13.6.07
Moved!
This weblog has relocated to another blogging service. Follow my exciting adventures over at http://korbosch.wordpress.com/
9.6.07
Speaking of which,
Johann von Heinsberg is cool. Doing further research on him now, and apart from varying genealogical elements (placing his birth between 1360-1384, realistically at about 1370 seeing as he married at about 1390) I came across a site belonging to the archery guild of Heinsberg, who have been in existence for over 600 years. They were founded by no less than good ol' Johann, and are named after saints Gangolfus and John of Nepomuk (the latter obviously picked in honour of the lord of Heinsberg). Readers of this blog will now, no doubt, be surprised as this is the first medieval archery guild I have mentioned thus far not named after either saint Sebastian or saint George! Apparently there were no laws against not naming your archery guild after these two saints after all.
Ironically, five months after the citizens of Heinsberg had been granted their guild, complete with special rewards such as material for making clothes for winter and summer, they were already called upon to serve their lord in battle. They fought, and many died, at the battle of Monschau (1400) against the abbot of Stavelot.
Apart from that, information is varied. For example, Heinsberg is listed as lord of many territories, which, apart from Heinsberg, obviously, include Millen (in Brabant), Loon (part of Liège), Jülich (a separate duchy which he certainly did not control, but had rights to, which the duke of Guelders/Jülich bought off at a date unknown to me) and a host of smaller territories. I don't think any of these lands, apart from Heinsberg, were actually in his possession at any time, and were merely claims, possibly temporary loans or stewardships. In any case, every source confirms that he was poor and had to make a living by making war.
Update: Heinsberg received Millen as hereditary land from the duke of Brabant in 1420.
What can I say, I like the man. He is also the only important historical character in my story who actually has his character rooted in history, rather than just his name.
Also, made me laugh:
Ironically, five months after the citizens of Heinsberg had been granted their guild, complete with special rewards such as material for making clothes for winter and summer, they were already called upon to serve their lord in battle. They fought, and many died, at the battle of Monschau (1400) against the abbot of Stavelot.
Apart from that, information is varied. For example, Heinsberg is listed as lord of many territories, which, apart from Heinsberg, obviously, include Millen (in Brabant), Loon (part of Liège), Jülich (a separate duchy which he certainly did not control, but had rights to, which the duke of Guelders/Jülich bought off at a date unknown to me) and a host of smaller territories. I don't think any of these lands, apart from Heinsberg, were actually in his possession at any time, and were merely claims, possibly temporary loans or stewardships. In any case, every source confirms that he was poor and had to make a living by making war.
Update: Heinsberg received Millen as hereditary land from the duke of Brabant in 1420.
What can I say, I like the man. He is also the only important historical character in my story who actually has his character rooted in history, rather than just his name.
Also, made me laugh:
The Key To Love für Heinsberg - Dating im Internet - Übersicht ...Die männliche Linie der Herren von Heinsberg starb mit Johann IV. im Jahr 1448 aus.Apparently an internet dating site has lifted wikipedia information to give its site some more background info - but perhaps a subconscious message is hidden in the knowledge of the Heinsberg family dying out in 1448...
Daffodils are shiny when polished: in search of new titles for blog posts
The frequent visitor and attentive observor may have noticed the addition of a few links to the my articles section, namely one listing every battle fought in the Low Countries between 1200-1500 I could find information on, and another in-depth article on the battle of Othée, concluding the related article on the siege of Maastricht in 1407-1408.
The first I wrote because I was annoyed no proper compilation of all these combats was available, so I scoured every book I had on the middle ages and the Low Countries, as well as doing some wiki searching. Sadly the Frisian Schieringer-Vetkoper civil war battles appear not to have been the subject of any study yet, and so I can't find anything in-depth on them, which is a shame as the period reveals some great generals, like Focko Ukena, who won three battles (a great achievement for anyone in the middle ages).
The article on Othée (and the one on Maastricht) were written because I'm working on a novel dealing with the siege, and wished to compile some of the information I had gathered. I have a lot more where that came from, but these mostly are rather uninspired genealogical data concerning the major families living in Maastricht at the time, and a few interesting anecdotes.
For example, Rutten Clencke (a peculiar name, even in Dutch) did some damage to the village of Wolder during a raid. This village was occupied by the Liegois, and so it seemed justified, but he also damaged property belonging to the lord of Mérode, who was one of the knightly lords fighting for John of Bavaria against the Liegois. Rutten Clencke was fined for his behaviour.
Obviously this fellow also makes an appearance in my novel, though I'll have to revisit the library to try and find out when he did this and how much he was fined for; I sadly forgot to note this down initially.
Another interesting turn of events was that the Liegois invaded the land of Heinsberg. Heinsberg was the principal mercenary captain in John of Bavaria's service, and the rebels tried to strike at him by laying waste his country, thus forcing him to abandon Maastricht. However, he had apparently expected this, and after doing some pillaging the Liegois were defeated by the militia of Heinsberg and knights left behind by their lord. Interestingly, the psychological effect of this action on the lord of Heinsberg becomes clear afterwards: he struck out very harshly against the rebels, and burned down many villages. Whether this was his strategy all along or partly inspired by a lust for vengeance I don't know - it was a common strategy after all - but I'd like to consider emotion played a part here.
The first I wrote because I was annoyed no proper compilation of all these combats was available, so I scoured every book I had on the middle ages and the Low Countries, as well as doing some wiki searching. Sadly the Frisian Schieringer-Vetkoper civil war battles appear not to have been the subject of any study yet, and so I can't find anything in-depth on them, which is a shame as the period reveals some great generals, like Focko Ukena, who won three battles (a great achievement for anyone in the middle ages).
The article on Othée (and the one on Maastricht) were written because I'm working on a novel dealing with the siege, and wished to compile some of the information I had gathered. I have a lot more where that came from, but these mostly are rather uninspired genealogical data concerning the major families living in Maastricht at the time, and a few interesting anecdotes.
For example, Rutten Clencke (a peculiar name, even in Dutch) did some damage to the village of Wolder during a raid. This village was occupied by the Liegois, and so it seemed justified, but he also damaged property belonging to the lord of Mérode, who was one of the knightly lords fighting for John of Bavaria against the Liegois. Rutten Clencke was fined for his behaviour.
Obviously this fellow also makes an appearance in my novel, though I'll have to revisit the library to try and find out when he did this and how much he was fined for; I sadly forgot to note this down initially.
Another interesting turn of events was that the Liegois invaded the land of Heinsberg. Heinsberg was the principal mercenary captain in John of Bavaria's service, and the rebels tried to strike at him by laying waste his country, thus forcing him to abandon Maastricht. However, he had apparently expected this, and after doing some pillaging the Liegois were defeated by the militia of Heinsberg and knights left behind by their lord. Interestingly, the psychological effect of this action on the lord of Heinsberg becomes clear afterwards: he struck out very harshly against the rebels, and burned down many villages. Whether this was his strategy all along or partly inspired by a lust for vengeance I don't know - it was a common strategy after all - but I'd like to consider emotion played a part here.
8.6.07
Pictures from Brugge
I've scanned in some of the pictures taken on my trip to Brugge, which took place ages ago. Enjoy!
Two of the city gates, beautifully constructed.
Two old houses, age unknown. One is clearly in Gothic style but may be newer (the door is clearly non-Gothic, doesn't even have a decorated frame). The other is a marked world heritage monument (the blue/white triangles thingy).
