FLANDERS TODAY OCTOBER 19, 2011 FREE NEWSWEEKLY WWW.FLANDERSTODAY.EU Erkenningsnummer P708816 2/NEWS 6/FOCUS 7/B U SINESS 9/LIVING 10/ARTS 13/A G ENDA 16/foo D Europe in Bruges Faced with the CAP Tinseltown Tintin The college of EU hopefuls EU agriculture proposal The movies that came before 6 bad for Flanders 10 7 #202 Bobbejaanland turns 50 Flanders’ singing cowboy lives on in one of the region’s most popular attractions MONIQUE PHILIPS obbejaan Schoepen died in The stark black-and-white the spring of 2010, leaving promotional photos show a tired behind many Flemish cowboy bearing a Johnny Cash Bmourners and not a few perplexed quality. Flanders fell in love with internationals unfamiliar with the its hero all over again. This time Bobbejaan phenomenon. A 1960s people saw past the “entertainer”, Flemish singing cowboy who the “singer-comic” from the yellow opened his own amusement park? newspaper cuttings. They saw the Seriously? musician. A big help to the uninitiated is Tom Schoepen’s beautiful coffee- The yodelling whistler table style biography, published on Bobbejaan started out life in 1925 as the first anniversary of his father’s Modest Schoepen, a wise-cracking death. As the youngest child of the kid who entertained folk in the cafés family of five, he harboured many of Boom with his sister Liske. His questions about the early days. father was a blacksmith; hence his By the time Tom was born, lifelong love of horses. Bobbejaan’s performances weren’t Whistling was an official discipline the novelty they once were, and at the local music school, and the 1970s anti-American attitude Modest was gifted in it. His mother had overtaken the once so-popular apparently whistled all the time, and cowboy image. It was only later, in turn Modest’s “razor blade lips” as he browsed through his father’s would soon become famous. He extensive archives, did Tom fully learned to play both the guitar and realise his father’s world-renowned the harmonica. originality. Bobbejaan always retained a kind of Bobbejaan needed a comeback, post-war optimism and ambition. he decided. It was time to make a He performed his cowboy songs for record of the stories, the music and the US Special Forces in Nürburg. the man. He moved on to entertain the Bobbejaan’s music was extraordinary Dutch troops in Indonesia and to yet perhaps too broad to be pegged do a tour in the Congo in 1955. into a single category. In 2008, a new “De Jodelende Fluiter”, or yodelling generation of Flemish pop and rock whistler, became an overnight singers, including Axelle Red, Daan sensation. Fellow artists like Jacques and Geike Arnaert, collaborated Brel and Toots Thielemans loved with Bobbejaan on a cover CD of his authentic, unpretentious songs, Bobbejaan songs. At the age of written in Dutch, French and 83, Bobbejaan performed his own English. Sometimes he had several music. It was an instant success. language versions of the same song. ➟continued on page 5 Gilbert named “Flandrien of the year” Municipal investor on brink of bankruptcy Regions struggle over share of responsibility in Dexia buy-out hilippe Gilbert, who was the third-placed sprinter in this Pyear’s Tour De France, has been voted “Flandrien of the AL A N HOPE year” by his fellow cyclists for the third year in a row. Gilbert, 29, is currently leading in the UCI world rankings. Communal Holding, the investment body with 14.1%. The GH, in turn, is made up of He won 24 trophies this year, including a remarkable representing the country’s municipal the municipalities of the country, with 39.8% triple victory in April when he claimed the three Ardennes authorities, has until Saturday, 22 October, to in the hands of Flemish municipalities. On the Classics in a just one week: the Amstel Gold Classic in the © Eric Lalmand / BELGA decide if it will declare bankruptcy, throwing books of GH, Dexia shares are worth €8.50. Netherlands, the Flèche Wallonne and the 255.5km Liège- the finances of local, regional and federal At the time of writing, the shares were worth Bastogne-Liège. governments into turmoil. This week, an 61 cents, representing a total loss to the GH The annual award is organised by Het Nieuwsblad attempt by Flemish minister-president Kris of some €2 billion. newspaper. A professional jury chooses the nominees for Peeters to come up with a rescue plan ran The GH is now effectively insolvent: It does the prestigious honour, but the cyclists themselves have into obstacles from his federal colleagues. not have the assets to cover its debts. The the last word on who receives the prize. The trophy was The problems of the Gemeentelijk deficit is estimated at about €900 