It seems that the city of Amsterdam is full of fossils. No, no, no, not old people, real fossils. Many of the stones used on doorsteps, bridges and streets contain fossils that are 350 million years old. Species such as brachiopods and crinoid starfish appear as odd white rings on a black stone background. A new book entitled De Amsterdamse Fossielenroute (‘The Amsterdam Fossil Route’) promises a tour of Amsterdam that doesn’t involve Rembrandt, although the new bridge at the Rembrandt House is apparently full of them.
(Tip: Laurent, via Het Parool)
The Dutch government bank specifically founded to get students their loans and bursaries, the Informatie Beheer Groep (literally: information management group) apparently accompagnies its folder on how to pay back with a cartoon that shows a waiter presenting a long bill to a fat guy who has just excessively gorged himself on food and wine. I am guessing the PR department ordered a cartoonist to create an amusing drawing to spruce up an otherwise boring folder, but the result is a rather patronizing message. As if university students need to be told that there is a cost associated with gluttony. (And indeed, students are presented as the stereotype of the partying care-for-nothing; can you imagine a political party advertising to get new members by showing a cartoon of a guy lighting cigars with bank notes freshly stolen from the public?)![[photo of two rescue pods]](https://www.24oranges.nl/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/rescue_pod_hotel1.jpg)