July 7, 2008

Germans students in NL cost millions of euro

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 10:16 am
Grad hat American style

According to a report published last week in het Financieele Dagblad (FD), the Netherlands pays about 100 million euro for German students to study at the university level in the Netherlands, while Germany pays but a fraction of the costs as few Dutch students study in Germany. In 2007, some 16,000 German students were studying here while some 1,700 Dutch students did the same in Germany. Back in 2002, there were some 5,000 German students. The FD explains that German students study in the Netherlands for the quality of the education and because classes are given in English. The Dutch avoid German schools because classes are given in German. Studying abroad is also more prestigious and the Dutch universities attract a better class of student by offering degrees in English. But yeah, that’s a helluvalot of cash for knowledge that won’t even profit the Dutch economy afterwards.

And there I go off on a tangent and leave you with the question that haunted my university studies: is a student the product or client of a university? If you’re a product, then you should find the best possible study as you will be judged for the university you attended, not just your diploma. If you’re a client, as in you pay big to go to school, you have the right to tell the university what you want exactly and get it.

(Link: fok.nl)

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July 3, 2008

Sixties slaughterhouse film saved from oblivion

Filed under: Animals,Film,Food & Drink,History by Orangemaster @ 8:01 am
Meat

Dutch television station VPRO has found an old film from the 1960s in their archives depicting the live slaughtering of cows in an Amsterdam abbatoir. The film ‘Vleesch’ (old Dutch spelling of ‘vlees’, which means ‘meat’) is a five-minute film made by vegetarian filmmmaker Wim T. Schippers, who is known for many things including the voices of Ernie, Kermit and more on the Dutch version of Sesame Street.

Long story short, the film was originally banned because it was not suitable for children. It was postponed a few times and again deemed unsuitable for children. Eventually, some child psychiatrists viewed the movie and said it was fine to let kids watch it. However, the film was never shown. Until now.

‘Vleesch’, made on 9 October 1967, is now being shown for the very first time. The VPRO has also brought out a DVD with this and other lost bits of archives from the same era, albeit surely less straightforward.

Before anyone starts a discussion about how horrible this is you’ve been warned: a cow is being killed in this film so that people will eat it. I glanced at the film myself.

See the film for yourself: Vleesch

(Link: vleesmagazine.nl)

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July 1, 2008

Photographs of centenarians

Filed under: General,Photography by Orangemaster @ 10:16 am
Old photograph
Recent photograph

Dutch-born photographer Annet Van Der Voort lives in Germany and photographs time going by and the time that has gone by, two things that interest her very much. Her series A Lifetime (1998-1999) features portraits of centenarian women and a series of small photographs of beauty queens, which were made at the time that these women were still young. The still prevailing ideals about beauty and youth are placed next to the natural aging process that everyone goes through: an idealised image is linked through time with a face upon which life has left its mark. With Lifetime Annet van der Voort raises questions about youth, age and beauty. How long can beauty be maintained? What does our mortality do to us?

Annet van der Voort has had some 20 solo exhibitions, including in the Kunsthal in Rotterdam. Her work has been acquired by various international museums. In September 2008 she will be part of the Lyon Septembre de la photographie in France.

(Link and photos zoumzoum.blogs.liberation.fr)

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June 30, 2008

Last call before the smoking ban

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 9:12 am
Cigarette ban

This past weekend in and around Amsterdam and probably throuhgout the rest of the country a number of smoking parties were held where people could smoke just about anything including marijuana and haschsch where normally etiquette dictates that that is more of a coffeeshop thing. A DJ friend over at Ghetto Restaurant on the Warmoestraat played music about smoking and cigarettes, and cigar aficionados had get togethers all over town, if I can believe all the flyers I saw. We all know that the French, Irish, Canadians and Americans all run out outdoors in packs to smoke one, even two cigarettes in a row and then get back to their food and drinks left with the friends who don’t smoke. The Dutch also know that tomorrow, 1 July, Big Brother won’t necessarily be coming by to check and see if everyone has radically changed their habits.

Predictions are fun when they are not taken seriously, so here are some predictions for the upcoming month as regards the smoking ban.

1) The first major fine from a respectable establishment will make the news.
2) Some places will pay the fines and let people smoke in protest, at least for a while.
3) All kinds of private clubs with membership will cash in, as the ban on them will not apply.
4) Any kind of weirdo initiative will make the news, especially anything related to coffeeshops.
5) More establishments than expected will either close or change hands.
6) There will be clashes between smokers who persist and non-smokers who feel they have won the war.

Let’s wait till the smoke clears.

