Word of the year (Wednesday 25th of November 2009 09:54:00 AM)
It's a bit of an anticlimax this year. The Genootschap Onze Taal ('Society Our Language') has
chosen a word of the year again, and the best they could come up with was twitteren ('to
twitter'/'to tweet' as in posting tweets on Twitter). In a way ...
(more)2009 Beijing's most popular attractions top 10 (Friday 06th of November 2009 02:12:00 AM)
No1. Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese Imperial palace from the mid-Ming
Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China. It now
houses the Palace Museum.The complex consists of 800 buildings with ...
(more)10 Suggestions to Chinese Learners (Friday 06th of November 2009 02:11:00 AM)
No1．Listen to the basics of the language until it becomes automatic. When I first
started, I listened to the pronunciations of the pinyin and tones a million times, in the car,
at home, when I had insomnia. Listen to it as many times as it ...
(more)The Nobel Peace Prize (Wednesday 14th of October 2009 09:06:00 AM)
As you know a lot of people are in doubt whether Barack Obama has done enough already to
deserve his Nobel Peace Prize, and if the award should ever be given to encourage instead of
reward. I have it on good authority that the Prize ...
(more)Bye bye Nicky (Wednesday 30th of September 2009 09:44:00 AM)
Saint Nicholas was in the news this week. He's due to arrive in this country in November, and
this nationally televised Saturday afternoon extravaganza is causing very real problems, that I
would not have imagined in a million years: there is no TV coverage ...
(more)The coffeeshop stays, the tourist must go (Wednesday 09th of September 2009 09:04:00 AM)
It was touch and go yesterday for the liberal drug policy in my country. There was a vote on
whether or not coffeeshops, the places where you can use cannabis in public without being
arrested, should be tolerated any longer. They did come out on ...
(more)Flatulence (Thursday 03rd of September 2009 12:44:00 PM)
If there is anyone on television worldwide I can't stand, it's Antoinette Hertsenberg. She
hosts TROS Radar, a TV show about companies that don't respect the rights of consumers. A noble
cause, but there is no need for her to act like the Wicked Witch ...
(more)Black widows (Thursday 03rd of September 2009 12:32:00 PM)
A long time ago I already wrote an entry about the spread of exotic animals, including black
widows, in my country, but last week I saw a delightful report on German TV about a black widow
pest in the Antwerp area in Belgium. The pest ...
(more)Sail away (Tuesday 25th of August 2009 12:38:00 PM)
The biggest story in the news this week: a 13-year-old Dutch girl is planning to set sail next
Tuesday, and become the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the world. This prompted the
authorities to start a huge media campaign to let the country know ...
(more)LED there be twilight (Tuesday 25th of August 2009 12:29:00 PM)
A huge campaign has just been launched in my country to get people to toss their lightbulbs,
and replace them with LED lights. In a few days the sale of old-fashioned lightbulbs will be
forbidden, because they are going to kill the planet in the ...
(more)Is your garage hurricane ready? (Wednesday 05th of August 2009 06:07:00 PM)
ARA) - Weather forecasters are predicting that the 2009 hurricane season will be a "relatively
normal" one for U.S. coastal areas, with a good chance that six to eight hurricanes will form
in the Atlantic basin. Although hurricane season starts in June, ...
(more)The Vegan Streaker (Tuesday 21st of July 2009 12:45:00 PM)
It's not easy being Queen. First the suicide attack on Queen's Day, and now the Vegan Streaker.
Or so the police think. He was arrested yesterday for plotting against the Queen. He apparently
wants to shoot her. I could give his full name, but his ...
(more)Rupert Murdoch staying out of the e-reader business, Red Eye sadly still on the air (Friday 10th of July 2009 04:53:00 PM)
With the news biz in obvious (and some might say terminal) disarray, of course folks in the
manufactory will be seeking out ways to stay afloat in the age of the e-reader -- and it's long
been rumored that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is looking ...
(more)Life for pair who murdered for Rolex watches (Tuesday 16th of June 2009 06:22:00 AM)
Two armed robbers were jailed for life yesterday for murdering the wife of a millionaire to
steal her £13,000 Rolex watch. Daniel Whyte, 24, and Jason James, 29, were found guilty
of shooting Giuseppina Martorana, 46, in front of her husband and ...
(more)Why is it that news of GM bankruptcy had little effect on the stock market? (Thursday 04th of June 2009 06:05:39 AM)
Is it because people in the markets have already given up on GM and sold it's stocks already?It
was far from a surprise, and since the government owns most of the stock, there was little need
for panic selling...people expected it to happen. if ...
