Textplates 07
Even though I use Expression Engine almost exclusively for the websites I build I do keep an eye on the evolution of other systems such as Wordpress and Textpattern. I recently read the excellent Textpattern Solutions book and when I stumbled upon the annual Textplates design contest I decided to port the old, dark version of this blog to Textpattern.
It was a fun exercise and a good excuse to dig a little deeper into Textpattern. There are some similarities to EE and although some things are handled quite differently all in all it was a rather smooth experience. I dubbed the design P&T, submitted it and, lo and behold, it's been accepted as an official entry into the competition.
This current excuse for a blog stays on EE though and will get a makeover in the month to come to have it blend in more with the rest of my portfolio site which is due somewhere in July-August. For now I'm working on a few new things and enjoying dogsitting this fella.
Update: no Textplate joy I'm afraid, although the template I liked best did win the contest. Better luck next year?
Home
I hardly ever go there anymore (except for the occasional visit to my parents) but today I took my car to the garage and consequently had to walk all the way through the centre of the town I grew up in to take a train to work. While I was growing up, this was my universe, this was what I knew; it's only when I went to college that I saw that the world was a lot bigger then my hometown.
But today I walked through those streets I remember so well: past the school where I learned to read but not to shut up, past the hospital where they took out my tonsils, past the home for the elderly where the grandmother who raised me doesn't remember my name or my face anymore, past the spot where they tore down the cinema I spent my sunday afternoons in, past the guitar store where I bought my first guitar, the ice cream parlor that still has the best mocha ice cream in the world, the market square where I wasted away hours in the arcades playing Donkey Kong.
All those streets and places, still somewhat familiar, yet all profoundly changed by the implacable march of time. Maybe Thomas Wolfe was right after all.
Joni
When I was in my second year at college one of my major musical discoveries was Joni Mitchell. The public library in Brussels had a massive CD collection (including each and everyone of Joni's albums) and for the better part of that year I explored her work, chronologically. From the open-tuning songs on the 1968 album Song to a Seagull (released 2 months before I was even born), over the jazz-meets-beat-poetry-meets-world-music stylings of The Hissing of Summer Lawns right down to the (often maligned) albums on Geffen during the eighties like Wild Things Run Fast.
It's hard to pin down just what it was that attracted me so in her music. I already was a fan of Dylan and Young, but Joni seemed to inhabit her own musical and lyrical universe. Her use of open tunings made her chords sound like no other guitar player and her voice was flexible and fearless. And the lyrics were just more intuitive, more feminine than those of Bob or Neil. At first they were very autobiographical, but later, on albums such as Hissing and Hejira, they evolved into an almost condensed literature with characters so fully-fleshed out they seemed to jump out of your headphones.
A recent favourite is Travelogue, an album in which she revisits a large part of her back-catalogue, this time in orchestral versions. Her voice has deepened and mellowed, but the songs are still just as powerful. When I went back to college, 5 years ago, I noticed that she wasn't exactly a household name with the kids at the institute. It was a bit strange, but nice, then to see Joni pop up on the cover of some music magazines recently. The reason is a tribute album featuring some big names (although it has to be said no one sings Joni like Joni, fair attempts by Bjork and Prince notwithstanding) and the announcement of a new album that's to be released shortly.
I for one am glad that she's decided to come out of early retirement. On the big to-do list of my life, getting to see her live is still on there unchecked. Here's hoping she'll tour again the coming year and make her way to some stage in Europe.
Showcased at W3C
This week was a good one, because the new website I'm just finishing for Retina Dance Company was deemed worthy of an editor's pick over at W3C sites.
I build all my sites with web standards and accessibilty in mind (without getting too hung up on it) so it's nice if someone recognizes the effort you put into your work.
Retina's new website also received a rave review from article19, a website that covers modern dance in Britain. Apparently, the fact that Retina's website has RSS feeds caused one of the editors "to pass out".
Funny people, those Brits!
My own portfolio site is far from finished so for now I'm using my page at W3C Sites as an alternative.
Transcending CSS
Billed as a companion volume to "The Zen of CSS Design", Andy Clarke's new book "Transcending CSS" is one of the few books that aims to cover both code and design in a single volume.
But here the author pushes the envelope even further.
