Other things you can do with Duct tape.

It looks like it’s going to be Duct tape week on my blog. Not only have I been using it frequently these last few days, but it has also been in the news recently.

"'Duct tape bandit' charged in robbery

ASHLAND, Ky. - A man accused of being the "Duct Tape Bandit" has gotten into a sticky situation. The man, who had his head wrapped in duct tape to conceal his identity, walked into a liquor store on Friday, Ashland police said.

Shamrock Liquors store manager Bill Steele had some duct tape of his own, but his was wrapped around a wooden club that sent the robber fleeing, according to a report by WSAZ-TV in Huntington, W.Va.”
You can read the whole story here or watch some video footage here.

And BTW, did you know there are whole websites and blogs dedicated to the use of Duct tape? Well, maybe you did, but I didn’t! Check out this one for instance, fun guaranteed.

Lost & Found: Found - one giant Lego guy!

I came across some odd news this morning:
"Giant LEGO man found in Dutch sea

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A giant, smiling Lego man was fished out of the sea in the Dutch resort of Zandvoort on Tuesday.

Workers at a drinks stall rescued the 2.5-metre (8-foot) tall model with a yellow head and blue torso." I don't think they actually rescued him because he just washed ashore
but hey, they probably just want to be heroes for a day ;-)

Get the full story here or watch the mystery of LEGO invasion video :-)

No Wonder!

Dove has launched a new commercial, labelled “a Dove film”, called “Evolution”. This commercial, that shows the alterations that can be made to a woman, is part of the “Campaign for real beauty”.

In the beginning of this video a woman walks into a photo shoot. When she sits down she is transformed into a glamour magazine cover girl by hair- and make-up artists and a lighting team. They take the pictures they need, which are then digitally retouched and tweaked with a Photoshop like program. The photo manipulation is then posted on a billboard for a fictional foundation. Two teenage girls walk past, looking at the billboard. The film ends with the words, "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted. … Every girl deserves to feel beautiful just the way she is." The commercial:


I think it’s great that Dove started the “Campaign for real beauty” in which they use real women. In my opinion this video really has a role in helping young people have a healthier body image and I also believe it will help a lot of women with self esteem issues too. And women need all the help they can get because here is a sad fact: Only two percent of women surveyed worldwide consider themselves beautiful. Now how sad is that! Come on girls, teenagers and women, let’s change this around.


….and you know it!

For more information:
Campaign for real beauty – UK
Campaign for real beauty – Canada
Campaign for real beauty – USA
Initiative Fuer Wahre Schoenheit (German)
Tijd voor echte Schoonheid (Dutch)

Stickers

And now for something completely different... ...

The last couple of days I’ve been feeling a bit down for various reasons. I’m not going to name them all today, because one semi-depressed person in the world is one person to many already. And hey, I know this will pass, and I know I’ll not “cross to the dark side of the street”, this is life! Life, with its ups and downs.

One thing that really depressed me these last couple of days is the whole 9/11 disaster. It’s kind of strange, but I am starting to believe that I am one of the few people who can’t remember what I was doing that day. I think I was at work. I remember the special news bulletin on the radio and I can still hear the tone of disbelieve in the newsreaders voice. The rest of the day I was glued to the TV and radio thinking that this wasn’t happening, but it was. One other thing I do remember from that day was the strange silence. I remember going home, travelling on public transport and everybody was bizarrely quiet. Anyway I spend the day in a daze, feeling confused,sad and above all shocked.

Today, 5 years later, new facts about this disaster can still shock me. They say that seeing things over and over again can numb you, but not in this case. I can still be blown away by the videos, the photos of people jumping from the Twin Towers and the transcripts. But there is another side to it all too. I can also get very angry. Angry, when I watch stuff like Fahrenheit 9/11 or Loose Change (available on Google video). Loose Change is a conspiracy theory documentary, I know, but stuff like that always makes me wonder…..what if only 1% of the presented "facts" are true? I would still be appalled, horrified and shocked! But who is to say that it is all BS? Bush? Who, in is right mind, still believes that geezer? The guy who’s been telling the world that there are no, I repeat NO, secret CIA prisons for months now and then one day wakes up and tells the world that there are CIA prisons…….Oops! (must have slipped his mind). The same guy who started the “war on terror” or was it the war for oil? Sorry, I am still a bit confused about that war! The same bloke who said "this war will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated”. Brilliant choice of words! He is actually saying we will be in a state of everlasting war because terrorist groups will continue to arise indefinitely. Smart move!