The palace of the lords of Gruuthuse. Neerlandicists theorise that the family emblem of a cannonball (middle Dutch lode) leaving (wijc) the cannon implies the name of the lord who had this palace built: Lodewijc. This would mean that these men could speak Dutch as well as French.
The Our Lady's Church, supposedly the tallest brick-only tower in the world, nay, the universe! Charles the Bold and Mary of Burgundy are buried inside, and it also houses the coats of arms of the knights of the Golden Fleece in the 1460's.
Two of the city gates, beautifully constructed.
Two old houses, age unknown. One is clearly in Gothic style but may be newer (the door is clearly non-Gothic, doesn't even have a decorated frame). The other is a marked world heritage monument (the blue/white triangles thingy).
The palace of the lords of Gruuthuse. Neerlandicists theorise that the family emblem of a cannonball (middle Dutch lode) leaving (wijc) the cannon implies the name of the lord who had this palace built: Lodewijc. This would mean that these men could speak Dutch as well as French.
The Our Lady's Church, supposedly the tallest brick-only tower in the world, nay, the universe! Charles the Bold and Mary of Burgundy are buried inside, and it also houses the coats of arms of the knights of the Golden Fleece in the 1460's.
6.6.07
Dutch exam
Had my Dutch exam on Monday, which was a breeze. The exam consisted of two parts, reading and writing. For writing we had to write a two page letter to a uni paper concerning Global Warming, making a point. I went all David Attenborough on their arse, disapproving of the current CO2-centred changes being proposed, claiming that for a healthy environment we also require better protection of nature's fragile food chain, including better planning, fishing quotas, labels to prevent illegally caught fishes from appearing in the supermarket, etc. It's good enough, I'm sure, and will make for a more varied point than just "Global Warming takes place do something!" or "Global Warming is crap let's pollute pollute pollute!"
Reading was even easier. We had a massive two hours to condense a four-page article into 150 words. Seeing as the article was on a historical subject (depictions of natives in the publications of travel journals in the 16th century), I had no difficulty understanding the point it tried to make, and sifting out the important and unimportant bits. High marks, I'm sure.
Also, I collected a lot of information and compiled a list of all battles that took place in the Low Countries from 1200-1500. Linked on the right. It's lengthy - there was lots of fighting - but worth my time; I've never actually encountered a similar list before. Not even the "Kalendarium van de Nederlandse Geschiedenis", which attempts to list all major events in the Low Countries, has them all.
Reading was even easier. We had a massive two hours to condense a four-page article into 150 words. Seeing as the article was on a historical subject (depictions of natives in the publications of travel journals in the 16th century), I had no difficulty understanding the point it tried to make, and sifting out the important and unimportant bits. High marks, I'm sure.
Also, I collected a lot of information and compiled a list of all battles that took place in the Low Countries from 1200-1500. Linked on the right. It's lengthy - there was lots of fighting - but worth my time; I've never actually encountered a similar list before. Not even the "Kalendarium van de Nederlandse Geschiedenis", which attempts to list all major events in the Low Countries, has them all.
3.6.07
Man rides horse
Being on a camping holiday with friends is an interesting experience in planning. Depending on the taste of your friends and/or known associates, you may be subjected to either fun stuff or never ending hell. Nevetheless, mine have decent taste, and so we ended up riding horseys on Saturday afternoon - the non metal variety. Obviously this had to be passed first by the assembled collective, and as I always was curious what riding a horse is like, I answered the question "but would the blokes not have a problem with it?" with a resounding "nah".
Because I knew that riding horseys is an incredibly manly thing, and has been throughout the centuries, as showcased by the following examples:
Well, apart from the 17th century. Then it was clearly something done by ponces with angels hovering above their heads.
Now, having established that horses are not always pink and fluffy, I can recount a variety of interesting things having to do with them.
The horse I was given was fairly big. In fact, I rode the tallest horse of my group, an impressive black mare who liked eating branches and being at the head of the column, which, I suppose, put me in general command. Huzzah! All the horses were properly trained to find the way back, using the same tracks over and over again, so little steering was involved (apart from steering the horse's head away from the branches, that cheeky devil!), allowing me to survey the area at my leisure.
Which bring me to another massive advantage horses have: they're very tall, and when you're on top of them, you're tall as well. This made it terribly easy for me to spot any animals, and I saw, consequently, two pheasants, a partridge, four squirrels, an army of rabbits, and a castle. Only the castle I'm sure I would've seen otherwise; the simple truth is that being on a horse gives you a great overview of your surroundings, and I found this to be helpful not just in the field but also, surprisingly, in the forest. Very cool.
Now, a little more on riding. Supposedly there's a technique for, you know, bobbing up and down from your saddle while the horse is in a canter or faster. The woman from the stable tried to explain how to do this and seemed dissatisfied with my inelegant custom of bouncing up and down the horse's back like a kangaroo on steroids; nevertheless, I could not find a better way to deal with this. No doubt this takes some time getting used to.
Also, when a horse craps while riding along you really don't notice a thing. Seriously. I heard from people behind me that my horse had left a few "I was here" marks around the place, but I never noticed; and I was reliably informed that another horse had the peculiar habit of farting very very loudly.
Because I knew that riding horseys is an incredibly manly thing, and has been throughout the centuries, as showcased by the following examples:
Well, apart from the 17th century. Then it was clearly something done by ponces with angels hovering above their heads.
Now, having established that horses are not always pink and fluffy, I can recount a variety of interesting things having to do with them.
The horse I was given was fairly big. In fact, I rode the tallest horse of my group, an impressive black mare who liked eating branches and being at the head of the column, which, I suppose, put me in general command. Huzzah! All the horses were properly trained to find the way back, using the same tracks over and over again, so little steering was involved (apart from steering the horse's head away from the branches, that cheeky devil!), allowing me to survey the area at my leisure.
Which bring me to another massive advantage horses have: they're very tall, and when you're on top of them, you're tall as well. This made it terribly easy for me to spot any animals, and I saw, consequently, two pheasants, a partridge, four squirrels, an army of rabbits, and a castle. Only the castle I'm sure I would've seen otherwise; the simple truth is that being on a horse gives you a great overview of your surroundings, and I found this to be helpful not just in the field but also, surprisingly, in the forest. Very cool.
Now, a little more on riding. Supposedly there's a technique for, you know, bobbing up and down from your saddle while the horse is in a canter or faster. The woman from the stable tried to explain how to do this and seemed dissatisfied with my inelegant custom of bouncing up and down the horse's back like a kangaroo on steroids; nevertheless, I could not find a better way to deal with this. No doubt this takes some time getting used to.
Also, when a horse craps while riding along you really don't notice a thing. Seriously. I heard from people behind me that my horse had left a few "I was here" marks around the place, but I never noticed; and I was reliably informed that another horse had the peculiar habit of farting very very loudly.
29.5.07
Hilarity
This is why EuroGamer is so bloody good.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Also, apparently some Hollywood eejits have bought the rights to The Sims and are turning it into a film. This has to be the most retarded idea ever, as The Sims is basically a game where people can play their lives on their pc, except a little faster and with less chance of being rejected when they try to start up a relationship (that chance must be considerable seeing how they're sad enough to have to resort to a fecking computer game, ffs!) and, of course, the possibility of killing off their character by putting him in the shower and then removing the doors. Apparently the movie is legitimised by nonsensical claptrap:
How do you deal with it? Control+alt+del should do the trick. Sadly that won't be possible when watching a film (unless you watch it on your pc, of course).
