Bruce Springsteen has said that the title track to his latest album is not about magic, it's about tricks. The kind of tricks that make lies seem true and the truth seem like a lie in these "Orwellian times".

But surely not this kind of trick!!! I took the train to Arnhem this morning to see him perform at the Gelredrome, arrived at 10:15 AM and was reasonably satisfied to find out I was somewhere just below the 300th place in line for the general admission for the 8 PM show. After doing a mini-tour of Arnhem I can back for the 1:00 roll call check in, only to find out that the concert was cancelled. Actually no trickery at all, it turn out Bruce had a bad cold. It's been rescheduled for tomorrow, December 1st.

There will be confusion tomorrow morning at the Gelredome. Fans set up a list for people waiting to get in, but it has no official standing. What if some people showed up early today but can only come late tomorrow - do they lose their place in line? And if others show up early tomorrow will they be first in line? Aah, it is all unclear. That's why I'm going to get there earlier tomorrow, to perhaps move up in line and certainly not drop back. Goal: before 9 AM. Remember I do have to take the train to Arnhem first!

I walked a bit more around Arnhem in the afternoon, instead of heading right back to Amsterdam. I think the center is quite attractive but it is small. My Lonely Planet guide says there is little of interest in the city, but there is the important story of "Operation Market Garden". It was an attempt to end World War Two before Christmas 1944, and it involved thousands of Allied Troop parachuting in around Arnhem, across enemy lines. From what I gather:

Ground troops were supposed to work their way north to meet up with them and cut the German armies off from retreating to Germany. Didn't work. Most of the the paratroopers died, the survivors fighting for over a week on only two days rations. The war continued through the Dutch hunger winter,in which over 20,000 people starved to death in the Netherlands.

We had our graduation ceremony a few weeks ago from the Tinbergen Institute's MPhil programme. It was a nice event, held in the Siena cafe at Erasmus University. The supervisor of each graduating student was supposed to give a short speech about him or her and their work together. Needless to say, it was a time to be complimentary!

More than half of the supervisors were not there, partly due to a scheduling conflict. I was disappointed when I heard that because I thought the little speech was the nicest part of last year's ceremony. Fortunately, Director of Graduate Studies Jaap Abbring was leading the ceremony. He ably spoke for the supervisor who weren't there, in what one person referred to as "Hugh Grant style". It definitely worked.

These photos are of the group, Bernd, Denny and me.










We went out for dinner afterwards. I'd like to say I was both set up and posing for the camera in the second shot.

This morning's wind is blowing down the leaves from the trees. It suddenly feels like fall.




"I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm,
your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm"

-Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye