the daily view from Thru Other Eyes

10 Spiritual Lessons You Can Learn From Your Cat

  July 29, 2009; Backporch, Amsterdam @ 14.20

I went out to the back porch this afternoon and found Cinta (left) and Oga (right) both staring towards a point somewhere in the open garden area between the buildings. Their gazes were fixed on something, but whatever it was, it was something that I couldn't see. And I looked real hard.

Then I remembered something I once read in one of the books about cats that we have in the house. I thumbed through several books until I finally what I was looking for:

"The cat is sound asleep, seemingly oblivious to the world around her. Suddenly she awakes, alert, her senses keen. She stares at a fixed point on the wall - but nothing is there...."

And that seemed to be exactly what I was witnessing. This wonderful passage comes from a book by Joanna Sandsmark entitled, "10 Spiritual Lessons You Can Learn From Your Cat."

This is a pleasurable and insightful book that will bring joy to every cat lover or anyone thinking about bringing a cat into their lives. From the back cover jacket (Dutch version translated by me into English):

"People who love cats have known for a long time that cats are smarter and more spiritual than we are. This delightful book is full of wise life lessons that cats teach us:
- There is always time to play, even in the busiest of lives.
- Smother people who are dear to you in love and attention.
- Sleep well and learn the art of relaxation in fine detail.
- Keep your eyes open for new opportunities.
- Find pleasure in the small things of life."

I have indeed learned much from Cinta and Oga in the five years I have had the pleasure and honor of being their companion and caretaker (although who is taking care of whom is open to debate). I am a better, more patient, more loving and more insightful human being thanks to them. Not only have I learned a lot about them but I have discovered so much about myself thanks to them.

And I thought when we bought them that I was 'merely' taking two wonderful pets into our home. Little did I know.

Tara, Tara… What does your future hold in store?

 July 26, 2009; friend’s house, Amsterdam @ 16.20

As I was leaving, one of our friends came by with her seven month old daughter. This is our friend Oren holding Tara.

When I see a beautiful baby, and all babies are beautiful, I feel such wonderment at the magic of life. Being in the presence of such complete innocence, purity and unwritten potential is truly humbling, almost awe inspiring. I think of myself and the journey I have traveled since being just like this baby Tara. And I wonder what life has in store for this new little person.

What will be for you, Tara, the balance of nature and nurture? Will you be influenced by your Chinese birth year, the year of the Ox? What do the stars and planets of your Zodiac say , being a Capricorn? Can we divine your future in the secrets of numerology? Are we truly masters of our own free will or does each of us have a pre-destined path we perhaps unknowingly and unwittingly travel?

What kind of world are we going to leave you, Tara? How can I look at your innocent soul and feel your energy of pure love and not accept the responsibility to cherish and nurture not only you but also the world we have brought you into? It does take a community to raise a child.

Tara, may your journeys be your’s and your path one of love. May you inherit a world of equality and peace, a healthy planet still full of nature’s wonders.  May we be deserving of the gift we have been given in you, little Tara.

Uncle Meat and The Highway Children

 July 25, 2009; Oren's house, Amsterdam @ 21.30

A dear friend of ours threw a garden party last night and arranged a most unusual music group to provide the entertainment. Meet Uncle Meat and The Highway Children. Oddly enough but somehow appropriate, Uncle Meat is the girl in the group and she is a vegetarian.

These five traveling troubadours hail from Manchester, England and are working their way around Europe in their big red van sharing their folk-punk-garage fusion sound with whoever crosses their path. They earn their money mostly by busking but also play open mikes and get the occasional paid gig as well. They sleep in the van and often find places to crash, either at another kindred spirit's home or as now in Amsterdam with a group of squatters in a squat.

Oren saw them play a month ago as they were busking across the street from the currency exchange office where he works. He offered them a night of free food and drink to come play at his party and they gladly accepted. They are all open, engaging, friendly and fascinating spirits with a genuine love of music, people and the highway. Their energy, their music and the incredible atmosphere they create are all reminiscent of an earlier time. Think mini-Woodstock.

