Bailey Alexander

How the Dutch deal with an economic crisis.

Recent conversation with Dutch friend at Chez Bay. 

Me: "So how's the economic crisis hitting Holland, I hear people are more grateful for their jobs these days, working longer than the traditional 9-5 five day work week. Historically pretty wealthy, work available for all, now, perhaps, not so much?"

He: "Well, one example, it used to be, when we were sick we would just call in and not come to work, now we go into work, they see we are sick, then send us home."

The UK and the US

Still a strong bond and so many movies to support said fact. Re-visited a personal fave last night called 84, Charing Cross Road.

Ann Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins are perfectly cast. The movie is nostalgic, dear and I'd forgotten all the lovely poems.  

Including this one by W. B. Yeats:

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths

Enwrought with golden and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.

Deliciously shabby chic environs...

Amsterdam's Alice in Wonderful quality insists this city, or rather this village still boast a dizzying array of eclectic and funky shops.

Shops full of odd and random musical instruments, one replete with one-off antiques, the next full of creative holiday decorations, paraphernalia galore...finally I bought a little something at this store I've been walking by for almost a year, lovely, fun used stuff; sterling silver serving items, colorful crystal goblets, vases, its just fun to walk inside and imbibe the cluttered shabby chic environs...

Watching Europe in crisis...

...is like watching life in slow motion. Or this song.

Compelling and amusing in an existential sort of way. In that emphatically didactic Brechtian Kurt Wheil Threepenny Opera Mack The Knife kinda way.

And. Contrary to all the conspiracy theories, the anglo press, ecetera, ecetera, ecetera, Europeans have little issue with Germany running the money, in fact, they're all bending over backwards to follow their model.  

Drinkies, dinner and a lovely sunset w/mio marito @Hotel Mint in Amsterdam

Taking a train within Holland, outside Amsterdam to Kröller-Müller Museum

Amsterdam's full of fantastic museums unfortunately my favorite, van Gogh's "Cafe Terraces at Midnight" lives outside, in a small suburban village called Otterlo, full of classic, relatively compact and elegant homes like this: 

 

When you arrive they give you a bike for free and you cycle the remaining 5 klicks until you arrive at the national Park De Hoge Veluwe. 

Kroller-Muller Museum is named after Helene Kröller-Müller (1869-1939), and it's full of major masterpieces by Monet, Picasso, Seurat, braque Cezanne and dozens of others...

Seattle and Amsterdam; surprisingly similar and both immensely livable.

I grew up in Seattle, in Magnolia to be exact; a lovely village attached to the city by a swooping bridge that hung low and carried the cars carefully from our neighborhood to 1st avenue in mere minutes.

I traveled in a lot of social circles locally but when I started to recruit technical personnel, first nationally, then internationally, I heard an earful of opinions; "Why does it take 7 years to meet a family member, " you're all so nice but kind of distant, where's the party, where's the social scene, what's up!". Seattle was about to go grunge and explode on the world stage but it did stay relatively provincial for a long time. We've always been, actually, since the world fair in '62; resourceful and hugely industrious, exporting up to 35% of America's exports. That's very industrious behavior.

Gay Pride Parades; from Paris to Amsterdam

 

Watching the gay parade in Paris from our flat was immensely fun when living off of Boulevard Sainte-Germain; the emotional environs were so feisty, intense and aggressively interesting in the city of lights. Always so many distractions to compete with one another, it was amazing the options available to its residents.

 

Juan Cole; easy to skewer the obsession with Knights of Templar

Juan Cole site is a key ingredient for those wishing to read up on the Breivik madness from a distance. It's easy to skewer the obsession w/Knights of Templar, and yet the combination of this 'movement', the anti-jihadist blogs, the Geert Wilders and the rest allow us to understand why the partnership with Zionism can seem almost strategic.

Of course, one could argue the Knights have nothing on today's financial terrorism...

Dutch Vet 1, Dutch Dentist nil.

The signs were evident from the beginning. The Dutch vet took the time to consult before and after the kids surgery, if only because I insisted on it, we dropped them off at 10am and picked them up at 9pm, allowing ample time for recovery. They were given painkillers which I administered in the form of a syringe for the first couple of days following and we're slowly transitioning them back to their ideal diet; raw meat.

