Tag: brussels
Introducing the Fashtonometer
Ashton’s speech today in Strasbourg – on the External Action Service – was just too much and I’m not talking about her proposals.
Kuurne Brussel Kuurne
The 2010 Kuurne Brussel Kuurne was marked by strong winds and heavy rain. We caught up with the riders on the Oude Kwaremont.
Democracy is deaf
After Tony Blair’s appearance before the Iraq Inquiry in the UK, a few thoughts on the growing distance between politics and the people.
With these Rocher, you’re really spoiling us
Smooth and sophisticated, Belgian chocolate is among the finest in the world. But is it a bit much with a cup of tea?
How to wash your hands
Good to know that, in these difficult times of swine ‘flu, bird ‘flu and just plain old ‘flu, there’s always someone there with timely advice.
So just in case you’ve forgotten since you became a busy, working adult, here’s a quick reminder of how to wash your hands, courtesy of the brilliantly-named Medical and Psychosocial Interventions …
Attack of the obvious
I was walking down the corridor minding my own business the other day when I happened to see this sign:
A certain thirtysomething
This week it turns out I’m thirty years old.
It doesn’t feel any different. Yet. No urge to buy a big, red, penis extension sports coupé. No inexplicable desire to leave J for an eighteen year-old trainee hairdresser.
Out with friends the night before the big number, I realised for the first time that I was the …
Celebrating bureaucracy?
Opponents of the European Union are fond of pointing out what they see as the three grand negatives: democratic deficit, lack of transparency and unwieldy bureaucracy.
Brussels certainly doesn’t do itself any favours with the famously poor quality of its communications, particularly when it makes the occasional, but always highly visible foot-in-mouth blunder.
Take the banner above, …
Entropa: one vision of Europe
Here’s a brief guide to Entropa, David Černý’s controversial artwork commissioned to mark the occasion of the Czech presidency of the European Union in 2009.
Occasionally I have lunch with colleagues in the Justus Lipsius Building on Rue de Loi-Wetstraat and Entropa covers the entire far wall of atrium. It never fails to attract attention.
Key to …
Club nasty: a night to remember (other nights)
I used to frequent the After Dark club in Skipton years ago. Even if you don’t know the After Dark, you know it by another name: Aqua, Bliss and Crystals; Club Klass, Club Uropa, Club Hedonism, Club Meds, Club Wow; Escape, Eternity, Evolution; Faces, Flex, Frontier and Frisco’s; Karma, Kinky, Kiss and Kudos; Majestyks, Maloneys’, …
Elsewhere on MikePadgett.com …
Katrina was here
In August 2005, New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina. Over 1,500 people lost their lives and over 700 are still missing today. Rough estimates suggest that damage to the states of Louisiana …
- Originally published: 18 Jan 2008 in North America
Family portraits
Here’s a series of portraits of the members of my family taken in February 2007. Left to right: my brother, my father, my mother, my grandmother et moi-même. …
- Originally published: 21 Feb 2007 in Personalia
In Bruges
Director: Martin McDonagh United Kingdom, 2008 In Bruges tells the story of two hitmen who lie low after a contract in the picturesque Belgian city. This is McDonagh’s first feature-length effort, having started out …
- Originally published: 21 Apr 2008 in Film
Pepi, Luci, Bom
Director: Pedro Almodóvar Spain, 1981 This is where it all began, the first in a long line of zany, colourful and passionate tales whose collective carnival forms the prodigious output of Almodóvar. Pepi, Luci, Bom …
- Originally published: 21 Aug 2006 in Film
French exchange
In the spring of 1992, I participated in an exchange between my school at the Lycée-Collège Gambetta in Arras in the Nord Pas de Calais. The Lycée-Collège today is shown in the …
- Originally published: 3 May 2009 in Europe
Who is that guy?
Hello you. I'm Mike Padgett and I work in the technology sector as an Information Designer.
I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.
I'm based in Brussels, Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is St Feuillien Brune.