Uxía Martinez Botana performing at the Gergiev festival, Rotterdam 2010

Masterclass of doublebass player Edicson Ruiz.

Jewerleast, From Eastlands directly to your jewelry-box

“Jewerleast” started with a two months travel through Eastern Europe of one of my dearest friends, and her falling in love with some of the countries and their culture. She decided to bring a bit of it home with her in the form of jewelery. At first she wanted to buy just one or two pairs she’d wear herself but then she had a problem: she was incapable of choosing. So, she thought the only way she could bring everything she liked with her, was by starting a small business when she came back home.

Jewerleast Bucharest collection 1

Jewerleast Istanbul collection 10

Jewerleast Ljubljana collection

Jewerleast Sarajevo collection 1B

Jewerleast Istanbul collection 8

Jewerleast Istanbul collection 4

Jewerleast Ljubljana collection 4

Jewerleast Istanbul collection 12

Jewerleast Istanbul collection 14

“Jewerleast” is Amsterdam-based but they can also ship items abroad! Contact if you want to order from outside The Netherlands.

More info? More jewelry? Check out the Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Jewerleast

or leave a message.

Uxía Martinez Botana performing Parable XVII, Persichetti, recital

Uxía Martinez Botana performing Parable XVII, Persichetti, recital

I’ve got a new header!

DLCS Management header by Talicdesigns
http://bakingwithsibella.com

 

What do you think?

I’d like to thank Sibella/ Talicdesigns (&son!) for their patience and effort in the last weeks.

Please check out Sibella’s blog: http://bakingwithsibella.com 

A Saturday in Amsterdam..

Museum & market.

HELP WANTED! Who can draw me an octopus?

Which artist/ hobbiest/ follower/ reader/ friend/ designer CAN and would like to (digitally?) draw/ design me an octopus/ pulpo/ inktvis/ hobotbnica LOGO?

I’d like all 8 tentacles to be visible because I have 8 specialisations I’d like to refer to.  Also I’d like the octopus to be a bit more friendly than some of the examples below. 

I can’t pay you, BUT I know how to play around with SEM & SEO, I’ll (online) advertise your skills/ your site/ your company for life!

By the way;

There are 289 species of octopuses, ranging from the giant octopus in the Northern Pacific (Octopus dofleini), which has on average 3 m (10 ft) in length and weighs 15 kg (33.3 pounds) (but the record was of 10 m (30 ft) in length and 272 kg (604 pounds)) to the male argonaut octopuses that are 2 cm (0.8 inch) long.

Octopuses live only 1-3 years in the case of females and up to 5 years in the case of males. They mate (at least females) just once for several times when they reach sexual maturity.

The penis of the octopus is called hectocotylus and it is formed of the third tentacle on the right of the male, which is modified in various ways to effect the fertilization of the female’s eggs. It stores spermatophores (packages of sperm cells). After one mating, when the male loses its hectocotylus, it won’t be able to copulate again till the next season, when a new hectocotylus grows.

In common type octopuses, males die within few months after mating, without regenerating another hectocotylus. The shape and size of the hectocotylus varies greatly among octopus species, being used for species identification.

Sorry for the unpermitted use of images I found through Google. I don’t own any of the images above. 

Naturally painted Easter eggs

Are you painting any this year? I’m going to try dyeing the eggs the natural way. Here are some tips:

naturally dyed onion skin Easter eggs

Natural Easter Egg Dyes

Colored Easter Eggs Using Natural Dyes

By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., About.com Guide

It’s fun and easy to use foods and flowers to make your own natural Easter egg dyes. The two main ways to use your own dyes are to add dyes to the eggs when boiling them or to dye the eggs after they have been hard-boiled. It’s a lot faster to boil the dyes and eggs together, but you will use several pans if you want to make multiple colors. Dyeing the eggs after they have been cooked takes as many dishes and more time, but may be more practical (after all, most stoves only have four burners!).

Try both fresh and frozen produce. Canned produce will produce much paler colors. Boiling the colors with vinegar will result in deeper colors. Some materials need to be boiled to impart their color (name followed by ‘boiled’ in the table). Some of the fruits, vegetables, and spices can be used cold. To use a cold material, cover the boiled eggs with water, add dyeing materials, a teaspoon or less of vinegar, and let the eggs remain in the refrigerator until the desired color is achieved. In most cases, the longer you leave Easter eggs in the dye, the more deeply colored they will become.

Here is the preferred method for using natural dyes:

1. Place the eggs in a single layer in a pan. Add water until the eggs are covered.
2. Add approximately one teaspoon of vinegar.
3. Add the natural dye. Use more dye material for more eggs or for a more intense color.
4. Bring water to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. If you are pleased with the color, remove the eggs from the liquid.
7. If you want more intensely colored eggs, temporarily remove the eggs from the liquid. Strain the dye through a coffee filter (unless you want speckled eggs). Cover the eggs with the filtered dye and let them remain in the refrigerator overnight.
8. Naturally-colored eggs will not be glossy, but if you want a shiny appearance you can rub a bit of cooking oil onto the eggs once they are dry.

