It'sh a feshtive chrishtmash! Yesh!
Bloody Nora! It's the December update shpadoinkal speshial!...
And, almost immediately, It looks like an explanation is required. Yes. And a bloody good one, too.
So, let me be brief... (deeeeep breath) The Dutch version of Santa Claus is Sinterklaas aka Sint
Nicolaas. Apparently he lives in Spain all year 'round, and once a year visits The Netherlands, arriving
on his steamboat from, erm, Madrid. With him are his helpers 'Zwarte Pieten' (Black Petes), who dish
out sweets to the children. The key issue here is that the Zwarte Piets are actually white folk who black themselves up. Oh dear.
Well, the Sinterklaas parade happened on the 15th November. Here in Amsterdam, the parade starts at the docks and ends up in Leidseplein. It is here that Sint Nicolaas gives a speech, and the Zwarte Pieten dance & frolic gayly. Hundreds of people gather around, and sing traditional Dutch songs whilst engorging on cookies. And so the Dutch version of Christmas begins! Dutch Christmas, or Sint-Nicolaas is on the 6th December, preceded by Sinterklaasavond, the Dutch Christmas Eve. Smashin'.
I must say that the Dutch absolutely LOVE the whole Sinterklaas celebration. Even though it should really be for... well, y'know... for kids, it extends much, much further than that, boy howdy. It's deep. And then, there's the racism. Ask any (white) Dutch person, and they all say the same thing, "it's tradition". Hmmm... But once upon a time, not so long ago, THIS was also a tradition...
For several decades, 'The Black & White Minstrel Show' was standard entertainment for Americans & Britains alike. However, due to the race row, that kind of 'entertainment' was killed off in the late 1970's,
and a bloody good riddance.
Well, simply stating "it's tradition" won't justify anything. I think everybody would look fine without the face make-up. Frankly, as an outsider, I think it's embarrasing, yet at the same time utterly fascinating. Zwarte Pieten will never go away... Images of Piet are everywhere; shop windows, street displays, advertising, food packaging, toys... there is no escape! Gosh darn it, Piet! You won't find my pictures of the SInterklaas parade down there! They're here, man!
Well, now that's out of the way, what else is new? Perhaps you'll notice a new section has been added!
Yes, it's time to represent... lovely. Also, I'm always sneaking 'likkle' updates to the Movies section.
I hope you have fun in my little demented den... but if you feel the need to 'crack one out', please do in fact hesitate. But if you really must 'go', then for goodness sake use the on-site crapper. It smells of a 'lavender mist', which I'm fairly sure is nonsense. But it does, however, give me a headache, so perhaps 'Migraine Mist' is more appropriate. Enough guff! Get me out of here!
Previously, on worldwidegimp...
2009: 11 | 10 | 09 | 08