While the idea is pathetic, the simple idea behind The Sims and Second Life was little better, and those concepts are hardly unsuccessful, so who knows - it might rake in a lot of money. I am, however, sceptical. What made The Sims and Second Life such successes is the simple fact that they're interactive. It may look worse than life, but it appears to the player that the influence is greater; re-decorating doesn't take ages, anyway. A film completely lacks that interaction, and seeing as that would make this either the film of a normal life or the film of the life of some loser who sucks so much that he has to resort to a pc game to have any achievements, sensible people may just stay away and wait for the film of their own life to roll on, a market Hollywood can never reach.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Also, apparently some Hollywood eejits have bought the rights to The Sims and are turning it into a film. This has to be the most retarded idea ever, as The Sims is basically a game where people can play their lives on their pc, except a little faster and with less chance of being rejected when they try to start up a relationship (that chance must be considerable seeing how they're sad enough to have to resort to a fecking computer game, ffs!) and, of course, the possibility of killing off their character by putting him in the shower and then removing the doors. Apparently the movie is legitimised by nonsensical claptrap:
The Sims has done an interactive version of an old story, which is what it's like to have infinite power and how do you deal with it. Given that that's an old story, you can imagine how easily that would translate to traditional storytelling.
How do you deal with it? Control+alt+del should do the trick. Sadly that won't be possible when watching a film (unless you watch it on your pc, of course).
While the idea is pathetic, the simple idea behind The Sims and Second Life was little better, and those concepts are hardly unsuccessful, so who knows - it might rake in a lot of money. I am, however, sceptical. What made The Sims and Second Life such successes is the simple fact that they're interactive. It may look worse than life, but it appears to the player that the influence is greater; re-decorating doesn't take ages, anyway. A film completely lacks that interaction, and seeing as that would make this either the film of a normal life or the film of the life of some loser who sucks so much that he has to resort to a pc game to have any achievements, sensible people may just stay away and wait for the film of their own life to roll on, a market Hollywood can never reach.
26.5.07
The Day after TOMORROW
Today, in effect.
Yesterday I had my exam and it went pretty well. I don't know if I made it or not, as it was fairly tough, and I'll have to wait until 16 June before I'll hear whether I passed it or not. I'll have to prepare for a possible resit, in any case.
The exam was in Utrecht and it had been a while since I last went there - visiting the city, I mean, not just passing through - and it was nice. Utrecht is quite a charming city with a lot of everything, and probably the Dutch city most closely resembling Venice. Obviously the first thing to do in a city when you're free to do what you want is visit the local bookstores, which I did. I think I spent at least half an hour rummaging through Broese's excellent collection of medieval history books: they have about ten shelves of medieval and early modern history, four shelves of Dutch medieval and early modern history, and then some extra books on those periods classified under their respective countries. Very nice to see such dedication, though I came away without any purchases, as most of their books were either too expensive, not really my subject, or both. I then went on to visit the wonderful De Slegte bookstore, but as I was just ascending the stairs to the second-hand history books I was shoved out as they were closing. I didn't even get to see their assortment.
Also, on Tuesday I went to The Hague to the presentation of the Gruuthuse manuscript at the Royal Library (link on the right, the manuscript is displayed on the Dutch section of the site). This is a valuable 14th century middle Dutch manuscript which was in private hands until now, and boasts 147 middle-Dutch songs complete with musical notation. The songs are artistic in nature, not popular, and most are delivered only through this manuscript, making it one of the most important middle-Dutch manuscripts around - even in the Middle Ages, the Dutch were not known for composing songs in their own language, so this collection is very rare. It also has international importance, as these are among the very few, if not only medieval poetical texts displaying cyclical patterns: for example, many poems start and end with the same verse, and many poems have every verse end with the same line, creating a primitive refrain of sorts. There's also repetitive use of acrostics - one charming poem (Melancolie dwinct mi de zinne) deals with the love of the poet, every verse hiding an acrostic of the person of his affection: Marie.
It was very cool not just to see the old book (opened on the page with its most famous poem, Egidius waer bestu bleuen), but also to hear the experts - including Frits van Oostrom and Frank Willaert - talk about it, and finally to listen to a small group of musicians perform some of the songs, which can best be described as a combination of gregorian and polyfonic music with almost renaissance texts, dealing with love, money, etc.
At the Royal Library they also host a permanent collection displaying some of the prize-pieces belonging to the Library and the National Archive, including the original constitution, the treaty of Münster (ending the conflict between Spain and the Republic), the death certificates of Anne Frank, illuminated manuscripts, etc. Very nice.
After the presentation I walked through The Hague a bit, which was nice, visiting De Slegte, where I was kicked out because they wanted to close (notice a trend?).
Yesterday I had my exam and it went pretty well. I don't know if I made it or not, as it was fairly tough, and I'll have to wait until 16 June before I'll hear whether I passed it or not. I'll have to prepare for a possible resit, in any case.
The exam was in Utrecht and it had been a while since I last went there - visiting the city, I mean, not just passing through - and it was nice. Utrecht is quite a charming city with a lot of everything, and probably the Dutch city most closely resembling Venice. Obviously the first thing to do in a city when you're free to do what you want is visit the local bookstores, which I did. I think I spent at least half an hour rummaging through Broese's excellent collection of medieval history books: they have about ten shelves of medieval and early modern history, four shelves of Dutch medieval and early modern history, and then some extra books on those periods classified under their respective countries. Very nice to see such dedication, though I came away without any purchases, as most of their books were either too expensive, not really my subject, or both. I then went on to visit the wonderful De Slegte bookstore, but as I was just ascending the stairs to the second-hand history books I was shoved out as they were closing. I didn't even get to see their assortment.
Also, on Tuesday I went to The Hague to the presentation of the Gruuthuse manuscript at the Royal Library (link on the right, the manuscript is displayed on the Dutch section of the site). This is a valuable 14th century middle Dutch manuscript which was in private hands until now, and boasts 147 middle-Dutch songs complete with musical notation. The songs are artistic in nature, not popular, and most are delivered only through this manuscript, making it one of the most important middle-Dutch manuscripts around - even in the Middle Ages, the Dutch were not known for composing songs in their own language, so this collection is very rare. It also has international importance, as these are among the very few, if not only medieval poetical texts displaying cyclical patterns: for example, many poems start and end with the same verse, and many poems have every verse end with the same line, creating a primitive refrain of sorts. There's also repetitive use of acrostics - one charming poem (Melancolie dwinct mi de zinne) deals with the love of the poet, every verse hiding an acrostic of the person of his affection: Marie.
It was very cool not just to see the old book (opened on the page with its most famous poem, Egidius waer bestu bleuen), but also to hear the experts - including Frits van Oostrom and Frank Willaert - talk about it, and finally to listen to a small group of musicians perform some of the songs, which can best be described as a combination of gregorian and polyfonic music with almost renaissance texts, dealing with love, money, etc.
At the Royal Library they also host a permanent collection displaying some of the prize-pieces belonging to the Library and the National Archive, including the original constitution, the treaty of Münster (ending the conflict between Spain and the Republic), the death certificates of Anne Frank, illuminated manuscripts, etc. Very nice.
After the presentation I walked through The Hague a bit, which was nice, visiting De Slegte, where I was kicked out because they wanted to close (notice a trend?).
24.5.07
TOMORROW
Tomorrow I have an economics exam I need to pass to be accepted to study history at Nijmegen uni. So I've been revising a lot, doing practice exams etc. Nevertheless I got into a rather feeble debate about medieval warfare against someone who admitted to not knowing much about it, as well as another one which was about a lot of things pertaining to medieval warfare, none of which were properly understood by my opponent. He was persistent but the only constant in his arguments was not giving up, and so things dragged on. And on. And on and on and on. And then he got banned for trolling.
