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.

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.

Christmas Service in our Church ON-LINE

This year our church - Meerkerk in Hoofddorp - organized eight Christmas celebrations and approx. 6,000 people attended! Even if you can't understand Dutch, you will probably appreciate listening to the Christmas songs. Just to let you know that the family of God is celebrating the birth of our Lord all over the world. Christmas blessings from the Netherlands to all of you!

WATCH THIS DUTCH CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION ONLINE

Note: there is a full screen option on the menu bar of the player.

So we're out...

Dutch football hero Ruud van Nistelrooij looks into the camera during our national anthem. I didn't go to Switzerland to take this pic, I was sitting at home on the couch, watching the game and taking a screen shot with my new Kodak EasyShare Z1012 IS camera.
I haven't been blogging for a while, because I was too busy living my life :-) And of course I wanted to see the games with our great orange football team. The Dutch did well during the first round, beating Italy (3-0), France (3-1) and Romania (2-0) and finishing on top of the 'group of death'. But a great team from Russia, coached by Guus Hiddink from the Netherlands (thank you, Guus) kicked us out of the tournament yesterday and I have to admit they really deserved to win. So: come on, Russia!
I like football, but I am not as mad as some of my neighbours (see picture below).
The day after the night before...

Now I am hoping that the Russians will win the European Championships. But Spain and Turkey have great teams too. We all know of course that Italy or Germany will have the last laugh - as always. Playing bad games but winning tournaments is also a quality, I guess.
But you know what? This week I will go to France for a vacation with my family. And the French people don't want to discuss football either, so we're okay.
Check out my photo blog for some new pics and as always, feel free to leave a comment here or over there!

De Eersteling - Hoofddorp

Today all windmills and steam driven water pumps in the Netherlands opened their doors for visitors: Nationale Molen en Gemalendag. We stayed at home and had a closer look at our 'very own' grinding windmill 'De Eersteling' in our home town Hoofddorp.

From Wikipedia: In 1856, the first windmill in the Haarlemmermeer was built in the centre of Hoofddorp by Dirk David van Dijk. It was called "De Eersteling" (The first). Due to increased building around the mill, it wasn't able to operate for a long time, but in 1977 the mill was moved to another location near fort Hoofddorp. It was operated regularly from that moment, and is open to the public.
Dutch website 'De Eersteling'. Also check out these pics from 1977 (moving the mill from the town centre to its current place)

Have a look at my PHOTO BLOG to see some more pics.

Today was just too hot for this big woolly sheep...

Let's show you around: IJmuiden Pier

This is my first 360° video clip - showing a view from the pier in IJmuiden. This clip was filmed during a walk with my son Robin on Sunday April 20, 2008. I want to upload more 360° clips on this blog, so that I can share some of the landscapes, interiors, surroundings, panoramic views and my favorite spots with the rest of the world.

So here goes: welcome to my brand new blog posting series called Let's show you around!

I am using a Sony Ericsson cell phone to make these clips. If you think this is a fun idea, please make your own 360° video clips and leave a comment here because I do want to see the locations that you like to visit in the place where you live on this beautiful globe.

Pic left: Google earth pic pier IJmuiden (red dot is the place where I made the video clip). Find this location on Google maps here. By the way, the IJmuiden pier is not a walkway with piles or pillars, but a breakwater with a solid foundation. As you can see in the pic left (click to enlarge) there are two piers in IJmuiden - they give some protection against the sea when ships enter the North Sea Canal, but I think that they are also constructed to keep the sea sand away from the port. It's nice to walk on these piers, but when the weather is bad, it can be very dangerous and you are not allowed to go there during a storm, of course. These piers are favorite spots for anglers too. See some pics on my photo blog.
Read more about piers and please do leave a comment here to tell me what you think!

Guest @ Cori's Blog

"You can have all kind of 'deep' discussions about God and the past and the future, but I think that it is amazing that we are able to think and discuss these things at all! Isn't it funny that we exist? Many people seem to take this for granted, but I am still amazed and excited about the fact that I am able to breath, walk, enjoy, think, sleep, dream, write, love and live!" (me @ Cori's blog)

Cori had some interesting questions for me about my country, my faith and about myself. She kindly permitted me to fill half her blog with my lengthy answers (sorry, Cori...) so that I have some space left here for this picture of me enjoying my existence. If you want to read this Q&A - have a look here. And please, do leave a comment!

