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.

Originally published: 10 Mar 2010 in Humour

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.

Originally published: 28 Feb 2010 in Editorial

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.

Originally published: 30 Jan 2010 in Editorial

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?

Originally published: 29 Nov 2009 in Humour

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 …

Originally published: 8 Oct 2009 in Humour

Attack of the obvious

I was walking down the corridor minding my own business the other day when I happened to see this sign:

Originally published: 8 Oct 2009 in Humour

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 …

Originally published: 29 Jun 2009 in Personalia

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, …

Originally published: 5 Mar 2009 in Humour

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 …

Originally published: 5 Mar 2009 in Humour

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’, …

Originally published: 2 Feb 2009 in Editorial

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 …

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. …

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?

Photo of Mike Padgett

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.

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