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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 13, 2018 0:57:10 GMT -5
Well, yeah; Hans Brinker is everyday life in the Netherlands, right? You know, I actually had to google who that was. Not that reknown piece of literature over here. Oh, okay; well, it is a fairly well known children's story over here, for those of us over 40 (well, maybe over 50), about a young boy who races for silver skates (Silver Skates is the alternate title). It and the legends of the boy with his finger in a dyke to stop a flood and the mascot of Dutch Boy housepaints are about all many Americans know about the Netherlands. Some of us have seen some of Paul Verhoeven's Dutch films, so we are at least familiar with guys who date Turkish women, gay men who romance women and have dreams of them castrating them, motorcycles, prostitutes and students who ended up in the Dutch resistance and Dutch SS. It's not a wide range of knowledge; but, not bad, for an American.  I actually used to work for a lieutenant commander whose mother was Dutch and his father Dutch-American, and spent part of his life living there. He spoke the language fluently and we once had a Dutch ship visit our port. He went over to visit and started speaking Dutch to the quarterdeck watch, who were speaking English to him, and it took about 5 minutes for both of them to realize they understood each other, but were speaking each other's language.  |
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Feb 13, 2018 2:56:16 GMT -5
Some of us have seen some of Paul Verhoeven's Dutch films, so we are at least familiar with guys who date Turkish women, gay men who romance women and have dreams of them castrating them, motorcycles, prostitutes and students who ended up in the Dutch resistance and Dutch SS. It's not a wide range of knowledge; but, not bad, for an American. Ah, Soldier of Orange, Turkish Delice, Spetters, Business is Business and Katie Tippel, all great classics! But I guess it would have been somewhat more dificult to sum up Rhe Fourth Man in one short catch phrase?  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 13, 2018 3:21:58 GMT -5
Some of us have seen some of Paul Verhoeven's Dutch films, so we are at least familiar with guys who date Turkish women, gay men who romance women and have dreams of them castrating them, motorcycles, prostitutes and students who ended up in the Dutch resistance and Dutch SS. It's not a wide range of knowledge; but, not bad, for an American. Ah, Soldier of Orange, Turkish Delice, Spetters, Business is Business and Katie Tippel, all great classics! But I guess it would have been somewhat more dificult to sum up Rhe Fourth Man in one short catch phrase? That was gay men who romance women and have dreams of them castrating them. Jeroen Krabbe is a gay (well, maybe bi) writer who has a fling with Rene Soutendijk and has a dream that she cuts of his, um, krabbe, with barber's shears. Granted, I didn't cover the belief that she murdered past lovers and he is next, or trying to manipulate her into bringing her guy around for him to seduce; but, you know, I hit the important stuff. I could also say Jewish women who work with the resistance to get close to German officers, who go on to instigate the burning of little girls by their fathers, for the Carice Van Houten connection, from Black Book to Game of Thrones. I do have to say I enjoy Verhoeven's commentaries on his movies, especially Starship Troopers, where he eviscerates a pompous American reviewer who missed the fact that Verhouven was satirizing fascist imagery, while pointing out his youth under the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. When I first saw that film in the theater, I was laughing out loud at his subversion of Heinlein's militaristic ideas. The best was when Neil Patrick Harris, old Doogie Howser himself, turns up in what looked like an SS uniform. What was scary was how many people in the theater seemed to think it looked cool. |
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Post by Arthur Gordon Scratch on Feb 13, 2018 3:41:51 GMT -5
I do have to say I enjoy Verhoeven's commentaries on his movies, especially Starship Troopers, where he eviscerates a pompous American reviewer who missed the fact that Verhouven was satirizing fascist imagery, while pointing out his youth under the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. When I first saw that film in the theater, I was laughing out loud at his subversion of Heinlein's militaristic ideas. The best was when Neil Patrick Harris, old Doogie Howser himself, turns up in what looked like an SS uniform. What was scary was how many people in the theater seemed to think it looked cool. Back Book is great, but it's a different beast, and the situations it describes aren't that dutch centric. The same happened in many other countries at the time. I remember seing ST when it came out, and the controversies around it in the media, which showed how a small attention span most people have : the movie could somehow be seen as fascist propaganda - in one's puerile mind - if not for a small scene in the middle of the movie : a news show has a guest that suddenly says "well, you know, maybe they wouldnt have attacked us if we didn't attack them first...", only to be instantly muted by some more propaganda. The whole movie is there in a nutshell, but you just have to watch it carefully, as in real life, because when fascism comes knocking on our doors, it wil always loudly shout that it isn't so. |
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Post by berkley on Feb 14, 2018 12:53:15 GMT -5
I've always liked watching the Olympics but haven't looked at anything this year yet.
Speaking of biathlon makes me wonder about something: going right back to ancient Greece, the Olympics have always had several different sports that were based on military skills - the biathlon being a case in point. But modern warfare is evolving all the time, so is it time to invent some new events or sports that reflect some of those changes?
I don't think sports like hockey - or soccer/football or basketball or baseball, etc in the summer - should be in the Olympics. They should have their own dedicated tournaments, if they don't already.
