Thoughts on the run

"Bara"

2009-11-01T20:39:00.007+01:00

The three big monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - share the same god (but with a different name), and of course also their basics. Most notably, they share the story about the creation of the world.

This story, although proven wrong by science, is still important to the people that believe in Genesis. Most people, with the exception of the creationists, won't take the story literally. However, its importance is in the fact that it shows that their respective god is all powerful. After all, creation of the world and the universe is not something anybody can do.

Of course, if this story would prove not to be true, there is a problem. First of all it means that god is not almighty. But perhaps even worse, it also means that there is some other mechanism that has created world. More specifically, it means that there may have been other gods that created everything.

When looking at Genesis, this is exactly what the Dutch professor Ellen van Welde has noticed. The details (in Dutch) can be found in her dissertation about Genesis. She proves that the sentence "bĕrēʾšît bārāʾ ĕlōhîm ʾet haššāmayim wĕʾet hāʾāres" should be translate not with "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth", but rather with "In the beginning when God separated the heavens and the earth...", the main difference being
in the word "Bara", which would not be "to create", but "to separate".

When this interpretation is proven correct, it means indeed that JHWH, God or Allah are not the almighty creators, but rather a winning god amongst others, and becoming the most important one. Interestingly, this seems indeed to be the case when you look into the history of Judaism (read the excellent book A History of God by Karen Armstrong). Genesis for example shows to be the mix of two creation stories, both from another god: one named JHWH (or Jahweh), and another Elohim. But later, in Exodus, it is not only suggested, but also proven that the start of the monotheistic religions is based on multiple gods. The first commandment is "You shall have no other Gods before me". This sounds like there may be, or even are, others, but JHWH wants to be the first one. In the original text of Exodus, it even says further "You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, (...)". Now can this be any more clear? (And yes, people will argue that it means you should not worship idols, but just read Armstrong's book for good arguments.)

As you may know, I have nothing against people that use religion for their own spiritual life. But this shows that the foundations may be a little bit (well, a lot) more shaky than thought before. It means that any form of fundamentalism, from any of the big monotheistic religions, not only is dangerous, but even ridiculous.

We always get our sin

2009-07-13T16:54:00.006+02:00

Since I'm working in the IT, where English is the norm for communication, I had the advantage of having a lot of opportunities to learn English. For example, when working for IBM, my direct boss was British, and our manager there was American. A nice situation, where one gets to understand the subtleties between "American English" and "real English".

Unfortunately I had to experience that not everybody is so interested in Shakespeare's language, or perhaps just less gifted. This goes without any doubt for the French, but in equal degree for the Germans and Italians. Especially with the Germans I have some experience, as I've now been working with them for almost 10 years.

In Belgium it is impossible to imagine that you work for an international company, and that you engage somebody that doesn't speak a word of English. Yet, in "some" German companies - and I think this is not just the one I now but a more general issue - this regularly happens. What if this person needs to talk to colleagues in other places? Or, if his or her work needs to be shared by others? Unfortunately, this is reality.

You'd think that this is the worst that can happen. But no, it can still be worse. That is, when you have somebody thinking they speak good English, but instead it is Frenglish (English mutilated by ze French), Denlish (German English) or Dunglish (Dutch English). In all these kinds of English, there are some great examples to be found where people try to speak (or write) good English, but in fact say something completely different. Strangers say the darndest things, if you want to.

The Dutch indeed sometimes are such a people. They like to think they have such a good accent, and that they speak English so well. Well, they, they don't. If you want some great fun, check out the two books from Maarten H. Rijkens, called We always get our sin and We always get our sin too. The title of the book is such a great example of Denglish. "Sin" obviously means "sin", but some people my have it translated (incorrectly) from the dutch "zin", meaning "wat we want". So, the person saying "I always get my sin" thinks he's always getting what he wants, but says something completely stupid instead. Here are some examples from the (2nd) book. Note that you may only understand the original meaning when you speak Dutch.

A Dutch minister (1940-1945) after visiting the private quarters of King George VI at Buckingham Palace: May we thank your majesty for showing us your private parts?

How do you do and how do you do your wife?

I thank you from the bottom of my heart and also from my wife's bottom

A Dutch minister a few years ago after a very long meeting: We worked hardly

Recently, Guy Verhofstad to a German journalist (yes, Belgians can do this too): What for a question is that now?

It was a shot in the rose

Do these bottles have station money?

Do you have a bread rooster? I'd like some toast.

Where is the garden snake?

Thank you for your nice brief

After a nice dinner: May I see your cock please, I like to thank him for the lovely dinner

And finally for smokers: Can I do my ass in here?

There's much more of course, think of Balkestein talking about Europe and its golden showers, or somebody saying "I fock horses" (was it Dehaene?). But for the rest you'll have to check the books.

Check also Wikipedia for more examples, or here.

Original spam

2009-05-17T11:26:00.000+02:00

We all get spam from time to time. What I mean is the unsolicited mail of course, not the canned meat product. An annoying thing, responsible for a lot of lost hours for a lot of people, and also for 0,2% of the world wide CO2 emission, due to the power consumed when treating those mails.

