Queen's Day on the Hogeweg

Queen's Day on the Hogeweg, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Here is Harry with a bow and arrow, shooting arrows towards an apple on another boy's head! He had three straight hits and woin a handful of Yu-Gi-Uh! cards.

The day started off cool and cloudy and started to become a bit wet, but the clouds have broken now, so it is cool and sunny now.

Three Roffeys at the Queen's Dinner

Three Roffeys, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

At this evening's Queen's Dinner - a street festival with 750 people being fed by the local shopkeepers, followed by street Opera. A beautiful balmy evening, staying fine until the last note of Carmen was sung, whne the rain started. Tomorrow, it is Queens' Day, where we have an even bigger festival down our street!

A hot afternoon in the park

A hot afternoon in the park, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

An antidote to that shocking photo of the heron with the duckling...

Hermitage development in Zaandam

Hermitage development in Zaandam, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

We saw this development as we came out of the train on Saturday evening, on the way to the Eurovision In Concert event in Westzaan. This had Fred and me cycling back to Zaandam yesterday to have a better loook.

It is a modern development which incorporates styles of traditional houses from the area, such hopuses being wooden constractions, painted green with white windows, as well as some impressive gables.

These buildings are built on a much bigger scale and some are for appartments, some for offices, shops and even a cinema.

The brutality of nature

The brutality of nature, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

We had just seen the duckling swimming past on the water as we ate a sandwich. A couple of minutes later he was flying back nin the beak of this heron. I didn't have the zoom lens today, but it is quite clear what is going on here... Who said they liked herons?

Afrazov says:

Oh no! This made me sad. Where was the lil ducky's mom? Did the Heron actually eat it? I still can't believe my eyes.

Stuart-Lee Pro User says:

That would be me Charles!! Poor duckling. I hope the baby coots survived our heron from last weekend. I always this kind of brutality much easier to stomach than the brutality by Man, to other people and to animals. I think it's possibly because we have more of a choice and a sense of ethics (so-called!)

friedkampes Pro User says:

Ik hou van de natuur, ik heb nooit gezegd dat de natuur alleen maar lief en idyllisch is... maar vergeet niet dat wij er deel van uitmaken

Ahmed AB says:

Maybe the lil duck lost her way back home, so the heron decided to take her back to her mommy! :)

koolgeek says:

May be !! is it the law of jungle or brutality thats the zillion $ question...... this is how the animal kingdom function.... i guess....

and i feel stuart is right we as mankind have some choice of what we do .... but for animal kingdom..... may be its how god created them....or its how they evolved.... do not know what to imply...

Afrazov says:

Yes does work this way. Agree with both Stuart and Vimesh. But it still saddens me, though for a very fleeting and short period but it still does.
So for now I'll stick with Ahmed's version :D

JRobFifty Pro User says:

Yes, survival.

seannyK Pro User says:

Aw Mother nature is such a bitch sometimes.

CharlesFred Pro User says:

I love Ahmed's explanation!

Anyway, it is not for nothing that ducks lay so may eggs and often have eight chicks in a brood. Moreover, the heron has to eat to survive. Althought this was a bit of a shock, I'd rather se this than a pet cat catch a wild bird.

Sweet things

Sweet things, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

This is me on a street in Egypt posing with a man selling sweet things!


Finder1957 Pro User says:
Timbits: Timbits is the brand name of bite-sized doughnut balls sold at the Canadian Tim Hortons restaurant chain. The treats were introduced in April 1976 and are now available in a selection of varieties that differs from store to store. Flavours include chocolate, jelly-filled, "dutchie," honey dip, sour cream glazed, and apple fritter.[1]

Elián Pro User says:
The things I learn from your photos (via Ahmed)! As a young man, I worked in a pastry shop in NYC and these very same things were called loukoumades. Fascinating:

Ahmed AB says:
Oh, yes Elian! we "Levantines" Call it Luqmat Alqady, but some of the arabian gulf countries call it "Lukaymat" which means "Bits" mostly the same pronunciation!

Elián Pro User says:
Thank you Ahmed. Whatever the name or origin, they are delicious!

seannyK Pro User says:
Holy that guy's huge!

CharlesFred Pro User says:
Ha ha, Sean. He's not so huge: he was standing on the pavement and I was on the streets, so he had a few inches over me...

A modern day Cleopatra

A modern day Cleopatra, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

The biggest surprise for me during my day in Cairo was the beauty of the Egyptian women. 'Ethereal' was a way a dear friend descibes them and he is right.

