Filed under: Food, Sports by Orangemaster @ 2:58 pm
A Feijenoord (Rotterdam football club) fan decided to complain to the director of NAC (Breda football club) for the free sausage rolls (’worstenbroodjes’) that were handed out at the game last Sunday. The Breda fans were given the free meat snack to comfort them for their team getting kicked 2-0 by Feijenoord.
The Feijenoord fan thought they should have thought of vegetarians, maybe even offered a meat-free alternative. It reminded me of the airplane I took yesterday which offered cheese or pork sandwiches. It can be done.
I get what they guy is saying, but then you’d have to think of obese people, people who have low-sodium diets, gluten-free eaters, diabetics, people with peanut allergies, kosher, halal, and so on.
Surprise: we live in a mostly meat-eating society. Just say no and don’t eat it is also an option.
These metal and plastic grass lounge chairs in the Valkenbergpark in Breda were made by designer Lisette Spee and architect Tim van den Burg, who hope to be able to make more of them.
This lamp, the Ode 1647 by Jacco Maris from Breda, Noord Brabant, must be one of the spookiest I have ever seen, although the designer was mainly looking to recreate the grandeur of chandeliers. I want one in all its splendid tentacliness. Apparently they come in all shapes and sizes. The arms are made of copper weave.
Waiting for your order at a restaurant is never any fun. Restaurant ‘t Hart van Breda has solved this problem by installing a computer that takes orders: you click on a computer screen from your table and voilà. You can even play computer games and chat with guests of the place as well. According to owner Nanda Koomans, “it’s in tune with the times. We have a young target group who lives and works digitally. This is perfect for them.” She emphasises the popularity of the system using an example. “Yesterday we had a group of girls and boys that were chatting with each other. After their digital talk they all went outside to go out together as a group. That’s of course very nice!”
There are also eight “digital free” tables out of the 26 for the non computer-savvy. The system was developed in Israël where its introduction has usually led to an increase in turnover. Although the initial investment is pricy, Koomans believes it is worth it.
I’d rather use a computer than get stressed out over the service in the Netherlands, but computers break down and make mistakes too. Life is tough.
On 11 June 2008, Queen Beatrix royally opened the Graphic Design Museum in Breda, the first museum in the world dedicated to graphic design. The museum plans to function as a museum, knowledge centre, training facility, shop, designer café and production house for graphic design. It offers an international stage for established designers as well as a springboard for new talent.
It’s not yet on the market (and it will look different than this picture), but two inventors from Breda, North Brabant hope that it will be soon: a pillbox that reads the directions folders of medicine. Once the box is opened, it will start reading automatically. The box makes sure to state that it is medicine and not sweets, a good idea when children are around.
A text can be up to 4.5 minutes long, and a 60-second text can be read some 150 times.
Let’s hope that the direction folders are properly written (an issue about two years ago in the Netherlands), properly translated (always an issue) and not too long (nobody needs to hear an entire disclaimer in 27 EU languages).
Belgium wants to rent some 300 jail cells from jails in Breda and Maastricht, cities close to the Belgian border. According to the Belgian media, the country has some 10,000 prisoners (out of some 10,5 million inhabitants), while there is only room for 8,500. In the Netherlands some 20% of jail cells are empty. So far, the Dutch government has said no and suggested that they might rent or sell jail boats to the Belgians, which didn’t really ‘float’ with the Belgian government.
You could draw all kinds of conclusions from this article, the kind of article you learn to analyse at school to show off your debating skills: Why are Dutch prisons empty? Why are Belgian prisons full? What’s wrong with boats? And so on.
Today the city of Breda, Brabant has broken the world record Mentos Geyser, according to the spokeswoman of the organiser, sweets manufacturer Perfetti Van Melle of Breda who makes Mentos. Some 850 participants on the Kasteelplein with their ready to blow cola bottles plonked their five Mentos sweets at 2:30 pm in their cola bottles. The result was a lot of four to five-meter high fountains. And voilà, the home of Mentos entered into the World Guinness Book of Records.
Thanks to the artistic group the Eepybirds, the Mentos Geyser has become very popular around the world. The Eepybirds were also in Breda for the joyous occasion.
Breda has declared Sunday, 2 September ‘Red Hair Day’, so that artist and painter Bart Rouwenhorst can paint and take pictures. Downtown Breda is expecting some 800 red-haired people for the occasion. As of Sunday, some 20 artisits with a fascination for “carrot tops” or “gingers” can check out pictures and paintings in de Grote Kerk. Rouwenhorst has been painting red-haired people for years “They are rare and special. Their skin colour is totally different, and so it is extremely difficult to paint them realistically.”
