Dutch National Railways (NS) this week announced the introduction of disposable urinal bags for passengers. The bags, which are filled with gel kernels that solidify liquids in a way similar to clumping cat litter does, will be made available on the rail operator's 'Sprinter' commuter trains which do not have toilet facilities on board and are generally only in use for short-distance journeys with make frequent stops. The disposable urinals will become part of the trains' first aid kits and made available for use in emergencies only.

While the official (brand) name of these bags is Travel Johns (which is the name of the company that designed and manufacture the bags), the Dutch themselves have already decided to dub them 'plaszakken' (pee bags, wee bags), or 'piszakken'/'pieszakken' (p*** bags). Personally I like the alliteration of 'pleezakken' (bog bags).

(Picture courtesy of TravelJohn, retrieved via Volkskrant.nl)

Click here to read the full story as told by the BBC News website.

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Students from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have been testing their entry for the World Solar Challenge. Watch the video of this on the BBC News website by clicking on the picture below (will open new browser tab/window).

Image © 2011 Jason Palmer, BBC News

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My guess is that Bert Blyleven, having been raised in California, probably feels more American than Dutch, but he was born as Rik Aalbert Blijleven in Zeist, the Netherlands, in 1951.

Yet aside from a short stint as pitching coach for the Netherlands' national baseball team in 2006, his life and career were spent in the US and included an impressive 22-year span in Major League Baseball. It was during that time that he earned his nickname, the 'Frying Dutchman'.

This week, Blyleven became the first ever Dutch-born player to be inducted into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame. Click here to read the article about this special occasion in the Los Angeles Times.

Pictured left to right: Pat Gillick, Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven
Image © 2011 Jim McIsaac / Getty Images | Source: Los Angeles Times

Disclaimer: Jo has no control over the contents of any linked sites or any changes or updates to them, nor does she accept liability for any damages incurred as a result of visiting sites linked to in this blog