All Things Holland

I stumbled apon this article on the WSPA website, it is about animal friendly farming. If you know me you know that I get pretty upset about the effects that animal abuse have on "industrial farming." You can follow this link to read the full article which will also lead you to the WSPA website where you can read more about how the treatment of the animals that you eat can actually affect your health. Guess who has already figured this out? Yes, the de Venco Group farms in the Netherlands upgraded their industrial caged chicken farming into a high animal welfare model which was designed by the Science Group of Wageningen University. The model is known as Het Rondeel or The Roundel in English. "The Roundel gives the hens space to engage in natural behavior of foraging, socializing, perching and dust-bathing and has the capacity to house up to 30,000 hens in divided sections of a hexagonal building." Thankfully this model has proved economically successful

Last Saturday night, I rented from Netflix Oorlogswinter (Winter in Wartime). Here is my take on the movie. Granted, I'm not film critic but for the average Joe; this is what I thought of it. First the official synopsis from the Netflix sleeve. This sumptuously photographed drama focuses on 14-year-old Michiel as he wrestles with family loyalties, painful choices between safety and courage, and the harsh realities of war during the last, desperate winter of World War II. Michiel is forced onto the path of adulthood as he attempts to aid a wounded British pilot in German-occupied Netherlands, despite his father's apparent cooperation with enemy soldiers. Spoliers maybe ahead.... The movie is made in the Netherlands so around 85% of it is in Dutch with subtitles (since I am no where near fluent). The extra 15% you get in English thanks to the downed British pilot. One amazing thing about that though, is how close Dutch phrases and words sometimes sound like their English equival

In English, Winter in Wartime is a Dutch war film from 2008-2009. It is the story of a Dutch boy who joins the Dutch resistance when the Netherlands were under the Nazi occupation of World War 2. However the boy's father, the mayor of his town, helps the Germans whereas his uncle is an adventurer resistance fighter. The film follows the tests of loyalty this boy, named Michiel van Beusekom, undergoes. In the Netherlands this film has won many awards and it out grossed both Twilight whoot whoot and The Dark Knight . Good for the Dutch! They didn't let Hollywood overshadow their own Dutch films. This sounds like a movie I want to see, what say you?

Yeah! I finally found another dutch band, I'm beginning to realize why there aren't that many Dutch bands...the good ones sing in English! Which is a pity. This is my online scream at all Dutch bands, sing in English if you like but PLEASE make one song in Dutch!