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January 26, 2014

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It is not happiness that makes you grateful, it is gratefulness that makes you happy.

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Three works by Dutch artist Patrick Visser

Patrick Visser (1980) is a Dutch artist who makes huge animals out of scrap-metal. Here are three examples of his work. I saw these in Amsterdam behind museum The Hermitage. I love how he catches the essense of the animals even in metal. (although the cat looks a bit pissed-off, perhaps he did not get his food on time).

Nobody's boy, Hector Malot

My childhood version. The Dutch title translates as: Alone in the world When I was little, my parents had a big blue book on their bookshelves with beautiful drawings. I loved the story of the young orphan Remi who was sold by his mean stepfather when he was ten years old to a musician, Vitalis, who travelled around with Joli-Coeur the little monkey and the dogs Capi, Dolce and Zerbino. Nodoby’s boy is a beautiful story and I read it many times. Only later did I find out this was a world famous French classic, translated into many languages. The story is probably known: Remi is an orphan and that is why he does not belong to anybody. But fortunately for him he does encounter many people who help him, sometimes for a short while, but often for a longer period of time. Vitalis is a good man, but during a cold winter’s night when they could not find shelter, he dies. Gardener Alcuin takes Remi into his family, but when a heavy storm destroys the gl...

Visiting Ecomare

On Texel you can visit the visitationcentre of the foundation Ecomare. This foundation educates people about sealife, specially the seas of the Waddenzee and the Noordzee. There are some great exhibitions and a large sea-aquarium. But they also have programmes to help seals and other animals from the sea, they nurse sick animals back to health and if nesessary they shelter young animals who lost their mothers and who cannot return to the wild for the rest of their lives. You can visit the seals and see them really upclose. Snoozing seal This little one was in quarantine Swimming around There are also two little whales at Ecomare, porpoises. These two lost their mothers when they were only a few weeks old, and this means they do not have the survivalskills to get back into the wild. At Ecomare they take good care of these porpoises, called Dennis and Michael. Each day there is a public feeding and the public gets information about them. The training is not for t...

Beach cat

A cat on the beach, what does he want? Why does he risk getting sand between his toes? He is looking at some birds, sitting near the seaside. The birds do not know the cat is there, but the moment he starts running towards them, they all fly up The cat walks back, trying to look like this is what he has been planning all along. The other cats are not fooled, and learn their lesson. Stay off the beach.

Out in the open, Jesús Carrasco

This is a book I read last year in Dutch translation, and now finally it has been translated into English. A dry plain without shadow or shelter, without people or water, and a burning sun without mercy. A boy is on the run, over that plain. We do not know who he is, or why he is on the run. Slowly we realize that he is running from his village, but that a couple of men are determined to bring him back. Luckily the boy gets the help from an old man and his herd of goats, who roam the plain, looking for food and water. He takes the boy under his protection, although he cannot prevent that the men who chase the boy catch up with them. Then they will have to make choices, even over life and death. Out in the open is the first book by Spanish author Jesús Carrasco , and it has already been a huge success throughout the world. The reason I bought the book in the first place was because I loved the Dutch cover, with a white goat against a white background. It reminded me...

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