The Sentinel Amsterdam vol.7 #13 by Consultancy Market Media

vol. 7 #13 – 24 June 2014

The Sentinel Amsterdam

Integrity, heart, humour

feature

travel

AMSTERDAM SPAIN: – BEING CATALONIA AND TIME UNDER CAVA

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

content

feature - p.04

perspectives - p.8

art - p.24

Amsterdam: Being and Time

Dam in 60 minutes! Spuistraat

Two outstanding Belgian fashion museums

trends - p.76

technology - p.82

sport - p.88

Fashion versus football: it’s war!

User Interface Is Apple settling?

The Gold Room

‘Fashion is not the only thing being cancelled out by football’

‘In the Steve Jobs era, I would have never expected a coloured iPhone’

‘The international and multi-cultural nature of the city’

‘One plus one is definitely three in this ‘Amsterdam with large-scale case’ squatting and prominent street art’

more culture - p.56

perspectives - p.64

amsterdam city life - p.69

Training, Belgium.

Birds

Bring back

star beer guide - p.71

recommended - p.72

spotted - p.74

den bangelijke

Where is this in Amsterdam?

film - p.75

health & well-being - p.74

fifa world cup 2014 - p.86

Room2c

ruby

Two players you want to watch

The Sentinel Amsterdam

E-mail: sentineldesk@gmail.com Website: www.thesentinel.eu Contributors: Sam van Dam, The Observer, Dirkje Bakker-Pierre, Evelina Kvartunaite and Andrei Barburas

Editor: Denson Pierre Design: Dirkje Bakker-Pierre - no-office.nl Realisation: Andrei Barburas Webmaster: www.sio-bytes.tumblr.com Webhost: Andrei Barburas

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 sentineldesk@gmail.com.

feature

‘The phenomenology of everyday bureaucracy and decision making’

Being and time by Denson Pierre

Martin Heidegger was a football fan apparently, as well as being one of the greatest thinkers of recent history. Rightly condemned for having highly deplorable and questionable threads of thought and associations, there is now a great ambivalence toward him and his ideas because it is too easy to just throw babies out with bath water when decisions to do so are seemingly emotionally driven.

‘Decision making of irrevocable power’

feature

‘I would like to not question the power of office but that of sense and fun’

feature

‘Many with a feeling that the ‘nanny state’ of administration is now fully moved over to being geared-up to kill joy’

feature

‘The need to celebrate diversity while also championing Oranje’

Dealing with the city of Amsterdam forces one to veer toward Phenomenology, the phenomenology of everyday bureaucracy and decision making. How is it possible for a touted ‘world city’ to, in an instant, appear as if run by a committee and mayor now specialised in what can seem like arbitrary decision making of irrevocable power? To properly question power has been, for as long as common Amsterdam folk have been literate, a reflex. I would like to not question the power of office but that of sense and fun at a time of football, and when this global game is light and inspiration to a typical citizenry in a time of continued socio-economic hardship.

Now here is the master plan in effect which, by the very nature of it being only about following Oranje, has left those who wished to expend a bit of energy around any of the at minimum 24 teams Oranje would not face even if they were to go on to win the tournament, shamelessly snobbed. Group games involving Oranje ONLY would be offered to a mass The detail of the eventual decision about how we would public (many of whom come in from the provinces or are tourists) per Museumplein. Should Oranje make World Cup in Amsterdam was somehow unsurprisingly it to the proper last phase (quarter-finals etc.), then, uninspired and left many with a feeling that the ‘nanny state’ of administration is now fully moved over to being given the likely numbers to descend on the city for it, geared-up to kill joy, freely created joy. Everything must the administration would move the giant screen event be centralised, fully controlled and to the interest of the on to somewhere like Stadionplein, or other municipal ground, far away from resident associations who have city and large-scale support partners only. been constantly complaining about noise and waste pollution almost everywhere else across the inner-city There were events planned per scale and with full in recent years. consideration given to the rules and conditions around All overriding concerns on public safety are duly nuisance and public drunkenness around the city, and noted but it just seems like control for the sake of as extensions to terraces and other small areas on city it that Amsterdam citizens can only show outward ground. All of these and anything else planned months exuberance in a mass gathering for Oranje, and that this in advance, were simply gutted at a point when the is something exclusively set-up and controlled by the only thing organisers and proprietors could be ready city. If a football lover such as Heidegger was around, to do was go, go with the fun and multi-cultural party I am sure he too would have felt the need to celebrate the World Cup can be in this city when left to the diversity while also championing Oranje, but not have community to organise itself in smaller neighbourhood one level of appreciation being exclusive to the other. It parties etc. is about the fun around football, international football, and not just making even that feel like an exercise in At first, the city’s rules of engagement appeared and mass bureaucracy. sounded like an admission that they really would have preferred to have nothing happen at all. Events in Brazil,

