Amsterdam Weekly: Vol 5 Issue 2, 10-16 Jan 2008

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Volume 5, Issue 2

10-16 JANUARY 2008 Space for rent.

‘Those dishes are saying “I am the boss”.’ page 5

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MAPPING THE

RENTAL HOUSING MARKET PAGES 6-9 Murder was in the lift in 2007 page 4 Time to free Anne’s tree? page 4 Joan is new to De Bijlmer page 5 MUSIC: Gettin’ down with a Funk Brother p. 12 / FILM: The bond of Alzheimer’s p. 19 / A brotherhood of blood p. 21

Short List . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Music/Clubs . . . . . . . . . .13 Gay & Lesbian . . . . . . . .15 Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Dining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Classifieds/Comics . . . .22



10-16 January 2008

Amsterdam Weekly

ATTACHMENTS In this issue and... If you are a visitor and in the midst of being charmed by this easy going ol’ town and are beginning—like many before you—to entertain the idea of moving here, don’t fucking bother. We don’t want you here. Just sod right off. You’ll only end up pissing off all those long-suffering Amsterdammers who are endlessly awaiting placement in one of those rarely available rental apartments. Adults live in student housing. Students live in boxes, literally. And don’t ask about babies, there’s no room. For years there’s been a brain drain among the creative community as they seek more spacious and affordable pastures in places like Berlin. Other, and normally well-balanced, individuals are finding themselves actually moving to places like Almere. Yes, Almere... It’s a tragic situation indeed. Meanwhile, the amount of empty office space continues to surge. Officially, you can’t really live there, but you might try camping out in a hidden room behind the kitchenette. Or move to De Bijlmer and work on its growth.

On the cover FIND YOUR WAY TO A NEW HOUSE Illustration by Sharon Houkema www.drawinc.com

Next week Fashion

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

Amsterdam Weekly BV De Ruyterkade 106, 1011 AB Amsterdam Tel: 020 522 5200 Fax: 020 620 1666 www.amsterdamweekly.nl General info: info@amsterdamweekly.nl Agenda listings: agenda@amsterdamweekly.nl Advertising: sales@amsterdamweekly.nl Classifieds: classifieds@amsterdamweekly.nl PUBLISHER Todd Savage EDITOR Steve Korver ASSISTANT EDITOR Nina Siegal AGENDA EDITOR Steven McCarron FILM EDITOR Julie Phillips COPY EDITOR Mark Wedin EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Sarah Gehrke ART DIRECTOR Bas Morsch PRODUCTION MANAGER Karen Willey PRODUCTION DESIGNERS Mattijs Arts, Rogier Charles, Russell Joyce SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER Carolina Salazar ACCOUNT MANAGERS Florrie Beasley, Marc Devèze, Simone Klomp OPERATIONS MANAGER Monique Gruter FINANCE ASSISTANT Simone Choi DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Patrick van der Klugt FINANCIAL ADVISER Kurt Schmidt (Veresis Consulting) PRINTER Corelio Printing Amsterdam Weekly is published every week on Wednesday and is available free at locations all over Amsterdam. Subscriptions are available for €60 per six months within the Netherlands and €90 per six months within Europe. Agenda submissions are welcome, at least two weeks in advance. New contributors are invited to visit Amsterdam Weekly’s website for contributor guidelines. Contents of Amsterdam Weekly (ISSN 1872-3268) are copyright 2008 Amsterdam Weekly BV. All rights reserved.

40 DOORS by Arnoud Holleman

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10-16 January 2008

ANNA BOTERMAN

AROUND TOWN That old chestnut More chaos around Anne Frank’s tree. By Mark Wedin

Our bloodiest year? Murders in Amsterdam jump by 70 per cent. Why? By Laura Groeneveld Thou shalt not kill. It might not be your average New Year’s resolution, but it could be a good one for some Amsterdammers this year. Police statistics show that 2007 was a pretty bloody year for our canal city, with 27 homicides, a jump from 16 in 2006. It wasn’t just homicides that were on the rise. Street violence on the whole, including the threat or use of physical violence, increased 11 per cent compared to 2006. In his New Year’s speech at police headquarters, City Police Chief Bernard Welten attributed the increase in violence to what he described as a kind of narcissistic short-temperedness among city residents. ‘More and more people, both young and old, get agitated very easily,’ he says. ‘They don’t allow for others, not even the police, to comment on their behaviour. These people like to think of themselves as the centre of the universe, to which other people should adjust their lives. The silliest reasons seem enough to spark off enormous aggression.’ Gerlof Leistra, co-author with Paul Nieuwbeerta of Dodelijk geweld: Moord en doodslag in Nederland [‘Deadly Violence: Murder and Manslaughter in the Netherlands’], a study published in October of Dutch murder cases between 1992

and 2006, agrees that the city, in general, seemed more on edge last year. He says there may be a link between the high murder rate and the ‘agitated’ mindset Welten described. Leistra is also a crime journalist for Elsevier and he’s responsible for the magazine’s annual homicide list, published each January, which briefly describes the killings of the year. In 2007, he says, most of the slayings were prompted by a simple remark, a not-so-kindly-taken-to gesture or an inexpensive piece of jewellery. He offers a few examples: On 10 November, a 19-year-old boy was stabbed after reportedly calling someone’s sneakers ‘cheap-looking’. And a 14-year-old stabbed a 16-year-old boy to death outside school over a joke on 11 October. Early in the year, on 8 February, a 29-year-old store owner was murdered during the robbery of a gold necklace. ‘It seems that a relatively high number of last year’s homicides had their origins in robbery, nightlife violence or street violence,’ he says. ‘These crimes fit a behavioural pattern of “being easily agitated”.’ In contrast, there was a decline in the number of murders related to domestic violence, which are usually the most common forms of homicide. While the numerical jump from 16 to 27 murder cases represents a significant increase—up 70 per cent—the numbers aren’t particularly alarming, says Remco Gerretsen, a spokesman for the police department. Amsterdam’s annual murder rate for the last decade has averaged around 30 cases a year. ‘One year it’s quiet, the next year it’s turbulent,’ he says. ‘It’s easy to say Amsterdam is the “murder capital”, but the same was said of Midden-Beemster, a village in Noord Holland, a few years ago. They had a 200 per cent increase, which meant there were two people killed.’ The previous year, no one was murdered there.

A behavioral pattern of ‘being agitated’?

But Amsterdam still had the most dramatic increase of any Dutch city last year. Rotterdam reported 19 murders in 2007, up from 15 in 2006. Utrecht had three murder cases and Den Haag had five, according to Leistra and news reports. The Amsterdam numbers seemed even more remarkable when compared with the national murder rate, which was at an all-time low of 147 reported cases, according to Leistra. This is the second year in a row that the national murder rate has dropped below 150, Leistra says. It’s a significant shift from the 1990s, which averaged around 250 murders a year. Leistra thinks there are a few possible explanations for the national decrease, including economic growth, an improved police response to domestic violence, and police searches for weapons in high crime areas. Another possible explanation, he says, was the ageing population, since people are most likely to commit murder in their early twenties. In their book, Leistra and Nieuwbeerta noted that 90 per cent of Dutch killers are men, and nearly one of every 10,000 men between the ages of 20 and 25 commit murder. Their lethal potential declines as they age. After 65, less than one per cent of the male population is likely to kill. (The oldest killer on record in the Netherlands was 101 years old.) But Leistra says it was difficult to draw any conclusions based on the available national data. And Gerretsen says it’s particularly hard to give meaning to this year’s increase in Amsterdam killings. ‘Murder and manslaughter are often private crimes,’ says Gerretsen. ‘People get into a fight, they become emotional, and sometimes end up killing someone without really intending to. That makes it very hard for the police to prevent.’

The chestnut tree outside Anne Frank’s World War II hiding place has been getting lots of attention lately. Not only are most major news outlets running stories and passionate editorials on the subject, but tree lovers and historic preservationists around the globe have been flooding authorities with letters and emails supporting the rotting tree. The most often-cited reason: this tree is a symbol, a monument even, for hope. Frank described the chestnut in her famous diary as a source of personal joy, her link to the outside world while she was in hiding. ‘As long as this exists... I cannot be unhappy,’ she wrote. So, it’s understandable that many people would like it to live forever. But that is unlikely. At 150-years-old, the horse chestnut is riddled with an incurable disease, two varieties of wood-decaying fungi and an infestation of moths which, during warmer months, eat its normally lush green leaves. Some say it’s merely a dead carcass of a once healthy and vital tree that was the source of hope for the young Frank, who died in Auschwitz. If so, perhaps it’s had enough, and is ready to rest in tree heaven. This is, after all, the land of legal euthanasia. The latest plans to save the aged tree entail a €50,000 steel tripod, securing it in an upright position to prevent, as some officials fear, the collapse of the 27-ton tree, possibly toppling over a flock of tourists or even crushing Anne Frank’s Secret Annexe—destroying a much more precious symbol. And the problem isn’t the high price tag (raising the money should be easy enough since there are plenty of opportunities for creative fundraising—a single chestnut from the tree sold on eBay for $10,240). The problem is that not everyone agrees that the tree is in danger of collapsing. The city’s team of experts said it was last spring and acquired a permit to fell the tree, which still holds until it’s overturned, but now after months of chaotic debate and contradictory statements by various experts on the tree’s stability, a judge last week looked at all the evidence and said that cutting down the tree must be the last resort. All parties involved are to come to agreement on how to handle the old chestnut by Tuesday—though it’s unlikely the discussion will end there. ‘Well, last week, experts from both sides met to exchange views,’ says Ton Boon, press officer for Stadsdeel Centrum. ‘Everyone agreed that the tree’s life expectancy is five to fifteen years. It was clear that the city’s main concern is safety. Of course it’s important historically and it’s the oldest tree in the city center, but people


10-16 January 2008

Amsterdam Weekly

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Living monument set to die.

ANNA BOTERMAN

also think it’s a shame that so much money will be spent to hold it up.’ When plans to fell the tree were first announced last year, three neighbors began the initiative to save it and created the Support the Anne Frank Tree Foundation, one of the most vocal of the support groups. Helga Fassbinder, who has been living next to the Anne Frank House for 24 years, clearly has a strong emotional attachment to the tree, and she says the tree has plenty of life left in it. ‘I know that trees die very slowly and you can see it,’ she says. ‘Last summer, that tree was far from a bad condition. It was marvelous, full, green.’ For its part, the Anne Frank Foundation, which owns the Anne Frank House, has remained rather aloof from the debate, and its website says the meaning of the tree will not be found ‘in an amputated tree that is as good as dead.’ Barbara Enik, press officer for the museum, says its primary concern is safety. ‘I suppose, because Anne Frank wrote about it and you can see it from the window, its removal will have an effect,’ Enik said. ‘But on the other hand, they’ve already grafted a sapling from the tree, which we intend to use as a replacement—a living monument rather than a dying one.’

of her own door. And the rubbish—it’s sometimes There’s an unmistakable presence of Suriname in Joan’s dumped on the street, no matter what day it is. As a tenhouse. Next to the front door hangs a little bag with a ant, Joan is dependent on the housing corporation and print on it that reads, ‘Mi kondre tru mi lobi yu’ (My she isn’t too enthusiastic about that. It’s impossible to country, I truly love you). Rooms are adorned with little get through to someone when you want to file a comflags, photos and a doll in Koto Misie, the traditional cosplaint. Only when Joan remarked that it’s easier to get in tume. Formerly, the wives of plantation owners saw By Corine Nijenhuis touch with the pope did a supervisor come along. their husbands glaring at their black female slaves, Joan Painting by Brigitte Mulders Her area is a model for a multicultural community in says, and they made those slaves wear baggy clothing. ‘It De Bijlmer. That doesn’t have anything to do with colour didn’t help,’ Joan chuckles. ‘The new clothes suited but with acceptance. ‘You’re the same as anyone else,’ them, too.’ says Joan, ‘you go to other parties and respect other cusJoan came to the Netherlands when she was 16, as a toms. But you don’t interfere with things that are none of scholarship student. From 1980 to 1983, she lived in De your business.’ Everyone is equal. Except a few Dutch Bijlmer, in the Kikkenstein-building, which stayed tidy, people, who think of themselves as just that one bit betmainly thanks to the very strict caretaker. After another ter. She laughs, because according to her sons, she’s period in Suriname (‘my son didn’t feel at home’), she becoming more Dutch everyday: in the supermarket, she came back and ended up in Slotermeer. Within 15 years, moans when there’s something wrong with the special she says, she saw the neighbourhood go downhill. offers, which they find typically Dutch. ‘Slotermeer has become an Arab country,’ says Joan as The composition of Bijlmer inhabitants has changed. she angrily pushes up her pink curlers (colour-coordiWhere the Surinamese dominated before, it is now the nated with her slippers). When she heard that there Ghanaians. But Joan has no bad words about them: were plans at the catholic grammar school to celebrate ‘They treat me like a lady,’ she says. The Surinamese are Eid ul-Fitr, she had enough: she wanted to leave. ‘I was moving away, to Almere mostly, and Joan thinks it’s a losing my identity,’ she says, ‘all I saw were people with shame. ‘We sort of look at this place as our territory, veils. And I thought: The Dutch loath us.’ There was only we’ve been here since day one.’ She tells of the groups of one solution: Zuidoost. ‘That’s where black people live Surinamese that came here straight from Schiphol and and there’s no satellite dishes.’ squatted the empty tower blocks. They organised all She tells of her happiness when she was assigned an sorts of things, like the Kwakoe festival, for people that apartment there, in spring 2006. She moved in with her didn’t have the money to go on vacation, which Joan sons that same evening, and hasn’t left since. Her eyes says was great until all the rules took the fun out of it. gleam when remarking on how quiet the area is. ‘We Still, enough exciting things happen. Endemol will weren’t used to that anymore.’ Though it also meant come to Zuidoost. There’s the Miss Black Holland they constantly overslept. Except when it’s Ramadan. pageant, currently renamed as Miss Charme. Joan beams with pride. ‘I’m praying that Then she doesn’t get a wink of sleep. ‘Those Mocros are provoking,’ Joan says. ‘Those Zuidoost will be the best, prettiest, richest part of Amsterdam.’ Her son doesn’t hope so: dishes are saying I’m the boss.’ In the garden next to hers, a dish sticks out above the fencthen everybody would come to De Bijlmer, probably making lots of noise. And that’s the ing. By way of an answer, Joan has hung up a little Bokito doll next to it. last thing they need. But in general, Joan is proud of her Bijlmer; there’s a happy atmosphere and Surinamese people everywhere, joking around. And there’s no dog shit. Well, except one dog Nieuw in De Bijlmer is a project by artist Brigitte Mulders who has spent a year docuwho leaves his trail all over the place, she says. Always diarrhoea. People are on the menting a group of newcomers to De Bijlmer. Her weblog is at http://zo2007.web-log.nl. watch now to catch him. An exhibition will open 19 January at CBK Zuidoost. [Translation by Sarah Gehrke] As for annoyances in the neighbourhood, there’s a resident who always parks his car Next week: Theo on the pavement, which really irritates Joan but she doesn’t say anything if it’s not in front

New in De Bijlmer:

Joan


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Amsterdam Weekly

PROFILES OF A 21ST-CENTURY HOUSING MARKET

Space is tight, even in containers Finding a place to live in Amsterdam can be mind-boggling and expensive, whether you’re a native Amsterdammer, a newcomer or a student.To have success, you need networking skills, plenty of insider info, and the patience of a saint... or, a boat-load of money. BY FLORIS DOGTEROM ILLUSTRATIONS BY SHARON HOUKEMA

10-16 January 2008


Amsterdam Weekly

10-16 January 2008

S

ay you’re looking for a house. You’ve been smart and you’ve added your name to the waiting list for social housing, or sociale huurwoningen. Maybe, like the average person on the list, you’ve already waited six-and-a-half years, and you’re finally at the top of the roster. Now you’ve seen a nice apartment on Woningnet.nl, where, every two weeks, housing corporations post newly-available places. Good for you! Now you just have to beat out the 109 other candidates, on average, who’ve applied for the same dream home as you. Some people say finding an apartment in Amsterdam is tough. When you look at the numbers, impossible seems like a better word. There are 376,233 houses in Amsterdam for about 743,000 residents, according to the city’s housing department, Dienst Wonen. If you don’t have a lot of excess cash to throw around, it’s almost always a waiting game. In 2006, according to a report released in July by the city and the housing corporations that control most of the city’s housing stock (Platform Housing Corporations Northern Randstad) almost 82,000 people applied once or more for the 11,000 apartments housing corporations put on the market. Amsterdam’s housing shortage is worse than any other city in the Netherlands, says Fred Tromp, managing partner of the rental housing bureau Perfect Housing on Prins Hendrikkade. And since demand for units is only increasing, prices are rising dramatically. In 2007 alone, rents jumped by about 10 per cent, he says. ‘The [affordability] gap is increasing for everybody, and that’s very obvious,’ he says. ‘In the coming two years it looks like that will not change.’ Willy-Anne van der Heijden, manager of the licenses and enforcement department of the Dienst Wonen, says that the city facilitates the building of 5,000 new houses every year and makes sure that the units are divided fairly. But demand always exceeds supply and the city can’t keep up. Although the population of Amsterdam has only increased by about 9,000 people in the last five years, city residents overall are richer, and they want more space. ‘People are living bigger and bigger,’ says Pim de Ruiter, spokesman for the Dienst Wonen. ‘They used to be satisfied with less space, so now we need more houses for the same amount of people.’ Growing families often find themselves looking outside Amsterdam when they need an extra room for a new tot. If you’re a student, mom and dad’s place may not be an ideal place to live, but given the fact that the student housing shortage is estimated at about 9,900 units, options can be shockingly limited. As for expats: unless you belong to the more affluent part of that population, sharing, subletting or anti-squatting is probably your best option. Isn’t there any good news? Well, no, not very much. Okay, maybe a little. In 2006, the average waiting time for a housing corporation apartment dropped to 6.1 years from 7.1 years in 2005. Van der Heijden says that since August 2006, the stricter monitoring,

leading to eviction of illegal subtenants, has freed up more apartments than the number of new houses that have been built in the same period. According to Bastiaan van Perlo of the tenants’ association Huurdersvereniging Amsterdam, the parties involved, notably the city and housing corporations have a sense of urgency and are doing what they can to build new units fast, particularly student units. Some 7,600 student apartments are expected to be available in the next three years. But making inexpensive housing options available to the average Amsterdammer is easier said than done, as the price of land in the city is rising fast. As for you expats: Sorry to report, but the market might only get tighter for you. ‘Expats are often seen as people with big salaries, but a growing number of expats have lower incomes and many of them can’t afford the rents in Amsterdam now,’ Tromp says. ‘If they can’t

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neighbourhoods with a mixture of rich and poor residents. ‘If we would let the market dictate the prices, they would be sky-high. We don’t want ghettos and we don’t want a city centre only for the rich.’ Below is a look at the current state of the rental market, as seen through the eyes of several residents. Here’s how they see the life of a tenant circa 2008: Scheefwoners: When one bedroom isn’t enough The 45-square-meter Kinkerbuurt apartment of Ashwin van Kas, 37, his wife Rosmarijn van Kas-Reus, 36, and their cat, Slash (age unknown), was rather cramped at the end of December, not only with furniture but also with yet-to-be opened Christmas presents and colourful seasonal decorations. They’ve lived in their one bedroom apartment since 1994. The rent is a modest €250, which is terrific for Ashwin, a department manager in a do-it-yourself

THE NUMBERS 743,104 Amsterdammers* live in 376,233 houses.** Housing type

Total

Percentage

Private property Rental houses owned by housing corporations Rental houses owned by private owners Total

