Amsterdam Weekly: Vol 5 Issue 49, 18-24 Dec 2008

Volume 5, Issue 49

18-31 DECEMBER 2008 The city’s best weekly. Now every quarter.

‘Jesus walking on the water?’

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Don’t look back in anger Look forward in anger Pages 6-9

HOLIDAY

REPORT

NEW YEAR

AGENDA

Amsterdam Weekly is taking a break. We’ll be back in March.

With some art, 2008 might be remembered as the year of the ugly.

Where to go party like it’s 2009. That is, if they’re not already sold out...

A silent hard night, a trek across Africa and some lost and found light.

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Page 11 and onward...

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

In this issue and...

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Attachments

By Arnoud Holleman

There’s a lot to look forward to in 2009-and not only because it’s International Year of Natural Fibres. The Postbank will disappear and become ING. Obama will contract the same mysterious skin disease as Micheal Jackson. China will complete the Three Gorges Dam while the NZ-lijn is finally abandoned and taken over by both inspired party organisers and Albert Cuyp market stall-keepers tired of selling their wares in the wind. Amsterdam’s major museums will remain closed while those bastards in Sweden will only get smugger with the opening of the ABBA museum in Stockholm. The year of the book will turn into the year of the cooked, as local cuisine becomes increasingly popular since potatoes will stay as cheap as chips (see www.dutchpot.nl for more culinary info). And most relevant, for us at least: our cherished and very hairy editor Steve Korver (on cover) will be leaving his post to return to his freelance roots. It’ll take us a couple of months to recover from the loss. In the meantime, donations are now being accepted for hair removal subsidies and/or bulletproof clothing. Releasing editors back out into the wild is a dangerous business indeed, so let’s be careful out there.

We’ll see you in March.

Features Inbox On cabs and coffeeshops . . . . 4 Nature Calls You weasel you . . . . . . 4 Amstergraph Fireworks . . . . . . . . . . 4 A Quick Bike Fix Tunnelvision . . . . 4 Street Fashion Death of Bling. . . . . 5 Report The beauty of ugly . . . . . . . . 5 The People Versus Religion. . . . . . . 5 Features Looking back/forward . . . 7 New Year’s Party! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Film Review Brief Encounter. . . . . 17

Agenda Short List 11 / Music 12 / Clubs 18 / Gay & Lesbian 19 / Stage 19 / Events 20 / Art 21 / Addresses 22 / Film 23 / Film Times 26

Plus The Mouth Muang Thai . . . . . . . . . . 27 Night in the Life Soundgarden . . . 27 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Lamelos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Fokke & Sukke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

On the cover Illustration by Kelly Young

Next week Try next March.

Contact Amsterdam Weekly Publisher Yuval Sigler Director Todd Savage Editor Steve Korver Assistant Editor Steven McCarron Copy Editors Mark Wedin, Corbin Collins Film Editor Massimo Benvegnù Editorial Assistants Sarah Gehrke, Colin Delaney, Jessica Hartman Editorial Intern Kim de Jong .

Art Director Kallen Yan Art Department Mattijs Arts, Russell Joyce, Karen Willey Design Interns Floor Bijkersma, Renata Sifrar

Amsterdam Weekly is published every week on Wednesday and is available free at locations all over Amsterdam. Subscriptions are available for €60 per six months within the Netherlands and €90 per six months within Europe. Agenda submissions are welcome, at

Account Managers Randy Abels, Maikel Bouricius, Ulrica Carlsson, Marc Devèze, Kate Hutchinson, Azam Malik Sales Intern Eva van Gerven

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AROUND TOWN

Google this...

Nature calling

‘Absolute anarchy in Amsterdam’

By Mark Wedin

Amstergraph

Number of firework victims requiring first aid on New Year’s Eve in NL.

I’m dreaming of a white weasel

1996-97: 1100 / 2000-01: 900 / 2004-05: 620 / 2007-08: 1100 Source: Consument en Veiligheid /Graph by Nicole Martens

A quick bike fix

By Pete Jordan

Tunnels I’m conscious of the various bike tunnels (and underpasses) throughout Amsterdam if only because while cycling through any of them, my son enjoys yelling out ‘Ooh ooh!’

The echo comes back, ‘Ooh ooh!’ (And, yeah, I yell, too. Someone had to teach the boy the joys of tunnel echoes.)

The fietstunnels around town provide safe routes for cyclists, enabling them to not have to cross, say, rail lines or motorways. And they even provide safe passage under some busy streets—like ones around the Zuidas. There, the raised streets allow cyclists to cross Beethovenstraat, Strawinskylaan and Parnassusweg without coming into contact with the vehicular traffic.

The Zuidas tunnels are very popular with cyclists. In September, the city’s traffic department did some counting. Between 7.30 AM and 9.30 AM on one Tuesday morning, for example, more than 2700 folks on two wheels (many of them schoolchildren) passed through the tunnel under the Parnassusweg.

But now the city wants to remove these tunnels and bring the roadways down.

Cyclists would be forced to navigate their way across the busy streets. Removing those tunnels would make cycling more dangerous and less attractive in the Zuidas area, according to De Fietsersbond. The union has begun a campaign, calling on the city not to remove the tunnels. Thousands of cyclists have already signed a petition in support of this position. And you can, too!

‘Ooh ooh!’

To sign the petition in support of the Zuidas fietstunnels, visit: www.fietsersbond.nl/amsterdam React: bikes@amsterdamweekly.nl

We may not get a white Christmas, but we always get white weasels. It happens every winter. Most of the year, the fur on their backs is chestnut brown. But within a week or so, their entire bodies, save for the black tips of their tails, will be as white as their bellies. Snow white.

At least, that’s what I’m told. I have yet to see one for myself.

Fast and cautious, local ermines (aka hermelijns or stoats) can be a pain in the ass to find. Unless of course, you’re a mouse, then they’ll probably find you, with deadly accuracy. But for us non-mouse folk, the best place to spot these little furry ermines is evidently Amsterdam Noord, in and around the polders.

I’ve biked around there countless times, not just looking for weasels of course, and like you, I’ve seen plenty of cows, sheep and birds. But no ermines. Naturally, whenever I mention to a friend that I’m hoping to see one, I always get a similar response: ‘Oh, those long weasel-looking things? I saw a couple last weekend.’

Bastard.

The stories I’m told have plenty of variations, with one common theme: the ermine is always spotted suddenly out of the blue, only to disappear just as the viewer realizes what they were seeing . They scurry across bike paths from one clump of reeds to another. Two mating partners will playfully run past each other. And throughout the day and night, they’re hunting. Evidently, if you accept the natural order of things, the sight of an ermine chasing down a rodent is spectacular. For such huggably soft creatures, they posses a devastating speed and razor sharp teeth, insuring their stomachs are rarely empty for long. But whatever they’re up to, they’re said to resemble graceful spirits, silently whisking across the ground, leaving only a trail of little footprints behind, easily covered by a few flakes of falling snow. I can only assume that the sight of a wild ermine is a sweet thing indeed. But for now, I am left to wonder, and to dream.

Got nature tips? naturecalls@amsterdamweekly.nl

Inbox

Otherwise shut up

Criminal cabbies

Submitted by: G Zaragosa Date: Sunday, December 07, 2008 2.16 PM Subject: XXX

Submitted by: Elinor Shoham Date: Friday, December 12, 2008 11.19 AM Subject: corrupt taxis

I just saw on CNN that Amsterdam is cracking down on coffeeshops. What’s this all about—protecting our youth, right? The city council wants to close coffeeshops within 500 metres of a school. What about coffeeshops 550 meters from a school? Do the students suddenly lose interest after 500 metres and give up on weed or hash?

I come from a country that spends billions suppressing weed, but I never had any problem finding it. I think that there must be another reason. Most of the targeted coffeeshops are on prime property. The Bulldog on Leidseplein is a good example.

The money is going into the wrong pockets—that is, not the pockets of the city council crowd and their friends. Who do they think they are fooling?

The Red Light District is another example. This is the last undeveloped area in the centre. Again, I am from a country that spends tons of money arresting and prosecuting prostitutes, but they are everywhere anyway. So this can’t be the reason. Finally, the accusation that criminals are behind Amsterdam prostitution and the strip clubs does not stand up. If this is so then Mayor Cohen and his city council cronies need to find evidence and prosecute these people in court. Otherwise, please shut up and stop violating these people’s right to work in what is legal work.

This is a democracy, if you people forgot. You cannot accuse people without evidence. I don’t know why owners from the Red Light have not sued the mayor and the city council for slander and interfering with their legal right to work.

P.S.: I work in tourism, and the Red Light District is the number one attraction. We don’t need more fancy shops and cafes.

Yesterday I went out for drinks near Leidseplein. At the end of the night I went to the long taxi stand near the tram stops.

There I found a row of taxis, and people going from taxi to taxi but not getting in. At first I assumed they were a large group and were refused passage, but then I found out the taxis were refusing to drive unless people agreed to a fixed price of €20 (while there are new regulations concerning having to put the meter on and charging €7.50 for the first 2 km).

It is a bit confusing to me there was no taxi driver decent enough to drive as their job dictates. Furthermore, with all the policies changing here all the time and that taxis here are not relatively cheap, I cannot believe I have to beg and have to pay such an outrageous price when I know my home is just €7.50 away.

I think City Hall can be stricter with these taxi companies. I do not understand why there are ten taxis in a row standing, working like a mafia, and the public has to take it! I was lucky enough to catch a taxi a 100 metres down the road who explained to me that all these workers are lazy, and there is nothing that can be done. But I disagree. This driver brought me safely home and charged €7.50 and I paid €10 out of gratitude for him actually following guidelines. I cannot believe this experience I had last night, and I am sure it has been going on for some time. Why is nobody speaking out of this crime that’s taking advantage of tired people who just want to get home.

Got an opinion? We want to hear it. inbox@amsterdamweekly.nl

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AROUND TOWN

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Street fashion

The people versus...

By Mo Veld

By Floris Dogterom

The End of Bling

Eye of the beholder

By Laura Groeneveld

DECK THE HALLS WITH BOUGHS OF UGLY When artists Natalya Pinchuk and Dana Sperry read about the ongoing changes in the Red Light District, they decided to bring an interactive art project to the area.

Under the title Ugly Objects, residents are invited to submit an ugly handheld object that will get ‘beautified’ by a jewellery artist. Rather than just customising the object, the artist lives with it for a whole year, before returning it to the owner.

The selected owners of ugly things also have to talk with the assigned artist, about the history of the object and what is beautiful and ugly in life. Sperry and Pinchuk will document these conversations, and possibly use them as an inspiration for a documentary or short film. But ultimately they just want to start a dialogue amongst Red Light District residents about the future hopes and visions of the neighbourhood.

‘No one knows what this area is changing towards now that the prostitutes are moving out,’ says Pinchuk. ‘We want people who live or work here to think about the changes and what they want for this area.’

According to Sperry, discussing foul objects is a conversation starter: ‘It’s eas-

ier to describe or talk about something that’s ugly than something that’s beautiful. It’s the same with Dante’s Divine Comedy; his Inferno is much more detailed and precise than his Paradise.’

For the past few days, Pinchuk and Sperry have walked around de Wallen stirring up conversations with passersby and residents about objects which they think are unlovely, or even hideous.

‘A lot of people told us: “I don’t own anything ugly, but my friends do,”’ says Pinchuk. ‘And when we were at a cafe, one guy suggested I use Dana as an ugly object for the project. I guess he didn’t know that Dana is my husband.’

Most people, however, were slightly confused. ‘When people really start to think about an ugly object, they become aware that despite its ugliness, the object is still connected to their lives,’ adds Pinchuk. ‘At that stage they might not even refer to it as ugly anymore.’

This was confirmed by one passer-by, who said he thought his dog was very ugly, but he still loved it to bits.

Marieke van Diepen is one of the participating artists and already has some ideas as to what she might do with her

Object by Natalya Pinchuk

unsightly item: ‘I could chop it into small pieces and turn it into a series of different objects.’

I tell her about the ugly object I handed in: a very uninviting coffee pad holder, that isn’t even mine. Does this mean that not only will the real owner have to miss it for a year, but he might also have it returned to him in small pieces?

‘Well, not necessarily,’ says Van Diepen. ‘It also depends on the owner’s story and its context.’

To be safe, I’ll just get him a new coffee pad holder. A less ugly one.

More info: www.uglyobjects.com

Illustration by Tomas Schats

piece that marked the End of Bling.

For weeks I tried to lure my friends The timing couldn’t be better since into joining me to pay a quick visit to Christmas time is all about selling the Rijksmuseum to get a glance of us Bling—even this cold Christmas Damien Hirst’s ‘For the Love of with the recession officially kickGod’. My simple plan didn’t meet ing in and all. Champagne in with much enthusiasm. ‘Hirst is crystal glasses, glossy luxury passé. He’s a sell-out artist if ever industry presents, little designer there was one. And to spend such a black dresses and matching black sickening amount of money on a ties—the whole boring picture of diamond-encrusted skull, with all successful living. Instead of some the poverty in the world, is just poor homey time out to re-think our rat taste.’ To me, this is exactly why this lives, it’s just a massive celebration work is so relevant and worth queuof wannahave decadence wrapped ing up for to see with my own eyes. in made-in-China Bling decoraSo I did. tions. Who wouldn’t want to have The real thing turned out to be Hirst’s diamond skull as a nice cennothing like the images that seem to trepiece for their Christmas dinner be everywhere. ‘For the Love of table? I guess it’s good to know God’ is actually tiny, delicate and that none of us actually will... cheerfully sparkling, like nothing I Thinking about fashion alternahave ever seen before. I shared this tives I wondered if anyone will precious moment with a group of actually wear the grey and literally pre-pubescent teens who just stapled together new NO collection couldn’t get enough of the sight and that Viktor & Rolf so clairvoyantly kept examining their own facial proposed for this crisis season. It bone structure while circling the would be rather appropriate if it brightly-lit glass case in the pitch Illustration by Kelly Young weren’t still the proverbial sheep’s black darkroom that the Rijksmuseclothing since, apart from the idea um had created. Only adults kept behind this NO concept, Viktor & Rolf still belong to the old econgoing on about the monetary value of what all those diamonds omy luxury industry. But let’s suppose for a moment if we really represent, especially the huge pink diamond posted on the foredid say no to Bling... what then would be the truly new thing? head like a third eye. When I left the museum 30 minutes later to go about the rest of that afternoon’s errands, I couldn’t help but think it a good thing if a lot of youngsters would see this particuReact: inandout@amsterdamweekly.nl lar piece of art, hoping it will sink into their subconscious as the

For the love of god God isn’t the first association that comes to mind when thinking of Amsterdam, the most liberal city in the most liberal country in the world. Still, God is everywhere in our city of sin. According to the City Hall fact sheet ‘Geloven in Amsterdam’ [‘Belief in Amsterdam’] from June 2001 (the last time they researched it), 41 per cent of Amsterdammers call themselves Christian, Muslim, Jew and so on.

Incidentally, the highly informative CIA World Factbook tells me that 86 per cent of the world population adheres to some kind of faith. As an atheist you’re seriously outnumbered and you’re actually obliged to take all these religious clubs seriously, if only for reasons of self-preservation.

That notion, however, presents me with a problem. All faiths, to me, are childish and therefore I find every believer to be, well, a child. I’ll never forget the sudden change in a conversation with an Indonesian union man, who, after he realised I not only wasn’t a Muslim, but denied the existence of any god whatsoever as well, said: ‘But who made your little ears? And your little nose?’

Shocking. One moment you’re talking with a grown-up, the next you find yourself in the company of a four-year-old.

The tricky thing with discussions like this is the undemonstrable position of my atheistic argumentation. After my demise, I can’t simply buzz my religious survivors to inform them that they’ve been wrong all along.

Still, I wonder who’s better off. Religion and, even more so, religious communities have an important social function, even in a country like ours. Take my father, 82 now.

He has replaced the orthodox Protestantism from his youth by something I refer to as ‘Protestantism lite’. Jesus walking on the water? Forget it. But my father does like to go to church, particularly because he wants to be with people in familiar surroundings.

Another advantage of having a faith is that the faithful can easily deal with many setbacks during their lifetime, in the knowledge that eternal bliss is awaiting them.

Then again, the nasty catch is that it’s only after they’ve died that they’ll discover that said bliss doesn’t exist. Oh no, of course not: you can’t discover anything once you’re dead. Or can you? I think I’ll become agnostic. Because you never know.

Something to report? thepeopleversus@amsterdamweekly.nl

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F E AT U R E

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

F E AT U R E

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

F E AT U R E

Avoiding the forced inburgering course

By Linawati Sidarto This summer, I found myself on the phone to my local stadsdeel office, having heard that non-Dutch residents who had never gone through the inburgering process could take some Dutch classes for free—a deal that sounded too good to be true.

When I arrived in the Netherlands ten years ago, Indonesians were exempt from the ordeal of civic integration. ‘Why?’ I asked an immigration official then.

‘Those are the rules,’ was his answer.

But ten years later, I had an appointment with a consultant from ROC, an educational institution that provides Dutch classes to immigrants. As she scrutinised my file, her frown grew deeper. I started feeling uneasy.

‘I don’t suppose you realise,’ she said with a sigh, ‘that it is mandatory for you to go through the inburgering process. Those are the rules now.’ Huh? The kind woman explained to me that former integration minister Rita Verdonk (who has since formed her own populist party with the fitting name ‘Proud of the Netherlands’) had come up with a new law last year: all residents aged 18 to 65 without a Dutch passport and originating from non-EU countries must go through the inburgering process. ‘No matter whether you’ve been in Holland for thirty days or thirty years,’ the counsellor said.

Our meeting turned into a venting session, mostly for the counsellor who was livid. ‘The new law has resulted in chaos. It was not feasible from day one,’ she hissed.

To begin with, municipalities were supposed to inform every resident in the target group. I, for one, was never informed (but was stupid enough to ‘enlist’ myself).

‘Some municipalities did, and some didn’t. There was no uniformity,’ my counsellor said.

Some people were infuriated that they were told to ‘integrate’ when they had already been an active part of their community for years. Regardless, new language schools opened and hired hundreds of teachers in anticipation of thousands of ‘integrators’ coming out of the woodwork. Of course, the turnout for the courses was much lower than expected. ‘Half of my colleagues have been let go now,’ the counsellor explained.

So what about me? The counsellor had me take a onehour Dutch test. A week later she called: my Dutch was excellent, but I was still required to take a formal inburgering exam, according to Verdonk’s rules. ‘But take your time. I don’t expect the authorities to come after you any time soon. Who knows, the rules may change again before you know it.’ That settles it then. I think I’ll follow her kindly advice and stay quiet for now.

Coffeestop?

By Jaro Renout Anyone who knows Amsterdam a little bit must have noticed a cold and conservative wind of change blowing through the city lately. In particular, our famed coffeeshop culture is heavily under siege from forces in parliament that have obviously gone over to the dark side. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, since our fair country is now governed by a raggedy coalition of Christian fundamentalists and rambling socialists.

But given the fact that America is spending billions of dollars in a war on drugs that is currently being won by the other side—a bunch of lazy ass pot smokers and what not—one could carefully draw the conclusion that A) peo-

ple want drugs really badly, B) they’ll get it anyhow, C) repression is too expensive and D) it doesn’t work.

However, our government felt the urge to give the Grand Illusion of a drug-free Holland another go. For now its focus is on closing 43 coffeeshops situated within 250 metres from a secondary school. No one involved believes this is going to have any effect whatsoever, because a vigorously implemented law already makes it virtually impossible to sell soft drugs to minors. Furthermore, some school teachers foresee ‘delivery boys on mopeds’ who might have stronger stuff for sale as well.

And let’s face it, no school kid is going to buy a bag of weed in plain sight of his own principals anyway.

Within the city council there’s still a lot of discussion on this topic and only the Christian-Democrats believe in their own radical plan to close all coffeeshops by 2011.

Mayors all over the country have expressed their concern about this absurd target, and seem willing to revolt over it. So it ain’t over yet.

Next year will be an important one for the future of Dutch drug policy. It seems that we have no choice but to make a clear stand, the old rabbit-out-of-a-hat gedoogbeleid is no longer an option. We either legalise or ban soft drugs all together. Needless to say, should we have the guts and clairvoyance to finally make the step to legalisation, God, the pope and all his merry men will be very sorry they ever brought it up.

The future of bulging briefs

By Willem de Blaauw ‘Ironically, our plan for 2009 is a show we originally planned for 2008,’ says Koos van den Berg, better known as Coco Coquette from the transvestite theatre collective Chicks with Dicks. ‘We were planning a show called Zeevrouw, a parody on that super cheap textile chain Zeeman, when this

whole “let’s clean up De Wallen and put fashion designers instead of prozzies behind windows” came up.

‘As the Dutch naaien can both mean “to sew” and “to fuck’’, we soon saw the innuendo of these designers taking over the naaien from the sex workers. So we came up with the show De Dekmantel, about an old-fashioned brothel, ‘In den Vroolycken Naaidoos’, that is forced to turn into a naai-atelier in order to keep making money.

But except for a sewing machine in the window, behind closed doors it’s business as usual.’

The show, with Eileen Wayback, Molly Strychnine and Coco Coquette playing the hookers Patty, Marga and Jose (funnily enough, also the names of the ladies of that camp ’70s group Luv) quickly sold out. At time of print there are only tickets left for the extra performance on 4 January at the Winston. And although it’s rather hilarious, the show also seriously questions the whole vertrutting movement playing out in De Wallen and the fear of losing something that’s unique to our city.

Feeling flush in hard times

By Marlous Veldt Is it possible to feel poor, but not be poor at all? Frugal living and bad accounting have presented me with a balance sheet of €18,000 in outstanding invoices.

Outstanding with reliable clients, meaning that if I start sending those invoices the money will be in my bank account somewhere next month. Help!

2008 has been a year of hard work, a two-month travel adventure from Estonia to Moldova that I don’t remember much about and more hard work. Now, for 2009, limitless possibilities are on the horizon. A year to cross the oceans as a freighter shipmate or play the carefree bum in a castaway surfers’ town. But I can’t make myself book a plane ticket. I seem to be stuck in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

F E AT U R E

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her impression of the evening speedily on location and sharing it with the listeners directly, with the story immediately published on her blog.