City Hall were able, and forthrightly so, to leave a decision about the rules around how the city would police itself and embrace the fantastic fiesta of football that was to be beamed live back from Amazonia to the simple cafes, sport clubs & associations, homes and squares of Amsterdam, to exactly one week before the tournament kicked-off. One week! This is a football crazy city peopled by groups from most countries from around the world. What better place you would think to make sure we had little pockets of fun which could indulge something of the international and multicultural nature of the city?

with Oranje only since surprising absolutely everyone and appearing now to be reasonably sure of making it to the second phase of the tournament, has meant that the city plan is to only allow cafes and bars etc. who already had licensed terraces, to have permission to place (business facing) TVs (no large screens that could constitute ‘public viewing’) outside, and within the strict confines of said terrace areas. All other outdoor activities around ‘the football’ were scrapped, especially if permits for alcohol tending taps were also issued to go with them. The city has encouraged new application for permits to have public viewings, with conditions, on the fringes of the city, after the group phase. I fear that a typical Amsterdammer would find little motivation in cycling or driving out of the inner-city to any of these areas when HD TV is available at home or in the typical city cafes near to where they live, after 22:00hrs, when most of the second and latter stage matches will touch us here in Amsterdam.

perspectives

Dam in 60 minutes! 8

Spuistraat

By Sam van Dam

perspectives

‘The first dam on the river Amstel could be found in the year 1270; and the hint to the name of the city Amsteldam’

In this unusual episode I am taking you for a walk to one of my favourite streets, the Spuistraat. It is a very special street to me as it stands out as one of the few places in Amsterdam with large-scale squatting and prominent street art.

We start off at the Central Station with its masses of people flowing to and from the transportation hub as I lazily float along towards the Damrak, Amsterdam’s former red carpet boulevard that is currently just a series of faster food concerns, a construction site and a series of tourist souvenir shops. Hopefully, when the upgrading of the tram tracks and pavements are completed we will again be welcoming those arriving from the station with style and grace. The Damrak is the main access route to Dam Square, the area of the city close to where the first dam on the river Amstel could be found in the year 1270; and the hint to the name of the city Amsteldam. It takes some effort to negotiate the crush of pedestrians, bicycles and construction vehicles. There is hectic activity There’s also a tiny gallery on the corner featuring work everywhere as people rush by with luggage, shoppers, by the Amsterdam painter Peter Klashorst and in an families, trams, taxis and coaches circulate, completing alley, the local artist, Hero de Janeiro paints several the bustling downtown experience. walls, the pavement, street signs and anything else that can’t run away from his array of spray cans. There is so I stop here and there to photograph the scenery while much to see as you can spend hours looking and still drifting toward the big square ahead and admiring the not discover all of the popular art that has been applied huge Bijenkorf department store and then spotting to the outside of the buildings over the course of several Madame Tussauds in the distance. On arrival at Dam decades. I turn around and walk up to the yellowSquare I look on as a street performer attracts a crowd coloured former squatted house called ‘De Slang’ that by swinging a long leather whip above his head. A bit has a giant snake painted across its facade. They host further along, a living statue dressed up as ‘Death’ art exhibitions, movie nights and many other cool poses for pictures with tourists as pigeons flock to the cultural projects almost weekly here but, hot dog stand to catch the falling crumbs from its unfortunately, an investor wishes to convert the customers. On I go, I pass the Royal Palace on the left building into luxury apartments; one of the increasing and after a last glance around I move further toward signs of the gentrification of another one of our unique the Spuistraat, but not without shooting some snaps of neighbourhoods. You can sign their online petition the Magna Plaza (former main post office), one of my against this plan if you also think that Amsterdam favourite buildings of Amsterdam; it just has a certain should keep as much of its diverse identity as possible flair that I can’t resist and neither it seems, can my alive and kicking! camera.

