archangel969

Dutch 90's dance music 2: 2 Unlimited with Get ready for this!

Time to dance! Dutch 90's dance music 1: Deelite! Oooh lalalalalalalala.

You look smashing! Honoured by your visit!

YAS, I am totally into HEILUNG. What a great band.

Eefje de Visser with Storm (in Dutch).

A friend of mine makes her own liqueur. I was with her recently and then I happened to see a nice old distillery set come by on Flickr the same day and couldn't resist it (ｅｑｕａｌ１０event). The set is now in the kitchen in the former sailor's corner house. Then I thought next: Canal city should not only have a beer brewery, but also a distillery for jenever (old spelling: genever = Dutch gin). Traditionally, in Dutch pubs, it is sometimes a custom to drink both beer and jenever. They call that a 'kopstoot' (headbutt) 🙂

I guess I am the tall one LOL

By the way, just an addition to those crazy music videos by dEUS: Belgium does have a tradition of surrealism and magical realism in the arts. Think of the painter Magritte.

Yes, I absolutely love Hooverphonic!

And also wanted to skip the eternal image of the Netherlands and especially Amsterdam of the red light district and drugs in coffee shops. Many tourists who ask me for directions look for the red light district or a coffee shop while Amsterdam has so much more to offer. I know where to find them, but I smoked weed once when I was 18, got deathly ill and never smoked again after that. And I only go to the red light district because there are great authentic Chinese restaurants there (Nam Kee you must try!) and a nice gay bar. Anyway, I didn't bring all this to Canal city;-).

Oh, they are indeed very big LOL. I don't know if that's something typically Dutch. Tea with a stroopwafel or other waffle on top. But that's how I always serve stroopwafels myself. 🙂

Honoured with your vistit! Great pics and I hope you had a good time. You just can't take everything from RL to SL if you make a kind of canal city, you have to choose. So I chose elements like the canals on two levels with wharf cellars, the canal houses with the specific facades ( by Uri Emerland of Steam & Mechanics) and a brewery, a market and a mill. They always say of Amsterdam that it is both a metropolis and a village because of its relatively small scale, but also its cosiness. That feeling: being in a city but at the same time the charm of a small village is what I wanted to portray. And the desk in the mayor's room is by Dutchie, her animations are always great. I can totally recommend this one, you also have an adult version of course :-).

A quiet afternoon on the canal at the wharf. Bloemengracht (Flower canal)

Love this! Really atmospeheric.

What I love about this song is that it's not only addictively catchy and brings a big smile to your face, but it also has a deep message about coping with the loss of your parents. Joost Klein said in a TV show that the fire at the end of the video symbolises leaving the pain behind of losing his parents.

Oh I love this band since 1989 when they were founded! I have no idea either, what the hell this was about but my advice with this kind of surrealism is always to use your own imagination and be guided less by reason :-). At a painting course, a teacher once said - and I have never forgotten it: when you see/hear something for the first time, switch off your mind and judgement and experience it, live it.

I am going to see this amazing accordionist live soon at the Bach Weeks in Lochem, east of the Netherlands. In his case, that means: J.S. Bach on the accordion!

Another great (and recent) one from the Belgian band dEUS: How To Replace It

And last Belgian band for now: Dez Mona live with Does it make you happy?

And more Belgian: dEUS with Quatre main!

Music from Belgian bands from the 80s are also great, the have a specific sound, different from the Netherlands. This is Oh La La La c'est Magnifique from TC Matic, the singer Arno Hintjens is sadly no longer among us.

And (also Dutch) nostalgia from The George Baker Selection with Litlle Green Bag from 1970! The song later became famous as intro music from the movie Reservoir Dogs.

The Netherlands' official entry for the Eurovision Song Contest: Joost Klein with Europapa. It does make me happy (well it's happy hardcore anyway).

Canal city, City hall.

My home at SL ANd in RL now 🙂