Dennis Versteeg's Personal Homepage
last update: 20-05-2005

Quick stuff about me

Name: Dennis Versteeg
Born:
July 5th 1973

Residence:
Nuenen

Country:
Netherlands

Married:
To Angelien from 2004
Children:
A son: Joeri, born 13 May 2005
Pets: 2 Cats - Smokey & Googles
Occupation:
Research and Development of UV curable coatings at Eques Coatings  

Hobbies:
Music, Reading, Movies, Internet

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Very short life story...

I was born on July 5th 1973 in Nunspeet, the Netherlands, where I lived until I was 18. After this I went to live in Hengelo to study at the Twente University of Technolgy. I was in Twente from 1991 until 1997.I graduated from the faculty of Chemical Engineering in October 1997. a few months later I moved to Eindhoven and started a new job at the Eindhoven University of Technology as a PhD student. I got my PhD in November 2002. A couple of months later I started working at Eques Coatings in Oss to be part of the research and development team on UV curable coatings for CDs and DVDs, but also on other projects. In 2001 I met Angelien and from mid-2002 we were living together. On June 16th 2004 we got married, we bought a house in Nuenen, just east of Eindhoven, around the same time. May 13th 2005 was the day our first child, Joeri, was born.

Contact

Click here to send me an e-mail.

Hobbies

Music

Listening to music is my main hobby. My collection of CDs keeps on growing and growing... Also, going to concerts is something I really enjoy. I had about two years of electric guitar lessons, but time prevented me to rehearse as much as I wanted.  stil like to pick the guitar up now and then and make some noises with it.

My favorite band is Nits, a group from the Netherlands, who make the most wonderful music that I've heard anywhere. The style is hard to describe, but the closest I can get is to say that the music consists of beautiful, melodic poptunes, but with a twist. The Nits do things different than any other band that I know. They are excellent live performers as well and I try to visit as many concerts as possible. If you've never heard their music I can only recommend to check them out. In 2000 there was a fan convention and besides co-organizing it, I also sang in a fan-based tribute band called LICE. At the second convetion in March 2005 we will play again.

Another favorite of mine is Mike Keneally, a genius musician from San Diego, USA. He's best known as a side man to artists such as Frank Zappa and Steve Vai, but his own music I prefer over these (former) employers of his... His albums are rollercoaster rides of pop and rock, sometimes bordering on avant garde. Always there's excellent musicianship. These albums always surprise me, even after many repeated listens.

From highschool on I've always listened to Prince. Although my fandom isn't as big as it was then, I still enjoy hismusic a lot. He's still releasing grat music, but most of it only through his website, which is definately worth checking out. And if  you've ever get the chance of seeing him in concert: don't hesitate, because he's one of the best perforners out there!

Other artists I listen to a lot are (in no particular order..): Eels, The Residents, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., David Bowie, Terence Trent d'Arby, Beck, Sophie B. Hawkins, Lenny Kravitz, Franco Battiato, the Beatles, Sting, Leonard Cohen, Eurithmics, Danny Elfman, George Gershwin, Jean Michel Jarre, Paul McCartney, Shakespeare's Sister, Chris Opperman, Robert Jan Stips, They Might Be Giants, Wendy & Lisa, Supersister, Madhouse, The Time, World Party and much, much more... In the links section of this page I've included some links to some of these bands and artists.

Until recently I only enjoyed music in a passive way, but some things have changed in this respect. I performed on stage as a singer in a Nits Tribute band! Also, some Nits members joined on stage. Let me tell you: it's an experience I will never forget. Standing on stage in front of 300 people after only 4 rehearsals was quite a feeling, but sharing the stage with some members from my favorite band totally made my day!  In the links section there's a link to a page documenting that day (Greatest Nits INC). Also, recently I bought an electric guitar and I am now practising to get the basics under control. Maybe I will take lessons in the near future.

Reading

I simply love to read. Almost not a day goes by that I don't read at least a few pages! It's been like this since I was a child, although the last few years it's been a bit less. I also like to listen to audiobooks on my 45-minute drive to and from work. From my teens on my favorite books are science fiction books. In the beginning writers like Isaac Asimov and Jack Vance belonged to my favorites. I still consider these authors as some of the best out there. Nowadays there are some other science fiction writers that I really enjoy, including: John Varley, Greg Bear, Stephen Baxter, Vernor Vinge, Ben Bova and many others. The sci-fi sub-style called Hard Sci-Fi, which usually has stories based deeply in exotic science and grand stories involving consequences for whole planets or even species. Another favorite 'theme' of mine is stories about semi-realistic exploration and/or colonization of the solar system in the relative near future. The psychological scifi of Philip K. Dick is also a favorite of mine. Every once in awhile I also buy a Fantasy book. Actually Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is a book that I've reread many times. Terry Pratchett is one of the funniest writers that are out there and I simply love his books.

