This trompe-l’œil mural is by Daan Botlek, presumably from his most recent “Uitgewanden” (Outards) series, in which the artist sculpts “bodies and body parts into images which are metaphorical and/or absurd,” though the Trendbeheer blog doesn’t say.
February 12, 2008
February 9, 2008
Le Patron, the 2CV-based kit-car
Godfried van den Bergh from Ophemert, Gelderland, has been selling his Le Patron Citroën 2CV mods since 1998, but last January international recognition finally came in the shape of an invite to the Brussels Autosalon. The car kit manufacturer named after the nickname of Citroën founder André Citroën sells cabriolet coachworks for about 5000 euro. Handy car owners can then mount these coachworks on top of a 2CV chassis. It takes about 200 hours to get the job done, according to Van den Bergh.
Citroën is a French car manufacturer. Founder André Citroën was the son of Dutch emigrants. His parents added the diaresis when they moved to France: “citroen” is Dutch for lemon.
Via Z24 (Dutch).
February 8, 2008
Netherlands strongest European economy
According to z24 (Dutch), the Netherlands is in second place on the so-called Misery Index, right after Japan. The index adds unemployment rate to inflation rate, and a high position (low value) indicates a healthy economy.
- Japan: 4,5
- Netherlands: 4,9
- Norway: 5,3
- Denmark: 5,5
- Switzerland: 5,6
- South Korea: 6,8
- Great-Britain: 7,3
- Australia: 7,5
- Austria: 7,9
- Luxemburg: 8,2
You could probably come up with all sorts of reservations against such an index. For starters, unemployment rates are notoriously unreliable, as they tend to be closer related to propaganda than to statistics. But even a Netherlands that is merely highish in the index might be still be doing well because of it. Z24 writer Mathijs Bouman points out that consumer confidence in the Netherlands took a dive the past half year from 15% to -2%. The factors that have a healing influence on lowered consumer confidence? Low unemployment and inflation rates.
Tags: economy, europe, inflation, japan, norway, statistics, unemployment
February 7, 2008
Beatles guru and transcendental meditation founder dies
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of transcendental meditation, died at his estate in Vlodrop, Limburg, last Tuesday at the age of 91. He was popularly known as the man who introduced the Beatles to transcendental meditation.
The Beatles stayed at his Himalayan “ashram” in Rishikesh during early 1968, where they wrote about 23 to 48 songs, according to Telegraphindia. Seventeen of these songs were included on the Beatles’ White Album. Songs they wrote included While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.
Maharishi had made his home in the former episcopal College St. Ludwig
Tags: Beatles, Limburg, transcendental meditation
January 30, 2008
18th edition of Puch moped tour
Last Sunday the 18th edition was held of Kâhwe Klâhwe (The Hague dialect, lit. cold claws), the gasoline and pea soup fueled Puch tour through Scheveningen and The Hague. Haags Allerlei’s Gera Nieland was there to take photos. You can enjoy them all at Flickr.
Puch was a legendary moped brand and very popular in the Netherlands. This popularity could not prevent the closing down of the two-wheeler production line though. The company still produces four-wheelers.
(Via De Telegravin. Photo by Gera Nieland.)
January 26, 2008
Dozens of hamsters freed from plastic balls
Last Thursday the Society for the Protection of Animals raided an Amsterdam art gallery in co-operation with the local police to free dozens of hamsters. The animals were part of an exhibition by artist Tinkebell (pseudonym of Katinka Simonse) called Empathy. In the exhibition hamsters were locked up in plastic, see-through play-balls, set in a recreated living room. With the exhibition Tinkebell wants to expose the “ambiguous morality of animal rights and environmental activists” by using the “often naïve ideas that people—activists—have about the concept of freedom in the animal world.” The balls she uses (so called “run-about balls”) are popular with pet owners, who use them to let their pets roam relatively free through the house “without the worry of escape or injury,” as one merchant calls it.
The artist is in the dark about the why of the raid. “Nobody told me anything,” she told Amsterdam TV channel AT5. According to AT5, Tinkebell and the galery owner will be questioned by the police next week.
Tinkebell caused an earlier uproar when she killed her three year old cat to turn it into a handbag. In the TV program De Wereld Draait Door she suggested that it was a mercy killing, claiming the cat was depressed.
Via Fok (Dutch). Source image: Empathy.
Tags: Amsterdam, animal rights, hamsters
January 23, 2008
Tony’s Chocolonely punished after all
Last year journalist Teun van de Keuken failed to get convicted for complicity in slavery, as we reported back then. But now Van de Keuken’s campaign has led to at least one indictment, although probably not of the kind he was looking for: the Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media) has fined his broadcaster for illegal product placement.
Van de Keuken set out to raise awareness for the fact that the people harvesting cocoa, the raw material of which chocolate is made, are basically slaves. He did this by turning himself in after eating a bar of chocolate, making him complicit of slavery. The case was dismissed because the court held he was not an aggrieved party. Van de Keuken also produced his own brand of slave-free chocolate, Tony’s Chocolonely, which he talked about on his show.
Product placement is illegal on Dutch television, and the Dutch Media Authority is the watchdog that tries to ferret out any instances of it. It does not matter whether the placed products are for a good cause, but the fact that petty issues trump major ones must be bitter for those who want to see new forms of slavery banned. The DMA had some pity though, and in recognition of “this unique and experimental program” reduced the fine to EUR 20,000, the lowest in its ‘range’.
(Via print magazine De Journalist. See also Molblog (Dutch))
Tags: advertising, chocolate, cocoa, journalism, marketing, media, slavery
January 22, 2008
Using husband’s name costly affair
Researchers at the University of Tilburg (Dutch) have discovered that married women who use their husband’s family name are generally seen as more dependent, less ambitious and less intelligent. Subjects were told that they were introduced to Peter and Helga Bosboom at a party (Helga using her husband’s name), and when asked rated Helga as caring, dependent, less intelligent and emotional. Using a hyphenated last name has the same effect.
The researchers estimated that using the “wrong” last name could even cost a woman EUR 361,708 during her life time. In an experiment in which subjects were asked to take the place of a human resources manager, women that used their husband’s name were generally rated for jobs that paid EUR 861.21 less than those for women that retained their maiden names.
According to Dutch law, both men and women keep their own family name when marrying, but both the wedded and divorced are allowed to use their own name and that of their (ex)partner in any combination in public.
January 21, 2008
Escaped Highlander shot dead for causing danger
Photo: Highland cow in Hilversum, by Gerard M., distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.2.
Last Saturday, a Highland cow was shot (Dutch) near Den Velde in the province of Overijssel for causing dangerous situations on the road. The cow had escaped three weeks before from near Reeze and had reportedly caused a lot of trouble in the neighbourhood already. Highland cows are often used in the Netherlands for grazing nature reserves. They are hardy beasts that require little supervision, and eat more than just grass. The Highlander was caught when it tried to make a run for Germany.
This is not the first time that the police treat nature like a problem. Last Wednesday, our modern day knights who say “ni” shot a cow (Dutch) that had escape with its calf. The orphaned calf is still on the run. And in the summer of 2007, a fox “had to be” shot for accepting food from photographers.
Tags: cows, foxes, Overijssel, police
January 18, 2008
24 Oranges on Twitter
We’ve been there for a while, but we invite you again to follow us on Twitter. Click on “follow us on Twitter’ under the “Static” menu on the right-hand side.
Tags: Twitter, twitterfeed