Thesentinelamsterdam-6-16 by Consultancy Market Media

vol. 6 #16 – 03 September 2013

The Sentinel Amsterdam

Integrity, heart, humour

CULTURE PERSPECTIVES LIFESTYLES TRAVEL OPINION REVIEW TECHNOLOGY ART FILM MUSIC TRENDS RECOMMENDED SPORT

feature

perspectives

LONDON CALLED

CHASING EXCESS

in this issue

perspectives - p.30

travel - p. 50

London called

Dam in 60 mins: Nieuwe meer

Caressed by the Dutch north

‘‘As an alternative to carnival we went to Richmond’’

‘Enjoy the fresh air and the

first sight of the lake’

‘A ‘real’ summer surprising us by not only briefly passing’

trends - p. 74

technology - p. 90

sport - p.94

Renewal

User Interface

The Gold Room

‘I don’t see how a plug can get better or worse’

An odd confluence of travel, updates and location-checking ‘

feature - p.04

more amsterdam city life - p. 75

star beer guide - p. 76

recommended - p. 78

Bring back

Gulden Draak

spotted - p. 80

film - p. 81

perspectives - p. 84

Where is this in Amsterdam?

Room2c

Chasing excess

health & well-being - p. 88

Anatomy of a lie

The Sentinel Amsterdam

E-mail: sentinelpost@gmail.com Website: www.thesentinel.eu Contributors: Sam van Dam, E.D. Muntrem, Dirkje Bakker-Pierre, Evelina Kvartunaite, Antonia Egon and Andrei Barburas

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.

feature

London Called By Denson Pierre

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The call had come from family members, as well as Under Armourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

feature

‘Ingredients necessary to ensure great revelry for participants in the Notting Hill Carnival’

Apart from the monsoon-like deluge on the Saturday of our arrival the other three days were gloriously sunny and warm. This added to the ingredients necessary to ensure great revelry for participants in the Notting Hill Carnival. Having been spoilt by experiencing the real deal in Trinidad & Tobago we sidestepped this street parade and sound system clash, which moves a crowd of some 1.5 million people around the festival circuit in West London. We did pass through on the Sunday, to catch some of the steel bands, and that was fine. I just wish it was possible to take all of those keen pan men, women and youngsters to Trinidad, to experience the power of a steel orchestra consisting of up to 120 musicians. As an alternative to carnival we went to Richmond, to walk the banks of the Thames and picnic. Evenings spent in friendly and fun pubs and a half-day spent in Greenwich rounded off this spectacular city break.

The Sentinel answered. The call had come from family members, as well as Under Armour. With the family it was all about venturing into central London again, for the first time in some five years, while Under Armour had invited The Sentinel to Tottenham Hotspur’s first home game of the 2013-2014 season, against Swansea City. Under Armour are technical sponsors of the team I have supported since 1980. Some flying visit this proved to be, as my wife and I embraced the vibrancy, coolness and diversity of the English capital over its final public holiday weekend before Christmas.

feature

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;One thing that touring in heat and humidity is guaranteed to do and that is to make you very thirsty and hungryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

feature

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;This street parade and sound system clash, which moves a crowd of some 1.5 million people around the festival circuit in West Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

feature

‘A half-day spent in Greenwich rounded off this spectacular city break’

feature

classifieds

Je moet er geweest zijn.

classifieds

Authentic and full of surprises. That’s Mechelen. Hospitable and honourable. That’s the people of Mechelen. Come and experience the city’s urban charms for yourself.

photography © Milo Profi

Mechelen Mechelen

perspectives

Dam in 60 minutes! 30

Nieuwe Meer

By Sam van Dam

perspectives

‘Turn past the royal palace and briefly breeze into the Jordaan’

