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Tanak's scribbles and thoughts

Third of May 2020, 03-05-2020.

Last night I was listening to a few songs I like and it insprired me to write todays post as a more personal note. In my head I called it 'A tale of ten songs'. The thing with favourites for me, is that most are set in stone. My top 10 films and books are pretty much the same as they were five or ten years ago. But with music and songs it changes. But, the story of my life in songs, isn't that much about particular songs, it's more about the artists and when I discovered them. The following ten songs, that I will link in this post, are not in chronological order of release, but in the order I discovered the artists.

I heard the other day that between the ages of 9 and 15 one's music is defined for the rest of your life. And having thought about that, in my case I have to agree with it. So, without further ado, my life in music:

My first love in music was Bob Marley. I was born in 1967 and by the age of 9 I discovered the great man and his music. Reggea will always and ever be my first love.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA35KQurdJM


I wasn't of course the only one from my generation to start with Reggea, but where most people turned towards the 1980s and its specific music, rock, new wave, punk, I went the complete opposite.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kjeWGQ175g


I wasn't entirely convinced yet, because of a British Reggea band, who brought this song, which I felt was about me (it wasn't, of course).

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC8YBNLaK7o


I will always love reggea, but around the same time something new came from Belgium and I was hooked.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XGKJimHMKQ


From there it was a logical step to get more invested in Trance and Dance:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqIHVJX8HRU


Roughly at the start of the 1990s, the Dutch started to make name as DJ's. We lot are the best in the world and have held that title for many years. Of course there have been others, but generally speaking you can say that it's a Dutch DJ topping the charts. With one frontrunner

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgYXujykMVc


In the 2000s, I started venturing out, dicovering other styles of music, older music that I had been blind for, and/or wasn't around when it happened.
Blondie - Rapture

Fela Kuti - Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense

And this is a tale of my life in songs. But, I hear you think, this is only 8 songs, and you promised us 10. True, true. The last two are just for fun for me. Because they are hard to place at a certain time, but I love both of them. And surprisingly enough, the first one is a rock song.
Anthem football club Dinamo Zagreb (Footbaal fanatics-Facebook 2011)

And the last one, is just good and deserves a place in any of my lists:
James Holden & Julie Thompson (Nothing 93 returning mix)

Enjoy, if you are going to listen to them. If not, no worries.
And as per always these days, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Fourth of May 2020, 04-05-2020.

For the rest of the world today is just a normal Monday, if we can still talk about normal in current times, but for the Netherlands today marks Remembrance Day. The reason why the Dutch have it today and not on November 11th, like the rest of the world, is because the Dutch were neutral during World War I. We never took part in the Great War and thus the end of it, was a day that passed relatively unnoticed.
When I say neutral, it only means that the Dutch didn't take part in the fighting, because during WW1, The Netherlands was shelter for around a million and a half Belgian citizens. But, as a trading nation, The Netherlands didn't want to lose two potentially big markets, in Germany and England.

Before World War II the Dutch thought they could remain neutral once again, for hadn't they always been a good neighbour? But as we know now, history decided otherwise and after the German invasion and the subsequent bombing of Rotterdam, the Netherlands surrendered.
The war lasted until early May 1945, and there is a little uncertainty when exactly the Germans surrendered, but that's for tomorrow, as today and tomorrow are forever linked in Dutch history.

However, the liberation of the Netherlands was done in phases, and there are parts of the Netherlands where liberation is celebrated on a different day. Eindhoven, for instance, was liberated on September 18th, 1944, as part of Operation Market Garden. And for us, down here, that is our Liberation Day.
I don't think I have to explain to anyone what Operation Market Garden enticed, it's been well documented and several films have been made about it, with A Bridge Too Far, the most famous one. The bridge in Arnhem proving the one where Market Garden failed and the allies weren't able to swing into Germany. If only....

This year it's 75 years ago that the north of the Netherlands was liberated and a lot of festivities were planned. But then this virus spread, into a pandemic. Every year, on the fourth of May there are speeches and the laying of wreaths at the National Monument on one of the biggest squares in Amsterdam. With a lot of public attending, the King and Queen present and other bobo's. But with social distancing, and no group-gatherings allowed, we will have a very strange remembrance two minutes silence. Just five people will be present. I am very curious to see how that will be.

For everyone else, as per usual, stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Fifth of May 2020, 05-05-2020

Somewhere in the afternoon of the fourth of may 1945 at the Lüneburger Moors in Northern Germany, the allied forces made Germany surrender occupied The Netherlands. A good thing of course, but not for the first time during the war, communication was slacking. After signing the surrender, the Engilsh 'forgot' to tell the Dutch, and it wasn't until very close to midnight that A Dutch liaison officer in London picked up the message and informed the Dutch allied forces in the already freed southern half of the country.

There had been some communication between the Dutch and the Germans, at the end of April several thousands of tonnes of food and food products were dropped in the west. So they did manage to have the German sign an official surrender in Wageningen, The Netherlands.

