Eurovisie February 2020

eurovisie

a publication of the study association for european studies

CONSPIRATOR, DECEIVER, BETRAYER

TRAVERSING A FOREIGN UNIVERSE Diamonds | Royal Rumble Epstein | Cryptograhpy & Encryption | leerssen Pippi Longstocking | Waldesians

January 2020 / www.ses-uva.nl /eurovisie@ses-uva.nl

IN THIS EDITION...

3 - ASSISTED TO ELYSIUM JYRY PASANEN 5 - THE HERMENEUTICS OF SUSPICION JOEP LEERSSEN 6 - A REMARKABLE ROYAL

SHEDDING GEORGE BANDY 8 - FOR THE LOVE OF CAPITA CARA RÄKER 12 - ANONYMITY IS SACROSANCT ARIANNE ZAJAC 17 - A TYRANT FOR CHRISTMAS STERRE SCHRIJVER 20 - UNCONSCIOUSLY ENLIGHTENED FREDERIQUE DE RIDDER 22 - WHERE’S WALDO THOMAS VAN DE VIJVER 25 - THE EDITORS RECOMMMEND

Imprint Editorial office: Kloveniersburgwal 48, room E2.04/2.05, 1012 CX Amsterdam Editor-in-chief: Hanna Blom Editors: George Bandy, Jyry Pasanen, Cara Räker, Arianne Zajac, Sterre Schrijver , Frederique de Ridder, Ruben Wiltgen Georgi Design: Julius Sieburgh With contributions by: Joep Leerssen, Thomas van de Vijver

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eurovisie Volume 15 Issue 2 Jan 2020

Editorial Hanna Blom

f fact and fiction are siblings, consiIproportions. der this issue a crime of incestuous Does it not feel like reality tends to take on such hard to believe shapes, and the rambling homeless man on the corner starts to make more sense by the day?

Politicians, professors and news anchors all cling to alternative facts, so who can we still trust? Although our writers would never present you anything but the well-researched truth, they have, for once, stretched the limits of their journalistic oath and filled in the gaps of some stories in more creative ways. At one occasion, we even present a wholly fabricated a story for the point of it being told. The thing is, once you get out of the cave, just for a bit, it is hard to return to the shadows on the wall and pretend that nothing has changed. After careful consideration we have come to the conclusion that, indeed, the earth is flat, the government is poisoning the water, and the birds work for the bourgeoisie. We kindly ask you to put on your tinfoil hat and climb down into our doomsday bunker to witness what they do not want you to know. Break away from the herd because your sheep days are very much over, if you want them to be.

At the end of the day, it is you who decides whether the story is factually correct, or just a well-argued conspiracy theory.

Assisted to Elysium

A sample of writing under the condition known as Epstein-brain JYRY PASANEN been warned by friends Icle.have and family not to write this artiPartly because I am about to share some extremely sensitive information, partly because they fear that I am about to lose myself in a world of paranoia and subterfuge. It is most likely more of the latter. Against these warnings, against all advice, and against common sense, I will tell you a story. This one begins at the end. It is the last Sunday before exam week and I have yet to open a textbook. I have spent the weekend frantically “researching” the Marc Dutroux case: reading posts on conspiracy forums and watching low-definition videos on YouTube about the Belgian paedophile and child murderer. I take breaks to lie on my bed and stare at the ceiling.

This is not healthy, far from it, but I am captivated. It is undeniable that there was a massive cover-up of a wider network of paedophiles, that Dutroux was not just a uniquely evil exception but a cog in a well-oiled machine of exploitation, and that most of the culprits are still free to this day.

“It is four o’clock in the morning and I have somehow found myself even deeper in the conspiratorial excrement.”

It is four o’clock in the morning and I have somehow found myself even deeper in the conspiratorial excrement. I am scrolling through the archives of a Belgian anarchist newspaper. Their allegations are mind-boggling, but to me, in my delirious mindset, they seem plausible.

The only thing bothering me is that the entire site is in Comic Sans. They claim that a series of unsolved murders committed by the so-called Brabant killers are linked to the Dutroux network.

The Brabant Killers went around robbing gas stations and the like, killing 28 and injuring 22.

They were incredibly, absurdly violent, and for what?

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Certainly not for the loot: in their three active years, between 1982 and 1985, they stole less than $100 000 worth of money and goods. Often they would just take red wine and coffee, but then kill innocent bystanders in the process. The Belgian Comic Sans anarchists allege that at least some of their murders were not random. They targeted people who threatened to expose the high society paedophile network. One murdered couple, they claim, was in possession of a tape exposing the participators of a “pink ballet” – a party for the rich and powerful where they exploit underage girls.

This is the reason for my renewed interest in the Dutroux case. Last August, the infamous billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein died in prison. Virginia Giuffre, Epstein’s most famous accuser, says that she was coerced into being a sex slave, and lent out to be raped by other famous men including Prince Andrew and “a well-known Prime Minister”. I believe her. When I first heard about this case I

considered myself a rational person. More than that, I believed that society itself was rational and that its events could be understood and explained. The Epstein case destroyed this illusion. Nothing makes sense.

The official story is that Epstein hung himself in prison. Coincidentally, the cameras in his cell malfunctioned, and the guards who were supposed to check on him were asleep. Some weeks later, a forensic examiner named Michael Baden says that Epstein was likely murdered: the damage in his neck matches strangulation wounds. Michael Baden, by the way, is a renowned expert: he investigated the murders of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. It’s not like those murders involved anything suspicious, right? In any case, a couple of days after the alleged suicide, a photo of Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein’s accomplice, emerges. Sent to the New York Post by Maxwell’s attorney, the photo shows Ms Maxwell posing for the cameras at a burger joint

in Los Angeles. We are told in the article that the book she is holding is entitled The Life and Death of CIA Agents. A strange detail, especially since it is not visible in the photos. And why is this fugitive, accused of paedophilia and international sex trafficking, posing for photos in public in the first place? Turns out the photos were manipulated. The billboard behind Maxwell was photoshopped: according to the advertising agency, there was never an ad for the movie Good Boys. This photo was the turning point for me. Was it a message congratulating the murderers of Epstein? A diversion? A cry for help? We will never know.

The New York Post article changed my life; I embraced the kind of conspiratorial thinking I had been conditioned to scoff at. As soon as I saw this picture I felt a titillation: something big was going on before my eyes. My visits to the conspiracy forums became more frequent, at times obsessively so. All I could talk and think about was the Epstein case. �

Death of Nero, an engraving by Englebert Kaempfer, 1651-1716.. Depicting the unforunate “assisted suicide” of infamous Roman Emperor Nero. Upon the rebellion against him led by Vindex and Galba in 68 AD he, upon hearing his adversaries advancing towards his hiding place, sought to end his life; alledegly havign uttered “What an artist dies in me”. With waining willpower however he instead asked his secretary to assist him in his suicide. The painting by Smirnov is a classic romanticist deptiction of history. The subject of the work intrigues as it is a depection of the elusive and seemingly impossible “assisted suicide”.

