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2011-06-25T16:26:00.001+02:00

Art & Copy Film / Welcome

2010-02-19T11:04:00.000+01:00

You have to love the opinion

2009-12-08T13:08:00.001+01:00

people knowing me well, know that i love a good debate. Below i want to share an article i used to challenge myself to find ways to make social media relevant. I love this article because it does stretch even teh firmest believers in finding the right arguments to counter the below article.

now fellow digital marketers: read and feel challenged :-)

I Hate Social Media<http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=lcUS22086209>
Cushing Anderson<http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=PRF000009>
November 17, 2009

uugh - I hate social media!

Social media (and many other phenomena including informal learning) is facilitating a culture where everyone's opinion is considered equally valid. Regardless of background, topic or complexity of the subject, blogger, talk show hosts and loudmouths on the bus can complain into their phone (or whatever medium) that the coach is an idiot, the government is out to get them and their kid is too smart for school and within moments their opinion can be treated as authoritative because its "published". But, as an observer of things and an analyzer of futures, I would like to put my staff of knowledge in the ground, stick my tongue out and blow "phthewt". (Though my wife would complain, I have no sense of the irony of that action.)

The Patriots lose a game against the Colts because the Patriots' coach decided that an unconventional strategy gave them a better chance to win than a more common strategy. Some/many/most of Patriot Nation blames the coach for a bad decision on the basis of the "fact" that they absolutely lost because of failure to execute that play, and yet they might not have lost if they had done something (anything) else. When presented with statistical evidence of the "odds of winning", a talk radio hosts this morning disparaged "odds" and relied on his own observations to say what works. (BTW - In that situation, the Patriots had a better than 70% chance of winning that game no matter what they did; They had a 79% chance of making the first down, and winning, and a 70% chance of punting and winning - or something like that<http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2009/11/17/belichick_had_the_numbers_on_his_side/> ) But they had a 30% chance of losing no matter what they did. So why are we spending so much time talking about this? I hate social media for giving every opinion a megaphone.

This morning the news is filled with the "controversial" recommendations by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force against routine screening mammography in women aged 40 to 49 years. "The benefits are less and the harms are greater when screening starts in the 40s" according to the co-chair of the task force. As the husband of a woman impacted by these recommendations, I thought this was worth looking into. According to one local TV announcer turned pundit on the TV stations' blog "Pardon me if this Doctor's daughter is more than a little skeptical about this "Government Panel.<http://cbslocalblogs.prospero.com/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=wbz_morning&entry=1032>"" The TV announcer/now commentator goes on to imply that this is a cost decision and over-stepping of government bureaucracy - "Should a Government Panel be over-ruling scores of physicians on this?" she asks.

I absolutely don't know the math on this, but I am sure context is important: With very little effort, I found the panel's recommendations<http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/uspstf/uspsbrca.htm>. The very next words following the "controversial" recommendation were: "The decision to start regular, biennial screening mammography before the age of 50 years should be an individual one and take patient context into account, including the patient's values regarding specific benefits and harms."

If a procedure hurts more than it helps, patients and their doctors should know that - and should choose based both specific circumstances and the broader "recommendations". If insurance companies use this as an opportunity to stop reimbursements where doctors and their patients believe earlier screening is justified, the blogosphere, pundits and egomaniac analysts should complain about that - no one but a patient and her doctor should be dictating treatment options. But disparaging the research because it doesn't agree with past recommendations, or because we disagree with health care legislation in Congress, or because one can cite many examples where early detection and treatment were successful is ignoring the far more numerous cases of false positives and complications that come from misdiagnosis. Its easy to incite discord when talking about a "government panel" and "health care" in the same breadth, but a knee jerk reaction doesn't seem to be warranted in this case. Unfortunatly, an "anchor-pundit" is free to imply whatever misdeed has gotten her hackles up, claim authority because she is the daughter of a Doctor, and doubt these recommendations without reading past the first sentence of the home page. I hate social media (with the emphasis on either word) for facilitating indignation without understanding.

Also this morning, a respected colleague sent me a link on the learning styles of "digital natives"<http://www.zefrank.com/explicit/2009/11/digital_natives_complete.html> and rhetorically asked if our university model of education was passe? I read the piece, thought for a nanosecond and let my head fall noisily to my desk. [BTW digital native<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_native> is a phrase coined by Mark Prensky to describe people of a certain age - younger than me, but not necessarily kids, who have always known and used digital tools.]

I can't conclude that education as we know it is done for from this blog post - there are 76 million students (K-college) in the US - 17.6 m in college. Our education system is designed for "mass education" and it has many problems - funding, inappropriate measurement and objectives, poor stakeholder prioritization, however its biggest problem is it has very little variation in the model. (Words are getting in the way - "very little" meaning limited distribution in the overall population amongst the wide variety of options that are available.) The digital native blog post reflects the observations of a learning environment that expresses nearly the exact opposite of the most populated form of our instructional model: no structure, low kid-count, no instructors. However, in no way does it suggest the more common model is invalid. It also is very reflective of both the environment and the wonder of a school called "Summerhill" that was opened in the 1920s. Summerhill operates<http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/pages/basics.html> on a principle of "free school" - a decentralized network in which skills, information, and knowledge are shared without hierarchy or the institutional environment of formal schooling.

Selecting a set of 30 "young-ens" who have gotten themselves noticed for one reason or another - putting them in an environment where they are expected to interact without structure is not an experiment or a naturally evolving system - it is a clever marketing "tactic" (aka gimmick) for Deutsche Telekom to get bloggers to write about their more traditional event. The observations of one "young-en", Max, may suggest areas of investigation for improving both the "classical model" of education and possibly seeds of ideas for creations of new models. However, one observation does not a downfall indicate. I hate social media for what often is a lack of context.

On a positive note, taking observations seriously reminds me of a medical site dedicated to facilitating the exchange of observations<http://www.sermo.com/> about drugs, devices and clinical issues. These aren't presented as "facts" - but as observations that can be validated by others and ultimately investigated by researchers who will take the time to understand the issue and its complexities. When you put 110k doctors in a room and can organize the cacophony you can get some really good insight. But one expert making an observation out of context and who broadcast to the world leaves a lot to be desired.

The reason my head hit the desk so loudly is because even "experts" can fail to consider the broader context and complexities interwoven with existing processes before claiming some magnificent insight. I have recently returned from the Elliot Masie's Learning2009<http://www.learning2009.com/> event [if you time it right, you will see my picture on the right side]. On the main stage, in front of 1300 people and in reponse to a question from Elliot, an economist turned education observer claimed the "old model" of instruction will be dead in 10 years. Access to information will eliminate the need for extensive study and every one could be functionally an "expert". Nice thought, very little supporting evidence for the conclusion. Then we heard from Chesley Sullenberger - the pilot who landed the plane in the Hudson after his plane's engines failed right after takeoff. He believes that years of conscientious training, a deep passion for getting better at his profession, and tremendous effort at improving the work culture and leadership capabilities of airline pilots were each critical to the successful resolution of that mishap. He has even written a book<http://www.amazon.com/Highest-Duty-Search-Really-Matters/dp/0061924687> about it. Not an education expert, but some valuable, experience based insight worth considering. (See, I don't mind taking advice from a lone voice, but I prefer the lone voice to have some credibility, expertise and, OK, I'll admit it, grey hair.) I hate social media permitting us to elevate opinions to authority.

Speaking as a pundit, egoist and blogger, I have to say that I hate social media. To uncover truth, trends or the "future", current observations can be valuable inputs ('"The future is already here - it is just unevenly distributed" - William Gibson<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Gibson>) but MUST be placed in the broader context of (more) complete understanding, circumstance and with consideration of the opinions and conclusion of informed people. The increasing prevalence of social media, talk radio and loudmouths on the bus, makes it too easy for ill-considered opinions to drown out more reasoned thought.

For social media to live up to its transformative potential it should

*   Amplify the collective opinion - wisdom of crowds works.
*   Facilitate understanding and if that leads to indignation, OK
*   Faciliate ever increasing context - the story is endless, and the web can help us organize it
*   Ensure we understand where the opinion comes from.

Caroline Dangson, IDC's collaboartive applications/social media analyst has reseached corporate guidance <http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?sessionId=UKQUSR331O0YQCQJAFICFFAKBEAUMIWD&containerId=220235> for participating in social media. She adds items like

* Support opinions with facts
* Add value, not noise
*
Be transparent about who you are

I will now retire with my staff of knowledge.

a week in New York

2009-11-17T12:47:00.001+01:00

our week was off to a good start. As usual the busy running around before you leave. It is as if almost one feels guilty going away for a week. Guilty versus the ones you leave behind and most of all towards the professional environment.

You feel like you have to apologize to colleagues and bosses to be away for a week. At the airport i came across 2 colleagues of Microsoft and i felt a bit wierd to say: i’m flying out to New York for pleasure. Not that they gave me that impression, but i felt a bit strange … but anyhow.

Apart from that my “favorite” airline is treating me like royalty. I’m seriously considering never to fly Brussels airlines again due to their repetitive disrespect and lack of customer orientation. This time it was with the frequent flyer service. Despite having booked my private flight directly with Brussels airlines they are not wanting to put the flight on my air miles since they outsourced the flight to American Airlines.

The mere fact they do this is not that serious, although i feel if since they offer the service and i booked with them, they should deliver upon their service agreement. But most annoying is the way they treat you at their customer service desk. First they make you wait because they are in a heavy “social” conversation with their colleague and do not wish to be disturbed when manning the front desk. Once you are finally able to talk to them the simple answer you get is: “sir, this is normal”. Asking a little more explanation on why it is that if you buy a ticket at Brussels airlines and use their service , you can not get points and short snappy response: sir i told you it is not possible.

So we started the trip under a nice mood :-), but we will not let this break our spirit. On the contrary we are contemplating to use the force of social media to force them to be more customer friendly …

for now: happy travels

Toon

a day in stockholm…

2009-11-12T09:12:00.001+01:00

Yesterday i was at a workshop in Stockholm and had a wonderful day, had the pleasure to share a cab with old colleagues and friends from Sony Ericsson to the airport.

It was most enjoyable day, got the work done and caught up with the likes of Sophie-Kim, Mats, Magnus, Lisa, Camilla, Frederik, Anna, Cecilia ….. and of course if forgot a few.

going to Stockholm was like looking forward to seeing back the girl you fell in love with in your first grade. Full of excitement and anticipation you were picturing everything through the eyes of youngster whose hormones are troubling his view.

But once you are there you feel after 5 minutes like you are on a date with your ex-wife. Fun the first 30 minutes, but immediately you start to know why you got divorced.

