donderdag 11 november 2010

The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town


I recently saw The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, a documentary about the 4th LP by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

The movie shows the essence of the record, and also of Bruce Springsteen. He is a perfectionist, or maybe better a control-freak, and despite all that (or maybe because of it?) he manages to overcome all the setback and produce a masterpiece. All the problems with his ex-manager, with the abundance of songs, the stress of coming up with a follow-up to Born to Run, with mixing the sound pictures he has in his mind... all these problems he overcomes and he manages to select 10 brilliant songs (out of a staggering 70+ collection).

On November 16 november The Boss will publish a 2-CD compilation that contains 21 'new' songs that were recorded during the Darkness on the Edge of Town-sessions.

woensdag 3 november 2010

The Menu of Babette's Feast

Babette's Feast (Babettes Gaestebud) is a wonderful movie filled with delicious food.

Here a short overview of the menu:

- "Potage à la Tortue" (turtle soup);
- "Blini Demidoff au Caviar" (buckwheat cakes with caviar and sour cream);
- "Caille en Sarcophage avec Sauce Perigourdine" (quail in puff pastry shell with foie gras and truffle sauce);
- "La Salad" featuring Belgian endive and walnuts in a vinaigrette;
- "Les Fromages" featuring Blue Cheese, papaya, figs, grapes and pineapple.
- "Savarin au Rhum avec des Figues et Fruit Glacée" (rum sponge cake with figs and glacéed fruits).

vrijdag 15 oktober 2010

Kerstmarkten in Duitsland - 2010

Hieronder vind je een overzicht van de voornaamste kerstmarkten in Duitsland in 2010

Aachen : 19.11 tot 23.12
Keulen : 22.11 tot 23.12
Monschau : 27.11 tot 19.12
Düren : 18.11 tot 22.12
Bonn : 22.11 tot 23.12
Siegburg : 27.11 tot 22.12
Trier : 22.11 tot 22.12
Bernkastel-Keus: 20.11 tot 19.11
Rothenburg ob der Tauber : 26.11 tot 23.12

dinsdag 12 oktober 2010

Buiten de Zone

Buiten de Zone is één van de grappigste jongerenprogramma's die de VRT (ex-BRT) ooit heeft uitgezonden. Het verhaal speelt zich af bij een telefooncentrale waar vijf vrijwilligers constant zitten te dromen.

De Vijf zijn : de romantische Raf, de impulsieve Robin, de cynische Ubi, de spontane Roxanne en de idealistische Merel.

Enkele bekende uitspraken uit de serie :

- hé, moet gij ne keer mijne koffiekoek zien

- Doet gij dat thuis ook misschien, niet betalen op de trein!

- Uw vader, was dat zo geen klein, dik wijveken?

- Dan gaan we nu een kleine...ogentest doen. Wilt u zich even uitkleden alstublieft?

Bekende acteurs waren :

- Bart De Pauw (Meester hij begint weer, Loft, De Mol, Schalkse Ruiters, Het Geslacht De Pauw...)

- Mathias Sercu (De Rodenburgs, Flikken, Team Spirit, Iedereen Beroemd, Max, Diamant...)

- Danny Timmersmans (Flikken, W817, Kulderzipken, Meester hij Begint weer,....)

- Reinhilde van Driel (FC De Kampioenen, Flikken, ...)

- Elise Bundervoet (David, Witse, Kaat & Co, Flikken, Urbain, ...)

vrijdag 8 oktober 2010

One Photo A Day

Vanaf 1 januari 2010 beginnen we hier op Modelfotograaf met een nieuw project: One Photo A Day. Zoals de titel al suggereert zullen we hier elke dag een foto plaatsen die we diezelfde dag genomen hebben. Dit kunnen foto's zijn uit de studio, maar ook dingen die ons die dag bijgebleven zijn. Het zal dus een kwestie worden van steeds onze camera bij de hand te hebben.