I cross the street once my shutter-finger is happy and I spend a moment looking at the usual throng of people lined-up outside the huge Albert Heijn supermarket, eating snacks, drinking refreshing beverages and gathering strength to continue their way through the heart of the city. I walk straight on, past the Irishthemed pub, the gay & lesbian bookshop and finally I am standing at the corner of the Spuistraat. Cafe Schuim invites me to sit on one of the chairs outside and enjoy a cold drink, but I am on a mission, so I continue on my discovery trek in this special area of Amsterdam at Vrankrijk, a formerly squatted building and one of the landmarks of the street. Amsterdam was pretty occupied by the antics around the illegal house squatting scene in the 1980s. Reminders of those times remain here with a considerable section of the Spuistraat still dominated by the sights and sounds of that lifestyle and social movement. You find large walls on the street completely covered in layers of graffiti, drawings, stencils, tags, stickers and paste-ups of all kinds and colours. There is even a wall of fame for the local and international street artists.

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Amsterdam was pretty occupied by the antics around the illegal house squatting scene in the 1980sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Large walls on the street completely covered in layers of graffiti, drawings, stencils, tags, stickers and paste-ups of all kinds and coloursâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;You can spend hours looking and still not discover all of the popular art that has been appliedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

art

‘You’ll be, in turn, inspired, educated, fascinated and amazed!’

TWO OUTSTAND ING BELGIAN FASHION MUSEUMS By Dirkje Bakker-Pierre

MOMU ANTWERP / FASHION MUSEUM HASSELT The well-known and rich Belgian fashion history has culminated in two very unique museums that each has its own specific character and yet really complement each other in a great manner. One plus one is definitely three in this case and a combined visit to the two museums over a weekend is a definite recommendation; you’ll be, in turn, inspired, educated, fascinated and amazed!

art

MOMU BIRDS OF PARADISE: Plumes & feathers in fashion.

At Momu they create a brand new exhibition once every six months and each time they start it from scratch. The entire museum is transformed to fit the show of that moment as perfectly as possible. This makes Momu a surprise visit each time and a place where you can come back again and again. This is something The Sentinel readily does. ‘Birds of Paradise’ has all the pieces exhibited in huge glass cabinets, something which gives the space a real special, antique-like feel, a bit like being in an enlarged version of a 17th century cabinet of curiosities.

‘A real special, antique-like feel, a bit like being in an enlarged version of a 17th century cabinet of curiosities’

On entering the space the first thing you countenance is a tableau of taxidermy birds, paradisiacal, tropical, beautiful birds, to leave no doubt about where the inspiration came from to create gorgeous, expensive objects using feathers. The pieces shown are objects of intense beauty; perfectly sculptured, luscious, luxurious, amazing are words that come to mind. The star of the show is Marlène Dietrich’s iconic swans down coat; the original coat in which she performed in Las Vegas, made of the down coming from the breasts of hundreds of swans. At the time it was made it cost the same as the price of a house and it is truly as light as a feather. The exhibition is an ode to the elegance and refinement of the application of plumes and feathers in fashion and haute couture. Different characteristics of the various plumes and feathers are highlighted: sophistication, femininity, wealth and luxury, but also dark romance. Added to this, as a bit of a bonus, are specially created, intense, out-of-this-world, feathered sculptures by British artist Kate MccGwire. If you happen to visit Antwerp in the coming month be sure to pop into this spectacular show! It features: Chanel, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Givenchy, Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, Nina Ricci, Luis Vuitton, Thierry Mugler, Giambatista Valli, Yves Saint Laurent and Ann Demeulemeester.

art

‘The star of the show is Marlène Dietrich’s iconic swans down coat’

art

Mode Museum Hasselt 25 YEARS MODE MUSEUM HASSELT

A totally different, but in itself very worthwhile visit is the Fashion Museum in Hasselt, where we were taken on a tour throughout the history of fashion, complemented by masterpieces from the museum’s 17,000-piece -rich collection of couture highlights.

The museum is housed in a spectacular building (convent/hospital) from 1664, which has been transformed into a contemporary exhibition space while still showing the amazing original details of the original building. Hasselt has a natural connection to fashion by means of a very rich industrial textile history, which is felt throughout the museum as a genuine love for the subject. The Hasselt Fashion Museum is something of a hidden gem, which offers something interesting for everyone, not just fashion lovers.

