In the celebrities' corner

It was busy at the Rembrandts yesterday. As dinner was not included for mere mortals like us, Levi and I paid the Burger King a visit before we went to the event hosted by Film1 at the Escape. It was funny: standing in line to order a Whopper, dressed to the nines.

As we arrived the red carpet was just being used by a few Dutch celebrities, among which the wellknown writer Kluun, whose first book "Komt een Vrouw bij de dokter" (English title: "Love Life") was made into a movie and nominated for no less than five Rembrandts this year.

Once inside we were offered cocktails that were sure to put hair on your chest and Levi and I had fun spotting the celebrities. Linda de Mol, gameshow host turned actress was there. As was Barry Atsma, who was competing against himself in the category Best Dutch Actor, as he was nominated twice (once for "Komt een vrouw bij de dokter" and once for "De Storm"). The director of "Komt een vrouw bij de dokter" was also present: soap actor turned mediatycoon, turned director Reinout Oerlemans.

And the winner is...
When the time came for the big ceremony, everyone thronged together in the Escape's largest room. Levi and I kept moving forward until we were right next to the stage, in front of the speakers (in clubs and at parties it is always the best place to be!). There was room to breathe here. Coincidentally, we were right behind Kluun, director Oerlemans and his cast, and rockgroup Kane was on our left.

Host René Mioch was a rather self-important, pompous man, who loves to drop names left and right. He made it a habbit to ask inane questions to actors and directors alike. As these were people's choice awards the nominations were at times surprising, if not to say grotesque.

People's choice
The people saw fit to nominate the familyfilm "SpangaS op survival" in the category Best Dutch Film. Also nominated was Robert Pattinson in the category Best Foreign Actor. Two of the three nominees for Best DVD Release were laughable, as was the winner in the category Best Foreign Actress: Sandra Bullock for her leading role in The Proposal. Sometimes the people just have bad taste. It's not that I do not like these films or these actors, but they are not the 'Best' of any category, to be sure.

Not surprisingly "Komt een vrouw bij de dokter" won the most awards. Levi and I skipped the Bols cocktail event after the ceremony, received a goodiebag at the exit (filled mostly with dvds and a small bottle of Genever, thanks to the sponsor, obviously) and went to Tuschinski to go see Alice. An entertaining evening!

photo by All Access, courtesy of www.film1.nl

Rembrandt Awards in Amsterdam

Tonight the Rembrandt Awards are being handed out in the Escape at the Rembrandtsquare in Amsterdam. The Rembrandts are a kind of Dutch people's choice awards. First there are drinks, then there's a ceremony, hosted by René Mioch. Afterwards we have tickets for a private screening of Alice in Wonderland in Tuschinski. Dutch celebrities and big honchos of the movie industry are attending the event in the Escape, as am I with Levi.

We've never been to the Rembrandts and we can take or leave our celebrities, but it seems like a fun thing to do and it would be a shame to let the guestlistplaces we've been given go to waste. Ironically, the thing we're looking forward to the most, is seeing Alice in Wonderland.

Shops for creative people with 'beadie' eyes

Once a year I get the urge for a creative undertaking. Usually sometime in the months leading up to Christmas, when it's cold outside and there is more pleasure to be had staying in. With the winter taking as long as it is this year, I am now on my second creative urge. This time I had a great idea for a bracelet for my girlfriends and I went shopping for charms and leather in Amsterdam today.

First I went to Lucie's in the very centre of Amsterdam, where I've been a few times before. The girls there are friendly and they have a nice (albeit modest, but the shop is very small) selection. Lucie's was however unexplicably closed, eventhough I checked the opening times twice.

I then visited Beadies in the Nine Little Streets. I spent quite some time selecting different charms. Seven was the magic number and the symbols I picked include hearts (love, joy and protection from evil spells), keys (luck, ability to look ahead, improve judgement), stars (success and health) and more.

Beadies is a small, but charming shop. There are beads and charms everywhere, in jars on every surface, and in big drawers in old wooden cabinets. There is a table where you can spend time assembling your purchases into earrings, necklaces or bracelets. It is not a bad idea to do this, as the shop provides tools for the purpose and if you've forgotten an item, you can buy it at the spot (it's easy to forget to buy a clasp for your necklace, when you're rummaging through the drawers for the perfect bead).

The selection of cords and leathers is small at Beadies. So after I paid my king's ransom for the charms I'd picked, I visited Coppenhagen on the Rozengracht. This store is about three times the size of either one of the previous shops. There are hundreds and hundreds of jars filled with beads in every colour. The selection seems dizzying. But I came for the basics, and here I was able to get the leather and the cord in the colours I wanted.

I'll post a picture of the end result when I'm done with the first one!

Lucie's
St Luciensteeg 22
1012 PM Amsterdam
http://www.kralen-enzo.com/home/

Beadies
Huidenstraat 6
1016ES Amsterdam
http://www.beadies.nl/

Coppenhagen
Rozengracht 54
1016 ND Amsterdam
http://coppenhagenbeads.nl/

Guilty pleasure by the kitchen sink

Standing in the small space between our front door and our living room, the space that passes for our kitchen, eating potato chips straight from the bag I think to myself: "Life just doesn't get any better than this."

The past few weeks have been insanely busy. And when things get like this, sometimes I have to indulge myself. I bought myself some flowers the other day and today I am granting myself this.

You know when you were little and your mom wouldn't let you have any snacks after four pm, because you would spoil your appetite? I am living with the grown-up equivalent of that. For some reason, Levi does not see the point of having potato chips before dinner. To him, potato chips are for during a movie, and are definitely not to be had before evening. He just doesn't understand.

Me, I think you have to enjoy your potato chips when you can. Why delay when you have a craving? So I stand by the kitchen sink, dig into my bag of Lays (really, the only brand worth having, no other brand is as golden, as crisp, as wafer thin and tastes as good) and thoroughly enjoy my guilty pleasure in the afternoon, right before Levi gets home from work.

It's not like he would berate me if he caught me, I am a grown woman after all. But I just like doing this thing for myself, allowing myself this little pleasure. In all honesty, maybe it tastes better knowing he would not approve.