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The Hermeneutics of Suspicion JOEP LEERSSEN

onspiracy theories, like C so many other things, hit European cultural consciousness

around the time of Romanticism.

In a continent that knew, as yet, no “freedom of association”, the rise of sociability often meant that clubs and associations met behind closed doors: privately, discreetly, secretly. This in turn exposed then to suspicion as to their intentions. There was, around 1800, a persistent theory that the French Revolution had been plotted by a masonic secret society called the Illuminati.

And indeed a number of private associations (the Polish Filarets, the Greek Filiki Eteria, the Italian Carbonari, the Irish Fenians) aimed to overthrow tyrannical governments, if necessary by violent means.

By now that has become an informal definition of that catch-all phrase “terrorism”; planning violent disruptions of society with the aid of clandestine associations. And so, I fear, conspiracy theories are no longer the symptom of paranoid loners (like that Pizzagate maniac) but have become a generalised condition of 21st-century life in the North Atlantic Co-Prosperity Zone.

Witchhunts are now institutionally normalised in things like the Department of Homeland Security.

But to get back to history.

Conspiracy theories initially focused on recognisable groups of misfits, like Jews and Jesuits (both of whom were accused of plotting and spreading the cholera epidemic of 1830-31). In literature, plotlines began to invoke the dark intuition that the course of history was being manipulated by small, select groups (like, ooh, the Freemasons) behind the scenes. Balzac’s Histoire des Treize (1833-39) is an early example. This strengthened in the twentieth century as, following Freud, a so-called “hermeneutics of suspicion” began to spread in Western culture.

Appearances, it is now generally assumed, are Not To Be Trusted.

They are merely there to mask something deeper, more hidden and therefore more True. That is the baseline assumption of any psychoanalytic therapy, any detective thriller, any modern interpretation of art and literature.

Is the poet Burns really comparing his love to a red, red, rose?

Or Is That Just What He Wants You To Think?!

Paranoia became an existential worldview in the postmodern novels of writers like Thomas Pynchon and Neal Stephenson.

And of course, God help us, Dan Brown. And the many, many crap programmes on something that has the gall to call itself the “History Channel”, which explains that the pyramids were

built by aliens from the Planet Zog and that Hitler was possessed by Assyrian vampires. New Age too is using the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Anything an academic or authority tells you, or what is broadcast in the “mainstream media”, is not to be trusted. It is just What They Want You To Think. Do not vaccinate your baby! Do not believe Politically Correct Cultural Marxists!

So here is the paradox: conspiracy theories are everywhere, they are an ambient fact of postmodern life, they have replaced traditional religion in people’s minds as an unquestionable belief system. Is there… (drumroll) perhaps… a Conspiracy to poison people’s minds with conspiracy theories?!...

All this feeds into the phobic, ubiquitous demand for Transparency. Let nothing be secret, let nothing be kept from public scrutiny. That demand is driven by a heightened need for security driven by a generalised hermeneutics of suspicion. And so here is my dilemma. I am opposed to the wearing of burqas.

But if this craze for security cameras and facial recognition software goes much further, I am beginning to see the point in them.

Privacy is developing into a oneman conspiracy. �

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A Remarkable Royal Shedding The Royal Conspiracy: Old Guard misdemeanor GEORGE BANDY

ith their public position W as it is, it is not hard to imagine that the Royal Family

have been involved in their fair share of conspiracy theories.

From the outright insane (read the British monarchs being big extraterrestrial lizards hidden in human form, also referred to as the Reptilian Elite), to older and more established conspiracy theories, like the potential criminal plot behind the death of Princess Diana, alongside her partner Dodi Fayed. The latter of which was not just jumbled together in internet chat-rooms, but was continuously argued in the investigation by, among others, Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of Dodi, and notable owner of Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly of the Harrods Department Store and Fulham F.C. What was never clear however, was the motive - who and why would someone want to take out the people’s princess. The Royal Family itself concluded that it was an unfortunate accident, not surprising at they were often pointed to as the “organisers” of the crash.

Whilst many theories provide not much more than a brief indulge in imagination before being dismissed, we may be entering into a time when conspiracy theories start gaining more traction. Not to the extent that we will be ousting individuals as lizards, but that people and institutions will more frequently become apparent as cogs in a darker scheme. The idea of elite circles colluding in secret is no new story. Tax evasion, illicit sex rings, and political interference are some of the most common to be associated with the top of society. The Panama papers was one of the biggest scandals to break over the last decade, uncovering one of the largest networks of tax fraud currently known. The papers indicted an incredible number of high-level figures as beneficiaries of

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the off-shore accounts - from Jackie Chan and Lionel Messi, to Berlusconi and Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia. Whilst tax fraud is not as secretive and preposterous as many of the other wilder and intriguing conspiracy theories that exist, the scale of scandals like this give a glimpse into the possible secretive systems employed by the elite. Whether it is to hold on to money, or power, or most likely both, all manners of systems could be concocted.

The death of Epstein itself has fuelled many conspiracy theories, most of which conclude that he was killed because of what he knew about many powerful people. Epstein’s insight would likely have been a treasure trove for any law enforcement agency or conspiracy theorist.

He had on occasion, sometimes almost boastfully, talked about what he had witnessed over the years, mostly about all the sex and drugs, and all the wellknown (though keeping them unnamed) figures involved.

“Whether it is to hold on to money, or power, or most likely both, all manners of systems could be concocted.”

The Royal’s involvement with such unsavoury figures does not stop at Epstein and Prince Andrew. That is only where the media appears to keep its attention. The story may have almost seemed like déjà vu to Prince Charles, who from 1992 onwards was involved in the lobbying for the exoneration of the now disgraced Bishop Peter Ball. In 2006 he even gave Ball a cottage on his estate. As a result of the lobbying, Ball was only initially given a police caution and allowed to continue his priestly practices along with preaching in public schools. After further investigation and more victims coming forward, he was finally convicted in 2012 for multiple instances of serious sexual abuse. It is not the only example either. Another example is case of Jimmy Saville, who Prince Charles had initially wanted to be Prince Harry’s godfather. It ventures into the realms of utter ridiculousness when you consider how such people were so close… how Charles was either oblivious to everything or didn’t want to look. Much the same for Prince Andrew. It does not take a genius to suggest that Princes should not be conversing with sex offenders. It is the dark underbelly of the world hanging out with our nice clean crown.

