Brussels Girl Geek Dinner

The title of this blog post is only slightly misleading: on Friday 28 August the Brussels Girl Geek Dinner girls were invited to a Klarafestival concert of Israeli cellist Gavriel Lipkind and pianist Roman Zaslavsky. In the video embedded below you’ll notice at around 1:50 that Mr Lipkind likes to pull his sidekick’s leg from time to time.

International Brussels music festival Klarafestival (world-class classical music is presented in an unusual light) invites 30 girl geeks for their opening night.
So if you feel like dressing up a bit and spend a night out while watching young and talented musicians play classical music, put your name on the wiki.

For your information, the first part of the Klarafestival First Day‘s programme is a free event, with concerts in Brussels metro stations, train stations and squares. Our favourite:

18.00 – 19.00 Place Flagey: German classical pianist and 2003 International Queen Elizabeth competition winner Severin von Eckardstein (wikipedia entry)

But for the 30 girl geeks who put their name on the wiki, this is the course of the evening:

20:00 Flagey Studio 4: evening concert by Israeli cellist Gavriel Lipkind & pianist Roman Zaslavsky
Champaign break at the Flagey bar
22:00 Café Belga: late night concert Tolvan Big Band (prize-winning Swedish Big Band jazz)

Please help spread the word on Klarafestival:

• link/subscribe to klarafestival.be (blog)
• follow @klarafestival and use #klarafestival on Twitter
• join Klarafestival Facebook group
• listen to Klarafestival last.fm playlist
• concert pics on Flickr
• friend Klarafestival on Netlog
• subscribe to Youtube channel for interviews

About two months ago, five Brussels Girl Geeks (@bnox, @imkedielen, @sasvangent, @tamaragielen and @beatever) were invited to be part of the jury of VTM’s tv show Chef vs Vlaanderen. And we have good news:

1. We’re on tv this Thursday 27 August 20:45 VTM. Tune in to see who won: Jeroen De Pauw or David De Wit.
2. Remember we wrote we’d try and convince [tv cook Jeroen De Pauw] to cook just for us one day? He will, at his home, on Monday 7 September. Big question: what do you think he should cook? Is there such a thing as the perfect Girl Geek Menu?
3. We can take three more girl geeks along. Want to join us? The first 3 to comment to this blog post can come!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

In a nutshell:

The 15th edition of Brussels Girl Geek Dinner takes place on Wednesday 19 August. There are still 5 seats available!

Domein Hertoghe (= name of the park)
Corner of Karel Oomsstraat & Markgravelei
B-2018 Antwerp

Toilets and hide-out in case of rain:
These Days
Karel Oomsstraat 47B,
B-2018 Antwerp

Parking:
Near the park. Free after 19:00.

Bring with you:

• your own picnic
• a blanket or plastic sheet to sit on

Sponsors take care of:

• smoothies and healthy fruit snacks
• summer cocktails
• Belgian ice cream
• cake

Course of the evening:

• 18:00 Set-up (so if you come at 18:00, you can help out – much appreciated)
• 19:00 Kipling bag sweepstake aka the belspeldelspel
• 21:30 clean-up. Get the chairs etc back inside the These Days building, grab a goodie bag and go home.

Windows Live Messenger helped pioneer the concept of social media a decade ago; today it is visited by more people worldwide than any other free instant messenger site. In Europe alone, there are over 128 million Messenger users, each of whom spends an average of 6 hours every day having conversations, sharing experiences, making decisions and influencing others.

Windows Live Messenger has constantly evolved to remain at the heart of online conversation, with ground-breaking technologies that keep users expressing themselves, entertaining one another and sharing everything from videos, photos and music to all-important opinions.

For this special event, Messenger & Girls Geek dinner want you to come and share its Special Birthday cake with you. Everybody now:

Yes we’re going to a party party
Yes we’re going to a party party
Yes we’re going to a party party
(From the very catchy “Birthday” by The Beatles)

In Dutch: “Dinsdag en woensdag wordt het vrij zonnig en geleidelijk ook warmer. Dinsdag halen we 27 of 28 graden, woensdag is dat mogelijk 30 graden.”.

In French: “Mardi et mercredi, le temps sera bien ensoleillé et de plus en plus chaud. Le mercure affichera 27° ou 28° mardi et dépassera la barre des 30° mercredi.”

The quintessential ice cream van in Belgium has “Ijsboerke” on it. Ijsboerke has been pleasing connoisseurs with genuine Belgian quality ice-cream since 1935. The recipe for success in all these years has always been the same: traditional craftsmanship, natural raw materials and day-fresh cream.
And guess who’s bringing at least 70 “icy ice creams” to Brussels Girl Geek Dinner #15? That’s right! Ijsboerke :-) And as usual, this sponsor, too, will “use” us girl geeks to try out their latest products and innovations.

The 15th edition of Brussels Girl Geek Dinner is a “bring your own food” one. But there are a few tasty extras. Chiquita, for example, has agreed to cater us with

• Chiquita Smoothies for everyone. Yay! A real fresh fruit smoothie consists of 100% pure fresh fruit, no more and no less. That means no additions such as dairy products, and definitely no concentrates, preservatives, or added sugar.
• Something brand new: the Chiquita Pineapple Sticks. 75g of 100% natural pineapples cut, cleaned and individually sealed into a unique, no mess package.