Luckily there are some good tools to stop spam. In fact, the first one is the human factor. Spam exists only because some people, even if it's one out of ten thousand or less, actually buys a product advertised in a spam mail. If the senders of spam wouldn't get any money out of it, there would be no profit in sending it.

But other methods involve blacklisting, white listing, and more recently, greylisting. Blacklisting is not very efficient; it involves putting "bad" addresses on a list, and not accepting mail from those.

Up to white-listing then. It's good technique, where you only accept mail from people you know. The disadvantage is that you need to add users as soon as you want to receive mail from them, and you not always know their address.

What I am currently using is greylisting. With this method, the white-list is made automatically, so it is very efficient. However, you still need to check the spam folder to see if there are no false positives. Luckily, it is very simple to recognise spam. Just read the subject line, and you know it. Here's a list with recent spam subjects:

Female Odrgasm

Making a Female Orgasm is Essential Fpor a Healthy sexual Relationship

Makeing Txhe First Move - 1 Line That Works Every Time

Guide To Better oLve Making

Note the spelling errors, made in the hopes that spam filters that use filters with words do not notice them.

But his line really made me laugh, and you'll have to admit this usually is not something a spam aims at:

We do not have time to change subjects every day, please buy our productss

This really is what spam is about: sending e-mail with subject lines that might tempt people to open the mail and then click the link, so that in the end, they buy whatever product (Viagra, fake Rolex, ...) is actually advertised.

Happy 2761th Birthday!

2009-04-21T17:56:00.003+02:00

On 21 April, 753 BC, so goes the legend, Rome was founded. And this is celebrated every year in Rome. Today at 12 AM sharp, the bells from the city hall tower on the Capitol rang during 10 minutes to celebrate this event.

Of course it is more than likely that the story about the founding fathers, Romulus and Remulus, is only a myth. Still, no remainders older than from the middle of the 8th century BC have been found, so at least the date seems to be rather accurate.

And in case you wondered: 2009 + 753 is 2762, so why did I put 2761? Because the year "0" does not exist, of course.

New pictures!

2009-04-09T11:36:00.002+02:00

Well, new is not the right word. It took me very long time to publish some new pictures, but meanwhile they're already 3 months old. And because of their subject, they might not fit in this new season. But hey, I've been busy doing a lot of things, although I must confess that most of that was work (and of course also a little bit renovation).

There are two new albums in my photo section, while one has disappeared, or rather, absorbed in one of those albums.

The first album contains pictures of Mie and the kids enjoying the snow in the forest in our little village.

The second album contains the older black and white pictures I already posted before, but also some others which have not been published before. These are taken in the same forest on the same day as the other album.

Looking for your little corner

2009-02-15T15:50:00.003+01:00

Don't we all want our own little corner, where we can relax and do what we want? Away from busy life and interaction with other people? As adults, that may become a bit difficult sometimes, but children have this property to easily find such spot.

Zoë likes a lot to read. When she has a book that can grasp and hold her attention, it is almost impossible to drag her out of this world. This weekend she went for a sleepover with a friend, and today she came back with a book she hasn't read yet. It's one of her favourite series: Harry Potter. She started reading them some years ago, age 7.

The fact that she didn't even notice me taking this picture, considering it took a flash to get enough light, shows how much she's living in Hogwarts now!

Seven years of renovation

2009-02-14T22:21:00.005+01:00

About seven years ago we initiated a project that has taken all too long now. The concept of our house was what we call a bel-etage. In our case it meant the ground floor was just a garage and storage, while the living part was on the first floor. That contained the kitchen, living rooms and bedrooms.

That's all fine when it's just the two of you. But when the children came, we thought it would be nice to have access to the garden - at that time only concrete. So we looked around to see what we could do. Alternatives were to buy a new house, or to rebuild the one we were living in.

Finally we made the decision to have professionals redo the house, to get a living area with kitchen downstairs, and bedrooms on the first floor. An architect drafted the plans, and a renovation company started the work. Later stages included the terrace and the façades.

But one thing was done very badly. The floor on which we wanted to have the parquet done, was of very poor quality, as is evident from the picture.

It seemed the wrong materials were used. Unfortunately, the contractor did not want to continue and fix this, so we had to sue him, so at least we had financial compensation for that.

For some reasons, the other projects like the terrace and façade took priority. Probabaly also because it was easier to live with this floor than with a muddy space behind the back door. Another reason was that it is actually not easy to find somebody with the necessary skills. You don't need somebody that does floors only, nor do you need somebody that does parquet only. He has to do both.

But in November, we finally found somebody, and we had hopes the project would be finished by the end of last year. Unfortunately, the contractor got sick, so we had to wait. Then, when things finally were back on again, we went into some other trouble. The director of my bank seems to have the intelligent capabilities of an oyster. Whatever you ask him to do, even when it's written in plain Dutch, without using three-syllable words, he manages to screw up.

Now I'm not saying that it is symptomatic for that bank - although now I come to think of it, there must be a reason for their share being worth close to nothing - but I do seriously consider changing banks. At least I'm going to another branch, but it is a good time to change everything. We'll see.

Anyway, because of his latest screw-up, it means we have another week of delay. And that one week is rather crucial, since it means we can't use the holidays (Krokusvakantie) to clean up. To be honest, it is not only the bank who screwed up, our new contractors did too. But at least they were fair enough to recognise their mistake, and now we can finally start.