Couldn't resist

Couldn't resist, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Seeing the pyramids from the back of a camel is quite the obvious touristy thing to do but that was not going to stop me!

Schiphol on a quiet evening before it became really quiet...

Schiphol on a quiet evening before it became really quiet..., originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

These pics were taken on a stop-over in Amsterdam last week, before we knew anything about Icelandic volcanoes and ash clouds. Two days later, the airspace would be closed. Thanks to the energetic lobbying of the airlines and support of the politicians, against the all-too-safe opinions of the unelected bureaucratic organisations, the airspace over Holland at least, is being opened up today. My flight back later tonight is due to fly, according to the KLM website - which if it happens, will be a massive stroke of luck!

Having fun in the pool

Having fun in the pool, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Internet connections have been very poor but after about six times of trying, I managed to get these up onto flickr.

Hibiscus red

Hibiscus red, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Do we like this?

A camel at dusk, outside Riyadh

A camel at dusk, outside Riyadh, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

This was from my trip to KSA in February.

Hoopoe

Hoopoe, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

I took this one last week, but although you do get hoopoes in England, I was not there when I took this photo!

Oh the joys of a zoom lens!

Continuing a mini-series of Charles manhandling sheep

Continuing a mini-series of Charles manhandling sheep, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

This was me in Syria two years ago.

Thirty years ago in the Lake District

Thirty years ago in the Lake District, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

This is me with a Herdwicke ram, behind me is a beautiful old house, built of local stone, probably from the quarry in Shap.

The people in the background are friends of my host, Aunty Wendy. I had never met them before adn have never met them since. However, I did get a very nice letter from the girl on the left of this photo, a week or so later :)

I was 18, had finished school and was taking a 'gap' year before starting university.

Black sheep

Black sheep, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

From our cycle ride on Sunday afternoon.

Today's cycle ride - in the COLD

Today's cycle ride - in the COLD, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Fred on his bike at the new Watergraafsmeer Station. This used to be his father's bicycle and has survived student life in Groningen as well as 20 years in Amsterdam and it rides like a dream.

Oh dear, Fred is on his computer checking up on my photostream, which he does every now and then,and he tells me that this was NOT hius father's bike - that was stolen in Groningen, which had him buying this bike off his upstairs neighbour - Douwe Ket!

In the meantime, the temperature got up to about 8 degrees today but felt colder with a stiff wind blowing from the north, bringing us dark but dry clouds from the still very cold North Sea.

Beat The Boys

Feathery hats and bare shoulders, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Beat the Boys is 100-1 (now 40-1) to win The Grand National this afternoon, so one of the outsiders. Mon Mome won last year at 100-1 and then came third in The Cheltenham Gold Cup on March at 100-1 (as tipped by myself). Mon Mome is 14-1 today and could do it again. But so could Beat The Boys if he has an 'on' day. I know that Catholic priests are not being accused of beating boys at present (they had already had a name for this) but it could be quite a topical winner at this stage. I remember back in 1992 that party Politics won, just as the country was preparing for a General Election.
Living in Holland, I am not allowed to bet outside of the national monopoly, despite having accounts with a few bookies. They have now tightened up on the internet connections, so they will not accept payments from a Dutch IP address, while there are also issues about paying money into betting accounts using a credit card.
As internet comes of age, the authorities know better ways of controlling everything we do.

In the meantime, there was a lovely article on the BBC about a horse called Ballyholland, which is named after a small town in Ireland. He cost only 2,000 euros, has already won the valuable Galway Plate and is now 25-1 to win over 500,000 pounds in The Grand National.

As it was - Beat The Boys was pulled up and the Grand National finish had qiute a professional look about it with two of the biggest stabeles in England getting the first - Don't Push It - and second - Big Fella Thanks - who were both joint favourites. Good for Tony McCoy to win his first Grand National, but a bit boring. Oh well, I saved the betting money!

Stuart-Lee says:
What are you going to do the money you saved?! You should treat yourself.....suppose it sort of depends on the size of any propsosed stake. Glorious weather here this weekend, hope you're getting your fair share of sun in Holland too!

CharlesFred Pro User says:

Well, I had thought about puttimng 50 pounds on. Maybe I will try again with the Eurovision Song Contest and see if I can win anything there, or lagter, on the World Cup.

