The story about the golden Hunkemuller bikini and the influence of the neo-conservative religious parties

 One would think that with all the bubbling (Dutchlish) ladies in very little clothes that you can see around the clock on MTV and TMF, that a billboard advertising of a lady dressed up in a golden bikini would make anybody lie awake at night. But no, when Hunkemuller put their shot for their golden bikini billboard size on the facade in one of the busiest shopping streets in Utrecht(see pic), the Christian Union (they are a small party that glues the current government together) tried to get it banned via the city-council.

















Of course this got a lot of media coverage I guess many people just find it hard to understand why this is wrong but nobody seem to be doing much to interfere with Porno-parties, Sex-for-a-breezer and the already mentioned R&B bikini-ladies.
Now this weekend there was a piece in the newspaper about that one should make a clear distinction between public opinion and governmental influence. So the Hunkemuller is a clear example of the Christian Union using their influence in government to impose on the rest of us (representing the public opinion) their ultra-conservative world-views. Particularly defending these when they threaten to saw demise in the good old institute the family.

All of that for a golden bikini, I think Hunkemuller must have been happy with the extra attention and PR. Golden bikinis probably sold beyond expectations.

Victor & Rolf adventures and in-house counterfeit

I joined the crowds for the Victor & Rolf sale in H&M, and actually I managed to get into the shop even though I had only arrived in-front of the shop at 9:30.

Actually I was a bit embarrassed of myself joining the consumer-craze and my embarrassment became a bit bigger when I realized that the employees of H&M where standing on the stair-case photographing us the crowd as we got projectiled into the shop when the doors opened. Everybody seemed to just throw themselves at the goods and try to get what they could. I didn't notice any serious hamstering (Dutschlish) as I read about later in the media. I did hear people (read women) scream out loud because they had manage to obtain an item of desire (i.e. wedding-dress). I guess I must have got caught away by the mass-hysteria because eventually I also ended up leaving the shop with many more items than I had planned, and I don't even particularly like Victor & Rolf.
So of course after having sobered up and looking over my new possessions I decided I needed to get rid of them again, either because they where really not fitting, really not my style or just because I don't really appreciate neo-classistic fashion. So I eventually I sold off the items on Marktplaats all for the price I had originally payed. The remainder of what I didn't sell on Marktplaats I returned to the shop. H&M has a decent right of returning goods until one month after purchase. When returning it in the shop I overheard one sales-person says to the other sales-person; "hey but what are we going to do with this stuff now, when the hype is all over?"
I just thought, well guys that's your problem, and does it mean that by now it's not an as attractive piece of fashion anymore? Will nobody want it now, 1 month after the hyped introduction? Or has the quality/price ration decreased dramatically by now?
My adventures left me with just one piece of attractive fashion in my cupboard, a skirt that I bought by mistake thinking it was Victor & Rolf, but actually it was H&M Victor & Rolf styled look. An in-house counterfeit one could say...

Eating flowers

Cookies made with lavender? Cookies made with roses? I was lucky enough to be in Paris last month, and just by coincidence passed this pastries shop in the street. They where selling cookies with lavender and roses as ingredients. Not the most traditional cookie ingredient, but why not, I have a book at home about how to cook with weed too. But the idea of lavender and roses is slightly more enchanting, it makes you feel a little bit like entering the universe of a fee or princess.

World-of-Coffee, Bern, Switzerland

The beverage industry seem to be having a hard time reaching the youth you observe if you have a look at all the more recent products launces attempts at pleasing the youth. Cola Blak, a coffee essented soft drink or Café Fresco ice coffee in a ready-to-go cardboard cup from the cool-shelve. The youth allegedly dislike warm drinks because they are not refreshing and dislike the bitterness of coffee preferring sweet. 

Speaking about coffee, there was certainly something boiling at the World-of-Coffee in Bern in May, something that must be reaching out to another audience than the Bacardi Breezer youth. The World-of-Coffee is an annually returning fair, every year it takes place in a different city, this year 9300 attendees. At the fair The world championship of Barrista and the world Championship of latte art is held, yes you heard me right! Complete with fan-crowds in supporter t-shirts, real-time big screen projection, jury and participants from different countries.

The Crowd

The Crowd

This year Klaus Thomson from Denmark won The World Championship Barrista. Now Denmark is not exactly the first country that comes to mind when one thinks about sophisticated coffee drinks, theatrical coffee bars and coffee connoisseurship. And what may also sound unbelievable is that that Stockholm has one of the most vibrant of coffee cultures in Europe according to the Wallpaper Navigator. So the phenomenon of the new coffee culture is reaching far beyond the borders of the traditional caffionista countries like Italy, France and Spain. And the new coffee drinking seems to be about something quite different to the traditional coffees served in Mediterranean countries. The new coffee culture includes drinks like Frappuccinos (milk slush w/instant coffee) or Expressionista (ice expresso w/jasmine and maple syrup) something that would only make the head of an Italian shake disapprovingly. The Italians are all about refining the classic recipes to perfection.

