Magere Hein

Perhaps the 6th one died first, and then the other 5 ate it, and that's why they're dead? :-DFed all 6 of them every day without fail but these famous five all went tits up today. No sign of Nemo! I'd have a talk with your local heron. Many years ago the neighbours of my Uncle Arnold had put a dozen gold fish in their (very small) garden pond. A heron soon fished it empty. More heron food was bought and accepted in the next few weeks. A net was installed, which helped. During this time the neighbours took to counting their fish every evening, which is more difficult than it sounds as the fish swim about. They lost count severel times every day, very amusing to listen to while enjoying a pint and a ciggy. After Uncle Arnold added a gold fish to the pond it became hilarious. regards, Hein

An unusual roadkill. The Dutch text translates to: "Near Den Oever in (the province of) Noord-Holland a seal has been killed in a collision. The animal was crossing the Afsluitdijk from the North Sea to the IJsselmeer and was hit by a lorry. The driver probably didn't notice the accident, another motorist called the police. Staff of a seal sanctuary in Noordwijk have taken the corpse to a seal sanctuary in Pieterburen for examination. According to Zeehondencrèche Lenie 't Hart it's a 1.60 m long, rather skinny animal. It climbed the dike from the Wadden Sea and had crawled under the trafic barrier onto the motorway. They claim seals do that every now and again, but only in cold winters." "Are there penguins this tall?" (man waves hand at knee height) "Yes." "And this tall?" (waves hand at hip height) "Yes." "And this tall?" (waves hand at shoulder height) "No." "Damn, so it was a nun I ran over." regards, Hein

The Most Reverend turns 80 today. regards, Hein

I suppose it means that Jobs has lived a full and godless life. No atheist's funeral is complete without them. Unfortunately they don't do overseas pickets, so mine will have to do without them. Oh well. regards, Hein

Yes. regards, Hein

Well said. I know that I have indicated possible attendance in the past, this time I will make the effort. It seems that there is something like consensus on the following: Date: Friday 10 August to Sunday 12 August 2012. Location: The Netherlands, tentatively Amsterdam. Multiple sessions are possible. I'll be the host. I'll stick the dates in my diary. Perhaps I can think of a death themed day activity1, we'll have plenty of time. If the wheather's good, there's also time for an outside drinking session on Leidscheplein or Rembrandsplein. I'm told shopping in and around the Kalverstraat has its charms, though not for your expense budget. We may strike lucky and find a nice band playing in the Melkweg or Paradiso. It's not the concert season for classical stuff, but there's no lack of entertainment, including some activities illegal in many countries. My experience is patchy, but I suppose I can find out, should the need arise. 1Supposedly better than watching paintings of (and by) dead people. regards, Hein

Found the little bastard after about 10 minutes last nightBehind the fence, innit? I give up. Where is the little fecker?Look to the greenery at the top right, look down under the path. The little shits just sitting there.I found it! OK, so I googled it. I am now officially less perceptive than a 13 year old. New glasses, mebby? New eyes? Brain? regards, Hein

So many questions, so few answers. Are those two the same woman? If so, did the make-over involve an oven? shoe polish? steroids? magic? all of the above? The mind boggles. regards, Hein

The Bob Dole Bypass to Hell, I presume. Oh wait, it's around Hutchinson, KS. I guess it's the Bob Dole Bypass around Hell then. regards, Hein

You mean, you need hard evidence to prove it? How absurd There is, of course, life without it, but not life as we know it. regards, Hein

Shite.There is definitely something shifty about her......on that basis I find her guilty as charged. This case did not receive much attention in Dutch media, since no Dutch were involved. As I understand it, the evidence against ms Knox was: She lived in the same flat as the victim. A person already convicted of the murder says so. Witnesses of dubious reliability say she was around the crime scene at the time of the murder. She's not a nice person, with habits some, or many, people object to. She lied (or was made to lie) to the police. Each item has problems: Establishes opportunty, not guilt. Dubious witness with a clear motive for lying. Dubious witnesses, one apparently a professional one, the other could well have read his testimony in the paper. Being shifty is not evidence of murder. Being a liar is not evidence of murder. Ms Knox may well know more about this sordid affair than she admitted, yet the evidence doesn't make a solid case against her. As forensic evidence was thrown out, because unreliably handled, is seems to me her acquittal is correct under the presumption of innocence. I'm glad the court proved able to think independently from what they read in the papers. regards, Hein