89,770 202,570 83,893 376,233

23.9 53.8 22.3 100

* Source: Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Onderzoek en Statistiek, 1 January 2007 ** Source: Factsheet Wonen in Amsterdam 2005 (Gemeente Amsterdam, Dienst Wonen, Stadsdelen, Amsterdamse Federatie van Woningcorporaties)

To move into a larger place, renters are asked to pay not just a little bit extra, but often three to five times as much rent to get just one more room.

afford to live here, Amsterdam as a place of business will become less attractive for companies.’ Tromp, of the rental housing bureau Perfect Housing, which does 95 per cent of its business with expatriates, says the current housing law creates a disincentive for owners who want to rent to someone else, for example, if they go out of town for a few years. While property costs go up an average of five to ten per cent every year, Tromp says, owners can only charge rent based on a point system that is tied to the inflation rate, which increases about one to two per cent annually. If they can’t recover their expenses under the law, he says, they are less likely to want to rent. ‘Nobody will rent under their cost price—nobody,’ he says. ‘So you are encouraging illegal renting, which only causes more problems.’ He says the point system is outdated, because it results in fewer available units on the market. In response, Van der Heijden of Dienst Wonen says that’s the point. It’s okay to allow a few units to drop off the market, she says, if those houses would only be available to the rich. The city’s policy, she says, is designed to create

shop and Rosmarijn, who works as an assistant-manager in a drugstore. Their combined income is €2,700 a month after taxes, and they save a lot on rent. But now that they want to have a child, they need something a little more spacious. They’ve been searching for quite some time, but they’ve come to realise that the Amsterdam rental market is far too treacherous. There’s a Dutch word for people like Ashwin and Rosmarijn: scheefwoners. It can be literally translated as, ‘people who live lopsided’, but it basically means that their rent is lower than what they can afford to pay for housing. Scheefwoners are everywhere in Amsterdam, according to housing experts: they’d be willing to pay more rent for a nicer, bigger place, but an affordable house with an additional room or two is hard, and expensive, to find. That’s because of the city’s lopsided rental housing market, according to Wonen in de Metropool, the recently published housing policy of the Dienst Wonen, the housing department of the City of Amsterdam. While 57 per cent of the city’s housing stock is classified as cheap (rents of up to €520 a month), only 35 per

cent of Amsterdam residents are categorised as low income (that is, earning a household income of no more than €1,633, after taxes). Scheefwoners are often criticised for monopolising the affordable housing that exists, when they don’t really need inexpensive housing. But Bastiaan van Perlo, spokesman of the Huurdersvereniging Amsterdam, an umbrella organisation representing 23 tenants’ associations in Amsterdam, or about 180,000 households, says these types of renters can be good for the city’s overall economic diversity. ‘We like to see mixed neighbourhoods in terms of people’s incomes,’ says Van Perlo. ‘It stimulates social interaction, and shop owners benefit from people with higher incomes. Besides: if you have a good salary you shouldn’t be forced to live in a more expensive house. That’s up to you.’ And finding something appropriate in a more expensive neighbourhood isn’t necessarily easy, either. There’s been a constant housing shortage in Amsterdam for the last three years, according to Van Perlo, because the city has become increasingly popular, and not enough new houses are being built. To move into a larger place, renters are asked to pay not just a little bit extra, but often three to five times as much rent to get just one more room. Which means they’d have to go from spending a small fraction of their income on rent to spending about half or two thirds of their income each month. That’s a trade-off most people who’ve lived here a long time aren’t willing to make. For people like Ashwin and Rosmarijn, that means it probably makes more sense to buy: ‘If you are looking for a bigger place to rent, the rent will be so high that it would be better to spend that money on a mortgage,’ says Rosmarijn. And it won’t be Amsterdam, either, for these native Amsterdammers. Ashwin: ‘We are always looking for places in towns like Purmerend, with a garage and a garden. The housing prices are lower there and there are no parking problems.’ Rosmarijn: ‘And it’s still close to Amsterdam.’ They wouldn’t be the first to move to Purmerend. Or Almere, for that matter. Rumour has it that’s where all the native Amsterdammers live now. Student Sardines: Crowding into containers You’re 18, you finished your secondary education, you picked a study (psychology, ‘cause you were always interested in people), you picked a university (in Amsterdam, where else?), you’re ready to start your free new life, no longer under the supervision of mom and dad. It’s gonna be easy, right? Wrong. Well, for 43 per cent of you, anyway. That is because about two fifths of the students attending Amsterdam universities and other institutions for higher learning still live with their parents, according to the 2005 Van zeecontainer tot grachtenpand [‘From Sea Container to Canal-House’] report, commissioned by the city and prepared by a consultancy bureau Laagland’advies, in conjunction with two Amsterdam universities and housing corporations. The primary reason for staying at home, according to the report, is that, not surprisingly, it’s hard to find a room.


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Laagland’advies found in 2005 that there was a shortage of 9,900 student units in Amsterdam, Amstelveen and Diemen. ‘The shortage is the result of a lack of attention,’ says Anne Janssens, chairman of the student union ASVA (De Algemene Studenten Vereninging Amsterdam). ‘The availability of and attention for student housing is subject to fluctuation. If the shortage is high, the attention for it is high. Once something has been done about it the attention ebbs away.’ ASVA promoted the creation of 2,300 sea-containers-turned-student-apartments in places such as Houthaven and Wenckebachweg. They turned out to be very popular, and now there are very long waiting lists for the units. But the sea containers only partly solved the shortage, and the city is still short on student housing. The city and cooperating housing corporations have plans to address the problem, which should create 7,600 new student apartments before 2011, says Janssens. ‘But it’s a pity that the 7,600 is based on last year’s figures, which don’t

A

fter her first year in Amsterdam, Ana* from Argentina had to leave her University of Amsterdam apartment, because the university only provides masters degree students a room for the first year. She started searching websites with rental listings. Many of these sites ask a fee, but Marktplaats and Craigslist don’t, so Ana concentrated on those. Pretty soon she came across an ad that sounded too good to be true: A furnished two-bedroom in the city centre, on a canal, for €680 a month. The pictures that went with the ad looked enticing. Ana, who is 23, responded to the ad immediately and got an email back from the owner, saying that the house belonged to a family, the father of which was on a crusade in West Africa, while the mother was in the US. The family hadn’t been able to find an agent to rent out the house, so the mother had taken the keys with her. The man also replied, by email, supposedly from Africa, giving Ana the email address of his wife. Ana wrote to her and received a nice email reply, in which the woman described her family in great detail—their religious crusade and the important work they were doing in Africa. She also explained why the rent for the apartment was so cheap, saying that the family wasn’t interested in money, but only wanted the apartment to be looked after by someone responsible. Furthermore, the woman asked Ana to send her a short description of herself, which Ana did. Then the woman sent her a questionnaire with 10 questions. The first eight were straightforward: name, age and so on. But the last two were slightly peculiar: What is your religion? And, Are you reborn? Ana replied by saying that she wasn’t a religious person, but that she respected everyone’s beliefs. She also said that she didn’t quite understand the question about being reborn. In the next email the woman wanted to do business. She asked Ana to send her one month’s rent plus a deposit of the same amount to the US, by Western Union. She said that once the money was received, she would make the necessary

Amsterdam Weekly

Whatever the situation, though, you can’t get too comfortable: you could be kicked out any time.

include the expected rise of the number of students in the coming years,’ he adds. Anti-kraak: How long can you comfortably antisquat? In the last five years, Olivier Hofman, a 25-year-old who studies editing and media production at Hogeschool van Amsterdam, has moved 15 times, spending an average of three months in each of his apartments. He is one of the people who lived the anti-squat life, registering with agencies known as antikraak, that give people cheap rents in

exchange for inhabiting apartments and office buildings they’re afraid will get squatted. Owners of empty property rent out places as low as €150 a month, but the spaces vary dramatically and often they’re less-than-ideal. As an anti-squatter you might end up in an empty office or a former schoolhouse. On the other hand, you could find yourself living the high life in a canal-house. Whatever the situation, though, you can’t get too comfortable: you could be kicked out any time. Hofman loved anti-squatting when he was a freshman. ‘It was the ultimate feel-

SCAMMED

Wolves at the rental housing door

documentation and send it to Ana, together with the key to the house. Because she’d been asked to send money without even having a chance to see the apartment, Ana realised that this was most likely a scam and she cut off email contact. In the meantime, she was still looking for a house, so she reacted again to an ad on Marktplaats for an apartment in Chinatown. A ‘Mary White’ in England sent her a contract right away. Ana asked if she could see the house first. A date was agreed on, the house actually existed, but no one opened the door.

Ana emailed the woman and asked her what happened. Ms White replied that she had taken the key of the house to the UK and that she didn’t know anybody in Amsterdam to show Ana around. She asked Ana to send her money, after which she would send the key. No go. Ana was smart enough not to fall for the scams—as probably too many people do—but she says that her experiences with the swindlers were frustrating and wasted a lot of her time. She adds that Amsterdam can become a very hostile place if you are looking for a

10-16 January 2008

ing of freedom,’ he says. ‘I threw enormous parties in anti-squat houses.’ But soon he realised that the instability of his housing situation didn’t allow him to concentrate on his studies. ‘I needed a fixed address to organise my life,’ he says. But he didn’t get it for quite some time. After half a year in ‘a squalid room’ in the fraternity house of his student union LANX, he managed to find a share on Elandsgracht in the centre, through friends of friends. But he paid more than he would’ve for student rooms—20 square meters cost €500 a month, whereas student rooms go for an average of €350. ‘I finally registered at a student housing corporation,’ he says. ‘Much too late, really.’ Hofman says he’s found the city’s student housing situation, ‘Dire, contrary to reports you sometimes hear that it’s not that bad. Nobody that I know of has found a place through the city or a housing corporation. What’s more, because there’s no choice, the prices for student housing are ridiculous.’ So good luck folks...

place to live. Affordable apartments are usually only available for people with a working contract, and without good networking skills it is difficult to find a house. Ana gave herself a limit of a few months to find something. If she wouldn’t have succeeded she would have gone home, back to Argentina, and finish her studies from there. Luckily, through friends she has found a place in Oost, where she is living with roommates. It seems that more ads on Craigslist are fishy. Ana has heard similar stories from lots of people. I tried a suspicious looking ad myself, and got a quick reply within an hour. A ‘Joy Lord’ wrote to me: ‘Am Joy Lord from London, a deaf and dump lady am 25 years of age. Regarding the apartment is available, though am not the owner of the apartment am a student, i came to Amsterdam to work on my school project, i really take good care of the apartment and when leaving the owner handed it over to me, though his a Rev and his psoted to West Africa Nigeria.’ [sic] In a later email she asked me to call a Rev William in Nigeria. The connection was bad. A man saying he was Reverend William asked me to ask Joy Lord for an application form. Within one hour, Ms Lord mailed me back with a professional looking application form, with detailed questions on my credit history, my residential history and my employment information. Nothing about my religion or reborn status, though. Of course, a deposit was asked for before Joy Lord would send me the key. On Monday, 17 December an ad said ‘EUR1000 / 2br - APARTMENT FOR RENT. Spacious and bright apartment, totally renovated and located in the city hart of Amsterdam. Rijksmuseum is on the opposite of the building.’ [sic] Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Strangely, however, is that the picture of the open air swimming pool seems to have been taken in a rather more tropical environment. * For this article Ana used a false name. The swindlers know her real name and passport number.


Amsterdam Weekly

10-16 January 2008

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CRACKING THE RENTAL MARKET

Ten tips for tenants

1

Network The golden rule of apartment hunting is to spread the word: email all your friends to tell them you’re looking for an apartment. Tell your business associates, your classmates and former classmates. Tell that goat. Make it easy for people to advertise your needs by describing what you want (one bedroom, garden, under €800) and a few of your assets (tidy, good with a hammer). The more people who know you’re looking, and what you’re looking for, the better chance you’ll have of hearing about something that opens up. ‘The only way to find an apartment is networking,’ says Olivier Hofman, 25, a student. ‘I know a girl who put on a T-shirt with the text “I’m looking for a house. Who will help me?” She went into a bar and some drunk swallowed the bait.’

2

Schrijf je in Register at the social housing agency the moment you are born. To qualify for an apartment with fixed, low rents in Amsterdam, the so-called sociale huurwoningen, or ‘social housing’, you must join a housing corporation. The average waiting time is 6.5 years. While you’re waiting, register elsewhere. Housing agencies, or makelaars, might be expensive, but they could save you time, and help you avoid scams. Registering is usually free-of-charge, while their finder’s fee is one month rent excluding 19% tax. ‘Always use several searching methods simultaneously,’ suggests Bastiaan van Perlo of the Huurdersvereniging. For students, Anne Janssens of ASVA student union says high school students hoping to attend college in Amsterdam should register with student housing corporations

before they graduate. ASVA student union (www.asva.nl) can help find a student room through a lottery system. The student union of the Vrije Universiteit, SRVU Studentenvakbond, runs a housing bureau as well (www.srvu.org).

3

Search the web There has been a great proliferation of web sites that help you look for housing, some charge a fee, but most don’t. You’re on your own with these sites, so be careful and know your rights (See #8 and #9 below) but check with the following: In Dutch and English: - Marktplaats (www.marktplaats.nl) - Speurders (www.speurders.nl) - Altijd Wonen (www.altijdwonen.nl) English-only - Craig’s List (www.craigslist.org) - Expatica (www.expatica.com/nl/housing) - Elynx (www.elynx.nl) For shares/rooms: - Huurkamers (www.huurkamers.nl) - Kamernet (www.kamernet.nl) - Kamerzoek (www.kamerzoek.nl)

4

Be active In a market like this, you can’t just sign up and hope the apartments will come to you. React to three ads every two weeks, the maximum number allowed, on Woningnet to increase your odds. When you respond to ads through a makelaar or online, follow up, be persistent, and keep an organised list of the places you’ve seen.

5

Sublet You can rent a place from someone who already rents inexpensively, either legally or illegally. The so-called onderhu-

ur (sub-tenancy) is a good option in a city filled with cheap apartments that are already rented to someone. If you do it the legal way, it’s called huisbewaring (taking care of a house). The owner and the city have to be informed, the minimum period is three months and the maximum one year, which can be extended with one year to a total maximum of two years. If you do it illegally, you can be expelled if the Dienst Wonen finds out. Word on the street is that about 10 per cent of Amsterdam’s rentals are sublet illegally, but investigations by housing corporations De Key and Bureau Zoeklicht, the gemeente department that investigates illegal housing practises, indicates that a much smaller number of apartments—only one to three per cent—are illegal sublets. The first person on the lease is the person who can be punished for illegal sublets. That’s a good thing for the housing situation, says Van Perlo. ‘You could argue not to regulate sub-tenancy. But that would mean that people with lower incomes would have fewer possibilities on the housing market, because cheap houses would be taken off the market by illegal subtenants.’

6

Squat or anti-squat Contrary to what many people think, squatting is legal, as long as you do it correctly. Learn more by checking the Dutch website krakengaatdoor.nl, or the international squatting news and information site, (http://squat.net). To anti-squat, you must sign up with one of the Anti-Kraak agencies, such as Bureau voor Tijdelijke Bewoning b.v., (Bureau for Temporary Housing) (www.antikraak.nl) or AntiKraak b.v. (www.anti-kraak.nl).

7

Look where people don’t want to live Everyone wants to live in the Jordaan or De Pijp. Either get rich or get over yourself. Try Zuid-Oost. There, on average ‘only’ 65 people apply for an apartment from a housing corporation, whereas in stadsdeel Centrum the number of reactions is 183. You might find a house within two or three months. There also might still be some inexpensive rentals in Bos en Lommer, although that’s now considered the ‘new Baarsjes’, where the Baarsjes was the new Oud-West... etcetera...

8

Know your rights These organisations can fill you in on housing rules and regulations: - Dienst Wonen (www.wonen.amsterdam.nl) - Huurders Info: (www.huurders.info) - Huurders Vereniging: (www.huurdersvereniging-amsterdam.nl) - Woningnet: (www.woningnet.nl) - Studentwoningenweb (for student housing): (www.studentenwoningweb.nl)

9

Watch out for scams Never, ever, send money to someone you’ve met only on the internet or by email. Never pay for a place you haven’t seen. Hand over money when you have a signed contract and have keys in hand. If you feel you’ve been victimised by a scam artist, contact the police, one of the tenants groups listed above or www.internetoplichting.nl. (Also see article on the facing page.)

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Become filthy rich


Amsterdam Weekly

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10-16 January 2008

SHORT LIST

Melt Magpie & The Trust Dance Company, Saturday, Bimhuis

THURSDAY10 JANUARY Festival: Noorderslag Weekend So when is a music festival not a music festival? When it’s a showcase, silly. Everyone who’s anyone in the European music scene shall be descending on the fair city of Groningen this weekend. A strong vat of hair of the dog tonic awaits, as visitors look to shake off their New Year hangovers in the brisk northern air, while their ears await a severe aural battering over three nights. The tradition is simple: Thursday and Friday evenings are collectively known as Eurosonic, where hotly tipped bands from across the continent will show up to flaunt their wares. Saturday night is handed over solely to Dutch talents, typically mixing the most successful bands of the past year along with those lining up new releases in the coming months. The city undoubtedly becomes flooded with industry insiders, but that doesn’t mean the gigs aren’t a blast. And if you’re the kind of music fan who prefers to stay ahead of the game rather than be told what’s worth listening to by magazines and radio, you’re sure to discover some new treasures amongst the 227 acts scheduled. Finding a floor to kip on is also pretty handy for surviving the whole event. See www.noorderslag.nl for full schedule. (Steven McCarron) Various locations and times, Groningen, sold out.

Jazz: The Flatlands Collective Jorrit Dijkstra seems to want musical projects in every port of call, and the Flatlands Collective is the group that joins him in America’s Midwest, a fine crew with some of Chicago’s best players that certainly exude some Dutch flavour. Most of the musicians—clarinetist James Falzone, trombonist Jeb Bishop, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Tim Mulvenna—contribute tunes, so the group’s excellent debut album Gnomade (Skycap) bristles with variety. What makes the music cohere is the attention given to the arrangements, and how they encourage, propel and interact with the improvisations. Traces of many disparate traditions converge, from delicate chamber music to airy West Coast jazz and even Dixieland, but rather than deliver some glib post-modern mash-up, the various ingredients are present thanks to their emphasis on group interplay. Even when Dijkstra takes centre-stage his fluid lines on both the alto-saxophone and the Lyricon—an analogue wind synth from the ’70s—are cajoled and caressed spontaneously by other members. (Peter Margasak) Bimhuis, 21.00, €14.

Photography: Katja Sonnewend—Wenn ich einmal groß bin ‘When I Grow Up’, a series of portraits by Polish-German photographer Katja Sonnewend, celebrates a childlike approach to both art and life. Because ‘a childlike airiness and a sense of humour,’ says Sonnewend, ‘are the best way to deal with art. Everything’s better than growing up.’ The portraitees, many of them artists them-

selves, seem to share this opinion. Some of them wear spaghetti on their heads. The poses appear to be spontaneous, the colours are strong and simple; the pictures scream out the cliché of how artists are more in touch with their inner child than normal people. Supposedly, their eccentricity proves this. However, since eccentricity is a pretty untypical feature in kids, the idea doesn’t really work and many of the people in the pictures look more grown-up than your typical videogaming thirty-something. But if you, like Sonnewend, define growing up as ‘having to find a fixed place in society, always behave and stop making jokes,’ then it’s obviously best to leave that out and to go and get a console instead. And a bowl of spaghetti. (Sarah Gehrke) Melkweg Galerie, Mon-Sun 13.00-20.00. Until February 3.