Another rising storyteller at Mind the Gap is Thijs de Boer. He started writing only two years ago, and his first omnibus bundle will be published before next summer.

He’s even read at the Crossing Border festival in Den Haag and twice in De Avonden on Radio 1. For De Boer and McCreadie, reading their stories to listeners is a good way of promoting their work while receiving direct feedback.

‘Sometimes the crowd laughs when I didn’t intend to be funny. It’s thrilling to see how your story comes across,’ says McCreadie. On the public side, De Boer says listening to a storyteller is a more inspiring way to spend your evening than in front of the TV. ‘It opens up your mind to someone else’s world and encourages you to use your own imagination,’ says De Boer. ‘Besides that, stories are the only things that really last. Everything in the world comes and goes. We all die, and everything we carry with us eventually is little more than a burden. The only thing that’s left in the end is stories: they’re lighter to carry with you.’

It’s time to realise that going out is shit

By Sarah Gehrke Is there a way to transform this city—or my place in it—into a happy corner, where there are no deadlines and instead friends come round for chats and dancing in the living room? Maybe I should rent the shop downstairs and sell the stuff that I, as a woman sitting on money, don’t need anymore. Then listen to the customers while they buy the crap that I’m clearing out. Or maybe I should invest in therapy sessions to accept the fact that Amsterdam is just sticky and doesn’t need a reason to keep people tied down who are too restless to escape. There might be cash in that as well.

It’ll still be trippy

The two most popular pills evidently are Morning Glory and Hawaiian Baby Woodrose. ‘We’ve always had these pills,’ says Schwerk. ‘Only now that we can’t sell mushrooms, they’re becoming more popular.’

Her stoned friend next to her smiles and says, ‘You shouldn’t just write about ’em man. You got to try the stuff.’ Right you are. Maybe 2009 will mean the return of gonzo journalism. In a big way.

The year of the storyteller

By Isabel Serval

By Mark Wedin 2009 will be the year that many casual mushroom trippers finally take the plunge and go hardcore. Yep, thanks to the bastards we call bureaucrats and politicians, the banning of magic mushrooms has many—or at least me—considering other hallucinogenic options. Like DMT. Oh, how that powdered devil has tempted me for too long. In the past, mushrooms always satisfied my need to see beyond the usual day-to-day fare, but since I’ve now got to get them illegally, I might as well finally bone up and explore the many other trippy choices. I’m not sure if I’ve the balls for any of this stuff, but 2009’s as good a time as any to find out.

‘Well, these pills here are similar to LSD,’ says Anne Schwerk. She works at Kokopelli, a branch of the many Conscious Dreams smartshops around town. She says they’ve got a whole line of pills, most of them stronger than mushrooms, and fully legal. ‘Technically, the seeds used in these pills are legal all over Europe. Even in America, but there they have to package them carefully, so as not to show they’re a “drug”, but more of a “herb” or something.’

The line of pills she shows me is somewhat staggering, boasting all sorts of trips: light and short, long and heavy, and one made for nervous bastards like myself who get terrible stomach problems from hallucinogens.

There’s a financial crisis, hallucinating fungi are illegal, De Wallen is being tidied up and clubs and pubs smell of BO and flatulence because nobody’s smoking. What a relief, there’s good news too: storytelling is on the increase. Early night life goes cosy: snuggle up, lean back and enter the wondrous world of stories.

‘Stories make your mind expand,’ says Shayne McCreadie, with a broad smile and glistening eyes. She reads her spoken columns every two weeks on Friday evening at the Van Gogh Museum.

McCreadie, a Media and Culture student at UvA, also tells her stories at Mind the Gap. This monthly open mic night at Studio K has been a success since starting last June. ‘I like that it’s open to all forms of literary expression, especially since it’s not easy to make yourself heard if you haven’t published an actual paper yet,’ she says.

Mind the Gap initiator Effie Baert says this is exactly the idea: an open, cosy and inspiring monthly evening. ‘It doesn’t matter whether people are listening to local celebrity Blackstarr, or a first-timer. Everybody’s treated with the same amount of respect.’ Now Baert is looking to expand the event.

McCreadie also incorporates new media with old story traditions: she writes live blogs at Mind the Gap, typing

Why do people go to bars? They go to bars to a) drink, b) hear music and c) meet other people. All these things used to be great. But times have changed. It finally hit me last weekend, returning from a freezing smoking break, needing half an hour to fight my way back through a crowded bar, alternately being hit on and hit, both by idiots, and arriving to find both my bar stool and my beer gone. The only thought that stopped me mourning the loss of said beer was that it had been one of those watered-down miniature drinks anyway, so I didn’t even miss it that much.

That’s when it dawned on me. This isn’t actually fun.

For a while, I refused to accept it and went to fetch a new beer. Whereupon I realised I was asked for quite a lot of money for little return. I’m not very good with money. I usually only start thinking about it when it stops being there. But those who have a less abstract notion of it than myself might even ponder global financial crises as they slam down another €30 for a round.

Then there’s the music. Needless to say, it’s usually not so good. Under the influence of alcohol, one might try and improve the situation by requesting songs—seldom a successful or dignified venture.

And just when you’re drunk enough to think all the idiots are actually fun people, the music is great to sing along to and you can’t really recognise the numbers on the bank notes you’re passing over, they throw you out.

And you have to cycle home through the blistering cold knowing that the next morning you’ll probably have a flu on top of your hangover.

It took me a while, probably because my judgment was clouded by fond memories of the summer, when there are terraces, excitement and warm air. But here’s the solution—just don’t go out. Stack up the fridge, invite over friends whose fun-ness factor you trust, and have a non-quiet night in. You can put on some great tunes, have drinks that are cheap and nice, smoke as many cigarettes as you want, and never worry about a curfew. That’s it, my friends: staying in is the next big thing.

Well, at least until the spring comes. ___

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AGENDA

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SHORT LIST

The Chocolate Expedition—Photos by Frits Lemaire, Friday, Tropenmuseum.

THURSDAY18 DECEMBER

SUNDAY 21 DECEMBER

Fashion: Christophe Coppens—No Reference

Art: Lost & Found

Whatever may rouse the DIYer in you—tightening of the global purse strings, winter weather, reality TV shows—you won’t want to miss Christophe Coppens’ installation. Not only are the Belgian designer’s pieces being uniquely shown as works-in-progress, but you can help him stitch. Those who are handy with needle and thread are invited to assist putting the finishing touches on the collection of 33 couture accessories. And who knows where the objets d’art will land? Brussels-based Coppens has bonneted members of the Belgian royal family and singer Roisin Murphy frequently appears on stage in one of his surrealist capes or Alice in Wonderlandian hats. For visitors sans inner couturier, No Reference will still be an interesting display of pageantry: on just how Coppens is spending the €20,000 H+F Fashion Award he received last year. (Karina Hof) Platform 21, 14.00-18.00. Until 18 January.

Nearly everybody has one—a little collection of useless things that are impossible to throw away because they are nice, or funny, or cool. But you only ever come across these things in the process of moving house, or a very thorough cleaning extravaganza. Then you look at them and they make you smile—but the rest of the time they just rot away in the back end of some cupboard. Unless you’re an artist.

Those lucky people have a profession that allows them to take useless things and make something out of them that might still be useless, but is looked at by a large quantity of other people. Here’s where Lost & Found comes in. They ask around in their network of artists and other interesting people, and make them hand over their things, and then organise events where all that is exhibited. Completely useless. But funny, and nice, and cool. (Sarah Gehrke) Escape, 21.00, €9.

FRIDAY19 DECEMBER Photography: Frits Lemaire—The Chocolate Expedition In 1951, chocolate producer Van Houten commissioned a film about the harvesting of cocoa beans in Ghana. A team was picked, that included the photographer, cameraman and tribal art expert Frits Lemaire, and they drove a military truck from Weesp via Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Alger, Sahara, Kano and Lagos to finally arrive in Accra. It was an old-fashioned adventure. This exhibition of Lemaire’s photography shows the Sahara as a desert but not as deserted: with its waves of sand, mines of salt and oasis dwellers. Besides voodoo, the Tropenmuseum now has another excellent reason to visit it. (Steve Korver) Tropenmuseum, 10.00-17.00. Until 14 June 2009.

SATURDAY 20 DECEMBER Rock: Amsterdam Hard It’s a merry ol’ potluck of the city’s underground scene tonight with a band for every taste— as long as your taste embraces the rocky, rootsy and/or rancid. Representative is Amsterdam’s psychobilly legends Asmodeus who are saying farewell after 15 years of being the band Elvis would join if he ever rose from the dead as a blood sucking zombie. Also featured are the salon anarchists Human Alert, the surfing birds Los Tiki Boys, the tasteless rockers The Works, the rockin’ raw bluegrass boys The Pedro Delgados, the sex blues duo 69ers and—the only non-Amsterdam act—.357 String Band who pump out an amphetamine-fuelled streetgrass. It should all be joyous as fuck. (Steve Korver) Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 19.00, €15 + membership.

TUESDAY 23 DECEMBER Gospel: The Very Best of Black Gospel When the nuts start cracking at the ballet house, it’s time for gospel at the Concertgebouw. This year, the rather unhumbly-titled ‘Very Best of Black Gospel’ features some dozen singers and musicians from all corners of the US and from as far off as South Africa, offering high-spirited renditions of mainstays—‘Whole World in His Hands’, ‘Oh, Happy Day’ and ‘Down by the Riverside’—along with chestnuts of the Christmas season. No great innovations here, just a tradition kept aglow. They’ll surely raise spirits and fill the hall with full-throated warmth—and who could want for anything else. (Steve Schneider) Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 16.00, 20.15, €36.12/€42.50.

Electronica: Kraak & Smaak You know you’ve made it when American cop shows with initials in their titles are using your songs. Leiden’s upbeat, funky breaks trio Kraak en Smaak scored just that with feelgood single ‘Squeeze Me’ earlier this year. That said, they don’t really need CSI’s help—the song’s own video, of flick-book trick photography was cool enough for Kanye’s tick of approval. Their most recent album Plastic People, has been a huge break-out overseas, allowing them to tour the world, sell out New York gigs and appear on US talk shows. Onstage, it switches between DJ and band mode, but this week’s show will see a busy stage with singer, MC, drums, bass, keyboards and percussion to leave a crunchy after-taste. (Colin Delaney) Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 20.00, €12.50 + membership.

Until 5 March when Amsterdam Weekly returns, look for agenda tips at www.amsterdamweekly.nl.

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AGENDA: MUSIC Must see: Pop

High Places Sunday 21 December, SMART Project Space.

Boy meets girl in Brooklyn and they go about making fun electronic pop. It’s way more abstract than The Postal Service, but also way more rewarding. 20.00, €7

MUSIC

cross between Elvis Presley and Che Guavera’—so a fat guy in a sparkly jumpsuit who loves cigars and sparked a million stenciled t-shirts on campus?

Sounds awesome. That said, the Swedes do know how to rock, getting uber-producer Rick Rubin’s tick of approval, as they’re signed to his label. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 21.15, €10 + membership

Thursday 18 December

Friday 19 December

World: Cho Mu Win giving Amsterdam a taste of Burmese culture with the help of the saung (Burmese harp), an ancient national instrument that resembles a rearing scorpion. Tropentheater, Kleine Zaal, 20.30, €17

Classical: Cuarteto Latinoamericano The Mexican quartet performs Villa-Lobos, Lavista, Revueltas, Orbon and Ginastera. Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal, 20.15, €37

Rock: Face Tomorrow Influenced by big names like Radiohead, Muse, Tool and At the Drive-In, this Dutch act make powerful yet melodic indie rock. Support by punkers Tenement Kids. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 20.30, €10 + membership Classical: Ives Ensemble Stravinsky once said about his music: ‘It is a rare form of kleptomania.’ Of course fellow composer Vanilla Ice knows all about that.

Tonight’s programme asks you to ‘stop, collaborate and listen’ to the way Mozart, Schumann and Liszt have influenced and inspired modern-day composers.

Muziekgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.30, €25 Jazz: Metropole Orchestra & Ronnie Cuber Accompanied by New York baritone sax player Ronnie Cuber, the Metropole Orchestra swing through the big band sound. Bimhuis, 20.30, €16 Soul: Jamie Lidell The master of new soul, taking the old and giving it some new. ‘Another Day’ feels like he’s been brought up on the Big Chill soundtrack while ‘A Little Bit of Feel Good’ and ‘Hurricane’ are retro-cool stripped of any pretentiousness. Support from Chop Wood. Melkweg, The Max, 21.00, sold out Rock: The (International) Noise Conspiracy With the demise of Swedish rockers Refused, singer Dennis Lyxzen went on to form The (International) Noise Conspiracy with the aim of blending music and politics, ‘a

Jazz: dOeK Festival #7 Exploring the outer limits of improvisation, this two-day festival throws timing and structure out the window in favour of chance and chaos. Playing tonight is The Ed Prubufu Four, Eke and Eric Boeren’s Seven. Bimhuis, 20.30, €16 Rock: New Model Army Old dudes from England still angry 28 years after forming. Melkweg, The Max, 20.30, €16 + membership World: Laziz Pop, rock, R&B and funk from the Arabic world. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 22.00, €10 Jazz: Sinas Eight-piece act Sinas wants to heat your Dutch winter with some Latin jazz and get you dancing with their heavy percussion and sexy rhythms. Ay, Carumba. Badcuyp, Noordpool, 23.00, €8 World: We Love Seksen—Goksel Turkey comes to Paradiso with hot Turkish pop star Goksel performing live as part of Club Pera’s special We Love Seksen Istanbul ’80s party. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 23.59, €15

Saturday 20 December Classical: Christmas Concert One of Amsterdam’s best concerts over the festive season, Oude Kerk celebrates with baroque works by German composer Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer. Oude Kerk, 16.00, €15

Experi-mental! Musical insanity at dOeK on Friday and Saturday.

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AGENDA: MUSIC

Must see: Jazz

Photo by Ilya Mauter

Woody Allen and his New Orleans Jazz Band Paradiso, Grote Zaal, Sunday 21 December.

Is he just going to get up and tell jokes with punchlines emphasised by a drum roll or a kazoo? Maybe bad jokes accompanied by a tuba bellow? Nope, Woody Allen plays the clarinet, has done so since he was an adolescent. His moniker, ‘Woody’ even comes from his idol, clarinetist Woody Herman. So does (real name) Allan Stewart Konigsberg still carry the same neurosis while playing lively, uptempo New Orleans jazz and scoring €74 a head for it? You tell me. 21.30, €74

Punk: Amsterdam Hard It’s a huge line-up of punk rock, psychobilly, bluegrass and surf tunes as bands Los Tikis Boys, Human Alerts, The Pedro Delgados, ’69ers, .357 String Band and Asmodeus celebrate a merry hard Christmas, while also saying farewell to Asmodeus after 15 years of psychobilly silliness. See Short List. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 19.00, €15 + membership Pop/Rock: Krezip Led by singer Jacqueline Govaert this Dutch band celebrated their ten-year anniversary last December at the Heineken Music Hall. A year on, it’s a farewell show at Paradiso.

Support from Hit Me TV. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 19.30, sold out Pop/Rock: Hope Box Xmas Event Tonight the Winston Kingdom hosts Turn It Loose, Flying Style and The Hope Box Band to bring some yuletide cheer to your ears (and wallets). Winston Kingdom, 20.00, free Classical: Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest ’T is the season to be jolly with swaying waltzes, upbeat polkas and a programme of seasonal classics, conducted by Yakov Kriezberg. Expect plenty of sleigh bells.

Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.15, €36/€42.50 Experimental: DOeK Festival #7 On the second day of this experimental/improv festival catch D/L/T, Wollo’s World and the Scrutinizers—the latter featuring cellist Frances Marie Uitti, electronics

by Cor Fuhler and bassist Wilbert de Joode. They’ll make amazing sounds, but it’s obviously not really for the Britney fans. Bimhuis, 20.30, €16 Classical: Opera Trionfo/Nieuw Ensemble An operetta in pure vaudeville style, Arthur Honegger tells the story of King Pausole of Tryphème and his 365 wives. Lucky bugger. Muziekgebouw, 20.30, €33.50 Singer-songwriter: Nina June Soulful and bluesy, Nina June studied at the rock academy in Tilburg and has this year released debut record Little Dreams, with tinges of jazz, soul and country. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 21.30, €10 + membership

Sunday 21 December Heavy: Metalfest: Morbid Angel/Kataklysm/Marduk Metal bands’ logos are always written like they’ll take your eye out. I guess it’s cool if you’re 14––which might go a way to explaining the start time for this mini-fest that along with major acts Morbid Angel, Kataklysm and Marduk, includes Keep of Kalessin, Aborted, Arsis Hail of Bullets and Carach Angren. Don’t forget to tape your fingers into throwhorns position—it’s going to be a long night.

Melkweg, The Max, 15.00, €28 + membership Singer-songwriter: Selma Blending folk with Eastern influences, this afternoon show sees her launch her debut CD Umbrellas. Badcuyp, Noordpool, 15.00, €6 Classical: Christmas Concert See Saturday. Oude Kerk, 16.00, €15 Classical: Messiah The Koor van de Nederlandse Händelvereniging perform Handel’s masterpiece Messiah in lead up to Christmas. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 19.30, €26.50/€30 Rock: Tribute 2 Jimi Hendrix A tribute night to the master who, on November 27 would have turned 66 were it not for the great rock ’n’ roll curse of dying at 27 years of age. Tonight Midnite Gypsies with support

by JimiX (featuring Van B King) will bring him back.

Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 20.00, €16 + membership

Monday 22 December Experimental: The Present Having produced the likes of Animal Collective, Panda Bear and Born Ruffians, Rusty Santos steps out from behind the production desk and into the limelight, albeit the niche limelight of left-field indie soundscaping, with new project The Present. Expect electronic soundscapes, African rhythms, guitars and vocals, and fans of the above bands plus Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Atlas Sound should check him out. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 20.00, €6 + membership

An indie treat. Check out The Present on Monday.

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AGENDA: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Parties

By Jessica Hartman

Where to party like it’s 2009!

Old=New Part of New Year’s Eve is always looking back on what has been, so Sugar Factory is happy to take you on a dazzling audio tour to relive the best techno, house, disco and acid hits of 2008. The guides for this night include DJs Steven de Peven vs Carlos Valdes, Tom Trago, Arjuna Schiks and Lupe. Get yourself polished up with a hip makeover if these hits from a bygone year start to make you feel a little quaint. Sugar Factory, 0.10-05.00, €35 (early bird)/€50 (after 20 December) The Arc of Goa: New Light Celebration On the IJ you can dance to whatever floats your boat. In different areas of Stubnitz and Moby King you can enjoy, amongst others, psytrance, electro punk house, electro, reggae, minimal techno and ambient. In the bar there’s live music and an art performance. Also, champagne and cocktails are available to keep you floating. And worry not, there are ferries to and from Stubnitz all night. MS Stubnitz & Moby King, 23.00-08.00, €30 (early bird, via website)/€45 (at door) Ride in to 2009 Don’t get the blues on New Year’s Eve but move on to modern rock ’n’ roll and ska with live bands The Works, The Shenanigans and the quirkiest DJs in town.

You can even strut your stuff in the dance competition! And of course, there’s good hooch to go with it. Maloe Melo, 20.00-late, €17.50 Dead Celebrities Party Kriterion and Klik! present this ghoulish party. So don’t be a stiff—loosen your limbs all night long to the sound of (a)live bands and DJs. There’s no spiritless hanging in your theatre seats allowed either; respect for the deceased means you have to keep on dancing. Meanwhile, watch short films with, of course, a whole lot of funky dead people. Be careful not to get (too) wasted though... Filmtheater/Cafe Kriterion, 01.00-07.00, €12 Rebirth at the Oude en Nieuwe Anita If your head is fertile with good ideas for 2009, show it off while sticking it out of a painted pregnant woman during a fruitful photo session. Also, be inspired by these great live-acts: The Stoet will rock the disco cradle and the place will be overflowing with theatre performers. As always at this homely cafe, there’s going to be good ol’ oliebollen and bubbles to baptise the new-born year. De Nieuwe Anita, 21.00-05.00, €15 Het Knotsgekke Kermisbal (Freakishly Fun Fairground) If 2008 left you spinning, you might as well start 2009 by going round the bend some more. Those who aren’t troubled by vertigo can go wild at this party held on the 1st to the 3rd floors. DJs Mr. Wix, De Draaivriendinnen, Robotrock, Salvador and surprise acts will transform your night into one big roller coaster ride. ___ Club 8, 21.00-late, €30

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

Hiphop: M.O.P Rap classics like ‘Anti Up’ and ‘Cold As Ice’ put M.O.P on the scene. Then 50 Cent snatched ’em up for his G Unit label but fortunately the Mash Out Posse haven’t made any trips to the candy store, remaining hard and gritty or ‘keeping it street’ as they say in the hood. Support by Zwart Licht, Hef, Adonis, Crooks, Mo & Brakko. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 20.45, €15 + membership Jazz: Jazz Juice The odds are in the ladies’ corner as SaraLee Vos joins the group, who’re already full of femme fatale attitude, bringing the old into the new and making the room jump and jive to Jazz Juice.

Sugar Factory, 21.00, €9

Tuesday 23 December Electronica: Kraak & Smaak Mixing funk, house and rap, Leiden locals Kraak & Smaak will celebrate the closure of a big year courtesy of break through album Plastic People. While Boxing Day will see them perform a DJ set at Westergasfabriek, catch them tonight in full band mode. Support from recent Grote Prijs finalists TheFringe. See Short List. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 20.00, €12.50 + membership Funk: The Dutch Rare Groove Revue With a huge collection of ’60s and ’70s artists forming the house band along with guest of honour Jan Akkerman, the Dutch Rare Groove Revue will bring back the funk and soul perfectly for people who remember it, and those younger who’re keen to dig through music history.

Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 21.00, €12 + membership Rock: L.I.N.E This up and coming Dutch band have, in their brief career, played Eurosonic, Huntenpop and Bevrijdingsfestival, with their debut EP being received well. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 22.30, €7 + membership

Wednesday 24 December Jazz: Boi Akih What’s normally a duo in the form of singer Monica Akihary, writing in her ancestral tongue of Moluccan (in Indonesia to save you Googling it) and partner Niels Brouwer, tonight become a quartet with bassist Ernst Glerum and drummer Owen Hart Jr to add a little umph. Bimhuis, 20.30, €16 World: Mdungu Locals invoke the spirit of Africa with their take on Afrobeat, funk and roots music, led by saxophonist Thijs van Milligen. Winston Kingdom, 22.30, €10 Electronica: Memphis Maniacs This Christmas Eve come celebrate the way only the King could. The Memphis Maniacs take your classic dance and rock hits, mash ’em up together and then stick an Elvis impersonator out front. Stupid and fun, it’s not for the musical chin strokers out there. Stay on afterwards with DJs Wipneus & Pim from midnight. But just remember, don’t be too naughty or Santa won’t stop at your house. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 22.30, €12.50

Thursday 25 December

AGENDA: MUSIC Classical: Anna Fedorova Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova presents Chopin’s ballads, sonatas and more. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.15, €28.50/€33 Rock: Claw Boys Claw/Cosmic Psychos After 11 years without a record release Claw Boys Claw returned in 2008 with Pajama Day, a descent into swampy rock and garage punk. So what better way to send out the momentous year than with a big show at the Max? And in the double bill, there’s the equally awesome garage punk of Aussie stalwarts Cosmic Psychos, who somehow influenced the likes of Mudhoney and Pearl Jam despite being from Melbourne. Melkweg, The Max, 20.30, €17.50 + membership Jazz: Paul van Kemenade So good was his set at Tilburg jazz fest Stranger Than Paranoia, that saxophonist Paul Van Kemenade and his merry men will play it again tonight. Bimhuis, 20.30, €18 Hiphop: Missin’ Link Eindejaars Parade Dutch hiphop reprezent, yo! Convincing? Thought not— best leave it to the guys that know what they are doing: Kohfie Konnect, Jawat!, U-niq, Turk & Spacekees, Cartes & Kleine Jay and Extince. Bo! Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 21.00, €15 + membership

Sunday 28 December Classical: Calefax Pan The Calefax Reed Quintet arrange and interpret music from over eight centuries, from early music, to classical and Jazz.

Tonight a range of friends and fellow musicians like Hanco Klok, Tetzepi Bigtet and Wouter Snoei will join them. Muziekgebouw, 19.30, €11 World: Benefietconcert Marokko Fonds A fundraiser night for the Moroccan charity attracts chaâbi singer Daoudi to the stage for a lively show. Melkweg, The Max, 20.30, €35

Monday 29 December Jazz: Winterreise 2 The second Winterreise, Yuri Honing’s annual show at Paradiso sees him team up with singer-songwriter Huub van der Lubbe to perform various poems from Gerrit Komrij, Jean Pierre Rawie and Paul van Ostaijen to name a few, accompanied by Nico Brandsen on Hammond organ and Louis Debij on drums. The sound of blues spirituals will accompany Van Der Lubbe’s preaching. Later, accompanied by Janne Schra and Leine, Honing will play an electronic based set using beats, loops and new compositions. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 20.30, €17.50 + membership Jazz: New Cool Collective Led by Benjamin Herman, the New Cool Collective return to Sugar Factory—it’ll be a zoot suit riot, for sure. Sugar Factory, 21.30, €7.50

Tuesday 30 December

Classical: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Conducted by Mariss Jansons with Latvian soprano Elina Garanca, fill your stockings with a Christmas Day matinee of Rossini, Verdi, Mascagni, Chapi and Strausse arias. Sure beats visiting the in-laws. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 15.00, €50/€60

Pop: Van Dik Hout Pop rockers Van Dik Hout, who broke out in ’94 with hit ‘Stil in Mij’, are a little older and hopefully a little wiser (no head-butting butterflies as their ’97 album title suggested). Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 19.30, sold out

Friday 26 December

Singer-songwriter: André Manuel en de Ketterse Fanfare Dutch singer-songwriter and comedian brings his new band André Manuel en de Ketterse Fanfare to play his old tunes with a new band shine.

Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 21.00, €8.50 + membership

ˆ

Classical: Don Kosaken Chor Russland Traditional Cossack folk and Russian liturgical music to turn the Dutch winter even colder, as Marcel Nicolajevich Verhoeff conducts the all-male choir, with musical accompaniment from the Moscow Festival Ensemble.

Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 14.15, €29.50/€31.50 Heavy: Omission To misquote Sir Elton John, ‘Boxing Day night is alright for fighting’, especially with this rocking local line-up; Omission, Rush ’n’ Attack and ...And So We Escaped. Winston Kingdom, 22.00, €6

Saturday 27 December Soul: Alain Clark & Friends He’s a soul(pop) man! Alain Clark is from Haarlem but you’d think he was from Harlem as his video for latest single ‘Blow Me Away’ has Alain cruising the streets and subways of New York, presumedly looking for Curtis Mayfield’s ghost. Point being, Clark plays HMH and brings with him a bunch of mates. Heineken Music Hall, 20.00, €25/€29.50

Electronica: zZz Dark and gritty with the punk ethos of ‘simplicity’, the local duo of Björn Ottenheim (vocals and drums) and Daan Schinkel (organ) make danceable rock mixed with swampy sleaze and gothic grunge. Seductive stuff. Support from Adept. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 21.00, €12.50 + membership

Wednesday 31 December Classical: Nederlands Blazers Ensemble While you might want to be layering your stomach with a greasy meal in preparation for the big night, instead try this New Year’s classical concert. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 15.00, €21 Jazz: New Year’s Eve Concert Featuring Ernst Reijseger, Martin Fondse, Barockpuppies, Theatergroep Flint, Alan Gunga Purves, Jorge Brinkmann Trio, VoiceOverCello and Neslon Latif, if one of these dudes doesn’t play ‘Auld Lang Syne’ at midnight I’ll eat my trilby. Bimhuis, 20.30, €38

Organ rock ’n’ roll from zZz on Tuesday 30 December.

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AGENDA: CLUBS

Must see: Clubs

Inmotion met Sebo K

Rebel Up! Soundclash

Melkweg, Oude Zaal, Friday 19 December.

OCCI, Saturday 20 December.

Shinedoe and 2000 and One receive guest Sebo K from Berlin and get the party going with techno and house. 23.00-late, €13

World music from every corner of the planet is what Rebel Up! features. This time, an East-African special with Andy Moore and guests. 22.30-04.00, €4

CLUBS Thursday 18 December Bloemetjes Buiten: Prom Night Just like in Beverly Hills 90210: Winston hosts a proper prom night, with dates, corsages, the works. Unlike in Beverly Hills 90210: they play old school hiphop with a rock flavour and there’s a live performance by Aïsha. Winston Kingdom, 21.00-03.00, €15 for two BonBon Amer Lamme Tonnie (Rednosedistrikt), Wannabe A Star and Jordanair host the night and get the weekend going. Bitterzoet, 22.00-03.00, €7.50 Vreemd maakt het heet met wat rode peper Vreemd seems to be going strangely culinary this winter. This time it’s a hot night with Bart Skils of VOLT, Traffic and Static fame, along with DJs Florian Rath and Matthijs Groos from Minimaal Feestmaal. Sugar Factory, 23.30-05.00, €9.50 Blue Note Trip Melkweg’s weekly jazz party with DJ Maestro and guests. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 23.30-late, €8

Friday 19 December Amsterdam BeatClub With the mission of bringing the glamour and sleaze into Amsterdam.

Retro and burlesque, go-go dancers and cult films are the key words. Winston Kingdom, 22.00 04.00, €10

Disco Exota Gstring, Zip and Noir present disco, italo, house, new wave, funk and afro. Club 8, 22.00-04.00, €6 Gerrit Rietveld Academy As arty-farty a party as it can get, as it’s the afterparty to a Rietveld student exhibition. Guests will be artists from every medium, and there will be live performanes, too.

Hosted by DJs Dim Browsk, Getoutski, DoMinggus and 2Left2Right. Sugar Factory, 22.00-05.00, €10 Major League: Hard as Fuck #1 Rude boys— quite literally. Well at least they’re honest. Jungle and drum & bass are on the bill, with some big names. Melkweg, The Max, 23.00-late, €16

Sunday 21 December Second Chance Sunday Friday night, Saturday night, weekend over? Ah come on, might as well make it a hat-trick with this electro and Britpop night. Winston Kingdom, 23.00-03.00, €5 Wicked Jazz Sounds Jazz you can dance to. Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €9.50 Zonde! Naughty and saucy, Zonde! finishes the weekend. Paradiso, 23.30-05.00, €7.50

Monday 22 December

Drie Keer Niks/Cosmic Disco Space race boogies with Shiny Shady, Herrie Gekkehuis, O.Boogie and Marco and Orpheo. Flex Bar, 23.30-05.00, €7.50

Cheeky Monday Local and international heroes host this true skool jungle and drum & bass party.

Winston Kingdom, 21.00-03.00, €7

We Love Seksen: Göksel A ‘70s, ‘80’s and ‘90s theme, plus a fascinating title. Paradiso, 23.5905.00, €17.50

Wednesday 24 December

Saturday 20 December Live Soul, hiphop and disco are on the menu, served by DJs Lil’Vic, Danny de Funk and guests.

Bitterzoet, 23.00-04.00, €7.50 Earth 9th Anniversary Per, Terry Lee Brown Jr and Timewriter, plus many others. Paradiso, 23.0005.00, €20 Jungstar Rock Off TheFringe are the live act this evening, with tunes delivered by Flexican, The Walk, Beesmunt Soundsystem and Rogerseventy.

Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €12.50 Undercover/Club Krang Cleo, Vance, Juliette vs Ana, PPF, Flowing and Giom and Shadow Dancer hide behind the decks. Flex Bar, 23.00-05.00, €10

Forget traditions. Sonic Warfare is what it’s all about this Christmas.

Funky Foolish MC Complex, live acts, DJs and an open stage for jamming, plus funk, soul, turntablism, hiphop, dubstep, rock, reggae... A perfect chrizza night for all the little MCs in town. Bitterzoet, 20.00-03.00, €7.50 G.P.S. Afrobeat, reggae, ska, Latin, salsa, raï, Balkan beats, bhangra, baile funk, dancehall.

With this new party, Winston position themselves globally. With DJs Zjelva, MPS Pilot, Zjelva and Bazz ’n’ F, and a live performance by Mdungu.

Winston Kingdom, 21.00-03.00, €10

Thursday 25 December The Basement X-Mas Edition Hosting are DJs Waxfiend, MBA, Abstrack, Qlick and Goodfellas. Melkweg, The Max, 23.00-late, €13

Blue Note Trip See Thursday 18. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 23.30-late, €8

Friday 26 December Best of Supermarkt Did you know that ‘The Shopping Cart’ is a famous techno dancing move? Come here and somebody may show you. Or not. DJs Super de Boer and Leroy Rey cash in with a selection of house and electro. Bitterzoet, 23.00-04.00, €7.50 Wildvreemd Christmas Night Dreaming of a vreemd Christmas? Be careful what you wish for. You might get it. It might even be wildvreemd. DJs Kirch and Jeroen Kok, Motor City Drum ensemble and VJ Vingerverf. Sugar Factory, 23.59-05.00, €9.50

Saturday 27 December Amsterdam BeatClub Attention hip cats and cool chicks—the BeatClub is back and brings us DJs, specials and live performances galore. Christmas may be over, the time to celebrate certainly ain’t. De Nieuwe Anita, 20.00-01.00, €7.50 New House Collective by 365mag.com 365mag.com hosts a night of completely uncompromised house. People are so excited that an afterparty is already in the works. Before the afterparty: Federico Molinari, Le Chien Perdu, Anoesjka, Ksakye and Tom Ruijg. Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €12

Sunday 28 December SFFEERVOL Bitterzoet finishes off the weekend with Motown, hiphop, and DJs Cream and Manga, Snelle Jelle, Melly Mel and much more. Bitterzoet, 20.0003.00, €5, free before 22.00

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

Second Chance Sunday See Sunday 21. Winston Kingdom, 23.00-03.00, €5 Wicked Jazz Sounds See Sunday 21. Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €9.50 Sonic Warfare—PT 12—2 Year Birthday Bash Happy War (Christmas Is Over). Hudson Mohawke, Orthodox, Gemmy, Zomby, Lukid, DJ + B2B Nika and Heny G join forces for a night of electro, drum & bass, and reggae. Melkweg, Oude Zaal, 23.00-late, €12

Wednesday 31 December De Grote Vinnie, Donnie & Sjakie Show Aforementioned Vinnie, Donnie and Sjakie will hopefully take their show’s name seriously and have you party into the new year with a musical mayhem. Winston Kingdom, 00.30-late, €20 Old = New, hosted by Jungstar, Vreemd & Unk Sugar Factory makes it clear that the old year’s favourites will be the ones of the new one, too.

Electro, tech house and minimal, spun by familiar and new faces Steven de Peven, Carlos Valdes, Tom Trago, Lupe and Arjuna Schiks. Sugar Factory, 0.10-late, €50 NYE: Border Community with James Holden & Fairmont Not just James Holden & Fairmont, but also Crackhouse ABC, Aron Friedman, Brent Roozendaal and Carlos Valdes are here for the Melkweg New Year’s party. Melkweg, 22.00-late, €35 Oud + Nieuw Party like it’s 1999! Or 1969! Or...

Indeed, the theme will switch hourly, and the musical highs of the past 40 years will be celebrated. Burlesque, punk, acid, today—this will be one marvellous time machine. Paradiso, 22.00 late, €40 Welcome to the Future Go forward to the future with Catz ’n’ Dogz, Quazar, Julien Chaptal, 3 Channels and many others. Studio 80, 22.00-late, €30

GAY&LESBIAN

A G E N D A : C L U B S / G AY & L E S B I A N / S T A G E

by New York-based singer-songwriter Pashly, short films and a mini DJ set by Jessica. De Nieuwe Anita, 20.00-01.00, €5

Friday 19 December Party: Women’s Night DJ R plays a selection of foottapping and hip-shaking hits for the ladies. Dudes are welcome if accompanied by a female friend. Cafe Sappho, 22.00-02.00, free Sex club: XXX Leather Popular and steamy menonly fetish sleaze and dance party. Strict dress code: leather, rubber, uniform, army. DJs Jon Doe and Jimmy Stokes, plus visuals by VJ Eddi Bal. Club JVG, 22.00-04.00, €23/€30 Party: (Z)onderbroek This popular afternoon dance party is now held in the evening. It’s also known as ‘boners in briefs’ as it’s all about dancing and fooling around wearing sexy jock-straps, Y-fronts or boxers. Church, 22.00-04.00, €5

Saturday 20 December Party: Christmas Saloon Holland’s first country & western dance club for gays and lesbians throws a special pink Xmas party with soup, snacks and lots of dancing. You can even bring your own C&W CD to dance to. CREA Cafe, 17.00-22.30, €5 Party: Roze Filmdagen Closing Party Seen enough flicks? Get rid of your numb bum and get some life back in your body at this cheap booze dance party. Vrankrijk, 22.00-03.00, €TBC

Thursday 18 December Festival: Pink Christmas First edition of this—much criticised—gay and lesbian Xmas festival along the Reguliersdwarsstraat and nearby locations. Includes cultural parties, debates and a special church service.

See centre spread and www.pinkchristmas.nl for details. Ends 28 December. Various locations, (Daily), various prices Party: GLÜhwein Party Obviously there will be lots of Glühwein at this Girls Like Us party, plus a showcase

Ongoing

Sex club: S.O.S. Note that this hot afternoon party is now held at Club Church and not at the Eagle. The concept has stayed the same though. S.O.S. still isn’t about that Abba song, but all about Sex on Sundays. Nude or underwear, it doesn’t matter. Anything goes (quite literally). Church, 16.00-20.00, €8

Theatre: Pax Islamica IV: Sawm The fourth in a series of five humorous and philosophical performances inspired by the Five Pillars of Islam. This one’s about fasting and, incidentally, about the 12th-century Persian poet and philosopher Omar Khayyám, about the joys and terrors of mixed marriages, and about Kentucky Fried Chicken. In Dutch. Frascati, (18 December 20.30), €14

Wednesday 31 December Party: New Year’s Sleaze Strictly speaking this party starts on 1 January, but what the heck, you have to get the fireworks out the way first. Sleaze boys, women, drag queens are all welcome—it’ll be a blast. Dress code: sleazy (obviously) Church, 00.30-late, €12.50 Party: Angel Cruise New Year’s Eve party hosted by De Engel on the Supperclub Cruise (behind Central Station, leaving from Pier 14). With DJs Doug Gray, Jerry Black and Ronny Rocks. Sailing between 23.0000.30 and 01.30-03.30. Supperclub Cruise, 21.00-05.00, €35 Party: Turn Off The Time New Year’s Eve Party with DJs Showbizliz and Dennis Hupla and free bubbles all night. Cafe Sappho, 22.00-late, €20/€24

Happy hour: Ladies Night No doubt pussies galore as it’s Ladies Night at this happy homo and lesbo hang-out. Special cocktail happy hour for the lezzie ladies between 22.00-23.00, plus other surprises. Getto, 22.00, free Party: Ladz Dance night for lads, scallies, skaters, gabbers, sneakers and sportswear boys. A bit like being at the gym, but with alcohol and without the equipment. Oh, and much more cruisy. Church, 22.00-04.00, €8/€10 Party: UNK Dance party for fags, slags, hags, bags and straights. DJs Lupe and buddies spin electro, techno, minimal and baile funk. Club 8, 23.00-04.00, €8

Pink Christmas: gay Santa fantasies explored to their full potential.

Theatre: Amateurs Inspired by Krysztof Kieslowski’s film Amator, this is a play about a couple who used to want to change the world with their art, but never exceeded amateurism. Thus the new world never came, their dreams grew old, and so did their love.

Frascati, (18, 19 December 21.00), €14 Theatre: Sneeuwwitje van Oranje A Snow White parody in which the evil witch is suspiciously similar to Queen Beatrix, the faraway land is prosperous, all families have two cars, and there are things like political polls. Expect a fairytale with ‘songs, midgets and a man in a dress.’ Theater Bellevue, (18, 19, 21, 23-28 December 12.30), €14

Party: Oudjaarsfeest New Year’s Eve party with oliebollen, champagne, fireworks and DJs. Saarein, 22.00-late, free

Performance: Roll With It A project consisting of performances, a band, a website, a tour, and this ever-changing theatre show about ‘Club Roll With It’: five men who are regularly coming together looking for themselves and each other. Gasthuis, (18-20 December 20.00), €14

STAGE

Theatre: Het Temmen van de Feeks Ivo van Hove’s adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew has been running for a while now but is still being performed due to its ongoing success. With Hans Kesting as Petruchio and Halina Reijn as Katharina. Stadsschouwburg, (1820 December 20.30), €10-€27.50

Opening

Theatre: Alles is Goed There are two people left on earth. A flock of deer are trying to protect them—but in denial, the people hide the deer in their fur coats. An absurdist and amusing performance asking the question of how we, as humans, are doing? Are we dying out, or are we just getting started? Theater Bellevue, (18-20 December 20.30), €16

Party: Pre-Xmas Drinking Relax and get in the mood for Xmas with a drink or ten. Saarein, 16.0001.00, free

Saturday 27 December Edited by Willem de Blaauw.

Sunday 28 December

Wednesday 24 December

Party: PinQ Party It’s not gonna be a silent night at this party, organised by PinQ Radio, with DJs Sugar Cane, Ruud van der Peijl and Fierce Ruling Diva. Flex Bar, 22.00-04.00, €7.50

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Dance: Giubileo Hungarian Krisztina de Châtel is celebrating her company’s 30-year anniversary, inviting a number of guests such as Stephen Shropshire, MIchele Pogliani and Massimo Molinari. Expect a dance spectacular. Stadsschouwburg, (21 December 16.00), €10-€25 Dance/Performance: If I Can’t Dance Tonight Part of If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution. This afternoon it’s a performance show that involves the visitor in the question of how artists handle performance these days. It features a discussion and dance. De Brakke Grond, (21 December 16.00), €14 Theatre: Kamp Holland The Dutch media is rife with stories on ‘our boys’ in Afghanistan but what is life in Kamp Holland really like? This play is inspired by the the personal stories of serving in a Dutch camp. In Dutch. Stadsschouwburg, (24 December 14.00, 27-30 December 20.30), €10-€27.50

Cabaret: Underdog Jochen Otten might be the underdog, but that doesn’t matter because a) he has a cunning plan he will share with us in his show and b) he’s damn funny. Theater Bellevue, (18-20 December 20.30), €13 Music/Theatre: Goal As Dave Chapelle once said, ‘What’s a black man without his paranoia?’ Garra is a top-footballer who seems to have it all—except for confidence in his own success. His paranoia in the things surrounding him start to take him down. A musical show with a central role for DJ All Star Fresh.

Frascati, (19 December 20.30), €14 Theatre: De Koopman van Venetië Theu Boermans and De Theatercompagnie do what they do best: Shakespeare. Shakespeare does what he does best: love, greed, hate, tragedy, ambivalence, lightness, blood thirst and women dressing up as men. And Pierre Bokma as Shylock does alright, too. Stadsschouwburg, (22, 23 December 20.30), €10-€27.50

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AGENDA: EVENTS Must see: Event

Midwinterfeest NDSM-werf, 20-24 December.

Solstice activities, including a cultural market, ice rink, food, drink and stories.

Yes, stories. See www.ndsml.nl. (17.00-0.00), free

EVENTS Performance: Winterparade Once again, the Gashouder will host the Parade’s winter edition. And it’s just like the actual Parade—theatre, dance, film, food and also the Big Ball Bounce Orchestra. The wintry festivities conclude on 31 December, which is, understandably, a bit more expensive, just like everything that night. Gashouder, (Daily 17.30), €35/€55 Film: Film Unmuted—New Sounds for Silent Films 06 A new film series in the Goethe instituut where silent films will be shown with a live soundtrack performed along with it. Goethe Instituut, (19 December 19.30), €5 Film night: Info/Film avond LGBT activisme in Latijns-Amerika Rebeldia Rosa, the LGBT group of youth organisation Ojalá is hosting an info/film night on sexual diversity in Latin America. There will be live interviews with Latin LGBT activists, cocktails, Latin music, and the Uruguayan film XXY, which has won several international awards. Latijns Amerika Centrum, (19 December 19.30–22.00), €2.50 Film/Music: Thaïs The New York Metropolitan Opera’s production of the Massenet opera, beamed live into Amsterdam’s plushest cinema hall. Pathé Tuschinski, (20 December18.00), €32.50 Craft Fair: Christmas Craftymarkt If you like the handmade goodies on Etsy, or just generally enjoy quirky hand-made art and items that are both fun and aesthetically pleasing, definitely check out this winter market with a difference—there’ll be no Indian panpipe buskers in sight. Instead, upcoming designers, artists and generally creative folks will gather and sell items from jewellery and tablecloths to dolls and accessories. So sort out those final Christmas prezzies without resorting to AC/DC socks from H&M. Well, okay, get the rock ’n’ roll socks too.

