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.
28.4.07
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.
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