August 24, 2018

‘Trading black brothers in for white ones’

Filed under: Music by Orangemaster @ 6:45 pm

Since popular rap group Broederliefde (in Dutch, ‘brotherly love’) from Rotterdam, with backgrounds from Curaçao, Dominican Republic and Cape Verde, attracted too many people at Gorinchem’s summer festival in 2017, the mayor has now banned the music style this year altogether ‘for security reasons’. The ban is being understood very differently by the Dutch media, accusing the Caucasian mayor of different shades of racism. Sure, safety is important, but this doesn’t seem like the best way to go about it. Why not get smaller, lesser known urban acts instead of punishing an entire segment of the Dutch population?

Not only is the ‘no urban’ thing doing the rounds in the media, it’s even a selling point on the festival’s website: “no urban, but still a party”, with acts that are the polar (ha, pun) opposite of urban, that is, carnivalesque après-ski music from the whitest of Caucasian Dutch men, amusingly enough called De Gebroeders Ko, which means the ‘Ko brothers’ who are also brothers just like Broederliefde.

Last year fights broke out when Broederliefde was performing, and that has made the mayor weary of anything urban, leading to an all out ban in the name of security. Problem is, there’s tons of urban-like music being played at festivals throughout the Netherlands and elsewhere, but the mayor is turning it into a ‘we don’t want black music [who is ‘we’ many people ask] because it attracts a bad element’ without flat out saying something overtly racist.

To drive the point home, one of the people in charge of programming (I bet he’s white) even said ‘we don’t want any acts like Ronnie Flex or Lil Kleine because they attract too many people. It’s scary to know that being popular is a reason to ban an entire genre of music that is mainly represented around the world by non Caucasians.

UPDATE: Hip hop and R&B festival Encore in Amsterdam is letting thefirst 300 visitors from Gorinchem in for free.

(Link: ad.nl, Photo of Microphone by visual dichotomy, some rights reserved)

Tags: , , ,

August 22, 2018

DAF searches for oldest truck in the country

Filed under: Automobiles by Orangemaster @ 1:02 pm

Dutch truck manufacturing company DAF, with headquarters in Eindhoven, is currently searching for the oldest DAF truck in the country that is still on the road.

Celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, the company says it receives photos of proud owners and their trucks all the time, which means finding the oldest one shouldn’t be that difficult. DAF claims that their trucks are known for their fuel efficiency, driver comfort, as well as reliability and durability.

Irishman John Tarrent pictured above shared a photo of his classic DAF 2100 from 1984 in use now for 34 years – look how happy he is. People can send in photos or videos on DAF’s Facebook page until the end of November. The general feeling is that a lot of the ‘oldtimers’ (that’s actually what ‘classic vehicles’ are called in Dutch) will be found outside of the Netherlands.

(Link: ed.nl, Photo of Irishman John Tarrent and his DAF by DAF)

Tags: , ,

August 21, 2018

Carpentry, Dutch style: a hammer, a nail, some wood

Filed under: General,History by Orangemaster @ 1:38 pm

According to Wikipedia, Rembo & Rembo was an absurdist Dutch TV show for kids written by Theo Wesselo and Maxim Hartman that aired from 1987 to 1995. In casual conversation with Dutch folks, bits of sketches from Rembo & Rembo are often quoted or alluded to. I was lucky enough to attend a Rembo & Rembo themed-party once with one of the two guys, I don’t remember which one, and was probably the only non-Dutch person there. People were dressed up like the characters in their sketches, including about six carpenters, which is why I’d like to share this beloved Rembo & Rembo sketch with you and my English translation below the video.

Recently I had to get a carpenter (‘timmerman’, ‘timmervouw’ if it’s a woman) and this sketch was the first thing that popped into my head. Funny enough, the ‘timmerman’ was called Tim.

Here’s what old school Dutch humour looks and sounds like.

Carpenter: Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

Carpenter: Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

(Background: Carpenter: Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!)

Carpenter: Yes, hello!
Man: I’m here for the advert about becoming a carpenter…
Carpenter: No, no, no, I’m not here today, tomorrow I’ll be in. OK? Tomorrow.
Man: Oh… Bye!
Carpenter: Bye!

(sign says ‘Carpenter’)

Carpenter: Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

Carpenter: Yes, hello!
Man: I’m here for the advert about becoming a carpenter…
Carpenter: Sorry, I got it wrong, I’m not here today either. Tomorrow I’ll be here for sure, tomorrow for sure.
Man: Oh…
Carpenter: Bye!

Carpenter: Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

Man: Hello, I was here yesterday already for the advert about becoming a carpenter…
Carpenter: Hey, that’s great, fantastic! Come in! You can start right away!