As night fell, the darkness, their melodious music, the small bonfire in the backyard, the buzz and energy of the people, the food, the drink and the grass (not the stuff you mow) all combined to create a truly magical moment of joy and harmony. Again, think mini-Woodstock.

This last clip is visually very bad because it was dark but they were playing one of my favorite songs: Johnny B Goode. I unfortunately missed the first half of the song as it took a few minutes of 'filming,' panning, moving in and out before I realized I hadn't pushed 'record.' That's how good the party was hahaha.

One of the other guys who was with them last night is Christopher, from Kansas of all places. Christopher and his girlfriend, both musicians also, are on their first trip outside of the USA and hooked up with the group a few days ago in Amsterdam. It is so refreshing and inspiring to meet and talk with such great young people like them. I wish them all well on their journeys.

Draaiorgel - or music to kill by

July 23, 2009; Kalverstraat, Amsterdam @ 12.45

Have you ever heard music so intrusive, so penetrating and shrill that you thought someone was drilling a huge hole right into your skull? Have you ever heard an incessant musical noise that was so irritating you thought you would commit murder to make it stop? 

Welcome to the wonderful and weird yet somehow interesting world of Dutch draaiorgel (pipe crank-organ) music.

(Think I am exaggerating how irritating these things can be? Click on the download link here and let this track of 'draaiorgel' music play while you are reading this post. Oh yeah, to mimic the effect in real life, put the volume all the way up. Download Boogschuttermars)

The street pipe organ in the form of the portable barrel organ was popular all over Europe from the 17th century mostly in proletarian  neighborhoods. Until around 1850 they were pretty small, with the organ grinder carrying it around on a strap and standing it on one leg when being played.

In the early to mid 1800s the Italian organ builder Giacomo Gavioli began building much larger organs. With up to 80 - 90 keys these organs had much greater musical flexibility and range. In the late 1800s a pianola type book began to replace the cylinders giving the continuously larger and more intricate organs even greater musical flexibility.

In 1875 a Dutch businessman, Leon Warnies, began to import these new and larger organs to the Netherlands. As the organ began to lose popularity in the rest of Europe in the early 1900s it only grew in popularity in the poor working class neighborhoods of the Netherlands. Leon Warnies developed a new business model allowing the street organ grinder to rent his high quality instruments.

The company Warnies started still exists today and bears the name of his partner G. Parlee who took over the business when Warnies dies in 1925. The organs this company produced were ornate and intricate creations. The company produces a small number of organs still in the old-fashion artisan way and runs a museum in Amsterdam's Jordaan neighborhood which was the very poor working class neighborhood that gave birth to much of Holland's organ music culture. The museum is located at Westerstraat 119 where the G Parlee company has been building organs since 1932.

Where there in the past perhaps dozens of these organs were on the streets of Amsterdam on any given day, there are now probably only three or four. But these instruments and their music were such an important part of Dutch street culture that there are many museums around the country dedicated to them. For example, The Pianola Museum in Amsterdam, The Mechanical Organ Museum in Haarlem and The National Museum from Musical Clock to Street Organ in Utrecht.

The famous G Parlee organ model 'De Arabier'

Cinta hypnosis

July 22, 2009; home, Amsterdam @ 17.30

Cinta has a very endearing habit. Actually she has many but I am talking about the one that whenever I come home, even if I have only been gone for a few moments, she makes clear that she would like what has come to be called a 'Mommy tummy rub.' I don't remember who coined the phrase, Cinta or me, but I suspect I did. Usually three or four minutes is enough but sometimes she will enter something between a hypnotic state and out and out sleeping for 15 - 20 minutes, which is about as long as I can rub her tummy without losing interest.

t' Blauwe Theehuis - Me Tarzan, Who Jane?

