Daily DIScription

I just realized that in exactly a week I'll be on a plane heading back to Portland. I'm so not ready to face that future. I am looking forward to seeing some people but I really need a little more time in Antwerp, say 2-3 years.

Today is also my last full day at work. Tomorrow I will go to Bruges to visit the main designer behind Theo, Patrick Hoet. I'm also going to check out the fine art museum to see a Hieronymus Bosch painting (I've never seen one in person). I normally am not too interested in historical paintings but in this case I'll make an exception. I also found out that there are some Bosch paintings in Antwerp, so I'm going to see if I can fit them into my schedule.

Yesterday I got paid and made my first purchase for Fall/Winter 08-09. I bought a beautiful black pleated shirt with a collar that disappears into the neckline (hard to describe), a silk scarf with a floral print that was sort of the signature print of the season and a purple long sleeve thin cotton shirt with the word Heaven printed in black on the front.

Today I got a call saying my glasses are finished and ready to be picked up. I'm really excited! I've wanted these since April and I've been looking for a thicker pair of glasses for awhile. Too bad I could get two pair and turn one pair into sunglasses.

Friday I head to Bristol, England to visit some friends. I may not post anything else until I get back to Portland. It all depends on my internet access in the coming week.

06 Augustus 2008

05 Augustus 2008

DIScourse - Countdown Begins

I've been in Antwerp for about 11 weeks now and I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I only have 9 more days left in Europe and a few of those will be spent visiting some friends in Bristol, which I'm really excited about but I'm really not ready to go back to the States and I'm not ready to face the possibility of not being able to come back to Belgium to live and work. However, I am ready to see friends and family. I'm also ready for a burrito, dancing and riding my bike.

This weekend I was planning on going to Bruges (or Brugge in Flemish) but the weather wasn't cooperating and I was informed at work on Friday that I could take a few days off during my last week at work. So, I think I'm going to try and go to Bruges on Thursday instead.

Friday at work I was was also told that there will be some discussions at the end of August (when the owner of the company will be back from vacation) about my future with the company. This could include everything from getting an offer to come back to Antwerp and work full time at the company, to a freelance position or possibly a thank you and good luck. So, it's still very much up in the air. The main issue seems to be that my lack of knowing Flemish makes me an outsider and possibly makes it uncomfortable for my coworkers. Of course everyone can speak English here, but normal office conversation is in Flemish so I miss out on most small talk/gossip/etc. I've also been told that even if I spoke Flemish my accent would be strong enough that people would prefer to speak English to me, it would give me a better understanding of the day to day life here though. If I am offered a position I am planning on enrolling in a Flemish course.

On Friday we also received the new buffalo horn glasses in the office, which I saw in April when I was in New York, and which I wanted since I saw them. We received 4 styles in 6 colors per style and I helped to check them in (making sure they were made correctly and not warped). So, I found the style that I liked the best and narrowed it down to two colors and was going to ask the owner on Monday if I could get a pair at cost (normally employees get two free pair a year). However, since I found out the owner was leaving for Spain after work I had to ask him directly. To my surprise, he offered to let me have a pair for free, and I said I'd get the lenses done at his shop in town. This morning when I got into work I decided on the color and then went through the frames and made my final selection. Since horn is a natural material the color and grain varies from frame to frame, sometimes drastically. I'm going to go to the opticians during my lunch break, but here are the frames I picked out:

Saturday was the first day of the fall collection at the Ann Demeulemeester shop in town and a day that I had been looking forward to since I found it would occur during my stay in Antwerp. The collection is fantastic and as always has a lot of black in it but there are a lot of purples, earthy greens and pinks in the collection as the main print for the season is a photograph of dried hydrangeas from her garden. The store opens at 10:30, but I didn't want to be the first person there, since I've already spent too much time in the shop, so I decided to go at noon.

When I got to the shop I went upstairs to where the men's collection is, along with some of the women's. I started at one end of the rack and worked my way to the other (maybe 10 meters) and to my surprise and disappointment there were no coats, jackets, vests or cardigans in XXS or XS. There were some t-shirts, shirts and pants in XS but the selection was very limited. Of course not everything has arrived but what was in the store was the majority of what would be in. Very disappointing and one of the few times that I wished I was just a little taller and bigger. I would have a much bigger selection if I was a size S (38 US) and wore size 8-9 shoes instead of size 7. I did end up trying on some shirts and pants and then found out that there would be at least one XS suit jacket coming in later this week. I also found out that they sold two XS jackets before I got to the store (damn!), I didn't ask which ones since that would probably be torturous. In the end I did find some nice things to add to my waredrobe and now I'm just waiting to try on the jacket when it comes in, hopefully it will fit.