The Germans were sore losers, they showed that in Eindhoven, with a bombardment on the city center the day after our Liberation, they showed it again in Amsterdam, killing 22 citizens on the 6th of May, when the city was celebrating. And one of the northern islands (Schiermonnikoog) wasn't fully liberated until June 11th, for 600 SS troops defended the little pile of sand with their lives.

This Friday, it's VE Day, when the total European surrender of the Germans, was celebrated, but the island-example shows that the war was far from over. And for many of the people who lived through the war, whatever they did, it never ended really, with a lot of traumas affecting their lives, and that of their loved ones.

And for all of us, as always, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Sixth of May 2020, 06-05-2020.

I'm not a person who sleeps long, those days are far in the past. And no matter what time I go to bed, I am wide awake between 5 and 6am. During the 25 years I have worked, 6am was the time I used to get up, to get ready and do the travel needed to get to work. And even though I don't work anymore, I still get up at that very early time. After waking up, I make a mug of strong black cofee and check the news and games on my app. I might even have mentioned that here already.

Usually I'm fine untll about somewhere between 1 and 2pm, but since there's nothing for me to do anyway, I'll go have a nap. And in the evening around 10, I'm done for. That's about my routine as it has been for the past four years.
But sometimes there are those days that I get up and after only a couple of hours I feel lethargic and don't want to do much more than read. And today is one of those days. In case anyone starts wondering, I'm fine, it's just a bit meh. So I'm keeping this short for today, with nothing really new or interesting. Tomorrow I'm going to do a longer walk with my mum again, the forecast is good, weather-wise.

For everyone though, stay sensible, stay safe and sstay healthy.
 
Seventh of May 2020, 07-05-2020.

To me personally, one of the most frustrating and annoying things in RPing, is partners who decide to vanish into thin air, without any notice or warning. There's a couple of threads in the Out of Character section that discuss this, or topics that are related to it and there I have given my opinion about the matter.

But I am sure that more of you feel my frustration. You enter a conversation to see if there is common ground with someone to write a story together, you enter that story with all the best intentions, a starter is written and then your partner suddenly disappears, without any further notice. Or a couple of posts are being shared and they vanish. And I know that there can be many reasons, especially if a play has been going on for longer, but what I never can understand is partners disappearing after I have written a starter. Something that has been discussed up front, where I have explained about my writing and what my intentions are for such a first post.

I don't think I will ever be able to understand why people think like that. Why do you want to enter the conversation, plot a play, to only disappear after the first post?

But, every now and then even I am surprised. And such a thing happened earlier this week. I had written a starter last week, for a new play, and after a day or two I asked the message how they found it, to no avail. I got no reaction. And that made me automatically fear that it had happened again. But, after nearly a week, I got an apologetic message from said person that they didn't feel they could continue and had to focus on themselves. Which is all fine with me. Any reason is a good enough reason for me. But just let me know. I don't know if that person will read this, I don't even know if they read it they will understand if it's about them. But I want to thank them. Because it gave me clarity. And that's a good thing.

As per usual, for everyone, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Eighth of May 2020, 08-05-2020

Another article attracted my intention on the BBC Newssite: Call for credit card freeze on porn sites

A call from several campaginers and campaign groups to credit card companies to block all payments to porn-sites, such as Pornhub, which is specifically named in the letter. And while I personally am not a credit card holder and whatever comes out of this it won't affect me, from a customer's perspective, this letter goes a few thousand miles too far. No matter how much can and should be done to weed out the excesses of porn, I cannot understand that all porn should be forbidden. Because to me that's the underlying tone of the letter. If credit card companies were to block all those payments, the porn streaming sites will have no means to exist.

But, I wonder, will it end there? The campaigners are (amongst others) of the very conservative kind and faith-led and sometimes I feel as they have taken it upon them to eradicate anything to do with nudity. Where will it lead to? Let's say such a block is imposed by credit card companies, will the next step be to stop all credit card payments to roleplay sites which have an adult section? A block on all payments to book-shops for selling adult magazines and books that contain pornography?

In my opinion, it would undermine a fundamental right. To express yourself in various sexual ways possible. The laws of the lands forbid the excesses of pornography. Let the llawmakers and judges deal with things that are against the law.
Of course, I am looking at all this from a Dutch perspective, the various red light districts in cities and villages have always been out in the open. Prostitutes are seen as small businesses with an obligation to fill in tax and VAT returns. Porn magazines are out in the open. Heck, the worlds first and oldest sex museum is within the borders of The Netherlands.

I remember a while ago, in 2004, at the Superbowl, all the uproar in the USA about a boob being shown live on TV. We, the Dutch, looked at it, read it and thought, Americans are crazy, it's just a boob. I think I've mentioned it in one of my posts here, from the 1960s to now, no Dutch film is being made with at least one sex scene in it. Fucking in films is normal for us. And on national TV there have been loads of shows, aimed at teenagers, to explain how things work. Right up to BDSM. TV shows with names such as Shooting or Swallowing.
Perhaps that's why in the Netherlands 3 in every 1000 teenage girls get a child, compared to 34.3 in every thousand in the USA.

