Random Stuff

Recently I've done a couple of interesting things but have no photos because I wasn't allowed to use my camera at either.

My friend Lisa invited me to participate in the studio audience for the pilot of a new television show. The show is in English so they needed English-speaking audience members to help them gauge how well it will be received.

The premise of the show is that a contestant has agreed to be hypnotized and is brought on the show subsequently to guess what he did on the day he was 'put under'. He couldn't remember anything, but given some scenarios he was to guess what he did. For instance, he was told that he had an audition with Andrew Lloyd Weber and asked to guess which outfit he'd chosen for the meeting. It was silly, but funny. Andrew Lloyd Weber, by the way, was actually the hypnotist himself, but the contestant though he was Sir Weber. He subsequently sings in the 'audition' after which he has an interview with two British Airways execs (actors) because he has a dream of one day becoming an airline pilot, and during the interview he is under the impression that whenever the woman exec takes her glasses off, that she is naked. He drives a London taxi (not really) and picks up Mel Gibson as a passenger (again, not really - but because he is hypnotized he thinks it is him). The whole thing is a bit tricky to explain, and I really shouldn't tell this much as I signed some kind of non-disclosure...

The BEST part of the whole thing was that I am a big fan of the host (and didn't know he would be part of the show until I sat in the audience) -- Patrick Kielty, a Northern Irish comedian whose performances I've watched many times on television. I didn't get to meet him, but he was great fun (moreso than the contestant, who was a pretty boring dude...)

Here's a quick clip of one of Kielty's performances http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIixrUh9tAQ

Another recent trip was to the Kasteel Duinevoord in nearby Voorschoten. Once a year they offer candlelight tours of the castle in the evening (so even if I'd been able to take photos, it would have been tricky to get decent shots in a totally candlelit castle). The place was really spectacular, and the candlelight made it even more special. I didn't take this particular photo, but give you an idea of what the castle looks like. Imagine it in the dark full of candles - quite something.

This past Saturday we attended the AWC's annual Pink Gala, a black tie affair (with about 400 attendees) raising money for breast cancer research here in the Nederlands. This will be a separate entry soon.

The castle is remarkable in that it was never sold; it was inherited by several different noble houses, sometimes through marriage, something that can be said of very few Dutch castles. For the first five centuries of its history, the castle was owned by one and the same family, namely the Van Duivenvoordes, who gave their name - at that time, van Duvenvoirde - to the castle. Though the castle was named thus, the van Duvenvoirdes properly formed part of the House of Wassenaer, an ancient noble family that has played an important role in Dutch history. Toward the end of the 17th century an owner of Kasteel Duivenvoorde, Johan, retook the name of van Wassenaar. Though the same family remained to live in the House, this was now under a different name.

Original decoration and furnishings have been preserved (family portraits, Delft ware, Chinese and European porcelain, silver).