It was in the days around the millennium that two students, John A. Kline and Mary Kerr graduated from their study philosophy in Milton University, USA. They decided to do something to bring people back to the origin of mankind, being a child. In their ideas, mankind lost touch with their selves speeding ahead in the treadmill of life. It was during a U2 concert when they met with the organiser of the pop concert William Warners, who recognized himself in the idea of the two enthusiastic, now ex -students. A powerful trio was born and started the development of what would later be known as the International Hide & Seek Organisation.*(1) From there it still took them around four years of defining the rules for the game, because in every country people tend to make their own interpretation of the ancient game Hide & Seek.*(2) After defining the new and international rules there was still a lot of work to be done organising the first gathering which would be on April 1, 2004 in Rome, Italy. Over 23.000 people from all over the world played the first global Hide and Seek with great success. The gathering on the Piazza del Popolo was opened by the Italian Minister of Sports and Culture, Mr. Antonio Pazzocane who gave a daring speech in which he acclaimed to have lost the child in him for a long time and only rediscovered the power of it when he had his first grandchildren with whom he played Hide & Seek "Italian Style"*(3) which changed his view on certain important state matters.*(4)Accompanied by Italian pop stars Rico Mangio and Sylvia Pavone, who gave a concert before the start of the first game, they announced the man who was a great follower of the original idea for Hide and Seek from the first day on, the honourable Mr. Zucchero Fornaciari who was invited for the first countdown. The International Hide & Seek 2005 will be played in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on the first friday of April. The location will be on De Dam, opposite of the Royal Palace where the "base" will be founded. A choice of personalities, including Zucchero Forniciary*(5) will be performing. The countdown will take place at 13.00 hrs exactly, the game ends at 17.00 hrs followed by a concert and laser show*(6). Karl Noten is het Nederlandse gezicht van Hide and Seek 2005. Vanaf 12.00 uur kan men zich melden op De Dam. De bekende presentator van "Nederland in Beweging" zal aanstaande vrijdag om 13.00 uur het startsein geven. Hij telt op de Dam in Amsterdam af van 10 tot 1! Dus komt allen! For more information: Download Information form International Hide & Seek 2005, Amsterdam, PDF, 113 Kb. * 1 - International Hide & Seek Organisation as registered within the federation for Global Street Games, Membernr. 4545667, January 2001, Boston, USA. Supported by Federation for the Development of Child discovering Philosophy, Chicago, USA. Supported by Federation Multidisciplinaire Philosophyque, Paris, France. * 2 - Hide & Seek, travelling in ancient childhood, ISDN 3487483, Penguin Pockets. 785 different approaches to the ancient child game with their original rules, including the new international rules for the well-known street game. * 3 - Hide & Seek Italian style is played with only two contestants. The base is an olive tree and the “chaser” has to hold two stones or pebbles in his right hand. These will be shifted to the left hand as soon as the second contestant is in the vicinity of the base so this contestant knows the “chaser”is in “battle mode” which gives him the right to throw one stone at the tree. When he hits it, he’s allowed to walk on to the base and stand on one foot, trying to reach out for his pebble and win the game. As soon as he fails, the “chaser”switches pebbles to his right hand again and the game starts all over. * 4 - It is believed that during the period in which Mr. Antonio Pazzocane was Ministero di Sport et Cultura, his most important proposition for a new law change was the widely attacked “leggia conformatura di philosofia bambini” or the Conformed law of child philosophy in which children from 5 years on will be accepted as fully integrated lawpersons in decisions concerning law enforcement. This law, he later declared, was inspired on the work of John A. Kline and Mary Kerr. * 5 - Zucchero Forniciari will be performing with Ilse de Lange, a Dutch origin singer/songwriter with whom Zucchero will sing a duet. * 6 - The laser show on April 1st will be the first 1200 megawatt laser ever worked outside laboratory circumstances. The laser base station will be placed on top of the “Rembrandttower”and will display an “artificial rainbow” as the designers say.