Without a Traceroute

Time to live.

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Where I slept the night before last

August 10th, 2008 · Netherlands, Photos, Travel

I was planning on staying at a hostel after leaving the houseboat. But it turned out all the hostels in town were booked up by visiting German goths. Luckily a last-minute couchsurfing response saved me from sleeping in the train station. I stayed with a guy who’s a map-making student here in Utrecht.

His place was actually interesting. In the Netherlands, when commercial properties go vacant, they often let people rent them as residences for cheap in order to keep out squatters. It’s kind of a weird setup, but you get a huge amount of space for very little money. The downside being they can ask you to leave at any time with 2 weeks notice if a commercial renter wants the property. Anyway, my host lived in this vacant commercial office park about 15 minutes by bus from the city center.


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Haircuts I didn’t get

August 11th, 2008 · Netherlands, Photos

Today I went and got a haircut. It had gotten really long and was rapidly trending into Jesus and/or dirty hippie territory. Plus, I figured I had better get it done in the Netherlands since this is probably the last country where I can expect the hairdresser to speak English fluently and understand what I’m asking for. Before I shameless post camwhore pics of my new haircut, I’d like to share with you a few of the haircuts I didn’t get. As far as I know, both these kids are Spanish. For reasons that are unclear to me, the Spanish are the reigning European champions of bad hair.

The Rat Tail: I’m really not sure what the thinking on this hairdo is. It’s either a really small, off-center ponytail or one, really long braid. Either way, it ain’t pretty. Every time I saw it, I felt like a long tailed macaque had somehow burrowed its way into his scalp.

Uh, dude, I think there's something on your head

Uh, dude, I think there's something on your head

The Dread-Mullet: What do you get when you combine a ridiculous redneck haircut with a styling white kids only wear right after they’ve “gotten really into Bob Marley lately”? That’s right, the dread-mullet (a.k.a. “mulletlocks”). I guess he’s set in case a monster-truck-rally-slash-ganja-fest spontaneously breaks out. Actually, that sounds insanely awesome and somebody should organize one immediately.

Business up front, rasta-party in the back

Business up front, rasta-party in the back

So, after all the buildup, tada! Feel free to mock me as mercilessly as I’ve mocked the poor Spaniards.

Yes, this would also be my MySpace shot

Yes, this would also be my MySpace shot

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Dom Tower, Domplein and Domkerk

August 12th, 2008 · Netherlands, Photos, Travel

Last week I visited the Dom Tower, Domplein (Dom square) and Domkerk (Dom Church), which are all remnants of the same 12th century Gothic cathedral, dedicated to St. Martin, the patron saint of Utrecht. In Europe, beautiful Gothic cathedrals are almost a dime a dozen, but this one actually has a pretty interesting history. Construction was started on the main tower in 1321, and the bishop was determined that it be the tallest tower in Netherlands (it also contains a small private chapel so he could have the highest chapel in the Netherlands). The tower is a major symbol of Utrecht and also the biggest tourist attraction in town, so I sort of had to see it.

The tower stands 368 feet (112 m) tall, but they blew all their money on the tower so it took much longer to finish the rest of the church. The central nave was never fully completed–they didn’t get to add the flying buttresses necessary for structural support. When a major storm struck Utrecht in 1674 the nave collapsed. All that remains today are the choir and the transept (Domkerk), and the tower which now stands alone. It took until the 1800s for all the rubble to be finally cleared away, but the space where the nave once stood is now a nice outdoor square.

Anyway, here’s a ton of pictures from in and around the tower and the Domkerk.

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The Olympics

August 13th, 2008 · Netherlands

I think the Olympics are a really cool thing. Notwithstanding China’s miserable human rights record, athlete-choking smog, and digitally-manipulated opening ceremony, it’s nice that there’s a peaceful event the entire world can share in.

I’ve heard from multiple Dutch people about the 2-2 tie in the USA-Netherlands soccer game, which was apparently almost an embarrassing loss for the Dutch until a last minute goal. I also heard a lot about the Dutch gold in 4×100 swimming, beating out the US and Australia who were considered favorites in the event.

Last night, on Belgian TV (the Belgian stations apparently have better Olympics coverage than the Dutch ones), we watched Angola’s lopsided defeat in basketball by the USA ‘Redeem Team’. I’m not usually that into sports, but it’s great that almost every nation participates in the Olympics and people from all over the world can follow their team.

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Best. Day. Ever?

August 13th, 2008 · Netherlands, Travel

So today has the potential to be the best day ever. I rode a camel, I made a useful contact for my project, I met some kids from the international students’ organization here who invited me to come to some of their events, and I just got an email from the Watson Foundation that they’re granting an additional $3,000 in response to the plummeting value of the US dollar.

I’ll post more details later, but right now I have to go eat pancakes with a Dutch guy and an American girl who’s working here as an au pair.
In the meantime, here is me on a camel:

All we did was go in a circle

All we did was go in a circle

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