The more sexuality and pornography is banned, blocked or forbidden, the more people will seek to get their fix. I've always called that my cookie-jar theory. If you keep the cookie jar out of reach for a kid, they will seek ways to get to it. If you allow them access to said jar, after a little bit it gets boring. There's no thrill to it anymore.

For everyone though, as per usual, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Ninth of May 2020, 09-05-2020.

Last night I saw a war-film on Belgian TV. Since yesterday was also the 75th anniversary of VE Day (Victory in Europe), quite a few war films have been shown the past week on the various channels I can see. Earlier this week A Bridge too far was on and so was Inglorious Bastards, I saw that Saving Private Ryan was also on. But apart from A Bridge, where I saw snippets of, since it's about Operation Market Garden and the liberation of Eindhoven, with actual footage in the city, until yesterday no film really caught my eye.

The film that was on last night is called Land of Mine, a Danish/German co-production from 2015. It was a brlliant movie, but extremely disturbing.

Some basics of the plot. The film is set *after* the liberation of Denmark, where the Germans, during the war, have planted around 2 million land-mines on the beaches. And after the war, around 1,000 German prisoners-of-war were forced to demine those beaches. The film follows a group of 16 of those POW's, under the command of a Danish officer. The Germans are equipped with those prick sticks. And that's it. They have to crawl inch by inch towards the shore, pricking in the sand, to find a mine, demine it and then collect all of them.

I am not going to tell anything more about the plot for it's an absolute recommendation. What I do want to say, and that's partially what makes the film so disturbing, is the age of the Germans. They are between 15 and 18. At the end of the war, when it was clear to everyone in the world that Germany was going to lose, Hitler sent the youth of Germany to 'fight'.
And right from the first moment, as a viewer, you have sympathy for the youths, knowing they are Germans, and even knowing that they *could* have committed acts of war. But still, they're kids. What they are forced to do goes against all Geneva war conventions, but in the reasoning of a higher ranked Danish officer, they are Germans, they invaded our country, so they have to clean it up again.

Will it make my personal top 10? I have to think about that, the ten films there have been in that list for nearly 20 years, nothing has changed, and this is the first 'past 2001' film that makes me doubt. But which one do I have to take out? I need to think about it. Perhaps in the end I decide it's very good, but not quite good enough to make it in my top 10. Definitely top 15 though.
A must-see film.

As per every day, for everyone, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Tenth of May 2020, 10-05-2020.

Today it's Mothers Day in several countries in the world, and also in The Netherlands. It's strange though when Mother's Day is celebrated throughout the world. Unlike Father's Day, which for almost all countries is on the third Sunday in June, Mother's Days are scattered through the year. There is even a country which has two Mother's Days in a year. Why isn't there uniformity for Mother's Day as there is for Father's Day? I don't know.

It's strange as it is when certain 'special' days are celebrated. First of all, because of the various religions, not every special day is celebrated everywhere. Years aren't the same. Countries have sun and moon-calendars.

Similar things are to do with anniversaries. When do you celebrate something, for instance a marriage. In catholic The Netherlands (the southern region, the north is protestant), right up to the end of the 1970s a church wedding was much more significant than the legal marriage. My parents celebrated their anniversary on the date of the church wedding. In Italy it was very common to not only celebrate your birthday, but also your name day. I'm sure other countries have things like that as well.

So, Mother's Day here, and where-else it might be. Strange though to not being able to give a big hug to my mum. But, we're going to have one of my favourite dinners. White asparagus. The White Gold.

For everyone though, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Eleventh of May 2020, 11-05-2020

In European weather folklore today marks the first day of the period known as Ice Saints. It's a relatively short period, it only lasts until the 14th of 15 of May, and it used to be seen as the transition period towards more summery temperatures. It is very rare that after the 15th of May there will be night-frost in the regions that remember the Ice Saints. Not all of Europe has this weather folklore, it's roughly a band of countries from The Netherlands and Belgium in the North-West, via Germany, Austria and Swtizerland, towards North-Italy and Croatia in the south of Europe.

And not all of the countries have the same Saints, some stick to three, for three is the holy number of trinity, others have day days. In general the five day period is known as Blackthorn Winter. The five Saints are St. Mamertus (May 11th), St. Pancras (May 12th), St. Servatus (May 13th), St. Boniface of Tarus (May 14th) and St. Sophia of Rome (May 15th). Sophia is also known as Cold Sophia. It's one of the oldest pieces of folklore still surviving in Europe, with first mention around 1000 AD, when the world was a lot smaller. The Americas and Australia weren't even discovered yet. And it was only celebrated/remembered in countries which enountered four seasons in a year.

Why those days? That's folklore for you, and why those Saints? Well, see my entry from yesterday, the celebration of name days, those days are the Saints name days, just as St. Nicholas of Myra has his name day on the sixth of December.