18.5.07
Update! Update! Update!
It's been a while, and so I probably should update this. I did just now update the link section, which is now filled with sites hosting dusty manuscripts and their beautiful illuminations. They're really worth a browse - for example, the Heidelberg manuscripts page hosts the famous Codex Manesse. When it comes to the larger collections owned by national library, the Dutch Royal Library has some of the best quality scans, while the French National Library (BNF) has by far the largest collection, and the easiest to search through. Some of their scans are rather small, however, and leave you wanting to zoom in. The British Library also has a lot of stuff online, but last time I checked its search feature was rather lamentable and held all manuscript images into a single database. Bah! The UC (University of California) has a whole host of modern academic studies published online, some limited to students/staff, and others available free of charge to anyone. Very helpful. The Dutch Literary Library has a lot of Dutch language texts online, from the early middle ages to modern times, as well as academic publications on Dutch language and literature. A great collection, though one has to speak Dutch for it to be of any use.
Oh, and the first link, the Siege of Maastricht, is an article I wrote for a gaming site concerned with the historical strategy game Medieval II: Total War. An updated version of the article should be uploaded shortly, and I also hope to get an article done on the Battle of Othée (1408), the exciting conclusion of the conflict between John of Bavaria and his Liégois subjects.
Also, my sister got married! This was of course a joyous occassion, a great party, reception, and dinner, and the ceremony also had an excellent civil servant run it, with a speech actually catered towards the couple, not something I had expected from a civil ceremony. It was also very good to see family again - in the months leading up to my grandmother's death we saw each other only a few times, as she was generally too tired to have any family meetings, and having them without grandmother seemed rather odd.
So I now have a brother-in-law, which seems strange and made me realise I'm now in the marrying generation. Gasp!
Oh, and the first link, the Siege of Maastricht, is an article I wrote for a gaming site concerned with the historical strategy game Medieval II: Total War. An updated version of the article should be uploaded shortly, and I also hope to get an article done on the Battle of Othée (1408), the exciting conclusion of the conflict between John of Bavaria and his Liégois subjects.
Also, my sister got married! This was of course a joyous occassion, a great party, reception, and dinner, and the ceremony also had an excellent civil servant run it, with a speech actually catered towards the couple, not something I had expected from a civil ceremony. It was also very good to see family again - in the months leading up to my grandmother's death we saw each other only a few times, as she was generally too tired to have any family meetings, and having them without grandmother seemed rather odd.
So I now have a brother-in-law, which seems strange and made me realise I'm now in the marrying generation. Gasp!
28.4.07
Deechdingen int Deester
The 'Middelnederlandsch Handwoordenboek' has arrived! This is a middle-Dutch dictionary originally published in the 1930's; I have a reprint from 1964. 800 wonderful pages filled with wonderful middle-Dutch words: from Ababijs (defeated, taken aback) to Wuwestert (swallowtail, construction term). A peaceful and friendly time when there was still a special word for herring tax and harem still meant arm. When an overgever was not someone who threw up but in stead transferred property. Wonderful.
This innocent view of the past is vividly brought to life by the illustrations of Isings, a Dutch painter who made paintings which were printed en masse and distributed around Dutch schools. It was practice in the Netherlands to teach using prints (both by him and others) in all sorts of subjects, including history, biology and geography. While they were not used on my generation anymore, I'm sure everyone my age has seen a print or two hanging around in school. A Dutch website has published a great deal of them on the internet, and they can be viewed HERE. Some are beautiful (like this one) and some are, quite frankly, dreadful (euch!).
The ones by Isings in particular display both craftsmanship and a great eye for detail: not only are uniforms, armour, architecture, etc accurately depicted for any time period I could see, they also fit together as a harmonious whole; there's no perspective problems and the buildings look like they have actual substance. Nice stuff to browse through, even when you don't speak Dutch or know any history.
This innocent view of the past is vividly brought to life by the illustrations of Isings, a Dutch painter who made paintings which were printed en masse and distributed around Dutch schools. It was practice in the Netherlands to teach using prints (both by him and others) in all sorts of subjects, including history, biology and geography. While they were not used on my generation anymore, I'm sure everyone my age has seen a print or two hanging around in school. A Dutch website has published a great deal of them on the internet, and they can be viewed HERE. Some are beautiful (like this one) and some are, quite frankly, dreadful (euch!).
The ones by Isings in particular display both craftsmanship and a great eye for detail: not only are uniforms, armour, architecture, etc accurately depicted for any time period I could see, they also fit together as a harmonious whole; there's no perspective problems and the buildings look like they have actual substance. Nice stuff to browse through, even when you don't speak Dutch or know any history.
27.4.07
Life is good...
... When the weather is warm and you've just had a nice cold beer to cool down.
The Ragweek of 2007 is now a thing of the past. I suppose I gave it negligable if non-existant coverage in my exciting and infrequently updated blog (the sudden mood changes of which no doubt make me appear like a manic-depressive on steroids), but I was in charge of the Ragweek organisation committee of Tafelstraat, so I was rather closely involved.
For those unfamiliar with the tradition, the Ragweek is a one-week a year time when students at a university do stuff to raise money for charity (over here it's always one foreign and one local charity). At Tafelstraat we, according to the custom, sell coffee/tea and vlaai (local type of cake/what the Americans call pie). This year we also organised a night about Ghanese culture (one of the charities is a Dutch organisation that has 'adopted' a Ghanese village and aims to improve living standards there, which seems to be going well) where an exchange student who had been to Ghana told about her experiences and used photographs to demonstrate Ghanese culture. Apart from Dutch students, there were also German, Spanish, American and Czech people present, so it was a nicely multi-national mix with which we could discuss differences not just between continents but also between countries.
At the end of the week, we had collected a grand total of €400,-, a nice sum. The total collected was €15.000,-, half of which donated by the university.
On a different subject altogether, there is a webcam located in a Dutch Peregrine falcon's nest (yes we have speedlimit breaking birds in our country, too, even though we don't have an Autobahn). The little falcons left their eggs on 15 April, and all their activities can be followed HERE. However, tragedy struck, and on the 23rd a rival female Peregrine chased the mother out of the nest, and so since then they have not been kept warm. Apparently this isn't a problem, and in fact it makes the whole thing more watchable, because the chicks are actually visible now, rather than being obscured from view by the mother sitting on top of them. The father falcon is still feeding them and so hopes are that they'll make it. It's interesting to watch for a little while, do you need some luck; when I tuned in today the dad just arrived to feed them which was no doubt one of the most exciting events of the day.
The Ragweek of 2007 is now a thing of the past. I suppose I gave it negligable if non-existant coverage in my exciting and infrequently updated blog (the sudden mood changes of which no doubt make me appear like a manic-depressive on steroids), but I was in charge of the Ragweek organisation committee of Tafelstraat, so I was rather closely involved.
For those unfamiliar with the tradition, the Ragweek is a one-week a year time when students at a university do stuff to raise money for charity (over here it's always one foreign and one local charity). At Tafelstraat we, according to the custom, sell coffee/tea and vlaai (local type of cake/what the Americans call pie). This year we also organised a night about Ghanese culture (one of the charities is a Dutch organisation that has 'adopted' a Ghanese village and aims to improve living standards there, which seems to be going well) where an exchange student who had been to Ghana told about her experiences and used photographs to demonstrate Ghanese culture. Apart from Dutch students, there were also German, Spanish, American and Czech people present, so it was a nicely multi-national mix with which we could discuss differences not just between continents but also between countries.
