Riders on the storm

Sorry to all the Doors-fans out there, ending up on my blog hoping to find some info on their favorite band, but this has got nothing to do with the Doors. I just needed to nice title to go with the subject on hand. You see, the other day I read an article in the newspaper about those appendixes to contracts you need to sign when you want to hire a band or artist, the so called "riders". When you want to have a band or an artist performing for you, they will show up for their gig only if certain demands have been met. Those demands are all written in the riders, and can vary from funny to damn-right outragious. One of the most famous ones is of course the one from the legendary rockband Van Halen, who demanded a big bowl of M&M's, with ALL the brown ones removed!
When I first heard it, I thought it was a bit excessive, although funny. I already was picturing the stage-hand going through an huge pile of bags, manually removing (and maybe even eating) all the brown M&M's, till he won't be eating them for the rest of his life.
Now I just read that this demand had served a purpose. Since the band always toured with complicated and some sensitive equipment, it needed some expert set-up. After one of the roadies almost got electrocuted, due to a bad connection, they needed something to be able to check if their conditions were met. That's were the big bowl came in. Whenever they found a big bowl with M&M's they knew the other part had read their contract. Pretty smart, huh?

And how about miss Britney Spears? She wants an UNLISTED OUTGOING ONLY telephone line (note the capitals). If the number of that phone line is published, the promoter gets a $5.000 fine. "Sorry, wrong number!".

And you all might know that Amy WINEhouse does her name justice. So, it may not come as a surprise that her dressing room demands is filled with alcoholics or coctail ingredients. Just a few items: 2 bottles of red Rioja wine, 1 case of beer (NO STELL OR CARLING!), 1 large (what else?) bottle of vodka, 1 bottle of champagne, 1 bottle of Courvoisier. I sure hope it's not for her alone, but considering her reputation, I fear the worst.
And she is not the only one requires alcohol. On each rider there is some alcoholic beverages.But the one from Sheryl Crow cuts the cake. She orders a drink specifically for that day, i.e. on tuesday 1 bottle of Bombay Gin and a large bottle of Schweppes Tonic.

Another funny one. Legendary hardrock band Guns 'n' Roses has listed on their wanted list "1 assortment of adult magazines (i.e. Playboy, Penthouse)

Did I mention any Diva's here already (besides Amy Vodkahouse)? Don't think so. Well, for starters there is the ever so lovely Christina Aguilera. Contact the local police station before booking her to perfomr for you, as she requests a police escort from and to her hotel.

As you already might have noticed, all links end up on the same place on the net, and that is The Smoking Gun. Here you can find a whole list of riders of all sorts of artists. Go and check it out. One tip, DO check out the one from Iggy Pop! That one is just hilarious!
Just a small fragment on his rider on how his dressing room should look like: " You know what really would be nice? If you could make his room look less like a typical rock & roll dressing room and more sort of......Interesting? Are you with me? Just let someone loose with a little bit of artistic flair..er, do you know any homosexuals?"

Happy New Year!!

Here I would like to wish you all a Happy 2008!
May all your wishes come true this year. I hope you all had a good New Years Eve. You spend it with the family, or with friends?
For us, we decided to take things easy, this year. We have been to Paris and Disneyland this X-mas (pics too follow), and Alec had enjoyed himself a bit TOO much, becoming a bit ill from too much excitement. So we just stayed at home, I bought some fireworks (read here about that crazy dutch tradition), we had some oliebollen, and woke up Alec before hell broke loose.
Nothing much, nothing special.

Thank God it's X-mas

As you might already have found out, it is nearly X-mas, and I don't know about you guys, but for me, it is always a special time. The whole atmosphere changes here in Holland after "that old fart with his white horse" is gone. Lights start to appear on the houses, shops have a little more different appearance, more friendly, welcoming. It just makes the early sunset a little more bearable.
And I know that X-mas has been heavily commercialised, and that the Dutch coziness ("gezelligheid") is forced upon us with even greater force than normal, but somehow I don't really mind.

Today, we went on a shopping-spree in Amsterdam. Well, not really a spree, since we didn't really buy much, and were more window-shopping. But just the whole atmosphere is just so friendly, with the lights, and the X-mas decorations in the shops.
Of course there were also the huge amount of tourists, coming to Amsterdam for the shopping, or smoking certain products Amsterdam is famous for, or both. Somehow it just adds up to it all.

Still, I am missing the X-mas markets like they have in Germany. We actually had planned to go to Dusseldorf or Koln, but since Alec has been ill this week, we decided to take it a little easier
this weekend.
I don't know if you ever been to a German X-mas market, if you don't, just hop in the car and go. It really is worth it. Oh, and don't forget to bring your appetite!

A few years ago, Amsterdam made an attempt to have a X-mas market to. I am not sure what they had in mind with it, but it just was hilarious, if you are used to the German ones. Only the Beurplein had a few stands (for those of you who know Amsterdam) and that's about it. On their defence, Amsterdam isn't really a city where you can have a market like that, with those narrow streets, and all.
Anyway, we probably won't go to a X-mas market this year, but we sure will go next year.
Meanwhile I am just going to enjoy the Dutch "gezelligheid"!

Music makes the world go round (again)!