FRIDAY11JANUARY Festival: Capoeira Film Festival Ever wondered what’s behind those cunning manoeuvres resembling some sort of fight you often see at Amsterdam’s public spaces like the Leidseplein during summertime? This festival will fill you in on what they’re all about. Afro-Brazilian by origin, the martial art of capoeira has its roots in slave culture. Once demonised and outlawed by the Brazilian government, it is now being considered as one of the Latin American country’s national treasures. Featured documentaries will focus on the history of capoeira—including a film on influential master practitioner Mestre Pastinha—but also give insight into its spiritual aspects, such as the influence of the African-inspired Candomblé religion, and into capoeira at present, with a documentary on the martial art form being practised by imprisoned South African juvenile delinquents and one on the role of women in the male-dominated capoeira scene. As proof that this Brazilian export has taken root all over the world, there’s a feature with famous New York breakdancers Rock Steady Crew taking on capoeiristas from their home town. And there will be live samba and forró at Saturday’s party. Don’t forget to bring your berimbau. (Peter Bartlema) Latijns Amerika Centrum, 19.00-21.45, €4 (1 screening), €20 (all films), €5 (party). Also Sat 17.00-01.00 and Sun 17.00-19.45.

Club: Rauw at Melkweg Dancing to guitars became a little bit cooler when Rauw was invented. Brainchild of Joost van Bellen, this party combined the big riffs with the big boom boom booms, throwing in some live acts for good measure, for what proved to be one of the winning concepts of late. Over the three years of Rauw’s existence, the parties got bigger and bigger—and the queues longer and longer. Now 11’s most successful club night is leaving the soon-to-be sinking ship. The reason for Mr van Bellen’s moving house is, thus, less to be found in the impending closure of 11—scheduled for the coming summer— but more in the fact that Rauw simply got too big for the venue. And while Melkweg might have a slightly less charming view, they do have space for a few more people, plus better equipment for those live bands. The goodbye do at 11 took place in Decem-


10-16 January 2008

Amsterdam Weekly

ber, and the first Rauw at the new location will feature Justin Robertson, Man Like Me, WaxDolls and of course, ol’ Joost himself. And, hopefully, a little less queuing. (Sarah Gehrke) Melkweg, The Max, 23.00, €15 + membership.

SATURDAY12 JANUARY Dance: Melt Magpie & The Trust Dance Company Going to a Magpie performance is an opportunity to observe improvisational dance masters at play. It’s almost voyeuristic, watching them in a completely unself-conscious state, making movements most would never consider in dance. And then, at the turn of a heel, the drop of a prop and a new series of beats from the lap-top musician, they’re all suddenly and simultaneously casting about, with great dexterity and flexibility, and demonstrating as a group, their unique blend of classical training and freedom of expression. This Saturday, the full group with all their favourite musical collaborators (including Cor Fuhler, Andy Moor, Michael Moore, Mary Oliver, Colin Mclean and Wilbert de Joode) will perform with The Trust Dance Company from Korea, who share Magpie’s free improvisational approach. (Mark Wedin) Bimhuis, 21.00, €14.

SUNDAY13 JANUARY Experimental: The Rebel Gigs that take place on Sunday afternoons are typically lush classical affairs, easy listening cafe jazz, or maybe just a pleasant-sounding singer-songwriter mixing up elements of folk and pop. So what Paradiso are thinking with their scheduling of The Rebel this Sunday afternoon, we’ll never know. Ideally, this should be a late-night affair, allowing the whiskey some time to burn a hole in your stomach—-and maybe the performer’s, too. But a sonic shake-up on a Sunday is certainly never a bad thing, and that’s exactly what you’ll get. Best known for his work with the Country Teasers, a bunch of Scottish art punks who’ve been deconstructing country music and plenty of other styles since the early ’90s, The Rebel is Ben Wallers left to his own devices. Discordant, lyrically scathing but ultimately gloriously entertaining so long as you can handle the barebones attack and the ultra-low fidelity. Both on record and live, you can always count on the strangest of strange experiences, and while the presentation may be a million miles from everything else on offer today, the message is one worth deciphering, sober or not. (Steven McCarron) Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 16.30, €6.50 + membership.

TUESDAY15 JANUARY Music theatre: de Veenfabriek Starting today, music theatre group de Veenfabriek camps out at Frascati for an entire week, boasting a slew of various modern productions. First up is their new composition inspired by 18th century visionary Humbert de Superville, a Leiden native whose high-minded ideas about numbers and colours will be incorporated in primal performances of something called a Superville chord. Then 17-19 January sees Raket, which blends live and recorded music with plenty of visual installations, much of it inspired by pop music aesthetics. But maybe the most enticing aspect of the week is Chamber Music, which offers arrangements of James Joyce’s collection of poems by the same name into songs and modern compositions performed on both traditional and electronic instruments. For those who hate Broadway, this might be just the kind of modern music theatre you’ve been missing. See www.veenfabriek.nl. (Mark Wedin) Frascati, various times and prices.

WEDNESDAY16 JANUARY Event: European Dreams European dreams: there have been many. Lots have succeeded. Others haven’t, like the one of giving the latest treaty a flashy name and hoping to get an enthusiastic response to that in the referenda. The fact that this didn’t work and that the best method for making changes would still seem to be making one-on-one deals while smoking cigars in fireplace lounges, hoping the people won’t notice too much before the documents get signed, is a slight threat to that other European dream: transparency. But hey, we’re working on that. This event, organised by the Nationale Jongerenraad, is for the youth, and so debates and talks will be interchanging nicely with music and comedy performances. Speakers discussing those most burning questions like ‘will we have a European army?’ or ‘will Polish people steal our jobs?’ include Ebru Umar, Joost Conijn, Caroline de Gruyter and Hans Beerekamp. Performances from Leaf, Ellen ten Damme, Typhoon, Nabil, Rednose Distrikt and a party representing the most integrative of the latest hypes, with Caspian Hat Dance and Balkan Beatz, will round it all off. (Sarah Gehrke) Melkweg, 19.30, €5.

Send details and images for listing consideration at least two weeks in advance to agenda@amsterdamweekly.nl.

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Amsterdam Weekly

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10-16 January 2008

RICHARD YOUNG

Vibe player Jack Ashford’s biggest contribution was, in fact, his tambourine playing.

The Funk Brothers amassed more hits than the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones and Elvis combined.

THE MUSICIANS OF MOTOWN MUSIC Funk Brothers featuring Jack Ashford 15 January, Paradiso, 21.00, €25 + membership By Peter Bartlema (with Pieter Buijs)

It was like a fairy tale: after the 2002 documentary film, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, the biggest hit machine in the history of pop finally got its due. Music lovers around the globe discovered the Detroit session musicians who played on such famous recordings from the 1960s and 1970s as ‘My Guy’, ‘I Heard it Through the Grapevine’ and ‘Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone’: the Funk Brothers. Even though they’d waited a long time for fame, it still came as a mixed blessing. In the five years since the movie made them stars, they’ve been divided by artistic differences and legal troubles. Now only one single member of the original group is coming to Amsterdam for a show at Paradiso: percussionist and vibraphone player Jack Ashford, who during his visit last year to the Netherlands talked about his rise to stardom and the troubles along the way.

The success of the film, he said, created a rift between the surviving members of the group, of which a number already had passed away before the movie was ever made, including legendary bass player James Jamerson and drummer Benny Benjamin. On one side is Ashford and his longtime buddy, keyboardist Joe Hunter, one of Motown’s first studio musicians who had been diagnosed as a diabetic and was found dead in his Detroit apartment in February 2007. On the other, drummer Uriel Jones, bassplayer Bob Babbitt and guitarists Eddie Willis and Joe Messina, who has since retired. Damage was done, according to Ashford, during the successful 2004 ‘comeback’ tour, with name artists such as Peabo Bryson and Steve Winwood. The band refused to play anything but Motown songs. Additionally he complained about the management, and the producers of the movie, who prevented the Funk Brothers from personally receiving their lifetime achievement award at the Grammy Awards presentations in the US in Jan-

uary 2004. They decided to keep the band in Europe to finish the tour, allegedly because talks fell apart over the band performing on the telecast of the show. ‘Because these guys wanted to make money on us, they kept us over here! In Helsinki!’ said Ashford. ‘We should have been there. How many times do you get a “lifetime achievement”?’ Things went from bad to worse, in Ashford’s words, and reached their nadir when movie producers/managers Allan Slutsky and Sandy Passman of Rimshot Management sued The Funk Brothers for breach of contract after the group terminated their services in Febrauary 2007. A move which was retracted later on, but not by all group members. ‘A lot of people said that when Joe and I left, it destroyed the group,’ said Ashford. ‘That wasn’t the intent, since for me Motown was only part of the story.’ As a result, in 2007, two sets of Funk Brothers were touring separately, with Jones, Willis and Babbitt claiming the name, as they had the majority over the other group with Ashford and Hunter on board. ‘I call myself ‘Funk Brother Jack Ashford’, because I want that association,’ Ashford said. ‘But I don’t associate with the other Funk Brothers in any way, form or fashion. I’m not ashamed to tell that to anybody. When somebody asks me about those other guys, I’ll tell them to go and see them as they play good music, Motown music. There’s enough to go round. They can’t play all the songs in one night. And neither can I.’ The Funk Brothers weren’t always known as the Funk Brothers. In 1959,

when they started playing, they were just a loose assemblage of musicians who were hired by the Motown label to play the backing tracks on songs for such names as Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes. They were nicknamed the Funk Brothers by Benny Benjamin, and the name stuck, though Motown-founder Berry Gordy Jr didn’t like it. Ashford remembered recording at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, a former photographer’s studio converted by Gordy into the label’s administrative headquarters and recording studio. It was known as ‘The Snakepit’ because of its small size. Fame wasn’t the objective at that time, said Ashford, who joined Motown’s session musicians in 1963. ‘I always kept my attention focused on other things. We were there every day; we cut on Sundays, any time. The Motown company could best be described as “self-contained”. We didn’t have to go outside for anything. It was like an assembly line. While we were recording, upstairs in another room people like Smokey Robinson or Holland-Dozier-Holland were writing lyrics or a new song.’ Comprised of musicians with a predilection for jazz, the Funk Brothers made sure they kept in touch with the Motorcity’s lively jazz scene by playing at nightclubs like the Chit Chat Lounge or the Apex Bar. ‘That was our fun,’ said Ashford. ‘It’s like any other sport: the more you spar, the better you are. And with musicians it’s like: the more you play, the more proficient you get with your instrument.’ Back then, the musicians worked and played together in spite of an atmosphere that could be described as cut-throat. ‘Of course it was competitive, but you could compare it to a jam session where all the guys bring their instruments and try to outplay you,’ said Ashford. ‘That doesn’t mean they don’t like you.’ With the Funk Brothers Ashford started out on vibraphone, but his major contribution to the Motown sound was, in fact, the tambourine. ‘They hadn’t been exposed to somebody playing the tambourine like I did,’ he said. ‘I said that I couldn’t play both instruments, so they got Jack Brokensha to play vibes.’ It explains Ashford’s nickname ‘Black Jack’, as Australia-born Brokensha became ‘White Jack’. ‘Fortunately for me, the tambourine became a very important part of the sound, so I made my own niche.’ On the current tour Ashford will still play the tambourine and vibes with his band, comprised of singers and musicians who in fact had nothing to do with the original Motown sound. But to keep up their legacy, the Memphis residing musician will talk about the history of the Funk Brothers before the show. He won’t be playing with some of his former jam partners, but Ashford said he doesn’t hold grudges about anything. ‘Why would I be angry?’ he said. ‘God smiled upon Detroit when he put us there. The world has been the recipient of what happened there. We cut records for everybody on the planet!’


Amsterdam Weekly

10-16 January 2008

MUSIC Send listing suggestions at least two weeks in advance to agenda@amsterdamweekly.nl. Full listings at www.amsterdamweekly.nl.

Thursday 10 January Festival: Noorderslag Weekend All the music you need to survive 2008. See Short List. Various locations and times, Groningen, sold out Jazz: Fourtune A mix of jazz, pop, bossa and blues from singer Annemarie Hilbrands. Dinner concert. Badcuyp, Zuidpool, 20.00, €4/€9 Latin/Jazz: Kim Soepnel Energetic jazzy bossas. Studio K, 20.00, free Pop: Sensuàl Brazilian grooves and melodic hooks with this jazzy world pop outfit launching their second CD Salve. Sugar Factory, 20.00, free Classical: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Performing Dvorák’s Cello Concerto in B, Smetana’s De Moldau and Janácek’s Sinfonietta; conducted by Jiri Belohlavek, with cellist Godfried Hoogeveen. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.15, €47.50 Contemporary: Asko Ensemble & Schönberg Ensemble A Proms Aan ’t IJ performance, tonight featuring Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Michaels Reise um die Erde, which forms the second act from Donnerstag, the fourth part of his monumental opera cycle Licht. Muziekgebouw, 20.30, €22 Pop/Rock: 4xLive With Trenchcoat, GoTV, Solomon’s Son and The Wooden Constructions. Cafe Pakhuis Wilhelmina, 21.00, €5 Pop/Rock: Fools Gold Performances by The Last Attraction, The Looks and Toyfish Trap. Winston Kingdom, 21.00, €5 World: Mdungu & Beyond Sweet Afro-grooves from this local formation. Special guest is sax player Benjamin Herman. Club Meander, 21.00, €10 Rock: Pete & The Pirates Subbacultcha! presents the best of Eurosonic in Amsterdam. Pete & The Pirates are a fiery indie rock ’n’ roll outfit from England. Support from The Stutters. Bitterzoet, 21.00, €7 Jazz: The Flatlands Collective Alto-saxophonist Jorrit Dijkstra has been living in Boston since 2002 where he studied under Steve Lacy and immersed himself in the music of John Cage and Earle Brown, while manipulating his sax with electronics, playing analogue synthesizer and lyricon. Last year Dijkstra made a big impression here in Holland in his duo with master percussionist John Hollenbeck. Now he’s back with this new international collective featuring five prominent improvisers from Chicago. See Short List. Bimhuis, 21.00, €14 Tango: Pavadita & Eva Wolff Passionate Argentine tango. Badcuyp, Noordpool, 21.30, €6 Folk: Off the Record Rockin’ acoustic bluegrass from the Blue Grass Boogiemen and the Pedro Delgados. Comedy Theater, 22.30, €7.50

Hyacinth House, see Saturday

Friday 11January Classical: Lunch Concert Students from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Bethaniënklooster, 12.30, free Pop/Rock: Bodog Music Battle of the Bands Ten bands battle for glory by hiding each other’s DI boxes, weakening guitar strings and plugging vocal mics into the main’s electricity. Featuring Apex Horizon, Fold, Incease, Junior Eats Alone, Maroen, Targets, The New Low, The Polaroids, The NAME and With Ice. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 18.00, €10 + membership Jazz: José James Jazzy pop from New York, promoting his debut album The Dreamer, which is due to be released at the end of January. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 19.30, €12 + membership Latin/Jazz: Kim Soepnel (See Thursday) Studio K, 20.00, free Jazz: Room Eleven Funky jazz fronted by singer Janne Schra. Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal, 20.15, €19 Classical: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (See Thursday) Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.15, €45 Jazz: David Torn & Prezens Composer, guitarist and producer David Torn has played with David Bowie, Jeff Beck, David Sylvian, Laurie Anderson, Sting, Madonna, Jan Garbarek, Don Cherry, Dave Douglas and Manu Katché. His expressive guitar parts can also be heard on several soundtracks, including The Big Lebowski and The Departed). Prezens is Torn’s new group, alongside downtown New Yorkers Tim Berne, Craig Taborn and Tom Rainey. Bimhuis, 21.00, €16 Pop/Rock: Davie Lawson, Caspian Hat Dance Singer-songwriter and Balkan party band. ‘t Blijvertje, 21.00, free

Pop: Robyn A bit of a Swedish pop diva, most of the world forgot about this vocalist after the late ’90s, following dance hits like ‘Show Me Love’ and ‘Do You Know (What it Takes)’. Ten years on, her international career is flourishing once more, appealing both to the TMF teenies and grown-up followers of the more commercial arm of electroclash. Melkweg, The Max, 21.30, €11 + membership Blues: Clay Windham Blues Band Yes, quite definitely blues of the New Orleans variety. Maloe Melo, 22.00, €5 Pop/Rock: Soko Quirky folk pop from France. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 22.00, €9 + membership Electronica: Noodlanding! Electro Special Featuring a DJ set from those acclaimed Belgian Goose lads, live sets from Offend You, Yeah? (UK), The Elektrons (UK), The Subs (BE), and upstairs it’s Slagsmalklubben. Paradiso, 23.00-late, €12.50

Sunday 13 January Classical: Nepomuk Fortepiano Quintet Performing proper old school works by Hummel and Schubert. Muziekgebouw, 12.00, €15 Classical: Strauss Festival Orchestra Unsurprisingly, this New Year’s gala is a Strauss feast; conducted by Fuat Mansurov, with soprano Tatiana Tretiak. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 14.15, €49.50 Contemporary: Brooom Experimental classical music. Zaal 100, 15.00, €5 Classical: Hexagon Ensemble Works by André Caplet, Claude Debussy, Albert Roussel and Joseph Jongen. Bethaniënklooster, 15.00, €16.50

Rock: The Bastardz of Glitter Glam rock glitter party. Maloe Melo, 22.00, €5

Experimental: The Rebel Discordant lo-fi country rock. See Short List. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 16.30, €6.50 + membership

Saturday 12 January

Classical: Amsterdam Sinfonietta Candida Thompson leads the orchestra, who’re joined by Roby Lakatos and his quintet, for a special Balkan evening. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.15, €35

Classical: Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Works by Koechlin, Gubaidulina, Sibelius and Nielsen; conducted by Martyn Brabbins. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 14.15, €28 Pop/Rock: Hyacinth House Melodic guitar pop from Sweden, offering the perfect atmosphere for followers of Holland’s own Excelsior Recordings label. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 19.00, €9 + membership Classical: Janne Rättyä & Larissa Groeneveld Accordion and cello duo performing works by Bach, Britten, Pulkkis, Tiensuu and Piazzolla. Felix Meritis, 20.15, €25

Electronica: Noodlanding! Electro Special Make sure those dancing shoes are on. Featuring performances from Danish indie electro band Who Made Who, The Whip and Shameboy (BE). Paradiso, 23.30, €9

Pop/Rock: Mama Loo Acoustic performance by the Utrecht rock band. Café Bax, 21.30, free

Rock: The Recipe Book Indie rock, blues and punk from the Suicidal Birds, Storm and Mexican Holiday. Winston Kingdom, 21.00, €5

Classical: Cobla La Principal d’Amsterdam A celebratory New Year’s performance with a Catalan slant. Noorderkerk, 14.00, €12

Shameboy, Noodlanding! Electro Special

Pop/Rock: Ratatöska A little folk, a little ska and reggae, and quite a bit of Eastern European sounds from this Berlin outfit. OCCII, 21.00

World: Ghalia Benali The popular singer, dancer and composer, Ghalia Benali of Tunisia draws inspiration for her Romeo & Leila from the Persian love story Leila & Majnun. Singing in her seductive voice, she tells a delightfully sorrowful tale of impossible love. KIT Tropentheater, 20.30, €18 Singer-songwriter: Jayson Norris, Mike Berry Soulful acoustic goodies from New Zealand songwriter Norris, with support from local artist Berry. Winston Kingdom, 21.00, €10