  July 21, 2009; t' Blauwe Theehuis, Vondelpark, Amsterdam @ 13.20

Today I had a very pleasant lunch with a great mate, business associate and friend (one person, not three haha) at this popular cafe in the middle of the Vondelpark called 't Blauwe Theehuis. Some people say it looks like a flying saucer. It's a great place to hang out, they have a great and varied program from BBQs, to DJs, live music, childrens' art activities and small theater. It's one of the biggest terraces in the city able to seat 700 people on three levels and outside. In the winter they have one of the very few heated terraces in the city.

(That heated terrace thing is another story all together (don't get me going on that, oh well... too late). The city council has severely limited the ability of cafes to have heated terraces in the winter. Why? Because the extra electricity or gas used will contribute to CO2 emissions and therefore global warming. In Holland we have a term for that - it's called symbolic politics... picking some symbol to use instead of really doing the hard work and making the hard decisions to truly address some problem. We're really great at that.. but I digress.)

By the entrance there's this Tarzan and Jane thing where you can stick your head in and make a picture. I think it's mostly for kids but probably because most adults are too self-conscious to make a photo there. Not me, today. But after one picture as Tarzan I realized I had no Jane. I asked the first woman who walked along if she was willing to be my Jane for a picture. She seemed hesitant at first. She apparently quickly sized me up as someone who was sufficiently less threatening than a homicidal maniac so she joined in the fun. After three pictures I realized I wasn't going to succeed in getting her to move her head more forward through the opening so we just parted company as good friends.

Tang

July 20, 2009; home, Amsterdam @ 08.45

Pretty much every day we have a fresh fruit smoothie for breakfast or snack. Today's included watermelon, banana, strawberries and in commemoration of the first lunar landing 40 years ago today I added raspberries for some extra tang. Get, it? Tang! hahahaha....one small step for humor...very small... and maybe backwards... And thanks to the spell checker, I just discovered, after 53 years, that raspberries has a 'p' in it. Live and learn....

You know that burning feeling?

  July 19, 2009, Regulierdwarsstraat 44, Amsterdam @ 17.30

You never know in this city what you're going to see or where. How about this fire eater, or more accurately said, fire breather. I am not sure what the liquid is that these guys take in their mouths to spit out at the flaming baton but it sure is flammable. I once swallowed some gasoline while trying to siphon some out of a tank and it sure tastes like sh*t.

I took quite a few pictures of this guy but the shutter on the phone cam reacts slowly so I usually missed the big part of the flame. On this shot I really got the fireball at its biggest, so much so that it looks like the guy is being consumed by the fireball. But he was okay.

Where'd the magic go?

July 18, 2009; Tuschinski Theater, Amsterdam @ 21.15

We went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at our favorite theater - Tuschinski. This magnificent theater was built in 1921 in a crazy yet fascinating mix of architectural styles; from Amsterdam school to Jugendstil, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. June 27's photo explained more about the theater and showed a picture of the grand ceiling chandelier. This is obviously the front facade where you can see some of the cool light fixtures and the detailing of the masonry work.

We were very disappointed with the film. Found it to be slow and at times downright boring. Perhaps it was just our filter but we also seemed to pick up on an awful lot of homo-eroticism going on between Professor Horace Slughorn and Harry and the professor and Tom Riddle. And all that character development and teenybopper love frustrations with Hermione and Ron Weasley and Harry and Ron's sister took up too much time. Still a fan of the series and will wait anxiously for the 7th film, even though I know what will happen having read the book.

The family that bikes together....

July 17, 2009; Van Woustraat, Amsterdam @ 16.45

As I was biking home I got behind these two bikes with Mom, baby and young son. It wasn't a very easy place to pass because the tram track on the left is sometimes difficult to maneuver especially with cars (or trams) coming by. And I didn't want to pass the little kid on the right cuz I didn't want to spook him. After the Vovlo that was parked up ahead there was plenty of room.

