GrassGas is always greener cheaper on the other side

Many of my blog friends are from the US (hello!) and this message is especially for them. When you fill up your tank next time...... smile!

Like the write of this post says.. "It's all relative". Explain that to my wallet. Sigh. It is time to buy an electric car.

The great expectation game

Amuse me, and play this game with me. The winner will receive a very special price.

When you order a chicken sandwich, you expect your chicken to taste like……….

Chicken.
(correct? Yay! 1 point for you! But this one was easy.)

When you order a spiced chicken with spring onion and melted cheese, you do not expect your chicken to taste like…….

Beef.
(I don’t believe you got this one, but you can add 1 point)

I went to lunch with a friend today. It was nice & sunny, so we went to a restaurant where we could sit outside. We both ordered the same: a sandwich with spiced chicken, spring onion and cheese.

It was HORRIBLE. The chicken was dark brown and tasted like beef from a cow that passed away in 1502. Before Christ. It really tasted like beef. We even discussed if we got the right sandwich. But when we checked the menu it couldn’t have been anything else.

The waitress came:

Waitress: How is everything?
Me: Well, to be honest, I’m sorry, but we both don’t really like it.

Of course you would not expect your waitress to say:……………

“I’m sorry, than you should have picked something else from the menu.“
(I don’t believe you got this one either, but you can add another point)

The waitress walked of and never showed her face again. It took us ages to even get the bill.

So the final question of this game is:
How much tip do you expect we gave her?.............

0
(If correct, add 15 points to your total, the winner gets a blow kiss)

Her Majesty Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard by the Grace of God Queen of The Netherlands; Princess of ORANGE-Nassau etc. etc. celebrates her birthday

Be aware, I�m about to introduce you to the wonderful world of living in a Kingdom. Or Queendom. Whatever. Many pictures ahead (making up for weeks of non-picture posting).

Friday evening and Saturday ONE color and many geeks dominated our little country...

Little orange geeks...
Update May 2nd: Someone commented and asked why the kids faces are painted brown. I didn't get that either. This picture was taken at a ' bite the cookie' (or cake) contest, which was an attempt to win a world record. Bite-the-cake, or koekhappen, is a traditionl Dutch game, children play at birthday parties. Maybe those kids wanted to look like a cookie? I don't know.
In any case, and I think that's what the comment implied, I'm sure it was not ment to offend people with another skin color. Whatever people say about Dutch, that kind of thing is not accepted here. Pot is. Drinking at 16 is. But racism isn't. There. I explained.

OK on with the orange picture party........

Orange geeks on bikes...

Orange geeks dancing in the streets...

I have NO words for this.. fashion police, please arrest them.

Okay, we went a LITTLE overboard. But we couldn�t resist. Orange in love.

Many orange flews over the cuckoos nest.. but why is everybody orange??

Because� Our own bottomless tax pit Our Queen. Celebrating her birthday (30th of April is a national holiday here: Queensday). Every year she visits another city. This year she came to The Hague. The town she lives in, and we happen to live in it too.

I blame the hot sun for people behaving like mad..

Mr. Sweety even climbed a pole�

I �m really party people: I wore black.
I�m not that queenish. I don�t believe that royals should run a country and live of our tax money (and certainly not for over 25 years). But I�m a sucker for the rich and famous so of course like any The Hagueian person I was there.

That.. and to check that she at least bought a nice hat from my tax money. Hey woman! That�s a few months rent!!

Our country�s favorite Princess Maxima was there too. With her King to be. He has a nickname �Prince Beer�. That�s hopeful. �Your highness, we have a serious problem.� �Let�s drink to that first! Cheers�

My friend Laura was there too, and she shook hands with the cutest prince of all: Prince Maurits. I am not jealous. I am NOT jealous. I�m not! Really. Who cares. Hmmpf.
And WHAT is that old lady looking at???

And after a day of sun & fun (which probably cost millions and millions) the royal family got into an old tram..

And lived happily ever after.

The end.

.. and the Queen's full title?

