…where Cocktail is on the left, and Beer is on the right (obv). Shot using my Nokia; I consider it a pretty good shot, considering the poor light conditions. But damn, that LED flash is very… in-your-face, so to say.

Oh, and Cocktail’s real name … Let’s call her Mony.

By the way, Amsters@m: this is straight out of the phone too. Ha!

41 52 Please Meet Cocktail and Beer, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 1st November, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

I went to Polderlicht last Friday evening. Polderlicht is a collective of artists performing and exhibiting with no special theme nor as part of a sponorship.

Videos, sound, light, it was all there and all was available for free.

At the CBK, which had late opening hours especially for this event, there was a very special installation. A photocamera would shoot every, like, 20 seconds, and people voluntarily posed in front of the lense.

All Photos were immediately shown, and as you can see: it would match all photos having a similar color swatch.

It makes a nice 52.

40 52 Selfishly Selfish, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 24th October, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

Went to see Granny this weekend. Had fun, food, a good laugh or two.

She’s getting older; I could tell from the moments she just forgot what she was about to say, but good thing is that she knows it herself. I keep on mocking her, but she only tells me to wait till I’m older myself. Forgetting things appears to be a part of the whole process of getting older. Oh well, by the time it happens to me, I probably won’t even remember her words myself.

She also asked me to drive her to the cemetery to clean up her late-husband’s last resort. It had dirt all over, but after giving it a good brush, it all looked mighty fine.

Just before we headed back to my car, I decided to get a 52 together with Granny. Here she is.

Weather was great untill late, but not good enough to go hunting for photos. Will have loads of opportunities later on this year.

Have a good week all!

39 52 Catching some Sun (and a Granny), originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 18th October, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

With all mobile uploads and photos on the net, I thought it’d be nice to shoot this weeks’ 52 and turn it into a fake-mobile phone pic. And with all the chromatic abberations and overexposure, I think I quite succeeded. I forgot to add noise, but the overall effect is clear.

Happy Sunday to y’all!

38 52 Mobile-fied, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 11th October, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

This time it’s a re-visit; Tazzina on Brouwersgracht.

This week they celebrated their 1st anniversary, congrats! Like last time, I really had to do the Hot Cocoa w/ Hazelnut bits in it. De-Licious! I thought that Perry might like some too. He did.

So, if you happen to be in the neighbourhood, go visit:

Tazzina
Brouwersgracht 139
Amsterdam

You won’t regret. Maybe you will gain a few pounds. Check out their apple pie too. I shouldn’t mention it, but have a quick look at the photo. Yum.

37 52 This is where you need to get your Hot Cocoa!, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 4th October, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

So, I had tickets to one of the Diana Krall concerts, which actually was excellent, and we stayed for a few days in Paris.

Recommended by Perry (merci!) we went to Ohlala!. Since it is an invaded restaurant, it seemed to be the perfect venue for a late supper and a 52.

The restaurant has this really cosy atmosphere, with Club Chairs, couches, velours (velvet), wood, leather, and colorful wall designs. Taking the table with the club chairs, we really had to get used to the fact of being seated low, while the diner table is at diner table height. But after a while we realised that having a course takes 10 minutes, while waiting (and chatting and sitting) takes more than 10 minutes – justifying the club chairs. Which were comfy too! The food also was a great treat, and we were lucky to have a discount that evening (a 3-course at 25? is not that expensive). And dining with a view on PA_XXX was a real treat.
Staff is helpful, polite and all in all it has been a great experience. Apparently they also have a sous-sol (basement) which can be hired for events AFTER having dinner, if you have a party of so. To me, it all started off very late, guests came in around 2130, and at 2300 it was busy. Not crowded at all, but busy enough to not have that eerie feeling (“is it us or is this place really that empty”)

If you happen to be in Paris, and you have no clue where to go for dinner:

OHLALA !
4, Rue Rampon
75011 PARIS

tel: 01 47 00 65 98
fax: 01 47 00 64 53

36 52 Ohlala!, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 20th September, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

Finally, after a bunch of unsuccessful attempts of meeting up, we finally managed in having our agendas match, and today, Sunday 13 September, we met after a long, loooong time. When I picked her up at metro Waterlooplein, we also met Leon, a friend of a friend, and later that day, I also met Mr. Meulman, a flickr contact living in Dublin, but over for a few days.

Back to us. We have known eachother since July 2001 and ever since we became friends. We’ve been through a lot of stages, each in his/her own life, and we’ve seen eachother grow into the individuals we are today.

We walked, talked, shot some pix (at least, I did), had fun, tough talks, tears and laughter, sun and rain, joy and pain. We acknowledged that being friends also means not being able to be in touch frequently, but every now and then is ok – as long as the intention is wholeheartedly sincere. Which is the case.

That’s why I want to dedicate this 52 entry to Thembi. Thank you for being a friend. Eight years passed by, and here’s to many more to come. Luv ya!