Jan Maijenplein, De Baarsjes, (20, 21 December 12.00-21.00), free Photography: Fotoboekenmarathon To underline the new found importance on photography books, Huis Marseille will host a marathon featuring more than 20 famous Dutch photographers that have recently published books. Huis Marseille, (21 December 11.00-18.00), €5

Event: Wed and Walk Want to get married before Christmas? Got a spare €40 still kicking around your wallet? Then make a reservation at wed-and-walk.com and get married this Saturday. There’s no hassle. The rings, dress, suits and bouquets have all been arranged—you just need that special someone. Not that you should necessarily spring a surprise on that special someone. Rather, it’s more about skipping all the negatives—and family members if need be.

Studio K, (21 December 13.00-20.00), €40 Poetry/Music: Carte Blanche: Kees ‘t Hart The launch of a new series in de Balie in which writers and artists get the opportunity to make the night their own—first in line being Kees ‘t Hart. He’s created a programme with writers he admires, each reading from their work. He himself will read one of his poems, and to close festivities, the eight-piece Frank Zappa cover band, Uncle Meat, will perform.

De Balie, (21 December 15.00), €9 Performance: Boom’s Christmas Show Enjoy a comedy show and a festival holiday menu; all at the same time. Boom Chicago has created a festival holiday extravaganza that includes a multimedia comedy show, a three-course meal and an open bar (if you go for the most expensive ticket). Boom Chicago, (22-24, 26 December 18.30), €52.50-€99.50 Event: Serve the City Feel like giving back this Christmas? Serve the City has organised a number of volunteer projects that all take place on 23 December.

These projects include entertaining elderly people, feeding the homeless or having dinner with a transgender woman. Well, that one’s already taken but for the full list of options check out www.stcamsterdam.nl. Various locations, (23 December), free The Comedy Christmas Dinner Show Ah, so Boom Chicago and Comedy Cafe are doing... pretty much the same thing. However, the Comedy Cafe offers a four course meal, instead of three. And, of course, here the comedy is primarily in Dutch.

Comedy Cafe, (25, 26 December 21.30), €27.50 €69.50 until Friday 26 December Festival: Tangomagia For the love of tango, this sixday programme features workshops from international tango stars, demonstrations and live performances, marking the 11th edition of the festival. Venues this time include Loods 6, De Duif, Hotel Arena, Crea, Stayokay, Studio de Wit and Beurs van Berlage, and whether you’re desperate to see a host of Argentine maestros strut their stuff or work the floor yourself, there’s something for all tango lovers.

See www.tangomagia.com. Various locations, (2631 Dec at various times), various prices

Summer arrives in the middle of December at Winterparade.

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

ART

AGENDA: ART Art: Museum

Opening Kerst op Solder A Christmas-themed exhibition focusing on the religious part of the party as opposed to the buying presents part. Well, it is in a former church after all. Come marvel at paintings, nativity sets in the Neapolitan tradition, and many baby Jesuses. Or is that Jesi? Museum Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder (Mon-Sat 10.00-17.00, Sun 13.00-17.00), opens Thursday, until 18 January 2009 Different Strokes Artist Shoe, or Niels Meulman, is the brain behind Calligraffiti: calligraphy and graffiti combined into one form of art. This exhibition displays a collection of song titles available in the record store, in which the exhibition is held, while others are fictitious. Rush Hour Records, opens Friday, until 18 January 2009 Museumplein 1891-2020 With new developments to Museumplein planned for the future, this exhibition looks back and forward: from 1891 to 2020. Zuiderkerk (Mon 11.00-16.00, Tues-Fri 09.0016.00, Sat 12.00 -16.00), opens Friday, until 31 December 2009 Unexpected Dresses for Undefined Ceremonies Artist Murugulas may have come from a lineage of costume designers, but never touched a needle until he came to Amsterdam and found beauty in recycling Waterlooplein leftovers. In his exhibitions, the possibilities of the costumes he has created from ‘trash’ are demonstrated—then afterwards they go on sale. iLLUSEUM (Sat, Sun 15.00-21.00), opens Friday Bert Nienhuis Photographer Bert Nienhuis is one of the Netherlands’ better-known photographers, having worked for magazine Vrij Nederland since the ’70s. In that time, he shot portraits and documentary series for the magazine—but he is still most famous for taking pictures of Dutch celebrities. Joods Historisch Museum (Daily 11.00-17.00), opens Monday Gekleurde Beelden One hundred coloured-in, originally black-and-white prints displaying Palestine. The American Colony Photographers, from Palestine’s American colony, had perfected the art of colouring in photographs. The prints show a 19th- and 20th-century Palestine, but also a beautified one; an idealised country oblivious to the tensions that exist in it. Joods Historisch Museum (Daily 11.00-17.00), opens Monday, until 22 February 2009

Museums Palestine 1948 On 14 May 2008 it will be exactly 60 years ago that the State of Israel was founded. This long-term presentation shows how this event affected the lives of individual Palestinians. Tropenmuseum (Daily 10.00-17.00), until 4 January 2009 Renzo Martens: Episode 3 Tied in with the opening of IDFA, Episode 3 is the name of a film and exhibition that touches upon the construction of a documentary and the film-maker’s role. Set in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the objectivity of documentaries are explored by Martens, which is also the subject of this accompanying exhibition. Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (Tues-Sun 11.00-17.00), until 4 January 2009 Stefan Zweig, weerbaar tegen fanatisme An international travelling exhibition designed by Austrian artists to help you discover the literary skills and philosophies of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, who committed suicide with his wife in 1942, despairing at the future of war-torn Europe. OBA (Daily 10.0022.00), until 5 January 2009 New Leipzig School A younger generation of painters at Leipzig has created their own artistic vocabulary with tremendous craftsmanship which at the moment is driving the world crazy—in a good way. This is the first Dutch exhibition of the new movement, with particular focus on major trend-setters Neo Rauch and Matthias Weischer.

CoBrA Museum (Tues-Sun 11.00 -17.00), until 11 January 2009 De wereld van Christiaan Andriessen A chance to view a hundred pages from the sketch diaries of Dutch artist Andriessen, originating from 1805 to 1808. Stadsarchief Amsterdam (Tues-Sat 10.00-17.00, Sun 11.00-17.00), until 11 January 2009

Monika Bielskyte: A place to wash the heart Foam, until 18 January 2009.

An installation by the Lithuanian artist Monika Bielskyte; projections of images from Cambodia, China, Vietnam and Laos with accompanying text. (Sat-Wed 10.0018.00, Thur, Fri 10.00-21.00)

Speaking Out Loud A multimedia exhibition dealing with the act of speaking, reading and writing. Includes diverse works by Tim Etchells (UK) and Vlatka Horvat (CRO), Mukul Patel (UK) and Manu Luksch (AT), Christoph Keller (DE), Jaromil (IT) and Jodi (NL), and many more. Montevideo/Time Based Arts (Tues-Sat 13.00-18.00), until 17 January 2009 Caspar David Friedrich and the German Romantic Landscape For the first time ever, all the works by Caspar David Friedrich from the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg will be loaned for a special exhibition focusing on this renowned German artist. His paintings and drawings are at the centre of the exhibition, but they are surrounded by works by contemporaries, predecessors and followers. Hermitage Amsterdam (Daily 10.00-17.00), until 18 January 2009 Helen Levitt: In the Street A retrospective of work by the renowned American street photographer Helen Levitt, famed for portraying the dynamics of New York street life from 1930 onwards, paying special attention to the innocent and adventurous world of children at play. Foam (Sat-Wed 10.00-18.00, Thur, Fri 10.0021.00), until 18 January 2009 Kees Scherer: Photographic Explorations A selection of vintage prints from Scherer’s extensive oeuvre.

As a photojournalist, in the ’50s and ’60s he published numerous reports of his global travels in Dutch newspapers and magazines, belonging to a generation of photographers that opened up photographic reporting to the wider public. Foam (Sat-Wed 10.0018.00, Thur, Fri 10.00-21.00), until 18 January 2009 Viviane Sassen: Flamboya This collection of photos

by Sassen explores the memories of her youth in Africa, and poses questions on the constraints of the photographic medium and the regular Western stereotypes about Africa. It features both old and new work, including the images for which Sassen won the 2007 Prix de Rome. Foam (Sat-Wed 10.00-18.00, Thur, Fri 10.00-21.00), until 18 January 2009 Building India An exhibition presenting the architecture and urbanism of contemporary India, as seen through the eyes of five young Indian architects.

ARCAM (Tues-Sat 13.00-17.00), until 24 January 2009 Herman Brood Museum Jan van der Togt, Erven Brood and Brood’s former manager Koos van Dijk have worked together to compile an exhibition of the rocker/artist’s most important works, including some never before seen pieces. It features paintings, drawings, graphics and special items, such as the originals from the children’s book Biggetje Bennie, items of clothing, musical instruments and the cactus given to Brood by Bono. Jan van der Togt Museum (Wed-Sun 13.00-17.00), Amstelveen, until 25 January 2009

Jacob Backer: Rembrandt’s Opposite The Amsterdam artist Jacob Adriaensz. Backer (1608/9-1651) was one of the most successful painters of the Golden Age. Four hundred years after his birth he is now being honoured with a major retrospective of his finest works. The exhibition makes clear why this virtuoso painter was so highly regarded by his contemporaries: his vivid use of colour and accurate touch gave his paintings an unprecedented allure. Rembrandthuis (Mon-Sat 10.00-17.00, Sun 11.00-17.00), until 22 February 2009 It’s All Glamour and Glitter Exploring the evolution of the evening bag—from Fendi clutches to Leiber’s sparkly cupcakes. You’ll also be able to marvel at bags by designers such as Cartier, Valentino, Gucci, Lacroix and more. Tassenmuseum Hendrikje (Daily 10.0017.00), until 1 March 2009 Water in Photography Marnix Goossens has been granted the distinguished documentary assignment Document Nederland, portraying the tendency of the Dutch to keep on seeking new relationships with ever-rising water, as well as earthly problems caused by climate change and rising sea levels. As a counterpoint and supplement to this exhibition, a small retrospective of water-related photography from the past has been compiled from the Rijksmuseum’s rich photo collections, offering photographs by Balthasar Burkhard, Naoya Hatakeyama, Roni Horn, Asako Narahashi and Syoin Kajii. Huis Marseille (Tues-Sun 11.00-18.00), until 1 March 2009 Protest! Campaign Posters from 1965 ‘A woman’s right to choose’, ‘Say no to nuclear weapons’, ‘No home, no throne’ and more classic posters paint a picture of prominent societal issues over the past 40 years.

Who was protesting and how? And what were the protests about? Verzetsmuseum (Tues-Fri 10.00-17.00, Sat-Mon 11.00-17.00), until 29 March 2009 Welcoming the Stedelijk Museum: Sacred Fire Presenting around 100 highlights from the collection of the Stedelijk Museum under the theme ‘religion and spirituality in modern art’. Nieuwe Kerk (Fri-Wed 10.00-18.00, Thur 10.00-22.00), until 19 April 2009 Vodou A grand exhibition about voodoo on Haiti, featuring more than 250 spectacular objects from one of the most important collections in the country: the Lehmann collection. The exhibition aims to show how these objects and their accompanying rituals are a part of the daily life.

Tropenmuseum (Daily 10.00-17.00), until 10 May 2009 Stedelijk in de Stad—The Construction Cabin on Tour The Stedelijk’s artistic version of a construction cabin is touring the city from the Oosterdokseiland to the Museumplein, passing via Noord, Centrum, IJburg, Slotervaart, Zuid-Oost, Oost, Westerpark and De Baarsjes. See www.stedelijkindestad.nl. Various locations (various times), until 1 December 2009

Quiet sights of the origins of our crazy Christmas tree-decorating holiday at Kerst op Solder.

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AGENDA: ART/ADDRESSES

Galleries Nicky Hoberman: Girls Series Big-headed, largeeyed gals populate the paintings of this English artist, who presents her first solo show in the Netherlands. Galerie Hof & Huyser (Wed-Sat 13.0018.00), closing Friday Helgi Thorsson: Garry and Berry Go Ga-Ga Icelandic artist Thorsson presents a solo exhibition of life-sized gnomes (he calls them ‘elvur’), monsters and figurines from a forgotten pop world. Fantastical music, video, drawings and paintings are also on show. Galerie van Gelder (Tues-Sat 13.00-17.30), closing Saturday Stephan J Englisch This German artist specialises in night photography, with this aesthetically pleasing series focussing on Amsterdam at night.

Galerie Bart (Thur, Fri 11.00 -18.00, Sat 12.00 17.00), closing Saturday Myra de Vries: Changing Landscapes In this new series of paintings, De Vries combines landscapes and figurative elements from her immediate surroundings with grim fairytale-like fantasy realms.

AYACS (Fri, Sat 13.00-17.30), closing Saturday Roos van Lierop Artist and poet Roos van Lierop uses paper, fabric and old newspaper to make collages, inspired by humans, or humanesque forms.

This exhibition presents recent paintings, drawings, collages and an installation. Beeldend Gesproken (Wed, Thurs 13.30 -18.30, Sat 14.00 17.00), closing Saturday Koud Resident artists of De Service Garage, including the likes of Arik Visser, Benjamin Roth, Erik de Bree, Charlott Markus, Daan Hofstede and Frank Ammerlaan, help to celebrate the first anniversary of the space. De Service Garage (Wed-Sun 13.0018.00), closing Sunday Bart van Leeuwen Marking forty years of distinctive and atmospheric fashion photography by the Dutch artist (b.1950). Blow Up Gallery (Thur, Fri 14.00 18.00, Sat 13.00-18.00), until 27 December Peter Pontiac’s Gaga Satan Presenting Peter Pontiac’s comic work: called Gaga Satan, the exhibition mainly features drawings of devils that

he has made through the years. The opening is combined with a party, from 20.00 until 04.00. De Duivel, until 30 December GUP 3 year birthday bash The Amsterdam-based photography magazine Gup celebrate their 3-year anniversary with an exhibition that will display an overview of the photography the magazine has featured over the last three years of their existence, including work by photographers Morad Bouchakour, Daido Moriyama, Desiree Dolron, Danielle van Ark, Audrey Corregan and many others. SMART Project Space, until 4 January 2009 Nathalie Lété: Wonderland An installation featuring carpets, illustrations, ceramics and textiles with two or three dimensional elements, all encompassing a fantasy world of birds, flowers, insects and folklore. Soledad Senlle Gallery (Mon-Sat 11.00 17.00), until 10 January 2009

ADDRESSES

Latijns Amerika Centrum Nieuwe Herengracht 29

Aromatique Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 11b, 624 0044

Melkweg Lijnbaansgracht 234A, 531 8181

AYACS Keizersgracht 166, 622 8579

Melkweg Galerie Marnixstraat 409, 531 8181

De Baarsjes Filips van Amondestraat 12

Montevideo/Time Based Arts Keizersgracht 264, 623 7101

Badcuyp 1e Sweelinckstraat 10, 675 9669

Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40, 624 6604

De Balie Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, 553 5151 Beeldend Gesproken Borgerstraat 102, 612 1847 Bimhuis Piet Heinkade 3, 788 2150 Bitterzoet Spuistraat 2, 521 3001 Blow Up Gallery Hazenstraat 67, 665 3435 Boom Chicago Leidseplein 12, 530 7300 De Brakke Grond Nes 45, 626 6866 Cafe Sappho Vijzelstraat 103, 423 1509 Church Kerkstraat 50-52 Club 8 Admiraal de Ruyterweg 56B, 685 1703 Club JVG Jan van Galenstraat 24

Philip Akkerman More self-portraits from this Dutch painter, who’s been using himself as subject matter for almost three decades. Torch Gallery (Thur-Sat 14.00-18.00), until 17 January 2009

The 30 favourite works of Teo Krijsman Dutch photographer Teo Krijgsman displays a series of his 30 favourite photographs. Featured are pictures from Rome, Venice, Florence, and more, some funny, some weird, all special. Hotel Arena, until 20 January 2009

Last chance to cathch Stephan J Englisch’s night photography at Galerie Bart.

Joods Historisch Museum Jonas Daniel Meijerplein 2-4

ARCAM Prins Hendrikkade 600, 620 4878

Alias The Melkweg gallery closes off the year with this exhibition by Fjodor C Buis: a series about the big guys in sports—and their nicknames. The fact that prominent sportsmen and -women are awarded a nickname when they’re famous enough to evoke national pride is explored in a number of portraits and with a touch of humour. Melkweg Galerie (Wed-Sun 13.00-20.00), until 11 January 2009

No Reference Last year, Christophe Coppens was the first winner of the H+F Fashion Award. The Belgian designer received a €20,000 cash prize to realise a special project. This project encompasses an accessories collection, a forthcoming book and this exhibition, all tracking and revealing his unique process of creation. See Short List. Platform 21 (Thur-Sun 12.00-18.00), until 18 January 2009

Jan van der Togt Museum Dorpsstraat 50, 641 5754

CoBrA Museum Sandbergplein 1-3, Amstelveen, 547 5050 Comedy Cafe Max Euweplein 43-45, 638 3971 Concertgebouw Concertgebouwplein 2-6, 671 8345 Consortium Veemkade 570, 06 2611 8950 CREA Cafe Turfdraagsterpad 17, 525 1423

Muziekgebouw Piet Heinkade 1, 788 2010 NDSM-werf TT Neveritaweg 15, 330 5480 De Nieuwe Anita Frederik Hendrikstraat 111, 06 4150 3512 Nieuwe Kerk entrance on the Dam, 638 6909 OBA Oosterdokskade 143, 0900-2425468 OCCII Amstelveenseweg 134, 671 7778 Oude Kerk Oudekerksplein 23, 625 8284 Paradiso Weteringschans 6-8, 626 4521 Platform 21 Prinses Irenestraat 19, 344 9449 Radar Gallery Eerste Rozendwarsstraat 17-H, 06 2416 3300 Rembrandthuis Jodenbreestraat 4, 520 0400 Rush Hour Records Spuistraat 98 Saarein Elandsstraat 119, 623 4901 De Service Garage Stephensonstraat 16 SMART Project Space Arie Biemondstraat 101-111 Soledad Senlle Gallery Sloterkade 171, 615 1395

De Nieuwe Anita Frederik Hendrikstraat 111

Stadsarchief Amsterdam Vijzelstraat 32

De Duivel Reguliersdwarstr 87, 626 6184

Stadsschouwburg Leidseplein 26, 624 2311

Flex Bar Pazzanistraat 1, 486 2123

Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam Rozenstraat 59

Foam Keizersgracht 609, 551 6546

Studio 80 Rembrandtplein 17, 521 8333

Frascati Nes 63, 626 6866

Studio K Timorplein 62, 692 0422

Galerie Bart Bloemgracht 2, 320 6208

Sugar Factory Lijnbaansgracht 238, 627 0008

Galerie de Rietlanden Exposities Rietlandpark 193

Supperclub Cruise Dock 4 behind Central Station

Galerie Ei Admiraal de Ruijterweg 154, 616 3961

Tassenmuseum Hendrikje Herengracht 573, 524 6452

Galerie Hof & Huyser Bloemgracht 135, 420 1995

Theater Bellevue Leidsekade 90, 530 5301

Galerie van Gelder Planciusstraat 9A, 627 741

Torch Gallery Lauriergracht 94, 626 0284

Gasthuis Marius van Bouwdijk Bastiaansestraat 54

Tropenmuseum Linnaeusstraat 2, 568 8200

Getto Warmoesstraat 51

Van Gogh Museum Paulus Potterstraat 7, 570 5200

Goethe Instituut Herengracht 470, 531 2900

Ververs Gallery Hazenstraat 54

Grimm Fine Art Hazenstraat 24, 422 7227

Verzetsmuseum Plantage Kerklaan 61, 620 2535

Heineken Music Hall ArenA Boulevard 590

Vrankrijk Spuistraat 216

Hermitage Amsterdam Nieuwe Herengracht 14, 530 8751

Walls Gallery Prinsengracht 737

Hotel Arena ’s-Gravesandestraat 51, 850 2400

Winston Kingdom Warmoesstraat 129, 623 1380

Huis Marseille Keizersgracht 401, 531 8989

Witzenhausen Gallery Hazenstraat 60, 644 9898

iLLUSEUM Witte de Withstraat 120, 770 5581

Zuiderkerk Zuiderkerkhof 72, 552 7987

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

AGENDA: FILM

Film review

By Marie-Claire Melzer

Brief Encounter Opens on Thursday at Filmmuseum

COOL AS A CUCUMBER An almost mathematical film about falling in love survives the test of time.

The best thing about falling in love is that suddenly everything seems wonderful.

Every place you go together is great, and things your friends might say become completely irrelevant. Love somehow places you outside the ‘normal social

FILM Festival Roze Filmdagen Check the pulse of queer cinema at the Roze Filmdagen, a comprehensive look at worldwide productions with over 100 films from more than 30 different countries. De Balie, Cavia, OBA, De Uitkijk

New this week Anywhere But Home Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon are San Francisco professionals who’ve spent three happy years together without ever meeting each other’s divorced parents. After heavy fog grounds their flight to Fiji, they’re forced to spend Christmas Day shuttling from one awful family gathering to another, and another, and another. Every holiday season brings at least one big-studio comedy about people who despise their relatives but finally accept, with a sigh, that family is what matters. This is marginally better than most, with a few offbeat comic ideas, a reliably droll performance from Vaughn and, as the parents, four watchable old troupers in search of a fat paycheck (Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight, Mary Steenburgen). (JJ) 82 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt Australia Seven years after Moulin Rouge, Baz Luhrmann returns with this frothy historical romance set in his native land during the run-up to World War II. The story is a shameless knockoff of The African Queen, with Nicole Kidman, as white and perfect as a porcelain doll, arriving from the UK to take over her late husband’s ranch and Hugh Jackman, his mighty pecs glistening with sweat, helping her drive 1,500 head of cattle to market. Onto this narrative Luhrmann has grafted two interesting chapters from Australian history: the government’s mass relocation of mixed-race children to white families in the ’30s and Japan’s aerial bombardment of the Northern Territory in the days after Pearl Harbor. In keeping with the nationalistic good feeling, the cast includes such iconic Australian actors as David Gulpilil and Bryan Brown. (JJ) 165 min. The Movies, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski

order’, and that’s a fantastic feeling. But when things go wrong, it can also make you feel horribly lonely.