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Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you

Or: crime does pay in The Netherlands

A bank robber has been allowed to claim the cost of a pistol used in a hold-up as a legitimate business expense. A Dutch court has permitted the 46-year-old man to set the €2000 ($3400) cost of the gun against his gross proceeds of €6750, gained during his raid on a bank in the southern town of Chaam. The judge at Breda Criminal Court duly reduced his fine by the same amount, while sentencing him to four years in jail.

read the article

Am I the only one finding this a little strange?

A holy war in a 80% atheist country?

Since the van Gogh killing, our little country is shaken up. To understand this a bit better: our country has 16 million people and is a little less then twice the size of New Jersey. It’s like a giant village. Everybody knew Van Gogh. In our ‘ tolerant’ country freedom of speech is the heart of our democracy.

As it has become clear that the killing wasn’t a one man show, but an organized terrorist act, our country is divided into Muslims and not Muslims. It’s so wrong. Because it’s not the Muslims who did this. It were extremists.

Can’t they – all extremists - be erased so we all can live happily ever after? Christians, Atheists, Muslims, Buddhas, Jews, Hindus, and all faiths I forgot about – living together in peace & harmony? Imagine.

For those of you who want more info on this: Expatica.com has basically covered everything that happened so far.

Or read: (article from Elitestv.com)

Dutch Politicians in Hiding After van Gogh Murder Dutch police now believe that the muder of film maker Theo van Gogh is part of a larger and coordinated action by radical Muslims to public figures that they feel are 'enemies of Islam.' As a result, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Geert Wilders, two politicians critical of Muslims, have been taken to a safe house by Dutch police. Death threats were made by terrorists against Ms. Hirsi Ali, a former Muslim from Somalia who has been critical of Islam and Mr. Wilders who is a vocal opponent of Turkey's proposed membership in the European Union. The threats were made via telephone calls and on a five page letter attached to van Gogh's body by a knife. The note claimed that Holland was controlled by Jews and called for Muslims to make jihad or holy war against infidels such as the Neatherlands, the United States and specifically against Ms. Hirsi Ali. To her, it read, 'Since you stepped into the political arena in the Netherlands you have been constantly busy terrorising Muslims and Islam with your remarks. With your apostasy you have turned your back on truth and you are marching with the ranks of evil.' The letter shocked many prominent politicians and government officials in Holland. Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said, 'It is worrying because it gives the impression that it is not the message of an individual, but a wider organization.' In response, one official said the Dutch government may move to have Islamic militants stipped of their duel citizenship if they hold both Dutch and foreign passports. Van Gogh's accused killer, known only as Mohammed B., will be the first criminal to be charged with murder under Holland's anti-terrorism laws. Eight other radical Islamists were arrested and charged with being part of a conspiracy to murder the controversial film maker. According to police sources, a terrorist bombing in Casablanca is also connected to the murder of van Gogh.

Freedom of speech?

I thought I lived in a Western country.

I though we had a democracy.

I thought we could speak our mind.

But a political murder has taken place, again. Film maker Theo van Gogh (yes far far far family of Vincent van Gogh) was murdered. For speaking his mind and making a movie about Muslim women. The content of this movie was very like my post on Sam a while ago.

He was a great movie maker & artist.

My heart goes out to his family, and even more to our democracy.

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands Nov 2, 2004 — A Dutch filmmaker who had received death threats after releasing a movie criticizing the treatment of women under Islam was slain in Amsterdam on Tuesday, police said. A suspect, a 26-year-old man with dual Dutch-Moroccan nationality, was arrested after a shootout with officers that left him wounded, police said. Filmmaker Theo van Gogh had been threatened after the August airing of the movie "Submission," which he made with a right-wing Dutch politician who had renounced the Islamic faith of her birth. Van Gogh had received police protection after its release. Dutch national broadcaster NOS and other media reported that Van Gogh's killer shot and stabbed his victim and left a note on his body. NOS said witnesses described the attacker as having an "Arab appearance."

Click here to read the article

To understand who he was, what he ment to The Netherlands; you can compaire him to the US Michael Moore. But more right-wing. Imagine him being shot having released a new documentairy about Bush. Or any subject.