With my new job, also comes everything that goes with it, of course. Like colleagues, goofing around with them, and listening to the radio. However, that last thing I have a little problem with that. Don't get me wrong, I love to have the radio on as background, and the radio-station isn't that bad either. But what I DON'T get is the fact that when you listen to a radio-station (especially the popular ones), you hear the same songs over and over and over again. Like, you hear a song playing, and think to yourself:"funny song". An hour later you hear the same song, and you still think it's a nice song.....but hearing it eight times a day, 5 days a week! The think I don't get here is , that those guys who are playing that song again and again, or those guys plugging it (paying for airtime) don't realise that they are completely killing the songs. If you hear a song 3 times, you still like it, and might even run to the store to actually buy it. But after hearing it eight times a day, five days a week, I start to have the urge to throw the radio out of the window. Or myself!

Traveler IQ Challenge

I found this on the Geenstijl blog, and I just had to share it with you guys.
My Score is 382516, Final Level 10, Travel IQ 113. Just curious if you can beat this. Just leave a message with your score.

Enjoy!

Traveler IQ Challenge

I died and gone to heaven!

If you know me personally, you might know I have one special love in my life, and that is Starbucks coffee. I set my first step in a Starbucks in Taiwan 7 years ago, and I am addicted ever since. From that day on it started to play a role in my life in an ever increasing way. When I was studying in Taiwan, I went there practically every day to get away from the hectical life, to study, or just be alone. Over there it has become a part of the culture, even though the Taiwanese don't drink that much coffee. You see students do their homework, hang out with friends or just read a book. You see businessmen (and women) have sales meetings there. And not just in Taiwan, but more or less in every Starbucks I have been in there is a special atmosphere, which is hard to describe. But the closest description we (me and YuMei) can give is like it's your living room when you are away from home. You can sit there for hours with just one cup of coffee, and no-one cares about that. Try that here in Holland.
And for all these years I have wondered why there wasn't a Starbucks here in Holland (yet). Just a few weeks ago I read somewhere, that it had something to do with one of the biggest coffee producers here in Holland (Douwe Egberts) having a monopoly on the sales of coffee or something like that. The one and only Starbucks here in Holland was the one in the Nike European Headquarters in Hilversum. UNTIL NOW!!!!! I was as happy as a kid, when I found out that there FINALLY is a Starbucks at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. So, can you believe it?? Two of my favorite places combined into one. Needless to say I already have ordered my first Dutch "Grande Cappucino". I do however really have to get used to ordering in Dutch!

Movie time!

I was surfing the net earlier this evening, and i found some funny video's on Youtube, I just had to share with you guys. Enjoy!


Who is smarter? The customer or the bartender?




Here is another reason for ppl to learn english!




Here is a funny trick to play on someone:




How about this blond girl:




And this is every kids nightmare:




The next video is not much funny, but more amazingly well made:

Fingerlicking food!

Sometimes it is just nice to break away from the everyday routine, and just go somewhere different. Just for the change of scenery. Saturday we went to Düsseldorf, which is about 2 hours drive from here. We used to go to a Japanese restaurant in the center, a bit outside "little Tokyo", where the food was great and quite cheap. But they have closed that restaurant for some unknown reason. So, after a period of mourning for that loss, we have had the courage to go back a few times already to find a nice replacement, which we found in once again a Japanese restaurant, Sushi this time.
Quite funny, all our trips end up in being small food excursions. When we go to Paris (both times), we always NEED to visit one particular Japanese restaurant, which got simple but great food. Also Düsseldorf is always the same. We always visit the Japanese restaurant for lunch, and then to the Starbucks for some good quality coffee (the only good coffee from USA). We still need to find something for dinner over there, but we hardly eat dinner there, because we are always still full from lunch. Therefore we always end up at the McDrive, to great happiness of His Royal Naughtiness.

At work we have some sort of lunch service, where a list of available (and not available) sandwiches is passed around, we mark what we would like to have, we fax it, and around lunchtime a big box is delivered at our door. I always end up having 1 sandwich with egg and 1 various (sometimes meat, sometimes French cheese etc).
Even though the sandwiches are good, sometimes the one with egg is a little bit too heavy on the pepper and salt. Today a representative of that company stopped by to ask what we think of their service. So I told her that they could ease up a little bit on the pepper and salt.
Somehow I guess that remark didn't go so well with the person in charge of the pepper, AKA the "Pepperspray", because the egg sandwich I had, had enough pepper on it to last me a life time.

All this talking about food makes me kinda wonder......Where does food come from? Last month was already all about natural and biologically grown food. We have been picking apples and sweetcorn out in the field and stuff (I wanted to write something about it, but never got to it,
shame on me!). It was pretty nice, also for Alec. This way he learns that apples don't grow in the supermarket, and that chickenbreasts don't end up at the butcher's already cut up etc.

But back to the question at hand....where does food comes from? And I don't mean, apples grow on trees and the cow gives us milk. Everyone knows that (or will learn eventually). No, what I mean is, what made us eat those apples and drink that milk?
Maybe in ancient history 2 guys were sitting in their cave, saw a cow pass by with the milk- factory dangling underneath in full view. Do you think the one would have said to the other:"what if we pull those things? What will happen?". Luckily for us, they had a cow that was in a good mood, otherwise we might never have heard of milk.
Or how about this scenario? "Hey Johnny, I just found some berries on the ground, wanna try?".....one hour later "John,....you not dead yet? Hmmm...I guess those berries are eatable then"

I guess it must have all been a process of trial-and-error. Someone trying a kinds of mushrooms. Probably the last entry on his notebook was: "Avoid the red and white ones".
And how about all the herbs and spices, or tea and coffee? Who on earth would come up with the idea to throw a coffee bean in the fire, grind it and pour boiling water on top of it?

About the Chinese they say: "if it moves they'll eat it". Well, that's nice, but if I see a tarantula, the last thing on my mind would be:"how would it taste like, when it's deep-fried?"
Luckily I haven't seen those in Beijing, but there were centipedes and even complete baby-sharks on a stick.

And about meat. Somewhere along the line, someone must have put it on a stick and hang it in a fire. But why? Weren't they happy eating raw meat? Where they so desperate to try something new, that they would sacrifice a good piece of meat? "I have had enough of all this raw meat! I am gonna throw it in the fire, and see how it taste like!....No, don't try to stop me, I made up my mind."

Maybe there have been many studies about the subject, but so far haven't seen any.
Anyway, it is fun thinking about this, and come up with some other ways on how food was discovered.

For now, here are some funny jokes about food:

* "Jacky, aren't you gonna pray for that food?", "I did, mommy, but it's still there!"

* "Some people ask the secret of our long marriage, We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays."

* A waitress walks up to one of her tables in a New York City
restaurant and notices that the three Japanese businessmen
seated there are furiously
masturbating.

She says, "What the hell do you guys think you are doing?"

One of the Japanese men says, "Can't you see? We are all
berry hungry."

The waitress says, "So how is whacking-off in the middle of
the restaurant going to help that situation?"

One of the other businessmen replies: "The menu say, FIRST
COME, FIRST SERVED!

* An atheist was walking through the woods one day when suddebly an 8-foot grizzly bear began to charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could down the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was rapidly closing on him. Somehow, he can't ran even faster, so scared that tears came to his eyes. His heart pounding in his chest, he tried to run faster yet. But alas, he tripped and fell to the ground. As he rolled over to pick himself up, the bear was right over him, reaching for him with its left paw and raising its right paw to strike him.

'OH MY GOD! ...' Time stopped.......... The bear froze ........... The forest was silent...........Even the river stopped moving ...

As a brilliant light shone upon the man, a thunderous voice came from all around, 'You Deny My Existence For All These Years, Teach Others That I Don't Exist; And Even Credit Creation To Some Cosmic Accident. Do You Expect Me To Help You Out Of This Predicament? Am I To Count You As A Believer???'

Difficult as it was, the atheist looked directly into the light and said, 'It would be hypocritical to ask to be a Christian after all these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?'

'Very Well.' said The Voice. The light went out....... The river ran....... The sounds of the forest resumed and the bear dropped down on his knees, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke:

'Lord, thank you for this food which I am about to receive.'

* An Arab diplomat visiting the US for the first time was being wined and dined by the State Department. The Grand Emir was unused to the salt in American foods (french fries, cheeses, salami, anchovies etc.) and was constantly sending his manservant Abdul to fetch him a glass of water.

Time and again, Abdul would scamper off and return with a glass of water, but then came the time when he returned empty-handed.

"Abdul, you son of an ugly camel, where is my water?" demanded the Grand Emir.

"A thousand pardons, O Illustrious One," stammered the wretched Abdul, "A man is sitting on the well."

And some funny links:

http://www.hungrymonster.com/humor/Jokes.cfm?jid=17
http://www.hungrymonster.com/humor/Jokes.cfm?jid=59

BREAKING NEWS!!!

BREAKING NEWS!!!
I got a job! Finally! And it was pretty fast also. I think within 4 days, from the phonecall from the job agency till the signing of the contract. And I had to start at the 1st of October, so we only had 2 weeks to find a good daycare center for Alec. And those of you living here in Holland know that that is almost a mission impossible. Maybe for two days, or three at the most, but a full week?
We called all DCC in the area. Eventually we found 2 which we have to combine. Monday, tuesday and thursday Alec is going to one, and wednesday and friday he going to the other. Not the ideal situation, but hopefully we can change this lateron to a better deal.
Anyway, I still have a trial period, so we'll see how things are going.

You spin me 'round!

We have been back in Holland for almost 3 months now, and all this time I have been planning on writing about the most scary thing happening to me in Taiwan. I never really get the chance, until now.

We arrived on Saturday, and the following thursday we went out for dinner. And somewhere during the evening I got an gigantic headache. It felt like me head would explode. I went to bed early, but just couldn't sleep bcos of it. Early in the morning (6 am), I "woke" up and sat upright in bed. Something didn't feel right. And all of a sudden it felt like my vestibular system were turned off. I woke up YuMei and said to her that she'd better call an ambulance, bcos I was in serious trouble. The whole room was spinning. I couldn't sit up straight anymore. If I did I either fell back again, or had to vomit. My arms was leading a life on it's own, making movements I didn't have control over. It was really scary.
YuMei woke up her mom, who immediately thought of a stroke, since her late husband has had two before he passed away. That scared the shit out of me, I already was picturing myself in wheelchair for the rest of my life, or worse.
They woke up my brother in law, who helped me to the car, and drove us to the hospital.

