Now, it’s not easy to arrange a car-free day in a city where driving is vigorously encouraged and where people still take their car to get bread around the corner, even if the car is parked further away (USE-IT).

A car-free day is a good idea, so why not expand it? After seeing how much people enjoy this event every year, it’s hard to comprehend why many people are so addicted to cars. It’s a learned behaviour, of course. Organising a day like this is a good step, but it’s not enough.

Belgium is also a country where in 2008 people are still allowed to poison the air in bars with tobacco smoke. Sad but true. Maybe we should start having smokefree Sundays too, to see how wonderful it can be?

There’s only one thing I hate more than the “hockey arena sound”: the sound of the bass drum in a hockey arena. I never considered Paul Simon as a hockey arena act, but that’s what it sounded, unfortunately. Why mix Paul Simon like a rock band (in a hockey arena)? Anyway, I enjoyed it as much as I could, without hearing the nuances. That recognizable voice was there from the start.

The setlist was a mixture of old and new songs, obviously. I remember when I saw U2 in Helsinki in 1997, many people reacted strongly to their ’80s stuff, and when they played songs from the Pop album, the reaction was lame. A shame, because Pop is U2’s best album by far. I don’t like what they did in the ’80s… Well, the same happened at Paul Simon’s concert: all that Simon & Garfunkel and early Paul Simon stuff got the greatest applause. No problem there, I pretty much like everything Paul has done during his long career, but still, I miss the Gadd, Tee & Brecker years.

But it’s never easy – not even with Ubuntu. I tried to configure ING Home’Bank application to access my bank account, and after a couple of hours I was ready to give up, until I found out other people had problems with it too. The good thing is that the community is always there to share the problems and to help.

I also bought a new camera, Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, and an mp3 player, Cowon iAudio7. I’m very happy with both of them: if you need an easy to carry SLR-like bridge camera (with 18 times optical zoom!) that takes good photos, this is what you need. As for the mp3 player, an 8 Gb iAudio7 is cheaper than iPod Nano, and it supports the file formats I need (namely OGG, FLAC, and mp3, of course).

In fact, it’s much more relaxing to take photos and listen to music than writing to blog (this is my third post this year) ;-)

Over the past couple of years, a number of JavaScript frameworks have been developed. Here’s a list of libraries that I’ve found:

• base2.DOM
• Dojo
• DOMAssistant
• Ext JS
• jQuery
• MochiKit
• moo.fx
• MooTools
• Prototype
• qooxdoo
• Rico
• script.aculo.us
• The Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI)
• SWFObject v2.0 (for embedding Flash content)
• Unobtrusive Flash Objects (UFO) v3.22 (for embedding Flash content)

Now, I don’t know yet which one I’ll use the most. And I need to better understand how JavaScript works. Robert Nyman’s DOMAssistant seems like a good start. Some other good resources include Roger Johansson’s article Choosing a JavaScript framework, and Chris Heilmann’s (the author of Beginning JavaScript with DOM Scripting and AJAX (Apress 2006)) the seven rules of Unobtrusive JavaScript.

Here’s a quote I like:

If you simply add a class to the body of the document using DOM you can easily offer a chance for a designer to define both the static and dynamic version of the document.

–Chris Heilmann, 2007

Simon Collison wrote an excellent piece, Two years on, here’s another rant about the state of blogging. A very refreshing read indeed. I might give Twitter or Tumblr a try, even if I can’t see myself using them extensively. But they might just be a solution to the time problem, while enhancing communication among colleagues and friends. I follow dozens of blogs every day (web design/development, news, upcoming concerts, tech stuff etc.) via RSS feeds on Google Reader. This keeps me updated, makes me think and gives me new ideas. But if I want to react, contribute, and develop those ideas further, I often just don’t have time or energy to do that (not on this website, that is). Nothing new here. Talking about information overload and time management. Backpack is a good tool, but I also need to go out more often.

To conclude this post, let me say that I’ve just started my new job as a Web Designer/Developer at a Belgian company. I’m happy to join them — a good start for 2008!

Messiaen’s monumental piano work, Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus (“Twenty Contemplations on the infant Jesus”), has been recorded many times before (Hakon Austbo, Yvonne Loriod (the composer’s wife) and Pierre-Laurent Aimard, to name just a few). I’ve heard Austbo’s and Aimard’s versions, and now there’s a new live recording of that work from Alba Records, performed by pianist Jaana Kärkkäinen. I’m promoting the CD here not only because she’s my sister ;-) but also because it’s a very good recording that captures the excitement and atmosphere of a live performance!

Helsingin Sanomat, the biggest subscription newspaper in the Nordic countries, selected that CD as one of the best recordings of 2007 (worldwide). You can buy the CD here.

