O Captain! My Captain!

Pic of the week

A weathered portrait of Tin Tin and Captain Haddock stuck in an embrace - Brussels

O Captain! My Captain! was the name of the poem Walt Whitman wrote after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. But I don't think Old Walt would have a problem with it used in this context.

For more Walt Whitman, check out my first ever blog post from back in 2014, Salut au Monde!, in which I tried to stay a bit closer to what the poet intended.

Have a good week everyone!

Skol bus

Pic of the week

An American school bus used to bring union members to Brussels this week during the national rally. There were thousands of marchers and, as you can see, they like their beer. The train strikes this week also slowed down travel quite a bit around the country, and it looks like they will continue into next week. Even the teachers at my daughters school are striking on Tuesday. Well guys, skol!

Brussels Jazz Marathon

Pic of the week

Funk, jazz, gospel trio including Brussels vocalist, Soul T, performing Friday night at L'Archipel

The roof is on fire!

Pic of the week

Brussels Policewoman & Fireman

In the first picture below, you can see a cloud of black smoke rising into the sky. If you look a bit closer, you can see orange flames on the rooftop of the building in the center of the frame. I took this picture this week from my office, where I was surprised to look out and see that the building where my friend lives had caught fire.

My friend - and old neighbor when I lived two buildings to the left of the one on fire - lives on the first floor. Another friend used to live on the top floor of that building, right under where the fire was. Many a night we all hung out on his balcony, gazing over the rooftops of the city. The second photo below was taken from that balcony, mirroring back the view from my office.

The fire was started accidentally by the roofers who were working up there. Luckily no one was hurt and there was not too much damage, mostly just a lot of water and foam in the corridors to clean up. I went over on my lunch break where I met some the heroes of this story, shown above. 

 

Brussels getting back to normal

Pic of the week

@ Botanique Metro Station

Fear and loathing in Belgium

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” – Forrest Gump

Here's an assortment of half-thoughts, snap reactions, and other unfortunate consequences following the November 13 Paris attacks.

• The police sirens started on Saturday, the day after the Paris attacks. We could hear them from our house all weekend, and every day since, wailing in the distance.
• Texted a friend in Paris who wrote back: “All is ok. Fortunately, kids don’t let us go out at night. Crazy. War is war.”
• Lots of talk of war.
• Watched all the major TV news stations – BBC, CNN, Canvas – but only found out about the attack in Beirut through Facebook.
• Went to work on Monday. There too, sirens all day. 
• Tuesday, Nov.17: the New York Times called Molenbeek a “working class Brussels neighborhood.” That’s one way to describe it.
• Hello Belgian army! Guys with machine guns are patrolling Brussels North Station. I wonder what they are thinking about. How do they stay alert all day? Do they get coffee breaks? What if they get an itchy trigger finger? All unanswered questions, but I was glad they were there.
• “Don’t be a slave to your empathy.” - A muslim commentator on Flemish TV when asked about the refugee situation in Belgium, and whether he thought radical muslims were also entering the country. 
• In the elevator at work I saw a guy who said he had to go home because his daughter was sick. She wasn’t really sick, he said, but she was scared. She’s 11.
• More sirens.
• My dad loves Molenbeek. I used to live 5 minutes walk from there and whenever my dad would come visit he’d always do his grocery shopping in Molenbeek. He especially liked the fruit, dates, nuts, and Turkish delights. “If I lived here,” he told me one time, “I’d do all my shopping in Molenbeek.”
• What happened in Paris is still very fresh, and there’s a nervous sense that Brussels is next. Still lots of talk of war, which is interesting as I’m now reading the book “What Terrorists Want,” by Louise Richardson, a terrorism expert and Vice-Chancellor at Oxford University, and I’m on the chapter “Why the War On Terror Can Never Be Won.”
• Taking the train into Brussels everyday. Not as carefree as usual. Maybe it’s just my over-active imagination.
• The War On Terror Can Never Be Won because: “If victory means making the United States invulnerable to terrorist attack, we are never, ever going to be victorious. Here’s why casting a conflict in terms of a war one cannot win is a big mistake. By dispatching an operative into any Starbucks, subway station, or shopping mall in the country and blowing it up, a terrorist group could demonstrate that the most powerful country in the history of the world has not been able to beat it. This is making it too easy for the terrorists…The ultimate goal of any war must be to deny the adversary what it is that he wants. Terrorists want to be considered at war with us, so to concede this to them is to grant them what they want, instead of doing our utmost to deny them what they want.”
• J'aime the fact that the French are protesting against fear by going to the cafés.
• I’m torn about going to war. Iraq was a big mistake. Afghanistan only slightly better. Would it turn out better if it weren’t just America’s war? How can we fight radicalism without creating more of it? I don’t know, but we need to do something.
• “You get used to terrorism.” – French author Michel Houellebecq
• Friday, Nov. 20: NYT now referring to Molenbeek as “Jihad Central.” A bit harsh, I thought, but I’m also so glad we didn’t buy that apartment we looked at there. It was a cool space, but the neighborhood…
• Friday night, I went for a few drinks in Brussels after work. Hm, where can we go and not get shot? That’s my over-active imagination talking again, right? Three Duvels later I had forgotten all about any threat. There was an army truck parked in front of Central Station, but you know, whatever.
• “You get used to terrorism.”
• Late Friday night, the terror alert dial in Brussels turned from 3 to 4 – the maximum level. An unspecified “immanent and severe” threat was cited. More specifically, one of the Paris attackers was sighted in the area and thought to be wearing explosives.
• So much for protesting fear. Brussels cafés, shops, restaurants and metros closed all weekend. Better safe than tipsy. Sorry, sorry.
• #BrusselsLockDown blows up on Twitter. 
• The lockdown continues into Monday. Schools closed now too. Working from home until further notice.
• Read another article this week with this eerie line: “The Islamic State has come to be known around the world by names like ISIS and ISIL. But in Raqqa (Syria), residents began calling it Al Tanzeem: The Organization.”
• Cancelled my trip to London. Cancelled my trip to Paris. 
• Concert in Brussels cancelled. Now it’s personal!
• People keep saying, “Be safe.” I know what they mean, but what are we supposed to do?
• Tuesday: I got an email from the director of the school where I take evening classes for French. It said that there was a bomb scare at the school today. Classes cancelled.
• Got a text from another friend: “I am working from home at the mo. I am however travelling to London tomorrow to see the kids. It is crazy stuff but I think people are overreacting a bit! We’re giving these idiots exactly what they want…Chaos and & fear…”

The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken

Quirky Belgium

The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken are open to the public for three weeks this year from April 17 to May 8

"It’s good to be the King!" And that’s true for the King of Belgium too whose role nowadays is purely symbolic – although symbolic of what, I’m not sure.

Harmony? Unity? Decadence? 

You could argue that a King or a Queen has no place in a democracy, but that would be to miss the point. Today's Kings and Queens, stripped of any real powers, are like hedges: pieces of decoration put on the side to stand there and look pretty.

And no place better captures the hedge-like harmony, unity, and decadence of the Belgian monarchy than the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, (Dutch: Koninklijke Serres van Laken, French: Serres Royales de Laeken), next to the royal family’s residence on the outskirts of Brussels.

Off limits to the public for most of the year, the Royal Greenhouses open their doors for three weeks each spring to we the people. If you’ve not been, I highly recommend a visit. Not only will you see an amazing collection of exotic flowers and plants, but it's worth going just to see the fantastically bulbous metal and glass buildings designed in the 1870s by Alphonse Balat, mentor to the other great Belgian architect of the Art Nouveau era, Victor Horta.

This year you can check out the Royal Greenhouses starting Friday, April 17 until May 8. 

Find out more here.

Bitter sweet

Pic of the week

Rue de Flandre, Bruxelles

Career courier

Pic of the week

François, a courier in Brussels  Photo by John Weaver

Brussels Night Song

Pic of the week

The Flamingo cafe in Brussels  Photo by John Weaver

Mr. Accordion

Pic of the week

Photo by John Weaver

Mr. Accordion sat down 

to put on new socks. 

Black, clean

soft.

Street Heroes

Quirky Belgium

Street Heroes is an urban football tournament where the name of the game is to nutmeg your opponent.
Photo by John Weaver

The fancy footwork on display at the Belgian Street Heroes tournament isn’t just about showing off. The name of the game is to panna, or “nutmeg,” your opponent. In other words, you have to get the ball between their legs. 

Urban meadow

Quirky Belgium

Boerderij van het Maximiliaanpark Photos by John Weaver

Leave the city without leaving the city! This little farm, the Boerderij van het Maximiliaanpark (Ferme du Parc Maximilien), is right in the center of Brussels and a real hidden treasure in an otherwise urban jungle of cars and concrete. 

Obama watch

Pic of the week

Photo by John Weaver

Belgium was buzzing this week with the visit of Barack Obama, his first visit to the E.U. capital since becoming President. 

What’s in a name?

Quirky Belgium

You don't see this every day…

Les Noirauds, or Darkies, have been collecting money for children in need since 1876. Photo by John Weaver

Politically correct? No, but that’s not their thing. For more than 130 years, Les Noirauds, or Darkies, have been collecting money for disadvantaged children and children with special needs.

Celebrating Iranian new year in Belgium

Quirky Belgium

The Nowruz, or Persian New Year, festival includes jumping over fire while singing the traditional song Zardi-ye man az to, sorkhi-ye to az man, which literally translates to "My yellowness is yours, your redness is mine," with the figurative message "My pain/sickness for you (the fire), your strength (health) for me." The fire is believed to burn out all the fear (yellowness) in their spirit in preparation for the new year. Photos by John Weaver

Around the world, here in the Northern hemisphere at least, we celebrate the start of spring this week. And with spring comes optimism, or at least a looking forward to warmer, greener, longer days.

But for Iranians it’s even more than that – it’s Nowruz, the Persian New Year. 

St. Catherine juggle

Pic of the week

Place St. Catherine, Brussels Photo by John Weaver

It's been a record setting week, with the warmest days on record for mid-March registered in Belgium. Hard to image that a year ago at this time we were sloshing through a foot of snow.

Yesterday (Friday) evening I came across a group of young guys juggling a soccer ball in front of the St. Catherine cathedral. They were cool enough to let me take some pictures and join in on their juggle circle for a bit.

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Atheism: a non-prophet organization