Belgium VS Holland VS Germany

An interesting one this. 3 countries, neighbours in a big world, completely different mentalities. Stronger still, Belgium is two countries in itself, Vlaanderen (the flemish/dutch speaking part) and Wallonie (the french speaking part). The only times all the Belgiums unite is when the King dies or the national football (soccer) team plays in the World Cup. I am a part of all 4 of them.

1. Father Dutch, lived most of my youth in Holland, I have a Dutch passport
2. Mother from the Wallonie Belgium part, french speaking
3. Have lived almost 20 years of my life in Vlaanderen, the Belgium dutch speaking part, I have a Belgium ID card.
4. I have my company in Germany passing two borders every day to get to the office

The funny thing is when I am in Belgium the call me 'de Hollander', the Dutch guy, when I am with my friends in Holland they call me 'Het manneke uit Belgie', the bloke from Belgium. Go figure. I can do all accents like I am a complete native which makes it more confusing for people who don't know me. Since I also have my company in Germany and drive a car with a German license plate. My house is in Belgium 5 kms from the Dutch border, and 50 kms from the German border. You still follow?

If you were to ask me which country and people I prefer, I could honestly not give a straight answer. Which is probably the best answer possible.

The thing is with the Germans they're so accurate, Germans are truly like the cars they build, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen. With a few excpetions (and of Porsche of course), somewhat bulky strong, reliable. No storm's gonna blow a BMW 7 series from the road. Looking bit rigid and grumpy, well serious that's for sure. Just as a comparison, imagine the latest Ferrari you immediately associate it with sun and pretty women in summer dresses. Not that I would want one, a Ferrari that is.

Then the Belgiums, they have been struggling the last 3 months to form a government and they're still at it without a solution. They can talk, drink beer, talk some more, have a (very) good meal and if they don't fancy talkin' some more they'll go to sleep and start the whole routine again in the morning. Belgiums like to solve their problems around a table where there is food and drinks. Belgiums truly love the good life and know how to show it. Dutch and Germans surely love the good life too but are much more clumsy at it. Easily drawn over the top. You will count more Hummers H2 in Amsterdam than in the whole of Belgium.

Then the Dutch. Fearless they still think they live in the Golden Age, they easily overestimate themselves and have a sense of superiority especially over the Belgiums. Said they are very tolerant, you can buy pot on every street corner in town, but beat down homosexuals in the dark. Go figure. Surely the Dutch have a lot going for themselves, (the country is 1/3 under the sealevel !), are called the Chinese of the West because of their excellent trading skills and are excellent speedskaters. Ow you never heard of that sport? Doesn't matter they're excellent speedskaters that's what counts.



So here I am Dutch in my Belgium house, writing this blog on my German company's laptop and I love 'em all.

Wimbledon Champions - Part I

Tennis has been a very important part of my life since I was a kid. My Mum and Dad took me with them to the tennis court ever since I could walk, Tennispark Mulder in Maastricht. Soon enough I started swinging a (much too big) racket and spend hours and hours playing against the wall, was it at home, or at the tennis club. Dad, JP (my brother) and I must have spend 1.000's of hours on the court and it was as much fun for me as I believe also for them. In a later blog I will elaborate a bit more about my (humble) international tennis career, that has given me the opportunity to play with and meet many interesting people and some of my heroes.

Definitely the biggest heroes of all were those who had won Wimbledon. To most of the tennis affecionados Wimbledon is THE most prestigeous tournament to participate, let alone to win. In the mid 70's, when I was a promising junior player in Holland, JP (a very good player, still is now) and I spent out X-mas holidays in the south of Spain. JP was already living in Spain at the time, I flew over to Madrid and we'd drive in his Seat 1430 or later the very sporty 124 Sport to Mijas, listening to Led Zeppelin or Rory Gallagher. Mijas the home town of 'Lew Hoad Campo de Tenis'

Various Davis Cup players of various countries (Germany, South Africa) came over to this fantastic club to keep fit and practice, it was a heaven for tennis players, nice courts, beautiful centre court, surrounded by beautiful flora. And then there was Lew Hoad. A real gentlemen, long, lean and handsome. Arms like my legs. He'd pick up a racket like we'd pick up a straw.

Lewis Alan 'Lew' Hoad has won 4 singles titles in the Grand Slam circuit, a true champion, amongst those twice Wimbledon in 1956 and 1957. We were lucky enough to play with him in the mid 70's, some 18 years after his most valuable tournament wins, but boy could the guy still play. It has inspired me a great deal and also tought me that the famous are just of flesh and blood like you and me. In fact in their natural surrounding they hate to be treated as superstars, but just wanna have a beer with the guys and a good laugh. In that same club we also met and played with James Hunt (1976 F1 World Champion), read about it in Consul's blog (see links).

