TheSentinelAmsterdam vol.8 #2 by Consultancy Market Media

vol. 8 #2 – 28 October 2014

The Sentinel Amsterdam

Integrity, heart, humour

feature

perspectives

WHY Z?

IS, IS, IS?

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

content

feature - p.04

perspectives - p.8

culture - p.22

Why Z?

Rotterdam

Skin deep

‘Feel very nicely informed about the ‘real’ Amsterdam’

‘We did a great job rebuilding it’

‘I cannot think of a cultural visit of any higher degree of contrast’

K: C A B G BRIN perspectives - p.58

sport - p.58

Bring back! The Guilder Pt II

Is, is, is?

The Gold Room

‘Younger proprietors think all it takes is getting ‘brands’ in’

‘I disappeared, writing nothing’

amsterdam city life - p.51

more lifestyles - p.34

philosophy & fermentation - p.42

café/bar review - p.54

Hello beautiful

An Edible Landscape

O’Shea’s Irish Pub

perspectives - p.58

restaurant review - p.60

Star Beer Guide - p.64

Natural production

Addis Ababa

Pater Lieven

recommended - p.66

spotted - p.68

film - p.69

Where is this in Amsterdam?

Room 2C

trends - p.70

health & well-being - p.74

technology - p.76

The age of ridiculous

Malachite

User interface

sport - p.80

SFFL 2014-2015 The Sentinel Amsterdam

E-mail: sentineldesk@gmail.com Website: www.thesentinel.eu Contributors: Sam van Dam, Jane Hutchison, The Observer, Henriëtte Waal, Dirkje Bakker-Pierre, E.R. Muntrem, 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

‘It had been some time since I last properly considered a purchase of the magazine’

Why Z? by Denson Pierre

There is so much about city life that slips into mind and then just passively resides as a regular feature of your environment. A couple of months ago, after having rushed to my local Albert Heijn just before its evening closing time, I somehow forgot to remove the keys from the Axa lock of my bicycle, and proceeded to rush inside the shop. I was gently stopped in my tracks from doing so by the gentleman selling the Z! Magazine at the entrance. He calmly pointed out my most unusual act of forgetfulness. The key to my bicycle happens to be attached to those for anything I need physical access to in my simple life [living space and other bicycle] and never mind the €350 bicycle itself.

feature

It was such a weird thing to realise that it had been some time since I last properly considered a purchase of the magazine. It is just about the most interesting in concept and the way it was set-up in Amsterdam, and is now one of the few properly informative and interesting publications about Amsterdam and Amsterdammers to be found either off or –online. It was suddenly upon me that even though my household does 40% of our highly regular food and household product shopping at Albert Heijn, where there is always a sales person, that it had been just over ten years since I last bought a copy of Z! I cannot say that I was oblivious as in fact, whenever I was of some mind to get one and did not it would have been because the small money I was entering or leaving with was already dedicated to a purchase to be made elsewhere before getting back to home. In general, I have been living a cash-free life for as much as possible, whenever I have had any sort of disposable budget. This means that even though I am almost on first name terms with the friendly men selling the magazine, I would almost always have completed my shopping business by using my bank card. It is also silly that I never bothered

asking the sellers if they happened to have change for one of the bigger notes, should I have gone shopping with one of those or they were part of my change on the odd cash day. As luck would have it on that summer’s evening above, I found myself having completed my shopping and looking toward my bicycle and then to the front cover of the then current issue of the Z! Magazine. It totally captured my attention and as I patted my front pocket I felt the presence of coins. I dug in and bought myself a copy. It should be enough to say that I now make sure to keep a €2 coin handy when heading to the supermarket. I am not sure I have missed an issue since and feel very nicely informed about the ‘real’ Amsterdam from a source other than the work done by a very small number of other quality periodicals and indeed this magazine. You can check out the interesting background and details of the Z! Magazine story here: z-krant.nl

feature

‘I now make sure to keep ‘One of the few properly a €2 coin handy’ informative and interesting publications about Amsterdam and Amsterdammers’

feature

perspectives

Dam in 60 minutes! 8

Rotterdam

By Sam van Dam

perspectives

‘In true Dutch fashion; we all seem to be in a hurry’

populated city in the Netherlands. The next major place that flashes by the window is The Hague, the seat of the government of our country but not the capital; that remains Amsterdam since Louis Bonaparte made it so in 1808, during his reign as the King of the Netherlands (1806-1810). Delft, famous for its university and the delicate pottery ceramic products called ‘Delfts blauw’, happily sits by the tracks and watches us roll by. Schiedam is the last station before we finally arrive at our destination and I impatiently begin fiddling with my bag and my camera, because this happens to be my first ever to visit the city, and for me, as an Amsterdammer, it is extra exciting. Our cities nourish an age-old hate-hate relationship that seems to be mostly based on a long series of football matches between AFC Ajax and Feyernoord, with the ensuing hooliganism, violence and general confusion that sometimes comes before and in the wake of such major sporting events.