But, since global warming is really hitting home, the seasons are shifting and winter is disappearing. Snow is becoming a thing from paintings and it's been 23 years that the last Eleven Cities Skating tour could be organized. A 200 km skating tour in the north of the Netherlands, a tour that even our King has completed. With winter disappearing, and summers - or perhaps better said warmer temperatures - appearing much earlier in a calender year, the Ice Saints might be yet another folklore that will be living only in the memory of older people and amateur meterologists. Last year The Netherlands had record highs, of over 40 degrees Celsius. The record changing from 38.7 to 39.6 to 40.7 in two days. But the 'old' record, the 38.7 Celsius, was set in 1944. Global warming is a real issue, a very dangerous issue as well, because of summers get longer, warmer and drier, it won't take that long before plants and trees die and the Sahara will shift more north. But, perhaps with the current crisis, things will be done, because it's proven that the air quality is improving with everybody locked at home and a lot of businesses closed.

Only time will tell if humanity will learn.

Stay sensible, all of you, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twelfth of May 2020, 12-05-2020.

I have a very unique view on the city center of Eindhoven. My city isn't laden with a lot of high-rises, although there is planning permission to build quite a few more. But the highest of those in planning will be a maximum of 160 meters (525 feet). For most people around the globe that's not very high, but for us Dutch it is. Eindhoven is situated in a region which calls itself Brainport and there are a lot of high tech companies around here. ASML for instance. And they need a lot of engineers (software engineers that is). But they're still plans and with the current crisis it's to be seen how much of them will actually be built.

At the moment, in the city center there are eight taller buildings, of which one is one of the churches. The unique view for me is that all those eight buildings are neatly lined up from left to right. And if I knew how to insert a picture here, I would share that view, but I don't, so you all have to trust me on it. Where I live is just about the only place in the city to have that view. And there are much higher buildings in Eindhoven, yet perspective does strange things with someone's view..

One of the tallest of the eight is furthest away from me and thus is looks quite small, whereas one of the lower buildings is much closer, but looks taller. And when I am at my mum's balcony, on the eighth floor, but on a 90 degree angle from my perspective. And that means that from there I can only see five buildings.
Perspective is something really funny. Take a close-up from a very small object, with a much larger as backgorund and the first object seems large.

I think the photographers among us will know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, as always, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy..
 
Thirteenth of May 2020, 13-05-2020.

Another very interesting read on the BBC website, this time from the Worklife section. About the myth of being bad at maths.

www.bbc.com

The myth of being 'bad' at maths

You’re not destined to be bad at maths. You just may need to tackle your ‘mathephobia’.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

The most shocking sentence in the whole article, is almost right at the beginning. 'According to studies (link in the article) research shows that in the US alone 93% of ALL adults have some form of maths anxiety. 93%! That's almost 19 in every 20 adult Americans.
In other words, if we take 20 random American members of Blue Moon Roleplaying, 19 of those have some form of maths anxiety.

And of course, as someone who has always worked in finance and economics, it's easy talking. And I know there's a lot of people who don't like maths, but 19 in every 20 is beyond my grasp. The 7% that don't have the anxiety are basically all maths students and professors. MIT, Economical people, all the professionals who deal with maths one way or another. But that would leave nobody. Or in other words, the way I see it, everybody in the US, who doesn't deal with maths professionally has maths anxiety.

Shocking.

As per usual, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Fourteenth of May 2020, 14-05-2020.

In general I don't sleep very well. I have no idea why, because there's very little for me to stress or worry about. Things haven't changed in the past four years and I don't see any change come in the next few decades. I have a decent, yet quiet life. I don't have a lot of money, but what I have gets me through the month. So I really have no idea why one night I wake up maybe once and the next night I wake up every hour. It's really hit and miss. It''s not that bad though, because of all the time I have on my hands, I can have naps during the day, so in total I get a good 7 or 8 hours sleep per day/night.

Sometimes I stay in bed, but other times I get up, have a drink of water or just look out of the window, especially when the nights are warmer. Just to get a bit of air. And with the high-rises I described the other day here, there's always something to see, for not once have I seen any of the towers where people live in total darkness. It's funny, but in those flats, there's always a light on somewhere.

The newest of those buildings, from my point of view on the far left, is dedicated for expats. We have a lot of those, I've also already told that. Professionals coming to stay in Eindhoven for 6 months to a year, working in the high tech industry and renting rooms for exhorbitant prices. But they make shit-tons of money anyway, so high rent means very little.
But there's something funny occurring in that flat during the nights. When the rooms are dark and the occupants are asleep, at least that's what I think, there's flashing lights coming from the windows. It's taken me a good while to figure out what it was, that occurance, but I think I've sussed it now.

You see, if you leave a PC on, the power keeps sending stuff through and it flashes. And if such a thing is close enough to a window, it's visiible from the outside. Even on the distance I am to the flat. It's useless information, of course, and writing it down is only for my own fun. I don't think anyone is even in the slightest interested in it. But at least I got another day of journal entries filled.

So, you all, stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Fifteenth of May 2020, 15-05-2020.

