March 10, 2009

Electronic book with wifi or G3 announced by BeBook

Filed under: Gadgets,Online by Branko Collin @ 11:36 am

Dutch e-reader manufacturer Endless Ideas recently announced an E Ink-based 6-inch book reader with a touch screen and either Wifi or G3 connectivity. The BeBook 2 was presented last week at CeBit, the largest computer exhibition in the world which takes place yearly in Hanover, Germany. Bright reports (Dutch) that the BeBook 2 will be sold starting this summer, price as yet unknown. The current BeBook sells for little over 300 euro.

The new BeBook also sports an RSS function, so that you can use the device to keep up on your news. E Ink is a technology that produces paper-like screens. These screens only need electricity to change contents: unlike say LCD screens which need juice to keep the picture up. Like paper E Ink is also reflective, which means it needs a natural light source to be readable. If you’ve never seen one, I suggest you go to your local Selexyz, Borders, or what have you where they’re likely to sell e-readers and ask to have one demonstrated.

Photo of a first generation BeBook in dappled shade by Andrew Kneebone, some rights reserved. The shepherd boy is in the almond grove just around the corner.

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March 9, 2009

Stijn Peeters draws his friends

Filed under: Art by Branko Collin @ 10:02 am

Stijn Peeters draws his friends from Myspace-like Dutch social network Hyves, and publishes the results there.

Via Trendbeheer (Dutch).

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March 8, 2009

Impromptu concerts by floating organ

Filed under: Music by Branko Collin @ 8:30 pm

I ran into the good ship Notedop today on the Zuideramstel Kanaal in Amsterdam. It’s basically a floating organ, and I can tell you from personal experience that it can be heard loud and clear dozens of meters away. The Notedop (nut shell) and its owner Reinier Sijpkens can be found wherever they have a canal and a bridge and where good cheer is in need. Sometimes even a swimming pool suffices.

On his website Sijpkens writes (Dutch/English):

I made a small boat, “de NOTEDOP”, designed a miniature church organ and had it built by Henk Smit. Next I created all kinds of mostly classical arrangements “in a nutshell” of 1 or 2 minutes for organ, trumpet and surprise instruments that sound well against a water city backdrop.

I brought odes to people on the bridges of Amsterdam, Utrecht, Leiden, Delft, Gouda, Enkhuizen, Alkmaar, Venice, Oudewater, Bruges, Hoorn and many other cities. You can experience this yourself if you book my water concert or happen to run into me.

Thank god for URLs on the sides of boats. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I forgot to talk to Sijpkens when I had the chance.

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Dutch expat misses typical food in Germany

Filed under: Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 12:07 pm
antje

This week I came to work in Munich and stayed at 24oranges’ third blogger, Eric. Eric is Dutch and has been happily living in Munich for four years. Germans keep asking him what he misses about his native country and it usually boils down to food.

What did I pack in my suitcase as a gift? Conimex Indonesian products from the supermarket. Dutch food is quite bland, which explains the Dutch’s prediliction for Indonesian food. (Indonesia is a former Dutch colony.)

Eric also misses the junk food ‘friet speciaal’, French fries with mayonnaise, ketchup and onions and ‘dropjes’ (black, sweet or salty liquorice sweets), the latter I also brought.

Also, the chunks of Dutch cheese sold at the store are way too small and the major brand is called ‘Pikantje van Antje’ (seen above retro version), the German symbol for Dutch cheese in Germany, served with German beer of course.

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March 7, 2009

Grootveld funeral

Filed under: Art,History by Branko Collin @ 5:12 pm

Today Robert Jasper Grootveld was buried in Amsterdam. The day started with a ‘happening’ at Spui square, followed by a service, after which Grootveld, one of the leaders of the 1960s Provo movement, was sailed to the Zorgvlied cemetery on top of a styrofoam raft for burial. 24 Oranges was present at the happening and also took photos of the boat ride to the cemetery.

At the Spui Grootveld was carried around the Lieverdje statue three times while people shouted “hi – ha – happening” and “uche uche uche” (cough cough cough). In the mid-Sixties Grootveld, self-proclaimed ‘anti-smoke magician’, would hold happenings in the square in which he would circle the statue that had been put there by cigarette manufacturer Crescent .

Later today I will upload more photos to our Flickr stream.

