Me, MySpace, and iPod by Boom Chicago

Yesterday me and my North American posse went up to check out Boom Chicago, a group of American comedians playing up in Amsterdam. The theme of the night's show was Me, MySpace, and iPod. The group performed clever skits about our life in the digital age. It was a funny reminder of how our lives have changed in the last decade - we went from hardly wired to entirely wired. Parts of their show are improvisation and includes audience participation. While they didn't make my stomach hurt laughing and the improvs don't compare to the awesome ones I've seen on Who's Line Is It Anyway?, I'd say it was a very good show and well-worth the 20 euros.

The show really made me think about how much time I spend on-line these days. During the show, they asked the audience how many people had iPods. About half raised their hands, including me. Then they asked how many people had laptops. Again, about half raised their hands including me. Then they asked how many people had a MySpace site. A few hesistant hands went up, including me. Does that make me a geek?? In the past, if I was bored, I would pick up a book, watch TV, or find something productive to do. These days, I could endlessly and needlessly spend hours on-line if I wanted. I like feeling connected to my friends all around the world, but sometimes I wonder why I'm still on-line even when I'm done chatting or checking e-mails. Fortunately I feel like I have enough of a life at the moment that I'm not spending too much time on-line, but still, I should pick up a book again. Anyone have one they recommend?

Snow World

I love snowboarding, but I never really felt like trying it out indoors. There are apparently like 17 artificial slopes in Japan, but I didn't try any of them there. When I first came to Holland, someone had suggested perhaps checking out our local indoor skiing place - Snow World. I didn't feel like trying it out then either. How could it possibly compare to the real thing? Last night, however, I gave into peer pressure and decided to check it out. Afterall, don't knock it 'til you try it, right? Well, I've tried it, and I can't say it's really all that exciting. It probably takes like 5 minutes to get to the top, and then about 10 seconds to get down. I just don't have the patience for that. Plus, I don't like the lifts. They have a platter lift, which is not too different from a t-bar but more uncomfortable. If you're a snowboarder, the lift digs into your front inner-thigh and can be a bit painful.

In my opinion, indoor skiing is good if you're a beginner trying to learn, or if you want to practice tricks, or if you're looking for a fix. If you're an avid skier or snowboarder, I would suggest not going unless you have a real trip planned within a week or so. The indoor thing is a bit of a teaser. Yeah, it's fun, but you know it's even more fun on the real slopes so you are left wanting more.

Snow World is in Zoetermeer, about 30 minutes from the Hague. There are 3 ski areas - a beginner's area, a park area (for tricks), and the "long" one (35m high x 200m long). Hourly prices are quite outrageous, but you can get 4 hour passes for about 32 euros. On weekends, there is a special from 8-12pm (~21 euros). A DJ plays on Saturday evenings. Rentals are about 10 euros.

Since I am on the subject of indoor skiing, I had a quick look up on Ski Dubai. At least they seem to have gotten theirs right. It's at least twice the size of Snow World with 5 slopes. Longest run is 60m high and 400m long. Supposedly they have the world's first indoor black run. They also have quad lifts! I am going to be in Dubai early April, so maybe I'll check it out....

Boycott: Target.com

I have gotten into on-line shopping a lot since moving to Holland. I've grown to hate shopping even more since moving here, and on-line shopping makes some things easier. I am a frequent customer of Amazon.com and Drugstore.com. I've even begun to explore shopping of clothes through stores such as EddieBauer.com and VictoriaSecrets.com. For the most part, I have been quite happy with my experiences of shopping on-line. However, Target.com has disappointed me greatly with my last order from them.

I placed an order on December 28, 2006. What is today? Yes, my order still has not arrived. Every week, I keep getting these e-mails saying that there is a delay in my shipment and the expected delivery date is in about 2 weeks. Fortunately, it's not an item I am in a hurry for, so I let it go for a few weeks, but I figured a month was about enough. I tried to go cancel my order but supposedly, there is a note in each of these "delay" e-mails saying that I cannot cancel my order because the order is being "prepared." Obviously, when they first sent me this e-mail first week of January, the item was not being prepared or otherwise it would be here by now. I initially sent a polite e-mail to customer service requesting to cancel my order but I got one of those lengthy, pre-written, "we value you as a customer but..." e-mails. I was quite annoyed by this and wrote another, more adamant e-mail trying to get my order cancelled. Apparently, the way Target expects us to handle this is, refuse the package when it arrives and get a refund. Personally, I don't find this solution acceptable. I don't like the idea of an open order sitting in my account that could show up anytime. How do I know I won't all of the sudden get a package 2 years from now and accidentally open it? Worse yet, what if I have to move before the order gets here? When should enough be enough when it comes to waiting for a package? If they are going to take over a month to deliver an order, they should be prepared to eat any risks associated with cancelling the order if requested by the customer. Well, Target didn't listen to the customer. So now they have one very dissatisfied customer who will take their business, and hopefully some of their family and friends', elsewhere from now on.

Delft

Today I got a local to show me around the city of Delft. It is supposed to be one of the nicer places easily accessible from the Hague, yet it took me this long to finally visit. The highlights were the Nieuwe Kerk (new church), Oude Kerk (old church), and the Royal Delft Factory. We also climbed the 356 steps up the Nieuwe Kerk for a fantastic view of the city on this rare fine day.