I'm going to keep this very short today, for I don't really feel like writing something. There's enough going on that has surprised me in the news, it's just that I don't feel like writing a long piece today. Everything is fine though, in case someone is wondering about it. Life goes on as normal for me. No change on the horizon.

So, everyone, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Sixteenth of May 2020, 16-05-2020.

Whenever The Netherlands makes it into a news-item on the BBC World website, you can bet your life on it, that it's going to be doing with something 'abnormal'. I put that word in brackets, because more often than not it's about something the Dutch don't blink an eye about, take it for read and go on with their lives. You see, we, the Dutch are seen as a bunch of vagabonds and rascals, with our very liberal laws on sex, euthanesia etcetera and our stance towards terminally ill people. The fact that sex-shops and coffee-shops (where you buy your weed from) are out in the open, is something unheard of. Especially among the puritans there is an opinion that The Netherlands should be banned from everything.

But damn, do they love talking about us. And so this morning I read an article which links the lockdown because of corona-virus to sex. Yes, it's possible. Let me explain.

Just like every country in the world, there is something of a lockdown in The Netherlands, it is far more relaxed than in a lot of other countries, but by far not as loose as Sweden. Most high street shops were never forced to close, only bars and restaurants etcetera and close-contact professions (hairdressers and the likes). But there's a lot of social distancing demanded from the Dutch. Over here we're told to keep apart 5 feet (a meter and a half), a number that various from country to country. Within families it isn't necessary of course, but towards others, keep your distance.

There are a lot of singletons in The Netherlands and there is a new directive now, saying that those singletons should actively go out looking for a fuck-buddy. I kid you not. To find one other singleton, of your preferred sex (opposite or equal), so that as a singleton you get your amount of affection and well, sex. It is only good for your mental healthy to have regular sex, with one partner. And of course, the normal rules apply, if one of the two has symptoms, don't meet up, just like married couples should keep their distance if one of the two is feeling ill.
The thing is, I hadn't heard anything about it, and if it weren't for the BBC I would have never heard of it.

Almost at the end of the directive is something really funny. In case you cannot find another singleton of your preference, there are other ways to get your sexual gratification in times of lockdown. (Quote) 'Sex with yourself or others at distancec is possible', it adds, suggesting 'erotics stories' and 'masturbating together' as possible solutions {/QUOTE).

Can you imagine Trump or Boris Johnson or Angela Merkel suggesting people should venture into erotic stories or masturbating together? Yeah, that's what I thought.

As always, for everyone, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.

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Seventeenth of May 2020, 17-05-2020.

As I have mentioned here before, I am a really big football-fan. And as I also have explained, what I call football is not what the Americans call it. But since I am who I am and where I am fro, football it is. I have a seasonticket at PSV since 1974, but for known reasons, I haven't been able to watch any live sports since mid-March. Nobody has been able, apart from a few countries where they think they're immune for COVID-19.

Dutch professional football has been cancelled for the rest of the year, with no champion, nor relegating/promotion teams appointed. But in the biggest leagues in the world, England, Germany, Spain & France, it's all about huge amounts of money in TV rights. For instance, if the English Premier League is cancelled, it will cost the clubs around a billion English pounds in punishment fees. England, Spain and Italy are the three hardest hit countries in Europe, and public opinion there is still not convinced football should restart. Why use tests for a bunch of professional football players that could be used for medical personnel? I think anyone would know their own personal answer to that.

Yesterday, the highest German football division, the Bundesliga has restarted. Germany did pretty well, for such a big country in tackling COVID19, with relatively few deaths. And the restart happened with a few little hiccups. Like the manager of a team called Augsburg who had run out of toothpaste and went to a shop near the hotel all their staff was in quarantaine for. Which meant that he didn't stick to the rules and he was banned to sit on the bench.
In Leipzig they had another problem. UEFA (European Football organization) and FIFA (The world one) are temporarily allowing 5 substitutes for the time being, but reserve players need to distance from others. And in Leipzig the bench isn't big enough. There's also no stairs between the bench and the main stand, so they hired one of those plane-stairs, to get into an airplane. So reserve players can walk down from the main stand.

All games are being played without public and it's piss-boring. The whole football experience I always have had being at the ground(s) is gone. it's clynical, there's no atmosphere. It's like watching a bunch of Sunday morning leaguers in stadiums as big as anything. One of the matches yesterday was Borussia Dortmund v Schalke '04, one of the biggest derby's in Europe. Capacity in Dortmund is over 81,000 and the Yellow Wall is world-famous. But yesterday it was boring. I did watch the highlight show, but it was for the first and last time. I'm not going to watch football anymore until I'm allowed back into the stadium.

So until that time, and as per usual, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Eighteenth of May 2020, 18-05-2020

More and more European countries are relaxing the measures imposed in March due to COVID-19. The amount of new hospital admissions and deaths is getting lower and lower. As I said yesterday, the German Bundesliga has started and today certain coffee-places in Italy could reopen. In The Netherlands there's strong rumours that per June 1st bars and restaurants, cinemas etcetera can reopen under strict measures. The new society, with distancing will have to be implemented for that sector too.