There seems to be a ridge of high pressure over the UK, which is giving you sunshine and high temperatures, but which brings s cliouds and cold winds from the North Sea. The Easter weekend was dull, then brightened up during the week, with Friday being a beautiful sunny day. Come the weeknd, the temperature dropped and the sky filled with clouds, albeit with the odd break. So not bad, just not too nice.

Harar blue

Harar blue, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

I found that some organisation had used the original of this photo to illustrate their website header. I thought the crop was quite excellent so have reproduced it here. This is from our trip to Ethiopia, back in September 2005. Harar was fascinating, the main Muslim city in Ethiopia, in the east towards Somalia.
I had been to Harar as a baby, back in 1962 and had heard lots of stories about the city, not the least about the hyena man of Harar.
It was also the destination of a trip made by the English adventurer Sir Richard Burton in the 19th century, whose name turned up in a discussion I had bene having on flickr, with my dear friend 'koolgeek', so another good excuse to load this photo up. Sir Richard Burton is also very well known as being the first non-Muslim to enter the holy places of Mecca and Medina.

The black, red and white birds of the neighbourhood!

The black, red and white birds of the neighbourhood!, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

The Greater Spotted Woodpecker - I was very happy to have found this chap yesterday evening and even happier to be abel to snap at him, aleit from quite a distance. The sun was going down so did not always manage to catch the light, but it works well here.

Winterkoning!

Winterkoning!, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

The wren might be one of the smallest birds we have but it is also one of the loudest. Not is a nasty way like those horrid parakeets, but in a wonderful melodious way, when it spills forth its wonderful song, as he is doing here.

We had a brood nested and reared in our 'dry' com post heap in the garden back in 2007. We saw five baby wrens leave the nest. The parents then moved to one of our nest boxes, on the downstairs balcony and saw them building the nest and heard the babies chirping. Then we went away for a weekend and all was still. We heard later that the neighbours cat had caught and eaten one of the parents and that was the end of the second brood. It was a terrible silence which befell the garden that week.

Another week of spring

Another week of spring, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

As Spring moves on, so we get different flowers taking precedence in the local woods. This week, we have a lot of wood anenomes flowering.

With the (old) zoom lens - a nuthatch

With the (old) zoom lens - a nuthatch, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Very happy to get this one on my first expedition oput with the Minolta 75-300 lens which I had had for years and which I used for the first time in almost ten years when fixing it to teh new Sony Alpha 550. You do not see nuthatches too often and this one appeared right in front of me as a I wandered around the wooded part of Frankendael, on my way abck from the station after work yesterday evening. April is a very good time to see birds as the light is better than it has been for many months and the leaves are not yet out.

I was so lucky with this chappie! Not only to find him but also that the camera managed to focus on him before he flew away.

I was out at lunchtime today and saw nothing until I was phoned by a colleague on my blackberry. Then very quickly I had perfect views of two (different) singing wrens, not so far away.... but operating the camera one-handed while carrying on the conversation with my colleague proved too much and the shots failed... maybe I will stick to more inanimate objects like plants and people...

Before

Before, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

This will have been somewhere on the Ligurian coast in 1987. I was 26, so before the big 30, when the kilos started appearing...

The song of this summer was undoubtedly this: Italy's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, Gente di Mare by Umberto Tozzi and Raf: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p-hJyZdbgg

Cristo alla colonna, Antonello da Messina

Cristo alla colonna, Antonello da Messina, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

A collection of paintings of the suffering Christ, painted by Antonello da Messina, who was born in Messina in 1430 and dies there 49 years later. He did not leave behind a very large body of work and what remains contains these depictions of Christ's sufferings, around Easter time as well as some Madonnas and a number of portraits of handsome (young) men from around his time. I was fortuante to come to Rome in 2006 when there was a large exhibition of most of his works, having previously come across him in Palermo in Sicily in 2004.

A debate betwen a Muslim and an atheist

Happy Families in 1988, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

At the time the Conservative Party in the UK was introducing Clause 28, referring to 'pretended family relationship', Gay Times interviews a Happy Family.

CharlesFred says:
Gay News was the famous gay magazine from the 1970's which was prosecuted for blasphemy in connection with the publication of a poem called The Love that Dares to Speak its Name by James Kirkup. It was published in June 1976. The poem, written from the viewpoint of a Roman centurion, graphically describes him having sex with Jesus after his crucifixion, and also claims that Jesus had had sex with numerous disciples, guards, and even Pontius Pilate.

