Groetjes Webtaculators! Today your weekly update is coming from Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. Going to a different country sounded way better than going to work, so here I am. Here is a quick rundown of the trip so far:

We left the west coast on Thursday afternoon, which, thanks to the time travel enabling time zone difference, meant we found ourselves in Amsterdam at 9am Friday morning. My go to way of dealing with losing a night of sleep is to, well, just pretend I never needed a night of sleep in the first place, and power through the day until I pass out from physical exhaustion roughly around a reasonable bed time in the new time zone. It is not pretty, but it works. We proceeded to meander around the streets and canals of the city until 5 or so, when we met up with my friends Jeremy and Tara to pregame the women’s World Cup match between France and the US. We ended up at a food hall, which like any modern hipsterish food hall means you can get anything from tacos to marsala to sushi. Also, thanks to big beer consolidation, means that I could get Lagunitas, a craft brew that is brewed a mile away from my house on tap in a city across the world. Unlike beer, it was difficult to actually find the game playing anywhere, since most people it turns out don’t actually care about the women’s world cup, especially if their team is not playing, but finally managed to find a bar that both had a TV and was willing to change the channel away from the Copa America, and watch the Megan Rapinoe dismantle the French back line.

On Saturday, we (somehow) overslept our 9am tickets to the Van Gogh Museum. Luckily that was just for the entrance time, so we just got laughed at by the ticket agent when she noticed how late we were. The most interesting thing about Van Gogh is just how prolific an artist he was over such a short period – he did not start painting until he was 27, and even then did not create his most well known artwork until the last four years before his death at 37.  Considering he had enough art to fill multiple galleries and museums is impressive.  Next, we wandered over to the Rijksmuseum, which houses a number of Rembrandts and other Dutch historical artwork and artifacts. From there, we strolled to the northern part of the city, where we ate way too much food thanks to a tasting course style of dinner with 6 appetizers, a main course, and 8 desserts.

On Sunday we started off somberly with a tour of the Anne Frank Museum. Before World War II, Amsterdam was home to over 80,000 Jews.  Most of them ended up like Anne – killed in concentration and death camps of the Germans. A small aside – the way in which the United States is treating immigrants from its southern boarder is no different than the way Nazis handled Jews.  From there we took a boat tour through the canals, where we got a bit more history and perspective of Amsterdam and the way it has changed over the last decade. To end the day, we took a ferry to the NDSM, which is essentially a newer Williamsburg / Dogpatch but being built out with module apartments reminiscent of North Amsterdam’s industrial past.

So far, the trip has been amazing. Our next leg is to Lyon, France, where we are going to get to watch the US women in person. I cannot begin to describe how excited I am, but will be sure to catch you all up on what happened next week.

On to the news.

STORY OF THE WEEK (long look)
What: Meet The Democrats
Why: Because I have specifically refrained from trying to talk about the 2020 election before necessary.  The US has a problem with how long campaigning lasts – it is insanely expensive, it provides too much information about candidates that people do not actually pay attention to.  In my opinion, Warren, Castro, Harris, and Booker “won,” but that probably doesn’t mean anything.

WORLD THING OF THE WEEK (10 min. read)
What: A President Goes To North Korea
Why: Because the amount of idiocy this man and his cohorts possess is still astounding. His first words when crossing the boarder were “Big moment, big moment.” The lack of reasonable statement following what inevitably is a “big moment” is appalling, but so are most of the things this nimrod is part of.

ECONOMIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Energy Parity
Why: Because it was 113 degrees in Paris on Saturday. It has never been that hot in recorded history. We might already be too late to stop global warming at this point, but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying.

LAW THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: A Very Mixed Bag
Why: Because gerrymandering is now set in stone, but at least the census can’t be blatantly racist.

SCIENCE THING OF THE WEEK (3 Min. Read)
What: How To Use Data
Why: Because the way in which a person uses data can either make a story or create a false narrative.

SPORTS THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Fuckin’ Rapinoe
Why: Because Megan Rapinoe is a boss.

MOVIE THING OF THE WEEK (4 min. read)
What: Another Marvel … Marvel
Why: Because this is the third (or fourth? I’ve lost count) well reviewed Marvel movie that was released this year.

MUSIC THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Lil Nas X Is Gay
Why: Because the biggest country act in the US is gay and black. This shouldn’t matter, but it entirely does.

PHOTOGRAPHY THING OF THE WEEK (8 min. look)
What: Global Pride
Why: Because it has been 50 years since Stonewall.

VIDEO GAME THING OF THE WEEK (3 min. read)
What: Games Done Quick Makes Bank
Why: Because this summer’s GDQ raised over $3 million for Doctors Without Boarders this year.

INTERNET THINGS OF THE WEEK (∞)
What: Sunny Days; A History Of The Super Soaker; Better 4th Of July Ideas
Why: Because Internet.

THING YOU SHOULD GET BRIAN OF THE WEEK
What: Seinfield Lego Set
Why: Because Brian deserves it.

Webtacularly yours,
Brian
Managing Editor, Webtacular World
The Internet You Didn’t Know You Needed™