What I personally am witnessing is that the normal public is getting lax. (Social) Distancing is something that's not in human nature and after two months keeping distances, people think they will be immune. They've not fallen ill, so why would they now? And for me, trying to still keep a distance to others, it's getting more and more difficult. Last week I've jokingly said that I am enlisting for the Winter Olympics in 2022, for the ski slalom, because that's how it feels when I'm out for my daily walks. Going from left to right on pavement and street, just to keep my own distance to others.

And I am noticing that more and more people start resisting against imposed measures. For reasons beyond my comprehension, for even wtih mild complaints, it turns out that people are ill for months, literally. The loss of smell is only a minor complaint, but heavy headaches, and constant feel of tiredness are annoying, to put it mildly. But, since mild complaints are said to last only a few days, it's very quickly decided that if you feel ill for two months, you're sciving. I just don't get it, it's not that hard to follow the rules for your own safety. Or is it that people *want* to get infected? That people have being incredibly ill and have to be admitted to an ICU as something they've got on their bucket-list?

But since this seems to be one hell of a bad disease, a virus which causes all kinds of failure, I'm not going to say that perhaps it should be an idea for those people to get a few of the symptoms.

Just keep to the measures, it's not that hard, is it?

Stay sensbile, stay safe and stay healthy!
 
Nineteenth of May 2020, 19-05-2020.

An interesting item in the news today, with results that I don't know to what extent I can believe them. The World Health Organizaton has held an investigation among youngsters (between 13 and 15) about their quality of life and health. And that's the thing, it's easy to fill something in to make yourself look better. Some things are checkable of course. The fact there are less obese youngsters in The Netherlands than in other countries is probably true. And the fact that more than average smoke weed over here is something that doesn't suprrise me at all.
But, spending significantly less time on social media than other kids in that age-range in other countries? Really? I have my doubts at that.

The thing with surveys is that you're always dependant on the information provided. The UK government is holding a trail with a corona-tracking app on the Isle of Wight. First of, I don't really beieve in aps like that. I couldn't have one, because anyone downloading the app has to have internet and bluetooth *on* at all time. I wouldn't be able to afford that, my mobile phone contract just isn't that high. What the app in the UK should be doing is to give a signal if anyone has been close to a person with symptoms of COVID-19. For instance in the supermarket. But it counts on the honesty of all people using the app.
What is wants to do is to contain people who are ill as quickly as possible and to have a contact-survey, so that possibly infected people are found as quickly as possible. In order to, eventually, get back to 'normal'.

And that's where I'm getting a little wary. Because what if people fill in the questions incorrectly? The sooner there are no new cases the sooner we can get back to 'normality'. So if you don't tell you've got a cough or loss of smell, you're not a potential carrier and new cases are never going to be found. It gives me that feeling of false safety. Let's all pretend nobody is infected, and we can forget about this whole situation and go on with life the way we knew it. I don't believe that's the way forward. But hey, who am I. I'll just keep my distance from others. The Last Man Standing, or something like that.

Just stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twentieth of May 2020, 20-05-2020.

A few times in the past couple of weeks I promised myself not to write about Trump in relation to COVID-19 anymore. As an outsider, a European, I have a different view on his administration and leadership, solely based on various news feeds in several languages. I have stated before that I think that gives me a good view on what's going on.

In January Trump praised both China and the WHO for how they were trying to tackle the outbreak in Wuhan. They were all doing an excellent job, according to Trump's Twitter messages. That stance has changed now, radically and drastically. Nowadays he is saying they did everything wrong. It's just one of many examples why I sometimes question his memory. Since Twitter seems to be his only means of communication to the outside world, and there are days he sends out dozens and dozens of Tweets, I think that he often forgets what he has written an hour ago, let alone a few weeks or months ago.

When Trump was praising China in January, most world leaders were looking at China hoping they could contain it, for the first signs were not good. A large cruise-ship and South Korea shortly afterwards had massive spikes in infected people and deatths. But Trump, among a few others, Bolsanero for instance, weren't worried, it was just another flu. We know now that they were wrong, although Bolsanero of Brazil keeps looking at it like another flu, with all consequences. Brazil had over a thousand deaths in the past 24 hours.

But just when you think you've seen it all from Trump, he manages to surprise people again. First, we had the infections in the White House, with staff having to wear facial masks, but not him, of course not. Because, as it turns out, he's administering some malaria medicin, that nobody really knows if it works or not. Initially there were some positve signs about it, but later studies show that it does more harm than good.
And last night he really baffled me (and I think many others). He has stated that the US having the highest amount of infected people in the world, around a third of all infections known, is being worn as a badge of honour! That the US should be proud they have the most infected people in the world. Because, he said, it means that the US is testing a lot more than others. They aren't really, per capita they're testing a lot less than others.

To me it only shows contempt for his citizens. 92,000 Americans have died up to now, according to the John Hopkins Center, and there seems to be no end or slow-down in sight. And with the US reopening much faster than they should, some states against the official guidelines, it's really just a matter of waiting for the second spike and even more deaths.