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June 27, 2008

Three-year-old already in tax system

Filed under: General,Weird by Orangemaster @ 8:42 am
Blue envelope

The Dutch tax office has a motto, which in English translates to “We can’t make it more pleasant, but we can make it easier”. And everytime they screw up – which has been a lot in 2008 so far – the media make fun of this ‘the road to tax hell is paved with good intentions’ slogan. Major computer problems have been their biggest worries, never mind that some staff are, well, incompetent.

The tax folks have sent a tax return to a three-year-old child, saying that they should provide them with their bank account number in order to get tax money back from 2004. The child was born in 2005, so you do the math.

This kind of mistake happens often. As a business, I recently waited for two separate returns of value added tax (small amounts, mind you) that I was owed. I got three letters telling me they all of a sudden could not find my bank details – which is rubbish, I assure you – and to fill in these three forms, all identical. The first return had two letters and the second one had one. I received the first return twice – they haven’t figured that out yet – and the second one once.

Here’s one (in Dutch) from March of a 6-year-old who was asked to cough up EUR 29,000.

(Link: waarmaarraar.nl)

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June 25, 2008

Beer confiscation in Urk is too efficient

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 8:06 am
Beer crate

The youth of the fishing village of Urk, Flevoland, more often than not portrayed as bored and up to no good, do enjoy their beer. Basically, if we believe the hype, Urk is a religious and conservative village where the youth have nothing to do. Online media gladly portrays them as ‘white trash’. The fact that they speak an old dialect of Dutch makes them the butt of jokes as well, sadly enough.

Since the kids are bored and turn to drinking, the mayor has decided to monitor this ‘alcohol abuse’ more closely, which apparently has been extremely successful, although I cannot vouch that this picture of just one type of beer reflects reality or an indirect marketing scheme. The Urk police station has been taken over by full crates of beer and claim that they will destroy these crates.

Is it just me or is that not very environmentally friendly? Do they plan to burn the plastic crates and throw away bottles? Why can’t they sell the beer at a country fair? I have so many questions.

(Link and photo: rtl.nl)

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June 24, 2008

Chapel in Utrecht converted into design flat

Filed under: Architecture,Design by Orangemaster @ 9:51 am
Zecc Architecten

“Another great conversion by ZECC Architecten, this time an apartment in a converted chapel located in Utrecht, The Netherlands. It’s on the second floor (added?), and because there were no windows at floor level, the firm designed one to be cut into the front on the street side to bring in more light – it vaguely resembles a Mondriaan painting. Together with the original stained-glass windows and the white painted interior, the whole effect is simply amazing. The bedroom and bathroom were left dark. The original organ remains as a reference to the history of the building – it’s a nice conversation piece, that’s for sure…”

(Link and photo materialicio.us, tip: Laurent )

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June 23, 2008

Rare oak wedding anniversary celebrated in Amsterdam

Filed under: Dutch first by Orangemaster @ 7:23 am
Pieter Ably and Henriette Jeanne Ably-Tritsch

Today, the very first oak wedding anniversary in the history of the Netherlands is being celebrated. It was exactly 80 years ago that Dutchman Pieter Ably and French woman Henriette Jeanne Ably-Tritsch from Amstelveen said ‘I do’ to each other. They are now both 102 years old and living together in an elderly home in Amstelveen. The Mayor of Amstelveen Jan van Zanen will visit them today to congratulate them. The longest standing anniversaries that Statistics Netherlands has registered are couples that have been married 70 years known as a platinum anniversary, hence the assumption that this is the first ever oak anniversary.

(Link and photo: ad.nl )

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June 20, 2008

Teenager shoots off water rockets in Delft

Filed under: Science by Orangemaster @ 11:27 am

Today at 4 pm, 13-year-old Boyan Slat from Delft will shoot off 102 water rockets at the sports pitch of his school, the Grotius College in Delft in an attempt to break some records. Slat built the launch system all by himself. Since 2005, he has been experimenting with rockets, using natural raw marerials like baking powder and vinegar. He calls his system the Bazooooka Mk6. The address of this spectacular show with music and special effects is Juniusstraat 8 in Delft and is free.

If someone scores some pictures, let us now!

The smart kid also has his own website: wetenschapvoordummies (Science for dummies). Here it says 101 water rockets.

Somehow, I expect him to attend the Delft University of Technology later on.

(Link and photo: ad.nl)

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June 19, 2008

Shake that thing: Bear Force 1 video

Filed under: Music by Orangemaster @ 3:10 pm

This just in from off the canals in Amsterdam: forget the Village People, Amsterdam has Bear Force 1. Check out their latest clip and have fun with all the Dutch guest appearances and cameos.

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