vol. 5 #10 – 08 May 2012
The Sentinel Amsterdam
Integrity, heart, humour
feature
chip and bawl PERSPECTIVES LIFESTYLES travel OPINION REVIEW TECHNOLOGY art FILM TRENDS HEALTH & WELL-BEING SPORT Recommended
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POLISH HOST CITIES: WARSAW & GDANSK
Contents
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CONTENTS
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In this issue feature P. 04 tripping days P. 10 culture
5° 52' N 55° 10' W
Chip and bawl
p.40 sport
Polish host cities: Warsaw & Gdansk
Prague Welcome II ‘Match your idea of what a four-day visit to Prague might look like’
‘The system is unfair to tourists’
sport
p. 24
p. 88 more:
The Gold Room
‘Both stadiums are fully ready to receive the many thousands of supporters’
ARt DOX
p. 72
TECHNOLOGY Tech wars
p. 76
SPOTTED p. 80 Where is this in Amsterdam? FILM REVIEW Room 2C THE SENTINEL RECOMMENDED
p. 81
p. 83
trends p. 84 Who watches the watchmen II Health & Well-being GOH light
ColoPHon The Sentinel Amsterdam e-mail: sentinelpost@gmail.com website: www.thesentinel.eu
Editors – Gary Rudland & Denson Pierre Design, realisation and form – Andrei Barburas & No-Office.nl Webmaster – www.sio-bytes.tumblr.com Webhost – Amsterjammin.com
The Sentinel Amsterdam does not intentionally include unaccredited photos/illustrations that are subject to copyright. If you consider your copyright to have been infringed, please contact us at sentinelpost@gmail.com.
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Contributors: Petr Kvifala, Valeria Scimia, Michaela Silpochova, Simon Owusu, David King, Dirkje Bakker-Pierre and Fleur Berkhout
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CHIP AND BAWL
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‘The system is not only unfair to tourists, since residents also face similar inconveniences’
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‘Machines are placed in supermarkets and other weird places, which are impossible to find and are generally nowhere near a station’
By Valeria Scimia
In November 2011 the OV (Openbaar Vervoer/ Public Transport) chipkaart officially replaced the strippenkaart as the standard way to pay public transportation fares in the Netherlands. Since that time I have heard many people complaining about the new system. To briefly summarise, OV chip cards can be bought from Central Station, some main metro stations and from newsagents, tobacconists and ticket shops who have agreed to the transport department’s deal. The card itself costs €7 before it has even been charged with money credits. Only at the station is it possible to (re)charge the card using cash. All other charging points accept Dutch bank cards only. The first point that springs to mind is that the system is unfair to tourists, but they can always buy a ticket that is valid for an hour for the small amount of €2.60. However, the system is not only unfair to tourists, since residents also face similar inconveniences. Charging points remain difficult to find. One would think that, by now, there would be a charging machine at every tram and metro stop/station, but this isn’t the case. Instead, the machines are placed in supermarkets and other weird places, which are impossible to find and are generally nowhere near a station. Often I have found myself in isolated places with no money on my card and with no place to charge it to be found. Once I found myself at Bullewijk station, for instance, after a trip to the giant Ikea and there was no charging machine, regular ticket machine or security personnel whatsoever. It seemed that I could ride for free, but I knew that I needed to check-out at the main station and that my empty card would have not let me through without making a big scene. After wondering what to do, I decided to risk it, take the metro
and get off before the main station, where I knew there would be proper security. This meant I had to walk a much longer way home, loaded with Ikea bags, which I did not find amusing. Surely this should not have been the case when a new digital system had just put in place. Didn’t the transport authorities consider all circumstances before introducing it? The new system had even been tested ‘virtually’ in Second Life in 2008, so one would think these types of practical problem might have caught someone’s attention at that time, but apparently not. Articles of the time reported that security issues were the main problems to solve and practicality simply missed the spotlight. The same lack of machinery applies to tram stations. Although the GVB could counter that it is possible to buy a ticket on the tram, sometimes people do not carry any cash and ATMs are not always to hand. If someone gets stuck in a new or unfamiliar area without credit on their OV-chipkaart, I wish them the best of luck. Tram conductors do not appear to have much sympathy on the matter and will not allow you to board without a beep either from your card or a purchased ticket.
