Well, my sister, 'Auntie Katie', was just here for a visit. It was great.
She and her friend Thomas stayed with us, they also did some traveling. Thomas got as far south as Paris. Katie went to Brussels and Antwerp and Brug, I think. I never listen.
Thomas and I closing up shop in some Saki bar near the redlight district.
It was fun to go to bars with my sister. Here she is with my friend Sean on his birthday. Sean was a founding member of our Lovers Of Fresh Ideas Artist Coalition many years ago. It's good to see him becoming a responsible adult as he rounds the corner into his 40's.
Katie crashed her bike later that night and then refused the help of a very polite British stranger. My friend, Manolis, seemed to think it was pretty funny.
Being 'socially rounded' people we had been to the Van Gogh earlier this day and had seen 'The Starry Night'. The painting is on loan. I'm glad we got to see it. Amazing collection there now, many classic's on loan for the next few months.
Last year Sean fell in a canal twice. That's not bad for a guy who lives on a houseboat.
Here's me and Manolis, good thing neither of us is driving.
Spotted in the distance! this lucky photographer snapped a rare image of the Albino Wombat.
Auntie Katie, and Addison in Monickendam. Check out the little bruiser, my little Paul Stastny. He's got whipping cream 'slagroom' in his nose.
The ride to Monickendam is 15 or 18km and Addison was bored out of his skull. Katie Loved the ride of course.
It is so great to go around on bikes with Katie. She was always up for a good long ride, which is one of my favorite things to do.At one point in the ride, I said to Katie, 'I think we should go to Monickendam, it will be super pretty.' to which Addison replied, 'I think we should go home to the house, it will be super warm. Total smartass.
Katie and I enjoyed long bike rides to Monickendam, Ransdorp, Durgerdam and along the Rhine Canal. In Nederlands, long bike ride, 'lange fietstocht'.
Addison's greatest new triumph is the invention of a card game he calls, 'Patterns and Pairs'. After a handful on not so successful attempts over the years, Addison has finally developed a game that our family can play for years. Played with 2 standard decks of playing cards plus 6 jokers, and similar, but more complex than 'memory', I love his game. Last night he and I played a 3 person version with Brant Seathaler, an old family friend.
Also on Katie's visit, she and I had a chance to 'jam' music which was a wonderful first. Katie rocked the drums and my friend Pepijn and I played electric guitars. There is a really awesome practice place called, quite appropriately 'Jam Studios' http://www.jamstudios.nl/ and it is across the street from Westerpark. We tried our hand at a few classics, Bowie's 'Queen Bitch' and The Nerves, 'Hanging On The Telephone' .
Just like every other cool place here, Jam Studios has their own bar. There's a bar at the skatepark, a bar in the music studio, and a bar in every ice rink I've been to in Holland. Nice segway for the next topic, Amsterdam THOR, the ice hockey team I play for was eliminated from the playoffs by the Enschede Lions enschedelions.nl
This photo tells the story pretty much. Here I am in the background looking to the Lord for some strength after they pounded in their 8th or 9th goal of the game. Good luck to Enschede in the championship.
The weather is getting really nice here, in a few weeks Grandpa and Grandma Mather will be here, our first effort to see the mega-fields of tulips is coming up quick.
Hyland
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