Sunday it was raining off and on all day and I was felling a little down and unmotivated. I was going to get a drink with a coworker but it fell through. Around 8pm I decided to go for a walk, since it's my last weekend in the city. I ended up walking around for a little over an hour before heading back to the apartment.

Now it's Monday and I only have a few things to do at work this week. I'm looking forward to having a couple days off and looking forward to going to England again (I hope the weather will be better there). I really can't believe I have to leave in just a few days. It feels like I've only been here a month.

DIScourse - Antwerp

Antwerp, BVBA 32

Antwerp, Ogre Statue at the National Shipyard Museum

Brussels, View from the Wiel Museum

Brussels, The Original Maison Martin Margiela boutique

Antwerp, Kulminator sharing a Kasteel beer from 1989.

Here are some photos from the past weekend. The weather was finally looking like summer which was a real relief after all the grey skies and rain.

A longtime friend was visiting from Vienna so the weekend was more active than usual. Not long after I got off work my friend got in so I met him in front of the train station. We walked back to my apartment and then walked to a few shops before meeting up with a mutual artist friend (and a friend of his that I'd met before) for drinks at Berlin which is a little restaurant/bar that I'd been meaning to go to. After our friends left we walked to Kulminator to continue drinking in the sun. Since my friend and I met nearly 19 years ago in the fall of 1989 I decided we should try having a beer from that year. After scanning the extensive menu I found an '89 Kasteelbier that we decided to get not realizing it was 12% alcohol. It was a rich brownish auburn and almost like a liquor in taste. Very smooth and heavy. Since it was so warm out we ordered a couple other blonde beers to keep us refreshed while we sipped the Kasteel. Somehow we managed to walk home and make it up the stairs to my apartment.

Saturday I woke up not feeling so hot and saw a half eaten sandwich on the table next to my bed. I suppose I needed a snack when I got home the night before since I hadn't had dinner after work. After a somewhat slow start my friend and I made it out of the apartment and to a shop we had been to the day before so my friend could buy a hat that he had tried on (his first hat in years). We walked around town a bit and to a couple other stores then headed to the train station so we could check out Brussels.

In Brussels we went to a few shops that we had wanted to check out before they cleared out all the sale stuff (Saturday was the last day of sales at most shops). I was extremely lucky and found a pair of summer boots in my size that I had been wanting, along with a new button up shirt at Stijl. I actually found several shoes that I wanted to get but I'm really looking forward to the fall collection and need to save some money for its arrival in the store. We made our way to the Hoet optical store (Hoet is owned my the main designer of Theo) to look at the Hoet line of frames and so I could introduce myself. We then went to a cafe for an afternoon drink and stopped into a gallery to check out a small group show.

We then caught a cab to the Wiels museum where the Mike Kelley retrospective was that had been recommended to us. The museum is in an old brewery and is on the edge of Brussels. The show covered three floors and was a really great overview of his work complete with sculptures, paintings, videos, music, sketches, and photographs. When we were done at the museum it was getting close to 7:0o so we walked to the Brussels south train station and caught the next train back to Antwerp.

Back in Antwerp we dropped our things off at the apartment and then walked to the city hall neighborhood for some pizza and people watching. After pizza we walked around for quite awhile. We picked up some bicycles from my office and took them back to my apartment then sat on the balcony and had some beer while listening to music. Later in the evening we went for another walk before heading home.

On Sunday, after we got up we had coffee and got ready for the day (me in my new boots, my friend in his hat). It was super sunny and warm. After leaving the apartment we went to le Pain Quotidien (daily bread) for a light lunch. We then wandered around the city stopping for beer later in the day near the Demeulemeester boutique (which is closed until the 2nd). After having a drink we went to the MuHKA (the modern art museum) to see the group show that was going on Die Lucky Bush, which turned out to be a great show and also included some Mike Kelley pieces. It's funny that I've been in Antwerp for 2 1/2 months and for some reason never new about MuHKA.