My list of sci-fi and fantasy recommendations (the one's in yellow are my all time favorites):

Douglas Adams - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and sequels)
Isaac Asimov - The Total Robot and most other robot short story collections and novels.
Isaac Asimov - The Gods Themselves
Isaac Asimov - The Foundation series
Stephen Baxter - Any book from the 'Xeelee sequence'
Stephen Baxter - Voyage
Stephen Baxter - Titan
Stephen Baxter & Arthur C. Clarke - The Light of Other Days
Arthur C. Clarke - Rama
Greg Bear - Moving Mars
Greg Bear - Eon (and its sequels)
Ben Bova - Mars
Ben Bova - Jupiter
Philip K. Dick - Martian Timeslip

Neil Gaiman - American Gods
Peter F. Hamilton - The Night's Dawn trilogy
Frank Herbert - Dune (only the first novel of the series is great, the rest is much less interesting)
Tanith Lee - Birthgrave Trilogy
Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and Grey Mouser novels
Larry Niven - Ringworld and most other 'Known Space' novels and stories
Terry Pratchett - All books in the Discworld series
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - Good Omens
Dan Simmons - Hyperion Cantos (all 4 books)
J.R.R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings

Jack Vance - Princes of Darkness series
Jack Vance - Most of his tpyical science fantasy books
John Varley - Any short story that takes place in the 'eight worlds' universe

John Varley - Steel Beach
John Varley - The Golden Globe

Vernor Vinge - A Fire Upon the Deep
Vernor Vinge - A Deepness In the Sky

Movies / TV

I'd like to go to a movie regularly (and if possible to combine it with  a nice dinner in a restaurant with some friends before the movie and/or a drink afterwards!) or watch a DVD at home. My taste in movies is quite eclectic. I can enjoy a super-commercial Hollywood production, as well as more obscure low-budget things (but usually I have to use different sections of my brain for those..). I usually like sci-fi movies or a good comedy. Any movie that can surprise me in one way or another gets my positive attention!

On TV my taste is maybe not so surprising in that I like sci-fi (or sci-fi like) shows such as Star Trek, Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1, Buffy/Angel and  X-Files. I also like to watch the better music TV shows (such as Later With Jools Holland). A good documentary every once in a while isn't bad either. Further I like to keep up to date with current affairs, so I usually watch the news and news background programs. I hate soap operas and quizes, the only exception being the quiz 'Met Het Mes Op Tafel', which I find very orignal and funny. I actually was a contestant on that show in January 2003. Unfortunately I didn't win, although I got close. Some comedies I like as well, but I must say that I don't really follow any regularly.

Internet

I like to surf around on internet, looking for websites on my favorite topics. I also participate as a regular on several Usenet newsgroups, such as alt.music.mike-keneally and nl.kunst.sf+fantasy. Then there's the Nits Mailing List and Yahoo Group, which I always read and very regularly post messages to.

I also am the webmaster a few websites, most of them Nits related. The most important one is the Nits Concert File, a document describing all the tours the Nits did. Many pages inlude computer 'artwork' I made myself.. Another page I made is a book reviews page connected to the nksf-newsgroup, All my pages have simple layouts without flashy designs. This has two reasons: this way I find the pages better readable and I actually have no clue how to do all that fancy stuff...

Photos

You can find more photos of me on my photo page.

Links

OK, here's a non-comprehensive list of some of my favorite links.

Life, Work, Education, etc..

Nuenen
Eindhoven

Nunspeet
Hengelo

Eques Coatings

My first scientific paper (Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry)
My Phd Thesis (large pdf-file!)

Eindhoven University of Technology
Twente University of Technology

My former High School

Music

Nits - Official
Nits - Best Fansite
Nits Concert File
Robert Jan Stips - Official (Nits keyboard player)

Mike Keneally - Official
Mike Keneally - Best Fansite

Prince - Best Fansite
Prince - NPG Music Club (official Prince site)

Residents (for your 'weird' fix)
David Bowie
Chris Opperman - Oppy Music (Chris is an amzing musician and composer, definately worth checking out)
Pink Floyd - Download Live concerts
Sting

Books

Sci-Fi general info
Sci-Fi news
Sci-Fi reviews

Greg Bear (Hard Sci-Fi)
Tolkien Society (Godfather of Fantasy)
Terry Pratchett
(Fantasy / Humor)
Isaac Asimov (Classic Sci-Fi writer)
Fritz Leiber (Fantasy)
Ben Bova (Sci-Fi)
John Varley (Sci-Fi)