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My theory is that the Dutch got their taste for matzah from Jewish neighbors who gave it away *after* Passover when they didn't want to see another matzah ever again.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 5h

which is distributed through synagogues and a few stores, and the extra cleaning and supervision costs mean they lose money on it. The owner isn't Jewish, he bought the bakery from the Jewish founders in 2001 and feels like it's his duty to continue making kosher matzah for Passover.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 5h

Non-Jewish Dutch people really like matzah- the traditional Easter breakfast is matzah with butter and sugar. The main matzah bakery in the Netherlands is AIUI the only one in the world that *loses* money on Passover, as most of their matzah isn't kosher for Passover but they do a special run

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

The Pope employed an executioner until he stopped having an appreciable secular population to rule.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Dutch student accommodation is its own whole nightmare. There isn't enough of it in university cities, and a common way of finding a place to live is "hospiteren" where prospective roommates essentially audition with the people who already live in the (long-term rented) apartment.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

As a researcher at a Dutch university who did some teaching, I heard some bad things about their "dispuut" system which is vaguely frat-like Of course what the group controls access to there isn't alcohol, but a place to live vaguely near the university.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Chemistry Nobel discourse is a lot like that, with added "this should have been the Physics Nobel" and/or "this should have been the Physiology or Medicine Nobel"

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I think that's quoted speech not Herodotus's own opinion. Specifically it's King Croesus, who has just lost a war he chose to fight, and is trying to persuade his victorious enemy Cyrus not to burn him alive.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Have you seen what their ballot papers look like? This is *just* for elections to the lower house- EU, provincial and local elections are separate, and the upper house is indirectly elected by provincial legislatures.

Two people standing about 3 or 4 feet apart holding a Dutch ballot paper between them. It is extremely large.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Pilots have to go through the same security as passengers (otherwise a nefarious but non-suicidal pilot could pass things to a terrorist on another flight). They also always have an axe in the cockpit, and at least some of these axes have a spike on them.

An aircraft crash axe- a metal axe with a black plastic handle and a curved blade with a back spike

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

And the von Trapps have since gone back into the sealed metal containers business. I had one of these last night, it was very nice...

A can of the von Trapp Brewing Company's Helles Golden Lager.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I remember being told by an (English) instructor when I was learning to sail: If you think it's time to reef (reduce sail area), do it. If you think it's time to take out a reef (increase sail area), have a cup of tea first.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I think that's basically this song in edible form... (I know Polish and Ukrainian food are different, but they're pretty close)

youtu.be

From Boyarka to Boyaca

YouTube video by Gogol Bordello - Topic

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I fairly often see a matte black one in my neighborhood driven by an Asian-American woman who is usually dropping her kids off at karate in it. I assume she got it in the divorce.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

MIT does the same. Meanwhile I got a BA in Chemistry, and a friend who went to the same university got an MSci in History (admittedly History of Science).

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

It is a Gilbern GT- confirmed by Googling the reg number. It was also apparently owned by an academic- Dr. Paul Scott, a Cambridge radioastronomer who bought it new in 1965 and raced it until the 80s. The car still exists and is owned and raced by Gilbern Owners' Club chairman Brian Gent.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

In 1974 a primary opponent tried to use that attack line on *John Glenn*.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

IIRC of the first few Black officers in the British Army (in WW1), George Bemand lied about his ancestry, Walter Tull didn't- answering "Yes" and "No" respectively to the question "Whether of pure European descent" on the form when applying for a commission. Both men's applications were accepted.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

My favorite story like this: the famous "loonie" design of the Canadian dollar was the backup design. They had to switch to it after the master dies for the original design got lost in the mail.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I'm a fan of deviled quail eggs- my family have always had hard boiled quail eggs as part of the Passover seder, and one year I decided to devil the leftover ones and have never looked back.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

My dad claims that he saw one of his friends successfully rent a car in Latin at an Italian airport.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It's a weird one. Under EU261 (and UK261 which mirrors it and would apply to BA) you don't get the extra compensation if it's "extraordinary circumstances". A medical emergency probably counts.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

