A home on the web for all my things; from old podcast episodes, to advertising, gaming, travel, books, skiing, roller coasters, and more. My professional website is over at www.playfulbrandstrategy.com
I've been rekindling with an interest in theme parks and roller coasters in the past year, which started as I went to Disneyland Paris and then upgraded to an Infinity Annual Pass.
The whole thing began with an ad. The signs I spotted as I was leaving the park exhausted at nearly midnight with my sister-in-law, niece and nephew said something like: "remember you can deduce the cost of your day ticket towards the purchase of an annual pass!"
I'll happily share more details of that story over coffee for those interested, including the rabbit hole of a purchase funnel I went on, but suffice to say I was back there the following week with my other nieces and a friend I roped in for the occasion (thank you James!).
I managed to go 14 times in total. I took all my nieces, nephew, and godson on separate occasions. I attended the special Halloween Party night with my girlfriend and nieces (we dressed up as minions).
I also wandered there by myself. I used the park as an occasional office to work from. I wrote the initial notes for this post last week, sitting outdoors at Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost, looking out on Adventureland's greenery.
Visiting with others, we tended to focus on going on as many rides as possible, eating home made sandwiches in the queues, and small occasional stops for snacks or another meal, to briefly check out a parade, or some character.
Wandering by myself I spent time contemplating the design, organisation, huge range of merchandising in shops, food on offer, and shows.
My pass expired last week so I've been reflecting on the whole experience.
A massive attraction
As much as I sometimes like to think I'm different, I get pulled in the same as everyone.
I don't know what their maximum capacity is these days, but on average that represents 27,205 visitors a day, welcomed and looked after by approximately 16,000 cast members. That might be across both parks (Disneyland and Disney Studios), which together have about 15 million visitors per year, along with Disney Village including seven hotels, restaurants, more shops, and a direct train line from Paris.
As they celebrated their 30th anniversary, Disneyland Paris announced a record setting $2.6 billion revenue last year, and $52 million in operating profit. They also opened a brand new theme area in Disney Studios Park bringing in new people: Marvel Avengers Campus. The area includes several food options, super heroes wandering around, shows, a new Spider-man ride and the sadly missed Aerosmith Rock N'Roller Coaster rethemed as Avengers Assemble Flight Force.
To think it's just one Disneyland resort in the world, and not the biggest, my mind boggles. The operation is massive: Disney Parks global attendance in 2022 was over 115 million visitors.
Being there is awesome, and I can't help but think of the crowds there as a kind of pilgrimage. Generations rekindling with and handing over their love for these worlds and characters to new ones. Older people get to feel years melting away (as long they're not looking at crowds or price tags too closely), while the young ones get to see beloved figures "for real." Experiencing this with children, and of different age groups as I've been lucky to have done is… well, not priceless, but precious nonetheless.
The cost of enchantment
Last year's results exceeded those of 2018 or 2019, though expectedly long time closing during the pandemic seem to have had various effects, such as ticket prices increasing several times, and the end of the free timed fast lane system, replaced by a paid for one, via the dedicated app.
Just because I like stating the obvious, it's worth underlining this kind of magic is not for everyone. That was the case prior to COVID of course. For an illustration of life beyond the gates of the Magic Kingdom I highly recommend the excellent 2017 film The Florida Project.
Since I got my annual pass I discovered a Byzantine and complex booking system that made what was meant to be a pass I could use every day of the year into a scheduling headache. An influencer even organised a playful protest for annual pass holders.
An average DLP undated day ticket price starts at approximately $124.96. If you plan ahead with dated tickets it can be less. It's still at least twice the cost of other nearby theme parks, many of whom have been investing in amazing new rides over the years (Parc Astérix' new area and coaster Toutatis is phenomenal, for example).
They recently changed the annual pass system and increased the prices about 30% while removing a number of benefits. I have a few more weeks to ponder but I'm pretty sure I've had enough for now. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I'm unlikely to renew (and so many other theme parks to go explore).
Still, as cynical as I might be tempted to be, it is fascinating place to check out up close for a brand strategist. People will save up and spend over and above to be part of the Disney brand experience and share it with their friends and loved ones. Little (or none) of it is rational. The meltdowns I've seen both adults and children have in the park are totally emotional.
By the way among all the merchandising, I've seen many groups and families wear their own printed "2023 Disneyland Paris family name vacation" t-shirts - so many I'm surprised Disney doesn't offer this online as a matter of fact when you book your tickets ahead of time.
Same thoughts go to "Disneybounding," the practice of dressing in colour schemes and outfits reminiscent of official characters but not going against the ban on adults wearing costumes (from the Disneybound blog). Perhaps they don't want to encourage it though.
