A Night With the Dan

We went to see/hear Steely Dan last weekend - one of my favorite groups for the past 30 years and yet my first chance ever to hear them in concert. It was amazing! And here it is, in effect a 2-man group, yet with a total of 13 folks up on stage. A couple of observations about European rock concerts:
1) they start on time. The program said 8:30 and literally at the stroke of 8:30 the warm up band took the stage for exactly 30 minutes.
2) you can drink/eat/whatever in the small concert hall. Beer runs about $5, with other drinks at comparable prices, so the Europeans have obviously not yet mastered the Art of the Rip Off.
3) there is no dope whatsoever. Somehow it seemed to me like that would simply be considered bad form.
4) the hall has absolutely, positively no parking whatsoever. Fortunately for us, it was a quick and cheap train ride north from Waterloo to the Forest East stop, just south of Brussels. Two train tickets were almost certainly still cheaper than the parking "convenience fee" charged for nearly all U.S. rock concerts.
5) you stay in your seats, at least until the end. Everyone remains seated throughout the concert until the encore, at which time, almost as if by a predetermined signal, everyone stands and crowds forward, as close to the stage as possible. Since our seats were in the 16th row, only about 90 ft. from the stage in the first place, we saw no reason to cram forward, but that stopped few of the others behind us. But even as they approached the stage, there was no jumping, dancing, even swaying. Just standing. And listening.
How civilized. How very European.

They're At It Again...

On the 7th I posted some of the wild and weird English sightings we've encountered on t-shirts and sweatshirts. Now I've stumbled onto a local establishment, in downtown Brussels, that definitely is on-topic. Can anyone please tell me just what it is they're selling here?

The Longest Day

At long last, it's finally just about here: the longest day of the year. This is our "reward" for having to put up with the damp, cold, and very short days of December. To set the stage: sunrise tomorrow will be at 5:29AM and sunset just after 10PM. That's 16 and a half hours with Mr. Soleil. The birds are still chirping when it's nearly 11PM and, by 4:30 in the morning, they're at it again - short nights for them, that's for sure.
Compare this with, say, Washington D.C. There, the sun will come up just a few minutes later than here, but it sets by 8:40PM. Of course, it's all a question of latitude. Here we sit at nearly 51 degrees north. To put that in perspective, Baltimore is at 39 degrees; Boston at 42; and Quebec is at 46 degrees north. We are on the same latitude here in central Belgium as the southern edge of Hudson/James Bay, nearly 400 miles north of Montreal! I think about that every time I see the beautiful, locally-grown tomatoes and fruit...

Rick in Dublin

We stumbled upon this fast food joint in Ireland but only stopped long enough to take this picture. Burgers in Dublin? Come on! That would be like Irish stew in Tucson or bratwursts in Key West!

English...Almost

We've noticed that Germans and Belgians both love to put English words and phrases on t-shirts and sweatshirts. Rarely, if ever, have I seen a bon mot in French, or a cool Witze in German on someone's shirt. Instead, they prefer English. But, you see, it's not the kind of English we'd ever see at home. Sure, they're all words you'd find in a dictionary; it's how they're put together that makes no sense.

An example: a t-shirt with this poignant message, recently seen in Antwerp: "Photographer Naval Conqueror." Now, who can argue with that?
Here's another: "Cleveland Indians: Motorcycle Club OK." I'm with ya!
We like to advertise our alma mater at home; it's not hard to see a sweatshirt with Harvard, Dartmouth, or yes, even Ripon College on it. But how about this one I saw in Germany: "California College"? Maybe it's a small college in California, Ohio, or something...

We'll keep looking for new "classics" to pass on to you...

Don't Try This at Home, Kids!

Here's Robb in action in downtown Brussels. Maybe Mom and Dad will try their luck on his board. NON! JAMAIS NON!

Belgian Fashion Statement

We saw this in a store window in Ypres this afternoon. Maybe the Belgians just have a different idea of creative advertising. I'm thinking that they are either trying to sell the culottes or the necklace. In either case, I'm not sure they are doing all they can to focus the audience's attention. At least, not this audience's...