Little boutiques, bookshops and all kinds of cafés, bars and restaurants line the way, inviting passers-by in for refreshment, but I hurry on towards the goal of our trip with focus and determination. Eventually I see the Leidseplein and swerve across it, through the Max Euweplein, from where I can see the main gate to the Vondelpark. It’s just past the Holland Casino, which always looks like James Bond might emerge through its doors at any moment. I enter the park and glide down the paths that offer refuge and relaxation from the stress of the city, even though they are located right at its heart. It is always an enjoyable hang out for Amsterdammers and visitors alike. After a refreshing ride through the green goodness, I reach the south-eastern gate, where I exit the park and follow the signs towards the Amsterdamse Bos, an even bigger nature resort that is also home to our final

destination. Across a bridge and to the left, I zigzag through the fringes of the city while watching the boats floating along the canals and pedestrians enjoying a break from their daily grind on benches near the water. The scenery slowly changes and becomes greener the closer I get to the outskirts; the occasional splash of graffiti adding colour and urban coolness, houseboats happily doing their thing, seagulls and pigeons zooming across the sky. The path towards the Nieuwe Meer is slightly concealed but, luckily, I pay attention to the red signs showing the way and continue ploughing through the landscape. I stop for a moment at the Nieuwe Meersluis to watch the boats lined up, waiting for their turn to be lifted up by the water in the lock in order to enter the Nieuwe Meer. I bike on beneath the Schinkelbrug, a big bridge carrying hectic traffic into the clogged, concrete arteries of the city. I take a deep breath, feeling happy and elated that I can enjoy the fresh air and the first sight of the lake, instead of being boxed into a metal cage with wheels. The group of young men who occupy the cycle path in front of me, with their bags and boxes full of fishing gear, give off an air of freedom and a certain holiday feeling. Geese walk on the grass and barely acknowledge our existence. Crows chase magpies, ducks quack happily and weekend skippers steer their boats across the wide open waters, while the wind whispers softly through the bushes and trees that now dominate the landscape. In the distance I can still see the top of Zuideramstel’s tall buildings but they seem less relevant and the urgency of the city and its constant demand for action seem far away. I take in the relaxed atmosphere of the lake and the beautiful surrounding woods. People walk their dogs and smile at each other, a great heron sits peacefully next to a flock of seagulls and I feel very much at home. I count my blessings for living in such a spirited city that also offers pure nature so close by.

This time our journey starts at Amsterdam Central station, where I soak in the busy atmosphere and exciting rush of travellers coming and going, before turning my back on this tourist hub and bike down Damrak. The city’s red carpet street takes me down to Dam square with all of its famous landmarks and enticing options. I carefully negotiate my way through the crowds while taking pictures of the beautiful buildings, monument and church. Then I turn past the royal palace and briefly breeze into the Jordaan, the former district for working-class folk and now a hip, expensive and exclusive neighbourhood. After catching a whiff of the district’s spirit, I then join the cute street crossing the main canals, in the general direction of the Leidseplein.

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rotate 360 degrees to take it all inâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bags and boxes full of fishing gear, give off an air of freedom and a certain holiday feelingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Take in the relaxed atmosphere of the lake and the beautiful surrounding woodsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

classifieds

Ĺ&#x161;wiÄ&#x2122;tokrzyskie - share the Magic

go to the website: swietokrzyskie.travel

classifieds

travel

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A holiday driving around some Dutch countryside became a great ideaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

travel

Caressed by the Dutch North 51

By Dirkje Bakker-Pierre

Fancy a mini road trip to the lesser-known north of Holland? We seem to prefer being stuck in Amsterdam or to leave the country via Schiphol at the merest invitation. Ever thought about making a caravan tour? And better still, one in this small country, which you could easily drive through and forget about in the space of a single day? Well, that’s what I did and the short distances travelled allow for loads of stops and limits the time spent driving. With a ‘real’ summer surprising us by not only briefly passing through our usually drab, weather-beaten country, but actually sticking around, all of a sudden a holiday driving around some Dutch countryside became a great idea.

Roaming the northern half of Friesland and passing through to North-Holland, via the Afsluitdijk (Zuiderzee causeway) was an experience in itself, which, weirdly enough, I have only ever done twice before in my 37 years. Our first stop, and I had never been before, was the coastal town of Harlingen. It reminds you of Amsterdam but a smaller, prettier and cleaner version. Traditional, small warehouses line the canals, bridges are adorned with blooming red and pink flowers, and a range of authentic, fun-looking bars with wide beer selections, which made me somehow think of Belgium, create the impression that it could be nice place to hang out for a day or two. We spent the night overlooking the huge canal and locks leading from the North Sea to Friesland. It is walking distance from the old town and North Sea dyke, where we came across the world-famous statue of the little boy who stuck his finger in the dyke to save the entire country from flooding. Even if the story is a

travel

‘Harlingen. It reminds you of Amsterdam but a smaller, prettier and cleaner version’

beach and a large, natural sand dune reserve. Although walking the dunes in hot weather was challenging, the fantastically grey-, green-, brown-, lilac-, purple- and beige-coloured picturesque landscape made it well worth it. Of course, we had to rest for a good while on the beach, taking a refreshing dip and time to eat some The next morning we left for Den Helder, an old naval town, where the camper parking was located on the old more freshly fried, golden-brown chips. The way back military terrain in the town centre. This also features a through the dunes was a breeze and that evening we naval museum and numerous other attractions, such as cooked fried rice, and even tried to use pastels to recreate the dune’s mesmerising beauty. a cinema and restaurants. We camped surrounded by ancient, antique ships, real cannons and the gorgeous As the weather seemed to be changing we then drove architecture of the old marine buildings. Some 20 minutes walk from here, the ferry leaves for Texel every inland to the beautiful and typically Dutch old towns of Hoorn and Enkhuizen, which I know fairly well and half hour and we decided to visit the largest of the are always worth a visit. Both feature great historic Frisian islands. The return trip costs only € 2.50 and architecture and are very welcoming. The Zuiderzee when you arrive there are numerous buses waiting to take you to anywhere on the island. Hanging out on the museum can also to be found in Enkhuizen. This fantastic outdoor museum has collected old buildings beach and in the dunes, eating hot chips, was as good from the fishing towns and villages of northern as it gets and we left the island sunburnt and tired but Holland and recreated life as it used to be. You will find happy. This is an easy and entertaining daytrip, which old-style fashion shops, handicrafts and an actual includes the option of visiting the famous Texel ‘living’ village. Given that we had visited this attraction brewery (don’t we all like Springtij and Skuumkoppe). many times before, we chose instead to relax a bit and enjoy our last, long, summer’s day reading, chatting, After Den Helder we felt it was time for some hardcore eating and reminiscing. Same again next year, please! dune walking and drove to the village of St Maartenszee, which features an endless North Sea myth, it is still a nice and romantic fairytale, which always reminds you of being a kid yourself, believing all kinds of tales and thinking of heroic deeds to do yourself, in case the water should once again rise.

travel

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The world-famous statue of the little boy who stuck his finger in the dykeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

travel

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Endless North Sea beach and a large, natural sand dune reserveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

travel

‘It is currently a secret jewel but within such easy reach, once you enter the region’

By Denson Pierre

By 8.30am we had dusted ourselves off from the after effects of the Solaris Resort’s pirate ship cocktails in time for another wholesome breakfast in a dining area filled with brilliant natural light. The use of large, plain, transparent glass panes is an easy choice here, due to the abundance of sunshine. Next stop would be down the road at another little gem of a town hugging a non-stop Adriatic panorama. Primošten is a fascinatingly located town of about two to three thousand inhabitants that is well worth a stop-over for a day or longer. I could not help wondering what it would be like in the off season and winter, however, as it is a fair size for so few people. Local youths have little option but to leave in pursuance of further education or work opportunities. At times it must be eerily quiet in this town, which rises to a central parish church dating back to 1460. It was almost a philosophical experience to negotiate the incline, reach the top and check out some of the more elderly locals, who seemed to have a favourite, shaded and cool spot on the benches lining the church courtyard, which directly extends into the graveyard. Luckily, the view just beyond this setting is spectacularly beautiful and feeds thoughts of optimism rather than morbidity. Heading back down through the town brought to light an abundance of hospitality establishments, moorings and beaches geared up for all tourist needs.