I love Stockholm, i really do and I'm still in my heart a digital marketer. When doing the workshop i felt the vibes coming and really felt the excitement. I really want to thanks Mats for this opportunity and it was good to talk with people about what we should be doing and the path along which we need to go there. But i left with the knowledge that my frustration when i left the pure digital play are still there :-).

but going back to the journey home. After very nice conversation in the taxi we got to Bromma airport where i came to the conclusion my booking was not for 11th of November but for 11th of December. So an extra night in Stockholm in a very small hotel close to the airport are my reward for going back to me roots :-)

Happy travels

Toon

ok .. no excuses any more

2009-10-26T14:12:00.001+01:00

is it purely being lazy or is it lack of energy and time. Well i guess it is about a combination of factors. But i have promised myself: i will pick up again. So what have i been doing since May. Well:

1. Riding a bike and dreaming of a next one:

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2. Seeing the kids grow

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3; Learning a new business

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4. Plunging myself into art-marketing.

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5. Travelling to all different places

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6. Making the most out of life

…. and loads of more things . But need to keep some stuff for later :-)

happy travels

Toon

it’s itching ….

2009-05-18T21:11:00.001+02:00

my father in law just got back from a wonderful trip to China and India. He mainly travelled Tibet and visited places like Lhasa, Chengdu and Katmandu.

and you know what : this road has my name written all of over it …

…..

Happy travels

Toon

nice reminder to take the time

2009-03-09T11:26:00.001+01:00

i do not need to say a lot of words to make the point for this ad : a thoughtful reminder for our children …

Happy travels

Toon

mud mud mud .. glorious mud …

2009-02-03T11:39:00.001+01:00

life has it’s surprises and in a way boys will remain boys, they jus love playing with their toys. This week-end Michael and myself decided to go and play, not in at the beach, not in a bar or a sports hall but in the mud.

On our BMW GS bikes we decided to make a little stroll around the farmers roads in Brabant (a province in Belgium). Fully equipped with our bikes with renewed tires (for the knowledgeable ones amongst us i was fitted with Conti TKC 80 tyres because my beloved Dunlop has not yet managed to deliver knobbed tyres for the BMW, but living on hope).

with the weather being wonderfully sunny but freezing cold it already announced to be a tricky ride. The sun was defrosting the top layer of the unpaved roads we selected creating a very slippery mud on top of a stone hard frozen under layer. You can image that our bike riding looked more like ice skating than riding. Consequence of this all was: slippery slides. First one was me to go down with a broker gearshift as result and a broken ego of off road champ. But i was not alone for a long time, soon after my slide Michael went off the track into the fields.

Lifting heavy bikes like outs gave us the muscle training for at least two year. Once we found our easy on the slippery tracks we only got into problems when Michael rear brake blocked and caused a little fire :-) .. but by removing the brake we continued our journey …

But in the later afternoon we took a track to far .. with the sun having defrosted most of the track giving us a muddy clay that was as sticky as toffee pudding to our wheels it became apparent we got more and more stuck into the last track.

we had to turn back in little stages. Every 5 meters we had to get off the bike because the rear and front wheel blocked due to an excess of mud between the tyre and the front protector. After struggling for one hour Michael decided to get help after he got completely stuck and gave me a mud shower

however i refused to give up and finally managed to get myself out of the rather awaked situation, restoring my pride as off road champion :-) whilst Michael had to loose his pride to a farmer girl having to pull him out.

but today we are licking our wounds but are very proud of what we have achieved. Now we are planning for a new trip under better weather circumstances.

From my side I'm planning also my trip to Istanbul end of May, beginning of June. If anybody wants to join: more than welcome

happy travels

Toon

They were reading my mind

2009-01-15T12:43:00.001+01:00

ok I admit it is not really the nicest angle for a picture, nor is it really flattering for me to present myself like this, but it is after all a thing I had to endure to make sure I can look better.

no , not plastic surgery but research to make me sleep better. I must admit I have never been the most vast sleeper in the world. Waking up a lot at night, kicking in my sleep (sorry for the ones who shared a bed with me) and above all snoring. Even that bad that I sometimes woke up myself or got out of bed with a terrible headache.

The stress of snoring is with me so high that I sometimes even refuse to go to sleep on a plane in order not to upset my fellow travelers. And if I do I can see on their faces after I wake up that they did not really like my soundtrack to the trip, nor did the flight attendants love the fact they received complaints of additional turbulence along the way.

So between Christmas and New Years i finally decided to go the “sleep clinic” to get examined and to find a solution for my uncontrolable humming and singing during my sleep.

Hardly entered the room of the hospital or they started to glue me up with all sensors to track during my sleep every single movement and every single event. I had sensors for:

heartbeat: two on my chest. removal fear factor: high with all my chest hair
Eye motion: two; one under the eye; one above … machine went tilt when i started winking at the nurses in the evening
Leg motion : two , one for each. For the record: having scars of achilles is not a nice spot to have the sensor glued to
Brain activity: two on the head and two on the face, wonder if they tracked something during the night
Nose breathing: microphone and oxigen meter below nose
Lung function: straps around chest and belly
blood: needle in finger with tape

all of this with wires to a central box they hang on your chest, ready to proof you have trouble sleeping and snor like a bear. The evening came and after having read some articles done some mail and looked at the tele .. time to sleep …

one little problem: with all the sensors, tapes and wires sleeping almost becomes impossible .. so let’s wait and see for the result.

Happy travels

Toon

hello again

2009-01-12T20:19:00.001+01:00

well, agree i admit: it has been a long time, but you know, just did not feel like it anymore for one big reason: the internet is overrated. I went into an online identity crisis.

I felt the whole world was only a click away, in my mind i travelled the world clicking away on Live Earth, browsing new destination on Lonely Planet or dreaming away on the pictures on Flickr of people who actually went to the place i’m dreaming of. Or just even bringing up memories of the gang in Amsterdam, feeling the vibrant buzz again of a team of digital freaks changing the world about almost 10 years now … meeting up with friends in a virtual space, not even dressing up for the occasion.

The texts we create, the mails we write , the images we see; they all become faster, shorter , snappier all on the soundtrack of clicks and sounds of phones and computers …

Not that i think or dream that we will become intelligent joysticks or that we get born with USB slots for downloading all information and projecting the environment we would like to be in; but still: i just had enough for a couple of months: i gave priority to walking over sitting.

My leg is back alright and my arms are doing fine; so i walk to the newsstand from time to time and buy myself a newspaper and use my arms to fold it open and start reading it over a cup of coffee. My legs bring me to the bistro where i meet up with friends for the coffe we are so used of having on saturday market day ….

I even took the time to go and see some art this week-end with my partner in real life , without exploring it first on the web to make sure we really just went without prior visions.

although we still do not have enough time to do everything, i feel i can enjoy some little things more because the bits and bytes are not giving me the false sense of proximity … a proximity i prefer to be physically close so i can touch, feel and hear the breathing …

So for 2009 my slogan is going to be : BALANCE the walking and the sitting with for me a superiority of walking over sitting …

Happy travels in 2009

Toon and family

the rollercoaster

2008-10-01T22:37:00.001+02:00

well it has been a bit of a rollercoaster lately in my life. When people told me that life begins at 40 i thought you started to be more relaxed, calmer, more thinking about the things you want to do and not want to .. in other words: you are getting old.

having had the party now alredy more than a month ago my life has been put upside down and back again . Not really stable yet, but we are working on it and enjoying every minute of the hectic times i’m living in.

i feel again that i’m alive and am so happy …. but more is to come soon … still want to savour the pleasure in a little cocoon :-)

happy travels

Toon

It's my party

2008-09-01T00:15:00.001+02:00

and I cry if I want to .... Not that I feel suddenly sad and depressed, but one can also cry out of joy, or when emotions are coming up to strong. And this is a period of very strong emotions for me. It's a fact , last Friday August 22nd around 16h00 I have finished my 40th year on this planet. Officially my life is spanning over 4 decades now , so time to celebrate with friends.

I love bringing people together in a relaxed atmosphere, letting them enjoy the last week-end of summer. what I expected to be an easy ride turned out to be a little rollercoaster for me. I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people that showed up and the warmth I felt from people’s wishes and attention.

From my son and daughter coming to sit on my lap and wrapping their arms around me whilst I was being prosaic about how big and brave the are becoming to friends and making me wish I just had more hours in a day and days in a week to see them grow ; over a gentle pad on the back from my father in which lay a feeling of pride that I have become who I am and a feeling of forgotten despair of a unmanageable rebel to the hug of my mother who whispered in my ears: you look happy with the undertone of I love you.

Or the way my brother and 3 sisters looked at me amongst the busy group of people forgiven me that I do not have enough time for them again but giving me the nod of: good to see you happy.

Or the way Emmanuel my old school buddy was bringing back the memory of old days as if it was only yesterday we were there dancing in front of the huge from ceiling to floor windows on the 5th floor in the gym showers at school, give the ladies of the elderly home across the street an glimpse of the Chippendales to come.

Or the way people looked back at the time they worked or studied together and put it into the perspective of today. Or the way Piet and I already made plans for a next dinner of which we know it will be just fine .... and forget to mention my new glasses, the memory of holidays with friends or even the phone calls and sms'es I received ... (Mats I am coming over before the end of the year) ....

Or the way we could slowly and in the most wonderful company could close down the party .... It just makes you a little bit wee.

And now all is quiet again, tomorrow is another day . Or maybe not, because I’m officially in a new age group.

I'm in the age group now that can try to fit again in the clothes his father was wearing when he was born because they are being considered as style icons.

I'm at an age that people have tendency to enlarge their rear view mirror and shield more and more the view that lies ahead of them.

I'm at the age that a scale becomes like a distant friend you never visit because you do not want to talk about the old times.

I'm at the age that it is just lovely to behave like Staler and Waldorf with your even older friend on the terrace of our favorite bar.

I'm at the age that I still try to fit in fashionable clothes and glasses , but the love handles are giving me away.

I’m at the age I am, nothing more nothing less; but above all grateful for all the moments I lived with all of you and full of joy for what we are today, looking forward to tomorrow because I know you will all be there ...

Happy travels

Toon

It's the end of the world as we know it

2008-08-29T21:54:00.001+02:00

People, who are close to me, or even in this case distant, know that I have been having a very international life. Flying in and out European and global cities, being the sophisticated modern globetrotter, considering a plane to be the today’s bus or train.

But nevertheless I have always been very fond of returning home to Belgium. Is there something special about this country? Of course not, we are only 11 million people, but we speak 3 different languages, fight about who is superior above the other and are incapable of forming a government. At first sight it would be even horrible to live here. But for me it is just home, or let me re-phrase. It is more than just a country or a place: it's my home.

Especially Mechelen is my lovely city which feels more like a mix between a Tuscany village with a Provence mentality and the London weather :-).

And that atmosphere is always filling me with joy the moment that I get out of a plane in Brussels airport. Back to normality, back to things I love, back to the real flavor, the taste of the best beers in the world, the origin of French cuisine, ..... A moment that always brought the best out in me.

But today during my glorious homecoming my dreams have been shattered, my illusion of perfection and sweet harmony with my environment is blown to pieces.

I felt like that last Saturday morning when I was waking up after the Friday night celebrating my birthday with a night full of dark rum on the rocks. It felt as if the hammer that was with a constant rhythm of a swatch watch was again beating in my head, but a hammer that had gained force by training one week to show the world that Belgium is still a nation worthy of a gold medal..