‘Masterpieces from the museum’s 17,000-piece -rich collection of couture highlights’

Learning all about how different techniques were developed and used, fabrics, changing traditions and silhouettes throughout the ages. How fashion developed in regard to what was going on in the world, the influence of religion, politics, architecture and trade. The huge impact of certain new materials; like silk. An historical overview of major pieces from the museum gives you a glimpse into the changing zeitgeist. The balance between the historical pieces and the link with famous couture items using the same techniques developed so long ago is something that is not only interesting for fashion lovers, but history and art lovers as well.

art

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Hasselt has a natural connection to fashionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

art

travel

‘This press trip to Costa Barcelona caught me slightly from the blind side’

CATALONIA UNDER CAVA By Denson Pierre

travel

‘The tremendous variety of delicious wines that spring from the immediate region’

In the first place, I am somewhat of an authority on beer but almost purely ignorant about the finery of wines. Now stood in El Vinseum, Vilafranca del Penedes, I was faced with the complete history and cultural round-up to do with the mighty grape shaping so much to do with society, and these days industry. Vinseum is a complex of a museum fully dedicated to every angle on the story of wine and cava. It surely performs its job adequately as after ninety minutes studying the material displays, videos and with a guided tour it felt as though anything else I would need to learn about wine and cava could only come from the actual sampling of the tremendous variety of delicious wines that spring from the immediate region.

After a couple tastings on that day already spent touring in the heat of early summer, rest was highly desired. In keeping with one of the themes of this press trip that revolved around the nineteenth century rolling into the twentieth, we would bed at what turned out to be an utterly pleasant, (modern) design hotel housed in a building from 1884. I pay little attention to hotel flair normally but at Cas Torner I Guell it all works with their ideal town-centre location, rather spacious rooms (especially if you are from Amsterdam and realise that the ‘room’ is the size of your entire flat back there) and enormous beds. Sleep was early, pleasant and next morning I concluded, blissful. The new day was as full of sunshine as possible and we headed out of town to the caves of Codorníu. To those who know their cava this name should ring a bell as it is also the brand name of the world’s largest cava producer. To those who are reading this and learning as we go along, I say that this location is the headquarters of all cava. The modernist-styled estate and (former-) work and production areas are that of the oldest family company in Spain and the twentieth oldest in the world. Quite fascinating information that automatically assures you that the vast operation would have had a great deal to do with almost everything that could be linked to it throughout the region over the ages. Once more, a guided tour is the only way to receive a crash course in the evolution of cava and about the point at which it had to separate itself from the history of that of champagne. It is fair to say that you will find the chardonnay grape as central to the riveting story.

It seems like I have to spend an increasing amount of time these days trying to reform the converted in the thinking that this work of travel and writing is somehow holiday-like instead of being mainly just that – work. There is a great deal of pleasure and enjoyment involved or else I would not do it, and touring areas of interest around the world surely is something which suits my temperament. I pride myself on knowing a tiny bit about many important topics and areas of our world and their societies but this press trip to coastal Barcelona (Costa Barcelona) caught me slightly from the blind side.

travel

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I was able to dine like a beer-drinking top athleteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

travel

‘This location is the headquarters of all cava’

While driving away from this rather engrossing visit to stylised industry, industry to do with indulgence, I thought about where we were next headed; to an area in the city of Terrassa which had an even longer history than the cava caves of Codorníu and a lot more to do with contemplation and meditation over centuries. In a fully reconditioned park area here you will find the 5th century Episcopal see of Ègara. What this place does with its layers of archaeology and history in this frontier region to the Moors, is provide an ideal vantage point from which to view and contemplate the entire long, eventful and religion-centred evolution to this area of Spain (Catalonia). For me what was most fascinating was that there was a gap in the story

explaining the meaning (interpretation) of one of the artworks of dedication directly above the altar area of one of the very oldest churches. The guide explained it as mysterious to the point of being unexplained but directly upon my return to Amsterdam from this fullyloaded trip to Costa Barcelona, I was to come across what I felt to be exactly that ‘mysterious’ artwork from the ceiling of the old church. It was while watching a BBC 4 documentary on Muslim art in Europe when I feel sure I saw what, to my amateur eye at least, seemed like an example of the very same artwork housed in another region where it is clearly accepted that ‘outsiders’ left behind tags of their art wherever they were for a reasonable amount of time. This might also help explain why the disappearance of a certain generation of monks from the said ancient complex is told to be also a mystery. It is forever about how you tell a story and which ending you tend to prefer offering. Costa Barcelona is full of good stories and exciting experiences. Most of these I am yet to even hear about but keen to learn of from the mass of Catalonians I am yet to meet. Partners on this leg of the press trip: vinseum.cat > codorniu.es > terrassa.cat >

