Posts Tagged ‘treehut’

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Event Reports: Reif Larsen and Jacob Vossesteijn

Friday, May 11th, 2012

The past 2 weeks saw 3 events happening around the ABC stores.  Here’s a quick recap of two of them!

Note: If you want to be informed about our upcoming events, sign up for the monthly Events Mailing here, or regularly check the Events List.

Reif Larsen,  The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet:

About 20 people heard Reif Larsen speak on visual storytelling at the ABC Treehut in The Hague on April 27th. Mr. Larsen was a very engaging speaker, bandying about such terms as “info-erotic” when talking about charts and visual data, and he made us all laugh repeatedly. He admired Glen Baxter (Colonel Baxter’s Dutch Safari) for his visual gags, and mentioned Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics as a great source of information about visual storytelling.  He also urged everyone to see the exhibition The Printed Book: A Visual History at the UvA (May 13th is the last day, so I’m afraid you’ll have to be quick…).  After his talk, Mr. Larsen answered questions, admitted that a movie is in the works and signed books. Photographer Henry Arvidsson filmed it all; a link will appear to his work as soon as it’s done.  All in all, a great evening was had! – Sophie.

Jacob Vossestein, The Dutch and Their Delta:

About 17 people came to the ABC Treehouse in Amsterdam on May 3rd for Jacob Vossestein’s talk on the geography of the Netherlands and the need for water control.  Mr. Vossestein was friendly and enthusiastic and his talk was well-received.  Happily not just Dutch people came to the talk!  With a bit of luck, Mr. Vossestein will appear at the ABC Treehut in The Hague at a future date, so keep an eye out on our Events List or the Treehut website. – Klaartje.

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ABC Meets: Author and comic Douglas John McLean Cairns

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

An Ex-pat Scottish author is celebrating the success of his auto-biographical account of more than three decades on the UK comedy circuit which is now storming up the UK online book charts. Mr. Elastic Brain – The Life and Poems of Sid Ozalid, is the work of Den Haag based author Douglas John Mclean Cairns, whose alter-ego Sid Ozalid, an eccentrically styled comic, achieved a prominent cult following in the 80s.

The book outlines many bizarre and outlandish scenarios which Sid Ozalid experienced throughout his career, starting from 1978 when he made his TV debut as a one-legged tap dancing poet. The book covers Ozalid’s early years where he developed a unique and original style where he would dance with his pet monkey, thrash himself with a daisy and beat his head with a tin tray.

While Ozalid may not have gone on to achieve universal fame, his behind the scenes account of his years as a struggling comic is poignant and intriguing. During this time he provided support for such acts as Simple Minds, The Clash, The Specials, and OMD. He also worked in local radio, TV and stage while also holding a day job, as Douglas Cairns, in the North Sea oil industry to support his family.

This entertaining story of Ozalid’s life and his brushes with fame over a 30-year period, plus a collection of poems written and performed from 1977 to 2010 demonstrates one man’s desire to find a space for his creativity. Some of the book’s best anecdotes include meeting actress and singer Clare Grogan while sharing a dressing room with lesbian lovers; running naked down Princes Street during the Edinburgh Fringe in 1982; appearing in the finals of the 1984 BBC Scotland ‘Stars in your Eyes’ talent show; and playing football on TV with Scots legend Denis Law.

Douglas Cairns will be at the ABC Treehut in The Hague on September 16th (7pm – 9pm) to read from his new book, and tell us how he overcame his health issues. More importantly, you’ll be able to see him perform as Sid Ozalid, one time dance teacher to the Queen! Full details of this event can be found on the Treehut site.

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ABC Meets: Author Fatma Kassem

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Author Fatma Kassem will present her book Palestinian Women: Narrative Histories and Gendered Memory at the ABC Treehouse in Amsterdam and the ABC Treehut in The Hague later this month.

“Palestinian Women is the first book to examine and document the experiences and the historical narrative of ordinary Palestinian women who witnessed the events of 1948 and became involuntary citizens of the State of Israel.

Told in their own words, the women’s experiences serve as a window for examining the complex intersections of gender, nationalism and citizenship in a situation of ongoing violent political conflict. Known in Palestinian discourse as the ‘Nakbeh’, or the ‘Catastrophe’, these events of 60 years ago still have a powerful resonance in contemporary Palestinian-Jewish relations in the State of Israel and in the act of narrating these stories, the author argues that the realm of memory is a site of commemoration and resistance.”