After a short bus ride down the road we arrived at Trogir. This is one of those extraordinary cultural stops, given that the entire old town is UNESCO accredited as being of importance to world heritage. It is worth tarrying in this lovely place for a couple of days, during which you can pick through its history while saving enough energy to dive into the great, fresh and tasty food available in this part of the world, as we did at Restaurant Monika. It remains a great pleasure that, even somewhere as tourist flushed as this, the hospitality folk are so consistently nice in all their dealings with patrons. As always on such absorbing trips, after a few days time was suddenly running out. The idea was to take a bus back to Split from glorious Trogir but with the heat arguably topping that in which we had travelled this way, initially, we were easily convinced by an interesting gentleman from Kaštela touting a ‘private’ taxi to the big city. I do not know if this sort of ‘taxi’ is legally tolerated or not but we quite liked it, as it provides a decent manner in which locals can generate a fair-priced income when the tourist numbers, needs and urgency exposes an infrastructural and logistical gap. Unfortunately, if we had booked a standard taxi the cost of the ride, after payment to the booker, the agent and the taxi driver himself, would have been the only thing to remind us of the severity of pricing back in Western Europe. The ride we took was a breezy, mainly highway driven run of 45 minutes to our next hotel, for just €20.

travel

classifieds

amsterdam city life

: K C A B G N I BR LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION By Denson Pierre

What does all this have to do with Amsterdam? Despite my addiction to cinema, to catch movies in the format for which they were made, life and wage slavery got in the way of this regular pleasure after my thirtieth year. Even so, and especially when it came to movies of great cinematography and/or spectacle, cinema remains my preferred way to catch a movie. If you have tried watching Lord of the Rings at home you would be unable to convince anyone that it came even close to the intended intensity of visuals and sound on your home media centre and Blu-ray system; hideously large screen or not.

underbelly could be detected until the very last moments of the film, for example. What I do romanticise about, however, is a time when cinema visits were one of the easiest things to do on dates, or for leisure and excitement. With so much piracy by those who are most likely to complain about it, I understand that it may be impossible to bring back the hope of lower ticket pricing for modern movie halls, since making a movie on this scale has certainly not become cheaper and may even have become more expensive in real terms. Movies are generally produced on the back of private investment and returns are naturally expected. If they cannot have a greater share of the overall media output market then the studios and the cinema operators will make a smaller share of the public pay at a level to ensure the best possible returns.

Nevertheless, after much deliberation I decided to go and see the above movie, and was very impressed by it. However, I could not help wondering who, even in wealthy Amsterdam, could actually regularly afford to shell out €15 (adult) for an admittedly more comfortable seat in an IMAX hall, projecting HD 3D. I mean, what is a family with children meant to do? What are youngsters dating meant to do? The average length of a Hollywood feature film is two hours. Many people I recently came across an impressive trailer for a I know earn less than €15 per hour net and I therefore Hollywood mega-movie and it struck me that it would feel pity that they cannot even consider a visit to these be a great opportunity to see how much the technology hyper-modern cinemas. has moved on since Avatar, in IMAX 3D. The movie was Pacific Rim, a fun reworking of Godzilla with the Bring back? If only the studios, Pathé, destructive illegal right amount of alien invasion, emotive and dramatic downloaders and pirates were listening then we could characteristics to make it worthwhile and certainly have a nice, affordable Hollywood ending. Somehow, reassuringly spectacular with its suppression of the however, I do not think any of these groups are listening most common clichés in this genre. No romantic in surround sound.

News emerged today claiming that the US economy had shown a flicker of positive motion over the most recent quarter. The reports further suggested that with so many blockbuster films out, Hollywood was responsible, or at least pulling more than its fair share of weight, for bringing the country’s officially bankrupt economy back to some sort of new appointment with a World Bank manager about its current account.

star beer guide

Star Beer

star beer guide

The Sentinel Star beer guide By Denson Pierre

GULDEN DRAAK

(10.5% A.B.V.)

Beer lovers across the Netherlands realised it was actually a greatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 77

This is a destination beer. The way it is Gulden Draak is brewed by Brouwerij van presented, in a white bottle with an eternally Steenberge, Ertvelde, Belgium. interesting dragon as part of its design, you can almost find yourself chasing it. At such immense strength, this beverage is best enjoyed almost as a dessert or the crescendo of an intense session, when knock-out sleep may be the final objective. Oddly enough, this beer was a regular feature of the Albert Heijn selection in years past. This seems to have been before the real beer lovers across the Netherlands realised it was actually a great.

recommended

Cafe Bax 03/08/13

Cafe-Restaurant Du Cap, 23/08/13

ENDED RECOMM

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. Connoisseurs Delight

To be seen and tasted

Butcher’s Tears Brewery and tasting room. From ears to mouth to tails. Karperweg 45 Amsterdam www.butchers-tears.com

Cafe-Restaurant Du Cap A spacious and tasty helping to the Mediterranean vibe within Amsterdam’s new ‘West End’ entertainment district. Kwakersplein 2 Amsterdam www.du-cap.nl

To be seen and tasted

Fun, Drinking & Music

Cafe de Toog 1890’s grandeur fashioned into Amsterdam-West, grand, brown cafe-restaurant-cool. Classy drinks and meals. Nicolaas Beetsstraat 142 hs Amsterdam www.cafedetoog.com

Parck Great fun, beautiful people and simply the best bar food in town! Overtoom 428 Amsterdam www.cafeparck.nl

Mulligans Irish Music Bar Amsterdam’s best address for live Irish music: Five (5) nights a week! Check our agenda for upcoming sessions. Amstel 100 1017 AC Amsterdam www.mulligans.nl

To Be Seen and Tasted

Connoisseurs Delight

To Be Seen and Tasted

Cafe restaurant Edel Cafe restaurant Edel is the perfect place for lunch, dinner or to simply enjoy a drink. Edel is a unique place in Amsterdam. Postjesweg 1 1057 DT Amsterdam www.edelamsterdam.nl

Incanto A restaurant with a classic Italian kitchen. Venetian chef Simone Ambrosin is known for his pure and simple style of cooking with great feeling for nuance. Amstel 2 Amsterdam www.restaurant-incanto.nl

Café Kostverloren Café Kostverloren is a contemporary cafe offering the cosiness of a saloon, an open kitchen and the intimacy of a living room. The large terras is great for sunny days. 2e Kostverlorenkade 70 Amsterdam www.cafekostverloren.nl

Fun, Drinking & Music

Connoisseurs Delight

Neighbourhood cosy

Café Oporto Café Oporto is a traditional Amsterdam ‘brown cafe’. Welcoming tourists and regular customers alike, they offer televised sports, wiﬁ and a wide range of reasonably priced beers and spirits. Zoutsteeg 1 1012 LX Amsterdam www.cafeoporto.net

Planet Rose The ﬁrst Caribbean restaurant in the Netherlands, specialised in Jamaican cuisine. The menu features a daily changing selection! Nicolaas Beetsstraat 47 Amsterdam www.planetrose.info

Zest Zest is ﬁne food, warm atmosphere and classy drinks with regular semi-acoustic (live) music and DJs (Thursday to Sunday). Amsterdam’s newest and freshest! Bilderdijkstraat 188 Amsterdam www.facebook.com/clubzest.nl

Fun, Drinking & Music

Connoisseurs Delight

Fun, drinking and music

Bax A cosy and friendly local café with a focus on special or interesting beers and good quality food. Open 7 days a week with a professional kitchen offering a lunch and dinner service. Ten Katestraat 119 Amsterdam www.cafebax.nl

Café Rose Red You will not see and sample a better selection of the very best of European beer elsewhere. Cordoeaniersstraat 16 Brugge www.caferosered.com

Gollem Gollem’s Proeﬂokaal, Gollem and Gollem II represent the best addresses serving the fullest range of top Belgian, Dutch and international beers in Amsterdam. Overtoom 160-161 Amsterdam www.cafegollem.nl

To be seen and tasted

spotted

Where is this in Amsterdam?

Answer to: sentinelpost@gmail.com

room2c

Room 2c film The Sting (1973)

By dpmotions

Matchstick Men (2003) A well-acted story of deceit that you are unlikely to figure out until the very last minutes of the movie. Riding on the impactful style of director Ridley Scott, you may even gain appreciation for the acting skills of Nicolas Cage, who plays the role of a savvy and smooth confidence trickster right up to the point when he meets his long-lost teenage daughter.

To this day, this movie remains the coolest, best-staged, twist-laden story to have graced the big screen. The two pretty boys of the 1970s, Paul Newman and Robert Redford, play the roles of the smoothest small-to-big-time conspiracy tricksters out there. With so many compelling twists being unravelled, if this film was made today, it would have to be called Twister. Some of the most enjoyable cinema you are ever likely to come across, in terms of fine acting, stylish costumes and settings.

By dpmotions

trends

Renewal ‘Why is Apple doing this?’

By Dirkje Bakker-Pierre

Having a different plug for each device and then for every different version of that device leads to a very unfortunate accumulation of cords, chargers, plugs, adapters, etc. Of course, each time you need one, you can’t find that specific plug for your iPhone 4, but only one for the iPhone 5. The pile of white plastic wires and bits just seems to grow and grow; there isn’t a drawer in the house or at work that you can open without some white power plug or cord hiding in a corner. Ah, of course, now I find two iPhone 4 plugs at the same time, when I no longer need them. The plain irritating part

of all of this is thinking about all the wires and plugs we have to throw away each time we pluck a new Apple off the virtual shopping tree. There are no recycling options; they are just meant to be abandoned, dropped and trashed. If you want to give them a longer life you are obliged to keep using your out-of-date laptop. This runs like a senior citizen without his walker and has to be pushed forward and guided each step of the way, with an emergency team on constant standby in case reanimation is required. Why is Apple doing this? Is it really possible to improve on a simple power adapter over and over again on a yearly basis? My sceptical side says that Apple is just trying to make some extra money on the side by forcing you to buy their extremely expensive new plugs, but who knows? All I know is that the end to this white plastic tornado nightmare will not be in sight for a long, long time. Apple seems to suck us in to never let us go and it looks like we will have to go through this again and again…

New is not always better; just so you know. Even if certain companies seem to think it is nice to come up with new things constantly, even though they are not really new things, just the same thing with a slight tweak. By ‘companies’ I really mean Apple. No matter how much I like their products, and I have been working with them for almost 20 years, my lifelong annoyance is that they find it necessary to create a new and ‘better’ plug for each new version of a product. First of all, I don’t see how a plug can get better or worse. Normal plugs have been the same for years and years, and all they really need to do is allow the current to flow; nothing more, nothing less.

perspectives

Chasing excess

‘I lived in the Anne Frank House’

‘Getting under the sheets required sidling along the edge at almost a ninety-degree angle’

By E.R. Muntrem

For a while I lived in the Anne Frank House. Not the real Anne Frank House, obviously, but a space small enough that it was fun to name it so. The real Anne Frank House always has the longest queue in town. Always. Every year, for the past eight years, I have come to Amsterdam from the United States to stay for a few months. For two of those visits I lived in a room in the attic of an old house. Only in the exact centre of the room, under the apex of the roof, could you stand upright. Otherwise, the pitch of the wall forced you to stoop. Since the bed took up almost the whole width of the room, getting under the sheets required sidling along the edge at almost a ninetydegree angle. The only closet was wide enough for only five or six shirts, the table accommodated a single chair and the glorious skylight let in the sounds and sights of the city. Nevertheless, with a bathroom on the floor below and no Nazis trying to exterminate me, I had it far better than Anne. Relieved of want pretending to be need, I have rarely been as happy as in those few square metres.

Most of us are not cut out for the life of the ascetic; living with only a robe and a rice bowl. Personally, I don’t care much about expensive cars or clothes but a beautiful house always raises in me the hackles of jealousy and envy. You can walk the canals of Amsterdam during the daytime and never get bored of looking at the people and the bikes, absorbing the life that the water and architecture generate. The fact that the buildings are on a human scale, not twenty storeys high, is part of what keeps the city safe and vibrant. Eyes on the street, Jane Jacobs calls it. People can say hello to you from the top of their house, and you to them. The proximity to others, walking freely in the street, is part of what makes the Anne Frank story so compelling. And you can walk the canals forever at night, enjoying the reflections and the light, and the jewel box effect created when looking through windows, each offering a different treasure and, for those of us who suffer house envy, something to drool over. Yet, over the past few years, more and more of the grand canal houses have leant towards show rather

perspectives

‘Most of us are not cut out for the life of the ascetic’

‘Minor fame proves that modesty and impermanence are the best route to happiness’

than beauty. In America the idea that wealthy people should all build houses the size of airports is now depressingly common. The human sickness of wanting too much of enough and chasing excess for its own sake is a killer disease where I come from. My favourite example is the banker who spent thirty million euros on a house he immediately demolished to build something else. Can you imagine being made so unhappy by vanity? And this was just his summer home. And this is who the political class now serves. But also here in Amsterdam, on the Herengracht or Lauriergracht, you increasingly see houses that don’t just say ‘look at my beauty’ but ‘look how wealthy I am’.

Or frustration too?

As I have written previously in The Sentinel, no cultural change in Amsterdam worries me as much as the increase of scooters. They drain Amsterdam of magic and add tension to daily life. In America, the birthplace of road rage, the gap between the poor and wealthy has grown inversely proportionate to happiness. More scooters and gaudier houses but, also, more graffiti. A friend of mine says that the financial crises reduced the city’s budget for cleaning it up. Is it just that?

Even on houses I find garish, I wish there were no graffiti. Neither serves the cause of neighbourhood. Notably, Laser 3.14, the town’s best-known tagger, not only writes well – “Give love a platform, I want to hear it speak” – but also never paints anything on a permanent surface; construction boards and temporary doors are his canvas. You could say that his minor fame proves that modesty and impermanence are the best route to happiness, maybe even immortality. These things should not be forced on you, of course. Just ask Miss Frank. And who can say how many scooters are too many or when a house is too big? Still, the world lines up at her door, not just because she hid there so long but to honour how she lived when she was forced to hide. The lesson there was not about showing off, but staying true.

classifieds

www.yourtuliptour.com 87

For complete and world class tours of Prague Packages include: • Hidden and playful Prague (for families with young children) • Literary Prague • Prague Architecture through the ages • Religion and the city • The old city at night *These are detailed tours designed for visitors who wish to explore with great detail and not suitable for simply sight-seeing tourists.

Day segments and rates: PR: 08:00-12:30hrs / AG: 13:30-16:30hrs / UE: 17:30-21:30hrs All sessions are priced at u 25 per single adult. Group size upper limit = 8. Accompanied children under the age of five are gratis and school aged children pay 25%. Family package rates are negotiable.

Contact:

Jaroslav Cernosek +420 602 228 797 Mail: jcernosek@centrum.cz

JC Tours

health & well-being

Anatomy of a lie 88

By Evelina Kvartunaite

the what, where, why and how we lied about it. If you start to tell lies, you must not only have an impeccable memory but I think, in most cases, the act of lying would certainly raise our stress levels and make us sleep less at night (as if there weren’t enough disturbances already).

I recently got to thinking about how often we lie to protect ourselves or the people we love and how unhealthy that is. Also, what is the difference between what we call a white lie and a bigger lie, and is there really any difference? What is the value of silence and something remaining untold? I keep wondering how many things we lie to ourselves about and how much more or less we lie to others. Do we lie more to our nearest and dearest, and is it less important when we lie to random strangers?

Am I really just saying that telling the truth is healthier? I think so, yes. Not having to worry about what exactly we said to whom and how that affects something else frees up pleasurable space in our already busy heads. Another very important side of a lie is the truth. It sounds pretty silly, I know, but that’s the difficult part: to face what needs to be faced and be OK with it. It might just be as simple as saying to yourself “I am good enough as I am”. I therefore wish you light, not lies.

When considering all of these questions, I came to the conclusion that if we make the decision to lie about something, we have to be very good at remembering

– ‘What is the value of silence and something remaining untold?’ –

health & well-being

– ‘The act of lying would certainly raise our stress levels’ –

– ‘About what exactly we said to whom and how that affects something else frees up pleasurable space’ –

technology

‘You cannot view YouTube videos everywhere in the world’

User Interface Bought and paid for?

‘It illustrates just how totally, irretrievably broken the idea of DRM and region controls for ebooks is’

By Andrei Barburas

Well, not really. DRM, or Digital Rights Management, is a class of controversial technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals for the purpose of controlling the use of digital content and devices post-sale. Do they work? In theory, yes, in practice, it’s quite different. An example of DRM with which you may be familiar is DVDs, which have different regional restrictions, making it difficult to play some brought home from abroad. With the increasing use of online material, DRM has taken over the internet as well; that’s why you cannot view YouTube videos everywhere in the world, you cannot legally download music from your favourite store or watch TV shows using ‘1st-world outlets’ like Google Play, Netflix, iTunes, etc. An article published on BoingBoing via Copyfight recently caught my attention. It was about eBooks and how you can lose them by simply updating your app.