Wouldn't necessarily recommend the cooking but the Dutch have cornered cultivation.

Holland is a small and densely populated country. Had they not intervened one could argue they'd be under water as I write away. All the more reason to celebrate their genius. It's a miracle and testament to their determination they exist at all.

As the world wonders and worries, as it should, about the deadly combination of population explosion and resource depletion, it just may be come down to the Dutch to save the world. 

Vondelpark; the central park of Amsterdam.

Tony Blair and his tribe; how various gangsters and banksters run 'their' world.

Thieves and robber barons continue to take their piece. In Venezuela, The Rabbit and his gang run a prison which could be construed as a resort. A British national inmate, a drug trafficker, says its the by far the finest prison he's even done time in. No need to leave; drugs, cockfights, sex, outdoor pools; gratification replaces incarceration. 

Have we crossed the Rubicon?

Have we reached the point of no return? Not sure, haven't been back for years but it does appear as if my fellow Americans continually opt for safety over liberty. 

Tyler Durden via Max Keiser

There ARE people, they do exist, those that wish to get the financial info out there: Max Keiser and Tyler Durden, are two of those people:

Marcel and Fritz the cat @ Luxembourg Cafe

Marcel's a swell Dutch guy I met@the book market; we meet on the odd Friday at the classic cafe Luxembourg. We 3 are so comfortably ensconced; the house cat cuddles with me and my Issey Miyake. Without much imagination I've named him Fritz.

3 Generations of the rarer, fairer species unfold @ Chez Bay

Politics are checked at the door; hearts and minds opened, ready to engage as 8 american women display their humanity@Chez Bay. 

It's been years since I've seen the States so when opportunity arrives to pack the place with fellow expats; I do.

Artists, corporate types, students, writers, they're all represented. Fellow nomads from NY, San Fran, L.A. now living abroad, re-inventing themselves; confident, secure and ready to sing for their supper; lord it looks like I've hit the trifecta! 

It's a safe space, everyone let's it all hang out, immediately; it's rather magical in fact.

Cornel West, Harry Belefonte; a changing of the guard...

I listened to Harry Belafonte on Democracy Now the other day and was struck, always, by the clarity of his language, how concise his words. Like Paul Robeson and Lena Horne; there was an edge to their language; they were deeply aware of the struggle; their mission; their lack of civil rights. 

Cycles, chaos and dinner @ Chez Bay

Mio marito's off doing biz, drinking and dancing in a kilt somewhere in Kazakhstan; not at the same time, mind you, but the need to feed the soul w/company and otherly perceptions dictates a spontaneous dinner party.

As the guests arrive I quietly note they're all younger by years which lends a sense of internal calm, making me feel slightly maternal. As if I should appreciate their age and honour their place, as if its a chance to embrace the cycles of life, after all, there is a 20 year gap between myself and my youngest guest, a man named Daan. 

Queen's Day in Amsterdam; a study in orange ensemble and empennage

 
   

The Royal Wedding; Protocol and that divinely inspired dress...

Kate opted for Chantilly lace, like Grace; how lovely. I've wondered why no one wished to emulate until now...perhaps Kelly cut too close to perfection.

Alas, the new princess pulled it off making me think of Grace Kelly waxing fashion to James Stewart in Rear Window..."oh she looked so beautiful you should have seen her dress, it was so divine..."
Even Harry was humble, well behaved, at least for a sec; just the kind of day to give gratitude that protocol exists somewhere...

The service familiar, having grown up Episcopalian; first time in many moons; enough to sooth the soul. They quoted Chaucer; oh, the firm put on a spectacular show. 

Nothing but a guilty pleasure yet so much more; the London Chamber Orchestra, the trumpets, the choir, the bells, the procession, the pageantry, a prince and his princess in a most divinely inspired dress.

So history is made today, even the Queen seemed genuinely happy.  Why not indeed...

Dinner parties@Chez Bay; a play in three acts.

\ Each play is different and yet the process is often the same.

I love the entire exercise from front to finish. And yes it tis an exercise. And yet is lacks any sense of being rehearsed as the players prove to be nothing less than the sum of their own unique lives. 

It takes effort on my part to coordinate, to cook but it is a passion. I love nothing more than to share my home, my opinions, my life. It's lovely when mio marito is around; this isn't always the case.

