Stolen Bicycles

Source: AD

Big cities drown in bicycles. That's the headline of the article where I got this photograph. It's a common view here in Amsterdam: rows and rows of bicycles, tied up to poles, fences, other bicycles, you name it. People are creative in finding a suited parking spot for their bicycle. Many of them have chains thicker than my wrist, to secure them to anything that won't move that easily. It's not something redundant to do, since many bicycles are stolen. Sometimes, FietsenDepot Amsterdam steals them (technically, this isn't stealing, since you parked it wrong. Otherwise they wouldn't take it), sometimes, a random person whom you've never seen and probably never will see, takes your innocent bicycle and just rides away with it.

Lomography Update

It's not a post about Amsterdam, if I have to be quite frankly. These are the photos I have taken with my Lomography La Sardina camera in Berlin. Do you like them? What do you like about them? I'd love to have some feedback.

Sinterklaas Was Coming To Town

Source: iAmsterdam

This Sunday, Sinterklaas (mind you, this is not a rip-off of Santa Claus, it's a genuine, different person) arrived in Holland, as he always does around this time of the season. This year, it was a little different though. If you live in the Netherlands, I'm sure you will have had your share in the discussion; if you don't, you may have heard about it on the news. Because for once, our little festival in the Netherlands was News with a captial N. But why?

A New Look

Something not entirely lifestyle-related this time: my new jacket. In the Netherlands, winters can be particulary unpleasant, especially when you don't have a suitable winter coat. Luckily for me, there are plenty of nice shops in Amsterdam (and Utrecht, where, I must confess, I bought this piece) where they have just the thing for fashion lovers with a lower budget. 

Review: London Calling

Source: Paradiso

A while ago, I was in Paradiso, for the widely known London Calling event. On this event, many young and talented artists gather to perform their songs - for an overall hipsterish crowd - in the hopes of getting a bit more famous. Nowadays, most of the bands on the stage are already quite wellknown within that same hispsterish crowd, so success is guaranteed. I am no exception to this: one of the headliners on saturday, MS MR, was one of my favourite bands, so they were the main reason I bought a ticket.

Lomograph The World!

Source: Lomography

There are a lot of ways to photograph the things you love. For instance, there is the compact camera, the DSLR and, last but not least: the lomo-camera. A lomographer, as a person who uses this kind of camera is called, loves the vintage cameras, the vintage-looking photos and, above all, the analogue lifestyle.

Kill The Hipsters

Source: Kill All Hipsters

Kill All Hipsters. To any random person, this may sound as a violent anthem to join forces and attack anyone who dares to qualify themselves as a "hipster".  To insiders, however, this is the name of a very, very popular indie/electro/dance event. With tracks of artists like The Black Keys, Daft Punk, Icona Pop, The Editors, Two Door Cinema Club, MGMT, Justice, Mumford and Sons, The Wombats and many others, every hipster in town (because in contrast to their name, they love their hipster kids) can and will have a night of absolute splendour.

Review: John Green's Amsterdam

Source:  Seventeen Magazine

Of course, I'm not the first one to write about this book. Nor will I be the last. The Fault In Our Stars is the latest masterpiece of the immense popular Young Adult novelist John Green. Green has written several other novels that appeal to the mind of every person coming-of-age, such as An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns. But never has one of his novels created such an enormeous hype as TFIOS.

What's Wrong With The EMA'S?

Source: Ziggo Dome

Like this, my blog could have been the title of a catchy Arctic Monkeys-song. Sadly, it isn't (I have the feeling it could have been great), but after last night, it might hit the charts very soon. 

For the people who have been living under a rock: last night, the MTV EMA's were in Amsterdam. In the Ziggo Dome, to be precise. Celebs of all shapes and sizes arrived at the immense hall to mingle in one of the biggest music events of this fall. Thousands of people lined up to spot a glimpse of their favourite star and perhaps take a picture or two. Many bands and artists performed, many awards were received. But by whom?

Introducing Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a wonderful place to live. It has everything one could ever need: shops, restaurants, nice bars, friendly people, huge parks to stroll around in... it truly is one of the greatest capitals of the world, even though relatively small.