Hands off the Arctic!

No doubt you have seen the stories about the Russians planting their flag on the floor of the Arctic as part of the rush for resources made possible by the melting of the ice resulting from climate change.

The main attraction up north is oil and gas, as well as new fish stocks. The irony of this is that the oil and gas will only become accessible because we have already burnt too many fossil fuels and have started the process of climate change. And so now we want to get even more oil and gas as soon as the ice melts, which will drive even more climate change. Is anyone learning anything here?

Anyway, a few of us down at Greenpeace in Amsterdam thought we would respond to this crazy situation. You can see the article we wrote here and sign the petition for 'hands off the Arctic'.

And below is the little video a few of the guys put together that casts a slightly different light on the whole situation. If you listen carefully, you might just recognise one of the voices...

Amsterdam's latest export

It appears I may be a bit behind the times, but I have just come across the latest cultural export from the this fair city - Bearforce 1. Their medley of 'gay disco medley' has become quite a hit apparently, with more than half a million viewings on YouTube. Quoted in Dutch newspaper Het Parool, singer Robert was reported to have said 'We only wanted to have a bit of fun'. And it is a laugh - see for yourself:

Surfers beware!

We've all done it. Need to get online, want to check your email, the latest weather report or sports results, and there is a wifi network in the area that is not password protected. Doesn't matter you think, they won't mind, I'll be quick. Well think again! As reported in today's Guardian, it is possible to be arrested for doing just that.

As the paper reports, a man has been arrested for using a broadband internet connection in the street without the owner's permission. The 39-year-old was using his laptop while sitting on a wall outside a house in Chiswick, west London, when two community support officers challenged him. He was detained after admitting using the wireless internet connection without permission.

Detective Constable Mark Roberts, of the Metropolitan police computer crime unit delivered a stern message:

"This arrest should act as a warning to anyone who thinks it is acceptable to illegally use other people's broadband connections."

Now while I am sure there is more to this story, just think about how this practically works. Last times I was in New York for work paying several hundred dollars a night for a hotel room, when I asked the hotel about internet connection, they said 'oh, only the rooms at the front have wifi, but if you are out back [which I was], just surf on whatever network you can find'. Are the police going to take me in, or the hotel manager?

Or my friend is house-hunting in Amsterdam right now. Most apartments here come 'all inclusive' of bills, cable TV, and increasingly internet. When she asked about internet being available at one prospective abode, the landlord said 'oh no, but there is a wifi network next door that you can access'. Is the landlord facing some time in the cooler?

Somehow, I suspect not. Clearly our friend in London was just in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Pluk de Nacht

Seize the Night. That is the literal translation of the title of the Amsterdam Open Air Film Festival. With a beautiful balmy evening last night, we set off to the edge of the Ij canal, just near Centraal Station, on an abandoned industrial site to join the crowds for this fantastic event.

This is a temporary site, set up for just a couple of weeks. The screen is mounted on several shipping containers, and everything else on site is pretty much housed in a shipping container - the bar, the projector. I always knew shipping containers were versatile...

When you arrive, the first mission is to grab your deck chair and find the best spot. The it is off to the blanket hire, 'cause it definitely gets cool later as the evening breeze comes off the water. Then a trip to the bar, and grab the picnic goodies picked up at Albert Heijn on the way, and settle in for a relaxed evening of "the best national and international feature films, short films, documentaries and animations that all haven't been screened in the Dutch cinemas (yet)." And the best part is that it is free!

The program last night started with a short film "Undressing my Mother". Directed by Ken Wardrop, it is perfectly described in the blurb - "In this moving documentary, an aging Irish woman waxes lyrical about her body, her life and her love". Only four or five minutes long, it was stunning and captivating.

The feature was a New Zealand film Eagle vs Shark. It is hard to know what to say about this film - at times hysterically funny, cringe inducing, and tragic. I ran in to a couple of Kiwi guys I know at the end, and they described it as New Zealand's version of The Castle. For those who know that film, such a characterisation should explain it well.