I felt like that time that I took a girl I fancied to dinner in an expensive restaurant and we were eating a brilliant piece of Pre-salted rack of lamb on a bed of gratinated courgets , surrounded by tempura courgette flowers when she suddenly asked the waiter: can I have some ketchup.

I felt like ... well I felt so devastated and disillusioned; obscure forces have invaded my paradise and are sweeping the floor with genuine and authentic atmospheres. STARBUCKS has entered Belgium.

It already starts when you go in, the so inviting sofa’s that my American colleague describes as the only place he can get away from it all, look to me like the home smudges and stains having a party on the pants that are squeezing in. At the counter awaits my barista with a professional smile, trying to convince you that she is just coming from the coffee burning place where she handpicked the nice roasted beans, evoking the image that when she was 6 her grandfather Salvatore learnt her the secrets of the man handled espresso machine. Reality is, she is a Chinese student trying to make a living to pay for her studies at the University of Brussels who far more enjoys a jasmine tea and in a sense cannot stand the smell of coffee. Even that bad that at night when she comes home her boyfriend forces her to undress in the basement and put her clothes in the washer right away.

And than the choice, the paradox of choice. Do not ask for a coffee, but you should ask for a dry single shot soya latte with cinnamon topping and a sprinkle of vanilla or in other words: how to ruin a decent cup of coffee in 1 sec. The choice my god , I wished there would come and end to the endless combinations they are making and with every ingredient they add the take you further away from the essence of what coffee was meant to be. They take you with one slap in the face from the corner coffee shop in Pienza where Salvatore behind the counter was grinding the beans for the double espresso that would make my eyes light up by the first smell of the sent of heavenly black gold. With in the background the quarrelling butcher and baker shouting at each other : que volo. Let’s get the rules here right: there are only two ingredients in a decent coffee bar: coffee and milk, use both in any proportions you want and that’s where the story ends: ristretto, espresso, machiatto, capuccino, latte. Basta.

My homecomings are spoilt by the sight of the mass customerization of individuality and fake sense of authenticity. I never liked Starbucks, I even hated them when i found out that they had like a thief in the night nested themselves in the courtyard of the forbidden city in Beijing. I dislike them because they are the icon to me of loss of identity and false pretence.

This is a call for everybody of you to restore a bit of authenticity into your life. Go shopping to those neighbourhood stores like i have in my street. There is a cheesemaker who is the 4^th generation , he can talk for hours about the cheese that would best fit the meal that you are preparing. He smiles when you enter and comes to you to let you taste a new cheese of which he believes you will love it. And than the bakery, it has been going from son to son and still today the bread tastes so wonderfully uncomplicated natural. She remembers the names of my kids and wishes even me happy birthday. And the grocery shop owner who holds back the last bottle of that special beer I love so much because he know that i come to pick it up almost every two weeks.

Ask yourself the question: every time you go into that Starbucks near your office or on your way to work. How many times did they greet you by your name and knew what you needed. How many times did they put up that song for you in the bar when they saw you were down r cheerful ...... it all happens just around the corner in those little villages within the cities, you just have to look for them ....

With Starbucks putting a stain on my homecomings i feel like It’s the end of my world as i know it and contrary to what REM was singing and i don’t feel fine with it.

Happy travels to just around the corner

Toon

taking the jump

2008-08-20T19:18:00.001+02:00

as you all know maybe we have a landmark in belgium: the atomium. the remains of the Expo 58 , and now 50 years later there is a big party ongoing.

It is by far a nice structure to go and watch and who ever would come to the idea to make an atomium to the scale of this.

The whole construction is over a 100 meters high and could remind people of the Eifel tower. Although i always say: at least we took a form and shape that meant something :-). for more info look at http://www.atomium.be/

so that was 1958, but today the world needs more thrills .. and we got them. Riens and myself went to visit the Atomium just for fun as we do on a regular occassion, but now we really needed to get our minds of everything that surrounded us and went for a motorbike to brussels.

Arrived there we saw ropes hanging from the highest sphere of the atomium for a death ride. At first we hesitated and decided it was too stupid to fall for such a thing ... but time worked on us and did its best: de decided to take the jump.

Step 1: climbing up the Atomium is very nice. The elevator takes you quickly to the highest sphere, but we still had to climb through stairs and ladders to the highest point. You put your head out of the round opening in the highest ball and you go : wwwwaaaaaaauuuuuuww, this is high and also the feeling: why am i doing this :-)

Step 2: climbing out: ok: i admit i was scared and asked rapidly to get hooked up to the secured. You can i guess see on my face that i was not really confident in the operation;

Step 3: getting ready. Now securely fastened to the life ropes; Riens was the first to be ready, i followed and got next to him to take the leap of faith.

Step 4: here you go. As you can see the top sphere was just like a giant slide. The first 5 to 10 meters you just slide of the top sphere and suddenly you loose contact with the sphere and dive to the end point. Fear one: passing the sphere in front of us, felt like i was going to crash into it (maybe a warning that i have to loose weight). Fear two : once passed the second sphere it is still a long way down and everything looks so small ...

Step 5: arrive and start shaking on your legs and telling yourself: you really need to grow up now you are almost turning 40. but ont he other hand tell yourself: how many people can say that they did a death ride with their son from the Atomium.

Happy travels

Toon

Holiday is over

2008-08-17T22:19:00.001+02:00

... a bit strange feeling that the holiday is over .... and also a rather hard one ...

but let me recap the events for all of you. We left for the south of france on Friday August 1st and spent a nice period in a wonderful villa in the south of france.

they finally found out the truth about me: (for the non french speakers, the plate says: "that one is not beautiful, but he is gentle and beautiful on the inside" written in very childlike french

The food was wonderful, both Jan (we went with friends of ours) and i made the best out of our cooking skills and gained at least 4 kilo's

but most of all: we were very lazy. Recuperating from a hectic 2008 so far ()

and the kids enjoyed it as much as we did

Our plan for next year: make it two weeks and invite even more people, because being around people you love makes it all so much more enjoyable.

Happy travels

Toon

2 out of 3 : just perfect

2008-07-26T19:04:00.001+02:00

just wanted to let you know that this week-end i have a score of 2 out of 3 on my "most wanted, desired, wanted, loved, admired, cared for, ...." list ..

1. The kids are back in town. After having travelled a bit too much lately they finally made it to my place, staying with me till August 12th.

2. My bike

i finally made it, first trip on my bike since 4 months. My god finally the feeling of wind in my face, the gentle speed, the balance, ... i just loved it so much . It may seem little to all of you, for me it was just heaven ....

all the dreams of travelling to Beijing, the adventure to Petra, going along the coast to Bangkok .. all things that were spinning through my head .... if only you could feel the dizzyness it brings ... better than any drug ...

on the number 3 i will not comment, just that it is sometimes so hard not being able to share with someone you love ...

anyhow: happy travels

Toon

life lesson

2008-07-26T14:37:00.001+02:00

well, we are about to start the holiday here. Nothing really planned, just an option to go with friends to the South of France or go to the Wadden Islands in the north of Holland ... but nothing set yet. A bit the general tenure of today: nothing planned, just go with the flow.

on the life lessons: well one just has to learn the hard way. i was hoping that experience and dedication would be enough to push trough some opportunities, but seems that this is not the case. More and more it is important to have the connections to get a job instead of experience. Had a really interesting comment on that when i was discussing the interview process with one of my colleagues for a role in our team: the areas asked to probe seemed more experience and knowledge related instead of competency

Maybe that is the reason why some business fail, they put people without experience but with the right attitude. For me it is too easy to do this and opens up for too many mistakes. But maybe it is just me ...

Happy Travels

Toon

what a week

2008-06-29T21:45:00.001+02:00

well, there is some stress relief after last week. Riens and Lauran passed the exams with excellent results.

It was so nice to set next to Lauran when were have the meeting with her prinicipal and hear him saying that she is a very lovely person always willing to help and not afraid to speak up when things go wrong ...

and of course seeing riens performing in hte schoolshow for the lastyears of primary school ... he rocks

and than this week-end: some excellent MotoGP, but above all seeing Brenda and Sandy : feels so good to see people and just talk abot life over a glass or two (or more) in the sunshine ... can't wait to go to NZ with the kids now ..

and now : back to reality: a flight to Moscow and now here in a gray rainy environment .. but we still shine of all the experiences of last week ..

happy travels

Toon

Love your own city

2008-06-23T21:18:00.001+02:00

it was a wonderful sunday in Mechelen and the kids and I had a wonderful time.

Saturday the usual market day with a nice terrace in the sun with friends, eating our pancacke, drinking our coffee. Finishing up the grocery shopping at the market and eating a summerish lunch at home.

Sunday after the kids went to scouts and so on i took the bike - oh yes baby, i'm allowed to go around on the bike, even with my brace - and strolled in the city ...

maybe nostalgic, but admit it just looks wonderful. One of the things i really enjoyed of being home so long: enjoying the city in all its beauty.

Happy travels

Toon

I'll blame it on ...

2008-06-11T23:59:00.001+02:00

the sun would be too easy and totally not fair now she is always there and makes the day a whole lot nicer . So on what can i blame it that i have not writen on my blog for a while ...

nothing happend ? come on . we had the gathering of the old gang at Dell computer, which started slowly with a BBQ, but ended as usual with a late night . OK admitting, having a party on crutches is not ideal.

It brought back some really nice memories of working with a smaal team and really "work hard - play hard" .

Of course all the stories were hitting the tables, from the days when we were taking out the fire hoose to the Friday evening contest of bag running; roller blading; rope pulling and beer drinking ... or the stories around the adoption of lyrics of a song to the work situation ..

all of this was nicely balanced off against a genuine interest in what people are up to today, what their little worries are and great smiles .. what their happiness is and sorrow in some cases ...

and above all what struck me : they haven't changed that much. Apart from the rough edges being taken away

so what is the next thing we can blame it on: work ? maybe it is has been very busy with the next fiscal year at Microsoft and a lot of changes for our teams, but you know me, i kind of like the thrills and excitements of changes. We even went to Krakow for an offsite meeting.

Maybe i could blame on the time ? yes of course that is a very reasonable thing to do since time is passing by so fast i had to realize that my daughter has bought her first pair of heels. My god i had to admit: it was hard realizing she and he are getting into a new phase in their lives

so last try: let's blame it on the leg. In a way maybe, because i'm really getting sick of it. Getting around on crutches is not the ideal way to move around and the travelling i had to do is just not easy.

but all in all, i think i just was running to fast and not taking in enough what has happened the last six months with me personally .... So summer is here and feel i will take some time for myself ....

happy travels

Toon

it runs in the family ...