On Monday - if all goes well - the first stage kicks off. Then they'll be removing the sandy underground. After that, a new soil must be poured. And once that's dry, and according to schedule that should be next Monday, when the holiday starts, they can start putting the parquet.

Let's keep our fingers crossed! And of course, I'll keep you posted.

Amy, Amy, Amy

2009-02-09T21:18:00.004+01:00

About two years ago, a colleague of mine let me hear a piece of music that opened a whole new musical world to me. It may sound strange that I didn't know her before, but that is because I don't listen much to radio. The reason for that is my iPod, which is great to listen to the music you already know.

Anyway, the song I heard then, and listened to over and over again, was You know I'm no good, of course from Amy Winehouse. The song had such a drive, and the woman had such a voice, that I had to listen to it as much as I could. Two years later, it still is one of my favorite Amy songs.

Later I of course got to know the rest of the CD (Back to Black) as well, but You know I'm no good still is the best song of the CD for me. Sure, Rehab is not too bad. It has a catchy rythm, and easy to remember parts to sing along (who can forget the No, no, no). Also Back to Black and Tears dry on their own are songs that are more than the average.

Since discovering the song and the CD, Amy mainly has been in the news because of the negative aspects. She was drunk all the time, was on drugs, and even when performing she could be so far out that it wasn't always easy to understand her. Even during the television interview after her performance in Werchter, she appeared very drunk. It was even so bad, that you could bet on the exact date of her death, which seemed to be coming soon. Luckily it is not that bad yet, and there are signs of her getting better.

Because of the fact that the only news was not related to her music, and also because usually people only get better, I assumed that Frank, her first album and predecessor of Back ..., was perhaps interesting at best, but not worth investiging. Boy, was I wrong! Some weeks ago, I bought the recently released Luxe edition of both albums. It is a hard cover booklet with room for 4 CDs. There are the two regular editions, Frank (named both after her example Sinatra and after the adjective) and Back in Black (yes, I admit I only had a digital copy), and for each of the CDs the Bonus CD.

Frank contains only great songs. The best known probably is F*ck me pumps, which has a very catchy, albeit perhaps a bit too simple, melody. Also In my bed, Stronger than me, Know you now are more than worth listening too, some also for their excellent lyrics.

As for the bonus CDs, they could have been a risk, as they are for a lot of artists, but these truely contain gems. The demo versions are usually easily as good as the final versions, and show that Amy is not only a good songwriter, but also plays the guitar well. It also shows of course that she knows to pick excellent musicians, since the final versions are musically developed very well. But furthermore you'll also find excellent live versions of her songs.

I know some people (you know who you are!) that already know and appreciate Amy. But I also know some others that think Amy doesn't write her own songs, and therefore don't like her. A strange way of thinking, but in this case it's even not true. She truely is a great singer/songwriter, and may her bluesy, jazzy voice keep on singing for a great while.

Villa Grazioli

2009-02-07T22:22:00.005+01:00

Last January I made a trip to Italy. This was not the first time - and I hope it won't be the last time either. As you may have read already, I had the chance to get to know Bart, and in October, I could stay with him.

This time however he was out of the country himself, so I had to look for a hotel. One year ago we stayed in Hotel Flora in Frascati, a very nice and beautiful hotel. This time however, I decided to try the Villa Grazioli in Grottaferrata, a hotel recommended by a business partner.

It was built at the end of the 16th century by Cardinal Carafa, projected by architect Domenico Fontana. The villa was enlarged by the new property, the family Acquaviva of Aragon, of the House of Atri.

It is situated on a hill overlooking the ancient city of Rome, the sea and Tivoli.

In 1843 the Grazioli family bought the villa. In some rooms Agostino Ciampelli (1565-1630) pictured the villa with decoration works, the paintings show rural life and rustic scene. In the last years the new owners restored the building and turned it in an elegant hotel.

The Villa is a masterpiece of the 16th century art, history and culture, filled with magnificent works of art painted by Italian masters like Ciampelli, Carracci and Pannini.

And indeed it was a good tip! Even though traveling alone, I had a very nice trip. Not only because the business was successful, but also thanks to the hotel. It is very beautiful indeed. I did not stay in the main building, but in the guest house a bit further. But such hotel cannot afford guests to have to walk in the rain to the restaurant, therefore all buildings are connected via subterranean passages!

And even though the hotel is so beautiful, as well as the surroundings, the way the personal treats you makes it even better. From the lobby to the restaurant, service is excellent.

If ever you are in the neighbourhood - and you can spend the money - it absolutely is the place to go. Here are some views on the rooms in the main building.

Yes, I actually played this piano!

You of course can check out the website of the hotel for better pictures than these (but that is because I did not take my own gear, but a point-and-shoot digital camera).

This small movie shows most rooms in the main building. Of course these are the reception, lobby and others, not the guest rooms.

Happy Birthday!

2009-02-07T22:06:00.003+01:00

Today is the birthday of somebody special I admire. He was born exactly 100 years ago today. His father was a blacksmith. Daniel had three brothers and two sisters, and was to get one more younger brother later.

