Drenthe II - Harvest Day in Lhee

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Naturally, different rural communities all over the world have their own flavour of celebrating the harvest. The annual harvest day at Lhee is also however a village fair celebrating historic rural culture specific to the region of South-West Drenthe. The local people here are obviously very proud of their traditions and take a great amount of trouble to put on the best display they can. As you can see this area has a strong regional identity.
Old trades, handicrafts and agricultural methods are displayed as they were practised until not so long ago and passed on; be it not in practice but in memory. It's nice to forget the profound changes that agricultural practices have undergone in the last thirty years just for one day.

Late that afternoon there was a heavy shower and at dusk it produced the right conditions for the bonus material at the end,- with the horses prancing through the mist. I could not resist posting it because magical moments like this also have everything to do with genus loci of Drenthe.

In the coming autumn season Dutchvlog is again going be exploring more urban themes in Amsterdam.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), Flash Video (.flv)

Dutchvlog goes to Drenthe

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Each posting is an adventure from beginning to end, from inception to hitting the upload to internet button. I never have a preconceived idea of what the end result will be like. I also frequently ask myself what DutchVlog is about? Its about what I see around me , what I encounter, what I feel and of course it has to be Dutch. The V-logs I've done recently also include the passions of others;- the Blues, Hip-Hop, the Dutch songs of Life - whatever, they always seem to be charged with something or other.

This V-log is about an extraordinary region in the north of Holland divided between the counties of Overijssel and Drenthe where time has been arrested to conserve a historical Dutch landscape and all that thrives upon it. It used to be adjacent to the sea until a new polder was added to the west at he start of the last century. To me this is as close as is gets to the scenes depicted in the paintings of Salomon van Ruysdael.

Of course the Four Seasons of Vivaldi would have been perfect as musical backdrop until I called the licensing authorities to ask how much 4min. 30sec. would cost on a video-weblog …€1600,00 at least! A very harsh reality.

Fortunately I found Justus Smits (from the Pianovlog) prepared to help out. So I loaded the rough cut into my camera, played it back on his TV and recorded his improvisations on my mini-disk……its not as easy as it seems but in retrospect it's 1000 times more fun and more meaningful than simply ripping the music from a CD. I have seen the light and I can recomend this method to anyone who wants to use (legal) music on thier vlogs. Many thanks Justus.

If you ever want to see a piece of the real Old Holland you should visit this area. It never fails to surprise and impress with its simplicity, it's beauty, it's peace and it's quiet. Here you can listen to the silence.

Btw - thanks to all those who have recently left (genuine) encouraging comments at different locations.

Links

Chateau Hotel De Havixhorst
Natuurmonumenten - De Wieden

Das Nou Drenthe

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov)