Monday Overnight Open Thread - February 3, 2025 [Doof]

Howdy Hordelings, and a good Monday evening to you all! You have many choices when it comes to your late night hangout. We appreciate you making the wise decision of stopping by tonight's ONT!

Dutch Bring Back Risky Play–Parks Where Kids Climb, Sword-fight with Sticks and Build with Hammers

Parts of Dutch society are campaigning to bring risky playgrounds back into their cities and towns as concerns about too much time spent indoors, helicopter parenting, and childhood diabetes risk grow.

Some are merely advocating playgrounds with potentially dangerous toys, such as a merry-go-round, but others are seeking places for their children to start fires, build with hammers, and play flight with sticks.

No one wants their children to be injured of course, but the policy proposal from the D66 liberal democrats, which currently holds 7 seats in parliament, acknowledges that without spaces to explore and challenge themselves in, kids risk losing the opportunity to develop crucial skills.

“Rufty-tufty playing means that children might get a bump or a cut,” according to the policy—but it’s an acceptable risk the authors determine.

“The inspiration, and it really is a huge problem, is that children are hardly moving,” said Rob Hofland, head of the local D66 to the Guardian. “All kinds of problems stem from just sitting behind a screen.”

***

In Amsterdam, some parents and organizations are taking this principle to the extreme: in the form of Woeste Westen, or “Wild West.” In this radical play space, kids can go fishing, climb trees, build huts, start and cook with open fires, and play with real tools like hammers and knives—all in the name of helping them develop the mental-physical coordination that an adult relies upon to navigate potentially dangerous situations.

Woeste Westen highlights how every time a parent says “watch out!” or “don’t do that!” the child loses one more instance where they may have better prepared themselves for adulthood.

Of course there will be scrapes, bruises, a scar or two, but who said a painless life is preferable?

The ONT endorses this wholeheartedly!

The old lady and this supermarket worker have a routine where they standoff with each other.pic.twitter.com/kRC0gbOD6n

— Interesting things (@awkwardgoogle) January 19, 2025

This is an amazing album from the late 70s. Time sure does fly.

The waitress who appeared on the cover of Supertramp's Breakfast in America (1979) – album is 95 years old on this picture. How wonderful is this!! pic.twitter.com/8xMabCXH00

— 𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓬 𝓐𝓵𝓫𝓾𝓶 𝓐𝓻𝓽 (@ClassicAlbumArt) February 1, 2025

Here is the title track - such a great song

The Day The Music Died

On Feb. 3, 1959, young rock ’n’ roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson died in a small plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

The early morning crash was immortalized as “the day the music died,” but in truth air travel during the winter of 1959 was a challenge, and the crash was just one of several during the first few days of February.

Tonight’s ONT brought to you by that one guy.

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posted by Open Blogger at 09:56 PM

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