After leaving the museum we headed back to my apartment for a brief rest before getting on our bikes and riding to the suburbs to see and take photos of Ann Demeulemeester's le Corbusier house. We rode around some more and then took the bikes back to the office before heading back to the apartment. I was going to cook Japanese curry that another friend had sent me but the gas was out on my cooktop, so we ended up just having a cold dinner which was fine since it was so warm out. We sat on the balcony and listened to music while eating, drinking and people watching.

We then decided to head back out on the town for some more people watching and a beer at one of the many outdoor cafe's. It was already past 10pm but there were crowds of people out eating and drinking still. We went to the Pelikan Bar and had a La Chouffe as we talked and watched people walk by. We kept seeing flashes of light every 10-15 minutes and assumed that it was coming from the outdoor concert that was happening nearby but as the flashes increased we realized a storm was coming. So around 11:30 we headed back to the apartment. About ten minutes after we got in the first rain drops fell. We sat at the balcony doors watching the lighting and rain until the wind picked up enough that we closed the doors. It was a huge electrical storm that also created some of the heaviest rains I've seen in Antwerp. It was still raining when I fell asleep.

DIScourse - Antwerp

Dear Readers,

I recently realized that I only have four more weeks to spend in Antwerp and I've been terrible at keeping up to date on my blogs. I have yet to find a cafe or bar with free wi-fi, although admittedly I haven't been looking hard. I have noticed a lack of people using laptops around town and coming from Portland that seems strange.

Anyway my last "real" post was about my trip to Amsterdam, which was over a month ago. I'm going to attempt to give a brief overview of what's happened since then, a difficult thing for me since I tend to give pretty detailed information on things.
























My work life here isn't much different than it would be in Portland, so I usually don't have much to say about Mon-Fri 8:30-5:30. I'm enjoying working at Theo though and am hoping to work here for at least the next couple of years. After I got back from Amsterdam, most evenings I watched Waltz which was a Dutch miniseries based on a traveling circus and the family that runs it (it's nothing anything like Carnivàle). The series was being rebroadcast for the first time since it's debut in 2006 and features a soundtrack by John Parish.

The weekend after my trip to Amsterdam was the student fashion show for the Royal Academy of Arts Fashion Show 2008. The Friday before the show I got my hair colored (and now I'm about to get it cut and colored again).

Saturday afternoon was the awards lunch for the fashion students which we (Theo) got an invitation to. It was raining in the morning but I decided I couldn't pass up the chance to maybe run into some fashion folks. Also, since Theo produced glasses for a couple of the students I thought I would at least have someone to talk to. No one else from Theo showed up for the awards, but I immediately recognized Dries Van Noten when he came into the space. Of course Walter Van Beirendonck was there (he's running the fashion dept. now).

My first time in Belgium I was a little disappointed to find that the Belgian fashion I love so much didn't seem to be as loved (or worn) by the Belgians. So, it was nice to finally see some people dresses in Belgian fashion as well. I saw a small group of people obviously dressed in Ann Demeulemeester clothing but I didn't see Ann at the event, and I didn't have to nerve to strike up a conversation. I just figured they all worked for Ann in some respect. I also saw a guy that I recognized from Demeulemeester's runways. It turns out that he is, David Flamee, the project manager of the Flanders Fashion Institute.

There was an interesting woman wearing a head piece which I later found out was Diane Pernet. I also saw a man that I think was Stephen Jones, as he was featured in the Fashion Show catalog and I believe his company produced some of the headwear the students designed (some of which were fantastic).

In the evening I walked back to the Hangar were the awards show was and met up with several people from Theo so we could see the final fashion show and attend the aftershow dance party. It was nice of Theo to provide tickets for any employee that wished to attend (which I was a little surprised it wasn't everyone). I can't really go into the details of the fashion show but it was a show for the first through fourth year students. Each year of students showed a range of clothing with the first year students showing, three pieces and the graduates showing about 12 full silhouettes including shoes, hats, accessories, make-up, etc... I was astonished at the amount of work produced by all the students. It made my feel that the Cornish interiors department wasn't so demanding. I didn't care for a lot of the clothing but some things were really great and a lot of the concepts were interesting. The show I felt was an overall success.























