January 16, 2021

Sailing from Rotterdam to Amsterdam (time-lapse video)

Filed under: Architecture,Film,History,Nature,Photography by Branko Collin @ 4:22 pm

In 2013 Shell had to transport an eight-story metal building from Rotterdam to Amsterdam.

They hired a company called The Timewriters to create a time-lapse video of the transport, which has now been released in glorious 4K format on YouTube, accompanied by a beautiful, if somewhat ill-fitting Dvořák piece.

The day-long journey begins on the Nieuwe Maas river near the Feijenoord neighbourhood in Rotterdam, then goes past Gouda, Alphen aan de Rijn and Schiphol Airport to end in Amsterdam. If it hadn’t been dark by then, you might even have been able to see my house at 9:14.

This is worth watching for the bridges alone.

And then you come back a second time for the places you know and a third time to figure out how and why the Dutch created their environment the way they did.

Also check out the comments on YouTube, lots of insights from people who recognise certain types of trains, planes and places.

(Source: YouTube / The Timewriters)

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June 1, 2010

Football players wanted for September polder cup

Filed under: Art,Nature,Sports by Branko Collin @ 8:35 am

Spanish artist Maider López is organising a football tournament on September 3 and is looking for both participants and an audience.

The tournament called Polder Cup will take place on the pastures of Ottoland in South Holland, halfway between Utrecht and Rotterdam. Contestants will be given food, drink and swag all for coming out to the middle of nowhere (using the charter bus of the project) and having their picture taken.

What’s the catch? Is there a catch? There is always a catch! As you can see in the photo, the pitches will be drawn across drainage ditches, and the players are expected to come up with their own rules and methods for dealing with these hazards. If you want to know beforehand how to fish a ball from a brook, check out Hans van der Meer’s photo book on Dutch football pitches. As for crossing ditches, see here.

(Link: Bright. Photo: poldercup.nl.)

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May 18, 2007

Chocolate instead of violence

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 10:27 am
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In the windmill-clad village of Schiedam, South Holland, the police have been recently handing out chocolate bars to adolescents at the end of their party evenings. Apparently, some British research has proven that chocolate has a soothing effect and calms the kids down so they don’t vandalise things. The police have been trying this out for four weeks now and only hand out goodies on weekends. They have not yet published their findings, but we’re all dying to find out, right?

(Link: RTL)

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April 17, 2007

Gouda from the Sahara

Filed under: Food & Drink,General by Orangemaster @ 11:37 am
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In September, the first ever cheeses from a new cheesemaker in the Moroccan town of Jerada, located in the middle of the Sahara desert, will be made and sold. Company owner Montassir Menouar completed his training in the Netherlands in Stolwijk, South Holland. The project, back by an association called Human Force, wants to help increase work perpectives in North Eastern Morocco. On April 19, Menouar will be saying good-bye to his teachers in the presence of the Ambassador of Morocco.

I think I saw bits of this on TV5 (Francophone television – Mr Menouar speaks French). Mr Menouar said he thought learning such a trade would help him provide for his family.

(Link: zibb.nl)

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