Next to the storytelling no one could prepare us for the awe that lay beneath our very feet. The entire estate, so well-pruned and beautiful, is really like an iceberg in the Mediterranean. Once we had completed the tour of the monumental Cadalfac architecture and of the vintage and historical equipment used in the manual manufacture of the wines, we were then led underground for a few storeys to check out the extent of the storage and ripening areas used over the many expansions of this area of mass production. A subterranean network of tunnels and work spaces criss-cross a huge area, so huge that the safest way to traverse some of it by an electric train. Truly astonishing in terms of the scale of the place, the amount of capacity and the extent of engineering that was invested into to help keep supply up with demand. It is an entire world of electricity cables, industrial masonry and more cava bottles and storage racks than could be counted.

travel

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Really like an iceberg in the Mediterraneanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

travel

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;This rather engrossing visit to stylised industry, industry to do with indulgenceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

travel

culture

Training, Belgium.

by Dirkje Bakker-Pierre

culture

classifieds

The Mediterranean as it once was.

classifieds

www.visitgent.be

perspectives

Birds by The Observer

Birds have to be, If you ask me, The happiest of all living species, They are foot loose and fancy free, And you see. Whenever they are disturbed by their current situation, They can just flap their wings and fly to another destination, Without cutting through any red tape or answering any question, Far or near to a more favourable location.

classifieds

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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

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amsterdam city life

: K C A B G N I BR THE WORLD CUP 69

By Denson Pierre

As Amsterdammers, and by extension Dutch folk, we do tend to suffer from a slight inferiority complex despite knowing that we are extraordinarily gifted and resourceful, despite our small size and population. On Friday the 13th of June, a date considered unfortunate and likely to be a portent of disaster (especially in Hollywood terms), the Netherlands found itself enraptured and shocked by a performance of its national football team at Brazil 2014 that did more to lighten and invigorate national mood than the thousands of kilograms of Prozac dissolved into our many times recycled drinking water supply. It all felt so seismic, so engineered. For it to have taken place in Brazil, a place where Dutch civil engineers, and not sportsmen, were immortalised for having secured and reclaimed the coastal stretch of that country that includes the wildly famous Ipanema beach, made it more special. It is the case that more often than not inspiration on a mass scale has to come from acts of man which seem, for a moment at least, to be equivalent to that of a force of nature. What Oranje did, the manner in which they did it, and it being to the new masters of modern football, will never be properly explained but be something forever enjoyed.

On the evening in question, and having previously been about and around Amsterdam over the days leading up to it, there was a distinct sense of nervousness and depression linked to a national feeling extended toward the football team representing way over in Amazonia. From twitchy nervousness to explosive splendour on the football pitch, I would like to put forward that this was the most explosive release of joy and ecstasy ever vented by this nation, as a nation in chorus. It was unexpected and served as a life reminder about always striving to do better regardless of what can be drawn out as limitations on paper. If even Oranje go on to win this tournament, the collective emotionality and release of Friday the 13th will most likely never be equalled; such things can only happen once. There are too many extreme conditions, circumstances and considerations to have to be rightly set or prevalent to leave it all set for such stunning. I know it is still on, but bring back the World Cup as so far it has shown itself to be the best news for Amsterdam and the Dutch nation for some good many years. Football, who would have thought it?

star beer guide

Star Beer

star beer guide

The Sentinel Star beer guide By Denson Pierre

DEN BANGELIJKE

(A.B.V. 9.5%)

‘Graduated to the level of top quality beer and tasting like they can only get better’

I love the labelling and design which shows off a representation of the statue at the centre of the myth of Antwerp (hand werp) to fine comic effect with a serious beer that announces Antwerp’s only city microbrewers as having graduated to the level of top quality beer and tasting like they can only get better.

To catch beers and breweries in serious Den Bangelijke is brewed by Huisbrouwerij ’t evolution is a privilege. This entire beer Pakhuis, Vlaamsekaai 76, Antwerp, Belgium. column was started during a visit to this brewery over two years ago. Today they have this brew which encapsulates so much more than just the flavour and finish of a robust, quality beer, but has the humour and signature of its brewers also coming over as prominent.

recommended

ENDED RECOMM

Molly Malones 18/06/14

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

Café Westerdok Some of the very ﬁnest and rarest of beers available anywhere in the world. The warmest Amsterdam welcome. Café Westerdok Westerdoksdijk 715A Amsterdam www.cafewesterdok.nl

recommended

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

To be seen and tasted

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

Molly Malone’s An Irish pub as it should be and a home away from home! Cosy, friendly, and with its very own character! Oudezijds Kolk 9 1012 AL Amsterdam www.facebook.com/pages/ Molly-Malones-Amsterdam/ 293030997411277

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

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

spotted

Where is this in Amsterdam?

