poking Mones eyes out or hitting her with her new toys: The daily routine had finally started. As always when Elmo is on "holiday", he makes incredible steps forward. In this case, he stopped his diapers overnight - we had been working on that for weeks, without success before.

He even tried emptying his little toilet himself, which was fun for him but not for his mother. I think our hygiene standards have just changed.

We moved on since then and I don't think Elmo has any bad memories of his "Stippeltjesweek".