Comments on: The bird died in vain.

The bird died in vain.

dness2 — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:02:55 -0800

Suicide by exterminator. "Not since Cock Robin has the death of a tiny bird caused such emotion". An endangered bird killed for "knocking over a few dominoes for a game". Granted, 23,000 dominoes in a world record attempt taking over a month to set up, but still, less than 1% of the final goal. Geenstijl.nl offered a bounty of 5000 euri for anyone who "willen saboteren" but it is now too late. klik heir for a tv clip of the record.

By: Divine_Wino

Divine_Wino — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:15:28 -0800

That poor little bird was just doing what I have always wanted to do, but was never brave enough. Bless his tiny little punk rock piss taking heart.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:24:33 -0800

dness2, are you sure you're in Michigan? I appreciate you posting on Dutch affairs but your post contains a number of nasty Dutchisms. No snark intended, but what's going on?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:26:52 -0800

Huh? Not to mention, 2 out of 4 links in Dutch. And I thought I was the only one linking to GeenStijl around here! Well, translations upon request.

By: dness2

dness2 — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:28:00 -0800

Nasty Dutchisms? where?

By: loquacious

loquacious — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:29:33 -0800

I was wondering when the outrage over that poor little bird would hit the grapevine. Seriously, that was a pretty dumb reason to kill a bird - even something so "lowly" as a house sparrow. But then again how many such simple creatures are killed by cars every day in the US?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:29:55 -0800

"euri", "willen saboteren", "klik heir" (klik hier). Sorry to question you, maybe I'm overly sensitive as a Dutchman.

By: whatzit

whatzit — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:34:32 -0800

Interesting. Same production company as in the earlier thread on sending the gullible into "space" for a reality show.

By: dness2

dness2 — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:36:36 -0800

Euri--just quoting the website. I assume it's the Dutch plural of euro. "Willen saboteren" I am hoping is easily translatable as something about sabatoging the domino set up. Nasty maybe, but not in a particularly Dutch way. Klik hier -- even if I can't spell right should be immediately translatable to English speakers. I don't see what there is to be sensitive about, except I'm trying to use some Dutch in a polite homage. I think the tribute website (which I can't read most of at all) is a pretty nice thing. Not a nasty Dutchism at all.

By: quarsan

quarsan — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:37:35 -0800

meanwhile on the same day the pentagon admitted using white phosphorous in Iraq and hundreds of iraqi's were discovered in interiot ministry secret prisons. and i'm supposed to get worked up over a friggin sparrow? get a sense of perspective. Oh, while you're at it, would you please stop spamming my weblogs about this ridiculous story.

By: crake

crake — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:37:53 -0800

A house sparrow? The same species that, since its introduction into North America, has managed to become a major scourge of native birds, reaching nearly the same pest status as the starling, the feral pigeon, and the Norway rat? Yikes. How degraded is the environment over there for a species that tough to need help? There must be dozens of them on the college campus near my house, and I've seen similar numbers at every other North Carolina campus I've been to. Not to mention those living in parks, parking lots, city streets . . . --around damn near any sign of human habitation here. There can be only one explanation: Bolivian tree lizards!

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:41:04 -0800

whatzit, that's not a huge coincidence. Endemol is a huge company, selling their shows to a number of countries. Heh, reminds me of that Simpsons episode where they go to live in this house and pretend it's 1895, and the guy says: "I'm the creator of this show, and by creator I mean I saw it on Dutch tv and tweaked the title."

By: crake

crake — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:45:50 -0800

#9! Nine post before the obligatory "We can't afford to care about animals until every human problem in the world is solved" post. Who had that one? What's the pot up to now? I always get stuck with crappy numbers--these things never make it past 12 or 13 these days.

By: Substrata

Substrata — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:51:22 -0800

geenstijl.nl is a bunch of clueless cissies

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:56:52 -0800

I would have paid $500 to have that bird killed.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:01:02 -0800

I'm sorry dness2, I didn't mean to question you like that. It just seems odd to Dutch eyes, as I hope you can imagine. "Nasty" wasn't quite the right word either - us Dutch (me included!) are just paranoid about accidentally including some Dutch when writing in English (especially comical due to the similarity of the languages), which usually results in well-deserved derision. This obviously doesn't apply to you, dness2. To clarify: Euri--just quoting the website. I assume it's the Dutch plural of euro. Not exactly. "Euro's" would be the proper plural; "euri" is used as a slang term among some people; compare American English "buck", but a bit less widespread. "Willen saboteren" I am hoping is easily translatable as something about sabatoging the domino set up. Indeed: "want to sabotage". Klik hier -- even if I can't spell right should be immediately translatable to English speakers. Absolutely. My apologies, again. Just one thing to add: GeenStijl, the blog you linked to, is notorious among Dutch bloggers and readers for its rash, impetuous tone, especially concerning public affairs; I'm not aware of an English-language equivalent, but compare Drudge or LGF.

By: Substrata

Substrata — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:15:37 -0800

goodnewsfortheinsane wrote: Just one thing to add: GeenStijl, the blog you linked to, is notorious among Dutch bloggers and readers for its rash, impetuous tone, especially concerning public affairs; _and_ being totally right-wing and funded by De Telegraaf I'm not aware of an English-language equivalent, but compare Drudge or LGF. or all other Rupert Murdoch's wet dreams.

By: dness2

dness2 — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:19:30 -0800

Good to know about those Euri's. Using international slang is what the cool kids do, or at least I hope so. I found GeenStijl because it was mentioned for the bounty on several of the English articles. I have no problem believing it's rash and impetuous, given the aforementioned bounty, and my link to it is not an endorsement of it or its policies. But, I doubt Drudge would bemoan the death of a bird, so perhaps that isn't the best American parallel. Or perhaps I'm not giving him enough credit for avian sympathies.

By: Megafly

Megafly — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:20:56 -0800

does this mean that if an endangered bird was going all over your place of work destroying the monetary value of your labor, you wouldnt want to get rid of the little bastard?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:23:25 -0800

dness2, thanks for the post, and no problem. And Drudge is not by far the best US parallel, although I should note that I doubt whether GS are sincere in their sparrow sorrow - and that's putting it diplomatically. I would guess that they're just jumping on the opportunity to incite.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:25:53 -0800

Alright, the GeenStijl link reads (quick & dirty translation mine):

DominoDay attack thwarted Yesterday, vigilant security guards have managed at the last minute to thwart an attack on the Domino Day record attempt. Al Qaeda? Not quite. Just Eindhoven de gekste!¹ 2 guys from this provincial town tried to sneak a pizza box with 19 mice inside [where the record attempt was to be held]. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Thankfully for the 2.4 million numbskulls [television viewers] and the 19 mice, the sabotage attempt remained just that, an attempt. The boys were transferred to an actual police station². There, they stated their intent to sabotage Domino Day for the 5000 euro reward that had been offered. They were released after hearing. Not that we had given them a single cent if they had succeeded, because avenging the life of a sparrow with the lives of 19 mice isn't worth that kind of money. Therefore: an A for the idea, an F for the execution. All's well that ends well.

¹: Eindhoven is a town in the south of the Netherlands. This slogan, "Eindhoven the craziest!", is used in a "Represent!"-ish way by inhabitants, and sometimes in an ironic sense by others. ²: "Police" is rendered here in a infantile/phonetic way (perhaps: "pleece"), characteristic of the style of GeenStijl. Note that the tone of the entry treats the ordeal in an ironic sense, as if it were an actual thwarted terrorist attack.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:30:08 -0800

Oh and thanks for weighing in, Substrata! Now, isn't it about time for an NL meetup? (See my profile for details.)

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:32:31 -0800

"had given them" should read "would have given them".

By: dness2

dness2 — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:36:19 -0800

You should have done this post gnfti. I did not get the mouse angle at all. I thought maybe they just couldn't find a picture of a sparrow.

By: Substrata

Substrata — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:36:20 -0800

Oh and thanks for weighing in, Substrata! Now, isn't it about time for an NL meetup? heh, yeah let's do that.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 15:49:12 -0800

No way dness2, you did a good job. Just curious: care to share where you found out about the story, and how you came upon the Dutch-language sources?

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 16:11:05 -0800

"It seems to me, beloved king, that the present time on earth, compared with that time of which we have no knowledge, is like when thou art sitting at dinner with thine ealdermen and thanes in winter-time, and the fire lit and thy hall heated, and it is raining and snowing and hailing; and there arrives one sparrow from outside and flies swiftly through the hall, and entering through one door, leaving through the other. Now, while he is inside he is not touched by the winter's storm; but that is only a twinkling of an eye and the shortest space of time, and from a winter he immediately returns to a winter. So man's life appears for a short interval: what went before it, and what comes after it, we do not know."