Apprehensively I step out of the safety of the train and take a whiff of the Rotterdam air. I follow the stream of travellers down into the station and try to orientate myself. I notice how big the station is as I walk towards the main entrance. Sunshine is reflected off the huge buildings that are right out front, giving the impression of a proper big city, very different to Amsterdam, where the first things you see are the typical old houses that make our city so charming; this is not a bad first view either however. I stroll around in the bright, warm light and keep staring at those tall office buildings, feeling As the yellow and blue high-speed vehicle pulls into the like a tourist from a small town who is in New York for station, everyone picks up their belongings and squeeze the first time. The people seem friendly and not exactly through the doors as others try to get off, in true Dutch in a hurry. Everyone is taking their time and a general fashion; we all seem to be in a hurry, even though the calmness is in the air. In the far distance I can see the train obviously won’t leave if people are still busy Erasmus Bridge - an impressive structure that fits in descending from the little stairs and lifting their bags neatly with all the other modern buildings that and suitcases onto safer ground where they won’t be dominate the appearance of Rotterdam. Of course, I squashed by the unruly mob. Once we’re all settled in also remember just why everything looks so different we start moving out of the city and through the from my own city - the Nazis destroyed large parts of Amsterdam suburbs, picking up speed and racing Rotterdam during the Second World War - and I have to towards the horizon without a care in the world. We say, we did a great job rebuilding it. Even though I spent pass by and beneath Schiphol airport, and then head in most of the day discovering the city, I will have to come the direction of Leiden, the second most densely back very soon, there’s definitely so much more left to see.

Today we are going on a special trip again; for a change we are taking the train to Rotterdam instead of cycling there. It’s not so much due to laziness but a practical approach, was I to cycle, then I’d have to turn around and head home the moment I arrived there, to avoid getting lost in the darkness; so the train it is. I begin the journey at Amsterdam Central station where I hop on a train, not without first wrestling with the ticket machine as it asked me which one of the two service providers I was going to use to travel, which of course I don’t know. I frequent the national rail system about once a year, if at all, so I push some random buttons and pay whatever the machine asks for; clearly it doesn’t take a Terminator of the third generation to outsmart me. I make my way to the correct platform and enjoy a moment of watching random fellow travellers who are busily hurrying this way or that to catch a train, bus or tram that will whisk them away towards their homes or, if they’re lucky, their holiday.

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Racing towards the horizon without a care in the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Louis Bonaparte made it so in 1808, during his reign as the King of the Netherlands (1806-1810)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The impression of a proper big city, very different to Amsterdamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

perspectives

culture

‘The millions to stream through this country annually are fortunately always more interested in cultural aspects’

AMSTERDAM SKIN DEEP By Denson Pierre

Not many European cities can rival Amsterdam in terms of layers of historical conservation. It works well with the Dutch tendency to be quick to exploit an earning opportunity, leading to the museums and places of interest being really well curated and maintained. It is an otherwise common and sad misconception among those of challenged intelligence regarding that which most of the very many tourists to visit somehow come here for; the things they can actually find anywhere else (drugs, paid sex and perversion). The millions to stream through this country annually are fortunately always more interested in cultural aspects of the place they are visiting. With this always in mind, the sight of a press release showing news of a new and upcoming exhibition of recently unearthed utensils and other artefacts got me pretty excited. All of this onsite at the oldest museum in the entire city: Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder [Our Lord in the Attic].

‘This was the heart of the old, most beautiful city’

culture

It is not that the ecclesiastical associations were part of any attraction but certainly the pure history, architecture and archaeology that could be investigated surely was. This and a pure sense of slight embarrassment that after all of the years spent living this city that I had not yet managed to visit the place. Despite my thoughts on the visit being clear and not consumed by matters influenced by an imagined heaven, my eventual arrival at the museum certainly came under the influence of the physical heaven.

Amsterdam had remained cloud covered but frankly, when I imagine this city that is the way I envision it. This time, as I parked and secured my bicycle on the railings close-by to the museum, I reminded myself that this was the heart of the old, most beautiful city, and also the infamous Red Light District. That thought lasted for a brief moment as I made the few steps and entered the premises to be greeted and invited to enjoy and learn from my visit. It gives me great pleasure to say that I would like to recommend this little museum tour as a must do

With the trade in human skin and commercialised debauchery around each corner of the address, I cannot think of a cultural visit consisting of any higher degree of contrast in all of mighty Amsterdam. This house has recorded it all for over 350 years. Now there is expansion and modernisation afoot but the original house is where it has always been at: Ouderzijds Voorburgwal 40. www.opsolder.nl

‘The pure history, architecture and archaeology that could be investigated’

Wednesday, October 22, was to be the press introduction and presentation of the articles newly found during excavations around the massive restoration and expansion project nearing completion at the address. On the morning of Wednesday, October 22, Amsterdam was still being brushed by the very last unsettling effects of Atlantic hurricane Gonzalo. With the welcome at the museum set to take place between 09:00 and 09:15 I was making perfect time per my bicycle. I had left home 15 minutes before and felt I had found a hole in the cloud cover to make it there in good order. I mentioned the heavens earlier and that is because just as reached Damstraat, literally two minutes away, the torrential downpour to end all other showers suddenly wrapped everyone else found exposed on the street and I in a driven blanket of rain. It took about 30 seconds to be properly soaked right through to my socks and underwear. My jacket offered protection to my upper body but otherwise I have not been so drenched by rain before in my life, unless I was having to bathe in it. Suffice to say, I had to turn back toward home to dry out and warm-up. I also had to contact the PR people at the museum to apologise for not showing, but with the explanation that what they missed by being already inside had made me unfit to present myself to anyone professionally. I arranged to do the visit solo the following day.

if you wish to receive the exemplary feeling of the ambiance that emanates from such an address (built 1663), steeped in so much intrigue, grand devotional activities and plainly and simply for having been lived in. I will offer no more spoilers so that you can enjoy the fascinating journey back in time through rooms and crannies as you negotiate narrow and creaky staircases. The smell of candles and old lumber cured by time is highly pleasurable and the new exhibition ‘Blik in de Beerput’ offers a glimpse at the objects that were discarded into the cesspool (dating from 1650 to 1800) and only recovered and restored since 2013.

culture

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Steeped in so much intrigue, grand devotional activities and plainly and simply for having been lived inâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

culture

classifieds

A world of beer has arrived in Amsterdam West.