At the end of the week, we had collected a grand total of €400,-, a nice sum. The total collected was €15.000,-, half of which donated by the university.
On a different subject altogether, there is a webcam located in a Dutch Peregrine falcon's nest (yes we have speedlimit breaking birds in our country, too, even though we don't have an Autobahn). The little falcons left their eggs on 15 April, and all their activities can be followed HERE. However, tragedy struck, and on the 23rd a rival female Peregrine chased the mother out of the nest, and so since then they have not been kept warm. Apparently this isn't a problem, and in fact it makes the whole thing more watchable, because the chicks are actually visible now, rather than being obscured from view by the mother sitting on top of them. The father falcon is still feeding them and so hopes are that they'll make it. It's interesting to watch for a little while, do you need some luck; when I tuned in today the dad just arrived to feed them which was no doubt one of the most exciting events of the day.
15.4.07
Days Like This
... They could last a bit shorter. The weather is far too warm to do anything distracting, such as cycling; it is still too light to watch a DVD, even with the curtains closed, and I already spent a considerable time on the PC so doing more of that will make me feel guilty. My concentration to either read or write is insufficient. Bah! Wish it were evening.
13.4.07
Pointless news stories
Sometimes news stories get published that are really just a waste of internet space or ink. For example:
Iraq MPs condemn parliament blast
Well obviously. Parliament gets bombed, do you think parliamentarians are going to applaud that? This ranks right next to the Times' 6 November 1605 article called "Parliamentarians don't think Guy Fawkes is a nice bloke".
Diego Maradona back in hospital
Comparable with "Britney Spears is a loony".
More to follow, either at a later date or after I've had another sandwich.
Iraq MPs condemn parliament blast
Well obviously. Parliament gets bombed, do you think parliamentarians are going to applaud that? This ranks right next to the Times' 6 November 1605 article called "Parliamentarians don't think Guy Fawkes is a nice bloke".
Diego Maradona back in hospital
Comparable with "Britney Spears is a loony".
More to follow, either at a later date or after I've had another sandwich.
7.4.07
50 posts!
This is a special celebratory post to celebrate that this is the 50th post written by myself on this blog. When I started writing I never expected to hold out this long, blah blah blah, and I can also be extra proud because Andrew gave up after two or so months, whereas I'm still going on with writing pieces no one will read.
The books I purchased recently and which I listed in the previous post have been undergoing some reading, apart from the Decameron, which I am saving for later (when I have more time). Both The English Civil War and Deser landen Crijchsvolk are great reads, though Van Nimwegen's position on the military revolution can only be marked as untenable (as pointed out by Erik Swart here in the final conclusion, which is also presented in English). His description of the organisation of the army and the experiences of both soldiers and civilians is far better than that in other works, however, and his descriptions of the campaigns, while lacking in terms of maps, are clear and all-inclusive. He does not limit himself to the famous campaigns and battles.
Apart from that, I fear I have little to say in this post, apart from sharing a cake (possibly stolen from another party) to celebrate and providing you with a truly hilarious news story (well, not really). Let's try another one.
The books I purchased recently and which I listed in the previous post have been undergoing some reading, apart from the Decameron, which I am saving for later (when I have more time). Both The English Civil War and Deser landen Crijchsvolk are great reads, though Van Nimwegen's position on the military revolution can only be marked as untenable (as pointed out by Erik Swart here in the final conclusion, which is also presented in English). His description of the organisation of the army and the experiences of both soldiers and civilians is far better than that in other works, however, and his descriptions of the campaigns, while lacking in terms of maps, are clear and all-inclusive. He does not limit himself to the famous campaigns and battles.
Apart from that, I fear I have little to say in this post, apart from sharing a cake (possibly stolen from another party) to celebrate and providing you with a truly hilarious news story (well, not really). Let's try another one.
30.3.07
Cut!
Once again, my hair has been trimmed to a more socially acceptable size. Last time I visited my Belgian hairdresser was last October, and by last Monday my hair was regularly obscuring my vision and was well down to my shoulders. A visit there is always good, and this one was no exception. We talked about Belgian politics, city planning and infrastructure, Brugge, tourists, etc. Luckily there was lots of hair to be cut, so our conversation wasn't cut short prematurely (har har, pun!).
Spring has also arrived, so my shorter hair fits the season. The people of this locality have not realised what Spring is about, though, and despite the warm and sunny days we had early in the week the majority of them still wore their coats with (mostly fake) fur collars. Eejits.
And with Spring the annual festivity that is the Boekenfestijn has also come to the MECC in Maastricht. Basically, it's a massive sale of older or damaged book editions for very fine prices. The assortment this year seemed a little less interesting when it came to history than last year, but the three books I bought ("Deser landen crijchsvolk" by Olaf van Nimwegen, "The English Civil War" by Tristram Hunt, and the Decameron by Boccaccio) are all very good, and particularly the first was a complete and happy surprise; the book sells for 49,95€ in normal bookstores, yet I bought it for 24€.
There were small creases on the bottom of most of the editions, and so they had probably been set aside due to damage, with the top of the book's pages been marked with a black line to indicate that they were not for normal sale. I was more than lucky, however: a critical examination of the pile of books revealed a copy which not only lacked the black line on top, but also showed no significant creases - ie a perfect quality book. Go me!
The book studies the Dutch army between 1588 and 1688 in great detail - the only quality book I know of that attempted this. It's quite unique in that aspect, and I know the writer (he also wrote a book about the Austrian War of Succession): it should be a good read. Van Nimwegen is a bit overkeen on the idea of military revolution, however - a theory I cannot support. But this does not prevent him from delivering excellent and thorough studies.
"The English Civil War" by Tristram Hunt has as sub-title "At first hand", and the book interests me for two reasons: firstly, I haven't read a proper study about the war yet, and could do with a decent introduction; secondly, the book centres on accounts by eyewitnesses. The psychology of the soldier has always been one of my main interests in warfare, and it should prove interesting even if for that reason alone. It seems, though, that Hunt, from the little I read, fits in the tradition of English story-telling historians and delivers not just a good study but also a good book.
As to the Decameron, well, it's a classic, and as I try to be at least a little familiar with the great medieval literature, I couldn't leave it there. I have yet to see how easily I'll get through it, though, but any work of literature that studies actual society rather than ideal society is useful in one way or another.
Spring has also arrived, so my shorter hair fits the season. The people of this locality have not realised what Spring is about, though, and despite the warm and sunny days we had early in the week the majority of them still wore their coats with (mostly fake) fur collars. Eejits.
And with Spring the annual festivity that is the Boekenfestijn has also come to the MECC in Maastricht. Basically, it's a massive sale of older or damaged book editions for very fine prices. The assortment this year seemed a little less interesting when it came to history than last year, but the three books I bought ("Deser landen crijchsvolk" by Olaf van Nimwegen, "The English Civil War" by Tristram Hunt, and the Decameron by Boccaccio) are all very good, and particularly the first was a complete and happy surprise; the book sells for 49,95€ in normal bookstores, yet I bought it for 24€.
There were small creases on the bottom of most of the editions, and so they had probably been set aside due to damage, with the top of the book's pages been marked with a black line to indicate that they were not for normal sale. I was more than lucky, however: a critical examination of the pile of books revealed a copy which not only lacked the black line on top, but also showed no significant creases - ie a perfect quality book. Go me!
