9. DoJ

A Klansman has been convicted to three lifesentences for the murder of two black teenagers in Mississippi. Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charlie Eddie Moore, both 19, where hitchhiking when they where abducted, beaten, tied up and drowned. This happened in 1964. 72 year old former deputy-sheriff James Ford Seale was finally found guilty after a new witness gave testimony.

This is the third conviction for murder in a case connected to the civil rights struggle that has recently been reopened by the federal Department of Justice. The train crossed wide farmlands as I read this, just at the time Nina Simone started singing on my mp3-player.

Strange Fruit - Nina Simone
(Lewis Allen, Sonny White)

Seven trees
Bearin' strange fruit
Blood on the leaves
And blood at the roots
Black bodies
Swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin'
From the poplar trees
Pastoral scene
Of the gallant south
Them big bulging eyes
And the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolia
Clean and fresh
Then the sudden smell
Of burnin' flesh
Here is a fruit
For the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather
For the wind to suck
For the sun to rot
For the leaves to drop
Here is
Strange and bitter crop

6. Henk ten Cate

I am not a fan of Henk ten Cate. Ajax' head coach has at least as many weaknesses as he has strong points. For one, his actions are not consistent with his words. He claims he does not want to be compared to PSV Eindhoven, while his actions clearly tell another tale. Since Ten Cate has been in charge, Ajax has started to copy PSV in a number of ways. This is significant, especially for people who follow (one of) both clubs with vigor. Yet nobody seems to have noticed this, at least to my knowledge.

After Ajax copied elements of PSV style of play most of last season -agressive, 4-4-2- (sometimes even going overboard, notice the number of yellow cards), their transfer-policy seems to be based on 'it is allright as long as it's striped red & white'. Ajax first team now features four former PSV players (Stam, Rommedahl, Colin, Huntelaar), most of whom 'did not make the cut' in Eindhoven. They made inquiries into the availability of youngsters Aissati and Afellay when they transfered Sneijder to Real Madrid. Furthermore anyone who atracts interest from PSV's scouts, seems to be on Ajax shortlist moments later (Makaay, Luque, Suarez). As Ajax has always had a bigger bankroll, they are succesfull in acquiring them in most cases. Other transfer-targets are well known players from below average teams in the Spanish or Dutch league (Riera, Delorge). Ajax' recent policy is clearly influenced by Henk ten Cate, witness their sudden preference for Spanish players after his arrival from Spain. The policy has brought Ajax some success. They are the second best team in the Netherlands again. This is all a huge compliment to PSV and further sign of their dominant position in Dutch football. Ajax did so however, by selling their soul.

Ajax abandoned their trademark style-of-play, lost the number one position as school for gifted, skilfull players to PSV and seem to have lost the ability to scout an unknown player from less credited leagues. Since these features have been Ajax key drivers for success in the past, their recent policy and achievements seems to be no guarantee for future success.

9. Henk Spaan

I'm back. Henk Spaan's Saturday column in Dutch newspaper het Parool gave me to urge to pick up writing this blog again. It is by far the best written column to be found in the Dutch press. Frank Kalshoven's a very distant second. It is the only reason I buy the metropolitan newspaper every Saturday. My aversion for anything from Amsterdam is not something I usually try to hide.

In his Spaan geeft punten (Spaan gives grades), Spaan discusses people, developments, public debates, even referees and TV commentators relating to football. The column sharpens the mind, gives insight, is newsworthy, poetic, opinionated and outright funny. It is a pleasure to read, even if you are not into football at all.

Anyway, from now on I will steal his format, aspire to reach his level and try to keep it up a little better.

This is nót my house

But it is ín my house...















You're welcome to come and check it out.

Adicolor. Green.

These are my shoes:









and this is the commecial:




And for the ladies, Adicolor Pink:

And I don´t even like Wolfmother..

I want to be able to write English like this:

'Wolfmother - Wolfmother
With tongues hovering suspiciously near cheeks, the cape-sporting Aussie trio cornered the market in mystical bike-bar rock. As titles such as Witchcraft and White Unicorn suggested, their debut was gloriously unreconstructed, crackling with enough elemental energy to get even the most hardened cynic cranking up their air guitar.'

Album review by Dave Everley; Q, January 2007.

December

A so/so year ended on a high note. With drinks, diners, some dancing, a great wedding and a fantastic time among friends. Here's an impression..

Brand New..

Found one again; Wooh Alright Yeah! The Rapture. And these guys sat right across from my old house:

If I have anything to do with it, they'll be playing this song some time after midnight at Tino's little party on Sunday.

Sad Christmas

When I opened the door at my mother's, I heard James Brown had passed away last night. For a moment I felt really sad. I rate him on a same level as the first djembe players in Africa, Mozart and Depeche Mode. Absolutely one of the most influential musicians of all time. Probably only topped by the King of Pop last century.

Christmas started on a sad note this year.

Thomas & Joris

Anne and I discussed Joris Luyendijk. She had met him at a debate in Brussels recently on life in the Middle East. I had seen him host the 'Zomergasten' TV-shows this summer. We agreed he is a fascinating person, great to talk with. He is a true journalist in the sense that he just mirrors what he sees and doesn't have strong opinions on things he hasn't seen. That makes him a person you can learn a lot from but maybe not as inspirational as he could be. It reminded me of Thomas Friedman, who hás strong opinions and is very inspirational, but also political. I read his New York Times columns twice a week for about three years and started reading his book again. If you are interested you could listen to him talk on issues such as the internet, terrorism, American leadership, outsourcing and the changing lives of ordinary people everywhere.

Turns out Floor is reading Joris' book as well. Mom has already read him.

Nelson Mandela

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world."