So who do I think I am? If only I knew...

The last time I checked I was Johannes van den Heuvel, a 35 years old Aquarius enjoying my life to the max in Amsterdam, Holland. My last name, Van den Heuvel, can be roughly translated as "from the hill". You wouldn't think that's much of a last name, but then you have to realize that 99 percent of Holland is as flat as the bouquet of Ballantine's.

I've consumed a wide variety of alcoholic beverages during the past 15 years, but it wasn't until 1991 that I discovered scotch single malt whisky. My life hasn't been the same since. The first few drams I tasted made me very curious, so I tried some more.
And then some more....

I do like sports . Well.... some of them.
And when I say I like sports, I mean in the role of an active percipient.
I've never seen the point in planting my fat ass on a couch on front of a television set to watch other people play.
Every once and again, I indulge in a game of squash or a bit of ploughing through the mud of a rugby field as either a 'winger' or a 'hooker'.

And when I'm not liquidizing my assets?

Next to sipping and sniffing single malts I do enjoy reading, writing, listening to music and working on my Dutch "Weird Planet" and "DreamZone" projects. My favorite thinking chair is strategically situated right in front of my single malts bar, so I have a lovely view whenever I'm brainstorming or otherwise engaged in creative processes.

Up until now, I've tasted a little over 200 different single malts, which means there are at least 800 more malts to discover.
Ah.... the amazing experiences that lie ahead.

I live by "the pleasure principle", so I love a good meal. The fact that I'm kind of a "hit-and-run" shopper forces me to experiment a lot in the kitchen.

Music is very important to me. I love classical music and opera, but there's also a lot of contemporary music that I like. Some of my favorite composers are Wagner, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Bach, Puccini and Albinoni.

My own attempts at composing haven't been very successful, but in my youth I have been a background singer in the amazingly crap cover band "Dr. Decibel & The Explosions". Not that they really needed a background singer, but I was the only one who knew how to operate all the equipment. And besides: We knew we stank; we were just in it for the free drinks & girls.

The results usually are mixed at best, but through sheer luck or divine inspiration I have managed to compose some gastronomically groundbreaking appetizers and late night snacks. Let me know if you would like to see some of my recipes published on this site.

Chess is a sport too, isn't it? The fact that it's one of the few sports that allows the players to enjoy a glass of single malt during the game makes it one of my favorite pastimes. Just try having a glass while playing soccer or basketball - it just isn't the same. A few single malts (just a few, mind you) work wonders on the chessboard. Well, for me anyway...

Before you get the wrong idea: I'm not offering my professional sexual services on the field, or anything. The 'hooker' position is in the mid-front of the scrum. So whenever you see two groups of 8 men stampede towards one another during a rugby match on TV, think of me. My absolute favorite outdoors activity is skiing, though. My skiing style is extremely crude but effective; it's a good thing I go only once a year, though, because my body and ski's wouldn't survive the punishment on the slopes much longer.

Oh - and I almost forgot: I love movies. Good movies, that is.
Dutch "homegrown" cinema usually sucks big time, but fortunately most major international releases are shown here in Holland.
Some of my favorites are Brazil, The City of Lost Children, Apocalypse Now, Reflecting Skin and Barton Fink - anything by the Coen brothers, really.
The advantage of books over movies is the way they stimulate the mind.
My favorite authors are Herman Hesse, W.F. Hermans, Harry Mulish, Edgar
Allan Poe, Jack Vance and Philip K. Dick. Occasionally, I like to engage in heavier stuff by Nietzsche, Sartre, Schoppenhauer, Kant, Lenin or Jung.