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Looking for Emagica Media Services? Click [here]. News Flash / Weblog / Personal Rantings! With weblog help from Pitas.com [old news] Friday, July 16, 2010 - 04:26 a.m. Abroad Folks, I'm finally travelling. Read part one of my vist to New York City here :) - Emagica Friday, May 21, 2010 - 09:10 p.m. The Lady is a Tramp "You gotta treat the Lady as a Tramp and the Tramp as a Lady." - Emagica Friday, May 21, 2010 - 08:57 p.m. How Little we Know How Little I Knew... - Emagica Friday, February 26, 2010 - 06:48 p.m. I've Got You Under My Skin Under My Skin, but this time with the Big Band version backing track. - Emagica Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 01:01 p.m. If You Were My Woman And yet another experiment :) - Emagica Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 12:58 p.m. Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town Hope you folks will like it :) - Emagica Sunday, February 7, 2010 - 09:04 p.m. I've got the jazzy shizzle under my skin! Wow, it really is a new entry on the website o.O I though it was dead! I recorded a first test run to check out if I can sing or not. You can listen to it here (right click, save as...) or check it out in the music section :) The actual band is from the Hal Leonard play along series, the vocals and trombone are unedited one take recordings, so not perfect, and I now know for future recordings how to prevent the audio-pops (Doh). Anyway. I hope you like it :) - Emagica Monday, February 5, 2007 - 03:03 p.m. Omathene - Emagica Monday, January 22, 2007 - 08:16 p.m. Emagica the Moviestar! *cough cough* Finally! My 5 seconds of fame! With this I'll conquer the world!!! Muahahahahaha... Download movie. (right click -> "save as...") Anyhoo... I'm the guy that ends up with the Rolls. Last but not least, on some pc's it won't show because of missing codecs, that can be solved by downloading and installing the K-Lite codec pack. (right click -> "save as...") Enjoy! - Emagica Friday, May 26, 2006 - 11:05 p.m. Bim Huis all over :D Once more with feeling! Sunday May 28th (my big bro's b'day) at 14:30 the Jazz Focus Big Band and guest starring Benjamin Herman on Alto Saxophone. 8 Euro's to get in to the Bim Huis. Be there early or you'll find there's no more space. (I suppose I should mention that the Jazz Juniors and Jazz Mania are playing there too, but they are really not all that important *snicker*). - Emagica Friday, March 10, 2006 - 06:53 p.m. Yet another great gig Sunday (March 12th) at 14:30, The JazzFocus Big Band (and yours truly) will be playing at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam. The entrance fee is . 8,- Hope to see you there. - Emagica Saturday, February 4, 2006 - 11:55 a.m. Apology I'd like to apologize to my visitors. The web-service I used for logging visitors and creating my visitor statistics, turned out to cause pop-up ads to appear on my site. :/ I pulled the plug on that service, so my site is once more pop-up free :) - Emagica Wednesday, December 7, 2005 - 02:28 p.m. Sneaknacht That's right. The JazzFocus Big Band is gonna play at the Sneaknacht again. This time, the event is hosted at Ekko. It'll start at 20:00 on Thursday December 15th, but we will be playing at 20:40. 7 Euros and 50 cents entrance fee for an evening packed with music, theater, cabaret and lord knows what. Haven't checked yet if I'll be able to put ppl on the guest list... but hey 7,50 isn't that big a deal. See y'all then? - Emagica Sunday, November 6, 2005 - 01:48 p.m. Gefeliciteerd :) Kon het niet laten *G* - Emagica Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 07:51 p.m. Birthday (Yayness!) Yup folks! It's that time of the year again and to celebrate the 26th anniversary of my puny little existence, I'll be hosting a little party on Saturday January 29th. If you feel like dropping in, be my guest... but please give me a call, so I know how many will be coming... If you don't have my phone number... that'd mean that you're probably not invited. :p Ciao ciao, - Emagica