The Beer Tree Jan Pieter Heijestraat 148

classifieds

lifestyles

‘Question the sustainability of traditional medical cancer treatments’

Self-help with cancer

‘A major side-effect of chemotherapy was the possibility of secondary cancers’ By Jane Hutchison

I had cancer and soon realised I wasn’t going to get much help. Yes, I had amazing friends and family who showered me with love and positivity, and even went so far as to help me with my household chores. But there was only so far their help could go in terms of the physical healing process. I was a statistic— and the doctors and nurses were just doing their job like anyone else that gets up in the morning and goes to ‘work’. Passing from one hospital lounge to the other I regularly noticed the overflowing bowls of cookies and cakes in the chemo treatment rooms. Could this be real? Were the doctors and nurses saying, “Here try these chocolates, they will help you with your vitamin deficiencies?” I began to question the sustainability of traditional medical cancer treatments and felt a great deal of concern for many of the ‘traditions’ I perceived to be counterintuitive. After

all, surely these doctors understood that sugar fuels cancer growth and that without sugar, cancer cells cannot thrive in our bodies. Furthermore, I now knew that a major side-effect of chemotherapy was the possibility of secondary cancer such as that of blood or bone. I had to fill in form after form saying that I knew about these sideeffects. In other words, if this current cancer didn’t kill me maybe another one would. Wow. It was totally shocking! I was knowingly subjecting my body to something that was so toxic that even if I had come into the cancer clinic completely healthy, I would almost certainly have to fight for my life just to overcome the negative implications of chemical treatment. Fast-forward twelve months and I was finally done with my traditional treatment, thus freeing my time and energy to delve into a deeper understanding of cancer. I began by uncovering research that contradicted everything I had just been through. The facts were there, staring me in the eye, forcing me to concede

lifestyles

‘Overcome the negative implications of chemical treatment’

that people have been beating cancer for quite some while by simply changing-up their diet. Organic foods that have not been processed and sprayed with toxic chemical fertilisers and pesticides were natures own cure. So many people these days live on fast foods, ready meals, fizzy drinks, sugar and processed meats. But who was I to judge? I had been eating huge amounts of fruit and vegetables that were covered in pesticides. Cancer seemed to be lurking around every corner. I understood I had to fight the battle for myself and whilst doing so simultaneously use my position as an artist to help pass on the education I was acquiring, to the masses. Not only did I need to do this in an aesthetically appealing and engaging way, but I also needed to more thoroughly express my thoughts and feelings about cancer. The process of setting up the Hello Beautiful Foundation started while I sat in the chemo room.

Kevin (a close friend and co-founder at the Hello Love Art & Design Studio) and I chatted for hours about the state of the NHS system and what we could do to help effect change. Our aim was to create a charity that would bring the public and private sectors together for the ultimate benefit of mankind. We dreamed of artists, brands and health activist coming together in a collaborative effort to eradicate cancer. It was then time to set the plan in motion. In October 2013, fourteen months after my breast cancer diagnosis, the Hello Beautiful Foundation held its first art exhibition, appropriately titled, The Breast Movement. As intended, this exhibition featured two breast cancer charities—The Keep A Breast Foundation (California, USA) and The Haven (London, UK) along with a global team of artists and designers. To have the number of people come through the door to not only learn more

lifestyles

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Start speaking openly and freely about cancerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

lifestyles

‘Help people express their emotions and thoughts about cancer while promoting positivity’

but to start speaking openly and freely about cancer was worth every effort. I was just out of treatment myself, so felt a huge sense of relief that I was on the right path.

We now have over 1000 woobs which will be exhibited and auctioned as a part of Hello Love’s First Annual Art & Design Festival to be held in the London during the summer of 2015.

After the exhibition we continued to develop ideas. One such idea was that of creating wooden breast sculptures. The wooden boobs, ‘woobs’ offered a more accessible tool with which to get people from the community to participate in a conversation around breast cancer. The woobs came in four types: a normal breast, a lumpectomy where they just take the cancer growth away, a round one without a nipple, representing a reconstruction and a flat one representing a mastectomy.

We would love to extend the invitation to help us decorate some woobs to the lovely people of Amsterdam. If you would like to decorate some woobs just get in touch.

What I liked most about using off cuts of wood is that each one is unique, has its own skin and growth lines just like the human it represents - no two are the same. We now hold woob workshops in schools, hospitals and companies to help people express their emotions and thoughts about cancer while promoting positivity.

www.hellobeautiful.org

lifestyles

lifestyles feature

philosophy & fermentation

An Edible Landscape Red Hook, New York City By Henriëtte Waal

The Mobile Outdoor Brewery – a beer brewing initiative that uses local surface water and wild plants as the basis for superlocal beers, has travelled throughout the Netherlands since 2009, making beer off -the commercial -grid and reconnecting beer brewing to the local landscape. In midOctober I was invited to present my work in New York. Micro-breweries are much more advanced in New York City when compared to the Netherlands. The entire craft beer hype in Europe is a relatively young one but in the US it is already 20 years old. It was quite a surprise therefore to have received the invitation from Slow Lab and Pioneer Works (an art space in the Red Hook neighbourhood) to travel there together with my small mobile brewery. It soon proved that these US brewers were however, purely guided by economic motives. Most of the beer to be found varied from India Pale Ales (IPA) to double-IPA (Imperial Pale Ale) or Pumpkin IPA (at the time of Halloween). So my landscape-based approach and knowledge would probably bring something new to them that could be reflected in the brew.