‘If someone gets stuck in a new or unfamiliar area without credit on their OV-chipkaart, I wish them the best of luck’
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‘That’s how people like to spend their days, it seems: tram-riding’
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‘Cycling and walking are healthy and free’
Oh, and please don’t forget to beep out, or as they say “check-out”. If you miss your beep, or confuse it with someone else’s beep, you’re screwed: the charge for a full journey which would normally take an hour will be deducted from your credit. As far as the system is concerned you didn’t leave the tram and remained on it for the full duration of the trip. Because that’s how people like to spend their days, it seems: tram-riding. You can always send a complaint and ask for a refund, but then you’d better remember the exact time, tram number, place and station/stop of the missed beep and, while you’re at it, the conductor’s shoe size might be helpful, too. If you fail to remember all the required information, you can kiss your refund goodbye. A friend of mine kept all her charging receipts to prove that she did charge the card. As an anonymous (name and detail free) user, you need to do that or start printing your bank statements. I suppose that given the amount in question is normally just a little less than €5, they must hope people cannot be bothered to issue a complaint and go through all that hassle for such a tiny sum.
Mathematics, however, is not an opinion and when summing up all of Amsterdam’s beep failures you can imagine how much money the GVB makes due to these frequent incidents. So, please do submit a complaint, if only to raise the GVB’s awareness and make its staff go through the same kind of hassle to which you are subjected every time you need to charge your card and can’t find a machine. You can send all OV-chipkaart complaints to http://www.ov-chipklacht. nl/, a website with a name that couldn’t be more appropriate for its purpose. There are countless other OV incidents that I could mention but, instead, I will close this article by reminding everyone that Amsterdam is a small city, relatively free from traffic congestion and with good air quality. Cycling and walking are healthy and free, so let’s explore all the possibilities and make the best of them, especially now that better weather should soon be upon us.
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paramaribo: the pearl of suriname
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‘A traveller can normally be forgiven for assuming something about ‘normal’ situations he or she is likely to encounter’
By Denson Pierre
We take a certain responsibility very seriously here at The Sentinel and that is to be honest about where and what we report on. We save our humour for where it is due and in so doing maintain our integrity. Together with its national airline, Surinam Airways, this country on the upper eastern tip of the South American continent is regularly in a state of ‘confusion’ and is not an easily recommended place to visit as an average tourist. For a start, when we booked to travel from Amsterdam to the Caribbean, via Paramaribo, my wife and I could not have expected the overnight connection to be so dramatic. Let’s put it this way, a traveller can normally be forgiven for assuming something about ‘normal’ situations he or she is likely to encounter. Not so in Suriname as, even though the national airline advertised a new and competitive connection to the southern Caribbean, this involved having to overnight there. Going along with this, we decided to book a hotel for the few hours rest between flights, as all reports indicated that the airport pretty much closes a couple of hours after our flight arrived from Amsterdam. All of this was done in good faith and, as two Dutch passport holders, we felt we had done enough to smoothly transition through and offer some support to the economy of this developing nation. We were also scheduled for a full 24-hour stay there on our return journey to Europe.
After a not too troublesome take-off and cruise across the Atlantic, I should have known things were not going to be as ideal as hoped for when, on final approach to the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, things became creepy. First of all, when the landing gear was lowered it made such a noise, vibration and thump that many of the passengers (and, I assume, infrequent flyers) started to applaud, as if we had landed safely (they still do that clapping thing in Dutch air-travel culture). This was only immediately funny, as we were still some minutes out over the Atlantic and about to land on a piece of savannah clearing and former US military airfield with a threekilometre runway in the jungle. My humour was again tested when we did eventually land in that double-bounce manner employed by less than expert flight commanders and taxied back to our parking area, some two-hundred metres from the terminal building. It would seem that one of the two-person flight-deck crew got carried away with the shutdown procedure after we had come to a stop, since just as the captain alerted the cabin staff to make ready to open doors, there was a total electrical failure throughout the passenger cabin. Not even the emergency lights came on! Immediately there was a feeling of diminishing oxygen with sealed doors and more than 290 passengers steaming up the windows and exhibiting the same nervousness as we were. We were sitting on the tarmac, in the tropics, in an aluminium tube, in total darkness, wondering when and how we would get off. The re-initiation of the generators must have taken at least 10 minutes.
‘Over the Atlantic and about to land on a piece of savannah clearing and former US military airfield with a three-kilometre runway in the jungle’
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‘We would not be allowed beyond that point without a visa’
Disembarking was a relief, as the incidents of the previous 25 minutes suddenly made the long flight feel like an exhausting trial. This, however, was not the end of our hell in the hot and humid night, as next we had to endure the usual slow-moving queue to the immigration desk (one at a time, please!!), only to be told we would not be allowed beyond that point without a visa. Somehow, I could not believe that Suriname was so silly as to demand a visa from Dutch nationals even if it was a republic and the history of the Dutch and their colonial brutalities are well known. Well, after a lot of posturing by the ministry officials and €80 deposited in their little, tin, safe-box, we had our visas to enter the country and make our way to the city and hotel some forty-five minutes away.
were relaxed and funned-up. Paramaribo’s out-of-step unreadiness for modern tourism did not affect us much and we even found time to capture images of some of the fast-crumbling, lumber-built, 17th- and 18th-century architectural masterpieces, which led to Unesco bestowing its special World Heritage status on a substantial area of the old city.
