Astor Piazzolla's Libertango danced in NY

This is more or less one of those moments when I think that words are just useless.

Black & white passion underlined by astonishing sounds.

SWITCH YOUR SPEAKERS ON AND ENJOY

Windy Dutch Sunday

Today we decide to reach for the beach. So we packed the kids and went to Bloemendaal aan Zee.............once we got there we realized how cold a Dutch beach can be in January. The sun was shining but the wind was rock 'n roll. Nevertheless the beach was packed!

After I guess 5 minutes we decided that we would have come back in springtime and moved to Alkmaar. We first had a bite at the Spanish restaurant Granada (good food) and strolled around the beautiful town.

Kenneth's party

Ken, my friend. Thank you for the inspirational evening. It was outstanding. Seeing all those people, the music, the atmosphere and of course..........the fine art.

Thank you also to Humph for the pictures.

The Marathon Kid - The incredible story of Budhia Singh

I recently saw a BBC documentary about Budhia Singh a boy born in 2002.

When Budhia's father died a year ago, his mother, who washes dishes in Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern Indian state of Orissa, was unable to provide for her four children.
She sold Budhia to a man for 800 rupees ($20).
But the young boy came to the attention of Biranchi Das, a judo coach and the secretary of the local judo association.
Mr Das said he noticed Budhia's talent when scolding him for being a bully.
"Once, after he had done some mischief, I asked him to keep running till I came back," Mr Das told the BBC.
"I got busy in some work. When I came back after five hours, I was stunned to find him still running."

A good story so far? Do not think so. Budhia is running at least 30 km. a day, sometimes barefoot, and the documentary has shown his attempt to run 70 km in one day, Budhia collapsed after 67 km and almost died. Incredibly enough his trainer, Mr. Das, is convinced that drinking while running has a negative effect on Budhia's performance, so no water or anything else during those 67 km. and when the race started at 5h30 am the temperature was already above 20 degrees Celsius.
It was extremely sad to see in which dreadful conditions the boy was when he collapsed.

Child rights activists and paediatricians expressing concern over Budhia's health said that by making the boy run long distances at such a tender age might affect his heart and kidney functions as well as his general health.

Happy New Year

Yes, I know that I am a bit late but I was in Italy and after being back I caught the flu. So I take now the chance to wish to all the world a FANTASTIC, HEALTHY, PEACEFUL 2007

Oh my God. Another year ending in 7. This means that I will turn into a new decade but we always go for the better !!!!!! So we will have a magnificent one. Looking forward to it.

As I said, I was back in my hometown for some days, it was good to be back there and pass the Xmas with my Mum & Dad and of course the rest of the FAMILY (it always sound a bit Mafia when I write it). The weather was tremendous 15, 16 degrees Celsius and not a drop of rain. It felt almost like spring. The food was..........too good.........too much.

Love you all.