-There's Waldo, er-me.
-Pre dinner setup, my cousin and I did most of it, and another one pitched in towards the end.
-Christmas cocktails
-Table for 17
-and then there was family
26.12.07
Het Kerstdiner
First Christmas away from home, but still have family to spend it with. This was the big Christmas dinner with my mom's family.
-There's Waldo, er-me.
-Pre dinner setup, my cousin and I did most of it, and another one pitched in towards the end.
-Christmas cocktails
-Table for 17
-and then there was family
-There's Waldo, er-me.
-Pre dinner setup, my cousin and I did most of it, and another one pitched in towards the end.
-Christmas cocktails
-Table for 17
-and then there was family
25.12.07
Demi-winter?
Last week, we had a few really nice kinda wintery days in the NL, where, due to the humidity and temperature, a thick layer of frost settled everywhere. It kinda looked like winter. In the south it even snowed a bit. Normally this frost wouldn't stay the whole day but Holland being Holland, we didn't have sun really for 2 days, so it stayed for 2 days.
-Before work looking in direction towards train station Geldermalsen
-After work looking in direction towards train station Geldermalsen
-Rooftop patio/garden at work looking onto train tracks
-Evening walk from work looking towards the road I just crossed
-Before work looking in direction towards train station Geldermalsen
-After work looking in direction towards train station Geldermalsen
-Rooftop patio/garden at work looking onto train tracks
-Evening walk from work looking towards the road I just crossed
24.12.07
Sunny day out in a rainy rainy country
Alright, time to post again. These were taken a while ago, on a nice sunny Saturday afternoon when I decided to ride the train into Eindhoven and wonder. Unfortunately I didn't bother taking pictures in Eindhoven. Oh well, next time. Most of these are kinda rando/me trying to make interesting pics. The train station is an interesting place.
-Steps up from the platform, notice the groove on the right next to the stairs? That's there for people with bicycles- subtle.
-Pedestrian Overpass, the architecture of the station is interesting, don't really know what else to say about it.
-Empty platforms
-Schedule/weather shelter
-Intercity Train bypassing this station (as it's not big enough for the intercity trains, only the "stoptrain"s), in background is the indoor bicycle garage/repair shop where I haven't gone yet since I'm not paying to park my bike, and have luckily not had bike problems yet.
-A bit of a wait yet
-More empty platform, noticing the grooved patterns in the ground, I've come to wonder if they are specially there for blind people, so they can feel there way around? It does direct them directly to where they need to be if you follow the grooves.
-Skull Candy
-Steps up from the platform, notice the groove on the right next to the stairs? That's there for people with bicycles- subtle.
-Pedestrian Overpass, the architecture of the station is interesting, don't really know what else to say about it.
-Empty platforms
-Schedule/weather shelter
-Intercity Train bypassing this station (as it's not big enough for the intercity trains, only the "stoptrain"s), in background is the indoor bicycle garage/repair shop where I haven't gone yet since I'm not paying to park my bike, and have luckily not had bike problems yet.
-A bit of a wait yet
-More empty platform, noticing the grooved patterns in the ground, I've come to wonder if they are specially there for blind people, so they can feel there way around? It does direct them directly to where they need to be if you follow the grooves.
-Skull Candy
12.12.07
People Problem or Design Problem?
So, I had heard from family about how bicycles get hauled away so easily if you don't follow th rules. Also, about how prevalent bicycle theft is here. So it's very much watch it, or your bike is gone.
I took these pictures kinda documenting the apparent issue of people not following the rules and was wondering whether or not this is a people problem, or a design problem, as you often hear that a problem creates a design opportunity, or some junk like that.
-Fiets Weg? Sign at Train Station, Boxtel. Essentially, is your bike gone? Well since you were a chump and didn't park it in the racks provided, the police came around and picked up all the improperly parked bikes, and you can pick it up at the government office during normal business hours, and provide the key to verify that it is you bike. There may also be a fine or so that has to be paid, but I don't think that is mentioned in the sign here.
-Fiets nog niet weg... So, notice the cyclists, despite the sign and warnings still don't lock their bikes up in the racks like they're supposed to. I think they actually parked their bikes at the sign as a sign of defiance or spite. Or maybe just to make it a good picture.