It was a short night as we needed to return to the airport in time to fly to the Caribbean at 6.00 a.m.
The following photos highlight the city’s outstanding architectural beauty in wood, but I still had a nagging concern about what surprises the 1994-built Airbus A340 had in store for us on the journey back to the Netherlands, where so many thousands of the expatriated Surinamese live, in The Dutch Republic.
Luckily, on the way back to Amsterdam we had already spent three-and-a-half weeks in Trinidad & Tobago and
There are also some very positive things to say about Paramaribo. The average resident is calm and friendly, and the food is flavourful and inexpensive. The local, chilled beer is refreshing and hanging loose at the Waterkant or in one of the many Chinese casino-hotels could bring some engagement for part of a day or night.
‘The average resident is calm and friendly, and the food is flavourful and inexpensive’
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classifieds
Familiar and yet always innovative Marriott! The Prague Marriott Hotel is located in the heart of the city center, a few steps away from historical landmarks, such as the Municipal House, and a short walk from the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square. After a decade in the Czech market this Marriott flagship property represents a symbol of superior and dedicated service combined with local know how and expertise. The hotel interior was recently renovated; its rooms and suites now offer even more comfort and luxury. All 293 spacious guest rooms are fully equipped with high speed wired and wi-fi internet, personal safe, mini-bar, satellite TV with LCD screens, movies and music on demand, voice mail, data ports, individual climate control and a comfortable working area.
The hotel offers 1450 square meters (11 conference rooms in total, some with daylight) of newly renovated flexible conference, reception and banquet space, located on one level. Whether you need to organize a board meeting for 8 participants or a conference reception for 750 delegates, the Prague Marriott will provide a tailored service that exceeds your expectations. The professional event management team will create a successful event you will always remember. Since July 2009 we have incorporated “green events” into our everyday standards. By applying the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle to all events and meetings, we make them more eco-friendly and help guests and meeting planners reduce their carbon footprint on the environment.
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CULTURE
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Prague welcome! Part II
‘The man is simply a charming, intelligent, gentle, witty, walking, talking, explaining, human encyclopaedia!’
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By Denson Pierre
If ever I was impressed by another professional doing their job well then our Prague guide has now surely surpassed them. He was able to provide comprehensive information about all of the photo subjects and people you have so far seen, and all of our activities. The man is simply a charming, intelligent, gentle, witty, walking, talking, explaining, human encyclopaedia! Our entire group of world-travelled and previously guided visitors was tremendously impressed. I will provide his contact details for top-level tours later in this series. As you have also seen in the previous issue, some photos perhaps do not quite match your idea of what a four-day visit to Prague might look like, as they may seem somewhat official. Well, this is the lowdown; it was an official cultural
visit sponsored by the City of Prague for global editors of leading travel publishing houses and The Sentinel. We were given an official champagne greeting in the historic town hall and all of our engagements did, indeed, glisten with an ambassadorial veneer. The countries represented in the group were Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Finland, Poland, Russia and The Netherlands. Between this issue and the end of our Prague focus you will notice all of my international colleagues making Hitchcockian cameo appearances. So, two days of touring and learning ended and in the following issue of The Sentinel I will take you around further extremely interesting corners; also talking about the loveliness of the people I met in this city and the way they appear to get on with everyday life even when surrounded by such splendid architecture and enjoyable physical geographic forms.
‘Countries represented in the group were Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Finland, Poland, Russia and The Netherlands’
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‘The loveliness of the people I met in this city’
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‘Cultural modern art and feeding at the zoo’
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‘Designing a modern in-flight wine’
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‘A trial of inspiration’
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‘Sharon keeping his distance from the light at the end of the tunnel’
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sport
‘A competition that carries equivalent glossy production levels to the Champions League’
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EURO 2012 POLISH HOST CITIES: Warsaw & Gdansk (Sopot) By Denson Pierre
Back in April The Sentinel was invited to be part of a press group (Belgian, Dutch, radio, print journalists and photographers) on a trial run through Warsaw and Gdansk, to test the socio-cultural readiness of their inhabitants and the infrastructure to accommodate the summer festival of international tournament football that is about to envelop them. The first thing to say is that both stadiums are fully ready to receive the many thousands of supporters who will use
them throughout the Euro 2012 tournament. Of particular interest were facilities/activities for visiting fans, both those with match-day tickets and those who inevitably turn up without tickets to be close to the atmosphere and action. How the football itself turns out has very little to do with the Poles, since UEFA will have descended on Poland (and Ukraine) by the end of April and totally taken over the highly branded and technology-led operations of a competition that carries equivalent glossy production levels to the Champions League. There is no room for error when running the shiny machine that is mostly geared towards lucrative, live, international television broadcasts.
‘Top football can ease many tensions, so we can only hope for the best’
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‘I suggest taking a tour of the Warsaw Uprising Museum’
Warsaw has had the privilege of being re-granted the national stadium, which is built on the same site as the old one. It is a fine, airy, contemporary construction, which should provide all 58,000 possible seated spectators with an excellent view of the football business that will take place on highgrade turf, imported from the Netherlands. One of the semi-finals will take place here but the final has somehow been allocated to the co-host city of Kiev, in Ukraine; a bordering country that reportedly shows a greater likelihood of disrupting the smooth running of the tournament. Indeed, in some quarters fans are considered daring just to go there. Top football can ease many tensions, so we can only hope for the best. In Warsaw (and Poland) you cannot miss the fact that its central geographical location mean that the country and psychology of the people have been truly battered by the violent history of Europe over the past millennium. Everywhere you turn you see a monument to some battle against one invading force or other. The most oppressive associations, however, are those with the Second World War. Warsaw was 85% destroyed by the Nazis, and I mean completely levelled. Before the war the city had a population of some 1.4 million but by 1945 only about 1,000 inhabitants could be found, living like rodents within the city limits, strewn with rubble and bodies in various states of decomposition. During the free time not taken up by football I suggest taking a tour of the Warsaw Uprising Museum. It is a modern, interactive facility with a very heavy and emotional story to tell. Do brace yourself, as even our guide was unable to hold back the tears as she explained the horrors associated with the Nazi occupation and the destruction exacted on her people three generations ago.
Otherwise, Warsaw is a breezy city with many squares and areas for groups to gather and enjoy views along the main river or sessions (over)indulging in readily available light pilsners. There are lovely parks and royal route walks. For those interested in classical music and Frederic Chopin, in particular, there is a chique museum dedicated to him and a three dimensional statue under which to while away your day. Chopin spent the first nineteen years of his life in Warsaw before transplanting to Paris, never to return. More than ample eateries serve both local dishes and internationally flavoured options. Poland is still a cheap country, in Euro terms, although it seems insulated by the idea that its position outside the Euro currency and 4% economic growth in the last year justifies actually disadvantaging itself in the long-term by remaining outside the fiscal union. Four per cent growth in a former Soviet-bloc country does not resonate as much as even one quarter of a percentage growth in a Eurozone country. Hospitality staff can be found working for around €2 per hour, for instance. Perspective, please. Fans who find themselves in Warsaw for the Euros, or families who come afterwards for a general break, could put together a very good two-day city break of the cultural variety. One concern I have regarding the football is the fan zone location, in relation to the city and its security. Warsaw city centre has an ideal layout for parading the usually large, hysterical, national, group psychologies associated with football. The fan zone is located in an area of no particular appeal and only some ten minutes away. Maybe an extreme plan exists to police crowds to remain in these prepared areas and then be dispersed in small groups. Or perhaps make the entirely re-built (since the 1950s) city a no-go zone for fans on pre-match day, match day and night. Getting around should be easy enough as it is not a huge city and even if the metro construction, which was commissioned for this upcoming tournament, will not be completed before the end of 2013, on a sunny day walking is an easy option.
‘More than ample eateries serve both local dishes and internationally flavoured options.’
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‘Getting around should be easy enough as it is not a huge city’
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‘Low-profile buildings, which could have you believing that you were in nearby Scandinavia or Estonia’ Gdansk does not in any way feel like Poland until you hear the inhabitants speak and share their mood. This is a Baltic Sea city with a main square parading a great deal of restored Dutch architecture and other low-profile buildings, which could have you believing that you were in nearby Scandinavia or Estonia. Gdansk is smaller than Warsaw, with just over 450,000 inhabitants, and is the world capital of finished amber production. Some two hundred master jewellers turn out all manner of trinkets and artworks made
of solidified resin from the Paleogenic period. The warm colours of the material dominate local art and the football stadium is designed to represent… You guessed it. The PGE Arena (naming rights pennies to come later) is a warm, beautiful and compact stadium. The group playing here in the early rounds I think have scored a bonus. The general environment is pleasant and the public transport system is excellent with metro/trams due to connect the city with the sporting terrain at regular, fifty second intervals.
‘The general environment is pleasant and the public transport system is excellent’
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‘I shudder to think what it will be like here on a 20˚C (the average summer high) when, according to local experts, the public areas are already packed solid’ Sopot is a further twenty-five minutes down the road by car, less by train. It is a spa towncum-boulevard-cum-marina and the most famous coastal resort and entertainment district in the region. Most outstandingly a 511-metre wooden pier allows you to walk out into the region’s well-known extra-salty sea air for an awakening bit of exercise. I shudder to think what it will be like here on a 20˚C (the average summer high) when, according to local experts, the public areas are already packed solid with tourists and locals seeking a good time and a view of the sea. Their numbers will surely be swelled to bursting by those who come to the greater Gdansk area for football and evening fun. As far as the football tourism goes, Sopot has scored a mini-jackpot as the Irish national team will be staying at the town’s Sheraton Hotel during pre-tournament and the preliminary rounds of competition. There are a few bars and restaurants right next to this hotel but I smile when I say that local organisers really will have to erect many more beverage outlets to handle the thirsty throng of Irish supporters who I am sure will descend in their thousands. The Spanish, also in Group C, are not shy of a cerveza either and Croats who make it over will be keen to afford their
share of football and holiday lubricants, too. The Italians will be feared for their towering football prowess, as well as for their perceived lack of spending when on tour/ holiday. The Gdansk-Sopot area is family friendly and has a feeling of relaxed space with sufficient cultural tour options and highlights. If the weather does not co-operate there is room for indoor contemplation at the Cistercian arch cathedral with its awesome pipe organ, where you can take in one of the regular mini-concerts featuring the most iconic piece of European church music in surround-sound magnificence. This can be enjoyed simply as music, regardless of religious beliefs or otherwise. There are also both the Amber Museum and the rather educational Solidarity Museum (Roads to Freedom) to explore over a couple of days away from football. All in all, I would also personally have liked to be part of the festival of football and culture in Poland this summer. But, even if it were possible to get there physically, the superinflated accommodation rates represent a further issue and I get the feeling that hostelries are already overbooked on key periods and days. Towards those of you reading this and heading over to Poland I feel slightly envious. The tournament and the forced exposure to so many different cultures and nationalities visiting will only have positive influences; not just on the Polish economy, but it may also help the locals to become more open to cultures other than those of a conservative Catholic persuasion.
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‘I say that local organisers really will have to erect many more beverage outlets to handle the thirsty throng of Irish supporters who I am sure will descend in their thousands’
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www.yourtuliptour.com
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art
DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, Prague
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Motto: In an age when growing numbers of people tend to think dangerously alike, art´s capacity to suspend, even for a moment, our habitual ways of seeing may well prove to be of its greatest value.
www.dox.cz
The name DOX, derived from Greek doxa, means a method of understanding, an opinion and a conviction. Over the three years of its existence, DOX, the largest and most progressive art centre in the Czech Republic has presented more than eighty thought-provoking contemporary art exhibitions and over three hundred public events at its incredible 3 200m2 of exhibition space.
Opening Hours: Mon: 10am – 6pm Tue: closed Wed-Fri: 11am – 7pm Sat-Sun: 10am – 6pm
A former factory redesigned into an impressively minimalist exhibition space has been nominated for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Prize for architecture and aims for the standard of „first league“ art institutions around the world.
DOX Centre for Contemporary Art Poupetova 1, Prague 7, CZ T: + 420 295 123 E: info@dox.cz
Full price 180kč (7EUR)/Pers. The DOX Centre’s premises are barrier-free.
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MEMBRA DISJECTA FOR JOHN CAGE: Wanting to Say Something about John 25. 5. - 20. 8. 2012
One of the major exhibitions planned for the spring/summer season is a tribute to an American musician, writer, and visual and intermedia artist John Cage(1912-1992) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth and the 20th anniversary of his death.
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The exhibition title Membra Disjecta for John Cage, refers to the artists´s famous method of treatment for various inspirational sources as well as to the historic, aesthetic and media heterogeneity of exhibited collection (membra disjecta or disjecta membra is a Latin term for “scattered members” and is used to refer to surviving fragments of ancient pottery, manuscripts and other cultural objects). Participating artists include several of Cage’s collaborators and friends as well as younger artists who are inspired by his work. The show is an ambitious undertaking juxtaposing a variety of media, with paintings, drawings, prints, collages, musical scores, photographs, instructive pieces, sculptural objects, installations, videos, and sound installations.