There must be something that can’t be shaken or corrupted.

The Crown perhaps, that unabating and unceasing institution, which has escaped much of the political turmoil over the past years without much of a scratch.

There’s something about it that remains above politics, above the fights and flurries of common life. These past months have seen Prince Andrew fall from grace following his apparent friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffery Epstein, who reportedly committed suicide in his cell last year, and his relationship with a 15 year old he claimed never to have met. Absurdly, his alibi was that he was enjoying a night with the family that evening at a Pizza Express in Woking. Such a scandal could have been kept under wraps by the House of Windsor for many years, and it is not clear yet whether the root of it has been fully uncovered.

Say there was someone who knew what was going on, and who could no longer be watched over? The Royal inner circle is not one that is entered, or left for that matter, very easily. The case of Harry and Meghan at the moment is taking so much attention as this is something that just does not really happen.

The last time it did was Princess Diana…

It is not as if any evidence of fowl play was absent. An unofficial statement came at the time from the two young princes.

Tearfully, the newly motherless William and Harry claimed it was the press that brought Diana to her end. Not only metaphorically with the relentless bombardment of photographers that Diana constantly endured, but more directly pointing to the press motorbikes that hounded the car moments before it swerved off the road and crashed. Still now the wounds show on the princes, in particular Harry as he currently fights against the attention of the press, saying only a few months ago that ‘I will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my Mum’.

The media would be the perfect cover - an easy alibi for such blatant harassment.

A media notably controlled in large at the time by Robert Maxwell, friend to Prince Andrew, and father of the girlfriend and accomplice to Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell. Robert himself was found dead a few years after, having “fallen” overboard from his yacht and drowned.

Mysterious deaths seem to be ripe in such friend groups.

Whilst this may now only be spinning threads, there is a very intricate web connecting all of these people. Epstein was not only boasting when he talks of all the people he knew, his reach appears to spread to every corner and crevice of the elite world.

It is a world that appears to protect its own - turning a blind eye to dark acts occurring - and all feeling safe in the knowledge that to expose one would be to expose everything, and no one wants that.

What other unsavoury individu als the House of Windsor may be fraternising with is left open for discussion.

The whole ordeal has again shown, amongst other things, that not even the sanctity of the Crown can avoid tarnish. While it is unlikely that the Royal family will soon be exposed as a group of extraterrestrial lizards, we may find out that they might not be much better. �

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For the love of Capita

The Diamond Conspiracy: Why diamonds are worthless but very expensive CARA RÄKER talk about the most sucLof et’s cessful advertising campaign all time. But first, imagine this:

We are watching an average romantic comedy from the perspective of the male protagonist.

He will soon propose to the love of his life. We know this because we have followed their story from the very beginning up until now. We have witnessed their first memorable yet awkward encounter and held our breaths during their first date. We have been there, from the very beginning, through the drama in the middle until this very moment. Now, our hero is fumbling nervously with the ring in his pocket, waiting for her to arrive.

And so she does, with wavy long hair and wearing a beautiful dress. She sits down in front of him. Skipping forward a couple of seconds, our protagonist has finally found a way to move the conversation to the undying love that he feels for her. You can see that she realises what is going on even before he pulls the ring out of his pocket, falls onto one knee and proposes.

Will you marry me?

Yes! She has to take her hand from her mouth which she had covered in disbelief, so that we can

∫

get a close shot on the diamond ring which he slips onto her finger. They kiss and look each other in the eyes, reminiscing about the hardships they had overcome together in the past 78 minutes just to happily end up here: Two lives tied together in the promise of forever. Because as we know: A Diamond Is Forever.

Change of scenery: It is the 19th century when European empires start their scramble for Africa in order to get rich and powerful.

A young Englishman with similar motives, Cecil Rhodes, decides to move to Kimberly, a small town in South Africa, in order to look for diamonds. Just recently, locals have discovered two large diamonds in the area, virtually just lying around. Rhodes, barely 20, decides to try his luck and acquires a mine, previously owned by the De Beer brothers, which turns out to be profitable.

So profitable, in fact, that by the end of the 19th century, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. has established a monopoly and controls 90% of the world’s diamond reserves.

“...by the end of the 19th century, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd. has established a monopoly and controls 90% of the world’s diamond reserves.”

With the established market monopoly, sales are going well up until the 1930s when the Great Depression rolls around.

All of a sudden, people did not want to buy diamonds anymore, but instead they wanted to sell them. The problem that occurred, however, was that diamonds virtually had (and still have) little resale value. Why? Because there exist plenty of them, the De Beers Company just makes sure that only a limited number of diamonds are in circulation at all times. With an increased number of cheap diamonds entering the market in the 1930s, De Beers had to come up with a plan in order to keep up the illusion that diamonds are actually worth something.

Adele Bloch-Bauer I, “Goldene Adele”. Gustav Klimt, 1903-1907. Famed for its erotic depiction of the woman in a time of prudence. The style as inspired by the pristine mosaic of Justinain I and his entourage in the Basilica San Vitale in Ravenna, which Klimt visited in preparation for this work.

The attention of the viewer is immidiatly drawn towards a detail of the work pictured above; the exposed upper chest of Adele. The viewer, tracing his eyes upwards next stumbles upon the gaunt, semmingly elongated neck, brandishing a monumental diamond necklace, which finds full splendour in contrast with the golden background. Wealth, established wholly, in abstraction.

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The ‘A Diamond Is Forever’ campaign launched in 1938 in the U.S and it followed two main objectives. Firstly, people had to be convinced that diamonds were valuable. Secondly, for that to happen, people had to stop reselling them, so that diamonds would remain rare.

Thus, the following question arose: What would make people buy a diamond and keep it forever?

The diamond had to mean something. It had to become more than just a pretty stone.

It had to become the stone of love. Because what lasts forever until death do us apart?

Marriage.

In the western world, prior to 1938, it was not the norm to purchase diamond engagement rings. The gemstone was reserved for royalty and wearing it during the day would be perceived as vulgar. Proposals were an informal affair, mostly just a vocal promise and if there were gemstones involved, rubies or sapphires were seen to be the most valuable stones. In order to change this, diamonds had to become fashionable again. Therefore, De Beers company approached

∫

movie idols and public figures and offered them diamonds to wear diamonds on the red carpet. Designers were asked to speak about the upcoming diamond trend in interviews.

Magazines were paid to publish stories which connected diamonds to romance. Famous artists such as Picasso and Dalì were asked to draw their female figures wearing diamond rings. The advertising campaign even involved a lecture series which taught high school and university students about the value and history of diamonds and engagement rings.