When he was five years old, the terrible tragedy, later named "The Great War" made his family have to leave all possessions behind, and flee to France. Being the youngest, he was lucky enough to go to school with his little brother Max. But not with the rest of the family, who was living near Paris. It was too dangerous, as the Germans bombed the environment with "Grosse Bertha"

After the war the family continued to live for a while near Paris, where Daniel practised his first trade; together with his parents, his sisters and some brothers he took care of the family business of herding the cows used for milking.

In 1923 his parents constructed two houses in Belgium, only to return to France in 1926. There his parents had a farm, where the reduced family (parents, Daniel and his brothers Max and Pol) lived untill 1931, when his father died. During that period, Daniel started working in the automobile sector. This was an emerging business, and he worked in different garages to learn the mechanics.

He took his mother back to Belgium, where in 1933 he erected together with his youngest brother Max his own garage on the premises of his oldest brother Gaston.

Starting with the modest Renault and Fiat, but in the beginning even doing bikes, he slowly grows and buys the houses around his business, untill the place really becomes too small. During the war his garage was claimed by the Germans, so during one of this very cold winters, when he was supposed to take care of the German trucks, he "accidentally" forgot that water could freeze. The Germans were not pleased with their trucks having broken engines, but luckily he survived.

In 1936 Daniel got married to Ghisele, and in 1937 they had their first child. The couple would be blessed with 6 more children of which one died at 3 weeks, the latest being born in 1948.

In 1954, the people hadn't forgotten about the war yet, he took the gamble to start with a German car: Mercedes. And it seemed to be the correct choice, his business would flourish untill his death. It allowed him to start some other businesses, some of which had a longer life then others.

Finally in 1974, at the age of 65, he finished his major work. He had finished building a new garage outside the city on a large ground. It would establish his name as a big businessman in the wide region. During the odd 20 years of the rest of his life, we would employ lots of people, sell lots of cars and trucks, and acknowledged for his work.

A year after his death in 1992, his sons would sell the garage, although 2 of the 3 would keep working there for a short while. In 2002, when nodoby of the family worked there anymore, the business Daniel Vanbiervliet erected 68 years before, would finish to exist.

Happy birthday, grandfather!

Requirem for a chicken

2009-02-02T22:44:00.007+01:00

On Saturday she was still alive. There was no sign of the imminent disaster. But on Sunday, when I came to clean the henhouse she was lying there, dead.

It of course came as a shock, because being a Malines (aka a Mechelse Koekoek or Mechels Hoen) it was such a big beast, not looking sick at all. The breed is also known for not being susceptible to disease. But perhaps it was a sign that next to her, there were 7 eggs, freshly laid. I can't imagine that this was the cause of her dead, but rather a last attempt to be productive.

Of course it would be unwise to eat those eggs - and the fact that it is freezing doesn't make it easier. When an egg is frozen, it's better to throw it away, because the shell is broken anyway (but doesn't leak (yet)).

But then of course the problem is: how to get rid of Obelixa (named by the children, not me!). A previous chicken was burried in the garden, in accordance to local law. That implies that you should dig at least half a meter, to avoid that animals dig the body up later. But since it is freezing, that's not an option either - apart from the fact that the cemetery now is used for breeding vegetables. So I wrapped her in a plastic bag, left it in the back of the garden, surrounded by some leftovers of wire-netting (very appropriate, as in Dutch that is kippengaas) to avoid that the cats, wild and domesticated alike, go play with her.

On Monday, I was able to check with the municipality to see what could be done. Finally, it seems I can have it picked up by a firm called Rendac. They come by and take the dead body away - for free. Alas, it takes a maximum of two working days, so yesterday evening I had to put her at the front of the house, hoping today they would come by. As you can guess, that wasn't the case yet, so let's hope they come tomorrow, and understand the use of the wire-netting!

Thanks Obelixa, for the eggs, for cleaning the garden, for keeping Asterixa company.

Rediscovering music

2009-02-01T21:56:00.003+01:00

Perhaps it is the age. Or the quality of my car audio system. Or maybe it's just considering that somebody working for a year or more on a project needs a compensation for that. But most likely, it is the fact that I have acquired - finally - some good hifi components.

I still can't listen to it at home because I still need to buy the speakers (who can give me good advise?). But in the car, I enjoy both mp3's and CDs. And with a good system, you hear de difference between CD quality and compressed audio.

So since some time, I am actually buying (or getting) CDs again, rather than finding them in the local library and ripping them. Of course that's still a possibility to get to know music. Even downloading is something that you could do if you want to get to know the music. The only thing is that you'd have to buy it afterwards.

And it is too bad that not all the music is available anymore. This weekend, for example, I checked for Soley from DobaCaracol, great World/Indie music I learned to know via a colleague of mine. DobaCaracol are a Canadian band having two female lead singers. As they are from Quebec, most of their music is sung in French, while some other seems to be sung in a made-up language (perhaps it is a local Indian language?) Unfortunately, none of the CDs - they have three in total - are available now. They are in between record companies, so nobody is currently printing their CDs. Too bad, otherwise I might have bougth their other CDs too.

Nevertheless, I bought 7 CDs recently (although only 3 albums really), about which I will tell you in one of my future items.