UK’s Jame Hofman during WCB

The Jury evaluates

Cafe Latte Art

OK, back to the world-of-coffee even if we still fail to understand how this event is sponsored, it certainly is for sure it does a good job at pulling coffee drinking to another level, a level beyond the social lubricant, inoffensive, breaking-the-ice-drink that coffee is often tagged as in Northern Europe. Firstly there was the already mentioned hyped World Championship Barrista, there was the coffee tasting panels, coffee conferences, coffee workshops and as it suits a fair; exhibitions by different companies and producers of hard- and software.



The coffee tasting panel was a row of tables of people in white jackets very laboratory like. Different crops of coffee was tasted and given points. The jury would not just sit and drink coffee cosily, they where tasting the coffee in a way that could only remind me of how a wine-connoisseur would taste a glass a wine, carefully noting down all the different sensory experiences that the coffee would cause. Talking about the origins of the coffee using wine-like vocabulary: Cru and Grand Cru. An activity obviously being taken very, very serious by the panel members.

 The coffee conferences where arranged around 3 themes; Traceability, Origin Countries, how to be a winner and the best cup; all offering a day of lectures around the theme. We had the opportunity to attend 2 lectures; the history of Cappuccino and CoSIC, the worldwide panel of coffee scientists. Joanne Smits sr. product designer for Espresso listened to “the history of cappuccino” and learned that the current coffee rave has a lot to thank to the Italian immigrants in the North-West of US. They imported Italian espresso machines with dual boiler systems and re-interpreted Italian coffee culture to a US-version that includes softening the taste by increasing the use of hot milk, making the drinks healthier by using low-fat milk and creating a cosy atmosphere with sofas that invite for longer visits.


I listened to CoSIC, the worldwide panel of Coffee Scientists that statistically proven does a great job at converting the public opinion about coffee. Whenever some bad publicity is in the media the panel of coffee scientists step forward and publish their scientifically correct contra propaganda; the not assuming but really researched knowledge about coffees effect on the human body etcetc.


The where workshops in the areas of roasting and grinding, brewing, Barista grinding, tasting, ingredients, home equipment and coffee recipes etc. co-ordinated by experts in the filed. The workshop “cooking with coffee” was given by Chefs from “Cercle de Chefs de Cuisine de Berne”, who taught how to create coffee-flavoured sauces to serve with your roast.


So when some people say that coffee drinking is on the way to becoming the new red wine one could follow the lead after having visited the world-of-coffee which certainly leaves one thinking that the art of coffee making and drinking is being elevated to a higher level involving sophistication and connoisseurship.

www.worldofcoffee.org
www.coffeegeek.com
www.worldbaristachampionship.com
www.world-latteart-championship.com

We all confess our secrets to google using search tearms, but will they misuse this information?

In the beginning years of internet it was all about the freedom of information, in the meanwhile it has become clear that information is not as free as we thought. Some big companies and service providers own the information and can use it for different ends, they can also actually control the flow of information as Google does in China where certain websites will not be found. Simultanously Google has to appear in court in US because they refused to deliver information to the state about the search words the public where using.



Both Google and Microsoft are 2 of many companies that aggregate a lot of information about their customers, when they sign-up for a service i.e. personal information is being submitted, but what remains mostly unnoticed for many people is that the companies are using some very advanced software tools to track the traffic an individual is doing when surfing the web. All of this information is off course is worth a lot of money to other companies that can use it for very targetted advertising. Google claims that it is using some of the information they collect such as search words to develop improved services. The spelling suggestions that Google give are based on the mistakes and corrections that they have tracked during some years.
Want some privacy? IT-gurus say kill your cookies!
(no guarantees provided, all actions that you may take based on this advise are your own responsibility)

Will the 60+ be the new trend-setters and inspirators for the young generation soon?

Just 3 months ago 68 year old Jane Fonda has been contracted to be the face of the new anti-wrinkle cream of L'Oreal. Just about at the same time Diane Keaton 60 years old has also been contracted to represent a similar type of product, just one month ago it was announced that Sophia Loren aged 71 will pose in the next edition of the exclusive Italian Pirelli calender where the models are usually nude. It seems that some companies are finally starting to talk to the 50+ generation directly through their own generational celebrities.



And of course it helps that these celebrities still look very good.


http://www.realself.com/christie_brinkley_sharon_stone_and_diane_keaton_et_al.html

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The 60+ will certainly become more and more dominating in society just because of sheer numbers. Many of them have quite a lot of money to spend, their needs and values are different to younger generations, so we are likely to see many new products and services popping up targeted to this generation.



What is also interesting to note is that many people in that generation may have a more modern or liberal view of the world than today’s young generation. This phenomenon has been quoted saffism named after Edinas daughter Saffy from Absolutely Fabulous. Edina, the mother is wild and seems to never grown up, Saffy is serious, moralistic and health-conscious, disapproving of the rebellious teenage behavior of her mother who's irresponsible, getting drunk, taking drugs and doing illegal things.

Coffee pop-up

I saw this nice coffee kiosk, espresso on wheels, coffee pop-up shop in Gent on a central square. Quite awesome that also coffee can be put into a little van and sold on-the-go. The little coffee kiosk is completely packed with products such as special coffees and taste-makers as liquors and caramels. By the way they also make hot chocolate and teas.