Inspiratie kreeg ik van het Project 365

donderdag 23 september 2010

U2 Setlist Brussels 2010

Yesterday I saw U2 on the first part of their Belgian leg op the 360° Tour and boy was it good! Here is the set list, which probably won't change a lot for their show tonight.

Intro : Space Oddity
1. Return Of The Stingray Guitar
2. Beautiful Day
3. I Will Follow
4. Get On Your Boots
5. Magnificent
6. Mysterious Ways
7. Elevation
8. Until The End Of The World
9. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
10. North Star
11. Mercy Play
12. In A Little While
13. Miss Sarajevo
14. City Of Blinding Lights
15. Vertigo
16. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
17. Sunday Bloody Sunday
18. MLK
19. Walk On

Extra numbers :

20. One
21. Where The Streets Have No Name

Extra Extra numbers (if the audience is nice)

22. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
23. With Or Without You Play Video
24. Moment of Surrender

woensdag 22 september 2010

I found what I'm looking for

Today is the day that U2 is back in Belgium for two sold-out concerts in the Koning Boudewijn Stadion. I haven't seen them play live in more than 20 years, and I'm looking forward to sharing this experience with my wife and brother-in-law. For only 30 €. A lot cheaper than some of those crazy prices you see on the internet (on Kapaza, eBay or 2dehands).

23 years ago I saw U2 live in Rock Werchter. They were not yet the biggest rock group in the world (having just released their third album WAR) and Bono was not yet the world-improver that we know and love/hate. He already jumped from the stage, walked around with white flags and sang christian-inspired lyrics. The songs they played will probably not feature on today's setlist : I Will Follow, The Electric Co., Gloria, Fire and Rejoice.

I have high expectations for today and I'm sure the band won't disappoint their 70,000 fans.

dinsdag 7 september 2010

The Worst Week of My Life

Op Canvas (Flemish television) there is a new British Comedy series called "The Worst Week of My Life". It is a mixture between Coupling and Pulling, and the first episode was quite entertaining. The story is simple: "Only one week to go before the wedding of Howard and Mel which quickly escalates into the week from Hell. The series follows the bumbling Howard as he lurches from one appallingly embarrassing disaster to the next in the week leading up to his wedding day.

The first season contains 7 episodes, appropriately titled "Monday", "Tuesday", etc. Sarah Alexander (coupling) plays Mel, and Ben Miller (The Armstrong and Miller show) is Howard.

zondag 5 september 2010

Who is Niki de Saint Phalle?

Niki de Saint Phalle, born Catherine-Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle (29 October 1930–21 May 2002) was a French sculptor, painter, and film maker. While in Spain, de Saint Phalle read the works of Proust and visited Madrid and Barcelona, where she became deeply affected by the work of Antonio Gaudí. Gaudí's influence opened many previously unimagined possibilities for de Saint Phalle, especially with regard to the use of unusual materials and objets-trouvés as structural elements in sculpture and architecture. De Saint Phalle was particularly struck by Gaudí's "Park Güell" which persuaded her to create one day her own garden-based artwork that would combine both artistic and natural elements.

She is best remembered for the Stravinsky Fountain (or Fontaine des automates) near the Centre Pompidou, Paris (1982)— also featuring works of Jean Tinguely

maandag 30 augustus 2010

Jörg Immendorff

Jörg Immendorff was one of the best known contemporary German painters; he was also a sculptor, stage designer and art professor. He was a member of the German art movement Neue Wilde. Best known is his Cafe Deutschland series of sixteen large paintings (1977-1984) that were inspired by Renato Guttuso’s Caffè Greco; in these crowded colorful pictures, Immendorff had disco-goers symbolize the conflict between East and West Germany.

Immendorff was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1998. When he could not paint with his left hand any more, he switched to the right. In 2004 he funded a stipend to research the disease.

In November 2005 he was treated by emergency physicians and was admitted to a hospital, where a tracheotomy had to be performed to help him breathe. As of 2006, he used a wheelchair full-time and did not paint anymore; instead he directed his assistants to paint following his instructions. On May 27, 2007, at age 61, he succumbed to the disease

Biryani Rice Recipe

Biryani is a set of rice-based foods made with spices, rice (usually basmati) and meat, fish, eggs or vegetables.