-Vervelend Fietsers, so, notice all the bikes parked (supposedly) in front of the normal bike parking, it's really annoying if you go to park your bike, and there's a mess of bikes in the way to the bike racks. Since I get kinda pissed off at people for doing this, I don't feel bad for knocking those bikes over or outta the way. Really, I think the deal is these are the same people who would otherwise get speeding tickets all the time as they are constantly in a rush and didn't plan their time out, or they're just lazy jerks that like to make things difficult for everyone else.
-Fiets stallen, looking down the roadside aisle of the bike parking, yes, there are a lot of bikes (for a city of 30,000), and it does look full, but people don't bother trying. Looks like some people on the left tried to be stealthy by parking similarly and in line with the other bikes, like they're camouflaged. Seriously though, when I ride in, I usually spot a spot within the first 10 metres.
People are just lazy chumps, I think thats my conclusion.
I took these pictures kinda documenting the apparent issue of people not following the rules and was wondering whether or not this is a people problem, or a design problem, as you often hear that a problem creates a design opportunity, or some junk like that.
-Fiets Weg? Sign at Train Station, Boxtel. Essentially, is your bike gone? Well since you were a chump and didn't park it in the racks provided, the police came around and picked up all the improperly parked bikes, and you can pick it up at the government office during normal business hours, and provide the key to verify that it is you bike. There may also be a fine or so that has to be paid, but I don't think that is mentioned in the sign here.
-Fiets nog niet weg... So, notice the cyclists, despite the sign and warnings still don't lock their bikes up in the racks like they're supposed to. I think they actually parked their bikes at the sign as a sign of defiance or spite. Or maybe just to make it a good picture.
-Vervelend Fietsers, so, notice all the bikes parked (supposedly) in front of the normal bike parking, it's really annoying if you go to park your bike, and there's a mess of bikes in the way to the bike racks. Since I get kinda pissed off at people for doing this, I don't feel bad for knocking those bikes over or outta the way. Really, I think the deal is these are the same people who would otherwise get speeding tickets all the time as they are constantly in a rush and didn't plan their time out, or they're just lazy jerks that like to make things difficult for everyone else.
-Fiets stallen, looking down the roadside aisle of the bike parking, yes, there are a lot of bikes (for a city of 30,000), and it does look full, but people don't bother trying. Looks like some people on the left tried to be stealthy by parking similarly and in line with the other bikes, like they're camouflaged. Seriously though, when I ride in, I usually spot a spot within the first 10 metres.
People are just lazy chumps, I think thats my conclusion.
6.12.07
Double Dutch
Alright it's a back to back posting, since it's been a while-ish since I posted, and I wanted to keep Sinterklaas separate from my other meanderings.
-Typical Dutch - some kinda pastoral dutch landscape I suppose, looks kinda nice. I was taking note at the time of how manicured the landscape is across the whole of the country. Pretty much everywhere, things are placed and pruned and looked after. Not too much wilderness in this country. The bicycle paths (like the one I'm standing on) are a very welcome thing. I do love bicycling.
-Walking with Max - out on a walk with my grandparents dog. Nice path, more manicured areas, makes for nice pics. (these were from a while ago now - 24th Nov)
-"Slot Well" - essentially, just the local castle in the town where the family's from. Quaint, not too big for a castle, but still has a moat.
-Gatehouse and gates
-What's the goat equivalent to "bah-ram-ewe"? These goats were pasturing next to the castle on the slope of the dike. Curious little guys they were.
-Homes built from bricks, not wood, not crappy drywall over some shoddy construction, but bricks - this is how you get solid long lasting construction! Notice the only wood being used here is for the roof rafters. Ok, I'm not against wood construction, but drywall is crappy, it's the drywall I'm damning.
-Not my train, but a train passing by - view from work overlooking rooftop patio/balcony, overlooking street-front, looking onto train-tracks.
-Yet another covert photo from work - it's really a nice work environment. Far left is the stairs down to the landing, with stairs to ground level leading off the bottom of the pic.
Hmm, one final note/thought, when blogging, does one write comments on one's own blog in response to other comments, or just make a new blog entry in response to the comments?
-Typical Dutch - some kinda pastoral dutch landscape I suppose, looks kinda nice. I was taking note at the time of how manicured the landscape is across the whole of the country. Pretty much everywhere, things are placed and pruned and looked after. Not too much wilderness in this country. The bicycle paths (like the one I'm standing on) are a very welcome thing. I do love bicycling.