The book studies the Dutch army between 1588 and 1688 in great detail - the only quality book I know of that attempted this. It's quite unique in that aspect, and I know the writer (he also wrote a book about the Austrian War of Succession): it should be a good read. Van Nimwegen is a bit overkeen on the idea of military revolution, however - a theory I cannot support. But this does not prevent him from delivering excellent and thorough studies.
"The English Civil War" by Tristram Hunt has as sub-title "At first hand", and the book interests me for two reasons: firstly, I haven't read a proper study about the war yet, and could do with a decent introduction; secondly, the book centres on accounts by eyewitnesses. The psychology of the soldier has always been one of my main interests in warfare, and it should prove interesting even if for that reason alone. It seems, though, that Hunt, from the little I read, fits in the tradition of English story-telling historians and delivers not just a good study but also a good book.
As to the Decameron, well, it's a classic, and as I try to be at least a little familiar with the great medieval literature, I couldn't leave it there. I have yet to see how easily I'll get through it, though, but any work of literature that studies actual society rather than ideal society is useful in one way or another.
21.3.07
And again...
This is the third time in as many posts that I have something to say concerning urban archery guilds in the middle ages. I discovered that the archery guilds in Amsterdam were also called after sint Joris (crossbow) and sint Sebastiaan (normal bow), similar to Maastricht and Brugge. Coincidence? I think not. Apparently sint Joris (George) is patron of all soldiers, and also of farmers and tourists; I think crossbowmen can be added to the list, though they fall under soldiers, anyway. In a moment of great irony, Richard the Lionheart proclaimed him the protector of all crusaders. Saint George, however, did not take this task too seriously - the great crusader Richard died of a crossbow quarrel.
Saint Sebastian is, like his dragon-slaying brother in Christ, counted as a protector of soldiery, and in particular archers. Probably because having been executed by them made him feel all warm and fuzzy towards them. He is also the patron saint of the dying, which seems like a rather pointless and excessively frustrating job.
I have also brought my film roll with photographs from Brugge to be developed. Yes, I still have an old-fashioned, non-digital camera! The photographs should be developed by Friday and are only showing architecture.
Saint Sebastian is, like his dragon-slaying brother in Christ, counted as a protector of soldiery, and in particular archers. Probably because having been executed by them made him feel all warm and fuzzy towards them. He is also the patron saint of the dying, which seems like a rather pointless and excessively frustrating job.
I have also brought my film roll with photographs from Brugge to be developed. Yes, I still have an old-fashioned, non-digital camera! The photographs should be developed by Friday and are only showing architecture.
18.3.07
Brugge (again)
Yesterday I visited Brugge for the second time in... ooh, a month? This was not something I had been looking forward to, as the last time I went there it was with Ulrike and so there were now a lot of memories lurking there, ready to chase me around.
We were with a group of 24 students, and took the train to Liège just after eight in the morning, so we would arrive in Brugge at eleven. I was pretty tired as I had an awful night with perhaps as few as four hours sleep, due to my state of mind and noisy housemates. I wished John of Bavaria were nearby, as I would tell him they were haidroits and he'd deal with them properly, for example by chucking them off a bridge. Anyway, I had brought a thermosflask with tea, which helped me wake up.
The train from Liège to Brugge was crammed, and so I sat on my own and read in Catch-22. This was no problem for me, as I was less keen on talking as I was on making the trip altogether. I sat in a four-seat space with a German-speaking family consisting of a young girl, who was still learning to read, a father who was constantly handing out sweets, and a giggly mother. It was okay. They had a bit of an accent going on and I wondered if they were Belgo-Germans, but probably not, as they talked about Belgium in a distanced way; they did however have above average familiarity with the country, and I think the man had worked in or nearby Bruxelles for a while. They were going to Oostende to take the ferry to Great Britain.
Brugge was... okay. There were a lot of tourists about and still more coaches than cars traversing the city centre. The old buildings were still standing, and the weather was almost as good as a month ago, except far windier. I went out of my way (literally) to see things I hadn't seen before, and this included walking almost the entire perimetre of the wider city centre. I saw all the city gates there, two towers, and some windmills. Strangely enough no walls were left, only the gates.
I also passed by the two archery guilds in the city, that of Sint Joris (George) and Sint Sebastiaan (guess who?); the former was for the practice of the crossbow/arbalest, the latter for the normal bow. Interestingly enough the guilds had the same practice and name in Maastricht. The buildings for the guilds were, however, disappointing. One was a neo-gothic monstrosity and the other a dull English country house imitation. Both had large grounds for practice.
From the other things I visited, the basilica of the holy blood (brought back by a crusading count to Brugge), an age-old and authentic romanesque church inside the gothic town hall, and the church of our lady leap to mind first of all. The latter had a beautiful exposition about Philip the Fair, grandson of Charles the Bold, which included many rare contemporary items, including primitive pianos and drums. Apart from the exposition items there was also a great collection of "standard" pieces, such as 13th and 14th century decorated coffins and the tombs of Charles the Bold and his daughter Mary (mother of Philip). And Philip's heart was also there (his body having been taken to Spain, where he was king), encased in a tiny metal case.
The tombs of the once duke and duchess of Burgundy were decorated with the coats of arms of all their territories, and even the county of Zutphen was accounted for, as well as Friesland - which was not technically their possession (apart from the cowardly Dokkumers, who had apparently pledged allegiance to the Burgundians at first instigation). But who wants to be lord of Dokkum?
In any case, Brugge² was better than I expected.
We were with a group of 24 students, and took the train to Liège just after eight in the morning, so we would arrive in Brugge at eleven. I was pretty tired as I had an awful night with perhaps as few as four hours sleep, due to my state of mind and noisy housemates. I wished John of Bavaria were nearby, as I would tell him they were haidroits and he'd deal with them properly, for example by chucking them off a bridge. Anyway, I had brought a thermosflask with tea, which helped me wake up.
The train from Liège to Brugge was crammed, and so I sat on my own and read in Catch-22. This was no problem for me, as I was less keen on talking as I was on making the trip altogether. I sat in a four-seat space with a German-speaking family consisting of a young girl, who was still learning to read, a father who was constantly handing out sweets, and a giggly mother. It was okay. They had a bit of an accent going on and I wondered if they were Belgo-Germans, but probably not, as they talked about Belgium in a distanced way; they did however have above average familiarity with the country, and I think the man had worked in or nearby Bruxelles for a while. They were going to Oostende to take the ferry to Great Britain.
Brugge was... okay. There were a lot of tourists about and still more coaches than cars traversing the city centre. The old buildings were still standing, and the weather was almost as good as a month ago, except far windier. I went out of my way (literally) to see things I hadn't seen before, and this included walking almost the entire perimetre of the wider city centre. I saw all the city gates there, two towers, and some windmills. Strangely enough no walls were left, only the gates.
I also passed by the two archery guilds in the city, that of Sint Joris (George) and Sint Sebastiaan (guess who?); the former was for the practice of the crossbow/arbalest, the latter for the normal bow. Interestingly enough the guilds had the same practice and name in Maastricht. The buildings for the guilds were, however, disappointing. One was a neo-gothic monstrosity and the other a dull English country house imitation. Both had large grounds for practice.
From the other things I visited, the basilica of the holy blood (brought back by a crusading count to Brugge), an age-old and authentic romanesque church inside the gothic town hall, and the church of our lady leap to mind first of all. The latter had a beautiful exposition about Philip the Fair, grandson of Charles the Bold, which included many rare contemporary items, including primitive pianos and drums. Apart from the exposition items there was also a great collection of "standard" pieces, such as 13th and 14th century decorated coffins and the tombs of Charles the Bold and his daughter Mary (mother of Philip). And Philip's heart was also there (his body having been taken to Spain, where he was king), encased in a tiny metal case.