Brussels restaurants by cuisine

Belgian/French

• Le Khnopff, 1, Rue Saint Bernard, 1060 Brussels
• Restaurant de la Bonne Humeur, 244, Chaussée de Louvain, 1000 Brussels. The best mussels I’ve ever tasted.
• Met Jeaninne, 152/154, Avenue d’Auderghem, 1040 Brussels. Good fondue.
• Belgo Belge, 20, Rue de la Paix, 1050 Brussels
• Le Bretagne, 13, Rue du Champ de Mars, 1050 Ixelles
• Restaurant Saint Boniface, 9, Rue Saint-Boniface, 1050 Brussels
• Les Salons de L’Atalaïde, 89, Chaussée de Charleroi, 1060 Brussels
• La Maison des Crepes, 13, Rue du Midi, 1000 Brussels

Cuban

• La Cantina Cubana, 6, Rue des Grands Carmes, 1000 Brussels

Ethiopian

• Kokob, 10, Rue des Grands Carmes, 1000 Brussels

Greek

• L’Atlantide, 73, Rue Franklin, 1000 Brussels
• Plateia Aristotelous, 2, Place des Gueux, 1000 Brussels

Indo-Pakistanese

• Passage to India, 223, Chaussée de Louvain, 1210 Brussels
• Star of India, 175, Chaussée de Louvain, 1210 Brussels
• Indus Valley, 37, Place Saint-Géry, 1000 Brussels

Italian

• La Brace, 1, Rue Franklin, 1040 Brussels

Japanese

• Miyuki, 68, Boulevard Général Jacques, 1050 Brussels
• Izaka-Ya, 123, Chaussée de Vleurgat, 1000 Brussels
• Take Sushi, 21, Boulevard Charlemagne, 1000 Brussels
• Mitsui, 86, Rue du Prévot, 1050 Brussels
• Sakura, 1, Rue du Pont de la Carpe, 1000 Brussels
• Momotaro, 106, Avenue d’Auderghem, 1040 Brussels
• Hama-Shin, 272, Chaussée d’Ixelles, 1050 Brussels
• Yamayu Santatsu, 141, Chaussée d’Ixelles, 1050 Brussels

Kebab/Grill

• Chez Emir (Turkish Kebab House), 228, Chaussée de Louvain, 1000 Brussels
• Brussels Grill
• Nemrud, 216, Chaussée de Louvain, 1030 Brussels

Korean

• Seoul, 14, Rue Capitaine Crespel, 1050 Brussels

Lebanese

• Al Barmaki 67, Rue des Eperonniers, 1000 Brussels
• Reve d’Orient (Service Traiteur), 142, Rue des Deux Eglises, 1210 Brussels

Moroccan — Maghrib

• Le p’tit Chouia en+, 38, Rue de la Pacification, 1000 Brussels
• La Kasbah, 20, Rue Avenue Dansaert, 1000 Brussels
• Le Palais des Délices, 13, Place Saint-Josse, 1210 Brussels (Saint-Josse-ten-Noode)

Spanish/Tapas

• Tapas Locas, 74, Rue Marché aux Charbons, 1000 Brussels

Thai/Vietnamese

• Les Larmes du Tigre, 21, Rue de Wynants, 1000 Brussels
• Le 2me Élément, 7, Rue Saint-Boniface, 1050 Brussels
• Saigon-Bangkok, 36, Rue de la Pacification, 1210 Brussels (Saint-Josse-ten-Noode)
• Vietnam Express, 24, Rue de la Paix, 1050 Brussels

Belgian essentials

Fritkots

• Chez Martin, Place Madou (Saint-Josse-ten-Noode). The best friterie in Brussels and in the world! Period. Ask for sauce mafia, and you’ll be in heaven.

Beer shops

• Le Bier Circus, 57, Rue de l’Enseignement, 1000 Brussels
• Beer Mania, 174-176, Chaussée de Wavre, 1050 Brussels

It goes without saying that there are countless other good — and better — restaurants in Brussels that are not mentioned here. Go find out yourself! Bon appétit! Smakelijk!

Most of these concerts took place outside Brussels. Now, is that just a coincidence? Or is it a consequence of a lack of money, concert venues, or interest on the part of arts management people in Brussels? I don’t know, but I do think Belgium is a good country to live in, when it comes to cultural activities :-)

The photos are from Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France (indescribable), North Karelia region in Eastern Finland (one of my favourite places in Finland) and Barcelona and its surroundings. Barcelona — the city of Antoni Gaudí­ i Cornet — is an amazing place, with the Eixample district designed with a strict grid pattern, cut by wide avenues diagonally. Surrounding small towns and beaches are nice too, especially Sitges, Castelldefels and Ocata.

See photos by tags: Chamonix, Finland, Barcelona

That’s all for now. I’m thinking of buying a new camera, but I’m not yet sure which one — Canon G9? Having a new toy might even encourage me to teach myself the basics of digital photography. If only I had the time!

This weekend I went through most of my old photos (mostly from holidays) taken during the last 2–3 years (all taken with a Sony DSC-W1 digital camera). I selected some 100 shots that I liked the most, and started uploading them. Feel free to go and see for yourself!

Photo sets (Riviera, Gothenburg, Helsingborg)

By tags (Belgium, Berlin, Paris)

More photos to come

Over the next coming days, I’ll upload some more photos. Take a look at the thumbnails below; these photos are taken in Barcelona, Chamonix and Finland.