Anyway, today I’ll think of the approximately 4,319 victims of terrorist attacks and the roughly 92,469 people killed in the “war on terrorism” once more. After today I’ll try to close the book for another year. This will not mean I’ll forget, but I need to create some distance……. I don’t want to move to “the dark side of the street” indefinitely!

Who wants to live forever?

The other day I was doing some shopping when I walked past a bus shelter. Over here we put ads almost everywhere, so no bus shelter is without one, two or maybe even 3 or 4 ads.

Last week they had put up a new collection and one was very prominently present. It was this Madonna for H&M one! At first I walked just past it, thinking ‘hey, that looks like Madonna for H&M!’ But then I thought ‘No hold on, that cannot be Madonna…..there is no wrinkle on her? So, I retraced my steps and went in for a closer inspection. There was no denying it, it certainly was Madonna, with no wrinkles, smudges or blemishes. Okay, when I looked really close I saw only one tiny line under one of her eyes (good that they left it there, if they had removed that too, she would have looked like a shop dummy) .
Man, how is that possible……she is 48 FGS!! Is this really what 48 looks like these days? Nah, I am not willing to believe that. This is either the work of a Photoshop-pro (can I get his number?) or a amazing plastic surgeon (no, I don’t want his number ;)), what else could it be? Kabbalah and a healthy lifestyle? I am really not sure that they can accomplish that! But there are, however other miracles coming soon! (in a pharmacy near you ;)).

Today I came across this: Live forever. - By Brendan O'Neill

“A Harley St plastic surgeon plans to sell an anti-ageing drug. But do you want to live forever, or perhaps to the ripe old age of 1,000? There was a time when beating biology to become immortal was the stuff of dreams.

Dr Jeya Prakash claims he has reversed the ageing process by injecting himself and his wife with a human growth hormone which has improved their memories and removed wrinkles. He now plans to open a clinic offering the anti-ageing treatment.

For staying young is a fantasy long indulged by navel-gazing billionaires who spend a small fortune to become cryogenically frozen upon death so that they can make a comeback in the future when medical science has moved on.

And it's the stuff of fairytales. Various mythical stories tell of a Fountain of Youth, a mystical spring that grants eternal vitality to all who drink from it.

These are pipe dreams. For most of us getting older, frailer and eventually popping our clogs are simple facts of life.

Now, however, there is a growing band of scientists and philosophers who truly believe that biological boundaries can be pushed back, allowing humans to live to 200, 300, 1,000 and maybe even longer.”

Full story here.

Honestly, I think it’s great if they really invented something that will improve people’s memory and maybe remove a few wrinkles, but do we really want to live for a 1,000 years? That is a mighty long time, isn’t it? Well, I don’t have to worry about that. According to the article, I can count my blessings when I reach the blessed age of 100. But how about you, yeah you younger people, do you want to reach your, for example, 200th birthday? (That must be one gigantic birthday cake, how else are you going to fit 200 candles on there)

Lost Christ?!

In Brielle (a town in the western Netherlands) people have discovered Christ (origin unknown). On May, 30 one of the residents found Christ in his garden. The police are now looking for the rightful owner of Christ so that he can be returned.

Description of Christ:
Height - approximately 1.20 m (3.9)
Tomato blond hair and beard
Wearing a white and red outfit
Material – plastic

If you have any information please contact the police in Brielle or your local police station.

From Saturdays newspaper.

---

Reasons to be cheerful:
1. I feel good…. This morning I laughed so hard, it actually did hurt :)
2. Today I am skipping my exercise routine (it’s too hot and humid) and I am not feeling guilty :)
3. Last night I couldn’t sleep (again too hot and humid) and that usually drives me mad, but last night I made myself some tea, went outside and watch the stars for an hour or so. Slept like a baby after that :)

Bono calls on U.S. to give part of budget to poor

Today, Bono (U2 frontman) addressed the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C., reaching across divides to ask policy makers and faith leaders to do more to beat global AIDS and extreme poverty and calling on the U.S. to give an additional 1% of the budget to this fight.

