Coffeeshop Portraits

What do you do with your education?

2008-12-20T00:21:00.005+01:00

Meet Ed, lives in the city, born, raised and educated in Spain

Ed is very smart and highly educated. He has a masters in chemistry, which he uses to make a living. He is highly paid. He makes cocaine.

Not just cocaine but pills, speed and many other upper class drugs. He assures me that he only makes the highest quality, he does not want to be responsible for somebody ending up dead. The way he sees it is that people are going to take 'party' drugs anyway so why not make lots of money and provide a good product.

He deals only with the wealthy and he likes the idea of being the dealer to the 'stars'.

Ed is not a thug, but he is a bad guy. I dont see a happy ending for him but as he put it 'i dont give a shit, its better than working in a big corporations lab and eating TV dinners on the sofa every night!'

Kids In A Candy Shop

2008-11-28T18:22:00.009+01:00

Meet Chris From Glasgow

And Dave From Glasgow

Like kids in a candyshop these two spent their time in the City wide eyed and sampling everything they could get their sticky little fingers on. They had a little map and every time they found anything of interest the pen would come out and it would be marked down. To be fair to them they had alot marked down and had found many of the cooler places to hang out and eat, i did tell them about a very cool restaurant around the corner and i hope they enjoyed their dinner.

Chris is a security guard on a building site and works nights, he does not work very hard and has alot of free time to play on his Xbox and do all the other things that keep him entertained.

Dave works in a call center, a job he hates, but as with most jobs he has his reasons. He said it kept his girlfriend happy and the most important?? Well that would be his trip here!! Once the trip was planned he needed a job to pay for all of it. When i spoke to him he was happily stoned and enjoying the city so i suppose all the work was well worth it.

It always pleases me to meet nice people enjoying themselves and im sure the boys are already planning their next trip.

More please!

2008-09-07T00:36:00.005+02:00

This City is in need of more of these types of British tourists and less of the noisy, rude and far to often aggressive idiots that have given the Brits in general such a bad name.

Meet Michael from Newcastle

And Simon from Newcastle

I was very impressed with these two, they were polite, well spoken and super friendly, as soon as i sat down across from them they said hello and started chatting, they asked the normal where i was from and all the follow ons. Once i had told them my little story i started on them......

The are both 18 and due to start university soon, but for now they were on quite the adventure, they had caught the bus to the ferry in Newcastle, travelled over night on the ferry then hopped on other bus to Amsterdam. They camped in a camp site near the city and caught the bus into the centre every day. This is pretty smart, they shared a tent and ended up getting 3 nights accommodation for £20.

It was funny to see there reaction when i spoke about the more "colourful" people i have come across since moving to the city and also the weird things that take place in the Amsterdamse bos. The fact sex was made legal in the Fondel park (after dark and hidden of course) also got a very shocked response.

But it was agreed that the cities "let people do what they want" attitude works well and creates a fantastic atmosphere to be in. And its true there is a very dark and twisted side to Amsterdam where you can get anything you want, but at the same time its just as easy to turn a blind eye and carry on with your own thing.

Live and let live....... having coffeeshops is just the cherry on top.

Welcome to the SMOKING Ban

2008-07-04T20:18:00.012+02:00

The smoking ban has changed the world of coffeechops, being caught breaking any rule results in a black cross, three black crosses and they lose their permit. The city is not granting new permits, so thats it, another coffeeshop closed for good. So needless to say bar staff are being very strict following these new rules, and as a results many are completely empty for large parts of the day when just a few days ago they would be packed. For now at least its a blend of smoking tea(or any herbal nicotine free tobacco) or a pipe of some kind or the best of the lot.... a vaporizer.

I was in my local, sitting at the vaporizer table reading my book. I looked up to find two happy and polite guys asking if they could join me at the table.

Meet Quinn From California

and Ryan From California (living in Utrecht)

Quinn is on holiday, in life he is a musician, he plays the guitar and bass. He said he mainly plays gospel, blues and soul. As i was telling him about my project he said he had a joint with a business man in a very sharp suit that very morning and also found all the different characters remarkable.

Ryan is a student, he is studying environmental sciences at Utrecht university, he got the tram down for the day to hang out with his buddy after having just arrived back from his own holiday in Madrid.

I trust the guys will make the most of their time in the city and find a couple more vaporizers along the way.

A City in Use

2008-07-02T02:19:00.005+02:00

Meet Shelley From Guildford, England

I saw Shelley sitting at the bar in the Bulldog at Leidse Plein, she was sitting all alone with a troubled look on her face while rolling then smoking one joint after another.

She was on her last day of a three day trip. She had come to use the city, she needed to get anyway from life for a while.

A wife and a mother to a thirteen year old daughter, she works at a YMCA helping the homeless and needy. For kicks and extra money she does nude modeling for fine art classes, biker magazines and tattoo magazines. She has fourteen tattoos including a very cool one on her hip she showed me which is actually two hundred little ones that come together, she was very proud of that one as she had had it done here in Amsterdam many years ago. It was paid for by the money she earned working as a strip O gram!

Shelley is a lovely human being, she gives so much of herself to the people around her that it leaves her drained and feeling down and thats why she comes to the city a couple times a year. So heres to heeling and recharging in the beautiful city that is Amsterdam.

Mushrooms and Bicycles

2008-06-30T02:14:00.004+02:00

Meet Jesse from San Francisco

And Nima From San Francisco

I met these two after they had spent the day taking mushrooms and cycling all over the country side. I heard a great story of waves, wind and lost cows wandering around green fields.