Friday, November 26, 2004 - 02:29 p.m. Guestbook RIP I removed the guestbook from my site. Spam advertisers had found it and kept spamming it. I'm tired of cleaning up their junk. Also the guestbook was buggy... it ate up messages and duplicated others... Ironically enough it never ate the spam messages... Too hard to digest? Anyhoo... for all those lovely people out there that did leave a kind message on my website... do not worry... I still have them all stored in my mailbox and I cherish every single one of them. Now... how about this... if my assumption is correct that you do make a nice profit from harasing people... why not kick all the people that never bought anything through your spam messages out of your databases... and keep focusing on that 0.0001 percent of the internet population that keeps you alive? You'll be happier because you won't need better systems to mass-email to more users and keep making ridiculously large databases... (read: less equipment = saving money = more profit), your... *ahem* "loyal" customers will still be happy to get your *ahem* "great offers" and us... the people that have absolutely nooo interest in Valium, Xanax, Viagra, Penis enlargement, Breast growth, Mortgages, Instant Scholarships, Three-headed monkeys... no wait... I take that back... I'd love to have a three-headed monkey (thanks LucasArts :p)... anyhoo... my point is... we would not feel harased by you folks anymore and it would be a win-win-win situation! Just think about the amazing possibilities?! - Emagica Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 12:20 a.m. Triplet Though kept very busy working on my Nanowrimo project, it is also the cause for some inspiration: - Added my Star Wars Galaxies sig. - Added 'Goth Elf Nicole'. - Added an illustration of one of my Nanovelle's characters: 'Nekoko'. Tadah! :) - Emagica Saturday, November 6, 2004 - 02:24 a.m. Happy Birthday! Yes, you! You know who you are :) I hope you have a fantastic day :D - Emagica Sunday, July 25, 2004 - 07:10 p.m. Site Update I just finished doing a small update to the site. Changes in this version: - Removed the "Chat" section - Created a Photo Archive - Added a Webcam snapshot Archive Enjoy! :) - Emagica Friday, June 11, 2004 - 05:35 p.m. Spam from Japan :D Today is a historical day. It is the first time I was actually amused by a spam mail. When I checked my inbox this morning I noticed I had a mail in Japanese from someone. Thrilled as I was due to my interests in the Japanese language, I opened it and started deciphering it (as I'm by far not good enough to simply read it) and to my surprise it was a lovely spam message advertising Japanese porn. Well... you gotta hand it to those people that they at least use targeted advertising. Apparently someone took the trouble to check whether or not I could actually read the message *g* Let's just hope that it will be the first and the last time I'll receive Japanese spam. I'd much more like to spend my time on deciphering Japanese from someone that really has something to say ;) - Emagica Tuesday, June 8, 2004 - 04:22 p.m. Some news and a minor update. For those not aware. The band I'm in (JazzFocus Big Band) Competed in the Dutch Big Band Contest (Last May 31st) and in the World Music Concourse (Last June 6th). I'm terribly sorry to announce that we didn't even make the 2nd prize in both contests... instead we had to settle for FIRST PLACE! :D A whole other matter... after a lot of messing around with this news page I finally managed to make sure that the correct Japanese characters are displayed in Michel's Tokyo Impressions. Read them below (Warning, if Dutch is not your strong point, you might want to wait for the English translation). - Emagica Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 07:52 p.m. Tokyo Impressions (cont.) Tango, Bunpo en Kanji Dagelijks wordt de Japanse woordenschat (tango), grammatica (bunpo) en de karakters (kanji) er door de leraressen ingestampt. Dagelijks vraag ik mij ook af hoe lang ik hier nog mee door kan gaan. Het tempo