By: Dean Keaton

Dean Keaton — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 16:25:40 -0800

Bush lied sparrows died! (did I do this right?)

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 16:29:51 -0800

Anybody got a better longer clip of the world record? The show hasn't aired here in the UK, and I really wanna include it in my end of year round up. Any hints appreciated!

By: jouke

jouke — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 16:47:02 -0800

Interesting quote jokeefe. Here is a version I found that names the source. dness2 is invited to the dutch meetup.

By: kika

kika — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 16:48:56 -0800

Beware. The Dutchies are taking over MetaFilter, just as the Brazilians have taken over Orkut.

By: atrazine

atrazine — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 16:56:47 -0800

but wait! There may have been some cheating (Dutch) involved... During the record attempt the domino chain faltered while crossing a bridge held up by the girl in the picture, she tilted it and the dominos kept going.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 17:51:23 -0800

The alleged cheating atrazine describes is shown in the video linked in the post. The AD article atrazine links claims 1 domino is left standing on the bridge; I personally think I see two, but the video isn't very crisp. Also, it has been said that that the entire attempt is invalid anyway, because the Guinness Book forbids any record attempts for which animals have needlessly suffered ;) Anyone can find a source to back that up though? atrazine - are you in Holland? (asking because of hypothetical meetup goodness, see upstairs)

By: atrazine

atrazine — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:08:28 -0800

gnfti, I'm Dutch, but I'm not in Holland, so no meetup goodness for me.

By: parallax7d

parallax7d — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:10:18 -0800

Wow, that was totally cheating. And to think if they did it without the bridge it would have been fine.

By: fungible

fungible — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:19:07 -0800

BTW Endemol, the company that was sponsoring the domino fall and also killed the bird, is the massive production company behind many of the reality shows you see on TV every day, including Big Brother, Fear Factor and Extreme Makeover. God, I fucking hate them.

By: lalochezia

lalochezia — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:54:54 -0800

The bird was a common house sparrow -- a species placed on the national endangered list last year. A 'common house sparrow' is an endangered species? One of those damn dutch wordplays, like 'common cigarette' = 'beautifully rolled doobie of jack herer' drool

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:08:09 -0800

*Austrian accent* Passer domesticus? *kicks in door* *Three shots to the head* ...I could use a little brown job. Just sayin' I love those little brown birds man!

By: dness2

dness2 — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:09:19 -0800

Hey thanks for the invite. I'm not sure I'll be in the Netherlands any time soon. But that's my regret. One of my favorite places in Europe is de Hoge Veluwe. Someday I'll go back, and I'll make sure I send you all a note. Goodnews, I didn't see the sparrow until today trying to find an online feed of the plane that didn't crash. After that, google (and my rudimentary German) got me to the other sites.

By: quarsan

quarsan — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 01:22:04 -0800

mmmm jack herrer.... it was a great show. so, mefi meetup, any room for a belgian?

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 04:01:00 -0800

Someday I'll go back, and I'll make sure I send you all a note. Don't forget! Goodnews, I didn't see the sparrow until today trying to find an online feed of the plane that didn't crash. After that, google (and my rudimentary German) got me to the other sites. Ah, thanks. Good job on the post, and sorry again about the whole Dutch Inquisition. any room for a belgian? Of course! I'll let you know when it will actually take place. :)

By: cameleon

cameleon — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 04:47:06 -0800

lalochezia: the common house sparrow used to be common, but it rapidly disappearing. If I remember correctly, the number of breeding pairs has dropped from 2.5 million to 1 million over the last 5 or 10 years. And yes, that says something about the state of the environment here. gnfti: count me in for that meetup!

By: dness2

dness2 — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 07:23:44 -0800

You never expect an inquisition. sorry, had to say it.

By: kudzu

kudzu — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 07:30:04 -0800

De Telegraaf ( Dutch) reports that there now is a song made about the dead bird. Employees of the radiochannel Radio Eenhoorn taped the song in one night and within a couple of days, it has been downloaded 50.000 times. All the profit will go to Stichting MUS ( translation: common house sparrow foundation)

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 07:40:44 -0800

Welcome to Metafilter, kudzu! (This is now officially the MeFi-NL love thread.)