It is also an exercise for my guests, especially the best ones, for they know in which key, precisely, how to sing for their supper. This does not happen often, but when it does, the melody is nothing short of divine.

Alas, it is an exercise for they must arrive and partake, they must communicate and exercise their curiosity if only to collide adroitly with the other guests.  If they don't, and some just won't, this is but the chance I take and one I seem intent on taking over and over again.

Prior to their arrival I pick the flowers, feel the creativity and then prepare.  I love the entire process, in particular the bit in be tween when they arrive and coincide and best yet when they wish to argue their side with zest.I love this bit.

When they take their exit, full and grateful, so kind with their own time I can then begin the third act; the final scene. This routine exists within its own pattern and it's almost almost always executed in exactly the same way...

...and yet the memories, the reflections, the ability to re-live it twice while putting everything back in its place; every piece, each plate, one glass at a time; this space feels vastly different every single time.

This makes the entire exercise worth the effort; this is joy.  

 

Pedalling along Amsterdam's canals...

Kids drove so I could put my feet up, enjoy the view @lunchtime. 

Cruised along the casino, caught some bike ballet, watched 'em practice their pirouettes, so fun in the sun and relaxing, grateful to have Colette and Godot at the helm.

Jerry Seinfeld guffaws on the upcoming royal nuptials; "it's fake phony hats and gowns..."

"These aren't special people!" said Jerry Springer, dishing up some 'witty print' just prior to his O2 concert in London. Apparently Jerry doesn't accept the royal wedding as authentic.

Dutch and shock; a day in the life...

It was the kind of lovely, sunny saturday that inspired us to bite the bullet and test drive our first proper Dutch bike. One of those large classic black numbers with their highly placed, graceful handle bars. 

Colette's not so sure, so low to the ground. The only model available was the kind with the deep, boxy 'basket' attached, the type the Dutch put their little kids in...

Coming soon; Godot the anti-globalist and Colette the skeptic.

 

An errand as simple as buying the dogfood...

...can have an Alice in Wonderland like quality.  

Godot the anti-Globalist has arrived.

Stay tuned....

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, so says piccoletta Colette...

Back in Holland; Home Sweet Home

En route to the flat in Amsterdam we visited the Keukenhof gardens, open for 2 months each year....
  
 
 
 

 

Another evening at 'Alla Vedova' in Venezia...

Business particulars request our presence in Venice and Salzburg so yes, si, andiamo!

Always better with the locals as they know where to go, Elise, a dear friend suggests we hit Alla Vedova first, who am I to complain...   

Vino rosso and porpetta pushed forward, so fluffy on the inside, light and crispy. The wine served from large, colorful ceramic carafes, this time mio marito is along for the ride, lucky boy, luck noi.

Miniature calla lilies, disco balls and papillons.

There's always beauty, there's always hope...

Gobsmacked by world events and deeply saddened by the death of an old school artist; one must persevere to stay positive and hopeful.

Eventually everyone is exposed to how cruel the world can be, death happens to everyone, eventually.

Colette and Godot do soften the blow, especially when I tend to re-cycle the sadness. They alleviate if not eliminate the loneliness, especially as mio marito travels at length. For all their meaning and manifestation they ask only  that I provide care and devotion. I give both willingly.

Elizabeth Taylor: The Loveliest Woman in the Entire World Just Left the Room.

As I watched A Place In The Sun the other night I sat there thinking this movie might be a perfect metaphor for Elizabeth Taylor.

The scene: Montgomery Clift (my mother's generation swooned over this unbelievably handsome man) is the poor relative visiting his rich and distant for the first time. Monty's quiet, sensitive, sincere and therefore uncomfortable in their company and they do nothing to ease his pain.

Watch Saudi Arabia, wait for Turkey and wonder about the CIA.

Robert Fisk, in the Independent of London: "The Saudi monarch is disbursing almost $150bn around his merry kingdom in the hope of being spared the wrath of his people. Who knows, it may work for a time. But as I always say, watch Saudi Arabia. And don't take your eyes off it...

And yet, Tukey objects to NATO Libya role beyond UN limits. Will Turkey have its Ottoman Empire back after all?  So many questions, so few answers.

