February 25, 2012

The American ambassador’s jewels have been found

Filed under: Weird by Branko Collin @ 12:25 pm

So this news was already covered two weeks ago by DutchNews.nl, but I thought it so remarkable that I felt it’d warrant another mention.

Six years ago Dawn Arnall, wife to then-US ambassador, sub-prime crisis architect and billionaire Roland Arnall, forgot her 9,000,000 US dollar jewellery in the lobby of an unnamed hotel in The Hague.

She reported the jewellery as stolen, though the press doesn’t say to whom.

Hotel staff found a satchel containing the jewellery, which was apparently so big and garish that they mistook it for costume jewellery.

Presumably neither the insurer (who paid out) nor the police bothered to check with the hotel, and the treasure went unclaimed for six months. It was then handed over to a cleaning lady who left it in her linen closet for five years, until her curiosity got the better of her.

The cleaning lady brought the jewellery for appraisement to a jeweler who, the police of The Hague joke, is probably still on artificial respiration.

She then brought the jewellery to the police, who sent it back to the US, whatever that is supposed to mean.

The jewellery consisted of a necklace containing a 4 million euro pink 5-carat diamond, and various other jewels worth 3 million euro. The finder is hoping for a reward, although it is not certain that anybody is obliged to pay one.

Since there are holes in this story big enough to park an entire zoo in, if our readers have any additional information I would sure like to hear about it.

(Photo of unrelated costume jewellery by GlitzUK, some rights reserved)

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February 19, 2012

US presidential candidate’s Minute of Lies

Filed under: Weird by Branko Collin @ 12:14 pm

Said conservative US presidential candidate Rick Santorum during a campaign stop:

Well in the Netherlands people wear a different bracelet if you are elderly. And the bracelet is ‘do not euthanise me’. Because they have voluntary euthanasia in the Netherlands. But half the people that are euthanised every year, and it’s ten percent of all deaths, half of those people are euthanised involuntarily at the hospitals, because they are older and sick.

And so elderly people in the Netherlands don’t go to the hospital. They go to another country. Because they are afraid, because of budget purposes, that they will not come out of that hospital to [inaudible].

Look at what has happened just in our tolerance of abortion. Fifty years ago, people who did abortions, sixty years ago, people who did abortions were, you know, in the shadows, or people who were considered really bad doctors. Now abortion is something that is just accepted. Well, of course people do abortions, it’s legal, it’s fine, there are no moral and ethical problems. This is the erosion, and it happens in the medical profession, and it can happen very fast, and I think Obamacare will lead us down that road.

None of this is true, of course, and even though it is the weekend the Dutch press is already having a field day with this. NRC writes: “Santorum thinks he knows the Netherlands“. Powned dubs Santorum’s “a surreal view“, OK, so maybe not a field day. Everybody knows that you just let a madman spout his gibberish, I guess.

Should this mentally unhinged person ever become president of the USA though, he will control the world’s largest arsenal of chemical and nuclear weapons. Besides that minor worry, just enjoy this bit of mainstream crazy, because it does not get much sillier than this.

(Video: Youtube / RightWingWatch.org. Photo by Gage Skidmore, some rights reserved.)

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February 7, 2012

Dutch pigeon sold for record 251,000 euro

Filed under: Animals,Weird by Orangemaster @ 1:15 pm

Last Monday, Dutchman Pieter Veenstra auctioned off 245 pigeons on a Belgian website for over 1.9 million euro, including “the record-breaking hen of the Dolce Vita breed”, which I’m guessing is a huge deal in pigeon land. The bird was bought by a Chinese businessman who plans to use it to breed rather than racing, something that is apparently up and coming in China.

The record breaking price fetched by the bird has sparked a furious debate in the world of pigeon racing, a cult sport in Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany that is not traditionally regarded as a rich man’s pursuit.

However, celebrity-in-the-making, 15-year-old Lloyd Schuilenburg (video in Dutch), aka ‘Duifmeneer’ (‘Pigeon Man’), is not making a fortune off pigeons, but has been trending on Twitter (@deduifmeneer) and even cranked out a carnival song (see below). His thing is making ‘hoo hoo’ (‘hoe hoe’ in Dutch) sounds to ‘steal other people’s pigeons’. Although very charming and entertaining, he’s not taken very seriously due to the nerd factor of his meme, his unfortunate looks and his thick The Hague accent. Schuilenburg is basically popular for no reason at all, and is enjoying the popularity while others make fun of him. It’s a Dutch thing.

(Link: www.telegraph.co.uk)

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February 5, 2012

Dutch TV cannibals won’t be prosecuted

Filed under: Health,Weird by Branko Collin @ 2:39 pm

The public prosecutor won’t take legal action against two TV show hosts who had each eaten flesh that had been surgically removed from their bodies.

In December Dennis Storm ate a bit his left buttock, Today.com reported back then, and Valerio Zeno a piece of his abdomen. The meat was served with some green asparagus.

The website quoted a Dutch lawyer who said cannibalism in the Netherlands is only illegal “when it involves maltreatment or when it violates common decency.”

Nevertheless, the Christian Democratic Appeal (conservative party) had asked questions in parliament, and Minister of Education Marja van Bijsterveld told the venerable body on behalf of her justice colleague that prosecution was not in the cards.

(Link: De Pers. Logo and video: BNN.)