Ingredients:

* For the meat: 1kg lamb/ chicken cut into 3 to 4 cm pieces (if using chicken, use breast or thigh fillet)
* 4 large onions sliced thin
* 2 tsps garlic paste
* 2 tsps ginger paste
* 1/2 cup almonds
* 6 tbsps ghee/ vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
* 1" stick of cinnamon
* 5 cloves
* 3 pods cardamom
* 8 peppercorns
* 2 tsps coriander powder
* 1 1/2 tsps cumin powder
* 1 tsp garam masala
* 1 cup yoghurt
* Juice of 1 lime
* 1 cup chicken/ beef stock
* 2 tbsps finely chopped coriander leaves
* 2 tbsps finely chopped mint leaves
* Salt to taste
* For the rice: 2 cups Basmati rice
* Hot water
* Salt to taste

Preparation:

* Put the almonds in a bowl of hot water (enough to cover them) and set aside for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes remove skins from all the almonds by pressing each one between your thumb and forefinger. The almonds will slip out of their skins!
* Mix the garlic and ginger pastes, the peeled almonds and grind to a smooth paste in a food processor.
* Wash the rice in a sieve and add enough water to fully cover the rice - at least 4" over the surface of the rice. Add salt to taste. Set the rice up to boil. Cook till almost done. To determine when it has reached that stage, remove a few grains from the pot and press between your thumb and forefinger. The rice should mostly mash but will have a firm whitish core. Turn off the fire. Strain through a colander and keep drained aside.
* Heat 3 tbsps of oil in a pan and fry 2 of the onions till caramalized - golden brown. Drain and keep aside on paper towels for later use.
* Heat 3 tbsps of oil in another pan and add the whole spices - cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorns. Fry till the spices turn a little darker.
* Add the 2 remaining onions and fry till they are translucent.
* Add the ginger-garlic-almond paste and fry for 2-3 minutes.
* Add all the spice powders - coriander, cumin and garam masala and mix well.
* Fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala and then add the lamb/ chicken. Keep frying till the meat is fully sealed (it will become opaque and lose its pink colour).
* Now add the yoghurt, lime juice, stock, coriander and mint leaves and salt to taste (if needed). Mix well.
* Cover the pot and allow to cook till the meat is tender.
* If you are using the food coloring, divide the rice into 3 equal portions and put into separate dishes. Add the orange food coloring to one portion of the rice and the green food coloring to another portion of the rice. Leave the third portion white. With each portion, mix the rice till all the grains are well colored. Keep aside for 10 minutes after which you can mix all 3 portions of rice together in a bowl for use in the next step.
* Grease a deep baking dish and evenly layer the cooked rice, meat (and its gravy) in it to form at least 2 sets of layers (rice-meat-rice-meat-rice). Garnish with the previously caramalised onions. Cover the dish tightly. If the dish does not have a cover use 2 layers of aluminium foil (shiny side of both layers pointing down towards the rice) and secure on to dish with baking string.
* Put in a pre-heated oven set at 350 F/ 180 C/ Gas mark 4 for 20 minutes.
* Turn off the oven and let the dish sit in the oven till you are ready to eat. Only open when you are ready to eat. The way to serve Biryani is to gently dig in with a spoon so you get through the layers.

vrijdag 30 juli 2010

Stereo MCs were awesome



Yesterday we saw the Stereo MCs for the first time at Suikerrock in Tienen. We knew them of course from dance hits like "connected" and "Step it Up". But when vocalist Rob Birch came on stage, we did not expect such an energetic show. Appearances can be deceiving, and 50-year-old Bob may look 70 years old, but he can still pull in the crowds. He looked like a junky on speed with duracell batteries up his behind,running around, jumping and rapping like a 16-year-old.