And it worked. To speak in numbers: while in the 1940s only 10% of American women owned a diamond engagement ring, in the 1990s the figure had risen to 80%. De Beers Company experienced similar successes when entering the market of Japan in the 1960s.

Even though Japan has had a long tradition of arranged marriages with an emphasis on practicality rather than romance, by the time the 1980s rolled around, 60% of women owned a diamond ring compared to less than 5% in 1967.

“Magazines were paid to publish stories which connected diamonds to romance. Famous artists such as Picasso and Dalì were asked to draw their female figures wearing diamond rings.”

While nowadays, De Beers does not have the monopoly on the diamond trade anymore, it is the idea that lives on.

Diamonds are not rare, they are artificially expensive. They are not a symbol of love, but a symbol of capitalism. They are not a cultural tradition but they are a product of advertisement.

Diamonds might not be forever, but the idea certainly is. �

Adele Bloch-Bauer II, 1912. Gustav Klimt. The second, less famous, rendition of patron and model Adele. The famous Viennese salon lady returns with similar splendor. The viewer is less so drawn towards Adele’s visage as compared to the previous rendition, as the style seen throughout the painting is far more consistent. Similarities between the two artworks are profound. For instance, the sublime diamond choker sees a triumphant return. The elongation of extremeties is similarly repurposed, reflecting the standards of beauty that the world of art launched into popular perception as seen in the roaring twenties.

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Anonymity is Sacrosanct

The relationship of cryptography and encryption with the Internet.

ARIANNE ZAJAC Cryptography, simply put, is the art of writing and solving codes.

However, it has become something much more significant on the internet, where it is these codes which are used to protect information and communication in the form of encryption.

Cryptography really entered the public consciousness in the late 2000s with the creation of Bitcoin, the first ever cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies in which encryption techniques are used to generate units of the currency, verify transfers and funds, and allow it to operate independently of a central bank. Cryptocurrencies rely heavily on anonymity and this goes right down to the moment that Bitcoin was created.

Now, Satoshi Nakamoto is not a household name, however, it is likely that you have heard of it before. But do you know who Satoshi Nakamoto is? Well, here is the great answer. No one does. Satoshi Nakamoto was the founder of Bitcoin and “mined” the first ever Bitcoins, but that is pretty much all anyone knows.

There has been a lot of speculation about Nakamoto’s identity and many individuals have been investigated. Hal Finney and Dave Kleiman were both suspected of being Satoshi Nakamoto but both have since died. Hal Finney was a pioneer in cryptography and he actually received the first ever transaction of Bitcoin from Satoshi Nakamoto. However, Finney produced evidence of e-mails between him and Nakamoto, and denied the claim, resulting in people believing that he might have been more involved than he claimed to be but he was not the founder. Dave Kleiman, on the other hand, was described as an avid cryptographer, highly skilled with encryption focused software. It is true that he did have contact with Satoshi Nakamoto,

but there is not much more to connect him than that.

To further complicate the investigation, Craig Wright has come forward as Nakamoto but his claim is dubious. He has digitally signed messages with cryptographic keys during the early days of Bitcoin, which are inextricably linked to the cryptographic keys created by Satoshi Nakamoto. These signatures have since been claimed as forgeries by other computer science experts in the cryptography and encryption community. In 2019, Wright claimed that Bitcoin was, in fact, a group effort and Hal Finney and Dave Kleiman were involved, but that Wright remained the driving force behind Bitcoin. Later that year a successful lawsuit was filed by the Dave Kleiman Estate which ruled that Wright had defrauded Kleiman of Bitcoins and intellectual property. Significantly, the court also ruled that this was not a decision on whether Wright was Satoshi Nakamoto, meaning that we are no closer to the truth.

“Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies in which encryption techniques are used to (...) operate independently of a central bank.”

That is not the only dark side to Bitcoin or cryptography. In 2013, Ross Ulbricht was arrested by the FBI and charged with money laundering, computer hacking, and trafficking narcotics. Why? All because he set up the website Silk Road which became one, if not the, most notorious websites on the dark web.

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You could find everything on here, and, again, the website hinged on anonymity. It was encrypted and utilised anonymised IP addresses - making sure those who were using it for illegal services and products were difficult to find - and, of course, the currency it utilised was Bitcoin, which was known for its anonymity in transactions.

It was not the huge amount of illegal drugs sales and the ease with which they could be purchased which would establish the Silk Road, it would be its dedication to anonymity through cryptography. Above all, the Silk Road was a political statement which claimed that “the selling of drugs should not be prohibited, people are free to do what they want, and there is now the technology to do so.” Cryptography developed as a means to provide everyone privacy and anonymity on the internet and was quickly taken up by individuals, like Ulbricht, who felt that there was too much state intervention.

Interestingly, it is actually the actions of the FBI, in relation to the arrest of Ross Ulbricht, which have really spurred on the development of cryptography.

It is claimed that Ulbricht was discovered through the finding of servers, based in Iceland, which resulted in the confiscation of their information. Little to nothing has been released surrounding how the FBI acquired the information and location of these servers. Instead, many believe that the FBI used hacking techniques to discover this information, as the FBI’s story doesn’t seem to fit with the evidence and also explains why it has been so secretive. It appears that the FBI is prosecuting people for hacking through hacking. In light of this, many cryptographers have been developing software for everyday use which can withstand government surveillance.

In light of this, many cryptographers have been developing software for everyday use which can withstand government surveillance.

“It was not the huge amount of illegal drugs sales and the ease with which they could be purchased which would establish Silk Road,...”

It is now 2020 and almost 10 years since cryptography began to take off with Bitcoin. We can see that the need to secure anonymity on the internet has increased. However, anonymity appears to be taken at a price, either of the price of individuals or illegal activities. It seems that governments are doing all they can to resist increased anonymity for the individual on the internet. This could be through basic regulation, such as the European Union’s fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5MALD), in which a registration process that verified basic personal details was established, making it almost impossible to buy cryptocurrencies anonymously.

Or resistance appears in more extreme forms, such as through government surveillance, which has been highlighted by the Snowden leaks and the Ulbricht Trial. What can be said for the future is that cryptography looks set to make the rules of how we interact with the internet, whether that is a direct consequence of creating anonymity or an indirect consequence of widespread regulation and surveillance. �

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J.M.W. Turner. KĂźssnacht, Lake of Lucerne:: Sample Study, ca.1842/43. The famous community of KĂźssnacht in Switzerland forms a centerpiece in the Swiss national mythos. That in the immarterial sense of self-determination and resistance to foreign authorities, and material in that of Wilhelm Tell.

An iddylic place, here basked in glorious sunlight that seems to emanate from the canvas, a staple of Turner’s work. Overall, a painting that echos serenity and an aire of stability.