Should the U.S. take Bono’s advice and devote an additional 1% to beating AIDS and poverty? Vote in an online poll now!

Dreading December.

I was reading the newspaper yesterday and I came across an interesting article about the holiday season. As it turns out, a lot of Dutch folks really dislike this month, December.
When asked, 32% admitted that they disliked the hustle and bustle and 33% said that they would rather skip December entirely.
How cheerless :( was my thirst thought. I understood it better after reading the entire article.

Why people dislike December:

It is the darkest period of the year. The days are shorter. Some people really get depressed because of this.

Some people feel lonely and deserted. They have lost their spouse; have no kids, relatives or friends. They dread the festive December days because you are supposed to share them with others. They feel they have to be cheery all the time, but aren’t. Some of them don’t even want to admit that they spent Christmas alone, because they feel ashamed.

Others feel deprived because they don’t have the extra money to spend on a Christmas dinner or a tree. Seeing all the Christmassy stuff in stores and supermarkets only makes things worse.

Other people feel they have to do way to much. They feel they need to plan and cook dinners, invite relatives, do things for the church, clean their house top till bottom, buy presents, make flower arrangements, buy a tree and decorate it. When asked if there wasn’t a possibility to delegate some of this chores the answer was no. Some people feel overly responsible.

Some people even hate to spend their Christmas with their family.

Apparently there are tons of reasons to dislike December, but isn’t Christmas just what you make of it! I think a lot of problems would be solved if people just did the things they loved to do. Don’t go to the big family dinner if you really don’t want too. If you want to spend Christmas on your own for once, just do it. No money for a tree, check which restaurant or offices have a tree. Are they closed around Christmas? If they are, they will probably throw their tree out just before Christmas. Want to stay in bed and enjoy an all-day breakfast buffet, be my guest. If you don’t have the funds to host a grand dinner, eat what you normally eat but prepare the food in a different way. Just enjoy your perfect Christmas, just the way you like it. Forget about the Christmas that is dictated in the movies and books. Christmas is about love, fun, you, enjoyment, relaxation, peace and tranquillity and wellbeing. It’s not about obligations, being obliged to, must, long faces and stress. Christmas……make sure you can say ‘I enjoyed it my way’ :)

World Aids Day!

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From the Newspaper

Norwegian sleepyhead misses destination.

It’s not unusual for airplane passengers to sleep during the flight. But Tor Martin Johansen must be a record holder. He fell asleep on his flight to Namsos. While he was in the land of Nod the plane landed in Namsos and later returned to Trondheim. Tor Martin Johansen woke up suddenly when he heard the stewardess say: ‘Welcome to Trondheim!’
He travelled for hours and now he was back…… at his point of origin.

Warning! Don’t let this spoil your appetite.

I watched a Dutch consumer program on TV the other day and I was really grossed out. They had inspected the buffets of nine first-class all-inclusive hotels at the Turkish Riviera and the results were staggering. The food in 8 of the hotels is evidently a health hazard.

In 5 food samples they found fecal bacteria. These should not be in, and can not exist in properly cooked food. Are you grossed out yet? Yes, stop reading then. The lab who tested these samples tried to copy the results but it was impossible. It was just too disgusting, even for them. To imitate the results they would need to have poop on their hands and who would want that…. Well, I guess Turkish kitchen staff certainly doesn’t have a problem with that. Never heard of washing their hands, I guess.

Further testing showed that 4 of the 9 hotels also served decayed/rotten/bad food. Food is considered rotten if there are more then 10 million bacteria’s per gram. In the Netherlands a restaurant is closed down if there are 1 million bacteria per gram.

They tested the buffets at the following hotels :

Joy Long beach,

Ardisia,

Riva Diva,

Lares Park,

Lara Falcon,

Hillside Su,

Cesar’s,

Club Nena,

Delphin Park.
None of these came out of the test with flying colors but the last two are certainly the best choice if you want to stay healthy and not want to spend your whole holiday in the bathroom.

This is a joke.......right?

We name him……Google.

A couple in Sweden have slapped the middle name "Google" on their newborn son, the search giant said Tuesday on its official blog.

Lebanese-born Walid Elias Kai, who works for a search optimization company, and his Swedish wife, Carol Kai, named their boy, born Sept. 12, "Oliver Google Kai."
Kai, who posted photos of young Google on a Web site, claims to be a Google fan. Really!