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February 1, 2012

Major fraud case explained in court using Playmobil

Filed under: Dutch first,Weird by Orangemaster @ 12:35 pm

A major real estate fraud case was recently explained in a court in Haarlem using Playmobil figurines. Although the explanation is in Dutch — starts at 1:43 — it’s quite clear even without sound.

The accused, who worked for an organisation that invests in new developments, sold a development to an investor for a much higher price than it was worth and embezzled the excess.

According to the film, three very experienced judges and two clerks worked full-time for over a year to sort the whole mess out.

The accused, now guilty of a whole bunch of crimes and off to jail, tried to walk off with 4 million euro.

I know nothing except that real estate and the construction world are riddled with fraud because space is scarce and very expensive, a reminder that the Netherlands is the most densely populated country in Europe and there are still not enough houses to properly house everybody.

(Link: www.rechtspraak.nl)

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January 26, 2012

Poor understanding of dialect ruins old man’s reputation

Filed under: General,Weird by Orangemaster @ 6:22 pm

A 90-year-old pharmacist in Maastricht is said to be devastated after popular Dutch talk show De Wereld Draait Door messed up the translation of a subtitle in their film of the elderly man.

In a segment where they show funny videos, a woman walks into his pharmacy and asked for something for her throat. He makes a charming joke, saying, “Did you sing too much?”.

Problem is, the television show didn’t air this because they thought he said “did you sing too much”, but they understood it as “did you suck too much”, which, if that had been what he said, would be kinda funny.

But he said ‘sing’ (‘gezongen’) and not ‘suck’ (‘gezogen’). The man has a Limburg accent that the subtitler didn’t understand, made an assumption and basically trashed a hard-working old man out of ignorance.

My friends also tell me that if the old man had meant ‘suck’ (blow job), he’d have used a totally different verb in local dialect.

The show sent the man a ‘we’re sorry’ bouquet of flowers, but he still claims he’ll never watch the show again.

(Link: www.limburger.nl, Photo of Old drugstore by fpeault, some rights reserved)

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January 24, 2012

A tattoo gets you free films for a year

Filed under: Art,Film,Weird by Orangemaster @ 6:12 pm

Some 18 film fans are going to get a permanent film ticket tattooed on their bodies just so they can get free entrance to films for a year. A movie theatre that operates in the towns of Almelo, Kampen and Zevenaar came up with this to accompany the latest blockbuster, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

I think one year of free movies isn’t enough for something as difficult to remove or permanent as a tattoo. And it’s probably not a super deluxe tattoo, it’s a film ticket. The tattoo artist who was hired to do the job is the one doing good business. If anyone has a pic of their work, let us know.

(Link: www.waarmaarraar.nl, Photo of Dragon tattoo by Deanna Wardin, some rights reserved)

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January 20, 2012

Laura Dekker ignored by Guinness, but still a winner

Filed under: General,Weird by Orangemaster @ 4:47 pm

The Dutch media probably chose today to make punny headlines about Laura Dekker who won’t become the youngest person to sail solo around the world because the Guinness Book of Records scrapped the distinction in 2009. However, back in 2009 (PDF) she had already mentioned she didn’t care about the record:

“Q. Is the record to become the youngest solo sailor very important to you?
A. It’s not the most important, it’s a nice addition. I have a dream and a very strong desire to do this.”

It’s amusing to see the Dutch Twittersphere make such a big deal about old news, claiming the ‘dumb cow’ should have gone to school like the rest of them. Of course, we also assumed she’d hopefully break a record, no matter what you call it.

According to Radio Netherlands, “Guinness World Records have decided to abandon the category of “youngest” in its list of world records. Their argument is that they do not want to encourage, discourage or support inappropriate record attempts by minors. On those grounds, they therefore refuse to acknowledge any achievement by the youngest person to sail around the world.”

And no matter what, whether there was a party or not at the finish, whether child services will haul her and her father away, one thing remains: she hates her nationality and will probably move to New Zealand and trade the ‘dumb cows’ in for sheep.

(Link: www.hartvannederland.nl, Photo of Dutch flag by Guido, some rights reserved)

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January 10, 2012

‘A webshop run from home deemed technically illegal’

Filed under: Food & Drink,Online,Weird by Orangemaster @ 12:02 pm

Some judge in Den Bosch ruled that a webshop that sells alcohol from an industrial building was illegal because they should operate from a building marked as a retail shop or proper warehouse. The city is reviewing this decision, as it would also imply that any webshop run from a home would be illegal because a home is not location for this purpose. Imagine a physical liquour store taking a competing webshop to court and the latter losing because they aren’t run from an actual shop.

In the case of alcohol, the webshop cannot properly check how old someone is (an easy argument), but if this applies to all webshops — it probably won’t but imagine — some rules are going to have to change because they’ll give people a bigger headache than any booze could. Most webshops in the Netherlands are run from homes and the entire idea of having to be in a physical shop is preposterous.

(Link: www.z24)

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January 7, 2012

Welcoming the new year with a cannon

Filed under: Weird by Branko Collin @ 4:36 pm

Carbidschieten (igniting calcium carbide in a milk churn) is a popular New Year’s eve tradition in the rural areas of the Netherlands.

It seems that these days milk churns are considered too small for a decent bang, and bigger and better cannons are built. Not always with the desired effect. The following video’s were shot in Triemen in Friesland on December 31.

(Video: Youtube / Vancha112)

(Video: Youtube / Uko van der Meulen)

Both videographers have more vids of ‘carbide shooting’ on their Youtube accounts.

Kids should not try this at home.

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