The actual magic
In case you're not familiar, the division in charge of the theme parks is called Disney Imagineering, blending engineering, design, technology, and Disney storytelling.
Looking at the design of the theme park, I'm blown away by the genius and planning behind the landscape architecture making the place feel a lot larger and wondrous than it is, the queues and ride design to get visitors in and maintaining a state of suspended disbelief.
The classic dark rides Phantom Manor and Pirates of the Caribbean are gorgeous, Big Thunder Mountain is a beautiful thrill ride for the whole family. The new Avengers Campus feels alive with its unscheduled and impromptu appearances of superheroes calling children out in the gathered informal audiences to join them.
I'm reminded of the characteristics of play I often quote from Roger Caillois' Man, Play, and Games, and how well Disneyland meets them. In particular:
It is separate (from the routine of life), occupying its own time and space.
It is governed by rules that suspend ordinary laws and behaviours and that must be followed by players.
It involves make-believe that confirms for players the existence of imagined realities that may be set against 'real life'.
The magic is in suspending disbelief and letting yourself be in a state of play.
Maybe theme parks and crowds aren't your thing, maybe there's something else special, out of the ordinary, an adventure beyond the routine of life, something you could get up to with children and/or loved ones soon.
Last but not least, the actual magic is obviously down to the cast members working every day to bring Disneyland Paris to life: attendants, cleaners, servers, ride operators, actors, and many more - thank you to all the people working there day in, day out so visitors can play.
I'm just back from visiting friends in the UK and made quite the discovery that had me go back to and reconsider Marmite and its advertising.
I thought I was clearly in the "I hate Marmite" camp, decided probably over twenty years ago. That was reinforced by years of love/hate advertising that I've always thought clever and fun.
Sure it's a divisive product, but this past weekend as my friends were telling me how they love marmite, had lovely sourdough bread, I thought well I actually haven't tasted Marmite in a very long time. Turns out I thought "hey this isn't actually bad", let me have some more, and I had more the following day too. Same for my girlfriend, she thought she was firmly in the hate camp and we both changed our minds.
My main big surprise of the past week is I actually quite like Marmite. I might even love it.
Their latest ad campaign launched in June is fun, sure, but how much room is left for people changing taste? Not so much it seems.
Our tastes change over time, if you go as far as strongly conveying the idea it's about genetic material then how can Marmite acquire new consumers, as in haters deciding to give it another go rather than simply leaving it like it's set for life... Similarly if it's a given these are the two camps, do many self professed lovers share their appreciation, or do they give up because some are just haters..?
As much as I appreciate their brand positioning and advertising, I'd say going into genetics and scanning babies is taking a step too far - unless it's all just a joke, but the video seems almost serious enough that I wonder if people find it funny or not?
I've been publishing podcasts on and off since 2015, mostly audio first, and mostly video streaming since 2020. Thoughts for those thinking about similar ideas.
My main Ice Cream for Everyone podcast has been on a hiatus since the pandemic; at the moment I publish these conversations with my friend James D'Souza. We call them our creative sessions.
During the first pandemic lockdowns, James was making efforts to create and share interesting video classes for his pupils. He was about to give his class an assignment about marketing a board game business, and reached out asking me to record an interview for his class.
That reminded us how much we enjoyed chatting, and given I'd just began teaching as well, we came up with the idea of answering recurring questions from his high school pupils, and my advertising communications students.
That was Teaching Tangents and we made two seasons of it before feeling like we were repeating ourselves. We wrapped the show up, and looked at what was next, and came up with what might be an unusual mix.
We really like having a frequent chat sharing what we're up to, I find them generally encouraging, inspiring, and agreed we might want to keep talking somehow.
The last show wound up partly because we didn't care to spend too much time to formalise, improve, or promote it.
That said, the idea of being live streamed was appealing.
We like doing it and occasionally (surprisingly, even), someone of the average 1-10 viewers per video comments and says they enjoy it too.
I guess it's our own dance like no one's watching version of Wayne's World.
It's just us talking and geeking about books, movies, games, personal knowledge management, note-taking, technology, music, meditation, coaching, work, play roleplaying games, etc. It's pretty random.
Yesterday we talked about the Tales from the Loop tabletop RPG, inspired by Simon Stålenhag's art, which also led to a series on Prime Video I haven't seen just yet. We also talked about note-taking apps: Logseq, Roam Research, Evernote, Obsidian.
I'm sharing this because we both hear about students' (or clients) aspirations to publish videos, or podcasts.
Just as an example, Youtube has 2.6 billion monthly active users, and only 4.4% of them have created their own channel. Around 321,100 channels have over 100k subscribers ; around 32,300 have 1M, and only 5 over 100M (source).
