The Sentinel Amsterdam vol. 6 #9 by Consultancy Market Media

vol. 6 #9 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 09 April 2013

The Sentinel Amsterdam

Integrity, heart, humour

feature

perspectives

DAM IN 60 vancouver: an expedition MINUTES! of tastes

in this issue

perspectives - p.22

city gem - p. 46

Vancouver

Dam in 60 mins: Ouderkerk

Two For Joy

‘I’m not completely alone in exploring Vancouver’

‘Love that long, straight road connecting Amsterdam with Ouderkerk’

‘Three levels of pleasantness’

trends - p. 60

technology - p. 64

sport - p. 86

Aggressive sex?

User Interface: Driving Open Source

The Gold Room

‘Girls, in general, show a greater tendency than boys towards fighting or aggression’

feature - p.04

‘High expectations, especially in the age in which we live’ more

culture - p. 42

amsterdam city life - p. 51

star beer guide - p. 54

Indoor bites

Bring back

La Corne

sentinel recommended - p. 56

spotted - p. 58

film review - p. 59

Where is this in Amsterdam

Room 2C

health & well-being - p. 62

sport - p. 68

sport - p. 70

Porridge

On the Volley

White Out

The Sentinel Amsterdam

E-mail: sentinelpost@gmail.com Website: www.thesentinel.eu Contributors: Sam van Dam, Nihal Rabbani, Andrei Barburas, Dirkje Bakker-Pierre, Evelina Kvartunaite, Ananda Welij, and Simon Joseph

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

Vancouver: An expedition of tastes

feature

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;My taxi drops me off in the up and coming Gastown neighbourhoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

By Ananda van Welij

A city right on the Pacific Oceanfront, spread out over flowing hills that morph into impressive, snowy mountains: Vancouver. A city that, in my mind at least, had always been the starting point for a snow adventure. I discovered on my first visit in early March that it has so much more to offer.

feature

‘I want to taste so much more and don’t want to leave the place’

I’m slightly overwhelmed when walking across town to my hotel. Just as in any large city in North America, the streets are straight and run for a very long time before changing name. As I step up to the lovely and perfectly centrally located Wedgewood Hotel, my bags are collected and carried to the reception. After checking in, I take a minute to wind down on the incredibly comfortable sofa in the Bacchus Piano Lounge, which is known for it’s great food and wines, before freshening up to go out. Rustic history, new tastes

The Salt Tasting Room is not simply about tasting delicious wines, cheeses and meats, it’s about enjoying them. You don’t spit the wine out. You take the time to sit down, unwind, talk and taste. Different menu options are available, depending on your preference. Open to new things and excited to learn about the local products, I allow our waitress to decide for me. This proved to be an excellent decision. Sublime wines from various wineries are combined with cheese and meat and a little bit extra, like a fruit compote or local honey. My favourite combination was Alvear Solera 1927 dessert wine with La Roche Noire blue cheese and a few drops of honey. It’s so incredibly delicious that it manages to silence my friend Paul, who joins me at the end of the tasting and insists that I order a bottle online to send home. I want to taste so much more and don’t want to leave the place, but it’s time to move on to other culinary delights. Paul and I venture back into the cold and

Full of amazing food and drink, it’s time to head back to the hotel. Walking across Gastown at night under the stars makes me curious to know how it looks during the day. Perhaps an opportunity will arise over the next few days. Next level tea

Bright sun greets me at breakfast the following morning and I’m told that I’m really lucky; it seems we’re in for the first real sunny day in a long time. Perfect for exploring! After the lightest and crunchiest fresh waffles I’ve ever tasted, I jump in a taxi as I’m already late for my next stop: the Urban Tea Merchant. Yes, I do love to drink tea but a tea tasting is not something that springs to mind as a fun activity. But wow, was I wrong! I’m welcomed by Reza and Casey, owners and next level tea sommeliers. Yes, you read that right, sommeliers. After a look around the shop, which is filled with 200(!) different types of tea, it’s time to start tasting. Choosing which tea to taste is hard enough in itself. The aromas that waft to my nose when the different cans are opened are all so good. Sitting down at a special table, Reza explains to me the different backgrounds of the teas he is about to serve me and how to properly prepare and taste them. Letting the tea flow through different cups before allowing me to try any of them will ensure that I will get the

Luckily, I’m not completely alone in exploring Vancouver over the next few days; I would be shown around the city on a tasting and sightseeing tour thanks to Tourism Vancouver/BC. And things get off to a good start. As my taxi drops me off in the up and coming Gastown neighbourhood, the driver tells me that it used to be the place where all the town’s butchers were located, resulting in the name Blood Alley. Although the street still has a rough feel to it, the open space and lovely aroma into which I walk soon takes my mind off of all that.