Jim O’Donnell was at a library conference in Singapore when his iPad’s Google Play app asked him to update it. This was the app through which he had bought 30 to 40 ebooks and, after the app had updated, his iPad started to re-download them. However, Singapore is not one of the countries in which the Google Play bookstore is active, so it stopped downloading and told him he was no longer entitled to his books. It’s an odd confluence of travel, updates and location-checking but it illustrates just how totally, irretrievably broken the idea of DRM and region controls for ebooks is. Here’s the article, in compliance with the Creative Commons License, of course: I’m in Singapore attending the IFLA meetings. Long trip, but I made a bold and brave decision to depend for my reading material on this trip entirely on my iPad -- Kindle, iBooks, and “Google Play” (formerly known as Google Books). A single slim volume of Shakespeare’s Sonnets accompanies me in codex form to give me something to read during the ritual shutdown of electronic devices on the planes.

technology

So when I got here, I noticed that several of my iPad apps had updates on offer, so I clicked and approved. One of them was Google Play. When it finished and I went to open the app, it told me that it needed to update my book files and this might take several minutes. Time passed and the screen filled in the covers of the 30 or 40 titles I keep live on the machine. Two of them were books I am actively reading for my teaching this fall. But all of my books had un-downloaded and needed to be downloaded again. The app is an inefficient downloader, almost as bad as the New Yorker app, so I dreaded this, but clicked on the two I needed most at once. (I checked the amount of storage used, and indeed the files really have gone off my tablet.) And it balked. It turns out that because I am not in a country where Google Books is an approved enterprise (which encompasses most of the countries on the planet), I cannot download. Local wisdom among the wizards here speculates that the undownloading occurred when the update noted that I was outside the

US borders and so intervened. Atypically, Google has Google Play help service available by email, but a series of exchanges demonstrated that the droids at the Android Store were neither able to comprehend my issue, sympathize with my plight, or offer a remedy. I must return to the US to be allowed to spend a few hours redownloading “my” books before I can read them again. At one point they asked what features I might suggest be added to Google Play. I suggested “Don’t Be Evil”, but got no response. Did you ever get into a situation where you actually paid your money for a service but could not access it because you were in the ‘wrong’ country?

classifieds

sport

The Gold Room By Denson Pierre

There is something about the manner in which this Premier League season has started that already seems to suggest that it could be a classic. Within this master game, the way managers go about selecting their players is usually an efficient guide to the players who are going to star and score heavily in fantasy football. It is always interesting, at this stage of the season, to highlight a couple of newly arrived players who are likely to be crucial and influential to their clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eventual league placing and possible success in the cup competitions. Wilfried Bony is another import from the Dutch top division who brings to the Swansea City table a potentially devastating and powerful ability to score goals of all kinds with consummate ease. For now, with Michu ahead in the queue as the lone out and out striker, he appears to be slightly short of the Premier

League fitness levels needed to choose him over the more waiflike Michu to lead the Swansea City line. Managers in the FFG-CL have shown great confidence in Bony having a big impact with some 67% of them having selected him. Roberto Soldado will score many goals in the Premier League, European competition and domestic cups. With exceptional technique, speed and a clinical eye, he is already building up a head of steam, which will ensure that he is considered for Player of the Season. Just a couple of managers have currently selected him but I can see this changing pretty soon after the close of the transfer window. As always, there will be fireworks in this competition, which also provides easy tips for successful management in the Sentinel Fantasy Football League (feeder competition): go to the website >

sport

classifieds

Get advice on housing, rental contracts and apartments in Amsterdam

www.wswonen.nl/english

we are looking for: - Account Manager Market Media - (Internship) International Marketing Executive www.consultancymarketmedia.com

classifieds

Artist? Thinker? Here are some of our local partners.

demerkplaats.nl Enter (click) to learn why they work with us.

classifieds

CZECH REPUBLIC STUNNINGLY DIFFERENT!