The piece of advice I read most often as I was planning for my first podcast seems correct; the most important is to find something you enjoy doing even if few people see or listen to it - which is what's most likely.
It begins with making something and publishing. Keep it simple and get out there to begin with.
As the old French Lottery slogan used to say: "100% of winners gave it a chance" (100% des gagnants ont tenté leur chance).
I noticed this good outdoor media placement at Disneyland Paris, which kind of leads me to admit something about my arguably leisurely lifestyle.
It’s a long story involving multiple trips with my nieces and nephews last summer and over Halloween last year, but in short I have an annual pass to Disneyland Paris. So from time to time, I get out my home office, and on to the RER A train to the happiest place on Earth (or Europe/France).
Yesterday, I worked at Disney’s Starbucks for a few hours, wandered around the park, did a couple of rides, lunch and some more work at Disney Village (a burger, at the newly rebranded Royal Pub. I have thoughts about its transformation from King Ludwig’s Castle, maybe for another time).
I was heading back home when I noticed these ads in the train station, for Parc Asterix. They just launched an exciting new roller coaster (2nd of its kind in the world), Toutatis, the Celtic god invoked by Asterix and his Gaulish friends in the comics.
The theme park enthusiasts I follow on Youtube and who tried the ride for the park’s PR day are all raving about it, and I’m looking forward to trying it. That’s where you might think I should be wary of market orientation and remember I’m not the target audience, except well, sometimes I kind of am.
Some takeaways:
Outdoor ads on the public transportation system and on your competitor’s turf might seem basic. But it is also a solid foundation, I appreciate it. Disneyland is similarly boasting a campaign for the end of the 30th anniversary (in September) all over town, however they don’t have actual news, they’ve been celebrating their 30th anniversary for like a year now. It’s partly reminding everyone Spring time is here and it’s a good to visit theme parks, and/or a response to Parc Asterix’s actual new news.
It would have been fun to see an ad specially created for the placement by Disneyland’s train station, though possibly only of interest to adland and theme park geeks, so not necessarily worth it – and taking away from Parc Asterix’s actual main news and goal of the campaign to be single-minded about promoting their new roller coaster.
That last point is important for the enthusiasts because the roller coasters at Disneyland Paris are nowhere as good as the ones in Parc Asterix, and I was reminded seeing these ads. Disney’s coasters are old and rough. The rebrands of Space Mountain into Star Wars, and the Rock’n’Roller Coaster reopening as part of the Avengers Campus last year were met with disappointment or even outrage by fans (and myself: altogether too dark, rough, disorienting vs. fun).
I have some time to notice and write things given I just finished a couple of client projects. I’m looking for new gigs, please keep in touch if I can help with your marketing strategy.
I'm going skiing soon, and as I was planning the trip I noticed similarities with the ways I approach a strategy work project.
A few years ago, after I finished working at Energy BBDO in Chicago, I caught up with a couple of ex-colleagues for a drink and found out there were rumours about me in the office: people thought I was super wealthy because I went away on ski trips.
I first learned to ski when I was about 9 years old in France, during "classe de neige" school trip. I loved it but that was the only time I skied. My parents didn't ski, we didn't really have enough money or interest to go on ski holidays in my teenage years. It kind of stayed on my radar far in the background, as something that would be nice to maybe do again, some day.
I ended up re-learning to ski many years later, on a holiday with one of my best friends in 2016. I got totally hooked. It's actually the first time in my life I am so invested in a physical activity, to be honest.
I realise skiing is an expensive sport, generally reserved for wealthy people, and/or people living right by the mountains. I think I do well financially, even better than many, but I don't come from a wealthy family.
After describing the hostel dorm rooms and friends' places where I tend to hang out when skiing, one of them had an aha moment and realised it wasn't so much that I was rich, but rather that I didn't have the same travel comfort requirements they had when traveling.
Part of this is certainly down to budgeting priorities. There's also the satisfaction I get from organising a trip independently, looking for the best permutations of trains, planes, and automobiles, so to speak.
I can't help researching, strategising, and optimising plans. Which I suppose is also what I do with work and clients.
Ideally, any given strategy ends up seemingly simple. It has also likely taken me a long while to gather enough information and pursue long-winded ideas to finally get to that simplest result. The best strategies even look like they should have been obvious from the beginning, except it wasn't or couldn't be seen back then.
Occam's Razor, in philosophy and as defined in Wikipedia, "is the problem-solving principle that recommends searching for explanations constructed with the smallest possible set of elements. It is also known as the principle of parsimony or the law of parsimony. [...] Popularly, the principle is sometimes inaccurately paraphrased as "The simplest explanation is usually the best one.""