2008-05-18T22:32:00.002+02:00

good and bad news for this week. after my excursion to paris i went to the doctors and got the good news that everything is fine and that i will be without crutches in about 4 to 5 weeks. i can start putting pressure on the leg . in the first week he said no more than 10 kilo's and than increase till you can support your full body weight. my god i hope that he does not have in mind 10 kilo's more a week, this would mean a freakin x weeks ... :-) ... so far the good news

the bad news: it runs in the family. Riens my son was at the boy scouts this sunday, building a huge raft for the complete group, about 20 of them. you can imagine that a raft of that size needs to be rather big ... well he managed to get his leg under it when they were putting it to water : result: 3 rather big and deep cuts in his lower leg. because it happened at the bank of a river that was full of stones and rocks, combined with the deepnes of the cuts he had to go under narcosis so they could mend everything perfectly ... i felt so much pain when i saw him and before he left for the operation room ...

but he's back now and doing fine, a bit dizzy of the operation (i will now know how he looks when he is drunk the first time), but for the rest all ok ... so now the men of the family are cripple ... we will hold each other up rigth since for me it is my right leg, for him it is his left ...

what a family , anyhow: happy travels

Toon

A typical day in a train

2008-05-14T09:24:00.001+02:00

What a morning. I finally got myself convinced that going for a one day meeting in Paris was not such a bad idea, till this morning. First of all it is getting out of your bed so much eelier than usual, lately I do have tendency to get out of bed by 7.45 instead of this morning 6.15.

Also it became very apparent that getting ready "quickly" is something that I need to redefine in my mind, together with an even better sense of co-ordination and planning. Meaning not forgetting the belt upstairs or having to go back up and down the stairs for the damn phone that is still there.

Nevertheless we managed to get ourselves with the help of a friend to the train station, where the first part of my journey started: Mechelen - Brussels South. The wonderful delights of peak hour train visit. First obstacle: damn the automatic escalators are not functioning and no elevator ... completely out of breath I finally arrive on the platform just in time to see the train roll in with the door just in front of me, but too far away. A horde of wolves jumped in front of me almost making me lose my balance.

Ok, I can understand, see that you are the one missing the last seat, in my mind nothing to worry because my train of thought was more like: I’m handicapped for the moment; one person will help me and offer his seat without a problem. But I guess the fact the train was arriving at the platform furthest away from the entrance, the broken escalator, all bad omens I guess.

Getting on the train was already a problem with a bunch of freaking zombies just watching me instead of handing a hand. When I finally managed to get on board the little hall had 4 seats:

seat 1: long haired alternativo; seat 2: Moroccan young lady with loud music; seat 3: public servant I guess, neatly dressed with moustache and his briefcase; seat 4:youngster with Adidas blue - yellow trainers listening to hip hop

situation: me on crutches not resting my foot trying to stay upright whilst the trains starts to move, next to me 3 other people standing (one of them smelled really really nice ) and 4 sitting down. overall feeling: an uncomfortable silence with nobody even daring to watch me or to look in my direction.

I felt the urge coming in me to start shouting on the ones sitting down. The alternativo I imagine was still yesterday signing a petition against racism and discrimination and believes that Tibet should be liberated; but handing of his seat: no way. The Moroccan girl always feeling so bad about being discrimated but being in a position to hand over a seat as a gesture: no way. The youngster in adidas yellow bleu trainers complaining that the world today is an evil place and that he is always misunderstood did not understand in his small brain that standing on crutches on one leg in a moving train is not really easy. And the public servant who kissed his wife goodbye at breakfast this morning wondering why people are so rude to him at the office cannot even find the decency to do something nice himself.

And I’m even not talking about the other 3 who could have said something or at least helped a bit. Conclusion: you are on your own buster, sweat it out because it is not my problem you are a bit less mobile.

Well I could go on and on about my frustration this morning, especially when also the automatic escalators where not functioning in Brussels and I arrived at the complete opposite part of the station as of where I needed to catch the train to Paris in which I’m writing this now. But I need to stop and regain my smile and look at it as an experience I will never forget :-)

Happy travels

Toon

summer is here

2008-05-12T17:48:00.001+02:00

well indeed, although i'm not that mobile i can still enjoy the sun in the week-end. And this week-end was just wonderful, we even made a campfire.

it brought out my skills as a boy scout and helped the kids to get the fire going. But we started the afternoon a bit colder . The kids were challenged to a dare to stay in cold rain water from the well for at least 1 minute.

you can see on Lauran her face that she was a bit surprised on how cold the rainwater from my mum's well.

guess we are going back next week-end to do a little campaing i guess.

happy travels

Father and son ...

2008-05-05T09:08:00.001+02:00

know that feeling: the first sun is out and it is very nice and warm. You can go out with a t-shirt and not feel a cold breeze or having to take with you a sweater just in case of .... The mere fact of leaving the sweater behind is like a huge burden falling of people's shoulders, shaling of the winter and the gloom and opening up for a more relaxed way of life ...

we crawled up our chairs on the terracce of our favorit place De Cirque and started reading in our books. Riens finally took up reading a bit so and i'm on roll, now with " Motorcycle Diaries" from Che Guevarra, another freedom fighter :-) ...

afterwards a lovely Italian dinner with friends in their garden, la dolce vita does really exist, it is just a matter of expanding it out of the week-ends into the weeks, but that is somethign else.

The leg is coming along rather ok, although i must admit i'm not that confident for the moment on a full recuperation. Although the doctor said it would take time to heal one always thinks he can beat the clock. Let's wait and see on Friday the 16th when a new verdict will be given to me on the doctors visit :-)

for now as usual: happy travels

Toon

Taking up the reading

2008-04-27T21:52:00.001+02:00

Well there is no reall change to the immobility factor in my life apart from the fact i so much enjoy the spring in Mechelen and the feeling of doing fun stuff with the kids and friends, seated in a wheel chair ...

in light of my immobility i decided that instead of always writing e-mails or planning presentations it was about time to start reading again. Helpend and in a way pushed by my old neighboors i started reading the novel based on the life of Oswaldo Barreto Miliani.

i was so completely abosorbed by it that i forgot all notion of time and started reading friday night and finished the 476 pages long novel just now.

one always says the book picks the reader, and although that this book came to me recommended; my god did it pick the right reader.

Half a life story and half history lesson of the radical left-wing movements of the second half of the 20th century. From Ben Bella to Fidel Castro, from Che Guevara to Salvador Allende, many of the leading revolutionaries of our time put in an appearance.

The book is all about the search for belief in a cause, the recognition of the efforts done to put them in reality and desire to find a love to share it with. This put against the struggle to achieve the goals since one changes as a person and the wrong doings one causes by letting his ideals and ideas take a too signigicant place in ones life ...

some quotes that maybe can also make you wanne read the book:

"What I cannot tell, is whether the people I left behind, the women I left, the love I spoiled and the pain I caused them was justified. More and more, I fear it was not."

"I didn't achieve much good -- I spent a long time getting nowhere."

http://www.amazon.com/Swallowing-Stones-Lisa-Aubin-Teran/dp/0060781041

For now: Happy Travels

Rear window

2008-04-22T12:25:00.001+02:00

i feel a bit like James Stewart int he Hitchcock movie "Rear Window", or at least that is what a friend compared me with. And indeed it is amazing what one can observe from his window looking out on one of the center streets of Mechelen.

From strawling people to a guy in a suit who is running like mad and finally trips and falls on his face. From the shop keepster in front of the house who smokes too much to the couple on the 4th floor who seem to be arguiing constantly ... it is something very nice to observe people and absorb the vibe of a city and life in that way.

For the rest life is going its own way here. I have the impression i work even harder than before despite being immobile and the requests from the office do not seem to stop leaving me hardly time to do all the things i had in mind during this "calmer period" ...

i might not be running in reality, my minds is doing all the fast legwork and of course also my fingers on the keyboard. But aside of that i have been able to put a bit of order in my pictures (not a good idea because it makes you rather melancholic) , have created some playlists for my son his drum practice and we were out shopping on Saturday. Father in the wheelchair being pushed by Riens and Lauran.

The shopping was clothing for Lauran and i must say we did go for some very nice things. Green will be the color of the summer and she got two green t-shirts , a white one and a lovely white skirt. Was fun for me too to see how they start having their own idea and preference, but still open to suggestions ... next week-end Riens will be the lucky one to get some clothes.

But my god are they growing up .... I never had the habbit of talking to them in a childish way, but now with them growing up it amazes me how mature they are capable of talking to me and of sharing what they feel and think. Sometimes very comfronting and rather difficult to answer .... especially if it refers to recent wounds in the heart and mind .....

for now i know they will join me in my travels and hope they will be there always

Happy travels

The reality check

2008-04-17T14:19:00.001+02:00

well have been to the hopsital today. I got in with 3 questions in my mind and about 15 stiches in my leg. (the proof below in this post : not for the weak at heart :-) )

Question 1: when i will be able to rest on my right leg.

Stupid me was going in with the idea that i will be able to rest on my leg in the coming one or two weeks. Well reality check: not before the next check-up on May 16th and he was very firm about it.

Question 2: when will i be able to start flying and travelling:

well, my US trip of April 26th is down the drain although i did not have high hopes for that one; but D-day is now set to 22nd of May.

Question 3: when can i start full fysio for the lower leg given the condition and the difference between left and right

well also here a bummer, not before i can have my foot in a 90% angle. but i can remove my brace from time to time to at least air the leg a bit :-) and start little excercise the foot and upper leg.

but for now it is back to the sofa with the laptop on my lap and working through all the mails and conference calls. On top of it i need to sort out the medical insurrance. Advice for everybody: check your insurrances and make sure you get the right coverage :-)

Happy mind travels

Toon

if you want to see the stiches clikc here

Are you being served

2008-04-13T10:40:00.001+02:00

being immobile has its advantages. Lauran is this week-end here (Riens is as said on week-end with the Scouts). So yesterday i have been stuffed with a wownderful chocolate cake ...

and this sunday morning , i have been served pancackes, better than anywhere i have eaten (yes, even better than the International house of Pancackes in the US).

wonder what she will cook up for me for lunch :-) ...

Happy travels

Some observations after 2 weeks of immobility

2008-04-12T10:14:00.001+02:00

well, it is now two weeks since my little accident that got me here. in my sofa and like one should do ever so on: a status report:

Health: is going well. Last Tuesday i went on a medical check in the the hopsital and the doctor is happy when he saw my "raostbeef". I call my surgery the "roastbeef" because with the stiches i looks like a roastbeef before it goes into the oven :-) .

They have changed the cask for a fixed brace, which make my life not easier. I admit: i feel less safe in the brace than the cask. The weight is a problem and just the feeling of tripping is higher. Also sleeping is less easy ....

my physical condition is ok, but amazing to see i have lost alround muscle in my right leg. evn with the suggested daily excercise it is melting like snow for the sun, so rehad : here i come and i will be there for a while :-)

Family: i haven't lived with my mum since i was 12, which is now 28 years ago, but now she is back . She helped tremendeous on everything and so has the rest of my family. if i look around myself and hear sometimes friends talk about their family i can only say: I'm one lucky bastard. We just love each other and they just spoil me.

Friends: if the saying " in the hour of need one knows his friends" is a sign i'm blessed. Thanks to all of you who have offered me help i one shape or form, sent me messages to keep up the spirit, making me laugh and taking care of all.