At the afterparty I ran into some friends I had made on my previous visit to Antwerp. I talked to some of my coworkers, danced a little (the music wasn't so good) but mostly I just walked around, drank and looked at people. I think I arrived back at my apartment around 3am.

The following week at work was pretty uneventful if I recall. I did finally contact Romy Smits, a Dutch designer living in Antwerp for the last 14 years or so and on Friday, July 20 I met her at her studio. We talked for about an hour and she gave me a little background on herself (she worked for Dries Van Noten for 8 years) and the design community in Antwerp. She also introduced me to Roland Maas who was finishing a collaborative video for London Fashion Week. It was nice talking about design/art/fashion as well as getting more information about Antwerp in general. I was feeling really inspired by the time I left Romy's showroom.

On Saturday I finally went shopping at the Demeulemeester boutique! I ended up getting a great pair of printed pants and my first pair of Demeulemeester sneakers (which were off season and the last pair happened to be my size). Sales don't start until the first of July but I ended up getting a discount on my pants as well since I'm obviously a fan of clothing, and I recognized the woman that I purchased things from on my first visit in 2006.

Saturday night I went dancing at Pier 19 which hosts a party once a month. They tend to play more alternative rock and new wave-ish stuff. I arrived around 11 and returned home around 4 am. I was the only person dancing to a few songs at the beginning of the night which was a little awkward given the layout of the space (not designed for dancing) but who ran listen to Red Right Hand and not dance? Obviously a lot of people, but not me. Anyway, people finally did start dancing. I got approached about where to buy drugs and then realized I was wearing my white pants again. Apparently drug dealers wear white. Attention drug dealers: Don't wear white if you want to avoid getting singled out by police. I also was told I was beautiful, which is always nice, but it would be great if it was by a woman for once.

Sunday I walked and rode around the city. I also went to the MoMu to see the Veronique Branquihno show which turned out to be excellent. Later in the day I finally got out my maps and rode my bike to BVBA 32 otherwise known as Demeulemeester's home and office/studio. It was only about a 20-25 minute bike ride and that includes stopping to look the map. The area she lives in is very close to an expensive part of town but her house (the only Corbusier house in Belgium) is between a open greenspace and an beat up apartment building on a small street leading to a less expensive neighborhood. I was happy to finally see the house in person though but the studio façade is covered in ivy so there's not much to see.

The following week I picked up my pants from the Demeulemeester shop (they had to be altered) and I ended up getting a black suede belt (to match a second pair of Demeulemeester shoes that I found on line along with a couple other things).

On Wednesday I met up with a good friend of a friend mine in Portland. The two haven't seen each other in 15 years or so, but they have kept in contact, so my friend thought her friend and I should meet. We meet up in Groenplaats and walked to a cafe near the Demeulemeester boutique for a drink. It was nice talking to an American that has lived in Antwerp for a few years (she married a Belgian) and could give me a little insight into this country.

I found out that a friend of mine, Carlos Aires, who I saw at the fashion show party was having a gallery show Thursday night so I went to the gallery after to see him again. The show featured three artists and Carlos, who I only knew worked in photography and video, was showing vinyl silhouettes made from recycled records, which were great. There was another artist at the show that covered one wall with large charcoal drawings. I ran into one of the fashion students that we had helped at the opening as well and it turned out he also knows Carlos (Antwerp is a small city). I did manage to strike up conversations with a few people which is good and doesn't happen nearly enough.

I didn't really do anything over the weekend except hang out in my apartment, ride my bike, walk around and watch television.

The next week I found out through a friend on mine in the Netherlands that there was going to be a minimalist electronic music performance by Phill Niblock (a pioneer in minimalism) on the following Friday. On Wednesday I went back to Demeulemeester for the start of the official sale and I found a pair of pink-ish corduroy pants and a black cotton v-neck sweater which were both from past season so they were 70% off. I also saw a great off-white leather jacket that I was seriously considering but int he end decided against it. I am definately going to have to ship some things back to the states before I leave since there is no way everything will fit in my suitcases.