No film in history captures this better than David Lean’s Brief Encounter. The film is an adaptation of a play by Noel

Huddersfield The everyday routines of a group of friends in a sleepy Serbian town is interrupted by the arrival of Igor, who moved to England in the ’90s and is back to visit his hometown for the first time. They all get together to celebrate his return but what begins as a cheerful high school reunion party of close friends with a lot of catching up to do, turns into an emotional confrontation full of bitterness, anger and grim soulsearching. Adapted from an acclaimed play by Ugljesa Sajtinac, the debut film by Ivan Zivkovic is a confronting and powerful drama that brings to surface the unresolved conflicts and open wounds that stir up the Serbian ‘lost generation’. In Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles. 95 min. SMART Cinema Standard Operating Procedure The Abu Ghraib case will be prosecuted in culture for years to come; already the documentary community has responded with several titles. But this film by the masterful Errol Morris gets closer to the actual events than any of them, with probing interviews of soldiers who were involved and careful scrutiny of the hundreds of photographs retrieved from three digital cameras at the prison. Lynndie England, notoriously pictured with a naked prisoner on a leash, and Sabrina Harman, who gave a grinning thumbs-up beside the gray face of an Iraqi corpse, powerfully recall the ugly emotional environment inside the 372nd Military Police Company.

Harman’s photos helped expose what happened, but Morris argues that the photos also functioned as a cover-up: prosecution of the case centered on them, leaving free and clear many of those higher up the chain of command. (JJ) 116 min. Kriterion

Still playing Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex Uli Edel vividly

portrays the development of the most radical and aggressive left-wing movement in post-war West Germany: the Red Army Faction (RAF). Unfortunately, Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu), Meinhof (Martina Gedeck) and Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek) are just too likeable to be taken very seriously as bloodthirsty terrorists. Although the film paints a realistic picture of what it was like to be young and antiestablishment in the ’70s—music and all—it fails to answer questions that arise naturally. What was the ideology of the RAF? Why is it that violence seems to become an end in itself? And why, after the arrest of the initial leaders, is the second generation even more aggressive than the first? Still, the devastation caused by desperation within and the

Coward, which tells the story of a married woman who falls in love with another man. When first released in 1945 it was a box-office failure in native Britain, but the French came to its rescue: at the Cannes Film Festival of 1946 it won the Grand Prize.

More than 60 years later, Brief Encounter remains as cool as a cucumber, owing somewhat to the fine script by Coward, who handled the subject of adulterous love in a subtle and mature way—no wonder the French loved it. Protagonist Laura (Celia Johnson), for example, is no Glenn Close-kinda monster, nor the victim of a brutal husband. She is just a normal, happily married woman. The scenes of Laura and her lover Alec (Trevor Howard) are alternated with homely scenes of Laura and her husband (Cyril Raymond), a kind and humorous man. The continual juxtaposition of those two situations gives the film true emotional depth. And the acting of Johnson and Howard, aided by Coward’s memorable dialogue, is superb.

Then there is the originally structured style of direction from Lean. The opening sequence, for instance, utilises an awkward, but effective way of introducing the main characters. The camera first follows a conductor flirting with the bar-lady at the cafe on the railway station. Only afterwards does attention flit to a corner of the room, where Laura and Alec have been seated all the while. From a distance they

decline of the RAF is all there, in explicit and sweeping action scenes. In German with Dutch subtitles.

(KE) 150 min. Cinecenter, Kriterion, The Movies

Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis A smash box office hit

in France, this effervescent comedy is about prejudices and the differences between the north and south of France. To help his depressed wife, post office manager Philippe Abrams (Kad Merad) tries to cheat his way into a transfer to the Côte d’Azur, but when he’s discovered, he’s relegated to the dreaded Nord-Pas-de-Calais region with its freezing cold weather and inhabitants who speak the ‘Ch’timi’ dialect. But lo and behold, Abrams actually likes the North, and befriends locals, especially postman Antoine (Dany Boon, who also co-wrote and directed the film). Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis loses parts of its fun for non-francophone audiences, but there’s still enough left to enjoy this gentle and hilarious story. In French and Ch’timi with Dutch subtitles. (GR) 106 min. Studio K Body Of Lies Just another spy flick about the already outdated War On Terror, this time courtesy of Ridley Scott. CIA-spook Leonardo DiCaprio uncovers an evildoing scheme in Jordan and tries to keep the world safe from evildoers with the help of his chunky boss/family man, played by Russell Crowe. It stands to reason why Carice van Houten had her part cut from the film: DiCaprio’s character would seem impotent, nuts, or queer as a show pony to rather spend his days hanging out with sweaty guys with beards, than to stay home for some old fashioned marital bliss with our Carice. (LvH) 128 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt Boy A Adapted from a novel by Jonathan Trigell, this wrenching drama fictionalises the notorious 1993 murder of toddler James Bulger by a couple of ten-year-old truants in Merseyside, England, and the public outcry over the killers’ release in 2001. A rehabilitated murderer (Andrew Garfield), trembling with hope, is given a new identity and quietly paroled, but his heartfelt desire to start over is immediately threatened by the British tabloids, whose screaming headlines demand to know where the monster is hiding. The movie is taut with suspense but culminates in wise resignation as the hero comes to understand he’s running from a part of himself. (JJ) 100 min. Kriterion Bride Flight To escape personal drama and the suffocating environment of post-WWII Netherlands, three young families decide to emigrate to New

Too much saccharine sweet holiday joy? The horror of Standing Operating Procedure will help bring you back down.

23

seem an ordinary couple, but when the camera moves closer, one can tell from their faces something is horribly wrong. It transpires that they’re saying goodbye forever. Then a female acquaintance bumps into them, ruining their final moments together. The woman, accompanying Laura on the train home, simply won’t stop talking, and it’s through her constant chattering that Laura’s pain and sadness become unbearably palpable. As the story unfolds backwards, the film then moves on to the happier moments shared by Laura and Alec, again making use of the surroundings to express their emotions.

British director Lean (1908-1991) is now most famous for epic spectacles such as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, but he began his directing career in the 1940s making intimate films about ordinary people. Brief Encounter is widely recognised as the highlight of this period.

Initially Lean had wanted to become an accountant, like his father. It may explain why he succeeded in creating such a precise, almost mathematical film about that unsettling state of mind called love.

As well as this newly restored print, another four of the more ‘romantic’ Lean films—Blithe Spirit (1945), The Passionate Friends (1949), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and A Passage to India (1984)—will be screening at Filmmuseum starting this week. __

5 word movie review

Keanu Ruins Some Classic Sci-fi The Day the Earth Stood Still, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt

Zealand. The husbands leave first to look for work and accomodation, and their brides meet on a fateful 1953 trip from London to Christchurch. Directed by Ben Sombogaart from a script by Marieke van der Pol, with Karina Smulders, Anna Drijver and Elise Schaap as the three young women, and a special appearance by Rutger Hauer. 130 min. Cinema Amstelveen, The Movies, Pathé Tuschinski, Studio K

Burn After Reading The latest offering of the Coen

brothers is many things at once: it’s a spy film spoof, a comedy of errors, a great metaphor for the paranoia brought about by the war on terror and a clever deconstruction of narrative film-making itself. But it’s the stellar cast including Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Frances McDormand, who all get to behave like knuckleheaded dumbasses, pompous nerds and slick sleazeballs, that will probably draw the bulk of the crowd, and rightfully so. If you don’t mind being subjected to a little cinematic horseplay by those rascally Coens, you’re in for a treat. (LvH) 96 min. Cinecenter, The Movies, Pathé De Munt, Studio K Caos calmo Pietro (Nanni Moretti), while enjoying a day out at the beach with his brother Carlo (Alessandro Gassman), saves a woman from drowning. When they head home, he finds out his wife has died unexpectedly. His grief takes him from his TV executive desk to a bench, where he sits every morning waiting for his ten-year-old daughter to finish classes. Life circles around him, and Pietro starts observing all the little bits of action happening in the square, trying to find a new meaning to his existence. Look out for a cameo by Roman Polanski. Based on the award-winning novel by Sandro Veronesi. In Italian with Dutch subtitles. (MB) 105 min. Studio K

24

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 December 2008

AGENDA: FILM

pletely gripping. Harvey Keitel is the young mobster on the rise; Robert De Niro is his brutish, irresponsible nemesis, whom he’s determined to love. With Amy Robinson, Cesare Danova, and George Memmoli. (DK) 110 min. Kriterion

Special screenings Auf

der anderen Seite Two coffins pass through the Istanbul airport; for the people left behind, life takes unexpected turns. Fatih Akin’s new film tells the story of six people in Germany and Turkey whose lives are connected by two deaths: the widower Ali and his son Nejat; a woman named Yeter, her daughter Ayten, who meets a girl called Lotte; and Lotte’s mother (Hanna Schygulla). After a sad film about love, Gegen die Wand, Akin has made an optimistic film about mortality, families and forgiveness. The film seems heavily edited—it’s clear the director had a lot more material—but the episodic character of the film saves it from appearing pieced-together. Akin’s screenplay won top honours at Cannes.

In German with Dutch subtitles. (SG) 122 min.

De Uitkijk Blithe Spririt Passably good, but it should have been better, what with Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, and Margaret Rutherford reading the Noel Coward lines. Though the play was all of four years old in 1945, director David Lean gave it the ‘classic’ treatment—he didn’t stage it, he stuffed and mounted it. Photographed in brilliant British Technicolor by Ronald Neame, who also collaborated on the screenplay. With Kay Hammond, Hugh Wakefield, and Joyce Carey. (DK) 96 min. Filmmuseum

Brief Encounter This is the film that established

David Lean’s reputation, before he went on to such bombastic exercises as Lawrence of Arabia and Ryan’s Daughter and shifted from being—as Lindsay Anderson well put it—England’s white hope to England’s white elephant. Though based on a short play (and screenplay) by Noel Coward that rarely rises above the level of the old women’s magazines, this 1945 tale of the chance meeting and almost affair of a bored suburban housewife (Celia Johnson) and a married doctor (Trevor Howard) in a provincial railway buffet does manage to zero in on some of the more depressing aspects of English middle-class life.

The film thus survives more as a social document than a genuinely compelling drama. With Cyril Raymond and Stanley Holloway. See review on p.23.

(DD) 85 min. Filmmuseum Crazy Love This jaw-dropping true crime video documentary by Dan Klores and Fisher Stevens neatly balances tabloid headlines and unfathomable intimacy. Burt Pugach and Linda Riss met in the Bronx in the late ’50s, when he was a high-rolling ambulance chaser and she a stunning 20-year-old; their love affair soured when he welshed on his promise to divorce his wife, and from there the story descends into a thicket of lies, cruelty, and passion run amok.

Klores and Stevens don’t have much to work with visually besides talking heads, old photos, news clippings, and stock footage, but with a narrative this insane, that’s more than enough. (JJ) 92 min.

De Nieuwe Anita

The Nightmare Before Christmas Tim Burton’s 1993 stop-motion animated film is a tale about the havoc that ensues when Jack Skellington, the pipecleaner hero of Halloween Town, decides to take over the duties of Santa Claus. The result is at worst a macabre Muppet movie, at best an inspired jaunt.

The songs (music and lyrics by Danny Elfman) are fairly good and the set designs are ingenious. (JR) 75 min. Kriterion

Must see:

The Nightmare Before Christmas Kriterion, Monday 21 December

Il Deserto Rosso Michelangelo Antonioni’s first color feature (1964) uses colours expressionistically, and to get the precise hues he wanted, he had entire fields painted. The film came at the end of his most fertile period, just after L’Avventura, La Notte, and L’Eclisse, and it isn’t as good as the first and last of these, but the ecological concerns look a lot more prescient today. Monica Vitti plays a neurotic married woman briefly attracted to industrialist Richard Harris, and Antonioni does eerie, memorable work with the industrial shapes and colours that surround her; she walks through a science fiction landscape dotted with structures that are both disorienting and full of possibilities.

In Italian with English subtitles. (JR) 118 min. OT301 Doctor Zhivago David Lean’s 1965 adaptation of Pasternak’s romance of the Russian Revolution is intelligent and handsomely mounted, though it doesn’t use its length to build to a particularly complex emotional effect. It’s a thin, snaky epic with more breadth than body, rather like watching an entire Masterpiece Theatre chapter play in a single sitting. Omar Sharif doesn’t have the dimensionality an epic lead requires, but Julie Christie shines brightly in support.

(DK) 197 min. Filmmuseum Glass Lips Polish surrealist Lech Majewski is a real problem, a film-maker of extraordinary visual talent whose thematic material seems confined to the sort of Catholic sexual hang-ups Martin Scorsese worked through in his student films. This wordless 2006 feature, adapted from Majewksi’s installations at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and originally titled after Jean Cocteau’s Blood of a Poet, centers on a young man in a mental institution and his awful reveries of childhood and his parents’ perverse mar-

A Lemming didn’t jump off a cliff. Walt Disney kicked it.

riage. Stigmata, breast milk, pig carcasses, and forced meals of canned dog food are the dominant motifs, rendered with such compositional flair that you may actually forget how trite they are. (JJ) 99 min. SMART Cinema

Hiroshima Mon Amour Alain Resnais’ truly revo-

lutionary 1959 film about the ‘impossible love’ between a French actress and a Japanese architect.

Integrating past and present, poetic images and documentary footage, music and Marguerite Duras’ dialogue, the film achieved a structural balance of such emotional and intellectual power that audiences were stunned. Its rearrangement of temporal and emotional impressions is now old stuff for filmmakers (and even directors of television commercials), but Resnais’ contributions to the New Wave are virtually incalculable. In French with English subtitles. (DD) 91 min. OT301 Lemming A bizarre psychological drama likely to catch the eyes of David Lynch fans, Lemming by French film director Dominik Moll. The story focuses on the troubled relationships brewing between two couples—engineer Alain Getty (Laurent Lucas), Bénédicte Getty (Charlotte Gainsbourg), his boss Richard Pollock (André Dussollier) and his wife (Charlotte Rampling). Weird behavior initially erupts between the four of them at a dinner party. In French with Dutch subtitles. (SM) 129 min. Rialto Mean Streets Martin Scorsese’s intrusive insistence on his abstract, metaphysical theme—the possibility of modern sainthood—marks this 1973 film, his first to attract critical notice, as still somewhat immature, yet the acting and editing have such an original, tumultuous force that the picture is com-

A Passage to India David Lean’s overanalytic direction manages to kill most of the meaning in EM Forster’s haunting novel of cultural collision in colonial India, reducing Forster’s complexities of point of view to a pat tale of an uptight British virgin (Judy Davis) who freaks out in the face of some dimly perceived native ‘sensuality’. Still, Lean’s method affords its small pleasures: he approaches every project as a strategic challenge, and his way of maneuvering characters in and out of the action has the elegance of a sophisticated battle plan. Though Lean apparently spent a good deal of time on location, the film’s most successful evocations of exotic landscape arrive through lovely, blatantly false matte paintings. (DK) 163 min. Filmmuseum The Passionate Friends HG Wells wrote the source novel for this 1949 British drama about love and betrayal among the upper crust. If you could not get enough of Brief Encounter, this is definitely the film for you. David Lean was not orignally attached to direct it, and entered the production when the previous director Ronald Neame left. Still, he did a pretty fine job. With Ann Todd, Trevor Howard, and Claude Rains. (MB) 95 min. Filmmuseum The Shop Around the Corner There are no art deco nightclubs, shimmering silk gowns, or slamming bedroom doors to be seen, but this 1940 film is one of Ernst Lubitsch’s finest and most enduring works, a romantic comedy of dazzling range that takes place almost entirely within the four walls of a leathergoods store in prewar Budapest. James Stewart is the earnest, slightly awkward young manager; Margaret Sullavan is the new sales clerk who gets on his nerves—and neither realises that they are partners in a passionate romance being carried out through the mails. (It’s the original of the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan vehicle You’ve Got Mail.) Interwoven with subplots centred on the other members of the shop’s little family, the romance proceeds through Lubitsch’s brilliant deployment of point of view, allowing the audience to enter the perceptions of each individual character at exactly the right moment to develop maximum sympathy and suspense. (DK) 98 min. Pathé Tuschinski Silent Night, Deadly Night Dressed as Santa Claus, a serial killer gives the gift of gore. Nuff said. 85 min. Cavia

Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 December 2008

Cargo 200 How the hell Aleksei Balabanov manages to get away with such a bleak, damning portrait of contemporary Russia while giving Putin the finger without receiving a polonium enema is a mystery to me. His Putin-esque depraved, impotent police officer has to investigate the murder he committed and the kidnapping of a girl he shackled to a filthy radiator, while her fiancé returns in a body bag from Afghanistan as the titular Cargo 200. It might be a potent, well-made metaphor for the last spasms of the Communist regime, but it’s a thoroughly dark and depressing film to say the least. In Russian with Dutch subtitles. (LvH) 89 min. Filmmuseum

Changeling Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) lives alone with her 9-year-old son, in Los Angeles in the late 1920s. One day, her son is missing. When, five months after the disappearance, a child by the same name is found in the Midwest, the L.A. police, desperate to look good in the eyes of the public opinion, rounds up the fanfare, the press and Mrs. Collins, for a triumphant re-union of Mother and Son. With the only problem that the boy is not the right one... Much like in Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River, Clint Eastwood here shapes another extremely complex narrative on a very disturbing subject. Those willing to be exposed to such a gut-wrenching tale will be rewarded with one of the year’s finest films. (MB) 141 min. The Movies, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski Cloud 9 This German entry at the latest Cannes Film Festival presents the classic love triangle we’ve seen so often in other films, only this time we get to see old folks get down and dirty. Dressmaker Inge (Ursula Werner) has been married with Werner (Horst Rehberg) for more than 30 years. However, she falls for Karl (Horst Westphal), a 76-year-old customer. It’s a very touching and realistic portrayal of love and sex, that can apparently take you to ‘Cloud Nine’, no matter the age. It can also make a good double-header companion with recent documentary release Young@Heart. In German with Dutch subtitles. 98 min. De Uitkijk Un Conte de Noël French director Arnaud Desplechin sets this overstuffed drama in the northern provincial town of Roubaix, his birthplace, which he also considered in his 2007 documentary L’Aimee. A dysfunctional clan gathers there for the holidays, arguing over a compatible bone-marrow donor for the leukemia-stricken mother (Catherine Deneuve); hovering like a ghost is the memory of the firstborn son, whose death has polarized his sister (Anne Consigny) and black-sheep brother (Mathieu Amalric). Characters occasionally address the camera, which helps disentangle the competing story lines of madness, adultery, and betrayal. With Emmanuelle Devos and Chiara Mastroianni. In French with Dutch subtitles.

(AG) 150 min. Cinecenter, Het Ketelhuis

The Darjeeling Limited A year after their father’s

funeral, brothers Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) meet aboard a train for a journey of spiritual healing. The fact that they have not spoken to each other in a year doesn’t prevent them from getting straight into the family’s old dynamics, which involve manic tics, substance abuse and sexual escapades. But soon both the emotional and the physical baggage starts to fall away. Wes Anderson’s delicious comedy is a rich plate for filmgoers, entertaining and poignant, just as it should be.

(MB) 108 min. Kriterion The Day the Earth Stood Still A remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic, based on the short story ‘Farewell to the Master’ by Harry Bates. A robot lands in Washington

AGENDA: FILM DC, controlled by a powerful alien, apparently willing to destroy the planet. In the 2008 remake you’ll get plenty of special effects, Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. 103 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt Eat For This Is My Body Michelange Quay’s live action feature debut is an absorbing, dreamlike descent into the deep heart of Haiti. Storylines follow three members of a local family, three women at different stages in their lives. But what is more important here is the startling imagery used by Quay to render Haiti’s mystical atmosphere. In French with English subtitles. 105 min. SMART Cinema Entre Les Murs François Marin (François Bégaudeau) is a French teacher in a Parisian high school. At the beginning we see him as he approaches both old and new colleagues as the school year starts, but from that moment on, we’ll only see him inside the classroom, facing the everyday problems of being a teacher in a multicultural environment. This year’s Palme d’Or winner from Laurent Cantet is a clever adaptation of the autobiographical book by François Bégaudeau, who basically plays himself in the movie, thus giving it a documentary touch. In French with Dutch subtitles.

128 min. Cinecenter, The Movies, Rialto High School Musical: Senior Year (OV) The third and presumably last installment in the Disney franchise—this time young lovers Zac Efron and Vanessa Anne Hudgens are seniors getting ready for college and putting on one last show. Released in the Netherlands in both dubbed and subtitled versions. 112 min.

Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt

Hunger The directorial feature debut from artist

Steve McQueen tells the story of IRA member Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) who led the 1981 Irish hunger strike in the Maze prison. But the history lesson is all in the opening titles. What follows next is an incredible filmic tour de force, both for the filmmakers and the audience, as we’re taken into the hell of Sands and his inmates. Imagery and events portrayed here are definitely not for the squemish.

As far as we know this is fiction, while, by contrast, the Abu Ghraib images were not, yet we can’t help but being profoundly disturbed by McQueen’s work.

96 min. Filmmuseum

Il y a longtemps que je t’aime Kristin Scott Thomas is a talent who cannot be used often enough. Her characters are usually hard-as-nails socialites, who fanatically guard their real emotions with cynicism and acerbic wit. In Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I loved you for so long), she has never been more brittle, or so tough. Her Juliette has just been released after 15 years in prison for a crime that seems beyond comprehension. Still, Juliette has refused to defend her actions, even to her younger sister Léa (Elsa Zylberstein), who desperately wants to understand. A strong, composed debut by novelist Philippe Claudel.