-Walking with Max - out on a walk with my grandparents dog. Nice path, more manicured areas, makes for nice pics. (these were from a while ago now - 24th Nov)
-"Slot Well" - essentially, just the local castle in the town where the family's from. Quaint, not too big for a castle, but still has a moat.
-Gatehouse and gates
-What's the goat equivalent to "bah-ram-ewe"? These goats were pasturing next to the castle on the slope of the dike. Curious little guys they were.
-Homes built from bricks, not wood, not crappy drywall over some shoddy construction, but bricks - this is how you get solid long lasting construction! Notice the only wood being used here is for the roof rafters. Ok, I'm not against wood construction, but drywall is crappy, it's the drywall I'm damning.
-Not my train, but a train passing by - view from work overlooking rooftop patio/balcony, overlooking street-front, looking onto train-tracks.
-Yet another covert photo from work - it's really a nice work environment. Far left is the stairs down to the landing, with stairs to ground level leading off the bottom of the pic.
Hmm, one final note/thought, when blogging, does one write comments on one's own blog in response to other comments, or just make a new blog entry in response to the comments?
Sinterklaas
Right, so yesterday (the 5th) was Sinterklaas.
The Dutch equivalent to the presents portion of Christmas (as here Christmas is just a religious holiday (so I believe at least). It's my first time ever experiencing Sinterklaas, and already I'm too old/don't believe in the myth. I think the beard is to white to be real. Seriously.
-Pomp and circumstance? ok, not quite, but I guess this guy gets quite the entrance. The local marching band giving an intro to the welcoming of Sinterklaas to the local town. (Notice local town in Background, band in foreground, children in fore fore ground).
-There's Waldo (Sinterklaas), traditionally he's supposed to arrive on a white horse, on a boat (from Spain), (or to the least just the horse), but apparently where my family comes from, he never likes to make a normal entrance. This is kinda close I suppose, in a small horse drawn wagon, (black and white horse). I was told that he came in a amphibious car before, as well as a helicopter, a convertible, on a moped (I think).
[right, a note, he always comes before the 6th, as this photo has a time stamp of Nov 24th on it].
-Family influence - So, it's my uncle holding the horse on the reins, in the event that it gets spooked, and his girlfriend/wife/partner holding the reins. Their horse and wagon, and happy to give the tired old guy a ride. The horse is looking to become famous I think, as it got to be used in a movie shot in the Efteling theme park. Looked interesting from some of the behind the scenes pictures they showed me.
Hey look at that, a Bugaboo stroller, surprise! (Yes, I am a design geek)
-Sinterklaas made a quick stop in at work too? Yesterday morning at work, everyone had a chocolate letter V on their desk - the traditional gift associated with Sinterklaas, although the letter is usually your first name initial, here, I'm guessing the company name is the letter of choice.
The Dutch equivalent to the presents portion of Christmas (as here Christmas is just a religious holiday (so I believe at least). It's my first time ever experiencing Sinterklaas, and already I'm too old/don't believe in the myth. I think the beard is to white to be real. Seriously.
-Pomp and circumstance? ok, not quite, but I guess this guy gets quite the entrance. The local marching band giving an intro to the welcoming of Sinterklaas to the local town. (Notice local town in Background, band in foreground, children in fore fore ground).
-There's Waldo (Sinterklaas), traditionally he's supposed to arrive on a white horse, on a boat (from Spain), (or to the least just the horse), but apparently where my family comes from, he never likes to make a normal entrance. This is kinda close I suppose, in a small horse drawn wagon, (black and white horse). I was told that he came in a amphibious car before, as well as a helicopter, a convertible, on a moped (I think).
[right, a note, he always comes before the 6th, as this photo has a time stamp of Nov 24th on it].
-Family influence - So, it's my uncle holding the horse on the reins, in the event that it gets spooked, and his girlfriend/wife/partner holding the reins. Their horse and wagon, and happy to give the tired old guy a ride. The horse is looking to become famous I think, as it got to be used in a movie shot in the Efteling theme park. Looked interesting from some of the behind the scenes pictures they showed me.