When skiing, the "fall line" is the steepest, most direct way down the hill. Skis should be perpendicular to the fall line, depending on your ability level, how steep the slope is, what the general shape of the mountain is, how the snow is, and also how you're feeling like skiing at that particular moment.
I like to think you end up sort of playing with Occam's Razor when skiing, in that you're gliding back and forth around and across the fall line, controlling your speed when turning, getting a feel for the slope and where the fall line is. Larger, broader turns allow you to control speed and slow down. Shorter, faster, narrower turns directed towards the fall line have you accelerate.
When the slope is shallow, you can easily point your skis into the fall line and go straight ahead. The steeper and narrower it becomes, the more you have to turn your skis away from the fall line to get down safely, and in the most parsimonious fashion. You need to ski on your edges, which should be sharp, kind of like Occam's idea of a razor, shaving a path down the slope, turn by turn.
I feel there are similarities with the way I might approach a new, presumably tricky enough, strategic challenge: considering ways to navigate it that aren't immediately relevant to a direct solution. Instead, I'll take side turns that generate new understanding and perspectives, which will strengthen the outcome.
It's arguable how close this really is to Occam's Razor, which is why I mentioned playing with it. When it comes to travel plans and skiing, I'm not necessarily looking for the direct path. Depending on time and budget, I'm after a fun, interesting, maybe even long-winded route.
At the beginning of this winter, it didn't look like I'd be able to ski much. Luckily that changed. After much time optimising and scheming (and a few urgent client projects), in ten days I'll be excitedly lugging all my ski gear around from Paris, to Vars on a night bus, then a weekend in Venice with my girlfriend, on to Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites, across the Austrian border to ski around Innsbruck, a quick stop to check out St Anton am Arlsberg, and then looping back to Paris via Zurich on the train.
All that to probably brag about my trip, and say that if you enjoy the idea of a strategic thinker playing with brand challenges like they would glide around a ski slope while connecting random notions like Occam's Razor or Lateral Thinking that I ended up removing, please give me a shout, and please comment about your skiing plans or problem solving approach (and if you want to go skiing together some time, particularly if you're a little better than I am, and/or if you have access to affordable accommodation in a ski resort)!
PS: Thank you James D'Souza for the encouragements to get back to writing & James Whatley for reminding me to write about what I'm interested in.
I thought I’d share thoughts and notes about a book I just finished!
First published in 1935, The Fool by Enid Welsford is a rich, extensively researched, and one of the few existing studies of the character of the buffoon in history across cultures, literature, the stage, and finally the screen. From his first recorded appearance in ancient Greece all the way to Charlie Chaplin as the latest successor of the characters’ traditions at the time of writing.
Enid Welsford tells the wild stories of witty parasites, laughter-makers (and/or laughed at), hunchbacks, dwarves, dimwits, jokers, and mischief makers – first through historical accounts, then imagined, and sometimes both.
Fun fact: the paperback re-edition from 1968 I managed to find boasts a sticker saying the original price of the book was £1.10.
I paid about 30 times that amount.The Fool, Court-fool, Court-jester, Buffoon, Harlequin, and Clown are all related characters, sometimes one and the same, even. Though the author splits the book between recorded history and fantasy, it seems challenging to be clear cut about exactly where reality ends (often for lack of clear records beyond royal accounting books) and mythical traits begin.
I’d never read anything quite like this, nearly everything I was reading was completely new, or new perspectives on knowledge I took for granted. Research is also in original language: whole passages of the book are in French and German.
On the topic of myth, the chapter about the Fool as Poet and Clairvoyant, talks about Merlin, the Arthurian legend character – who typically makes me think of a classic high wizard or mage. In fact, the character is correctly named Myrddin, and in the 1932 The Growth of Literature, a Professor Chadwick apparently makes a credible argument for the character to appear as a naked, hairy madman and bard, in two different documents and poems from Wales and Scotland.
The book doesn’t feature many actual examples of witty jests, though I enjoyed this story, apparently from the 14th century, in La Nef des fols du monde:
“It happened one day in Paris that a quarrel broke out between a street porter having sat down to eat his dinner near the shop-door, in order that his fare of plain bread might be made more savoury by the smell of the roasted meat, was annoyed to find the shopkeeper avaricious enough to charge him for this privilege. A fight ensued and the court-fool ‘Seigni Johan’, who was called in to conciliate the brawlers, pronounced the solemn judgement that the porter should pay for the smell of the roast with the sound of his money.”