The Red Hook landscape was so named for its red clay soil and the point of land projecting into the Upper New York Bay. The original village was settled by Dutch colonists to New Amsterdam (earlier name for NYC) in 1636, and called Roode Hoek. I subsequently learned that historically Red Hook was at the heart of the New York brewing industry given that the Grain Terminal was located there. The huge structure itself never managed to generate a profit and was ultimately abandoned. At around 1950 Brooklyn was though producing a significant share of the nation’s beer with some 45 breweries in operation! The grain terminal was closed in 1976 and became a site for urban explorers. During the 1990s Red Hook became known as the crack cocaine capital of the United States. It still has one of the largest public housing schemes in Brooklyn but along the waterfront you can find that even Hollywood stars have now moved in, proof of the current and increasing gentrification of the neighbourhood. In 2012 Red Hook also suffered heavy damage from the effects of hurricane Sandy. My outdoor brewery couldn’t come along with me unfortunately, as it proved too expensive to ship. At first this did not seem to present a problem but then I learned that the people at Pioneer Works were totally

philosophy & fermentation

‘My landscape-based approach and knowledge would probably bring something new to them’

‘Gather the ingredients and materials needed to capture the essence of Red Hook in a brew’

enthused about the idea of me completing a landscape brew with them. I was therefore very lucky to meet a sculptor called Tom (“I will do everything I can to make your project a success”), on my second day. He just took three days off to help me out. “Other artists helped me out when I was on the other side of the ocean too” he said. This is in fact something nice about people who operate within the world of artists: sharing and bartering. Tom drove me around everywhere in his 1990s model Mercedes Benz station wagon. This was tremendous in helping me gather the ingredients and materials needed to capture the essence of Red Hook in a brew. In other words: we put together a temporary brewery in three days!

overnight, Tom and I improvised a rainwater catcher in the courtyard of his studio on Pioneer Road. Miraculously we captured just enough water for one brew batch.

I managed to borrow a barrel from one artist specialised in ‘dangerous installations’ and making moonshine for friends (“the more you drink the sweeter I get”), then a gas stove from an artist of robots (“when it cannot steer itself it is a machine”) who had a studio in an old church called, Smo-king. The stove was one used as a heating unit during the Sandy catastrophe. We made a stirring paddle from a leftover plank and found some cheesecloth at the local supermarket. On the second day we bumped into Vince from Widow Jane Whiskey Distillery who gave us a portion of organic, bloody red corn from the Hudson Valley. When we learned that rain was forecast

On the brew day I also harvested some salty water by throwing a bucket out in the direction of the Statue of Liberty. Ultimately, the most exciting part of this mobile project was the bottle hunt that Tom and I undertook to Dead Horse Bay, a beach in Brooklyn that used to be a rubbish dump from about 1800 until the 1940s. There wasn’t a waste disposal plan operating in NYC one hundred years ago like there is today, so they used to simply drop it off just beyond the city limits. The glass bottles survived intact over the years. It was as if I had precognition of this beach even when I had described to Tom my specific desire for somewhere ‘special’. Tom had thought about it for a while and then remembered the story of ‘bottle beach’. It was forbidden by federal law to go there but as an outsider these rules don’t seem to prevent you from following your instinct. Also, the excitement of archaeologygrade bottles caused an excitement far greater than a federal law forbade.

‘The original village was settled by Dutch colonists to New Amsterdam (earlier name for NYC) in 1636’

philosophy & fermentation

‘We put together a temporary brewery in three days!’

‘I hope they really did enjoy the event as much as I enjoyed their landscape’

So, instead of going to Dia:Beacon Foundation or the famous art gallery PS 1, I decided to go to the bottle beach on the day before my talk and presentation of the brew. For the first kilometre or so we only saw wrecked boats strewn about. “I have the feeling we’re not there yet”, Tom said when he sensed my initial disappointment. Soon afterwards we discovered that the soil, or the dunes next to the beach were in fact stuffed with bottles. Nature and rubbish had fused into one. It was so strange to discover the objects that survived; things like stockings, doll’s heads and many bottles were still there all in one piece. We proceeded to harvest these bottles. I even managed to find a Coca-Cola bottle from the time they were still made in New York. Coca-Cola was developed in 1886 as a non-alcoholic alternative in response to the newly introduced alcohol prohibition laws. The characteristics of the bottle design I found originated from 1915.

my talk. The event was a great experience though. All of the New Yorkers present said the talk and the brew was “amazing”, that they “totally enjoyed” and that the bottles were “soooo beautiful” I hope they really did enjoy the event as much as I enjoyed their landscape.

It was a dream catch. Tom even found plastic crates overgrown by reeds. It actually made the entire scene feel staged to me, too good to be true. I was then found carrying the crates filled with bottles on my head like a rural African woman. We sweated profusely due to the heavy load; it was no stroll through Central Park. When we finally got back to Tom’s car it was a true relief that the day was over. With a lovely sunset before us and “We are the champions…” blaring from the radio, we crossed the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.

On Sunday, November 2, Henriëtte will be presenting at Kunstfort Vijfhuizen. The exhibition “Op de plaats rust” shows the exploration of six artists and designers in the Haarlemmermeer (the polder surrounding Schiphol airport). The autumn conference will focus on participative and contextual practise of these artists. Amongst others, Henriëtte will show one of her latest creations: a potato beer - in addition to snacks from potatoes of the future.

‘I had precognition of this beach even when I described to Tom my specific desire for somewhere ‘special’’

The next morning I barely found the time to prepare

If you happen to go to New York City I can really recommend that you go to a beer bar. You will find at least ten different beers on tap. You can taste all varieties before even deciding which one you will pay to drink a full glass of. Also, there are nice shops in the city where you can rent a brewery, hire a brew master and brew your own inside the shop. I knew about this before but since I have experienced it I’m even more convinced that Amsterdam would be a better place with such a system and facility. In fact, the social aspect of it all is really appealing to me. I will start such a project here in Amsterdam soon.