Sometimes Wikipedia simply says it all:

When Kipling was founded in 1987 in Antwerp, Belgium, it was Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, an iconic symbol of adventure and youth, that inspired the company’s name. Kipling is a company known especially for its line of nylon handbags, backpacks, luggage and accessories distinguished by their round rubber logo and furry monkey keychain. Today, with the belief that fashion and fun can exist together, Kipling continues to make high-quality bags and accessories in nylon, leather and new innovative fabrications, that are found all over the world.

And speaking of fashion and fun:

1. Kipling puts one galactic monkey in every goodie bag
2. Kipling gives away no less then 5 handbags from their latests collection:
   1. Teagan (Small wheeled duffle / Cabin size trolley)
   2. Limit (Shoulder bag with removable shoulder strap / Clutch)
   3. Gaelle (Medium handbag / Shoulder bag)
   4. New Arlene (Small shoulder bag with mirror and removable strap / Clutch / Across body)
   5. Thrill (small purse that’s so new it’s not in the catalogue yet)

We’re giving the bags away during a session of our famous Belspeldelspel sweepstake at around 19:00 during Brussels Girl Geek Dinner #15. So make sure you get there on time!

Grand Marnier has been launching summer cocktails for a couple of years now. And this summer, they’ve baptised their invention the Grand’O. The ingredients? Grand Marnier of course, some orange and lemon juice, cane sugar syrup and Perrier. The results is a light, semi-sparkling, and refreshing drink, presented in a revolutionary container: a small red ball.
More here:

• http://www.grandmoments.be/ pictures, stories and contests
• http://www.grand-marnier.com/ with more recipes for summer cocktails

What if you had your own team of personal shoppers and style curators searching worldwide for the most beautiful, exclusive, fun, sexy and smart items around?
The List does that for you.
In the goodie bag of Brussels Girl Geek Dinners #14 and #15 you’ll find the List’s quarterly catalogue catalogue which contains a handpicked selection of 91 fascinating finds, a (minimal) of 10% discount and/or free delivery on a selection of items, gifts, extra’s. Have a look:

On June 25th Nokia and Brussels Girl Geek Dinner launched a contest to win a brand new white N97. And without further ado: the winner is: nebhet (also known as (b)Elle in The Wood or @plutomeisje). She made a comic strip illustrating how she tried to win a white N97. Here’s an excerpt – check out her blog for full-sized scans.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Important: BGGD #14 is fully booked. Please put your name on the Reserves List of the wiki page. We usually manage to get everyone in.

Thursday 13 August – course of the evening:

18:00 Welcome and discovery of expo Young Belgian painters Award 2009

18:30   Keynote LAb[au] & Els Vermang on Art & New Media

19:15   Dinner and a word on our kind sponsor, BOZAR

20:15   Free entry to the other exhibitions. In other words: a night at the museum (at least, until 21:00).

Els Vermang (°1981, Leuven) studied Visual Arts at the Stedelijke Kunstacademie Leuven (1997 – 1999), and did a Master degree in architecture at the Henry van de Velde Instituut / Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp (1999 – 2004). She lives and works in Brussels and at Bozar currently shows a selection of recent work created together with LAb[au], the Brussels studio that specializes in computer art, and also the team behind the gallery Media Area. Their approach summarizes in an n-dimensional, parametric and trans-disciplinary approach of spatial thinking that is merged into a technological and art historical continuum. The sculptures Frameworks 5x5x4 and SwarmDot and printed series Chrono prints show the different formats of LAb[au],’s work, where interactive and generative processes merge into a contemplative entity where the boundaries between traditional and avant-garde art fade.

LAb[au], consists of Manuel Abendroth, Jerôme Decock, Alexandre Plennevaux and Els Vermang, who together develop and execute projects and artworks.

As mentioned in a previous post, Centre for Fine Arts Bozar is both sponsor and venue for Brussels Girl Geek Dinner #14 on Wednesday 13 August.

An Art Deco masterpiece by Victor Horta, the Centre for Fine Arts is one of the jewels of Belgium’s cultural and architectural heritage. Following intensive renovation and restoration work, the Centre has now re-opened its original spaces consisting of a network of exhibition rooms, theatre halls and the Henry Le Bœuf Hall, a concert hall seating 2 200, to which have been added new multimedia rooms.

The Brussels Centre for Fine Arts is an exceptional building, but also a house bubbling with international-level cultural and artistic activities. Exhibitions, concerts, theatre, films, conferences… Every year the Centre welcomes more than a million visitors.

The Centre for Fine Arts also hosts more than 250 concerts annually, from chamber music to symphonic orchestras; a score of individual or thematic exhibitions, from ancient to contemporary art, as well as by very young artists; modern theatre and dance, writers and film-makers… To find out the programme planning or to buy your tickets on line: www.bozar.be

ACCESS :

• Train: 5 min. from the Gare Centrale | Centraal Station via the Ravenstein Gallery
• Trams:  92 – 94
• Metro: Gare Centrale – Parc
• Bus: 27 – 29 – 38 – 63 – 65 – 66 – 71 – 71N – 95
• Parking Albertina via Stuiversstraat, Parking Poelaert and Parking Grand-Place | Grote Markt