35 52 Amsterdam Elephant Parade Store Thembi and Me, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 13th September, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

This week’s entry is not about me, myself and I, but more about one of the mamals Mother Earths feeds: the Asian Elephant.

ELEPHANT PARADE AMSTERDAM
5 September – 31 October 2009

From September onwards, a hundred full size art elephants will swarm the streets of Amsterdam: together, they form a remarkable open-air exhibition, the Elephant Parade, that is dedicated to the Asian elephant. After the successful editions in Rotterdam and Antwerp, the exhibition in Amsterdam will be the largest so far.

The Elephant Parade is founded by father and son Mike and Marc Spits. With their project, they aim to raise attention for the Asian elephant, that is threatened with extinction. Their project has proven to be succesful: the first two editions of the Elephant Parade, held in Rotterdam and Antwerp, raised a total amount of over 700,000 euro. The benefits of the Elephant Parade are donated to the Elephant Family, the largest elephant charity in the world and was founded in 2002 by Mark Shand. He is a globetrotter, philantropist and writer and maker of the BBC documentary Queen of the Elephants.

Especially for the Elephant Parade Amsterdam, a tour is set out that will lead you along all the elephants that are located at several hotspots in the Amsterdam city centre: Museum Square, Spui, Westermarkt, Koningsplein, Kalvertoren?
(source: www.elephantparade.com)

ELEPHANT PARADE AMSTERDAM
5 september – 31 oktober 2009

Wat is Elephant Parade?

De Elephant Parade is een openluchttentoonstelling van kunstzinnig gedecoreerde olifanten. De levensgrote olifantenbeelden, te bewonderen op verschillende plaatsen in de binnenstad, zijn gedurende de tentoonstelling geadopteerd door bedrijven. Na afloop van de tentoonstelling worden ze teruggegeven voor veiling. De opbrengst van deze veiling komt ten goede aan de Elephant Family, een stichting die zich inzet voor het behoud van de Aziatische olifant.

(bron: www.elephantparade.nl)

Care to see them all? Just follow the map.

34 52 Elephant Parade and Me, Myself and I, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 6th September, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

Although I consider myself to be progressive, I tend to be very conservative on some points. And here’s one:

I have always declared that my iPod is my mp3 player, I have a Canon 400D to shoot my photos with and that my Nokia 1100 – no matter how outdated or out of style – is my main means of texting/calling. Spending not more than ?10 a month on my prepaid, I thought nothing could beat my faithful Nokia 1100.

Much to my surprise I discovered an offer I just couldn’t refuse. A Nokia 6500 Slide that came along with a 50-minutes-all-in package at just ?10 a month. Ok, let’s see if it’s Quad-band compatible (or how to say that). Yes it is. I ordered it by phone and all was set. My prepaid-phone number was convertable to this package thing – so no need to inform ALL of my contacts that my phonenumber had changed.

Due to some miscommunication I received my phone a bit later than expected, my own fault so I won’t b!tch and moan about it.

Anyway, after finishing off my phone purchase, I decided to check what features my phone-to-be has.

Wow.

It comprises an mp3 player which also would play my iTuned tunes and downloads, and which could be used as a ringtone, a photo camera with specification that would even outsmart my first ever digital photo camera, BlueTooth, Push-to-Talk, email, w³ functionalities, and so on.

I went back to the website to see if any other phones were on offer, with less stuff cramped on it. Nope. It was the best deal, hmmmkay.

So, here’s a straight out of the camera pic, a selfie. Taken during a lunch break, next to the Kraanspoor, located in Amsterdam-Noord. No PhotoShop (other than to add this text and tags) modifications whatsoever.

So here it is, ladies and gentlemen, I have changed my mind completely.

And one of these days, do expect me to upload a selfie directly uploaded from my mp3photographycellphoneinternetvideocamerathingy. But for now, I need to read the manual first, as I have no flickring clue how to send a photo to flickr.

52 32 Mobility Check, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 23rd August, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy

This week’s 52 is live and direct from Le Capital d’Amour: Paris. Erh, I mean, the photo is. I’m already back in Amsterdam.

Like any other year, I try to spend my birthday in Paris, and this year I succeeded again in arranging for it to be so.

Before even travelling to Paris, I knew there were a lot of locations and events to have my 52 done. La Tour Eiffel, Montmartre, l’Arc de Triomphe, Museé du Louvre, Museé d’Orsay, Seine, one of the bridges across the Seine, just to name a few.

This time I decided to take the shot at another Tourist Trap: Galeries Lafayette. Cool. The dome inside or the flocks of tourists would create a great backdrop. But then I realised that flocks of tourists could come between me and setting up the shot. That’s why this one, in front of the Galeries is this week’s 52.

Je vous-souhaite une bon Dimanche! À toute à l’heure, mes amis.

31 52 Paris Grands Boulevards Galeries Lafayette, originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 16th August, 2009 — ©Stewart Leiwakabessy