Answer to: sentineldesk@gmail.com

film

Room 2c film City of God (2002)

By dpmotions

A cinematic take on the harsh, crime-touched lives of youngsters trying to make their way on the near-fringes of one of the most perplexing cities on earth. A creative study in the psycho-sociology of what life could be like in suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. Colourful and shocking.

Sexy Beast (2000) One of the best yet misleading titles to what is one of the most memorable gangster movies ever made. Ben Kingsley leads the famous performances and will scare the viewer with nothing else but delivery of acted intensity. There is a bizarre comedic quality to this film but overall it is one of the best examples of both writing and cinematography realising the meaning of grittiness.

By dpmotions

trends

Fashion vs Football: its war! ‘The ghost of Coco Chanel coughs loudly in the background’

By Dirkje Bakker-Pierre

How can I possibly write about fashion trends when the World Cup is going on? It’s an impossible task, even with the international fashion weeks coming up in a few weeks time.

as possible make this event not just a sporting highlight but also a very entertaining and funny experience as you see carrots hanging from hats, real life matador costumes, colourful ribbons, earrings, ties, knights in shining armour, walking Panini cards and hats with bulls on them… It is like going to the circus, but better!

Right now we are in midst of the most fun month that only comes along every four years; the World Cup! It is now when everyone, regardless of background or where they come from, is only busy with football, fun, beer and more fun! Games every day, the best football you can imagine, beer for everyone and a feeling of mutual understanding and comraderie; whether you are Dutch, Brazilian or Croatian, we all want the same thing. In this period of football celebration it is completely superfluous to be busy with fashion; all you need to wear is something in the colour(s) of your country and you are set. Whether it’s just a t-shirt, or a flag, a cowboy hat, a dress, a cap with ears, a plastic Hulu flower-necklace, weird big sunglasses (with or without lights), everything goes and nothing is too crazy. There is no wrong or right, there is no fashion, there are no rules. You can paint your whole face red, white and blue and no one will even bat an eye. Because it’s football, it’s ‘nationalism’; it’s all about showing your colours and having a good time. The long-standing traditions in many countries to dress-up as originally

Fashion, in the meantime is totally cancelled-out, sucked into the atmosphere. There is some black smoke left in its wake and the ghost of Coco Chanel coughs loudly in the background. Apparently fashion is not the only thing being cancelled out by football; some coaches put restrictions on their players’ sex lives during the tournament believing that excessive sex will influence performances on the pitch. The players of Spain, Germany, Mexico and Chile aren’t allowed to have any sex; Brazil’s players can have ‘normal sex’ as long as it’s not ‘acrobatic’, and France’s are allowed to have sex as long as it doesn’t last all night. Research suggests that even the fans lives are influenced with a lot of the games being broadcast at night time… but really, who cares, it’s the World Cup!

classifieds

health & well-being

Ruby

By Evelina Kvartunaite

It is said that ruby is one of the most powerful gem stones in the world. It is also assigned to several astral signs. To own a ruby is said to leave you with contentment and peace. It is also said that if you place ruby under a pillow it may ward off bad dreams. Ruby rings should be worn on the left hand so as to receive the ‘life force’ and have protection.

Regarding health issues it is believed that ruby helps with blood circulation problems, fights infections and stimulates both vitality and sensuality. So wear or carry ruby to overcome exhaustion and lethargy. It amplifies energy and vitality to the entire system. However, those who are highly sensitive or irritable may find this stone over-stimulating or uncomfortable to wear. Ruby has otherwise been known to calm hyperactivity in some individuals. So get your precious red energy on!

Given as a gift, the ruby is a symbol of friendship and love. The ruby is also the symbol of vitality and royalty. Its colour associates it with love and passion; also self-love and courage.

– ‘Ruby is one of the most powerful gem stones in the world’ –

health & well-being

– ‘A symbol of friendship and love’ –

– ‘It amplifies energy and vitality’ –

technology

‘Apple just hit a gridlock in terms of innovating’

User Interface 82

Is Apple settling?