English

2009-01-30T22:05:00.004+01:00

After giving it many thoughts, I have decided to further try and publish in English. The trying part has nothing to do with English being too difficult. I'm used to writing in English for my job, so I do it a lot. Additionally, I like writing in English, although I do admit that writing in Dutch is a better excercise, as it is something I don't do that often (anymore). At least not when trying to put so much content in such a limited amount of words.

No, with trying I mainly mean: hoping I don't forget to do it! I am used now to writing this blog in Dutch, so when I have something in my head, it still may come out that way.

But then you may wonder why I now start writing in English. Well, that is because more and more people discover this blog. And some of those people do not understand Dutch. That is not too bad for the pictures I'm showing (off) occasionally, but for the rest they miss the content. Perhaps that is not important, but perhaps it is.

Of course I sincerely hope that writing in English does not mean I scare away some other people. But I'm sure they will let me know soon enough.

Rode handen

2009-01-21T21:00:00.002+01:00

In Afrika gebeurt het veel. Waarschijnlijk op andere plaatsen ook. Ik kan niets bedenken dat de mensheid lager doet zinken dan dit: het systematisch recureteren van kinderen om in te zetten als soldaten.

Niet alleen het simpele feit van kinderen te misbruiken om conflicten van volwassenen uit te vechten. Dat is al erg genoeg. Zo mogelijk nog erger is het feit dat de beesten die deze kinderen recruteren systematisch het menselijke uit hun slachtoffers halen.

Vanuit ons veilig nest kunnen we er niet veel aan doen, veel te weinig. Maar toch moeten we ons proberen in te zetten. Dat kan nog tot 31 januari, door Virtuele Rode Handen te zetten op de website van de Belgische Coalitie tegen het Gebruik van Kindsoldaten.

Niet wachten, maar nu direct doen! (Ik was de 5468ste)

An, Camila, Madeline en Tosca

2009-01-21T20:48:00.002+01:00

Op 8 maart 2008 zijn ze verongelukt, maar op De Klare Bron zijn An, Camila, Madeline en Tosca nog springlevend.

Het grasveld waarop het momumentje voor hun nagedachtenis komt, wordt momenteel aangelegd aan de school. Alle klassen van de lagere school zullen er op uitkijken.

Ondertussen is er een ontroerend filmpje op Youtube.

Romeinen kleuren het jaar

2009-01-10T12:05:00.003+01:00

(Overgenomen uit de nieuwsbrief van SPQR.)

Bij het begin van een nieuw kalenderjaar kan je je wel eens afvragen waar die rare woorden waarmee we onze maanden aanduiden eigenlijk vandaan komen. De kalender die we vandaag gebruiken is de Gregoriaanse, ingesteld door paus Gregorius XIII in 1582. De Gregoriaanse kalender is een correctie, voornamelijk in lengte van maanden, op de Juliaanse kalender, die in 45 v. Chr. door de Romeinse keizer Julius Caesar is ingevoerd. De namen van de maanden zijn vaak afkomstig van Romeinse woorden of goden.

De Juliaanse kalender werd in de hele Romeinse wereld ingevoerd door Julius Caesar als verbetering op de bestaande Romeinse kalender. Deze Juliaanse kalender was bedacht door de astronoom Sosigenes van Alexandrië, en telde 3 jaren van 365 dagen en om de 4 jaar een extra dag. Het gemiddelde Juliaanse jaar was echter 11 minuten te lang. Hierdoor was de fout in de Middeleeuwen gegroeid tot 10 dagen verschil met de werkelijke tijd.

Om de juiste tijd in te voeren bepaalde paus Gregorius dat op 4 oktober 1582 meteen 15 oktober 1582 zou volgen en elk vierde jaar een schrikkeljaar zou zijn, behalve de eeuwjaren die niet door 400 deelbaar zijn. Het verschil met de juiste tijd is nu beperkt tot 26 seconden te lang per jaar. Engeland en zijn koloniën namen deze kalender pas in 1752 over, toen het verschil was opgelopen tot 11 dagen. De dag na 2 September 1752 werd 14 September 1752.

Januari (Ianuarius): Genoemd naar de Romeinse god met twee gezichten, Janus. De Latijnse betekenis van deze naam komt van ianua, wat deur betekent. Januari is de deur naar het nieuwe jaar: met het ene gezicht gericht op het oude jaar en het andere op het nieuwe.

Februari (Februarius): Afgeleid van het latijnse februum, wat reiniging betekent. De Romeinen hielden op 15 februari het reinigingsritueel Februa.

Maart (Martius): Naar de oorlogsgod, Mars. Aan het begin van de lente, bij het verdwijnen van de winterse kou, startten of hervatten de Romeinen doorgaans hun militaire campagnes. Lange tijd is in veel landen maart het begin van het nieuwe jaar geweest.

April (Aprilis): Herkomst onzeker. Omdat april de maand van de godin Venus was de naam mogelijk oorspronkelijk Aphrilis, naar Aphrodite (Aphros), de Griekse naam voor Venus. Een andere mogelijkheid is het Latijnse aprire, wat openen betekent: de maand waarin de bloemen 'openen' (of de aarde die zich opent om het zaai- en plantgoed te 'ontvangen'). Een andere bron zegt dat april zou kunnen komen van 'mensis aprilis' wat 'zonrijke maand' zou betekenen.