Now, I don't know how many of you have had the unpleasant experience of being in a hospital in a foreign country, not able to speak the language, not knowing what is happening around you. But believe me, it is SCARY! Luckily I had YuMei to translate, and comfort me.
Also luckily I was to sick and tired to actually notice anything around me. All I was focussing on was how to lie down without feeling sick or having to throw up. That also prevented me from noticing that I was being used as a human pin cushion.
After a few tests, also for stroke (which luckily came out negative), the doctors still didn't know what it was. Meanwhile I was feeling better already, and was send home at 12:00. But not before I was given a huge pile of medication and corresponding instructions.
(Meanwhile, Alec had the time of his life, seeing all the ambulances come and go with whailing sirens.)
I have been in bed for 2 or 3 days and felt already a bit better. Still I was walking like grandpa, and had to have support every 10 meters or so. Still, I already felt that there wasn't going to be any approvement on that Wednesday I was suppost to have those interviews, so I had to postpone them. I mean, I have send them my resume in which it said I am 35 years old. I don't think they would take that serious, when they see an 80 year old grandpa shuffling in.
Later, back in Holland, I went to the doctor, and told him all this. He diagnost it as being a classic case of Labyrinthitis, which is an infection of the vestibular system.
I just now read it back, and feel lucky. Lucky that no damage was done. However, the wikipedia and other medical books are always writing about what COULD happen if..... Basically it always looks and feels more serious than it actually is. Still, it scared the shit out of me.

Music makes the world go round!

I haven't posted here in over 2 weeks already, and I feel a bit ashamed about it. I don't have any excuse, other than being lazy. I could also have said that I didn't have any inspiration or something like that, but that wouldn't be true, I got plenty of inspiration. Just like the other day. I was listening to some music, and BOOM!...had inspiration. The only thing was how to start it. I was thinking about starting with"I am getting old". Sure, I am getting old....aren't we all? And what does it have to do with music? So.....I am just trying a different approach.
The other day I was driving the car, and was listening to City FM finally again. This radiostation is playing all rock classics, just the kind of music I like. And when I listened, I was amazed how my music changed. Music I wouldn't dream of listening ever, I am now singing along with at the top of my longs. Music I used to love now just doesn't do anything to me.
Also songs or bands I have never have given a second thought is now constantly in my mind.
let me give you an example. I used to go crazy with the music of UB40, and had the whole collection of CD's available. Now I hardly play it anymore. And I have a little confession to make here. I was crazy about them when I was about 17 - 18 and started to go out and stuff. And (here is my confession:) also starting to experiment with hasj and weed. And I must admit, it felt great being high, sitting in the bus back home, with UB40 on the headphones of my walkman. It was "groovy".

Lateron my choice changed to a little bit more the rough side,...Metallica, Guns 'n' Roses, just about anything that has a bit of a guitar and a bit of a kick. Actually this started a bit when I went to a concert of Toto with a friend of mine. Wow....Those guys where good. Come to think of it...KFC has a slogan: "We know what to do with chicken". Well....Steve Lukather knew what to do with a guitar! Check this out! He is not playing the guitar, he making love to her and she is LOVING it!. That is what got my juices flowing at the time. And from there it "got worse". Guns 'n' Roses, Metallica. Funny thing is actually, that in my UB40-time, a friend of mine was crazy about G'n'R, and I always hated the music, and always had a "battle" with him about it. And before that I had a friend who was crazy about Metallica, Megadeth (no link here, I don't wanna scare you off) and much heavier than that. And again, same story.

Nowadays, I just listen to about anything that CityFM plays on the radio. Well, that is when I got the chance. We have aCD from Alec in the player, and it has been in there for about 2 months already, and has to be in there when His Royal Naughtyness is sitting in the car and played as well. I can sing along with all the songs by now.
Anyway, they are usually playing music from the '80's, which is the time when I start to develop a taste (or maybe lack of taste) in music. And the funny part is, like I mentioned earlier, that my taste has changed so much that a lot of songs I can really appreciate. Like Joe Jackson,...I never really thought about his music. Well, still not actually, I would never buy a CD, but the song above and this song, just keep playing in your mind, once you heard it.

Hmm....I also wanted to write about how singers could also dissappoint you. There is this song, it's one of my favorites, "One night in Bangkok" by Murray Head. It is so perfectly balanced, so massive and powerfull. So, I went searching for some other songs by him, and came across this. This voice wasn't at all as I heard in the song. Maybe he'd changed it or something, but it was kinda dissapointing.
But just earlier I went searching for it again, and came across other songs, like this one. It is so delicate, so subtile. I think I heard it once or twice, but never really payed attention to it.

