April 10, 2020

Oldest known Corona patient, 107-year-old Dutch woman, cured

Filed under: Dutch first,Health,History by Orangemaster @ 2:59 pm

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), The Netherlands’ ‘Tante Cor’ (‘Aunt Cor)’, real name Cornelia Ras from Goeree-Overflakkee, South Holland, is said to be the oldest Corona patient in the world to have been cured of Covid-19. Although the actual age of a number of elderly patients has not been determined, chances are that Tante Cor is the oldest, with a 104-year-old man from Oregon, Unites States coming in second place.

Tante Cor contracted the virus during a church service in her nursing home, now known hotbeds of contamination in many parts of the world. Forty other people were contaminated as well, ten of which have died, sadly not a unique occurrence.

A few other hundred-year-olds in The Netherlands have also recovered: a 101-year-old woman from Capelle aan den IJssel, South Holland as well as a 103-year-old man from Steenbergen, Noord-Brabant.

(Link: nu.nl, Photo of random old people by Flickr user Freeparking, some rights reserved)

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October 18, 2018

Spijkenisse unveils Silly Walks pedestrian crossing

Filed under: Weird by Orangemaster @ 12:50 pm

Spijkenisse, South Holland, the city of the fake euro bridges, has officially unveiled a special pedestrian crossing sign at city hall today, featuring none other than a nod to John Cleese as the Minister of Silly Walks in the famous Monty Python sketch of 1970. The sign depicts a man wearing a bowler hat and carrying a briefcase who is about to take a funny step to cross the street.

A local bureaucrat heard about a similar sign in Haparanda, Sweden, and as a fan of British humour figured why not have such a sign in Spijkenisse as well. And since according to him weird things happen at city hall, having the sign next to his place of work was fitting. Crossing the street at one of the city’s busiest intersections with a smile is also a good idea. And regardless of how funny your walk is, traffic still needs to stop for you.

Back in 2016 we told you about hundreds of fans of British comedy legend John Cleese showing up for the opening of a Silly Walks tunnel in Eindhoven.

(Link and phote: nos.nl)

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January 25, 2018

Dutch florist to donate kidney to competitor

Filed under: Health,Science by Orangemaster @ 1:13 pm
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A florist in the town of Oostvoorne, South Holland has agreed to donate one of his kidneys to his competitor.

Jan, 62 and a florist, has a genetic kidney disease, inherited from his father who died at age 69. Jan’s problems are not yet critical, but he’ll need a kidney soon. Dick, 55 and a competing florist, is a match and is willing to donate his kidney to Jan. Sadly, Jan’s two sons also have the same genetic disease, but at least they’ll have a father for a much longer time if all goes well, and hopefully more resources to solve their predicament.

Everybody who knows Jan and Dick in Oostvoorne are impressed with the gesture. “I barely take aspirin. I can do without one of my kidneys”, says Dick. Jan was speechless when he found out that Dick was willing to donate one of his kidneys. “You’re not going bankrupt are you?” said Jan to Dick when Dick came over to tell him the good news. “No, I came to tell you I’m going to give you a kidney”.

Dick found out that Jan needed a kidney through two social workers. And although he did talk about donating with this wife, he says he went behind her back to the hospital first to see if he was a match.

You can bet the media will be covering this when it happens.

(Link: waarmaarraar.nl)

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July 6, 2017

Goats on the roof of the farm

Filed under: Animals by Orangemaster @ 7:43 pm

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In Oude-Tonge, South Holland, two organic goat farm owners decided to build a new shed with a very different type of roof: one with a grass field growing on it.

“We didn’t want just another roof, we wanted something original”, explains Aafke van Tilburg. When a new shed had to be built for the kids (baby goats), that’s when the plan to have a grass field growing on it that measures 850 square metres came together.

Once the grass is properly growing and the field around it is ready, the couple will let some 200 kids climb and frolic about on it. The fun part of course that anyone driving by will be able to see a heard of white goats floating above the typically flat agricultural landscape.

The interviewer prompts Aafke and says, “Soon you’ll attract busloads of people”. Aafke replies, laughing, “Maybe I should start a shop”.

(Link: rijnmond.nl, Screenshot of film)

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November 27, 2015

Westland bat bridge wins architectural award

Filed under: Animals,Architecture,Sustainability by Orangemaster @ 7:00 am

Bat-bridge

Last October the ‘Vlotwatering bridge’ or ‘bat bridge’ was opened in a nature area called Westland in South Holland, designed by NEXT Architects of Amsterdam and picked up an ARC15 Detail Award, given to them unanimously by the jury. The bridge is in Monster (yup, a Dutch town) and it was applauded for its ‘eye for detail and attention to biodiversity’.

According to NEXT Architects, the bridge was designed to house bats in as many ways as possible. The bridge has three specific bridge components that provide roost for different bat species throughout the entire yea, intended to constitute the ideal habitat for various species of bats, so that a large colony can grow around the bridge.

(Links: www.naturetoday.com, www.archdaily.com, www.nextarchitects.com, Photo: www.nextarchitects.com)

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April 17, 2015

Rare fish spotted in South Holland

Filed under: Animals,Nature by Orangemaster @ 4:10 pm

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Sightings of the vimba bream (in Dutch, ‘blauwneus’) in the Netherlands are rare, especially really young ones. In early April some 50 volunteers started monitoring and listing fish caught in frame nets in the New Waterway near Maassluis, and the vimba bream stood out. They jump upstream like salmon do.

The vimba bream was originally a Central European species that expanded into Germany to the Rhine Valley when the Main-Danube Canal was being dug. “The first observations of the vimba bream in the Netherlands date back to 1989, when a three-year-old fish was caught in the Lower Rhine.”

(Link: dearkitty1, via natuurbericht.nl, Photo of Vimba bream by zigurdzakis, some rights reserved)

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February 14, 2014

Fish drives itself in a small tank on wheels

Filed under: Animals,Design,Technology by Orangemaster @ 2:39 pm

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Made possible by Studio diip in Leerdam, South Holland, a goldfish is able to swim in a small tank on wheels and drive itself around the room. It can swim towards something shiny and the small tank on wheels will go in that direction. The device is powered by a camera and computer vision software, putting the goldfish at the wheel. We’re also told that the fish gets to go back to a normal tank after going out for a spin.

Although not a proper comparison, it does remind of a cat on a Roomba.

(Photo of Goldfish by angs school, some rights reserved)

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