In French with Dutch subtitles. (BS) 115 min. De Uitkijk

Into the Wild Moving, if somewhat overlong, account of the life of Christopher McCandless, with a bravura performance from Emile Hirsch. At the age of 22, McCandless left his wealthy, dysfunctional family, gave his college cash to Oxfam and took off into the breathtaking beauty of the American wilderness. What starts as a run-of-the-mill road movie twists into an American Odyssey as, after two years away from it all, McCandless meets an untimely death in the wilds of Alaska. The usual Characters Met Along the Way include Catherine Keener, Vince Vaughn and Hal Holbrook. McCandless won’t stick with any of them, and

Don’t we all want to head Into the Wild at this time of year?

gradually begins to unravel in his determined solitude. The film becomes a meditation on the human need for human company, framed against some of the most glorious scenery the world has to offer. A triumph for Sean Penn as a director, backed by a custom soundtrack from Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.

(AD) 140 min. Kriterion Jagdhunde This bittersweet comedy from Ann-Kristen Reyels set in the remote northern German region of Uckermark focuses on the tribulations of Lars (Constantin von Jascheroff), a sixteen-year-old living with his father. En route to spend the Christmas holidays with his mother in Berlin, he misses his train while trying to defend mute girl Marie (Luise Berndt) from the local bullies. They become friends, but then on Christmas’ eve, Lars’ mother shows up with a new boyfriend in tow... Shown at the Berlinale in 2007. In German with Dutch subtitles. 86 min. Filmmuseum Leonera Julia (Martina Gusman) wakes up in her Buenos Aires apartment. She’s covered in blood and two male bodies are lying on the floor. She goes to work in a trance state, then on the way back she finally realises what happened and asks for help. Accused of murder and sent to jail, Julia finds out that she’s pregnant, and she decides to give birth and grow her son in prison anyway. Directed by Pablo Trapero (Crane World, El Bonaerense). In Spanish with Dutch subtitles. 110 min. Kriterion, Rialto Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Great, more animated talking animals and goofy antics! While the sequel to Madagascar is unlikely to change this cynical perspective, it’s not all bad. While the animation itself is not as dazzling as your average Pixar flick and the overall feel of the film is quite bland, the voice cast (including the last performance by the late Bernie Mac) is quite good, even though Sascha Baron Cohen as the Lemur King is becoming grating.

While there’s not much to recommend besides the hilarious penguins, there’s not too much to fault

Web tip:

Electric eel lights up Xmas tree www.reuters.com/news/ video?videoId=72584& videoChannel=4

Web tip:

Dinner for one www.youtube.com/watch? v=b1v4BYV-YvA

25

here either. Like porridge or macaroni and cheese, kids will dig it. (LvH) 89 min. The Movies, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski Het Nieuwe Rijksmuseum Is it right to make fun of the on-going restoration problems of the Rijksmuseum? This humorous documentary by Oeke Hoogendijk, which has just been screened at IDFA, takes us behind the close gates of the construction site, and introduces us to an extremely interesting gallery of characters who now grace the corridors of the Rijksmuseum, including architects, concierges, politicians and demonstrators. 110 min. Het Ketelhuis El Olvido New documentary by director Heddy Honigmann (The Underground Orchestra, Forever) focuses on old waiters and bartenders working in Peru, telling stories from their lives and their country. We all know bartenders know a lot of jokes, but they are also masters in the art of surviving with style, dignity and poetry in a world which is out of control. Honigmann makes them talk about the gigantic inflation in Peru, the fall of the middle class, the corruption, the violence of Shining Path and that of the local Army. You’ll definitely feel like having a cocktail afterwards. In Spanish with Dutch subtitles. 92 min. Rialto

Oorlogswinter Michiel is a fourteen-year-old boy

in a small town in The Netherlands in 1945. The Germans are still occupying the country. He has an uncle in the Resistance, Ben (Yorick van Wageningen) whom he considers his hero. Meanwhile, he looks down on his father (Raymond Thiry), the mayor of the town, who chooses not to take sides. Michiel is considered too young to join the Resistance, but then one day he gets a chance to help a wounded RAF-pilot (Jamie Campbell Bower). By redefining heroism, the new Martin Koolhoven film fits in a tradition of Dutch war films questioning strict boundaries between ‘good’and ‘bad’, which started with the 1977 classic film Soldaat van Oranje. (MM) 103 min. Het Ketelhuis, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski

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Amsterdam Weekly_18-24 December 2008

AGENDA: FILM

Pride and Glory Like so many movies about police, this chest-thumping cop opera seems less concerned with their actual lives than with how we want to feel about them: for law-and-order conservatives, there’s the usual huffing about the thin blue line, topped off by the obligatory funeral with bagpipes; for bleeding-heart liberals, there’s a righteous cop (Edward Norton) making a lonely and principled stand against corruption in the department. Director Gavin O’Connor (Miracle) intended this as an homage to his father, a New York City police detective, but the finished product, amped up by macho screenwriter Joe Carnahan (Narc, Smokin’ Aces), is the sort of brutal, lumbering, and cliched thriller that only widens the divide between police and those they protect. (JJ) 125 min. Pathé De Munt

Quantum of Solace The second instalment of

the rebooted Bond franchise is chock-full of action, stunts and wanton destruction of elaborately designed luxurious sets. The ubiquitous product placement is somewhat negated by said wholesale destruction of it, and while the narrative is nothing to write home about, it moves the film along quite nicely. The selling point of the film is Daniel Craig in his incredible portrayal of James Bond and the understated, yet crucial connection with M, played by Dame Dench. It might be a blockbuster for the masses, but it was made by master film craftsmen with wit, style and intelligence. (LvH) 106 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski Religulous American comic Bill Maher is no stranger to (religious) controversy: in 2001 his talk show was canceled when Maher contended that 9/11 hijackers were anything but cowards. In this new documentary Religulous, Maher travels the Globe to question, cajole and often openly mock

FILM TIMES Thursday 18 December until Wednesday 24 December.

Times are provided by cinemas and are subject to lastminute changes. .

De Balie Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, 553 5151 3 Needles Fri 22.00 Adventures in Dating - Men Fri 20.00 Bangkok love story Fri 22.00 Breakfast with Scot Thur 22.00 Chuecatown Sat 20.00 Identities Thur 20.00 Made in Holland Doc: Jan Mesdag zingt Brel Thur 20.00 Manuela y Manuel Sat 22.00 Pageant Sat 20.00 Roze Filmdagen The Sensei Fri 20.00 Thriller Night Sat 22.00 Two Looks Thur 22.00.

Cavia Van Hallstraat 52-I, 681 1419 Adventures in dating - women Fri 20.00 Gay Bed & Breakfast of Terror Thur 22.00 One Night Stand Fri 23.30 Rick & Steve Sat 22.00 Roze Filmdagen Shelter Sat 20.00 Silent Night, Deadly Night Triple X Selects: The best of Lezploitation Fri 22.00 The weird and the wonderful Thur 20.00.

Cinecenter Lijnbaansgracht 236, 623 6615 Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex daily 15.30 Burn After Reading daily 19.15, 22.00 Un Conte de Noël Thur, Sun-Wed 16.00, 19.45, Sun also 11.00, 12.30, Fri, Sat 15.15, 18.30, 21.45 Entre Les Murs daily 16.00, 19.00, 21.45, Sun also 11.15 Vicky Cristina Barcelona daily 16.30, 19.15, 21.45, Sun also 11.15, 14.00.

Cinema Amstelveen Plein 1960 2, Amstelveen, 547 5175 Anubis en het pad der 7 zonden Sun 15.30, Wed 13.30 Bride Flight Thur-Sat, Tues 20.30 Het kleine spookje Laban Tues 11.30, Wed 13.30 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (NL) Sat 15.30, Sun, Tues 13.30, Wed 11.30 Piet Piraat & het Zwaard van Zilvertand Sat 13.30, Sun, Wed 11.30, Tues 15.30.

Filmmuseum Vondelpark 3, 589 1400 Blithe Spririt Thur-Sun 19.15 Brief Encounter Thur-Mon 17.30, 19.30, Tues 21.30, Wed 19.30, 21.30 Cargo 200 Fri-Sun 17.15, Mon, Wed 21.15, Tues 21.45 David Lean Doctor Zhivago De Drie Rovers Sun-Wed 13.45 Filmbanktour #21: Out of Everywhere Tues 19.45 Hunger Thur-Mon 21.30, Tues, Wed 17.30 Jagdhunde Thur-Sat 21.15, Sun 15.30, 21.15, Mon-Wed 17.15 Passage to India, A The Passionate Friends Mon-Wed 19.15

the faithful of the mayor monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism and the Islam, with a little swipe at Mormons on the side. A lot of the humor in Religulous is based on rudeness and the breaking of taboos. Whether or not you will actually enjoy the film depends largely on your tolerance for this particular brand of funny and on your own belief system —or lack thereof. (LvH) 101 min. Kriterion Shotgun Stories Jeff Nichols’s feature debut is a brooding, laconic drama that concerns three unnamed brothers whose drunkard father abandoned them and their embittered mother years ago.

After subsequently sobering up, he discovers religion and starts a second family that the trio awkwardly meets for the first time at his funeral. There’s also an undercurrent of biblical revenge that lends the narrative a sense of violent menace and an almost continuous tension. At the center of the film is a keenly understated performance by Michael Shannon as the eldest of the cast-off sons. (JK) 92 min.

SMART Cinema Twilight If I were a vampire, I’d want to be like the ones in Twilight—they never get stakes hammered into them, they all look like models, they can hang out in the daytime (in fact sunlight makes their skin glisten like diamonds), and they make up the coolest clique in school. This adaptation of the best-selling novel by Stephenie Meyer never rises above the level of a teen soaper. Kristen Stewart is the heroine, who moves to a small logging town in Washington State and falls for pouty classmate Robert Pattinson; the director is Catherine Hardwicke, who debuted with Thirteen and has been sliding ever since. (JJ) 121 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt Vicky Cristina Barcelona Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), fall for an aggressive Latin lover (Javier Bardem) in Barcelona. The new

S.O.S. Kleine Zeehond Sun-Wed 14.00.

Het Ketelhuis Haarlemmerweg 8-10, 684 0090 De Boer Die Zou Emigreren Sun 11.00 Un Conte de Noël Thur-Tues 17.00, 20.45 De Drie Rovers Sat-Wed 13.15, 15.15, Sun also 11.15 L'Empreinte de l'Ange Thur-Sun 17.15, Thur-Tues 19.30 Het Nieuwe Rijksmuseum Sun 10.30 Niko en de Vliegende Brigade Sat-Wed 12.45, 15.00 Oorlogswinter Thur-Tues 19.15, 21.30, Sat-Tues also 14.30, 16.45, Fri also 16.45, Wed 14.30 S.O.S. Kleine Zeehond Sat, Sun, Tues, Wed 13.00 Wit Licht Thur-Tues 21.45.

Kriterion Roetersstraat 170, 623 1708 Anubis en het pad der 7 zonden Sat-Wed 13.30 Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex Thur-Mon, Wed 21.30 Balkan Kino Klub Sat 19.00 Boy A daily 21.45 The Darjeeling Limited daily 17.00, Fri, Sat also 0.15 De Drie Rovers Sat-Wed 15.00 Into the Wild daily 16.45, Sat, Sun also 14.00 De Kleine Ijsbeer Sat-Wed 13.15 Leonera Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 19.15 Mean Streets The Nightmare Before Christmas Mon 22.00 Religulous daily 19.30, Fri, Sat also 23.45 S.O.S. Kleine Zeehond Sat-Wed 15.15 Sneak Preview Tues 22.15 Standard Operating Procedure daily 17.15, 19.45, Fri, Sat also 0.00 Vox Populi Thur-Sun, Tues, Wed 22.00 Wall-E (NL) Mon-Wed 14.45.

The Movies Haarlemmerdijk 159-165, 638 6016 Anubis en het pad der 7 zonden Sun, Mon, Wed 12.00 Australia daily 17.00, 20.15, Sat-Mon, Wed 13.45 Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex daily 16.45 Bride Flight Sun-Wed 11.30 Burn After Reading daily 20.00, 22.00 Changeling daily 19.00 Entre Les Murs daily 21.45, Fri-Wed 16.30, Sat-Wed 14.00 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Sat-Wed 15.00, Sun-Wed 13.00 Vicky Cristina Barcelona daily 17.30, 19.30, 22.00, Sat-Wed 14.30, Sun-Wed 12.30.

De Nieuwe Anita Frederik Hendrikstraat 111, 06 4150 3512 Crazy Love Mon 20.30.

OBA Oosterdokskade 143, 0900-2425468 Affinity Thur 19.30 I Can't Think Straight Sat 19.30 Roze Filmdagen The world unseen Fri 20.00.

OT301 Overtoom 301, 779 4913 Il Deserto Rosso Tues 20.30 Hiroshima Mon Amour Sun 20.30.

Pathé ArenA ArenA Boulevard 600, 0900 1458 A.R.O.G. daily 12.40, 15.20, 21.20, Fri-Wed also 10.00, Sat also 0.05 Anubis en het pad der 7 zonden daily 12.05, 14.15, Fri-Wed also 9.55 Anywhere But Home daily 13.30, 15.50, 18.10, Fri-Wed also 11.20, Sat also 0.15

Film times also at www.amsterdamweekly.nl.

Woody Allen moves on to the continent after three features set in the UK. But how is it? Well, it’s worse than Match Point, but better than Cassandra’s Dream. Chaster than Mighty Aphrodite but sexier than Small Time Crooks. Lighter than Crimes and Misdemeanours but heavier than The Curse of the Jade Scorpion. Longer than Sweet and Lowdown and shorter than Hollywood Ending. It’s no Annie Hall or Manhattan, yet it’s pretty much Woody Allen. Anything Else? (MB) 96 min. Cinecenter, The Movies, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski Vox Populi The latest film from Eddy Terstall (Simon) deals with an ambitious and flamboyant leftwing politician in a midlife crisis, Jos Fransen (Tom Jansen). Some weeks before the election, his daughter, young actress Zoë (Tara Elders) becomes involved with the simple and straightforward military policeman Sjef (Johnny de Mol). Not only is Tom whole-heartedly welcomed by his daughter’s new inlaws, he also becomes influenced by their outspoken ideas on immigrants and demagogic political views.

Due to Fransen’s refusal to take a position in these matters he is losing votes, so he realizes that uttering the opinions of the common man could be a guarantee to political success. A satire on the current Dutch political scene. 100 min. Kriterion Waltz With Bashir The opening film of the Holland Animation Film Festival in Utrecht, Waltz With Bashir follows in the steps of Persepolis with its use of animation to deal with adult, political and contemporary themes—in this case the 1982 Lebanon war. Director Ari Folman attempts to share his personal experience of the war by interviewing friends and witnesses, whom he turns into animated figures, thus creating a visual hybrid of documentary and fiction. In Hebrew and German with Dutch subtitles. 90 min. Rialto

Australia daily 14.00, 17.30, 20.00, 21.00, Fri-Wed also 10.40 Body Of Lies daily 20.30, Sat also 23.15 Changeling daily 18.20 The Day the Earth Stood Still daily 12.00, 14.30, 17.00, 19.30, 22.00, Sat also 0.30 High School Musical 3: Senior Year (NL) daily 12.50, 15.10, Fri-Wed 10.30 High School Musical: Senior Year (OV) daily 13.50, 16.10, 18.30, Fri-Wed also 11.30 Kurtlar Vadisi daily 16.40, 19.10, 21.40, Sat also 0.00 Madagascar (NL) daily 12.10, 13.10, 14.20, 15.15, Fri-Wed also 10.00, 11.00 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa daily 18.00, 20.10, 22.20, Sat also 0.30 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (IMAX) daily 12.30, 14.40, 16.50, Fri-Wed also 10.20 Niko en de Vliegende Brigade daily 12.20, 14.10, 16.00, FriWed also 10.20 Oorlogswinter daily 12.15, 14.50, 17.10, 19.50, Fri-Wed also 9.50 Piet Piraat & het Zwaard van Zilvertand daily 11.50, 13.45, Fri-Wed also 9.55 Quantum of Solace daily 13.00, 15.30, 17.50, 20.20, 21.10, FriWed also 10.10, Sat also 22.50, 23.40 Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi daily 17.20, 20.45 Saw V daily 22.10, Sat also 0.20 The Day the Earth Stood Still (IMAX) daily 19.00, 21.30, Sat also 0.10 Twilight daily 16.30, 19.15, 21.50, Sat also 0.20 Wit Licht daily 15.40, 18.15, 20.50, Sat also 23.30 The Women daily 17.40, Sat also 23.30.

Pathé De Munt Vijzelstraat 15, 0900 1458 Anywhere But Home Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 13.30, 16.00, 19.00, Sun-Wed also 11.15, Sat 10.40, 13.00, 15.15, 17.45, 20.15 Australia Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.15, 16.15, 20.00, Sat 13.15, 17.15, 21.15 Body Of Lies Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 18.30, 21.30, Thur also 12.10, 15.20, Sat 19.00, 22.15 Burn After Reading Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 22.05, Sat 23.00 Changeling Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 18.00, 21.15, Sat 19.15, 22.45 The Day the Earth Stood Still daily 18.45, 21.45, Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed also 13.00, 15.45, 17.45, 20.45, Sun-Wed also 10.20, Sat 11.30, 14.30, 17.30, 20.30, 23.30 High School Musical 3: Senior Year (NL) Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.30, 15.30, Sun-Wed also 10.15, Sat 11.00, 13.45, 16.45 High School Musical: Senior Year (OV) Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 16.45, Sun-Wed also 11.30, 14.00, Thur, Fri also 12.05, 14.20, Sat 10.15, 12.40, 15.15 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.50, 15.20, 17.15, 19.45, 22.15, Sun-Wed also 10.40, Thur also 12.40, 14.50, Sat also 11.15, 14.00, 16.30, 18.30, 20.45, 23.15 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (NL) Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.45, 14.10, 15.15, 16.40, Sun-Wed also 10.30, 11.45, Thur, Fri also 12.00, Sat 10.15, 10.50, 12.30, 13.30, 15.00, 16.15, 17.25 Niko en de Vliegende Brigade Fri, Sun-Wed 12.10, 14.15, 16.30, Sun-Wed also 10.15, Sat 10.30, 12.35, 14.45, 16.50 Oorlogswinter Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.00, 14.30, 17.00, 19.30, 22.00, Sat 10.20, 12.45, 15.30, 18.15, 21.00 Piet Piraat & het Zwaard van Zilvertand Fri, Sun-Wed 12.40, 14.50, Sun-Wed also 10.45, Sat 11.20, 13.40, 16.00 Pride and Glory Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 21.40, Sat 22.50 Quantum of Solace Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 14.45, 18.15, 21.00, 21.50, Sat-Wed also 11.40, Thur also 12.00, Fri also 12.05, Sat also 14.15, 17.00, 17.45, 19.30, 22.30, 23.15

Wit Licht Eduard Zuiderwijk (Marco Borsato) lives in Uganda, where he runs his own restaurant business.

A personal drama and the political turmoil in the country will abruptly change his status. Dutch singer Borsato picks a string of heavy subjects (war, child soldiers, etc.) for his acting debut. Written and directed by Jean van de Velde. 120 min. Het Ketelhuis, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski The Women Diane English, the creator of Murphy Brown, gathers a ‘who’s who’ cast with high female star wattage for a sappy, contemporary remake of George Cukor’s 1939 classic. More fodder for those ‘Girls’ Night Out’ at the movies that apparently work out pretty well at the box office. 114 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt Young This documentary by British director Stephen Walker about a Massachusetts rock choir where the choristers’ average age is 81 could easily have become tacky and sappy, but instead Young@Heart is surprisingly humane and upbeat. Songs such as Should I Stay or Should I Go, Forever Young and Fix You take on new meaning when sung by people on the brink of death. The choristers’ humour, lust for life and determination are infectious, and the standing ovations at each show well deserved. Perhaps it’s not so bad, being old. (KE) 109 min. Rialto Edited by Massimo Benvegnù. This week's films reviewed by Massimo Benvegnù (MB), Angela Dress (AD), Don Druker (DD), Kate Eaton (KE), Sarah Gehrke (SG), Andrea Gronvall (AG), Luuk van Huët (LvH), JR Jones (JJ), Joshua Katzman (JK), Dave Kehr (DK), Steven McCarron (SM), Marie-Claire Melzer (MM), Robert Neugarten (RN), Gusta Reijnders (GR), Jonathan Rosenbaum (JR) and Bregtje Schudel (BS).

All films are screened in English with Dutch subtitles unless otherwise noted.

Saw V Sat 23.40 Twilight Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.00, 15.00, 21.20, Fri, Sun-Wed aslo 18.20, Thur also 18.30, Sat 12.15, 15.45, 18.40, 21.30 Vicky Cristina Barcelona Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 19.15, Sat 20.30 Wit Licht Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 19.10, Sat 20.00 The Women Thur-Wed 17.30, 20.20, Sat 19.45, 22.40.

Pathé Tuschinski Reguliersbreestraat 34, 0900 1458 Australia daily 16.30, 20.30, Thur-Sat, Mon-Wed also 12.00, Sun also 12.50 Bride Flight Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 15.45, Sat 13.30 Changeling daily 18.00, 21.15, Thur, Fri also 12.15 L'Empreinte de l'Ange daily 13.45, 19.00, Fri-Wed also 11.15 Madagascar (NL) daily 15.35, Sat-Wed also 11.05, 13.20 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 13.15, 18.45, Sat-Wed also 11.00 Oorlogswinter daily 13.45, 16.15, 19.00, 21.30, Fri-Wed also 11.15 Quantum of Solace daily 16.15, 21.30 The Shop Around the Corner Sun 10.30 Thaïs (Massenet) Sat 18.00 Vicky Cristina Barcelona daily 14.15, 16.45, 19.15, 21.45, FriWed also 11.45 Wit Licht Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 21.00.

Rialto Ceintuurbaan 338, 676 8700 Cherry Blossoms Thur-Tues 19.30, Fri, Sun, Wed also 16.00 Duckumentary 44.7° N, 178.1° E Sat 16.00 Entre Les Murs daily 19.00, 21.30, Fri, Sun, Wed also 16.15, Sat also 13.00, Sun also 13.30 Lemming Wed 19.30 Leonera daily 21.50, Fri-Sun, Wed also 14.45 El Olvido daily 19.45, Sat also 12.45, Sun also 12.00 Waltz With Bashir daily 22.00, Sat, Sun 13.45 Young@Heart daily 17.15.

