Amsterdam Blog

A Cardboard Office: Nothing Amsterdam

2009-03-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

Nothing is an Amsterdam-based, independent entrepreneurial agency that delivers innovation as a consequence commercial creativity for local and international visitors out of a cardboard box. Totally.

The Nothing office, completed entirely of cardboard, was designed by internationally recognized designers Alrik Koudenburg as well as Joost van Bleiswijk.

"Nothing is almost the power of ideas, almost how a single consideration can transform nothing into something," said Michael Jansen.

"Using a cheap throw-away material to whomp up a unique as a consequence memorable work space, seemed a first-class ritual to materialize this thought."

Nothing's goal is simple: turn consumers into brand advocates by any means to hand.

This proposition sees Jansen including Korsten producing meaningful brand experiences ranging from product innovation moreover store design, to employee training programmes along with, yes, even TV campaigns.

Amsterdam University College: information session on 2 February

2009-03-20T04:03:00.001-07:00

Amsterdam University College (AUC) is a joint Bachelor (Honours) programme of two big research universities, the University of Amsterdam furthermore VU University Amsterdam. AUC offers an English taught international liberal arts and sciences programme. University-level studies guiding to a Bachelor degree

Dutch universities already offer a comprehensive range of excellent Bachelor programmes, though by establishing University Colleges they enjoy succeeded in more than that widening the choice for students looking for top quality higher education in the Netherlands.

Amsterdam's Catholic churches

2009-03-16T06:17:00.000-07:00

This year likely will be memorized as the year that Amsterdam lost half of its Roman Catholic churches.

Amsterdam's oldest Catholic church, St. Mary's, began along the South Side of the city. Conforming to a history of St. Mary's written by Jacqueline Daly Murphy, a priest from Schenectady came to say Mass for Irish Catholics working on the Erie Canal east of Amsterdam in 1839.

In 1849, Catholics purchased the earlier St. Ann's Episcopal Church onward the South Side of the river from Amsterdam, a composition of differences then called Port Jackson. The new church was named St. Mary's moreover Reverend Daniel Cull was pastor. In 1869, St. Mary's moved across the river to its make public location forward East Main Street where a new church was built.

While St. Mary's primarily served the Irish, in 1883 it was reported that confessions were beingness heard there in Italian, Spanish, Latin, French, Hungarian along with German.

Ellen Creager - Sleep under the stars

2009-03-13T02:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Travel Diva: My wife moreover I as a consequence another couple will be taking the train from Amsterdam to Delft, furthermore then from Delft to Brussels the hindmost day. Is it improve to fabricate reservations before duration or purchase tickets the same day? -- Dutch Treat

Dear Dutch: American Bret Kantola, an Amsterdam resident, says that but it is slightly cheaper to book ahead, it's fast along with best to buy tickets if you get to the station. The Denver native in addition advises to inspection for the fast "Snel" train, avoiding "Sprinter" as a consequence "Stop" trains. The trip from Amsterdam's Central Station to Delft takes 54 minutes onward the sneltrain (www.ns.nl).

NEC Sign Koenders From Ajax Amsterdam

2009-03-10T04:08:00.000-07:00

The Amsterdam born player was mainly warming the bench at the Eredivisie table topper Ajax this campaign. Koenders lost his spot in the starting 11 to new signing Gill Swerts, who signed for Ajax from Vitesse last summer.

NEC were eager to sign a new defender ever since centre in the rear Peter Wisgerhof left the club for Twente approximately a week ago. They were initially interested in signing AZ defender Kees Luijckx, while the Alkmaar side refused to let him go.

Koenders is a product of the Ajax youth academy, yet never made it to the first team at the Amsterdam giants. He created his professional debut at RKC Waalwijk in 2006 furthermore signed for Ajax only one year postliminary.

Ed van der Elsken - My Amsterdam

2009-03-06T02:37:00.001-08:00

Mireille Mosler, Ltd is pleased to make public My Amsterdam, a selection of black together with white vintage prints, color photographs as well as film by the Dutch artist Ed van der Elsken (1925-1990), chronicling post-war Amsterdam. The concept of this moving picture was first conceived in 2005 by the British photographer Martin Parr for Foam, Fotographical Museum Amsterdam. Ed van der Elsken was one of the the greatest number competent figures in postwar Dutch photography. He is inextricably linked with Amsterdam, his place-of-birth where he photographed moreover filmed throughout his beingness. Van der Elsken captured every aspect of Amsterdam from the 1950s on. Working primarily with natural light, his objective was to show things as they are, without disrupting any integrity or mainstreaming his subjects. His openness to accident including the unexpected is indicative of the artist's lust for being moreover lends empathy to the strange moreover tender encounters captured.

Deadline Early Bird registration extended for EIPC Amsterdam

2009-03-02T22:32:00.000-08:00

So it can only get warmer, but if the meteorologists fail you, then EIPC will not, as we have a warming event being held in Amsterdam in February (12th & 13th) 2009 at which your attendance is invited.

