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bnetherlands.bsky.social
B in the Netherlands
@bnetherlands.bsky.social
A writer and photographer from Oregon who lives in the Netherlands. Posts range from serious news to micro-sized movie reviews and random photos of Dutch stuff. Someday I'll fix the cowboy banner. Someday...
The Christmas season is officially underway in Leiden. The winter market is open, the ice rink is packed, and a group of girls were skipping through the center earlier while singing, uhhh... [checks notes] The Human League's "Don't You Want Me."

#Christmas #Kerst #Leiden #Netherlands
December 12, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Micro Movie Memo # 152

9 to 5

I’d never seen this one. A great comedy from 1980 with a fantastic cast and themes concerning women in the workplace and management that, sadly, are still relevant 45 years later. And Dolly and her cohorts’ office makeover? Wow!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qni6...

9/9
9 to 5 (1980) Trailer #1 | Movieclips Classic Trailers
YouTube video by Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers
www.youtube.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
Youll soon be able to go from Amsterdam to Berlin by train for €10 (if you book well ahead and travel light).
British people: drop a comment saying how far nine pounds takes you on the railways.
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...
New €10 train tickets launched from Amsterdam to Berlin
The first journey is scheduled to depart in March 2026, with every passenger guaranteed a reserved seat
www.independent.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
In my latest article for Medium, I took aim at the AI-generated McDonald's ad for the fast food chain's Dutch market.

If you haven't heard about this debacle yet, well, have a look...

#McDonalds #holidays #commercials #AI #Christmas #Netherlands

medium.com/@bhartley/we...
We’re hatin’ it — AI-generated Christmas ad for McDonalds’ Dutch market faces global backlash
Sinterklaas has come and gone, which means the Netherlands is currently in the middle of its annual frantic switchover to Christmas. It’s…
medium.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
the Dutch and fireworks are like Americans and guns

'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
I have a friend whose son is a primary school teacher. One of the boys in group 2 (!!!) had this in his backpack at school. His dad thought it was fine.
December 12, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
Trump threatens new sanctions against ICC in The Hague www.dutchnews.nl?p=261064
Trump threatens new sanctions against ICC in The Hague
www.dutchnews.nl
December 12, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
The full list of demands, in all its lunacy, is available here:
👉 public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-22461.pdf

The demands include :

- All your biometrics: face, fingerprint, DNA, and iris
- All your phone numbers from the last 5 years
- All your email addresses from the last 10 years

2/
December 11, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Imagine being a customs agent at O’Hare tasked with working at an international gate and having to check to make sure if everybody on a full 737 from Paris has submitted all of this information correctly.

It would take an hour or more for every single passenger, if not longer.
NEW: Five years of social media history is only a fraction of what the US Government will shortly demand of overseas visitors.

The full requirements will end tourism in the United States.

Below is the full, mind-blowing list.

🚨THEY. WANT. YOUR. DNA.🚨

1/
December 12, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Also: guess the kids ‘round here have been trying to get tix for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.

They could always do what my friends and I did with R rated movies back in the day, but…
December 11, 2025 at 6:20 PM
And if you're unfamiliar with Batpug...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=673v...
Pug Says Batman
YouTube video by 2dimond
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Nice to see the very weird Batman Returns becoming a Christmas cult classic. It screened in Leiden last night with a pretty packed crowd for the December edition of Lidotheek.

And “Batpug” was included in the intermission segment.

#Batman #Leiden #Christmas #Kerst
December 11, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Micro Movie Memo # 151

Nouvelle Vague

Probably too dry and niche for most audiences, but Linklater does a great job of recreating mid-century Paris. This one looks and feels just like a French Wave film, and Zoey Deutch is great as Jean Seberg.

8/9

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UufR...
Nouvelle Vague | Official Trailer | Netflix
YouTube video by Netflix
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
Remembering, for no particular reason, the time a business publication I had worked for put Jeffrey Skilling of Enron on its cover right before its collapse.
Time Magazine puts the "architects of AI" on its Person of the Year cover time.com/7339685/pers...
December 11, 2025 at 1:45 PM
It's hard to keep up with the awful inanity pouring out of America these days, but this one is particularly stupid.

And a fun fact: Calibri was created by the Dutch type designer Lucas de Groot.

Also: anybody wanna tell Rubio Times New Roman was designed by Brits?

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke
www.nytimes.com
December 11, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Let's hope so.

Because watching Wilders actually have to manage people will be totally hilarious.
December 11, 2025 at 9:28 AM
In my latest article for Medium, I took aim at the AI-generated McDonald's ad for the fast food chain's Dutch market.

If you haven't heard about this debacle yet, well, have a look...

#McDonalds #holidays #commercials #AI #Christmas #Netherlands

medium.com/@bhartley/we...
We’re hatin’ it — AI-generated Christmas ad for McDonalds’ Dutch market faces global backlash
Sinterklaas has come and gone, which means the Netherlands is currently in the middle of its annual frantic switchover to Christmas. It’s…
medium.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:18 PM
I hope so. The weather these past few days has been downright creepy. I saw a group of geese flying overhead this morning and it seemed like they were already headed back north for the spring.
December 10, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
December 9, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Bol strikes again!

#marketing #holidays
December 9, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Micro Movie Memo # 150

Alien: Romulus

Little more than a greatest hits package of Alien movies, but still the best entry in the series since Aliens. The bar remains low for those pesky xenomorphs. Pretty good flick, but the last ten minutes are goofy.

6/9

www.youtube.com/watch?reload...
Alien: Romulus | Official Trailer
YouTube video by 20th Century Studios
www.youtube.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
Independent thinking as the John Adams Institute turns 40 www.dutchnews.nl?p=260471
Independent thinking as the John Adams Institute turns 40
www.dutchnews.nl
December 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
December 9, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
Before the 🇳🇱 election a lot of people (including me) said Yesilgoz’s strategy was idiotic and the VVD were doomed to disaster. That didn’t happen-they won more seats than expected, and are now kingmakers. It’s odd that there’s been
no effort at a reckoning about how flawed the punditry was
December 9, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Interesting night at Paradiso. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were there to play tracks off their moodiest album. Crowd was there to rock. Hecklers and chatter weighed down the first half until the band broke out the loud stuff.

Amidst the moshers up front were two girls merrily spinning in circles.
December 8, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by B in the Netherlands
*presses record*
Idea for movie: a maverick proofreader breaks all the rules & defies his bosses by making er, clear & concise corrections, wait a minute, delete
what the fuck does that mean
December 8, 2025 at 6:29 PM