walk down Blood Alley to The Irish Heather. Stepping back into warmth we are welcomed by the wonderful crew there. It is almost the complete opposite to the Salt Tasting Room in terms of interior style. The Irish Heather has a proper, comfortable pub feeling with matching food. After all the cheese and wine, I decide to keep it light with a fresh salad. Paul goes for the signature dish: the steak and Guinness pot pie. He said he wasn’t really that hungry but the food is just too good and when our plates are cleared, his doesn’t have a crumb left on it. Besides the good, rustic food, the Irish Heather is a popular place thanks to its long table concept. Taking any free seat is the start of a night full of fun for your taste buds and your tongue is further exercised by talking to the strangers around you.

perspectives feature

‘The Irish Heather has a pr comfortable pub feeling w matching food’

roper, with

perspectives feature

feature

‘The combination of hot drink and soft chocolate creates an explosion in your taste buds’

absolute best taste from each and every one of them, combined with a tea-infused piece of chocolate made inhouse. The combination of hot drink and soft chocolate creates an explosion in your taste buds. I’ll never look at tea the same way again. Leaving the store with a bag full of tea worth more than the average amount I spend on a pair of high heels, I’m on a mission to share this with the rest of the family back home. It’s starting to look like Vancouver is one big tasting room, something of which I become even more convinced as I explore Granville Island. Known as a big cultural and artisan part of the city, the island is home to numerous local businesses who demonstrate love for their respective crafts. I fell in love with one shop as soon as I walked inside: the Soap Gallery, next to the incredible Public Market. Proper pieces of soap art displayed in the windows and spread across the store generate a scent that makes you want to run home and jump in a warm bath. All of the soaps are created from scratch by owner Darren Monette, a chemist who decided to try something new and now creates true works of deliciously fragrant art.

“Thanks for coming and we hope to see you again.” “Oh yes you will!” It’s already time for my last little bit of Vancouver. Finishing off with an incredible fresh sushi lunch at Coast Restaurant, I can’t help but regret having to leave already. What I’ve seen and experienced only makes me curious to explore more. Vancouver and all of your wonderful people, I understand why you’re so popular. Thank you for awakening my taste buds and mind, and I hope to see you again soon.

I’m getting hungry from all of the amazing food that I’m seeing and smelling and head over to Edible Canada for a delicious lunch sandwich. I’m starting to wonder Links: if I’ll ever be able to eat a normal cheese sandwich www.hellobc.com again, after all these delicious treats. I’m being spoiled! www.tourismvancouver.com www.wedgewoodhotel.com Some action www.urbantea.com There is only so much your stomach can take and all of www.salttastingroom.com this eating and drinking makes me desperate for some www.irishheather.com exercise, which I can get in Stanley Park. The best way www.ediblecanada.com to explore this place is by bike, the Dutch way! Cruising www.thesoapgallery.blogspot.com around in the sunshine, I recollect everything I’ve www.glowbalgroup.com/coast experienced so far. One thing is for certain; I’m happy there are people letting me in on their favourite places in town, because I would never have found most of them on my own.

Granville Island

All of it makes me curious about what else Vancouver and Canada, in general, have to offer. My next stop is the perfect way to develop an impression of it all on a tight programme. A new attraction in Vancouver, Fly Over Canada offers exactly what it says. Lisa and Craig meet me and show me around the building in which people will soon have the opportunity to fly across the country, experiencing its rich culture and nature as if they are in a helicopter. Even better, as if they are actually just flying through the air, thanks to special seats, wind and odour machines combined with a surround screen. Don’t have time to explore all of Canada in person? This is the best next thing.

perspectives feature

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I fell in love with one shop as soon as I walked inside: the Soap Galleryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

feature

perspectives feature

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;All of it makes me curious about what else Vancouver and Canada, in general, have to offerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

classifieds

perspectives

Dam in 60 minutes! â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A great sight and juxtaposition of urban and ruralâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

By Sam van Dam

perspectives

Ouderkerk

In this latest instalment of the series we visit Ouderkerk aan de Amstel.

A seemingly endless road lies ahead and if not for a car or scooter passing by every now and then, I might have imagined that I was in some kind of end-of-days movie; a lone survivor travelling through an empty world, wondering where everybody went. Needless to say, this is a very welcome feeling after biking through the crowded streets of the city. So, I grab my camera and started snapping away at the beautiful scenery, taking in the silence and the sounds, enveloped in a blanket of serenity. As I pass the Amstelpark, I have to hold myself back from entering, as it is a rather sullen place at this time of year, but I very much look forward to spending some quality time there once spring has sprung. It might be the most awesome park we have, even though it is something of a secret, since

One thing that slightly disturbs this perfect scene of peace and tranquillity are the ever-present racing bikers, whooshing by on their flash machines, dressed in their notoriously colour scheme-challenged outfits. Luckily they are so fast that you barely see them and, to be honest, if I were them, I’d also love that long, straight road connecting Amsterdam with Ouderkerk. Even at my slow, sightseeing speed I rather enjoyed the ride; no traffic lights and almost no other people on the road, a perfect practice track. Upon my arrival in Ouderkerk I notice a couple of things, or rather their absence: no pigeons! There is also no graffiti anywhere! This is so unusual I just had to share it with you, as I don’t recall when I last saw any urban scene free of these omnipresences. Ouderkerk itself is a typical Dutch village with very pretty old houses and, yes, a charming and beautiful church. The people have their own style and all seem to know each other. You see folk chatting in the street and the lady at the local supermarket cash register knows the names of all her customers, and even takes the time to chat with them, while I patiently wait to pay for my purchase, smiling at them once I overcome my city-slicker sense of agitation and the irrelevant urge to get things done quickly. As I steer my bike back towards the city, I notice a sign saying ‘Ouderkerk. mooi om hard doorheen te rijden’, which means ‘Ouderkerk. beautiful to speed through.’ Only after I ask a local if the sign is their idea of a sarcastic joke do I realise that it actually says ‘Ouderkerk. Te mooi om hard doorheen te rijden’, which means ‘Ouderkerk. Too beautiful to speed through.’ Some vandal had scratched out the ‘Te’. It seems that these villagers do not just have a pretty place to live in, but at least one of them has a wicked sense of humour.

I guide my bike towards the outskirts of the city and within a few minutes of passing Amstel Station I am out in the open, surrounded by wild vegetation lining the banks of the river Amstel, which peacefully meanders out of the city. I am still able to see the looming towers of the mini-skyline, comprising the Philips tower and the surrounding ‘skyscrapers’, a great sight and juxtaposition of urban and rural. As I pass by the Martin Luther King Park calmness descends upon me and I slowly start focusing my senses on the trees, the bushes, the water and the birds. I start noticing little rowing boats gliding by and the occasional cyclist crossing my path, while the stress of the city begins to evaporate and a feeling of balance and belonging takes hold.

it is not exactly centrally located. The Amstel to my left with boats happily floating between its banks, and impressive mansions, villas and windmills to my right, I allow the soothing flow of the river to guide me towards Ouderkerk, while taking in as many calming and relaxing vistas as my eyes will allow.

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;With boats happily floating between its banks, and impressive mansions, villas and windmills to my right, I allow the soothing flowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;No traffic lights and almost no other people on the roadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ouderkerk itself is a typical Dutch village with very pretty old housesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;People have their own style and all seem to know each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I overcome my city-slicker sense of agitation and the irrelevant urge to get things done quicklyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

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culture

Indoor bites 42

‘My freezing cold Amsterdam balcony conveniently transformed itself into a walk-out fridge’ By Nihal Rabbani

Being a bona fide foodie, I usually have an abundance of ingredients that need storage space. Consequently, I didn’t mind at all when my freezing cold Amsterdam balcony conveniently transformed itself into a walkout fridge at the end of February. At the time I was cooking up a frenzy for a pop-up dinner I was hosting for more than thirty people. Running out of space in my fridge was no longer an issue. But when that same ‘solution’ persisted on my balcony more than a month later, I started to become concerned. Not only was the first day of spring colder than Christmas but even Easter managed to break a historic record. By then, the only fridge I wanted to stock was the type with an insulating door. I’ve lost count of the times I avoided making simple trips to the shops when I ran out of basic necessities over the past few months, simply due to chattering teeth. My Cineville pass was hardly used, I only saw

friends who agreed to leave their home (instead of making me leave mine) and I avoided anything outdoorsy. A few exceptions were made for work-related meetings and pub/food-related socialising, with the added benefit of proper heating. On one cold night at the end of March, I decided to put an end to my winter apathy with a self-imposed assignment of going from one extreme to the other: I wrapped myself up in thick winter attire, slightly resembling a penguin, and embarked on a brave journey from Amsterdam Oud-West to the 24-hour Festival in Amsterdam Oost (East). I wobbled to the tram stop and waited at the corner, attempting to preserve any remaining body heat that the cutting, dry wind hadn’t torn away from me. A girl standing next to me moved closer, appearing to use my large frame as a shielding device to keep the wind from assaulting her. While hovering around each other we managed to overlook a flyer with an announcement that this tram stop was not in service on that particular day... Anyone else would have said, “Well, at least I tried, time to go back home,” but, damn it, I was determined

‘I was determined to defeat my fear of frostbite’

culture

‘The cooks got too cold to continue serving shivering customers’

to defeat my fear of frostbite. I was in need of entertainment in an unfamiliar setting, as the four places to which I’d limited myself during the previous weeks (one of them being my flat) were starting to chew away at my brain. After twenty minutes of combating the wind, we walked to the next tram stop and hallelujah, eastward bound many other penguin look-alikes and I went. The journey was like a sauna. The conductor must have been freezing because the radiator located near my feet was turned was up so high that it almost melted a hole in my plastic boots. I arrived at Timorplein and walked to Studio K, where the Food Film Festival was being held. I wasn’t there to watch a movie but rather to check out the food stands. Sadly, there wasn’t a single one in sight, only remnants of what had already been removed, some noisy generators and a bunch of cords. I guess the cooks got too cold to continue serving shivering customers.

participating in the 24-hour festival, but where were they? Oost seems particularly sprawling when you’re bike-less and numb. I checked out the event agenda and walked towards the next destination, which was certainly a warmer option than waiting for another tram. Not only was the spot totally abandoned but the walk there was scary. The howling wind, diagonal snowfall and deserted streets resembled scenes from The Shining. By now, this 24-hour festivity on the other side of town was becoming a total enigma. I headed back towards civilisation and caught tram 14 back to my hood. This lone expedition into the chilling temperatures was so short-lived that even my one-hour tram card was still valid. Arriving back in Oud-West, I walked into a local pub, in search of warmth, spirits and warm spirits. Upon mentioning the Oost 24 Festival, the only other person who had heard about it said, “I didn’t bother checking it out, I’m sure nothing was going on with this biting cold weather.” If only I’d been so pragmatic.

As a true veteran of challenging the impossible, I didn’t give up. I decided to visit other locations that were

‘Diagonal snowfall and deserted streets resembled scenes from The Shining’

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Je moet er geweest zijn.

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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

city gem

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Demonstrate a high degree of difference or uniquenessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

M CITY GE

city gem

Two For Joy ‘Three levels of pleasantness in light, airy space’ 47

By Denson Pierre

Two For Joy Haarlemmerdijk 182, Amsterdam

genuinely appealing option. Fresh and well laid out, taking into account the exposed historic brickwork in places, introduce a sense Some streets of Amsterdam are overflowing of style. Added to this, the proprietors are with shops, lunchrooms and coffee houses. busy adding value to the experience by Most of Amsterdam is also awash with the grinding huge amounts of exotic coffees, relatively recent trend of designer coffee which they also package for home use, on houses. Entrepreneurial, business adventurers site. This produces an almost aromaneed to demonstrate a high degree of therapeutic experience to accompany the difference or uniqueness in operating and selection of yummy-looking cakes and advertising these hospitality pit stops. A pastries on offer. Three levels of pleasantness welcoming gimmick or two can ensure that in light, airy space awaits you. Some places the experience of taking a coffee, another are just nice. hot/cold drink or lunch also provides a little ‘soft entertainment’. Casual business meetings in the city are a good opportunity to test an establishment’s ability to get the space and tone right. Two For Joy, situated on the Haarlemmerdijk (very close to Haarlemmerplein), presents a

city gem

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amsterdam city life

: K AC B G BRIN READING

Winter 2012-2013 has hung around in Amsterdam for a not so untypical six months, yet again. Apart from a couple of windows with revitalising warmth and clear skies, the freezing conditions and polar winds continued on into April. Amsterdam’s social life provides an escape from the dreariness and offers a great number of entertainment options with well-heated rooms and artificial light that can dazzle and transport visitors to a happier place, in their heads at least. Given the high cost of being out on the town, these days, you would think that the TV on offer would be of a higher standard, with so many people choosing or having to stay indoors rather than hitting the town. But this message only seems to have been picked up by advertisers of all and sundry. Dutch commercial television has become unpalatable to the extreme. Watching a movie or series on any of the terrestrial channels, you have to put up with untold number of unreasonably lengthy commercial breaks, rendering enjoyment of any programme virtually impossible. Eight minutes per block of adverts appears to have become the industry standard, meaning that if you are trying to watch a feature-length film, you could be subjected to 30 minutes, or more, of commercials.

By Denson Pierre

There is virtually no way around this that is easily affordable to the majority of people. To side-step the terrible programming of the commercial channels, you either have to pay an eye-watering amount to subscribe to one of the service providers’ premium bundles or get back into reading. The straw that broke this camel’s back came last Saturday, when I dared to turn on the television to scan the local channels at 12.30pm. Sometimes when you have been away from something for a while, it can really come as a shock. Of the local stations scanned, all of RTL 5, SBS 6, RTL 7, Net 5 and RTL 8 were running continuous Telesales programmes, making my living room sound like a cheap, American, lifestyle studio. Luckily, in my case, with a tablet to hand and a wellstocked library, I was able to feed my mind by switching the television off. The Sentinel says bring back reading for pleasure, as there is no way this sort of tripe TV could be good for anything.

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star beer guide

The Sentinel Star beer guide By Denson Pierre

La Corne du Bois des Pendus Blonde (5.9 % A.B.V.)