I wanted to read this because I found the character of the Fool and Joker quite fascinating, and close to my interests about studying play. I was also curious about the historical relationship between this figure, comedy, and power. This comedian figure had a place next to kings in the middle ages (admittedly it was also a tragic figure at times), then in some cases was pitted against religious authorities, and finally seems to have ended up as an entertainer – separate from power.
Comedy and humour, even though important and human, don’t seem to have much dedicated space and time in the modern corporate world, which I think is kind of interesting, and I might have a book idea about it. I also figured that reading books few others have read these days, may lead to thinking and ideas few others have too.
To paraphrase a point made by the author at the end of the book, if one imagines wisdom on a spectrum, you might find a rational intellectual, learned wisdom on one end, and perhaps something opposite on the other end, a kind of natural, instinctual wisdom, so obvious it’s silly – that is where the Fool lives, and thrives.
“So perhaps we may add a fourth order of fools; there are those who get slapped, there are those who are none the worse for their slapping, there are those who adroitly change places with the slappers, and occasionally there are those who enquire, ‘What do slaps matter to the man whose body is made of indiarubber, and whose mind is of quicksilver, and who can even – greatest triumph of all – persuade you for the moment that such indeed is your case?’ For the Fool is a great untrusser of our slaveries, and comedy is the expression of the spirit of the Fool.” – Enid Welsford
I haven’t updated my website, kept writing or recording podcasts, or videos (aside from Teaching Tangents, that has still been going strong, thanks to my friend and co-host James D’Souza.
As the title indicates, my father, Klaas van der Horst, died on the 8th September 2020 – just a few weeks after my aunt Arlette died. They were in different health conditions, but to make it short, both died of cancers that were diagnosed after the COVID-19 lockdowns in the spring of 2020.
Some family members and close friends couldn’t make it to the funeral, and 2020 being as strange as it is, I set up an international video conference of the funeral ceremony that took place on Monday 14th September 2020, and I recorded it too.
The audio and video quality are pretty dreadful, though if you’d like to watch the actual video, you can click here and make a request for it to be privately shared with you. My mother and our family wanted to share it for others who couldn’t be on the conference call and may want to see it, and simply to share the eulogies told during the ceremony, both in writing, audio, and video.
Klaas van der Horst’s funeral ceremony
This Dutch folk song played as people entered the room; Ik Hou van Holland (I love Holland):
His son,Willem (I acted as master of ceremony, the following words were spoken in French, translated in English here)
Hello, welcome, and thank you for joining us here today – in person, and this being 2020, also via video conference. We are gathered here to celebrate Klaas van der Horst’s life, with his wife Azucena; his children, Björn who is in Sri Lanka, Willem right here, Morgan, and Saskia. His grand-daughters Anahí, Mei; and his nephews in the Netherlands, Iwan and Mark Nilsen.
(the following was said in English) And welcome to all the English speakers attending via the video conference, and thank you for joining us in celebrating Klaas van der Horst’s life. Though we will conduct most of the ceremony in French, emotional language doesn’t need translation – and there will be a few bits in English too.
My father was a pragmatic man. He appreciated punctuality, accuracy, common sense, as well as humorous puns, and witty play on words.
I wasn’t with him in person, though I like to believe he would have appreciated that the time of his death, Tuesday 8th Septembre 2020 at about 3:40pm, coincided precisely with the moment his heart stopped beating.
74 years, 4 months, and 4 days earlier, the exact same heart, a little younger, started beating on the 10th May 1946 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
His was a full life, fully lived, all the way to the end.
We will paint a picture of Klaas through a few words, stories, songs, memories, and sensations.
My father was a man of few words.
Words were precious to him, so I think he used them sparingly.
He had a big heart and a huge presence. Qualities curiously combined with a grouchy, grumpy personality, sometimes even difficult to be around.
The technical term his friend Gene came up with describes it best, it’s being an Asshole – International Asshole, even (those words said in English during the speech).
As a point of proof, our childhood friends used to be terrified of him.
I remember the biggest party I’d organized at home as a teenager, I was sixteen. Over a hundred people in and around the house, in the far parisian suburbs where we grew up, in Neauphle-le-Château.
I had organized things so that my parents had given me the green light for the party, and were saying at a friends’ place for the night.
Except my father changed his mind about that, and showed up as the party was roaring, around 3 or 4 am, and loudly declared the party was over.
In short, thanks to his big and grouchy presence, all my friends fled in terror.
And then he told me I had to clean up.
He settled in a sofa, and watched while I cleaned and mopped the floor, pointing out any dirty spots still left, whatever wasn’t impeccable, till dawn.
Suffice to say I wasn’t thinking of his big heart at that particular moment.