Perhaps this little grab from the film's website sums it up nicely:

"The Eagle of the film’s title is Jarrod Lough, a geeky, four-eyed video store clerk with grand delusions of martial-arts-hero toughness. The Shark is Lily McKinnon, a funny-talking, funny-walking, fast-food waitress with repressed romantic fantasies. And their battle is a hilariously bumbling attempt at finding love, and a bit of revenge, in spite of their oddities and illusions."

Although I probably missed some of the references, it was a great film, and well worth catching if you get the chance.

And what a way to see a film - definitely one of the highlights of the summer...

(Photo courtesy of Pluk de Nacht website)

A Year of Blogging

This is my last photo from the Pride Parade. Thought I would run with a bit of a contrasting image to some of the earlier posts. The Amsterdam Stetsons, presumably a gay-oriented line dancing group, certainly cut a different image to some of the more flamboyant floats that went by!

And I have just realised that I missed the birthday party for my blog. It came to life with my first post back on August 6th last year, Like my hundredth post, it seems like a bit of a milestone, but probably only for me!

Football season underway...

The headline is not entirely misleading, despite the photo! Today's image is another one that I captured at the Pride Parade last weekend. Managed to get so many fun images that it is difficult to not keep using them on the blog!

But yes, the football season did start in England this weekend and my team, Crystal Palace, got off to a flying start with a 4-1 win over Southampton. A great way to start the season, but I am not getting too carried away just yet. Last season the team got off to a flying start, and after five games was undefeated and leading the Championship. Things were looking good for promotion to Premier League, and then somewhere it all went horribly wrong, so much so that the play-offs were not even in sight by season end. Maybe this year...

And in cycling news, the Discovery cycling team, the one that Lance Amstrong rode for, and also the team of this year's Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador, has announced they are disbanding. As the story in the IHT notes, "the death of the Discovery Channel bicycle team ... can be laid to many problems plaguing the sport, including doping scandals and suspicions, fierce politics, lack of leadership and a loss of credibility." As team officials noted, "this is not the time an investor stands to gain by spending many millions to have its name on a team jersey. Therefore [we] decided not to pursue a new sponsor." I know I am naive, but it is simply wrong to see politics and cheating getting in the way of the pure joy of sport.

Stork 'babies'!

This will probably be my last posting on the storks (collective sigh of relief?!). The reason for this is that I am pretty sure they will be leaving town soon. The 'chicks' have become rather large as you can see from the photo, and it is now very obvious there are three of them. It was hard to tell for a while just how many there are, but as they have gotten bigger there are no such problems.

The other tell-tale sign of imminent departure is 'flying lessons'. Was out in the park on Friday morning doing a run session and I noticed both parents and the three offspring doing aerial laps of the park, clearly practicing for their upcoming migration.

Having finally taken the time to do some research, I have now disocvered that these guys are White Storks, and all the excitement is because there are only believed to be 9-12 breeding pairs in the Netherlands. That would explain the crowds that stop each day in the park to check out the nest, and presumably makes the birth of three offspring pretty significant.

And it seems there is a strong historical linkage here - not only is the White Stork the national bird of Lithuania and Poland, it is also - set against a yellow and green background - the symbol of the city of The Hague here in the Netherlands.

And the lucky things get to winter in Africa - a very pleasant thought. Given that it is raining again this afternoon, they may leave sooner rather than later!

Amsterdam Pride Run

As part of the Pride weekend, the Dutch Gay and Lesbian Athletics Association hosts a fun run on Friday evening. As I am just getting back in to training, and felt in need of a race to clear out some cobwebs, I decided to enter the 10km version.

It is a very nice race, held out in the east of Amsterdam in Flevopark and along the Rijnkanaal. The weather was reasonably nice, the sun was shining, and a good crowd turned out. And before you ask, it was just like any other race that takes place in the Netherlands on any given weekend, the only difference being their were a few more people in rainbow hot pants than you usually see, and they have funky Priscilla-style music at the finish line.

Whilst the results have not been posted on the web yet, I was pretty happy with my race. Ran 40:50, well outside my personal best time, but rather better than I feared, given my lack of any sort of hard training in the last eight months! And it was great to get out there, sweat hard, and know I hard done it at the end. But definitely need some more training...

And today's photo is a shot of the 'Pink Police', an image that nicely highlights Red Bull as the definite drink of choice for many this year.

