August 16, 2007
Brasserie De Jongens van Almere in Almere, Flevoland has made the news with their toilets. The brasserie has installed two women’s toilets in one space. Owner René Josso was forced to do so to follow rules imposed by the city. “We already had separate women’s and men’s toilets when the city came up with an additional requirement. To save space, we squeezed two ladies’ toilets together,” Josso explains. Apparently, the toilets are a hit, as women think they are “fun”.
(Link: zibb.nl)
August 12, 2007
In a nice, decent cornfield labyrinth in Prinsenbeek, Brabant, some nasty people made a swastika about 24 metres in diameter. Now that the world has discovered Google maps and the likes, we can see these things.
Amusingly enough, the author of this bit of news wrote that the swastika is “the wrong way round”, when in fact it is bang on, Nazi-style. Of course, if the author was trying to be clever (which I seriously doubt) and imply that following i.e. Hindu tradition the swastika is the wrong way round, then it wouldn’t be newsworthy. What was that fuss a while back about the Dutch not knowing enough about WWII?
The police were notified and the labyrinth people will try and change the shape somewhow.
And then, there’s other unfortunate swastikas, such as this oldie but goodie:
Belgian swastika fountain)
(Link: Omroep Brabant)
Tags: Google maps, swastika
August 2, 2007
Are you a journalist and bored with the lack of exciting news this summer? Then you too should try and insult the Queen!
A 17-year-old journalist of Spunk magazine was caught together with her cameraman for – you guessed it – insulting the Queen. She was wearing a T-shirt that read “The Queen is a whore” (in Dutch of course). To make her point she also had a T-shirt that read “All moslims are goat fuckers”, which refers to a comment made by the late Theo van Gogh to prove that freedom of speech was an issue in the Netherlands, especially with Moslims.
The journalist and cameraman asked passers-by which text was more insulting and while interviewing people, were fined and their T-shirts and film were confiscated. They were also jailed for three hours. And then they made the news.
(Link: rtl.nl)
Tags: Queen Beatrix, Theo van Gogh
August 1, 2007
After 38 years of nothingness, someone has again been fined for insulting the Queen. This week a homeless Surinamese man from Amsterdam was fined EUR 400 for insulting the Queen and a policeman. Experts are surprised the Queen needs to be protected from vagrants and blame the fine on the current Dutch government obsession with “norms and values”. The man yelled, “I hate your Queen. The Queen of the Netherlands is a whore.” Then, he went on to describe the sexual acts he would do to the Queen. “She’d like that.”
The last time someone was nailed for insulting the Queen was in 1969 when artist Bernhard Willem Holtrop drew a picture of Queen Juliana as a prostitute with a sign above her head that read “5,2 million gulders”. The idea was to protest against the high price of the Royal family. The insult cost Holtrop 200 guilders.
Ironically, famous Dutch white folk have also insulted the Queen as of late in front of large audiences and were never fined. Comedian Hans Teeuwen pretended to have sex with Beatrix on stage and writer Youp van ’t Hek wrote that, “the Dutch audience would be shocked if Willem-Alexander (regent prince) and Beatrix were caught doing it at the monument on the Dam (in Amsterdam)”.
(Link: Trouw)
July 11, 2007
Monday night, the police in Renesse, Zeeland arrested people in the same car three times. The first time because the driver had too much to drink. Then, the second passenger took over the wheel, but also had too much too drink and no driving licence. For an encore, dumb and dumber called up a friend, who took over the wheel but – you saw this coming, right? – also had too much to drink and had to hand over his driving licence. How they all got home is a mystery.
(Link: Omroep Brabant)
July 9, 2007
The highest flat tower in The Hague, South Holland, at 130 metres in height called “The Iron” (“Het Strijkijzer”) on the Rijswijkseplein is currently giving off a constant, high-pitched whistle that can be heard from far away, all day long. The ‘annoying’ whistling started when the building was fitted with a metal construction on the roof a few weeks ago. Apparently, this “crown” is not yet finished, and construction is delayed. The poor, soon to be tone-deaf people living in and around the building are supposed to keep their windows shut until this is solved. And the website says end of September…
Check out the video and sympathise.
July 6, 2007
A 20-year-old man from tax capital Apeldoorn, Gelderland was accused of stealing underwear from a 40-year-old woman’s home while working there. The woman noticed the missing goods after the man left her house one day, according to the police.
After her discovery, she called the man’s boss and had him taken down to the police station. The man had about 10 pairs of her undies in a bag. He was put in a cell; the woman is pressing charges.
(Link: bisnis)
Tags: Apeldoorn, Gelderland, underwear
July 3, 2007
When the police discovered a man from Tilburg driving an SUV through a cornfield near Dussen last week, they tried to stop him, but failed initially. A chase with several vehicles ensued, until almost the entire field was obliterated and the man was apprehended. Turns out the co-creator of this maze was under the influence of cocaine. De Telegraaf has a bigger photo (source of the image: the police of Brabant).
Make of SUV unknown. The driver’s license was confiscated on the spot.
July 1, 2007
Saturday night, a 30-year-old burglar in Tilburg attempted to rob a student dorm and left his wallet and ID card behind, according to the police. They have not caught him yet, but remember, the Netherlands is small.
The man from Tilburg, Noord-Brabant was probably startled when he was caught in the act by a 19-year-old student. The woman woke up and saw an unknown man in her room. She screamed, he ran, he got away by bike.
Shouldn’t be a tough case.
Tags: crime, Darwin awards, Tilburg
June 29, 2007
in a hospital sounded like a good idea, but what about in people’s homes?
Residents of the upcoming Meerstad neighbourhood in Groningen, Groningen province will probably have to pee sitting down permanently so that their urine can be separated. Contrary to the hospital that wanted to avoid putting medication in the sewage system, the environmentally friendly pee seperating project initiators, Hunze en Aa’s want to use the urine to help grow maize and cabbage. The whole point is that Meerstad is to become a really green neighbourhood.
Orangemaster’s note: it’s interested how men and small children are at a disadvantage, but not women. Just a thought.
(Link tip: ANP, via Dutch news)
Tags: environment, Groningen, living
