Full Moon in East Amsterdam

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Digital VlogFlu

Ten minutes ago this vlog was half a page of mixed up source code of the CSS flavor. The digital spirits are obviously punishing me for placing the DutchBloggies badge proudly in the sidebar, an operation I have performed in a similar form a thousand times with satisfactory outcome.

BUT NOW DUTCHVLOG HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR A DUTCHBLOGGIE the digital spirits have decided to tease me. Yep when I republished the blog - I got the dreaded Blogger >>> A Serious error has occurred <<< message. I can often click out of these potentially disastrous events and wipe my brow when all is well, but not this time. Yes - I know I should have saved a copy of the template but I didn't.

The only way to save the posts and comments was to transfer to Blogger Beta and choose a new template.

So Dutchvlog ain't lookin the way it usually does right now - its got Digital Vlog Flu.
Hopefully the paroxysm will only last a few days - so keep watchin while I Pimp my new (and empty) Blogger Beta Vlog

Dutchvlog - Bravo blip

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I have been happily using blip.tv as a video host for a year now and it never ceases to amaze me.
Having an aversion for anything "mass" my primary impulse was to avoid places like YouTube despite its world wide exposure and mythical success. The same also goes for DailyMotion. Furthermore perusal of the Terms of Use of both hosting services reveals a horrifying commercial reality. By agreeing to the aforesaid you grant the host permission to do whatever they like to your carefully sculpted visual creations - to cram it full of commercial messages of their choosing should they see fit.
Naturally the money for the hosting servers has to come from somewhere but the appeal of internet video is that you were able to escape the ineffective TV commercials that are crammed down your throat as frequently as is practicably tolerable. This overtly commercial foundation will eventually be the catalyst to its decline.
blip.tv maintains a more sustainable philosophy. You as author of your video material remain the boss. Commercial messages will only be attached to your clip if you grant permission. This also means effectively that you are not bombarded with commercials whilst browsing the UGC of others. Furthermore as UGC becomes more intricate and creative the prospect of it being defaced with commercial crap becomes even more unattractive. Nevertheless, unmistakably aroused by the sound of $1,5 billion dollars, the value that Google attached to YouTube, YouTube clones are popping up all over internet as is to be expected. In a year you will be able to buy them on e-bay for some loose change with a failing commercial TV channel thrown in for free.

Blip frequently update and improve their service and each time it is a pleasure to see how creatively they accommodate the needs of the serious videoblogger.
They have introduced a Show Page on which you may present your cinematic wares including a trailer for your Show. If anyone has a handle on the future of internet video it's blip.

Not having the patience to develop a custom trailer I have cooked up a Dutchvlog collage for the meantime. Click on the collage.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-4 Video (iPod) (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)

Dutchvlog in Africa

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Whatch the video. The images speak for themselves! Meanwhile the media coaches laugh all the way to the bank and Dutchland gets the democracy it deserves.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-4 Video (protected) (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)

Comments welcome!

Politicized #1

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Whilst I type, the Dutch TV exudes more political debate between primary candidates of the major parties. It is more of the same appalling and meaningless "€10 this way" - "€20 that way" ;-"Yes you did" - "No I didn't" provincial pre election bla bla spiced up unintelligible statistics having ultimately a marginal influence on the real quality of life.

I certainly heard no mention of a report published this week by leading marine biologists concluding that with the present rate of deterioration of marine life there will be virtually no fish left in the seas by the year 2050. Integration; presently the country's most pressing issue has been demoted to an empty sociological buzzword. Nor have they mentioned how they aim to tackle the deepening international divide between east and west. The concept of culture, as in the arts, has certainly no place in these Dutch pre election battles, nor the pending European reliance on unstable Russian energy sources.

Of all the wasted hours of Dutch pre election BS I have witnessed in the last weeks the governments Foreign Policy was not mentioned once and I would have to go to great lengths to recollect mention of an issue such as Global Warming. Nor even the fact that Nation of China undoes all the annual environmentally friendly measures taken by the EU collectively in a mere 84 days....or even the passionate romance flowering between Africa and China....or the fact that Global Warming is warming Africa the most.

Since the murders of Pim Fortyn and Theo van Gogh Holland has become hopelessly lost, polarised and politically fragmented in every conceivable political hue and the politicians scramble - as if in the most undignified way they possibly can - to secure, if not kidnap the votes of an undecided segment which has never been so large, confused and volatile……so without any sign of visionary leadership on the flat Dutch horizon I wish them goodnight…….and good luck.

Meanwhile the Dutch media coaches laugh all the way to the bank and Holland gets the politics it deserves!

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-4 Video (iPod)/(.m4v)

The Vloggies - Awards

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If you weren't able to make it to the Vloggies this past weekend in San Francisco, then you can experience the magic in this super condensed version of the awards festivities. Irina Slutsky along with Daniel McVicar hosted this seminal event in front of a crowd of over 300 screaming vlog fans. Enjoy!

Episode links: The Vloggies, Laughing Squid Photos, Podtech, Dan McVicar

Cross posted from Geek Entertainment TV

Promenade - Water, Bridges and Paint !

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Wherever you are in Holland you are never very far away from water. Just two minutes walk from my house, the North Sea Canal wriggles through Amsterdam towards the North Sea and is always busy with transport barges carrying bulk goods and containers to and fro. It forms part of a complicated infrastructure junction where waterways, motorways and cycleways thread through each other.

A number of bridges stretch across the canal including the Nescio Bridge, a brand new slender, suspension bridge intended for pedestrians and cyclists. The older Schellingwoude Bridge, intended for light local traffic has become a lively message board for local graffiti artists some of whom are extremely talented. I pass by frequently to see if there is anything new and there usually is. It is constantly changing and there are hardly any accessible surfaces left that have not yet been virorously decorated. This spot is strangely bustling with energy produced by the multiple messages that have been left behind.

I tried to capture the contrast between these two spots during one of my promenades. I Like where I live - its always interesting.

Music - Wie is de Baas (Who is the Boss -from the recent album 4 da Streets Part 2) is courtesy of Black Mosart - and the rapid Dutch rap is by Klaas. You can find more rap in the clip Inside Hip Hop Amsterdam, also to be found on this vlog.

Formats available: Quicktime (.mov), MPEG-4 Video/iPod(protected) (.m4v), Flash Video (.flv)

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)

Inside Amstedam - Appivlog

Inside Amstedam - Appivlog

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Appi is a happy, self confessed, ripe hippy of the Amsterdam flavour who takes life day by day and sings the songs life in the Dutch language. He has developed a show with his own music and lyrics called Gekkenwerk (Mad mans work) and hopes to get it on the road by autumn of this year. In his first number …Een Goed Pensioen (A Good Pension) his sings of what life could have been like had he behaved himself and pursued a respectable career. Here the punch line is ”…..now it’s too late”!

In his second number he sings of a Casanova who wants to escape the unsophisticated rural provinciality of Veendam, a sleepy small town in the north of Holland which excels only in being exactly that. Via internet-dating he seeks his self realisation amongst wealthy, freethinking ladies of the big city. This song obviously has a large autobiographical component.

This is a selection from “Gekkenwerk en andere Rosse Liedjes”

More from Appi in the autumn and if you don’t speak Dutch……learn it!!