Hey look at that, a Bugaboo stroller, surprise! (Yes, I am a design geek)
-Sinterklaas made a quick stop in at work too? Yesterday morning at work, everyone had a chocolate letter V on their desk - the traditional gift associated with Sinterklaas, although the letter is usually your first name initial, here, I'm guessing the company name is the letter of choice.
19.11.07
Design Thoughts/Tired Much?
-Toilet humour? ok, no, this is meant for all the designer types who appreciate nice design, and realize this in a lot of fixtures. In the NL, so many of the fixtures are so much nicer then in North America: the light switches (above the TP), the door hardware (which has a sturdy feeling and a nice tactile quality to it, which gives the feeling of quality), the Toilet itself, which you might notice is hanging from the wall -which in terms of cleaning is incredibly practical on top of looking simpler-nicer (ok, I have seen wall mount toilets in Canada too, but that's typically in some institutionalized setting) and the toilet flush, which seems to be different and interesting on most toilets over here (and I'm noticing with most newer bathrooms the use of dual flush).
(Note: this is the bathroom in the house where I am staying, and was recently renovated)
-Reno-shower, ok, despite the nice look of this shower, I have my qualms with it, as the single shower door you see in the picture doesn't really do a whole lot for shower spray.
-The occasional dose of me, although not the most flattering. Does anyone know how to get rid of that tired under-eye circle look?
Work/Studio @ van der Veer Designers
Alright, so being super sleuthy, or just early and upstairs before anyone else, I took some shots of studio.
-2nd Floor Overlooking streetside, This is the 2nd floor where the Industrial Designers work, it's fairly open, and overlooks an open space next to where the graphic designers work.
-Communal table, the bar height table to the left here is where the coffee/tea/water sits in the afternoons, as well as the cookies when they get brought up. Guess it's kinda like the company 'watercooler' in terms of how the spot acts, we've gathered around it once with 4 of us so far since I've been there, just to have a coffeebreak together.
-My Workstation, looks a little on the dark side right here, but that's because for some reason the light next to the one above my desk wasn't on, that and it's a grey rainy/drizzly/sleat-ish morning, (note to everyone: Aeron chairs are really comfortable, and I believe there are online articles that state how things like that will actually pay for themselves in like a month or so due to increased productivity, time to sell your bosses on them :)
-2nd Floor Overlooking streetside, This is the 2nd floor where the Industrial Designers work, it's fairly open, and overlooks an open space next to where the graphic designers work.
-Communal table, the bar height table to the left here is where the coffee/tea/water sits in the afternoons, as well as the cookies when they get brought up. Guess it's kinda like the company 'watercooler' in terms of how the spot acts, we've gathered around it once with 4 of us so far since I've been there, just to have a coffeebreak together.
-My Workstation, looks a little on the dark side right here, but that's because for some reason the light next to the one above my desk wasn't on, that and it's a grey rainy/drizzly/sleat-ish morning, (note to everyone: Aeron chairs are really comfortable, and I believe there are online articles that state how things like that will actually pay for themselves in like a month or so due to increased productivity, time to sell your bosses on them :)
18.11.07
End of week 1
Wow, so this was my first week doing ID work in the Netherlands. I love my job (so far), and haven't had any indications that I'm doing a bad job. My boss has only seemed happy with the results I've produced so far, and has been friendly and helpful with any questions.
Work is friendly, relaxed, and although professional, seems to have a somewhat just the right amount of laid-back-ed-ness feel to it. Lunches are provided at work, and involves the lunch table being filled with bread and all the toppings. The served beverage is either Milk, or Karnemelk (buttermilk). It ends up being a nice social time at work, which also happens in the morning from 830-9, when it's "coffeetime" in the lunchroom, available is coffee, tea, and of course the daily selection of dutch cookies.
(note to self, try to take some shots of this happening as well as other shots from around work without looking like a tourist, or like I'm trying to steal intellectual property)
-Treinstation, Geldermalsen
(this is the station that I walk to from work to go home, nice old building :)
I've now found the quickest (and possibly most ghetto) walking route from the station to work which is now under 10 minutes. It involved using a wooden shipping pallette (I think), constructed bridge to get over a water filled ditch. No wet shoes yet, hopefully she holds up for the full 3 months.