Carpenter: Come over here and I’ll show you how to hammer. This is a hammer, this is a nail. Head up, point down, a piece of wood: Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! It’s in.
Man: Yes.
Carpenter: Yes? One more time: Hammer, nail, head up, point down, a piece of wood: Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! It’s in. Yes? Do you understand or should I do it again?
Man: If you could show me once more…
Carpenter: OK, what is this?
Man: A nail.
Carpenter: This is a hammer!
Man: Ah yes, the hammer of course.
Carpenter: And what’s this again?
Man: That’s the hammer then.
Carpenter: This is the nail, yes?
Man: Yes.
Carpenter: Head up, point down, a piece of wood: Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! It’s in, yes?
Man: Yes.
Carpenter: Try it yourself, OK?
Man: OK.
Carpenter: I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be back.

Man: Head up, nail, point down, hammer, a piece of wood: Ting, ting… Hey! This one has the head facing down!
Carpenter: Hey, hey, hey, hey! What are you doing, man? Why are you throwing out the nail?
Man: It’s no good, the head is facing down and the point is facing up!
Carpenter: You’ll also find these types of nails as well, but you’re not supposed to throw them out!
Man: Oh no?
Carpenter: No! You need to save them for ceilings!
Man: Sorry.
Carpenter: No worries. If you’re here at 7 am tomorrow, you can start right away.
Man: OK. And how much can I earn?
Carpenter: 2,50 [guilders, 1,34 euro] an hour, but it will be more later.
Man: OK, then I’ll come later.
Carpenter: OK.

The funny parts: The ting ting ting is a classic. The carpenter keeps looking left and right when he opens the door possibly because he hires people and underpays them or is just plain dodgy. The nails for ceilings is also a classic.

(Image: wikipedia.org)

Tags: , , , ,

August 20, 2018

Sprinter train finally being fitted with toilets

Filed under: General,Health by Orangemaster @ 7:35 pm

Back in 2011 we told you about the Sprinter trains, short distance train that stop at ‘every big tree’ as the Dutch say, that didn’t have any toilets, but claimed to have ‘pee bags’ for anybody needing them. Of course, nobody knows anybody who has ever used them.

We also told you we’d update you if that changed, and it finally did.

Two weeks ago – seven years down the tracks – existing Sprinters are finally being fitted with bathrooms. Dutch railways also admits it was stupid not to have toilets on these trains. There will also be a large wheelchair-accessible toilet, a place for two bikes and a slide-out platform at the door.

It’s not over yet though: the first two trains are on the rails now and all 131 trains should be fitted with proper facilities by 2021.

(Link: nos.nl)

Tags: ,

August 17, 2018

Crime still pays for many Dutch fugitives

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 3:52 pm

According to RTL Nieuws, dozens of criminals in the Netherlands with an outstanding prison sentence wrongly continue to receive benefits. Although the justice department and police cannot find them, the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency), responsible for handing out benefits, doesn’t seem to have any problem finding baddies at all, much to the irritation of the Dutch government trying to put the kibosh on this absurd practice since 2011.

It can takes month before benefits are stopped owing to bureaucracy, but what really grates is that as many as 13 judges have still ruled in favour of these criminals, citing that ‘not serving one’s sentence is not a good enough reason to stop benefits’. They first need to see if the person is ‘purposely avoiding incarceration’ and then more pressure is put on the police to catch this person.

There’s even a case where a man took off to Australia with permission from the UWV and in doing so avoided his sentence. His sentence was then set at 10 weeks. However, Australia won’t extradite a Dutch person for any sentence of less than six month, so the man can chill down under while receiving money from the Netherlands and not go to prison.

Every time you hear that the Dutch are soft on crime, well, yes they are.

(Link: rtlnieuws.nl, Photo by Ken Mayer, some rights reserved)

Tags: , , ,

August 16, 2018

International students flatly turned down for housing

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 5:18 pm

According to RTVUtrecht, tons of advertisements for student housing (usually rooms in a house that has been subdivided for that purpose; they don’t live on campus), are flatly and illegally turning down internationals. It’s also not news that this group, maybe more than the Dutch, are also falling prey to dodgy landlords.

In this Dutch video, the chairman of a student rights association explains that international students should not be turned away, but quickly adds that he understands why this is done since it is so difficult for the Dutch to find housing, and that ‘there is a language barrier and many obstacles to be able to live with an international student’.

The thing is, major universities have been encouraging foreign students to enrol at their establishments to make money, but have no plans to deal with the strain that this causes on society, which in turn is then becomes the government’s problem. And since there’s a constant state of housing shortage that has existed at least in the big Dutch cities such as Utrecht for decades, it seems to be nobody’s responsibility, leading to this kind of self-protecting behaviour.

The chairman in the video blames the government and the universities and not the international students for the problem. A quick Internet search has students living on camping sites, caravans, hostels, refugee centers and even their cars for a bit until some of them get lucky, find a couch, or actually give up their studies. People are still willing to pay just more than regular people renting an entire flat to get a room because they don’t have many options.

This article is from last year, but paints a picture of what internationals go through here to try and find a room to live in.

And we wrote about students living in containers in Amsterdam a few years back.

