Madame Tussauds Amsterdam

Today we had a nice day as a family. We went to Amsterdam to visit Madame Tussauds. We sure weren't the only ones visiting this place - I recognized many famous people - even some ones that I didn't expect to be alive anymore. They did look a bit stiff, by the way. But I am happy to say that all these famous people are excellent posers for portrait pictures. Just have a look and let me know what you think of these pics. (Click pics to enlarge). More to follow...

Turkish Airliner crashed near my hometown

Today a Turkish Boeing 737 crashed near Schiphol Amsterdam Airport - close to some busy motorways, but luckily enough in a large field just before Schiphol's 5th runway. I first heard about this tragic accident - that took place at 10:31 AM local time - after returning in my Amsterdam office later this afternoon, after a meeting in Apeldoorn this morning.
The location of the crash is near the place where I live and very near a road that I use every day to go to the office and back home again. This afternoon at 17:30 PM I saw the wreck of the plane in the field, while many men were placing large screens along the motorway to shield the crash area of.
It is a true miracle that 'only' nine people died immediately during the crash (including the 3 members of the cockpit crew). More people are severely injured, but this could have been far worse if the plane had caught fire. It was very near the landing track and normally planes are still quite high above the motorway while they are slowly approaching the runway. If this accident was caused by motor failure, it is a miracle that so many people survived this crash. BBC News

My thoughts and prayers are with the relatives and friends of the victims.

In the unlikely event of an accident...

First we heard about a collision of two satellites in space. With 6,000 satellites encircling the globe (3,000 inactive) this was an accident waiting to happen. A very unlikely event, they say, but still - it happened.
And yesterday they told us about the collison of two atomic submarines in the Atlantic Ocean that happened in the night from February 2 to 3. Both subs can carry 16 ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads - so we can all feel really save on this planet. Of course an accident like this is very unlikely and there's no reason to be worried - it will probably never happen again. Yeah, right. So we hope and pray.

Read these stories here and here.

Dutch MP Geert Wilders not welcome in UK

Controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders (I am not a fan - to put it mildly) is not welcome in the UK. I can see why. He wants to keep 'unwanted foreigners' out of our little country, so now he knows from personal experience what it's like to be refused entry to a free and democratic country and to be sent home as a persona non-grata. Thank you, Great Brittain!

I did like the funny combination of a news article on the BBC web site and a sponsored announcement from our very own 'national' airline KLM ('a journey full of inspiration' the add says - ha, ha). Now you can see that Dutch people have a good sense of humour too!

And now a message to my dear English friends: You can keep Geert Wilders in custody for as long as you like - but be kind to him. He may speak with a funny foreign accent - and yes he looks a bit strange too - but please keep in mind that he also is a human being. We have plenty of so called ‘unwanted foreigners’ already, so this one is for you! We will allow one more real political refugee / asylum seeker in, because the absense of Geert Wilders provides sufficient free breathing space for all people in our little country.

Climate changes in blogosphere

If I listen to the news from around the globe, I guess that one part of my blog friends must be sweating like crazy because of the extreme heat (Australia), while the other half will be shaking and shivering due to the extreme cold (North America). I just want to know from you, my dear blog friends, what you experience personally from climate changes in the area where you live right now. Please do leave a comment here and tell me

• where you live and what kind of weather you are experiencing right now
• whether or not these are normal circumstances for this time of the year
• if you are personally worried about climate changes and what should be done about it in your country and all over the world
  

Let me start by saying that the weather situation in the Netherlands is quite normal for this time of the year. We were all happy that we had some frozen ditches and canals last month, because Dutch people love ice skating - as these pictures show you.

Maybe you can also write about the weather conditions in your area on your own blog and leave a link / trackback here in my comments.