This is unfortunately not new, it's medieval.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Benzene of course has nothing to do with Karl Benz (it comes from gum benzoin, a plant resin containing the related chemical benzoic acid) but I wonder if the similarity led people in some countries to use the "Benz" name for car fuel.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

To clarify: this isn't "they heard the stories and believe their ancestry makes them good at it without having to practise". Any vaguely competent human can do things with a ship that impress or baffle the very best non-human pilots- they just attempt things beyond even their abilities.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

JP2 *was Polish*. (Not necessarily saying that Poles drink more than other Europeans, but a lot more of what they drink is distilled spirits)

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Based on this post: humans are the best pilots in the universe, because of a long history of using boats and riding/driving animals. Unfortunately the average human *thinks* they're an even better pilot than they actually are.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Similarly Roman remains are fairly often found during building works in London, though they also appear to have been "officially" buried according to Roman custom. That of course raises the question: when Lindow Man died, it may well have been "legal" to strangle someone and throw them in a bog!

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I don't see how refusing to show up and spoil your ballot or hand in a blank one is different from refusing to show up for jury duty and make loud comments about the unfairness of the court system so you get disqualified and sent home.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

In my view, anyway, calling that an unacceptable violation of rights also means jury service is an unacceptable violation of the jurors' freedom, along with any other obligation to participate in society beyond paying taxes. I think states should be able to demand more than just taxes from citizens.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

In Australia you still have the right to spoil your ballot, leave it blank, or even walk into the polling station then turn on your heel and walk straight back out again. The only right you could say is 'violated' is the personal freedom not to show up.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

My inlaws (born in the early 50s) use "Joey" as an insulting word for *Jehovah's Witnesses*. I don't know if there's any link beyond coincidence- had children heard the word "Joey" in an insulting tone before the Blue Peter episode aired?

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Public Enterprise Funds exist, but that's a narrow exception that needs to be specifically authorized by Congress. Not sure about the status of things like patent fees that allow the relevant office to fund itself without appropriations.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Ramp is the Dutch word for disaster.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Volendam is known for its traditional costume which I think the statue is wearing.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

More seriously I think the Japanese word tempura actually comes from tempora, as it was based on Portuguese foods eaten at Lent and other times (tempora in Latin) when meat was forbidden.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

If they serve eel, would it be O Tempura, O Morays?

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

That F4 was (for the next few years, anyway) an operational military aircraft. Greece is one of 3 countries that still operate them, one of the other 2 is Iran. So I imagine they were taking similar risks with crew and aircraft in training.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Ian Botham was good enough at football (soccer) to play professionally. Then there were the Compton brothers, though only Denis played Test cricket and only Leslie won a full international football cap.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

The corsairs are hostes humani generis, and I suspect also hostes hobbiti generis, at least for those hobbits who buy and sell goods that go by sea.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Reminded of Henry Fail, the University of Alabama donor who refused to have anything named after him for obvious reasons. Until they renovated the locker rooms at the stadium, and named the visiting team locker room the Fail Room.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I put them in the same special-purpose category as folding bikes.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

No open container laws in England, it's completely legal to drink alcohol while driving as long as you stay below the limit.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Well, the closest one has an appointed upper house.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Bicycles? There are a few exceptions like folding or step-through frames, but almost all modern bikes are based on the 1880s Rover Safety Bicycle (diamond frame, equal sized wheels, chain driven rear wheel)

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Can recommend the AD122 bus (of course it's called that) as a way of getting around Hadrian's Wall.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Have you been to Bury St. Edmunds? Maybe not worth a full day but easily combinable with Ely, and the Abbey ruins are very impressive.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

This is a big part of what killed the original Land Rover Defender- if they had updated it to meet safety standards but kept it as the basic utility vehicle British farmers loved, the farmers still wouldn't have bought new Defenders when used ones were available.

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Alex G @alexiterick.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I think in your specific case Cambridge alumni access should still work?

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