July 24, 2007
During the Haute Couture week AltaRoma in Rome, Addy van den Krommenacker won the award of best new designer 2007, which will be handed out in September 2007 in Taormina, Sicily. He is apparently thrilled about it. For his theme ‘A Tribute To The Academy Awards’ Addy was inspired by films and great actresses.
(Link: blik op nieuws, via Omroep Brabant)
July 23, 2007
Can’t conceive? Couples will soon be able to knock on the door of the Medisch Centrum Kinderwens in Leiderdorp, South Holland to adopt an embryo. Two couples have already agreed to give up their frozen embryos, left over from IVF attempts. According to director and gynaecologist Marinus Crooij, his clinic is the first in the Netherlands to offer this type of adoption. A woman simply becomes the surrogate of her adoptive child.
Giving away embryos in the Netherlands is not forbidden, but does not happen very often. The Embryo Act says donors may not remain anonymous and their details must be registered with the Stichting Donorregistratie, the Dutch donor registry. “When a child is 16, they have the right to know who their ‘genetic’ parents are. Not everyone agrees with this”, explains Crooij. In Great Britain and the US this type of adoption is already common place. “If you accept adoption, you have to accept this as well. It is comparable. Moreover, these children are wanted from the very start, which is not the case with ordinary adoption.”
(Link: Gerderlander)
July 20, 2007
Chrysler Group apologized for an advertisement that showed a dog being electrocuted beside its new Dodge Nitro sports utility vehicle. Dutch advertising agency BBDO Netherlands produced an advert in which a dog is electrocuted after urinating on a Nitro’s wheels. The advert, which ends with the dog going up in flames, has the tagline “charged with adrenaline”. According to Chrysler, the advert was placed exclusively on the Internet. The company said the advert included “fictional yet inappropriate treatment of an animal” and said it was “in extremely bad taste.” So is the car design-wise, according to many car blogs.
By now, it it said to have been removed from YouTube, but I’m sure it’s floating around somewhere, virally. If anyone has a link, please post.
Update: And here we are. Thanks, Adamus!
Nitro kills dog
(Link: ninemsn.au)
Tags: advertising, dog, SUV
July 19, 2007
After Donkervoort, Carver and Spyker, the Netherlands now has a new car maker, Hansen. Founder Giel Hansen plans to build real sports cars without all the fancy electronics. As well, they are also working hard on a custom built car, designed by Ernesto Freitas of Portugal. The car will be road ready as well as suitable for race circuits. Hansen is currently working on a first test car, which will debut this winter. Five cars will be built for a price of EUR 225,000 excluding taxes.
(Link: zibb)
Tags: Hansen, sports cars
July 18, 2007
After the eye-opening success of Sunny Bergman’s documentary ‘Beperkt Houdbaar’ (‘Limited Preservation’) about the unrealistic beauty ideal of women in the media, seven Dutch magazines will each publish one issue in September in which every picture will be labelled as being ‘Photoshopped’ or not. The magazines Viva, Playboy, Yes, Top Santé, Psychologie Magazine, Marie-Claire and Opzij are taking on Bergman’s challenge. One of Bergman’s key points was that ‘Photoshopped’ images contribute to this unrealistic ideal.
For those unfamiliar with Dutch magazines, please note that a notorious girlie magazine (Playboy) as well as a feminist magazine (Opzij) are part of the seven. In Bergman’s documentary, Playboy was pointed out as perpetrating an unrealistic image of women’s labia majora, which has resulted in an increase in plastic surgery to have one’s ‘lips’ match these ‘Photoshopped’ images. In the documentary, Bergman herself visits an American plastic surgeon who tells her she “needs the works”.
(Link: rtl)
July 17, 2007
Armed American security agents are actually participating in the annual ‘Nijmegen Vierdaagse’ (International Four Day Marches Nijmegen) under cover to protect the American military. The Dutch are perplexed as this is perfectly illegal, but the Dutch government probably enjoys being walked all over (pardon the pun) by the Americans. Although almost 4,600 men and women from 17 different countries are being protected by armed Dutch security services, the Americans apparently felt the need to protect the 65 American men and women participating in the event. There are also 1,716 Dutch military and 936 British military doing the Four Day Marches as well, albeit with much less babysitting.
My two cents: having lived in Nijmegen for years, my stomach turned everytime I saw small boys cheering on the American soldiers and completely ignoring the 300 Canadian cadets that participated every year.
Dutch parents, please give your children a history lesson and bring them to the nearby military cemetery in Goesbeek to find out who died to protect your neck of the woods and your freedom (2,331 Canadians were buried there).
(Link: NieuwNieuws)
Tags: Americans, Canadians, CIA, Four Days Marches, Nijmegen
July 16, 2007
The Dutch union of poultry farmers (the NVP) wants to offer self-defense courses to its members as a response to the animal rights activitists’ training camp in Appelscha, Friesland. These animal rights activitists hold workhops in things such as how to arm themselves against police and the authorities. The NVP does not understand why these people are allowed to practice this activity in the Netherlands at all.
(Link: vleesmagazine.nl)
Tags: animal rights activitists, farmers, poulrty
July 13, 2007
In one of his Austin Powers movies, Canadian actor Mike Meyers portrays speaking English with a Dutch accent as basically having some sort of lisp. If you really want to hear what a Dutch accent sounds like, listen to British comedian Bill Baley when he is introducing human beatboxer Shlomo. One minute into the following Youtube clip he compares his own beatboxing skills to those of a “burnt out Dutch stockbroker who is into a bit of Dutch hiphop”. His vowels are particularly good — and he pronounces them while beatboxing!
When I try to speak English, its my vowels that betray my Dutchiness. Plus, of course, the fact that I use words like “Dutchiness”.
(Oh, and “eftenfiften” is not a Dutch word, nor is “achtung”.)
Tags: accent, dutchiness, English
July 12, 2007
Yes, it was opened a month ago, but sometimes good news travels slowly. The Museum of Bags and Purses opened its doors on 9 June 2007 and features a collection ranging from the 16th century to the present. The museum’s collection is very diverse and consists of more than 3,500 bags, pouches, suitcases, purses and accessories. The museum is recognized as one of the eight most important fashion museums in the world, so they say.
(Link: Tassenmuseum, via LA Times)
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)
