TresSugar

Tampons Descend on Unsuspecting Sunbathers

TresSugar — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:30:00 -0700

Did you know one in seven women avoid the beach during their period? PR firm Labresse does! That's why it dropped tampons in pink parachutes down on Dutch beaches. Too bad its audience stayed home because of the high tides that day.

Don't worry if you can't watch the video. Unless you speak Dutch, you won't understand a word. You really don't need to! Parachuted tampons descending on a beach like medicine to a remote village is universally weird.

Guilt Trips: President Obama Finds Time to Read - Do You?

TresSugar — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:00:00 -0700

That's it. If the president has time to read a novel, there is no viable excuse left not to. Maybe he's starting his own viral campaign for literacy?

In an interview for an upcoming New York Times Magazine, the president said he's reading the acclaimed novel Netherland at night because he's tired of reading briefing books all day. Fair enough. What did we expect the president to do at night - watch The Real Housewives of NYC?

The book's been compared to The Great Gatsby, but what's it about?

Hans, a Dutch financial analyst living in lower Manhattan, grows increasingly alienated from his wife following the Sept. 11 attacks. During their separation, the main character spends a Summer alone in New York and strikes up a friendship with a wily Trinidadian businessman named Chuck, who helps Hans rediscover his childhood love of cricket.

Cricket? I'm in. I expect to see sales of Netherland skyrocket. Maybe Obama is the new Oprah?

Weeding Out Crime: Amsterdam Closing Many Pot Cafes!

LibertySugar — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:30:00 -0800

Amsterdam wants to be known for its tolerant spirit, not as a haven for organized criminals. Thus, the city has plans to close troublesome brothels, sex shops, and marijuana cafes, while also spending millions to build cultural attractions like art galleries and restaurants.

One city council member explains that:

"[Amsterdam] will be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can't find anywhere else in the world - very exciting, but also with cultural attractions. And you won't have to be embarrassed to say you came."

Perhaps the new plan to shut down some pot cafes shows the wisdom of decriminalization, not the folly of it. Officials can step in and shut down the shops that cause problems, without pushing everyone that uses marijuana into a criminal network.

Do you think criminalization or legalization is the best way to deal with drug related crime?

Source

Anti-Islam Film Released By Dutch Politician

LibertySugar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:00:38 -0700

What's going on between the Dutch and Islam? Check this out: Gerrt Wilders is the leader of the Netherlands's anti-Islam party and a controversial filmmaker. The politician has just made much-anticipated anti-Koran film and it's now playing at a computer near you.

The graphic internet film - "Fitna" - stars beheadings, violence against women, anti-Semitic tirades, and charred New York and Madrid terrorist victims. The soundtrack? Verses of the Muslim holy book. Sounds like a must see.

Wilders wants to warn people about a dangerous religion (in his view), and stop the Islamization of the West. Well someone should warn him about the coming backlash! One person already not happy with Wilders is the man who drew the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The artist, whose drawings led to violent protests, says that the use of the drawing in Wilders' film is a violation of copyright laws.

Is this freedom of speech or a reckless incitement of violence?

Source

Très Bizarre: Dutch Like Going to the Bathroom More Than Sex!

TresSugar — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0700

I'd like to know what the Dutch are hiding in their bathrooms! A new survey released yesterday claims that 88 percent of respondents listed a visit to the bathroom as their most enjoyed activity.

I can think of a lot of other things I like more than answering the call of nature. Like what about enjoying nature? Actually "outdoor recreation" came in third place, preceded by a "good chat with friends," which placed second.

And as for the obvious answer? Only 21 percent of the respondents said having sex was the most enjoyable thing to do.

I could understand the UK survey from a while back that showed that eight in 10 Brits would rather get a good night's sleep than have sex - but enjoying going to the bathroom more than sex just doesn't make any sense to me!

Dancing For Energy! Partying Powers Dutch Nightclub

LibertySugar — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:00:47 -0700

All music is ~~electronic~~ electric at Rotterdam's Club Watt. A newly installed dance floor traps energy generated from dancing, and then converts it to electricity.

Yesterday's New York Times profiled the sustainable dance club, explaining that people can see the results of their energy creation. The floor powers a light show displayed around the dancers. At Watt, other green innovations help keep the party going: rainwater fills the toilets, and everything from the bar is recycled. When it's cold, band amplifiers and other musical equipment generate the heat.

The head of the group behind the Dutch club says: "Our idea is that there’s enough energy in this world, you just have to use it the right way. If you have a full dance club, there’s lots there, you just have to turn it into a usable product.” Sounds like a great idea to me!

Young Muslim Makes Video to Show All Religions Can be "Evil"

LibertySugar — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:00:41 -0700

Remember the anti-Islam video "Fitna" put out by a Dutch politician last month? Well a young Saudi businessman has decided to give Christianity the same treatment. Raed al-Saeed's increasingly popular video "Schism," mashes images of aggressive behavior by Christians with aggressive Bible-verses.

Unlike the Dutch video of violence by Muslims played to verses of the Koran, the Biblical version is not motivated by a desire to stop the spread of a religion. Instead, al-Saeed wanted to show that any religion, including Christianity, can easily be cast in an "evil" light. He told NPR that "It's not the right way to judge a religion by a video made by a guy who hated that religion."

To find out what images made the Christian version, read more.

Images of western soldiers in Iraq beating up alleged insurgents, a CNN broadcast of 2003's "Shock and Awe" bombing of Baghdad, terrorist attacks in Northern Ireland, fill the screen while violent biblical quotes - such as those from the Book of Samuel, urging killing mean, women, children, cattle - flash across the screen.

When the greater population is unfamiliar with a religion, which is often the case in the West with Islam, are violence characterizations more powerful? Will challenging videos, like al-Saeed's "Schism," help break down the us vs. them, good vs. evil narrative that exists between Christians and Muslims?

Source

What Do You Know About 400-Year-Old New York City?

TresSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:31:18 -0700

Yesterday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomed Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands to New York City. The royals are in town to kick off the festivities for New York City's NY400 week. This year marks 400 years since Dutch traders departed from Amsterdam for what would become New York City. Take a bite out of this quiz to see what you know about the Big Apple.

Take the quiz

Most Popular Street in the Netherlands?

GiggleSugar — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:00:00 -0700

This is where a young man goes when a bracing kick to the head just won't suffice.

Did You Read The Diary of Anne Frank?

TresSugar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:24:38 -0700

The Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam announced that it is going to permanently display Anne Frank’s diary and writings to commemorate what would have been her 80th birthday today. (They hope to get everything up by November 1.)

It’s almost a tween rite of passage to read The Diary of Anne Frank. I remember getting so attached to Anne, who wrote so honestly about her love for her father, her conflicts with her mother, and her budding crush on the only boy around in "The Secret Annex" - Peter. ("The Secret Annex" was the hidden room in her father’s office building in Amsterdam where her family hid during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.) You read her writing with the impossible wish that she will grow up to live the adult life she so passionately anticipates in her diary.

"I want to go on living even after my death," Anne wrote in her diary. Although she died of typhus at 15 at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, The Diary of Anne Frank made her wish come true.

Did you read The Diary of Anne Frank? What did you like best about it?