Imagine 2020: Dutch comedian Dette Glashouwer on 'money'

To This Day Project (by Shane Koyczan)

See also:

• Lyrics
• You can make a difference

West Flemish Proverbs: Djoos Utendoale

My father is West Flemish. I grew up in Limburg at the opposite side of Flanders and it is as if this geographical distance also reflects in the difference within our spoken dialects. Generally speaking, all non-West Flemish Flemings will act like the Western dialect is completely incomprehensible. For myself, I mostly joke that I was raised bilingually. But no, also for me it requires a big effort to understand the different West Flemish dialects (...and don't even start about asking me for the correct pronunciation...).

Still, both on top of my father's desk and in the living room of my grand parents is a collection of beautifully calligraphed proverbs. Not in regular Dutch or what I would describe as "standardized Flemish", no: real West Flemish proverbs and aphorisms written in pronunciation spelling.

As I understand most of the meaning, it is difficult to translate them without losing some of its poetic value. Still, underneath I present some of the proverbs written by father Joris Declercq, also known as Djoos Utendoale. I was quite shocked to notice that there is no Wikipedia-page dedicated to him, so I will use part of this article to tell about him as well.

The hunt for the top 10 "Basic man skills"

Which 10 skills are the most basic and important to master as a man, the ones that you literally have to learn from your father?

I hope to get feedback from readers and friends, feel free to leave comments and mail me, so we can distill a top ten.

Here is my list, in no particular order:

• repair the punctured tire of a bicycle
• jack up a car
• fix a sink (funk my funk)
• paint a wall
• fell a tree
• change a light fitting
• fix a running toilet
• jump start a car
• basic carpentry
• assemble and disassemble furniture
• drill a hole in the wall

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
   ― Rudyard Kipling, If: A Father's Advice to His Son

More:

• list of howto's
• list of TIL
• 14 Basic Skills All Men Should Possess (Manolith)
• Life skills (Esquire)
• Because your wife uses the car too

Starry Starry Night

Orion, taken from Ethan

Starry, starry night.
Paint your palette blue and gray,
Look out on a summer's day,
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills,
Sketch the trees and the daffodils,
Catch the breeze and the winter chills,
In colors on the snowy linen land.
-- Don Mclean

I admit it, I don't know sh** about stars or constellations, but there is something about it that makes me want to lay down and just look up, trying to make sense of it all or just enjoy the light show, the beautiful painting in the sky.

Open Mic night at Sparkles

Picture based on bagofnothing

This Saturday, the 16th of April 2011, Sparkles Restaurant in Tamale will organise a new Open Mic night.

Anybody who wants to perform before our audience can contact the staff and will be announced. Anybody who wants to come and enjoy the show, grab a chair!

Everybody welcome, free entrance as usual.

L'ambition et le désir

C'est bon, rêver
(photo pris de babble)

"Nous voulons tous des grandes choses," il me dit. "construire notre propre maison, voyager aux pays exotiques, avoir une famille, être riche ou devenir fameux."

Cut up more poems!

'What is poetry?' wordle
by Joan Houlihan

HUMO: In je dichterscollectief verknippen jullie gedichten.

David Van Reybrouck: En waarom niet? Een gedicht is nooit af, 't is open software. Ik geef mijn gedichten vaak door aan vrienden met de vraag: remix dit eens. Soms schrijven we met z'n vijven aan één gedicht, in verschillende talen. En dat marcheert.

--HUMO, interview met David van Reybrouck, 28 december 2010