I experienced it at plenty other moments though. He loved his wife and children, simply, and fully. He was happy with us and didn’t need much else.
I lost my biggest fan. He listened to every episode of my podcast, read all the articles, videos, and images I posted on my website or on social media.
He was a traveler, as am I. And he absolutely didn’t want to us to worry about him.
We chose one of his favorite John Denver songs for this last trip of his.
His nephews, Mark and Iwan Nilsen (patched in on the phone from Rotterdam, spoken in English during the ceremony)
Klaas,
You cannot say that your life was only doing the same each day.
Quit a person who was doing his own thing and following his own path.
I do not know exactly, but you went from Rotterdam, to Switzerland, to London, to New York, and from New York, to just outside Paris – Neauphle-le-Château.
And so when we were kids we would visit him in England, the United States of America, and France for example.
For us this was very interesting, and as we grew up we remember the good conversations we could have with our uncle. He was never afraid to tell you the truth or how he thought about certain things.
We had many laughs and good glasses of wine during these conversations that we will never forget, thank you for that.
The death of our uncle Klaas came very sudden and unexpected, we hope he has not suffered very much and we want to wish our aunt Azu, Björn, Willem, Morgan and Saskia and their children a lot of strength to get over the great loss together.
Now between me and you one last sentence in Dutch: Het ga je goed daar schele en ik hoop dat je je zus tegenkomt en jullie samen kunnen lachen.
His sister-in-law, Alba(spoken in French, translated in English here)
While looking for a word that might qualify best to describe who my brother-in-law was, for me at least, excess is the one I’d pick.
An excess of laughs, good times, and beer in our youth and my holidays in Rotterdam; excess in his tone of voice over the lively discussions we had; and excessive silence in these last few years, following painful losses. And in an ironic height of silence, your way of shutting up your suffering, probably as a way to protect those closest to you. I often heard you grumble Klaas, but never complain.
Another side of you I remember is your… How to say it? Adventurer? Nomad?
Rotterdam, Perpignan, Cambrils where you first met Azu and I, TOulouse, Rotterdam again – married this time around, Lausanne, London, New York, Neauphle-le-Château, Paris, Lausanne, and Perpignan.
From professional adventures to a beautiful family adventure, you built your life in both commitment and risk-taking, while always finding the wherewithal to bounce back in tough times.
You headed a beautiful family and you were able to share your enthusiasm, humor, and work ethics with your children.
These last few years, your grand children’s presence gave you solace as your health diminished.
Perhaps never letting on or showing any issue, and never asking for anything were rules you had set for yourself. I’ll never know.
Ne rien laisser paraître d une possible défaillance et ne jamais rien demander pourraient être des impératifs que tu t étais fixés… Je n en saurai jamais rien…
Klaas, thank you for passing on those family values.
Rest in peace.
Hi wife, Azucena (Azu) (spoken in French and English, all translated in English here)
I asked to speak after my sister, because without my sister, I would have never met Klaas. I was shy, timid, and in front of him I became audacious.
You invited us, the whole crew of young people we were, to get on a pedal boat. No one accepted, but me. You and your friend Kun spoke a language I didn’t understand, but I was never afraid of going with you. Straight away, I was clear that I already knew you.
You showed me everything from your childhood. Rotterdam, the warehouse where the bananas were ripening. And then one day you decided to change jobs. And throughout your career, the different jobs you had revolved around the market: the produce market in Rotterdam, the money market in Wall Street, and the farmer’s market where you sold your olive oils in Morges. The only differences were the number of zeros in the figures.
You ripened 50 to 60 tons of bananas, I forgot for how long. I learned with your mother, your sister, not so much with your father’s family, we didn’t really know them, aside from an aunt, Annie.
And then we had this whole time in Paris, during which you followed me at Landmark, and then you did what I never expected you to, you committed in participating with the Hunger Project, and you created it in France, with Brigitte among others, and I will read what Brigitte wrote on Facebook.
“Klaas, you will always be in my heart. With your great soul, so full of love and generosity towards everyone, with your humor, and your commitment.
Thank you for all those good times together, those exploits where we created infinite possibilities.”
I saw you in those days, leaving in your suit, that team along with you, crisscross the streets of Paris, asking people to sign a piece of paper, a card. There was nothing to give, other than a commitment. Commitment was a leitmotiv for the both of us.
The commitment was to say that chronic hunger would have disappeared from this planet before the year 2000. You’re Dutch, and projects should be successfully led to the end.
I need to keep dreaming of it, while you did not accept that in the year 2000, what you found out was that even more people than ever were going hungry. We tried explaining that it was juste that there was a lot we didn’t know and understand previously. You threw the baby out with the bathwater. Later on, you’d always tell me: “But that was a long time ago.”