‘There are a slew of updates in both operating systems’

‘Apple is going through a massive change in terms of products and services’

By Andrei Barburas

Apple kicked off its 2014 Worldwide Developer Conference with a glimpse into the future of OS X, iOS 8, and the developer tools that bring them to life. But did Apple just hit a gridlock in terms of innovating and coming up with new trends? Every year Apple holds the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in which it usually reveals the future version of its operating systems, both OS X and iOS. This year, the event focused more on software rather than hardware, even though rumours were flying about all sorts of hardware. OS X 10.10 Yosemite and iOS 8 bring the desktop and mobile device closer together than they’ve ever been before, and a host of new developer tools should enable

the creation of some powerful new apps. This includes a new programming language, Swift, which Apple hopes will replace Objective-C over time. Among other developments, OS X will have a fresher, flatter look, pretty much like Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS. Apps like Mail get functionality updates including a new feature called Markup, which gives you the possibility to edit images within the Mail app. Probably the biggest announcement, or at least to me, was the announcement of iCloud drive. Essentially it is a cloud storage system for storing your files in the cloud; think Dropbox or Google Drive. Apparently iCloud drive will be available also on Windows. One of the ‘original’ features announced was the fact that Yosemite enhances iMessage to include SMS messages as well as the texts sent through Apple’s proprietary service. You can also now send and receive

technology

phone calls from your Mac. A pretty cool feature if you ask me but on the other hand, making a phone call is becoming one of the few reasons we actually get up from our desk. This integration could mean that we will be sitting more and more in front of a screen. Apple fans can now rejoice in the fact that they can install other keyboards beside the one installed by default (after years of requests). Nevertheless, Apple brought improvements to the standard keyboard as well. One of the features that was even mentioned by Whatsapp founder, Jan Koum, was the addition of quick audio and video messages, self-destructing messages, and temporary location sharing, among other features. Jan Koum said that it was “very flattering to see Apple “borrow” numerous WhatsApp features into iMessage in iOS 8”.

Apparently there are a slew of updates in both operating systems and you can check them all by searching for iOS 8 on Google. Now the question is whether Apple is still a trendsetter or it is just ‘borrowing’ features from other operating systems and just adding some improvements here and there. If you have been reading my columns from previous years, you must probably already know that I am not an Apple fan boy and probably will never be, but it seems like Apple is going through a massive change in terms of products and services. Back in the Steve Jobs era, I would have never expected a coloured iPhone or giving the users the possibility to install different keyboards and/or widgets. What’s your take on Apple’s latest developments?

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fifa world cup 2014

Matteo D

armian

J oel C a m p

bell

fifa world cup 2014

d l r o W A F FI : 4 1 0 2 p Cu rs you now e y a l p Two h c t a w want to

By Denson Pierre

Sport FIFA World Cup 2014 Two players you now want to watch By Denson Pierre For at least two years before the start of the tournament we have been being told about whom to expect to catch our eyes in Brazil. After the first wave of first round matches I would just like to point out a couple players who have properly caught the eye early on. This mini-list is not for the superstars who might have so far already shown brilliant moments but players not as well-known but who seem ready to take the tournament by storm from the outside lane. Joel Campbell (Costa Rica): there are always players during World Cups who emerge only to seemingly make fools of their parent clubs and managers. If this highly-skilled, speedy and attacking player can take on the rugged Uruguayans almost single-handedly and win,

then I think Arsene Wenger and Arsenal must truly overrate someone like Jack Wilshire (England) in an attacking sense instead. Matteo Darmian (Italy): another gorgeous athlete; a young, fearless and super-effective find by the Italians. In only his second game for the Italian national side he was particularly instrumental in destroying the level of performance of Leighton Baines (England). Baines is a player the English were keen to promote as world-class but Darmian and teammates in support took him back to school during the most impressive amount of wide-play so far seen in the tournament. There will be more new class to emerge but by the time of the next issue of The Sentinel is published we will be able to feature all of the true eventual and overall winners.

sport

The Gold Room 88

By Denson Pierre

N N I W GIJS SMEETS

WINNER

Sentinel Fantasy Football League (SFFL) 2013-2014 and a cup.

sport

! S R E N 89

GRAHAM MAYWOOD (left)

WINNER

of the golden envelope Fantasy Football Gold â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Champions League 2013-2014 and Dirkje Bakker-Pierre, winner Manager of the Month October.

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