Mei (Maius): Waarschijnlijk genoemd naar Maia, de Griekse naam van vruchtbaarheidsgodin Bona Dea. Haar festival werd door de Romeinen in mei gevierd. Maja was ook de moeder van Mercurius. Andere bronnen melden dat mei komt van Manus (een god van wasdom), verwant aan Mactus of Magnus wat betekent: groots, heerlijk.

Juni (Iunius): Naar Juno (Hera), vrouw van Jupiter (Zeus), de godin van het huwelijk. In deze maand werden veel huwelijken gesloten en volgens sommigen brengt trouwen in juni nog steeds geluk. Juno was ook de beschermster van de geboorte, tevens lichtgodin. Juni is in de volkskunde een vrij belangrijke maand en niet alleen maar omdat in deze maand de zomer begint.

Juli (Iulius): Genoemd naar de Romeinse keizer, Julius Caesar, die de kalender zelf invoerde en op 12 juli of 13 juli, afhankelijk van de bron, zijn verjaardag vierde. Oorspronkelijk Quintilis, de (toenmalig) vijfde maand.

Augustus (Augustus): Oorspronkelijk Sextilis, de toenmalige zesde maand van het jaar, maar door de Romeinse keizer Augustus in 8 v. Chr. hernoemd ter meerdere eer en glorie van zichzelf. In deze maand vierde de keizer een aantal van zijn belangrijkste overwinningen. Deze maand is ook toegewijd aan Ceres, de Romeinse godin van de oogst.

September (September): Latijn voor 'zevende'. Oorspronkelijk de zevende maand van het jaar, septem (zeven).

Oktober (October): Latijn voor 'achtste'. Oorspronkelijk de achtste maand van het jaar, octo (acht).

November (November): Latijn voor 'negende'. Oorspronkelijk de negende maand van het jaar, novem (negen).

December (December): Latijn voor 'tiende'. Oorspronkelijk de tiende maand van het jaar, vgl decem (tien).

Maandag: genoemd naar de Maan (oorsprong Romeins)
Dinsdag: genoemd naar Tui, de zoon van Wodan (oorsprong Germaans)
Woensdag: genoemd naar Wodan (oorsprong Germaans)
Donderdag: genoemd naar Donar/Thor (oorsprong Germaans)
Vrijdag: genoemd naar de godin Freya (oorsprong Germaans)
Zaterdag: genoemd naar Saturnus (oorsprong Romeins)
Zondag: genoemd naar de Zon (oorsprong Romeins)

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ab_Urbe_Condita_(jaartelling)

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliaanse_kalender

SPQR

2009-01-10T11:54:00.003+01:00

Een tijdje geleden ontdekte is een Belgische groep die zich interesseert in Rome, van oudheid tot moderne tijd. Het is dus niet alleen bedoeld voor diegenen zoals ik die alleen maar (of toch: vooral) in het Romeinse Rijk interesse hebben. Ook andere perioden zoals de renaissance, komen aan bod. En het gaat zelfs niet alleen over geschiedenis, er is ook een sectie over drank (die Italiaanse wijnen!) en voedsel (de verse pomodorro!).

De naam van die vereniging is SPQR. Elke Rome kenner zal wel weten waar die afkorting voor staat. Voor die enkelingen die het weten: dit acroniem werd onder andere op de Romeinse standaarden gedragen, en staat eigenlijk symbool voor de Romeinse Republiek. De afkorting staat voor Senatus Populusque Romanus, oftewel De senaat en het volk van Rome. Dit acroniem is later nog veel gebruikt, onder andere door de stad Brugge, waarbij het veranderd werd naar SPQB.

De website zelf komt een beetje rommelig over en zou een betere interface kunnen verdragen. Maar zeer interessant is de dagelijkse nieuwsbrief waarop je je kunt abonneren. Door de veelzijdigheid van de onderwerpen is niet altijd elke bijdrage voor iedereen weggelegd, maar regelmatig zul je uiterst interessant zaken lezen.

Een van de laatste bijdragen ging over de benamingen van onze maanden en dagen, en had als titel Romeinen kleuren het jaar. Omdat het zo interessant is (vind ik dan natuurlijk) volgt in een volgend stukje de tekst.

De laatste foto

2008-12-31T18:37:00.003+01:00

De laatste dag van het jaar. 2008 is een jaar geweest met erg weinig tijd om foto's te maken. Hopelijk komt daar in 2009 verandering in!

Maar vandaag ben ik er nog op uit getrokken naar een plekje in Wilsele aan de vaart. Dat plekje had ik gisteren ontdekt toen ik boodschappen aan het doen was. Het voordeel van deze tijd van het jaar is dat de zon laag zit, en dus soms mooie beelden kan geven, zeker in combinatie met tegenlicht (zoals Michiel Hendryckx het ooit zei: Het mooiste licht is tegenlicht).

Vandaag heb ik ontdekt dat er dan wel mooi licht is, maar dat het beste moment eigenlijk 's ochtends is, als de zon uit het oosten komt. Gelukkig was er nog een groepje modellen, waardoor ik toch een toonbare foto heb.

De laatste foto van 2008.

Wensen

2008-12-28T15:26:00.002+01:00

In deze tijd van kerst en nieuwjaarswensen, hier de leukste die ik via e-mail gekregen heb.