It's a book that throws down the gauntlet, one which challenges many preconceptions about CSS-design or even webdesign in general and dares you to be more adventurous in your code, your process and designs. A wide range of topics gets its fair due in this book: there's (of course) microformats, a glimpse in the future with CSS3 selectors as well as design concepts such as the use of grids and using moodboards for inspiration. At times we move into almost ethereal realms with questions as: "How do we mark up a city?", but the book also contains a great case study of interactive prototyping.
My favourite chapter was the one on content-based designing. In short, "Transcending CSS" gracefully treads the fine line between hardcore codebook and coffeetable design book. It's a book that has no right to look this good from an author who has no right to look this cool. Just kiddin', Andy!
P.S. the slides from the presentation of the book can still be downloaded from stuffandnonsense.co.uk.
Clearly a genius
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.
Shawn Colvin live
The first thing that comes to mind when she walks on stage in the Handelsbeurs is: "she's older and smaller than I imagined she would be from her photographs". But then she starts playing (her own Martin signature model and the only guitar on stage tonight) in that very distinctive style of hers and that voice comes through and you know it's her allright.
She's all alone on stage, plays a good selection of tunes from the new album "These four walls" and asks the audience what songs they want to hear.
We get all our favourites: "Polaroids", "Mona Lisa", "Kill The Messenger". "Sonny" etc...
There's lots of onstage banter while she's tuning and detuning her guitar, including an amusing anecdote about Sting ("such a wanker").
She even comes back for an encore with a nice version of Neil Finn's "4 seasons in 1 day" and an amazing finger-picked version of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy".
All in all, a really nice concert from an amazing picker and storyteller.
Glad I got to see her after listening to her albums for so many years...
0110 Concert
Yesterday, close to 40.000 people descended on Antwerp for the 0110 concerts for tolerance. The idea for these concerts was initiated by Tom Barman, lead singer and main songwriter for Antwerp band dEUS and were meant to promote tolerance and peace in Antwerp and elsewhere.
Several bands who participated suffered intimidation attempts by fascist party Vlaams Belang and even had to take a lot of flack from several fans.
Fans of bands like Clouseau and Sioen left irate comments on their website and even returned CD's to the shops or burned them.
However, none of the artists who had promised to cooperate backed down.
It was a great moment, at the end of the concert, when Barman and Wauters (2 singers from completely opposite sides of the spectrum of popular music) shared the stage for a brilliant rendition of an old song by Dutch band Het Goede Doel called (what else?) "België".
They were then joined on stage by veteran punk-rocker Ludo Mariman for a scorching version of "There will be no next time".
Barman ended the concert with these words to the rain-soaked audience:
These concerts were born out of fear, but if we can conquer our fears we can all move forwards, not backwards. You were a bunch of wet chickens, but you were cool wet chickens.
In a city where in next week's election in some parts of Antwerp up to 60% of the population is expected to vote for what is in essence a fascist party, it's good to let them know that a lot of people do not share these ideas and would rather live in a different Antwerp.
I'll be a cool wet chicken any day to prove that point...
Graduation day
to quote Neil Finn:
the taste of success only lasts you
half an hour or less
but it loves you when it comes
All this to say that after 4 years of studying I finally made it to the end and am now officially a translator (master of translation to be exact, however pompous that may sound). I passed with distinction and, if I do say so myself, I'm rather proud of that.
This is not the end of course, just a milestone along the path. I've already set the weels in motion for what is to become my own webdesign/translation services studio.
In fact, as of today, in the eyes of Belgian law I'm an entrepreneur, which is kind of funny given my true blue working class background. I'm the first one in my family to ever strike out on his own and it's as scary as it's exhilarating.
I was very moved in the last few days to have my friends call me or visit me and congratulate me on a job well done. It really means the world to know people are standing by you to share, not only the rough times, but also the good ones.
I'd better call it a night before I get sentimental in my old age 
(note to self: drink less rum when posting...)
Man & Dog
Some people have remarked that the previous post was overly serious and dramatic.
Well, writing a thesis which involves translating texts about the Holocaust and the Spanish Inquisition will do that to a person, I'm afraid.
Anyway, I handed in my thesis yesterday and now I'm moving in for a week with the big fuzzy fellow I'm hugging in the picture above. His name is Sacha and sometimes I swear that dog looks right into my soul.