SMART Cinema Arie Biemondstraat 101-111, 427 5951 Eat For This Is My Body Sat, Mon-Wed 22.15 Glass Lips Fri, Sat-Wed 22.00 Huddersfield Fri 20.15, Sat-Wed 20.00 Shotgun Stories Fri 20.00, Sat, Mon-Wed 20.15.

Studio K Timorplein 62, 692 0422 Anubis en het pad der 7 zonden Sat-Wed 15.00 Bienvenue Chez les Ch’tis daily 22.15, Thur, Sat-Wed also 17.00 Bride Flight Thur, Sat-Wed 19.45 Burn After Reading daily 20.00, 22.00 Caos calmo daily 17.15 Wall-E (NL) Sat-Wed 15.15.

De Uitkijk Prinsengracht 452, 623 7460 Auf der anderen Seite Thur 21.30 El Calentito Sat 21.30 The Chinese Botanist's Daughter Fri 21.30 Cloud 9 Thur, Fri, Tues 17.00 Corazones de Mujer Thur 19.30 De Drie Rovers Sun-Tues 13.30 Il y a longtemps que je t'aime Sun-Wed 19.15 Kinderklassieker Sat, Wed 13.30 L'Empreinte de l'Ange Sat-Mon, Wed 17.00, Sun-Wed 21.30 Love My Life Sat 19.30 Pusinsky Fri 19.30 Roze Filmdagen Wall-E (NL) Sat-Wed 15.00.

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

FOOD & DRINK

The Mouth

By Alec Shuldiner

Predictable Muang Thai Overtoom 455, 618 0024 Open daily 17.00-21.30 Cash only You have had, I expect, the unhappy experience of hearing back from an acquaintance that a restaurant you recommended wasn’t to their liking. It can be something of a puzzle, especially when your own meals there have always satisfied. Just an off night? Bad luck for your friend but of no real relevance to the restaurant you know and love. But what if it wasn’t simply a matter of chance? Perhaps you recommended the restaurant too casually, or miscommunicated its qualities. Perhaps the restaurant was one—and there are many—where the face it shows depends very much on what is ordered.

Muang Thai is one such eatery. It offers delicious Thai food—so long as you know what to order.

The appetisers, for example: skip them. The soups, stars of the Thai kitchen, are pretty insipid. And even the quality of the main courses, the curries most particularly, depend on how you order them. Ask for Keang Kiew Whaan Kai (chicken with green curry), for example, and you will receive a reheated portion from a large steel container filled some hours before. Order the same dish with shrimp and it will be made fresh. I admit I have never tried the two side by side, but do I really have to?

I’ll tell you what I always order: the spicy beef salad, that

green curry with shrimp, and Pad Thai with tofu. Delicious. The Pad Thai (equally good with other fillings) is much more than a noodle dish—it doesn’t keep well if you’re the sort who likes leftovers, but you will be well motivated to finish it. The green curry is buttery and rich, with a satisfying degree of heat; to suck the last of it from the shrimp tails is good eating.

But the beef salad is the best. Spicy, sour, fresh, I find myself sneaking back to my fridge to have just one more morsel. It truly pained me to have to skip all this for my review, but in good conscience I thought it only responsible to test my own theory in advance of publication.

I ordered three dishes, plus Tom Khaa Kai (a coconut chicken soup) and sate. The soup, though made with a good coconut base and thigh meat, was flat and too sweet without a balancing spiciness or much in the way of a lemongrass flavour. The sate of overcooked chicken was simply cloying and the beef ‘mas saman’ curry likewise. A squid with Thai basil dish had some heat, but little else to recommend it, and the chicken and vermicelli salad, while nicely doused in vinegar, was otherwise unremarkable. Next time, it’s back to the tried and true.

Like many of its sisters, Muang Thai is really a takeaway place elevated to restaurant status by a scattering of tables. If you prefer to eat your dinner amidst a constant stream of locals picking up their orders and delivery boys rushing in and out, be my, or rather their, guest. Otherwise, call it in (online ordering is also a possibility). ___

The green curry is buttery and rich, with a satisfying degree of heat

A night in the life...

By Sarah Gehrke

Lovely motherfuckers Marnixstraat 164-166 Open Mon-Thur 13.00-01.00, Fri 13.0003.00, Sat 15.00-03.00, Sun 15.00-13.00 Cash only ‘Piemelhoofd,’ says the girl outside, repeatedly. She’s talking about her little brother. ‘So he just made that word up, when he was around ten!’ She thinks it’s brilliant. And then she explains to us how piemelhoofd isn’t a Dutch swearword but a literal translation of ‘dickhead’, but that her little brother hadn’t learned English when he invented it, and how that makes her think her little brother is a reincarnation of someone American. And then we have finished our cigarettes, say our goodbyes to her, and walk back inside.

Soundgarden is typified by the happy throwing-around of swearwords. It is quite usual here that someone talks at you telling a story containing a whole litany of swearwords—and sometimes the story is even about swearwords, too. Furthermore, it is the kind of bar where the word ‘motherfucker’ is used as a regular means of addressing someone. In a loving way.

Because Soundgarden is a very friendly bar. You might not think so immediately, when you walk in to face loud and very guitar-heavy music, walls

Beer price: €1.90 for a vaasje (Budels).

Emergency food: They do a lovely tosti!

Special interior feature: A table football table.

Predominant shoe type: Battered.

Typically ordered drink: Beer in large quantities.

Smoking situation: There’s a new and ‘shiny’ smoking room in the dartboard corner. Yes, approaching arrows might give a whole new sense to ‘smoking kills’—still, the choice of location is highly logical since it is downright impossible to play darts while not smoking.

Tune of the night: Disputed. ‘Any of Jeroen's Billycore stuff,’ says Russell. ‘“The Life I Live” by Q65,’ says Jeroen.

‘Tool are the best fucking band in the Kosmos,’ says the table. ‘TNT’ was also on, though no ‘Hells Bells’. But my personal favourite was ‘I don’t need no doctor’, by the Demented Scumcats.

Mingling factor: Medium to high.

State of toilets near closing time: Yeah... let’s not go there.

and tables scribbled with messages of doom (or band names), two (!) pinball machines, and the bunch of people sitting at the bar that you can only tell apart by their different tattoos or styles of facial hair. But then these same people at the bar smile and offer you a bar stool. In short, the karma's good.

There's also a good set of bar people, and an equally good set of regulars.

Sometimes the latter offer surprising sights: Every Monday, for example, there's a man with black-rimmed glasses frantically scribbling on huge sheets of paper. No one knows what exactly it is that he scribbles. It might be expressions of genius. It might be expressions of idiocy. Or it might be a healthy combination of both.

Because it's useless to try solving unsolvable mysteries, we just go for another smoke. This time we try out the smoking room, where we meet a thin man who tells us about a Hell's Angel he used to know. 'He had a totally burnt-off face--looked scary as fuck. And then he had this normalpeople mask he could put on, but that looked even scarier. Especially when he rode his motorbike. Sometimes the mask blew off... and sometimes he would just flick it to the side at a traffic light. He could make people change lanes whenever he wanted.'

Ah, good story. But now I really have to put away the notebook. I need to get in another round of beer. ___

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S E RV I C E S

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

S E RV I C E S

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WEEKLY CLASSIFIEDS Ad of the week

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Any physical discomfort? RSI? Back pain? Stress? Book an appointment for authentic Ayurvedic massage from Mr. John! For more information on treatments, prices and location please check:www.ayurvedafreaks.net.

For info & bookings phone 0625 583 393 or mailto: info@ayurvedafreaks.net

ety of accounting and finance

JOBS OFFERED positions within top internaFREE CLASSIFIEDS Reach 45,000 active, cosmopolitanminded Amsterdammers every weekthroughWeeklyClassifieds.

Ads are free, space permitting, and go both in print and online.

For details, visit www.amsterdamweekly.nl/classifieds.

SALES OPPORTUNITY We are currently seeking salesperson for an established English-language magazine in Amsterdam. Experience preferable, not essential. Candidates must have knowledge of English. Attractive conditions, flexible hours. c.divito@chello.nl

tional companies in the Amsterdam area. If you are interested please email your CV to lanidykes@pagepersonnel.nl.

We look forward to hearing from you!

OPTIMAL WELLNESS -is looking for a relationship builder, a creative person and a business partner who wants to expand together with us our activities as well national as international. Are you the person who looks for chances and opportunities and wants to act on a global market? Full time/parttimeCall0612261214

SALES OPPORTUNITY We are currently seeking energetic, money hungry individuals to join our International Salesteam.IfyouareanEnglish speaker and have the desire to earn 50k per annum please submit your CV to ken@engnl.com. This is a real opportuPEOPLE NEEDED!! We are nity to make real money but looking for bright and intelli- only for the right people! gent people to work as Tele- STUDIO ASSISTANT Intersales Executives within a fast national artist looking for a growinginternational,butAms- studio assitant/handyman 2 terdam based company. You days/week. Job includes paintmust be fluent in English and ing, model-making and studio must possess a willingness to maintenance. Photography learn and develop. Please get skills and driver’s license prein touch if you would like to ferred. know more. tel 0650971536 roiterstudio@gmail.com ART DIRECTOR NEEDED FOR SUPER-16/35MM BLOWUP ART FILM SHOOTING DEC 21-23. SOME TECH EXPERIENCENEEDED. CONTACT: FLYING SHEEP PRODUCTIONS 06 38980254 -ormarcosnow@versatel.nl

SALES PEOPLEWe are looking for people to sale Dead Sea Salt based products in our shops in Amsterdam. You need to be outgoing, personality is a must, flexible and enjoy making contact with our customers (this involves demoing our products in the shop). Please send c.v. to: dbambo@hotmail.com

ACCOUNT MANAGERNeeded for Amsterdam office, responsible and challenging job entailing the representation of foreign based companies,candidatemustberesponsible, service oriented and able to communicate with people from diverse countries. Please send your CV to recruitment@holender.com

FINANCE JOBS Page Per- HOTEL JOBS Recolo is an sonnel are currently seeking agency for temporary work motivatedindividualsforavari- specialised in hotels. We are

looking for hotelreceptionists, room cleaners, breakfast employees, night receptionists and hotel supervisors.

Dutch is required (only for cleaners and breakfast it is not required). Interested? Send your CV with motivation.

0613361652

PROFESSIONAL STARTER UniversityMaster’slevelstarter is looking for a Administrative/Secretarial/PersonalAssistance/Marketing job in Amsterdam and its area. Available to start immediately. MultiJOBS WANTED lingual:excellentEnglish,average Russian, basic Dutch. ConLOOKING FOR JOB I am 24 tact me via kristinasabuy.o. male with valid BS-num- lyte@gmail.com or mer looking for a job in Ams- 0614567021. terdam area, I speak Polish, Russian, Italian and English. SPANISH TRANSLATOR Ifyouhaveanyjoboffers,please looks for an in-house translacontact me by mail dawid.ams- tor position in a multinationterdam@gmail.com or by al corp. EN into SP and SP into EN. Also project manager. Fullphone 0631094264 contractpreferably.Callplease FRENCH NUDE CLEANER Ms. PALOMA LORENZO I’m a 27 years old man, look- 0634776030 + ing for houses to clean. Sweep- realpachu@yahoo.com. ing, dusting, vacuuming, mopping... I do it all totally naked. TECHNICAL JOB WANTED For further informations, send Youngcomputerspecialistlookan e-mail at vacancespro- ingforajob.Knowledge:Graphic design, Web design, Netpres@gmail.com working, Audio engineering, LOOKING FOR JOB Lots of Video editing, Photography. experience in all aspects of Fluent in English and German. horeca and office work. Hard- Please contact me at working, responsable and good daankie@gmail.com vibes.Preferiblydaytimehours.

I speak Spanish and Italian.

HOUSING Write me at olinitas@hotFOR RENT mail.com FREE CLASSIFIEDS Reach ANIMATOR/EDITOR 3D 45,000 active, cosmopolitanGraphic animator and video mindedAmsterdammersevery editor new in Amsterdam is week through Weekly Classilooking for job as freelance or fieds. Ads are free, space peremployed in the graphic animitting,andgobothinprintand mationbusinessand/orasvideo online. For details, visit editor.I am a professional user www.amsterdamweekly.nl/clasof Maya2009 and some editing sifieds. softwares like PremiereCS3 and After EffectCS3. Con- TIME OUT OFFERTime Out hasarrivedinAmsterdam!Subtact:nicolap@email.com scribe today with our special LOOKING FOR A JOB I am introductory offer: 12 issues 28 y,o male with vaild work for ? 12. Go to www.timepermit of netherland, looking outamsterdam.nl for a job in sales and marketing field. I speak english,hin- FREE ACCOMODATION di,urdu and basic level of dutch. Free accomodation for one If you have any job available, female offered in Amsterdam. please do not hesitate to con- contact 0657623435 tact me via email (mianar- ROOM AVAILABLE for the fan_1@yahoo.com) or tele- months of January and Februphone (+31-634653482 ) . ary. Close to centre and pubLOOKING FOR JOB I am 24 lic transport. 400 euro per y.o. male with valid BS-num- month. Call 0643 686 416. mer looking for a job in Ams- ROOM FOR HOLIDAYS terdam area, I speak Polish, Room in a student house for Russian, Italian and English. the holidays period offered Ifyouhaveanyjoboffers,please (Dec 19 - Jan 12), located in contact me by mail dawid.ams- the center of Amsterdam. Perterdam@gmail.com or by fectforpeoplewishingtospend phone 0631094264 little for housing. We can negoHANDYMANAre you looking tiate the price. makovskfor somebody to lay down a agold@yahoo.com wooden/laminate floor, paint ROOM AVAILABLE Room something, gardening or do a available in Amsterdam with handy job? Call please bed, chairs, table and tv cable

More classifieds on www.amsterdamweekly.nl/classifieds

for 350 euros. e-mail you’re interested please call or TV, solid wood coffee table, and is very sturdy. If you want virzul@hotmail.com tel- email. 0644476747 or mar- designer chairs...pots,lamps, it you’ll have to come and pick clothes,and more 0615517716 lene.siebrecht@gmail.com it up. Amsterdam old south IN FRENCH RIVIERAFrench IKEA DESK JOHANN SME SERIES 111 SME area.hairchris@hotmail.com Riviera holidays from 180 euros/week in low season until 500 euros/week in high season. Two comfortable and well equiped appartments in Juan Les Pins and Villeuneuve Loubet, with american kitchen, washing machine, tv, dvd, microwave etc...Contact:0033(0)492021664 Web: www.locatonyc.fr

(white) for sale. To be picked up in Amsterdam Oost. New price was 89,00. Good condition.Lessthan2yearsold.Small part broken in the back (not visible). We sell it for 45,00.

If you’re interested please call or email. 0644476747 or marlene.siebrecht@gmail.com

HOUSING WANTED

120 euro, yours for 100 euro.

Call: 020 - 6181424

TV for sale..color tv..works great..no remote..only 25 VONDELPARK FLAT Beau- euro’s..call johnny at tiful furnished studio flat with 0646242781 or mail winterhigh ceilings 2 mins walk from palazz@hotmail.com Vondelpark from Jan - August NEO-BAROCK COUCHNeo‘08. 50m2, seperate kitchen / barock couch for sale. New, bathroom. 775 euro including eyecather, gold legs and ornainternet / tv / phone + bills. mis- mented back, gold fabric with santarctica@hotmail.com blending flower patterns. Was

EASY-GOING AUSSIE My nameisKate,I’mfromAustralia and in need of a room - preferrably close to centre. I’m 26yo, prof, easy-going, nonsmoker. 0645816890 or email notkate@hotmail.com

HAIREXTENSIONSHairextensions Balmain for sale. With wax bondings, straight, brown and red-brown. 60 strings new in package, 9 out of package, 69 in total. Price: 80 euro. Call: 020 - 6181424 PINK/GOLD SARIPink/gold

OTHER SPACES sari (half) for sale. 35 euro.

PHOTO STUDIOFor amateur and professional photographers. Can also be used as meeting or gathering space.

100m2, 150/day. Possible to rent photo equipment. High ceilings, good, natural light and located on WG Plein, adjacent to Overtoom. For appointment and more info contact D.Ingel: 0628834224.

Call: 020 - 6181424 (THUMB)RINGS (Thumb)Rings for sale. 2 silver thumb-rings (what you wish to offer), 1 ornamented thumb-ring (what you wish to offer), 1 silver ring with big turquoise stone for 30 euro.

Call: 020 - 6181424 FOR SALE dvd player 10 euro..videorecorder 10 euro..vacume cleaner( retro from the zeventies,on a stick)..10 euro..everything works great.. call 0646242781/winterpalazz@hotmail.com

WANTED: STUDIO I’m a 27 y.o. PhD Student in Amsterdam, looking for a studio (own kitchen, bathroom, and toilet) in Amsterdam for a price below 600 euro p.m. Registration to the town hall must be possi- WASHING MACHINE: ble, the rent is preferably from BOSCH, 4 y/o, EUR150. Call: 15 January or 1 January. tri- 0643404534. laksmana@gmail.com THREE BIKES FOR SALE ATELIER4RENTlooking for 1 great Dutch womens bike: 3 responsible person to live in speeds, 2 locks, working lights, my atelier on Overtoom near greatcondition.95EUR.1mens Vondelpark from 15 Dec 08 - bike, 2 locks, working lights, 10 Feb 09. 40 sqm, lots of light, 70EUR. 1 small and light ladies internet,kitchen,bed.800euro bike, pedal brakes. 30EUR. for entire period. QUIRKY COOL ITEMSMovatelier4rent@yahoo.com ing sale on Saturday Dec 13

FOR SALE IKEA SOFABED (BLUE) sleeps 2 people. Good condition. To be picked up in Amsterdam Oost for 50,00. Very light, so it’s easy to carry. If

Series 111 tonearm with upgraded titanium nitrade arm & Ortofon cartridge. The arm is in mint condition but...It has been in storage in the UK and my ‘friend’ has lost all of the weights for it the clown.Sensible offers or will swap for a guitar. progathon@gmail.com

SERVICES

REMOVALS/TRANSPORT White van man offers the best service for any removals (big or small), deliveries and collections at affordable rates throughout Holland but also any other EU destination.

Friendly,efficient and reliable.

For more info check BLUE RENAULT 4 GTLDue www.whitevanman.nl. Or call to enlargement of the fami- on: 0623882184. ly we are selling our beloved Renault 4. YOB: 1985, km: PAINTERProfessional house 255000, coulour: dark blue. painter. Free estimates. ComAPK until Jan. 2009. Has had petitive prices. Workshop near its major service last year, tow Amstelkade. e: paintworkbar. For info: kara- shop@hotmail.com 06 285 082 36 ba1976@gmail.com 100% BAMBOO FABRIC UNLOCK YR POTENTIAL Outrageously soft against bare human potential coaching skin, our bamboo clothing flat- empowers you with your natters and follows the natural ural creativity, go beyond your curves of your body. Drapes boundaries, open up to the and feels like silk jersey. The greater you! www.unlimitedbest designs in bamboo avail- creativity.biz able.Give your boxy cotton T PLANT TALKERI can talk to shirts away and slip into enviyour plants for free (english, ronmentally-friendly bamboo. finnish & little bit dutch). Call WWW.UNDERTHESUNBAM06 - 12312100. OD BOO.COM EXPERIENCED GARDENTRANSPORT ER Specialist in pruning of REMOVALS/TRANSPORT ornamental and fruit trees and White Van Man offers the best general maintenance of priservice for any removals (big vate gardens. Reliable and or small), deliveries and col- affordable services. Ask for an lections at affordable rates estimate. throughout Holland but also GRAPHIC DESIGNINGany other EU destination. Logos, posters, brochures, Friendly, efficient and reliable. stores’price-lists,letter-sheets, For more info check business-cards, web-sites and www.whitevanman.nl or call any other artwork illustrations on: 0623882184 (for printing or not-even handNEED TO MOVE?VrachtVer- made sketches) contact: huizer for fast removal, psaltides@gmail.com celltransport & delivery. phone: 0631264207 (Sotiris) Free e-mail Tariff evaluation.

English/Dutch/German speaking. Also in the evening (Spreek Engels alsjeblieft) hours and weekends. Service GROW YOUR BUSINESS already from 35 Euro!! Call Would you like to attract more today and get removed the clients and grow your busisame day if needed. ness? Grab your free special 0615149164/www.vrachtver- report, “7 Steps to Attract More huizer.nl Clients in Less Time!” plus a bonus of monthly profits tips FREE STUFF at http://www.fireflycoachFREE STUFFVisit early and ing.com written by Marketing often. Hang out at the Weekly Coach Stephanie Ward.

Specials section of our website EXPAT MEDICAL CENTRE for free tickets and special give- Expat Medical Centre offers aways to concerts, film festi- medicalserviceinyourownlanvals and other happenings. Go guage by experienced registo www.amsterdam tered professionals dedicated weekly.nl/weeklyspecials. to meet your needs. Located

and Sunday 14 between 11am & 5 pm at PRINSENGRACHT 653 (above Cafe Molenpad) Everything in the appartment is for sale, paintings, art books, LOVELY BABY'S COT Pink in central Amsterdam, we offer curtains, washing Ikea Baby’s Cot Free to good Doctor service, Physio & Psymachine,design magazines, Home. Its in great condition cho therapy, etc. Register or

30

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

S E RV I C E S

WEEKLY CLASSIFIEDS book an appointment at: the litterbox etc.Tariff: 9,50 expatmc@planet.nl or call per visit. Contact: Anouk_lam0204275011 brechts@yahoo.com, tel.06IMMIGRATION LAWThink- 52305738 Amsterdam ing about staying? Verliefd op een buitenlander? Get expert advice from a US-born Dutch legal advisor in Amsterdam.