't Is were zoverre
de deure van 2009 stoat ip a gerre
een hèèl nieuw joar
voor te leven met malkoar
liefde in 't ménage tussen de vint en de vrouwe
en is ter ol è keer miserie of boel
smiet olleszins met gèn meubels moar zet j'ip ne stoel
en laat het moar overwaaien da rottig gevoel
want oe da je 't ook kèèrt of oe da je 't ook droait,
't is dedju stille woar dat 't nooit een kèr woait.

Zie je momenteel nog nie van de straote
gèn paniek, t' is ip da vlak noois nie te loate
want wa zeggen ol die tupperware demonstranten
oen ze geconfronteerd worden met under klanten
'een dikke, een kromme, een schele of een dulle
ip ieder potje past er een ulle'.

Moar 'k wille ook nog teen en 't ander wenschen :
'k wensche julder wat da 'k zelve betrachte,
bij dage een bitje werk, en ruste bie nachte..
Als g' honger hebt, een bètje brood;
als g’durst é, geen watersnood;
geen schulden tenzij deze dat ge efnan kunt
betalen met gepaste munt.

En heel 't joar, lik of dat goat en stoat,
geen pijne noch smerte
aan je tanden of an 't herte.

Kortom, 'k wensche joen 't beste voar noaste jare
En 'k goa daarbie laten voor vandjare

Vertaling desgewenst te verkrijgen.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T21:36:00.009+01:00

Morgen begint de winter, althans volgens de Kelten die tijdens de nacht van 31 oktober op 1 november Samhaim vierden.

Ze geloofden ook dat de Cailleach, oorspronkelijk een moedergodin, later een vruchtbaarheids- of maangodin, met Samhain terug om als koningin van de winter te heersen. Later degradeerde deze figuur tot een heks.

Vandaag is het een leuke gelegendheid voor de kinderen om zich te verkleden in een griezelfiguur.

Achteraan heks Zoë, vooraan spinneman Emilio en “pimpampoentje” Kyara

Boze heks Zoë, Kyara en Emilio

Pimpampoentje Kyara

Een poging tot woest kijken

Emilio, geschminkt door Zoë

Zoë heeft ook zichzelf geschminkt...

... en poseert als een echte ster

Grand Jacques

2008-10-19T22:00:00.009+02:00

Hij is nog altijd dood, maar enkele dagen geleden was het de 30ste verjaardag van zijn overlijden. U heeft er vast ook niet naast kunnen kijken en horen: op 9 oktober 1978 stierf Jacques Brel.

Hij werd herdacht, en hoe! Op muzikaal vlak is en blijft hij de grootste Belgische artiest die we gehad hebben. Velen hebben zijn muziek gecovered, en dat waren niet de minsten. Er zijn uiteraard David Bowie (Amsterdam), Nina Simone (Ne me quitte pas), Terry Jacks (Seasons in the sun) en Herman van Veen (Een vriend zien huilen, Liefde van later, en nog een tiental andere vertolkingen), maar naar het schijnt bestaan er wereldwijd meer dan 400 covers van zijn nummers.

Omdat je in muziek een boodschap in een heel beperkte tijd moet weergeven, zijn de teksten van songs vaak heel kernachtig, en neigen ze naar poëzie. Bij Jacques Brel neigen ze er niet naar, maar zijn ze pure poëzie. Mijn favoriet stukje tekst, heel klein, komt uit zijn meest bekende song, Ne me quitte pas:

Moi je t'offrirai
Des perles de pluie
Venues de pays
Où il ne pleut pas

Maar er kwam ook humor, soms zwarte, in zijn songs voor, zoals bijvoorbeeld in mijn favorite song, Vesoul:

T'as voulu voir Vierzon
Et on a vu Vierzon
T'as voulu voir Vesoul
Et on a vu Vesoul
T'as voulu voir Honfleur
Et on a vu Honfleur
T'as voulu voir Hambourg
Et on a vu Hambourg
J'ai voulu voir Anvers
On a revu Hambourg
J'ai voulu voir ta soeur
Et on a vu ta mère
Comme toujours

T'as plus aimé Vierzon
On a quitté Vierzon
T'as plus aimé Vesoul
On a quitté Vesoul
T'as plus aimé Honfleur
On a quitté Honfleur
T'as plus aimé Hambourg
On a quitté Hambourg
T'as voulu voir Anvers
On a vu que ses faubourgs
T'as plus aimé ta mère
On a quitté ta soeur
Comme toujours

Grand Jacques... De Franstalige Vlaming, de universele Belg. Leefde zijn leven met volle goesting. En zoals hij al antwoordde op de vraag of al dat roken niet slecht was voor zijn gezondheid: Tout est relatif. Fumer et boire, tout ça peut être mauvais, mais la vie même n'est pas bien pour la santé.

Pallavicina

2008-10-05T17:46:00.005+02:00

Vandaag zitten we te genieten van een echt herfstweer. Buiten regent het, is het koud, en binnen staat de verwarming op. Een groter contrast met vorige week is er bijna niet.