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ABC Meets: Harold Verhagen

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

In conjunction with World Environment Day, on June 5th 2011, multi-talented-but-lately-ecological-travel-writer  Harold Verhagen will hold an unique presentation of The Good & Green Guide: The Hague.

Good & Green Guides are sustainable travel guides that show inhabitants and tourists how to enjoy a city and at the same time taking care for people and the environment.

Take a tour of The Hague with Harold and get to see and taste sustainable products. This will be followed by the opening of his paintings with a message. For more information on this free event, see the Treehut website.


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Events April/May

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

April

Saturday, April 9th: Learn how to write and publish a book at ABC!  Elise de Bres and Phillip de Josselin de Jong will take you on a journey from hatching the idea for a book to publishing it and branding yourself, at the ABC Treehouse and the ABC store in Amsterdam.  See the separate post for all the details.

Sunday, April 10th: Join ABC’s Spiritual Book Club at the ABC Treehouse in Amsterdam from 15.00 – 17.00 hrs.  The current book pick is Anastasia by Vladimir Megre.  See the separate post for all the details.

Friday, April 15th: The 3rd annual Amsterdamse Boekennacht will see many events at both ABC Amsterdam and the ABC Treehouse in Amsterdam.  Whether you’re interested in our Espresso Book Machine, music, language, poetry, or travel, there will be authors and experts galore to talk you through the subject of your choosing.  See the separate post for all the details.

Saturday, April 16th & Sunday, April 17th: Come say hi to the ABCers working the store stand at the Elf Fantasy Fair in Haarzuilens!  If you can spare the time between jousting, madrigal-singing, fire-breathing and what-else-have-you, that is…  :-)

Monday, April 18th: You can also join ABC’s Spiritual Book Club at the ABC Treehut in Den Haag!  Join this inaugural meeting from 20.00 – 22.00 hrs; the first book is After the Ecstasy, the Laundry by Jack Kornfield.  See the separate post for all the details.

Tuesday, April 19th: Designer Jonathan Lippincott will launch his book Large Scale: Fabricating Sculpture in the 1960s and 1970s at the ABC Treehouse in Amsterdam.  See the separate post for all the details.

Thursday, April 28th: Writer and teacher Andy Baker will (hopefully) launch his book Travels with Greeley (printed on our EBMs!) at ABC Amsterdam from 19.30 – 20.30 hrs.  We’ll have a separate post with all the details up as soon as everything’s settled.

Friday, April 29th: Multi-talented Willy Vlautin will visit Borderkitchen in Den Haag to talk about his latest novel Lean on Pete, and to sing (Vlautin is also the frontman of Richmond Fontaine), starting at 20.00 hrs. See the Borderkitchen website for all the details.

May

Friday, May 6th: Both ABC stores will have a trade-in day.  A separate post with all the details will be up soon, but in the meantime you can check this for information.

Saturday, May 7th: Siobhan Wall will (hopefully) present her book Quiet London at ABC Amsterdam from 15.00 hrs onwards.  A separate post with all the details will be put up as soon as everything is settled.

Saturday, May 7th & Sunday, May 8th: Dog whisperer Cesar Millan is at the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam.  Both dates are sold out, sadly, but we have every single book of his (and his audio books, and his flash cards), if you want tips on how to not only correct your dog’s behavior, but – more importantly – your own.

Tuesday, May 10th: Political thinker Francis Fukuyama will be at the University of Amsterdam to discuss his latest book, The Origins of Political Order.  This event is already sold out, too, though (so much for my plan of posting two months at once to give you all a head start…) but head on over to the John Adams website for more information (who knows, they might have a waiting list).

Saturday, May 14th: Earl ‘Raj’ Purdy will host a special workshop on Living the Course in Miracles at the ABC Treehouse in Amsterdam.  See the separate post for all the details – and please note that if you book before April 15th, you get a EUR 10 discount!

As ever, if we’re missing English-language authors signing or talking in the Netherlands, and I know we miss out no matter how much we search, please let us know through the comments or by sending a mail to blog@abc.nl. I will try to edit the info into the post as soon as possible.

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