heeft een echte Aziatische snelheid aangenomen en dat is niet in het voordeel van beginners. Maar, toegegeven, het is de enige en beste manier om Japans te verwerven. De grammatica vormen die we leren zijn soms wel wat teveel van het goede in mijn ogen. Hoewel ik onderken dat het woord "moeten" belangrijk is, lukt het mij niet om na de werkwoordsvervoeging vloeiend "nakerebanarimasen" toe te voegen. En niet zoals het hier eenvoudig in het Romaans is op te lezen, maar in hiragana ȂȂ܂, beter nog in kanji (geen idee!). Over kanji gesproken, de oorspronkelijk uit China overgenomen en aangepaste karakter tekeningetjes, een paar leuke combinaties die ik niet wil onthouden zijn (en ik nu voor de Grote Kanji test op maandag aan het leren ben): Zondag, maandag, vuurdag, waterdag, houtdag, gouddag en natuurlijk aardedag. Licht + donker = helder Rijstveld + kracht = man Man + boom = rust (pauze, vakantie) Kind + vrouw = liefde Kind + dak = school Vrouw + dak = goedkoop (!) Zon + roots = Japan Japanners zijn de mensen, niet te verwarren met de niet-eilandbewoners, dat zijn de buitenaardse wezens: aliens. Vorige maand heb ik dan ook met trots mijn alien-card opgehaald bij het gemeentehuis in Kunitachi. Maar ik kan er mooi 2 jaar in dit indrukwekkende en complexe land mee vertoeven. Tot slot de getallen die in je in de oude isakaya in Kanji tegenkomt - geen cijfers maar kleine tekeningetjes dus: @@O@l@܁@Z@@@ Lijkt wellicht eenvoudig, maar negen lijkt erg veel op man (10.000) dus de rekening in de Isakaya kan nog wel eens onverwacht hoog oplopen! Voor beginners, zie ook de links sectie op de website voor de Kanji site. Michel's stories will continue soon. - Emagica Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 07:47 p.m. Tokyo Impressions (cont.) Op het Japanse kantoor De film Stupeur et Tremblements gezien? Toen ik deze film met mijn vriendin Naoko in de filmzaal zag, bleek meteen dat we met onze Nederlandse en Japanse cultuur toch niet zoveel naar elkaar gegroeid waren als we beiden dachten. De film beschrijft de werkdagen van een Belgische vrouw op een kantoor in Japan (zie dit NRC artikel.), dat door cultuurverschillen uitmond in een regelrechte hel voor de hoofdpersoon. Zij moet de eerste drie jaar secretaressewerk doen voordat ze kan doorstromen. Haar collega is hier eindelijk van verlost en geniet ervan dat Amelie nu eindelijk alle klusjes kan doen. De hirarchie, inflexibiliteit en de minachting voor de westerse manieren was in mijn ogen stuitend, terwijl Naoko van mening was dat de onbeholpen botte en respectloze werkwijze van Amelie in de film onacceptabel was. Zij moet zich aanpassen aan de Japanse bedrijfscultuur. Het kan aan de ondertiteling hebben gelegen, maar ik heb toch sterk de indruk dat hier nog diepe cultuurverschillen te overwinnen zijn. Ik moest aan deze film denken nu ze net als vele Japanners een kantoorbaan in het centrum van Tokyo heeft gevonden. De sneltrein van Tatchikawa zit rond acht uur bomvol, maar niemand die eens later dan strikt negen uur denkt te beginnen, of een uur vroeger. Negen uur is negen uur, en altijd voor negen uur aankomen, nooit een paar minuten te laat. Sterker nog, de werkgevers bepalen in veel bedrijven ook de wijze waarop je naar je werk komt en betalen de trein of metro. En net als het aanvangstijdstip, vind ook iedereen dit logisch. Treinen rijden hier altijd op tijd en met de auto, scooter of de fiets weet je dat maar nooit. Toch lijken er wel wat haarscheurtjes in het collectieve en hirarchische denken te komen. Ik las in de Japan Times dat de nieuwe generatie freshmen op de kantoren kritisch gevolgd worden. Een werknemer bijvoorbeeld, waagde het om met de brommer naar het werk te gaan, ook al had zijn baas dat afgeraden (Japanse manier van verbieden). Nadat hij op de derde dag te laat kwam door een ongeluk, en zijn baas hem wees op de eenzijdige afspraken, pakte hij pardoes zijn koffer en liet het kantoor achter zich. Naoko gaat een eind mee in de traditionele bedrijfscultuur en pakt dus dagelijks de trein. De eerste weken is ze vooral bezig met