Tallest people on Earth

“To a small man every greater is an exaggeration.”
~Henry David Thoreau

“Most of us are taller than our parents, who probably are taller than their parents. But in the Netherlands, the generational progression has reached new heights. In the last 150 years, the Dutch have become the tallest people on Earth - and experts say they're still getting bigger. It is a tale of a nation's health and wealth.” Source

Okay, okay, I know that I've been making too much of my Dutchness in recent posts. I'm sorry about that, dear blog friends – I'm really not that nationalistic. However... I just had to share this important piece of information with you and I also wanted to show the video below that I made yesterday on our beach to back up the claims about Dutch people being extremely tall. Have a look and judge for yourself!

According to the news paper article “prosperity propelled the collective growth spurt” in the Netherlands. But I know better - of course. This is my theory: as one of the most densely populated (392 people per km²), smallest (only 0.008% of the world's area), lowest and flattest countries on the planet we have so little space that we need to grow tall in order to get some fresh air. It's the evolution, stupid! The good thing about this is that we have the biggest skies in the world and more foreign territory than any other country (with the exception of Andorra) and we are tall enough to keep an eye on the rest of the planet from our modest point of view, which explains why Dutch people are excellent supervisors. And now you also know why the pope resides in Vatican City. But the pope is a German! Okay, let me explain... Unfortunately all the Dutch candidates were too tall and too heavy for the Holy See.

But I digress... So I went to the beach with my son Robin and daughter Sosha yesterday. You can see both of them from a distance at the end of the video. I needed this distance because they are real giants. Being on the beach with them was also great. As you can see it was a very calm sea and there were not that many people. You can't see it, but it was very chilly because of the East wind. I will upload some pics on my photo blog later today. Have a look!

And in case you're wondering why it's getting so dark in this world... I'm sorry to tell you that my daughter Sosha has swallowed the sun. So this is our last picture taken without flash light... © Robin

Dutch Design and Engineering - Part 4

Let's hope that we can all do something against global warming and rising sea levels in 2008. To show you that the engineers from the Netherlands are already thinking ahead, have a look at this video showing the award winning floating city project from Delft University. This is their Deltasync website. There is also a floating city project from this University in Second Life - read more here. Today the new competition starts. Royal Haskoning is looking for students with inspiring, innovative ideas and creative solutions to adapt the Deltas of the world to Climate Change. Read more here.

Dutch Design and Engineering - Part 3

Excuse me for being so 'proud to be Dutch' on this blog recently... but it's just great to see how companies from our little country are conquering the world with their great designs. For example: this is an award winning design for the 180 meters high Wheel of Dubai. The outer ring with panorama rooms needs only 30 minutes to go round, the inner circle - with 384 hotel rooms (24 capsules x 16 rooms) including swimming pools - rotates smoothly within 6 hours. Just imagine what that will be like! Designed by Royal Haskoning (Thanks to Giovanni in Dubai)

Dutch Design and Engineering - Part 2

"Dutch plan to build a new island", according to the Herald Tribune.
"Funny shapes like tulips, clogs and windmills are a good way to start a debate, but they should not be considered as realistic," said Bert Groothuizen, spokesman for Van Oord, the builder of the Dubai palm island. Read more here

The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, photographed from the International Space Station. Source

Netherlands USA - part 2

The American language of today still contains some Dutch words. With the game kolf the word 'golf' stuck, with skating the word 'skate' from schaats. The Dutch seafaring tradition brought the words 'skipper,' 'marine', 'hoist,' 'yacht' and many others some by way of (British) English, some directly into American speech.
Some linguists believe that the word Yankee is actually a corrupted form of the Dutch name Jan-Kees (1, 2).

There are more 'American-English' words and names with a Dutch origin. Do you want to have some examples? Dollar = daalder (= old Dutch currency), boss = baas, waffle = wafel, cookie = koekje and Santa Claus = Sinterklaas.

The ancestors of Franklin D. Roosevelt, US president from 1934 to 1945, arrived from Holland in New Amsterdam in about 1649.

Various historians have argued that the American Declaration of Independence (1776) was inspired by the 1581 Plakkaat van Verlatinghe, in which the Dutch had once rejected the authority of the King of Spain. When the Dutch abjured the Spanish king in the year 1581, they had the same 'legalistic' approach as the Americans later and they declared to the world:

'As it is apparent to all that a prince is constituted by God to be the ruler of the people... and whereas God did not create the people slaves to their prince, to obey his commands, whether right or wrong, but rather the prince for the sake of the subjects... And when he does not behave thus, but on the contrary oppresses them... they may not only disallow his authority, but legally proceed to the choice of another prince for their defence...'

