Getting Thirsty for ‘De Dorst van Maastricht’

Last Tuesday I visited the Centre Ceramique to view and review the ‘De Dorst van Maastricht’ (Thirst of Maastricht) exhibition currently available for your viewing pleasure. You can read my review at Maastricht Region, but the short answer is if you’re in Maastricht swing on by. Its free and you’ll probably learn something. I was pretty impressed by the detail that the exhibit went into and the sheer number of breweries and distilleries that once make Maastricht their home is amazing.

Since i always take more photos than I use for this sort of thing, here are a few more choice bits from the exhibit.

Places Around Maastricht: Aldi

Type of Place: Grocery Store
Location: several; Most central is at Plein 1992 25; 6221 JP Maastricht
Website

Maastricht has lots of places you can buy food, but there are times when you need to something to eat and you don’t have a lot to spend. Aldi is a small, discount grocery store available in many cities throughout the Netherlands. Unlike larger chains like Jumbo and Albert Heijns, Aldi doesn’t have its own brand and products are simply shelved in their packaging boxes. But if you can get around the cut-rate look of the stores, the deals inside are well worth your time.

I find the best way to treat Aldi is to learn what products you like and then use the store to supplement your regular grocery shopping. Personally I purchase paper products, vegetables, and dairy there, but only rarely pick up fruit and never get the lunch meats. Their produce can be very hit and miss and while you can work around that with a bag of carrots; hand fruit needs to be fresh or you’re just wasting money. I can’t stand the spaghetti they have in stock either; its too thick. On the other hand, their frozen pizza is half the price of similar pizzas at AH and taste nearly as good as the take-away stuff from the restaurant downstairs, so we always buy frozen pizzas there if we need a quick dinner. After shopping Aldi, I take advantage of the greater variety at my local Albert Heijn to fill in the rest of my grocery needs.

In addition to food, Aldi frequently has a mix of non-food products ranging from shirts or gardening goods to laptops. I presume this is overstock from some store or another and occasionally worth a look. As with the food, what you buy will be determined by the quality you need and whether or not you can overlook the lack of variety that a discount shop has.

Logo is (c) Aldi

Breda Stripbeurs: Quick Convention Report

This weekend Dan & I trekked North to take in our first Dutch comics convention at the Breda Stripbeurs (in Breda of course). Taking place on March 6th and 7th, this convention was a good, medium-sized introduction to Dutch conventions and the European comic scene.

General

Breda Stripbeurs struck me as a medium-size convention, with a gym-turned-convention floor and a handful of events on a single stage. Genres, big publishers, indie creators, and merch sellers were mingled throughout the floor with a couple of signing booths. American comic-lovers may recognize Mike Mignola (Hellboy) and Adi Granov (Iron Man) who were both in attendance as guests. The space was airy and clearly has plenty of room for expansion. Our Dutch friend that we met there hadn’t attended before either; so we don’t know if it is larger or smaller than the previous year.

As with so many events I attend in the Netherlands, I found the Stripbeurs to be a casual affair; focused primarily on buying and selling things rather than presentations or workshops (a pity in my opinion). Vendors we spoke to were friendly and, when they learned of our own comic ambitions in Walking the Lethe, very encouraging. Although there were no other expat publishers there (that we knew of) the environment was welcoming to international visitors and creators. Of course the convention also had several kids and children activities available. Comics in the Netherlands are truly for all ages and the Breda Stripbeurs commanded a wide age range.

An astounding fact we learned from one vendor is that, unlike big U.S. comics, most quality European comics are still hand painted. Even more amazing, they can be done in anything from acrylics to giant oil paintings and frequently take up to one year to complete a 44-page book. Even comics that publish more often rarely are released less than 3 months a part. What a different in attention to detail and focus on the art vs. storytelling speed and pacing. Could it be that European audiences are more patient with their favorite heroes than U.S. ones?

Games

There was not a big gamer presence at the Breda Stripbeurs, but there were a few booths. Games Workshop and Warhammer, a war simulation game where you play with painted figurines, has a strong presence in the Netherlands and they were teaching people to play with short skirmishes. I don’t play, but the scenery was impressive.

The 501st Legion (a famous Star Wars Stormtooper cosplaying group) apparently attended on Sunday but we missed it.