-Kerk, Boxtel
I walked home from the train station last night in Boxtel, enjoyed the walk, fresh brisk air, and some tunes as I went. I've noticed this big church a number of times already by bike, and really think up-lighting really does do a hell of a lot and isn't used well nearly enough. The thought of lighting makes me think, another place where I thought it was always nice was back at Carleton walking towards athletics, just before going under the catwalk, there was a planter with a small tree in it that had some uplit spots under it. This made for a really nice effect in the winter, for anyone else who appreciated the way it looked.
-I think I'll refer to this as: drunken view of 'centrum' in Boxtel.
Although I wasn't drunk (at said time, or yet for that matter), I have already taken a number of pictures and am still figuring out all the settings and features of the camera. Needless to say, with my shaky hands, I've produced a quantity of such calibre
Work is friendly, relaxed, and although professional, seems to have a somewhat just the right amount of laid-back-ed-ness feel to it. Lunches are provided at work, and involves the lunch table being filled with bread and all the toppings. The served beverage is either Milk, or Karnemelk (buttermilk). It ends up being a nice social time at work, which also happens in the morning from 830-9, when it's "coffeetime" in the lunchroom, available is coffee, tea, and of course the daily selection of dutch cookies.
(note to self, try to take some shots of this happening as well as other shots from around work without looking like a tourist, or like I'm trying to steal intellectual property)
-Treinstation, Geldermalsen
(this is the station that I walk to from work to go home, nice old building :)
I've now found the quickest (and possibly most ghetto) walking route from the station to work which is now under 10 minutes. It involved using a wooden shipping pallette (I think), constructed bridge to get over a water filled ditch. No wet shoes yet, hopefully she holds up for the full 3 months.
-Kerk, Boxtel
I walked home from the train station last night in Boxtel, enjoyed the walk, fresh brisk air, and some tunes as I went. I've noticed this big church a number of times already by bike, and really think up-lighting really does do a hell of a lot and isn't used well nearly enough. The thought of lighting makes me think, another place where I thought it was always nice was back at Carleton walking towards athletics, just before going under the catwalk, there was a planter with a small tree in it that had some uplit spots under it. This made for a really nice effect in the winter, for anyone else who appreciated the way it looked.
-I think I'll refer to this as: drunken view of 'centrum' in Boxtel.
Although I wasn't drunk (at said time, or yet for that matter), I have already taken a number of pictures and am still figuring out all the settings and features of the camera. Needless to say, with my shaky hands, I've produced a quantity of such calibre
12.11.07
Somebody pinch me!
-Van der Veer Designers
Today was my first day at work.
Holy crap!!! The place I work at is awesome, the projects they work on are sweet, and the studio space has gotta be just about second to none. What was running through the back of my mind most of the day at work? don't screw up, don't screw up, don't screw up.
I had a day today that involved 'research' which, I think reminds me something of what I heard Topher got to do at Springtime, google images of stuff and put it together as 'research'.
I got assigned a project today right away pretty much too, which is awesome, as far as I know no-one else is working on it besides myself which is really cool. Getting a 4 page project brief entirely in Dutch, despite my knowledge of the language did however involve a reasonable amount of consulting babelfish.
This is going to be the best work experience ever!!! (so long as I don't screw up)
These photos are nicked from the company website, showing the new construction/renovation they had/are having. Since they are posted on the website, I'm assuming I'm not doing anything wrong by putting them here.
-industrial design studios on the 2nd floor, the desk towards the left of centre with the dark monitor and chair is where I sit
-more studio pic, it's just so nice, yes, i do believe they are Aeron chairs
8.11.07
Day 1
It all starts here, with me starting to practice noticing stuff and telling stories.
(for anyone who read the Core77 Hack to school guide, that's the jumping point for this)
-Departure Hall at Terminal 3, Pearson Int'l
Here is where the journey begins.
It really is bizarre how they carpeted so much of this terminal.
Oh, and a final note on Toronto's Airport, the GTAA logos/graphic work at the airport is horrible, flying into Amsterdam, the graphics differences are day and night.
(for anyone who read the Core77 Hack to school guide, that's the jumping point for this)
-Departure Hall at Terminal 3, Pearson Int'l
Here is where the journey begins.
It really is bizarre how they carpeted so much of this terminal.
Oh, and a final note on Toronto's Airport, the GTAA logos/graphic work at the airport is horrible, flying into Amsterdam, the graphics differences are day and night.
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