And now what I’d like to celebrate is your generosity, the fact that you enjoyed a good party. We threw parties all the time.
(Spoken en English during the ceremony) I don’t know if you guys are looking, but you guys in Wall Street, you’re the ones who had the funnest times together. I don’t think I have anything else to say, I don’t know who is on the line, and from those days.
And I want to acknowledge our son Björn, who is far away in Sri Lanka.
We continue having paperwork, paper problems, and even here in Perpignan, we have been continuing, I am continuing.
There’s not so much else to say.
I love you. Ik hou van je. Je t’aime.
Merci.
—
George Carlin on death(segue, I said this – Willem)
My father liked to laugh, and George Carlin was one of his favorite stand-up comedians. He had a few good words about death, and what is said of people who just died. (3 min audio from the following video)
His sister-in-law, Violette(spoken in French, translated in English here)
We always needed to specify your Dutch origins whenever mentioning you, or your first name, Klaas.
I’m 5 years old when you show up in Toulouse to marry my sister. You gave me and Hélios a book about New York, among other gifts. Later on you invited me to Wall Street, and then in London’s City.
I’m 10 years old, you gave me my first flight, from Geneva to Toulouse. I loved the place ride. It’s decided, I’ll make it my career.
I’m 15 years old, on the way to London in your big American car, the black Cadillac, you stop and take photos of all the cows we happen to come by. I learned much later that there are no 2 identical cows.
Faithful to your origins, close to painting, an art you will practice throughout your life.
You begin learning to play the piano later on in life. In this, once again, you hold on and succeed. Music is always with you: Frank Sinatra, Leonard Cohen, Joan Baez.
Tu commences l’apprentissage du piano à un âge avancé. Là, encore, tu t’accroches et réussis. La musique toujours t’accompagne : Franck Sinatra, Léonard Cohen, Joan Bez.
Thank you, Klaas. Good-bye, Klaas. For your last trip, on to new shores.
Rest in peace. Totzins. Daar Klaas
Hi son, Morgan(spoken in French, translated in English here)
Dad, we did so many kilometres together. You gave me so much love.
We did so many kilometres together, laughing, and crying.
We did so many kilometres together, til only just a few weeks ago, to go and contemplate the sea one last time.
We did so many kilometres together, to get where we are now.
You always lived this way, as if there were plenty of kilometres left to travel.
And then the end of the road appears, unexpectedly, like when arriving at the entrance of the desert.
I just want to say one thing right now: I’m proud to be your son, dad. For ever.
And now we come to a fork in our roads and we go separate ways, I want to remind us of a quote you loved: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”
Salut.
Hi daughter, Saskia (message written by our dear family friend, Françoise, and read by Saskia, translated in English)
To Klaas, Azu, and our children,
It is still a time for tears, though also a time for memories that come along, and with it, smiles, and happiness.
Klaas,
I knew you were nearing the end of your life, but your death shook me greatly, and saddened me profoundly.
Over 30 years of friendship can’t really be summed up in a mere few memories, but evoking them make me smile for the first time in two days.
You’re there again, and your absence that I now know is definitive doesn’t weigh on me as much.
Klaas, I’ve loved going past your damn character and you rebuffs to keep talking with you when you didn’t want to talk to anyone.
I loved forcing your door open to share your grumpy silence.
Klaas, I loved walking through your door when it was wide open to sharing.
We have celebrated so much together!
I loved sharing our introspective conversations about our own self knowledge and the infinite opening of possibilities in our lives. And we created so many!
Klaas, I loved sharing your joy of cooking, and Ioved enjoying the small dishes you silently prepared with for us all, or specially for me.
I loved being at your table in the numerous houses you lived in.
In over 30 years of respective house moves, and moving further away from one another, our two families stayed in contact, linked with threads of friendships weaved by each one of our family members.
To encourage you to settle in Perpignan was a great joy for me.
I loved having the possibility of seeing you every year.
The last time we met, in February, we didn’t know anything of the illness that would take you away. We talked about healing, I urged you to take care of your health to get past the post-stroke period, a time I knew from experience can be tough.
And for the nth time, you gave me my favorite recipe: the chicken saté skewers with peanut sauce you made for me so often.
I succeeded in making them, they were delicious!
I’ll keep feasting in your memory!
Klaas, I will love regularly opening this memory door to you.
Thank you for all this and so much more…
Farewell, my friend.
Loving and tender thoughts for every one of you.
I will be with you in thoughts from Portugal.
~ Françoise Haubert Machado
His son Björn (patched in on the phone from Sri Lanka, the text was read in English)
Merci Papa,
You gave me life.