Horror: strange caption, but it needs to be said. i have an injury, but last friday i went out in my wheel chair to go out and have some fresh air, and suddenly i felt like a wincher or complainer. why ? because all the stories i had to hear from my people i came acros: oh my god that is bad, but you know my uncles brother in law his kid's best friend once had torn of his achilles tendon and by the force of the snap cut open his leg. whilst he was lying there a dog passed by and started chewing on it , he chased the dog away and started stiching himself like a real rambo. (this story is not true of course, but is just a flavour of the stories people seem to have the urge to tell to me; as if they want to comfort me by telling stories that are worse than mine.

Time: more time: FORGET IT. first of all everything you do takes a lot more time. Think about normal things i live as taking a shower; have your breakfast. (try to get a bottle of milk out of the fridge on one leg with crutches) .... and suddenly 1/3 of your day is gone. you try to do your excercises to adhere to the fysio's instruction .. and then the office: a lot of people consider this not an illness. Yep but Toon you are sitting in the sofa: you will be bored to death if we do not keep you busy. Conclusion: feels sometimes i read and answer more e-mails than when i was actually working and not on sick leave.

well but it is week-end now, my mum went home for the week-end, but Lauran is coming so we are going to have some nice relaxing time together. Riens just leaft a scouts week-end and father and daughter will do some cooking and baking i guess ...

happy travels

accessibility

My office : try it yourself

2008-04-09T22:00:00.001+02:00

Maybe not the best quality picture, but this is how my office looks like for the moment. A table to rest my pc on when i need to change position, my leg higher up and so getting through the day.

Somtimes i just need to take a rest becaus emy back startst to hurt and the position is not that comfrotable .. I sometimes wonder what the definition is of sick leave, but that is also a bit my own fault i guess ...

Happy travels

Toon

Some generations of motorcycle fanatics

2008-04-06T20:49:00.001+02:00

If there is one man in my motorcycle history I admire and love to spend time with it has to be Jeremy Ferguson. I met Jeremy when I started working at Dunlop and have had since a very good contact with him. Jeremy is Manager International Motorsport for Dunlop and the largest portion of his time travelling with the MotoGP circus around the world.

I love to listen to him about how the world has changed (not that he believes that everything was better before, it was just different; he is a very positive person with a tremendous energy. We enjoy the same simple things in life (although he is now convinced that I do too dangerous things after my ski accident): good food, nice wine and watching good racing.

This week-end he paid me a visit after my surgery along with Isabel and Florian (Florian is an ex colleague from Goodyear Dunlop) and although we covered everything in our discussion: from American politics, to travelling, living abroad, food to of course Motorcycle racing. Even Ines who visited as well - although not a motorcycle freak- was amused by way we could about these things so passionate.

Now i need to start working on trying to convince him to join one of my projects that is still under development. A little secret for now, but one of those pet projects that keeps me smiling and thrilled having a passion that could be combined with my knowledge in digital.

Stay tuned, but for now: happy travels

Toon

an uncomfrotable truth

2008-04-02T19:50:00.001+02:00

well that is the least i can say. The hospital was not that fun, That's me still with high hopes on a speedy recovery. seemed they had to work a bit longer on my lang than planned. Normally they can easilly attach the tendon again without a problem. For teh people with a lack of imagination or a very high degree of curiosity hereby a link on what they actually did:

information about achilles

There was a large gap between the ends of the tendon because it snapped rather high close to the muscle. . The gap needed to be bridged in some manner so they removed some tissue from my foot as well to bridge the gap.

The hardest part is to keep a position that does not hurt too much and does not make the leg go completely numb. I tried to work last night, but this morning i had to give up since the postion in which i have to lay down combined with the position in can hold teh computer are not optimal.

Suddenly you realize how difficult life can be when you are immobile. Everything takes a lot more time, from basic things like taking something to drink, to going to the toilet: count the quadrupple of the normal time.

Anyhow the decision was foreced on me today not to work till beginning of next week, something which was not appreciated by all colleagues. Althiough i must say that the majority has been very supportive and understand that although not sick, going under total narcosis and having surgery has an effect on the concentration levels of people.

Also my mum is here to help me out a bit. It is funny on how we sometimes can work on each others nerves in such situations, but bless her for the willingness to help me out.

For the rest i'm missing out on the fun at work (i cannot be involved in sme very very interesting projects in my area and there is of course my former bosses leaving party that i will have to miss)

but at the end of the day: i will be travelling soon

happy travels

Everybody has an achilles

2008-03-28T17:18:00.001+01:00

and mine is torn today after a stupid slide on the slopes. It was a very stupid and totally not spectacular, just slightly missed a stop on a steep slope, slide and fell backwards down .. and snatch ... achilles gone in my right leg and torn muscles in my left leg ..

that is me there on the stretcher, being brought down to the hospital. I must say nice and very skillful people those guys from the rescue team. Of to the hospital and there the nurse put me on the torture bench to undo my boots.

At first she just thought that the muscle was torn, but with further examination she broke the bad news to me: 3 MONTHS OUT OF ACTION .... my face went pale and i saw all my travel for work being cancelled and me stuck to the sofa for at least 1 month.

So here am i, stuck on the sofa, waiting to go back tomorrow. Still doubting to fly home or to drive with the kids; not that i will be driving; that is impossible. I still have the option to fly home, but that would be without the kids and not sure i really want this ... I guess with a correct setting in the car i will manage ...

On Monday i will know more on what are the next steps ... keep you posted

Happy travels to you all .. i will stay put a bit for now

Toon

is white really a color ?

2008-03-26T22:38:00.001+01:00

well who the heck cares when you are sitting in the surroundings of skislopes.

The kids are having a wonderful time. Riens is a star when i comes down to snowboarding (ok the rule for me is: everybody born before 1970 is not allowed on a snowboard, so needless to ask : i did not make a complete fool out of myself by trying)

By the way it was Lauran's birthday today, she turned 13 today. Please do not make any reference to the movie 13, i had nightmares about it :-) ). That is her going down the slopes.

Usual stuff for the birthday: the nice breakfast, cakes, her favorite evenign dinner and the thing she loves the most: Stories from the old days. So with my older sister (with husband and kid) and younger one we had a lot of stories to tell to her about the gold old days.

Even admitting to smoking the first cigarettes with my brother and even remembering the brand: Boule Nationale. Reminds you of the how quickly things can come and go.

trying to enjoy still the last two full days of skiing, but can not reflect on what my daughter was saying this evening when at 21h00 i opened up the computer to check the urgent mails: Dad, is there really no way you can do without ..... and in a way she is right, but only this week 5 phone calls of people apologizing to disturb me on my holiday, but they neede just one info from me. It's strange that the definition of holiday is change to : the days that you are 12 hours in front of a screen, but only 2 if your're lucky. And the worst of all: people expect you to be ....

well happy travels to area's without Wifi and Cell reception

Toon

sometimes

2008-03-18T10:11:00.001+01:00

happy travels

Amsterdammed

2008-03-13T02:02:00.001+01:00

well i'm here in amsterdam for a team meeting. About two months ago i would have looked forward to coming over, now i feel a bit strange to be in a city where once part of my life was taking place.

I wonder sometimes if the surroundings can be witness of what happend, asking myself why they are so quiet ...

was in the bar where i earned my name as Mr Oban . Thanks to Mats and Cecilia i once got tricked into a whiskey tasting and bullish me stated i love Oban so much. During the drinking session they swapped my Single Malt Oban for a blended whisky Famous Grouse .. i failed the test miserably . I still have the nametage Mats prepared for me on my next visit to Sweden. Also i feel the salt taste of the turkish yoghurt i drank with the liters the next day to wash away my hangover .

also the numerous meeting at Mediacatalyst come to mind and fill me with a nice warm feeling and a smile on my face. My god did we do some brilliant and amazing works in those days.

Not to forget the last memories of Amsterdam when a possible future moved closer by, but then suddenly returned to move away from all dreams and hopes.

So yes, the surrounding are quiet now that all of the above is no longer there. Did i come to terms with it ? With some of it yes, with others things no way ... I feel i still carry the longing for those things in my mind and now in the deep of the night i dare to admit that, tomorrow i will have to rise and shine and try to get the same feeling of once before ...

happy travels

Toon

too much travelling ....

2008-03-12T00:37:00.001+01:00

towards destinations i did not had in mind. Just back from one week in Seattle on Sunday. Arrived there last week on Sunday and had a very busy week with the kick-off and planning meetings. And of course a perfect enjoyment of the view from my room.

don't know what it was but for the first time in a very long time i was really feeling jetlagged. I woke up the first two days at 4 o'clock in the morning, so not such a good thing if you know that after every meeting there was a dinner or drinks.

Arrived back home on Sunday after some shopping : Converse shoes for Lauran and T-shirts of Metallica and Nirvana for Riens. For me there where just some books on China and Mongolia. I loved Pikes market, a public market just at the waterfront of Seattle. I even enjoyed a nice Phili steak sandwich at the diner there.

This week started off also with travelling a lot. Yesterday monday and today i was in Paris sitting down together with the Channel team to give a feedbakc on the meetings of last week. Juggeling time to make sure we have everything covered and of course not enough time ... rushing back home and now ready to tuck in for a train journey to Amsterdam tomorrow and Thrusday; friday back and forth to London.

But as a friend of mine said: i love it ... but i guess this time it is getting to me. Maybe also the rebound of all that happened in the last weeks, feels so stressfull and exhausting.

But: friday 21st we leave for our ski holiday. Only 4 trips are seperating me from the relaxation of one week of absolute snow and fun with the kids.

Happy travels

Getting used to it ...

2008-03-03T14:34:00.001+01:00

i'm getting used to a different life again. It is strange but the silence struck me last week-end. After having spend a nice lunch with Rob, Marjon and their kids i went home to have a bit of time for myself and it struck me that it was so silent in the house. No music, no Online games, no phone ringing, no movie playing, nobody walking around ... just silence as companion.

It feels strange to sit in silence with only your own little voices in your head. It may sound very depressing, but it is not . It felt good to be in complete silence, away from everything; only yourself.

Silence makes reality very clear. Without the kids this week-end and now also without travel campanion , silence brought up the questions in me. What have i done, what shall i do , why did i do this, why did i not do things , the complete story of the why .... Why will remain unsolved for now due to the absence of conversation, but will find its solution in what i make of what is left and where roads will cross again one day ...

Speaking about roads and travelling, me, myself and I decided that we are going to start planning again. Not only will we be preparing for the ski trip in 3 weeks time. it is also time ot look at the summer holiday. Lauran give her suggestion: renting a place with a pool in the south of France and invite friends to have a nice smooth relaxed and chilled two weeks.

So we will be looking for partners in crime to go with the three of us to enjoy the life in Provence or Dordonge . Good food , good wine, evening talks, relaxed brunches ... we will keep you posted on what is going on there.

But also the big travel is itching more and more: Asia here i come ... first book is bought on China. You see, life is all about travelling and the anticipation to do so.

Happy travels

Toon

the proces

2008-02-24T20:12:00.002+01:00

As you can see it is basically an old farmhouse she lived in, with loads and loads of free space around it. Riens even was playing with Renaat (his nephew ) in the same trees my brtoher and I used to climb.