‘Try at least a couple of times to simply roar with pleasure as you present yourself as a Viking’ 55

La Corne is a small-scale newcomer to the beer scene but has already found itself at the centre of a patent controversy, due to the resemblance between its glass design and that of another, more famous brew, which is also served in an irregularly formed glass, supported by a wooden cradle. The beer itself is not really a world beater and is on the lighter side (they also produce a triple version). But it is not objectionable and is one you should try at least a couple of times to simply roar with pleasure as you present yourself as a Viking marauder, drinking alcohol from a horn. La Corne is brewed by Brasserie d’Ebly, Ebly, Belgium.

recommended

Mulliganâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Irish Music Bar 30/03/13

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.

g 9 3812 SZ Amersfoort

recommended

35 75 - Fax 033 - 454 35 79Connoisseurs Delight filmproef@eurogifts.nl te: www.eurogifts.nl

Fun, Drinking & Music

ORDERNUMMER: 6 ARTIKELNUMMER: 6

Mulligans Irish Music Bar Amsterdam’s best address for live Irish music: Five (5) nights a week! Check our agenda for upcoming sessions.

Kinkerstraat 228 Amsterdam www.operaprima.nl

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.

Café Kostverloren Café Kostverloren is a contemporary cafe offering the cosiness of a saloon, an open kitchen and the intimacy of a living room. During summer there is a large, sunny terrace and during winter, an open ﬁreplace!

Postjesweg 1 1057 DT Amsterdam www.edelamsterdam.nl

Incanto Incanto is a restaurant with a classic Italian kitchen. Venetian chef Simone Ambrosin is known for his pure and simple style of cooking with feeling for nuance. The wine list contains over 150 Italian wines. Amstel 2 Amsterdam www.restaurant-incanto.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, wireless internet connection and a wide range of reasonably priced beers and spirits.

Planet Rose Planet Rose is the ﬁrst Caribbean restaurant in the Netherlands, which specializes in Jamaican cuisine. The menu features a daily changing selection of Jamaican/ Caribbean dishes and they ensure that you enjoy the whole experience while dining with them!

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!

Zoutsteeg 1 1012 LX Amsterdam www.cafeoporto.net/home

Nicolaas Beetsstraat 47 Amsterdam www.planetrose.info

Bilderdijkstraat 188 Amsterdam www.facebook.com/clubzest.nl

ENDED RECOMM

2e Kostverlorenkade 70 Amsterdam www.cafekostverloren.nl

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!

spotted

Where is this in Amsterdam?

Answer to: sentinelpost@gmail.com

room2c

Room 2c film No Way Out (1987)

By David King

Great whodunnits keep us hooked until the very end and here we are kept on the edge of our seats until the very last frame. Set in the political waters of US naval intelligence, a woman dies at the hands of her senator boyfriend. He appoints an officer, who was also seeing her, to find her lover and frame him. Throw in a possible Russian spy and this carnival of betrayal and deceit will leave you all guessing. 59

Papillon (1973) “Forget France!” Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman excel in the portrayal of a dysfunctional friendship of convenience born under the pressure of an excessively stringent 1930s French penal code. Condemned to serve time on the infamous Devil’s Island prison colony (French Guyana), the protagonists devise escape plans which mainly lead to more unimaginable grief. From a time when Hollywood could still tell compelling and complete stories, this movie has the most heroic ending I know.

By dpmotions

trends

Agressive sex? ‘The research wasn’t pointing out aggression in the form of literal, physical violence alone, but also more suggestive aggression’ According to recent research, girls, in general, show a greater tendency than boys towards fighting or aggression during conversations. Researchers at the University of Minnesota came to this conclusion while observing a group of chimpanzees over an extended period. Not only are the females more violence-prone but after the chimp chicks start their quarrels, it also takes them a lot longer to kiss and make up. The interesting thing is that the females don’t quarrel or bicker any more or less than the males when communicating with guys; the fighting phenomenon only appears to surface in girl-on-girl situations. The researchers think that girls are more aware of the sex of the chimp they are chatting with, so they adapt their behaviour accordingly, while the guys adopt similar behaviour no matter who they are talking to. Social pressure is thought to be a possible reason for this conduct and there are interesting parallels to this behaviour in human interactions. I mean, just think about how Alexis and Krystel fought in Dynasty; or The Jerry Springer Show, where it was always the women screaming and jumping on top of everyone, trying to pull hair and scratch out eyes, usually of other women who had supposedly slept with ‘their man’, yelling

By Dirkje Bakker-Pierre

“You bitch” and “Stop touching my man”, while the guy in question just sat there looking laid back, innocent and cool, trying to catch the eye of a new girl in the audience. The research is branded as controversial, since, as we are all well aware, in general, it is men who are viewed as being the more aggressive gender. Now, really? The research wasn’t pointing out aggression in the form of literal, physical violence alone, but also more suggestive aggression, like facial expressions, posture or tone of voice. I mean, girls, if we are honest with ourselves, aren’t those well-known words “Whatever” and “Talk to the hand” still ringing in our ears?

health & well-being

– ‘Dinner should be given away to an enemy’

–

Porridge By Evelina Kvartunaite

Recently, I have been thinking about an old proverb we have that says you should eat breakfast by yourself, lunch should be shared with a friend and dinner should be given away to an enemy. Which basically means that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but how much attention do we actually pay to it? There is a multitude of different things to choose from for breakfast, yet we rarely look any further than (toasted) bread, cereal or eggs. However, I recently remembered that there is such a thing as porridge and how healthy it is. Especially if you make it part of a routine every morning and balance your daily food intake. There are many varieties of a seemingly standard dish such as porridge; starting with simple oats or barley, on to rice mixtures and adding nuts, dates, apricots,

berries or apple, depending on your taste and powers of creativity. When it comes to health, needless to say, porridge is a great source of fibre and protein, and helps to stabilise blood sugar levels which, in turn, reduces sugar cravings during the day. Furthermore, since porridge is made from whole grains, it retains their essential nutrients. Porridge contains protein, zinc, iron, magnesium, antioxidants, vitamin B, vitamin E and phytochemicals. This package of essential nutrients can help to boost your immune system and fight infections. Certainly, there is no magic recipe to losing weight but it is beneficial to find balance in your diet and include a healthy breakfast on the menu.

health & well-being

– ‘Make it part of a routine every morning and balance your daily food intake’

–

– ‘There is no magic recipe to losing weight but it is beneficial to find balance’

–

technology

User Interface Driving Open Source

‘Major ‘technology innovators’ are launching their products ‘a la Apple’’

By Andrei Barburas

Attending exhibitions about technology and innovation always brings high expectations, especially in the age in which we live, and CeBIT is no exception. According to a good friend, all of the major ‘technology innovators’ are launching their products ‘a la Apple’. In English, this means that they invest a lot of money before the launch event itself. At the risk of sounding negative, CeBIT did not match up to my expectations. I was expecting was groundbreaking technologies, earth-shattering innovations and at the very least some new trends that might be interesting to follow in the upcoming period. Based on my experience, however, there were only two (yes, two) types of exhibitor: the big boys who were looking for the big money and a lot of Chinese companies who were looking for any money they could get. There was a third category that didn’t fit the aforementioned two: organisations trying to pull the market in a certain direction; let’s call them the Open Source/Data organisations.

Based on what I saw at CeBIT the German government seems to be a leader in open data and open governance, especially at the local level. Many organisations’ exhibits, a whole hall to be precise, were dedicated to open data and how the German government has successfully implemented these solutions across different areas of Germany. The only downside to this was that these organisations were operating at a national level and did not even have flyers or brochures in English, let alone documentation that might be useful for other potential markets. It came as a complete surprise to me to find a stand run by MinBuZa (Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs). It was divided into six sections, each representing a different country and each exhibiting selected projects funded by MinBuZa. A bit cocky by the ministry, if you ask me, but on the other hand it was good advertising for the projects in those countries. One of the main focuses of the event, even though it was not directly advertised, was the increasing emphasis on mobility; mostly tablets, LTE, and one that

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‘The German government seems to be a leader in open data and open governance’

caught my interest specifically, MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators).

other events that are most definitely more interesting to attend, like Computex in Taipei, MWC (Mobile World Congress) in Barcelona and even Google I/O in San Francisco. The only drawback to these, from my perspective, is that they focus more on the commercial aspects, rather than on open-source, non-profit organisations.

I did come across a few other exhibitors I was not expecting to see. One was SipGate, which is a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) operator that I have been using for a few years, even though it was limited to the US market. I was extremely and pleasantly surprised to see that they have extended their services to the UK and One final very important observation was that the German markets, both for consumers and corporate majority of the presentations were in German, leading users, with extremely competitive prices. me to believe that they were mainly targeting the German-speaking public, even though the event is One thing that occurred to me and I did not understand marketed as an international exhibition. was why companies were renting shiny cars and placing them next to their stands, even though the services they offer were not really included in the car. It was interesting to note that several companies had BMWs, Minis and even a Fisker Karma on display. Overall and in general, the event was okay; nothing out of the ordinary and certainly nothing extraordinary. I did not see anything that I could not have read about on any of the news outlets that I follow. There are

‘The increasing emphasis on mobility; mostly tablets, LTE, and one that caught my interest specifically, MVNOs’

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On The Volley

By Simon Joseph

A finer point ‘I’ve been searching for something to fill the gaping hole’

‘It’s not simply about winning but the possibility of winning’

At this point in a football season the battles for supremacy really begin to take on meaning. But the final whistle still feels like a long way off to me. Perhaps this is because I still haven’t found anything to replace Tottenham Hotspur. While most of my friends and family, along with millions of others, have been eagerly following their teams for a full eight months, I’ve been searching for something to fill the gaping hole. Up until now, it’s been fruitless and, although this abstention hasn’t been cloistered, the chance of discovering a brand new pastime – one that offers a realistic alternative – looks improbable.

missing – not the tangible leisure activity but the emotions it delivers – instead of beating myself up looking for something to replace the irreplaceable.