The tombs of the once duke and duchess of Burgundy were decorated with the coats of arms of all their territories, and even the county of Zutphen was accounted for, as well as Friesland - which was not technically their possession (apart from the cowardly Dokkumers, who had apparently pledged allegiance to the Burgundians at first instigation). But who wants to be lord of Dokkum?
In any case, Brugge² was better than I expected.
15.3.07
Blast from the past
After the previous, somewhat cryptic entry (although cryptic only to the poor sods who didn't see Shaun of the Dead, an error they must immediately rectify), I felt it was time to write something here again.
In the past week I spent a lot of time at the municipal library researching the details of the sieges of Maastricht in 1407 and 1408. On Tuesday I borrowed two books there concerning the military history of Liège, which had to be called up from storage. I could only borrow them for three weeks, however (normal borrowing length six weeks) because no doubt they just love gathering dust. The books are both in French and make up lessons three and four of my DIY French course.
Anyway, I gathered a considerable amount of data, and now know that, for example, the citizen-soldiers in the militia (schutterij) of sint Joris in Maastricht had to wear yellow leather trousers (probably hoses), a cloth, long-sleeved shirt, a leather tunic over it (as body armour) and a leather or metal helmet. All in all, that's not terribly good protection and I can only pity these poor men - however, as they had to pay for the equipment themselves it was probably best for their purses that expensive iron armour was lacking.
I also browsed through a list with all the mayors of Maastricht (they used to change annually and there would be two each year, one representing Liège and the other representing Brabant), and apparently one of the mayors was called God. Although perhaps the scribe just shortened his name from Godaard or something. In any case, he must have made some impression. At least with me.
I also discovered that in 1407 the ridge from the castle Lichtenberg to the Maas was not yet steep, which means that there'll be no abseiling done after all. Sorry lads.
In the past week I spent a lot of time at the municipal library researching the details of the sieges of Maastricht in 1407 and 1408. On Tuesday I borrowed two books there concerning the military history of Liège, which had to be called up from storage. I could only borrow them for three weeks, however (normal borrowing length six weeks) because no doubt they just love gathering dust. The books are both in French and make up lessons three and four of my DIY French course.
Anyway, I gathered a considerable amount of data, and now know that, for example, the citizen-soldiers in the militia (schutterij) of sint Joris in Maastricht had to wear yellow leather trousers (probably hoses), a cloth, long-sleeved shirt, a leather tunic over it (as body armour) and a leather or metal helmet. All in all, that's not terribly good protection and I can only pity these poor men - however, as they had to pay for the equipment themselves it was probably best for their purses that expensive iron armour was lacking.
I also browsed through a list with all the mayors of Maastricht (they used to change annually and there would be two each year, one representing Liège and the other representing Brabant), and apparently one of the mayors was called God. Although perhaps the scribe just shortened his name from Godaard or something. In any case, he must have made some impression. At least with me.
I also discovered that in 1407 the ridge from the castle Lichtenberg to the Maas was not yet steep, which means that there'll be no abseiling done after all. Sorry lads.
4.3.07
Who the hell put this on?
Oi, look at me.
Can I just say one thing?
I'm not gonna say there's plenty more fish in the sea,
I'm not gonna say if you love her let her go
and I'm not gonna bombard you with clichés
but what I will say is this...
It's not the end of the world.
Can I just say one thing?
I'm not gonna say there's plenty more fish in the sea,
I'm not gonna say if you love her let her go
and I'm not gonna bombard you with clichés
but what I will say is this...
It's not the end of the world.
21.2.07
Brugge!
On Saturday I went to Brugge with Ulrike, which was great! Brugge is a nice city, if you can look past all the tourists. Lots of old buildings, lots of restaurants and bars, lots of museums and lots of tourist shops where they think wooden shoes, porcelain and windmills are typically Belgian. The city is generally described as looking medieval, but apart from some of the main monuments, like Our Lady's Church, or many of the municipal buildings, the majority have more of a 16th/17th century look to them. Still though, the fact that pretty much the entire centre is centuries old gives it a very unique appearance, enhanced by the limited amount of cars and the large number of horse-driven coaches driving around. It's only the large number of tourists and modern shops that make it impossible for you to think you're in the past - if you want to get that feeling, I suggest visiting the great beguinage in Leuven in stead - no cars there, relatively few tourists and no shops at all.
Another thing Brugge can learn from Leuven is to put up banners. Perhaps they're present during the summer, but there were none when I visited, and I have to say that the first time I visited Leuven and there were medieval-style banners hanging in the streets and decorating houses on the market square, I was seriously impressed. It adds atmosphere on a grand scale, gives you an extra feel for the old days, even if you're unfamiliar with the flags. There were governmental flags now - many flying halfmast to commemorate the death of Albert I in 1934 - but they simply don't match up to real medieval banners (although the colourful Belgian flags get a lot closer than pretty much any other European flag). Still though, Brugge was great.
I would like to write a bit more, and quite possibly I will do so later, but at the moment I have to run. I'm publishing this now, as I have been putting off making a post for three days in a row and I really want to put something up. Sense of achievement, you know.
Another thing Brugge can learn from Leuven is to put up banners. Perhaps they're present during the summer, but there were none when I visited, and I have to say that the first time I visited Leuven and there were medieval-style banners hanging in the streets and decorating houses on the market square, I was seriously impressed. It adds atmosphere on a grand scale, gives you an extra feel for the old days, even if you're unfamiliar with the flags. There were governmental flags now - many flying halfmast to commemorate the death of Albert I in 1934 - but they simply don't match up to real medieval banners (although the colourful Belgian flags get a lot closer than pretty much any other European flag). Still though, Brugge was great.
I would like to write a bit more, and quite possibly I will do so later, but at the moment I have to run. I'm publishing this now, as I have been putting off making a post for three days in a row and I really want to put something up. Sense of achievement, you know.
11.2.07
Snow, Zombies and Tyres
We had some snow in the past week, coming down faster than it could melt. Sadly however, as soon as it stopped snowing, it did melt, and now there is nothing to remind us of it. It's too warm for Winter.
What else has been up?
Well, recently, when I went with my parents to Schiedam and Delft to meet friends and family, we stopped by a way-restaurant where they peculiarly enough sold the DVD of Shaun of the Dead for only 7,50€, and, as I had been unsuccessfully searching all the stores of Maastricht for it, I could not refuse the bargain. It is a brilliant film, a comedy of the highest calibre; and certainly more of a real film than most other comedies, as it actually has a plot that develops in a semi-realistic way, and a director with more interest in directing than just making sure all the characters appear in the shot.
On Wednesday I had a flat tyre at the most inconvenient of moments: I discovered it after ten, when I was getting hungry and about to buy bread for my breakfast. It being Wednesday, the village’s bakery was closed, and so Maastricht was the only possible place to acquire a healthsome loaf. But as I had a meeting in the early afternoon at Tafelstraat, it was unlikely I’d be able to get back to my room before then, so I decided to shower first, have a placeholder breakfast of nuts and biscuits, and then cycled to town on my flat tyre, which luckily held its end quite competently; I had to pump it up again only once every kilometre.
I then had a quick lunch at Tafelstraat, cycled to the station in one go and dropped off my bike there to have an entirely new tyre set (the old one’s profile had completely wasted away) and walked back to Tafelstraat, stopping by for a quick spell at Ulrike’s, as that was on the way and I saw she was in. I was still back in time at Tafelstraat to have a slightly more extended lunch before the meeting started. How’s that for planning, eh?