Pride Weekend in Amsterdam

The weekend just gone in Amsterdam was the annual gay Pride festival. And the sun finally broke through for our first truly summer like weekend, which made for perfect conditions for the Pride Parade. Unlike the Mardi Gras in Sydney, the parade in Amsterdam takes place along the canals, the Prinsengracht to be specific. Today's photo is the opening barge, and it includes a bit of a view of the huge crowds that turned out to see the event. Suffice to say, there were some great photo opportunities as the various floats came by, so watch out over the coming days - may need to put a 'parental guidance recommended' tag on my site!

The Unnatural History of the Sea

Today's photo is one I captured in Vondelpark recently. You may recall me referring to a guy who came down to feed the storks, and he was also the owner of this dog.

But the thing I wanted to blog about today is a new book, The Unnatural History of the Sea. It came to my attention after reading a review in last weekend's Washington Post. Rather than trying to paraphrase, let me quote the first two paragraphs of the review, since it is put very well:

"There are times when the capacity of mankind to blind itself to plain reality is simply breathtaking. Thus to this day we still believe, as was universally believed two centuries ago, that the seas surrounding us afford an infinite source of wealth. As recently as half a century ago, two respected academics asserted in a book titled The Inexhaustible Sea that what the ocean "has to offer extends beyond the limits of our imagination -- that someday men will learn that in its bounty the sea is inexhaustible."

A boundless delusion. What informed scientists now know, as Callum Roberts writes in this measured but passionate and immensely important book -- a persuasive synopsis of existing scholarship augmented by the author's own research -- is that the resources of the sea are as limited as those of land and air, and that our penchant for exploiting them to the point of extinction is appalling."

I don't have the book yet, but certainly look forward to getting a chance to read it, having seen some of Robert's other work. He was the leading author on a report commissioned by Greenpeace in 2006 called Roadmap to Recovery: A Global Network of Marine Reserves.

At a time when marine life is being destroyed at an unprecedented rate, the report identifies the marine areas that need immediate protection from over-fishing, destructive fishing, mining and pollution, and presents a design for a global network of high seas marine reserves.

Marine reserves are highly protected areas that are off limits to all extractive and destructive uses, including fishing. They are the most powerful tool available for the conservation of ocean wildlife and may also benefit fisheries by promoting recovery and reproduction of exploited species.

Robert's new book tells the tale of the plunder of the oceans, and makes the case for marine reserves. As the review notes, marine reserves have had notable success in giving endangered species breathing room, but only .006 percent of the ocean is thus protected.

As the popultion of the planet continues to increase, and the popularity of seafood booms, we definitely need to do more to protect the oceans, both to protect the amazing creatures that live out there, and if we are going to provide a vital source of protein for future generations.

Looks like this new book makes a pretty good case on both fronts.

An evening of kulcha

Have just returned home from seeing the Australian Youth Orchestra at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw (Concert Hall). Although not an afficianado of classical music or orchestras, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. (Thanks Mick for the tickets!)

To start with, the Concertgebouw is a wonderful building, with beautiful architecture and marvellous acoustics.

And the orchestra was great. They played four pieces, as well as several encores. The piece I enjoyed most was their second one, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, which featured the Czech pianist Lukas Vondracek.

Unfortunately this is where my philistine nature shines through. As the piece started, it had a sound that made me think 'Walt Disney programs'! Now I was planning on keeping this rather uncultured thought to myself, until we left the concert, and my fellow Aussie concert-goer Maria blurted out exactly the same thought! It's always nice to know you are not alone...

And in that vein, one thing I have been hankering after for a while is one of those inflatable boxing kangaroos, 'cause sometimes you just need to be a little overt about being Australian. I think it is safe to say though, that this was not the sort of occasion where it would have fitted in!

This evening was quite different to the last concert I went to at the Concertgebouw, which featured Madeleine Peyroux. Peyroux is a jazz singer who seems to be frequently referred to as sounding a lot like Billie Holiday. It turned out she had spent plenty of time busking on the Leidseplein, so felt very at home in Amsterdam. That was also a great concert, and has inspired me to head down to the record store and get one of her albums. All I need to do now is turn that thought in to action!

Shane