I'm heading off to the airport and I'm going to be gone for a few days in Amsterdam to participate in the Op zoek naar progressief Amerika conference put together by the Wiardi Beckman Stichting, a think tank affiliated with the Dutch Labor Party. Blogging will continue, but what with the time zones and all posts may pop up at weird times.
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Leaving on a Jet Plane
28 Nov 2007 03:54 pm
Comments (27)
You know Matt, if you just start posting in Dutch most of us will never catch your typos.
considering the fine drugs available to a young American in Amsterdam, I'm looking forward to weird posts and weird times.
Have a good time at the coffee houses there. I know I did when there in October. Nothing like a couple of hits of Nepal Pollen Hash in the morning to make the day go by so much nicely. lol
"...The Dutch in old Amsterdam do it
Not to mention the Fins..."
Why can't you tell us you are going with your homie, Ezra Klein?
Suuuure.
Blame the "time zones." I might have to borrow that one on occasion myself...
as an internationalist, you might want to check out the world's most popular sport while in amsterdam and see if ajax are at home.
"considering the fine drugs available to a young American in Amsterdam, I'm looking forward to weird posts and weird times."
I believe that Matthew has previously claimed not to partake of the cannabis.
Which might explain his inability to make heads or tails out of politics.
"as an internationalist, you might want to check out the world's most popular sport while in amsterdam "
I never realized that basketball was big in amsterdam.
May I recommend the white widow.
actually, petey, matthew has noted that once upon a time, when he attended elite private upper east side private school along with a bunch of other jews who don't appear in gossip girls (or whatever the hell the show is called), he smoked pot, but he didn't really like it and no longer does.
as for basketball in holland, go here:
http://www.internationalbasketball.com/netherlands.html
considering the fine drugs available to a young American in Amsterdam, I'm looking forward to weird posts and weird times.
Oh, for fuck's sake, there is a little more to Amsterdam than coffeeshops. (No, visiting American hipster, you're not setting a trend at De Dampkring.)
Ezra's been there before, so he's probably got the touristy shit out of his system. Friday nights, though, do tend to bring in the weekend revellers, as well as being when the Dutch party hard.
Ajaz apparently play NAC Breda on Saturday, if Matthew's still there. Not sure if Ajax are any good this year, though, after selling Snejder to Real Madrid in the off season.
well, al, since you looked up the schedule, the least i could do was look at the standings, and ajax leads the Eredivisie with a record of 8 wins, 4 draws, and 0 losses. NAC Breda is 7th, so it could be a pretty good match. i took a look down the roster and didn't recognize a single name for Ajax (for whom i've always had a soft spot since arriving in Amsterdam as a backpacking student the night in 1972 when they won whatever it was they used to call the champion's league).
speaking of the champ's league, i trust you saw cristiano's free kick yesterday?
I'll give you the recommendation I gave Ezra. Take a friend or three and have dinner at Rijsttafel, an incredible Indonesian place.
as long as we're talking about amsterdam, i should mention one of my favorite detective series, janwillem van de wetering's "grijpstra and degier," is set in amsterdam.
van de wetering was a longtime student of zen, and insofar as you can imagine zen detectives set in real-world amsterdam, you've got it: incredibly addictive once you start.
it's probably too late for matthew to read one on the outbound flight, but for his return....
"Oh, for fuck's sake, there is a little more to Amsterdam than coffeeshops"
While true, there is undeniable fun in the novelty of being able to partake in a legal and public setting.
"he smoked pot, but he didn't really like it and no longer does."
I think the full story is that he didn't like it, didn't inhale, and never tried it again.
And, actually, as long as we're into Matthew-ology, he's noted a couple of time that he gave up some unnamed drug a couple of years ago, which wasn't pot. I've never been able to figure out what it would've been. Coke? MDMA? Ritalin? Horse tranquilizer?
None of them seem quite right to me.
Two travel recommendations:
1) Yes to Grijpstra and De Gier. Great stories. Especially fun while in Amsterdam.
2) Yes, yes, YES to that Amsterdam weed! Even if you don't toke back home; do it for the coffeeshop experience. You won't regret it.
he's noted a couple of time that he gave up some unnamed drug a couple of years ago, which wasn't pot.
Tobacco?
there is undeniable fun in the novelty of being able to partake in a legal and public setting.
Oh, fer sure, but there are public settings and public settings. The Tweede Kamer is lovely, the Tolstraat Greenhouse also, but the Bulldog franchise, not so much. And if you're hurried, or crowded out by 'I'm so high, dude' backpacker types, it's really not so fun. Applecake and coffee in a Jordaan bruincafe, on the other hand...
It's November, which means fewer backpacker dudes and more horizontal rain. Perfect bruincafe weather, in other words.
Absolutely, RM, though the weekdays are still better than the weekends, just because of the British weekenders who drink ten Heinekens, try the black hash, then puke into the nearest canal.
Those dry, cold Saturday mornings this time of year, back when I worked in Amsterdam, were wonderfully tranquil. And I still try to have a long enough layover at Schiphol when travelling to get into town for coffee and cake at De Tuin.
"Weird times"? That's all in your perspective. From this side of the Atlantic (the ocean, not the magazine) those times seem perfectly normal.
DaveAdams - the restaurant is called the Kantjil. The dish is called a "rijsttafel".
Anyway, it's my daughter's birthday and it's almost Sinterklaas, so I'm going to miss both Matthew (and Ezra and Dean Baker) at the Leidseplein on Friday and Ajax on Sunday.
Comments closed December 12, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
I'm not sure which I prefer, weird posts at normal times or normal posts at weird times?
Posted by steve duncan | November 28, 2007 4:13 PM