Giving up football and renouncing the pleasure it provides has, so far, resulted in an impasse comparable to banging my head against a wall. However, different activities provide us with different kinds of pleasure and the ‘simple’ satisfaction to be had from watching a game is, in reality, quite complex. But if it can be defined then surely I can move on. So, what I’ve decided I must do is to look directly into what I’m actually

Let’s start with the joy of watching your team win. Obviously, this goes a long way in shaping our decision to keep supporting them. But what about when they play badly, which they inevitably do, why stay loyal then? This is because it’s not simply about winning but the possibility of winning. The pursuit of pleasure, it seems, drives the decisions that we make and is apparently good for our physical and mental health, too. So what is pleasure, where do we find it and can it really be defined by principles? One theory is that we human beings, no matter what we have or hold, are never satisfied. According to this logic human desire is incapable of finding complete satisfaction, otherwise, why do we continue to be driven towards more pleasure-seeking? Somewhere along the line, then, the drive towards pleasure gets cut off somehow before it reaches full satisfaction. In other words, at the moment when our pleasure becomes too much, something in our mind forbids it. No wonder we can’t stop supporting our team through thick and thin, searching for more and more pleasure.

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‘We repeat the process of feeling pleasure in pain’

Think about it for a moment: your team loses a couple of games you believe they should’ve won and you start to wonder why you bother – disappointment quickly takes the place of pleasure. But we do bother and when Saturday comes around again, we’re right behind them, eager for a win to regain some of that lost pleasure. Yet, our craving for pleasure is incompatible with our ability to hold on to it, so the theory goes, and if this is true, it doesn’t really matter how good or how bad our teams perform, we’ll continue to support them.

By seeking substitute-satisfactions, or vicarious pastimes, we repeat the process of feeling pleasure in pain. But finding pleasure in its opposite is not just something connected with the theatre; it can be found in the football experience, too. When our team loses a game it’s painful, there’s no denying it. But before the suffering becomes too painful, we purge ourselves of it, in order to fulfil the need for pleasure not gratified in reality. Apparently, what we’re actually doing is glorifying the pain of lost pleasure in order to justify our desire to continue seeking it.

We all want our team to win every game but we know it’s impossible. What happens, then, to all that desire which can’t be satisfied? Well, some say that we bury it deep inside our mind, in order to prevent too much pain and, when able to be expressed, desire doesn’t appear in its original form but in the shape of ‘substitute satisfactions’ – watching more football, for instance. The truth is we all experience pain or disappointment when our team loses. Nevertheless, within the repetition of this distressing experience, according to the theory, is a yield of pleasure, to selfpreserve or retain sanity – a kind of ritual purging of painful feelings so we can experience pleasure again. Aristotle called this process ‘catharsis’ and associated it with watching staged tragedies.

Now you might be wondering how this relates to your football experience. For many supporters football is more pain than pleasure. So, why don’t we find something else to do? Because the pleasure we feel from following football can’t be separated from the suffering and we have to continue our support in order to achieve psychical purification or catharsis. The pleasure in following football, then, is not just in winning games but is inseparable from the expectation or the desire to win. We have to continue to believe that one day our team will achieve something glorious – even if it means suffering losses on the way – in order to experience that pleasure. Football, in actual fact, implies the desire to suffer, because it’s essential to feel pain on the road to victory.

‘At the moment when our pleasure becomes too much, something in our mind forbids it’

white out sport

Inspiration 70

By Ananda van Welij

Just another girl from a country without mountains, addicted to snow.

Hey Ananda, Without a doubt, I am really grateful for all your support in my dream to become a ski hero. Becoming a ski hero is a harder journey than I thought but, damn, I can’t describe in words how awesome it is! Looking forward to meeting you and saying thank you in person in a few weeks! Erik Last summer I received an e-mail from a guy called Erik, who told me he was going to Mount Washington on Vancouver Island for a few months; to work, complete his final university project and undertake three months of teacher training with the Section 8 Snowsports Institute. He asked whether I would be interested in a blog about his adventures. We started e-mailing back and forth about our passion for snow and the things we run into while trying to negotiate university and a job to afford it all. It seemed like Erik was in for some serious fun but the biggest stumbling block was that I work for a ski magazine and he was a snowboarder. So, I challenged him to exchange his snowboard for a pair of skis and become a skiing teacher, even though he had never skied before in his life.