Their laughs brought back the memories of the place i grew up till is was about 12 years old. I

On the left you can see the view of the room my brother and i were sharing at the attick. and the land where we had goats and sheep to keep us busy during the whole year ....

Happy travels

Toon

an unreal world

2008-02-20T21:57:00.001+01:00

it is strange to be in Dubai, feels so unreal. A ski slope in the middle if the dessert. Of all things can you imagine that people are coming to Dubai and take the opportunity to go skiing .... and than having a large crowd looking from the pathway of one of the biggest malls i have ever seen ... So unreal: a bit like my own life for the moment.

travels

Toon

Anything we do ....

2008-02-17T15:33:00.001+01:00

that robs of what we would strive for in life is called irrational behaviour or one could also call it stupidity. Do people who act stupid get what they deserve if their goals in life are no longer achievable. First reaction is : of course.

Of course they have not set their every step in life towards the goal they have in life. Single minded focus will get them there, all other things will distract and by consequence be the basis of their failing. Regardless of the intentions and the actual behaviour in relation to the goal.

If that is the case i indeed fail miserably on all the goals i have set to myself in life. I have to balance of the interest of my family, my kids, my work and my own person ... I will never be able to meet the expectations ...

I know i talk in riddles, but it is the only way i want to talk about it for now because i'm too confused by what has happend and my own actions .... I guess the road i will be travelling now will be along rather deserted landscapces looking for a reason why ...

i wish you happy travels, i will stick to travels alone

Toon

getting the hopes up ...

2008-02-07T00:49:00.001+01:00

There are those days that one is just feeling content. For me this is one of these days and i hope weeks . Why, well a combination of things.

First of all it has been such a pleasure these last couple of days to meet up with some friends from de digital days. Discussing about what will be the next revolution just makes me smile.

it is not the what is said that makes me smile, it is how we as friends talk about it. all discussions seem to feel like a bunch of youngsters making plans for a wondeful adventureous trip. It fills me up with joy, the dreams i can share with the likes of Brenda, Olly or Philip ... and some other people i met during this week, quite refreshing for me ...

so that is not all that gets my hopes up. Also immenent change is adding to the joy. This week-end my brother, sister and I accompanied my mother for signing her appartment. She is selling the house and will move closer to the small city she lives in. At 66 she deserves a bit of peace instead of the constant hassle of maintaining a too big house with a too big garden and too far away from us all ....

Thirdly, we are going on a ski-holiday end of March. Not that this is next week, but in a way it feels like that : Next week Barcelona, the week after i spend in the Middle East, one week home, One week in the States, one week home and than i guess we're ready to go :-)...

but it every up there are of course also some downs ... and although i have 3 ups , the one down is putting it all back in balance. On the downer more news to follow soon .... can not tell yet ....

but nevertheless, also that cloud has a silver line .... all has to do with travelling ....

Happy travels my friends

Toon

what about the renaissance

2008-01-30T21:59:00.001+01:00

is it not time to start thinking and reflect about the following quote i found on www.eministrynotes.com: "

“Maybe everything we thought was so great wasn’t as great as we thought,” says Tina Wells, the 20-something CEO of Buzz Marketing, a New York-based firm with young advisers all over the world. She is among those who wonder if, sometimes, simple face-to-face communication might work better."

happy travels and come to see me once for an old fashioned face to face talk :-)

evolution

2008-01-21T22:30:00.000+01:00

Daughter: ... dad, my fingers are tired of sending SMS. It would be so nice to have the possibility to record an SMS with your voice ....

Dad: well my darling, i guess it already existing: it is called calling and leaving a voice mail ...

happy travels

Toon

the artificial line between what was , is and still has to come

2007-12-31T17:15:00.000+01:00

is it not more than just an artifical line , the turning of a year. a gentle reminder that time is progressing. But i have my own solution: make plans, be spontaneous, go with your instincts

so i know already today that 2008 will be just great

happy travels my friends

Toon

What's in a name

2007-12-17T20:00:00.001+01:00

I had my name spelled in already so many different ways, but this one beats it all. On Monday morning when i fly out to Reading i always arrange a pick-up service since getting to the office otherwise is almost impossible.

In general there is a nice gentlemen waiting in the arrivals hall with a piece of paper with your name on, and it was no different this morning. Or maybe it was. I looked around and could not find the guy, as a last resort i called the taxi company and they friendly requested to stay on the line.

At the same moment i was standing in between the guys with all the little papers, waiting for the guy at the other end to talk to the driver. A phone rings just next to me and suddenly the guy talking next to me echoes through the phone ..... My driver was standing just next to me but with this name tag:

One can only say: Happy travels letters of this world

Toon

Look me in the eyes ...

2007-12-07T01:42:00.001+01:00

Sitting in Redmond in the US to have meetings with all my Conference call voices and the numb bouncing e-mail signatures ... but you know what; there is a face from which the voice is coming and there are hand that type the messages: they are humans.

It has been such a pleasure to see all the people with whom i work with face to face. Not only to put a name to the voice or e-mail, but also to have a sense for the type of persons they are.

It is sometimes strange that by analysing the non verbal communication you get to find out more about the way you best can work with people and how i can improve on the interactions with them.

Ok i admit, i'm rather outspoken from time to time which might set-off people when you only talk to them over the phone or only read the mails, but now i know they also have a better view of what kind of person i am.

so for me it are happy travels, not because of the journey over or being in the US for two weeks, but for the fact i'm on a journey with and towards my colleagues.

so happy travels my friends

Toon

Information overload ..

2007-12-03T04:28:00.001+01:00

found this video through a colleague from Microsoft - Jeroen verkroost. I reviewed it several times to let it sink in ...

but at the same time i put this into perspective. What do we do with all this information ? Have a look at an example gladly provided by Stephane Croix, and old colleague at Sony Ericsson

The question is no longer on how we structure the information, but how we make sure people at least take the effort to take the information available into their brains ...

Happy travels

Toon

Crowded house ...

2007-11-25T22:05:00.001+01:00

We decided to invite our friends before the end of year madness starts. Our house was nice and full with 10 adults and 9 kids , a nice gang. Everybody was asked to bring something along, we made sure we had the wine, the drinks and pancke brunch for the kids ...

It was a nice relaxed atmospher, guess the old days of parties and overloading with wine are over, guess we are all a bit wiser and calmer now. But coming to think of it, we realized we did not do this enough ... After the last left we started looking into our mental diary and made a little list of all the people we really call our friends on the left and all the dinners we had the last year , and know what ? We hardly came to 5 , 6 overlaps ...

Seems our lives are filled with social activities with people you know, but not prese call your friends . A lot of my dinners where with work colleagues, and bless them, i enjoyed all of them with great pleasure, but where is the timeslot for my friends ... Yes we come across them on market day in Mechelen or one evening at the theatre, but sitting down and also enjoying a moment of silence ...

So here i go with a resolution for 2008 - yes i agree a bit early , but it needs some sinking in, and i want as many of you doing the same - we will invite at least once a months our friends over for dinner.

For the rest the week-end was packed with running to music schools, band rehearsels and school party ... too nice to be true . But in between i could not resist the desire to get on the bike and just feel the winter cold flowing over my hands, arms, chest ... Maybe a prelude of what is slowly taking shape in mind mind and dream: a trip through cold places ...

For now: happy travels

Toon

The teaser video ...

2007-11-22T14:59:00.001+01:00

i just love the music ... i wished the band became popular ... that would be a laugh

feel free to play the game and give me your thougths

The changing face of adventure travelling ... why McGregor and Boorman ruined it ...

2007-11-22T14:55:00.001+01:00

As you know i just started planning to go from Brussels over Beijing to Bangkok, still considering to take the journey home ont he bike or just load the bike on a ship / aircraft to fly over to Brussels. Maybe the safest option since the foreign policies of Mr Bush towards his so-called "axis of evil" has made a possible return over Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran to Potentially Syria and back to Belgium almost impossible.

But back to the start of tha planning. I have been reading a lot about adventure travelling and the do's and dont's on these trips, watched a number of video's and browsed the web for tips and tricks. One thing is for sure: I'm not the only one dreaming of it and will not be the only one who finally gets to realize his dream.

But there is a little thing that nags in me : am i not too late with my trip. Has the world not become a village and does the adventure of going around with a bike not been tried and tested for too many times. Have Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman not killed the possibility for support of a solo trip and broken the romance around adventure travelling.

You might ask yourself, what was wrong with Ewan McGregors and Charlie Boormans Long way round and Long way down. Well yes they did it to raise awareness for Unicef project, but how do you feel if you know they had a crew of more than 20 working on the full project (www.longwaydown.com), get the nicest material for free, are being babysitted by a producer and a director and i could go on and on and on ....

I admire what they try to do, but can not rub off the negative connotations and impact it has on other people trying to do the trip. I from my side will need to cough up all the costs, when stuck i will be stuck with a nice Nissan pulling up to help me ....

I guess i will have to come up with a better idea on how to run the expedition, maybe connect it to a social networking idea .... don't know yet, but ideas are welcome.

And for Mr McGregor and Mr Boorman thanks for selling the soul of adventure travelling to the highest bidder in your celebrity world.

For all the others: Happy travels

Virusses and virals

2007-11-20T00:04:00.001+01:00

My god a cold really has got me this time ... never thought i would be so under weather from a damn cold. But well , i maybe exaggerated a bit with the sunday afternoon walk in the beautifull Mechelen Nature reserve.

But on the one hand the virus is keeping me not away from the lastest stuff i have been working on.: Free your buddy. A fun way to explain to people that now your Messenger buddy does not longer need to be enclosed inside your computer but can use his mobile to chat with you any place he or she wants .... Check it out on www.freeyourbuddy.com

In a way i'm very happy with the results because it is moving the bar a little further on where an ingredient software can stand out of the crowd and makes the experience come first, before even ever thinking about the hardware.

But the litle vanity in me is even more happy with the teaser video that was produced by the agency . Put on the speakers and listen to this wonderful tune ... if only this could become a little hit in the UK i would be dancing the samba on the polar ice :-) .. so go out there and make it a hit ....

but for this you will have to play the game :-) ... if you need clues, just send me a mail ...

Happy travels in these short days ....

the wrong book to read ...

2007-11-03T23:36:00.000+01:00

does it really exist, reading the wrong book, or is it just me trying to convince myself that I should not be reading the book I’m reading right now.

what is it that i'm talking about. well, some time ago I read Jupiter’s Travel, a transcript of Ted Simons travel around the world in I guess it was 1973. He packed his bags and set off on his Triumph to go from London down to Africa, cross the ocean to Latin America, up to North America, crossing to Australia and than heading back over India to Europe again. Not that Ted was so experienced as a bike rider, but he described in full color the dream I was chasing before I went to Morocco ....to experience from close by other cultures combined with a true sense of freedom, to break away from my comfortable habitat and to feel, smell and see cultures that seemed in a way so close by but at the same time far away ....