He continued shouting "Call an ambulance" and I almost did, so intense was his voice. "We took a train and a bus to get here", he said, and everybody was glad they didn't miss their connection.

vrijdag 4 juni 2010

Leave Your Sleep - Natalie Merchant



I just bought the best CD of 2010! Leave Your Sleep by Natalie Merchant is a double cd with 26 songs, a luxury booklet of 80 pages and contains some of the most beautiful and varied music I have heard in a long time. Be careful to get the double CD, as there is also a single CD that is not so strong (and does not contain the booklet).

You may know Natalie Merchant as the lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs. Or you might know her from those wonderful solo records like "Tigerlily" or "The House Carpenter's Daughter". Even if you have never heard of her, I can assure you that you will not regret buying Leave Your Sleep. It's a concept album, and just as simple as it is complex: Natalie took 26 poems that she selected with her 6-year- old daughter, and turned them into gorgeous folk and popsongs. The poems are all by famous (and not so famous) English and American 19th and 20th Century poets, and the music styles range from folk and country over jazz, klezmer, cajun, oriental, bluegrass and reggae. Each song more beautiful than the other.

My favourite numbers zijn "Bleezer's Ice-Cream", "The King of China's Daughter" and "The Dancing Bear", but I'm sure you will find your own favourite soon.

Trust me on this one: if you like poetry, varied music and wonderful orchestration (more than 120 musicians contributed to the album) you will simply love Leave Your Sleep.

A must-have for anybody who likes music.

zaterdag 29 mei 2010

Filmaffinity

A great website for film freaks is FilmAffinity. Not only can you use the website to make a list of all the movies you own/have seen, but you can also find similar movies that you might like, and find other members who have similar tastes.

woensdag 3 februari 2010

Complete List of Oscar Nominations 2010


Here is a complete list of all the main Academy Awards Nominations. Winners will be announced on Sunday March 7th, 2010

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Foreign language Film
Best Animated Feature Film

2010 Oscar Nominiations - Best Animation Film


Who is nominated for the 2010 Academy Awards?

Best Animated Feature Film

Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Brendan and the Secret of Kells
Up

2010 Oscar Nominations -Best Foreign Language Film


Here are the nominations for the 2010 Academy Awards

Best Foreign Language Film

Israël: Ajami (Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani)
Argentina: El secreto de sus ojos (Juan Jose Campanella)
Peru: The Milk of Sorrow (Claudia Llosa)
France: Un prophète (Jacques Audiard)
Germany: Das weisse Band (The White Ribbon) (Michael Haneke)

2010 Oscars - Best Original Screenplay


Here is the list of the 2010 Academy Awards Nominations (Oscars)

Best Original Screenplay

Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman (The Messenger)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (A Serious Man)
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (Up)

Any ideas who will win?

Oscar Nominations 2010 - Best Adapted Screenplay


Who will win the Oscars 2010?

Best Adapted Screenplay

Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell (District 9)
Nick Hornby (An Education)
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, Tony Roche (In the Loop)
Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious)
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air)

Who do YOU think will win?

2010 Oscar Nominations - Best Actress in a Supporting Role


Please find here the nominations for the 2010 Academy Awards - Oscars

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Penelope Cruz (Nine)
Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air)
Mo'Nique (Precious)

And who is your favourite?

Oscar Nominations 2010 - Best Actor in a Supporting Role


And here are the nominations for the 2010 Academy Awards (Oscars)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon (Invictus)
Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Oscar Nominations 2010 - Best Actress


The nominations for the 2010 Academy Awards (Oscars) have just been released

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Gabby Sidibe (Precious)
Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)

Oscar Nominations 2010 - Best Actor


Here is a list of the Oscar Nominations 2010

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
George Clooney (Up in the Air)
Colin Firth (A Single Man)
Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Oscar Nominations 2010 - Best Director


The nominees for the Academy Awards (oscars) for Best Director have just been announced

Directing

Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
James Cameron (Avatar)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Lee Daniels (Precious)
Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

Oscar Nominations 2010 - Best Picture


The nominations for the 2010 Academy Awards (better known to you and me as The Oscars) have just been announced:

Best Picture

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air