February 17, 2009

‘Hooligan’ banned for a year from long track speed skating

Filed under: Sports by Branko Collin @ 9:20 am

The ever so sedate world of long track speed skating was rudely torn from its mid-winter slumber last weekend when a man walked onto the ice during the world cup races in Heerenveen, Friesland.

And no, that’s not some kind of strange and poetic metaphor. According to Algemeen Dagblad (Dutch), a man in a bear suit walked onto the 400 metre track where at other times athletes quietly and with purpose skate countless 30 second laps. The man was promptly banned from visiting the Thialf stadium for a year.

3FM DJs Coen and Sander managed to get the fiend on their show. The man called Oscar stated that he wouldn’t want to visit Thialf ever again anyway. Sander Lantinga then gave him some tips on how to disturb future sports events–after all, the DJ himself has been banned for life from attending the ‘Wimbledon’ tennis tournament after streaking (NSFW) the Maria Sjarapova vs. Jelena Dementjeva match in 2006.

(more…)

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February 16, 2009

24 Oranges turns 2

Filed under: Event by Branko Collin @ 4:04 pm

We started in February 2007 with a posting about Dutch comics website Clogwork.net, which by the way is still going strong!

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Minor site update

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 3:27 pm

I just updated the code that runs in the background of this website. The improvements are mainly useful for the editors, so nothing much should change for you, our readers. If you come across any anomalies, I’d be glad to hear about them. Thanks!

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Miep Gies turned 100

Filed under: General,History by Branko Collin @ 8:31 am

Miep Gies, the woman who was important in Anne Frank’s life and pivotal in what we now know about Anne Frank turned 100 yesterday. In 1942, when the Frank family looked for a place to hide, Miep Gies, her husband Jan and three others helped the Franks stay hidden in the Achterhuis. Then, when through betrayal the Franks were taken to concentration camps, Gies managed to hide Anne Frank’s diary from the Nazis with the idea of giving it back to Anne after the war.

As a result, the world can now put a face to one of the millions that were murdered.

Even without the meddling of evildoers not many are given to live to a hundred. Sometimes karma just works. Miep, I hope you had a very good 100th birthday.

Photo: Anne Frank Stichting (Miep Gies in 1993).

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February 15, 2009

City of Leeuwarden lost its porn

Filed under: Weird by Branko Collin @ 10:35 am

The city of Leeuwarden has lost its porn stash archive, a staff member of the Historisch Centrum Leeuwarden reported last Thursday. The collection was part of a larger archive about everything to do with the Frisian capital, and was put together in the 1970s. Apparently the porn archive got lost during a move.

“It did not have its own spot,” the staff member told De Telegraaf (Dutch). The paper speculates that somebody stole the collection. Somehow it takes a Telegraaf reporter to imagine appreciation of second hand porn.

Totally unrelated photo of the Achmea Tower in Leeuwarden by FaceMePLS, some rights reserved. It was either this or a picture of a nun. I talk too much.

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February 14, 2009

Willy Wonka of weed will win trip to Amsterdam

Filed under: Film by Branko Collin @ 9:43 am

A UK film distributor has started a contest that will see its winner flown to Amsterdam, by plane that is, to collect a bag of marijuana. The distributor, Revolver Entertainment, is holding the contest to promote its film The Wackness.

Writes Revolver:

Yes, you heard us correctly! We’re offering the chance for you to win a fabulous weekend break for 2 to the city of smoke itself, the beautiful Amsterdam. But that’s not all… the lucky winner will also be able to pick up a complimentary bag of skunk from legendary Amsterdam café, Hill Street Blues.

Hidden within one of the first 1,000 DVDs of The Wackness is a Golden Ticket. Find the Golden Ticket and you win! It’s that simple.

Just as mayor Cohen thought he was getting rid of a certain type of British tourist…

Link: BoingBoing. Photo by Sony Pictures.

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February 13, 2009

Anouk in New York: Jerusalem

Filed under: Music by Branko Collin @ 9:03 am

Here’s one to help you slide into the weekend with outward poise and heart aflutter. A girl from The Hague called Anouk shot this home video with two of her buddies while in what appears to be a hotel room in New York.

Tip ‘o the hat to Olaf for this find. Originally from Anouk’s website, but that one lacks all the Youtube niceties.

Update 2025-07-28: the original video is no longer available on Youtube, If you are curious about the song itself, here is another accoustic version.

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February 12, 2009

Don’t eat bulbs, warns supermarket

Filed under: General,Nature,Weird by Branko Collin @ 7:51 am

This is one of those inside-the-asylum moments: Supermarket Albert Heijn sells baskets with flower bulbs, and at the bottom it says: “For decorative purposes only, do not eat.”

Inside-the-asylum moment? A reference to the late Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books, in which one Wonko the Sane explains why the rest of us are living at the funny farm:

The sign read:

“Hold stick near center of its length. Moisten pointed end in mouth. Insert in tooth space, blunt end next to gum. Use gentle in-out motion.”

“It seemed to me,” said Wonko the Sane, “that any civilization that had so far lost its head as to need to include a set of detailed instructions for use in a package of toothpicks, was no longer a civilization in which I could live and stay sane.”

This is why he built himself a house that’s ‘outside’ the asylum.

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February 11, 2009

Container cupboards by Sander Mulder

Filed under: Design by Branko Collin @ 9:01 am

These cupboards by Sander Mulder are called Pandora and were made to look like shipping containers. I couldn’t find any pricing, but I figure that if you live in shipping containers you won’t be able to afford them.

Via BoingBoing, via Cribcandy.

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February 10, 2009

Third record for goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar

Filed under: Sports by Branko Collin @ 10:16 am

The British record for not conceding a goal is now also in the firm hands of Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. Previously, he had already taken the English league and English professional football records, but until last weekend the British record belonged to Scotland. Van der Sar—who helped his team win 1-0 from West Ham—has now gone 1,212 minutes without conceding a goal, bettering Bobby Clark’s 1,155 minutes.

Oddly enough, the English press continues to feel the need to point out that Van der Sar could not have done it without ManU’s fabulous back line. You have to wonder whether they would have kept repeating and repeating this obvious fact if the Dutch goalie had been British. Says The Times:

Van der Sar is enjoying a fine season, but to pass 20 hours (1,212 minutes to be precise) without conceding a league goal, as he did at Upton Park yesterday to set a British best, is testament to Manchester United’s unblinking confidence as much as the 38-year-old’s form.

The most difficult save he was required to make against West Ham was a routine catch from a shot by Lucas Neill. Pruning his roses at 78 will be harder work than that.

The next record in Van der Sar’s sights is the big one, the world record, currently held by Abel Resino of Atlético Madrid at 1,275 minutes.

Photo by Austin Osuide, some rights reserved.

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