Parade alternatives

Rotterdam boasts itself as a city of festivals. And rightfully so. There are so many it's impossible to go to them all. But which ones to skip??

Next weekend do go to Metropolis - a FREE music festival where you can catch the likes of Les Savy Fav and The Vaccines, as well as tons of other bands that you never heard of but who will (possibly) be famous next year.

This weekend, June 24-26, travel South to the Wolphaertstraat to visit Bazar Bizar. Over 60 (!!) artists will sell their prints, drawings, jewelery, clothing, zines, toys and what not. Plus there will be good food and music (including from our own Geeske).

And/or you could go up North to the bustling neighborhood of Het Oude Noorden for Route du Nord. This route will take you along all the galleries, shops, cafes, restaurants and temporary art spaces that are tucked away in the narrow streets of "The Old North".

A festival you certainly should not miss (unlike me..) is the Open Dans festival. Jan Misker and our friend Janne Eraker hand picked the best, fresh and exciting dance acts that are out there in Rotterdam today. The program is just as divers as the city itself: there will be everything from modern to urban, from tap to tango, there will be video-installations and turntables, there will be more established dance makers as well as young and upcoming ones, plus workshops, live music and parties! And all this for just € 25 (3-day passepartout - separate tickets available too). Skip De Parade, I'd say!

Wie schön das ist

It's 19.00 and I'm ready for bed. My eyes are droopy and the skin below them is a dark shade of purplish blue... I am recovering from a fantastic weekend. Friends of mine got married on Saturday, but the celebrations lasted the whole weekend! It was a special day for a number of reasons. Of course it was special to see my friends getting married, but there were a lot of details that made this wedding an extraordinary one: the fantastic setting of Cardiff Castle, the cake and the stunning wedding dress (both made by the bride herself!), the Dusty Springfieldesque hairdo’s of the bridesmaids, the beer (smuggled across the German border by two of their friends) and last but not least the ORIGAMI FLOWER ARRANGMENTS (also made by the bride herself!!).


For the party they’d booked the EXCELLENT Klezmer Kollective, an 8-piece outfit from Cardiff. Their music led to wild and ecstatic dancing by all guests (as you can vaguely see on the picture above)! As there weren’t any DJ-facilities the couple had asked me to put together some compilation cd’s for the evening and night. Because the now-husband is German and the now-wife is Welsh I dug up songs by German and Welsh artists and some odd covers in either German or Welsh, some of which I’ll share with you here. I especially love Motown ‘auf Deutsch’, they sing with the cutest accent. Sehr süß!

Marvin Gaye - Wie Schön Das Ist. Get it here (YSI).

The Beatles – Sie Liebt Dich. Get it here (YSI).

Marty Roos - Blauer Montag. Get it here (YSI.

Tom Jones – Ring Of Fire. Get it here (YSI).

Alex Warren and Terema Wainwright - Newport Ymerodraeth State Of Mind. Get it here (YSI).

Dedication to the max

Love love loved that tacky record cover my Dollegue put up here a couple of days ago! Well last week I found quite a unique sleeve myself while I was charity shopping in London (in a completely different genre though):Being a big Morrissey and The Smiths fan myself, my heart started to melt when I spotted this embodiment of pure Mozzer dedication. This fan just couldn't stand having this great single sitting in a dull, plain white sleeve! I love the back cover even more. The His Masters Voice dog is there (twice), plus production and photo credits ("Smash Hits" - haha). Too bad there are no credits for the artwork!


I already own a copy of the 7", but I was happy to pay 50p for this amazing piece of teenage cut-and-past-work. Plus it is a truly great single. Suedehead is nothing short of brilliant, but I Know Very Well How I Got My Name on the flip side is so beautiful it makes me cry.


A. Morrissey - Suedehead. Get it here (YSI).


B. Morrissey - I Know Very Well How I Got My Name.
Get it here (YSI).

a sheer genius

This design for a piece of embroidery by 14-year old Mary Tyrrell, made in 1717, sent me into a drawing frenzy this week. I found it in the book Embroidered with White - The 18th century fashion for Dresden lace and other whiteworked accessories (which I picked up in a charity shop - of course). I think the girl was a sheer genius, just look at those exotic birds!

A crafty Christmas

A "guerilla Christmas store" is opening up tomorrow at gallery BLAAK10 in Rotterdam. Students and alumni of the Willem de Kooning Academy will sell their designs. Prints, books, t-shirts, jewelry, bags, ceramics, cushions, the inevitable designer toys and Dutch Dolls items, it'll all be there! Should Santa Clause let you down, you could always go there after Christmas to spoil yourself, the guerilla store is open till January 3rd!

Academiegalerie BLAAK10, Witte de Withstraat 7a, Rotterdam.
Open Tuesday - Sunday 11.00 - 18.00. Late night shopping on Friday December 11th 18.00 - 21.00.

Everybody was there, even Swamp Thing!

So last Saturday it was the day that all the 'crafties' headed south; for Bazar Bizar. I packed all the Dutch Dolls stuff and my market-essentials tried to carry myself, my sweat and my stuff to the busstop. I think I lost about 2 pounds in that little stroll. Still looking cool with the sunglasses though, hell yeah. I arrived almost an hour late... but all that was bad about that was that I needed coffee. After unpacking and decorating all the addictions were taken care of.

I like this market. All the participants worked really hard and brought the coolest homemade stuff ever. I found shrimp made of felch, comics, vinyl, pluchies, shirts, jewellery and much, much more. There are loads of squatters with half-shaven heads, dogs and crusty-babies. There are old people, big black mamas with cute kids and artsy folks all over the place. The Dstruct DJ-team provides just the right soundtrack with dubstep, hiphop, jazz and italodisco. The sun is out, there's beer, good food and lots of people that I know. Even Swamp Thing (picture above) came, with his megaphone.. being the ultimate vendor. I had so much fun that I kinda forgot to sell stuff. Whoops!

Bazar Bizar!!

After last year's HUGE success, there had to be a sequel to Rotterdam's coolest (crafty)market: BAZAR BIZAR! It takes place on Saturday June 27th between 12.00 and 18.00 in the Wolphaertstraat (that's in the southern part of Rotterdam). This is the place to buy original gifts for your friends or for yourself! Or just indulge yourself in food, music, alcohol and lots of artsy people. We’re telling you, this will be cool... so go cross that Erasmus Bridge and hang out with us! Check www.bazarbizar.hyves.nl and/or www.myspace.com/bazarbizarrotterdam.