Pride, a dog's point of view

Pride in B&W

Young Pride

Pride Drag

911-PRIDE

Danish Pride

August 16 marked the start of a weekend full of Gay Pride festivities in Copenhagen

Paper IV

An attempt to bring the people of Manhattan together in one peaceful form

Paper III

pLAy oF weIgHT

The art of visual heaviness versus physical lightness

(Sculptures are made up of balls of newspaper put together with clear packaging tape)

Paper II

The Holland Paper Biennial, Museum Rijswijk.[Website]

Paper I

The Holland Paper Biennial, Museum Rijswijk.[Website]

Toilet Envy

Big and Empty

According to Wikipedia, the definition of a shopping mall is a building or set of buildings that contain a variety of retail units, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit. However, the concept of the fully-enclosed shopping mall did not appear until the 1950s with the development of some of the most major malls in the United States.

An evening spent helping a friend shop for a bed lead us to a stop-over at the Villa Arena Furniture Mall, just outside of Amsterdam.

With a central structure that housed a restaurant and escalators that moved only once they are stepped upon, the furniture mall was a place of innovative design and architecture.

Although I was amazed with the interior design, I was equally disgusted. I could not help but make some observations and question the mentality behind the construction of such a building:

How can this large a space be designed using mostly high cost materials and finishes, to be occupied only by high end furniture stores?

Where are all the shoppers on that Thursday night, the only evening the mall is opened until 21h00?

How does a place like this manage to survive?

How Amsterdam, a city as small as it is, can afford and justify such a wasted use of space purely for consumerism?

Has the Netherlands adopted the concept of the American Shopping Mall in an esthetically pleasing but yet unsuccessful manner?

Trials and Tribulations

Stevia is an all natural sweetener, harvested from a plant native to sub tropical and tropical Central and South America called Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, also known as sweetleaf or sugarleaf. The sweet part of the stevia herb is extracted and converted into an intensely sweet powder. This sweet powder is then blended with other all-natural ingredients to create the healthy sweetener. More about Stevia here.

During a cleansing diet last year, I was introduced to Stevia as an alternative to sugar. During the last months, traveling for an extended period of time on a limited budget meant that I ate whatever was put on the table (usually very tasty but not necessarily healthy) or what I could afford. Now as I start to settle back into a healthier Danish lifestyle, I decided to return to some of the dietary habits that I had grown accustomed to in Canada. Hence began my search for Stevia....

While browsing through a health food store in my neighbourhood, I asked specifically for " an all natural sugar alternative called Stevia". This was what was presented to me. As the bold letters on the label clearly read "Sød Stevia", meaning Sweet Stevia, there was no need for me to investigate further. I was happy to have found the product with minimal effort.

At home, I opened the container to discover a green powdery mixture. In Canada, it was white. But no matter. Food regulations in the Europe are stricter that those in North America and this was probably the natural form of the plant. I put a small amount into my coffee. Strangely enough, the result was not as I expected. My coffee had developed an odd flavour and was not sweet. I added a little more but the only change that occurred was to the colour of the liquid which started to have a greenish tone.

The next morning, I was proud to show off my Stevia discovery to my roomate. Having not heard of this sugar alternative, he began to read and kindly translate the remainder of the Danish words on the label (but not before breaking out in peals of laughter and followed by sarcasm):

"For cosmetic needs for dogs and cat food"

Use: 1/2 tsp. sweet stevia in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of junket or yogurt. Can be used for 10-15 minutes as a pleasant nutritious 100% natural facial mask. An even better effect achieved by first to open the pores of the skin with steam or hot-wash cloth.

Does anyone need to enhance their cat or dog's coat? Send me your address and I will mail this product to you!

I thought that coming home 2 weeks ago with cottage cheese instead of yogurt was funny. This is a much more amusing story and one that really describes some of the challenges of living in a foreign country, including some of the basics of life that we all take for granted.

Harem

Country cycle

Light and Fluffy

During a drive outside of Amsterdam...

Reach

Twins

Patios atop houseboats

Friends in Amsterdam

Abdel

Annemieke

Rob

...then there's me, enjoying all of their company

Photo by Annemieke

Parallel Parking

In Amsterdam, one car a week ends up in the canal.

Sandwiched

Prinsengracht Straat, Amsterdam

Amsterdam Summer Night

I saw many beautiful sunsets in Amsterdam from my fifth floor apartment window.