Somehow it's still sunny outside ...

Making the most of my first sick day in Belgium --

... Frustrated that chicken noodle soup is so difficult to find here ... I had to settle for this box of a creepy green ninja (whose pupils clearly tell us he's suffering through some sort of cholinergic crisis ... which then begs the question of what are in those little squares ?!?) offering me these tasty chocolate treats that have absolutely no business being a breakfast cereal ...

As if that wasn't enough:

... Missing a birthday party for a Spanish friend (and from what I hear, you DON'T want to miss Spanish birthday parties)
... Missing a symposium entitled "Jihad vs. McWorld" (personally, if given that very bleak choice, I might have found myself rooting for Jihad)
... Received an invitation in the mail (the first mail I've gotten that hasn't been from the police ... yay!) to a good friend's wedding next month in Reno ... tragic timing

Also tasked with submitting my Master's Thesis proposal before midnight (although I think that is unrelated to the violent illness) ...

The moral of this story, there are occasionally sour days in Shangri-la


To end/redeem this episode on a high note ... there is this car that keeps parking on my street ... one day I'll find this Wincor chap and find out what he did with my final "f" ...

Weekday Warrior ...

There is quite an interesting phenomenon in Leuven: every Friday, almost all of the Belgian students (more than 20,000 in aggregate) take trains home for the weekend ... leaving the college town virtually deserted but for the international students. This is quite a reversal from the States as the social life of this town is strictly (and strongly) a Monday - Thursday affair.


I spent yesterday wandering around town (and the internet) looking for a thesis topic and ended up at a Polish house dinner - not really sure how successful I was, but at least there was good vodka involved. Today, randomly, I took the first train that came into the station and almost two hours later ended up in the coastal town of Blankenberge (or as I call it, the "Atlantic City" of the North Sea ... but with only one casino) ... I spent the day walking up and down the beach, enjoying the unseasonable sunshine and exploring the lichen-covered jettys

12 hours in Paris

Saturday night / Sunday morning I was able to enjoy the "nuit blanche" cultural phenomenon yet again ... this time in Paris (thanks to Thalys' 30euro RT train tickets) ... The Louvre was kept open until midnight, and the Pompidou until around 4am -- both free of charge -- along with several other venues/concerts in the Marais that entertained until dawn.

Surprisingly, out of all of my European counterparts, I had the most extensive experience in Paris (a week er so), so it was largely up to my vague recollections and an even more vague map to navigate us through the evening ... fortunately, no one was hurt, and a good time was had by all ...

Life imitating art ... striking the pose of the Nike -- winged victory of Samothrace

Contemplating a Parisienne homeless life in front of Notre Dame ...

Some amazingly intelligent commentary via innovative (and often interactive) art is on display at the Pompidou -- some of it via Bluetooth to your cell phone ... highly recommended to anybody in the vicinity with an open perspective and a (albeit sometimes sardonic) sense of humor ...

3 Pictures from a seat in Leuven

When Art Becomes Psychoanalysis ...

Last night I was late to meet with somebody to attend a lecture on cultural readings of Belgian art ... rushed in and took the last seat in the packed auditorium just as the lights dimmed ... apparently not for a lecture on Belgian art, but for a 3-hour long documentary through which Slovenian philosopher, psychoanalyst and unintentional-comic Slavoj Zizek posited the necessity of film for moderating relations to fantasy and for understanding post-modern identity ... I guess you can never really be sure what you are going to get here ... tonight there's supposed to be a debate around the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict by representatives of various European think tanks -- so we'll see what that ends up becoming ...

And for the more visually enthralled, pictures of/from the library two minutes away from my residence ...Notice the statue of the bug on a needle (center) ... constructed to commemorate the University's 575 anniversary and to reflect the relationship that it has with the town of Leuven ... I have yet to hear an interpretation of this manifestation that is truly satisfying ...

Life's Rich Pageantry ...

So while I was at a Bioethics conference on Friday, somebody stole my bike (or "my bike went missing" if you're teleologically inclined) ... I am in awe of the beautiful irony ... probably all for the best as the brakes and lights really didn't work very well, which probably would have gotten me into trouble later ...


We had a stunning lightning display last night that I spent 15 minutes struggling to capture on film in the sqaure in front of the library ... surprisingly, the 100 meter+ statue of the fly on the needle (foreground) did not act as a lightning rod

There is a great cafe in Leuven called STUK that shows independent films and documentaries as well as has free live jazz every Sunday night ... once again, I struggled with finding the appropriate lighting .... I guess you could say that I spent all night seeking illumination ...

A good kind of exhausted ...

NuitBlanche 2006 ... a festival of unknown origin and support that keeps local museums and clubs open and (virtually) free from 7pm to 7am one night a year ... last night it was in Brussels (next week in Paris), and most of those left in Leuven for the weekend went down to check out the culture that Brussles has to offer (which is surprisingly more than just Jean-Claude Van Damme) ... at the very least, a great way to explore a city in a high energy environment

The before picture (although I guess we forgot to get an after picture) ... any night that begins as the only guy in the presence of 13 Turkish and Spanish women could be considered a great fortune in and of itself, and at the very least a catalyst for unpredictability.

A drum party that broke out towards the center of town at about 4 AM and enthusiastically lasted until around the time of the free breakfast (croissant and coffee, of course) at around 5:30



The illuminated Grote Markt with singers performing various styles from Italian opera to Arabic ... Of course this picture was before the comically-unforseen (as Leuven and Brussels typically get more inches of rain a year than London) rain storm ...

Unfortunately, my old age is getting to me, and I had to forego the music festival this afternoon in Antwerp to return to Leuven for some sleep.