Update: photos have been added to Flickr.

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Oldest photo of the Netherlands

Filed under: Dutch first,Gadgets,History,Photography,Technology by Branko Collin @ 10:01 am

johenschede1839

It’s not much to look at, a blotchy photo of a drawing of Johannes Enschedé III, but this is the oldest photo of the country according to De Pers (Dutch). To be precise, it’s the first daguerreotype photo sent to the Netherlands. It was discovered recently in the private museum of Royal Joh. Enschedé, the famous printers from Haarlem (1703) who amongst other things used to print the Dutch bank notes and passports.

The museum’s website reports (Dutch) that the photo was sent from France by Jeanne Enschedé – Dalen, who lived in Paris, to Haarlem where it arrived on October 4, 1839.

In De Pers’ article Andrea Roosen, an employee of the museum, calls the family a bunch of pack rats. When they discovered a note in Johannes Enschedé III’s 1839 diary about the payment for reception of the photo to the courier or mailman, “we knew that that photo still had to be around.” Daguerre had announced the invention of his type of photography only that same year.

The photo will be displayed as part of a larger exhibition of Daguerreotypes of the Enschedé family at photo museum Huis Marseille in Amsterdam from today until May 24.

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March 6, 2009

Comics academy to start next semester

Filed under: Comics by Branko Collin @ 2:22 pm

The Artez art academy in Zwolle, Overijssel, will offer a programme in drawing comics starting September, writes De Pers (Dutch). Head of the school’s Art and Design department, Wilhelm Weitkamp, told the paper: “Comics used to be seen as low culture in this country. That is changing.” (Sounds like code for: nobody’s buying comics anymore.)

The idea originated with comic artist Hanco Kolk whose inimitable Beauregard, see illustration, I regard as one of the best Dutch comics ever made. Kolk told NOS (Dutch): “I started as a comics artist during the time of the major comics magazines. When you were done, the other 24 artists would put your strip through the grinder. You could say we were teaching each other. When the big magazines fell away, this coaching aspect also disappeared. And you notice this in the work of new talent. They’re not good enough.”


Illustration from Hanco Kolk‘s Beauregard, the first part of a series about the capital of decadence, the city Meccano. Beauregard is a gossip reporter with an eye for scoops: “June 12, 12:30. I unravel the double life of baron De Lagnac.”

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Keukenhof flower garden to buy poo artwork

Filed under: Art,Nature by Orangemaster @ 10:14 am

De Keukenhof in Lisse, the world’s largest flower garden which fills up with tourists in spring, is considering buying a lovely bit of artwork to spruce up the place: a big statue of poo made by famous multidisciplinary artist Wim T. Schippers. The director of the Keukenhof wants to place the 4,5 metre high artwork in the children’s play area, after having seen a picture of children climbing on it. And he wants to try and score the poo before Queen Beatrix opens the Keukenhof on 18 March.

(Link: telegraaf.nl)

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March 5, 2009

Restaurant sends Michelin star back

Filed under: Food & Drink by Branko Collin @ 10:42 pm

Restaurant In de’n Dillegaard in Nuth, in the South of Limburg, has decided to hand in the Michelin star that it has had since 2004. The owners, Michel and Susanne Kagenaar-Stevens, want to turn the place into a less formal affair. Writes NRC:

“Many people associate Michelin with expensive, posh and formal,” says Suzan Kagenaar. “It creates certain expectations. We had been thinking for a while about going back to our roots, to a less formal atmosphere. The financial crisis has hastened our decision.”

Part of the problem, Kagenaar says is that there are too many Michelin star restaurants in the South Limburg region. There are five restaurants with one star and two with two stars. “This means that regular customers alternate between the [Michelin] restaurants and it takes longer before they return to us.”

Photo: In de’n Dillegaard.

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Edwin van der Sar’s record goalless run ended last night

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

Ten minutes into the game against Newcastle United last night, Manchester United’s Dutch goal keeper Edwin van der Sar fumbled a ball and ended his record run of playing league football without conceding a goal, a run which lasted 1,311 minutes. Manchester United still won the match 1-2.

If Van der Sar had managed to keep a clean sheet for the entire match, he would have broken the European record which is held by Belgian goalie Danny Verlinden. Van der Sar still holds the UK professional football record.

(more…)

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