Max's Miscellaneous Madness!

Keti Koti Festival: In my Neerlandophone literature class, a topic of discussion was the Dutch's role in the enslavement of Surinamese people. On July 1st, there is an annual celebration for their emancipation. I had never heard of this culture prior to the class, so I caught wind of a festival taking place on museumplein (I knew where that was!). I went with some friends to see what it was all about. While I was sad I did not have expenses to spare for the food/art vendors, it was wonderful to observe and be a part of as the mood was largely celebratory. There was even a staged concert for all of us to watch. All for free in the name of freedom! 

The Vacuum "Henry": When living at my residence hall at the social hub Amsterdam-West, There was a complimentary vacuum for us to use in our kitchen. This vacuum had a design that I had never seen in America's vacuum products. This vacuum named "Henry" had an expressive face on it. This urged me to wonder, who would put a face on a vacuum? As an observer of America's shift in modern design in their architecture and even in our car manufacturing, we are witnessing less color and creativity. Sure, this allows for easier reconfiguration of the given product, but with cloning these inanimate objects, we may lose what connects us to these objects. Not everyone who contributes to making the product knows what it means to the people using it, which I believe drives true innovation. I researched a bit how the creation of Henry came about and during a trade show in the mid 1970s, the inventor of Henry along with an associate decided to wrap it in a ribbon, draw a chalk smile and eyes, and display it with the other undecorated models. They received very amused reactions for the design and the model was sent back for a more polished replication. Had the inventor not done that, it may have looked no different than any other model present thus receiving no amused traction. To support its integrity, people reported feeling a bit less lonely and detached from cleaning. No, the persona "Henry" is not real, but loneliness is and that intentional smile with wandering eyes might make one feel that this vacuum longs to be at home rather than a quiet shelf. 

The Two-Person Car: I have always seen cars beginning at Subaru size and refined to become bigger and bigger here in the U.S.. So, my sociological mind started racing…What about their socio-economic culture justifies this invention? I presumed higher gas prices, less bulky spending, and quite literally less travel space for a bigger car. Their trunks may have been the size of my leg and I am unsure of the size of the engine, but despite that, I was impressed! I was able to witness these cars in motion and they were just as fast as the four-person cars.