Reservations can be made via: idik@xs4all.nl (Curator: Iris Dik)

philosophy & fermentation

‘Hire a brew master and brew your own’

philosophy & fermentation

classifieds

The Mediterranean as it once was.

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www.visitgent.be

cafe/bar review

‘O’Shea’s is actually a bit of an oasis’

Café/Bar Review O’Shea’s Irish Pub

cafe/bar review

‘I always have a good time with the staff and regulars here’

By Denson Pierre

O’Shea’s Irish Pub Jan van Lieshoutstraat 9, Eindhoven

Ambiance Always feels like the type of pub that can be found in Ireland and the UK in fact. The space is rather ideal and laid out nicely for those differing sitting and standing experiences within the one address. Always friendly. Rating 5

Staff/Regulars Always good. It must be due to the direction and guidance of the very affable business leader (very often present and hands-on) but I always have a good time with the staff and regulars. As a non-active Ajax fan I tend not to get into boring Eredivisie focused conversations while there but can discuss football excellence as a neutral with the Brabanters. I have now been there often enough to at least imagine that I recognise some of the regulars as much as I certainly do the long-standing staff members. Rating 5

Televised sport When they are not busy laying on live music or engaging and fun traditional fare, O’Shea’s is the go to place for televised sport in Eindhoven city centre.

Prices Things being fifty or seventy-five cents cheaper on almost every worth-having consumable when compared to Amsterdam does make a difference at a venue where you always end up enjoying a full session. It of course means that you get the same filling and watering here at about €10 less than what you will have it at in Amsterdam, based on a typical few hours spent on a session- visit. This also and in addition to happy staff slipping you a fresh one to celebrate the good time you are part of. They understand that to make a bar fun you need to see fun people as important and something they too should help create through kind acts of exchange. Rating 5

Music When not made by bands performing on the nicely sized stage you can expect anything from traditional Irish ditties to rather fetching and thumping dance beats to originate from the impressive sound system. The cavernous nature of the space also makes for a nice surround sound effect. Rating 5 Smoking area provision They must really smoke a lot in Brabant. It would take an unusually summery Octobers’ Saturday for me to realise that the floor area of this pub is greater than that which I was already impressed by. There is a huge smoking area which also opens out into the precinct area that I had never noted before. I must have always been during the deep section of the football season as I learned from the boss that it is only closed during winter. The drawback here is that although impressive you do get blowback into the non-puffers area on days when the wide front doors stand open. Rating 4 Total rating: 29/30 (Rating from 1-5, where 1 = Very poor and 5 = Excellent)

I have reviewed a cafe in Eindhoven. I realised that even though it is a PSV Eindhoven meeting place for internationally minded fans (and not the moronic hooligans) especially on match days, that it is also simply a grand cafe that shows a lot of local and international football. Over the past eight years I have had reason to be in this peculiar city for football matches and personal reasons. It was once the absolute buzzing heart of the Philips electronics empire and with Philips being such a world brand and the city centre being that tiny, it has been easy over time to have visited most of the attractive looking cafes and bars in this city’s main entertainment area. O’Shea’s is actually a bit of an oasis there.

Expertly decked out with one (retractable) cinemastyle large screen and with multiple flat screens dotted tastefully throughout, it is possible to view different matches (and other sports than football) simultaneously. Away from at home or out in Amsterdam, I must have clocked more TV-football viewing hours at this pub than at any other over the years. Rating 5

cafe/bar review

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The go to place for televised sport in Eindhoven city centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

cafe/bar review

‘Happy staff slipping you ‘The forthe televised sport a freshgo oneto toplace celebrate good in Eindhoven city centre’ time you are part of’

perspectives

Natural production

by The Observer

Have to wake early on mornings? No need for store bought alarm clocks, nature provides, through the exceedingly reliable, prompt rowdy flock of Cocricos and cocks. No need for indoor showers with hot and cold, jacuzzi or manmade pool, nature provides so you can feel cool, through the vigorous cascading waterfalls, pristine, gentle flowing rivers and streams, thermal springs, Wow! Nature has everything. Spending too much on bottled water? Especially with times getting harder, do not worry, nature provides, through the refreshing virgin wells around, and endless coconut water “sky juice” that surround. Feeling lazy to cook and do dishes? Nature grant you your wishes, Through the seasonal, faithful, prolific fruits and vegetables trees, that allows you to just pick, wash and dig in, so you can quickly get into hugs and kisses! No need to purchase music or radio, nature provides also, through the mellifluous choir made up of frogs during the wet season as tenors, the notorious sound of the crickets after sunset as altos, the herds of sheep – goat – cow – cattle grazing in the meadow as base, gust of howling wind as soprano. No need for air fresheners, Nature provides, through the colourful various plants – shrubs – flowers,

perspectives

In the light of the various meetings being held by world leaders and the business consortiums around the world about â&#x20AC;&#x153;Global Warming and the environmentâ&#x20AC;?, I cannot help but reflect on Mother Nature and her myriad of wonderful provisions she naturally provides for us. If only we take time to tap into her wealth of resources, we will be amazed at the drastic improvement that will take place in our world-health.â&#x20AC;?

that infuse the atmosphere with their sensuous fragrances. Air condition and fan? No man, Nature provides, As you are always caressed with salty breeze, being transported by the numerous trees from the vast expanse of ocean. Entertainment? Well, you do not have to spend a cent, nature provides, through the sensual sight of snakes belly dancing on fences, cats and dogs fighting sometimes ending in love making, iguanas sun bathing on the grass, frolicking chirping birds, fluttering butterflies, teasing each other, the spontaneous disappearing and reappearing of the flamboyant rainbows, the dangerous yet beautiful sight of bush fires. Meditation CD? nature provides, through the therapeutic sound of the waves colliding with the rocks by the sea. Electricity especially at night? Nature provides, through solar power by day, and dinners under the stars by moonlight. And a whole lot more, for you nature has in store.

restaurant review

‘One of the very first restaurants in this city to open shop selling this particular type of cuisine’

‘You are supposed to eat with your hands here’

restaurant review

Addis Ababa ‘Go and eat them where they are made properly in the first place’

‘An attractive, festive looking plate full of colourful and delicious delights’

By Antonia Egon

After Googling about for some cooking instructions on how to create these pancakes I realised it would be easier to just go and eat them where they are made properly in the first place, as it is a very specific thing to make and I didn’t have the feeling it would be so easy to reach any similar quality. There was talk on the internet about leaving ‘things’ sitting for 24-hours…

also the food at Addis Ababa is super-friendly priced which made it an even easier decision to eat out instead of endeavouring to make my own. The forever warm welcome by the owner made us feel right at home and we started with a hearty, very flavoursome lentil soup which got a lot of its flavour from green bell peppers - thanks for the tip! I was never such a fan of those green peppers but within this combination the flavour it created was just great. As a main treat, we had the vegetarian combination; an attractive, festive looking plate full of colourful and delicious delights served with loads of injera. Eating this dish is a kind of dreamy experience, the ritual of eating in this manner combined with the sensation of having a different flavour and texture with every mouthful that then finds you a bit later with an empty plate and a very happy feeling without being 100% sure what happened in between. As a bonus, I received detailed instructions on how to create the best injera, which sounded all of a sudden a lot more do-able than the recipes I could find online. So, who knows, when the urge comes up again, I might get my notebook out and give it a try. (Or we might just go to Addis Ababa) www.addisababa.nl Overtoom 337 1054 JM Amsterdam Very suitable for all types of diet and lots of vegetarian/vegan options!

One of our favourite neighbourhood dining addresses features Ethiopian [and/or Eritrean] delights as a main attraction. In fact, Addis Ababa was one of the very first restaurants in this city to open shop selling this particular type of cuisine, which is so very different from Dutch fare, light-years away indeed, and therefore even more exciting and exotic. It features very specific flavours and spices, which all taste and feel like no other cuisine I know of and that also makes it difficult to stay away from for too long. That might be why last week I found myself thinking of Injera, the yeasty, bubbly pancakes they serve with all the dishes and which are used as an eating tool as well as having its own very unique flavour and texture. It is like with eating roti or sticky rice; you are supposed to eat with your hands here, something that makes me intensely happy.

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amsterdam city life

: K C A B G N I R B THE GUILDER PT II Dutch cheapness By Denson Pierre

As those who have the time to show studies of trends and ‘style’ will tell you, we have a tendency to go over-the-top with crazes or easily acquired fashions here because we can typically afford the prescribed gear. At some stage the re-hashing of the 50’s hip movement was introduced to Amsterdam. In US and British cities the fad of men with groomed, but-withregular-bits-of-food-or-debris-stuck-in-them-beards captured a certain segment of the younger, more shallow set, who really believe that following a magazine-tip and fashion says something positive about an individual and his or her sense of the avant garde. Here in Amsterdam it seems like (again, as with every fashion trend!) the entire hospitality industry also started believing the hype and has opted for catering for these ‘hipsters’ as it relates to beer and restaurant experiences. Unfortunately, what we have been left with is over-priced craft beer of questionable quality to price ratios and a proliferation of unhealthy 1950s American cuisine taking up almost all menu space in the places (and they are prevalent) where these people congregrate, to preen and not really socialise. It is to the shame of Amsterdam that chicken n’ chips, beef burgers and pulled pig meat have been

re-branded here as trendy or interesting food to be gobbled-up by this entire group. It would be good if we could bring back the ability to walk into an establishment claiming to sell craft-made beers and wines etc. and not to have to be assaulted by stupid pricing which, those of no particular character, who need to wear non-original costumes and show how much more than you they can spend, unquestioningly pay on the ONE day per month they visit the establishment. It is all show, a cheap show, of high expense. So what happens when you ask a proprietor about their beer pricing strategy? Well, somehow a virus I will call 3 - 3.5 has taken hold. No matter what beer these folk take on they expect to simply factor the retail price over their bar x 3 - 3.5 as if this method of mark-up is written anywhere at all as law. It is a lie they like telling themselves to justify keeping up an act; an act of laziness. Too many of these younger proprietors think all it takes is getting ‘brands’ in and just charging astonishing amounts for beer sorts based on, first, their amateurish business plans in terms of sustainability and clear greed and ambition to make a quick fortune off the gullible hipster clones. The ‘normies’ suffer. There is nothing worse than finding yourself in an Amsterdam cafe or bar these days and being told that a quality beer costs €5.25 there, when next door at an Albert Heijn, for instance, you can get the same beer and measure for €1.63. If Amsterdammers have to pay your rent to the tune of €3.60 [which happens to be a fair price for said beer] on every glass, when Albert Heijn have already shown marked-up retail then... There is more to say about this of course, but we happen to have time for this conversation.

