Dutch Queen Beatrix turns 74!

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Today Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands turned 74. Happy Birthday to our Majesty!

These two beautiful photos (from ANP) were taken a while ago when she visited a mosque in a Muslim country. Off course our peroxide blond parliamentarian asked the question why she made a political statement by covering her hat with a shawl. Luckily, according to certain polls, the guy lost 3 seats in Dutch Parliament after he’d posed the question on twitter.

Honeymoon Suite Whirpool for Two

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Roman Towers Romance

Seedy, stylish, romantic or just fun this Whirlpool for 2 in your honeymoonsuite?

Its in an all inclusive couples only resort in the Pocono Mountains PA, USA.

Toast your romance with a sensual soak in the world-exclusive, 7-foot tall Champagne Glass Whirlpool Bath-for-Two. Set on Pocono Palace’s golf course, The Roman Towers are designed in a Grand Roman theme with floor to ceiling columns, stunning arches, vaulted ceilings, covered walkways and a private, arched underpass for parking. A cathedral window offers a panoramic view of Pocono Palace’s lush surrounding landscape.

Via the Roman Tower

I’ve quickly looked at their Tripadvisor reviews….mixed…

What are You Thinking About? (2) – Carly’s Voice | Changing the World of Autism

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Health, Precarious Health!

I’m really happy with a healthy wife, two healthy kids and two healthy grand kids.

Today somebody I follow on Twitter pointed me to this amazing Youtube video about Carly, an autistic Canadian girl who couldn’t speak, but eventually found a way to express herself, just by typing on a notebook. She finally was able to show she is far from backward. We now can know what she is thinking. I’m happy for her and she is an example for many other people out there including the “experts” who have to do with autism. Also it reminds me that people usually are not who they seem…

Carly has her own blog, Carly’s Voice

About Carly:

My name is Carly Fleischmann and as long as I can remember I’ve been diagnosed with autism.

I am not able to talk out of my mouth, however I have found another way to communicate by spelling on my computer. (and yes that is me typing on the computer by myself)

I used to think I was the only kid with autism who communicates by spelling but last year I met a group of kids that communicate the same way. In fact some are even faster at typing then I am.

Last year a story about my life was shown on ABC news, CNN and CTV here in Canada.

After my story was played I kept on getting lots of emails from moms, dads, kids and people from different countries asking me all sorts of questions about autism. I think people get a lot of their information from so-called experts but I think what happens is that experts can’t give an explanation to certain questions. How can you explain something you have not lived or if you don’t know what it’s like to have it? If a horse is sick, you don’t ask a fish what’s wrong with the horse. You go right to the horse’s mouth. (Via About Carly's Voice).

I like the suggestion: Go to the horses mouth instead of to the experts…

On Twitter you can find Carly as @CarlysVoice.

About What are You Thinking About?

Just a series of posts explaining my own associative way of thinking. Simpler put: My way of presenting an off topic item, an item that usually would fall outside the scope of this blog.

What are You Thinking About? (1) – Lateral Thinking

What are You Thinking About?

Introduction

I have a very associative mind. I see something and think of a totally different thing by association. Usually most of my relatives and friends totally fail to understand my associations at all. Obviously they need a decoder. I’ve honed my associative capabilities after reading a book from Edward De Bono. He is a business guru who had his hey days in 70ies and 80ies, but seems still alive and kicking. Lateral Thinking, he teaches will enhance your creativity.
For me the Internet is a great tool to help me broaden my associations and creativity. Photo’s or images are a great tool to explain associations, especially mine.

My association with the question

When I ask myself the question: “What are you thinking about?” my first association is always with this hilarious video of a German Coast Guard’s bad English:

I even believe correct English would be: “What are you thinking of?”

The First Photo

I stumbled on the excellent photo of Rodney Smith. He maintains a blog as well: Escape of Life where he shows this photo here.

About Rodney Smith:

Rodney Smith graduated from the University of Virginia in 1970. He went on to earn a Master of Divinity in Theology from Yale University in 1973. While at Yale, Rodney also studied photography under Walker Evans. Mr. Smith is a photographer based in New York with years of teaching experience, including a adjunct professorship at Yale University. He regularly teaches a workshop at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop in New Mexico.

My association with the Photo

During this week of the year I usually am skiing in the Swiss Alps. For several reasons I don’t this year. After seeing the Photo I just looked up the live cam of our favorite Swiss ski resort (Bettmeralp-The Better Alp) and I was thinking: “I wish I was there in stead of here behind my desk and computer” Look at it:

You see the famous Matterhorn mountain just in the middle of horizon of the webcam…

Ah I clicked the cam again shortly before publishing this and I see clouds creeping up to the mountain which is one of the disadvantages of Bettmeralp. Due to its location there is frequently clouds or mist to ski in…I can go back to work now;-)

Dutch Design (62): The House of Victor and Rolf

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To show off that I am really taking my 2012 resolution serious, one from my back burner:

In 2008, while roaming London during London Design Week for art and design I was able to visit the House of Victor and Rolf exhibition in the Barbican. It is an amazing exhibition of 15 years of Victor and Rolf’s fashion in a nutshell. Dolls wear pieces of the several collections and all is combined with video presentations of the various collections. As far as I know the exhibition has run in several other places, but the whole collection of fashioned dolls are rumored having been sold to a collector. Which is a real pity.

I’ve featured a photo of the cloggy collection which is one of my favourites because they totally covered up the skinny models….