You opened a world of possibilities…
A vast, borderless and beautiful world…
Thank You
From the extensive global travelling to the always present copies of National Geographic and The New Yorker that piled high around the house you opened this world to me, and nothing was impossible.
Thank You
You took me on the Concorde.
Thank You
You took me to the Bahamas, we snorkelled and I ate the most delicious BBQed Barracuda with a wedge fresh lime…I can still taste it.
Thank You
You played the piano with me to keep me motivated.
Thank you
Through watching you Papa, I learned how to throw a party and how important close friends are.
I learned how to play music really loudly.
I learned how to laugh and tell a story and a joke and a little lie…
I learned how to be at a restaurant table…Beautiful Benihana comes to mind…
Thank You
I learned how to not drag my feet. Klaas did not like the sound of scuffling feet. There was a very public scolding in the streets of Manhattan that cured me of dragging my feet.
Thank you
Your generosity had no limits at times excessively so…almost to a point of ridiculousness…I too have that flawed gift…
Thank You
You introduced me to the finest things – foods – clothes – 1st class travel – shipping ridiculously large American cars to Toulouse…all very show offy of course…but hey! Who cares? It was the 70’s and 80’s…
Thank You
But more than all of those things…
You taught me that the most important things are not things…
You taught me to be a man…a big one…
You taught me to be a father…a just one…
You taught me to love unconditionally…
For everything and for who I am today…
Thank You Papa…
The stars will be happier now that you are dancing amongst them.
They Thank You.
That’s Life – Frank Sinatra
We closed the ceremony over Frank Sinatra, setting colourful flowers on his casket before it was taken away to be incinerated.
We plan to spread his ashes in Holland, hopefully some time in 2021, whenever the COVID-19 pandemic will allow the necessary travel plans to be together.
The tangential new show with a hotly debated title (it was Terrific Tangents, then Terrible Tangents, temporarily for now Teaching Tangents, and it might change again), though fortunately the most important aspect is the question asked by one of James' high school students and we had some great ones in the past couple of weeks.
My good friend James D'Souza is a business & psychology high school teacher in London, and he selects one question from his students for us to discuss live on Youtube every week on Sunday 10am UK / 11am Central European Time / 14:30pm India Time / 17:00pm Singapore or Hong Kong Time, on my channel.
Please leave comments or contact either one of us if you're a student and would like us to maybe select your question for us to discuss in one of our next episodes!
"What are the best next steps from A-Levels (high school exams) to going in business?"
"How Much do Middle & High School Results Actually Affect your Future?"
My good friend James D’Souza is a business & psychology high school teacher in London. A couple of weeks ago he told me his students had a brief that was both marketing and tabletop gaming related, and those being areas of speciality for my, we made a video to record some of my answers to the students’ questions about their business brief.
We enjoyed it so much we thought about trying to broaden the idea to answering young people’s questions, beginning with his high school students, and have a coffee and chat while doing so.
This is the first experimental episode of what we’re calling Terrible Tangents, and the first student question James chose was: “What’s the Biggest Threat to Jobs?”
Enjoy, and I’d love what you think of it if you watch it!
I can’t believe it’s already been nearly three months since the last episode I published for the podcast!
I’ve been spending time formulating what Ice Cream for Everyone is about, and finally got to a version I’m happy to share, and is on my updated website front page as well.
In the episode I’m quite simply sharing what I’ve been up to over the winter, this sort of manifesto, and a set of personal beliefs that I’ve been working on and helped me refine what the website, and this show is about – without changing much or anything of what I’ve been doing so far.
IceCream for Everyone is a Playful Strategy Consultancy.
IceCream is often associated with happy thoughts and memories, perhaps ofchildhood, simpler times.
IceCream is also surprisingly complex chemically, technically an emulsion, acombination of two or more liquids that don’t normally mix together.
IceCream exists in a seemingly contradictory and ephemeral state, creating adelicious combination as a result.
Icecream requires the right ingredients, methodology, and temperature to go fromcomplex chemistry to a simple desert. Similarly, we use creativity, play, andcommunication to go from complex situations to simple solutions with ourclients.
Webelieve play, communication, and creativity are powerful assets for thedevelopment of businesses, brands, and everyone.
Webelieve dogma, bigotry, and blandness, are a hindrance to the development ofbusinesses, brands, and everyone.
Playfulstrategy is the application and use of structured play, and sometimes games, todefine and solve challenges in a business environment.
Playfulstrategy provides a recreational oriented state of mind fostering high levels ofreasoning, insightful problem solving, and empathy for participants.
Weplay with elements that don’t seem to normally mix together and combine theminto powerful ideas with our clients.