Pop/Rock: Momifest Beta 2.1 Sets from Venus Flytrap, Jan Kleefstra and Thoughts Create the World. Winston Kingdom, 21.00, €5 Experimental: Pierre Bastien, Philip Jeck Creator of an Orchestre Mécanique, his orchestra of automata that seem to have escaped straight from a film by Michel Gondry, Pierre Bastien is a beloved member of the experimental music world, hosting concerts that are exceptional experiences both in sonic and visual terms. Philip Jeck, well known for his performance piece Vinyl Requiem, for 180 record players, 12 slide projectors and 2 film projectors, combines samples, loops and scratches in his work from various analogue sources. Bimhuis, 21.00, €14 Jazz: Ready for Freddy Fresh grooves from Jos de Haas (New Cool Collective), Stefan Schmid (Zuco 103), Alex Oele (Yinka), Stefan Kruger (Zuco 103) and special guests. Badcuyp, Noordpool, 21.30, €5

Monday 14 January Pop: Absent Minded A benefit concert for the Red Cross. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 20.00, €7.50 + membership

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10-16 January 2008

Big band: Konrad Koselleck Big Band A special big band event to start the new year. Guesting tonight is acclaimed classical soprano Claron McFadden, so expect something a bit out of the ordinary on a chilly Monday evening. Sugar Factory, 20.00, €9 Pop/Rock: Woodface Bright melodies and pop sensibilities. These upbeat Belgians probably can’t turn up anywhere without a mention of antipodean outfit Crowded House due to their band name, so why should Amsterdam be any different? Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 20.00, €8 + membership Classical: Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest Performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 and Shostakovich’s Symphony No.11, The Year 1905; conducted by Yakov Kreizberg, with award-winning violinist Liza Ferschtman. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.15, €33 Classical: Stimmungsbilder Featuring works by Erwin Schulhoff, Vitzslava Kaprálová and Mathieu Polak. Uilenburger Synagogue, 20.15, €15 World: La Nuit Zigane A colourful celebration of gypsy culture, from contemporary Balkan beats and punk to traditional gypsy orchestras and choirs. Performers include the SUSke Orchester (Slovakia), MamaMatrix (UK), Caspian Hat Dance (NL) and De Fanfare van de Eerste Liefdesnacht (NL). Dress code for this party is purple and red. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 20.30, €15 + membership

Kneebody Jazz: Kneebody Experimental fusion from this muchtalked about American band. Bimhuis, 21.00, €14 World: The Cockroach with the Golden Hair The best of the Amsterdam world music underground. Winston Kingdom, 21.00, €5 Jazz: TryTone presents Experimental jazz concepts by Tetzepi and Griot. Zaal 100, 21.00, €5

CLUBS

Pop/Rock: Popgrond We’re all turning Flemish, with sets from comedic mariachi country rockers The Violent Husbands and raw rock ’n’ rollers The Van Jets. De Brakke Grond, 20.30, €5

Thursday 10 January

Contemporary: World Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales Performing John Adams’ Short Ride on a Fast Machine and Tromba Lontana; Ravel’s La Valse and Piano Concerto in G; De Falla’s El sombrero de tres picos; and Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. Conducted by Josep Vicent. Muziekgebouw, 20.30, €45

Franchise With Jamie Westland, Steven Quarre and Easy Ryan. Escape, 23.00-04.00, €10

Jazz: Fidan Led by singer Esra Dalfidan, this fresh band featuring Franz von Chossy and clarinettist Tobias Klein present their new Turkish-tinged album, Colors. Bimhuis, 21.00, €12 Experimental: Le Club Suburbia Obscure sounds from the underground, with XBXRX (US), Silver Salts (US) and Core of the Coalman (US). OCCII, 21.00, €5

Tuesday 15 January Classical: Lunch Concert With pianist David Herman. Ignatiushuis, 12.30, free Classical: The Unbearable Lightness of Music Cappella Amsterdam and Schönberg Ensemble join forces for this celebration of Leosˇ Janácˇek focussed on his ˇ Ríkadla—miniatures for chamber choir with solo voices and performed on a motley collection of instruments. Muziekgebouw, 20.30, €20 Soul: The Funk Brothers A touch of soulful class. These Detroit session musicians performed on the backing tracks of most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until 1972. Famous hits they were involved with include ‘My Guy’, ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’, ‘Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone’, ‘The Tears of a Clown’ and many, many more. With them tonight is original percussionist Jack Ashford. See article p. 12. Paradiso, Grote Zaal, 21.00, €25 + membership Pop: The Rhythm Junks Funky rootsy pop from Belgium, embracing sounds and rhythms from around the world. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 22.00, €7.50 + membership

Wednesday 16 January Classical: Lunch Concert Piano recital by Christopher Devine. Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal, 12.30, free Classical: Juilliard Quartet American quartet performing works by Beethoven, Shostakovich and Haydn. Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal, 20.15, €35 Classical: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Performing R Strauss’ Don Juan and Mahler’s Fifth Symphony; conducted by Mariss Jansons. Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal, 20.15, €55 Country: Ryan Bingham His voice may rasp, but the acoustic tunes from this American singer-songwriter are nothing short of atmospheric, with the tuneful strums matched by blasts of harmonica and slide guitar. Support from Liam Ferner. Paradiso, Kleine Zaal, 20.15, €8.50 + membership Funk: Hipdrop Live session featuring members of Cmon & Kypski, Zuco 103 and Lefties Soul Connection. Afterwards, it’s the turn of DJs Bart Fader and Alviz. Bitterzoet, 21.00, €5

Club Bangkok A weekly shot of indie-electro-pop for music junkies. Club 8, 22.00-04.00, €5

Poptrash Three decades’ worth of rock, electro and hiphop with The Punchout DJs. Melkweg, 23.0005.00, €5 Wildvreemd Thursdays just get wilder and wilder it seems. Guests tonight include Ramchez & Pep, Sander Baan, Tobias and S_Loop. Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €10 Riot! With Jaziah, Hitmeister D and Willie Wartaal. Studio 80, 23.00-late, €7.50

Friday 11January Boemklatsch With DJs $jammie the Money and Etcenist. Bitterzoet, 22.00-04.00, €7.50 Jan & Renske Naar Afrika Benefit evening with live acts and DJs. Club 8, 22.00-04.00, €5 Flowriders Album Launch—Basement Soul The Flowriders showcase their ground-breaking second album, while the Basement Soul crew has organised high-quality parties from Brighton to London, Tokyo to NYC, and released an acclaimed compilation on offshoot label Unique Uncut. This is their second birthday party. Sugar Factory, 22.00-05.00, €8/€10 Bass Culture For all your dubstep, jungle, dancehall and roots requirements. OT301, 22.00-late, €7 Mono With Kabale und Liebe (live), and DJs Rhadoo (Bucharest) and Lauhaus. 11, 22.30-04.00, €10 klinch: RAUW A former firm favourite over at 11, Rauw takes its first steps in its new home, promoting progressive dance sounds. As always, Joost van Bellen leads the way, with assistance from Justin Robertson, Man Like Me and WaxDolls. See Short List. Melkweg, The Max, 23.00-05.00, €15 + membership Zuivere Koffie / Black Label NYear With Jorn Liefdeshuis & Tom Ruig, Tommy Kornuit, Olene Kadar (live), Tony Boogs, Kid Goesting and Melomanics DJs. Flex Bar, 23.00-05.00, €9 Boss Featuring DJs Mr Wix, Manga, SP, Melly Mel and Gomes, and MCs Fit and Mo MC. Paradiso, 23.5905.00, €12.50

Saturday 12 January Betty & Billie’s BeatBoutique Honolulu Getting dolled up in Hawaiian shirts with lots of rock ’n’ roll, soul and pop nostalgia on offer. Club 8, 22.00-04.00, €5 Huiskamerhits Weekend Special Electro, rock and indie dancefloor hits. Bitterzoet, 22.00-04.00, €7.50 Ratio? A torrent of beats from Russ Gabriel (London) and Melon. 11, 22.30-04.00, €12 GirlsLoveDJ’s As always, a wide selection of DJs are awarded 45 minute slots and get to play all their favourite tunes, be they hip, shit or an ancient hit. Hotel Arena, 23.00-04.00, €15 Le Soule With Bruno Banner (F), Eduardo Ramirez, Bassline, Saxy Mr S and MC Choral. Cineac, 23.0004.00, €12


Amsterdam Weekly

10-16 January 2008 Fightclub presents Institubes Terror Crew Scaring the tunes out of everyone with sets from Surkin, Para One, Das Glow, Bobmo and Orgasmic. Flex Bar, 23.00-05.00, €10 Framebusters Amsterdam Rockin’: with Raymundo vs Frederik Abas and more. Escape, 23.00-05.00, €15 Free Saturdays With Baggi Begovic, Marc Benjamin, Issie Star, Artistique and Eazy Ryan. The Powerzone, 23.00-05.00, free Secret Cinema Secret Cinema has been one of Holland’s leading producers for more than 15 years. Tonight he kicks off a series of events showcasing his innovative, fresh sound, with stunning visuals, decor, live art and lighting adding extra intensity to the music. Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €12.50

Sunday 13 January Russian New Year ’08 Break out your parka, the vodka and your best Russian dance moves. Performing live are Russian folk party chaos band La Minor. Then there’s a host of DJs and a special guest at midnight. Flex Bar, 20.30-03.00, €15 WickedJazzSounds Jazz, hiphop, broken beats, nujazz, funk and Afro sounds, as classic vinyl collides with live musicians. Sugar Factory, 23.00-05.00, €9.50

Monday 14 January Cheeky Monday True skool jungle and drum & bass, featuring players from the local and international scenes. Winston Kingdom, 22.00-03.00, €6

Tuesday 15 January Strafwerk Featuring Ille Bitch, Daniel Sanchez, E-Contact and Edu de Leau. Winston Kingdom, 22.00-03.00, €5

GAY& LESBIAN

Don Juan, see Friday

STAGE Opening Performance: 24/7/52 Interactive audience participation is a key feature of this piece by British performer Bill Aitchison. Tape players are spread throughout the audience, each containing varying soundscapes, and audience members grapple with props passed back and forth. The result is a piece of absurdism that plays out like controlled chaos. Melkweg Theater, (Fri, Sat 20.30), €9 Theatre: Molahazat Ly Leia—Caïro Night Notes A poetic tale from Egyptian actor Shady El Dali and Belgian theatre-maker Kristof Persyn, detailing the rich nightlife of Cairo and its blend of reality and surreality. Frascati, (Fri, Sat, Tues, Wed 21.30), €7.50

Music/Dance: Magpie & The Trust Dance Company Magpie Music Dance Company, an Amsterdam collective of dancers and musicians make real-time compositions, from modern dance to ballet to new dance, from electronic music to jazz. Neither the music nor choreography are pre-determined. In MELT, Magpie collaborates with The Trust Dance Company, one of Korea’s leading dance groups, whose approach greatly resembles that of the locals. See Short List. Bimhuis, (Sat 21.00), €14 Theatre: Zekket A humorous and philosophical monologue inspired by the Five Pillars of Islam. This is the third of five episode in the Pax Islamica series. In Dutch. Frascati, (Sat, Tues, Wed 20.00), €12 Ballet: The Nutcracker That old Tchaikovsky winter favourite, with choreography by Marius Petipa. Meervaart, (Sun 14.30), €26 Music/Theatre: Superville Opening a week of performances by De Veenfabriek at Frascati, Superville is a lively piece inspired by the life of world-renowned Dutch art-theorist Humbert de Superville. See Short List. In Dutch. Frascati, (Tues, Wed 21.30), €12 Music/Dance: Don Juan Combattimento Consort Amsterdam tackle this popular Gluck ballet from 1761, with narration by René Groothof. Muziekgebouw, (Fri 20.30), €22.50

Edited by Willem de Blaauw.

Friday 11January Ongoing

DJ night: Twisted Hyper Tunes From 22.00 onwards DJ Gina spins Kylie (aaarghhh, surely not again??), Groove Armada, Pink, Crystal Waters, Fedde Le Grand and other dancey tunes at this hip—but attitude free—lovely bar. Just worth going for the friendly and sexy bar staff! PRIK, 16.00-03.00, free

Comedy: Comedy Explosion New and used stand-up comics doing their thing. In Dutch. Comedy Theater, (Thur-Sat 20.30), €12.50 Mijn Chanson

Saturday 12 January Party: (Z)onderbroek Drop your pants, dance, prance and fumble around in your most sexy briefs, trunks, jockstrap or Y-fronts at this men-only afternoon dance/cruise party, organised by Stichting GALA. It’s a parade of AussieBum and Calvin and gets quite hot, so it could easily be dubbed as ‘boners in briefs’... Club La, 16.00-20.00, €8

Theatre: Mijn Chanson Two singers prepare for a benefit concert, one young and at the start of her career, the other experienced but afraid she’s on the way out. Finding themselves working with the same songwriter, both are afraid the other is about to get the best song and take all the glory. With Anne van Veen and Willy van der Griendt. In Dutch. Theater Bellevue, (Thur-Sat 20.30, Sun 15.00), €13

DJ night: Club Krang Special edition of this mixed/gay night. All profits will go to a good cause and you decide how much you’ll pay for an entrance ticket. If you have some unwanted clothes, bring them along as they will be donated to the homeless. Just make sure it’s not that recently bought D&G shirt you put in the bin. Akhnaton, 200.00-05.00, free

Club: F*cking Pop Queers Popmuzik! Electro! Madonna! Indie! Urban! Yep, we love the tunes they spin here. If you fancy a break, head for the second room where the crew from Art Launch have created Art Launch Café. Studio 80, 22.00-late, €7,50

Comedy: Now&Lauw: Urban Improv Comedy Weekly ha-ha with Wilko Terwijn and Nabil Aoulad Ayad. In Dutch. Comedy Theater, (Fri 23.30), €10 + membership

Performance: Tease-à-GoGo Amsterdam’s newest Burlesque entertainment night. Expect a diverse mix of comedy, varieté and live music, all with a ’50s rock ’n’ roll nightclub atmosphere. Comedy Theater, (Sat 23.59), €10/€12.50

Sunday 13 January

Wednesday 16 January

Comedy: easyLaughs Comedy improv in English. Two knee-slapping shows every Friday night. CREA Muziekzaal, (Fri 20.30, 22.30), €8, €5 (late night)

Improfiësta Theatersportvereniging Amsterdam’s fun and shameless battle ground. In this edition the teams get to play with English for a change. CREA Theater, (Sat 20.30), €8

DJ night: Re-disco-very Cool disco tunes from DJs Robbert, Ingo, Edo, Jeroen & Jaap at this cute and cozy lesbian bar. Cafe Sappho, 22.00-02.00, free

Party: Blue Monday Alternative ‘dixo’ tunes, held at this former and famous squat, for alternative gays, queers, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders and whatyou-got. Vrankrijk, 22.00-02.00, free

Theatre: Stand-up Philosophy III—Laatste Nachtmerrie The third segment in Laura van Dolron’s Stand-up Philosophy series, this pulp post-modernist piece is based on the conspiracy theories from acclaimed documentary The Power of Nightmares. In Dutch. De Brakke Grond, (Thur-Sat 20.30), €12

Finalists CCA Comedy: Finalistentour 2007-2008 The fifth edition of the Culture Comedy Award, promising to introduce the public to the newest generation of stand-up comedians. While Belgian comic Michael van Peel already walked away with the Golden Microphone this time round, all finalists will be doing their thing. In Dutch. Theater Bellevue, (Tues, Wed 20.30), €13

Music/Dance: Wonderland Improvised dance and music performance for all the family. This edition features the Trust Dance Company from Korea, plus musical talents like Wilbert de Joode and Oscar Jan Hoogland. OT301, (Sun 16.00), €4 Music/Theatre: Ctrl+Alt+Del An adventurous musical comedy performance by duo Geen Familie, inspired by—and featuring—the internet. In Dutch. Theater Bellevue, (Mon 20.30), €13 Theatre: Rouw siert Electra Toneelgroep Amsterdam’s take on Eugene O’Neill’s 1931 play, based on the Greek tragedies The Oresteia. In Dutch. Stadsschouwburg, (Mon, Tues 19.30), €12-€25

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Amsterdam Weekly

hiding in Amsterdam. De Appel (Tues-Sun 11.0018.00), until 3 February

ART

Richard Hawkins: Of Two Minds, Simultaneously Presenting the first comprehensive retrospective in Europe of the American artist Richard Hawkins. De Appel (Tues-Sun 11.00-18.00), until 3 February

Full listings at www.amsterdamweekly.nl.

Video Vortex.2 A sequel to the exhibition Video Vortex, which responded to the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Montevideo/Time Based Arts (Tues-Sat 13.00-18.00), until 3 February

Opening Katja Sonnewend: Wenn ich einmal groß bin The Polish-German artist presents photos from her ongoing project, tackling the theme ‘When I Grow Up’. See Short List. Melkweg Galerie (Wed-Sun 13.00-20.00), opens Thursday, until 3 February

Modern Masterworks from Moscow Paintings and drawings made by Russian-Jews living under the rule of Stalin, displayed for the first time in the Netherlands. Joods Historisch Museum (Daily 11.00-17.00), until 10 February

Bloody Beautiful (Part 2) A curious and exotic group show tackling our real relationship with animals: in one hand, we’re devastated when a family pet dies, in the other, we’re happy to consume vast quantities of meat. Ronmandos (Wed-Sat 12.30 -17.30), opens Saturday, until 16 February

Rembrandt, the Etcher Around 100 portraits, landscapes, figure studies and bible scenes showcasing the famous etching techniques of the old master. Rembrandthuis (Mon-Sat 10.00-17.00, Sun 11.0017.00), until 10 February Jacqueline Hassink: The Power Show A retrospective from this New York-based Dutch photographer in which power is the predominant theme. Huis Marseille (Tues-Sun 11.00-18.00), until 24 February Document Nederland: Fans The tenth annual Document Nederland photography exhibition. The title of this year’s exhibition is Fans, and looks at the enthusiasm for a range of subjects, not only for famous singing stars, but also for Ajax, the Royal family, TV show Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden and saucy gothic culture. With photos by Raimond Wouda. Huis Marseille (Tues-Sun 11.00-18.00), until 24 February

Cevdet Erek Video and sound installation. Akinci (Tues-Sat 13.00 -18.00), opens Saturday, until 9 February Maibaum + Molekülo Works by Manja Hunger and Daniela Bershan. Horse Move Project Space (Fri-Sun 14.00 -20.00), opens Saturday, until 27 January Niemand is ooit verdwaald A cinematic installation, in which 12 young artists get to create a film set which will house their diverse multidisciplinary artworks. These form the film’s narrative, but who’s directing and who gets to play the lead? P/////AKT, opens Saturday, until 27 January

Aap, vis, boek. Linnaeus in Amsterdam Celebrating the 300th birthday of the renowned botanist in style, by displaying extremely rare books and other treasures of the period Linnaeus spent in Amsterdam. UvA: Special Collections Library (Mon-Fri 10.00-17.00, Sat, Sun 13.00-17.00), until 25 February

Nieuw Group show. Lumen Travo (Wed-Sat 13.0018.00), opens Saturday, until 16 February Tell Me A group exhibition with works by Pedro Bakker, Daniele Buetti, David Kramer, Enrique Marty, Lalla Essaydi, John Isaacs and Michael Scoggins. Witzenhausen Gallery 2 (Thur-Sat 12.00-18.00), opens Saturday, until 16 February

Well-Cast: 5000 Years of Bronze Archaeological exhibition highlighting the origins and use of bronze over the ages. Allard Pierson Museum (Tues-Fri 10.0017.00, Sat, Sun 13.00-17.00), until 2 March Katja Sonnewend: Wenn ich einmal groß bin, see Opening