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Post by String on Feb 16, 2018 14:52:42 GMT -5
I still watch it mainly because I get to see sports such as biathlon, skiing, ski jumping, bobsled (luge, skeleton) that I don't get to see otherwise.
For example, Lindsey Vonn is apparently one of the most decorated American skiers ever with all her World Cup titles yet the only time I see her is here at the Winter games. Same with Schriffrin or any other top US athlete in these disciplines. Plus, it's interesting to see/learn about these other European competitors from Norway, Sweden, Germany, and such and to see their amazing accomplishments in these games. Events like snowboarding and such, sure there's the Winter X games for that but that feels more like a young hipster's genre than for an old fogie like me (Besides, I don't know what a 'Double-Twist 520 with a backward spin' means).
NBC's coverage can be wonky, especially given the time difference. The wife has been trying to watch the US women's hockey team compete but invariably gets their final scores spoiled for her because of the time difference. Figure skating (as with gymnastics in the Summer Games) naturally gets the biggest push by the network.
But for me, the real draw is curling. A very interesting game, I first came across it some years ago when NBC aired matches first thing in the morning (which they still do in some cases). But when you're trying to get ready for work, you're still halfway groggy from waking up and you see someone pushing a big granite stone down an ice field with two guys sweeping the ice in front of it, you start to wonder what it is you're really watching. But after learning more of the rules and nuances of the game, I've grown to really like it and follow it whenever I can.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 18, 2018 12:41:46 GMT -5
Saw a piece on NPR about the Czech skier, who had previously specialized in snowboarding, who ended up winning the Gold in Women's Super-G. She thought the notice that she was in first was a mistake, until it staid up. Those are the kinds of stories that make the Olympics fun. Also see the Jamaican Women's Bobsled team is having as much fun trying to compete as the original men's team. Then, there was a skier from Tonga! Kind of hard to ski on a tropical island!
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Post by thwhtguardian on Feb 18, 2018 19:06:48 GMT -5
I still watch it mainly because I get to see sports such as biathlon, skiing, ski jumping, bobsled (luge, skeleton) that I don't get to see otherwise . For example, Lindsey Vonn is apparently one of the most decorated American skiers ever with all her World Cup titles yet the only time I see her is here at the Winter games. Same with Schriffrin or any other top US athlete in these disciplines. Plus, it's interesting to see/learn about these other European competitors from Norway, Sweden, Germany, and such and to see their amazing accomplishments in these games. Events like snowboarding and such, sure there's the Winter X games for that but that feels more like a young hipster's genre than for an old fogie like me (Besides, I don't know what a 'Double-Twist 520 with a backward spin' means). NBC's coverage can be wonky, especially given the time difference. The wife has been trying to watch the US women's hockey team compete but invariably gets their final scores spoiled for her because of the time difference. Figure skating (as with gymnastics in the Summer Games) naturally gets the biggest push by the network. But for me, the real draw is curling. A very interesting game, I first came across it some years ago when NBC aired matches first thing in the morning (which they still do in some cases). But when you're trying to get ready for work, you're still halfway groggy from waking up and you see someone pushing a big granite stone down an ice field with two guys sweeping the ice in front of it, you start to wonder what it is you're really watching. But after learning more of the rules and nuances of the game, I've grown to really like it and follow it whenever I can. I like watching the odder sports as well, I really like the insight into foreign sport that they provide. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 19, 2018 13:54:26 GMT -5
I still ask why we don't have team snowball fights in the Olympics? It's a natural...
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Post by The Captain on Feb 19, 2018 15:14:18 GMT -5
I still ask why we don't have team snowball fights in the Olympics? It's a natural... I would actually watch that, along with dodgeball if they ever put that in the Summer Olympics. |
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Post by The Captain on Feb 25, 2018 16:40:57 GMT -5
My girls commandeered the TV last night and they made me watch the women's curling gold medal match, and I can honestly say I have not watched anything more pointless or painful in my entire life.
If I were going to torture suspected terrorists, I would strap them into a chair and make them watch an endless loop of curling, especially matches between two teams that don't speak their language, because then they would have absolutely no idea what the "athletes" were chattering about to each other, although I can guess it is mostly along the lines of "Throw your rock so it will hit that rock over there, and you two, sweep really fast with your Swiffers."
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Post by Dizzy D on Feb 26, 2018 7:37:31 GMT -5
You are on of the few then who has not fallen to the power of curling.
My favourite bit was the short track skating finale 3000m: Dutch team didn't make it into the final, so was in the race for places 5-8. During that race, they set a new world record.
In the final, 2 out of the 4 teams were disqualified, so they are now Bronze medal winners *and* world record holders.
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Post by The Captain on Feb 26, 2018 9:12:12 GMT -5
You are on of the few then who has not fallen to the power of curling. Probably true. I'm guessing a lot of the appeal is that it looks like a game any slob could play in his backyard on a frozen pond, while most of the other sports require years of vigorous training. Also, you could totally do curling while holding a beer, which is a little tougher while doing the slalom or luge. |
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