EIPC Conferences are known for their excellent attendance by those industry experts and professionals who are the core of the European PCB manufacturing and supply industries. With markets changing as they are, and with technology demands increasing as they do, along with all the other complications that beset anyone endeavouring to operate a profitable business, two days in Amsterdam could be a good investment.

The provisional programme can be downloaded here. For more information contact Sonja Derhaag, Event Manager at sderhaag@eipc.org or + 31-43-3440872.

Ed van der Elsken My Amsterdam

2009-02-26T04:27:00.001-08:00

Mireille Mosler, Ltd is pleased to announce My Amsterdam, a selection of black and white vintage prints, color photographs and film by the Dutch artist Ed van der Elsken (1925-1990), chronicling post-war Amsterdam. The concept of this show was first conceived in 2005 by the British photographer Martin Parr for Foam, Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam. Ed van der Elsken was one of the most influential figures in postwar Dutch photography. He is inextricably linked with Amsterdam, his place-of-birth where he photographed and filmed throughout his life. Van der Elsken captured every aspect of Amsterdam from the 1950s on. Working primarily with natural light, his objective was to show things as they are, without disrupting any integrity or mainstreaming his subjects. His openness to accident and the unexpected is indicative of the artist's lust for life and lends empathy to the strange and tender encounters captured.

Bols Genever Amsterdam Gin

2009-02-26T04:25:00.001-08:00

Lucas Bols, the world's oldest distilled spirits brand originally established in 1575 in Amsterdam, has relaunched its Dutch Genever gin, a white spirit created almost two centuries ago. The word "gin" has disappeared from the new bottle (above) in favor of "grain neutral spirits", as the old world Genever bears little resemblance to the dry London gins we're familiar with these days.

Bols Genever is made by blending a unique distillate called maltwine with a carefully selected secret blend of botanicals; the result is a superior quality spirit with a unique smooth character that can be made into a variety of delicious cocktails. Genever has in fact been an essential cocktail ingredient for nearly two centuries; Jerry Thomas, author of the world's first cocktail book The Bartender's Guide cited it as one of only four essential cocktail spirits back in 1862.

Amsterdam cleans up it's image

2009-02-20T00:51:00.000-08:00

The reason I ask is that the Amsterdam City Council voted last month to shutter nearly half of its brothels, sex clubs and marijuana-dispensing coffeehouses in an attempt to cut down on organized crime.

"It’ll (still) be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can’t find anywhere else in the world - very exciting, but also with cultural attractions," City Council member Lodewijk Asscher told the news media. The goal is to make the Amsterdam prostitution and drug scene more wholesome for tourists.

And maybe it’s a worthy goal. When I was 21, fellow student Mark Duffy and I spent a weekend in the city. We ate in cafes, visited museums and rode bikes.

In the evening, like many tourists, we visited the red-light district, laughing at the sight of hookers sitting in shop windows.

Amsterdam: Study of Salafi-Jihadis

2009-02-17T05:21:00.000-08:00

The publication "Salafi-Jiahdis in Amsterdam' was presented today at the new year's reception of Forum, Institute for multicultural development. Researchers followed twelve radicalizing Moroccan Muslim youth because 'in order to prevent extreme action is it important to know what such youth think and why they think what they think."

Mohammed B., the murder of Theo van Gogh, was a Salafi-Jihadi. The Hofstad group relied on this thinking: any means is permissible, even violence, in striving for Islamization. Society has every reason to worry about youth who go towards radicalization and who are seen as 'irrational lunatics'.

The latter is not correct, say the researchers, led by political scientist Jean Tillie of the University of Amsterdam. "Our study shows that those youth don't act out of irrational, inexplicable religious urges, but out of needs which have to do with personal and social circumstances."

In the past Tillie calculated that 2% of Amsterdam Muslims - about 1,400 youth - are susceptible for radicalization.

Editorial: Amsterdam a great spot for FMCC dorm

2009-02-13T02:44:00.003-08:00

The mayor of a city like Amsterdam would have to be crazy not to embrace the idea of the local community college building a dormitory for 100 or so students in its downtown. Fortunately, Amsterdam Mayor Ann Thane is anything but crazy and has expressed enthusiasm for the plan being pushed by Fulton-Montgomery Community College President Dustin Swanger to buy or build a dorm in the city. It's all pretty vague at this point — Swanger won't even disclose the name of the building owner he says he's been talking with — but anything Thane or any other local official can do to grease the skids for such a project would be welcome.

College kids, no matter where they come from, make good urban residents. Even if they're not rich, they usually have some discretionary income for things like eating out, bowling, going to movies, etc.

