Wednesday, October 03, 2007

The Rednecks are coming to Antwerp

Monster Jam Antwerp

The world’s biggest Monster Trucks spectacle is back at the Sportpaleis Antwerp.
See GraveDigger and Maximum Destruction and the Freestyle motocross, ready to defy the laws of gravity.
Sportpaleis Antwerp, October 6th and 7th
I can't wait to miss this!

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

How to kill Belgium

Now you’d think the obvious solution to this ridiculous impasse would be to hold another election. That would indeed be the sensible solution, so naturally it is not the Belgian solution.

Perhaps the best way to kill the Belgian state would be for the Flemish people en masse to ignore it, to cease paying taxes, to stop voting, to stop utilising whatever facilities still remain within its remit. These past 111 days have proved that a country can survive without a functioning government or at least under an impotent caretaker regime. The Flemish do not need to declare their formal independence at this stage all they need to do is to stop the flow of monies to Wallonia and to treat the Belgian government with the contempt and scorn that it merits, and in doing so they will provide a salutary lesson to us all that governments exist only so long as we are willing to put up with them.

The World needs another Men's mag

Ché is a magazine from Belgium that focuses on straight men and what they’re supposedly interested in. It's based on testosterone-charged laddie's magazines like Maxim, Stuff and FHM and focus on women, fast cars, cool gadgets and sports. Their current ad campaign is nothing short of suggestive and misogynist, portraying women as sex-objects (what's new?) and bad drivers. I must say that the campaign is very visually appealing and their art direction is superb. As a publicity stunt they outfitted several newsstands in Belgium with posters, that attached to it's check-out counters, gave them a quite sexy-funny effect. You can actually buy the "single-guy's bed sheets", with the lingerie-clad pin-up printed on it, from Ché's website.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Ahhhh....somebody didn't get the Message

A ten-year-old girl from Charleroi gave birth to a baby last year. The father was 13.
"The pregnancy was a big surprise to the girl and her mother," says doctor Robert Chef from Charleroi. "The child came to me with unexplained abdominal pain. She had also put on weight. Her mother had even put her on a diet for a while but that had little effect. When we examined her it turned out she was nine months pregnant. The child was carrying a full term baby."
What surprised the doctor the most was that the 10-year-old really looked her age. "Some girls look like a teenager of 15 or 16 at that age. But not this girl."
Still the delivery went smoothly. The young mother was given special treatment however. She was not admitted to the regular maternity ward lest this raise too many curious questions. She was given a bed in the childrens ward.
"The father of the baby came to visit her there as well. Many pregnancies in young girls are the result of incest. But that was not at all the case here. The father was a schoolmate of 13. A young guy as well."
Robert Chef says the parents of the girl did not respond angrily. "The grandmother immediately took charge of the baby. She said she would raise it as her own child."
Yesterday the medical weekly De Huisarts reported that 57 Belgian 10-year-olds had been prescribed a birth control pill last year. Some for medical reasons, but others for actual birth control.

Belgian Tennis Players Bribed?

BELGIAN TENNIS PLAYERS WAFFLE ON BRIBERY RACKET: Two Belgian tennis players said they were offered bribes to lose their matches:
MSNBC reports that Flemish faulter Gilles Elseneer was offered over $140,000 to lose his first round match at Wimbledon in 2005. Fellow Belgian David Norman came forward and admitted he was promised a substantial sum if he threw a game when he was in an Italian tournament about six or seven years ago. Neither netter took the money. Norman also added that he was asked about the conditions of other players, if any were suffering injuries or personal problems. Such info could help sports bettors increase their chances of striking rich on the red clay.