(more)Fun with books (Thursday 14th of May 2009 01:41:00 PM)
Quite a stir at the library this week. A book entitled Godverdomse dagen op een godverdomse bol
(translation: goddamned days on a goddamned sphere) won one of the top literary awards in the
Dutch language, the Libris Literatuurprijs. We have a small contingent ...
(more)Playing God (Thursday 07th of May 2009 01:00:00 PM)
Last week I posted an entry about a suspected terrorist attack against our royal family. Right
now, I must say I don't believe the Queen was a target at all. It was just someone who lost his
job and his house, and felt the need ...
(more)Queen's Day chaos (Thursday 30th of April 2009 03:22:00 PM)
I'm baaack! Been busy doing other things online, but today I thought I might post a new blog
entry. It's Queen's Day in my country. Normally the Queen then visits two towns to indulge
herself in folkloristic games, that are shown live on national ...
(more)The worst name in the Netherlands (Tuesday 07th of April 2009 12:38:00 PM)
There they were again, on Friday, back in the spotlight, the Tokkie family. Complaining on a
news show that should be above this, that their name is being slandered. It wasn't even their
victim namesakes who complained, it was the guilty Tokkies themselves. ...
(more)1300 BC (Tuesday 31st of March 2009 12:29:00 PM)
Three years ago Enkhuizen celebrated its 650th anniversary as a city. This was quite an
arbitrary celebration, as the Netherlands officially has no cities, but its the only thing that
can be celebrated, because nobody really knows how old the town really ...
(more)Friday the 13th revisited (Thursday 19th of March 2009 01:00:00 PM)
I wrote an entry about Friday the 13th before, in which I listed all the Dutch superstitions I
knew about. There weren't a whole lot of them, if you remember. Far less than one would expect,
knowing it all goes back to Jesus on the ...
(more)Where my license fee goes (Thursday 19th of March 2009 12:30:00 PM)
I learned a disturbing fact this week. I'm not sure about the American term for it, but in the
UK the money I pay, so I can watch TV, is called a 'license fee'. This week I learned that a
good portion actually goes ...
(more)God does hate us (Tuesday 10th of March 2009 12:33:00 PM)
I posted an entry before about the Westboro Baptist Church, and their hate sites directed at
different countries, that they feel enable homosexuality. At that point I felt offended that
there was no "God Hates the Netherlands" site. There is ...
(more)God's message box (Tuesday 03rd of March 2009 12:37:00 PM)
It's official, God has a cellphone. It has a Dutch number, 0644244901. If you wish to call from
North America, and most Caribbean islands, you dial 01131644244901, from European countries,
that would be 0031644244901. If you call Him, you will get a taped ...
(more)African Safari Tour, Making it More Fun (Tuesday 13th of January 2009 08:42:00 AM)
Recommendations to Make Your Safari More funWhile setting off for a hunting expedition
adventure ensure that you prepare yourself exhaustively enough to cut down any unwarranted
condition whatsoever. An safari is best experienced and enjoyed when everything ...
(more)When Europe freezes over (Friday 09th of January 2009 12:37:00 PM)
Coldcoldcoldcoldcold. Well, not where I live, but the rest of Europe seems to be freezing to
shreds. That goes for most of my country as well, but a vast portion of the north, including
the place I live in, is escaping the worst of it. ...
(more)Lotto winnings shared out (Thursday 08th of January 2009 07:00:00 PM)
A fundraising initiative was launched by the New Ross Rugby Club. This consists in raising
£150,000 for the upgrading of the club.The club consists of officers and members of the
club.The money will be put to go use as they want to install match ...
(more)Paris Hilton thinks she knows her burglar (Friday 26th of December 2008 03:14:08 AM)
With over $2million worth of jewels and personals and much more belongings stolen at Paris
Hilton’s home early Friday morning (December 19), our dear heiress couldn’t help
but think that the burglary was an inside job.
“I think whoever ...
(more)Global smackdown against cyber piracy now includes Japan (Thursday 18th of December 2008 12:21:00 PM)
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dating sites ...
(more)Word of the year (Wednesday 17th of December 2008 12:34:00 PM)
*TO THOSE WHO ENTER THRU THE JH FRONT PAGE: MY XMAS PLAYLIST WILL START AUTOMATICALLY*A word of
the year has been chosen in the Netherlands. The winner is "swaffelen". I really
don't know if this word has its origins in another language, or ...
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