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Bill Maher at Larry King’s CNN Live on Barack Obama: “Obama is a phenomenon. He is like the Halle Barry of politics. Men who don’t like black women, would sure as hell kiss her if they got the chance. We now even have socalled Obama-Republicans.”

A concert for tolerance held in Agadir, in of all places  Maroc. A muslim country! The concert is being broadcast tonight by TV5Monde. Only two days after Benazir Bhutto left this world forever in such a cruel way. Is there a better time thinkable?  I don’t think so. This ‘Concert pour la Tolerance’ is held under patronage of King Mohammed VI of Maroc. Is it that he reaches out to the world with music? Music with its power to build bridges between people who have floated away from each other. The performing artists are French and Arab, Christians and Muslims.   

‘Terrorists have killed Benazir Bhutto today, but these terrorists must not be allowed to kill democracy.’               (Gordon Brown, the British MP)

“Spread your wings and take the sky.” What a beautiful lyric and out of the mouth of an angel it came.  Today I heard for the first time Gershwins “Summertime” as performed by the late Dorothy Dandridge. Her voice still crystal clear like an angel and for a second I wished I was the baby she was singing to: “one day you will spread your wings and take the sky.”

Only 38 days before leaving for gorgeous Hawaiï…. 

Waikiki beach

with a singing showertree

and flirting white pigeons. 

Waikiki beach

where a crying peacock

searches its beloved Kauïulani.  

Waikiki beach with   

sizzling Kona coffee

and two happy lovebirds.

(c) Orchida   

‘A munchkin from the Wizard of Oz sent me the best fanmail I ever got,’ told Rushdie without winking an eye. ‘You all know the musical Wizard of Oz?  After Dorothy has killed the wicked witch of the East, a coroner munchkin comes up and reads aloud a declaration of dead. This is to officially declare that the witch is really, really dead.’ Sir Rushdie repeated those famous lines in the exact same way and tone of voice the coroner munchkin once did. ‘Well this munchkin sent me his picture while he holds this declaration of dead with MY name on it. He had erased the name of the wicked witch of the east and replaced it with “Salman Rushdie.” I got the munchkin declaration of dead not short after the fatwah,’ said the writer. Sir Rushdie has kept his immense sense of humor despite all that happened and is still happening. Getting fanmail from a munchkin, that may sound like magical-realistic mumbo-jumbo, but reality is sometimes crazier and more morbid than one could ever imagine.

(Salman Rushdie made a public appearance in Diligentia Theater in The Hague on 23-11-2007)

Stedman Graham (Oprah’s partner) was in Amsterdam and  I was among the lucky ones who were there! What an  inspiring lecture!! Especially one observation hit me like a hammer on my head. He said whoever you are, wherever you live we and whatever you will do, all people in the world are all equal in one thing. That is they all have 24 hours each day! His message is: the way we use our 24 hours is what makes the difference between a successful life and a mediocre life. Amazing isn’t it? So profoundly true yet so simple. Stedman encouraged us to get out of our comfort zones, reach for our heart felt ideals and develop a vision to live life to the fullest. It was as if he looked at each of us personally in the audience and said: ‘So dear brother or sister, what do you do with your 24 hours?’

I guess there is a trend that people want to leave it all and start all over again. Somewhere far away and under the sun. In Holland we have quite some tv-programmes about this subject.

 Accidentily I saw “A place under the sun” with the new “tv-stars” the Brit Nigel, the Brit-Sikh Nippi and the Brit-Indian Reza. This Nigel has the remarkable talent to convince people of his plans. His plans include buying a house in France, opening a Indian restaurant in the Ardèche (France), starting a Bed & Breakfast and travel around the world on a sailing boat.  The tv-show aired a few weeks in Holland and I watched it every day. Sometimes it was so funny that I literally fell from my couch laughing. One of the best moments in the history of television was the scene where Nippi came up with the brilliant idea to hire an elephant as a promotional stunt for the new Indian restaurant. Somehow Nigel managed to arrange an elephant. While Reza sat on the animal and took a ride through the little and until then peaceful French village, Nippi was nagging. ‘Nigel’, he complained, ’you made a big mistake, This is not an Indian elephant. It’s an African elephant. How could you make such a big mistake.’

I laughed, laughed and laughed till I cried and my stomach ached. The last thing I saw was the elephant getting wild and tearing down branches from the trees in this lovely village; and the sympathetic Nigel with quite a worrisome look on his face.

Delicious Kona coffee, the scent of a blooming showertree and a sunrise at Waikiki beach. How could I not fall in love with the gorgeous islands of Hawaii in the Pacific? Those friendly orchid islands feel so much like home that I never ever wanted to leave. I had no choice though.

Back in Holland I still weep like hell whenever I listen to the songs of the late Hawaiian singer IZ (Israel Kamakawiwo’ole). His songs ‘Hawaii 78’, ‘Somewhere over the rainbow/What a wonderful world’ and ‘Take me home country road’ express also my feelings for his beautiful birthplace Hawaii.  

Now one year later I’ve booked a trip to Hawaii. I’ll be back in just 3 months and 1 week. I just can’t wait and I’m counting the days.

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