‘I challenged him to exchange his snowboard for a pair of skis and become a skiing teacher’ He took on the challenge and, hats off to him, managed to turn the whole thing into a thesis project. Now I’m on Vancouver Island, skiing on powder and looking out over the ocean, thanks to Erik, his boss Tobin and a coincidental meeting in London. It’s simply awesome to see and realise how little things that you say or do can influence other people’s lives and your own. I’ve never been to this side of Canada before, let alone Vancouver Island, and the only thing I want to say right now, just to make it clear, is that I want to go back! It might not be the biggest ski resort when you compare it to the European Alps but that’s something you shouldn’t even think of doing. You can’t compare a campsite at the beach with a great view to a first class flight, right? Vancouver Island and Mount Washington offer amazing views and great atmosphere, thanks to the fun and outdoor-loving people who live there, and more snow than you can imagine as a result of their geology and geography. After a few days of riding fresh powder between frozen trees, it’s time to change things up and explore this Island some more. A van loaded with people from the Section 8 Institute sets off to the coast. Yep, it’s still winter and I’m going surfing! On the way we stop at the

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old forest of mega trees, some more than 800 years old, towering above us and leaving us speechless, feeling tiny and humble. Thanks to my wetsuit and some help from the surf instructor, I manage to stay warm, stand up on my surfboard and enjoy the view of the snowy mountains in the distance while lying in the water. I leave the beach with a smile on my face. More surfing, a night of drinks and laughs, and it’s time to go back up the mountain. After another full day of skiing powder, but this time under a blue sky, I am asked if I would be interested in going to Mount Baker for two days. Hell yeah, I’m interested! Mount Baker is a resort just across the border into the United States and is famous for its fresh snow. Again, you could compare Mount Baker and Mount Washington but it’s just not worth it. It’s like twins who each have their own personality. As we drive up to our last-minute rented cabin from Mount Baker Vacation Rental, I give the lady a call for the last few directions. This is pretty important as there is no mobile coverage or internet in the area where we are staying. But who needs that when you have great company, a really neat cabin with a hot tub, a mountain with fresh snow almost every day and new places to

explore? After two full days of skiing I still feel like I’ve only seen maybe a third of what this place has to offer. In one way, it’s another resort crossed of the list but it’s really the other way round; another has been added to the places I want to go back to asap. I’m staring into the darkness and relaxing in the warmth of the hot tub. Laughter and jokes swirl around me and I can’t help but smile. My body is sore from bouncing up and down on the snow and carrying my camera/avalanche bag. But I don’t care. It’s been an amazing two weeks and I wish I could just turn back time and do it all over again. I wish I had more words to share it all with you. It’s funny how something like this can evolve from a single e-mail and I’m one lucky girl to be here. Thanks, Erik, and everyone else involved in my first Canadian ski adventure for sharing your time and inspiration with me!

‘Now I’m on Vancouver ‘It’s still winter and I’m going Island, skiing on powder and surfing!’ looking out over the ocean’

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Stop at the old forest of mega trees, some more than 800 years oldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I manage to stay warm, stand up on my surfboard and enjoy the view of the snowy mountains in the distance while lying in the waterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I wish I could just turn back time and do it all over againâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

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The Gold Room 86

By Denson Pierre

We approach the end of an uneven and relatively unspectacular Premier League season and are even deprived of monitoring our players in the final and most coveted phase of the Champions League, from which all EPL teams have been eliminated. We can at least look inward at the FFG-CL and decide upon a worthy winner of the Player of the Season award, based on individual performances and how these have affected and perhaps even determined the winner of this advanced competition.

he can be frozen out of matches for lengthy periods and his absolute close control is nowhere near as unerring as other, genuine number 10s. There needs to be a rethink at Spurs, should he stay there.

The shortlist was provided in random order in the previous issue of The Sentinel but here is the result in ascending order with brief additional notes.

The FFG-CL Player of the Season 2012-2013 is…

GK: Julio Cesar Soares (Queens Park Rangers) – Imposing and impressive but his team, under the scattergun management of Harry Redknapp, languished for far too long anchored at the very bottom of the league and look likely to be relegated. DEF: Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur) – An outstanding season announcing his all-round football skill to the world. MID: Gareth Bale (Tottenham Hotspur) – Sensational moments and a new personal scoring record in the Premier League and Europa League. When viewed impartially, however, there seems to be a problem with his management (and maybe even himself) thinking that he can be a long-term solution as a centrally deployed attacker. When up against decent defenders

FWD: Robin van Persie (Manchester United) – Just a brilliant individual player who makes any team better simply by being part of it. This despite his form deserting him just as the season truly peaked. FWD: Luis Suarez (Liverpool) – It is difficult to look beyond his ‘Tourettes’ and his occasional lack of sportsmanship, these days. Has had an utterly memorable season and has only missed out here due to details and the fact that there can only be one.

Juan Mata. Chelsea have not won a competition this season but appear to be on track to qualify for the Champions League, which is a tremendous prize in itself. During the course of the season Mata has maintained an incredible level, even when burdened with the likes of the unbelievably awful Fernando Torres for a great portion of the season. As far as the FFG-CL is concerned, Mata has managed to score on a par with the likes of Suarez and Van Persie while consistently displaying all-round excellence as a footballer playing in his most effective position. In truth, it sometimes felt like he carried the ‘big’ team that Chelsea have become on his own and it was forecast here, back in November, that he was always likely to be an integral part of the golden envelope-winning team, which appears more likely every week (http://thesentinel.eu/ffg/Latest-FFG.htm).

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CZECH REPUBLIC STUNNINGLY DIFFERENT!