Friday evening, July 4, I rode my bike to 't Werkhuys in Borgerhout, a suburb of Antwerp, where the Niblock show was going to be. Like usual I was early and had to wait around for the doors to open. It was nice to get out to a different part of the city. The venue was pretty small but it was a nice change after the AB shows in Brussels. I expected a larger crowd as well but it always surprises me that there isn't a bigger audience for challenging modern music. Phill was joined by a few other musicians (electronic and acoustic) and was showing films from a small fishing village. I couldn't tell when the film was made but it looked like it was 20-30 old. After the show I waited around a bit to see if I could maybe introduce myself to Phill (he's known my friend in the Netherlands for years), but he was in conversation with other people and I was getting tired. I did manage to meet, Giles and Patries, the couple that run the space (and also know my friend).

Saturday I walked around the city some more and bought some socks. I picked up some old shirts from the Demeulemeester shop that were being altered for me and ended up coming out with a new shoulder bag, which I had almost bought in Tokyo in March, and I saw it again in NYC. Saturday night I made reservations for dinner at Den Arme Duivel, the restaurant that a coworker of mine works at on the weekends. The city is really getting busy on the weekends, with sales and vacations bringing in a lot of vistors. This was only my third dinner out in Antwerp as I'm still trying to adjust to the high restaurant prices (almost 2x as much as in Portland) thankfully tipping here isn't done much, or to the degree it is in the states. At dinner the couple sitting next to me started up a conversation. They were both from Amsterdam (the Dutch, I've been told, are more likely to chat with strangers). It was nice talking to them and they told me they thought I was probably Belgian until they heard me talk and then they could tell I just wasn't a typical American, which thankfully I am not.

On Sunday I rode my bike for four hours or so and eventually went back to Ann neighborhood to take photos of the Corbusier house (most of which came out really over exposed).























During the week I at work I continued to work on some frame designs as well as some stands and displays. I also finally met Patrick Hoet who is the original and main designer behind Theo.

Thursday night I didn't sleep well and on Friday I had to get up at 5am to catch the train to the Brussels National Airport for my flight to Vienna. I tried to pack as light a possible since I had to bring my dj-ing equipment.

I got into Vienna around 12:30 and was met by my friend. We took the subway back to his neighborhood and then I freshed up a little since Vienna was much hotter than Belgium and traveling always makes me sticky. I put on my new shoes (my third pair of Demeulemeester trainers that had been shipped to my friends house) and we went out for a walk. I took some photos and we went for an early dinner at a Japanese restaurant on the same block as my friends apt. bldg. After dinner we went back to the apartment and rested then got ready for our dj gig at FLUC, where we had dj-ed together in 2006. It was very warm out when we got to the club so we, along with everyone else, sat outside, drank and chatted. I met some more friends of my friend and some people I had met on previouse trips to Austria. There were actually 4 djs so we all took turns playing and late in the evening people finally started to dance. At 4am the bartenders were ready to shut down so they turned off the power to the stereo, which was a bad way to end the night. We hung around for another hour and caught the first subway back to the apartment.

Saturday we woke up a little bit late and then went to see a couple exhibits in the MuseumsQuarter. One show was titled PUNK and was about the punk movement in London, Berlin and New York. Overall I thought the show was good but there were a lot of people and bands missing. I also thought they could have made the show a little more punk. The other exhibit was on Derek Jarman and included many of his films and paintings/sculpture as well as a new biographical film on his life. This show was good but really required a lot more time than I had to spare. I am looking forward to seeing the biography on dvd at some point.

Saturday evening we went to a friends apartment for a rooftop bbq. However, by the time we arrived the sky was clouding over and thunderstorms were in the future. We started off the evening with some laundry as my friend's machine broke while we were washing some clothes.

The hosts of the bbq had a top floor apartment with some nice furniture and a great art collection. We spent a little time on the roof deck but then retreated inside when the wind started to pick up and the thunder was seen in the distance. We talked and drank and ate for several hours and were joined by a couple more friends. Finally, sometime after 1:00 (I think) we made our way back home.

Sunday we got up and had breakfast and looked through some slide film. In the afternoon we made our way to a grocery store that was open and then went back to our friends' apartment for a second bbq (since there was so much food left over from the previous night). This time we actually got to sit on the roof deck and enjoy the view while we talked.