What else has been up?
Well, recently, when I went with my parents to Schiedam and Delft to meet friends and family, we stopped by a way-restaurant where they peculiarly enough sold the DVD of Shaun of the Dead for only 7,50€, and, as I had been unsuccessfully searching all the stores of Maastricht for it, I could not refuse the bargain. It is a brilliant film, a comedy of the highest calibre; and certainly more of a real film than most other comedies, as it actually has a plot that develops in a semi-realistic way, and a director with more interest in directing than just making sure all the characters appear in the shot.
On Wednesday I had a flat tyre at the most inconvenient of moments: I discovered it after ten, when I was getting hungry and about to buy bread for my breakfast. It being Wednesday, the village’s bakery was closed, and so Maastricht was the only possible place to acquire a healthsome loaf. But as I had a meeting in the early afternoon at Tafelstraat, it was unlikely I’d be able to get back to my room before then, so I decided to shower first, have a placeholder breakfast of nuts and biscuits, and then cycled to town on my flat tyre, which luckily held its end quite competently; I had to pump it up again only once every kilometre.
I then had a quick lunch at Tafelstraat, cycled to the station in one go and dropped off my bike there to have an entirely new tyre set (the old one’s profile had completely wasted away) and walked back to Tafelstraat, stopping by for a quick spell at Ulrike’s, as that was on the way and I saw she was in. I was still back in time at Tafelstraat to have a slightly more extended lunch before the meeting started. How’s that for planning, eh?
6.2.07
Space Love
Some people really like space; more than a few films have been made about people who saw their childhood dream of going to other parts of the universe fullfilled, possibly with a romance thrown inside. None, however, have been as absurd as this news story: Astronaut in "love kidnap" plot.
I don't really know what "battery" means in criminal terms, so if anyone here does, please enlighten me. Mad stuff, anyway.
Also in the news, the formation of a new Dutch government is very close indeed, and looking to be a coalition between the Christian Democrats, Labour, and the Christian Union, in that order. It's looking to be a more conscientious coalition than the previous few, with €800m set aside for the environment. This can only be a good thing, as the former Balkenende governments cared little for that important aspect of our country, and so it's all being going down the drain. We have yet to see what the other parts of the government will be like, but it looks like it'll be generally agreeable, with a more positive attitude to the EU, I hope, and possibly a more critical attitude towards US behaviour - although this will become easier regardless as the US is lightning up.
However, perhaps these are just dreams and we'll have more shit for the next four years.
A US astronaut has been charged with trying to kidnap a woman she thought was a rival for the affection of a space shuttle pilot.
Navy Capt Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew to the international space station last July, was charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and other crimes.
She drove from Texas to Florida to confront Colleen Shipman, disguised in a wig and trench coat. Police said Capt Nowak, who was denied bail, used pepper spray on Ms Shipman.
The man in the love triangle was said to be Navy Cmdr William Oefelein, who was a pilot on the Discovery's mission to the space station in December.
I don't really know what "battery" means in criminal terms, so if anyone here does, please enlighten me. Mad stuff, anyway.
Also in the news, the formation of a new Dutch government is very close indeed, and looking to be a coalition between the Christian Democrats, Labour, and the Christian Union, in that order. It's looking to be a more conscientious coalition than the previous few, with €800m set aside for the environment. This can only be a good thing, as the former Balkenende governments cared little for that important aspect of our country, and so it's all being going down the drain. We have yet to see what the other parts of the government will be like, but it looks like it'll be generally agreeable, with a more positive attitude to the EU, I hope, and possibly a more critical attitude towards US behaviour - although this will become easier regardless as the US is lightning up.
However, perhaps these are just dreams and we'll have more shit for the next four years.
15.1.07
Welcome back
My first post of the new year! It took me some time to finally get it published. Initially it started with a short bit about new year's eve, but I figured that's a little late, so we'll leave that for the moment. Perhaps in February.
I spent the holidays getting a job (hopefully), studying the organisation of late medieval Maastricht (as far as possible with the help of but a few, sadly flawed, books), doing some uni work and browsing through the family archive. We still had a lot of late 19th/early 20th century booklets of speeches held by some of the ARP leaders (the Anti Revolutionary Party, strong for the re-reformed faith, churches, the army, and keeping your trousers (or dresses) on at all possible times) on various issues such as why women shouldn't have the right to vote (but should vote anyway, to thwart the evil socialists and liberals) and why putting up a maypole is an important part of their beliefs (although I believe the re-reformed church has dropped this part since the '70s or so).
Somewhat puzzlingly, there was also a socialist leaflet about why women should vote, and an undated ad for the Scheveningen Kurhaus (judging from the swimsuit featured on it it was before the invention of, well, modernity), both of which may have been maliciously put in by communist infiltrators to slander earlier generations of the Bosch family. Sadly for them, this has been for naught, as we don't give a toss.
What else has been up? Well, ten days ago it was exactly 530 years since the death of Charles the Bold and the collapse of the Burgundian state, which I commemorated by telling people who didn't care. Also, I read Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and had a lot of fun in the process. It's a brilliant book and I can only encourage other people to read it, which is why I already lent it out to Ulrike. Meanwhile, for my study I've been reading up on society, the (nuclear) family, marriage and sexuality. It's interesting stuff, and it's fascinating how attitudes to these things changed throughout the centuries (though I've only reached the long 16th century, by now).
To leave you something to read, there's this BBC article about a secret proposal for a union between France and the UK in the '50s. Rather surprising, and I don't think either country is disappointed it fell through (I can only take the 35% "Oui" result in the poll with a grain of salt; surely a lot of funny non-Frangleterrians voted).
I spent the holidays getting a job (hopefully), studying the organisation of late medieval Maastricht (as far as possible with the help of but a few, sadly flawed, books), doing some uni work and browsing through the family archive. We still had a lot of late 19th/early 20th century booklets of speeches held by some of the ARP leaders (the Anti Revolutionary Party, strong for the re-reformed faith, churches, the army, and keeping your trousers (or dresses) on at all possible times) on various issues such as why women shouldn't have the right to vote (but should vote anyway, to thwart the evil socialists and liberals) and why putting up a maypole is an important part of their beliefs (although I believe the re-reformed church has dropped this part since the '70s or so).
Somewhat puzzlingly, there was also a socialist leaflet about why women should vote, and an undated ad for the Scheveningen Kurhaus (judging from the swimsuit featured on it it was before the invention of, well, modernity), both of which may have been maliciously put in by communist infiltrators to slander earlier generations of the Bosch family. Sadly for them, this has been for naught, as we don't give a toss.
What else has been up? Well, ten days ago it was exactly 530 years since the death of Charles the Bold and the collapse of the Burgundian state, which I commemorated by telling people who didn't care. Also, I read Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman and had a lot of fun in the process. It's a brilliant book and I can only encourage other people to read it, which is why I already lent it out to Ulrike. Meanwhile, for my study I've been reading up on society, the (nuclear) family, marriage and sexuality. It's interesting stuff, and it's fascinating how attitudes to these things changed throughout the centuries (though I've only reached the long 16th century, by now).
To leave you something to read, there's this BBC article about a secret proposal for a union between France and the UK in the '50s. Rather surprising, and I don't think either country is disappointed it fell through (I can only take the 35% "Oui" result in the poll with a grain of salt; surely a lot of funny non-Frangleterrians voted).
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