million, awarded at a gala dinner in Vilvoorde that included a special Holding (GH) are caused in large part by and the problem for the federal and regional tribute to Wouter Weylandt, the 26-year-old, Ghent-born rider who died in a crash in this year’s Giro d’Italia. the dismantling of Dexia Group and the governments is to avoid bankruptcy. (Leo Cendrowicz) nationalisation of Dexia Bank Belgium. The GH is one of the main shareholders of Dexia, ➟continued on page 3 Don’t forget .... FLANDERS TODAY Get the news from Flanders online in English OCTOBER 19, 2011 News and French at www.flanderstoday.eu face OF FLANDERS AL A N HOPE News in brief Part of the art collection of Ghent The town of Koksijde on the coast on what is intended to be the longest couple Anton and Annick Herbert last week began works to protect wind-propelled expedition across is to go on sale at Christie's in New the coastline against a super-storm, Antarctica, covering 6,000km in York in November. The 35 artworks, which could hit at any time with waves 100 days. Dansercour, together including important minimalist and five to eight metres high. The beach with Flemish medical student and conceptual works, are expected to will be widened by 20m. The works mushing champion Sam Deltour, raise up to €5 million, which will are part of the Flemish government's will use kites and sleds to cross the go towards the construction of an Coastal Safety Masterplan. Wenduine unexplored Antarctic Plateau in the exhibition space in Ghent to show the and De Panne, considered with east of the continent. In 1997-98 rest of the collection, which has never Koksijde to be the least well-protected Dansercour set the previous record been shown in Flanders. municipalities against flooding, will of 3,924km in 99 days, together with follow shortly. Alain Hubert. ➟ www.antarcticice.be The abbey of Affligem in Flemish Brabant narrowly escaped serious The port of Brussels is to carry Flanders has been admitted to the damage when fire broke out in out a feasibility study to examine management committee of the an adjoining workshop last week. the possibility of accommodating United Nations World Tourism Firemen took an hour to bring the large cruise ships and container Organisation at its annual meeting fire under control. No-one was traffic at the Meudon site in Neder- in Gyeongju in South Korea last injured. The cause may have been over-Heembeek. The news was week. Flanders has been an associate smouldering wood-chips caused by announced at the launch last week of member of the organisation since © Belga an overheated planing machine. a cooperation between Brussels and 1997 and will take over from Macau the city ports of Lille, Utrecht, Paris, in representing the interests of other Basel and Liège. associate members. Flemish Tourism Paul Devroey minister Geert Bourgeois announced If he were to invite all of his by ICSI,” he told TV Brussel he plans to bid for the 2017 meeting children to his retirement last week. “The headline in Le One in three prisoners in the over- party, he'd need to book the Monde read, ‘Le viol de l'ovule crowded prison system in Belgium to be hosted in Flanders, to coincide Sportpaleis three times over. (the rape of the egg)’. That is an illegal immigrant, according to The bodies of a couple who had with commemorations of the Professor Paul Devroey, who shows you how shocking the figures released by the state secretary been missing for three days after 1914-1918 war. “As host country of turned 65 on 18 October, innovation was in 1992.” for asylum and migration policy. having left a party in Aalst have been such a world organisation, we can last week announced he was Devroey is now the most cited Of the 11,000 prisoners in custody, recovered by police divers in the river put ourselves on the map,” Bourgeois retiring as head of the Centre journal author in the world approximately 3,300 were living in the Dender. Their car apparently drove said. for Reproductive Medicine in the field of human fertility, country illegally when sentenced. The into the river after missing the Sint- at the hospital of the Free and Van Steirteghem is second. University of Brussels (VUB). Devroey has some 440 peer- N-VA suggest that judges make more Anna bridge, which was recently In his time, it is estimated he reviewed articles to his name, use of the agreements with some moved 10m. The former position has paved the way to the birth as well as three books. Yet countries, such as Morocco, to send is not marked, and has no signs, rail The monks of the abbey of of 40,000 to 50,000 babies in despite his renown, he always convicted criminals to their home or other barrier.