A Tyrant for Christmas The Anachronisms of Aldovia STERRE SCHRIJVER

t was a cold December evening.

Iscrolling When I found myself endlessly through all that Netflix

has to offer, when the realisation of never having felt truly complete came to me. Whenever I talked to people about this feeling they told me to stay close to who you are, but who to be when I don’t even know who I am? Perhaps everything was so ‘perfect’ that it had become to feel dull, and this new thought had come to grow inside of me, like some unwelcome parasite.

Ceaselessly scrolling through the assortment of films and series allowed me to reflect on the uninteresting rituals that make up my every day life. As I drank from an acorn-shaped coffee cup, my destiny suddenly struck me: I needed to go to the magical and mystical paradise of Aldovia.

Hence, I packed my bags and hopped on my sailing boat as a proclamation of my support for Greta. Ice-skating the last bit to my destination, my journey started to feel like I had landed in one of my most joyful dreams.

Mountains covered with pine trees flew past me while old carriages and new cars tried go past each other on the small bumpy roads of Aldovia.

After hours I finally arrived at a lodge just over the border. In an effort to calm down, I ordered a beer at the lodge bar. The bartender had white hair and a fat belly, topped with a grey beard hanging over it, almost leading me to think Santa Claus was Aldovian instead of Finnish.

He had an odd and foreign way of speaking, as if he had something great to tell me. He used words that even Shakespeare could not have thought of, combined with a slight sentiment of excitement. Was this how Aldovian people talk, or was it this peculiar man with his curious words and quirky voice?

He taught me an old famous Aldovian saying; “never trust what

is at the bottom of an empty beer glass.” I took it as a decent shower thought.

The next day, I pursued my journey to the capital, Belgravia.

I borrowed a horse from the lodge, promising to eventually bring it back but God knows where this voyage would take me. The barkeeper of the day before was still on my mind.

What was at the bottom of my beer glass anyway? I remember the leftover foam taking the shape of a deformed heart.

Could it mean I would finally find what had been missing all along? Once I arrived at my next destination, the idea that this journey could be yet another hopeless mission led me to the next bar I could find.

Completely sozzled, I strolled past a river which ran straight through Belgravia, streaming beneath medieval bridges and accompanied by perfectly shaped pine trees on the side. I agreed with the city’s nickname, “the Paris of the Cold”. A man approached me, who looked perfectly familiar, either because he was the knight in shining armour, who frequently invades my dreams, or I drunkenly bumped into him at the bar earlier on. It took me a while to understand that he was asking me whether I was okay. Not having a clue about either the location or the name of my hostel, I saw no other option than to accept his offer to stay over in his spare bedroom. I do not recall too much from the taxi ride except for vigorously trying not to die.

What I do remember of that night is losing my breath shortly after we arrived at his enormous and gorgeous palace. Who even is this person?

The next morning I woke up in one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in. Every room in the palace was unique and decked out with expensive looking works of art and chan-

deliers hanging on the high ceilings, making me feel like a true 21st century Marie-Antoinette. A smell of fresh Aldovian croissants (yes, I dare say that the French are mere copycats) lured me downstairs. In the moment, I could not decide which sight was prettier: the fresh croissants on the dinner table or the man with wavy blond hair and icy blue eyes sitting at it. To my surprise, there was a small tile hanging above the kitchen stove which said “never trust what is at the bottom of an empty beer glass.” As we started chatting, it felt as if we had known each other for ages. I asked him about the palace, but he only told me he inherited it from his family, not further explaining why his family would own such a massive place.

He promised to drive me to my hostel, showing me some highlights of Belgravia on the way. We drove through the magical mountains surrounding his palace before slowly entering the lively city area of Belgravia.

Andrew told me childhood stories about nearly every block we passed. The stories were filled with loving, worryless people, never facing any complications in their lives. People seemed to help and care for one another, even when it was not necessarily needed. This feeling was definitely missing in Amsterdam, where you had to save yourself instead of saving others and where a strong personality was needed in order to deal with the direct attitude of the Dutch.

All in all, I felt warm, happy, and belonging, while he drove me through this enchanting place.

Days quickly passed as I spent my time horse riding, painting, or chatting with Andrew at his palace. I never even found my hostel again. It felt like I finally understood cheesy pop songs.

It was just me and him, or the queen and king as he preferred to call us, and nothing else.

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J.M.W. Turner,The Fall of an Avalanche in the Grisons, 1810. As a result of the industrialisation of Europe, which had started its revolution upon the realisation of this work, Turner found himself; along with other painters of his time, returning to nature. Here depicting an avalanche in the Grisons. Signifying rapid change, both in mindset as in reality. A harsh, rapid change in scenery, caused by the forces of nature.

The same forces that, to many observers, seem to be in the process of becoming mere tools of humanity in their goal of infinite progress.

This lasted until the people of Aldovia showed their true faces to me. It all started when Andrew had to go away for some hours for ‘business’ and I decided to stroll through parts of Belgravia I had never visited before. The landscape smoothly changed, with green grass partially covered with white drops of snow changing to an ugly mixture of grey and brown, and the people seemed changed with it.

The people here were wearing smelly and highly unfashionable clothes, embarking on primitive and heavy labour activities. It was interesting to observe how people first laid their eyes on me before quickly looking down to my horse, their looks becoming nastier in the process. As I was passing through the streets, the circumstances worsened, eluding the illusion that the first blocks I had passed were a mere exception. Children were running on muddy pathways while their parents waited impatiently in front of a bakery for, what I assume, a piece of bread, of which I knew Andrew, by the way, had more than plenty… I could not believe the massive contrast between what I was seeing now and the lovely neighbourhoods Andrew had shown me. It felt like he was hiding this other side of the story from me. Was he trying to protect me? Or rather himself?

I got off my horse on an old town road and tried to talk to the people. Their answers to my questions did not put my mind to rest about their living conditions. I became tongue-tied when an old lady told me that she believed prosperous times would come one day, after King William and Prince Andrew stepped down and faced their wrongdoings. Now Andrew never told me that he was a prince, but the size of his house, the wealth, and the picture he repeatedly painted of his warm-loving Aldovia, seemed way too curious to be neglected. People seemed restless and stressed out here.

Things escalated when I heard a loud sound. More than ever, I longed for it to be annoying Dutch fourteen year olds lighting expensive fireworks behind my

back. People hurried over to the sound and I followed. We arrived at a market square with in the middle a half-naked man tied up to a pole behind a guillotine, and my Andrew standing behind it.

“...the circumstances worsened, eluding the illusion that the first blocks I had passed were a mere exception.”