Live at the Paradiso Amsterdam

2009-02-13T02:44:00.001-08:00

Live are nothing if not persistent. Born during the grunge boom of the early '90s, the band first achieved success with their 1994 album Throwing Copper, mostly on the strength of the mega-hit "Lightning Crashes". (If you're younger than fifteen, you will probably only recognize the song from Buzz Ballads commercials.) In 1997, Live released their follow-up album Secret Samadhi, which sold millions of copies before people got embarrassed about owning an album with a song called "Lakini's Juice" on it. Live might (should?) have died there, but in 1999 they released The Distance To Here, which sold even more copies than its predecessors had. If all that wasn't enough, they also scored a minor hit with "Heaven" in 2003—long after most people had forgotten they ever existed.

Now, Live gives us a new live album called, yes, Live At The Paradiso—an album, they say, that has been fifteen years in the making.

A Cheesy Taste of Amsterdam

2009-02-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

While museums and sightseeing might be top of the list on a trip to Amsterdam, no trip to the Dutch capital is complete without trying some of its most popular cheeses.

Of all the Dutch cheeses available, probably the most internationally known is Gouda. Although named after the city of Gouda, very little of the cheese is actually made here, with a large amount of the production taking place in Amsterdam itself. For this reason, Gouda is typically available throughout the capital - traditionally made from cow's milk, it works well as both a table and a desert cheese.

Naturally a cheese-fuelled trip to Amsterdam should involve making time for sampling another one of Amsterdam's most famous cheeses, Old Amsterdam. A gourmet cheese made from pasteurised cow's milk, the Amsterdam classic is known for its strong, nutty flavour and firm, smooth texture.

From Old to New Amsterdam: New York Turns 400

2009-02-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

At the Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Avenue), Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson, opening April 4, will explore Hudson's trip with artifacts like the maps and sextants that steered him there. The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx will show off the tulips and other native plants of the Netherlands with "The Glory of Dutch Bulbs," opening April 1st.

In honor of New York's founding, Amsterdam is sending a stone plaza that will be installed in the Battery with a snack bar and LED-embedded sculpture. We'll withhold judgment on the New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion until we see an actual photo -- it's not really the Dutch government's fault someone already sent Lower Manhattan something cool.

Amsterdam teens arrested in home robbery

2009-02-04T05:32:00.001-08:00

Amsterdam Police responded to a call of a robbery in progress at the McClellan Ave. home at around 10:40 a.m. Thursday, and later located the getaway vehicle at the high school.

After some further investigation, including information from witnesses, police had four teens in custody, one of whom was a juvenile and the only Amsterdam High School student.

Police say the group apparently targeted the home after receiving information there was $5,000 in cash inside the home. Three of them displayed a gun after entering the house, while one carried a hammer. Each was wearing a mask over his face, police said.

The teens took a PlayStation and a cell phone from the home, though police have not recovered the items. The handgun was not recovered, but the hammer was found inside the getaway car owned by one of the suspects, Josh Terrero.

Dutch carrier Martinair will slash flights at MIA

2009-02-04T05:30:00.000-08:00

Currently, Martinair offers daily flights between Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Miami. But with a lack of demand, it will cancel its flights on Tuesdays and Thursdays, beginning Tuesday, with the exception of flights on Feb. 19 and 26.

The airline will fly from Miami International Airport five days a week through the summer, and has no plans to close its Miami operations, said Suzanne van de Velde, director of reputation management, from Amsterdam.

''We are continuing at least until the summer, but this is the way we say it for all destinations, because we cannot look far ahead in the future,'' van de Velde said. ``At this time of economic recession we will see how the market develops.''

The global crisis has led another international carrier, Air Jamaica, to recently announce that it will exit Miami completely in late February.

Ajax Amsterdam: Evander Sno’s Utrecht Deal Has Collapsed

2009-02-04T05:03:00.000-08:00

However, the youngster has been far from impressive so far and is mainly warming the bench at the Amsterdam side. Sno has made only ten league appearances this campaign, scoring once.

Utrecht were interested in signing Sno on a six-month loan deal. Ajax manager Marco van Basten has opted to use the midfielder as a target man on more than one occasion and Utrecht manager Ton du Chatinier also wanted to use him as a striker.

Sno is a product of the Ajax youth academy and also played for Feyenoord and NAC Breda before joining Celtic in 2006. Furthermore, he has made several international appearances for Holland under-21.

Stefan Coerts, Goal.com
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Food bank for animals in Amsterdam

2009-02-04T04:59:00.000-08:00

As you may know, the Dutch are a nation of animal lovers. We have a politic party that looks after the rights of animals. So perhaps it isn't too surprising that a food bank for pets is being set up in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, it's a fact of life that during tough economic times, having more than two legs sometimes puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to getting enough to eat.

The Chairman of Animal Rescue Nederland, Jack de Jongh, says that pet food is often the first expense that poor people cut back on when times are bad, and the credit crisis has reportedly made it more difficult for many owners to take good care of their pets. So the foundation, with the support of several other organisations, has risen to the challenge and is appealing to manufacturers of animal foods for help in creating food parcels for the pets of families suffering financial hardship.