[Dixielandjazz] Dutch Stuff and more

[Schnabbels at aol.com]

Listmates,

With all the Dutch stuff going on on the List, I, too, shall weigh in 
regarding the various issues being discussed, whether OKOM related or not.

Firstly, there are strange coincidences: I received an off-list inquiry about 
the possibility of arranging some additional gigs for a youth band that has 
been invited to the North Sea Festival in early July. Even though I visit 
Holland, oops, the Netherlands, regularly, I haven't lived there since 1968. I 
usually manage to catch a gig of my old OKOM friends when there. To arrange for 
gigs in Holland from Scottsdale is a slightly different proposition, but I'll 
try to be of help, off-list.

As a general observation, I am just delighted to see a significant number of 
DJMellers
from the Netherlands. It would not surprise me if the Dutch contingent is the 
largest non-anglophone contingent on the List. Sleeman and Van den Heuvel, 
are you still lurking out there? This should perhaps not be surprising, because, 
as I have pointed out before on this list, if the Battle of Hastings (1066) 
had gone the other way, we would be able to conduct communication on this list 
in something much closer to Dutch than it is now.

Then, it behooves me to clarify certain aspect of jenever ("Dutch Gin").

First, the name derives from the fact that the beverage is flavored with the 
essence of the juniper berry. The elite version is called Korenwijn, which is 
NOT made of corn (mais) but of wheat. Aad Overeem, you should be ashamed of 
yourself. This is the stuff I always buy at Schiphol Airport when returning to 
the U.S.

Jenever is not as lethal as some listmates have claimed. Actually, it is 
typically 36-38% alcohol (less then 80 proof typical for standard British gin). 
But it is always drunk straight as a "shot" and chilled, so that might explain 
the unanticipated effects.
In fact, I remember one occasion where it caused me to loose track of the 
chords of Basin Street Blues and, as we all know, that is very hard to do (OKOM 
content!!).

The word "gin" is a truncation of  "jenever", or "geneever" in its more 
archaic spelling, used by the British when they discovered the stuff. The Dutch 
connection, unfortunately, gave rise to all sorts of English expressions such as 
"Dutch courage" meaning that you are only courageous when you are drunk. This 
probably had to do with the fact that, during the 17th century, the Dutch 
fought four (count 'em) wars with the British of which the Dutch won the first 
three but committed the unforgivable error of loosing the fourth. That's when New 
Amsterdam and Ceylon were lost. Damn.

Regards,

Rob " even old New York was once New Amsterdam" van der Plas
Scottsdale, AZ