Let's call it 'Diversity and Inclusiveness'

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Shell has an corporate level initiative called 'Diversity and Inclusiveness' which basically sets out to create an environment of understanding and respect for all the differences that make all our unique cultures great (and easy to make fun of, for that matter).

In this spirity of Diversity and Inclusiveness, and in the spirit of watching a pink and rainbow-colored spectacle, Shruti and I headed out to Amsterdam this Saturday for the annual Amsterdam Gay Pride Parade (hey, no snickering...were you not paying attention for the previous paragraph? Sheesh...)

To provide a backdoor excuse for why we were in Amsterdam for the parade, we also went to visit Rijksmuseum, home of Rembrandt's 'Nacht Wacht' (Night Watch), and Vermeer's 'The Milkmaid' among other Dutch treasures. The museum is condensed to just a fraction of its actual size due to renovation, which wasn't so bad because I didn't have to pretend to be interested in as much semi-boring stuff as I normally would have. One other exhibit that was pretty cool was a doll house made as a replica of some wealthy family's house. The cabinet was tortoise shell and pewter inlaid and all the furniture, etc. was actually made from the same materials as the stuff in the real house. See, and you thought I was overboard for miniature stuff with my Mini-Zs...

Anyways..back to the parade. We took up seats on the side of the canal near Prinsengracht, cracked open a cold Brand bier and waited for the fabulousness to arrive. Definitely memorable....a huge inflatable woman with her legs in the air, Can Can girls, assless chaps, and way too many shirtless guys busting dance moves that would give Britney and J-Lo a run for their money. The Shell float was definitely interesting...all red and yellow of course, but with a big banner reading 'Shell Colleagues Celebrate Diversity and Inclusiveness.' On the float, a huge pecten, a gas pump, wriggling shirtless Shell colleagues, and a live performer singing 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun.' Boss, I do believe I've met my D&I targets for the year!

What else...Saturday night was beers on the Plein. Friday night was an excellent Japanse dinner at a place called Mr. Chow. Awesome potstickers and a really great chili oil sauce I'll have to find back in the states in order to torture my digestive system with.

Thursday was a New Professionals Network BBQ and volleyball event down at the beach, which was great due to the all-you-can-eat BBQ. Dutch ribs are nowhere close to competing with Texas BBQ quality, but hey, what is?

Wednesday was snooker and darts in Delft with the EPDTW guys, including Matt who's in from Houston. Still completely frustrated with the difficulty of snooker, but I'm sure I'll give it another shot. Playing regular pool after snooker should be comparable to the ease of playing with Legos after taking the math portion of the SATs.

Ugh..getting tired of writing now, which probably means that you're not even reading anymore or have lost conciousness. I know I'm still missing like a week and a half of stuff, so I'll try to get that updated when I get the will power to stop playing GTA again for another 20 minutes!

August Photos

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Photos

D&I
Just goes to show ya how the difference between European Big Oil and 'Good Ole Boy' Big Oil back in the States!

They Cloned the Village People
Yeah, I know..you're thinking, "Oh my gosh! That's SO GAY!" Well yeah, DUH, that's the point!

Nacht Wacht
"Hey look! It's Brian in front of a classic Rembrandt!" Or, if you were all the other people in the museum, "Hey dude, move so I can see the classic Rembrandt!"

Rijksmuseum
TADA! A museum! (Look, when you have to take as many lame pictures as I feel so compelled to do, you gotta spice things up somehow or you'll just pass out from the boredom)

Comments

[Cody]

I bet there were plenty of backdoor excuses at the parade

[Chris]

A great way to celebrate my b-day. Gay pride parade. Woo-hoo!