July 31, 2011

Sixty hours community service for ripping open scrotum

Filed under: Health,Weird by Branko Collin @ 3:05 pm

A woman from Zeist near Utrecht was convicted last week for maiming her ex-boyfriend by twisting his scrotum in such a way that it tore open and a testicle fell out.

According to Algemeen Dagblad, the woman defended herself by claiming that the man had abused her before, and that she was afraid it would happen again. “He had been using drugs, and I could see in his eyes that things were not all right. […] I wanted to pull him off the stairs by his crotch.”

The man had to call an ambulance himself, as the woman’s phone credit had run out. The judge felt a claim of aggravated battery was not proven, says RTV Utrecht, and sentenced the woman to 60 hours community service, and awarded the ex-boyfriend 300 euro in damages.

(Photo by Steffen Zahn, some rights reserved)

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July 30, 2011

Apple shaped multi-story bike park in Alphen aan de Rijn

Filed under: Bicycles by Branko Collin @ 5:09 pm

This apple shaped multi-story bike park was commissioned by the municipality of Alphen aan de Rijn near Leiden, and installed in 2010. It holds a maximum of 970 bicycles, and is located right next to the town’s railway station.

The Bike Apple, sensibly named so by its creators, was designed by Rotterdam-based architects KuiperCompagnons. The butterfly shaped filigree covering the garage is a type of fabric called Lace Fence and was conceived by Dutch design house Demakersvan. The architect’s website has much more photos.

(Photos: KuiperCompagnons)

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July 29, 2011

Limburg town to refuse EU nationals without income

Filed under: Dutch first,General by Orangemaster @ 1:20 pm

Drielandenpunt (Vaalserberg), is where Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands meet, also the highest point of the Netherlands. Way back before 2002 you could pay your Dutch, German or Belgian fries (yes, three separate stands) with either Dutch guilders, German marks or Belgian francs.

The wee town of Vaals, Limburg, where back in the pre-euro days, my German friends from Aachen went shopping to buy Dutch food products, is now taking a firm stand on EU nationals eating up their welfare benefits. Vaals wants to refuse residency rights to those who do not have a job or enough income to support themselves as of September 2011.

Before critizing Vaals, let’s do the math. Vaals has a population of about 10,000 and claims that 40% of the 300 townspeople on welfare benefits (120 people) are from other EU countries. The town council says that’s a higher number than even Rotterdam, and is costing them a whopping €Â 400,000 a year. Out of every 100 people who want to live in Vaals, nine of them ask for benefits, mostly Poles and Romanians who do not yet speak the language.

Ironically, all this movement within the EU and within the Netherlands tends to expose all kinds of problems that nobody would have noticed if it wasn’t for EU nationals trying to work the system.

In nearby Plombières, Belgium, they’re already applying a European guideline to restrict residency for EU nationals without work or income. If and when Vaals does this, they will be the first Dutch town to do so.

(Link: www.volkskrant.nl.nl)

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July 28, 2011

The Impossible Project produces Polaroid film

Filed under: Photography,Technology by Orangemaster @ 2:36 pm

After purchasing the old Polaroid factory in Enschede filled with equipment back in 2009, the Dutch Impossible Project figured out how to actually make Polaroid film. By March 2010 they had developed a way to produce film compatible with Polaroid’s SX-70/600 instant cameras.

To give its viewers a sense of how the Impossible Project makes Polaroid film, How’s It’s Made recently visited the factory and produced this five-minute video that, as BoingBoing pointed out, is reminiscent of the old Sesame Street videos from inside a crayon manufacturing facility. “Conclusion,” Maggie Koerth-Baker writes, “The Impossible Project may not be necessary, but it sure is a lot of fun to watch.” See for yourself.

(Link: www.theatlantic.com)

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July 26, 2011

A night view of the Art Zuid sculpture exhibition

Filed under: Photography by Branko Collin @ 9:41 pm

Last Sunday I revisited the ArtZuid exhibition, armed again with my camera, but this time at night and while it was raining.

I added the photos I made to our ArtZuid 2011 Flickr Set; the night photos start here.

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Oldest Amsterdam resident reaches 106

Filed under: General,Health by Orangemaster @ 11:37 am
birthdaycake

Local TV station AT5 recently reported about the oldest resident of Amsterdam, Mrs Huizinga de Vries, who just turned 106. And in true straight up in your face Amsterdam style, she answered, “I may be the oldest woman in Amsterdam, but I can’t buy anything with it.” She has 40 grandchildren, calls them regularly and knows all of their phone numbers by heart.

According to the Dutch statistics bureau, in 2010 the Netherlands had 1,743 centenarians, with an increase in male ones. As most of you may know, women live longer than men, which makes this noteworthy. The Dutch age record, set in 2005 stands at 115, which the bureau says will not be broken in the near future.

If I were to think back to all the articles written about centenarians, they always seem to encourage being cheerful, surrounded by family (happy) and having some sherry or gin once a day before bed (some kind of happy).

(Link: www.dichtbij.nl)

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July 25, 2011

Prosthetic arm for children

Filed under: Technology by Branko Collin @ 9:15 am

Delft Prosthetics, what appears to be a spin-off company from Delft University, has just released the Tweezer, a colourful prosthetic arm with a double hook that can be used, according to its web page, to ride a bike safely, and to tie shoe laces in seconds.

(Link: Bright. Video: Youtube / Delft Prosthetics.)

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July 24, 2011

Catholics are getting into shopping on Sundays

Filed under: Religion by Branko Collin @ 10:10 am

In the past ten years the percentage of Dutch Christians who shop on their prescribed day of rest has risen, FOK reports.

In 2000, almost 39 % of the Roman Catholics shopped on Sundays, in 2010 that was more than 50 %. Sabbath shoppers among the members of the Dutch Reformed Church made up 21 % a decade ago, and are now up to 25 %. The numbers for the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (yes, there is a difference) are 12 % and 16 % respectively.
(more…)

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July 23, 2011

Utrecht train station has slide for travellers in a hurry

Filed under: Architecture,Design by Branko Collin @ 11:56 am

HIK Ontwerpers have designed and installed a slide at the Overvecht railway station (1995) in Utrecht as part of a beautification plan of the area. Hemubo Betontechniek built it this year.

Everybody is reporting that the official name is a ‘transport transfer accelerator’, but HIK themselves call it a ‘real slide’.

Here it is in action:

(Photo: HIK Ontwerpers. Video: NOS. Link: The Pop-Up City)

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July 22, 2011

I do, I do, I do, I do, now off you go

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 12:57 pm

The town of Beuningen near Nijmegen in the East, with a population of about 25,000 is going to scrap its free civil ceremonies. Currently, you can get married at town hall for free, as long as you are from Beuningen. You get a private room where your friends, family and witnesses can watch the happy event. I cannot imagine that it costs them a bundle every year in a town with surely a handful of singles getting married, but OK, cutting costs is all the rage. As of January 2012, the now free ceremony will cost 100 euro.

However, the new town trend will be Las Vegas style, albeit without Elvis priests: the quickie marriage between 8:45 and 9 am at the wicket with a quick ‘ja’ (yes), the paperwork signed, and off you go. Somehow, the ‘charm’ of the quickie ceremony cannot possibly come close to anything I’ve seen or heard about Las Vegas.

In many cities, civil ceremonies cost different rates at different times. In an expensive city like Amsterdam, 9 am on a Monday is either free or cheap, as opposed to a Friday afternoon at 4 pm. It’s all about time and money, and not about the l-word.

(Link: gelderlander, Photo by Anthony Kelly, some rights reserved)

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