Over here, in The Netherlands, as per June 1st, there's going to be more relaxation of some of the measures. Pubs and restaurants, cinemas etcetera can reopen under strict guidelines, with a maximum of 30 people attending. Primary schools should fully reopen and function as well. There are some other things that are going to be relaxed. In my personal view it's all going too quickly, but people are getting bored and restless. It's taken long enough and it seems that they are more willing to take risks of getting infected than I personally am. So I'll just keep doing what I've always done. Keep my distance and stay home a lot.

Stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy. As always.
 
Twenty-first of May 2020, 21-05-2020

Yesterday I've been to the library for the first time in 10 weeks. There was no need for it yet, as I have plenty of unread books at home, but it's also a little outing. And as in supermarkets, a basket was obligatory, and of course to keep your distance, but no other measures are imposed. Yeah, if there's no more baskets to wait outside, a maximum of 50 people are allowed. I've got myself a couple of dystopian novels from the 1960s, about what the author thought life would be around now. I'm quite curious to read those books.

Today is a holiday in The Netherlands, and in various countries in Europe, that I am certain of. I would assume that in just about every Catholic country around the world, today is a holiday. Ascension Day.
And the weather is fabulous, it's going to be 28C this afternoon, but this morning I've been out for a 2 hour walk with my mum. It was still relatively quiet on the streets, so it was easier for us to keep our distance to others (and each other).

And this afternoon, I'm not doing anything, maybe write a reply or two, but that's about it, a nap is definitely on the cards as wel.

Tomorrow there's another day.

So, stay sensible, stay safe and stay healthy.
 
Twenty-second of May 2020, 22-05-2020.

What I feared and wrote here a couple of days ago, seems to be happening for real. Yesterday we had our first offical 'summer's day' (A day where the temperature at our metereologicl institute reaches 25C) and in combination with a national holiday (Ascension Day), people flocked to parks and beaches and other places to gather en masse. Even to the point that roads to beaches had to be closed off and parks were shut down.
There's also been a new survey about the distancing and people just don't want to do it anymore. Less and less people think they will catch the virus and that the distancing doesn't count for them.

And it really pisses me off. I really liked going out for my walks, either alone or with my mum, but I am really fearing that it will come to an end soon. I genuinely don't care if everyone is dying to catch the virus and has a clear death-wish, but I don't want to be part of that stupid society. So I will go back into deep hiding, what I've basically been doing for the past four years, just stay at home and not be in contact with anyone outside my mum and when I do shopping. Life is so easy, just look after yourself. If people would do that, there wouldn't be a single problem. But for some utterly dumb reason, people refuse to look after themselves and only wish to be in contact with others, no matter the consequences.

And so, as of today, I'll leave my usual well-wishes out. There's no use in putting them there, for nobody cares. And it could well be that from today onwards, I won't have enough to write about, but so be it. I'll just see from day to day if there's something that's on my mind I want to write about. And if there isn't, I'll tell that as well (so technically I'll write *something*).
 
Twenty-third of May 2020, 23-05-2020.

For today's piece, I'm going abroad. Not very far though, walking distance for me (people who read this journal regularly know that I do a lot of walking), 15 miles at the most, where the beautiful country of Belgium lies In a news-article I read yesterday, it was announced that in one of the provinces of Belgium there will be a ban on using water for non-essential business. So no more washing your car, spraying your garden and things like that. Because there's a massive water-shortage in Belgium. Over here, in The Netherlands, we have a water problem as well, but not as bad as in Belgium.

There's a reason for that. Fifteen miles south of here there's just as much, or as little, rain as here, but The Netherlands has a lot more building regulations as they do in Belgium. Because over there, if you can afford to buy a plot of land and build a house, you can. Over here, you can't just build a house where you want. There's a saying in Dutch, A Belgian person is born with a brick in his stomach. The ultimate goal for any Belgian is to build and own their own house.

Most Belgian villages look the same. The old city center, and then a couple of streets leading from the center, with house after house after house after house. And because there's no law against building, it's an ever growing row of houses. And all those houses have a drive-way made of asphalt or stones. A lawn is an exception. So any rain that falls, can't go anywhere, and it evaporates. Had the Belgians more 'nature', the rain-water would seep back into the ground and the minimum levels would remain. So yeah, if you own a car in Belgium, and you are bound to, because with all the houses that are so far out of city centers, there's no public transport either.

It would be easy to say that the Belgian federal government could make a law against building wherever, but that's a problem too. Because Belgium is notorious for not being able to form a government. They already hold the world-record for longest time between general elections and the forming of a federal government at 541 days. And they're well on their way to breaking it. Because the previous federal government fell on 21st of December 2018, 519 days ago. There have been elections, nearly a year ago, but the same government, running current affairs, is in place. Belgium is a strange country, they have five governments in total. One for Flanders, one for Wallonie, one for the East Cantons, one for Brussels. And then one federal one. On such a small country.