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‘Google realised the future would be mobile and, in order to continue advertising to the masses, it needed people to carry around mobile devices’
TECH WARS TechBit: Sio-Bytes By Simon Owusu
In this final instalment of the Google ‘Don’t Be Evil’ series, we look into the reasons why Google has developed an ‘evil’ streak, as it battles competition mainly from Apple and Facebook in a bid to stay relevant and, most importantly, profitable. Like Google, its competitors have motives that align what they do with how they do it. Google’s motivation is driven by advertising revenue, so it always needs to be in a position to deliver and track ads. In order to sell its hardware, Apple creates easy to use, intuitive software. It creates an excellent mobile operating system, enabling it to sell hardware devices like the iPhone and iPad, which distinguishes the brand from similar, lower-cost hardware devices from other manufacturers and software companies. Facebook’s motivation is to collect as much information as possible about you. Like any free service on the internet, you and your information are the product being sold. The information you provide is what that service sells to other companies and Facebook is no different. Google’s competition from Apple is the mobile platform. Seeing the boom of the iPhone and iPad, Google realised
that the mobile landscape was changing and was forced to make some drastic moves in mobile space. Google realised the future would be mobile and, in order to continue advertising to the masses, it needed people to carry around mobile devices on which it could advertise. If Apple controlled the mobile space, it would also control the information that ended up in people’s hands. Consequently, following the iPhone launch, Google focused its strategy on getting the greatest quantity of Android devices in people’s hands. Google attempted to dominate market share by catering for every single variation possible (in terms of carrier, screen size, form factor, etc.), making sure that for every single phone or tablet produced, there was a closely matched Android device available as a cheaper alternative. A lot of concessions were made to the carriers, which led to numerous inconstancies from one Android phone to another and also to the fragmentation of Android, in general. The same is true of the tablets released via Google. Google’s competition from Facebook is relevant user data. With over 950 million members, there is no doubt that Facebook is the king of the social world and knows more about most people than Google. In response, Google created a single user profile across all its services (as we highlighted a few issues back), so it could build a more complete profile of each user to match the detailed profile
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information available to Facebook from its users. In gathering information via e-mails, web searches, contacts made through Google Voice or through its own relatively young social network, Google+, Google is attempting to imitate Facebook. Facebook employs pattern recognition, which enables it to predict when you are likely to do something or want something, based on complex algorithms and sufficient data stats about you and the people around you, plus the millions of information facets about other Facebook members. Facebook collects so much of this data, which is freely given, that it doesn’t need to source it from anywhere else and this is why Google sees it as a big threat.
to be the leader in both personal information and mobile devices, enabling it to tie together both sectors and gain the ultimate position for its biggest clients: advertising agencies.
Given the threats from the two aforementioned companies, and also those from companies like Amazon and Microsoft, Google is taking drastic measures to ensure that it does not lose its revenue model. This is based on Google’s ability to target ads to specific users likely to buy a product. For this it needs as much information about its users as possible, to fit them into demographics more amenable to a particular targeted ad. Google needs to know who you are, what your likes and dislikes are, where you like to go on holiday, what foods you like to eat, etc. It also needs to be able to deliver ads to various devices and track the ad-clicks (the number of people who click on an advertisement). To do this successfully, Google needs
In light of its current position and future prospects, it is evident that Google is prepared to do a little evil to survive the onslaught from its competitors because, ultimately, it needs to protect its revenue streams.
Unfortunately for Google, Facebook currently has the better value proposition for targeted ads, since it knows more about people, and Apple dominates the iPhone, iPod and iPad market for delivering these ads; a fact not lost on Google which makes four times more money from its iOS (Apple) device services than from its own Android devices. Apple is effectively in control of a large proportion of Google’s mobile revenue.
‘Google which makes four times more money from its iOS (Apple) device services than from its own Android’
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SPOTTED
Where is this in Amsterdam? Answer to: sentinelpost@gmail.com
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By David King
Film review
Room 2c film By dpmotions
Adaptation (2002) Is it a comedy, a drama or is it a layered screenplay about a screenplay? It could be all or none of these things but what Spike Jonze has directed here is a cerebral piece of entertainment, which actually works better and better the more times you see it. Grab the chance to see Meryl Streep pout sweaty sexiness and dabble in psycho-active pursuits, while Nicolas Cage veers between being annoying and brilliant in his portrayal of a twin.
Room 2c film By dpmotions
An American Werewolf in London (1981) With so much self-adoring soft porn masquerading as the art of a horror movie these days, it is great to enjoy a purer, funnier rush over the ninety-seven minutes of this film. The title suggests enough and the gore and shock factors are high, but that’s only to be expected when you attempt to order a beer in a rural pub called The Slaughtered Lamb. Oscar-winning special effects and make up ensure you get your money’s worth and pay attention at the next full moon.
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AMSTERDAM Queensday
©AmsterSam/AmsterCam 2012
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Recommended
We find the best, most fun, most typical, exciting, or local favourite restaurants etcetera in Amsterdam and bring them to you; an easy way to feel like a local.
To Be Seen and Tasted
Connoisseurs Delight
Cafe Tisfris Cafe Tisfris is recognisable for its landmarks, funky pillars and terrace. The modern, artistic interior with a warm, bustling atmosphere and inviting music attracts quite a mixed crowd. Tisfris offers a friendly and efficient service and is a great pit stop for “yummy” refreshments.