kopieerwerk en papieren op de juiste manier leren invullen voordat ze kan doorstromen naar het werk waarvoor ze is aangenomen advieswerk voor ondernemingen. Met recht een andere inwerkcultuur als ik zelf bij de consultants gewend was (met alle voordelen en nadelen van dien). More Michel's Stories will follow, stay tuned. - Emagica Saturday, May 29, 2004 - 07:41 p.m. Tokyo Impressions (cont.) Japan is een spannend contrast van eeuwenoude tradities - zoals theeceremonies, sushi en hierarchische omgangsvormen en nieuwe technologische snufjes die bij de consumenten gretig aftrek vinden. Regelmatig verbaas ik me hier over nieuwe uitvindingen, die een paar jaar later pas in Europa doordringen. In navolging van De Bie's "apparaten die ik nog heb gekend" (vpro.bieslog.nl) op deze website: "Apparaten Die Ik Reeds Heb Ontdekt:" 1. Videofunctie en camera op de mobiele telefoon. Niet zozeer dit gegeven is bijzonder, wel de bereikte kwaliteit van 1 megapixel vergelijkbaar met mijn oude digitale Casio. Camera kan dus altijd thuisblijven. In Japan is er wel een wettelijk voorschrift voor een geluidje als je de foto neemt, om vrouwen te behoeden voor ongewenste fotos uit vreemde posities van hentai mannen. 2. Het snoerloze strijkijzer. Naoko kon niet geloven dat ik in Amsterdam strijk met een (altijd veel te kort) snoer. Ik kon niet geloven dat er snoerloze strijkijzers zijn. 3. De snoerloze stofzuiger. Daar waar ik uitkeek naar de snoerloze strijkbout, zat er bij de eerste aanschaf toch een snoer aan dat naar het stopcontact leidde. Om dit te compenseren lobbyde ik voor de snoerloze stofzuiger. Goh, nooit aan gedacht dat dit het leven zoveel makkelijker zou maken. 4. Geen apparaat, wel erg grappig en handig voor blinden: ingebouwde muziekjes bij voetgangersoversteekplaatsen en op de perrons voor de trein. Als de componist hiervan buma rechten heeft, dan kan hij of zij een paleis naast de keizer laten bouwen. Zelf speel ik met de gedachte om de muziekjes op te nemen en als nieuwe ringtones op internet aan te bieden. Michel is still going to be in Japan for a while, so stay tuned for his stories. - Emagica Friday, May 14, 2004 - 05:03 p.m. Tokyo Impressions part 1 - Emagica Monday, May 10, 2004 - 03:37 p.m. Gigs! Yup it's that time of the year again. The band I'm playing in (Jazz Focus Big Band) has some gigs coming up again and that's always fun. - Mon May 31st, the Dutch national Big Band Concourse at Enschede (of all places) - Sun June 6th, World Big Band Concourse at Kerkrade (of all places) - Middle of June, gig at the Bimhuis Amsterdam and a gig at the Amsterdam Vondelpark stage, stay tuned for details :D - Emagica Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - 04:34 p.m. RANT!!! To set the record straight :/ This is a rant ladies and gentlemen. A rant against every idiot in the world that ever even considered creating a virus. A rant specifically dedicated towards the person(s) responsible for creating the Netsky worm. Thou art despicable! I feel much better now :D Why this rant? A great deal of people have received an e-mail containing the Netsky.P worm, but that's not all. It seems as if Emagica.net has been the sender of some of these mails. For those people not familiar with the Netsky virus... It spoofs the "from address". If you wonder what spoofing means in this case... it means the from address is being faked, forged, tampered with, replaced with deceitful information, not being displayed according to reality... Erhmm... I hope you get the picture *G* Please send your complaints about this virus to the real sender, not to us as we are not responsible. You can find the sending machine's information in the header of any e-mail. Use that information to tell the real sender that he or she is infected and stop buggin' us. Thank you ever so kindly. One last note to whomever got infected and had our E-mail addresses in their Outlook Address book: I've got three words for you... ANTI VIRUS SOFTWARE!!! *sigh* You can find information about the Netsky.P worm here. - Emagica Friday, March 19, 2004 - 04:48 