Mr Hoad died in Fuengirola Spain, July 3rd 1994 of a heart attack after having suffered from leukemia, at the age of 59. (Why do all my heroes die young?). In fact years later I had a brief encounter with Rod Laver (another Wimbledon Champion and Grand Slam winner) at a sports exhibition in Atlanta and told him I had known Lew Hoad and rather than being impressed by the presence of Rod Laver and take a picture with him, we both started talking about Lew Hoad and the true example he was. I guess Rod Laver soon understood the respect I had for Lew and was charmed by it. Goes to show how superstars are.

Good memories these are, but as said in my first blog, no melancholy, only happiness of having known great men like Lew Hoad. In upcoming posts I will tell about other Wimbledon champs I met in their natural surroundings and (some) played with, Manolo Santana, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Jan Kodes. All interesting and different characters .

Noel Redding

One of the most memorable encounters of my life took place on april 6th and 7th of 2002, with Noel Redding (Born Folkestone dec. 25th 1945, passed away May 11th 2003), former bassplayer of the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience. (on the right, see picture of the album Are you experienced, released in 1967).

To explain why this was so special I should go back in time, when I was about 9 or 10 years old.

Being Benjamin of our family, the good part was, that my older brother and sisters always came home with the latest music and fashion, so I had it all displayed right before me without having to move one step. Especially the music back in the late 60's was something that I have picked up then and never let go. Santana, Pink Floyd, Muddy Waters, Joe Cocker the list is longer than I can remember now. But there was one gentleman who had it all : Jimi Hendrix. I will come back to my love for Jimi's music in a later blog. Fact of the matter is that so many years later 'with a little help from my friends' musicians from Switzerland, the US, Belgium and Holland, I fullfilled a long time dream, to record a Jimi Hendrix tribute album, which I did in May 2001.

One of the guitarists participating was Marcel Aeby from Switzerland. He'd played with Buddy Miles, Noel Redding, my God he knew them all. So I dare ask Marcel, Noel's telephone number to send him a raw copy of the tapes and asked him if he's made the liner notes for the final CD, which to my big surprise he did. Even bigger surprise when I asked Noel to join us for the release party April 6th 2002 and he accepted.

Telephone conversation somewhere in March 2002 to confirm he'd be coming over:

Phil: 'Hi Noel'

Noel: 'Hi mate'

Phil: 'Noel I can arrange your flights and you will be picked up by our driver who will bring you to Maastricht'

Noel: 'Just tell me when to be where, I'll hop on the plane and meet you at the venue'

Phil: ' Any particular services you will need?'

Noel: 'No nothing in particular, oh yeah Holland-ey, make sure I get a good reefer'

Noel arrived at 16.00 hrs at La Bonbonniere in Maastricht. I was nervous and shaking like a leaf. I was about to meet the right hand of God, haha, in person, alive. But rarely in my life have a met a person more gentle, co-operating and easy going as this guy, who could've had an attitude of an unbearable superstar, but was as humble as the nextdoor kid. This is probably what struck me most.

We did a soundcheck with Marcel Aeby on guitars and Marcus Weymaere on drums, myself on vocals. I was dreaming. Noel doing the backing vocals on Stone Free and I stood there singing more from my soul then I probably ever did and ever will. The evening show was tremendous, also Jan Akkerman participated (one of the next blogs will be dedicated to him) and even now 5 years later people in the streets of Maastricht spontaneousely still start talking to me about that night.

Noel stayed in the MABI Hotel in Maastricht, even signed the celebrities corner on the wall and thanked me for the wonderful night. Oh yeah he should thank me alright, no no, it was definitely the other way around, but that was typical for his kindness and gentle nature.

We should have done the Hendrix Files tour in 2003 with Noel, it was all prepared and everybody was really looking forward to it, including Steve 'Luke' Lukather of Toto. But sadly we had to say goodbye to Noel in May 2003. I was really sad about it, but hey, I have had the once of a lifetime experience to meet and play with him and will cherish those memories forever.

No limits, no boundaries

Born in Belgium, lived my youth mostly in Holland, french speaking at home, dad worked in Germany, 2nd home country Spain, travelled many parts of the world.

Being a never changing optimist (Sagittarius) I am always making the best of it and sure that today is a great day and if it ain't then tomorrow will. I don't look back much in melancholy, because so many goods times still lie ahead. Some events in my life will make me sad forever (i.e. death of my father), but than again, wasn't I very fortunate to have had such a great guy as a father. (see picture).

My personal slogan is to make something from nothing, be creative, in your daily job, in your hobbies, find and explore all the possible talents you have within yourself, make it your passion to have a passion, and, if like in my case you have kids, raise them to be free of mind. You can't put a price on happiness. So why is money so important in this world ?

My passion is music, singing, writing, performing with my friends, share our talents.

My other passion is my family, kids (2 boys), Mum, brother, sisters. Fortunate enough they are in good health and bring me much joy every day. But I will elaborate on them later.