Specialized in partnership/marriage with Dutch or other EU citizens, permanent residence permits and naturalization. Mr. Jeremy B. Bierbach - http://immigrate.nl tel: 020-7173975

HEALTH & WELLNESS

FOOT REFLEXOLOGYIf you feel low in energy or out of balance, foot reflexology can help to restabilize your energetic system(applying pressure to the areas on the feet that reflect the organs of the entire body) Anouk Lambrechts, 06 STUNNING WEBSITES 52305738, info@allesisenNEED A STUNNING WEB- ergie.com www.allesisenSITE?Experiencedwebdesign- ergie.com, er builds professional, unique BELLASAN.COMFor health sitesforsurprisinglyreasonable supplements and natural alterprices. Online links to past pro- native remedies come and visjects available. Jordan: jor- it us at bellasan.com Cleanse dangcz@yahoo.com tel: 06 your system and lose weight 3034 1238 naturally with the best ChlorelDOGTAGS/IDENTITYTAGS la algae from Japan, see a difOrder your dogtags online. Any ference in your skin, nails, hair textispossiblesothinkofsome- and energy levels, 100% natuthing funny, sweet or impor- ralproduct.www.bellasan.com tant. Order at WWW.IDHANG- INT BREATHING & YOGA ER.NL ArtofLivingPart1basiccourse.

DOCTOR SERVICE Cambridge Medicals Doctor Service offers office/email consultations, hotel/home visits,prescriptions. Fully registered multilingual physicians.

Our service is covered by most insurance companies. Email: doctor@planet.nl or call 0204275011 / 0627235380(mob) Addres: 112 Bloemgracht & 30 Rapenburg

ECO CLEANING SERVICE We clean your home/school/office with eco friendly products (plant based, non-toxic ingredients) which are less damaging to you and the environment. Trustworthy, efficient, professional and reliable team. We clean just the way you want every time.

Please email us at greencleaners@hotmail.com.

Dec 9-14. Contact Shankari: chycentre@gmail.com: 020 77434 44 www.aofl.nl

OVEREATERS ANONYMOUSDo you have a problem with food? Maybe we can help.

English speaking Overeaters Anonymous meetings: Wed 19.00, Jacob Obrechtstraat 92; Thur 20.00, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 282A. For more info call 06 4874 9590 or 020TOP HAIRCOLOURIST Top 4083282.

Haircolourist,more than 15 AMSTERDAM-OSTEOPATH years of experience,at MacBack, neck or joint pain & tavishHairsaloninthePijp.Natrestriction? Sports injuy? ural highlights,(semiHeadaches? Poor Health? )tints,colour-changes,creativ Osteopaths treat a wide range colours.I’m also doing hairof complaints by accessing the cuts and makeup.Email:danielsmeets@yaho body’s own healing abilities using hands on therapy. Geno.com Mobil:0624137392 tle enough even during pregHELP WITH TAXES Help nancy. For more info view with filling in taxes, getting www.Amsterback in advance-paid taxes, damOsteopath.comorcall0643 getting registration at the city 666 756. administration, responding to official lettres in Dutch, open- SILENT RETREAT‘Iwilltreaing a bankaccount, help with sure this week as a beautiful postadressproblems,icanhelp gift’. A one week silent retreat you! References available. by the sea in Greece: for those Charge 15 euro per hour. whohaveaneedforinnerpeace and renewal. For people who adsl478392@tiscali.nl are in search of a more valid CAT AND PET SITTING 34- interpretation of their life and year-old woman who loves ani- work. More info on: mals likes to take care of your www.limnisa.com or ask for a pets during your holiday. I can brochure:043.4501978. pay a visit every day, give them food, love and attention. I also YOGACRUISE new dates take care of your plants, clean 2009.www.yogacruise.net

info and ask for Os, or Melchior.

EXCELLENT CLEANING I will happily clean your house and do ironing regularly or one off.I’m mid 20’s very energetic, eye for detail. 11 euros/hour.

I am looking for several extra hours cleaning work. tel 0642866533 email: alesya1981@hotmail.com

WINDSON DECORATORS Interior/exterior painting & decorating, flooring, carpentry, plumbing and gardening. For good British service and a free quote, contact Damien LapSTERLING PAINTERS Pro- worth: 0634792284 or by email fessional,experiencedpainters. at: windsorschildersbedriNo job too big or small. Need jf@gmail.com a spruce up before the Holidays? We can paint a room or RENO-BOUW-RAJCZYK your entire home. Please email HOUSE RENOVATIONS! Do for estimates sterling- you need cost-effective and high-quality full house renopainters@gmail.com. vation? Professional, experiBOOM RESTYLING enced and with excellent refwww.boom-restyling.com, Our erences. Online links to past web-site about restyling and projects. Call now and ask for decoration. If you are inter- appointment: 06 4451 7410 or ested contact us from there. 029 42 66 585, www.renoREPAIRING Washing bouw.nl, karol-rajczyk@hotmachines, dryers and dish- mail.com washers. All brands. No visit- DECORATING ? Need help ingcostscharged.REPARATIE, on a remodeling or decoratwasmachines, drogers en vaat- ing project for your home or machines. Alle merken. Geen office? WE CAN HELP! We take voorijkosten. Tel. 0643404534. care of the whole process from TEGELZETTER/TILERquilified wall/floor tiler from uk,seeking work. All holland considered call daniel on 0681703464

sits. Discover your personality and the details of it. Know your weak points and your strong points. Have your forecast for every day for the whole year or for several years.

OVEREATERS ANONY- 0617497681.

MOUSDo you have a problem PSYCHIC CONSULTANTStop with food? Maybe we can help. walking around in circles. The English speaking Overeaters difficulties that you are expeAnonymous meetings: Wed riencing are in reality your life’s 19.00, Jacob Obrechtstraat 92; lessons. Learn how to take posThur 20.00, Nieuwezijds Voor- itive advantage out of them! burgwal 282A. For more info Interested? Learn more at call 06 4874 9590 or 020- www.martin-van-der-velde.nl 4083282.

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU BACKPROBLEMS Neck Moved to Amsterdam and problems, legs lenght differ- brought a shadow with you? We ence - get relief with the are qualified, experienced and Breuss_Dorn method gentle professional English-speaking correction. 06-31334662 therapists. We help with anxwww.sundaritherapy.nl iety, depression, phobias, low RECONNECTION Recon- self-esteem, addictions, eatnective healing - a life chang- ing disorders and trauma. ing experience tuning your info@nextsteptherapy.nl DNA strings with their origi- 0204651063 nal blueprints. 06-31334662 www.nextsteptherapy.nl KvK www.sundarutherapy.nl No 34300550 SOUL CONNECTIONBe connected with your soul and its purpose, stop going round in cirlces, gain a deeper satisfaction in life www.soulliberation.com

PROXTREME -Enhance weight loss! Increase ratio of lean muscle mass! Provide enzyme support! Reduce fatigueandpost-exerciserecovery time! With this multi-protein formula. 25 grams of high quality protein per serving with only 2 grams of carbohydrates!

Normal price 76,35 NOW 50 Call 0612261214/0612475646

EXPAT MEDICAL CENTRE Expat Medical Centre offers medicalserviceinyourownlanguage by experienced registered professionals dedicated to meet your needs. Located in central Amsterdam, we offer Doctor service, Physio & Psycho therapy, etc. Register or book an appointment at: expatmc@planet.nl WINSPA BEAUTY LINE - 0204275011/0627235380 wipe away the signs of aging! AYURVEDA FREAKS! With Rejuvenate your youthful the Xmas holidays and the end appearancenaturally!Topqualof the year approaching, it’s ity, clinically proven biologitimetospoilyourselfwithawell cal products! No needles, no deserved authentic Ayurvedic surgery, just results! More info massage. GIFT VOUCHERS http://thewinspacollection.co ARE AVAILABLE! For more m/ Special Christmas prices! information on treatments and Call 0612261214/0612475646 prices please check out: ASTROLOGYCHARTSAstrol- www.ayurvedafreaks.net ogy Charts. Birth Chart. Pro- Email: info@ayurvedafgressions, Solar Returns. Tran- reaks.net

More classifieds on www.amsterdamweekly.nl/classifieds

TAEKWONDO LESSONSDiscover the world of the Korean Martial Arts through KAT Amsterdam.Taekwondoisadynamicsportteachingyoutobalance body and mind using various foot and hand skills. No previous experience needed. Join for the fun of the training. Visit http://www.katamsterdam.tk/ or email: sauhanwo@gmail.com

OPEN DAY FOR COURSES ON TUESDAY 16 DEC. AT 6.30 PM. www.ilcielo.org or 0630049738

HEALING MASSAGEDo you need to relax? Are your muscles aching? Valentina Ritter is an experienced massage therapist working with relaxation massage, joint release, holistic pulsing, classical swedish massage and aroma therapy. NO SEX Introduction QUANTUM TOUCH Bring massage one hour 40. 06your body into contact with its 19003935 www.anantya.nl natural intelligence and start HOME healing from backache, neck complaints and much more. IMPROVEMENT REGISTERED QUANTUM TOUCH PRACTITIONER in TIME OUT OFFERTime Out A’dam gives hands-on healing, hasarrivedinAmsterdam!Subfrom 40 per hour. www.quan- scribe today with our special CLEANING/IRONING Flex- design to completion to make tumtouch.com, practitioners, introductory offer: 12 issues ible,experiencedandeasygoing it as smooth as possible for SharonFenn:06-57561965,zan- for ? 12. Go to www.time- coupleislookingformorehouse you! Please call us at outamsterdam.nl ima@xs4all.nl. cleaning and ironing work in 0645662160 or check our website, www.harlingtonhouse.

REIKI HEALINGAreyoufeel- GENERAL CONTRACTOR amsterdam/amstelveen ing low in energy or out of bal- Renovation, restoration, new area.We have nice references com for examples of what we construction from plans to finand our work is fast and good can do! ance? A Reiki treatment helps to restabilize your energetic ish. 28 years project mgmn’t with a genuine price.Speak exper. in NL, France, Spain COMPUTERS english/dutch.tel:0643658000 system on an emotional, physical and spiritual level by send- and USA with large and small PAINTINGProfessionalPaint- PC HOUSE DOCTOR PC ing healing energy to the body. projects. www.marcchar- ing and Plastering 25 years HOUSE DOCTOR Specialise Contact: Anouk Lambrechts trand.com tel. 0650402104 experience for estimates and in virus/spyware removal, h/w, (Reikimaster), 06-52305738, INT/EXT,DECORATING advice please call 06 232 459 s/w repair, data recovery, wireInterior+Exterior Decorat- 57 info@allesisenergie.com, less, cable/ADSL installation ing+Renovation, for Homes, www.allesisenergie.com and computer lessons from Shops, Offices, Restaurants, HOME PAINTERHighlyQual- friendly and experienced MASSAGE Canal Boats/Houses etc , no job ified home improvement Microsoft professional for reapainter is up for new jobs, withIRON JOHN Different full to big or small, very experiin Amsterdam. For all your sonable price. Contact Mario: body massages for men, after enced and creative crew, free doors, in and out of home paint 06 1644 8230. sports, chakra’s healing and estimates and advice, for more jobs. Call 06-55568029 for more BASIC MAC HELP NEED info please call 020 330 2634 tao erotic. Check the ‘menu’ at http://massagenl. spaces.live.com or call 06-2022 4973 Francisco.

IL CIELO NEW STUDIO Opening 30 Nov. - 2de Hugo de grootstr.7 treatments:craniosacral,footreflex, ayurveda refund by health insurances.

Osho meditation,books, music,ayurvedic products.

Courses: craniosacral, massage, footreflex and more.

How to submit a classified ad • Submit classifieds at

www.amsterdamweekly.nl/classifieds

• •

Ads are free, space permitting Deadline: Monday at midnight

Amsterdam Weekly_18-31 December 2008

S E RV I C E S

page 31

WEEKLY CLASSIFIEDS HELP WITH YOUR MAC? Mac lover helps you with basic setups, minor trouble shooting, install, net-working, basic Mac lessons, setting up programs, MS Word, QuarkXpress, etc .Help with purchasing the right mac, call Sagar at 020 779 1926 sagar@basicmachelp.com COMPUTER PROBLEMS? Computer repair, hardware and software installation, virus and spyware removal, internet and network setup, data recovery, advice. No job too small. No repair no charge.

Call Michael 0614530493

COURSES

PHOTOGRAPHY Fashion, music, portrait and architecture. Check www.andresphotography.com contact me for info and details at andresinbox@gmail.com

MONTESSORI UNDER 3 New courses for toddlers and babies begin in mid-January.

Qualified Montessori teacher.

Small groups. Oud-Zuid. Classes in English and Dutch. We recommend registering now for 2009 courses and contacting us for a free trial session. www.jacarandatreemontessori.nl

LANGUAGES

LEARN ITALIAN! Italian native-speaker gives individual lessons either to adults or children.Flexiblehours.Theteacher is experienced. He has a University Degree and a Language Diploma. First meeting is for free. Call 06-25256811 BALLET LESSONS IN andreataeg@yahoo.it English. Children & adults, PUBLIC SPEAKING be beginners to professional. empowered to speak with ease Courses for teachers. Amster- in public, enhance your cordam South location. tel 020 porate presentations, inspire 6442431 with confidence. www.thesDRAWING AND PAINTING peaker.eu Weekend workshops by pro- LEARN ITALIAN!! Italian fessional and experienced native-speaker gives individual artist, various techniques, all lessons either to adults or chilstyles, from scratch to paint- dren.Flexiblehours.Theteaching with oils. Reasonable rates. er is experienced. He has a Contact joneiselin@hetnet.nl. University Degree and a LanBLOW YOUR MIND! Award guage Diploma. First meeting Winning Amsterdam based is for free. Call 06-25256811 glass blower will teach you the andreataeg@yahoo.it art of glassblowing, Flame- EXCELLENT DUTCH working,orbeadmaking.Small GROUP & PRIVATE LESSONS class size Catch a Fire! A’DAM:proficiency in converInfo@studiotermini.com. 06- sation with solid base of pro29-289-453 nunciation,spelling&gramLEARN DUTCH IN 6 WKS mar/Beginnergroup

contactar con gente dinamica que le guste la hosteleria.

Preferencias espaniol o italiano, para poder ponernos de acuerdo juntos y de ahi buscar ideas y sitio (mejor con experiencia en abrir un local). violetitas2006@hotmail.com

PORTRET ARTEver thought of having a portrait painted of your baby or child? Working from a photo in acrylic on canvas. Prices varying from 150 euros onwards. For examples and information please email me at vanyavanwalsum@yahoo.com

PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE Starting onJanuary 22nd atthe ABCTreehouseGalleryinAmsterdam. Learn the basics about composition, lighting, framing and angle of view. Any type of camera can be used, digital or film. for more information, pleasecontact:patricia@patriciaribas.com

INVESTMENT FOR LIFE! Want to raise confident kids, ready for the real world? Learn how kids will listen and get responsible without you using anger or powerstruggles! Love and Logic makes parenting easier and more fun! 5 wk course, investment for life!

More info-contact: marit- ENGLISH WINE COURSES brouwer@hotmail.com, ph On 12 and 13 January 2009 Le Cordon Bleu starts the new 0636313716 Wine Course Program on a JEWELLERY LESSONS Basic and an Advanced Level!

Jewellery lessons in profes- Join the fun! Location: La Cuisional jewellery workshop, sine Francaise Herengracht design and technique, tra- 314 in the Center of Amsterditional to experimental. dam. Prices from 299 More Bauhuis in OT 301 Overtoom info on: www.lacuisinefran301 contact:suzisuper- caise.nl 020 6278725 glue@gmail.com LEARN ITALIAN!! Italian native-speaker gives individual lessons either to adults or children.Flexiblehours.Theteacher is experienced. He has a University Degree and a Language Diploma. First meeting is for free. Call 06-25256811 andreataeg@yahoo.it

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Intensive course Dutch for beginners starts Januari 12. mo-fri 10.00-12.00, six weeks.

Price: 720,- See www.nedles.nl - NedLes, Dutch for professionals - for more information

Mon/Tues/Thurs/19:0021.00/start 12-01-09/ 12,00 ph,/Also private:from 16 p.h.,Also private intensive courses and on-line( audiovisual) 0636122870/www.excellentdutch.nl LEARN ITALIAN!! Italian native-speaker gives individual lessons either to adults or children.Flexiblehours.Theteacher is experienced. He has a University Degree and a Language Diploma. First meeting is for free. Call 06-25256811 andreataeg@yahoo.it ENGLISH LESSONS ENGLISH LESSONS offered by a qualified T.E.F.L teacher(native tongue).For all students seeking to learn and improve their english pronunciation,grammar, conversation + general language skills,(inc.buisness english) , verycompetativerates,formore info please call 06 232 459 57 RUSSIAN LESSONS Professional Russian Language lessons with native speaker in Amsterdam. If you are interested, please contact me by 0031681172324 or by mail samir84@tlen.pl FRENCH TRANSLATOR? Mother Tongues is looking for a native French speaker who translates from English to French. Please e-mail us your CV at info@mothertongues.net.

*DRUM LESSONS*TimCampanella Drummer, Teacher, gives drum lessons to students of every levels and ages. The main goal is to have fun!The lessons will be held at the Conservatorium and are charged 20 euros/hours. The first hour INTENSIVE DUTCH is 10 euros. timerzoum@hotCOURSES at JOOST WEET mail.com HET! Classes 4 times per week during 4 hours. Good teach- GUITARLESSONS Guitarers, fun classes and energet- and Basslessons at your place! ic athmosphere. Small groups, Electric & acoustic (incl. classical & flamenco) Also -songpersonal approach with writing -vocalcoach-musicemphasis on conversation. theory. All levels . Djjaz2,3,4 and 8 wks courses. Price: zcat@gmail.com E 8 /hr. Visit www.joostweethet.nl email: info@joost- DRUM LESSONS!!Studywith weethet.nl tel: 020-4208146 experienced professional.

Reading and rudiments to rock EXCELLENT DUTCHGroup and roll. Beginners to working lessons in Amsterdam&Rand- drummers. Call Jack on stad-PROFICIENCY in con- 06.1707.8673 or email versation with solid base of drumdempsey@hotmail.com. pronunciation,grammar & PIANO TUNERPiano tuning, spelling–Beginner:every Fri., regulating, repairing, voicing, 19:00- 21.00, start 03-10-08/ etc.,byspecializedTuner-Tech12,00 p.h,small groups. Also nician from Chappell private: 16p.h,private inten- pianoforte manufacturers of sive and on-line, 06-36122870, London. Former piano tuner www.excellentdutch.nl to London Symphony OrchesFREE E-BOOKWhy you hate tra. All brands of pianos. learning Dutch and 7 secrets 0617497681. to change it. Grab your free GUITARIST OFFERSGuitar e-book at www.talencoach.nl lessons for ALL levels (Jazz, Brasilian, Funky, Folk, Pop ), MUSIC group coaching, workshops, FEMALE MUSICIANFemale improvisation, composing, keyboard/piano player for a accompany in different music recording project. if interest- styles, music harmony, ear ed contact/sms Mike training and solfege. All of that and much more from experi0657623435

LEARN SPANISH!! Argentinian native-speaker gives individual lessons Esther to adults or children. Flexible hours. First meeting is for free. Call 625410278 guilledosko@hotmail.com

Find what you are looking for: www.amsterdamweekly.nl

enced international performer and teacher. Tel: 06-29564595.

PIANO LESSONS Pianostudio Groenburgwal offers professional piano teaching in the center. Openings are daytime for adults and after-school for children. All levels and backgrounds welcome. Husband and wife team with 10+ years expat experience. Lessons available in english and dutch. l.willems@scarlet.nl

40 VERDIENEN...?Vooreen onderzoek naar luistervaardigheid zoeken wij deelnemers: • Moedertaalsprekers v.h.Nederlands(20-35/60-75jr).

•Tweede-taalsprekersv.h.Nederlands (20-35jr). Iedereen met een goed gehoor mag meedoen! INFO EN AANMELD3D GRAPHIC ARTISTLook- ING: www.hum.uva.nl/stilis, ing in Amsterdam for other 3d stilis-fgw@uva.nl, 0205254614. graphic animation artists to UGLY OBJECTS?Anyone livexchange tips and material.I ing or working in/close to Red am a professional user of Maya Light Districts is invited to suband I would like to work with mit an ugly handheld object to other people on big animation be ‘beautified’ by an artist. If projects and create a stable you own an ugly object but have group of artists involved in the not had the heart to throw it graphicanimation,editing.conaway, BRING it to OUDEKtact:nicolap@email.com ERKSPLEIN 4 on December PHOTOGRAPHY Fashion, 14-15, 10-20:00. More info at music, portrait. Visit UGLYOBJECTS.COM www.andresphotography.com GROUPS & contact me for info and rates at andresinbox@gmail.com CLUBS

PHOTO PROJECT: NAMES For an art project we are looking for men with these names: Eduard, Richard, Anton, Gerard and Theodor. Picture taken in the street in Jordaan Sat. 29th of november, takes only 1 hr.Fordetails:laurence@aegertDRUMMER EXPERI- er.nl. Pictures on show in AmsENCED Looking for band, terdam gallery this January.

Indie,Rock,Britopop but no www.laurenceaegerter.com cover bands. Influenced bu Rick Butler (Jam), Paul Cook BLOW YOUR MIND! Award (Pistols), Kieth Moon, John Winning Amsterdam based Bonham. Mail to Stuart, glass blower will make what dodgy_dundee@hotmail.com everyoudesirewhileyouwatch!

LEARN SAXOPHONE...flute Ornaments, Marbles, Smokor clarinet from a pro; first les- ing devices, lab ware and Cusson is free! I’m a professional tom Adult Toys. Privet and disAmerican saxophonist that creet. Catch a Fire! Info@stuhas taught music at several diotermini.com.06-29-289-453, international schools. I love LOOKING FOR teachingandcanexplainmusic in a fun way that makes sense CO WRITER Think you have tothestudent.Englishonly.For the talent to write a script? more info: johndikeman.com Did you grow up in the US (60’s70’s). Have you been brought 0614221682 upinahouseholdwhereinflickTHE ARTS ting severe guilt was the parTHIEVING MAGPIE BOOK- enting tool of choice. I need STORE A writer is somebody somebody to bounce things off for whom writing is more dif- of that has the same sence of ficult than it is for other peo- humor. Please contact me at ple.’—Thomas Mann The 0647760677 Thieving Magpie Bookstore 1e SOCIA/A ECONOMICOpara Bloemdwarsstraat 151016 KR realizarydesarrollarunproyecAmsterdam www.thieving- to de una cafeteria. Me gustaria

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Amsterdam Weekly_12-18 June 2008