Independent Comics

Dan and I took some time to seek out independent comics creators. We had a nice chat with the folks of Drop Comics, as well as Windmill Comics. Both are publishing comics in print, and in the case of the issues we picked up, in English. Some editing from a native speaker is in order; its difficult to write in a foreign language, but I did find Drop Comic’s prequel to their new ACE intriguing.

A small section also hosted some manga-style artists and mini-comic creators (easily distinguished by their hand-bound books). We didn’t get the chance to talk to anyone in this section. A pity because they weren’t particularly busy; just never looked up. We were a little surprised to see no webcomic creators, but there does seem to be fewer webcomickers based out of Europe.

Dutch Convention Season

If the number of fliers thrust upon us is any indication, the Dutch comics convention is just getting underway. We’re currently gearing up for our first vendor event at the UK Mini and Webcomix Thing in London, but these are a few other events in the Ntherlands that I know are coming up.

• Oost Nederlandse Stripboekenbeurs: March 20
• Stripbeurs Arnhem: April 17-18
• Stripdag in Gouda: May 2
• Strip Spektakel: June 26-27

Want to meet us at a comics event? We don’t have anything else planned at the moment but we’re always excited to meet new faces and love comic conventions. Drop us a line via the Contact page or leave a comment below.

Welcome & Welcome Back to the Willems

I’ve had the pleasure over the last several weeks to email with Melissa, a American woman preparing to move to Maastricht with her Limburg-native husband, Ben and son. This week Ben wrote an article for Crossroads entitled “A Homecoming: Back to South Limburg“. Their story is an interesting one and I encourage everyone to go take a look.

Welcome to Maastricht and welcome home.

Call Your Mother! VOIP

Dan & I have a great relationship with our families across the pond, so when we moved we knew we needed a cheap and easy way to keep in touch. Enter VOIP via Skype. So easy my 96-year-old grandfather-in-law can do it.

Why VOIP?

Voice-Over IP is software that allows you to make phone calls over the Internet to another computer or directly to a land line. The biggest reason to use VOIP is that it is much cheaper than making direct calls abroad. Skype is free to call any other computer, and approx. 17 cents a minute to call a landline or cellphone (rate depends on your location). If you make many calls you can also purchase a monthly plan to call landlines.

Of course we opt to call computer-to-computer as much as possible for the better experience. When calling a computer, many services has a video option, so if you and the person you’re talking with have webcams you can see each other while chatting.  The quality of the sound and video will be dependent on the Internet speed on both ends, but I can call my parents in Vermont without too much trouble; and they have satellite cable. Being able to see everyone back home helps alleviate some of the anxiety of living so far away.

Although less used, Skype also has a chat function. I find it handy for checking in with friends and family when I want a quick chat but we don’t have time for a call. The chat is realtime but uses less bandwidth and therefore is less dependent on having a good connection.

Getting Everyone Set Up

Although there are a variety of packages out there, the one I am most comfortable with is Skype. Skype has been providing VOIP services for a long time and they have services in many different countries.  If you have it, Google Voice can provide an even cheaper experience (sign-ups are by invite only).

To set up Skype you will need to download the software to any computer you wish to use and set up an account for yourself. The website has an English option for those of us with paltry Dutch skills. If you wish to call a landline (say of your luddite great aunt), you’ll need to purchase a phone number for your home country and either calling credits or a monthly subscription.

Once you’re set up, you can start calling landlines and mobiles without the other party doing anything. If your family wants to use the video option they’ll need to download and set up a Skype account too, as well as make sure you both have a microphone headset and webcam.  Built-in microphone/speaker hardware is usually sufficient to get you started, but you can get much better sound with a USB headset. After that, its just a matter of waiting for your family member’s account icon to turn green so you can give them a call.

Business Considerations

The other reason I set up an American number via Skype was to facilitate my freelance work. I knew I’d be working with people in the US and having a US number makes it easier and cheaper for them to call me when necessary.  When I send people my Skype number I let them know that it is for a VOIP service so they understand if I pick up and then scramble a moment for the headset.  I actually feel more comfortable talking with someone on my headset than I do via my mobile.

One Short Warning

VOIP is a great service, but it shouldn’t replace all your phone services locally. Firstly, local calls are generally free with a landline or mobile plan. Secondly, Skype does not support emergency calls, so be safe.

Happy chatting!

« Previous Entries Next Entries »