December 7, 2007
The Ministry of Defense got one of its blown up trucks back from Afghanistan with a note from Canadian soldiers. According to the Defense internal newspaper, the note said “Sorry we blew up your truck! But it saved two lives. Thank you very much. Canada.” The DAF XF truck was borrowed from the Dutch army and returned with an Antonov transport airplane into the Nethererlands. These things happen!
(Link: gelderlander.nl)
Tags: Canadian army, DAF, Dutch army
December 5, 2007
Hang on a minute! Sure, the kids should get their presents on time for Pakjesavond, the evening before Sinterklaas, which for those new to Dutch culture is in fact more important than Christmas. But seriously, even though it sounds logical, the idea of taking an entire day off from work to avoid traffic has to be messed up. As far as I am concerned, take the rest of your working life off and avoid traffic for ever!
Basically, with the new timetable of the Dutch railways, hailed as nothing less but “chaos”, taking the train won’t get you home on time. The image of a little boy crying because he thinks Sinterklaas forgot him is something I am sure any parent wants to avoid. So you take the car to work, like many people who believe in sitting down when they travel (when trains are full at 140% capacity, you have to stand) and who don’t believe that green guilt trip (pardon the pun) about how if we all took the train, the train would magically improve and become a Disneyland ride. Cycling to work if possible is great, but does not work for everyone.
So picture a small country, a major Dutch holiday and the entire flippin’ country has some 500 km of congestion, almost twice the congestion around Paris a few weeks ago with the public transport strike. It’s not even a strike!
Conclusion: public transport blows more than ever before (Merry Christmas to you to), motorways suck big time and who cares about work? Stay home, your entire country is under siege. But by all means, enjoy the gifts.
(Link: ad.nl)
Tags: congestion, Dutch railways, Pakjesavond, Sinterklaas
November 6, 2007
Women in and around the city of Tilburg, Noord-Brabant will soon be able to travel in special women’s taxis, it was announced today. The new company, which will operate on the same fare structure as regular cabs, has been founded by local businesswoman Tanja Schollen, who heads the cental station taxi company in Tilburg. The company employs only female drivers and caters exclusively to female clients. The taxi company, called the ‘Pink Lady Cab’, will initially operate with two cars, each of which will have pink roofs. They will work during the day and on weekend nights. “Female customers often indicate they feel safer with a female driver,” Schollen told reporters, “we also expect a lot of clients who for religious reasons prefer not to sit in a car with a strange man.” Female taxi companies have proven to be successful in several major cities in Europe and the Middle East, including London and Dubai.
So I guess after two years in London, trying it out in the Netherlands is a safe bet. Too bad no one has the brains or guts to do this in Amsterdam.
Here is more info over London’s Pink Ladies from 2005.
(Link: earthtimes.org, Photo: Pink Ladies, London)
Tags: Noord-Brabant, taxi, Tilburg, women
November 4, 2007
On Friday, 16 November a group of 36 blind and sight-impaired will test drive cars at the racing circuit in Assen. Under the supervision of driving school instructors, the blind will learn all about driving cars. “Some people became blind later in life and want to have a go at driving a car. Other people believe it is a chance to fulfil a dream of having control over a car and get a feel for driving,” according to a spokesperson.
On the world famous car show Top Gear, a man called Billy Baxter, a British soldier who lost his sight after contracting a rare disease in Bosnia, sent a letter to the show and said he could drive round the track faster than this one guy with sight who wasn’t very good at it.
(Link: rtl.nl)
October 28, 2007
The Dutch solar car Nuna4 won the 20th World Solar Challenge, a 3,000 km race through the Australian outback. The Nuna4 took 33 h 17 min for the race and was the fourth win for the Dutch team Nuon Solar, which holds the race record at 29 hours and 11 minutes. The sun-powered cars from around the world raced from Darwin on Australia’s tropical north coast to Adelaide on the country’s southern coast. Travelling only during daylight, sometimes in scorching temperatures, Nuna4’s average speed was 90.7 km/h.
Read up on the team as we reported some time back.
(Link stuff.co.nz)
Tags: Delft, Nuna4, Nuon Solar, solar car
September 21, 2007
This week, Texaco filling station ‘Nard Thijs’ in Bakel, Noord-Brabant started selling vibrators, kinky handcuffs, condoms and other sex toys. They are probably the only filling station in the Netherlands to do so. The vibrators are discretely wrapped and come in all shapes and sizes.
“Since the price of pertrol is going up again, it’s good to be creative as an entrepreneur.” Right on, dude.
Apparently, Texaco in the US is not amused. Prudes. Selling porno mags is fine, oddly enough. And last time I checked, condoms were not sex toys.
(Link: De Telegraaf)
Tags: filling station, sex toys, tank station, vibrators
August 30, 2007
The advertising campaign for the launch of the new Renault Twingo caused a scandal in the Netherlands. An anonymous letter was sent to 30,000 Dutch women, which started with “Salut chérie” (“Hi dear”) in which women were invited to go shopping in Paris by a mysterious correspondent.
Of course, it was easy to find out who sent the letter, as two pictures of the new Twingo were in the envelope. However, it seems that many Dutch women are not up on cars (cars maybe, Twingo no) and do not have the same sense of humour as the marketing folks at Renault, who, I think, messed this one up.
The Dutch advertising commission was contacted by many “victims” of this advertising campaign (Renault got 400 complaints, the Dutch advertising commission got 25, according to Dutch newspaper, AD), saying it has caused problems in their relationship. Renault even replaced the second part of its campaign, which was a test drive invitation, by a letter of apology.
I love the smell of a good culture difference in the morning.
(Link: le blog auto, tip: Laurent)
Tags: advertising, Twingo
July 24, 2007
The city of Roermond, Limburg has placed six warning signs telling lorry drivers to follow the detour signs and not their navigation system. Foreign lorry drivers regularly get their vehicles stuck trusting their navigation system, which does not tell them which streets are closed off due to road works on the A73, N280-Oost and N293. These symbols were chosen so that foreigners can understand them. The word ‘attentie’ looks like the English ‘attention’ and the Italian ‘attenzione’. The word ‘omleiding’ (‘detour’) is also used because that is what it says on the actual detour signs.
And so the city has to wait and see if it actually works.
(Link: De Limburger, Gemeente Roermond)
Tags: cultural differences, GPS, language, Roermond
July 20, 2007
Chrysler Group apologized for an advertisement that showed a dog being electrocuted beside its new Dodge Nitro sports utility vehicle. Dutch advertising agency BBDO Netherlands produced an advert in which a dog is electrocuted after urinating on a Nitro’s wheels. The advert, which ends with the dog going up in flames, has the tagline “charged with adrenaline”. According to Chrysler, the advert was placed exclusively on the Internet. The company said the advert included “fictional yet inappropriate treatment of an animal” and said it was “in extremely bad taste.” So is the car design-wise, according to many car blogs.
By now, it it said to have been removed from YouTube, but I’m sure it’s floating around somewhere, virally. If anyone has a link, please post.
Update: And here we are. Thanks, Adamus!
Nitro kills dog
(Link: ninemsn.au)
Tags: advertising, dog, SUV
July 19, 2007
After Donkervoort, Carver and Spyker, the Netherlands now has a new car maker, Hansen. Founder Giel Hansen plans to build real sports cars without all the fancy electronics. As well, they are also working hard on a custom built car, designed by Ernesto Freitas of Portugal. The car will be road ready as well as suitable for race circuits. Hansen is currently working on a first test car, which will debut this winter. Five cars will be built for a price of EUR 225,000 excluding taxes.
(Link: zibb)
Tags: Hansen, sports cars
