Some of the normally astute good folk in Holland seem to have somewhat lost their marbles lately, if press reports are to be believed. We were informed a couple of weeks ago about the fake moon rock, when it was revealed that a treasured piece at the Dutch National Museum, supposedly moon rock from the first lunar landing, was nothing more than petrified wood. It was given to former Prime Minister Willem Drees during a goodwill tour by the three Apollo 11 astronauts shortly after their moon mission in 1969, and went on display at the Amsterdam museum when Mr Drees died. At one stage, it was insured for around £308,000. The organic materials in the organic wood have been replaced by minerals, although the original structure of the wood will have been retained. The Rijksmuseum is to hold on to it, they say, as a curiosity attraction. I thought it could have been inserted into a pair of very high class clogs.
Another incident has come to light recently, when an elderly Dutchman and his grandson flew from Holland to have a chinwag with relatives in New South Wales, Australia. The plane touched down safely in Sydney okay, but unfortunately it was in Sydney, Nova Scotia, a few miles away, I would reckon. I would hope that the travel agency involved in the blunder would go dutch for the return fare. Let us also hope that their talented international football players will suffer the same lack of concentration next Wednesday night, when they take on the might of Scotland at Hampden Park.
I suppose that we should also spare a thought for the chap who went along to the Antiques Roadshow with a glass container for which he had splashed out £1000. It turned out to be a bottle of olive oil, circa 2008, from the local Tesco’s supermarket. There is some consolation for the poor fellow in the fact that the TV station has decided not to show the footage, presumably because they’re not allowed to display advertisements.
No comments:
Post a Comment