The proud daddy is called Abu Google, father of Google, by friends

Weird news

Yesterday one town council political party from Enschede (that’s a Dutch city) handed out free thongs to females. This frivolous initiative is a reaction to the plans of another party called the VVD. The VVD wants to couple welfare mothers to suitable man so they won’t need to be on welfare anymore. This coupling isn’t done by a dating agency or something but by a municipal organisation. The thongs were handed out just to let people see how discriminating and sexist this is.’

This is from Saturdays newspaper…. How weird is this country I live in ;-)

How about new females?

There seems to be popping up new types of males all the time. That is a bit strange, don’t you think? I haven’t read about a new type of female for ages or have I been reading the wrong articles and magazines? That could be it!

Okay, because there is no information about new types of females, here is something about this new type of males. Males who are trying to pose as a ‘metrosexual’, are way behind. Metrosexuals, a.k.a. males who have a lot of female qualities and are not afraid to show them, were very popular with woman the last few years. But now there is a new type of ideal male: The Ubersexual.

Uber means ‘The best of everything’ or meaning 'above' in german, another english translation is 'Very' or 'Super'. An ubersexual is a man who can do everything. Hmmz.. a sort of Superman, I guess! He is attractive, manly, dynamic, self-confident, classy, honest, social and strong. Or if you want the shortlist; the ubersexual is a metrosexual with traditional manly qualities. They say that Bono from U2 is an uber-ubersexual. According to Forbes the ubersexual era has started. It’s nice that they put that in print or else I would probably miss that totally. I haven’t met many metrosexuals thus far so I wonder if I ever will recognize an ubersexual.

What the difference between the two types?

A metrosexual……..

has lots of female sides and isn’t afraid to show them

loves shopping

take care of his body, uses cosmetics, dresses smart

isn’t afraid to show his sensitive side and is a superb conversationalist

Prototypes: David Beckham, Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp

An Ubersexual….

is very manly and shows it

only had good sides, both physical and psychological.

can talk about his feelings, but also about sports, culture and politics

is honest and social

Prototypes: Bono – U2, Pierce Brosnan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I am not sure which type I like best. Actually I don’t even want to think about this. I only wrote this piece because I don’t think it’s right to be so narrow minded, don’t put people in boxes, stop stereotyping!.

Yesterday’s news!

I thought I lived in a country where censorship was not an issue, but it seems that these times are changing.

This week, it’s Children’s-book-week. The first Children’s-book-week was organized in 1954 and during this week children are introduced to reading, new books and all sorts of fun and games. Every year there is theme and this year the theme is “The Magic academy, books full of magic”. The Bible & Education Society is against this theme and has taken a position; they say NO, to magic (and fairytales). According to this society, children are overexposed to the dark side, wizards, witches and occult matters. When you let Harry Potter in schools, you let in the devil. (Huh?) Another point they make is: Children may think that magic and wizardry is harmless but it is very life threatening.

So according to this society it’s harmful to read Harry Potter. Why? Kids might experiment with the spells and then……? Nothing happens! Wow, how shocking!

I think children should be able to read all sorts of children books. It’s good for their imagination, development and reading skills. All my life I’ve been reading all the books I could lay my hands on and I turned out alright, didn’t I? Okay, maybe not according to some peoples standards, but hey, that’s their opinion :)

From the media

91% of the Dutch say they can express themselves in a foreign language. This conclusion could be drawn after a recently held European inquiry. That is not a bad score. Only in smaller countries (boy, are there even smaller countries ;)) like Luxemburg and Malta, is the knowledge of foreign languages even better. Approximately half of all Europeans speak a second language. In the bigger countries, like France, Italy and Great Britain, not even half of the population speaks a second language.

Among the Dutch is English the most popular language. 87% say they can express themselves in this language. 66% can do the same in German and 24% can do this in French. I don’t understand why this is in the news this week. I thought the dull and silly season was already over, but apparently it isn’t. Most Dutch learn three languages while they attend school; of course Dutch, English and they can choose between German, French or Spanish.

Elsewhere in Europe English is also the preferred foreign language. One third of the Europeans say they can understand English; and that is not including the British and the Irish.

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