December

Mail

I've trying out Foxmail as my mail-client. I'm getting so sick of Outlook. All those vulnerabilities and the bombarding of virii. Not sure if this will be an improvement, but it does have a pleasent interface and some nice features. We'll see.

2002

Only a few more hours to go! Be careful with the fireworks.

Oliebollen

My mom made Oliebollen this afternoon. Only now does it feel like the new year is about to commence. The first two, straight out of the oil, they're the very best. I'm finally able to sleep untill a decent hour again. Instead of waking up around the time my alarm normally goes off. And just as I've gotten used to it, I have to get back to work. Sigh. Well, 3 more days of freedom to enjoy. I'd like to add a warning to watch out for the new W32/Yaha-K virus. My mailbox is already full of spam and older viri, so it's getting rather annoying.

Requiem

Watched Requiem for a Dream yesterday. Not exactly Christmas material, but I was blown away by it. Very impressive.

High-speed

It works! I'm currently surfing with our new ADSL line at 110kb/sec. Instead of the old ISDN, which offered a mere 7kb/sec. Anyhow, it's the second day of Christmas. My brother's still here, and we're spending our time watching the extra's on the Lord Of The Rings box set, which he bought and playing Age of Mythology. And enjoying the family dinners ofcourse.

Christmas

Read all about Christmas' pagan origins. The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshipping huge trees.

Troubles

Been working on our ADSL connection for the better part of yesterday. We've had some proubles combining our existing network, the old ISDN line and the new modem and router. But it'll happen. I can feel it. It's strange to be at work. The rest of the world seems to have chosen to stay at home, these days before Christmas. The bus was quite empty this morning. But that's okay, there's lots to do. I also have to sort out some of my settings, as I switched computers friday. Though I'm so glad it's much faster, it always takes some time to get things back to the way I want them.

New look

I've just uploaded the new version of this site. Still some minor things to adjust, but the idea is there. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think. I do want to loose the table I've used in exchange for CSS. But I couldn't get the lay-out to look exactly like I wanted in both IE and Mozilla. But I'll keep trying. Also, don't forget to try the new look and feel feature.

Rings

Loads of reviews on Slashdot. I'm going tonight. Can't wait.

Chivalry

Chivalry is dead. My bus was late, this evening. Meaning I would probably miss the other one I had to transfer into. But fortunately it [the 169] was still standing there, when I got out of the 31. But I had to cross most part of the street to get to it. Instead of notifying the driver of my arrival, the bystanders just stood there. Looking at me. As if I was strange for running towards a departing bus. They just stood there. I hate it when they do that. Luckily I made it just in time. But it's the thought that counts.

LotR

Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

The fellowship is broken. The power of darkness grows...

Peter Jackson rules. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers was even better than I'd hoped. Casting was very good. I'm so glad they've chosen for relatively new faces, instead of a standard Hollywood cast. Even though Faramir reminded me of Megadeth's Dave Mustaine.

The CGI was especially impressive. Gollem and all the Uruk-Hai at Helm's Deep in particular. Clothing and scenary too were impressive. New-Zealand is awe-inspiring. It's going to be a long year.

Archive troubles

Blogger is messing up my archive settings. Sigh. One moment while I test this thing.

Update: Nope it still isn't working. Found help in the knowledge base. But it's still not working.

Moon departure

Thirty years ago today since the last men left the moon. It's a shame we've really fallen behind so much since the end of the cold war. Well, not much going on today. Read the new Aardschok, a few chapters of Omertà and downloaded some music. I'm on a Stille Volk hunt at the moment. Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday was friday the 13th. Mostly because I didn't realise it 'till this morning.

Anathema

Vincent Cavanaugh of Anathema
The concert was great! Opening act was Dutch band Autumn, which I did like. But because I didn't know the songs, they tended to blend into each other a bit. Then Anathema came on stage. They played a lot of the newer songs and ended with classic A Dying Wish, from my personal favourite album The Silent Enigma. Here are the lyrics for Temporary Peace, from their latest album, A Fine Day to Exit.

Lees verder

Cold

It was -8°C when I left home at 8:00 this morning! Can't believe how fast the temperatures have dropped. Soon I'll be able to go iceskating in the polder.

Ben rules!

Spend the day in Breda, where ColdFusion guru Ben Forta was hosting a Macromedia event. Cool to see him in the flesh. That guy has a lot of knowledge of ColdFusion and it's related technologies.

Sinterklaas

It's Sinterklaas today. More and more sites popping up every year. One of my favourites is Sint.nl, but there are loads more to be found at Google. Here's the story of Sinterklaas in English.

Books

Ikea received bomb threat letter, which makes me think of Fight Club for some reason. Anyhow, just got back from the library. Sometimes it's hard to choose. Ended up with Omertà by Mario Puzo, <a href=https://www.amazon.com/s?k=0425176037">Shell Game by Carol O'Connell and Chaim Potok's Davita's Harp. The question now is, which one shall I read first? Also, my DVD of The Mists of Avalon arrived earlier today. Can't wait to check it out. But I'm going to save it for the weekend, so I can watch it all in one go.

Cancellation

Just heard the Queens of the Stone Age concert in Paradiso tonight has been cancelled due to illness. Good thing I couldn't get my hands on any tickets. Two cancelled gigs in 2 weeks is a bit more than I can take. Luckily the Anathema concert is still on. As far as I know, anyway.

December

World AIDS Day: Link and Think

Today is World AIDS Day. I've had to recycle last years image, because I am experiencing a lack of space. Insomnia was a bit disappointing. It was interesting, but a bit to slow. It was building up to some sort of climax, that just wouldn't come. I would really like to see the original though.