Museums

10-16 January 2008

Andy Warhol. Other voices, other rooms With a cornucopia of films, photos, video and typical Andy icons (soup cans, Mao, Marilyn Monroe), this exhibition offers a glimpse into the mind of the famous pop artist. Stedelijk Museum CS (Daily 10.00-18.00), closing Sunday

Barcelona 1900 Celebrating the astonishing transformation of this vibrant city between 1880 and 1909, reflected in paintings, drawings, sculptures and designs by the likes of Picasso, Isidre Nonell, Santiago Rusiñol, Alexandre de Riquer, Ramon Casas and Gaudí. Van Gogh Museum (Mon-Thur, Sat, Sun 10.0018.00, Fri 10.00-22.00), until 20 January

The Spider Anansi: A Web of Tales and Images Fourteen artists from the Netherlands and Ghana have created works for this exhibition inspired by the stories about the spider Anansi. These will be displayed in combination with videos of storytellers recorded in both countries. Tropenmuseum (Daily 10.00-17.00), closing Sunday

The Birds of America It’s officially the most expensive book in the world, and since you probably don’t have a copy of John James Audubon’s masterwork to flick through at home, Teylers Museum is showing off the engravings and prints in their copy. Teylers Museum (Tues-Sat 10.00-17.00, Sun 12.00-17.00), Haarlem, until 20 January

Johannes Schwartz: Paintbox Comprising two new installations by Schwartz, winner of the Cobra Art Prize Amstelveen 2007. CoBrA Museum (TuesSun 11.00-17.00), closing Sunday

Bogotá—The Proud Revival of a City Some 20 years ago, the Columbian capital was in a seemingly hopeless state while undergoing rapid growth. In the relatively short space of time since, Bogotá has tri-

umphantly managed to deal with the problems caused by such growth. ARCAM (Tues-Sat 13.0017.00), until 26 January China Now Featuring 75 works by 40 artists, many of which come from the Essl Museum in Vienna, this exhibition aims to highlight some of the best examples of contemporary Chinese avant-garde art. CoBrA Museum (Tues-Sun 11.00-17.00), until 27 January Van Gogh en Bernard: een kunstenaarsvriendschap Revealing the significant friendship between the crazy painter and Emile Bernard, with paintings, drawings and letters that display their unrelenting exchange of ideas and art. Van Gogh Museum (MonThur, Sat, Sun 10.00-18.00, Fri 10.00-22.00), until 27 January Alberto De Michele: Adriano An installation focused on an Italian bank robber, who for a period of time was

Giotto in Amsterdam Giotto’s cycle of frescoes in the Arena chapel in Padua reproduced in a scale model. Bijbels Museum (Mon-Sat 10.00-17.00, Sun 11.0017.00), until 2 March Traces of War—Survivors of the Burma and Sumatra Railways Portrait photos of twenty four men who worked as forced labourers on railways near the Burmese-Thai border and in Sumatra during WWII. Verzetsmuseum (Tues-Fri 10.00-17.00, Sat-Mon 12.0017.00), until 3 March Weegee An exhibition of work by the legendary photographer Weegee, regarded as the prototypical modern photojournalist and one of the most important photographers of the 20th century. His uncompromising and unprettified photographs have an immediate, almost violent impact. They show crimes and accidents in the New York of the 1930s and 1940s, but also document life and events on the streets of the city. Foam (Sat-Wed 10.00-18.00, Thur, Fri 10.0021.00), until 5 March


10-16 January 2008 Karel Du Jardin Italian landscapes and aristocratic portraits by the 17th century painter. Rijksmuseum (Daily 09.00-18.00), until 16 March Hidden Afghanistan A deluxe exhibition presenting a ‘not war-torn’ vision of this nation at the crossroads of civilisations in central Asia. At its core, 250 archaeological objects will be displayed, most of which were ‘rediscovered’ in 2004 in the vaults of the Central Bank in Kabul. Nieuwe Kerk (Fri-Wed 10.00-18.00, Thur 10.00-22.00), until 20 April Art Nouveau The best of French and Russian art nouveau. Hermitage Amsterdam (Daily 10.00-17.00), until 5 May

Galleries Mounir Fatmi: In Search of Paradise Installations and photography from the acclaimed Moroccan artist. Galerie Ferdinand van Dieten-d’Eendt (Thur-Sat 11.0018.00), closing Saturday To Another Commonplace Group show. Mart House (Thur-Sat 13.00-18.00), closing Saturday Redefining the Space The third exhibition in the fourpart series Creative Play, Productive Fun which investigates how the exhibition space can evolve to better adjust to a developing art world. SOCO (Thur, Fri 14.00-19.00, Sat, Sun 13.00-18.00), closing Saturday Traag Contemporary crafty and handy goodness. Arti et Amicitiae (Tues-Sun 13.00-18.00), closing Sunday 100 Stoelen Reflecting on the form, function and diversity of chairs. Lloyd Hotel (Daily), closing Sunday Afrikaanse Winter Diverse works by five African artists. Gallery Wies Willemsen (Fri-Sun 10.00-18.00), closing Wednesday Toru Matsuoka: The Travelling Island Conceptual imaginary works which can be viewed as either ancient or extraterrestrial. Yoshiko Matsumoto Gallery (Wed-Sat 13.30-18.30), until 19 January Kopstoot! In this multimedia project, De Brakke Grond honours thirty years of Antwerp post-punk and new underground music. The present dynamics of this vivid alternative scene are charted while simultaneously looking back on its recent history. De Brakke Grond (Mon 10.00-18.00, Tues-Fri 10.00-20.30, Sat 13.0020.30, Sun 13.00-17.00), until 20 January Femke Hiemstra: La Fenêtre Secrète A debut solo show from Hiemstra featuring paintings and drawings from her fantastical imagination. KochxBos Gallery (Wed-Sat 13.00-18.00), until 26 January Ketra: Skinky A collection of sumptuous PVC corset panels and fetish art dolls,realised by this Italian artist who’s always toying with seduction and dark humour. Red Stamp Art Gallery (Tue-Sat 13.00-18.00), until 26 January Droomstad Sandra Hoogeboom’s dreamlike photos of the changing city, typically taken from public transport. Start this art/window route at Kwakersstraat 3. Bellamy Etalage Project (Daily), until 27 January Mark Beerens: The Art of Storytelling Old meets new with visually striking results. Galerie Bart (Thur, Fri 11.00-18.00, Sat 12.00-17.00), until 2 February Raymond Taudin Chabot: That Place Presentation of the film That Place, which features an immaculately suited man being driven around an industrial estate. 2x2projects (Wed-Sat 13.00-18.00), until 2 February Platform21=Joyriding This winter, take a visual road trip into the imagination. Not a car show but an aesthetic joyride, it’s about form and feeling rather than

Amsterdam Weekly engineering. Platform 21 (Wed-Sun 12.00-19.00), until 3 February Notes of Space Works by Tamara Zahaykevich (NY), Josef Schulz (D) and Gerwin Luijendijk. Gist (Wed-Fri 13.00-17.30, Sat 14.00-17.00), until 3 February Henri Plaat Featuring 25 collages on paper by the Amsterdam artist. Galerie Roger Katwijk (Wed-Sat 12.00-18.00), until 9 February Marielle van Uitert: De Krakersbeweging Breda Photos and texts. IISG (Mon-Fri 09.00-17.00), until 15 February Thomas Struth: Family Portraits Literally family portraits by acclaimed German photographer Struth. Galerie Paul Andriesse (Tues-Fri 11.00-18.00, Sat 14.00-18.00), until 16 February Exploring ’08 Looking forward into 2008 with diverse paintings by gallery favourites Arjan Brentjes, Aquil Copier and Anneke Wilbrink. AYAC’S (Fri, Sat 13.0017.30), until 16 February

Art Fair: Realisme ’08 One of the largest art fairs on the Amsterdam calendar, Realisme is taking over the grand surroundings of the PTA for five days. Contemporary figurative and realist art is on show, and there’s a particular focus on Dutch and Belgian talent, with 30 galleries presenting paintings, sculptures and photography by new and up-and-coming artists. Until 20 January. Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, (Wed 18.00-22.00), €12 Multidisciplinary: European Dreams Delving into the realm of 21st century European politics, but from the perspective of youth. As such, debates, talks and film presentations are pitted alongside live music, DJs and comedy performances. Acts include Leaf, Ellen ten Damme, Typhoon, Caspian Hat Dance, Balkan Beatz (party), Daniel Arends and Nabil, with invited guests like Ebru Umar, Harry van Bommel, Jan Pronk, Piet Hein Donner, Alexander Pechtold, Joost Conijn and Froukje Jansen. See www.europeandreams.nl. Melkweg, (Wed 19.30), €5

Winterlicht Diverse works by Dineke Blom, Jacqueline van den Bos, Chris de Bueger, Pieter Holstein, Els ter Horst, Sipke Huismans, Rosa Lachenmeier, Jaring Lokhorst and others. AdK Actuele Kunst (Wed-Sat 12.30-17.30), until 17 February

Event: What’s Up? Monthly arena for Amsterdam creatives to present their new work and ideas. Pakhuis de Zwijger, (Wed 20.30), free

The Art of Fashion Including works by Alexander Fielden, Mathilde Cabral, Berber Soepboer and street artist Snar. ArtOlive (Mon-Fri 11.00-17.00, Sun 12.0017.00), until 24 February

ADDRESSES

EVENTS Discussion: Fill the Gap! 5 ‘The mobile revolution: hope or hype?’ Mobile telephony has already made a huge impact on the developed world and we know it, but it’s easy to overlook the influence it’s also having throughout Africa. This afternoon programme looks at the use of mobile phones towards making a better world across the continent. In English. De Balie, (Fri 13.00), free Workshop: Platform21=Joyriding Do you fantasise about designing our own dream car? Designer and artist Hugo Vrijdag will guide you in doing so by transforming a paper design into a cardboard model. These dream cars will then be placed in Platform 21’s current exhibition about car design. Afterwards he will give a lecture about his work. Platform 21, (Fri 15.00), €20 Discussion: Women Inc Weekly talk show highlighting specific female issues. In Dutch. Pakhuis de Zwijger, (Mon 20.00), free Lecture: Germaine Greer—Shakespeare’s Wife Little is known about the wife of the world’s most famous playwright, but much is said about her. Ann Hathaway has been mocked and vilified by scholars for centuries. The glaring omission of her name from Shakespeare’s will has been gleefully used by many as evidence that the marriage was a mistake from which Shakespeare wanted to dissociate himself from. Yet he went on to become the very poet of marriage, exploring the sacrament in all its aspects, spiritual, psychological, sexual and sociological. Is it possible, therefore, that Ann was the inspiration? Tonight, Germaine Greer will give a lecture about the making of her book Shakespeare’s Wife, which reconstructs Ann’s life, and the daily lives of Elizabethan women. Afterwards she will discuss her work with Belgian writer Kristien Hemmerechts. In English. Felix Meritis, (Tues 20.00), €9

11 Oosterdokskade 3-5, 625 5999 2x2projects Veemkade 350, 489 7471 ABC Treehouse Voetboogstraat 11, 423 0967 AdK Actuele Kunst Prinsengracht 534, 320 9242 Akhnaton Nieuwezijds Kolk 25, 624 3396 Akinci Lijnbaansgracht 317, 638 0480 Allard Pierson Museum Oude Turfmarkt 127, 525 2556 De Appel Nieuwe Spiegelstraat 10, 625 5651 Arc Reguliersdwarsstraat 44, 689 7070 ARCAM Prins Hendrikkade 600, 620 4878 Arti et Amicitiae Rokin 112, 624 5134 ArtOlive Polonceaukade 17, 675 8504 AYAC'S Keizersgracht 166, 638 5240 Badcuyp 1e Sweelinckstraat 10, 675 9669 De Balie Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, 553 5151 Bellamy Etalage Project Bellamyplein Bethaniënklooster Barndesteeg 6, 625 0078 Bijbels Museum Herengracht 366-368, 624 2436 Bimhuis Piet Heinkade 3, 788 2150 Bitterzoet Spuistraat 2, 521 3001 De Brakke Grond Nes 45, 626 6866 Café Bax Ten Kate Straat 119, 612 2343 Cafe Pakhuis Wilhelmina Veemkade 576, 419 3368 Cafe Sappho Vijzelstraat 103, 423 1509 Centrale Bibliotheek Oosterdokskade 143, 523 0900 Cineac Reguliersbreestraat 31-33 Club 8 Admiraal de Ruyterweg 56B, 685 1703 Club La Kerkstraat 50-52 Club Meander Voetboogstraat 3, 625 8430 CoBrA Museum Sandbergplein 1-3, Amstelveen, 547 5050 Cockring Warmoesstraat 96, 623 9604 Comedy Theater Nes 110 Concertgebouw Concertgebouwplein 2-6, 671 8345 Consortium Veemkade 570, 06 2611 8950 CREA Muziekzaal Turfdraagsterpad 17, 525 1400 CREA Theater Turfdraagsterpad 17, 525 1400 Escape Rembrandtplein 11, 622 1111 Exit Reguliersdwarsstraat 42, 625 8788 Felix Meritis Keizersgracht 324, 626 2321 Flex Bar Pazzanistraat 1, 486 2123 Foam Keizersgracht 609, 551 6546 Frascati Nes 63, 626 6866

17 Galerie Bart Bloemgracht 2, 320 6208 Ferdinand van Dieten-d'Eendt Spuistraat 270, 626 5777 Galerie Paul Andriesse Withoedenveem 8, 623 6237 Galerie Roger Katwijk Lange Leidsedwarsstraat 198-200, 627 3808 Gallery Wies Willemsen Ruysdaelkade 25, 470 1073 Gist Veemkade 364 Hermitage Amsterdam Nieuwe Herengracht 14, 530 8751 Horse Move Project Space Oosterdokskade 5 Post CS Hotel Arena ’s-Gravesandestraat 51, 850 2400 Huis Marseille Keizersgracht 401, 531 8989 Ignatiushuis Beulingstraat 11, 679 8207 IISG Cruquiusweg 31, 668 5866 Joods Historisch Museum Jonas Daniel Meijerplein 2-4, 531 0310 KIT Tropentheater Mauritskade 63, 568 8711 KochxBos Gallery 1e Anjeliersdwarsstraat 3-5, 681 4567 Lloyd Hotel Oostelijke Handelskade 34, 419 1840 Lumen Travo Lijnbaansgracht 314, 627 0883 Maloe Melo Lijnbaansgracht 163, 420 4592 Het Marnix Marnixplein 1, 5246000 Mart House Prinsengracht 529, 627 5187 Meervaart Meer en Vaart 300, 410 7777 Melkweg Galerie Marnixstraat 409, 531 8181 Melkweg Lijnbaansgracht 234a, 531 8181 Montevideo/Time Based Arts Keizersgracht 264, 623 7101 Muziekgebouw Piet Heinkade 1, 788 2010 Nieuwe Kerk entrance on the Dam, 638 6909 Noorderkerk Noordermarkt 44, 626 6436 OCCII Amstelveenseweg 134, 671 7778 OT301 Overtoom 301, 779 4913 P/////AKT Zeeburgerpad 53, 06 5427 0879 Pakhuis de Zwijger Piet Heinkade 179-181, 788 4444 Paradiso Weteringschans 6-8, 626 4521 Passenger Terminal Amsterdam Piet Heinkade 27, 509 1000 Platform 21 Prinses Irenestraat 19, 344 9449 The Powerzone Spaklerweg, 681 8866 PRIK Spuistraat 109, 06 4544 2321 Queen's Head Zeedijk 20, 420 2475 Red Stamp Art Gallery Rusland 22, 420 8684 Rembrandthuis Jodenbreestraat 4, 520 0400 Rijksmuseum Jan Luykenstraat 1, 674 7000 Ronmandos Prinsengracht 282, 320 7036 Same Place Nassaukade 120, 475 1981 SOCO Bloemstraat 162, 06 1400 2961 Stadsschouwburg Leidseplein 26, 624 2311 Stedelijk Museum CS Oosterdokskade 5, 573 2911 Studio 80 Rembrandtplein 70, 521 8333 Studio Apart Prinsengracht 715, 422 2748 Studio K Timorplein 62, 692 0422 Sugar Factory Lijnbaansgracht 238, 627 0008 Teylers Museum Spaarne 16, Haarlem, 023 516 0960 Theater Bellevue Leidsekade 90, 530 5301 Tropenmuseum Linnaeusstraat 2, 568 8200 Uilenburger Synagogue Nieuwe Uilenburgerstraat 91, 427 8347 Under the Grand Chapiteau Next to ArenA, 621 1288 UvA: Special Collections Library Oude Turfmarkt 129, 525 2141 Van Gogh Museum Paulus Potterstraat 7, 570 5200 Verzetsmuseum Plantage Kerklaan 61, 620 2535 Vrankrijk Spuistraat 216 Winston Kingdom Warmoesstraat 129, 623 1380 Witzenhausen Gallery 2 Elandsstraat 145, 644 9898 Yoshiko Matsumoto Gallery Weteringschans 37, 06 1437 0995 Zaal 100 De Wittenstraat 100, 688 0127 ‘t Blijvertje Derde Oosterparkstraat 64h


Amsterdam Weekly

18

Marvellous meatballs Broodje Mokum Rozengracht 26, 623 1966 Open Mon-Sat, 06.30-18.00 Cash Once upon a winter morning, your Glutton was out in the sharp cold seeking some notable nibbles when he stopped outside Broodje Mokum located on the corner of Rozengracht and the 1e Bloemdwarstraat. A past memory wobbled up, of sitting with a Turkish writer of didactic children’s stories, eating deliciously soft meatballs, all smothered in sweet, spicy peanut sauce. The Turk sipped tea and talked of his recently published book while I gluttonised my plate with ill-disguised pleasure. The flavour was memorable. As was his dry observation of how I zealously mopped my plate clean. Now years later, my re-entry had me finding an Amsterdam lady busily frying meatballs in preparation for the lunchtime rush. The smell and sizzle of them cooking in the pan naturally made my mouth water. Another lady, dexterously cutting and smearing rolls with butter, prepared an order while chatting to a regular customer. Her voice was warm, throaty and comforting like melted chocolate. She greeted me, looking me straight in the eyes. ‘What will it be?’ I looked down into the vitrine at the different meats. The homemade curried chicken salad looked good, and so did the ham omelette slices. But there also lay the meatballs in a large dish. It was a done deal. ‘Broodje bal alstublieft,’ I gargled as I made my choice. I sat down with some strong coffee while

THE UNDERCOVER GLUTTON Meatballs for me have always been linked with joy from childhood and this one touched off a string of ‘mommery’ associations. waiting for my sandwich. It arrived in a twinkle, and I tucked in gleefully. The flavour was good with hints of nutmeg, white pepper and maybe some cloves. The texture was outstanding, soft,

but firm enough to keep from crumbling apart. Meatballs for me have always been linked with joy from childhood and this one touched off a string of ‘mommery’ associations.