We are not lost tourists but live here. Yes, hospitality licence holders, we are neither illiterate nor immobilised. We certainly can count and these days have worn weary of your interminable greediness while you spoil the special little ‘event’ it used to be to spend time at your premises exchanging hardearned pennies for at minimum good service, while indulging our legal addictions and even thinking we could come see you regularly.

star beer guide

Star Beer

star beer guide

The Sentinel Star beer guide By Denson Pierre

PATER LIEVEN

(A.B.V. 4.5%)

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A pleaser and not a fighterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

There is always room at the star beer table Pater Lieven is brewed by Brouwerij Van den for a light, fresh and flavoursome white beer. Bossche, Sint-Lievens-Esse, Belgium. This class of beer is, due to its refinement, one of the more difficult to get within reach of considered excellence. Pater Lieven however, is a pleaser and not a fighter. Spot research seems to show it preferred by those of the female gender but that only means it is forever lovely and fits in at any point within a gentle session or indeed while accompanying strong tasting food.

recommended

Gollem’s Proeﬂokaal 15/10/14

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

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 Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

By dpmotions

William Burroughs plays the role of ‘the priest’ whom he himself created in a 1973 short story. All you never wanted to know about drug addiction with focus on 1970s “drugged-up” culture in the United States.

Midnight Express (1978) Oliver Stone’s screenplay captures a fair deal of the essence of the true story of Billy Hayes – a happy-golucky young American who never considered the easy negative consequences of international hashish trafficking. It involved prison time.

By dpmotions

trends

The age of ridiculous ‘Does that mean we are out of fabric and style too?’

By Dirkje Bakker-Pierre

Would it be as the period where contracts were invented that weren’t really contracts? A unique concept - a contract with many pages that guarantees you precisely nothing, but only demands stuff - a conundrum! These contracts were originally invented for students working a few flexible hours here or there alongside their ‘studies’, but were consequently implemented to replace ‘normal’ contracts (where you would have reached some type of agreement on number of hours and money etc.) by big corporations (think of Mac Donald’s or the health care industry). This is real mind-bender guys: lots of words + nothing said = progress. Is it a skirt? Are they trousers? Would they call it the age when they made women wear weird-looking wide trousers with legs that were way too short? Culottes? The word itself suggests something you ought to be able to eat, not wear. Now, we all know the economy is in a rut and only sinking further and further but does that mean we are out of fabric and style too? These choppedoff trousers are a perfect example of how fashion can sometimes overshoot its mark completely and just become a caricature of itself. Just imagine “Honey, are you wearing your culottes tonight? You know they really turn me on!” Haha!

Would it be instead pictured as the period in time when yuppies started calling themselves hippies? This just because they buy their food at a slightly more expensive version of the old-fashioned health-food shop (where yuppies don’t want to be seen), that sells organic and locally sourced products and a lot of readymade ‘healthy’ food. And because they do Yoga* (preferably at a yoga studio close to a very public place where they can have a mochachino** or a wheat grass juice before and after the lessons, and more importantly, pose with their yoga mats rolled up under their arms at the same time). A large number of yuppies have started calling themselves hippies… No! Being spoilt, hedonistic and rich, but green, only because you can afford to do it in a luxurious manner is not hippy-ness. Thus, it is here in the digital age where the term “Yippie” was (re)-created in a digital magazine called The Sentinel Amsterdam. Could this find a place in the history books? *Note: the yoga can’t be normal but has to be Bikram or hot or power, so it can bit a bit more expensive than good old-fashioned yoga (again, where yuppies don’t want to be seen). ** That said: it might also be called the age of the mochachino

Culottes, the zero -hour contract and my own recent invention: The Yippie. How will our age be defined in the history books?

perspectives

IS, IS, IS? 72

‘I was in America. Back home.’

‘In America there is less time for everything, everything except fear’

By E.R. Muntrem

Let’s assume the publisher of your Sentinel, the redoubtable Denson P., is irked at me. In the first place I left a bag of clothing in his attic. Months ago I said I would pick it up. There it sits. (Unless he tossed it out already.) In the second place, after reminding inconsistent contributors like myself that The Sentinel’s increased readership meant submissions should be on time and consistent, I disappeared, writing nothing. Shame about the left bag, a pout about the submission, my five year old self ruling the roost again. Also, I was in America. Back home. And there is less time for writing at home. Less time for everything, for beer and friends, walking and kids. In America there is less time for everything, everything except fear. True, the last few months have been bone-chattering across the globe. Vladimir Putin murdered a plane full of Dutch neighbours, ISIS won brand-recognition you-tubing

sadism, Ebola showed up as bubonic, and in the heart of the U.S.A, right down there in a state whose capital is named after the author of, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the son of a former slave holder shot the son of a former slave. Again. And in America we took a moment for “remembrance” on September 11, 2001. Except that since President Obama’s announcement the day before that America would be going after ISIS, our moments of silence and reflection would soon be foreshortened-again-by our bombing someone. Like all people and all nations America likes to remember bad things done to it rather than bad things it does. That’s why we remember 9/11 rather than 9/14. September 14th, 2001-in case you don’t recall - was the day President Bush went to ground zero, listened to the chants of USA! USA! and picked up a bull horn to say: “I can hear you. I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.” Translation? “I hear you calling for revenge. I hear you saying ‘us’ against ‘them.’ Soon we will answer bombs with bombs. Soon someone else’s neighbourhood will

perspectives

‘America squandered history’s best chance to demonstrate the practical value of restraint, to show that we are not five years old’

go up in flames. We will not turn the other cheek.” And since then America, if not the world, has seemed cursed.

the Middle East with water and books and iPods and generators. Imagine a coalition of brave women sent everywhere sand and oil cause repression to shout (or whisper) to every girl they meet: “Life. Liberty. The pursuit of happiness” Isn’t it possible to imagine that any course of action, other than bombing people and arming men might lead to fewer people whom we need to fear? Isn’t it time in the history of the world to create a world army armed to destroy all bomb factories? Isn’t it time to learn some new way?