He gave a new sense to motorcycle traveling, not the sense of achievement, but the sense of experience to ride on your own and to be open to others ... Although I was also very much charmed by the adventure of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman on the Lond Way Round, they could never reach the level of adventure of Ted since they were supported in a whole different way ... They had 2 support vehicules, technical support, financial backing, sat phones and all the bells and whistles one could imagine .... Ted did it on his own, scraping the funds together and solving his own problems without being able to rely on a home crew of 5 people doing the admin work and 4 guys following you in case something went wrong ...

Now our dear Ted, who left in 1973 when he was 42, did his trip again, but now in 2001 as a 69 year old veteran .... and again , although he tried , the material backing and support was minimal ... nevertheless he did it, fueling my hopes that is still could do my trip ... (read his story on www.jupitalia.com) ...

I'm gazing at the map of Asia that decorates my wall in the living room ... dreaming along the yellow lined that marks out a trail : Brussels - Beijing - Bangkok - Bombay and back .... wondering if I ever will put this into reality ... but who cares in a way ... the mind travel along the marked line already fills me with the feeling of achievement, just daring to dream about the adventure ...

so in a way no, reading the wrong book is not possible ... its just that the books confronts your current reality with your aspirations ... it is merely the bridge between reality and the daydream that makes it scary ....

Happy travels

A room with a view . . . .

2007-10-17T09:09:00.001+02:00

This is the third day in warm sunny golden brown tuscany . One could not wish for a better view opening the window in the morning . . . . . . And my god we did not even mention the food . Maybe the taste buds are on holiday ar well but it such honest simple food with very nice wine . . . And now for the riding part : just perfect . . . We discussed yesterday about our constant search for perfection . . Well i do not have to search anymore . . . The rides are smooth and fluent . . . Like dancing tango with the road and the surroundings . . . So as always : happy travels my friends . . .

jazz, friends and a party

2007-09-24T20:18:00.000+02:00

Well this is how your house looks like when you participate in an event called Jazz@home (www.jazzathome.be). put alway all the furniture and open up your house for some strangers ... i always loved the concept of open houses and just letting people in .. even if it are complete strangers. The atmosphere was vice nice and relaxed and i must admit the music played was super. for the jazz lovers amongst us: www.ananke.be, a trio with the youngest the composer ... just brilliant. no wonder some of the great are playing with them from time to time ... i bet you that in the coming years you will be hearing from time

saturday was also good and coloured ... for the opening of the cultural year in Mechelen people were invited to a long table sreving spaghetti . your entry ticket: come as a group of 4 and bring a pot of sauce ... how beautiful it was just to sit there with friends and strangers .... i hate to use the words but: we should do this more often ....

the party afterwards was intense, never moved that much as that evening. so i decided no more gym for , i get my physical work out at the parties. i guess a rythm of 2 work outs a week is ok to start with :-)

on the home front Lauran is finally released of her cask .. my god almost 10 weeks of plaster is not a joke of a 12 year old. but now everything seems to working properly again ... both of them started music school so in a couple of years you will see an invite for a concert of RandeL .. just made up the name of their band (Riens and Lauran) .. Riens on drums and Lauran on Sax ....

Agnes and i decided to take a short break and go with the bike to Tuscany. We are waiting till all tourist left Sienna and will be going there the week of October 15th. We are putting the motorbike on the nighttrain from Dusseldorf to Verona and we have already mapped out a nice tour .... Verona to La Speinza / La Speinza - San Gimigiano / San G - Montalcino / Montalcino - Firenze / a day in Firenze / Firenze - Verona ..... the diet start onces we're back ... i can already taste the fresh pasta and the wonderful wines ... the strong coffee .. the scenery ... will keep you posted on the trip ...

by the way ... just thought of it . I've started dreaming about the next big big big trip .. i called it the tripple b trip ... from brussels to being to bangkok .... what do you reckon ... worth a try. it would be something to do usch a thing, i have set the timeframe of within this and 5 years , but only the planning is already making me very very happy ... Agnes thinks i'm crazy but i told her she needs to get her license so she can join ....

in light of that i must say that i was on one of my flights browsing through some articles i downloaded and i re-read. You can find it on : http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html ... i guess i will always stay foolish and hungry for the next big thing ... along the same lines i find it very refreshing to listen and watch to the video's on www.ted.com, a tip i gto from Agnes .... if you would ever doubt something or want to get inspired by something , browse around and take your pick.

well time to close and to wish you all happy travels .. oh by the way for the ones who know ben from Mediacatalyst .. check out his travels on benanddebsyearoff.blogspot.com .. they are living the dream ...

Toon

... mechelen is having a party ...

2007-08-26T21:34:00.000+02:00

just at my door :-) .... Yesterd today is Maanrock, a yearly free festival with mainly belgian artists> Most of them will not ring a bell, but i do encourage you to check out groups lik Magnus, Daan, Vibe la fete, Tom Helsen en Sioen. They are really really good and for once my son and i agreed on the subject .. although at 00:30 he thought the party had lastet long enough for him and he forced me to retreat to our home that is basically in the middle of the action :-) (festival food the whole week-end , i feel i need a detox next week)

it felt good to have the mind set to ,music this week-end without the ability to think about anything else ... although there is loads to think about . For instance: i entered my last year before i'm turining 40 :-). i passed my 39th birthday last wednesday very silently . In a way i always felt i would have a problem turning 40, butnow it is getting closer i really start minding less and less and less ....

other things on my mind are the burning desire and feeling to get my hands dirty and really take the chances of jumping in the restaurant busines from the deep end .. add to this the book of Che Guevara : The Motorcycle Diaries and some opportunities to get me back into the wacko exciting creative world ... what can i tell you: my brain is in overdrive ...

it is keeping my thoughts very lively on al fronts ... because why do we not follow our dreams ?

happy travels

it ain't over till it's over

2007-08-12T21:04:00.000+02:00

no no no .. i refuse to believe the holiday is over. but we do not have much choice :-). tomorrow is another day that makes that it is again time to get down to business.

but not yet, this moment is here to last a little longer, review the days that passed away and just sit here with a smile over a nice holiday.

it's all about being just your silly self and inventing new ways to make a fool out of your self

it's all about starting early with making nice cocktails and rediscovering old games and beating the old man to it

it's all about just taking a tour in your hometown and see the beauty of it ...

it's all about anything you want it to be for the time you want it to last ...

happy travels

Toon

... the beauty of taking the day

2007-08-05T21:59:00.000+02:00

the way it comes.

Ok, we would have loved to go away somewhere, but in a way this holiday is very nice at home. Lauran is still not really mobile (Jamie and Sandy: thanks for the advice and Serge: yes it works :-)) but we are able to do some work in the house.

Simple things like sorting the picture and laughing your but off with all the pictures when you were 16 and looked like a background singer of an obscure popband. The 80's made me look so Footloose :-). or just finishing off the Riens his room, doing the final painting and just taking the time as it comes ... also seeing three generation working on the finishing touches of the room was just wonderful ..

far away of the so called important decision and intelligent reports we have to write.... it felt so good to hear Riens and Lauran saying goodnight and talk about the very nice day they had ... I gives you the feeling to start dreaming without holding back. what about a family restaurant :-)

anyhow , happy travels

.... quick quick ... slow slow ...

2007-07-26T17:36:00.001+02:00

ok ... I'm in a rush here , i'm counting down towards the holiday. But this holiday will be a very slow one: Lauran broke her leg, more specifically her shinbon.

My god i never felt so bad the last for such a long long time. They say that if your own kid is in pain, you as a parent feel the pain in quadrupple ... well i felt bad , she had to stay more than a week in the sofa with an open plaster to let the swelling go away. On Monday she received her fixed plaster cast, but it is coming almost to the hip and her leg is bend. On top of it she is not allowed to walk on the plaster cast for the coming 5 weeks ....

If any of you have some good advice on what we can do to make her life easier and make her smile again : advice is welcome.

The plans for hiking in Scotland or biking in Normandy are off, it is sunny Mechelen we are aiming for.

Happy travels my friends

... The habit of flying ...

2007-07-06T19:28:00.000+02:00

you know i love flying and that i'm a bit addicted to having a busy schedule .. hoping on the first flight to a country, staying as long as i can and taking the last one back .. but i learnt my lesson this week.

Monday evening flight from London to Paris delayed with 2 hours, was only in the hotel around 1.30 at night. Next day last flight back from Paris to London: cancelled .. had to find a hotel and booked the train to London. In bed at 2 out at 5 to catch the train ...

Than friday .. i said to myself no way i will be fooled, i will be home at a reasonable hour , take the 18h25 flight London to Brussels ....

and what: cancelled.

Now sitting here in the airport trying to reach the people who need to be aware and thinking of again a wonderful to be developped: the alerter .... What is it:

my flights are in my calender
my calender is published on the web
I select the list of people who need to be informed of my whereabouts
if somethign happens like a delayed flight or what, the tool automatically sends a message to all involved

so who wants to develop this tool, i only ask 10% of all profits till 2020 :-)

Happy travels

Cannes .. the looser is ....

2007-06-26T20:36:00.000+02:00

the great pretender ....

I love the Dove commercial for one thing: it highlights that authenticity is on the rise. But how can a brand be authentic to its users. Dove achieved that people in general start to think more in a way close to reality. It is giving people a meaningful alternative for the projected and distorted image portraited by media and marketing.

Authenticity & meaning .... two key words for tomorrows reality in marketing. Brands will have to start to accept that being perfect is more a negative than a positive. Web 2.0 is in someway a sign of people looking to work around the unidirectional messaging from them to us to an environment where you could share your view with people who you feel are putting meaning to your life or where the simple act of sharing put meaning to your life ...

So far 2.0 has been hijacked to transform itself to a narrowcasting machine of google ad words. Did you know that Google is storing your and mine data on their databases till 2019 :-) .... we are still accepting it and marketeers are still drooling over it, but what is the actual value to the users and how long will we accept this ..

for now i do not worrie about it, but it makes me think on how to be indeed authentic and meaningfull in the next wave of marketing ....

Happy travels

Toon

PS my son had his final results today from school: he's an A

.. the new communication style ...

2007-06-15T10:52:00.000+02:00

I guess we can safely say that this time and age we have never been communication so much. There are abundant ways of getting touch with each other and the information coming our way is so massive that one could wonder what the impact is ...

Well taking the morning tube in London and spending time in a very big landscape office has made me draw one very big conclusion: we communicate but are forgetting to TALK ....

Take the test yourself ? unplug your ears of the ipod, get your nose out of the free morning newspaper, stop typing the SMS's or e-mails on your device and just sit on a a bus or an underground and try to start a conversation with somebody ...

get in to the office and sit down and have a look in the huge landscape to see all heads down, tapping away the office symphony ... not even taking the time to look up when somebody comes in ...

most frightening: a meeting or a conference call starts but not everybody is there yet. In the old days we would just talk a bit to get to know the background, discuss issues and share opinions . Today the GAP filler is the inevitable: put it on Mute or do some e-mail ...

Do not get me wrong, i love the new communication style, it allows me the advantage of like with this blog to saty intouch with all of you in a broader way. every Thrusday evening i'm out there myself reading the blogs of people i know and looking for new ones to enrich my views on the world ... Web 2.0 delivers on my hunger for information provided by people that i stangly enough trust ...