Sunday evening my friend and I went to the Arena to see Patti Smith and her band. It was an open air show and was pretty crowded by the time we arrived. The concert was fantastic and she opened the set with Pissing in a River which was great. They also did a great cover of Smells Like Teen Spirit which was really powerful. It threatened to rain for most of the show but we had luck and were spared from another wet outdoor concert experience.

After the show we the friends we had met at the show (the bbq hosts) took a cab to Fluc for some more conversation and drinks. A musician I really like, FM Einheit was going to play that evening but we ended up leaving in time to catch the final train back into town.

Monday we got up and had breakfast. I packed my things up and then we headed off to a cafe. It was great being in Vienna again and I was surprised that it felt like a much bigger city to me than Antwerp. The buildings are all taller and more massive and the streets are wider. I don't think it's something I would notice except now that I've spent some time here I'm used to the size of Antwerp.























I returned home Monday evening and after going to the grocery store spent the resting and watching television. The weather here is a grey as usual. I'm really used to this type of weather being from the NW but it's July and this is getting tiring.

Tuesday was a pretty uneventful evening which was fine since Wednesday was the big Lou Reed BERLIN show at Bozar in Brussels. I was really looking forward to the show since I first got my ticket in May. Both the album Berlin and myself had release dates in 1973, so I sort of felt like this was a 35th birthday gift. After work I rode to the train station and caught an early train to Brussels. I was in the city by 7:00 and the show didn't start until 8:30. I picked up my ticket from the box office and then walked around a bit and went to a cafe for a beer. Around 8:00 I walked to the venue and took my seat. I was in row P seat 21, which is in the front section on the right side. I was maybe 15 yards away from the stage but I had a great view of Lou and the stage.

I was looking around the crowd to see if I'd recognize anyone, but I didn't. I was hoping to see Ann Demeulemeester at the show as she is a fan of his but I didn't see anyone I knew. The woman sitting in front of me was wearing a Demeulemeester coat though, which I thought was a good sign.

The band was introduced and came out along with a choir and a string and horn section. The sets were done by Julien Schnabel. The full Berlin set was performed and I was going to leave after Lou gave acknowledgements and left the stage but the lights didn't go on so I went back to my seat and about 10 minutes later the band was back on stage doing a cover of Satellite of Love, followed by Walk on the Wild Side and Rock-n-Roll then turned into a cover of another song. The band left again but came back for one final number.

After the show I ran to the station to see if I could catch an earlier train but missed it by a couple minutes, so I had some time to kill. You can drink in public, in the station and on the train Belgium, so I thought I'd take advantage of it. I walked to the city center and bought a Chimay (it had an unusual all brown label on it) and a water then walked back to the station. The last train from Brussels to Antwerp is at 23:35 (11:35PM) and is a local train which means it stops at every small village. I got back into Antwerp after 12:30 and rode my bike back to the apartment.

So now it's Thursday and the workday is nearly over. I got a package from my friend in Japan that I picked up at the post office during lunch. It will be nice wearing new pajamas and being able to make Japanese curry at home this weekend.

The square in front of my building is nearing completion which is great. The cafe seating areas have a lot more room now and aren't right up against the building. I'm anxious to see what will happen this weekend when the market opens.
























Tomorrow I have a hair appointment and then I'm going to Morstel Belgium to have a traditional Belgian dinner with my new American friend, her husband and sister.

Until the next time.

-Dustin

DIScourse - Amsterdam

It's been awhile since my last journal entry and a lot has happened so let me start with what went later in the day after my last entry, June 6. After work I rode my bike to the salon, STAN, and got my hair dyed. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it other than making it darker so I let the woman doing my hair sort of do whatever she wanted. We ended up going for a dark reddish-purple with the front part dyed black. It pretty much looks black unless I'm under a light or out in the sun. I was worried about missing my train to Amsterdam but I ended up getting out of the salon early.

I rode my bike to the train station and got my bag out of the locker then went to a cafe and had a beer before getting on the train. The train ride to Amsterdam takes about 2 hours and goes by pretty quickly. I just listened to music and watched the scenery go by.