Do you know that Martin Luther King Jr. did not think Jesus an “impractical idealist” but a “practical realist?” Do you think, with the last decade -plus as a guide, a little love and forgiveness, just in the name of practical realism might have been worth a shot? Imagine: “We can hear you. We can hear you. You knocked these buildings down. And one day you will see us not as infidels and enemies, but as neighbours and friends.” Do you also know that President Bush once said that no one living would know if the war in Iraq made sense because it would take a hundred years before history would see the results? (As if history’s history of mischaracterising the atrocity done by another means you need only be flip to commit an atrocity of your own.) Instead, imagine America spending a century trying to make friends rather than kill enemies, or putting the new world order war budget towards carpet bombing

9/11 was the first tragedy all mankind viewed together, in real time. The whole damn planet had a common text. But we missed the simple lesson. America squandered history’s best chance to demonstrate the practical value of restraint, to show that we are not five years old. Instead we attacked Iraq and now we have Syria and ISIS. (The dots that connect those things may not be direct, but they belong on the same page.) What’s frightening is that to the people who run the world, the pragmatism of not killing people and trying to care for each other is more frightening than the world we have now.

‘Martin Luther King Jr. did not think Jesus an “impractical idealist” but a “practical realist?”’

health & well-being

Malachite By Evelina Kvartunaite

While walking around the market close to Yerevan Republic Square (Armenia), my eye caught sight of the endless displays of jewelry that used green stones. I immediately and really wanted to find out what were the properties of this gemstone.

Malachite is also a protection stone that absorbs negative energies and pollutants from the atmosphere and the body. It guards against radiation of all kinds, clears electromagnetic pollution and heals earth energies. Keep near microwaves in the kitchen and televisions in living areas. In the workplace malachite protects against noise, over-bright fluorescent lighting, and harmful rays from technological equipment, negative phone calls and emails.

Malachite, with its varied green-coloured stripes or patches, is widely used and leaves little doubt about its mesmerising powers. It is known as a stone of transformation, able to assist in changing situations and providing for spiritual growth. It heals on physical and emotional levels, drawing out impurities and stimulating the ‘Life Force’ throughout the aura and body.

As a stone of travel, malachite protects and overcomes fear of flying if you empower the crystal before a trip by holding it and envisioning yourself on the wings of the archangel, Raphael. It helps with jet-lag, encourages smooth business travel, and protects in travel on congested highways.

The name Malachite may come from the Greek word malakee, or malache, signifying the resemblance to Mallow leaves, or from the Greek word malakos, meaning soft.

So all in all, I realised that re-discovering this stone whilst in the Eastern Caucasus, may not have been just a coincidence!

– ‘Leaves little doubt about its mesmerising powers’ –

health & well-being

– ‘Known as a stone of transformation’ –

– ‘A protection stone that absorbs negative energies and pollutants’ –

technology

‘Making headlines and even some currency bubbles’

User Interface 76

Bitcoin galore

‘Created as a reward for payment processing work in which users offer their computing power’

‘Bitcoins can be stolen and charge backs are impossible’

By Andrei Barburas

The evolution of the Internet brought not only high-definition video streams, ondemand music and online gaming but also a new breed of payment possibilities. Virtual currencies started making a more public appearance over the past couple of years, in some cases making headlines and even some currency bubbles. What do these virtual currencies mean and are they any good? A virtual currency or virtual money has been defined in 2012 by the European Central Bank as “a type of unregulated, digital money, which is issued and usually controlled by its developers, and used and accepted among the members of a specific virtual community”. The US Department of Treasury in 2013 defined it more tersely as “a medium of exchange that operates like a currency in some environments, but does not have all the attributes of real currency”. The key attribute

a virtual currency does not have according to these definitions, is the status as legal tender. Virtual currency that substitutes legal tender has been known as a scrip. A scrip can be anything from vouchers, token coins such as subway tokens, IOUs, arcade tokens and tickets, and points on some websites. Going back to the most famous of all virtual currencies, Bitcoin is the first truly decentralised global currency system, and at the same time the largest virtual currency as of 2014. Trust in the currency is based on the “transaction ledger which is cryptographically verified, and jointly maintained by the currency’s users”. The Bitcoin Foundation claims that Bitcoin was “designed to be fully decentralized with miners operating in all countries, and no individual having control over the network”, and that Bitcoin is “as virtual as the credit cards and online banking networks people use every day”. While I will not get into the technical details of Bitcoin,

technology

they are created as a reward for payment processing work in which users offer their computing power to verify and record payments into the public ledger. Called mining, individuals or companies engage in this activity in exchange for transaction fees and newly created bitcoins. Besides mining, bitcoins can be obtained in exchange for fiat money, products, and services. Users can send and receive bitcoins electronically for an optional transaction fee using wallet software on a personal computer, mobile device, or a web application. Bitcoin as a form of payment for products and services has seen growth and merchants have an incentive to accept the digital currency because fees are lower than the 2–3% typically imposed by credit card processors. The European Banking Authority has warned that bitcoin lacks consumer protections. Unlike credit cards, any fees are paid by the purchaser not the vendor. Bitcoins can be stolen and charge backs are impossible. As of July 2013 the commercial use of bitcoin was

small compared to its use by speculators, which has contributed to price volatility. Bitcoin has been a subject of scrutiny amid concerns that it can be used for illegal activities. In October 2013 the US FBI shut down the Silk Road online black market and seized 144,000 bitcoins worth US$28.5 million at the time. The US is considered bitcoin-friendly compared to other governments. In China, buying bitcoins with Yuan is subject to restrictions, and bitcoin exchanges are not allowed to hold bank accounts. While it might sound very tempting to buy Bitcoins using ‘regular’ money, keep in mind that only a few months ago, 1 BTC equalled roughly €500 and as of mid-October, it hovers around the €250 mark. Would you invest in BTC? If so, how much and what would be time frame you would keep it as an investment?

‘A few months ago, 1 BTC equalled roughly €500 and as of mid-October, it hovers around the €250 mark’

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