"Is there a point to your story?", you might wonder? Not really, just wanted to write about this. But, if you insist, here is my point: Not only the style of the music chances, your choice in music also may chance over the years. Don't fight it, go with the flow. I remember that when I was kid I always made fun of my dad and his love for "The Platters", "The Carpenters" and so on. Now I realize, probably Alec will do the same with me in due time, as punishment for me making fun of my dad. And it probably will be something like this:"HAHAHA, you and your music, that music where they actually had to PLAY a guitar or drums! HAHAHAHA!!! So out of date!!!"

9/11 is coming!

I am scared. I hear you ask: "Why"? Well....I tell you. There was (or is) a big demonstration planned in Brussels on the 11th of September against the Islamisation of Europe.
The major of Brussels has forbidden this demonstration, for the fear of insulting certain members of the Belgian population (read: muslims). He fears that there will be riots between the demonstrants and muslims (Islam was peace, right?). There is an online petition to protest against this decision of the major.
This is already scary to hear that people are not allowed to demonstrate, just to please a small minority of the population. We have in Europe something that is called freedom of speech, which is insulted by this decision.
The organisation therfore declared that therefore it will take place anyway, but then it will be more of a remembrance of the victims of the WTC-attacks.

And now I just read, that the AEL (Arab European League) is now planning a demonstration on (yes, you guessed it right) the 11th of September in Brussels against Islamophobia and racism.
For those who don't know the AEL, this is a very scary muslim organization, who's goal it is to convert everyone in Europe to muslim, either the easy way or the hard way.
Now, the major of Brussels has a problem. If he forbids this demonstration too, then the whole muslim world will be shouting that this is racism, bla bla bla..... If he doesn't forbid this, then it will be war. Why forbid one demonstration, and allow the other?

Meanwhile, it is so clearly a provocation of the AEL towards the western world. Why isn't this organization not on the European black list? It sure as hell is on the one from USA.

Anyway, I don't know what scares me most: The major allowing the demonstration of the AEL, or a confrontation between the 2 groups?
Either way, I fear that the WTC won't be the only thing we will remember on 9/11 in the future.

Privacy? What is that?

Bush had recently a small success by passing a law, that allows the CIA and other "Big Brother"-organisations to listen in on phone calls made outside USA (as long as they go through a US-based network). All in the name of his war on terrorism. Well, congratulations, mr. Bush!
I am sooo happy for you.

I don't know how things are in other countries, but here in Holland immediately everyone was against this law, being afraid of their privacy. PRIVACY???
HELLLLLOOOOOOO!!! THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PRIVACY ANYMORE.

We gave up our privacy the moment internet became popular. Sure, you can respond anonymous to an article in the newspaper. But, ask any wizz kid, they are able to track you down in the blink of an eye. I only have to type "Osama Bin Laden", and this blog goes straight to the CIA for evaluation, where some nittwit will judge that this blog is not dangerous (well, probably he will classify it as dangerous now, since I called him/her a nittwit). And if I really wanna live dangerous and wanna have a squad-car in front of my house, I only need to write that "Saddam Hussain was my hero" (just for argument's sake).
There is not a piece of info on the net that can't be found. Just type in your own name in any search engine.

I read somewhere that in USA (where else?) there are companies that will search the entire internet for traces and remove them (if negative). (reputationdefender.com/, Defendmyname.com)
When you apply for a job, your future employer could turn you down, because you have written 3 years ago in some kind of forum, of which you don't even remember having registered for anymore, that you have smoked some weed in your childhood.

People here are making such a fuzz about the loss of their privacy. First of all, like I mentioned above, there is no such thing as privacy anymore. Second, those who are screaming the loudest against it, are also the ones with the most skeletons in their closet. Third, do you really think that the CIA is interested in a goofball like me? If they ever gonna dig in my past (which they will, after my comment about Saddam Hussain :) ), the worst thing they will find are some speeding tickets. Well, in Holland that is a more serious offence than murder, so maybe the next blog I will be writing from jail.
But seriously, do people really think that the CIA or NSA or whatever is going to listen in on your conversation with your mother-in-law about how to bake a carrot cake? Or when you are whining to your best friend that your boyfriend isn't able to raise the flag anymore? Would the CIA really be listening when you are having phone-sex with your mistress? Come on, get real! The CIA has better things to do, like.............like,..........Somebody? Help me please?

So, let George W. Bush enjoy his one and only success in a long time. He needed it!

Integration: why (not)? Part 2

As you could have read in an earlier post, I was rambling on about the Moroccan society here in Holland (Integration: why (not)?). I ended with that I would get back to you on the subject of the "why" and the solution. Well, here it is:)

First, let's tackle the "why". I think what Francovic said in the comment of that last post is true. It's not the first or the second wave of immigrants causing trouble. From what I understood from his comment, is that those people were happy to be here, happy that Holland gave them a chance to change their lives in the positive way.
And like he said, (and I also hear that from other sources) it's the third generation that is causing the problems. Low education, not wanting to adjust themselves, and almost thinking that a country like Holland should be honored to have them living there.