And still, it's a wonderful country, the people are a lot nicer than those from the north of The Netherlands (with exceptions, of course), they have the best chocolate and fries in the world, and certain places, especially Ghent are must-visits. When travelling is allowed again, of course. But trying to do something about something as simple as water? Impossible.
 
Twenty-fourth of May 2020, 24-05-2020.

I'm going to keep this short today, there is stuff to tell, but I'm going to keep that under wraps for a little bit longer. It's good things, so don't any of you get the idea something's up with me. It's not like the weather today which is a lot worse than it has been lately, but in a way that's good too, to let the country cool off a little bit.

Maybe I'll write more tomorrow.
 
Twenty-fifth of May 2020, 25-05-2020

The past couple of weeks it has been rather quiet for me on the RP-front, I had a couple of plottings that turned into plays, but as so often has happened in the past year and a half, after my opening post no further reaction came. I have one fabulous play with someone, but it is slow-going. I am fine with that, as the girl and I talk a lot and I know what is keeping her days occupied. There are a few others that are currently on hold, where I have hopes that they will be revived in the, hopefully near, future.

I've sent out a few PM's on female request threads that were seemingly ignored and while *I* think it is quite rude to not even send a small message back with a 'sorry not interested', it is something that happens a lot these days.

But, last Saturday, I sent a message on a female request thread, where a short term RP was wanted. I am usually not a man for short term RP's, but I loved the plots and kinks so much that I sent the girl a PM anyway. We hit off a more than decent conversation, which had to be interrupted as on Saturday mornings I do my weekly food-shop, but by that time we had the biggest outline for the story and I promised her to write a starter upon my return from the supermarket. The thing is, short-term might mean something else for me as it does for others, for me it certanly doesn't mean shorter posts. And so shortly after I came back from shopping I wrote and posted my starter.

And her reaction to it surprised me and warmed me, for the girl in question had changed her mind, that because of my attention for detail, so asked if it was alright to change from short=term to long-term. Which, of course, I was very alright with. We have similar likings and desires in writing and the story worked right from the start, with quite a few posts going to and fro. And to make this journal-entry even more uplifting, more cheerful, yesterday she asked if I wanted to start another RP with her and so now we have two going on.

I did tell her I was going to write this piece and she approved of me mentioning her s/n here. So @Skyle, here you go. All for you!
 
Twenty-sixth of May 2020, 26-05-2020.

For my journal entry today, I am going to refer to a thread I started this morning, which can be found here: https://bluemoonroleplaying.com/community/threads/116994/#post-2904202.

It's an interesting question, what would you tell yourself before the pandemic, knowing what you know now? What kind of advice would you give yourself, knowing now that there are heaps of things you cannot do, during the lockdown. As I write there as well, there is very little that has changed for me personally. Of course, I cannot hug my mom, or visit other relatives, especially her brothers and sisters, as they are all over 70. And apart from my mom, they all have underlying problems, more or less risky. My godmother for instance, came out of chemo half a year before the pandemic, after a second time breast-cancer. I have seen her, and her husband, a few times, totally random, when I walked to my mom and they were on their way into the city center.
An uncle of mine, one I get along with very well, he is a good listener and advisor, has got only one kidney, for he donated the other to his son, nearly 20 years ago.

And I cannot see my friends, although technically it would be possible, on a distance. But that's the thing with me. I am lucky enough that my mum is very healthy and apart from breaking her wrist when she was 11, she's never had any serious diseases or illnesses, but I wouldn't want to get infected from meeting with others, outside my immediate bubble (which is my mum).

Now that The Netherlands is (slowly) reopening (although in my personal view it is going much too fast), I could meet up with people again, and no doubt with some I will. But still at the required distance and no physical contact. With bars and pubs possibly reopening as of June 1st, it would mean that I could go for my weekly cards night again, but I am going to refrain from that for a while longer.

There's something about that though, not the cards night, but the reopning of bars, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, those kind of businesses. There'll be a maximum of 30 people allowed entrance, but all will have to make a reservation. And there will be an obligatory health-check at the door. I find that strange, because there is no mass-testing over here. And owners of 'normal' shops cannot impose a health-check either. They can ask the public to desinfect their hands, pay by card or contact-less, but they are not allowed to do a health-check. So why can bars etecetera do it then?
And it is rather unfortunate, but some people are already trying to make an extra profit of the reopening of the bars, by charging a fee to make a reservation. I don't think that's the way forward, they should be happy people want to come again, not punish them because of governmental measures.
 
Twenty-seventh of May 2020, 27-05-2020.

The way I was raised by my parents was that everybody is equal. That it doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, or whatever colour your skin is, or other things that mark a person. Everybody is born naked and will die alone. Even if you're in a plane and it crashes, you are alone with your last thoughts.

I know that not everybody thinks like that, there are plenty of people who look down on others. But having said that, you really would expect that governmental agencies, like for instance law enforcement would treat all humans equally.

I think I'm going to leave it at this. What I have in mind, what I really want to write isn't exactly positive. I think people reading this can fill in the blanks.
 
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