10-16 January 2008

The door kept opening and closing, with a steady stream of customers entering and leaving. Big burly workmen clad in fluorescent orange trooped in, receiving chirpy greetings in nasal toned Amsterdams. They ordered their ‘bals’ with sate sauce, pickle and salad. More customers sat around at tables, poring over newspapers and magazines. No one was rushed or harried to finish up and go. It probably didn’t hurt that the building sat in Westertoren’s shadow, providing an air of safety. Then a large bald giant strode in. A well known personality chef. He plopped down onto a chair at the communal table with a sigh. The ladies greeted him like an old friend, and almost immediately the sizzlng sound of frying bacon was heard. He spoke of the past evening, describing a posh dinner and the glittering celebs who had attended. His uitsmijter landed in front of him. His enormous hands scooped up the eating utensils and with weary bliss he began his meal. Every customer was treated the same, with warmth and brief personal attention. The ladies showed genuine interest in the replies—even those between bites. It’s not surprising that Broodje Mokum has been in business for the last 25 years. The unpretentiousness of it all underlies the real Amsterdam spirit. Though it makes me feel like a genuine phoney with pompous airs and graces—a dirty job, but I guess someone has to do it to make others feel good. I do recommend Broodje Mokum, not only for meatballs, but also if you like to watch the passing show on Rozengracht. It’s a good street for that. People are fascinating and complex— thank heavens for differing tastes! But warmth, hospitality and a bit of care is the mustard that can transform the ordinary humdrum of life into something special.


Amsterdam Weekly

10-16 Janaury 2008

19 Director Sarah Polley behind the camera.

The directorial debut of actress Sarah Polley, about the decay of a woman’s mind, does indeed feature some epic acting.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF ALZHEIMER FILM Away from Her Opens Thursday at Cinecenter, Pathé Tuschinski. By Massimo Benvegnu

‘Not another Alzheimer movie!’ you might be tempted to say. Yes, another loving husband is going to check his wife of many years into a nursing home, then try to sift the bits and pieces of their memo-

ries together through the cracks of her illness. Yes, he’ll bring flowers. Yes, he’ll read to her. Yes, condescending nurses will comment on his obsession. Yes, there’ll be flashbacks. A few years ago Hollywood, along with a few talented British actors, brought us Iris, the cinematic adaptation of Iris Murdoch’s life, in which the novelist and philosopher is played with gusto by Kate Winslet and, in times of illness, by

Dame Judi Dench. Then came the latest in teen romances, the sleeper hit The Notebook. In Nick Cassavetes’ sleek love story, Gena Rowlands is forced to remember her younger days as reckless and liberated heiress Rachel McAdams. Then she romanced humble, working-class Ryan Gosling, now gracefully aged into the faithful James Garner. And let’s not forget Bille August’s A Song for Martin and Erik Van Looy’s Memory of a Killer, starring Jan Decleir as a memoryimpaired hit man. So why should we care, again? Because Away from Her, the directorial debut of Sarah Polley, is that rare thing, a gripping, powerful drama filled with fabulous performances. Polley, the talented Canadian actress, has a taste for challenging film roles that she also shows when she’s behind the camera. As the driving force behind this project, she chose a short story by fellow Canadian Alice Munro, wrote the screenplay and

cast the lead actress, the luminous Julie Christie. Christie plays Fiona, the wife of college professor Grant (Gordon Pinsent), who is forced to leave their house and check into a nursing home because of her progressing senility. Fiona’s memories are confused, but somehow they remain quite focused, not just on the good times she and her husband had, but also on the many blows she has had to suffer in their relationship. These were mainly caused by college girls who couldn’t resist their teacher’s charms. Maybe because of his guilt, Grant has grown obsessed with his wife, and barely survives the first, 30-day ‘no visitors’ policy at the nursing home. But when he gets there to see her, he finds out that in the meantime Fiona has fallen in love with another inmate (Michael Murphy). This unexpected turn brings a new, unusual dimension to Grant’s life, which ultimately leads him into a deeper knowledge of both his own and his wife’s feelings. With material like this, a failure in tone can cause disaster. But under Polley’s direction, the whole cast turn in top performances. Christie has not had such a role to shine in ages; her piercing blue eyes let us in on Fiona’s troubled soul, but also give us one more glimpse into her timeless beauty. Pinsent’s performance as Grant is a real gem in understated but ultimately unforgettable acting. In the end, Away from Her is a film that manages to avoid most of the clichés of the much-abused ‘illnesses and handicaps’ genre, and, like Julie Delpy’s 2 Days in Paris, shows a young actress’s talent as a promising film-maker.

Five-Word Movie Review

WE ARE ALL JUST SLAPSTICK

FILM Edited by Julie Phillips.This week’s films reviewed by Massimo Benvegnù (MB),Don Druker (DD), René Glas (RG),John Hartnett (JH),Luuk van Huët (LvH),JR Jones (JJ),Dave Kehr (DK),Marie-Claire Melzer (MM),Mike Peek (MP),Bart Plantenga (BP),Gusta Reijnders (GR),Jonathan Rosenbaum (JR),Marinus de Ruiter (MdR) and Bregtje Schudel (BS).All films are screened in English with Dutch subtitles unless otherwise noted. Amsterdam Weekly recommends.

New this week Away

from Her Julie Christie is luminous as a woman with Alzheimer’s in love. See review above. Cinecenter, Pathé Tuschinski

Bloedbroeders Three high school kids murder one of their friends in a film based on a real-life case. See review, p. 22. Het Ketelhuis

The Kite Runner After his poignant Monster’s Ball, his pensive Finding Neverland and the daringly different Stranger than Fiction—unreleased here—director Marc Foster offers us a solid and visually arresting but emotionally drained adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner. One of the obstacles is the protagonist, Afghanborn Amir (Khalid Abdalla), who, in his sullen grownup version, doesn’t evoke much sympathy—or any other emotion. When he was young, he shared a close friendship with servant boy Hassan, the kite runner of the title, but later fell out with him. Still heavily conflicted about his misconduct as a youth, the adult Amir returns to Afghanistan to ‘be good again’. In English/Dari/Pashtu/ Urdu/Russian with Dutch subtitles. (BS) 128 min. Cinecenter, The Movies, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski

You, the Living Rialto

The Kite Runner

The Nanny Diaries In this pseudoethnographic exercise, a New Jersey girl (Scarlett Johansson) is hired as a nanny by rich New York monsters (Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti). The characters are instantly reversible—the bratty kid turns out to be a sweetie pie, the mother just needs to be told off. Only Giamatti, as the clichéd businessman husband, is irredeemable, and he’s offset by the heroine’s dreamy beau (Chris Evans), who lives in the same building. Formulaic. Written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor). (JR) 106 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt National Treasure: Book of Secrets This sequel, like the first National Treasure, is a Disney romp with several stars (Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Jon Voight and Harvey Keitel from the first movie, plus Ed Harris and Helen Mirren) appearing in and around various international monuments as they pursue a centuries-old treasure with arcane clues and sliding panels. All this climaxes in an underground city of gold out of H. Rider Haggard, located close to Mount Rushmore. Leave it to co-producer Jerry Bruckheimer to revive the Indiana Jones cycle without the period setting, the camp elements or Spielberg’s efficiency. Director Jon Turteltaub just plods along, and the script by Marianne and Cormac Wibberley is equally poker-faced. (JR) 124 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt

Still playing 2 Days in Paris New York sweethearts Marion (Julie Delpy) and Jack (Adam Goldberg) are on holiday in Europe and boy, is it hell. Venice was terrible enough, but when they reach Paris to visit Marion’s parents, the culture clash is overwhelming. Every man in the city seems to have had an affair with Marion, and her family’s sense of humour is driving Jack crazy. 2 Days in Paris is the exact opposite of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the bittersweet films that brought Delpy modest fame. She wrote and directed this movie herself, showing the other side of love and relationships: the side that hurts, annoys and drives people apart even if they seem destined for each other. A malicious delight, it is laugh-out-loud funny and very touching as well. (MP) 96 min. The Movies, De Uitkijk 4 maanden, 3 weken en 2 dagen Romanian cinema seems to have found a niche for sober, socially committed dramas. After The Death of Mr Lazarescu (the failing health care system) and 12:08 East of Bucharest (the revolution of 1989), Cristian Mungiu’s 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days focuses on the ban on abortion under Ceaucescu. Student Otilia agrees to help her roommate

Gabita with the preparations for an illegal termination of her pregnancy. But to see 4, 3, 2 only as an anti-abortion film would be to miss the point. Their act is merely the tool with which the two women’s friendship is tested and proven. The film won this year’s Palme d’Or in Cannes. In Romanian with Dutch subtitles. (BS) Cinecenter, Rialto American Gangster Two of Hollywood’s acting juggernauts, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, star as bad guy and supercop; Ridley Scott was the lucky guy who got the directing job. The result is an ethically dubious but cinematographically impressive look at New York in the corrupt 1970s. With Ruby Dee and Chiwetel Ejiofor. (RG) 157 min. Cinema Amstelveen, Kriterion, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt El Baño del Papa Smuggling, usually by bicycle, is a way of life in the Uruguayan village of Melo, on the Brazilian border—until the Pope chooses the sleepy town for an upcoming visit. The excited villagers start coming up with creative ideas for making money off the visiting crowds. One man, Beto, decides to build a real flush toilet (baño) in front of his house and charge the pilgrims money to use it. César Charlone, the cinematographer on Cidade de Deus and The Constant Gardener, wrote and directed this heart-warmer together with Enrique Fernández. Rialto The Bird Can’t Fly The most striking aspect of this debut feature by Dutch director Threes Anna, the former


Amsterdam Weekly

20 artistic director of the Dogtroep theatre company, is its arresting visuals. The bulk of the action takes place in Fairlands, a South African community that’s slowly being buried under the sand. Once a thriving mining town, it is now a desolate refuge for people who don’t have the means or inclination to move elsewhere. Unfortunately, the story—about a woman (Barbara Hershey) who returns for the funeral of her only child and discovers she has an unruly grandchild—is a bit thin and the symbolism heavy-handed, like the way the villain of the story is continuously being harassed by big black flies. (BS) 89 min. Het Ketelhuis, Studio K

Earth Earth This full-length documentary version of the British TV series Planet Earth follows a polar bear family, a herd of elephants and two humpback whales in their daily struggle for survival. Directed by Alastair Fothergill (Deep Blue) and Mark Linfield. 96 min. Cinecenter, The Movies, Pathé Tuschinski, De Uitkijk

Eastern Promises Superficially, this latest endeav-

our by Canadian cult favourite David Cronenberg is a supremely made gangster flick with great performances and ditto production values. But underneath the surface, the director explores his familiar obsessions: identity, violence and the human body. When nurse Anna (Naomi Watts) starts investigating the life of a young Russian prostitute who died giving birth, she soon attracts unwanted attention from local mob boss Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl), his mercurial son Kirill (Vincent Cassel) and his mysterious driver Nikolai (Viggo Mortensen). While the cast is top-notch, Mortensen is stellar, baring body and soul for the part. (LvH) 100 min. Kriterion, The Movies, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt Elizabeth: The Golden Age Director Shekhar Kapur’s sequel to Elizabeth, the film that cemented Cate Blanchett’s status as a great actress, certainly looks effulgently royal, but all its luster cannot compensate for the directionless script. It ambulates from proper period drama to romantic comedy, stopping off at political intrigue and getting lured into a historical battle along the way, never finding a consistent tone. Even though Blanchett is, as always, a compelling and alluring screen presence and the ladies will probably

enjoy Clive Owen in tights, the narrative meandering, the historical inaccuracies and the way the film extols the virtues of English imperialism make this a mediocre effort. (LvH) Cinecenter, The Movies, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski

Heimatklänge Stefan Schwietert’s documentary opens with the Swiss musical cliché: man on a mountaintop, exuberantly yodeling. This enduring ‘Heidiland’ image keeps coming back to haunt this film about three performers whose work couldn’t be less like the stereotype. Avant-garde vocalists Erika Stucky, Noldi Alder and Christian Zehnder have all in their own way managed to take back yodeling for art and soul. Schwietert has a talent for letting artists explain how and where they find inspiration; he follows the three musicians to key sites, where they reflect on their lives and their art. A highly watchable music documentary, gorgeous and engaging. In German with Dutch subtitles. (BP) 82 min. Filmmuseum I Am Legend Will Smith plays an army scientist and survivor of a human-caused pandemic that has turned most of the world’s population into zombies. Living in a ruined New York City with only his dog as company, he tries to come up with a vaccine that could save the human (and canine) race. This third cinematic adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic 1954 science fiction novel (the earlier two were The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man) gets the Dumb Hollywood Blockbuster treatment—CGI and a right-wing political agenda erase most of the ethical, philosophical and logistical questions that arose from its pages. As good as Smith is, Vincent Price must be rolling in his grave. Avoid this like the plague. (MB) 100 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt Investigation A psychological thriller, set in Sofia, about the battle of wills between a police detective and her suspect. Directed by Iglika Triffonova, who also made the Bulgarian road movie Letter to America. In Bulgarian with Dutch subtitles. 105 min. Filmmuseum

Investigation

Lady Chatterley In the hands of Pascale Ferran, and

in French, D. H. Lawrence’s classic novel becomes an almost spiritual film about the transforming power of love and sex. The first time Constance Chatterley (Mari-

na Hands) and her gamekeeper Parkin (Jean-Louis Coullo’ch) do it, things are a bit clumsy—and they both remain fully clothed. Their growing intimacy is shown by their increasing lack of garments, until, by the end of the film, we see them not only completely naked but dancing around in the rain, and feel we have gotten to know them. In Hands’s brilliantly natural, César-winning performance, Lady Chatterley is both funny and moving: you can’t help feeling for her. Hands has moved Lawrence’s novel past the pornographic and the feminist to the human level. (MM) The Movies, Rialto

Lady Chatterley Das Leben der Anderen This Oscar winner by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck mostly deserves all the praise and admiration it has received. A study in the dehumanising effects of state surveillance, it focuses on two men living in East Germany in 1984: a playwright (Sebastian Koch) who attracts the interest of the state and a Stasi officer (Ulrich Mühe) whose loyalty to the socialist cause is starting to erode. Predictable and slightly distant, but also disturbing and effective. In German with Dutch subtitles. (LvH) 137 min. Het Ketelhuis, Rialto Michael Clayton George Clooney is the title character, a fixer for a high-powered Manhattan law firm who’s sick of doing the company’s dirty work. When one of the attorneys (Tom Wilkinson) goes nuts, endangering the firm’s defence of an agrochemical giant, Clayton is dispatched to silence him. This doesn’t begin to deserve the Oscar nominations it’s likely to get, but it’s fun nonetheless. Tony Gilroy directed; with Tilda Swinton. (JJ) 119 min. Kriterion Moordwijven At least one thing is constant: in the 12 years since Dick Maas (De Lift, Amsterdamned) made his last Dutch-language feature his sense of humour hasn’t changed. Unfortunately for him, our appreciation has. In Moordwijven we find the same lewdness and political incorrectness he already—and more successfully—employed in Flodder (1986). The story: three rich-brat housewives plan to assassinate one of their adulterous husbands. The film does have some funny moments (especially one concerning a pool boy one of the gals picks up at a refugee centre) but overall Moord-

10-16 January 2008 wijven is a relic, a memento of more shabby days, when a pair of bare breasts were considered nice assets. (BS) 100 min. Het Ketelhuis, Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt My Blueberry Nights Wong Kar Wai’s films have always depended on subtle communication, both spoken and unspoken. In his Hollywood debut, My Blueberry Nights, it’s clear that he’s underestimated the problems of translating those subtleties into English. The singer Norah Jones stars as a New Yorker on a soul-searching journey through America. Excellent performances by Rachel Weisz and David Strathairn (as an alcoholic couple) and Natalie Portman (as a Las Vegas poker addict) can’t make up for Jones’s blankness, or for the uninspired, glossy-magazine script by Wong and Lawrence Block. (MdR) 111 min. Pathé Tuschinski, Rialto Tuya’s Marriage In this 2007 Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear winner, director Quanan Wang takes us to Inner Mongolia, where industrial expansion is threatening the traditional nomadic way of life. We meet the headstrong Tuya, who dislocates her back one day and opts for divorce—on the condition that her new husband care not only for herself and her two young children, but also for her current, disabled husband Bater. Suitors come and go, providing some comic relief against the panorama of the Mongolian countryside. If you liked The Story of the Weeping Camel, you’re bound to love this film. I for myself sometimes got the feeling that the Mongolian steppe was overpowering Tuya’s fate, doing the story no good. In Mandarin with Dutch subtitles. (GR) 86 min. Rialto

Tuya’s Marriage Waitress The late Adrienne Shelly, best known for her roles in Sleep With Me and Hal Hartley’s Trust and The Unbelievable Truth, wrote and directed this tangy, resourceful comedy-drama. Keri Russell plays a gifted pie baker and abused wife who waits tables at a diner along with two romantically frustrated coworkers (Cheryl Hines and Shelly) and unexpectedly finds herself pregnant. The film isn’t averse to reaching for Hollywood fantasies, but there’s a lot of what seems to be hard-earned wisdom here about women in bad marriages. (JR) 104 min. Het Ketelhuis

Special screenings Branded to Kill Reputedly one of Seijun Suzuki’s finest works and unquestionably very stylish in its ‘Scope framings (Jim Jarmusch copied a few shots from it in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai), this 1967 gangster film stars Jo Shishido as Hanada Goro, Tokyo’s ‘number three killer’, who carries out a series of gangland murders while his boss is seducing his wife. Then Goro flubs an assignment and finds himself marked for a rub-out. The film’s cynicism and coldness led to Suzuki being fired from Nikkatsu studio, sparking a major controversy in the Japanese film world; it was a decade before Suzuki made another film. In Japanese with English subtitles. (JR) 91 min. De Nieuwe Anita Una Giornata Particolare Ettore Scola’s 1977 classic is an exception to the rule of political films: it doesn’t let its ideas get in the way of either style or subtlety. Set in Rome on the day of the historic meeting between Hitler and Mussolini, it is clearly an anti-Fascist statement. (Fascism creeping into everyday life is simply but brilliantly illustrated by a blaring radio that won’t stop spitting out propaganda). But everything about it is refined, from the excellent performances of Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren to the art direction and the music. And the story of the friendship between a housewife (Loren) and her homosexual neighbour (Mastroianni) is still highly moving. In Italian with Dutch subtitles. (MM) 110 min. Pathé Tuschinski In krakende welstand A 1989 fictional film about the squatters’ movement by Mijke de Jong (Tussenstand). In Dutch. 65 min. Cavia

Little Miss Sunshine In this offbeat comedy, a

fractious family of misfits piles into an ailing VW bus and sets off for California so the youngest (Abigail Breslin) can compete in a children’s beauty pageant. Suffering each other along the way are her irascible grandfather (Alan Arkin), suicidal uncle (Steve Carell), Nietzsche-obsessed teenage brother (Paul Dano), beleaguered mom (Toni Collette), and abrasive dad (Greg Kinnear), a motivational speaker whose nine-step programme for success constantly aggravates the others’ sense of failure. As scripted by Michael Arndt, this isn’t much more than a glori-

fied sitcom, but it deftly dramatises our conflicting desires for individuality and an audience to applaud it. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris directed. (JJ) 102 min. Kriterion, Pathé Tuschinski The Magnificent Ambersons Orson Welles’s second completed feature (1942) and arguably his greatest film (partisans of Citizen Kane notwithstanding). By far his most personal creation, this lovingly crafted, hauntingly nostalgic portrait of a midwestern American town losing its Victorian innocence to the machine age contains some of Welles’s most beautiful and formidable imagery, not to mention his narration, a glorious expression of the pain of memory. A masterpiece in every way (but ignore the awkward ending the studio tacked on without Welles’s approval). With Joseph Cotten, Tim Holt, Agnes Moorehead and Anne Baxter. (DD) 88 min. Kriterion