Happy Vernal Equinox

Happy Spring, Happy Vernal Equinox, May the Ides of March take a rest, for a sec.
May the sun arrive, enter the mind and put a little spring into your step.

What Left-right paradigm? Bradley Manning, Barack Obama and the National Surveillance State

Typically the media feeds into this left-right paradigm although the real source of so much of our strife is the fight between the people who believe they can impose their will on everyone through government and the people who simply want to be left alone. This concept of being left alone is now rather far fetched in the US. 

The willing of the Coalition

Sarkozy's popularity is at a new low, hence the strutting and posturing, and now, the bombing.  'The man to have in a crisis'.

The intervention could turn out to be for him what the Falklands war was to Margaret Thatcher: a vote winner. Also, le diplomatic fiasco in Tunisia and Egypt by the French needed to be addressed...

This is how politicians 'roll'...

Julian Assange: It feels good to get out of the house...

Referring to the fruit-seller from Tunisia who set himself alight in protest at government corruption, Mr Assange:"His act took what was an online [campaign] about what was happening in Tunisia and expressed it in physical form. The cables showed the US would support the military over the Tunisian regime. This changed the dynamic between reformists and regimists."

The English do it so well, especially Mike Leigh.

Will Di Novi pays tribute to the quiet, gigantic beauty found in Mike Leighs' films; the class wars, the extraordinary, ordinary people.

Vera Drake didn't speak to me, it screamed within me because, a kind, very well intentioned woman just persevered, every single day, in spite of it all.

Libya; It's complicated. Arab League anyone?

UN resolution just isn't going to happen, Russia won't, China, no. 

Europe is, of course very concerned about the humanitarian crisis but legitimately frightened to take on more immigration. It only empowers controversial pols like Geert Wilders, whose political lens appears to reflect both his frequent trips to Israel and personal friendship with Pam Geller. Geller's such an extreme fringe character she makes Oriana Fallaci's anti-Islam stance seem downright diplomatic.  Oriana was a provocateur, Geller's just vulgar, even Fox ignores her.  So no....

Unfortunately the political and religious implications are just too complicated for America and Britain. Images of Blair canoodling w/ Muammar allow their own public relations to backfire and let's be honest, a no fly zone means war and the potential to screw up is far too large. Therefore boots would hit the ground; another occupation of a Muslim country, again, not a wise decision.

Japan and Wisconsin; destructive twins of mother and human nature.

 

The Independent of London: "There is no morality in plate tectonics. Some parts of the world are simply more prone to natural disasters than others."

As of 10am today, Saturday, a nuclear expert says the a blast at Fukushima plant No 1 was caused by a hydrogen explosion, however no major danger at present.

They're lifting the warnings along Washington and California, so friends and family are safe, for now.  For now.

I couldn't help but allow my mind to rewind back to our transatlantic voyage aboard our sailboat in 2002. My pacific coast friends post 9/11 would shake their head after making the initial announcement, tsk tsk tsk'ing, "why go towards the danger, dear Bailey, why risk your life."

"I'm still in love with Bill." Any part of the day is just too early for this....

A slap from the past tosses together some of society's worst ingredients: lust for power, exploitation of power, delusional, confused fame chasers, lawyerly men able to massage an issue like masterful PR hacks. Never have we seen a man play people as Clinton can and continues to do.

The ever expansive 90's; a proper way to remind is of our kind, the way we run around in concentric circles, strive for economic bliss, pine for the past, exercise our amnesia.

"That woman..."  That man....

Naomi Klein; what an extraordinary woman

Such a fantastic force on the international scene. Ever since the Shock Doctrine came out, the world has watched her navigate effortlessly from strength to strength, applying her sane perspective consistently, completely.

Klein just has that clarity, that mode of expression, a voice that cannot be denied. Whether discussing her shock doctrine theory with Rachel Maddow, applying it to Wisconsin, or within the pages of Harpers, The Rolling Stone and the rest; her narrative is masterful, her thesis prescient and probably one of the most important in modern times.

And she has great tweets, her latest; Hey Scott Walker: this is not your air traffic controllers moment, it's your Waterloo

Sad Sunday Sermon

Oh dear, I'd almost forgotten, no more Frank Rich @ The New York Times. What now of those moments when I sit down with my cup of coffee, deep in search of sunday sermons, my private space of time so rote, so full of comforting routine.