Bloody hell, that's cheating. As far as I know Nobel Prizes can, by the rules, only be awarded to living people, or organisations. If, however, a laureate dies between announcement of the prize and the award ceremony, the prize stays with the, now deceased, laureate. That has happened. This case seems different. The laureate died before the jury decision (and the jury unaware of the fact) and announcement of the prize. I don't know if this has happened before. The spirit of the prize seems to point to a path similar to the case of death of an already announced winner: once given stays given. regards, Hein

It did not escape our attention. regards, Hein

Indeed: here's a picture taken a few seconds earlier: regards, Hein

Found the little bastard after about 10 minutes last night Behind the fence, innit? regards, Hein

I'll be in Holland during the first three weeks of August next year, so the best time for me would be around 10th/11th/12th. Is that good for anyone else?Looks like I'll be in London for various Olympic events on the 9th of August, so I could travel on from there... The dates you give are Friday to Sunday. So the question then rolls on to... what would most wish to do? Paint the town red on a Friday night? Have a whole day long session on the booze on the Saturday? Or all go for a nice Sunday Lunch? Sunday lunch is not a Dutch thing, although it's certainly possible. Friday night is always right, but sometimes a bit crowded. Saturday has the advantage of two drinking sessions with dinner in between. If we want to visit brewery 't IJ's Tasting Room, as I suggested earlier, it'll be in the afternoon, as they close at 20:00. Its brews are worth a detour, mind. I suppose it's also time to talk about location. Amsterdam may well be convenient for our overseas' members, but is full of tourists in that time of year. Since most other cities in the Netherlands can be travelled to from Schiphol Airport by train in less than an hour, we may also consider Den Haag, Leiden, Utrecht, or possibly Rotterdam, the latter having the advantage of being my home town. Even Delft and Dordrecht, two old Dutch towns, are possible locations. regards, Hein

Rushed to hospital for kidney failure. regards, Hein

Today he received the lifetime achievement award he was to accept in Zurich when he was arrested by the Swiss police in 2009. Normally such awards are a kiss of death, but it seems he got away. regards, Hein

Only Admins can do that. Done. regards, Hein

Don't worry Spade, I have something else... As long as its not along the lines of his 'pissing away'. Well, if you listen very carefully... regards, Hein

Thats a strange one, not only was it reported on this very thread but you commented on it yourself.. Something along the lines of "dont knock it, nice bit of ambient" or words to that effectBlimey you're right! Independent are always bloody late with their obits. Throws me right off. Who next, Gandhi? King Ur-Nina of Lagash perhaps? regards, Hein

I was just waiting to see who'd be the first to spot that one. A big loss for comedy. regards, Hein

Yes please, make him stop. His cartoons are getting worse and worse.Good news for Hein; he's retiring. Good news indeed. Let's hope what that article calls 'a younger artist' includes somebody who knows how to write a script. From the same news I learned that our hero Gerard Depardieu is to play Obelix again in a new Asterix film, this time playing in Britain. I suppose the scenes with warm beer and Gallic wine will work quite well. regards, Hein

I've watched Cuby and the Blizzards live several times. Sad. regards, Hein

People have been saying that since the beginning of the year, I thought she was a goner for sure. Give her credit the old bird's got a bit of fight left in her yet. Has been a bit of a dud year so far, only 5 deaths in almost 9 months, and not like the Reaper hasn't been busy. Still, like people have said there's time yet, and the cold of winter tends to help see a lot of oldies off Which suggests that we should put more people from the southern hemisphere on our little list, so that we use their winter in the first half of the year. regards, Hein