Going Dutch Again

It's been over a month since I was on this blog. In the meantime I have been in Amsterdam, which is still an amazing city - I lived there for a while years ago - my family and I truly enjoyed it.

One of the things that I found truly moving was the Anne Frank house which my daughter wanted to see as she's read the Diary at school. Amazing to think of a family hiding away in such a narrow house during the Nazi occupation.

We had a good and restful time and then found ourselves back in the midst of rioting and destruction that is the 12th of July in Northern Ireland. I was talking to a man today who was in Spain over the 12th and he was telling me that he was watching the English channels over there and all they were getting from Northern Ireland were pictures of rioting going out all around the world.

I watched people coming on to say that this is their culture and they must defend it - and if you want to take that attitude then I suppose you can - but how can it be a culture if you are destroying your own area or someone else's? Where's the "heritage" in that?

I had to do a couple of messages on the 12th and I was out and about round our town and all I saw were gangs of youths with beer cans getting moved on by police. And on the television I watched the cars that someone had worked to buy and maybe hadn't paid off yet being burned by gangs of youths in the name of "culture" and "heritage".

One thing my trip to the Netherlands did teach me - and which I suppose I already knew - is that most of the people over here don't really know anything about the culture of the House of Orange-Nassau, which we all claim to celebrate. Or rather they only know what they want to know. Still it's over for another year although there'll be a number of other marches and probably more tension. I don't think it does the image of the Province any good.

On the more positive side, the American Vampires book is coming along - I've just finished the section on South Carolina and am working on the New York State one which once more brings in the Dutch, they're getting everywhere. It really is a book that I'm enjoying writing.

And the new Ghosts and Hauntings should be out soon from New Page with a section from myself in it. Other than that I'm working on comics and have a new strip coming out in an Italian comic called Dark Matter in October. Some of it may show up at the San Diego convention next week. Oh and keep an eye out for an article on Giovanni Aldini from "Man Made Monsters" in an upcoming issue of Paranormal magazine.

The holiday was great but work beckons. Will talk again soon I'm sure.