Habemus museum

The Rijksmuseum reopened, after only ten years of restauration. It was celebrated with the Dutch queen and lots of orange smoke.
Title: Now it's us who made it to the world news
Text: "orange smoke?" "Habemus museum"

Tulips

Delayed update, but here it is: last Monday's cartoon. Of the two options I sent them, the VARA preferred this one.
Context: one week before Christmas, three radio DJs have themselves locked up in a "glass house" and raise money for charity by the name of "Serious Request". One of the most popular ways of donating money is through requesting a song.
Another very different story dominated the headlines in Holland last week, too: the public indignation about pope Benedict's Christmas speech, part of which could easily be read as an attack on homosexuals and same-sex marriage. Many people felt it was about time to boycot the pope and the catholic church, and joined a Facebook page called "No flowers to the pope" (those pretty flowers you see on St. Peter's Square for Easter every year? They're Dutch).
Finally, you should know there's a Dutch song called "Tulips from Amsterdam" (http://bit.ly/ZAlVm).

Title: "Serious Request" receives a surprising phone call.
Text: DJ: "So, Benedict, what song would you like to request?" Pope: "Tulips from Amsterdam".
Text on computer: "No flowers to the pope".

Sinternational

Another oldskool Sinterklaas drawing: 2002, Sinterklaas with another Dutch friend and my Italian housemates.
Fun fact: pepernoten are cookies of about 1 cm in diameter that nobody ever bothers to bake themselves. You can't buy them in Italy, though... so we spent a few hours on them.

Ten years after

In the category "Weird Dutch Traditions": tomorrow, 5 December, Dutch people celebrate Sinterklaas. In 2001, I celebrated it in Florence with my Dutch friend Casper and two Americans. The drawing above refers to that occasion and was taken from a ten-year-old Anita Aktueel (still issued on good old analog paper at that time).

Fun fact nr. 1: ideally, each present given for Sinterklaas is accompanied by a poem. Ideally, they're less cheesy than "cats say meow, cows say boo, this is from me to you".
Fun fact nr. 2: Dutch people never say "Happy Sinterklaas" - but the Americans were at a loss and thought you had to say something.

Tears of a clown

Rome revisited

Just like last year, I went on a school trip to Rome. And just like last year, everyone survived... sort of.

Guess who

It turns out some franciscan monks have a rather peculiar sense of humour.

Ridi pagliaccio

Berlusconi's latest vicissitudes call for twenty million cartoons. Until I find the time to draw them, here's a quick study of his smirk.

With great responsibility comes great absentmindedness

Cliffhanger.

Wherever we may Rome

The children survived. And so did the teachers.

SPQR

I'm on a school trip to Rome. AA will resume in about two weeks.