A Man to Remember The 1938 directorial debut of playwright and screenwriter Garson Kanin (Adam’s Rib, Born Yesterday) gets re-released by the Filmmuseum alongside their Capra retrospective. And indeed, we could very well be looking at a Capra picture here. (He was Kanin’s favourite director.) This three-hankie character study about a small-town doctor (Edward Ellis) and the legacy he left behind in his community, told in reverse starting from the doctor’s funeral, was relegated to B-picture status at the time, but it has aged gracefully. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo still holds up very well, and the acting is superb. The Filmmuseum found and restored the only remaining copy of this gem. (MB) 80 min. Filmmuseum Meet John Doe Gary Cooper stars as a hobo who’s drafted as the head of a ‘common man’ movement: he’s worshipped as a saviour by the infinitely gullible American masses, while evil capitalist Edward Arnold pulls the strings behind the whole show. Frank Capra juggles populism, fascism and something like a Marxist appreciation of financial power, and finally lets the balls drop with the most spectacular of his public humiliation scenes. With Barbara Stanwyck, Walter Brennan and James Gleason. (DK) 125 min. Filmmuseum Mr Smith Goes to Washington ‘Boy Ranger’ leader Jefferson Smith (James Stewart), appointed junior sen-

ator, battles corrupt senior senator Claude Rains and protofascist industrialist/media magnate Edward Arnold in Frank Capra’s 1939 vindication of simple virtues and barefoot American democracy. Capra’s films in the ‘30s bridged the rural/urban divide; showed love, decency and neighbourliness ascendant; and demonstrated conclusively that America was a land of perfect unity where all social classes were one. Capra’s populist heroes—Longfellow Deeds, Jefferson Smith, John Doe—deflated pomposity at home and defeated the shadowy undemocratic forces threatening the globe. This is classic Capracorn, with the greatest girl cynic of the ‘30s, Jean Arthur. (DD) 128 min. Filmmuseum Paranoia In postwar Amsterdam, a man (Kees van Eyck) falls prey to the delusion that he is a dangerous war criminal. Adriaan Ditvoorst’s 1967 New Wave drama is based on a story by W.F. Hermans; the cinematography is by Jan de Bont. 102 min. De Uitkijk Point Blank John Boorman’s modernist, noirish thriller (1967) is still his best and funniest effort. Lee Marvin, betrayed by his wife and best friend, recovers stolen money and fights his way to the top of a multiconglomerate—only to find absurdity and chaos. Boorman’s treatment of cold violence and colder technology has lots of irony and visual flash—the way objects are often substituted for people is especially brilliant, while the influence of pop art makes for some lively ‘Scope compositions—and the Resnais-like experiments with time and editing are still fresh and inventive. (JR) 92 min. De Roode Bioscoop Stories for Murders For this 1993 documentary, director Iglika Triffonova went to three prisoners on Bulgaria’s Death Row and let each one tell his story. In Bulgarian with English subtitles. 43 min. Filmmuseum

Videodrome In Cronenberg’s 1983 cult classic,

James Woods plays the programmer of a sleazy Toronto cable channel who stumbles across a mysterious pirate emission—a porno show called ‘Videodrome’. He sets out to find the producer and quickly becomes involved with a kinky talk-show hostess (Deborah Harry), expanding rubber TV sets, a bizarre religious cult and—almost incidentally—a plot to take over the world. (DK) 90 min. Kriterion

Woman in the Dunes Japanese New Wave direc-

tor Hiroshi Teshigahara’s 1964 allegory on the meaning of freedom and the discovery of identity. An office worker (Eiji Okada) on an entomological holiday spends the night with a widow (Kyoko Kishida), whose shack at the bottom of a sand pit becomes his prison. Gradually he learns to love her and to help her in her endless task of shoveling sand, which the local villagers use to protect themselves from the elements. A bizarre film, distinguished not so much by Kobo Abe’s rather obvious screenplay as by Teshigahara’s arresting visual style of extreme depth of focus, immaculate detail and graceful eroticis. In Japanese with English subtitles. (DD) 148 min. OT301 Wuthering Heights Like every other screen version of the great Emily Bronte novel, including the ones by Luis Buñuel and Jacques Rivette, this 1939 romantic extravaganza—directed by William Wyler and shot by the wonderful Gregg Toland—jettisons the framing device offered in the book by Lockwood and Mrss Dean, two stiffs whose lack of understanding serves as the ‘open sesame’ for the reader’s sympathy and imagination. Without this essential element, one gets only standard Hollywood romance, with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon chewing up all the available scenery; whatever’s left is dished out to David Niven, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson and Geraldine Fitzgerald. (JR) 103 min. Rialto

You, the Living A brutally deadpan comedy by

Swedish director Roy Andersson, who seems to have translated the entire range of human misery into a loosely connected series of slapstick gags. One example: when a joker at a family banquet insists on performing that old parlour trick of yanking the tablecloth out from under the dishes, he not only shatters a huge collection of crystal and china but also reveals—look sharp or you’ll miss it—a vintage dining table inlaid with swastikas. Andersson’s building block is a static long shot so solidly composed it suggests a panel in a comic strip; the central figure is often encased in his own suffering, and sometimes additional laughs come from a background figure surveying his despair in open-mouthed bewilderment. (JJ) Rialto


Amsterdam Weekly

10-16 Janaury 2008

21 A strange summer’s night in Baarn.

A crime from the 1960s is filmed as a character study of teenage boys. Is it all right to kill someone to save face?

MURDER IN THEIR PARENTS’ ATTIC FILM Bloedbroeders Opens Thursday at Het Ketelhuis. By Mike Peek

On 27 October 1961, a body was found behind a mansion in Baarn. The corpse belonged to a 14-year-old boy who had gone missing over a year earlier. Shortly

FILM TIMES Thursday 10 January until Wednesday 16 January Times are provided by cinemas and are subject to last-minute changes. Film times also at www.amsterdamweekly.nl. De Balie Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, 553 5151 Touching Politics #3:Economy of the Modern Sat 20.30, Sun 16.00. Cavia Van Hallstraat 52-I, 681 1419 In krakende welstand Thur 20.30. Cinecenter Lijnbaansgracht 236, 623 6615 4 maanden, 3 weken en 2 dagen daily 22.00 Atonement daily 16.15, 19.15, 21.45, Sun also 11.00, 13.30 Away from Her daily 16.15, 19.00, 21.45, Sun also 11.00, 13.45 Earth daily 16.00, Sun also 11.00, 13.30 Elizabeth:The Golden Age daily 19.00 The Kite Runner daily 15.45, 18.45, 21.45, Sun also 11.15. Cinema Amstelveen Plein 1960 2, Amstelveen, 547 5175 Adam's Apples Wed 20.30 American Gangster Thur-Sat 20.30, Sun 16.00 Bee Movie (NL) Sat, Wed 13.30, Sun 12.00 De Wonderwinkel van Mr Magorium Sat, Wed 15.30, Sun 14.00. Filmhuis Griffioen Uilenstede 106, Amstelveen, 444 5100 Alles is liefde Thur, Fri, Tues 19.30. Filmmuseum Vondelpark 3, 589 1400 Heimatklänge Thur, Fri, Sun, Tues, Wed 17.30, Sun also 15.30, Mon 17.00 Investigation Thur-Sun, Tues, Wed 21.45, Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 19.30 It's a Wonderful Life Tues, Wed 21.00 Letter to America Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 17.15 Man to Remember,A Thur, Fri, Sun, Tues, Wed 19.15 Meet John Doe Sat 21.30, Sun, Mon 21.00 Mr Smith Goes to Washington Thur, Fri 21.00 Stories for Murders Sun 16.00 Sven en zijn rat en het Ufomysterie Sun, Wed 14.00 De Verloren Schat van de Tempelridders II Sat, Wed 13.45. Het Ketelhuis Haarlemmerweg 8-10, 684 0090 Alles is liefde Thur, Sat-Wed 21.15, Fri-Tues 16.45 De Avonturen van het Molletje Sat, Sun, Wed 13.15 Azur & Asmar Sat, Sun, Wed 13.00 The Bird Can't Fly daily 21.45

after the discovery, two teenage brothers living in the villa were arrested, along with a school friend from a more modest background. The latter confessed that the three of them were guilty of the murder. Bizarre occurrences marked the trial, with one of the children escaping from the police station and the prosecutor turning out to be a friend of the brothers’ rich parents. Bloedbroeders is not about the after-

Bloedbroeders Thur-Tues 19.30, 21.30 Das Leben der Anderen Sat, Sun 14.00 Moordwijven daily 19.45, Fri-Wed also 17.00 Sven en zijn rat en het Ufomysterie Sat, Sun, Wed 15.00 Tussenstand Fri-Wed 17.30 Vers! Fri 21.00 Waar is het paard van Sinterklaas? Sat, Sun, Wed 14.45 Waitress daily 19.00 Willie en het wilde konijn Thur-Sun 12.45. Kriterion Roetersstraat 170, 623 1708 American Gangster daily 18.15, Thur-Sun, Tues-Wed also 21.30 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Forddaily 21.15 Bee Movie (NL) Sat, Sun, Wed 15.15 Eastern Promises Thur, Sun-Wed 19.30, Fri, Sat 22.00 Little Miss Sunshine Sun 15.00, Wed 17.00 The Magnificent Ambersons Mon 22.00 Manufactured Landscapes daily 17.30 Michael Clayton Thur, Sun, Mon, Wed 21.45, Fri, Sat 19.30 Mijn naam is Eugene Sun 11.00, Wed 15.00 Sicko Thur-Tues 18.45, Sat also 15.00 Videodrome Fri, Sat 0.00 De Wonderwinkel van Mr Magorium Sat, Wed 15.30. Melkweg Cinema Lijnbaansgracht 234A, 624 1777 On Her Majesty's Secret Service Fri 19.00 Tigre aime le chair fraiche Sat 19.00 You Only Live Twice Thur 19.00. The Movies Haarlemmerdijk 159-165, 638 6016 2 Days in Paris daily 19.00, Fri, Sat 0.00 Alles is liefde daily 19.00, Sun also 12.00 Atonement daily 16.30, 19.15, 22.00, Sat, Sun, Wed also 13.30 Bee Movie (NL) Sat, Sun, Wed 14.30 Control Fri, Sat 0.15 Earth daily 17.00, 21.30, Sun also 12.00 Eastern Promises Fri, Sat 23.30 Elizabeth:The Golden Age daily 17.15, 19.45, 22.00, Sun also 12.45 The Kite Runner daily 16.45, 19.15, 21.45, Sat, Sun, Wed also 14.15, Sun also 11.45, Fri, Sat also 0.10 Lady Chatterley daily 21.00, Sat, Sun, Wed also 14.00 De Wonderwinkel van Mr Magorium Sat, Sun, Wed 15.00. De Nieuwe Anita Frederik Hendrikstraat 111, 06 4150 3512, Branded to Kill Mon 20.30. OT301 Overtoom 301, 779 4913 Charles Mingus:Triumph of the Underdog Sun 20.30 Philip Guston:A Life Lived Sun 20.30 Sound And Vision Sun 20.30 Woman in the Dunes Tues 20.30. Pathé ArenA ArenA Boulevard 600, 0900 1458 Alles is liefde Thur-Mon, Wed 14.35, 17.20, Thur-Mon also 11.55, Tues 16.35, 19.20 American Gangster Thur-Mon, Wed 20.15, Tues 13.00 Bee Movie daily 12.25, 14.30 Bee Movie (NL)daily 12.00, 13.15, 14.00, 15.20, 17.30, Sat, Sun also 9.55, 11.10 Beyaz Melek daily 19.00 Eastern Promises Thur-Mon, Wed 21.40, Sat also 0.00, Tues 21.35

math, however. Director Arno Dierickx was more interested in the back story. His film is a partly fictionalised account of the events leading up to the murder. We meet the victim, Ronnie (played by Sander van Amsterdam, a terrifying and energetic presence in the film). He’s a petty thief who has committed some minor crimes with his three high school friends. When Ronnie gets in trouble with the police, he flees to the villa and hides himself in the attic—not only to avoid being arrested but, more importantly, to evade his father’s fury. Afraid that Ronnie will rat on them for past crimes, brothers Arnout (Mathijs van de Sande Bakhuyzen) and Victor van Riebeeck (Derk Stenvers) let him stay there and bring him food and books. Their smart, but shy, school companion Simon (Erik van Heijningen) is called in to come up with a solution for this blackmailing, but none is found. One of Bloedbroeders’ many good qual-

Elizabeth:The Golden Age daily 16.45, 21.35 Enchanted daily 16.00, 18.35, 21.45 Enchanted (NL) daily 13.40, 16.00, Sat, Sun also 10.30 The Flock Sun 10.00 The Golden Compass (NL) Fri-Sun, Wed 13.10, Sat, Sun also 11.00 The Golden Compass daily 13.30, 16.10, 18.45, 21.20, Sat, Sun also 11.00 Gone Baby Gone Sat 23.10 Hitman daily 21.50 I Am Legend Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 19.40, 22.00, Sat 23.30 I Am Legend (Imax) daily 11.50, 14.10, 16.30, 18.50, 21.10, Sat also 23.30 The Illusionist Tues 13.30 K3 en de Kattenprins daily 12.05, 13.50, Thur-Sun, Mon, Wed also 15.45, Sat, Sun also 10.20 Kabadayi daily 21.15 Kapitein Rob Sat, Sun 9.45, Wed 11.55 Moordwijven daily 12.30, 14.45, 17.00, 19.15, 21.40, Sat, Sun also 10.15, Sat also 0.00 The Nanny Diaries daily 15.40, 18.10, 20.40, Thur, Mon, Tues also 13.00 National Treasure: Book of Secrets daily 18.40, 21.30, Thur-Sat, Mon-Wed also 15.00, 18.00, 20.50, Thur, Fri, Mon-Wed also 12.00, Sat also 12.15, 23.35, Sun also 13.10, 15.55 P.S. I Love You daily 15.50, 18.30, Thur, Mon also 13.10 Run, Fat Boy, Run daily 19.30 Saw IV daily 22.00, Thur-Mon, Wed also 17.40, 19.50, Sat also 0.00, Tues also 16.05, 18.25 De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe Wed 12.50, Sat, Sun also 10.05 Sneak Preview Tues 21.00 DeWonderwinkel van Mr Magoriumdaily12.10,14.20,16.40, Sat, Sun also10.00. Pathé De Munt Vijzelstraat 15, 0900 1458 Alles is liefde Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 16.15, 19.00, Thur, Mon, Tues also 13.15, Sat also 14.40, 17.30, 20.30 American Gangster Thur, Fri, Sun, Mon, Wed 21.00, Sat also 22.30 Atonement Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 19.20, Thur, Mon, Tues also 13.20, 16.20, Sat also 17.40, 20.15 Bee Movie (NL) Fri, Sun, Wed 12.45, 15.00, Sun also 10.40, Sat 10.15, 12.15, 14.30, 16.45 Eastern Promises Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 21.50, Sat 23.20 Elizabeth: The Golden Age daily 18.50, Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed also 16.10, 21.20, Thur, Mon, Tues also 13.10, Sat also 16.20, 21.30 Enchanted Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 13.00, 15.45, 18.20, Sun also 10.20, Sat 11.10, 13.45, 16.30, 19.20 Enchanted (NL) Fri, Sun, Wed 13.30, Sat 11.45, 14.15 The Golden Compass (NL)Fri, Sun, Wed16.10, Sun also11.15, Sat10.20,15.15 The Golden Compass Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.15, 15.10, 17.50, 20.30, Sat 10.15, 12.45, 15.30, 18.45, 21.45 Gone Baby Gone Sat 23.40 Hitman Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 22.05, Sat also 23.10 I Am Legend Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.00, 14.15, 16.45, 19.15, 20.50, 21.45, Sat 11.15, 13.30, 16.00, 18.30, 21.00, 21.50, 23.30 K3 en de KattenprinsFri, Sun, Wed12.15,14.15, Sun also10.15, Sat10.50,12.40 Kapitein Rob Fri, Sun, Wed 13.45, Sat 12.55 The Kite Runner Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.00, 14.45, 17.45, 20.45, Sat 13.15, 16.15, 19.15, 22.15 Moordwijven Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 12.10, 14.30, 17.00, 19.30, 22.00, Sat 10.45, 13.00, 15.45, 18.15, 20.50, 23.15 The Nanny Diaries Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 16.00, 18.45, 21.15, Thur, Mon, Tues also 13.30, Sat 16.50, 19.30, 22.00 National Treasure: Book of Secrets daily 14.00, Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed

ities is that, although the outcome is clear from the beginning, it’s very easy to forget the inevitable. For a long time, the film makes you believe that what you see is just child’s play, that it’s not really serious. One day soon, Ronnie will come down from the attic, his father will hit and then hug him, and that’s it. A summer not well spent at the most. The excellent screenplay is about class differences and the burning desire Simon feels to insinuate himself into this unfamiliar life of luxury. A bit of a schlemiel himself, he’s jealous of the athletic Arnout, with his beautiful girlfriends and effortless charm. When Arnout is bored with his latest love, he offers her to Simon. Overwhelmed with hormones, Simon is blind to the fact that Arnout only hopes to drag him down with him. And so, at first, are we. The boys play tennis, drink lemonade and chase girls. As the summer passes, we almost accept Ronnie as a part of their lives. Very subtly, though, things change. Life at the villa is far from perfect. Arnout and Victor’s mother is ill, which, while never a focal point, subliminally begins to alter the mood. By the time Ronnie becomes rebellious, asking more and more from his hosts, autumn is right around the corner. The boys grow tired of the game, and with their holiday to Capri (for which Simon is invited) around the corner, one drastic measure becomes ever more appealing. Again, this is a very effective way of showing how the teenagers practically approach their problem. They are not cold-blooded murderers, but they don’t want to lose face. In a violent finale, Bloedbroeders proves an excellent character study.

also 12.30, 15.30, 17.15, 18.30, 20.15, 21.30, Sat, Sun also 11.00, Sat also 12.00, 14.45, 17.00, 17.45, 20.00, 20.45, 23.00 P.S. I Love You Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 15.10, 18.00, Thur, Mon, Tues also 12.20, Sat 17.10, 19.50 Saw IV Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 17.30, 19.50, 22.10, Thur, Mon, Tues also 12.45, 15.00, Sat 19.00, 21.15, 23.35 De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe Fri, Sun, Wed 13.20, Sun also 10.20, Sat 10.40, 13.25 Sneak Preview Tues 21.30 De Wonderwinkel van Mr Magorium Fri, Wed 12.50, Sat 10.25, 12.30, 15.00, Sun 12.55. Pathé Tuschinski Reguliersbreestraat 34, 0900 1458 Alles is liefdeThur, Fri, Sun-Wed 21.15, Fri-Wed 15.45, Fri, Mon-Wed also 13.00 Away from Her daily 16.20, 19.00 Bee Movie (NL) Sat, Sun, Wed 12.10, 14.20, 16.30 Earth daily 19.30, 22.00, Fri, Sat, Mon-Wed also 12.10, Fri, Sun, Mon-Wed also 14.30, 17.10 Elizabeth:The Golden Age daily 17.45, 20.30, Thur-Mon, Wed also 15.10, Thur, Fri, Mon also 12.30 Enchanted Fri-Mon, Wed 13.45 Una Giornata Particolare Sun 10.30 The Golden Compass daily 21.30, Fri-Tues also 18.40, Fri, Mon, Tues also 13.10, Fri, Mon also 15.50, Wed also 18.35 K3 en de Kattenprins Sat, Wed 13.10, Sun 13.05 The Kite Runner daily 12.00, 15.00, 18.00, 21.00 Little Miss Sunshine Thur, Tues 13.30 Macbeth (Verdi) Sat 19.30 My Blueberry Nights Fri, Sun-Wed 18.30 P.S. I Love You Thur, Fri, Sun-Wed 21.45. Rialto Ceintuurbaan 338, 676 8700 4 maanden,3 weken en 2 dagen daily 19.30, Fri-Sun, Wed also 15.15 El Baño del Papa daily 17.00, 21.15, Fri-Sun also 15.00 Binger Shorts Fri 23.00 Fados daily 17.15, Sat, Sun also 12.15 Lady Chatterley Thur-Tues 19.45, Fri-Sun, Wed 14.15, Wed also 21.45 Das Leben der Anderen Sat, Sun 12.30 My Blueberry Nights daily 17.30, 21.45 Tuya's Marriage daily 19.15, Sat, Sun also 13.00 Wuthering Heights Sun 11.00, Wed 15.00 You, the Living Wed 19.45. De Roode Bioscoop Haarlemmerplein 7H, 625 7500, Point Blank Sun 20.30. Studio K Timorplein 62, 692 0422, Adam's Apples Thur-Sat 19.00 Atonement daily 21.30 The Bird Can't Fly daily 19.30 Control daily 22.00 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Sun-Wed 19.00. De Uitkijk Prinsengracht 452, 623 7460 2 Days in Paris Thur-Mon, Wed 21.30 Bee Movie (NL) Sat, Wed 15.00, Sun 13.00 Earth Thur-Mon, Wed 19.30, Thur-Sat, Mon-Wed 17.00 Muzikanten voor het leven Sun 17.00 Paranoia Tues 20.00 volk zonder eigen land, Een Sun 15.00.