Fear and anger were mixing together like a toxic cocktail as he started a speech on the “horrific misbehaviour of the man under the guillotine” and “the importance of preserving Aldovia’s greatness and glory,” even claiming that the “perhaps miserably-seeming lives will eventually serve the benefit for all the great citizens of Aldovia” which will be achieved “through unity, solidarity, and respect.”

When he saw me standing entangled in the large crowd, he quickly signalled policemen to bring me to an office behind the square. I had no choice other than to obey. Once I arrived at the office, he tried to explain whatever I had just witnessed through using a lot of words similar to ‘needed’, ‘my job’, and ‘not serious’ while also repeating that I will become “his queen.” This was supposed to be my own romantic Christmas movie, but it had turned into a thriller. Meanwhile, from the corner of my eye, I saw a head slowly rolling from the stage of the guillotine as the people started yelling and fights broke out with the police. Andrew quickly ordered for his carriage so he and ‘his queen’ could leave this tremendously ugly place, meant only for ‘ordinary people’.

Without thinking, I ran away back to the crowds trying to escape. It was the first time in my life I genuinely prayed to God in a desperate attempt for this dream not to have turned into a great nightmare.

The next day, I woke up with a mere four hours of sleep at the hostel of the beginning of my journey which was the only place where I felt even the slightest hint of safety. It was hard to realise that the picture Andrew painted for me was nothing but a lie. I felt used, cheated, and above all manipulated. What I knew for certain was that I had to go back home as soon as I could. As I arrived at the reception I spotted the man from the lodge bar. I tried to tell him all what happened the other day and asked him about the actual truth of Aldovia. Which of the two sides I had seen was the exception? Again, I had trouble understanding half the words he was saying, but his last sentence contained those familiar words: never trust what is at the bottom of an empty beer glass.

Suddenly, everything fell together as I remember what was at the bottom of my beer glass that first day; a heart. I thought I had found the perfect life here, a gorgeous man with a beautiful house in a magical country with great people surrounding it. A life unavailable to me, even in my wildest dreams. A life so great I almost started believing in God. However, this life with the love I felt within it turned out to be nothing but a harsh lie and confrontation with my own wealth I naively downplayed. A wealth which cannot be expressed in euro signs, but rather in the opportunities presented for all people of all kinds in all places. A wealth which was hard to find here, but just around the corner of the place I used to dislike. How could I have been so wrong whilst holding such an erroneous view of the world I was luckily able to live in? I went back to the Netherlands as quickly as I could and as soon as I arrived home, I had never felt happier. I promised myself to never again blindly trust someone, but most importantly to always cherish life in Amsterdam and the wealth and opportunities she presented. And to, above all, never trust what is at the bottom of an empty beer glass. �

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Unconsciously Enlightened Subliminal messaging in the series of Pippi Longstocking FREDERIQUE DE RIDDER

Welcome to 2020. The dawn of a new decennium encourages us to reflect on history individually and collectively. Those historical events which we have not lived through ourselves have to be told to us and we are compelled to trust the authority of our schools and universities to provide truthful information. Can we rely on their method of conveying knowledge? The debate about whether to trust their authority carries a history itself.

The turbulence that was felt on the European continent in the 20th century fuelled skepticism towards national governments amongst large masses of people, but one group in particular. Any educational institution under government policy, was not to be trusted, according to the supporters of the Deschooling movement. Deschooling was coined by Ivan Illich, an Austrian-Croatian philosopher who was born in Vienna in 1926. He openly criticised institutionalised mass education in 1971 in his book Deschooling Society, as a reaction to the way that education was practiced in modern societies. According to Deschoolers, knowledge should not be institutionally imposed, but chosen spontaneously and intuitively. A contemporary of Ivan Illich was the writer Astrid Lindgren, known for bringing the character Pippi Longstocking to life. Even though the series of Pippi Longstocking were written in 1944 and published in 1945, her approach on schooling was narrowly similar to the approach of the movement that was expanding during the 70s. In contrast to Illich, Lindgren’s criticism was implicit, but nonetheless radically effective.

More than seventy translations have been published to understand what message Astrid Lindgren wanted to convey.

To target a domain this large, all the children of the world, conveying her message through

songs turned out to be an adequate method. A child’s soul is easily poisoned after all. An innocent theme song may not impress one at first, but a second listen gives new insights. When one translates Pippi Longstocking’s theme song from Dutch to English, this is what is being said: “Two times three makes four, Widdewiddewitt and two is nine. I re-create the world, just the way it suits me”. Nobody, including Astrid Lindgren, ever took the liberty to elaborate what this re-creation of the world is supposed to look like.

“Accepting a doctrine does not necessarily need the conscious approval of the person who is exposed to it.”

Yet what we do get to know is that the participation of the “re-creation” of the world according to how it suits Pippi, requires the application of specific uniform frame of thought: “I own a house, a monkey and a horse, and everyone who likes us, gets taught our basic maths”. Only if one can conform to Pippi’s ethos/practices, does this mean that one will be taught basic maths? Accepting a doctrine does not necessarily need the conscious approval of the person who is exposed to it.

In other words, Astrid Lindgren’s mobilisation only becomes apparent when reading between the lines. Different generations have effortlessly accepted and embraced the ideas of Lindgren’s character over more than eight decades. Astrid Lindgren has always emphasised in interviews that the emancipatory elements in her work of Pippi Longstocking were never her intention.

Yet does it not become impossible to believe that, once you carefully listen to what you have been hearing in Pippi’s songs?

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A regular day in Villa Villekulla probably marked a rupture in history. Pippi could not explain the definition of the term Spunk herself, yet she was determined to find it. At the bakery she asks for “crispy Spunk”, but no one has a clue of what Pippi needs.

The curiosity of Tommy and Annika grows, and they decide to accompany Pippi during her visit to the doctor to gain clarity about Spunk. Pippi underwent a check-up because it was Spunk that was bothering her. There was no sign of physical deviation. In the village, her research continues. A baby in a stroller caught the attention of the three children. Pippi asks Tommy and Annika: “Have you ever seen such a cute Spunk?” Tommy and Annika laughed, but the mother did not expect someone to talk gibberish about her child and she walks away angrily. Following their expedition, Pippi encounters an alcoholic on the street.

“New information, that inevitably is connected intimately to the re-creation of the world.”

She warns him about the danger of Spunk that could be inside of his bottle. The alcoholic did not really give a response. As time passes, Pippi seems to gain confidence about what she calls Spunk and she starts to label several acts and objects with the term. The episode, however, never gave a concrete answer to the question of the meaning of Spunk. Pippi seems to have control over new information.

New information, that inevitably connected intimately to the re-creation of the world.

It is fair to say that the approval of authorities definitely feeds confidence. Institutional legitimacy has become a primary factor of our individual growth.