Opera Prima - Patisserie Bistro Traiteur The best place in town for lunch, exquisite high teas or brunches and all of your luxury catering, both private and corporate!
Tisfris St. Antoniebreestraat 142 Amsterdam www.tisfris.nl
Opera Prima Kinkerstraat 228 Amsterdam www.operaprima.nl
To Be Seen and Tasted
Fun, Drinking & Music
Cafe restaurant Edel Cafe restaurant Edel is the perfect place for lunch, dinner or to simply enjoy a drink. Edel is situated in ‘Het Sieraad’ on Postjesweg. It sits in the former clockmaker and jeweller’s academy building and has a large waterside terrace. Edel is a unique place in Amsterdam.
Mulligans Irish Music Bar Amsterdam’s best address for live Irish music : Five (5) nights a week! Check our agenda for upcoming sessions. Join the friendly atmosphere, have a good pint of Guinness and the good old-fashioned “Craic”
EDEL Postjesweg 1 1057 DT Amsterdam www.edelamsterdam.nl
Mulligans Irish Music Bar Amstel 100 1017 AC Amsterdam www.mulligans.nl
trends
Who watches the watchmen II The pursuit of happiness
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trends
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‘If Dutch people are really so damn happy, why then are they all voting for the PVV; a political party obviously scoring by tapping into people being dissatisfied with their lives?’
By Dirkje Bakker-Pierre
This week’s headline: “Dutch very happy”. Over the past few years it has become a trend to measure the happiness of people from around the world and compare them. Throughout the ages, this has also kept philosophers, scientists, politicians, psychologists and many others utterly fascinated. These measurements and reports have many different purposes. Sometimes they just make people feel better, for instance when they show how being very rich alone doesn’t, in general, make people happier than people who are a bit less rich. People who are very poor, though, are significantly unhappier than people who are slightly richer. It clearly depends on which group you focus. Anyway, another report has been produced on this universal theme and the ever-fascinating question: which country in the world is happiest and, much more importantly, why? The article highlighting the report’s findings includes a happiness list which places the citizens of our happy little country (!?) fourth. The only people in the world who are even happier are: Denmark, Norway and Finland. How has this conclusion been reached? The following factors are stated as the main influences: the existence of a social safety net, no corruption and the level of personal freedom, more so than financial wealth. My first reaction is to question if Dutch people are really so damn happy, why then are they all voting for the PVV; a political party obviously scoring by tapping into people being dissatisfied with their lives? I cannot help but wonder how many people were actually interviewed and were they telling the truth? Also,
worldwide, how do people perceive happiness and can they really rate their own levels objectively? I mean, when I think I am very happy am I actually as happy as someone in Thailand who thinks he or she is very happy? Does culture have an influence on the perception of happiness? Incidentally, Thailand finds itself way down on the list, somehow being “the land of a thousand empty smiles”. Another thing that strikes me is the fact that Finland is so highly ranked. Are there not meant to be an unusual amount of suicides in Finland each year and wouldn’t that normally be considered a sign of unhappiness? I looked it up and, according to a list on Wikipedia, Finland is indeed quite high up the world suicide per capita list, in 19th place, to be precise, with Norway 34th, Denmark 35th and the Netherlands 50th. Perhaps there is some logic to this, as if the unhappy people kill themselves, all you are left with are the happy ones! A link to the full report, which is 158 pages long, is included here. It features many tables on happiness and, indeed, one of them includes the Netherlands in the aforesaid position, although I think it might be more insightful to read the whole report and then make a conclusion. The report was presented at a forum during which countries talked about making average happiness levels a goal of their development, instead of just economic progress. The Bhutan president, Jigmi Thinley, is a convert to this new way of thinking about the development of countries and the world. The motivation behind the theory is that, since the 1960s, the United States has tripled its gross domestic product (GDP) while average happiness levels have remained the same. A thoroughly fascinating concept and one that might be necessary for the future of the world, if we want to make it work in the long term by seeing depression, suicide, obesity and addiction as side-effects of economic happiness and wealth.
Health & Well-being
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Health Check-Up
Nutritional advice Eating out healthily
Practical tour (food shopping!)
Every 4 weeks evaluation of progress
Join goal specific group lesson (designed weight loss training!)