The indictment described the offending publication as "a blasphemous libel concerning the Christian religion, namely an obscene poem and illustration vilifying Christ in his life and in his crucifixion".

Gay News lost the case both in the original trial and the appeal and when brought later to the European Court of Human Rights, they refused to admit the case.

As a postscript, there is a move in Holland to remove Blasphemy as an offence. I think this is more to do with giving people the right to offend Muslims than any thought that Christianity does not require protection. Anyway, there have not been any convictions in Holland for over two decades.

A. says:

Whoa these gay themed shots almost gave me a heart attack in the office today. When I opened your page in the office today (to copy your address to use your buddy icon in comments) my colleague suddenly showed up behind me. Lookin at semi nude(the model in the underwear) photos in office ain't considered cool here :D
But he didn't notice because pics appear small on the whole page.

CharlesFred says:

Oops! Sorry, A! I am glad you're not in trouble. I took a nap on the train home, so am reading the Lahore article (double page spread). Going out to a concert later (Sevval Sam from Turkey) so not sure if I have time to write back this evening... enjoy yours!

CharlesFred says:

I will try to find out who this young chap is and will google him to se if I can find out what happened to him.. whio knows? He may be a Cabinet Minister by now?

A. says:

Now on the topic. Charles I think Blasphemy should be considered an offense. People in the Christian world have unsactified everything(generalized statement, not intended to offend anybody). There are somethings that should be respected. People have all the right to question things. But Charles they should always stay in limits when doing so. I mean they shouldn't be outright disrespectful when doing so. Respecting each others religion is very important.

A. says:
Have a nice time at the concert. I'll like to write a few more lines on the above topic. I am thinking right now. You can respond later ok :)

CharlesFred says:

I think you are right, A, in the main. I might not think that religion needs special protection, but in general, I think opeople should respect each other much more. In, Holland there is this terrible tendency to thiik that everything which is capable of being said, should be said - being so-called freedom of speech. Yes, freedom of speech in the law, but do not mis-use this freedom to attack and undermine other people.

We had a big fat anti-social guy around here who used to have his TV programme and a newspaper coluumn which he sued to attack Muslims in particular and call them really bad names. Eventually, one guy got so mad at him that they killed him (in a very nasty way on another street near here). He is being rightly punished and it is not up top him as a good Muslim to do God's work. I do think the guy who was killed was asking for trouble by being so offensive.

A. says:

You are right Charles. You have said what I wanted to say. Religions don't need protection true very true. Blasphemy is not about protection Charles it about discouraging people from being outright disrespectful.
Charles everybody needs to learn a lesson or two in tolerance these days. People have taken freedom of speech to a whole new depth. Charles all I want to say is that people should remain civilized when questioning things or commenting.
Charles you know I really didn't like Da Vinci code either. What I don't like about that book is that it is a fictional story right? So why did it use Jesus who is not a fictional Personality, to weave its story around? Whats your take on this?

CharlesFred says:

(I am in the tram onto the other side of town - west - to go to the concert).

I think there are question marks over the historical evidence that Jesus existed as there were no records of his existence in any of the archives of the Roman Empire, which I find quite surprising. Plus I feel that some of the stories were made up to fit in with the earlier prophecies to make it seem as if he was The Messiah.

And as for the book, I have no problem with anyone writing this or pubishing it. With a book you can easily avoid it by not reading it.

I think the worst people are those who kill other people in the name of their religion. I know the Jewish god asked them Jews to kill other races, but I don't think there is any excuse in these days to kill in the name of religion. People who do are very wicked in my view. It is God to judge and punish, not man.

A. says:

Oh go enjoy the concert Charles we have all week to discuss this :)
You are right. I am still thinking, cant find the right words to say what is in my mind right now.

CharlesFred says:

Thanks, Afraz, we have plenty of time to discuss. Getting busy here at De Meervaart, mainly ladies, mostly Turkish. She sings songs from the Black Sea region of Turkey, where we went on holiday last year. I even love the music of that wonderful country.

A. says:

I reached the office late again :( Missed Mommy's breakfast so had to settle for flavored milk and biscuits :(
The weather outside is cool.
Charles now I think I am ready to address the issue again. Charles what I wanted to say was that absolute freedom is an illusion and so is freedom of speech. We should try to encourage people to question things. We should encourage them to find answers. They should have freedom to do so. But the illusion that you can say whatever come into your mouth should be done away with. There should be checks and balances on everything. In this case by checks and balances I mean ethical boundaries and not some moral police kind of a thing. The boundary between hate speech and being inquisitive should be stressed upon and more clearly illustrated.