Aren't these words reminiscent of Jefferson's text in the American Declaration of Independence? (3.)

"In love of liberty and in the defense of it, Holland has been our example." Benjamin Franklin

The Dutch in America
The USA and the Netherlands

Netherlands USA - part 1

I am now reading a very interesting book written by a Dutch journalist, Max Westerman, who lived and worked in the USA for 25 years as a reporter for Dutch TV stations and as a correspondent for several newspapers and magazines. (He also wrote articles for Business Week, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal).
In 13 essays Westerman gives an overview and description of the American society and way of life (the American dream), politics, economics etc. He also dedicated one chapter to Dutch immigrants in the USA and the Dutch background of 'American' places, ideas and words. This chapter is called: 'You Ain't Much If You Ain't Dutch' - I would never say that, of course! :-)


Westerman writes that many things - like free entrepreneurship, religious and political tolerance, and the basis for the American constitution are inspired by the Dutch immigrants. He also writes that the American history books often neglect these facts and that they all focus on the English Pilgrim fathers and 13 British colonies - without mentioning the biggest one: Nieuw Nederland which was taken over by British soldiers in 1664. Westerman mentions the research by Charles Gehring about the Dutch history in the USA - fascinating stuff. Check this article and have a look at this web site.

This book inspired me to search the Internet for some more information about the Dutch influence on American history. Of course I welcome everyone's thoughts, questions and opinions on this subject - just leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Cheer up, England fans!

Last night my TV screen was so disturbed by the red and white checkered Croatian football jerseys (see pic left) that I had to take some drastic action. I shouted at the referee, grabbed another beer, fine-tuned my TV set – but all to no avail. The game England vs Croatia was a terrible spectacle to watch... if you support the England team, that is. And the strangest thing happened, because as long as I held up my hands with the remote control, the British were winning, but whenever I lowered my hands, the Croatians were winning. Can you believe that? I have to admit that at the end of the day my arms were too tired and due to a lack of local supporters I finally had to give in and switch to another channel.

So, English football fans, please don’t blame goal keeper Scott Carson and coach Steve MacClaren – poor guys – they were not the only ones letting you down last night.

Some words of encouragement for all the England fans:

Always look on the bright side of life! There will be plenty of other sports to watch in the Olympic year 2008. But if you can’t afford to miss the European Championships (on TV, I mean, of course) you can always support the Netherlands. Our cool new shirts do look much better now – see below: Dutch strikers Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Yep, they are as sharp and dangerous as they look.

Worth the wait

Check out Carol's excellent anwers to my 5 questions meme! If you want to know a bit more about some Dutch master painters - you can't afford to miss this free art lecture...

More information about Johan's Ark

Have a look at Johan Huibers' official website. This fellow Dutchman is building a replica of Noah's arc and with this extraordinary project he is getting media attention from around the world. For example, check out the video clip that was broadcasted on Russian state TV!

Replica of Noah's Ark - updated May 23!

Dutchman Johan Huibers is building a working replica of Noah's Ark as a testament to his Christian faith. The 47-year-old from Schagen, 45km (30 miles) north of Amsterdam, plans to set sail in September through the interior waters of the Netherlands.
Johan's Ark is a fifth of the size of Noah's and will carry farmyard animals. Mr Huibers, who plans to open the vessel as a religious monument and zoo, hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands. Source

Watch video (Dutch language, but it will give you an impression!)

This is the official website!

Queen's Day in the Netherlands

On this beautiful Monday we are all celebrating in the Netherlands. Today it's Koninginnedag (Queen's day). This is not Queen Beatrix's birthday (January 31) but it used to be her mother's birthday and because of the better weather conditions in April she decided not to change the date of our national celebrations.
If you look at the sunny Dutch streets today, you see smiling people all having a good time. Just have a look at this selection in Google (using the word Koninginnedag) and you will get an idea. I will also upload some pics on my photo blog. Pic: Robin in front of our house. Photo impression

Easter in Holland

So on this beautiful Easter Sunday afternoon I decided to behave like a real tourist and take some photographs...


Click pics to enlarge. Wanna see more? Check THIS out!