Queens' Day 2008 / Koninginnedag

(Too cool for school)



The rest of the world spun along its merry way today, but in Holland it was Queens' Day.

 

(Tiejgetje)

Queens'Day (or is that Queensday in English? from 'Koninginnedag') is the celebration of the birthdays of Queens Juliana (RIP) and Beatrix.

A combination booze-fest, garage sale and the 4th of July. It's traditional to wear orange.

 

(he eventually got back up)

After the "More" are some photos and a couple of clips I took in Amsterdam.


(The grass is always greener on the other side of a boat)

 

(Amused or Annoyed?)

 

(Frickin heap of junk)

(Culture clash)

(Regal dame)

(Godspell)





(Milkbreath)

(Fox Force Four)

(Queensdog)

(Compliments were a quarter, so I bought two)

(Pinocchio?)



(Orange streaks)

(Dutch cops)

(the bitter end; photo by Mara Miller).





(Sterling and Son)

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Two Beers for Queensday

(charlesfred)

According to De Telegraaf (Dutch), the new rule for Queensday (April 30) is, nobody will be allowed to carry more than two beers at one time, unless they run a cafe with a liquor license.

Otherwise the cops (supposedly) will presume you're a vendor and confiscate them.

Now, we could all shout that this is further evidence of Amsterdam's becoming prude, but I guess I'd prefer to say:

Let them decree that monkeys must fly out of my butt, for all the good this rule is going to do.

No force on earth will keep people from staggering around drunk (okay, drunk and stoned) in Amsterdam on Queensday. And I plan to come back with photographic evidence...

(gabemac)



Other rules this year, according to the Juridisch Dagblad:

-A maximum of two taps per cafe
-They can only open at 11 a.m.
-They must close by 9 p.m. (hahahahahaha)
-No glass glasses for mixed drinks.
-No amplified music without a permit.
-No sales of alcohol without a license "even from your own garden."

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A new plan for bike safety in the Netherlands

This is intended as a companion post to the previous one.

The Dutch biker's union (fietsersbond), which is quite a strong lobby here, has noticed that bikes tend to "lose" in bike-vs.-car collisions, and has started agitating for cars to be equipped with EXTERNAL airbags.

(Fietsersbond logo; it says "collision-friendly cars")

Yes, that means, airbags placed on cars so that when they run into a bike, the airbag will inflate to protect the biker. They'd be placed on the front windshield, where the head usually strikes.

Here's a series of photos from a report compiled by the scientific research organization TNO, which carried out a study for the Fietsersbond.

An accident w/o airbags:






As expected, head injuries are the worst source of fatalities; hospitalizations are usually broken legs and arms according to the report (in English).

The new plan:




The Fietsersbond estimates this would save 60 lives per year.



Drivers of course have screamed bloody murder (in Dutch) about the idea because it would increase costs on the already highly-taxed automotive experience in Holland. They suspect the hand of a corporation is somewhere in all this.

Even as a somewhat pro-bike biased observer, I wonder whether the money wouldn't be better spent elsewhere. For instance strengthening dikes.

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