When I got to Amsterdam I got a taxi and told him to take me to Hotel Europa 92 and showed him a print out I had. I had a bad feeling that something was going to happen but the driver seemed nice so I just got in the cab and looked at the city. We finally got to the hotel but it looked different (nicer) than the photos on the internet, so I asked if it was the right hotel and it turned out that he took to my Hotel Europe which is a different part of town. He reset the meter and we left. When we finally got to the correct address I paid the driver and gave a good tip and got my bag and as I was going into the hotel he said that I owed him another 10 euros for the ride to the first hotel. I refused saying it was his fault since I showed him the print out and he obviously didn't look at it, then went into the hotel.

I checked in, put my things in the room and walked to the Paradiso, hoping that I wasn't going to be late for the show. In true Dustin form I got a little lost and what should have taken me ten minutes took me about 30, but I made it in time for the show, in fact I was early. The Paradiso is a legendary venue and I was glad to finally see a show there. When I arrived there was a dj playing music and a few people milling around, but it wasn't as crowded as I was expecting considering it was premier of a new Ryoji Ikeda piece. After about an hour Ikeda was on stage and I was surprised to see that he looked younger than I was expecting. The music and video projections were fantastic! It's amazing how loud something can be and not damage your hearing when the sound quality is good. After Ikeda played Olaf Bender (aka BYETONE) went on stage and played an almost equally good set. Once the show was over the dance party started. Some of the crowd left while more showed up. I wandered around the venue a little and found another dance party going on the first floor (second floor) which I danced at a little. Getting back to the main floor I danced on and off for awhile and then headed back to the hotel.

In the morning I got up and dressed and went down stairs for breakfast. I then headed into town to finally do some shopping and sightseeing. I found my way to the 9 Streets (a famous shopping part of town) and wandered around until the stores opened and took some photos:

When the stores opened I made my way to Van Ravenstein which opens a basement sale room on Saturdays. I tried on some great Demeulemeester boots but the pair I really wanted was too large. In the end I got a black tank top with the AMOUR print on it. I talked to the sales associates and they gave me some ideas on other shops to look at, including telling me where the Droog shop was, since I couldn't remember from my last trip. They also told me about another shop, Frozen Fountain, which turned out to be great.

So I walked and walked and walked...

It is amazing how many bikes there are in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of bikes and all kinds of bikes: delivery bikes, bikes with kid baskets, old bikes, mountain bikes, tandem bikes, recumbant bikes, etc...

I ended up going to a shop, Ennu, that was recommended to me by the women and Van Ravenstein and found a new bag (my white leather bag is falling apart) and a scissor pendant that I had been wanting since the beginning of the season. The people in the shop were really nice and one of the owners was wear the Theo Brainwear frame, so I told them I was working there at the moment, to which they said "great, but you should move to Amsterdam." I've been told and I've noticed there is a lot of rivalary between Netherlands and Belgium.

After going to the Droog shop I stopped into a Smart Cafe and purchased my evenings activity, Philosophers Stones. I then did some more walking and eventually found my way to a bar called the Chaos Cafe, where I sat on a bench outside and enjoyed a La Chouffe while looking at a canal. I then headed back to my hotel and ate the Philosopher Stones along with some chocolate. The next 6 hours is hard to describe, but it was a trip.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling a little more tired than usual but got dressed, packed my things and had breakfast. I checked out, leaving my bag at the hotel, and walked around the city for about 4 hours, taking in the scenery, taking photos and finally stopping for a beer, Kwak, at a Belgian pub. I then caught the 2pm train back to Antwerp.

Daily DIScription

18/19 March 2008

• Black suede and white leather low top trainers (adidas)
• Black cotton denim jeans with white stitching (Demeulemeester)
• Black cotton long sleeve anti-logo t-shirt (Margiela)
• White on white cotton striped asymmetrical button up shirt with black dot print (Demeulemeester)
• Black cotton/rayon satin jacket with silver buttons (Demeulemeester)
• Black cotton tape wrap bracelet
• Silver "feather" cuff bracelet
• White on white automatic watch (Muji)
• Silver metal Einstürzende Neubauten pin (EN)
  
• Matte black asymmetrical frames (Theo)
  

17 March 2008

• Brownish grey suede oxfords (Demeulemeester)
• Brown, grey, black and white wool/silk tweed wide leg pants (Adam Arnold)
• Grey cotton long sleeve v-neck t-shirt with black wool collar and cuffs (Margiela)
• Black wool/ramie zip jacket with removable hood (Demeulemeester)
  
• Matte black asymmetrical frames (Theo)