COMING TO AMERICA

As a teenager growing-up in Holland, I used to watch numerous American TV shows. The one that I really liked was Miami Vice starring Don Johnson. At this time in Holland there were only two television channels, and they didn’t commence until 3pm in the afternoon and ended slightly passed 11pm. Another one I really liked was Magnum, P.I. starring Tom Selleck. And though Magnum, P.I. was featured only once a week, it provided me with enough inspiration to enter the world of palm trees, white beaches, beautiful women and a red Ferrari. But if not a red Ferrari, I would have gladly settled for the convertible Rolls-Royce Corniche as occasionally featured in my other favorite TV show, Hart to Hart, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. For me, Don Johnson, Tom Selleck, and Robert Wagner as portrayed on television were the ideal men living in the ideal world.

So in 1983, after graduating from high school in Holland, I stepped aboard a KLM Boeing 747 to the USA. It was a one-way ticket to paradise, at least so I thought at the age of eighteen. It was to be my long awaited escape from the Dutch rain to a land of sunshine and opportunity, from grey skies to blue skies.

A couple of hours after checking-in, I was high up in the sky and realized what an achievement it was for mankind to have the ability to fly above the clouds, next to the sun, in such comfort and ease.

I was reminded of seeing the black-and-white pictures of the well-dressed men and women flying the first transatlantic passenger planes, the ones with the propellers. And only a couple of decades later, the jet engines replaced the propellers and the planes became even more comfortable and much faster. And I realized that the earlier generation had it right: the best way to honor the ability for mankind to fly was to dress-up for the occasion.

When I arrived in the US and walked outside the airport doors, I saw an attractive woman in a convertible Mercedes parked at the curbside. I smiled and gently waved at her. To my delight, she smiled back. And though I wasn’t the one she was picking up, her smile was confirmation that my American dream was on its way to becoming reality. After all, I was in Los Angeles, and she could have been a movie star.

ANGELIQUE Via UTRECHT

Meeting Angelique at the train station in Bunnik 30 years later It was a typical Dutch gray day. No rain, no sun. The train had just left the Utrecht station on its way to Bunnik. I was now only minutes away from seeing Angelique. The last time I had seen her was 25 years ago when she had visited me in San Francisco. The last time I was in the Netherlands, there still was the Dutch guilder and Dutch freedom. Now returning so many years later, the monetary currency was in euros and the cultural currency was in lockdowns, face masks and QR codes. Dutch sovereignty and freedom had taken a beating, but this time from within. When the train stopped in Bunnik, my compartment was the farthest from the platform. When I stepped out, I saw a silhouette in the distance waving at me. It was Angelique. She was dressed all in black, with a long raincoat that looked like a cape and with a wide brimmed black hat. For a moment I felt I was in one of those Zorroesque Sandeman commercials I grew up ...

THE STARCK CLUB -- BEING THERE

Inside The Starck Club DALLAS, TEXAS -- 1985-89: My favorite place that I would frequently visit in Dallas was the Starck Club. It was located in the old part of town, where the once life-sustaining warehouses were abandoned and crumbling, right past the forgotten railroad tracks of the forgotten Industrial Revolution. But this one particular warehouse was adopted and remodeled by the French architect and designer, Philippe Starck. Getting into the Starck Club wasn’t easy. There was always a long line and the club’s doormen were very selective about who they allowed to enter. Since I was in my early twenties with bleached blond hair, I was hip enough to pass. I also wore black parachute pants while standing in white leather shoes -- all very Duran Duran like. The first time I entered the Starck Club I was in a state of shock and awe. It wasn’t just the unique design of the club, but the energy, the music, and the women. I had never been to a place whe...

Is The Dutch Monarchy Constitutional?

King Willem-Alexander and his mother Princess Beatrix smiling at the people who pay for their palaces According to Article 1 of the Dutch Constitution, every individual in the Netherlands should be treated equally under the law. However, there is one family who is above the law: the superior royal Dutch family. This is a huge contradiction in Dutch society and culture. The Dutch legislature should either abolish Article 1 or the monarchy and revert back to a republic, which the Netherlands originally was. Not only are the Dutch royals above the law, they run over the rights of the Dutch people by taking their money. And then the King lectures the Dutch people about "equality" and "diversity" as the Dutch politicians, elected by the Dutch people, sit there silently while he does. In the Netherlands they call that "democracy." Somewhere along the line the Dutch went from total football to total monarchy. King Willem-Alexander is one of the richest ...

Theo Bruinsma -- San Francisco

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