God hates the Netherlands. Or does He? (Saturday 26th of April 2008 08:08:00 AM)
Last Monday there was an interesting coincidence on Belgian TV station Canvas. First an episode
of Australian satire show The Chaser's War on Everything, which was then followed by a British
documentary from Louis Theroux. Both shows touched on the subject ...
(more)What? 200 years? When? Tomorrow? (Monday 21st of April 2008 11:30:00 AM)
They couldn't stop talking about this on the radio, last Saturday. An Amsterdam newspaper, Het
Parool, discovered that exactly 200 years ago yesterday, the French appointed Amsterdam the
capital of the Netherlands. The newspaper called the Amsterdam city ...
(more)Einstein (Friday 21st of March 2008 12:29:00 PM)
Every small town, even mine, has its local Einsteins. Ours gave another example of his wisdom
just a few days ago. There was a charity march around town, involving children of a local
elementary school. They were raising funds for an organization that ...
(more)Something I think not even George Orwell saw coming (Wednesday 05th of March 2008 01:15:00 PM)
It could have been part of some weird dream I might have had this morning, but I'm pretty sure
I was awake. I won't double check the story, because if it turned out it was a dream, there's
no entry for me to post. If ...
(more)Being good at Sudokus doesn't make you smart (Friday 30th of November 2007 12:32:00 PM)
As some of you know, I have become somewhat of a Yahoo! Answers addict. When I first visited
the site, I was stunned by the stupid questions and stupid answers, but after awhile I gave it
a chance, started answering questions, and noticed that if ...
(more)In the wrong job (Saturday 24th of November 2007 09:32:00 AM)
Another case of Belgian stupidity. Ten children were taken from a Brussels kindergarten by a
strange man, and the teacher didn't notice until they were brought back to the school. The man
took them to a store and bought them candy. Of course the man ...
(more)Northern Rock (Monday 17th of September 2007 03:15:00 PM)
Third world scenes in the streets of England, by ferry only hours away from my country. Thanks
to problems with mortgages in the US, the English savings bank Northern Rock had some liquidity
problems. Even though the Bank of England gave some solid guarantees, ...
(more)About time... (Saturday 15th of September 2007 08:00:00 AM)
I'm sure in America you know these games as well... Bimbos hosting daytime games on TV with
really simple questions, and all you have to do is call their number (at high rates) and you
win thousands of dollars. Well, in the Netherlands something is ...
(more)Car salesmen and women (Friday 31st of August 2007 11:40:00 AM)
Two stories this week about the same subject, the automobile industry and female buyers. The
first one was the conclusion of a study into the attitude of salesmen toward women. Even though
the majority of car buyers in the Netherlands are women, and even ...
(more)Voodoo dolls (Wednesday 29th of August 2007 01:20:00 PM)
The Dutch Bible Belt has made headlines again. Quest, a popular science magazine has done an
article on voodoo, and they included a small black voodoo doll with the magazine's logo. Stores
throughout the fundamentalist part of the country, but most notably ...
(more)The desolate state of the American economy (Monday 20th of August 2007 11:45:00 AM)
While in Germany I read a funny, if misguided, article in a small local news rag. It made fun
of the state the American economy is in, which you can tell by one telltale sign: the US Mint
has issued yet another wave of one ...
(more)Stupid tourists (Saturday 11th of August 2007 08:05:00 AM)
The Belgian version of the AAA issued a funny statement earlier this week. They call us
Dutchies the dumbest tourists imaginable. We in turn believe the Belgians are the dumbest
people alive, but they're on to something. Like Holland, Belgium receives ...
(more)Weeding out the unfit (Friday 10th of August 2007 11:49:00 AM)
This is why I love video sites. In my usual location I can't watch all of them, but I love the
ones I rarely visit anyway. Last night 56 Dutch youths were apprehended in the city of Utrecht,
for large scale moped theft committed across ...
(more)Yay, another political maniac (Wednesday 08th of August 2007 11:41:00 AM)
Geert Wilders strikes again. This country's most prominent enemy of Islam has come up with a
new idea. Let's outlaw the Qur'an. He argues that so many people have been killed by people
seeking their justification in this holy book of Muslims, and that ...
(more)Meanwhile, in the old Kingdom... (Wednesday 01st of August 2007 11:49:00 AM)
As all of you know by now, we have a Queen in the Netherlands. Nice and interesting, and
steeped in colorful traditions, but with it also comes a host of peculiar laws, that people
living in republics don't have to put up with. At least ...