2 more exams ahead and then I'll finally be finished!
And no, the guy in the previous post was not me but the incredible Peter Krause as Nate Fisher in one of my favourite tv-series ever, 6 Feet Under.
True
I'm just saying: you only get one life. There's no God, no rules, no judgements except those you accept or create for yourself.
And once it's over, it's over. Dreamless sleep for ever and ever.
So why not be happy while you're here?
Really, why not?
Numb
I did the last exam of my four year carreer (if you want to call it that) today, which I probably passed.
Still a bit of work left to my thesis but hoping to have that finished within the next 10 days or so.
How do I feel right now?
I think Wile E.'s expression says it all .
Big in Japan
I finally received an invite for Google analytics about a month ago and am using it to monitor the stats of this site.
I have used Mint on a few other sites and really love it but Google's stat program gives you even more data to peruse.
I found out that P&T got featured on the Daily Slurp a while ago but the thing that freaked me out a bit was the geo location report that tells you from which country your visitors are coming. Turns out that, besides the maybe rather obvious UK, US and France, China and Japan are the biggest foreign visitor group of this site, good for 6% each. I have no idea how or why they got here but you're all very welcome of course .
I have been a big fan of all things Asian ever since I saw Emanuelle 2 at the ripe age of eight.
So I'd just like to say Hi, Hello, Hola, Bonjour, Konichiwa and 
X-men 3
After an exam I usually go to a movie to unwind and today was no different. I have been wanting to go see X-men 3 for two weeks now so...
Truth be told, I wasn't expecting a whole lot after I heard that the director of the previous two movies, Bryan Singer, had moved on to direct the new Superman movie.
But even so I was quite disappointed. The perfect blend of action and characterization that had been so masterfully captured in X-men 2 was completely missing here. I'm not going to give spoilers for the people who still have to see it, but major X-men characters are being killed of in this one without having any emotional impact at all.
There's hardly a bit of serious dialogue between the characters and, given the source material they have tapped into (like Dark Phoenix, some references to the Days of Future Past storylines) it all comes out a bit underwhelming.
Even the final confrontation between Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Famke Jansen's Dark Phoenix lacks the emotional punch it deserves. Effects and actionshots, however, are superb throughout the film: the scene where Magneto frees Mystique is particulary good.
All in all a decent film, but less so than the superior X-men 2. Oh well, Empire Strikes Back was also a lot better than Return of the Jedi. I hear there is rumour of a solo Wolverine movie so at least we can look forward to that...
spoiler alert! stay in your seat untill the credits have rolled for a small surprise...
Showcased
While checking my Google Analytics stats tonight (and I truly hardly ever check them for my personal site) I noticed a few hundred visitors via CSSMania and LightonDark, both showcases for CSS sites and blogs.
Needless to say this came as a big surprise as I surely did not submit this site to any showcase out there.
It's both humbling and thrilling to be on the same page as DominyDesign (whose Slideshowpro I use on several websites), or such fab-looking blogs such as Tony.Yoo, LLamamelola (Call Me Lola) or Jared Digital.
It's also quite embarrassing because I still have to fix my archives and single article pages, not forgetting writing the odd post. All this will probably get done when I finish my exams and thesis by the end of June, by which time I plan to "turn pro", which will really give me something to write about.
For now I'm just enjoying the buzz...
Grilled bell pepper pesto
This is, depending on how you look at it, yet another recipe to p@@ss off those pesto purists, or simply one of the best pasta-sauces you’ll ever make.
Ingredients
- 4 - 6 red bell peppers (depending on the size)
- roughly a handfull of pine nuts
- a clove of garlic, peeled
- good quality extra-virgin olive oil
- parmesan cheese
- pecorino romano chees
- balsamico vinegar
- knob of butter
This is how we do it
Fire up the oven (on grill setting), set it at about 220ºC.
Wash, core and half the bell peppers, flatten them with your hands and put them on a baking tray. Sprinkle them with a bit of olive oil and put them in the oven, skin side up, just beneath the grill. The peppers will start to roast and their skins will blister and char (this is a good thing). Once their skins are nice and black (4-10 minutes). take the roasted peppers out of the oven, put them in a bowl and immediately cover the bowl with a lid or clingfoil. Leave them in the bowl for at least 4-5 minutes.
