December 27, 2007

Court finds for noisy Tilburg pastor

Filed under: Religion by Branko Collin @ 2:55 pm

A court in Breda has found that Tilburg priest Harm Schilder is allowed to harass his neighbours by ringing his church bells far too loud at early hours. Although the court (LJN: BB8689) recognized that the city had the authority to impose fines and make rules limiting the noise levels its citizens are allowed to reach, it also pointed out that there is state law that overrules city law in this case. Specifically, the “Besluit woon- en verblijfsgebouwen milieubeheer” (Decision Housing and Living Buildings Environmental Management) states that churches are allowed to make as much noise as they want when calling the flock (“1.1.2. Excluded from determining the noise levels are […] the sound required to call one to practice their religion or life philosophy”).

Call me a cynic, but I’ve got a funny feeling that this ruling won’t stand long once the first mosque starts making use of this privilege, and the usual demagogue crowd will start howling “terrorism”.

Via BN/DeStem.

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November 6, 2007

Pink cab trend hits Tilburg

Filed under: Automobiles,Dutch first by Orangemaster @ 3:24 pm
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Women in and around the city of Tilburg, Noord-Brabant will soon be able to travel in special women’s taxis, it was announced today. The new company, which will operate on the same fare structure as regular cabs, has been founded by local businesswoman Tanja Schollen, who heads the cental station taxi company in Tilburg. The company employs only female drivers and caters exclusively to female clients. The taxi company, called the ‘Pink Lady Cab’, will initially operate with two cars, each of which will have pink roofs. They will work during the day and on weekend nights. “Female customers often indicate they feel safer with a female driver,” Schollen told reporters, “we also expect a lot of clients who for religious reasons prefer not to sit in a car with a strange man.” Female taxi companies have proven to be successful in several major cities in Europe and the Middle East, including London and Dubai.

So I guess after two years in London, trying it out in the Netherlands is a safe bet. Too bad no one has the brains or guts to do this in Amsterdam.

Here is more info over London’s Pink Ladies from 2005.

(Link: earthtimes.org, Photo: Pink Ladies, London)

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October 15, 2007

Pastor claims late bell ringing has halved attendance

Filed under: Religion by Branko Collin @ 12:40 am

Remember Harm Schilder, the pastor who got into trouble with worldly powers for trying to gather his congregation at mass by ringing his church bells at ungodly hours? Well, he’s back in the news. Pending the outcome of the lawsuit that the board of his church brought against the city of Tilburg, he hasn’t been ringing his church bells at early hours anymore. Now he claims that attendance to early mass has dropped in half. But he is confident that might he lose his lawsuit, Catholics from all over the country will send him money. Apparently you cannot lead a Catholic to mass, but you can make him pay?

Source: Brabants Dagblad.

Speaking of water, and of what might be in it, have you ever searched 24 Oranges for Tilburg?

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September 11, 2007

First ‘non-American’ to win science award

Filed under: Dutch first,Science by Orangemaster @ 10:05 am

Kessels

Erwin Kessels from Tilburg, Brabant, researcher at the Technische Universiteit in Eindhoven (TU/e) is the first non-American to win the American Peter Mark Award of the AVS Science & Technology Society. The 34-year-old Kessels currently holds a tenured Assistant Professorship in the Department of Applied Physics and researches solar cells.

The Peter Mark Memorial Award was established in 1979 in memory of Dr. Peter Mark who served as Editor of the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology from 1975 to 1979. The award is presented to a young scientist or engineer (35 years of age or under) for outstanding theoretical or experimental work, at least some of which must have been published in JVST. The award consists of a cash award, a certificate, and an honorary lectureship at a regular session of the International Symposium.

The award amounts to US$ 6,500 (EUR 4,712). Kessels will speak at the international AVS symposium, which will be held from 15 to 19 October in Seattle.

(Link: omproep brabant)

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August 17, 2007

Ring my bell no more

Filed under: General,Weird by Orangemaster @ 10:11 am
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Pastor Harm Schilder of the Heilige Margarita Maria church parish in Tilburg was fined 5,000 big ones (euro) today and already another 5,000 big ones last Friday because his bell rings too loud. Too loud means 80 decibels instead of 70 decibels, which in laymen’s terms is the difference between a car and a noisy factory. Nevertheless, when the bell hits you very early at 7:15 am, I can imagine it’s loud.

The pastor was told by his boss the bishop not to ring the bell until they get the volume fixed. Stay tuned until next Friday.

(Link: Omroep Brabant)

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July 3, 2007

Cornfield art gets creator arrested

Filed under: Art,Automobiles,Weird by Branko Collin @ 9:00 am

tilburg_cornfield.jpg When the police discovered a man from Tilburg driving an SUV through a cornfield near Dussen last week, they tried to stop him, but failed initially. A chase with several vehicles ensued, until almost the entire field was obliterated and the man was apprehended. Turns out the co-creator of this maze was under the influence of cocaine. De Telegraaf has a bigger photo (source of the image: the police of Brabant).

Make of SUV unknown. The driver’s license was confiscated on the spot.

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July 1, 2007

Stupid burglar leaves ID behind

Filed under: Weird by Orangemaster @ 10:54 am
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Saturday night, a 30-year-old burglar in Tilburg attempted to rob a student dorm and left his wallet and ID card behind, according to the police. They have not caught him yet, but remember, the Netherlands is small.
The man from Tilburg, Noord-Brabant was probably startled when he was caught in the act by a 19-year-old student. The woman woke up and saw an unknown man in her room. She screamed, he ran, he got away by bike.

Shouldn’t be a tough case.

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May 13, 2007

High voltage drama in Tilburg

Filed under: Weird by Orangemaster @ 11:16 am
fireman

Might as well use the same picture as when two guys climbed up a hoist vehicle.

Yesterday, a 35-year-old homeless man in Tilburg freaked people out by climbing up a high voltage tower, up to 25 metres. According to the article, the man was confused (what does that mean, no one knows). Two police negotiators and a family member talked him down after a three hour sit up there. He got some crisis help after that. Understandable.

(Link: Omroep Brabant)

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May 1, 2007

Din din with the A-Team

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 12:11 pm
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Can’t get enough of A-Team reruns on Dutch television? There’s always Dinner With Hollywood Stars on 12 May at the Dutch Star Con event, held at the Best Western Hotel de Druiventros in Berkel-Enschot near Tilburg in Noord-Brabant. Hollywood stars such as Billy Boyd from Lord Of The Rings, Dirk Benedict from the A-Team and the original Battlestar Galactica, Dwight Schultz from the A-Team and Star Trek The Next Generation, and Mira Furlan from Lost and oddly enough not mentioned in the link, Babylon 5. They’ll be signing sessions and they’ll be some Q&A.

Notice how 24oranges also used a picture of Mr T. from the A-Team even though he won’t be attending. Is he really afraid to fly?

Link

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March 15, 2007

New fire-breathing world record

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 6:43 pm
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On Wednesday March 14, the world record for fire-breathing was broken in the Dutch city of Tilburg. Heuvel square in the city centre featured 115 people breathing fire simultaneously. The old record in the Guinness Book of Records had been around since 2003, a record set by 70 people from England. The 115 participants had previously taken a fire-breathing workshop and the money they had to pay for it was donated to the Warchild organisation. The Tilburg student association D’Artagnan organised the event.

(Link)

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