A Monster called Dutch Pancake!

I have always enjoyed Dutch pancakes; little sweat, tasty, so nice to have it in the afternon with a little honey. But yesterday something very exceptional happened in the center of Amsterdam.

Look at the photo! It was served in a cafe in Leidseplein. I did not like that. So big + a lot of cream... not tasty either.

I always knew that we should not go to cafes or resturants in very crowded areas such as Central Station district, Dam or Leideseplein but it was an advice by an American friend who was vsiting Amsterdam for few days.

Anyway stick on the small local cafes for a nice Dutch pancake! Just my advice! :)

Photo Gallery: Amsterdam Gay Pride 2015

Dutch People Are Cute and Funny!

Huge crowd by the river Amstel @ Amsterdam Gay Pride 2015:

 This year, Dutch Ministry of Defense also had a boat in the pride :)

Morgenland Festival | Bimhuis | Amsterdam | July 2015 :: Photo Gallery

This year (2015) the German-based Morgenland Festival presented its programs in Amsterdam as well. The concerts took place at Bimhuis for three nights (16-17-18 July) and specially first and third night's events were warmly received by the audience.
But I missed Middle Eastern music in this festival which is going to be focused on Middle Eastern music! I will explay more later.

KAYHAN KALHOR's performance was the most authenic part of the festival. This legendary maestro of Persian music and kamancheh recently has performed a lot of concerts in the Netherlands; one of the latest ones was the project "BACH IN PERSIA" with Dutch Wind Ensemble (NBE).

Cemil Qoçgiri played tanbur at the festival. I think not enough time was given to him to present his work. He was born in Germany and becauase of his name I think he has Turkish background. I could hear from the sound of his instrument that he is grown up outside the Middle East.

In the second night of the festival, the jazz pianist from Azerbaijan Salman Gambarov and his German colleague Florian Weber performed an entertaining program. The begining was quite long and then at the end they tried to turn their pianistic dialogue to a kind of commedy show which was intresting for the audience.
I was so eager to hear some melodies from the beautiful music of Azerbaijan by Gambarov but did not perform anything related to his homeland. Actually in my opinion at least 80% of the festival content was in the framework of improvised jazz music, not to the music of the Middle East and it was a bit disappointing for me because the title of the festival is Morgenland.
It seems most of the musicians at the festical were just interested to do strange things instead of transfering the real essence of music to the people.

KINAN AZMEH, a briliant musician from Syria. He was really the star of the festival. The skilful clarinestist was playing with lots of emotion. On Youtube I also find a piece that Kinan is performing with Morgenland Chamber Orchestra in Germany. Unfortunately the name of the composer is not mentioned there but anyway it's magical piece and performance. You may watch it HERE.

A huge part of the festival had been given to AYNUR. I really did not like her voice. She was screaming a lot and even once I had to use my hands to cover my ears! Anyway it seems she is the festival organizers' favorite!

IBRAHIM KEIVO was the most energic part of the festival. The Syrian singer had a powerful charecter and also sense of humor. He was singing and dancing with lots of emotions and created a fantastic communication with the audience. I heard from Syrian friends that Ibrahim Keivo is very popular in Syria.
A few minuets of his performance at Bimhuis can be seen in the below video:

Photos of Maz Jobrani's Great Show in Amsterdam

Maz (Maziar) Jobrani is a talented Persian American comedian.

On 6th May 2014 he had a great show in Amsterdam's Meervaart Theater (which you can see its pics) and on 8 & 10 May he will be in Tilburg and Groningen.

More Info in the LINK

Maziar has been known as the Persian Pink Panther. He makes joke of both Persian and American culture is his shows. His Amsterdam event was sold-out!

Ice Skating in front of Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

Amsterdam in a great city for vacation and Rijksmuseum, the greatest national musuem of Holland is a must-see place in AMS. 

In these days more and more people are visiting the Dutch capital because of the Christmas. In Museumplein thousands of people attend Rijksmuseum everyday and many also skate on ice in front of the museum.

Persian Music and Poetry @ Bimhuis

Last night, November 3rd  2013, at Bimhuis in Amsterdam, Rumi Ensemble performed a concert that was led by Javid Afsari-Rad . Bimhuis is a beautiful place and indeed a part of Muziekgebouw.

The ensemble performed Afsari-Rad's vocal pieces from Rumi's poetry. Mohammad Motamedi was the vocalist. I did not like his voice when he was singing at high range but the rest was OK.

Afsari Rad's music was fine for max. 15 min. During the rest of the concert, his ideas were just being repeated. I think if he studies more in the field of music composition, the result of his works will become much better. 
Another issue is his santur play. In playing this instrument, controlling the sound reflection is a challenge so the player should be quite concerned about the impact of the mallets. 

It seemed Afsari-Rad not only did not bother controlling this issue but also he was so eager to strike his santur's string with the maximum power!

Anyway the atmosphere was nice but it was surprising that such a concert did not even have a 'guide' so the audience could have an idea what the name of each piece was, in which mode it had been composed, etc.

Dirty Souvenirs of Amsterdam ! :)

One of dirty souvenirs of Amsterdam which can be found almost in every Dutch souvenir shop in Amsterdam! :)

A happy country! I like that.

Amsterdam : a Beautiful View

A beautiful view of the Dutch capital Amsterdam in summer 2013

(The photo's rights belong to this blog.)

Hassan Rohani Representatives @ Amsterdam Gay Pride, Aug. 2013 ! :)

Hassan Rohani, the new president of Iran, chose the color of purple for his promotional campaign in 2013. 

Yesterday I was watching the boats of gay activists in Amsterdam Gay Pride. The color of one of them was purple. That reminded me Hassan Rohani's campaign! :)

I am joking, anyway I hope one day gays have equal rights in Iran as well but I do not think it will be happened as far as Islamic Government is on power.

Highlights of 2013 Amsterdam Gay Pride:

Persian New Year in Amsterdam

I took this photo in Amsterdam center, in the yard of a museum. Now even in Amsterdam you can feel the Persian new year; beginning the spring...