But at the end of the day i want to close the loop outside the virtual world. That is also one of the biggest challenges for us as digital marketers. Are we not too much focussed on the web part only.

Where do we close the loop and stay authentic with the people ... we know perfectly how to treat the people only, but how will we react when we are eye to eye with our customer - friend - family - acquintances ....

A challenge that i would like to take on that challenge to convince companies to make that step to go full circle. And that is full circle in more than just making sure they all use the same image, but that the experience is full circle ....

my friends therefor: MIND THE GAP but the positive and negative of this new communication style ....

let's create a viral ...

2007-06-06T23:13:00.000+02:00

I love that phrase in the current marketing lingo .... maybe i'm just to anal when it comes to digital, but it seems that a lot of people are forgeting the fact that in a Web 2.0 world the viral aspect is the embodiement of the powershift to the users.

It are the webusers aka the customers that will create the viral, not the marketing people themselves. we can only do our best to make something with a viral potential or capacity ...

just a thought , i know i'm being a digital purist now but had to set that straight

enjoying the little ones

2007-05-28T21:47:00.000+02:00

we enjoyed the long week-end very much ... it all started off with a night out with the best of the best ... what do you expect if you are having dinner with Dawn (MC project manager) and of course Olly (the best User Experience architect alive on this planet) .. all of this in the best surroundings of the Fifteen restaurant in Amsterdam ...

a smashing combination from my part, getting the best of cooking with the best of web ... of course the night was filled with many discussion on web and how to get from WEB 2.0 to WEB 3.0 ... ideas that certainly require some further investigation over some wine and by preference under a nice sunset ... to be continued ..

Saturday was recovery day for us , topped off with the latest play of Abbatoir Ferme, a local Mechelen theater crew that is rocking the boat ... artistically a very nice play, even superb i would say .. telling a story without words always has been my favorite, but i could not help to wonder why we always need to look for things so far deep down and beyond the normal reason .... as a counter measure to the high artistic values we went for a bike ride on Sunday, crossing the Ardennes and visiting the flee markets .... contrast between art and kitch or whatever you call it ...

today was running around to get the necessary bikes (yes Agnes needs some bike in Amsterdam to really feel integrated there :-) )... in the evening the real art .... a vernisage of 5 young artists , between 6 and 8 years old ...

it was so nice to get the explanantion of Ward on his art pieces .. it were all dreampeople that he gave a face, rushing through the gallery at the end he ran off continuing to play with his brother in the back yard ....

does one need more of a week-end ?

Happy travels

Toon

... it is time for ...

2007-05-20T21:46:00.000+02:00

some action .... this very long week-end was packed with it:

1. getting serious in the hobby

thursday i had the pleasure and joy of cooking again for a group of people. my brother needed some help to assit him at a friends son first communion. ok, they already took a take away thing under the arm for the starter and the main course which i did not really like, but my god did we as a team (Agnes, my brother and Patty his wife) blow their sock off with the apetizers adn the dessert ...

veal in a crusty parmesan coat with salvia
foie gras on a bed of black peppers roaster pears
patoato with leek and salmon eggs
...
desert: gratinated sabayon with red fruits

this of course fuelled my appetite to have once my own restaurant here in Mechelen, maybe a dream that can become reality. i will need to find some venture capitalist to do the funding :-)

2. getting serious about my condition

started running this week-end with agnes and Lauran. Must admit i was the one trailing the pack and my body was aching all day the day after , definitely time to get into shape now i know that getting serious about 1 is requesting a fit condition

3. getting serious my commitment to global peace

i did it, i got my subscription to ello mobile (for everybody in belgium: go for it too; www.ellomobile.com). it is a virtual operator that allows you to let your heart speak. their complete profit goes to the project i selected: helpen to get water to villages in africa and fund mobile schools for kids in South america.

now i know where i will go for my next trip: go and visit the projects i have supported in Africa and south america.

My god life can be so simple on a sunday evening, let's see how i can get some steps closer to this all tomorrow

Happy travels my friends

Toon

The stones .. and i bet you they ain't rolling

2007-05-07T22:00:00.000+02:00

well well well .. it has been a long time i had them, but there they are again: the kidney stones. My god did i pick the wrong timing for this. if they're not out the natural way (you know the moment you pee and it says 'ting'), surgery will be the alternative ....

being in the hosptal makes you feel very helpless and makes you realize you have to take somebodies word for it. Talking about trust. a guy puts a needle in your arm and connects it to some liquids and he just assures you that the pain will go away .... well it didn't ... so he got an injection needle out to give me the real stuff: please lay down because you are going to feel dizzy and be very fuzzy ....

i was already wondering: why do i need that : i already feel like that since a long time. He clarified to me that was the difference between the mental and the physical state ...

anyhow not being able to work in this place is a blezzing in a way, but also adds to the frustration that i'm feeling. I'm so impatient to get things moving and now my stones block my normal functioning ...

i hope my stones travel fast from my left blatter :-)

Happy travels my friends

Toon

I'm belgian after all ...

2007-04-03T21:40:00.000+02:00

Flo heiss sent me a very nice one

radio silence ....

2007-04-03T21:33:00.000+02:00

is not a good thing in life ... it's been to quiet the last two weeks but i can blame the work for that and the fact we are franticaly trying to finish off riens his room....

somebody one day will have to tell me how to find the right balance in life between work and dreams ... i feel been sucked into my old pattern again of focussing really hard on work and loosing a bit the perspective i loved so much when i was travelling with my bike through Morocco ... feels now like a distant thing ....

getting used to the instant world is not a thing that you can do in a sec, feels like i need some course in fast reading and response .... i've put the bar quite high in wanting to be up to speed in two or three weeks, but reality is that it just takes a bit longer since the ratio amount of information and time is not fit into a 24 hour day ...

i rest assured, everybody told me that i should take the time to get my head around the initial phase since everything you take time for now is won in the long run .....

taking time now to say hi and tell you all that i still miss the old gang ...

happy travels

still have sand in my shoes

2007-03-15T21:59:00.000+01:00

feels in a way already so long ago that i was on my trip, but still it is echoing in my head ... i still smell the morocan wood fires, taste the tagine, feel my heartbeat on the track ....

i changed the map in the living room for the one from Asia, but still need to make up my mind on where to go. Ulan Bator to Beijing seems like a nice challenge :-)

happy travels my friends

a secret reminder of your biking trip

2007-03-02T11:58:00.000+01:00

My first days ....

2007-03-01T19:58:00.000+01:00

well it's back to the real world .. today my first day at Microsoft and had my first part of the introduction. it's a bit strange of mving from a state where you only think about what destination to pick for tomorrow to what marketing plans to set-up for the coming year ...

all in all it feels good to be back into the IT industry with all it's buzz and excitement of technology. it will take some time from me to get my head around the new challenge, so you can imagine i'm really nervous to life up to the expectations ... but i feel i can count on a lot of people to help me achieve it ...

on the other hand in the back of my mind i can not stop thinking about the adventure i had and already feel the urge to start planning for the next trip ..

This is it . . .

2007-02-28T22:08:00.000+01:00

The figures speak for themselves . . . I'm leaving all this behind to start a more normal life tomorrow : my first working day . . . Feel like a teenager again . :)

After the clean up . . .

2007-02-28T11:35:00.000+01:00

Still adjusting to be in our own house . . . Checked my mails and snail mail : oh yes i'm back to reality with a bang . . . I promised myself to write a bit more about the Morocco experience for myself to make sure i do not forget the details . . .

Before clean up . . .

2007-02-28T11:17:00.000+01:00

Home . . Home . . .

2007-02-27T23:53:00.000+01:00

Taking my adventure to dream land . . . I dreamt about this trip for more than half a year . . . And i made it . . . Now tomorrow will be the start of something new, built upon what i experienced before . . . Happy travels and like they say in Morocco: inshallah . . . Toon

We received an offer . .

2007-02-27T14:33:00.000+01:00

My bike and i received an offer to play in a movie . . . Spongebob squarepants the motorcycle story . . . My body and especially feet and hands feel like sponges . . . My butt is rather square and the motorcycle is obvious . . .

France is welcoming us . .

2007-02-27T09:06:00.000+01:00

With some heavy rains . . . As if they want to wash away my Morocco experience . . . But i still have sand in my shoes to remind me of all small things i experienced . . .

Brothers in arms . . .

2007-02-26T19:52:00.000+01:00

Also coming back from Morocco

These guys are coming back from Morocco as well . .

2007-02-26T19:30:00.000+01:00

1200 renault 4 driven by students spend 10 days in Morocco for a humanitarian rallye . . . Nice guys and seems view had a lot of fun . . .

The change . . .

2007-02-26T14:27:00.000+01:00

Olivetrees nicely lined up as soldiers for inspection, no more mules but tractors doing the labor, farms instead of shelters, roads with luxury 4x4's that never saw anything remotely close to a trail . . . . Yes i'm in europe again and it shows . . . . Haven't figured out what i like most . . .

Unfortunately i have no space left in my bags

2007-02-26T10:57:00.000+01:00

On my way to Granada to change my tires . . . Now i really feel i'm going home . . .

2007-02-25T14:29:00.000+01:00

From trail to track :) .

2007-02-25T11:46:00.000+01:00

Taking a little walk in sebta . . . Just walking without being approached :) . . .

2007-02-24T17:44:00.000+01:00

In the spanish part of africa . . .

2007-02-24T17:31:00.000+01:00

Passed the frontier without paying one dirham of bribery :) . . . Just gmt the hang of it and now i'm leaving . .

Saying goodbye to Morocco

2007-02-24T17:27:00.000+01:00

From the beaches near sebta . . . Strange to leave behind but also happy to get into spain . . . . I will leave a piece of me here to be picked up later on some other travels . . .

Contrast with the desert . .

2007-02-24T14:57:00.000+01:00

Like mentioned . . .

2007-02-24T14:35:00.000+01:00

Everything is different here . . It's much greener and smoother but feel that the people are more harsh . . .

Another gasstation . . .

2007-02-24T13:17:00.000+01:00

People are also very different . . Even more western aspired than any other place visited . . .

Highway gasstations . . .

2007-02-24T10:03:00.000+01:00

Must be on my way back . . . Mixed feelings . . .

2007-02-24T06:25:00.000+01:00

Watching the sea

2007-02-23T17:09:00.000+01:00

Everybody was very hungry . . .

2007-02-23T15:47:00.000+01:00

To the bone . . .

2007-02-23T15:41:00.000+01:00

2007-02-23T15:38:00.000+01:00

2007-02-23T15:37:00.000+01:00

Our lunch . . .

2007-02-23T15:34:00.000+01:00

Fish directly from the sea . . . Cleaned and grilled in front ou our eyes . . .

At the sea side..

2007-02-23T13:57:00.000+01:00

Arrived in Essouera - our destination of one-day trip to the Atlantic coast.. The place seems like another chapter of Arabic nights..

Regaining the kilo's i've lost . . .

2007-02-22T22:06:00.000+01:00