Also, the main problem lies in religion. Where the first and second generation grateful to be here, and respecting our religion and culture, this third generation is trying to impose their religion on us, since they believe it is the one and only religion and you can't live without it. Unfortunately, they don't see (or wanna see) that there ARE other religions and/or cultures where people live happily, and also those people without religion can end up fine too.
A Muslim society have based their entire daily life on religion, and everything an imam or ayatollah is law. Therefore these people aren't tought (past tense for "to teach", help anyone?) to think for themselves.
One example is the fatwa against Salman Rushdie for writing a book which allegedly criticism against the Islam. While many Muslims never have read that book, and may not even be able to read in the first place, still they were shouting that Rushdie should be killed. If they did (or could) read the book, they might just think this book isn't so bad after all, and maybe even found some truth in the book (for the record, I haven't read the book either, but for different reasons :)).

So, if an imam is anti-western, and/or very conservative, his sermons will be too, creating a whole mosque filled with anti-western Muslims. And if the imam says that they have to spread the word of Allah in the west, even by force, then they will do just that.
Also, the fact that there is absolutely no respect for the human life is also a reason that things clash. A Moroccan might easier say "I will kill you", then a westerner. Also the fact that in the Koran is (said to be) written, that all people who don't believe in Allah, are less then dogs, and are allowed to be killed without punishment. In fact, when you kill a person that doesn't believe in Allah, you will be rewarded in paradise.
Hmmm...I am writing this, and the way I write it, sounds a lot like the time of the great crusades. If you weren't catholic, you should be killed.

Just recently I read an article about male doctors here in hospitals, who aren't allowed by Muslim men, to check their woman, since men aren't suppose to touch their wife. A lot of people are talking about a dangerous situation, since there are more male then female doctors, and if there is something serious wrong with a Muslim woman, she might die, because the husband is refusing medical aid from a male doctor.

Well, I feel I haven't tackled the "why" in a satisfactory manner, but I think it IS a very difficult subject. There are 16 million people living in Holland, therefore there are also 16 million opinions.

Also the solution. Same thing,...16 million people, same amount of opinions. And so far I have read them all, from "They are victims and we should talk to them", right up to "kill all Muslims". The first option is a bit too soft for me, I think we are beyond the point of talking here, but too kill all Muslims is a little bit TOO radical.
Unfortunately I don't hold the solution either. And I think that there won't be a good solution too this problem either. Not with that bunch of pencil-licking, camera-horny politician that are now in our parliament. But as long as there are political parties that don't see, that what's happening now as a problem, but as single incidents (SP, GL, PvdA, pvdD), political parties that don't even SEE that there is a problem (CDA, D'66), a political party that is too busy to find out who is against who within their own ranks (VVD), and a party that is in fact trying to make politicians see that there IS a problem, but are overdoing it so no-one takes them serious anymore (PVV), I don't see something will happen within the next 4 years.

What to write

I want to post something for guys to read again....but too many ideas, and not enough inspiration. I am kind of a perfectionist when it comes to my blog. That is also the reason why I don't post regularly. I have a few ideas in my head, but I just need to mold them into something readable.
So.....be patient, bare with me. It won't be long!

Taiwanese and Karaoke/KTV

Finally I have some inspiration to write something new on my blog again. I wanted to write about the difference between Karaoke and KTV, but was never sure how to start, what angle to use etc.

Now, a few blocks down the road from where I was staying there is a massive KTV- establishment. This is actually a top-class whorehouse disguised as a KTV-bar where the top of the local Mafia like to hang out. Personally, I don't mind, but the Mayor thinks a little bit different, and had stationed 3 police cars right in front of the building, checking everyone going into the building. Thus giving me a nice opportunity to write about this.

First the difference between KTV and Karaoke ( or "kala OK" as they call it in Taiwan). At a Karaoke bar you will find a stage right in front of the place where you have to do your "thang", while at KTV you have your own private room, your own sound system etc.

I.E. with Karaoke you'll humiliate yourself in front of the entire place, while at KTV you only humiliate yourself for only the select few you have chosen yourself (or not).

Therefore KTV-bars are an excellent disguise for whorehouses. This doesn't necessarry means that ALL KTV-bars are whorehouses, no, in some of them you actually have to sing in order to get a drink.

As you can read, I assume that you will get a free drink when you sing. I have heard once there was a karaoke bar where this is custom. Now, I am not sure if this goes for all of them, and as you can read in the tone of this post, I am not exactly a frequent visitor.

So.....in short, If you at your peak, and you get a drink, then you are in a whorehouse. If you sing at your peak and STILL have to order a drink, you are at a KTV-bar

Integration: why (not)?

Question: What do you do when you have guest coming over? You invite them in, threat them with respect, offers them something to drink, but at the same time you expect them to respect the rules you have set in your home, you expect them to behave in an appropriate manner. You ask what he wants to drink, he asks for a beer. You offer him to sit on the couch, and he accepts that offer and sit down in an orderly way. That's how things work, right? The guests are in YOUR house, and having to respect YOUR rules. After all, you do the same when you are in their house.

What if the guest ask for....no, demands a sixpack, instead of just one beer? What if he instead, of sitting politely on the couch, parks his big fat ass on your favorite chair, kicks off his shoes and drops his legs onto the glass table, which of course breaks from the force? What if he beats your kid, who is sitting quietly on the table drawing one of his famous one color masterpiece, just because the markers are making too much noise?
You kick that A**hole straight out the door, and tell him never to come back!
Simple, right?

The reason I am asking this is not so simple.