Pippi showed that this confidence can be put at risk, when knowledge cannot be understood as soon as authorities fail to provide the tools to grasp it.

Pippi seemed to be able to use a term without needing to define it. How come knowledge about Spunk is ensured by just one person? The only possible reason for this phenomenon is that the re-creation of the world has to start outside of the already existing educational institutions. The fact that Pippi sleeps with her feet on her pillow, rolls out cookie dough over the floor where her horse just walked, cuts off spaghetti with scissors only proves that point. It is namely obvious to everyone that social and cultural standards have never been introduced to her. She did not go to school, where people would have directed her to behave differently. Without having knowledge about social conventions, Pippi never used violence to solve problems. She had the strength but she never abused it.

Ethical values obviously never needed to be introduced to her.

If one would connect the dots, it becomes clear that Astrid Lindgren created a space in which the insight is emphasised that there is no necessary interdependency between values and standards. With an international audience from over seventy countries and targeting all ages, the basic maths can be taught. The standards being more concrete do not imply that they provide us with a stronger grip. A world without standards is imaginable, Lindgren showed us this through the story of Pippi Longstocking. But what would a world be without values? Is Lindgren telling us that we are losing them? We know at least for a fact that Lindgren has thrown the cat among the pigeons, by letting Pippi introduce us to Spunk. If we thought that we were enlightened, we have probably never been so blind.

2020 could be the year in which we can be freed from this humiliating ignorance: Spunk is coming our way, Spunk is approaching us soon.

Some works are destined to be timeless. This definitely applies to Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking. From Boomers to millennials to Generation Z, there is something about Pippi that bridges gaps. Lindgren seemed to have had knowledge about where the world would be in 2020. Lindgren handed Pippi Longstocking Spunk, and Pippi handed it right back to us. It has made us look for something without knowing what it implies.

It is everything and nothing at the same time. It is an unsatisfying quest for something that is predestined to be grasped by everyone but not to be defined by anyone. For once, let us get rid of the satisfying illusion that everything is in our power, or that power is depended on anything but ourselves. Spunk is hanging in the air and that is perceivable amongst us all. We got into something irreversible.

Let Spunk overcome us. �

eurovisie | january | page 21

Where’s Waldo?

Experiences of writing a masters’ thesis in Rome THOMAS VAN DE VIJVER ‘’(…) That church, an omen and collateral of the reform and rebirth of Italy through accepting the Gospel and the pure of confession of Jesus Christ (...)”

(Vollenhoven 1854, 100-101) With these words, the Dutch remonstrant minister Jan Jacob van Vollenhoven describes the feeling that succumbs him when standing in front of a Waldensian church in Turin in 1854. The Waldensians are a centuries old Protestant community in Northern Italy, living in some mountainous valleys near Turin.

After a long period of isolation, this community could finally inaugurate their first church outside their native territory in 1853. It is nonetheless a peculiar idea, is it not, a Protestant church in the heartland of Catholicism? And what does Van Vollenhoven mean with ‘the reform and rebirth of Italy through the Gospel’?

The church’s inauguration was a special moment, because of the discrimination and prosecution faced by the Waldensians from the Catholic church and its allies. Until 1848, the Waldensian valleys were treated as a ghetto.

In this European wide historically significant year, the Waldensians received civil liberties and equal rights by King Charles Albert in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. It was only in 2015, when Pope Francis officially apologised for these atrocities and the Catholic church ‘unchristian’ behaviour. However, in the nineteenth century the Waldensians kept their faith in God and considered the year 1848 as a divine calling for new beginning. In some way or another, God had a purpose for these mountainous people. After all, the Waldensian motto ‘a light shines in the darkness’ does imply something.

Due to their suppressed position, the Waldensians and their history were a subject of fascination in Protestant nations

such as the Netherlands, United Kingdom and some German states. Their suppression acted as a tourist attraction, turning their valleys into a popular destination to travel to in the nineteenth century. Drawn by their image as guardians of true evangelical faith, a vast caravan of mostly British travellers moved to the Waldensians. One could consider it a ‘Grand Tour of Faith’. A notable valdofilia was present in the United Kingdom, which expressed the deplorable situation of the Waldensians.

“Nineteenth century travel writing is characterised by a division between the Self and Other.”

My MA Thesis for European studies concerned the Dutch Protestant travel writings on the Waldensians. Although the interest in the history and fate of the Waldensians continued in the Netherlands through the nineteenth century, travel writings only appeared after 1850.

The most recent sources on the Waldensians were British until then. Between 1850 and 1865 at least eight Dutch ministers and companions visited the valleys and some of them, like Van Vollenhoven, wrote down their experiences. They admired the Waldensians’ sobriety and purity, as true Evangelicals. Everywhere they went, the ministers admired these inhabitants of the valleys, describing the rough terrain and landscape.

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What is most apparent here is that, these travels and writing about them are period specific, approximately, between 1850 and 1865. For a large part this could be attributed to the Waldensians’ new situation. After 1848, Waldensian ministers realised the chance of a lifetime that this small Protestant community had received. A new chapter in their history could be opened!

The Italian unification that would start to form the north would offer them the opportunity to spread over Italy. This was an undertaking that was denied to them for centuries. The Waldensians would evangelise the inhabitants of the Italian peninsula.

They would bring the Gospel to the people and by doing so, diminish Catholic authority.

The sense of optimism, after centuries of pessimism, was reflected in Dutch Protestant ministers’ travel writings as well. However, apart from the Waldensians’ new position, this period coincides with the Italian unification period, the Risorgimento. Consequently, the Protestant travel writings on the Waldensians offers an alternative perspective on the Italian unification.

Nineteenth century travel writing is characterised by a division between the Self and Other.

The writings became more ideological, as the pursuit for an ideal civilisation was strongly expressed. Unsurprisingly, the Catholic church, Jesuits, priests and ‘Rome’ were considered bad or tyrannical by these travellers.

These images were also attributed on the Austrians, who occupied parts of Italy in the north. Also they were part of a Catholic conspiracy and were occupying Italian territories.

The evangelisation of Italy by the Waldensians marked an optimistic event for Dutch Protestants in their national struggle against Rome and the Catholic Church. This self-evident resentment is however paralleled by a, whether explicit or implicit, support for the Italian unification. Namely, evangelisation would offer the Italian citizens a better way of living, new vices and customs. The Dutch ministers portrayed Italy as a possible nation that would positively change rather be in the hands of the Catholic church, Rome or catholic Austria.

I completed this thesis on Dutch protestant travel writing to Waldensians with assistance of the staff and library of the Royal Dutch institute in Rome (Dutch: Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut in Rome) The KNIR is the largest and oldest Dutch scientific institution outside the Netherlands.