The peppers will sweat off their skins so they are easily peeled. Peel the peppers while they are still hot, it’s easier that way.
Remove all the burned bits so you’re left with nice red grilled pieces of bell pepper.
Put the grilled peppers in a foodprocessor together with the pine nuts, garlic clove, a bit of coarse salt, a few splashes of balsamic vinegar and a generous amount of olive oil (6 - 10 table spoons) and puree to a coarse paste. Now add the cheese in a 2/3 parmesan, 1/3 pecorino ratio. I’d say about a 150 grams of cheese in total will do you but feel free to add more.
Finish of with a knob of butter.
This sauce is perfect with penne rigate or tagliatelle. (I prefer the De Cecco brand)
Any women in the vicinity of the bowl will fight to lick the spoon you used to stir in the cheeses so be warned!
Variations
- subsitute a few of the red peppers for yellow bell peppers
- add chilis/harissa for a hotter flavour
- use pecan nuts instead of pine nuts
- experiment with other vinegars (coconut vinegar is nice too)
Comin’ round again
The Handelsbeurs in Gent is rapidly turning into a last haven for those artists who, in the 90’s, skirted the mainstream but never quite got their big break. Last year, American Music Club played a terrific gig here and a few days ago Kevn Kinney, another US maverick made his way here. To my knowledge, the last time he played Belgium was in ‘92, in a small venue in Brussels and still with his band Drivin’ and Cryin’. At that time they just got of a tour supporting R.E.M., so playing for about 100 people in Brussels must have been quite a shock. Nevertheless, they played an inspired 2 hour+ set.
No such luck tonight.
The acoustic set was (way too) short but sweet. Hearing D&C classics like “Going straight to hell” or “Let’s Go Dancing” in a stripped down version was a real treat. There were some new songs as well as Kevn has just recorded a new album, aptly entitled “Comin’ Round Again”. A very relaxed Kevn signed albums after the show and we had time for a little chat. I told him we were there at that ‘92 gig D&C gig and he smiled a little smile. “I remember that show very well. They served us boiled eel afterwards, when all we wanted were waffles and fries...”
We assured Kevn that boiled eel in green sauce, in Belgium at least, is a classic dish.
Later
Last saturday on BBC2, Jools Holland kicked off a new season of Later with... with yet another great show. I especially liked Corinne Baily Rae, a really soulful and mellow soulstress.
But the real kicker was seeing Pearl Jam tearing up the studio with a scorching version of Alive. Jools showed Eddie and Mike a video of the last time they were on the show, which was somewhere in the early nineties. Actually, I still have that show on a VHS tape (remember those?) somewhere; I still played in a band those days and watching performances on video was a great way to steal the occasional lick from another guitar player.
I can remember similar VHS tapes with performances by Screaming Trees or Rage against the Machine. Aaahh, the nineties...
Anyway, there is something really comforting about seeing guys who are pushing 40 looking lean and still hungry to play their music. Since I’ll be 38 this week thoughts like this tend to cross your mind every now and then. After Later..., as an encore, the BBC gave us an exclusive Red Hot Chili Peppers concert. Yet another band of fortysomethings that are still rocking very, very hard. Frusciante may look like a Jesus who has just fallen off the cross these days, but seeing where the man is coming from it’s inspiring to see him wail on his Strat in front of several Marshall stacks. The sweet sound of survival and rock’n roll...
Tomb Raider Legend
Lara, we love you.Boot Camp
So hell has frozen over and pigs do fly... Apple Macs do Windows as of now. From the horse's mouth:
Boot Camp lets you install Windows XP without moving your Mac data, though you will need to bring your own copy to the table, as Apple Computer does not sell or support Microsoft Windows.(1) Boot Camp will burn a CD of all the required drivers for Windows so you don't have to scrounge around the Internet looking for them.
What you’ll need
- Mac OS X Tiger v10.4.6 (check Software Update)
- The latest Firmware update (check Support Downloads)
- 10GB free hard disk space
- An Intel-based Mac
- A blank recordable CD
- A printer for the instructions (You’ll want to print them before installing Windows, really.)
- A bona fide installation disc for Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 2, Home or Professional (No multi-disc, upgrade or Media Center versions.)