I think my American friends will be the most shocked to see this mother carrying a baby and letting her young son ride alongside all without any kind of protective gear. Is that irresponsible or have we become too overprotective and fearful of all the terrible things that could possibly maybe one day somehow happen?

View from the bridge - 2

 

July 16, 2009; Berlage Bridge, Amsterdam @ 12.45

Yesterday's photo was from the south side of this famous Amsterdam bridge. Today as I was biking home from the nearby train station I found myself on the north side so here's the view from the bridge looking north towards the city center.

Just as I got there the bell started to ring and the barriers came down so the drawbridge could open for this passing inland river freighter. These boats ply the inland waterways all over Europe carrying everything from (hazardous) liquids and gas, bulk dry goods and containers.

This boat, at the moment not carrying anything, is used for transporting bulk dry goods, probably gravel, sand or some other kind of construction material. This particular one is not too modern judging by the steering hut design. That area under the car with the three windows is the living area and as you see the car goes with them.

Many of these boats are operated by husband-wife teams so they can be together. There is also a system of sleep-away schools for children of couples who choose to both work in this way.

View from the bridge - 1

July 15, 2009; Berlage Bridge, Amsterdam @ 16.15

This is one of my several most favorite places in the city. I was standing on the Berlage Bridge that spans the Amstel River not too far from the center. This view, looking to the south where the river leaves the city, you can see a few nice houseboats and that seagull resting on one of the pilings boats use to tie up to when they are waiting for the Berlage Bridge to open. Maybe tomorrow I will make a shot looking to the north, towards the center. In fact maybe I will do a bridge series. There are so many beautiful views from many bridges and several bridges themselves are quite nice.

The Berlage Bridge, five minutes from our house, was in terms of city planning one of the most significant road works in the city's modern history. Completed it 1932, it was designed by the city's most famous architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage. He had at the time a unique vision for the southern part of the city (where we live) and this bridge was one of the lynchpins in his vision connecting parts of the city in a way that was to become vital in the city's development.

Opened at the height of the depression, the city's mayor commented at the opening: "She has been completed in times of depression. But she stands as a symbol, that Amsterdam, even in troubled times, doesn't give up and remains true to the noble tradition that our nation understands that a job once started should be finished." To get an impression of how significant the opening of this bridge was back then, see this photo of the opening.

The bridge also played an important role in the city's liberation at the end of WWII. It was on this bridge, at the southern edge of the city, that the town turned out on May 7, 1945, to greet the first allied troops to enter Amsterdam - 30 soldiers and 2 war correspondents from the British 49th Infantry division who arrived in 4 light armoured vehicles and 6 bren carriers. On the next day, May 8, masses turned out again on the bridge to welcome a major contingent of Canadian soldiers. Can you imagine the joy, the cheers and the tears this bridge must have seen after being liberated from 4 horrible and frightful years under Nazi occupation.

The Birds

July 14, 2009; Pieter Lodewijk Takstraat 33, Amsterdam @ 18.20

Had to go out for a walk before dinner (yes sometimes we get a bit irritated with each other hahaha but it passes quickly) and came across this couple feeding the pigeons, sea gulls, ducks and one heron. They were feeding them white bread which is like the worst thing for birds. Somehow, they look to me like people who go out and feed birds every day.

The neighbor

July 13, 2009; balcony, Amsterdam @ 21.50

Our cats' upstairs neighbor was checking out the action on our balcony and having a little conversation with one of our 'children.' Sometimes they have a playdate in the stairwell.

I'm here waiting...

July 12, 2009; home, Amsterdam @ 00:15

Cinta can sit there for a long time just watching, waiting for some attention. If she can't wait anymore she reaches out with her right front paw to you, touching your shoulder if she's close enough, "Hey, I'm heerrre." Sometimes she just gets bored and walks away.