They are in Amsterdam for three days, while spending the summer traveling all round europe working and partying. They are fresh off two weeks in Rome working as hosts for a pub crawl, i was told it was nice to have outside urinals as it saved all the pissing in alley ways that they had witnessed in the past weeks. Next its off to Stockholm where they are going to see some gigs and make a few tracks.

They are cool guys and i had a good time listening to the stories they told, i wish them all the best with the rest of their adventure and if you should come across them i suggest buying them a beer and have a good chat and laugh about their latest escapades.

Last Minute Hero

2008-06-12T02:49:00.010+02:00

Meet Durak

I was not in the mood for people, i was in the hunt for a quite coffee shop with a TV to watch the football. I stumbled across Barraka, it was smallish with animals all over and a little TV upstairs.

The room was empty except for Durak who as it turned out would be my football friend and general pain in the arse for the next two hours. As you would imagine for a cat that lived in a coffee shop he was super chilled and friendly, but had perfect timing and knew just the right moment to step in front of the screen.

The game was good, it was between Switzerland and Turkey, Turkey won, it was decided in the 91th minute by a deflected shot from Turan(the turkish striker), Durak seem very unimpressed by the dramatic ending to the game.

I was happy, I gathered up my goodies and headed downstairs.............

As i was saying my goodbyes to Steph behind the bar, in walked a guy who ordered some weed and coffee, then turned to me stuck out his hand and introduced himself.

Meet Dan from Perth, Australia

Dan is doing a tour of europe with his mother. Now i know that sounds a little sad, but once you have all the facts its not. He and his mother both live in Australia, 1000km apart, so he doesn't see her much. Its her 70th birthday and as she has never been to Europe, he decided to treat her.

And to be honest Amsterdam is just what he needs, his wife left him and the two kids a year ago, so now he does the single father thing while holding down a job as a health and safety officer. This story may sound a little sad, but i can tell you i enjoyed my chat with Dan and in spite of all he remains a happy guy.

As he headed out the door i helped him out with directions to the red light district and i hope my last minute hero had a good time and snuck back into his twin hotel room with mummy with a smile on his face.

Wanted

2008-06-01T01:11:00.006+02:00

The day was proving to be a waste, i was in the Bulldog in the Red Light District (my fourth coffeeshop of the day), i had heard many interesting stories and met many people, but none of them wanted their pictures taken.

The days adventures and joints weighed heavy on my mind and i was ready to pack it in for the day and head home. Then to my luck Sofiane and Nicolas walked in to my day to flip it on its head.

Meet Sofiane from Lyon, France and Nicolas from Nice, France

Nicolas

Sofiane

These two were fantastic, we had a bit of a struggle to start as my French is nonexistent and both their English was not the best, but still we laughed for more than an hour!

For the first 15 minutes Sofiane told me i could not take pictures of him cause he was wanted by Interpol for drug running, as the story went, Nicolas and him were transporting 1 ton of Moroccan hash somewhere when they got stopped, Nicolas was driving and managed to escape (so it was fine for me to take pictures of him), but Sofiane was asleep in the back so he got caught and was sent to jail, he was busy serving a 5 year sentence when after 2 years he somehow escaped and has since been on the run. I got him to agree to cover most of his face for the shots.

As the chat continued i asked what jobs the guys were doing, Nicolas was unemployed and Sofiane said he was a stand up comedian, and that the whole Interpol story was a joke!!!!

We chatted about football and many other things, and after an hour or so i had to take my leave, I said my goodbyes and my thanks for the coffee they had bought me and the joints we shared, walking out i wandered how much of the Interpol story was true, Sofiane is a very interesting guy and i suspect its not all based on fiction, but to be honest i don't really care. I was very much entertained by these two characters and am very happy to have shared my evening with them.

My days adventures had a nice little cherry popped on top while i was cycling home, a wave from the Queen as she drove past with her police escort, and i thought how funny it was that all little old ladies have the same purple perm.

Matthew from Wales and Nick from Cyprus

2008-05-28T19:58:00.007+02:00

Matthew

Nick

Their details

I met Matthew and Nick in Stix while i was out exploring, they were about to leave so i jumped in and did my thing, to save time i asked the boys to write down their details for me so i could email them with a link and copies of the shot.

As you can see the paper is useless cause both Matthew and Nick were pretty out of it, so i will tell you what i know, Matthew and Nick both live in the city and are musicians, Matthew gave me a CD which was pretty good so if you are able to make out whats on the note i would suggest you check it out.

Vince from the Philippines, the inspiration behind the 4C's.

2008-05-28T18:20:00.004+02:00

I met Vince at Barney's breakfast bar(no longer serves food) on a rainy day, he was on a 8 hour lay over and did what so many do, get wasted in Amsterdam.

Vince stopped smoking half way though a joint saying he was to stoned and had to maintain as he called it " the 3C's, cool calm and collected", i agreed mentioning how many people i had seen getting so high that they nearly pass out, which is not clever! So it was then transformed into the 4C's, cool, calm, collected and clever.

As Vince smiled and walked out another stranger came to sit across from me, he was Mike from Brazil, Mike sat down and rolled the strongest joint i have ever seen, it was huge and pure but to top it off he added half a gram of Violator Iceolator( which is a super strong very oily hash). I sat waiting for what i knew was about to happen, he lit up, the smoke from the oily hash filled the room, he took a few pulls and passed it to me, it was lovely, but very strong, to strong for someone like him, and sure enough after half the joint he had to put it down and lay on his arms, the next 30min where spent babysitting him back to life, for which he was thankful. He left as soon as he was able to walk again.

If only he had gone by the 4C's................ he may have had a smile on his face to.