Amsterdam Weekly

22

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ing for home in A’dam starting on13Jan.Paying3month’srent and a deposit is not a problem. If you have a room or apt for rent please contact us soon: maijusaares@hotmail.com. LOOKING FOR A ROOM Hi, my name is Miriam, I’m Spanish, and I’d like to find some place.Max.€400,incenterA’dam. I’m tidy, friendly and worker. miriamao@hotmail.com. ROOM AMSTERDAM Hello, I am a Spanish student looking for a room for 6 months in A’dam or surrounding arears of Leiden, Haarlem, etc. I am going to do an internship from 14th Jan. I will fly to Holland next Sat so if you are interested or know something please contact me. Angel Rodriguez: kulaki_00@hotmail.com.

WONING GEZOCHT!We are a couple seeking an apt in A’dam from Feb. We are looking to pay around €1000 and we should be able to register. You can contact us on 06 SHARED HOUSING 2860 1787. We are looking forward to hearing from you! HOUSESHARE SOUGHTI’m ADDRESS WANTED! I am a 29 y.o. Australian male proseeking an address where I can fessional. Have been here a register for a limited period year so pretty established. of time. Who can help me out Work hard during week and for 100 quid? 06 2860 1787. enjoy winding down on the

weekends. I cook, I’m clean, reliable, relaxed, considerate but fun as well. Looking for like-minded people in friendly house share. s.naik@nki.nl.

OTHER SPACES PHOTO STUDIO For amateur and professional photographers. Can also be used as meeting or gathering space. 100m2, €150/day. Possible to rent photo equipment. High ceilings, good, natural light and located on WG Plein, adjacent to Overtoom. For appointment and more info contact D. Ingel: 06 2883 4224. THERAPIE RUIMTE Rustige, lichte, centraal gelegen zolderruimte (25m2) beschikbaar voor spirituele doeleinden; Reiki, massage, yoga, meditatie. Geen groepen. Bel Justine op 06 1616 5875 voor info en tarieven. N.B. 4e etage. Geen lift. THE BEST OFFICEspace in A’dam, 2 min walk from Dam Square/Rokin in quiet street. Full office facilities including wireless internet, phone, kitchen, bathrooms, space for bikes. Completely refurbished. Do you want to share (up to 6 people) ? If so, email edvass23@gmail.com. First to see will take it! CENTRAL SPACE Nice rooms for alternative health professionals, those teachers/tutors wanting to work with clients or for small workshops/seminars. Central location in basement space of 16th century building. 5 min from CS. Sounds like something for you? Come by and take a look. 06 5463 2143. CO-OP ARTIST SPACE Am looking for a few other artists to get together and find work-


Amsterdam Weekly

10-16 Janaury 2008 ing space in A’dam. I need room for sewing/painting. What would you like to do? Get in touch and let’s see if we can make this happen. Also if anyone knows of any open, unfurnished places, please also write. aplaceforartists@gmail.com.

and general house cleaning work. References available. Please email bigabossey@hotmail.com or call 06 2377 0134.

UNHAPPY AT WORK?Feeling stuck in your career? Isn’t it time to discover what you really want in life? Lost purpose, passion or goal? Do yourself a favour and give TRANSPORT your coach a call: 06 4998 NEED TO MOVE? Door-to- 8986 or 400 4778. Email mardoor moving for €35. We have ianne@soul-at-work.com. 3 vans available with experi- Soul at Work, A’dam. enced drivers + extra movers. Book online on www.vrachtver- STUNNING WEBSITES huizer.nl or call 06 1514 9164. Experienced designer builds professional, unique sites, starting at €300. www.offSERVICES minor.com/stunning_design.h DREADLOCKS Do you want tm. Contact Jordan: jordannicedreadsordoyoualreadyhave gcz@yahoo.com, 06 3034 1238. but they are in need of a small fix? Contact me and I will help LOST IN TRANSLATION?I you! www.amsterdamdread- am a translator English> Dutch and Dutch>English. I locks.com. 06 5245 5324. can translate all your docuTAX & FINANCE Trying to mentation. Subjects: legal, get quality advice and save marketing communication, money at the same time? We policy, literature, culture and are specialized in book- art. Speed, accuracy and qualkeeping, taxes and guide our ity of work are at the top of relations through the entire my list. Interested? Feel free business process. We work to contact me on mobile numthrough a country-wide net- ber: 06 4322 9466. work with professionals who can help on each issue. Call HEALTH & WELLNESS us for RAAD! 691 2217. THESOULSpiritualleadership ENGLISH MAN WITH VAN workshop,Howtoconnectwith Can help with removals, big your spiritual leadership and or small, in or outside of the expandyoursoulsexpression.10 country. Reasonable rates, Jan.moreinfo:www.thesoul.info. quick service. Contact Lee ACUPUNCTURE Certified on 06 2388 2184 or whiteAmericanacupuncturisttreats van@whitevanman.nl or see bothmenandwomenforawide www.whitevanman.nl. range of ailments at two locaXPAT PAGES Looking for tionsinA'dam.Coverageoffered English-speaking plumber, bymanyhealthinsurancecomdentist, lawyer, etc? www.xpat- panies.Call0627399789,email pages.com. info@acupunctuurnoordholPHOTOGRAPHER Profes- land.nl or visit www.acupuncsional digital photography for tuurnoordholland.nl. THERAPY/COACHING Registred at www.ngvh.nl; www. nap.nl. Many (supplementary) health insurance policies will coverthecostsofintegrativepsychotherapy. (Dutch/English) www. corakoorn-praktijk.nl or QUALITY PHOTOGRAPHY 06 1488 1350. Portrait, music, fashion and commercial photography. See NOT AN ABORIGINAL? Do samples at www.andrespho- you live and work in your nattography.com contact me for ural habitat? Do you know more information at where you belong and your life’s purpose? Don’t risk your andresinbox@gmail.com. well-being. Be smart: focus on WORKWANTEDIamanAfrican your heart and give your coach womanlivinginA’dam.Iamlook- a call: 06 4998 8986 or 400 4778. ing for house cleaning jobs in Email marianne@ soul-atA’dam. Please email catherine- work.com. Soul at Work, A’dam. namuddu@ yahoo.com. REIKI MASTER Combining HOUSECLEANER JOB!!!No the natural healing system of time to clean up your house, Reiki with Past Lives Memooffice, garden, etc! I do it for ry Regression, NLP, visualizayou. A man with good refer- tions exercises, psychic surgery ences, fast, honest and clean. and interdimensional healInterested? Make contact at ing. Develop yourself, know marksbr@hotmail.com. yourself, heal yourself. SesA YOUNG MANis looking for sions, treatments, courses. painting, ironing, gardening Danielle Ferrari: 06 2831 0125. events,headshots,PR,product, architectural & real estate and portraiture for web and more! For rates, samples and bookings: threedbre@yahoo.com or 06 2510 6271.

23 tion. 2,3,4 and 8 wks courses. I am willing to share! Please Price: €8/hr. Visit www.joost- email becky@jaraart.com. weethet.nl. Email info@joostGROUPS & CLUBS weethet.nl. Tel 420 8146. JOIN OUR BOOK CLUB I MUSIC run a book club for a group DRUM LESSONS! Do you of international women in want to learn drums? Evoke their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. We the spirits and bring down meet one Tues night a month the rain with your drumming! at a restaurant in A’dam. We Alumni of Conservatorium read everything from clasvan Amsterdam gives drum sics like Anna Karenina to lessons for people of all ages, new releases. We would like starters or advanced drum- to invite new members to mers! 06 4281 4507. Srdjan. join. Contact me at copyBERRY ZEGT: ROCK An writer1973@yahoo.com.

WALK TALL WALK PROUD Don’t let life get you down. LearntheAlexanderTechnique and bounce right back up Your first lesson is FREE so call 06 1613 0964 or send an email to mail@deirdrehogan.com. Remember you’re in charge .

MASSAGE ILCIELOSTUDIOWeofferdifferenttreatmentssuchascraniosacral, dorn breuss massage, holistic,ayurvedicandfootmassage. The treatments are reimbursed by many health insurances. Info: www.ilcielo.org, Unmani, 06 3004 9738.

HOME IMPROVEMENT CONTRACTOR/RENOVATERLicensed (KvK), registered & insured. Get it done right the first time. Plumbing, electrical, complete remodels, repairs of all sizes & more. High standards & excellent quality. www.ssrhino.com, andy@ssrhino.com. Emergency Services/24 hrs. Call-outs available & reasonable rates! 06 2510 6271. CUSTOM PILLOWS Onley Make Believe (http://www. onleymakebelieve.com) representsanexclusiveandunique collection of custom-handcrafteddecorativethrowpillows for residential and office environments.Eachdesignishandmade and is available exclusively through made-to-order. SCHILDER Professionele schilder voor alle uw binnen en buitenschilderwerk.T:061120 8026 of pasopnat@live.com. UPHOLSTERYFor re-upholstering of all kinds of furniture, modern and antique, boat and caravan cushions recovered or made to measure, also curtains made to measure, all styles catered for, wide selection of fabrics to choose from in all price classes. Contact Sophie Filangi 06 4154 7557/ www.alabonnechaise.nl.

vation? Professional, experienced and with excellent references. Online links to past projects. Call now and ask for appointment: 06 4451 7410 or 331 6550, www.reno-bouw.nl, karol-rajczyk@hotmail.com.

COMPUTERS PC HOUSE DOCTOR Specialised in virus/spyware removal, h/w, s/w repair, data recovery, wireless, cable/ADSL installation and computer lessons from friendly and experienced Microsoft professional for reasonable price. Contact Mario 06 1644 8230.

COURSES

sports centre USC. Win free USC Xtra services: sports lab test, massage, nutritional advice, a mental training course etc. All new USC-members in Jan can win a free service in the ‘Grabbel GRATIS USC Xtra Weken’. Check www.usc.uva.nl. DRAWING AND PAINTING workshops by professional artist, various techniques, all styles. Contact joneiselin@ hetnet.nl. UPHOLSTERY WORKSHOP in Westerpark! Recover and/or repair your own furniture with the professional advice of Sophie Filangi. Every Tues and Thur 19.00-22.00 (by appt only). Including use of tools, excluding materials. €30 per session. Call for information on 06 4154 7557.

HOLLYWOOD POLE DANCE 2 teachers to give you an amazing, sexy class, directly from Hollywood! Anyone can join from beginners to advanced. Pole tricks, partnering and BEGINNER YOGA COURSE choreography will be taught. With The Yoga Community at bertonisara@hotmail.com. ABC Treehouse. Always wantBELLY DANCE COURSE ed to experience yoga and didstarts Thur 17 Jan at 19.00. n’t know where to start? Join Studio in A’dam-West. For this 8-week course, starting more info visit www.zerzu- Mon 21 Jan, 18.00-19.30. €100 ra.info or phone 681 0072. incl textbook. Contact Susan This timeless woman’s dance Nicolas: 06 5176 4621/nicocreates a positive body image, las@planet.nl/ http://amsregardless of age or shape. terdam.yoga108.org. Why not come along and find CHI KUNG & FITNESSFeel out? zerzura@live.nl. more grounded, centered, balDANCE&YOGA FOR KIDS anced, inner strength. Learn Starting Fri 11 Jan in the Jor- Chinese energy training, based daan, combination lessons on age old techniques, taught creative dance & playful yoga undogmatically. Or Gentle Fitfor kids age 3 and up. ness for Women. Small, quiet info:www.dancefun4kds.nl, groups. Personal training pos669 9499 (Mara). sible. 21-24 Jan: free open YOGACAFE.ORGNew cours- lessons (NL & Eng). 770 1063, es starting now. Pregnancy, www.fitness-anders.com.

beginners and intermediate LANGUAGES course. For more information about the courses and DUTCH LESSONS A'DAM weekly drop-in classes, visit Improve conversation/professional purpose/studies/NT2. www.yogacafe.org. Also online. Min indiv rate LEARN IMPRO EasyLaughs €15/hr.Adults&children.Monis beginning its winter term 19 Sat,10.00-21.00.Alsointensive Jan with 3 different classes. courses. Min intensive: 15 Email us at courses@easyhrs=€215,55. www.excellentlaughs.nlformoreinfoorcheck dutch.nl.New:Super-intensive RENO-BOUW-RAJCZYKDo ourwebsite,www.easylaughs.nl. summer course. Info: excelyou need cost-effective and WIN FREE PERSONAL lentdutch@hotmail.com, 06 high-quality full house reno- COACHING at the students 3612 2870.

evening full of rock. Fri 1 Feb PERSONALS at Winston Kingdom. Line-up: SPANISH CLASSES! With The Regiment, Suvorov and SEXY BLACKAttractive, aththe new year, Learn Spanish Captain, Your Ship Is Sink- letic, Aries, African Ameriwith a native teacher from ing. Entrance €5. Starts 21.00. can man looking 2 meet cool, calm & collected spirits. Spain with experience and NEW YEAR-NEW BAND Lovers, buddies, dates, expats, university degree in teaching. A’dam-based indie-rockband friends, party people ALL welGrammar, pronunciation, with raw experimental sound come. Take a chance 2 conconversation. Call 06 4384 looks for an experienced bass nect with me, U never know 5642 for more information! guitar player. Info: what the results could be. ENGLISH PRACTICE sabraza@gmail.comsabraza Email d_online06@hotEnglish Practice Group meets @gmail.com or 06 4214 8729. mail.com. Will I hear from U? weekly, with focus on gramMALE SINGERS WANTED NOISY LOVER Dutch genmar, vocabulary, pronunicaChamber Choir Fenix (1998), tleman, educated, mature, tion & fluency. Led by nativeconductor J. Spittler, is look- single and non-smoker, bookspeaking EFL instructor. All ing for more tenors and bass- ish type wishes lady friend 29levels welcome! Internationes. Choir rehearsals Wed. 37 who is a noisy lover. Loves al, inexpensive, informal, in 20.00-22.30, A’dam Plantage- books, art and long walks in centrum. Info: jehrlichnl@hotbuurt. Repertoire: 20th cen- nature, who is easy-going and mail.com or 486 1037. tury; Frank Martin, Vaughan homely, enjoys cooking, a WANT TO LEARN FRENCH? Williams and others. Singing good kisser also. Latina, Register today at the French experience, music reading Asian, or mixed-race lady. Institute, Maison Descartes. required. 06 4473 5451 (Kati), riccardodarks@hotmail.com. Choose from a variety of cours- www.koorfenix.nl. es and workshops to improve NOTICES ELECTRIC BASSLessons for your French in a French envibeginners and advanced. Pro- MESSAGEINTHEAIR28-12ronment with qualified French fessional musician with teach- 07. It was around 19.00 and you Teachers. Open Day 11 Jan ing experience. Learn with were playing a card game in from 16.00-20.00. Info: the music that you like. Email SCHUIM with your friend. She www.maisondescartes.com, diegonicolasrl@hotmail.com. explained me how to play.You franscursussen@maisonwere watching at me drinking descartes.nl, 531 9501. THE ARTS a coke and then a pear juice.In IMPROVE YOUR DUTCH! STAGE FRIGHT? Experi- your bag there was a dvd A fresh Dutch start in 2008? enced public speaking coach movie.You’re dutch with red Private classes, small study enables you to speak and per- curly hair. I would like to see groups, conversation, inten- form with confidence. www. youagain.saggioned@yahoo.it. sive, etc at LINK TAAL STU- thespeaker.eu. NEW TO HOLLAND?NetherDIO, Vijzelgracht 53, professional approach. Call Anja 1ST CAPOEIRA FILMFES- lands info site for visitors, 06 4133 9323, linktaalstu- TIVAL 11-13 Jan, Nieuwe expats & locals. Info on transHerengracht 29. The Once port, accommodation, jobs, dio@gmail.com. forbidden art of enslaved meetingpeople,eating&drinkDUTCH COURSES New Angolans in Brazil com- ing, shopping, sports, courses, evening courses starting in Jan memorates 20 yrs in NL with entertainment, communicaand Feb, centre of A’dam. €200- a collection of films and doc- tion, events and festivals. 250 for 20 hrs. Visit www.mer- umentaries from the 1940’s http://www.insquish.com. cuurtaal.nl or call 693 4250. to 2008. www.capoeirafilmA'DAM FLICKR GROUP DUTCH CONVERSATION festival.com. Share your photos of A’dam Conversatieweek Nederlands. with other Weekly readers. LOOKING FOR Kom een weekje Nederlands Join Amsterdam Weekly’s new spreken bij GLOSSA. One FEEL LIKE MODELING? Flickr Group! Go to flickr.com, week intensive fluency will Two photographers are look- search for Amsterdam Weekmake your Dutch boost. More ing for nice models for ly under Groups, and start information and other train- naughty/fetish photo sessions loading your favourite images. ing options www.glossa.nl or project. Voluntary basis only. call 06 1471 5372. Experience is not needed, MURAL PAINTER Do you have a children’s room or INTENSIVE DUTCHCOURS- but right attitude is. Please nursery that needs something ESatJOOSTWEETHET!Class- email contact details and special to make it unique? I es 4 times per week during 4 photos to info@hotub.eu. can paint children’s dreams hours.Goodteachers,funclass- CANYOUWRITE?Wearelook- on their walls and decorate esandenergeticathmosphere. ing for volunteers to write arti- a play room with imaginaSmallgroups,Personalapproach cles about life in A’dam/Hol- tion. Any theme, any style. with Emphasis on conversa- land. If you have some writing Contact Anna to discus the desire,pleasecontactinfo@hos- possibilities: anna@annagtels-amsterdam.nl for details. reaves.com or 06 1811 5098. MIJN PARTIJ ZOEKT min- WE NEED A SPONSOR We isters, staatssecretarissen, are a young amateur group of parlementariërs, bestuur- volunteers who have a project ders, medewerkers en vri- to start a TV/NET show. This jwilligers voor serieuze zak- is general idea, as we prefer to en. Heeft u politieke ambities keep it secret 4 now. We adverdie u waar wilt maken? Kijk tise here to find a sponsor to dan op www.mijn-partij.nl. helpustobuy2cameras.Please ARTIST STUDIOArtist seek- help us. We are serious people ing a space to work in for a min & worthy of your trust. blan2/3mthsinA’dam.Max€60/mth. chard_med@hotmail.com.



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