a.m. Major Update! :D I just finished doing a major update on the site. Changes in this version: - New animated intro logo - New drawing "Lorie Elena Santi" - New drawing "The Stormrock Girls - Descriptions added to all drawings - 21 new drafts - Several drafts replaced with better scans - Updated version of the "1st Sergeant Ford" Drawing - Updated version of the "Bloody Ayfara/Natasha" drawing And last but not least. Better HTML coding *G* Enjoy! :) - Emagica Saturday, February 7, 2004 - 04:48 p.m. Lanparty Live! Lanparty yada yada yada... games yada yada... kewl yada yada... nerd yada yada.... NARF!!!! :D - Emagica Monday, February 2, 2004 - 05:32 p.m. Elfwood Revisited The Elfwood Project has just undergone a serious make-over done by it's founding father Thomas and might be very much worth while of your time, even if you never saw the old version, just go over there and check it out! Oh and... while you're at it you might as well check my Elfwood gallery as well as it recently got updated *g* The Elfwood Project My Elfwood Gallery - Emagica Sunday, January 25, 2004 - 02:01 a.m. Afterparty Live! Oh Yeah, if you really have nothing better to do, you can now see the last few hours of my birthday party, be prepared for sad scenes ;) - Emagica Monday, January 12, 2004 - 01:54 a.m. Sneak Preview Revisited - Emagica Saturday, January 10, 2004 - 12:18 a.m. Sneak Preview - Emagica Wednesday, December 17, 2003 - 05:38 p.m. Emagica goes mobile (aka Emagica Nerd Project #1) I decided Emagica should go Mobile and so I nerded away until a new page was born. For all of you that have a mobile phone that can browse the internet I have created The Mobile Realm Of Emagica. There you can view several sketches and drawings for you viewing pleasure, feel free to download them if you wish to use them as backgrounds for your mobile phone :) Enjoy. Note that the page is made to be viewed with a mobile phone and therefore will only look like a mini version of the current site ;) - Emagica Monday, December 8, 2003 - 07:20 p.m. Emagica's Sketchy Journals - Episode 2 - Emagica Friday, December 2, 2003 - 01:22 a.m. Emagica's Sketchy Journals - Episode 1 - Emagica Thursday, November 6, 2003 - 03:49 p.m. Gig in Utrecht If you just happen to be in the vicinity of Utrecht, the Netherlands ;) you might wanna check out the Caf Meander tonight. I'll be playing there with the JazzFocus Big Band on the special event called "de Sneaknacht" It's 5 Euro's admittance costs and the program will start around 20:00. Caf Meander is situated at the Mariaplaats 42. It's gonna be fun :) - Emagica Wednesday, November 5, 2003 - 10:36 a.m. At the Floris Movie Set... Last Friday (October 31st) I just happened to be at the set for the new movie Floris and I was able to take a few simple pictures of the set and the surroundings, just to give an impression on what things are like on a set like that. You can view them: here. - Emagica Thursday, October 23, 2003 - 08:12 p.m. On the move As some of you may or may not know, I recently moved to a new home and consequently my presence on-line, was somewhat diminished :/ Even though I've been living in my new house now for quite a while it took me an unusual long time to set things up again (like the webcam for example *grin*). On the bright side, I have finally found the blasted thing and it's humming away nicely now :D So it looks like you can admire my ugly mug quite a bit more often again ;) - Emagica Wednesday, April 16, 2003 - 04:04 p.m. Strange ppl roam the woods... Sometimes it happens that lots of people dress up strangely and act as if they are the main characters of an epical fantasy story. Some play the good guys, some play the bad guys and they all get medieval on each others asses. This is called LARP (Live Action Role Playing) and I was invited to join such a LARP event. This particular LARP was called Shiverz (part 3 in the series) and I had the opportunity to take some photo's while I was there. You can view them: here. - Emagica | |
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