Germans, More or Less

Timothy Garton Ash (NY Review of Books)  on the German Thilo Sarrazin.

Sure, most would agree the politician's a bit of a self-serving prick, but I've yet to read of one that wasn't. His article covers the creepy Sarrazin adroitly even while highlighting what could very well become true; Germany will have about 20 million native born Germans by 2100.  

Vanity Fair on Piers Morgan; Can we get our deposit back?

James Wolcott asks, "Where did Piers Morgan come from? And is there any way to send him back? Is he returnable?"

Colorful hit piece full of bon mots, best bits cited from satirical Private Eye:

Morgan practiced major revisionism in the run-up to his American launch to tidy up his past: “A fawning interview in the Guardian allowed Moron to trot out some of his favourite canards—that he was ‘cleared of insider trading’ (he wasn’t: the DTI [Department of Trade and Industry] merely announced that it was unable to prosecute him ‘on the evidence currently available’); and that the provenance of the ‘Iraqi abuse’ photographs which got him sacked from the Mirror ‘was never resolved one way or the other’ when it was demonstrated that the vehicle which was featured in them had never been in the country and the paper itself admitted that they ‘were not genuine.’ ” Dilating on this theme was Private Eye’s former editor, the sainted Richard Ingrams, who wrote in his weekly Independent column that Morgan was one of those rebounders always bouncing back higher from whatever befalls them.

“Nothing succeeds like failure,” Ingrams wrote, and today Morgan is “riding high, publishing books and diaries … and appearing on TV on both sides of the Atlantic to the acclaim of all the critics.”

The sweet smell of success in the US, such as it tis....

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Germans bought the NYSE, sehr gut!

A universal truth being the Germans are better at handling money than just about everyone else. No wonder little fuss after the announcement. 'Cept for Donald Trump who made money exploiting loopholes and tax breaks and wants to keep the gambling aspects alive. 

Jane Russell; not only good lookin, she was honest.

Howard Hughes discovered her, designed a seamless bra for her, informing a career that highlighted her figure over acting skills. 

The woman was what she was, someone who slept around a lot, then gave it up to God.  

"These days I am a teetotal, mean-spirited, right-wing, narrow-minded, conservative Christian bigot, but not a racist," she once said. Asked about today's liberal stars George Clooney and Sean Penn, she said: "I think they're not well."

Her abortions left her unable to conceive and after experiencing problems adopting, she founded World Adoption International Agency. Russell is survived by three children, six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Middle East seems to resemble the European revolution of 1848

The winter of Middle East's discontent could be compared with Europe's Spring of Nations way back when.

Garibaldi was defending the republic of Roma even as Venetians and Sicilians were playing out their drama from the top of the boot to its heel, inspiring its  people to push and plead for unity, for freedom, for better or worse. 

The second French Republic was founded, driven by nationalists thinking the people should rule just as Germany finally found a way to unite.

There was the Hungarian revolution, then the Swiss were mixing with major internal struggles, eventually forging a new constitution into a Federal state taking power away from the individual Cantons.

Poland was mounting insurrection while parts of Romania had their young intellectuals rising to the tops while Ireland had the potato famine revolution.

Belgium had its own revolution and parts of Europe rose only to fall with the father of anarchy Pierre Joseph Proudhom stating, "we have been beaten and humiliated, gassed and gagged." Many thought it all a failure...

in 1848 they struggled, but they eventually persevered....

History repeats itself.... today, the Arab world stands on the same cusp... a truly new world not so far from their hands.  One in which they may potentially choose which direction to go. They have the power of the people to sweep out the old order... what they need, is a Garibaldi, perhaps. 

Someone of their own to make sure the promise of their revolution will not get hijacked by special interests, someone willing to die for the people. Maybe, with luck, they will create a truly free society, Inshallah.

In this modern time, they seem to have remembered the truth that living in liberty and dignity is worth risking life over, they appear to have absolutely no fear.

Saw Gigi Ibrahim on the Beeb last night, this young women is so articulate, so fierce, so much more authentic than the other panelists, this is all about the internet, about freedom, like every other night...

I watch in absolute awe....