Attend motivational and nutritional seminars every 2 weeks
gohconcept@gmail.com - www.facebook.com/GOHconcept +31(0)6 44519526 (David Billy) / +31(0)6 51890832 (Peter Fenwick) / www.billysfysio.nl / www.fenwickpersonaltraining.nl
Health & Well-being
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GOH light Fleur Berkhout
Welcome again to the GOH concept: a response to people’s complaints about how expensive and unsatisfactory gyms are becoming. Many people are fed up with having to pay substantial sums to be locked into contracts for long periods of time and also having to pay extra for services that ought to be included as part of the drive towards achieving their health goals. Additional issues include finding your way around the training equipment, using it effectively, receiving guidance on nutrition and keeping yourself motivated! We would therefore like to keep you updated on the activities and services offered by GOH: a holistic concept that offers all of the services mentioned above in a single package. This eliminates the need for long gym contracts and having to pay ridiculous amounts to receive satisfactory service and health results. GOH is currently holding seminars to network and inform the public about the concept. The seminars take place on Thursday evenings in two week intervals. For more information about the seminars, location, dates and times, please visit our GOH page on Facebook (www.facebook. com/gohconcept). Our goal is to change how the fitness industry works and offer people a more satisfactory and affordable service.
gohconcept@gmail.com www.facebook.com/GOHconcept +31(0)6 44519526 (David Billy) +31(0)6 51890832 (Peter Fenwick) www.billysfysio.nl www.fenwickpersonaltraining.nl
The following nutritional tips should help you to eat more healthily and might even come in handy while travelling, eating out or simply shopping in the supermarket: • If you want to lose weight and maintain your new healthy weight, it’s important to change your eating habits permanently. Don’t be seduced by so called ‘crash-diets’, which cause the well-known but unwanted ‘yoyo-effect’. • Make sure you eat six (6) times a day; three meals and three healthy and small ‘in betweens’. This way your blood-glucose-level will remain stable and you won’t overeat because you won’t feel hungry. • Choose whole-wheat products, vegetables, fish, lean meat and low-fat dairy products. Try to avoid processed foods. • Try to avoid alcohol, as it taxes the liver and contains a lot of calories, making it very hard to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. • Drink at least two litres of water/tea (without sugar) a day, to get rid of any toxins and maintain a healthy fluid balance. The nutritional tips above are general advice suitable for anyone who wants to become and stay healthy. Each participant in the GOH concept weight-loss programme receives personalised food advice, along with the necessary mental/ emotional coaching. This makes it much easier to reach and maintain your goals. Please check out our Facebook page and join our seminars for more information!
sport
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The Gold Room
Kings, reigns and ignominious endings By Denson Pierre
This is the final instalment of the Gold Room focused purely on this season’s FFG-CL (http://thesentinel.eu/ffg/Latest-FFG.htm). The competition itself will definitely go to the last day of competition, as the remaining two fantasy managers vying for the title and Golden Envelope are still separated by only a single digit! These two managers did exceptionally well to pull away at the end of last year and have held their form and nerve. One of them is now approaching a famous victory. A special feature will appear in the following issue, highlighting the many winners from both Sentinel Fantasy Football competitions. All of that with which we are concerned in here is based on the goings on in the English Premier League and, as the season draws, to a close, I would like to say something about the inconsistency shown by certain clubs concerning the performance of professional managers. I will focus on a few (ex) managers of teams that have had high numbers of players involved in this game. Andre Villas-Boas (Chelsea): an odd little man with an arrogance and petulance unbecoming of a professional arriving at a club with a proven recent pedigree, and trying to instil his way of playing almost immediately. It was clear from very early on that the player group detested him intensely and their recently demonstrated resurgence under the even less experienced Roberto de Matteo proves that unhappy squads perform worse and can bring a managers downfall.
Roberto Mancini (Man City): another egomaniac exposed as being not as tactically brilliant as the size of his pay cheque would indicate. Beaten into a sudden full head of grey hairs by Champions League and then Europa League opponents, we are left wondering if the vast amount he was able to spend was not enough to have ensured him winning both main competitions. In today’s real world fantasy football it will be a small wonder if he keeps his job at Manchester City beyond June. Harry Redknapp (Spurs): it is a desperate shame for Tottenham Hotspur and the current group of players at the club that they have a manager who is great at ‘man management’ but has reached a grass ceiling and can take this team no further. The manner in which he has technically led such a disastrous disintegration of form and results at Spurs since the beginning of 2012 is shocking, even though it is a repeat of what occurred in 2011. The buck stops at the manager when a bit of bad form turns into a malaise. Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool): ‘King Kenny’, well, this must be a very painful time for Liverpool fans. After the belittling treatment they dished out to Roy Hodgson for not being ‘their man’, now they have their king at the helm, but this has only proved particularly embarrassing in terms of dud transfers and mediocre presentations in the league. Any other individual but their king would have been ditched months ago, when it became clear that he was not going to cut it in the more modern game. He should be spirited upstairs to resume ambassadorial duties. We all have our time and Dalglish’s seems past.
sport
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CLASSIFIEDS
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CZECH REPUBLIC STUNNINGLY DIFFERENT! www.czechtourism.com