Pimp my Mini Couper

I live in a very, very, VERY small country:

AMSTERDAM — Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are generally considered a desirable status symbol, but they might become rarer than the dodo in the eastern Dutch city of Nijmegen if local councillors have their way. A city council majority backed on Wednesday a parking ban on the four-wheel drive vehicles.

Read entire article at Expatica.com

How can that be legal?

I don't know much about history.. don't know much about...

Cory asked me to to compare ‘the America's two-party system to whatever the Netherlands has. ‘

Here we have a gazillion political parties. There are actually so many different parties in the parliament that it’s stopping the government from making real discussions, it’s always a compromise.

For me this is somewhat a part of democracy. However, with too many compromises you aren’t getting anything done. I also think this is why we have things as “gedogen”. Gedogen is a Dutch word for: it’s illegal, but we’ll allow it.
That’s how we handle the drug problem too; some parties want it to be legal, some parties say you’ll go to hell if you smoke it and yet another party says ‘Hey, let’s make it illegal but give the drug addicts free heroine to compensate!’. So it’s ‘decided’ we’re ‘gedogen’ the soft drugs. I believe the Dutch citizens find it confusing.

Personally, I’d welcome a two party system and a chosen president.

Cory also asked me if I mind if people refer to The Netherlands as ‘Holland’.
Well, I use it myself when I’m too lazy to write The Netherlands (I know, don't you say a word now).

But there are Dutchies that would consider it a major insult. Because Holland is originally just a part of The Netherlands. I live in that part, so I don’t mind at all.

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Did he pinch or grab her?

Dutch news & television have been ennoying me this week. The topic?

AMSTERDAM — UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers has rejected claims he sexually harassed a female worker. "There was no improper behaviour on my part," the former Dutch prime minister insisted on Tuesday.

Article from Expatica.com

Ruud Lubbers is our former Prime Minister. So it has been on the news a lot this week.

It’s not the news so much that’s annoying me (rumours have been going around for years about him and his hands), it’s the way our local media handles this:

Some things said in the media past week (needless to say I'm not quoting any women here):

“…. I feel sorry for Ruud that he’ll go into history as the butt-toucher and not as the great man he is”
“ .. Common! Touching some ass, stop wining”
“.. What a fuss over touching some ladies behind”
“… Did he pinch her or grab her behind?”
“… Oh let the man have some of it, what’s so wrong?”

Let me tell YOU what’s wrong (*enter ultra red smiley face here*). He should keep his gawddamn married with 3 kids hands of any woman, unless she wants him to touch her. There is no excuse for touching a woman on her job (or wherever).

I don’t care how many times he grabbed her or pinched her, or how many women he grabbed. One time. One woman is too much already. How dare he put her in that position.

And who the fuck are the media to draw the line between pinching, sexual harassment or even rape? Who is to decide if it’s wrong or right? The woman. And she says she didn’t want him to touch her. That should be enough.

Bwah.

Herb tea Sweety. Herb tea. Relax. Clear blue skies. Birds singing. Yoga. Pfff pfff pfff.

Hey! You stole my subject!

Mr. Sweety and I have had another customer service experience today. On a scale from fly-in-coffee to good, this was a fly-on-pie.

I’m too shocked to write about it, you’ll just have to go read it at Mr. Sweety’s place.

Anyways since he so shamelessly abducted my blog entry subject (just kidding :)), I’m going to share something fun. My favourite – too funny! – TV commercials.

They’re all from an insurance company called Delta Lloyd. I have no idea if they are an international company. But the commercials aren't that dutch, there is NO word spoken in them, I’m pretty sure you’ll understand!

My favourite Ice skating vs Ice hockey (click here for streaming video on DL website)

I can't choose, this one is also my favourite, Booming Car (click here for streaming video DL website)

#3 caused a riot The president’s (or dictator, your choice) parade.. something is missing? (click here for streaming video on DL website) This one actually caused a riot between North Korea and Delta Lloyd. You might see why.