You can use fresh and frozen berries as ‘paints’, too. Simply crush the berries against dry boiled eggs. Try coloring on the eggs with crayons or wax pencils before boiling and dyeing them. Happy Easter!

Natural Easter Egg Dyes

Color	Ingredients
Lavender	Small Quantity of Purple Grape Juice Violet Blossoms plus 2 tsp Lemon Juice Red Zinger Tea
Violet Blue	Violet Blossoms Small Quantity of Red Onions Skins (boiled) Hibiscus Tea Red Wine
Blue	Canned Blueberries Red Cabbage Leaves (boiled) Purple Grape Juice
Green	Spinach Leaves (boiled) Liquid Chlorophyll
Greenish Yellow	Yellow Delicious Apple Peels (boiled)
Yellow	Orange or Lemon Peels (boiled) Carrot Tops (boiled) Celery Seed (boiled) Ground Cumin (boiled) Ground Turmeric (boiled) Chamomile Tea Green Tea
Golden Brown	Dill Seeds
Brown	Strong Coffee Instant Coffee Black Walnut Shells (boiled) Black Tea
Orange	Yellow Onion Skins (boiled) Cooked Carrots Chili Powder Paprika
Pink	Beets Cranberries or Juice Raspberries Red Grape Juice Juice from Pickled Beets
Red	Lots of Red Onions Skins (boiled) Canned Cherries with Juice Pomegranate Juice Raspberries

Life.

Recap of recent events and planning by Portugese guest

Museumn8 (Museumnight) & POP-UP Pers Museum (Press Museum)

Museumn8

On November 3rd, 50 Amsterdam Museums are open from 7PM until 2AM for the annual Museum Night.
Apart from seeing the permanent collections and temporary exhibitions there is plenty more to see and do, also for non-Dutch visitors. On this 13th edition you can enjoy live music, DJ’s, dance, performances, film, special tours, food & drinks in the many museums of the city. For the Museum Night you buy a ticket (€ 17.50,-), which gives you entrance to 50 museums, free use of all GVB buses and trams and 1 free museum visit valid until December 31st 2012. Museum Night is organised by N8 | Stichting Museumnacht Amsterdam.

I recommend you to pass by the POP-UP location of the Pers Museum on Museumplein, one of my favourite museums!
Their programme during Museumn8 is as follows;

19.00: Start Museumn8
20.00: Illustrator  Kifah Al Reefi will be drawing live at the pop-up location
20.00-21.00: Lecture by photojournalist  Geert van Kesteren on the role of social media in the Arab world 
22.00-23.00: Sanddrawer Gerrie Hondius live
23.00-00.00: Spoken word / column by Raja Felgata
02.00: The end.

During the whole night there will be a bar with mint tea, baklava and Turkish fruits, as well as music and a quiz.
(All times are approximate and subject to change)

Kifah Al Reefi 2_0.preview -copyright Kifah Al Reefi

For more info about the Press Museum in Amsterdam, check: http://www.persmuseum.nl/ Persmuseum
The Press Museum is not located in the center of Amsterdam, that’s why they have a temporary pop-up location at the Museumplein.
Have you never been to the Press Museum in amsterdam? It’s worth a visit! It’s one of the few Amsterdam museums that are off the tourist track.
The address is: Zeeburgerkade 10. The Press Museum is open from Tuesday to Friday from 10.00-17.00 and Sundays from 12.00-17.00.
The Pop-up Press Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 11.00 – 18.00 untill December 30 2012 (closed on holidays). 

Persmuseum logo

 

For more info about the Museumnight check: http://www.museumnachtamsterdam.nl

Beasts of the Southern wild in het Ketelhuis

I don’t really like drama movies….. I really don’t like fantasy movies….But this movie rocked!

Auroch cave drawing

It’s a bit heavy at times, it has some sensitive topics for me, but the visuals are beautiful and main actress Quvenzhané Wallis is amazing..
The water, the shellfish, that’s how I have imagined the New Orleans (& surroundings) swamps when I first read about it in one of Virgina Andrews’ books.

Beast it!

Here’s an interview with the movie-maker and the actors:

I’d recommend you to watch the movie if you can!

I watched it yesterday, in good company :) , in Het Ketelhuis in the Westerpark in Amsterdam.
I don’t like (Hey, there’s a lot I don’t likes in this post ;) ) the big commercial cinema’s in Amsterdam (Although I have never tried the private loveseat in the Tuschinski Cinema yet). Het Ketelhuis is firstly much more than just a cinema (and bar and restaurant), secondly it’s cosy, homey and intimate.

http://www.beastsofthesouthernwild.com/

http://www.ketelhuis.nl/

P.S.: ThX NIEN!