(more)UFO Sightings (Wednesday 18th of July 2007 11:43:00 AM)
There have been dozens of UFO sightings in the Netherlands, lately. Of course we all know how
they were caused, but a small group of romantics still wish to believe otherwise. For awhile
now DIY and garden stores are selling what they call 'thai balloons', ...
(more)Silly expressions (Monday 16th of July 2007 11:47:00 AM)
Another entry about American English, about the use of the word community. I used to think it
was funny when the Blues Brothers spoke of the "Illinois Law Enforcement Community",
but I keep hearing this word used in the same sense in ever sillier ...
(more)Running with the cows (Tuesday 10th of July 2007 01:20:00 PM)
Good news for all you feminists out there: your Spanish counterparts are fighting for the right
to run with cows in Pamplona. I'm sure you know about this annual event where people are chased
thru the streets of Pamplona by bulls, who later that day ...
(more)American v the Queen's English II (Monday 09th of July 2007 12:09:00 PM)
Well... those British aren't such perfect speakers of the English language after all. I
mentioned how the British have baths, while Americans take baths... Well, I have a pocket
version of the Oxford English Dictionary, and under bath, it clearly states, ...
(more)Another reason why we are apparently living in the days of the end (Monday 02nd of July 2007 04:15:00 PM)
In one of my spam accounts, I get an evangelical newsletter, and these evangelicals are
convinced that we're living in the Biblical enddays. They have come up with another convincing
piece of evidence: the European Union. Apparently we're this big union ...
(more)Religious inconsistency (Friday 29th of June 2007 02:05:00 PM)
On Dutch, Belgian, and German TV I keep seeing the same stuff lately: the Ku Klux Klan is on
the rise again, with many a southern man eager to join, to defend America. What strikes me is
how deeply religious these people are, and it ...
(more)RU 4Real? (Saturday 23rd of June 2007 08:45:00 AM)
No you're not, at least not if you're from New Zealand. Fortunately the Kiwi authorities have
rescued a baby from a silly name, 4Real, his parents tried to bestow upon him. I have written
an earlier entry about how I feel about these stupid names, ...
(more)Judge's decision in Postcode Lottery case (Saturday 23rd of June 2007 08:40:00 AM)
Good news! On Thursday, a judge in Amsterdam has given his verdict in the case of Mrs.
Hélène de Gier vs the Postcode Lottery. The Lottery have won, and will not be
forced to pay the lady anything, despite the emotional trauma she claims ...
(more)Which is worse if you are an Albanian? (Wednesday 13th of June 2007 12:01:00 PM)
As I'm sure everybody has seen on YouTube, or the news, or wherever, Bush' wristwatch was
stolen off his wrist. White House officials have denied it, stating that security officials
have removed it just to be on the safe side. I laughed loudly at this ...
(more)Silly names (Monday 04th of June 2007 12:13:00 PM)
This is a subject I feel quite strongly about: the silly names some people give to their
children. With a nephew having been born recently, I had this discussion with my mom, and also
with a few other people, and I decided I'd devote an ...
(more)Americans beware (Tuesday 29th of May 2007 12:02:00 PM)
I sometimes listen to the American Forces Radio Network, because I like to know what's going on
in the world of American sports. Some are lousy to watch on TV (football, hockey), so the radio
is a good alternative. Of course, American radio sports coverage ...
(more)The Postcode Lottery (Tuesday 15th of May 2007 01:11:00 PM)
The funniest thing happened last week. We have this lottery in the Netherlands, which is called
the 'Postcode Lottery'. If you play your ZIP or postal code is your lottery ticket, and if you
win, everybody with your postal code who plays wins along with ...
(more)Eurovision Song Contest (Saturday 12th of May 2007 08:05:00 AM)
Tonight one of the most repulsive aspects of the European quest for unity is on: the Eurovision
Song Contest. This is a song contest where European nations compete against eachother. It is
also the greatest evidence that composers shouldn't try to write ...
(more)April Fools Day (Monday 02nd of April 2007 01:41:00 PM)
Again they've tried. Unlikely press releases in the days leading up to April 1, or as some call
it, March 32. I don't think too many people fell for any of it this time. I did like the Gmail
joke, that included a button which ...
(more)Polar bears (Wednesday 28th of March 2007 01:57:00 PM)
In light of SilverWind's entry about polar bears, I have some polar bear news of my own, which
appals me. There is this polar bear cub in the zoo of Berlin Germany, by the name of Knut. Knut
recently made it's first appearence before the ...
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