Heels over head

The legs missing from the previous post's red pants have been found.

Orlinski revisited

 

Last January I dedicated a post to Orlinski's red croco sitting in the middle of the street:
http://whatisbelgium.blogspot.com/2012/01/red-croco-by-orlinski.html
Today I found red and black baby versions of the crocodile and red wild denim jeans in the window of Galerie Artemptation in Brussels.
http://www.artemptation.com/produit-phare-1/wild-denim-miniature.html

Moving

My son was moving yesterday.. he had to make several trips to get everything in his rental truck. His neighbors who were moving out, were quite relaxed about things... 

Would you also consider simply leaving your furniture on the sidewalk for lack of room in your truck?... if your stuff was well protected as in this case?

Alexandra Cool

Opening of Alexandra's exhibition "Stills" last night at Galerie Dupuis in Anderlecht (Brussels). Alexandra is showing old and new work, photographs from previous trips, from today, sculptures. You can read about her, her works, projects and exhibitions on  www.alexandracool.com. 
Alexandra is not only an accomplished artist, she is also a charming, generous, inspirational and kind women as you can hopefully deduct from the pictures.

March 21

Very first day of spring.... everyone enjoying it in his or her way.

Bachelors parties

As announced in the previous post showing early rising street cleaners in Leuven, a little further down the street these girls were decorating what was to become a doggy flap door for a bachelors celebration that night. The portrait of the lucky groom is being held up proudly to the camera but I can only imagine what the poor man will be put through by this group of  girls when they finish up their creative endeavors.
The last picture is a bachelors party in the same town. It must be that time of the year.  Minnie is getting married to Minnie. Indeed, the two girls marrying each other are shown in the middle both wearing dotted hats in blue and red. 

Saturday morning street cleaning

Quiet deserted streets on Saturday morning in university town Leuven, where most are sleeping off their party-going exploits of the previous night or week while these youngsters are picking up trash! They belong to Comac, an activist youth movement, according to their website.
http://www.chengetheworld.be/nl/over-comac
A little further down the road, a few young ladies were creatively preparing a bachelor's party (pictures to follow in the next posting).

Immense sadness

The country mourns after the coach crash in Switzerland 

that killed 28 people, including 22 children.

Very sad day for Belgium: tragic bus accident in Switzerland

"The wreckage of a bus that crashed into a motorway tunnel is pulled in Sierre, western Switzerland early March 14, 2012. The bus carrying Belgian tourists crashed into the wall of a tunnel in the Valais region of Switzerland, killing 28 people, 22 of them children, police said on Wednesday." (REUTERS)

Shocked at the news this morning about the loss of young children returning home after a holiday in Switzerland. 
My deepest and heartfelt sympathy goes to all the families and friends concerned.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/police-say-28-dead-including-many-children-in-belgian-bus-crash-in-swiss-tunnel/2012/03/14/gIQAd4S6AS_story.html

Would you believe these three are brothers?

Daniel Kramer, photographer of Bob Dylan

It was a tremendous pleasure to meet Mr. Daniel Kramer, Bob Dylan's photographer during the exhibition in Paris "The Rock Explosion" (1961 − 1966) in the Cité de la musique. Mr Kramer was being interviewed by TV5 and when the interview was finished I decided to speak to him about photographing celebrities and asked if I could take his picture for "This is Belgium". He said he loved Belgium and that his favorite Belgian was...Jacques Brel.
This to me justifies posting about Mr Kramer and Mr Dylan on this blog.
I was reprimanded by the museum guard for getting my i-phone out of my pocket to take a picture because of the sign 'no pictures allowed'.
Mr Kramer helped me out not only by telling the guard that I was photographing Mr Kramer and not Mr Dylan but also by placing himself strategically in front of Mr Dylan's pictures!  He gave me a short photography lesson and told me to take a second picture because he said there was not enough light on his face and too much light on Mr Dylan.
Another music icon, Hugues Aufray,  was  present and telling TV 5 his life's experiences and meetings with Dylan. 

De Pauw coffee

As a coffee lover I believe that coffee is best when consumed immediately after the beans have been freshly ground. De Pauw carries every possible flavor, so you can imagine how delighted I am to have discovered this shop, which surprisingly I did not know about and is located not all that far from my house. 

Cafés de Pauw
Chaussée De Waterloo 39

Saint-Gilles, Brussels

Belgian beer

Jim and Bob travel to Belgium on a semi regular basis in connection with the beer business. A certain number of years ago, when Jim was a student in Brussels he discovered the delights of Belgian beer. Impressed by the quality and variety of what he found here, after returning to his hometown Austin, Texas, he started a business importing Duvel into Texas. Jim returned last Sunday with his business partner Bob. It was great fun meeting them on the first day of their business journey for pitta and... what else... Duvel and Kwak.

Authentic Beverages CO Inc

3500 Gonzales Street

Austin, TX 78702-4017 
ral@artisanalimports.com

Le Plat Pays

On the way back from my little excursion to the coast I photographed through the car window the flat country celebrated in Jacques Brel's song "Le Plat Pays". I love this part of Belgium - flat country side with open verdant fields traversed by beautiful canals lined by trees, wonderful also for biking and horse riding. I guess that one of the reasons I like it so much is because of its connection with Jacques Brel. He sang in both French and Dutch. 
I think you will enjoy listening to "Le Plat Pays", one of my very favorite Brel songs, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Pc-Z_r5jQ

Knokke, Rubenssquare, statues, tiles, cars, cafés...

I received a few queries about where the previous picture "Walking in style" was taken. The square in Knokke is shown here from different perspectives. Knokke is located at the Belgian coast not far from the Dutch border.  

This square is named after Rubens and is completely covered in tiles of blue and grey shades which give it a special effect. The sculpture in photo1 is by Franz West. 

In summer kids bustle around the pedestrian part of the square in little cars and on bikes, skateboards and skates while parents watch from nearby terraces such as café-restaurant Rubens, shown here inside and outside.