Nowadays here in Holland the "word of the day" today is INTEGRATION. You can't open a newspaper or watch a talkshow without at least 1 subject about integration. Every politician is lying about the subject, and every Dutch has an opinion about it.
Now, I am trying to avoid all political issues, since it usually starts a discussion nobody will be able to win anyway. And, IF I write about it, I try to write BOTH views, to avoid being stigmatized.
But I feel I just can't leave this subject untouched , since I too have an opinion about it, just like those other 16 million people living here.

First of all, I feel, integration is just one of those words, everyone talks about it, but no-one knows exactly what it is. As far as I know, it's the process in which a foreigner has converted him/herself into a real citizen of the host-country. Which in my opinion is just a lot of BS! When I hear the word "integration" I immediately have to think about that commercial from Knorr where a guy from Suriname enjoying some ice-skating, loves to hear real Dutch music, and does all the things Dutch appear to do.
Well, lets face it, a black guy from Nigeria living in a windmill, with a garden filled with tulips, walking around on wooden clogs, eating cheese, while his wife is preparing the farmer's cabbage....with Unox sausage IS nowadays the wet dream of every immigration officer. Oh, and don't forget the bike in one hand and the marijuana cigarette in the other.
But, how tempting this may seem, first of all, this is sheer impossible, and second of all, it is the charm of foreigners to still have a little bit (or a lot) of their own culture. That's what makes a multi-cultural society so interesting.

But, being our guests, they have to live by our rules and laws, and have respect for our customs and habits. And fortunately most foreigners do and a lot of foreigners embrace Holland as their second home, including all the strange habits, laws, and other things. They are grateful of being accepted by the Dutch society, and have become an active part of that society.

However, lately it seems like an ever increasing group of foreigners, mainly Moroccan muslims, are rejecting our habits, customs, and worse, our laws. They preach hatred and violence against the western society to whoever wants to hear it. They try to recruit warriors and/or suicide bombers for their "holy war", promising them 40 virgins when they get to paradise.
And if it was up to them, we would all be praying to Mekka 5 times a day.
And with every sermon held by the imam, the threat of a terrorist attack is increasing.

Two questions come to my mind now. First, why do we only have trouble from Moroccans? There are so many nationalities in here, Indonesians, Ghanese, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and I can list a hundred more. On every corner of the street you can find a Chinese restaurant here, people from Ghana (how you call them? Ghanese, Ghana-ese, Ghanadian?) come here to work for a few years, save a lot of money and go back to Ghana and set up a business or something. And the Japanese all work here for big Japanese multinationals, and are summoned back home after a few years, because otherwise they might sniff up too much of the western culture. And the list is endless with groups of people that have adapted themselves to our way of life, while still being able to maintain their own identity.

Second, if they complain so much about the western culture, why don't they just pack their stuff and go back to Morocco, instead of demanding from us to adapt to them? Well, the answer to this question is simple. Because we DO adapt to them. Or at least the government is expecting us to.

All this is not just from the last few years. This has been going on since the '60's already.
And who is to blame?
The Moroccans, being invited by the Dutch government to do the jobs the Dutch didn't want to do? They came here for, what was said a few years, with their customs, habits, and religion. And the government didn't think they needed to integrate. After all, it was only for a few years, and besides, they were so "pitiful", being so far away from home. So, here they are, living happily with their own culture. Until they look around, and see a completely different culture, where women are walking around dressed as whores (well, at least in their eyes), sex was everywhere, and on top of it all, the women's movement started to comment on their disrespect for the islamic women. Suddenly the clothes covering the head is disrespectful for the women, and why does a woman have to walk 3 meters behind the husband? "Why is the women in your society a baby-breathing slave, whose sole purpose is to please the husband?"
So, the Moroccan, fustrated as he is by all the criticism, decides to keep his wife indoors, away from all the evil outside, and hangs out only with fellow Moroccans. Which in return gets more angry reactions:"See? They don't want to integrate!"

And then the second generation of Moroccans. They are born in a country which is only geographically their country. At home, in case of the men, they are allowed to do anything they want, because if the father is making a comment on the son's behavior, it means that the father has failed raising his kid properly. Outside, they are also allowed to do basically anything they want, since they are part of that poor group of people that is so far away from home. And when things go wrong, it's like:"Yeah, you have to understand, they are being misunderstood", "They are the victim here", giving them the justification to do just anything. And when you have the courage to speak up and tell them off, then you are discriminating them.

Or the Dutch government in the '60's, '70's and '80's , who let families reunite, rolling out the red carpet, and gave them everything they asked for (or demanded), since it was so hard for them being so far away from their home land? "Oh, you want a mosque? Why not hundred?", "No, you don't have to learn Dutch, we will learn Moroccan"

Also the earlier mentioned mothering of the Moroccan community was, and still is, part of the problem. In the '80' all kinds of anti-discrimination laws were instated, protecting all foreigners. And the reason those laws have been instated is not the problem. Sometimes minorities have to be protected. However, these laws have been misused a lot of times. If you cursed on a foreigner for whatever reason, they could go to the police, who in their turn would arrest you or fine you for discrimination. If you beat up a foreigner, for whatever reason, you could get a higher punishment, just because the victim was a foreigner.

