Can honestly say this is one of the worst beers I ever tasted. The colour is a nasty muddy brown and it’s sour.

Yes, beer from glorious Haarlem. There’s several variaties, but Jopen Koyt is my favorite. It’s a dark, sweet beer, with a strong liquorice flavour. Good for dark dreary nights tucked away in a cosy pub corner.

As a story, who moved my cheese is kinda crappy. If Mr Johnson would have taken a class in fictional writing, he would have failed miserably, I think. Especially the high school reunion dialogue bothered me immensely. But, then again, storytelling is not the point of this little book. It’s trying to get a point across. Which it does quite well, so in that sense it’s very well written indeed.

The point Spencer is trying to make is: people get used to things, but things change. And you can then either sit around and bitch about how it’s crappy it changed, or you can get up and find something new to enjoy (look for new cheese). Which is a good point. I made the mistake before of staying in a job which wasn’t bringing me any satisfaction anymore much longer than I should have. Because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to find another job. I thought that was the best bit about the book actually, it posed the question: ‘What would I do if I weren’t afraid?’ We often let our fears drag us down. So it’s a good idea to ask yourself that question from time to time. I liked that.

Somethings itching me though about this book. And I think it’s that this book, and other books of its self-helpfull kind, are so focused on achievement. It’s all about running through a maze and finding cheese. But isn’t the real question: why do we keep running into that maze looking for cheese? Why don’t we just stay at home and bake waffles? Or go to Japan and enjoy some sushi? Why do we think that cheese is all there is?

Does cheese (and the fight for cheese) really make us happy? When most of us think about what style of living they enjoy most, I think many will say they enjoy their vacation time the best. Why? Because it’s a period of a few weeks in which we don’t give a damn about cheese. We just lie on a beach and get tanned or go hiking or see pretty buildings or whatever. We turn our backs on the maze for a while and do what we want to do.

Change brings succes. But does succes bring happiness?

Anyway, the book does make a good conversation piece and causes some philosophical pondering and I love philosophical pondering so I’ll give it 4 stars just for that ;)

It’s always good to set goals in your life. I try to do that a lot. One of my goals in life was to taste al 7 kinds of Leffe beer. That’s right, I didn’t say the goals had te be al educational or world altering or anything. Drinking beer is perfectly nice goal.

Anyway, you’d think drinking beer is quite an easy goal, but it’s actually not when one of these Leffe beers is an export beer that is only sold in France and Spain. So I went to Spain (not just for the beer, mind you, I’m not that much of an alcoholic (anymore)). First pub I went to I thought I’d hit the jackpot, but the beer turned out to be Leffe Brown. Is Leffe Rossa, si, si… Lying bartending bastard… Anyway, finally, in Sevilla, I found this awesome world beer cafe which sells almost every kind of beer imaginable. A true beer walhalla. And there finally found my Leffe Rossa. Sadly enough, all other types of Leffe beer taste better than Leffe Rossa. But then again, that’s probably why the Belgians Export it to lands far, far away…

A beer with… koriander. Who could have figured it would taste so nice. This is a beer you either love or you hate. I love it.

Not quite as awesome as it’s big brother, but the brown 8° Maredsous is really nice too, when you’re in the mood for something dark and sweet.

Yes, this is my absolutely favorite beer and I´ve had my share, so i´m hoping that does mean something. Maredsous is sweet, but not too sweet, great flavour. And the gorgous glass adds to the experience. First time I drank it was here in a cafe in Haarlem (which is now my favorite pub, coincidentally).

Palm is a wunderful bit of brewing. Great lager, much better than those tasteless glasses of Heineken or Amstel.

... whether international films were worth the bother of reading all those subtitles, go see this movie. It’s hilarious. There’s no better hero than a lying, cheating, horny old guy with the occasional twitch that is completely unsuitable for retirement. Dark humor, the way humor was intended. The scene with the balloon is fantastic

This is one of the most awesome movies I have ever seen. It’s gorgeous to look at, the surroundings, the creatures, the athmosphere is perfect. The storyline is excellent. It’s a fairytale, wrapped up in a fairytale. OK, a rather nasty, creepy, terrifying fairytale at times, but remember, that’s how fairytales were intended. Those evil sisters of cinderella cut off their toes and the little mermaid died (sorry to blow your bubble kids, disney lied).

Pan’s Labyrinth beautifully shows a young girl in a harsh world she wants to escape from. She escapes into a fantasy world… or is it? Either way, the difference between the real world and the world she escapes to is very harsh at first, but as the story progresses they intertwine. Fantastically done. It had me leaving the cinema wide eyed and speechless (which is extremely rare for me, i can tell you ;)).