A. says:

Will write more after I come back from Juma (friday) Prayers.

CharlesFred says:

(And I will respond later too, I promised my boss to get some things done today - just doing a few comments on the flickr photos here and there).

A. says:

Sure Charles take your time. I am enjoyin this a lot so we'll finish when I say so ok :)
Thanks.

CharlesFred says:

Back again, A... where to start?

I think you are right in your assertion that absolute freedom is an illusion, and I think that is what a country like Holland is struggling with at the moment. What makes it more difficult in Holland is that children are taught to be questioning, to have a big mouth and to say what they think, under the cloak of being direct and that everything should be up for discussion. Unfortunately, subyelty is not thought of as a virtue and nor is respect for other people's point of view.

Also, I think there is another problem which we might have here, which you might not have in Pakistan, and that is that many freedoms have been won in the face of opposition by religious (read Christian) leaders, such as the right to chose one's partner, to same-sex marriage, to read what we like, to divorce, to abortion and so on. You can think what you like about these things, but they have been won by the people. Therefore, there can be a negative feeling towards religious people who first tried to stop, then try ot attack or undermine such freedoms. The feeling is that religion is a private matter, right for people to practice amongst themselves but not to interfere with other people doing their own things. This is a very individualistic view of teh world, but it is what we have here.

Freedom to, say, same-sex marriage is an easy freedom - you either have iot or you don't, although tehere are arguments about whether civil servants should be allowed to not marry people because they do not approve and so on... but in the main it is quite an easy freedom to administer and apply, and it is mainly a private arrangement entered voluntarily between two people who love each other.

Freedom of speech is very different, because it is one-sided affair. You have the right to say what you like, it seems, but the person you might be attacking or undermining, has no say in this. He/she can easily be a victim and has no say in what is being said about him/her. We need to find a sort of contract between each other to define what is and what is not acceptable in such situations your 'ethical boundaries'. I think we might get there (being optimistic) but at the moment, we are not and this creates problems.

A. says:

Ok good to see you back.
I agree with the gist of what you have said Charles. I will start from your last sentence. This is what I am trying to say all along Charles people should be taught to keep in mind that they should not unnecessarily victimize other people. It is all about ethics. What do you think?

A. says:

Being too individualistic aint very healthy either. We are social animals. We need other people to survive. This modern world view that we all can live in niches of our own is plain wrong. Charles I have studied biology all my life and you know what I discovered an year or two ago? I discovered that sequencing the DNA and finding out what genes do aint going to give us the final answer or the complete picture of the human. Most part of us lies in our complex social interactions and in thing called mind and the non physical entity called thinking (according to some philosophers).
I hope I have not drifted away from what we were talkin about :)

A. says:

And what I said about Jesus was what we know about Jesus from Quraan.

CharlesFred says:

I think you are right, Afraz, about not victimising people but that is easier said than done and here we can get into another long discussion. Going back to the issue of gay people, it is the religions which, more than most, have victimised gay people in the past and many stil have that tendency. People will use their religion as a cloak, justification and excuse to victimise gay people, on the basis that 'it is against their religion' (When, if they would take the trouble, they might see that the original texts are not as clear as they might think on this issue).

On the other hand, people and groups need to show a little less sensitivity to what other groups might say. Religious groups and gay groups can very easily feel offended by the slightest thing and I don't think that is right either. Life out there is tough and you can't always have everything your own way. You will not be popular with everyone and you just have to live with that and deal with it. Turn your shoulder and get on. It was like that on the playground and it is like that in society.

CharlesFred says:

Of course ,we are social animals and if we are surrounded in our neighbourhoods by yuppies who cut down trees, we flock to social networking sites like facebook and even turn a photo site like flickr into a social forum. I totally agree.

I studied economics, where many of the theories are based upon himans having rational and predictable minds, and, guess what?, most of the theories do not work. Humans are far too complex to be analysed and predicted as if they were chemical reactions in a laboratory.