Nowadays you also hear about Moroccan kids, mostly between 10 and 14 years old, who are terrorizing entire neighborhoods, harassing girls in swimming pools, having absolutely no respect for anyone and anything. Within the last month I have already counted 5 reports involving these kids. People having to flee their houses, people having sleepless nights, being afraid of stones through the windows. And no-one dares to do a damn thing about it.

It's a long story, and is there a bottom line? Yes, there is:

- When did things go wrong? Probably in the '60's already, when we brought them here, and try to force our cultural and sexual revolution onto them.
- Who's to blame? Well, I think there are 3 parties to blame: First the previous generation, who elected a left-socialist government, who in their turn didn't treat the Moroccans the same way as they were treating the Dutch, but gave them more rights and less obligations, simply because "they are pitiful, since they come all the way from a different country, and we must make them feel at home".
Second, the Moroccans themselves, who didn't make any effort to adjust themselves even a little to our way of live, and instead demanding an ever increasing part of our culture being converted into theirs.
Thirdly, our own generation, who, not learning from mistakes made in the past, once again elect a government, who is afraid to acknowledge the fact that there is a major problem going on, and something needs to be done about it.
The solution? Hopefully there is one, but I will talk about that in another blog. I also try to answer the "why?"question in another blog.

Angel in devil's shoes?

I normally wouldn't really say this here, since I rather try to be a blog where I can put my opinion and views, just for me to share them with anyone who wants to read. But this time I really wanted to share with you the fact, that our little angel (or devil) has been a model toddler.
he wasn't nagging for things, or at least not very long and was happy most of the time. Of course he had his moment, like this morning. I wanted to out by bike. After all, daddy's beerbelly doesn't disappear by itself (unfortunately). But His Royal Naughtyness insisted on going by car. Well, Ok, sure. But in the afternoon, again he insisted on going by car. So, this time I had to pull rank. And THAT didn't go so well with HRN. The sea-level rose approx. with 1 cm, but after 10 minutes of crying, he became like a tamed tiger.

One other cute thing. Since a few months Alec is going to Kindergarten one morning a week. He always has a great time there, and always "talks" all the way home. Apparently they learn more then just playing there. This afternoon I was playing a CD with all kids songs on it. And I know there are some songs with movements to go along with the melody, but I am not good in that kind of stuff. However, Alec heard one song, and immediately started to do the movements that go with the song. He didn't saw that I was watching, he was really into the song. Until he turned around and saw me watching, and immediately turned a bit shy.

Like I said, he was really sweet today!

Planes, planes and more planes!

As you all may know, I am kinda plane freak. And not only that, I am so evil to drag my son along with it :). We often go to the airport, as I already mentioned, and just go check out the planes. There are 2 nice spots here, to see planes. One of them is next to the landing strip, which is an official parking lot, especially build for this purpose.

The other is not official, and you can't see them actually take off either. But you can see them pass by really closely. And Alec has figured out that when you wave to the pilots, some of them might even wave back. So, now he is waving at every plane passing by, and yes, there are actually quite some pilots that are waving back, some of them even open the window and stick their arm out. This morning one pilot even stick out his head and arms and waved at Alec with both arms. Needless to say, that this is an encouragement for him to wave even harder.

Too bad I don't have a picture of that. Well, even if I did, you never can see them waving on the picture.
Anyway, I'd just wanted to share some nice pictures with you, pictures I have taken on both places shown on the picture of Schiphol on top of this post:

What's with these job agencies?

It's 1:45 am, and I am suppose to be in bed right now. Well, actually I was, but just one thing that was just bugging me a bit. Besides a nasty cough I've been having for the last few days already, that isn't getting worse, but isn't getting better either.
Anyway, what's with these job agencies nowadays? The other day I was walking in Hoofddorp, a town nearby with a lot of job agencies focussed on Schiphol Airport, and I saw a note in a window: "several openings on export at forwarding agents" or words like that. So, I thought, if they have SEVERAL, then at least there migth be one for me too. So, dropped in and agreed to send my resume by e-mail (which I did the moment I came home). I called the next day, well, actually the next Monday, since this was on Friday, to see if my resume has received in good order. Then I waited, and waited.....This was about 2 weeks ago. So today, I called since I haven't heard from them. "No sorry, we don't have anything for you at the moment."....And what happened to those SEVERAL job openings? "They are all taken already, yeah, they went so fast!".....
Would it be, that if I had called earlier, that I might have gotten a chance? I have the idea, that it wouldn't have mattered. I mean, if they have something they could have called me, right?

Another funny thing...I already mentioned in one of my posts earlier, that I don't like to work in shifts,...I just don't see the necessity of it. And I did mention it at another job agency.
The other day that agency called:" yeah, we might have a job for you. But it is in shifts from 6:00 am till 2 pm, and from 2 pm till 11 pm"..... HELLO!!!! Didn't you hear me? I DON'T WANT TO WORK IN SHIFTS!! And especially not in crappy shifts like this.
I mean, I may have to adjust my standards in the future, actually I have a little bit already at some of the latter agencies, but not this one yet.
So...what I am wondering,.......WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING THERE!!! Get your thumb out of your ass, and find me the kind of job I asked for. How hard can it be?