All Things Holland

My roommate sent me this video.  Here's some more information from the creator of this video  about the protests and what other nations are trying to do.  The video was made to spark similar ideas in other countries. What if most of the world started riding bikes more than driving.... interesting thought.  

This is neat. Check these out. Yahoo story with pictures Longer story here . Dutch historian Jo Teeuwisse from Amsterdam (hence the reason it's here) discovered 300 negatives in a flea market and began to research the sites of the photos. She overlaid modern pictures of the same sites with the negatives from WWII creating this 'ghost' image. Her Flicker site is here with many more pictures. Her site mentions that originally this began as just a research tool for her job as a historical consultant and grew into her passion/hobby. She believes that linking these pictures to sites we recognize heighten their impact. I agree. Sure we see lots of pictures from WWII all the time but that was then and there is hardly any lasting  physical evidence now, but when you see the sites today and they look so peaceful and nothing like they were then; it adds an extra amount of weight to them.  If you have the time check out her site where she has tons more pictures. If you don'

      The Shell oil company has been in the news lately.  Recently they have been accused of spilling oil in the Delta region of Nigeria.  Shell's full name is the Royal Dutch Shell company.  Shell blames the leaks on sabotage, which run the illegal oil purification centers in the area.  They have been in trouble in the past for their involvement during Apartheid in South Africa.  This time it turns out that oil has been spilling into this watershed region which has contaminated the ground and the water which was once a productive fishing center.    Shell has been brought to court in the Netherlands by a group called Friends of the Earth.  Their lawyer's name is Jan de Bie Leuveling Tjeenk.  In comparisons to other oil spills, the spill in Nigeria is double the amount that was spilled into the Gulf during the BP oil disaster.  Shell has been accused of treating this oil spill in Africa differently than how they would handle the spill if it happened in North America or Euro

I had a case of 'Hey, I know that guy" the other day. I found another actor who is Dutch, who knew. Rutger Hauer Born in Breukelen, Netherlands 1944. (Yes that is where Brooklyn in New York got it's name from, I think I should post about that more some other time). I posted the picture of him that made me say "oh that guy". Anyone guess what movie the above picture is from? Anyone? Batman Begins, He played Mr Earle. The 'corrupt' businessman CEO leading Wayne Enterprises while Bruce was gone/dead. He gets what's coming to him in the end; "Didn't you get the memo?" Great stuff. Rutger is also known for playing a villain in Blade Runner. Recently he hasn't played many high profile roles besides the occasional guest start on TV shows. More info on his early life thanks to Wikipedia . His films IMDB . The man even has his own website ! Neat did you know facts about Rutger. His first and last name both end with er! -Got his st

Being interested in my family culture, Dutch/German, etc., I have heard the name Friesland, Frisian and Friesian pop up time and again.  Firstly, I heard of the region in association with the horse breed that originates from that region, the world famous Friesians .  They are beautiful black horses that trace their origins from the forest horses found in that area.  They were used as light war horses in medieval times and today they dominate in whatever equestrian field they are put in; they are to put it simply, fancy. The second occurrence of the name Friesland comes from playing a very nerdy but oddly educational game which taught me the ancient provincial names of Europe, the Middle east, the Mediterranean and Northern Africa.  Friesland at one point in time was a power in and of itself.  They were originally called the "Frisii" and they inhabited the coastal Netherlands as well as northwestern Germany, they even had a distinctive pottery style called "Terp Tritzu

Dutch the official language of Suriname In a fierce foreign language debate we argued which language is the most endangered.  The center of the conversation was German.  I raised my voice, "If there is any language that is in danger of becoming extinct it would be Dutch," I said.  "Most Dutch people speak English, and the Netherlands is so small."  "German is spoken in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and in communities in the United States and around the world."  The conversation concluded and we all went back to our tasks at hand, but a lingering thought still circled around in my head.  Did I misspeak?  Are Dutch people themselves worried about the legacy of their language?  And where exactly is Dutch spoken? Dutch people do speak English a lot and very well.  According to the 2005 Eurostat statistics the Netherlands has the highest percent of English speakers in Europe in the 80% zone; with Belgium, Germany and France taking the next places.  However

Check out this slideshow of Amsterdam's Canals from BBC news . I'll summarize the captions on the pictures here if you don't feel like looking at pretty things. But seriously, click on the link and check out the pictures. >>Amsterdam is the most watery city in the world (must be one ahead of Venice then....). 1/4 of it's surface is covered in canals and harbours. Touring the canals has now become a prime tourist attraction with over 200 canal tour companies now operating carrying over 3 million passengers a year. With the growing canal tour industry, locals fear the larger boats and higher number of boats will cause issues with locals and their smaller boats. There are rules about how loud and what you can do on the canals with police patrol boats always call. Houseboats, once the inexpensive way to live in Amsterdam, are now rising in cost and rivals that of small apartments. It is illegal to swim in the canals except for special occasions (I wonder if it'

Remember last year when Forbes published a 'Happiest Countries' Report? This year the United Nations published their first World Happiness Report and guess where the Netherlands are? This explains the ranking system. 1) Denmark 2) Finland 3) Norway 4) NETHERLANDS USA comes in at 11. Yahoo has an interesting take on the Netherlands. They ask a chicken or the egg question. Do the bicylces and Tulips exist because the Dutch are happy or are they the reason for Holland's happiness? The Happiness Report is 1 of 2 reports filed this year ranking the countries of the world. The Happiest Countries Report shows a snapshot of the state of the world's happiness. While the second report " Happy Planet Index " (The Forbes article) tallies how a country balances personal well-being, environmental impact, and life expectancy. This list includes more countries that a vacation going would be interested in. The Netherlands is farther down this list.