A. says:

Yeah you are right Charles I absolutely agree to the sort of unanimous conclusion that we both have reached.
Gay people is a tricky topic for me Charles. Being a Muslim I have always had the impression that Homosexuality is not a legitimate lifestyle. That people should not indulge into homosexuality. Charles in Islam we have to obey Allah's orders. This is what our religion says.
My own personal take on this is that if one says that homosexuality is innate and is a part of human nature then we should not do it JUST because Allah has said so. If Allah had said that it is permissible then there would have been no problem in following such a lifestyle. For me its a plain matter of obeying what Allah has said even if your heart and mind says otherwise; which they do more often than not.
Charles I have said all this keeping in mind the openness that I share with you. Hope that you wont mind. I mean no ill ok. Seriously :)

CharlesFred says:

No problem, A, but dinner is on the table now and F is making comments, so I will have top leave the debate. I understand totally what you are saying from a Muslim point of view. I, and most people in Holland (say) are not Muslims so do not...

A. says:

Have a good dinner Charles. What did Fred make by the way?
I really enjoyed this debate. Will keep on engaging you in such discussions from time to time :)

CharlesFred says:

Oh? Are we done, A? Fair enough. Dinner was some sort of beans, with roasted paprikas and merquez sausages - a new recipe. Trying to eat less meat and fewer calories. It was nicer than we thought it might be!

By the way, I do not want you to think I am obsessed about homosexuality, but it is something I know quite well about (more than being a woman, say), which is why I used it as an example.

Discussed some of our topics with Fred, he made the observation that he was brought up in a Christian way (as a Protestant) and was taught to be intolerant (towards Catholics) - maybe in a similar way as Sunnis and Shias.

Anyway..,. I have really enjoyed this debate as well but maybe next time we will do something lighter like a game of Ludo?

Enjoy your evening. It is Good Friday here, a celebration of the day Jesus was crucified, so a good day to watch a couple of episodes of the recent BBC series, A History of Christianity.

A. says:

I wasn't done Charles but I think we arrived at the right conclusion about the freedom of speech and stuff so didn't feel like dragging the discussion much.
But wow this is like the first time I really enjoyed havin a debate with somebody. People usually get angry during discussions and are so opinionated that they don't even give a second thought to the other persons opinion. This turns me off. I like having debates where you can speak your heart out without the fear that you might hurt somebody. It only happens when both you and the person you are engaging with share the same level of tolerance. Happens very rarely.
And I don't think that you are obsessed with homosexuality Charles. One tends to speak more of the things that they hold close or what they have experienced first hand. I tend to that a lot too.
Fred is so right Charles. Most of the times we are trained to have this set of opinions about other groups of people. I am so against this. I want to fight against such mindsets and individuals or at least will try to. The treatment of black people is the perfect example of this. We will keep discussing on such topics from time to time InshaAllah!

Ludo sounds good. I am so up for it. lets do it :D

CharlesFred says:

Thanks, A, yes, I have greatly enjoyed our debate. I used to love debating at university, where I did it a lot with my friends, whre it often did get very heated. Still have debates every now and then but so often one's friends (close-by) are not that interested and prefer to talk about other things.

Interestingly enough, one of the episodes we watched last night, told us that Western Europe got its ideas for universities, the institution, the formats (lectures and tutorials), exams, costumes etc all came from Islam. I didn't know that. I did know that a lot of our learning had come from Islam but not the institution as well.

Did we find a place to play Ludo?

Return to Trabzon (thanks to Sevval Sam)

Return to Trabzon (thanks to Sevval Sam), originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

A mini-series of photos back in Trabzon as a tribute to Sevval Sam who I saw at De Meervaart in Amsterdam last night. She sang a number of beautiful songs from around the great country of Turkey, incliuding songs from Urfa, the Aegean, Istanbul, Armenian, Jewish, Assyrian and Palestinian songs, finishing off with a number of songs from the Karadeniz area, which she has recorded on an album called Karadeniz. Here is a video of the first song: Hey Gidi Karadeniz: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpqQ5vLWGbk

The chap (in the video) playing the string instrument, which is called a Kemence, is called Octay and he was there last night, playing that instrument in an incredible way, filling the auditorium with its rich and sometimes haunting sound.

Marc Almond at Summer Rites

Marc Almond at Summer Rites, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

The bouncy version of Tears Run Rings..... including the sexy Brazilian dancers.

I jujst found a video on youtube of Marc's performance at Summer Rites on this url: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGcwq8ydfyY&feature=related - this shot above having been taken at a round the 5 minute 20 second mark...

I remember having great fun jumping up and down to this song. Mindblowing!