Toen zat ik met mijn collega Peter in Italië. In de buurt van Frascati, net buiten Rome, hebben we genoten van een boel dingen. Uiteraard is er het heerlijke eten. De zongerijpte tomaten – de pomodori, ofwel gouden appels – zijn iets wat je bij ons niet vindt (tenzij je ze zelf kweekt, dan kun je een idee krijgen van hoe de smaak moet zijn). En elk gerecht heeft die delicatesse als ingrediënt, wat maakt dat zelfs de eenvoudigste pizza een feestmaal wordt. Het nadeel is wel dat de Italianen veel te laat en veel te zwaar eten. Als je dat niet gewoon bent kun je wel slaapproblemen krijgen. De eerste nacht hebben zowel Peter als ik eigenlijk heel weinig geslapen, door dat late en zware eten (maar het was wel lekker!).

Verder was het uiteraard mooi weer. Eind september, begin oktober, en temperaturen tot 23 graden!

En tenslotte hebben we de eer en het genoegen gehad te mogen slapen op the hill bij Bart. Hij woont heel afgelegen, midden in een gigantisch privé-domein.

De huisjes zijn heel smal, maar in dat klimaat is dat alles wat je nodig hebt. (Het huis van Bart loopt ongeveer van de struik links tot aan de eerste voordeur.)

De huisjes...

Peter (links) en Bart bij de wagens.

Het prachtige zicht.

Google Chrome

2008-09-03T22:17:00.003+02:00

Alsof we nog niet genoeg hadden aan de browseroorlog tussen Microsoft (Internet Explorer) en Mozilla (Firefox), met als flinke derde Opera, is Google vandaag bevallen van zijn eerste browser. Die heet Google Chrome, is beschikbaar als beta versie, en is te downloaden op http://www.google.com/chrome.

Maar het moet gezegd, Google heeft zijn huiswerk gemaakt. Van alle browsers die ik tot nu toe gezien heb is deze zeker de snelste. En ondanks dat kan hij - voorlopig - alle sites aan die ik getest heb. Dat zijn uiteraard gewone sites met wat tekst en foto's, maar ook sites met zware javascript, met filmpjes (youtube), met flash animaties, kortom zowat alles wat je tegen zou kunnen komen. Het enige probleem tot nu toe was een site waar een midi geluid in stond, wat niet kon afgespeeld worden.

Voor de wat technischere mensen: de rendering engine die gebruikt wordt is dezelfde als die van Safari, maar de Javascript engine is verschrikkelijk snel en heeft de naam V8. Verder zit er een DOM/CSS inspector in - al vind je die vreemd genoeg terug onder de naam "JavaScript Console", althans in de Nederlandstalige versie. En die inspector is maar peanuts vergeleken met de gratis plugin "Web Developer" die je kunt downloaden voor Firefox.

Daarmee heb ik toch iets negatiefs gevonden, want voor de rest is dit echt een geweldige browser. De interface is weliswaar niet standaard, maar went zeer vlug: je vindt alles makkelijk terug.

Hier enkele screenshots (klik op de afbeelding om te vergroten).

Uiteraard kun je meerdere tabbladen openen:

Als je een nieuw tabblad opent krijg je een overzicht van je meest bezochte sites, kun je een zoekopdracht ingeven, en krijg je direct je bladwijzers te zien:

De paginabron kun je met dezelfde shortcut als bij Firefox opvragen: CTRL+U:

Handig is dat je direct een overzicht krijgt van het geheugenverbruik van alle browsers. En alhoewel Chrome wat dat betreft de slechtste leerling blijkt te zijn, is hij toch de snelste.

Kermie

2008-08-07T11:54:00.003+02:00

Gisteren kregen we bezoek van een van onze buren. De tuin naast ons heeft namelijk een vijvertje dat zo goed als niet onderhouden wordt. Het leuke daaraan is dat de natuur er volledig zijn gang gaat. De waterschildpad die daar zit leeft er al jaren, en ook de reiger komt er af en toe op bezoek. De reden is dat er nog leven zit: kikkers.

Als kind vonden we vroeger altijd wel kikkerdril, en dikkopjes, maar zagen we eigenlijk nooit kikkers. Dat vonden we toen heel jammer. Niet dat we ze wilden opblazen of zo, maar de kikker, samen met de meikever, stond een beetje symbool voor een natuur die onze ouders wel gekend hadden, maar die nu aan het verdwijnen was.

Gelukkig blijken toch een aantal dieren terug te keren. Vorig jaar hebben we een meikever gevonden, en in onze buurvijver zitten er al een hele tijd kikkers (alleen vreemd dat we nooit meer kikkerdril op dikkopjes zien...). En af en toe komen die kikkers eens op bezoek. Een jaar of tien geleden is zelfs eens eentje komen binnenwippen. Ook vorig jaar kwamen we ze tegen, en gisteren kwam deze langs bij ons op het terras.

En hier Kermie nog eens vanuit vogelperspectief.

Nota: no frogs were harmed during the shooting of these pictures. En uiteraard heb ik hem opgepakt en weer in z'n vijver gezet.

Frankrijk

2008-08-04T22:38:00.001+02:00

Helaas, nog geen foto's van de vakantie. Teveel andere dingen te doen. En eigenlijk is het momenteel geen eerste prioriteit. Maar om de nieuwsgierigen toch tevreden te stellen, hierbij een klein filmpje uit het zuiden van Frankrijk.