Utrecht

After a short train ride, I'm checked in at the very nice StayOkay hostel in Rotterdam. The hostel has cafeteria, tv room with lots of comfy furniture, for 20 euro you get bed sheets and breakfast. Since arriving in Rotterdam, I went to the Euromast. The Euromast is a large observation tower overlooking the city and its huge port. From there I got quite a few good shots of this city, which is more North American looking than Amsterdam or Utrecht. By North American looking I mean it has large glass office buildings and wide boulevards with more traffic. Apparently Rotterdam is very international, with many of its residents being born elsewhere.

Last night I took the quick trip from Utrecht to Amsterdam to make sure I didn't miss anything there. Beside some more unreal beef shawarma, I think I saw all I needed. Getting back from Amsterdam at around 9PM I took a different route back to the hostel. On this route I discovered Utrecht's Red Light District. In about seven windows of a street no different than any other in the very residential area were seven scantly clad ladies watching their tvs. I can now declare Utrecht to be a much better spot to visit than Amsterdam. Utrecht is the real Netherlands, a student town with many beautiful canals, great shopping and all the distractions people travel to Amsterdam for; all without the filth and tourist shops on every corner.

I have a lot of media to dump but yet again the internet cafes here are very basic with access to the actual machine locked.

Paris tomorrow.

Didn't make it to Trance Energy last night because of sore feet. Snowing today in Utrecht, very quiet day compared to yesterday. Little is open beside the fast food joints and the movie theatres.

Taking some time to read An Introduction to General Sytems Thinking, really timely subjects for where I currently stand intellectually. The book draws in examples from many different disciplines, quotes from the most unexpected sources, even Hans Selye. Basically the book gives rules for thinking about systems of all sorts, the antithesis for hyperspecialization in academic disciplines. Weinberg points to some of the current scientific paradigm's shortcomings and how problems of medium numbers can't be solved with experimentation or statistics. That is to say, due to computational contraints systems with n-number (large numbers) of objects will have an exponential number of interactions that can't be modelled with equations because the calculations are just too taxing. Statistics use macro-data to describe individual units (small numbers), meaning individuals actually aren't the unit of study but rather the average of groups.

The convincing example Weinberg gives immediately is that of Newton. Newton described the movement of planetary objects. Instead of considering the unique relationships between all the planets with each other and the sun (even just considering the single variable of gravity leads to a mountain of equations), he reduced the necessary calculations by logically concluding the most important relationship for calculating a planet's trajectory is its gravitational relationship with the sun (seems obvious now, but only because of its elegance provided by Newton).

Also discussed are many philisophical considerations I've been pondering, including the role of observer-object interaction and reality (perception). The other book I brought on the trip is The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley where he considers perception and reality through a drug induced change in perception. Of course I've learned that the map is not really the territory (Dr. John Harris lead some interesting lectures on the topic in Abnormal Psych at UPEI, take anything this man teaches), but Huxley really makes you think about it. Ahhhh, is that really a tree? What is a tree? Does that shade of green look like the same shade of green I see through someone else's eyes? Whatever, we just live in the Matrix.

Walking the streets of Utrecht this morning I was glad I chose to stay here over Amsterdam. This is real Holland, not prostitutes and pot shops. The streets are crammed with cyclists and pedestrians, the shops and restaurants are busy, church bells are ringing and street musicians are doing their thing.
Tonight has Trance Energy in store. According to Trance Addict's poll (a Canadian run site btw, a real poll based on what people think) I will be seeing the following ranked DJ's tonight:

1. Armin Van Buuren
5. Above & Beyond
8. Marcus Schulz
17. M.I.K.E.
42. DJ Scot Project
47. Matthew Dekay
48. Marcel Woods
55. Judge Jules
76. Perry O'Neil
86. Cor Fijneman
99. Mark Norman

The subject of ranking anything is touchy, but DJ's seem to have an ability to separate themselves with their timing, tracks chosen and available and mixing skills. Danny Howells (29th ranked, but really a progressive DJ) was in Amsterdam last night, I probably would have passed up all of these DJ's had I known he was there, but his website's listings stop at the end of January. Maybe next time. Null Hypothesis wasn't invited, nor was his new French colleague Gaston Lafleur.

Currently at an Internet Cafe on the bank of a canal in Utrecht. Amazingly beautiful city with its canals, cobbled streets and shops. There is very little motor vehicle action on the streets, just cyclists and pedestrians. Although I can't understand the people I overhear, the tone of their speech leads me to believe they are a relatively cheerful bunch. At the train station I booked my ticket for Tuesday's high speed rail trip from Rotterdam to Paris where the representative spoke great English, as did the gentleman who got me a McChicken at McDonalds here in Utrecht.
The train from Amsterdam cost 6 euro and took about 40 minutes. The effiency of the service is remarkable. The infrastructure of the whole country is impressive, but when I consider the population density of the country I shouldn't dwell on it's superiority to Canada's.
Regarding hostels, I've found the "party atmosphere" which I wasn't really looking forward to, to be absent. At the two hostels I've stayed at so far, it seems sleep is predominant purpose of staying at a hostel. Last night 4 of the 5 other people in my room were asleep at 8PM, and at 7:30 this morning still weren't awake.
On food, I had some great beef shawarma in Amsterdam last night at Mamas just down the street from the hostel.