The KNIR offered me assistance with writing my thesis as I participated in their Thesis Lab. My fascination with Italy comes from my half Italian background and It was the course on travel writing by Alex Drace Francis that led me to combine travel writing and Italy. Research on Dutch travel writing in general and Italy specifically is still largely unravelled. I am happy to have contributed to the Dutch transnational perspective On Italy and further understanding of travel writing.

Thomas van de Vijver (Amsterdam 1991) graduated in the summer of 2019 in the MA European Studies, identity and Integration track. ďż˝

Tempio Valdese in Turin, Giacomo Brogi (attributed to), c. 1860 - c.

1890

The Editors Recommend As you are navigating your life as a student in Amsterdam, one can find themselves in a rut. Halfway through the year, the energy you had in early september days to explore new corners of the city or venture into unknown cultural dimensions might have faded. Leaning into what is comfortable and known is only human, but perhaps it is time shake things up a bit. Every fifteen seconds a quirky concept store or sweet family owned restaurant is replaced with a Nutella Waffle shop, so get into the weirdness that Amsterdam has to offer while you still can! We, the people of Eurovisie, would obviously not simply implore without providing you with the proper information, therefore we send you off with a list of our best kept secrets to adding some unexpected flavor to your everyday life.

Luckily, our editorial board does not only exist out of seasoned writers, they are also individuals with interests and passions. Everyday, they read, listen, visit and eat things you might have passed by unknowingly for days, months or years! While the articles from this specific issue should be taken with a grain of salt, if there is one horse you can bet your student loans on, it is our exquisite taste.

Arianne recommends an event: The Cunnilingus Comedy Show, February the 8th, in Mezrab is the perfect place to top up on laughter. Not only is it a night of great stand up, but there is also (surprisingly fun) audience interaction and games to play in which everyone’s a winner one way or the other.

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Cara recommends a book: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green tells the story of a young woman who becomes famous overnight because she has unknowingly filmed the first human contact with extraterrestrial life and uploaded it online. Suddenly the most recognisable face on earth, April May finds herself in the middle of a well-publicised struggle with politics, possibly aliens, and herself. The author tells a deeply intelligent tale about the darkest sides of internet-fame and human vanity. An absolute must read Jyry recommends a book: Tom O’Neill’s Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties - A result of twenty years of journalistic research, this book offers a reinterpretation of the facts around Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca murders. In it, Tom O’Neill investigates a world of intrigue and subterfuge involving hippies, Hollywood and the CIA. Conspiratorial but convincing, Chaos is a fascinating book.

Hanna recommends a bookstore: A good low effort way to stick it to Jeff Bezos is by paying a visit to Het Fort van Sjakoo, a volunteer-run anarchist bookshop around the corner of Waterlooplein. They carry a wide range of first and secondhand books and zines on political, economic and social theory. Regardless of your political affiliation, the characters behind the counter and the role the store plays in Amsterdam squatting history, makes it worth a visit for anyone.

Sterre recommends a day trip: For a nice, calming and romantic day trip, visit the beautiful picturesque town of Naarden. Visit the old city centre (a 7 min bike ride from station Naarden-Bussum) where you could have a walk around the star shaped fortress and take in the refreshing air of Dutch nature. If your legs have gotten tired, enjoy one of the many restaurants the old city has to offer where you can additionally examine the life of the Netherland’s original Kakkers (posho’s).

Julius recommends an opera: I wholeheartedly recommend students to consider an opera of nation state building proportions known as Nabucco by Italian hot-shot, Giuseppe Verdi, showcased by The Dutch National Opera. It runs between the end of January and the end of February, and paying attention to the occasional ‘student alert’ could help you to a ticket for merely 19 euros!

As a first year student, I remember Joep Leerssen reciting the famous Va, pensiero from said opera, embedding him in my good graces forever. The opera has played a major role in European history and is an adventurous excursion away from the drab and repetitive binges of Amsterdam life Frederique recommends a musical event: Did you know that during the 1930’s, Café Casablanca at Zeedijk had a reputation for being the ‘Mecca for jazz lovers’? Since 2013, the Amsterdam Red Light Jazz Festival has brought back the jazz to Amsterdam’s infamous red neighbourhood.

Starting on the 29th of May, if anything, use it as an excuse to see what the buildings of the Red Light District look like from the inside. Big-name jazz musicians and up-and-coming new talent will give their concerts close to Bushuis, and most of them are free to visit.

Ruben recommends an album: On the 10th of January, Lane 8 finally released his third album Brightest Lights. The album represents exactly what Lane 8 became known for, a melodic and emotional sound. The producer proves again with songs like “Brightest Lights” or “Yard Two Stone” that he is a master in creating a smooth and enjoyable style of deep house by combining a big range of vocals, melodies and drums. So the only thing that I can tell you now is to lie back, grab your speakers or headphones and let Lane 8 take you away into a world of beautiful sounds.

P.S. If you like Lane 8’s music, you can also see him live on the 9th of May in Paradiso!

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eurovisie | january | page 27

SES Calendar SES General Assembly 2, 11th of February The second GA of this academic year will take place on February 11th! Whether you want to inform yourself about the recent activities and upcoming plans of SES or discuss certain topics with us, you are more than welcome. Moreover, during the second GA the Board Selection Committee will be elected, so make sure to join us and give your vote on the future of SES. Valentine’s Borrel, 11th of February On the 11th of February, the Event Committee is celebrating love with all of our members by giving back to those, who need it most. This year, we are raising money for the Bushfire Foundation - National Animal Disaster Relief by letting you surprise your loved ones with an anonymous rose and/or a thoughtful card on the borrel, as well as hosting a fun auction, so if you have something to give or would like to see something, in particular, make sure to let Uncle SES know & keep an eye out for our Instagram, where you will be able to vote on the items you’d like to see most! Xxx Documentary Screening, 5th of March For its next event, the Educational Committee is proud to present its very first Documentary Screening! Together, we will watch „The Edge of Democracy“, which has been nominated for Best Documentary Feature in 2020. The documentary deals with the controversial political situation in Brazil, shining a light on the former presidents da Silva and Rousseff and explaining how Bolsonaro could get to power. Stay tuned for updates on our social media and make sure to join us for this special night!

The Hague Day, 2nd of April Continuing the tradition, SES will again embark to the international City of Peace and Justice this year! Together with the Educational Committee, we will make our way West to explore the city and its various international institutions. This year, you can choose between two embassies and have the chance to visit the International Criminal Court. More updates on the event will follow soon via social media, but make sure to block the day in your calendar!

WANT TO WRITE FOR EUROVISIE? SEND YOUR ARTICLE TO EUROVISIE@SES-UVA.NL

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