(Link: rtvutrecht.nl, Photo of Multi-storey container housing by Rory Hyde, some rights reserved)

Tags: , , , , ,

August 15, 2018

Pastafarians cannot adorn colanders on official photos

Filed under: Religion by Orangemaster @ 7:29 pm

fsm-dennis-van-zuijlekom

Today the Dutch Council of State Administrative Jurisdiction Division has ruled that Pastafarianism, or the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is not a religion, which means wearing a colander by the adherents of this social movement cannot be regarded as an expression of religious belief.

Before I get into this, we told you back in 2016 that the Utrecht Chamber of Commerce had recognised the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, citing there was not a sufficiently solid legal basis to continue to refuse them status. However, the Pastafarians booked a loss.

The whole story hinges on a woman from Nijmegen who had applied for an ID card and a driving licence by submitting photos in which she was wearing a colander on her head, as a holy symbol of Pastafarianism. The mayor of Nijmegen refused to issue the requested documents because the woman’s head was covered, saying they did not meet the applicable legal criteria. Long story short, Pastafarianism does not have the required ‘seriousness and cohesion’ expected from a religion according to Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

This Batman’s Joker wannabee from Hellevoetsluis had his picture taken hat and all, which is also not allowed, but when he argued it was ‘for his religious belief’, he was allowed to leave it on at the time.

(Link: raadvanstate.nl, Photo of a Pastafarian worshipper in full regalia by Dennis van Zuijlekom, some rights reserved)

Tags: , , ,

August 13, 2018

What’s your pick for ugliest Dutch word?

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 9:49 pm

Marc van Oostendorp, a well-known Dutch linguist, decided to ask foreign students recently what they thought was the ugliest Dutch word.

In the video below (in Dutch), a Polish student said ‘geheugen’ (memory) because it does sounds like a Dutch cat trying to cough up a hairball. A Hungarian student, who sounds more Belgian than Dutch, said ‘überhaupt’ (‘as a whole’) because it’s straight up German, much to the amusement of everyone in the video. Another student from the United States, came up with ‘vruchtbaarheid’ (‘fertility’), but didn’t offer up an explanation as to why. A Spanish student came up with ‘ziekenhuis’ (‘hospital’) “because nobody likes to be lying in the hospital”, which means the meaning was more interesting to her than the sound of the word. An Argentinean student who learnt Dutch in Belgium chose ‘tureluurs’ (‘loopy’), a word that is probably used in written form more often than common speech.

Funny enough, all the students interviewed were women: what’s up with that?

Feel free to tell us if you can and want to: what Dutch word is the ugliest for you? I think mine would have to be any word that starts with ‘sj’ like ‘sjalot’. It sounds like your teeth are in the way of pronouncing ‘shalot’ properly, but to each their own.

Tags: ,

August 12, 2018

Rotterdam artist lives off drawing on bananas

Filed under: Art,Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 9:49 am

Artist Stephan Brusche from Rotterdam, South Holland not only has a banana-filled instagram account, but also a wonderfully concise job description: “I draw on bananas”. Check out his instagram and be prepared to see bananas and other fruit like you’ve never seem them before.

This is Brusche’s day job now, having quit working as a graphic designer. He has been turning the yellow fruit (technically a berry) into works of art for about six years. He uses tools such as toothpicks, a knife, and a ball-point pen to transform his bananas. The entire process, from sketching out an idea to sharing it online, takes two to three hours. And yes, he does it the bananas afterwards, a question he gets a lot. He also seems to do a lot of cutting and sculpting, not just casually drawing. Subjects range from movies to animals to a lot of recognisable symbols and items.

“[One day at work] I noticed I still had a banana left from lunch and figured it would make a fun picture if I just drew a little happy face on it. I discovered how pleasant it actually is to draw on a banana – there is just something about how smooth the ballpoint pen flows on the structure of the banana peel.”

(Link and photo from iSteef’s instagram account: mashable.com)

Tags: , , ,

August 10, 2018

Dutch singer Glennis Grace rocks America’s Got Talent

Filed under: Music by Orangemaster @ 9:03 am

Anyone in the Netherlands who has heard Amsterdam’s Glennis Grace sing knows how fantastic she sounds in both Dutch and English. But in today’s America-obsessed Netherlands [constant comparisons to the US in all fields], if you make it big in the US in English, you’ve reached the top, at least in music.

These days Glennis Grace has been batting them out of the park, to use a baseball expression on America’s Got Talent. At 40, she’s not the doe-eyed 20-year-old looking for validation as annoyingly pointed out by judge Simon Cowell in not so many words in the video below. Glennis also addresses comments to Mel B on the panel, while Cowell finds a way of making it about himself, which doesn’t bother the worldly Glennis one bit.

The next step is singing live with six other contestants. Glennis has met them all and says they are good, but that she plans to stay focused on herself. As well, she’s keeping which song she’ll be singing in the next round a secret, but won’t give any details except that it’s a difficult song to sing.

Listen to Glennis Grace charm the room with ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ by Prince:

(Link: nu.nl, Photo of Microphone by visual dichotomy, some rights reserved)

Tags: , , ,