Discover the best of TV on your mobile. That’s how Vodafone tries to market their new phone service that allows you to watch TV on it. Of course there is the question of how addicted to watching TV you have to be before someone in his right mind would actually get a phone which can do that… And pay for this service!

But the weirdest thing they advertise with, is the following:

“Now. Discover the best of TV on your mobile. Exclusive: Big Brother live show.”

Seriously. The best of TV?!? And they advertise with Big Brother?!?! I am willing to understand that people wanne watch TV on their phone. Ok, I fail to see why anyone would want that, but hey, I am not the worst, so if that’s really what people want… Fine. But watching TV on your mobile and then tuning in to the Big Brother live show… Who in his right mind does that?!? Is this phone service just made for the mentally challenged?!?

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Tomorrow is the day. Playing squash, never to early, so probably around 1330 in the afternoon. The pressure is on. As it might well be the last game of 2005 and in the overall standing I am trailing 6 to 7 in wins this year. In other words: I have to win. Well, actually I was down 3-7 a month ago, so I had to win most of the games left this season to make the score look at least a bit more decent by the end of the year, but now that I won 3 in a row and a draw is near, it’s a whole different ballgame! Loosing ain’t longer an option! I can’t get so close and then not be bothered with it…

Weird thing, as I also felt the pressure last week, which resulted in playing quite a bad match, even though I was able to win it. Well, at least the first 3 sets where bad. Only in the 4th and final set I lost the pressure of “having to win” and was able to play better and enjoy myself much more! I can only hope tomorrows match will be like that!

Preparation has been quite ok. The one and half hour gym session on Wednesday morning was, although very early, good fun. The first 15 minutes on the cross-trainer was almost about poking fun at the physical laws of the basic heart functions. A speed of 12 km/h with a constant heartbeat of 165+ per minute… Any 8 year old would be jealous! :-) But to say it’s healthy… I am not sure… Maybe it’s a good thing I am not a doctor! But well, in that perspective it was the perfect preparation, because that rate of heartbeats per minute has been quite normal during most of the squash games this year… and then it’s about 15 minutes per set! *hahahaha* and lucky for my body doesn’t shake as much as Bastiaans body at that heartbeat rate! :-)

Either way, I will try and play as relaxed as possible, just go out there and have fun. That sounds like the winning scenario. And if it’s not… well, then I can also claim the fair-play award! :-)

Update (December 18, 2005):
4-9, 9-3, 10-8, 9-3. I won! :-) It was far from easy though, but I was able to cope with the pressure! Actually Bastiaan took the most pressure away from me when I talked to him on the phone in the morning. I never realized that he was also feeling the same pressure. He had lost 3 in a row and was seeing me getting closer and closer in the 2005 results; damn, he had more pressure then me!! So after hearing that, I wasn’t to worried about the result anymore. Still the game was very close and could have gone either way, but luckily it went my way in the end!

Not sure how many games there will be left this year… Maybe one or two more… I guess the pressure will be on until the end of the year… Mmmm… already looking forward to the first game of 2006! When it will just be about having fun again. The one without the pressure! :-)

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Clove. Or in Dutch: kruidnagel, in Swedish: kryddnejlika and Danish: kryddernellike. It appeared in my recipe for stewed cinnamon pears. Clove. A word that makes me think of the Dutch Golden Age, back in the 17th century. Holland ruled the world and spices were brought back to Holland to sell with great profit. Clove. Worth a fortune back then, but do we still use this?? And how does it taste? And where do you actually get it?

Well, the last answer should be easy: the spices section in the supermarket. I wish it was. I think I stood there frozen for about 5 minutes. First the quick scan: clove, clove, clove… no clove. Then the bit slower scan: clove… clove… clove… Arggg!! Still no clove. Where is this stupid clove! Ok, one by one… Damn there is a lot of spices… The other people shopping must have thought I was hypnotized by the spices. Last one… no clove. Oi… Did it miss it? Well, I am not going through them one by one again! Screw the clove!! ;-)

Lack of time… yes, seriously… prevented me from searching in more shops for the clove. The pears had to stew for at least 3 and a half hours, so it was all (without the clove) or nothing if I wanted to eat the stewed pears that evening. And to be honest, I don’t think it mattered that much. Or I would be surprised if it did. As the stewed cinnamon pears, made without clove, turned into a lovely desert! Served with some ice-cream and some sauce the pears where stewed in; Jammie! Maybe even more “Jammie” with the cloves next time! :-)

Stewed cinnamon pears with ice-cream

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The invasion. It started slowly. 3 days ago it all seemed quiet. 2 days ago the first one was spotted. Cute. Probably a scout though. Yesterday there were two and they were constantly present. Could this become a problem? Today the answer was there already, there were 4, no 5… 6!! This was to much, they had to be stopped. These mice went one bunny cage to far! :-)

Fact was the mice needed to go. They couldn’t stay. I wouldn’t have mind 1 or 2 so much, but 6 was pushing it. And for all I know, there could even be more! And they were eating Snoesy the bunnies food and could be poo-ing and pee-ing in her food and water which could make her sick. Plus the fact that when Snoesy is in her cage at night, they would keep her up all night walking around her, and harassing her… something totally not done. They had to be stopped!

Early morning I was still under the impression the mice could be caught the friendly way, so I set up the mouse-trap with a fine piece of cheese, went back inside and waited… and waited… the mice were out, all 6 at times but they totally ignored the cheese and therefore the trap… Sadness… Hours went by, but no success.

As the trap didn’t work, it was time for more drastic measures. I left the idea of trying to catch the mice. The new approach would be to keep them out! So armed with a staple-gun and several pieces of chicken-wire, I went in. Sealing all holes and cracks the mice could use to enter the bunny cage. After about an hour, all were sealed to my satisfaction. Bring it on! Try and get in now little mice! :-)

Well… actually I know better then that, as if they want in, they for sure will… it’s nearly a matter of time. It’s like mopping the floor with the water running. But so far so good… it’s two days later now and no sign of them yet… But I know they are out there! Probably preparing the next invasion!

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Almost a year ago I wondered what was wrong with the world today, today I wonder again. Again not without reason. Last year it was my annoyance about people not raising the hand when you are being social and are making way for them while driving the car, even when you don’t have to. But only because normal social values make you do the right thing. And you should be entitled to receive the friendly wave to acknowledge that.

Well, we are a year later now and not much seems to have changed. The hand is still frequently not waved… As childhood hero Haye Thomas (a famous Dutch journalist and foreign correspondent) would say, like only he could: Alarming. Today was another incident. Only partly involving me this time, as I was mainly a spectator.

The scene is a local supermarket. I did some shopping for dinner that evening and when arriving at the registers there are two options. A short line with 2 people, where the last woman has her shopping-car more then full with stuff and another line with 3 people with not even half the amount of products then the second woman in the other line, so the choice for me what line to take is clear and easy. So far so good.

Then a young girl appears. Carrying nothing but one single bag of candy. She chooses to stand behind the woman with the fully loaded shopping-car. “Smart move”, I think to myself. With just one product, she will be allowed to go in front. The woman barely started loading out the “truck”, she looks at the girl, girl smiles friendly to her, and… nothing… I am stunned. She looked at the girl and can see she only has one little bag of candy… why won’t she ask her to go ahead?!?!

It’s so amazing little things like this are apparently not seen as normal anymore… Why is that?!?! Lack of basic social skills?! Plain selfishness? It really bothers me. People worry about terrorism, I worry about these things much more. As how can we ever get along in such a selfish world?!

Well, to finish off the story, I drove home, still wondering about it, drove through our street, saw a car coming, gave way… and yes… NO hand!!! I guess this just wasn’t my day! :-)

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If you wanne see a really good and funny movie at the end of this year, you must go see: kiss kiss, bang bang!! I saw it last week at the Stockholm filmfestival, and out of the movies I saw it was definitely the most entertaining! The movie never gets boring and keeps a funny high pace until the end. And it doesn’t just have the obvious humor, the humor is often quite unexpected, and therefore making the movie just really funny. So if you wanne smile, go see this movie, and watch for Elvis in the end! ;-)

If you are curious, you can watch the trailer here!

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